Profile For Paul W.

Hey folks,

It's been a long while since I've last been here and or posted anything. I am a former trucker so to speak. Got out of it to settle down and have my daughter but now that I'm getting divorced am seriously considering weather to go back to it. Was wondering if anyone could tell me anything about Transport America. Such as how their orientation works. What kind of trucks they have, and weather they are 10 speeds or automatics. I much prefer the manual although I keep getting told that those are being fazed out to strictly automatics. I hope not but I suppose I'm in the minority. Haha

Transport America seems to have some good options such as 14 days out 7 days in and so that is why I have been looking at them. Do they allow drivers to take a companion or friend from time to time? Any pointers and or advice for one who is looking tog et back in, would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Shiva, I’ve just recently been offers a local intermodal position at J B Hunt. Are you still on a local position with them? I was wondering because I’ve heard different things as far as making money on these. Do you get held up quite often at rail yards? About how many loads do you live load/unload and drop/hooks do you do per day? They quoted me an average of $45k per year with rope performers being able to make around $55k per year. Another driver stated on another form that due to being held up at the rail yard in combination with trying to find the container he’s supposed to pickup, he stated that he’s basically starving and isn’t making enough to support his family.

Can you offer any input and what has been your experiences with J B Hunt intermodal thus far?

Thank you

Now that I've got a better understanding of dry van and tanker divisions can someone elaborate on the intermodal opportunities? Do trucking companies reserve these positions for experienced drivers only or is it something a new driver can jump in to right out of school?

Intermodal is where the $$ is at! I was running Otr with Henderson trucking and my miles started to dip, I got tired of doing a 34 reset over the weekend away from home, so I started applying to regional jobs JB Hunt being 1 of them. I applied for intermodal regional with JB. after 6 weeks my fleet manager called me. Local intermodal had a position open and they wanted to know if I was interested the rest is history. Doing regional intermodal for 6 weeks gave me the training for the rail yards, so when I went local my trainer just had to show me how to make the $$. I liked regional intermodal, but I love local intermodal with JB. Most $$ I have ever made and I am home every day and off 2 days a week.

Were you actually told that that they don't have routes into Canada? Because I used to drive for Roehl and I've been into Canada twice. I don't know if they lost the customer or what not but my trainer has gone to Canada a few times. Now the Canada routes are not constant but I think they still have them. I've driven 76000 miles for them. The thing with Roehl is that they are a great company for sure. I've enjoyed my time there but the fact of the matter is that Roehl ' s customers are mostly in the Midwest to the northeast. They really don't have any customers or freight in the west. I'm not getting this from my experience but from the drivers who've been there a while and as well from different FM's. They just don't have any freight in the west.

I appreciate all the great feedback. I will be moving to a new Fleet (Driver) Manager in a few days. My current FM is moving into a new role. I will be having a conf call with him, my new FM, and my new FM's boss. Seems like a perfect time to share with them how I'm feeling about my time with Roehl so far (very positive), and what my goals are.

I've gotten positive feedback from my FM in my time working with him. I haven't had a missed appointment since my first month. I almost always get to the shipper early and I'm often able to get loaded/pick up the trailer ahead of schedule. I've had some weeks where I've done over 3000, but that's been unusual.

I will be asking for their help in achieving the goals listed below. I want their feedback on how feasible these goals are. If they say, for example, "We're simply not going to be able to get you out west, or up into Canada. Roehl just doesn't have the routes there.", that will be a deal-breaker for me. I wouldn't be upset with Roehl, but that will be a clear indicator I need to look elsewhere.

Goals 1. Increase my avg miles per week to 2700 by end of January. 2. Ensure I have a clear understanding of anything I need to do to grow my CPM (it's all performance-based). 3. Travel the 48 states and Canada. 4. Ensure I have a clear understanding of anything I need to do to facilitate prompt payment of detention time.

I'll let you know how that conversation goes.

I'm with you on the fact that driving on the grass is seen as an incident and even more so since there was no damage. Basically when I called my FM about a week later his almost exact words were, the safety manager upon seeing the grass in the photos automatically wrote it up as an safety incident. I'm not in any way trying to excuse myself or my mistakes but because they are categorizing it as 2 incidents, it has caused some doors to close for me unfortunately.

