Profile For Squirrellyguns

So just wanted to touch base as I have been out about a month now. Is the money great? No. Did I set myself up saying it would be? No, but the money has been a lot better than my last job, and I have a great dispatcher who keeps me running. Yes some of my loads have paid great, and a couple that haven’t. As for my money in other places, no I didn’t use anything from the Company except for the “emergency” fund that will be my tractor/trailer issues fund should/when/if they occur. I route my pay outside the Company and move it thru a couple accounts I have to use or store as I need or can. Now as I stated above, I have a really good dispatcher who actually works with me helping ensure I’m actually making some money and I very rarely sit between loads. I have tried controlling my own fueling myself and using our fuel macro to see how well either works and so far I can say that 90% of the time, the macro saves me more money in fuel costs. As for the good n bad loads, SO FAR (knocking on dashboard) I haven’t been stuck in a bad zone yet but close enough I was able to see it and thankful that my dispatch was able to get me out with a still decent load. That side, my load is done, time to roll out! I’ll continue later

Best of luck to ya and remember to soak it all in! You’re going to receive a lot of info in a very short timeframe.

Well, if anything, we definitely see the standards coming out here now. I didn’t just get out of high school here gentlemen, and no, my trainer had very little to do with my decision. I understand revenue, profit n loss, expenses, let alone that by rights, starting a business, can take Years To truly profit, not weeks or even months. One of the other factors here that give me a kind of fail safe, this is a contract that I can back out of whenever with no penalty. Putting my money in places other than they suggest, sees that I wouldn’t lose much if any large amount of cash in the event I walk away. IF there would of been further losses should I choose to walk away, I would likely not have gone Lease immediately. That said, this all probably should be in a different thread at this point, but thank you to EVERYONE who helped me out, the forums, and the High Road System which worked out great. Everyone remember to be patient, and stay safe!

Well, it’s official. I ended my training finally with around 34k miles and have gone thru the upgrade process. That said, looking back at those miles is just a blur really. I had a great trainer that let me show him what I already knew, and then taught me what I didn’t. Safety and patience are paramount! Never let yourself get rushed cause that is another opportunity for an accident or injury. For those wondering, I did take a bigger leap after training, I decided to put a lot of prior experience and my college to use and i went Lease Operator..... I went to the dark side cause they had cookies AND milk!!!

I’d like to be all fancy here and give a great answer, but I won’t cause it wouldn’t be right. That said I’ve had a few occasions where I just could not get rid off the backing jerks, so for whatever reason per my instructor, I engaged the inter axle diffs and performed the same backing maneuver again with out the jerking, or almost none. Wish I could explain it, but for whatever the reason, it worked. And no, wasn’t slippery surface or even gravel, both were relatively flat and going in at say 20-35 degree angle offset?.? Just seemed to help both times. That said, now that I’ve finally figured this trucks quirks out, I’ll be out of it very soon......

Bran, hope all is well, know your hitting some good miles but don’t forget us all in here!!

Sorry to hear of your bump but betting you learned from it. I had to wait on a guy today at the TA down off the 10 around Colton, Ca, bet he did 10 GOAL’s, and from where I sat, couldn’t understand why the extra 4 or 5, and yea I was in a hurry to leave, and I may have griped, but I thought no less of him for being cautious, until that is after 30 minutes of backing into the spot, nearly 3/4 of the way in, he pulls out, pulls up to me complaining about not getting any help n drives off.... now me being a rookie still training, it kind of threw me, so I pulled up to where he was trying and I still 4 hours later can’t figure out what the issue was or what help he needed. It was a normal sized space, both sides had parked correctly, and he was pretty much in the hole, but after 30 minutes felt he was rushed.... key here, take breath, relax a second, and use the mirrors and goals till you get the job done! Don’t let yourself feel or get rushed, that’s how those little accidents happen! And don’t feel bad about your little light bender, just remember it and learn from it. You got this! Stay safe.

Well, here I sit in Cali again, waiting to leave with a Walmart load to Minnesota. That said this one should put me close enough to our Company requirement of 30k team miles that a short hop then to Springfield will make it complete. It has been a long journey so far, just to be able to start a new one. That said, I did learn a few new things I didn’t know before, I had a great trainer who was always close by and ready to help when I needed it, but alas, I’m itching for my own meal ticket already!!! So, all goes well, then by the end of the week I’ll be posting from my graduating to an ‘A’ solo seat position and waiting for a truck! Be safe everyone and take a cat nap!

Way to go so far man, glad to hear you getting those miles finally! This Pete isn’t so bad starting forward but backing almost anywhere she does tend to like to get jumpy, nothing a little patience and using the differentials won’t help though. Stay safe!

Definitely listen n learn. Watch as well everywhere as seeing someone else do it right or wrong can be a learning tool as well. And it will likely be hard to relax and there will be times you get to the end of your rope, but just remember there’s a whole new day coming and what you see and do will make it better!

All around congrats! Time is a monster that will be the bane of our existence at times for sure. As I drive my remaining training time even as a team with my trainer, you see just how much attention you have to pay to it in order to get the job done. Keep up the good work and you can never have too many goals when the outcome is a safe parking job. Keep it safe!