Profile For John G.

Hey all,

Had a meltdown last Friday at my Coke delivery job. We push 27-40 pallets per night by hand into gas stations. For the most part I was used to it, but they’re increasing the caseload cause people are leaving our team and the season is picking up. I can’t stand this anymore and I’m fortunate I’m a good saver with money.

I called my boy (10 year o/o) and he recommended forward air or landstar. He also told me to focus on a truck that gets good mileage, so I’m getting a cascadia or Columbia with a 60 series.

Are these good companies? I look at negative reviews first and they tell me forward air cancels loads and landstar dispatchers are bad at English.

However, I would much rather work a few loads per week and endure waiting in line than fight with convenient store clerks and move and trip on the **** let leave in the back room.

Anyone here experience landstar or forward as a lease o/o?

Any suggestions or other companies to check out? Thank you.

PS.. this is a low standard, but I take home $1k week from Coke so if I could take home $1200 even with startup cost of buying the truck I will be happy to have more control over my life.

When I meet shippers, I can work on going independent in the future if I want

Hi Anne,

Sorry for the very late response. Yes, it was me. I’m a lot better at shifting now, and I’ve driven a 10 and 7 speed

Here goes my update 7 months, almost 8:

Im tired of doing this sh*t. I don’t know how my coworkers do it everyday, but there are nights I take my full 12 hours (or more) for a small load and others where I knock it out a lot quicker.

I applied to a flatbed job that is out 5 days, home weekends. Pay is about the same as my local job. I just got several things going on at home, mainly:

1. Car project- I’m rebuilding the top end of my vette. My car project motivates me to show up at work everyday

2. Gym- I train martial arts and lift weights. Being in shape is a constant in my life and something I will not give up

That’s really all that’s keeping me. I support my girlfriend and my family loves me so it would be no different for me to be gone vs coming home every night.

I decided not go the flatbed route, cause I can skip a step. If the jobs pay the same, I will just do delivery for a year or so till I have money for my own truck. I can already buy one, but I want something nice and don’t want to jump the gun.

My main issue with my job is I don’t care at all about the “skill” I am learning. The coolers vary- tonight’s have been clean- but I see little value in learning how to organize and stock a cooler. I’m focused on learning what I can about the industry

I used to run a roadside service and met many owner operators who inspired me to get my cdl. They have a completely different mindset than the company ppl. I’ve made friends and contacts here, but there are a lot of as$ kissers and people who care a ton how they look to the company. I’ve never been able to fake interest or be excessvely nice to people who bother me. Mainly my boss. He is a giant **** who is in charge of 20 ppl for the first time. Hardly anyone actually likes him, but no one will say anything.

Just to give an example of his leadership- a merchandiser who rode with me got in a fist fight with a customer while lowering the tailgate. Both the merchandiser and customer were understandably mad at each other. One of the managers comments was I could have parked different. Long story short, I expected supervisor to be helpful and useful, but when there are issues he hides behind the ramparts of company policy and gaslights drivers’ judgment when they have issues. I can count on my hand the times the dude has had something positive to say.

Idk why I’m harping on this. My job is thankless minus the customers I meet and paycheck. The dude is a nuisance to deal with on top of an already frustrating job

He is one of the dumbest people I have met, but he spent 12 years at the company to get his position.

There was one thing I wanted to add about the personality issues. I'm not best friends with any of the people, but now that I've been there a while, I talk to them like equals rather than a noob. Idk if this makes sense, but for a new person, I would recommend learning the lingo and "acting the part' more than I did.

I was clueless and showed it. This doesn't mean be afraid to ask questions, but talk to the people as your coworkers and fellow drivers, rather than just a noob. ****, look up some stuff to say to them that makes you look like you know the part. Eg... "Man I was checking in at ___ and the clerk had me wait 20 min, can you believe it?"

Hey, man!

You left this diary ''high & dry!" LoL, it happens. Just wondering!

So,

Is this still your same place, doing this ?!?!? Shifting Video... ?

Either way; be safe!

