Profile For Pianoman

Been about 4 months with a local company. Inward facing camera s with AI. My Boss see s Im a great worker however my following too closely events are testing him to when to give me a written warning. Had 7 events the past 2 weeks.

Anyone have suggestions to deal with anger? I'm good 99% of the time and it s when some ******* cuts me off or they're going super slow.

I have always had this problem, got away with it with Schneider since they don't have the AI system.

I used to struggle with anger while driving. I drive local now and I have to have a good hold of my temper while driving because if I don't I'd have some real problems considering I drive in Denver traffic all the time lol.

I think the key for me is I had to come to terms with the fact that people are gonna do stupid crap all day and I just expect it. I follow principals when I drive. I need to have a proper following distance and as a general rule I keep my speed to no more than 5 over the limit at all times. When people do stupid stuff, let them. It's not worth your license, your freedom, or anyone's life.

I've said this many times when telling people why I don't fight people or road rage on people: I wouldn't go to prison for someone I liked, so why would I go there for someone I don't even know or like at all? That person you're mad at in the other vehicle doesn't give a damn about you, so don't give up your hard earned cdl, job, and freedom for them. Let them go. It ain't worth it brother.

Last time I reacted in anger to someone on the road it almost ended very badly. Long story short another trucker did something pretty stupid and forced me halfway off the road and I got angry and honked at him and flipped him off as I passed him. I didn't really think much of it and I didn't do anything remotely unsafe so I kinda forgot about it and kept going. He caught up to me later and passed me and intentionally tried to force me off the road and then came almost to a complete stop in front of me on the freeway, blocking me and other traffic behind me. This dude even got OUT OF HIS TRUCK and approached my truck and started banging on the door. The dude was absolutely unhinged and literally all I did was honk at him and flip him off. It's hard to believe because it's not normal for someone to have such a severe reaction to something so small. Naturally, most people reading this will want to ask me for the rest of the story because surely I did something more to make this guy so angry. That's the whole point, actually - I did nothing crazy. By the time he stopped his truck I was already on the phone with 911. You never know what someone is going through so don't test people. Remember, you're the one in the big truck, you're the professional, so just let the idiots be idiots and leave them be. As long as the wheels are turning, you're getting closer to your destination. Anger and 18 wheelers don't mix. After that incident, I don't even use the air horn unless I'm trying to prevent an accident or some kids are pumping their fist. That's it. Even flashing brights at people will get some people angry. I had a friend who didn't use air horn or brights and just changed lanes in front of them, and the other driver passed him and shot at him. Cool, calm, and collected is where it's at.

It's definitely worth getting and maintaining. I got my Hazmat, doubles/triples, and tanker endorsements, as well as my TWIC card, while at my last company. They wanted me to have HM and TWIC and they were footing the bill so I just got everything. I haven't used anything but my TWIC card so far but my current company just doesn't have the work right now and I'm finding myself again looking for work (sucks bc I love my current job). I just found a fuel hauling job paying an hourly rate WAY higher than anything I've ever had, including a guaranteed 8 hrs of pay for every night I work. Since it's fuel, obviously I'll be using HM, tanker, and my TWIC card but I probably wouldn't have gotten the call for this job if I didn't already have my endorsements.

You just never know where your career will take you and it's better to have the endorsements beforehand instead of waiting until you'll need them.

Sandman making the rounds lately lol

Good meeting up with ya man!!

I’m permanently in the Denver area now so if anyone is driving through here and I can make time I’ll gladly meet up and buy you lunch (to be fair Sandman bought this round since he thinks I’m broke and unemployed-he’s not wrong 🤣🤣)

Thanks for the replies! I read and appreciate each and every response and took some time to think about what I’m looking for. I also put in more job apps in the meantime.

Unfortunately for whatever reason I haven’t gotten a single yes from anyone besides my old employer. Even two food service companies turned me down and I didn’t hear from the third one I applied to, which is crazy if you know anything about food service. They’ll take just about anyone and I was even offered a job in the past with one of the ones that turned me down this time and I have essentially nothing new on my driving record. It’s honestly worse than I thought out here right now.

So I’m going back to my old company starting tomorrow. One of my buddies who drives for Walmart convinced me to go ahead and fill out an app and go with them if they do take me. Idk if I meet their hiring criteria but according to what’s listed on their website I do so I guess we’ll see. I wasn’t going to go with anything strictly regional just yet but if they’ll take me the money and benefits package (including vacation, a big part of what’s appealing about them) is good and it’s a career move I was likely going to make eventually anyways.

