Profile For Jeff G.

@Daniel B.:

You had to pay out of pocket for them blowouts?

I wish it just come out of pocket but when you try to be an honest person about the tires its goes to the wayside your just a driver and that's it

I've had 3,000$ cost in tire blow outs. It happens and I really don't see what you're getting at.

whos the company that you work for

So after a month on the road with a trainer that didn't actually train me too much I'm back in Springfield with Prime. I hardly go any backing experience on the road. The last week we did a walmart dedicated route which was supposed to get me backing practice. They were all pretty much straight backs. I got better each time but still didn't get it fully. Sunday we got back to Springfield and have been working on the backng pad until today (wed). I got the straighline back on our first day here, and offsets day two. My offsets arent perfect but I get it.

Now, I've been getting killed on the alley dock. My trainer isn't much help. You have to start in the center lane. I cut my wheels hard to the right and roll with it around the time I see my landing gear open up and bring it around trying to curl it in the hole. At first I kept coming up short. So I went back a few feet before cutting it. That helped but no matter what I do I'm all over the boundry on the right side. By the time it starts looking good I'm either already on the line or close to it. I don't know how to fix that. Prime has a video showing the maneuver and the guy stays at least 10 ft from the line. Any advice???

Also to make things worse they are forcing me to start testing tomorrow or I'll be sent home. So I have no choice but to start testing tomorrow even though as of now I'm not at all prepared for the test. I have today to work on it but even then I have no idea if it will come together. So I feel I'm being set up for failure. I've worked my tail off for over a month and it doesn't seem to matter. Theyll send me home with a $3500+ bill. I'll have no license, no job, and no savings. My brain is dead, my knee is killing me from clutching on these backing maneuvers and the stress and pressure are driving me insane. I really don't know what to do. I'm trying everything I can but the stress of being sent home gets me so incredibly frustrated when I'm behind the wheel trying to back. I fail every time. Sometimes I get closer than the previous time but I'm so brain dead from this past month that I can't comprehend what I did differently.

Any advice, tips, or anything is needed. I'm driving myself insane. I keep trying to slow down and take a deep breath but the other side of my brain tells me to shut up and do it because I don't have time to waste.

stop the truck get out and look its better to be safe

If you are a rookie you are going to have to check all the rules of big companies cause they can get you terminated with having tires blow out and if any one has a question on how they can do that I have the info so watch what you sign and get safety to go in to more detail on what they put on driversfacts cause you can do everything buy the book but they will not tell you in full detail

What do you do when your trainer wants you to do something that is against company policy?

example. Sleep in the top bunk while truck in in motion even though it is against company policy. I wouldn't want to do something against company policy and get fired.

Mark

It is actual against every companies policy to sleep in the top bunk its your safety first and life so I would have a talk to management about that and depends on the company your with

DaQuan, welcome to the forum!

I'm a flat-bedder, and I started out as a flat-bedder. If your sure that it's what you want to do then I say go for it! When someone is not sure about it I usually will recommend that they start out in dry-van just to learn the basics of handling a rig, but if you think you want to be a flat-bedder then go for it.

I, like most other flat-bedders, get a great deal of satisfaction out of doing a good job of getting my load secure and having a nice looking tarp job that's not flapping around in the breeze. There's a lot of pride that goes into a flat-bedders job, and if he's doing his job right he can foil that D.O.T. man on most occasions. I drive for a company that has a pretty bad safety record (we are working hard at improving it) and because of that I sometimes will get scrutinized, but really it's not that often. I've got a great but lengthy story to tell about crossing the George Washington Bridge with my first oversize load that involves an irate D.O.T. officer. I've been meaning to post it as a blog, but I just haven't taken the time yet. By the way he threatened to write me a bunch of tickets, but in the end he couldn't find anything to cite me for!

If flat-bedding is where your interest lies then take the plunge, if you change your mind you can always get a job pulling something else.

Best of luck to ya! And keep us posted would ya? We've got a growing crowd of flat-bedders here and I'm enjoying it immensely.

I just trying to get back to work but have more laws that keep drivers from success than the companies tell where is the honest trucking bussines any more try to go flat bed don it for family so have old school knowledge

Well I'm doing the High Road studying, and for a while I am very interested in "Flatbed" I liking the manual labor, and granted, weather plays a strong part plus physical fitness, but staying healthy has been my motto these last 5 months.

So what are some opinions, cons, pros, and experiences on flatbed as a rookie, I'm hearing mixed opinions, so what better words of wisdom then trucking truth bloggers.

Oh and if you know of any flatbed companies dont be afraid to jot it down.

DO not Know of companies for flatbed but do know it in all types of weather and sometimes high winds that will play a roll if you do flatbed just keep in mind follow the dot rule and check when you take a break on straps or chains and weight.

Jeff you cannot expect companies to ignore your driving record when hiring you for a driving job. If you had an accident or DUI or whatever it may be then the companies have every right to use that information when making a decision to hire you or not.

well heres the problem you blow a tire its a crash on driversfacts.com it will prevent you from getting a trucking job and most people do not know I know cause it have a clean DAC and PSP but because of this driversfacts leaves a broad opening for companies to use crash on all of their statements of a driver and drivers need to do some research on their companies rules

Jeff you cannot expect companies to ignore your driving record when hiring you for a driving job. If you had an accident or DUI or whatever it may be then the companies have every right to use that information when making a decision to hire you or not.

well check this out they consider everything a crash on a broad spectrum not all defined by DOT rules

I had never heard of that site until now. I guess it's the same as DAC - they keep a report on each driver in their system for companies to view during the hiring process.

If their information on you is incorrect I'm sure you can contact them and dispute it. Otherwise there probably isn't much you can do.

no and its all companies that use it and it keeps high turn over and drivers out off work even small companies use this system

its how the companies go around the dac and psp