Profile For PJ

This is a bit strange to me, but probably I find it that way because of a ton of missing facts surrounding the situation.

I’m going to take it you must have been showing signs of impairment and was in at least constructive control of the vehicle. If you haven’t adjuicated the case yet, get a lawyer and fight it in court. If it’s already done, then your career is on hold for awhile. A DUI in a CMV is a career killer. I don’t know the rest of your record so how long your license will be pulled is at a minimum 1 yr.

In alot of ways this is worse than failing a drug test.

You need good legal advise from someone looking at all the circumstances.

Congrats Paul, sounds like your doing well. My guess is by now you have done a varied amount of securement, just with a trainer present. If they didn’t feel you were ready you would not be starting solo’s monday. At this point the trainer probably has more confidence in you than you do in yourself.

It’s a very normal response.

Don’t worry how long securing takes, make sure it’s correct before starting out. Always get done, then walk around checking everything over one last time. Make sure you didn’t leave something laying on the trailer. For some reason we tend to forget to put the winch bar away. Plenty of those have been forgotten on the trailer.

I always do the math on the securement to make sure DOT is happy, but then I’ll add more to make me comfortable if necessary. I tend to be a worry wart and really don’t want anything coming off the trailer.

Always better to have too much than not enough.

Keep us posted.

Nick I do understand your point. I also do not take things personal. Problem with written words, they are just that, written. No emotion or context can be gleaned, only what is written for someone to come up with there own understanding. Mis understanding can happen.

I too see junk on the road daily. Junk being both the equipment and/or the driver. There are very complex reasons from top to bottom on how we as an industry have gotten here.

We all have to make the best decisions we can for ourself and be aware of our surroundings too stay as safe as possible.

Those safety features as they call them are a pain. If they worked correctly I may feel different.

My old stuff has none of that and relies on me to drive it safely. If they put as much money in good oke fashion training for drivers as they do that junk we would have better drivers.

There is alot here for sure. The nature of the trucking industry varies greatly.

The job you had is a high demand job. Those trucks have to be onsite when needed. They are often fast paced because of that demand. That is why the owner decided to get someone more experienced. Also that was why he left the door open in a year or so for you to try again.

His real world statement isn’t all that suprising to me. There are tons of variable scenarios too that. Maybe he has mechanics that stay on top of those trucks every week while they are parked on the weekend. If so he just expects drivers to do a quick walk around too make sure nothing is obvious and roll.

You were not wrong for doing a pretrip at all. Espically being brand new and new to that equipment.

I drive the same truck everyday. I know this thing inside and out. Do I do a by the book pretrip everyday. No. I have a routine. I always check things over, but not by the book. It takes about the amount of time it takes for me to drink my first cup of coffee. When I’m off I do a very indepth inspection at the house. But that is with me having the same truck for many years. My trailers I do the same with. But I only have 2 and I’ve had them a long time.

Apply everywhere and stick with it and someone will give you a real shot.

Nick I got a big issue with your statement it’s the little guys pulled in why the big ones are passed through.

I’m as small as it gets. 1 truck, 1,driver. I get bypassed or spoken to briefly and 99.9 percent of the time sent on my way. It’s all about how you appear and carry yourself. If you look and act proffessional you get treated as a proffessional.

I have rolled through plenty of scale houses and Prime, Crete, Convent, or other large carriers were being throughly inspected.

I keep my equipment well maintained and looking good all the time. It tells DOT I care and they probably are wasting their time on me if they really want to find violations. I’ve seen more big company trucks that look crappy, even though they are much newer than my old relic get pulled in. I can find something wrong on a brand new truck if I look hard enough.

Always look and act proffessional!!!!

Time to chill. They do this everyday, unlike you. They will reach out with the final information you need when you need it.

45 days out is an enternity. Have faith and don’t be a pain in the butt.

Companies all have established freight lanes they run. They will establish terminals or drop lots in high traffic areas for them. Running OTR they can send you anywhere. This is where alot of folks hinder themselves.

Planners are only concerned with moving freight. They don’t really care who does it, just that it gets done. When drivers want to be home on a certain date, planners use that to create the routes for that truck. If you leave it open, they can literally send you anywhere because they know you don’t need to be at a specific place on a specific date.

A friend of mine worked at Roehl in the curtainside division. He lived in NC but stayed out 2-3 months at a time. The planners sent him all over, mainly west coast right after he came off home time. He loved it and made good money. When he gave them time frames he needed to be back east they worked him back.

Drivers he worked with didn’t do nearly as well because they wanted to be home much more frequently. They kept them running in much smaller circles from home.

Your division also plays a part of the equation. Different freight goes different places.

Flatbeds tend to not work weekends as far as pickup/deliveries and not usually weird hours for deliveries. We’re more mon-fri during normal business hours. Based on the type of customers.

Van frieght has alot of customers that run 24/7.

Generally big companies will let you take time off wherever you want. Your travel will be on you though. Using the tractor won’t be allowed. They will probably want you to show it is parked in a safe legal place during time off.

Communication with your driver manager will be your key to success.

I’ve known several drivers do exactly what your thinking and a few were at Rohel. It’s very doable.

Welcome Mike, you should be a good canidate. I like you retired and needed something to do. I had looked into several things I had experience with for a part time thing and it wasn’t there. So I went to company sponsored school and started my driving career.

Apply to companies that offer the training. You will probably run into an employment gap issue. All you will need is 2-3 notorized letters from people that know your situation and can attest your not a terriost. It’s not a big hurdle at all.

I went to Roehl many years ago. You may check them out. They have a top notch program.