I’ll keep y’all posted although now that I’m gonna be local-ish again (still running some regional loads for this company) I probably won’t be on here much. Thanks again for the advice!

I took a bit of hiatus from TT and from work in general the last month and a half and finally decided to quit my job almost two weeks ago. Can't put my finger on exactly why but OTR just wasn't working for me. Financially things were going great since I was making decent money and not paying rent but mentally it was just totally draining me. I don't remember the last time I was so depressed and by the time I left home again for the last time a couple weeks ago I was dreading leaving the whole time. Kinda weird imo since it's not a bad job and it's overall a pretty easy job but I decided it was time to end that brief chapter in my life and get off the road so I did and I don't regret it. My depression is literally non-existent since I quit and I'm actually looking forward to working again as soon as I start a new job.

I moved back to Colorado and got all my endorsements (plus I have my TWIC and passport) before I quit and I have enough experience and at this point a pretty decent driving record so I shouldn't have too much trouble finding a good job. I'm looking for something local preferably although I'm open to a somewhat regional position. I talked to my old boss and they want me back doing pneumatic tanker so I'm planning on going back there but I'm still putting in apps in the meantime to see if I find something better. I loved that job and it's a mix of local and regional but I know I could make more money if I really wanted to so I'm not 100% sold on it yet. I'm burning through my savings though so I gotta start somewhere soon.

That said, what are some of the top things you all look for when looking for a new job? I don't usually job hop but I did this year and it is what it is, but I don't want to do any more of that for a while so I'm hoping to stick around at this next company for a bit. At this point my top three things are probably 1) pay/benefits, 2) hometime/work life balance, and 3) physicality/health (i.e. I prefer a job that I can move around and stay fit). Also, any suggestions that come to mind for what type of job might be a good fit? I'd do fuel hauling in a heartbeat if I had the tanker experience but most of the good paying outfits require experience and I don't want to take a paycut right now just to get experience. I've also looked into local flatbed, food grade tanker, food service (Sysco, Shamrock, etc), Walmart, and LTL. Any and all suggestions are appreciated.

It's good to be back. I've enjoyed taking a bunch of time off and getting my head right but I'm getting antsy to get back to work. Hope you all are doing well!

Congrats James!!! You're a total stud man. You just kept trying and pushing and applying despite multiple setbacks until you got to the point you're at now. I haven't been on here in a couple weeks really so sorry I missed it. Hope it's going well for you out there so far. You've got my number--reach out anytime if you need anything

I also always carry multiple knives in the truck for work but they can always double as a self defense measure if necessary.

Not worried about it. If I come up on a protest/mob/whatever, I'm not afraid to park the truck before I'm in the thick of it and just leave it if that's what I have to do. My life comes before the truck.

We had a member here years ago who the whole time in training, he kept posting about leasing.. conserving MPGs.... fuel tax etc. The first day out, he didnt swing wide enough and had an accident. Two weeks later, same thing. On his 30th day another accident.

At that point the company offered to put him back into training which he declined and was fired.

Two years later, he wrote me and stated that he finally learned. He should have used his training time concentrating on how to drive better, then later concentrate on a career. You cannot do the career if you cannot do the job.

He never made it back into trucking.

I skimmed through the replies here and Kearsey hit the nail on the head here.

I’m never going to tell you not to start your own business, but just to give you some perspective…if those numbers your trainer gave you were accurate then he’s getting screwed.

I don’t even make top pay as a company driver (in fact, I am at the LOWEST pay rate my company offers due to having less than a year of flatbed experience when I started here), I’m a single guy and I claim nothing on my taxes and I pay for benefits and supplemental insurance, and I take home the same as your trainer does, about 1300-1500 a week. My gross pay (if you include per diem which doesn’t count towards my gross taxable income obviously) averages about $2k a week or so. There are company drivers in other segments of trucking making substantially more than I am.

Idk the pay structure at WE but I figured I’d just throw some numbers your way to help give perspective. I’ve very seriously considered buying my own truck and probably would if I were going to stay OTR long term but I wouldn’t be doing a lease purchase at WE most likely if I did. Just my 2 cents

That’s awesome man! I was going to text you and see how you were doing but I guess it wouldn’t have done any good. Keep it up man, you’re one helluva persistent guy!