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What to do when you get your truck assigned to you

Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by Rollover the Original, Nov 5, 2009.

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chew6229 Bobtail Member

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Rollover the Original said: ↑

I did say I would tell you what I used to clean my inside with but forgot but this thread needs to come back to the front so these rookies have a chance when they get their "first home away from home"!

I will say this to everyone going to a new company. The FIRST place you should head to when you hit their yard is the LOT! Look at what you might be issued. If there are certifiable POS out there RUN! If it looks like it's been in the demo derby RUN! If it looks like King Kong or Pig Pen lived in it and they didn't clean it RUN! This is a direct statement on this bottom feeder you are about to hire on with! No maintenance or respect for their equipment. It should tell you how they will treat You!

Now to cleaning supplies. I did this in another thread but can't find it. This new Mr Clean with Frebreeze works like a charm on all the surfaces of the truck!

Also get a scrub brush about 2 inches long and 1 inch wide with a handle and a tooth brush with a big head. Rags, Pick a few shop rags up and wash them before use.
Prestone or Turtle wax carpet cleaner will get 5th wheel grease out of the carpet and seats even butt grease out of the seat! Also get Prestone carpet protector to use after the seat and carpet is dry. This helps to keep it clean.Get a small trash can maybe 4 gallons and square. (reason, is square fits in holes better than round and also makes a great emergency toilet. Use the scented 8 gallon trash bags from Wal-Mart. (NO I'm NOT kidding. When you just gotta go and there is no throne around what are you gonna do hang your arse out by the side of the truck? Double bag it and throw it away at the next TRASH CAN you come to!) Keep 1 or 2 gallons of water in the truck for drinking and cleaning.

I always start on the ceiling for the first intense cleaning. I fill the trash can about half way up with water add Mr. Clean and use a big car wash sponge to scrub the ceiling. wash once and rinse once. Bet it's already smelling better in there! Then come down the A pillars and do the dash and on to the doors and finally the floors. The floors is where you'll use those brushes if they aren't carpeted. Then head towards the back of the truck and do it the same way from the top down.

About getting the smoke smell left behind from those losers. In FL's pull the fuse box cover open and remove the section of duct work and set it aside or head on to the fuel island with a spray bottle filled with a mixture of Mr Clean 2 DROPS of Dawn Dish washing detergent (Dawn cuts grease and oil better than anything else I've found in 32 years and does a good job of cleaning the wiper blades also!) and water. I use an old Windex bottle with this mixture for spot cleaning during the week and for spraying the windshield to loosen bugs and grease.

Any way run water through the vent and spray with your cleaner and run a reg through it with a coat hanger so you can get it all through the vent and rinse it.
Then fill your trash can with cleaner and rinse the rag and head back to the truck.

If you notice, those vent louvers will come out with a small screwdriver but be gentle with them and put them in the trash can and use the tooth brush on them and go rinse them. Set them aside and get the coat hanger with the rag on it and ram rod the vents as best as you can. Use a lot of water and cleaner. If you have the smarts to open the blower then get in there as best as you can. Believe it or not you can get most of that nasty crapola out of the truck!

Now just Frebreeze the hello out of any cloth like the linings in the overhead compartment, the carpet and the bottom of the shelves on a daily basics until you get that out also.This includes the webbing! Do the mattress as it's nice to lay on a nice smelling mattress and do your bed coverings too. LYSOL Spray is a MUST! Your health is how you'll make a living. I spray twice a day just to kill anything floating in the air!

Windows are up to you as to what you want to clean them with!

On my mattress I like to cover that plastic cloth with a mattress cover found at Wal-Mart or get a movers pad and I duct tape it to the mattress and it makes a nice soft cover and gets you off of the mattress itself. I use the fitted sheets found in the truck stops and also in a college town you can find sheet garders at Wal-mart (during school time) which help to keep those cheap China made fitted sheets on the mattress!

I stay away from JUNK like Armor ALL or any of those "look nice" spray on products! They just make the dash greasy, the floor slippery (which is really nice when you hit the brake hard and find your foot against the firewall and not the pedal you wanted and try a nice fall off the tank with that crapola on your shoes, It's also a police trick they use by spraying the floor board of their cruisers in case some idiot who's already in the car, given his DL to the nice officer and has his picture on the dash camera decides to run! Yeah like running on ice! ROFLMAO!

But really this stuff builds up on the dash and does nothing but gets thicker and collects dust! I use a 2" paint brush every day on the dash which is good for getting in all the "clean" cracks on the dash and around the gauges along with a chamois cloth.

These were a few tip I've learned over the years and they work. Those of you who say you never have time to clean your truck are just plain lazy and actually like to live like a pig! There is NO FREAKING WAY you drive than many hours in a day You're falsifying that log for what? You have to take time off and even 30 minutes a day until you clean that truck which more than likely costs MORE that the house you live in and should be a priority! Cops look in and see a filthy truck and they know that if the truck inside is that bad then they'll look that much harder at the rest starting at he paper work!

But it's your home to take care of the way you want to, but then again I've seen some real winners out here that makes a pig sty look like a palace!
Click to expand...

Wow...........On be half of all new drivers Thank YOU

chew6229, Mar 13, 2010

#31

00 buckshot and snakeskin Thank this.
djtrucker Light Load Member

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just wanna bump this thread pg 1 is great advice it should be docked imho. thanks rollover

djtrucker, Jul 30, 2010

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Rollover the Original Road Train Member

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What good is information if you don't pass it on!

Rollover the Original, Jul 31, 2010

#33

Tucker the trucker Thanks this.
Tucker the trucker Bobtail Member

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Thanks for the heads up rollover the original.

Tucker the trucker, Jul 31, 2010

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Raiderfanatic Heavy Load Member

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Thanks for the advice. I was wondering about doing something like this after orientation and truck being assigned. I just figured they would walk around with you documenting things before turning the keys over. My ignorance, though.

Digital camera is now on my "pack" list.

Raiderfanatic, Jul 31, 2010

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rmarierii Light Load Member

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a digital camera and a large capacity memory card is always a good thing to have on the road.. for those "just in case" shots

rmarierii, Aug 16, 2010

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chris w Bobtail Member

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a wanna be trucker/student... how is it working for swift? just sent them my app.

chris w, Aug 19, 2010

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Tim D Bobtail Member

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Gotta agree, this would be a great thread for the dock. That way I see it and remember to read it again when I get back from training and get a truck.

Tim D, Aug 19, 2010

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Mrfasttrack Light Load Member

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This story is going to change after Jan 1st when CSA 2010 goes into effect and 175,000 of us are gone! THEN these scum bag companies that take advantage of the newer drivers will have to bite the bullet as life as THEY know it is going to change!

Could you explain more why so many drivers will loose there jobs please.

Mrfasttrack, Aug 19, 2010

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o.m.d. Heavy Load Member

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i've got it pretty made at my job. a truck washing company comes in ever 2 weeks and gives the trucks a good washing, and then every week one of the guys that works in the warehouse cleans the cabs of the trucks, im talking shiny and new looking. i'm working some long day's on salary right now and with it being summer i'm putting in some O/T but my boss has us do absolutely nothing other then the assigned routes. once we're done, we go home no questions asked! and if he ask's us to do something extra he pays us good hourly wage.

o.m.d., Aug 20, 2010

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