Profile For horsinaround1974

Thank you for your replies. We ended up going with Skelton Truck Lines. They take superb care of their trucks, seem to really take care of their drivers, and are a much smaller company. We really like it so far.

My son began driving in September 2021. I began driving in February of 2022. We began team driving in April of 2022, with the same company my son began driving at. Our company has been ok, but recently we ran into a major issue with them (pushed to take an unsafe/illegal load - overweight on the steers, that should have just been given to another truck), and there have been some smaller ones such as micro-managing until it's absolutely maddening, too much already late freight with unrealistic eta's, and ok miles but not enough pay for us to make progress. We both have some health issues that require us to get our physical done yearly, but we pass muster and are capable of doing our jobs. However, due to these issues no touch freight is the best option for us. He could probably do flatbed and load/unload, but I definitely wouldn't be capable. I still don't know how to check my DAC, and don't know if it would be on there, but in May of 2022 I was backing parallel to a curb (super slow and easy), got up on said curb, and ended up with the front bumper cover of a new KW on the ground. I was absolutely floored that it came off (after seeing how the damn thing is attached I wasn't so surprised anymore). I should have gone forward off instead of continuing back. Lesson learned, lost a year of safe miles and got a stern hand slap. My son got pulled over for speeding around the same time, as he was leaving a construction zone. He didn't get a ticket, but a level one inspection with the speeding noted on it. Our licenses are otherwise pristine. We're looking for a company who will give us the miles and pay, along with concessions for being human beings who need more than one shower a week, time weekly to do laundry, and time every other week to get groceries and supplies. We run 7 to 8 weeks at a time and take a week off. We have 2 home bases, one in Olympia, WA and one in Phoenix, AZ, and otherwise live on the truck. Also, we have a Miniature Schnauzer truck boss. We originally planned to stay with this company until we are ready to go Owner op (at about the 5 year mark). However, we just aren't making the progress we need to to get there, recent situations with this company are untenable, and frankly I think we can do a lot better. Any and all suggestions and ideas will be appreciated.

I’m confident they want to give you an award for being such a safe driver. But they want it to be a surprise

Lol.....wouldn't that just be wonderful 🤪

UPDATE! Sorry this took so long. The good news is that we've been running our asses off this last week, which is why I haven't had time to update. So, my teammate (son) was the one who got called to the carpet. First reason was his CPAP. Back in June, when we moved trucks, his mask got caught on something and tore. It took us a bit to get somewhere where he could get another mask. This time he got 2 of everything, so he has back-ups in case of future issues. Second reason, he got pulled over coming out of a construction area in Ohio (towards the end of August). The officer initially tried to say he was doing 75, but it was flat ground and we're governed at 68. The officer didn't ticket him, just gave him a level 1 inspection, with 70mph noted on the form. They just wanted to go over a couple of things with him regarding those issues. I've done a lot of nudging and reasoning since I got on the truck with him (he'san adult and will make his own decisions). He's young and learning. He used to just he balls to the wall everywhere he went. I've been attempting to get him to see that it's just not worth the tickets, additional potential for accidents, etc for that extra 5 miles. My son is a great person and I have every confidence that he'll get it. I just hate that they do that little, "please see me when you come into the terminal thing." Drives me crazy every time. Thank you for all the wisdom and support.

I have no idea whether he was or not, unfortunately. I ended up leaving that company to go drive team with my son, elsewhere, as his company is just better.

Yeah, this is going to be a looooonnnnngggg weekend, lol.

I am new to the forum, but definitely not new to the experiences that you have. I faced difficulties even getting my foot in the door because I had gotten my class A 11 years prior to trying to enter trucking, but only drove class B that entire 11 years (single mother with kids at home and no one to help me). All the companies I tried to get on with wanted me to go back and do the full CDL schooling again. I finally found a company that would take me, and ran with it. The food issue wouldn't have been a problem if someone had just made me aware of it ahead of time, and maybe offered me space for an electric cooler at the least (the bunks are plenty long enough to have one take up space at your feet). Unfortunately, most companies don't pay enough for training, so that a trainee can pay their regular bills and handle the expenses of food on the road. Issues I had with my trainer 1) On his cellphone filling out payday loan applications and watching videos while driving. Literally thought he was going to go off the road multiple times. Could actually feel my blood pressure spiking from the jolts to my heart everytime he'd head somewhere other than down his lane of the road. 2) Made the seemingly obligatory attempts to make me his bed buddy 3) Peed into a water bottle while driving down the road, with me in the passenger seat, and too many other things to list. SERIOUSLY, YOU CANNOT MAKE THIS STUFF UP! However, it was 3 SHORT WEEKS OF MY LIFE. I just toughed it out as best I could and got the hell out of there. I got video of him, from between the bunk curtains doing his phone thing, and reported him to the company later. I made it through training and eventually left that company to go drive team with my second oldest son, and I've never looked back.

My teammate and I just got back on the road from our downtime on Thursday. On Friday we got routed to our CA terminal for mid trip inspection and full service on our truck, and to do our quarterly safety training. Also, got a message that we need to see safety. We could have seen them today, if it hadn't been for the flat on the preload thay had us pick up to bring to the yard, now we have to spend the whole weekend trying to figure out what naughty thing we did to get called in. I'm assuming it's not a firing offense or they would have sent us to the terminal and told us to take a hike. Why do they put us through this rare form of torture. Just why?!!! (being dramatic for fun....lol).