Profile For Mousemaker

13,000/month average for solo drivers is too high when you're talking an entire fleet. Most drivers aren't willing to run those kind of miles. They're more comfortable in the 10,000 mile range.

I would say the potential would be 13,000/month but there's no chance on Earth their fleet is averaging near the maximum miles you can legally log.

I would say most over the road fleets probably average around 10,000 miles per month. That's a pretty safe figure.

I recently went though orientation with May, I remember them saying 10,000/month was the goal.

one main thing I wanted to point out is that entertainment OF ANY KIND is not tax deductible as of last year.

oh good,I don't have to worry about deducting my entertainment now. It was difficult getting her to give me receipts for a dollar at a time anyway

I failed my first Solo test because I was so nervous I made stupid mistakes. So I had another week of training with the local delivery guy running empty trailers to a large shipper mostly. In hindsight I am thankful that I had that extra week. It was all city driving and backing, which was what I needed work on. I didn't know how much I didn't know. If I had passed the first test I would have been out there by myself so frustrated.

I passed my second test and was dispatched a HEAVY beer load (79600lbs gross with half tank of fuel) from Colorado to Idaho. It was nerve wracking doing it myself, but I made it. I almost hit a telephone pole making a right turn leaving the consignee because I forgot to slide my tandems forward before leaving. But I saw it in the nick of time (an inch maybe)and stopped, backed up and swung wider, with the help of a guy on the street who held traffic for me. I checked the trailer and there are no marks that I ever touched the pole so it's all good.

Now I am at one of our shops to have a few maintainance items and cabinet removal for fridge. And today is my 26th wedding anniversary

I'm on my trainers truck now going on third week. He scolds me when I brake cruse control to let on a merging car. He says they should find their accelerator pedal if they want in front of me. The other day, after we got loaded, a lady trucker behind me asked for help pulling her tamdem slide release lever and calculating how much to move her tandems. Since I had taken the section on Weight & Balance in the High Road CDL Training Program on this website, I was able to help figure how many holes she needed to move and watched while she backed that it went in the right hole. (although I do wonder how she soloed if she can't move tandems by herself) My trainer lectured me for 5 minutes about how I was using HIS time, and now she got to the scale ahead of us and we have to wait again, blah blah blah.

So, my question is, is that what trucking has come to today? Lookout for your own clock and screw anyone else? I told him I was not going to stop being a nice guy just because I drive a truck now.

Today was my first day with my trainer Got a load going from Colorado to Louisiana Safety guy says first we need to do a software update on the qualcom to reflect the new HOS rules. That's fine, sounds simple enough. They say to come back in an hour and I think they are joking because on my PC a software patch takes minutes.

Well, an hour later they say the upgrade didn't take, maybe because the truck was idleing (because the batteries were dead and we had to jump start this morning). So we shut the truck off and they try again for an hour come back and it still didn't take, so they call somebody and they try it again... and start talking about we might have to take it to the shop and have the whole qualcom replaced

So, my first day on the job I just stood around the yard in the sun and didn't get paid anything, and instead of going to eat cajun food, we are going to Utah tomorrow to sit around the shop there. I call first casualty of new HOS rules.

But hey, that's trucking! I'll try not to sound so whiney in the future.

(Bonus question!) 4. What's the most dangerous material you have drove with and did everything work out all right?

I haven't started driving yet, but I know of a guy who was hauling contaminated deisel fuel from the backup generators at the nuclear plant. It was a stormy night and the tank got hit by lightning and ruptured it. The electrified radioactive deisel fuel got spewed all over him and he felt changed.

now he is known as SUPERTRUCKER

If this is a trucking company doctor, theres not much you can do, other than change companies.

If a clinic doctor that the company sent me to gives me a 90 day card, can I go back to my private doctor and get a 2 year card? or do I have to go back to the same clinic to clear up the diagnosis that they gave me?

The situation is, (as seen in other thread) I had a 2 year card from my regular doctor, then company paid for physical at a clinic that measured my blood pressure as being too high. So now I have a 90 day card. So do I have to go back to the clinic to show I've brought my BP down, or can I do it at my own doctor again?

Well, I'm employed again :) I made it through orientation Thursday and am sitting by the phone waiting for a call from my yet unknown trainer. I think I'll call the lead driver manager Monday and ask if he has any leads on when one will come though town. I'm doing all my laundry to decide what to pack and what will fit in the duffle. It's that exciting/scary time of anticipation.

In January I went to my regular doctor for DOT physical and got a 2 year medical card. Now I just got hired by a company and they surprised me with a new physical (right after buffet lunch with all the soda I wanted, 100degree motorcycle ride to the clinic, knowing my new career balanced on this) and my blood pressure was high, so I got a 90 day medical card.

Are there non prescription medicines that can lower blood pressure just a little? I think they said I was 150/95. Is morning better than afternoon for blood pressure? What can I do, short of buying expensive prescriptions for the rest of my life, to get my blood pressure down for a follow up measurement?

Vice grips for holding the slide pin release handle on tandem or fifth wheel . wire cutters for trailer door seals. long hook for pulling fifth wheel locking Jaw release. good flashlight for checking fifth wheel locking jaws are closed. broom or leaf blower for cleaning out trailer between loads.