~ Anne ~

That is awesome. Maybe you can send the doll in to work, so you can stay home for Xmas

Planning to apply at Roehl in March and get my career started as a Midwest regional fleet driver. Working from home the better part of the last 10 years, it’s going to be a huge adjustment physically not seeing my family 4 to 5 days a week which is a much less strain than OTR driving. For $38, I bought this doll for my 10-year-old daughter in case she misses me. I am also confident my wife will occasionally use it as a voodoo doll as well. 🤠

If you have children at home, it may be a nice thing to help them cope with daddy or mama is away 👍

customphotodolls.com

I work full time delivering sodas, and I got an on call gig for Sunday which is moving trailers and tractors from one rental place to another.

All of the people who have taught me drive the tiny trucks for coke and they drive them like cars

I keep my part time job for the experience and camaraderie- it's older guys who are more laid-back than the drivers at my FT job. The ppl at the beverage place are very uptight and competitive for **** that doesn't matter.

Last week, we had to transfer trailers, and I rode with a 30 yr veteran (bull hauling, food delivery, otr driver) and I've never had such a smooth ride in a tractor trailer.

I noticed he doesn't rush to take off from lights, but he gets closer to cars in front of him than I do.

Almost driven for a year, but I still got a lot to learn.

Is the regional driving more laid-back?

Does your driving get smoother with practice?

This post might seem mundane, but i felt a connection to myself with his driving, cause I'm a pretty chill driver

Haha yeah 4 was a *****!

Thank you, gonna try this technique tonight. Should have another video!

What is the technique for slipping it into gear? I've been able to get it into 2 a few times while creeping at 4 mph, by giving it a small rev.

Ok, my worst muscle memory problem was pushing the clutch to floor. In my reply, I'm not even talking about floating. So, I'm coming up to a stop, shifted down to let's say fifth. I roll up until just before lugging, then push in the clutch part-way and roll the few feet to a stop. Most common thing I see (even in very experienced guys) is putting the clutch to the floor while rolling-once you've actually stopped, then it's fine. So, I'm rolling in fifth, clutch partially depressed and I come to a stop-believe it or not, I'll usually put it into my starting gear without pressing the clutch in any further, it's the synchronization thing, at a full stop, at the right moment, I can drop it into second without having to engage the clutch brake. Now I'm ready to take right off without having to bring the clutch out of the full depress. Also great if a light turns green, I'm rolling up in fifth, and have the start of a double clutch, light turns, depending on my road speed and weight, I can just complete a double clutch into second, third, or fourth. I've actually watched guys try to do this with a fully depressed clutch, and it's rough. To break my muscle memory problem, I literally put the clutch on the floor as rarely as possible.

Hard for me to pick up problems on a video (nice vid, btw), but fourth sure does have your number. A lot of shifting for me was just practice, hundreds of reps every shift as a city driver, tinkering with techniques until finding what worked.

Definitely. Foot through the floor when you're taking off from a stop. With the clutch fully engaged you will engage the clutch-brake and will be able to get right into gear.

That's why shops are replacing clutch brakes every two weeks. The only time I put the pedal to the floor is putting the truck in gear for the first time after starting the engine, or going from reverse to forward or vice versa. Coming to a stop while driving, you can slip it into gear every time without having to engage the clutch brake. Gotta synchronize better.

personally, I usually engine brake to slow down, slip out of gear, rev to about 1700 and slip down into the next gear

Man, 1700 seems high, with our Pete's, the shop will literally call us if we rev them over 1500.

What is the technique for slipping it into gear? I've been able to get it into 2 a few times while creeping at 4 mph, by giving it a small rev.

Here is my newest video- this shifter felt very stiff compared to the one I use at work. The one at work will slide into gear easier, this one made it more difficult. Note the speedometer isn't accurate till I stop the second time ( it's noted in video)

https://youtu.be/OR_3qg-q0m4

Give me feedback

Also how would you approach a gas station or a parking lot where you would drive about 5 mph? I am usually in a high gear coming from a 45 mph road

Thank you. I can't double clutch at all but I can float them ok. If I make it through my route tonight, I'll post a video. I have a GoPro that will record better than my phone. I discovered, like yall said, you have to go fast through the first gears. It reminds me of playing an instrument, my wrist moves fast.

Do you have to use the clutch when you start from a stop?

