Profile For PJ

There is not a clear cut answer based on the bare minium facts you outlined.

Whose authority is he running under??

Whose name is on the base plates??

Does he have a contract and what does it say about the matter??

As far as any statement by the officer, it has no bearing on the situation.

Every state holds owners responsible to follow their rules to operate and be domicilled in their state.

IF your husband leased onto a company and is operating under their DOT authority and under their base plate it is the companies responsibilty to ensure the vehicles are properly registered and following the states requirements.

Companies have contracts with the lesse’s spelling out what is what on both ends and normally want proof the rules are being followed. In this case the company should spell out who, what, were and when any required inspections need done, who pays for it, and who copies of the inspection report need filed with.

Start by reviewing the operating contract that may answer your question. Policy on this type of situation vary from company to company.

I could see something like this falling through a crack for a few months, but not several years. This should have been noticied by someone at that company a long time ago.

I have a cummins and it burns approx. 6-7 tenths a gallon idiling an hour. That is only one part of the cost equation though.

DPF filters tend to clog faster and do more regens. Alot more heat on parts. Wear on the engine costs more in service/repair.

My apu has a yanmar engine and is built for alot of hours and burns approx. 1 pint of disel per hour. Much cheaper to service the apu vs the cummins.

Drivers are not all the same.

Many that write reviews on social media bashing companies are the ones that didn’t make the grade, or put forth a commitment. They blame the big bad company for all their problems. The drivers that figure the job out are not writing alot of reviews because they are too busy working making money. Take anything on social media with a big grain of salt.

New drivers learning will make less than good experienced drivers because they are slower and less efficient. As you learn the craft you will be more efficient and quicker, meaning you will get more loads, making more money.

At Roehl in 2013 I was taking home 600-700 a week for a full work week as a new driver.

New trucks generally have some type of electric system on them for bunk a/c and heat and the truck can be set to start when the batteries need charging.

Paul is with them he can answer questions how things are today. They are still a family owned company and the family is very good at what they do and treat people well.

I service it twice a year. I’m not in the truck everyday. I think thermoking says every 600 hrs. Mine is quite, inside the truck anyway. It doesn’t vibrate.

AC I went through Roehl many years ago. I think they pay something now while in school, not sure. Call their recruting number and ask for Kim Calhoun. She is awesome and will give you straight info.

McElroy does their own training in Cuba Al.

I have an older thermoking tripac apu. I love it. I have almost 20k hours on it. I keep it serviced and it is awesome.

I’ve known folks who have used cheaper brands and had nothing but trouble from them.

Carrier makes one also, but they have less service centers for them. Any thermoking dealer works on apu’s, not so for carrier.

No your not crazy at all. Actually your putting alot of thought into this rather than jumping in head first. That in itself puts you ahead of alot of folks.

Thank you for your service in both sectors. I was Navy and went LE and retired with a nice pension. Neither are easy on a family life. Congrats to you!!

Both Maverick and TMC are good companies, but not the only ones. Roehl has a flatbed division and outstanding training. McElroy is flatbed only with great training. There are several others as well.

TMC can be kinda quirky and seem to have to tarp alot more than some others.

With flatbed you will have 2 seperate and distinct learning curves. Driving in general and proper load securement. Spread axle trailers turn quite different than tandem axle trailers.

I’ve pulled general chemical tankers which is different but doable. Fuel tankers are even yet more diversified. Get your initial experience then go for what you want.

Put your mind to it and you should be able to accomplish it.

Some folks think I’m nuts for what I do, but it works for me. I haul spread axle flatbeds and/or 3 & 4 axle lowboys in/out of cemetaries. We are not all the same. Each of us have our own wants, needs, and desires.

Wishing you the very best at whatever you choose!!

Sorry to hear your issues, but alot of us have been there, done that, and came out the other side better off. Sounds like you did too, congrats.

Being new I would stay away from anything with dollar in the name. Take a look at those store setups. Mostly, not all are not built to get tractor trailers into. Very challenging backing and alot of time in the dark. Many a driver has started that way and killed their career in very short order.

Alot of the experienced drivers won’t do those, why do you think recruiters are hot on them. Werner only cares about covering their loads. They will give new drivers a shot in a heartbeat, and fire them in a heartbeat if they hit stuff or damage equipment.

There have been a few success stories, but many more failure stories over the years.

The choice is yours, I just hope you make a wise one for your career, not a few dollars more.

I have run into it in the past a couple of times. I asked to speak with the duty manager and pointed out they sold a service and now were refusing to provide that service. That is fraud and also the people in paid spots without paying were committing theft of services.

Both are misdeamoner crimes in most states. I then asked if I should call local law enforcement to file a criminal complaint against them.

That changed their attitude pretty quick and both times they still refused to kick out the non paying customers, but did block off a fuel pump and allowed me to park there.

I have noticied more checking there paid spots after 1600 and keeping it cleaned out. Some I’ve even seen armed security guards.

Brett I haven’t been on the road like that trip in awhile, but the amount of drivers I encountered out there and back that were not english proficient was staggering to me.

I had 3 drivers that approached me in rest areas trying to ask questions. They used some app on their phone to show me what they were asking. All 3 were hauling oversize loads.

That is scary!!!

Rates have been in the toilet for 3 years and if they go much lower more companies will go out of business.

Even the mega carriers have consistently been reporting losses in quarterly earnings calls.

Every month I read articles where trucking companies and brokers are going out of business, but yet capacity is still excessive.

I follow the stats every week on rates and capacity and it has not been good in a long time. These are reported off the spot market.