Profile For Vicki M.

That's a stunning one, Vicki.

Bliss Idaho. It was… wait for it… blissful lol

I won’t strap or seatbelt my doors. How would you get out in an emergency, like a fire? (On my mind since my friend’s truck just burnt to the ground. She’s fine. She saved her phone). In the year and a half I’ve been out no one has even knocked on my door. I have a yapping dog and can fully protect myself.

I have a freezer, cooler and fridge. I cook most of my meals on a George Foreman grill, a crockpot, microwave and an induction hot plate. I do my best to never eat fast food but will splurge for a regular sit down restaurant when I find one.

Jim Palmer was bought out by Wilson and then by Ashley. I did my training with them and am still with them over a year later. They have their flaws but they have their perks too, like any company in any field.

It’s a bridge down by Nipton, so approximately 45 miles south of Vegas. Good news, though, all lanes are supposed to be open by this weekend. https://www.ktnv.com/traffic/temporary-repairs-should-keep-southbound-i-15-lanes-open-over-labor-day-weekend?fs=e&s=cl

Ok Vicki M. I must see pics of said pug!

The pug Amadeus died two yrs ago. The puggle is 14 still goin!

Too cute! This is my copilot, Miss Piggy. We call her The Pig lol

I have 4 dogs. I have had all of them on the truck at one time or another. Only 1 at a time. I have two large dogs (pit/shepherd mix and a black lab). They both shed way too much and were hard to get in and out of the truck (they are older so I wouldn’t let them jump). Also the shepherd was too over protective of me and made guard shacks a lot of fun. My medium size mutt (Rottie/shepherd/chihuahua mix) was terrified of all the truck noises and cowered in the bunk the whole week.

By far, my best copilot has been my pug. Minimal shedding, she sleeps all day. Less food and no problem to get in and out. She also doesn’t bark and when she does it’s a lot quieter.

Mostly it seems to depend on the dog’s personality. Be prepared to stop a lot more often. The biggest piece of advice I can give is make sure you get them chipped and update it all to you and have an emergency person or two. I got sick and pulled off my truck in an ambulance. My dog ended up in the pound and had the chip not pointed back to me, I’d have never got her back.

Hey all! It’s been a minute since I have posted. Things are going well and I am quickly my 1 year solo date. That is when my contract is up. I am not unhappy with my current company but want to look around a bit to see if I can find something that either keeps me closer to home or pays more money. In a perfect world, both. But I am in no rush to leave Ashley PNW (formerly Wilson). We are treated well and the pay is decent.

I have NO experience talking to recruiters in this industry. When I first started, I did a ton of research on this site and others, made one phone call and it was done. So to make a long story shorter, I am not sure if what I just ran into is typical in this industry.

I live in Las Vegas. I understand that we are a consumer city and have very little product being shipped out. I know that’s why plenty of companies hesitate to hire from there. One large carrier told me I could expect to get home once every 2 months. That doesn’t work for me. Then I found it. The Holy Grail. Or so I thought.

Company based in southern Utah. 125 drivers. 3 generation family owned and has been in business 75 years. Offers OTR, regional (I15 corridor with occasional jaunts to TX and Ok), and there’s even a couple salaried positions shuttling trailers from Las Vegas to Barstow and back. Only negatives I could find in reviews were “low pay” and inward facing cameras. I don’t care so much about the cameras (safety will want therapy and a raise if they see me nekkid lol) but let’s see how low the pay is.

I called their recruiter and got what I assume is the standard speech about how great they are, we treat you like family etc. Nice enough guy, but then he’s paid to get me to sign up. I asked about pay and I was told he couldn’t tell me until I applied, since he didn’t know which job I was applying for. Ok. Weird. But ok. He told me he wouldn’t request my MVR so my current employer wouldn’t know I was looking elsewhere. (I’d already told him I wouldn’t be available until at least late September because I wanted to finish out my contract and give 2 weeks notice) Ok. I sent in my app and an hour later I’m getting requests for me to approve requests for my clearinghouse and MVR. My thought tended toward the idea that they needed to know if I was hireable before they wasted their time. I approved them and called him back the next day.

I asked a few other questions I thought of and asked about pay again. He said with bonuses regional would be somewhere between 50-55 cpm. That’s around what I make now. But he will not tell me what the base cpm is, nor what’s expected to earn said bonuses. He will not tell me what the salary is for the local shuttle job. His response was “we go over that in orientation “. I asked if they pay practical miles or zip to zip. His response “ I don’t know but it’s fair”. His final parting words were “call when you’re ready to join us and we will process you in”. Umm you want me to quit a job and come work for you without knowing how much I can earn?

Is the unwillingness to discuss pay common in this industry? Am I being too sensitive? Or should I just drop it with this company?

I won't lie, my training was horrid. Until I got my third trainer. The first two were not meant to be teachers, whereas my third one was a natural teacher. I don't miss him, we speak on a very regular basis and if I ever have a problem or question, he is only a phone call away.

Even though I did a lot of training in my prior career, I can almost guarantee I will never be trainer on a truck. I just don't have it in me anymore. Oh and the fact that I had my son, whom I love and have known for all of his life lol on my truck for 2 weeks. About a week into it I just wanted to put him on a plane home.

The load wasn't so interesting, but the way they unloaded it was. I had rolled paper, the shorter rolls that are about 4 feet high. I pull into an alley in the Los Angeles basin somewhere at 10 pm. About 6 guys jumped in my trailer and start tipping the rolls up and rolling them off the trailer. Then another group of guys would roll them into their building lol I got tired just watching them!