I've been able to float into gear 4 or 3 while coasting, but when stopped, I have to reset completely, by pushing the clutch all the way in

Are you double clutching or floating gears?

As for the rhythm...there was one goofy little "hack" or trick that really brought it all home for me.... When I was in CDL school I had a hell of a time getting in sync with the rhythm double clutching. For some reason it was just one thing I could not get right or keep right.. Finally one day my instructor pulled out his phone and he said "look, this is going to sound funny.. but just give it a shot because it works" then he proceeded to play The Addams Family opening theme song... once the song started playing he had me pay particular attention to the rhythm of the "Snap---snap" part. The first "Snap" is the moment you're clutching out of gear, and the second "snap" is the moment you're clutching back into gear. Like clockwork, I finally got the rhythm and it never left. To this day I still hear that damn song in my head any time I'm consciously shifting.

(A couple things to note for context.. 1: you will only be listening to the first 15-ish seconds of this song, where you have a combination of the instrumental "dun-nu-nu-nu" followed by the "snap---snap"... 2: I'm assuming you generally do understand double clutching already but its worth mentioning anyway-- when you double clutch you are not slamming the clutch to the floor or even relatively close, rather you're merely teasing it, playing "hard to get" so-to-say only giving er a couple inches of penetration). whether you're floating or clutching the rhythm is the same and that should help if you don't quite have that dialed in.

As for shifting the lower gears, depending on your weight you really should have no problem starting out in 3rd. At high RPMs shift slower and at low RPMs shift faster. When you miss a gear or are trying to figure out what gear you need to be in, a good rule of thumb is to add the numbers together on your speedometer to find the gear... ex: 15 MPH (1+5=6th) or 45 MPH (4+5= 9th) etc..

The Automatic-Transmission Pandemic infecting our highways scares the hell outa me, I can't believe how many long-haul companies are changing their fleets to 100% autos. I've occasionally driven an auto for 1-2 day hauls but Its never been a comfortable experience in any way, especially with liquid bulk tankers... most vicious surge hits ive ever experienced!

It's been grinding my gears that I learned to drive a truck in a standard, but have only driven auto since.

No trucks were available the other night, so I got to drive a rare 10 speed.

I set up my camera so I can get feedback.. I included my worst moments hoping to get ideas for improvement.

Here's the video.. please offer feedback on how I can improve my shifting. Like timing, rhythm, etc.

Timing? Rhythm?

Here is the video. I annotated and narrated my thought process to make it easier to critique

https://youtu.be/-4Kn_qBSa9g

Thank you

I had the most trouble in the lower gears. It seemed like the truck got up to speed quickly (ie.. 15 mph), and the truck liked when I threw it into 6

Thank you in advance

Thanks I gotta look at the posts.

I like the styling of the pete and a couple of drivers I know love them. The only issue is fuel mileage.

I rarely get to drive a standard, but it sounds like drivers shift through the low gears in about 1-2 seconds per shift. I'm gonna keep that in mind for my next chance

i am saving my money for a pete 379 with either a 13 or 15 speed. are they a lot harder to drive than a 10 speed? how do they compare?

Not even in the same ballpark!

What year? Glider? Hood? So many questions~ as you get the cart ahead of the horse, of course!

Read some of PJ's posts, for starters; His ride is in his profile, as well as much info on being an O/O.

Garner and many companies have the NEW Pete's..... be more specfic.

For now; learn how to shift!! Here's some resources/links: Tips for Shifting ~

Best to ya; cool video, as well

~ Anne & Tom ~

Ritalin is a far cry from what the old school drivers would use. If you think bull haulers go a full day driving without aid, you're mistaken. That toothpick isn't for teeth cleaning

It's big government and red tape. You wouldn't want a driver taking Addy's and going nuts, but a small dose will have an amazing impact on focus and productivity. You won't be hungry, all you'll think about is the next step of what you need to do. Regardless of trucking. You'll do that next step of your science project that you would normally put off to scroll through insta. It's the mindset the drug gives you that helps.

Like I said, it's big government and the real risk of abuse. There's always gonna be a bad apple that takes 4, has a heart attack and ****s it up for everyone.

Same thing with the Las Vegas shooter getting bump stocks banned