Profile For Fire Marshal Bill

Trucking industry doesn't like change.

It could also lead to more accidents due to drivers relying too much on technology.

Mk-1 Eyeball is perfect technology for backing.

GOAL

That was an awesome article!

I've been driving a few years now and I have lost count on the number of people I've meet who use to be ownerIut operators.

The horror stories I've been told could be made into a movie. One of the new drivers in my company is trying to sell his truck off to my company to try and get out of the dept. Sad story from this guy.

I work the ports of Seattle and spend alot of time sitting at the port. I get paid by the hour. There are alot of owner operators that work the ports too. Many of the OO's I speak to there tell me the make up to $300.00 a load and sometimes more. That's great if you can get in there, out and deliver your load and return for another one in the same day consistently. Not going to happen. They say they are at the whim of the ports and shippers/receivers. Not to mention Seattle traffic. Their faces look so sad when I tell them how much I make with benifits. Approximately $50-$60.00 a day less than them.

For anyone thinking of doing it I would recommend against it unless you have a federal contract or something of that nature.

Read the article again if you are thinking about it. Then reread it until you dont want to be an OO.

The driver trainer told me when I was riding with him that he had paid over $83,000.00 the year before in fuel cost alone. He said it was about half his gross for the year. Looks good on paper right? Add his maintenance, licenses and permits, then food and other expenses it's not so good a deal to me to work 7 days a week like that.

Again. Awesome article guys!

Truck driving is like anything else. You get out of it what you put in.

It is a hard and unforgiving job, one that I wouldn't do for a long time. But it is fun driving big rigs.

It gives you alot of time to reflect and plan for your own future.

All companies are not bad contrary to what is talked about on the internet.

Be honest with yourself, be an adult and take ownership/responsibility for your own actions and words, research things in the industry and take alot of truck stop talk with a grain of salt.

Dealing with the people in the logistical business may not be fun. Do your job. Period.

Just do your job 100% everyday and let others slack off. And if you can't.... Be honest and let someone know.

Communicate with everyone and your life will be easy.

Don't be like Jimmy Strothers (know it all trucker) up the street. He's super truck driver.

Make trucking fun and it will be.

Thanks Brett! Much neede info on TT.

I tend to run into the "You work for a racist company." rats.

I have never experienced that since I've been driving. Being a 6 foot tall former powerlifter probably keeps alot of that BS at bay for me. I'm sure it exits somewhere but not with any company I've been with.

Many of those "rats" are lazy and don't take responsibility for their own actions.

I always tell new drivers to listen to the person who is putting money in your pocket before someone who isnt. And then find out what works for them and work with the company before going off the handle.

My company and I work together through continuous communication so that we get the job done. Some things I won't do and some places I won't go and we've all sat down and found a solution that benefits everyone.

Ask questions, voice your concerns and work with you dispatch.

Simple.

I worked for them for a while on a dedicated route in San Antonio Texas.

I enjoyed it but moved to another state.

They will work with you and they are a good bunch of people. I had a nice Kenworth. Though it leaked sometimes when it rained.

Its ok to be scared. Fear keeps you from doing dumb stuff... somtimes.

Just listen, learn, write down things and ask alot of questions.

You may want to look for a job that pays hourly.

I can sit at a port on average 3 hours per day but I get paid by the hour.

If working ports then there will be a company that pays hourly.

Same procedures here in Seattle area. Always a stop before going out to lock down the container.

I usually try and find a place out of traffic while at the port to lock down. Been manya times when the container needed to be repositioned for the locks to work.

If anyone starts driving port using intermodel chassis remember to lock the container down.

I saw a guy dump a container the other day in Seattle after coming out of a shipper.

The fully loaded container landed about 5 feet from some occupied cars going the other direction.

Our containers run up to 70k pounds.

No injuries, thank God. But wow!

Be careful and check and recheck eveything.

Firemarshalbill,

"Let me show you something!!!"

I use to scale anything over 28k lbs when I was with KLLM and Werner.

Now since I work ports I don't scale as much because we have licensing permits for 98.5k lbs. The other company I worked for were permitted for 105.5k lbs. I agree with everyone; never trust anyone whose not responsible for your license.

That's leaves only you.

I like doing local. Home every night off weekends and holidays.

I actually don't really drive that much.

I run containers.