I don't see how it could hurt anything to ask but I doubt they're going to change anything.

I also don't understand how driving onto someone's grass got recorded as an incident. Someone had to have called your company and reported damages or something.

From now on when you apply somewhere you're probably just going to have to let them know that your last company is going to report two incidents that there are no record of and explain what happened. I'm not sure what else you can really do.

So my question is this. Is it a wise decision to call and ask a company to change an event that they are calling an incident when there was no damages involved to other trucking company inquiries? After driving for about 10 months with one company and 76,000 miles, I decided it was time for me to leave a company that I originally started with. I already had my CDL when I started with them but I didn't really have any experience. I left on what I deem as good terms. Have them more than 2 weeks advance notice. Did not ever cuss anyone out. Only bad thing I did was I had one non injury accident back in January where I damaged the side market and skirt of the trailer, minor damage. The light was still fully operational. And caused damage to 2 yellow poles on a city property. Nothing major. Coupe of hundred dollars worth total maybe. I also called the local Sheriffs department to report myself and I only bring that up to state I'm not one who hides from my faults. Since that one I had what this company referred to an another incident' which really was a mistake on my part and could have caused damage but no damages were done and no injuries. I drove the front of the tractor onto a another company' S property in an attempt to backin to a very tight dock. There was some grass in the area but it was mostly dirt and gavel. The owner himself actually stated that all the grass had actually been destroyed by drivers of another company that deliverd to that shipper regularly. So the company I first drove for has reported it 2 serious incidents within a 12 month period and any and all inquiries that come in to them, they do not hesitate to say that I've had 2 serious incidents already. Nothing is on my DAC report and my driving record is clean. Not even the accident in January is on record anywhere. One employer who I spoke to suggested that maybe I could call this company and ask them since I no longer drive for them, if they could stop reporting it as an incident as it sounds much worst that what really happened. Can this even be considered as a good idea to call them and ask that or would I just be opening the door for more trouble? Thanks guys.

Not to sound stupid, but can you pretty much run a ice less cooler and the 12 volt lunchbox at the same time without blowing a fuse? I have a Coleman ice less cooler and was just basically wondering if I need to unplug it before I plug in the lunchbox thing?

I too am also curious about the subject. I had no idea there were companies that did not allow inverters. Is it because they are seen as a fire hazard? How well does a 12v cooler work? Do they require ice or anything?

The 12 volt coolers work good. They basically keep the temperature about 45 degrees cooler than the temperature in your truck. They don't work as well as an actual mini fridge but they work fine, they're cheaper, and they're 12 volt so you don't need an inverter. They do not require ice, nor do they have an ice maker the way the mini refrigerators often do.

Almost all companies allow inverters. I know Swift has some sort of a policy against them but I don't know any other companies that do offhand.

I appreciate it guys.

If a driver quits one company to work for another without telling the current company a reason for quitting, can the truck company legally file a bad DAC report on the driver and this prevent future hiring to another company? I have been driving with a company I started with for about 8 months now and am currently looking to switch companies. Nothing bad about the current company I work for but rather I found another company that pays a little bit better and has a regional that better suits my needs. I initially gave a 2 weeks notice but it was due to me taking an overseas assignment, government related. I was then told since I'd be gone for over 30 days I'd have to resign but upon my return they would rehire me and I'd be ' fast tracked.' Since that initial notice they have received inquiries from other companies I've applied to and I've been asked what my intentions were but I have failed to give any reasoning or information other than what I gave them two weeks ago. When another trucking company contacts the current or former company, are they obligatied to give the information regarding verifiable miles driven and all? What if they also gave a bad report on my DAC? Do I have any options if I lose out on an opportunity due to a bad DAC?

I know this topic was mileage pay vs. percentage pay. I do t know if this topic was covered already, I didn't see it. My question is what about practical mileage pay. Like for example, Roehl pays miles based upon zip code to zip code while there are a couple of other companies that pay practical route miles. What is the difference between the two? Is one better than the other or does it all kind of depend?

Just had a CB installed in the company truck. I've been meaning to get one for awhile but timing as well as cost, was a limiting factor. Do you or anyone else have any advice for a rookie with the CB?

Thanks

I am merely trying to point out the importance of communication to the new drivers out here. Learn how to use the radio and you will not here all of the garbage.