Location:
Manassas, VA
Driving Status:
Experienced Driver
Social Link:
Miss Miyoshi On The Web
45 year old married metal head, mother of one adult daughter, two black cats, a pug/Boston terrier mix, and a chihuahua, currently a driver at Prime, Inc. In my previous working lives I was a civil litigation paralegal, lighting technician and stage manager for various opera, dance, and theatre companies, manager of a world class heavy metal concert venue, and touring crew for various heavy metal bands. Glad to meet you all!
Posted: 7 years, 4 months ago
View Topic:
N00b Questions You (Probably) Have But Were Afraid To Ask!
Thanks! Yeah, I'm an hour in the negative on my 14 so I'm stuck. I've got 3.5 hours to go until my hours come back, so I'm going to just sit at the receiver until then and if they tell me to leave I'll tell them I can't.
Posted: 7 years, 4 months ago
View Topic:
N00b Questions You (Probably) Have But Were Afraid To Ask!
Also, I thought you had to do the 8 hours first, then take the 2 later. I've never once had any hours come back after only 2 hours in the sleeper.
Posted: 7 years, 4 months ago
View Topic:
N00b Questions You (Probably) Have But Were Afraid To Ask!
I've done that before, and the problem is I lose out on those two hours of sleep. I have to be at my next shipper by midnight, 60 miles away. I should be in full sleeper by now for my 10 hour for that to even happen. I don't have my bills yet. My FM so far has said I have time, but heneber I've done the split I get stuck in a cycle of all splits, mostly due to the fact I'm running regional and all my runs occur in one drive day. I actually had a near collapse because of how broken up my sleep got after doing it for 4 days straight and had to ask for an entire day to just sleep and reset my internal clock. I get asked why I don't "just sleep" at the customer, but remember that sleep cycle problem I was taking meds for that Prime wanted me to discontinue? I can't just fall asleep at the drop of the hat. It's now noon, and I started my day at 2300 the night before. I'm tired, but I don't know what to do.
Oh, and I don't bother asking any log questions to our logs people because they ALWAYS say you need a logs class and you lose a whole day without pay if you so much as ask a simple question. That's why I have you guys. ;)
Posted: 7 years, 4 months ago
View Topic:
N00b Questions You (Probably) Have But Were Afraid To Ask!
The off duty driving thing is still confusing, and the situation that prompted it is happening right now. I've been sitting at a receiver long enough that between here and my shipper plus my drive time, I'm about to run out of hours. But I won't be here long enough for a sleeper reset, and I can't stay here on unloaded. If I run out of hours, can I still ODD to the closest truck stop (about 20 miles from here)? Because I'm in off duty status now and the time is still counting down, will it go into the negative until I change the duty status? Will that negative ticking away put me in violation?
I hate the stupid 14 hour rule.
Posted: 7 years, 4 months ago
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So, because I'm driving at the time I cannot take photos, but I've come across some pretty funny things along the way.
Stickers on the back of a trailer: (On left door) <--------El Paso (On right door) El Smasho-------->
(On left door) <--------Passing Side (On right door) Suicide-------->
Sign along mountain roadway: Seatbelts Required Next One Million Miles
I've also seen some "No Lot Lizards" stickers on windows of trucks.
Anyone have anything to add? I know we have a "funny pictures" thread but this is for when you can't have the photo.
Posted: 7 years, 4 months ago
View Topic:
N00b Questions You (Probably) Have But Were Afraid To Ask!
Thanks for all the great replies everyone! I already knew about the alcohol in cab, but thought anyone else who wanted to know but was afraid to ask might be interested. I had that situation come up really early on in my driving and I called my FM to ask permission. She made it clear that both DOT and company policy prohibit it, so I made a note that if I should ever get out that way on my own I would have to look up that cidery again.
The off duty driving was always a bit of a mystery to me. There have been times I was completely out of drive hours, but I had not spent enough time in the sleeper berth at a receiver to recover any hours. So I was forced to drive to a truck stop afterwards since I couldn't complete my rest break on premises. I used off duty driving but our system is set up to "warn" me that I'm driving off duty. Also, because I had another load scheduled after this one (but was 24 hours away) logs called to see what I was up to.
The engine breaks during inclement weather concerns me because as a Prime driver in a speed governed truck the engine brakes automatically kick on if I reach a certain speed. Now, I'm not likely to be going downhill in the pouring rain at 65mph because I'm pretty much a wimp, but sometimes I'm not paying careful attention and suddenly my engine brakes kick on. So I'll brake until I get under the speed to turn them off again.
Posted: 7 years, 4 months ago
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Mobile networks..who's really best?. Or worst?
I love my T-Mobile service for so many other reasons than just coverage. Verizon outstrips them, but T-Mobile just bought a huge chunk of the 600mhz spectrum and it's going to really punch them up in par with the other "big 3" carriers. My setup is my T-Mobile phone, tethered to a Verizon business account data hotspot, and running with a signal booster. Never a problem.
Posted: 7 years, 4 months ago
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Personal favorite was the Falcon Zero Touch. But I had a problem with it freezing up after a while. It was a shame, because it's the best in my opinion. I now have a Rand McNalley 300 and it's pretty awesome. You might want to take a look at that. It takes stills as well as does loop recording, and is set at a wide angle when recording.
Posted: 6 years, 6 months ago
View Topic:
First year pay totals with Prime
Hey! In back from lurking land to swoop in and make a comment! Hahahaha!
Actually, there NO difference between the condo and LW as far as wheel base is concerned. Prime buys all their trucks regardless of maker with the exact same wheel base. Don't believe me? Park next to a LW or a Pete and line up your drives with theirs and get out and look. Your steers will be lined up with theirs. The only difference is the actual size of the sleeper. That's it. That's where they save on the weight of the overall truck. Turning radius is also similar across the board. While I had to have my truck in the shop for a few days I had to recover 2 trucks, both full sized. One was a FL and one was an Int'l. I didn't notice any difference in turning at all. Just how they drove we're different. (I still maintain that Int'l have a much smoother, quieter ride than FL.) I would love to recover a Pete to see what that one is like.
Ok. I'm going back to being absent forever. Hahahahaha! Actually, I'm super active on Facebook. The Women in Trucking organization has a Facebook page, and I'm one of the admins on there. So my internet time is taken up by that a lot of the time. But I still get email notices for here and I peruse the threads on occasion.
Hope everyone is doing awesome!