Profile For andhe78

Mental requirements are more important in this job. There’s a lot of fuel haulers around here in their seventies and even a couple in their eighties, so obviously the physical part of the job is not overly onerous. Having the mindset that allows you to do the job for forty years with no incidents is the hard part.

Probably haven’t lifted anything over twenty pound in this job. We do do a lot of standing around in the weather while delivering.

I was a welder for 13years and was fabricating bulldozers for Caterpillar until the pandemic shut the factory down.

By the end of my welding career I was training newbies how to weld like me. I got new guys to be as good as I am in two weeks because my training style is so good that I was the number one guy that my bosses at Caterpillar sent new welders to.

So I do know a thing or two about training.

This is where your thought process is wrong about a trucking career-you are thinking a couple weeks of excellent training and you’ll be as good as a thirteen year veteran. Not the case here-this job throws new things at you all the time and you’re going to have to figure it out on your own (you’ve already alienated an experienced driver you could possibly call for help.). I’d almost guarantee even if you had a year with a trainer, you’ll run into an unknown problem your first couple days. Who’s gonna tell you what to do then?

but that's because it was the end of the night and I was getting tired and for some reason forgot to raise the landing gear haha.

Hahahahahahaha, hilarious!! We fired a guy for this last week. Lost a six figure job a month before Christmas. But let’s laugh about it.

Did you mention your pole hit when talking to the safety director? I’m a no harm/no foul type of guy, but admitting something like this to safety (after the trainer let it go) is a brilliant move on your part. Lol.

One good thing that came out of all of this is that I'm now really good at making 90 degree turns, no matter how tight and miss the curb/poles every single time now.

So, the trainer’s teaching technique was successful, yet you’re still rolling him under the bus. I’m kind of hoping he boots you off the truck and you have to take your chances with a new unknown trainer. Maybe you’ll get one who screams at you every time you’re about to do something wrong. Hate to break it to you, but this job has no hand holding and is really pretty unforgiving. It’s kind of pathetic it took you screwing up the same way three times before finally figuring it out, you’re going to have to learn faster than that when you’re on your own.

lol, bet you’re glad I’m not your trainer. 😄

Been busy in the fuel hauling game. Anyone who wants to work their 70 can. Been picking up the extra hours while the weather’s nice to pay for some home upgrades. Propane season is starting, we picked up some nice contracts, so it’s going to be a good winter. Not to mention we got a really nice new union contract a few months ago, and I’m driving a ‘23 tractor and a ‘22 trailer and don’t even have to slip seat. Literally nothing to complain about. The family’s healthy and happy.

Been spoiled the last five years-the whole fleet, tractors and trailers are disc all around. This outfit doesn’t skimp.

What will throw me are spring ride trailers. My whole career has been with air ride, we have a few wax trailers that are spring, and while I don’t notice the rough ride too much while pulling them, hooking back to my air ride makes it feel like I’m pulling nothing-got to keep checking to make sure I didn’t lose the trailer, so smooth.

Yes. An example from the tiny part of the industry I’m in, everyone here with a propane tanker is hauling butane to refineries that normally get it by rail

There were three of us delivering in our city the night of the worst “protests.” One of the other guy’s wife had been watching the news about how things were escalating and he had passed the word on to us other two drivers. I had the only load going into actual downtown where it was the worst. Called dispatch about the situation and was told to go anyway. (Our biggest problem with dispatch-their office is a hundred miles away and if something isn’t happening in their parking lot, it isn’t happening anywhere else in the country either.) Anyway, dispatch didn’t believe me about the situation, (gunfire, buildings burning, etc.) so loaded up and headed down, figured I’d get turned around before getting close. Sure enough, didn’t even get within miles of the riot, before the cops stopped the truck carrying 12500 gallons of gas heading into a burning, free fire area. Load was simply delivered the next morning after everyone had gone home. Dispatcher was gone later that week. Had a couple of weeks of areas blocked off every night, but nothing as stupid as that first night.

This post caught my attention being a local Buffalo driver. Weird that Tifft was closed, hate to ask, but you sure you were on the right street? A lot of Tifft down in the industrial area is four lane, and I know they have barriers on Laborer's Way. Plus, what truck stop were you headed for making that right onto Tifft, that's a bad way to get to Jim's. Might be time to upgrade your GPS.

Glad you made it out ok though.