Profile For A.J. (Artman)

Hey Brett, I just logged on for the first time in years. I love the new look man, you did an awesome job. Gonna start hitting up the jobs section, even though I am still employed. Company just started cutting our pay rates. Newbies that started at 50 cpm down to 45 cpm, longer term from 63 down to 55. Also sounded like they're not gonna worry about repairs unless the truck breaks down. Feels like being on the Titanic and we just struck the iceberg.

Delivered Pizza at Pizza Hut 2004-2007, fired by asshat manager. Worked for a friend at his Pizza & Subs place until 2013 once business slowed down.

Any from the Roanoke VA area know where I could park a trailer for a couple of days? I can park my truck at my house just no room for the big box.

Down on Franklin Rd after getting off 581/220 where Tanglewood Mall is. Take a left at the exit, you have a Sonic and Red Lobster on the left across from the old Colonial Motor Lodge. Used to be a K-Mart there, plenty of space. You also have Excel Truck Group on Lee Highway.

I got into it for the chrome!

Is that gonna be your new song: "It's All About The Chrome Baby!"

I was bringing a load from Commerce,CA to Miami with a stop in Pensacola. Everything was going fine until I got to Pensacola. Was told that no loads were going to be coming in or going out, especially with the Labor Day Weekend. Then was told that I had to take it down to Miami regardless, however I would be on my own as far as getting out (deadheading with no pay). Even Safety was pushing to go down there saying that oh you have plenty of time to get down there and get up to Atlanta, before the stalling.

Dispatch called this morning asking me if I am still going to take it down there since the holiday weekend is over, told them find someone else who cares more about making $$$$ for the company over their safety.

Got into trucking because it would be a rewarding career once you get the hang of it, that is after learning the lifestyle. For those of you that always wanted to see the country, what better way to see it and get paid for doing it?

Keep up the great work Big Scott! By the way, is CFI still requring you to get HAZMAT?

Greetings to the men and women here on Trucking Truth. I know that it's been what seems like forever since I have been on here, especially when it comes to replying to a comment or posting a topic.

Last time I remember talking on here, I was a newbie trucker and was jumping from company to company. I was working at local company in Rustburg/Lynchburg VA area called Englander Transportation. Teamed with a trainer running reefer for a few months (Oct 2016 to March 2017) before we finally needed to break the team up (especially when you cross the line talking about my girlfriend plus attitude). I was eventually teamed up with another guy for 3 more months (April to July 2017) before we both decided to leave the company (low pay, company more focused on inbound cameras being covered instead of repairing equipment). So I went from teaming up with two different guys and gained more confidence. More importantly, I gained critical experience that made me feel more comfortable handling that truck going down the road.

I decided to take my first adventure into going solo, JB Hunt running dedicated with RR Donnelly. Because they have one just a few minutes from the house and I can bobtail or deadhead home, OTR for 12-14 days and home for 3 straight. I had a great relationship with my dispatchers, and my Fleet Manager was a character that you could BS with. I had been running with them since August.

So yeah I have survived my first winter as a SOLO truck driver, barely though. Driving through Atlanta on 285 and 20 with the roads not even touched by DOT, OK on 35 with ice coming down and 7 accidents happen in 5 miles. But these Nor'easters were messy. Unfortunately, I wasn't going to run Thursday (3/22) with 76,000 lbs load going down 77/81 into WV/VA mountains in the middle of a Nor'easter. Especially when law enforcement says stay off roads and already had 20 accidents on 81 alone in a couple hours. Heck even PA had a truck ban!

Things tend to change and unfortunately, the stress within was catching up because they pay by Postal Code mileage instead of Practical mileage. Just this past 5 days I ran, drove almost 3300 miles but was only "paid" for 2900 due to PC, that's miles I run that's not being paid for. Adds up over time as we all know. From Day 1 to this past Tuesday, I've ran 67k miles, but only paid for 47k. Those 20k miles add up to $9000. More reasons I had to leave was: The account is going downhill (via down-sizing), start of the year they had taken Love's off our fuel stop network, and now they're taking one of our home days away.

Now I was talking to a buddy of mine who's been driving for 9 years, running as an independent contractor with Roadrunner. Now, I was all set on calling them when I decided to check in before coming across Brett's article about the risk/reward ratio of being an Owner Op or Lease Purchase. That's another wake up call, and back to looking for another company.

Which school is that in Cedar Rapids, Iowa? Those that basically yell and curse at you for not being able to "grasp the concept" should not be trainers in the first place to me, trainers need to have patience because we're just lowly trainees who are just trying to learn in this new world.

@C.S. What happened with Western Express was the trainer I had only had 6 months experience solo, only stopped long enough for the 30 minute break at fuel stop which was the only time I could get any food to eat. Eating one solid meal per day isn't good for the body and can cause your blood sugar levels to drop dangerously low (no I am not diabetic) that can make you unsafe to drive. Among other things wasn't a decent match and the safety guy at the terminal tried blaming me saying I didn't tell them about my need of having to use a CPAP, which I flat out told him off because I told the recruiter about it, mentioned it on my application, and told the doctor when I had to do the physical.

@Chris K. I only have 3 months experience total, but they all been with a trainer. Smith Transport requires at least 1 year experience and I believe Fleetmaster does also, Harris is 6 months solo experience. I prefer Dry Van because that's what you know we're trained on from CDS, Englander is a Reefer company and they want experience too. When I went through CDS, it was on 48ft trailers and the backing moves we had to train for was Straight Line and Curve Back. The stuff they doing now went into effect start of 2015. John was the head instructor at the time and you had Freddy, Randy, Diane, Bill, and J.R. there but much has changed since most of them had left. The school was pretty decent and you always had chance to work on your skills along with pre-trip.