i knew a dude that went through orientation the week before me, had the supertrucker mentality from hell, never got better than 5.2 in 3 different 07's. surprisingly enough, he's no longer with Maverick. I stayed in the high 6's to low 7's and I didn't drive em' slow, so i honestly have no idea what the below 6 guys are doing, idling excessively...pulling out like a sports car...pedal on the floor all the time...it all add's up i suppose.
By supertrucker mentality, I'm assuming the CB is used to thwart law enforcement, the truck is a "classic" design, the chrome costs as much as the truck payment, a "governor" is someone who needs to stay out of your business, the roads were never designed for four-wheelers, 80,000# is the minimum gross (and permits are for sissies), and the "real" speed limit is at least 10 mph over the limit (including while traveling through construction zones)? Edit: AND, Convoy was a real event that inspired CW McCall to write a song about it (you would know this because you were there or you knew Rubber Duck personally).
Well I went up to check on the truck yesterday and wrote down my mpg and oor....but lost the paper. The mpg was 7.51? and the oor was under 3% I will post it from my phone when I head out today. I am pleased that they both went in the right direction this week. I was actually a bit concerned...but worked real hard and getting good mpg and as good of oor as I could.
Last couple of weeks mpg has been really good, but I've been exploiting it in order to loosen the schedule a bit so it isn't quite as high as it could be. For instance, I'm riding 8.3 mpg on my current run, but I have 250 miles to go and I'm not driving on a holiday just to maximize the clock for tomorrow. So, I'll leave about 3 in the morning and hammer it all the way there. I'll be fighting the wind so I'll lose most of those gains. I figure it's my mileage bonus and I can spend it now or spend it later. It's definitely worth it to me to spend that time with my family. No amount of money can replace time.
I have about 300 to go. Will leave at around 13:00. Drive 55 all the way up there and spend the night at the receiver. Will have a full clock tomorrow to start the week off. It is all about choices!
When I was unemployed, I was with my wife 24-7 for months. I could not provide for them and I watched my savings get smaller and smaller. Then I had a friend recommend trucking. It was very difficult at first being away from home. But we did not default on one single bill. I did not loose anything other than what I sold off. My wife nor I had to move away and slowly but surely I am getting my savings built up again. So to me Trucking and Maverick saved me! I would rather sleep in this truck and see them on the weekend then to have had to face being evicted from my home and loosing everything. Is Maverick and trucking perfect? No....of course not. The only perfect being was crucified! Attitude will go a long way in helping you to deal with what happens out here. I find that I enjoy this(except for being away from home) better than anything I have done...and I used to be in sales in management making over 100k a year. If you hate being in the truck, you are going to be very miserable out here!
