Where is everyone #2!!

When I got back in a truck in 2007, it was my plan to get my own truck again. So I'm in a company truck, sitting in a truckstop, reading those truck papers in the restaurant. Every single day, some driver would come up to me and ask, "You looking for a truck? You can buy mine!" I would hear another driver say that he sold his truck and he went back to driving a company truck where he can just drive and not have to worry about the maintenance. I wouldn't say anything, because whether you own the truck or not, you should be worried about the maintenance, right?

My first company back was Swift. When I first got the truck, it would pull! The only bad thing was it had that OptIdle garbage in the bunk where you set the temp, and the engine would start and cut off and start and cut off. Sounds good in theory, but every time the truck cuts off, it rocks the truck hard enough to wake you up. And in Minot in the winter, it burned up the starter. It's a stupid way to set up a truck.
Then, at my current company, it always seemed to take 8 hours for someone in their road service/breakdown to make a decision. And on the weekend, night dispatch would tell you that you had to wait for the people who worked bankers hours to show up to make decisions. Not on the trailers, just on the tractors. If you need new tires on the trailer, no problem. If you needed new tires on a tractor, they had to route you in to a shop to have their people inspect them to determine whether or not your tires would pass a DOT inspection. I roam all of North America...Canada, the Territories, even Mexico if they put enough money on it. I'm not concerned with passing a DOT inspection, I want traction.

So, which is better...to drive someone else's truck and let them handle the maintenance and make all the decisions, or buy your own truck, and forever end hours of playing phone tag with your breakdown people? "Hometime vs "Goin to the house"?

 

I drive a company truck. I handle the maintenance. I handle the tires. I handle the customers. The important part is if you handle a big enough paycheck to make it worthwhile.

 

Not one single bit. Actually, this makes me want my own truck even more!! I think the transmission bolts were always loose, but our "mechanic" never caught it.

I'm hoping they at least reimburse me for 50% of the rental car. That's what I would do in their position. I would have neurotic being stuck at the hotel.

The boss is going to have a fit when I tell what else is wrong with the truck.

The new drives are showing signs or serrated wear.
The trailer tires are wearing on the outside edges. 4 of these are new.
10 shocks. The shocks are so old all the bushings are dry rotted.
Steering box is leaking from the top seal and fells loose at the steering wheel.
Trailer drums are glazed and scored.

The joys of truck ownership.

 

Bottom line..big enough paycheck to go the extra mile...

 

Before I left the TA in North Bend, WA, a Mercer driver came in to scan in his paperwork. We use TripPak, but he had asked for some other scanning system that they didn't have and I didn't pick up on until later. He mentioned he HAD to get this in tonight because he was out of money. I offered to scan it in for him, but he said "no thanks, I'll find some way to get it to them". Well, I offered a way to get it to them . He was looking really stressed out. The T/A has TripPak...it was only 10' away from him. I guess his last trucking venture used the other system.

I looked around and there was another Mercer driver behind me that said "Well, you offered" then he laughed.

I tried to help stupid, but stupid is as stupid does.

 

Also, I didn't realize it until December, one of my 56 Facebook friends is a broker that deals with Mercer. She keeps telling me the best loads are HazMat, we I rarely see any HM loads on our board. Maybe I can get the endorsement and make sure a few pop up on the board when I'm home I tried to get HM a few years ago, but most of the questions weren't in the study guide. After taking the test 3 times and failing, I gave up. At least I came out of it with my doubles endorsement.

 

@ the shack for a day or 2.. time for a few hours of working with a shovel & a rake cleaning up the winter debris on the "camping pad".
( Port Susan Camping Club )

 

I answered that question long ago. make my last payment on the current one april 15th, already filed taxes in January, lol

 

bd, about the only thing we do haz mat is roofing loads, where the adhesive and cleaner is haz mat, usually a couple of shrink wrapped pallets, it does pay better , and will get you to the head of the line on those loads where other drivers don't have haz mat

 

This very website has a hazmat study test. I used it to study for mine.