Profile For Pennywise

Yes, many many debates about this all over the internet. Personal preference I guess, for me I will NOT work for a company that has driver facing, for others they could care less. To touch on Bretts point, yes some people are ridiculous.... They have every social media account on earth with pictures and video but they will not drive in a truck with a camera. Me personally, I have stickers on all the cameras on my electronic devices, phones, tv's, computers and I have very little about me on the internet. There is no expectation of privacy in public, yes you are on security cameras all over the place and such. I think there is a big difference between cameras in public and a crystal clear, color, HD truck cameras. I feel like my driver seat is my home and not public space, yes there is not someone watching you 24/7 but its just the thought of it being possible. I want to pick my nose, scratch my butt and blast and sing along to Elton John "Tiny dancer" in privacy thank you very much. Companies have every right to have the cameras, but you also have every right not to drive for them.

A side note, remember the South Park episode with people's home toilets and the TSA. And the one fat TSA guy watching all the screens. Halarious!!!

To touch on the working out part real quick... Looking at me you would think I would be the last person to be giving workout advice lol. But I work with a lot of people who do have access to a gym and they have some pretty inventive ways to workout without professional gym equipment.

If prison is anything like it is in the movies, I am sure in real life some of these guys are locked up 23hrs a day are pretty muscular, I bet the have some inventive ways also with no access to any kind of equipment.

Try looking stuff up on YouTube, try searching things like " work out with no equipment" or something like that. I bet there are a bunch of videos of people in the same boat we are away from home and a gym all the time.

Maybe every 2-3 hours you see a rest stop, pull over for 10 minutes. Put on your gloves, grab a peice of cardboard and do some pushups, Jumping jacks, pull ups on you trailer, sit ups, lunges, buy some resistance bands. Between watching some videos and maybe advice from a trainer, I bet you could make a pretty sick and intense, no stop 10-15 minute workout routein on the side of the highway. Don't convince yourself you need a gym and equipment. Maybe also a pair of adjustable weight dumbells to make it real easy on you. Good luck!

ugh!!! Just give me the next load assignment and leave me alone!

I think it’s important to keep in mind there’s a big difference between a terminal and what some companies (like Schneider) call Operating Centers. While I sometimes use the word terminal to describe a Schneider OC, I’ve never experienced the problems (@ Schneider OC’s) that Brett and Turtle have at their terminals.

I hope this helps.

Ha! Sounds just like me at my job right now! "Give me my assignment and Leave me alone". Another reason why I want to get in to trucking, sick of working for and around people.

Yes, Schneiders website is where I first discovered that terminals are actually places drivers can park and use the facilities over night. Some good input, thanks guys. 4 out of my 6 picks for companys have lots of terminals so if it turns out I like using them sometimes, great! If not I can just stay away and it won't affect me.

Would having a terminal near my house be any benefit? Will it help with home time? Or after I get some experience, leaving dry van and switching to regional or dedicated?

Can having a terminal close to your house hurt? I read a post where this guys company said if you live less than 250 miles you can not take your truck home and he was like 245. So he had to park his truck in the lot and find his own way home every home time.

I hear lot lizards are more or less a thing of the past or just not a frequent as they used to be, and not at every truck stop like people think. But read posts where guy have said they have been woken up 3 times a night by knocks on there door. Again few and far between probobly but that would drive me nuts !!!

Yes, heard about terminal rats and that's why people avoid terminals, but I just want a shower and a place to park. I am not a people person so rats dont affect me, I dont engage.

Still transitioning out of my old job so I have plenty of time to research CDL schools and companys to apply to. I have a homemade spread sheet of sorts, comparing the different companies, sort of like the "Company Review" on this site.

Anyways doing my research I discovered that some of the larger companies have lots of terminals, and some of these terminals have conveniences. I realized there are a lot of "Pro's" to this that could make a moderate deciding factor between the company I choose in the future.

*Mechanical work, I have heard (famous words on trucking forums) having your truck worked on, basically its time the wheels are not spinning and you are not making money. So for scheduled maintenance and stuff that can wait ( truck can still drive while it's broke) if you have a OC near your house, your truck can be worked on during home time. If your company does not have a terminal you must do this stuff in your work time and will cost you money because your wheels are not turning. I am sure there is compensation for this but not as much and if you were driving a load.

* Free parking, showers, laundry. During my research I discovered parking at truck stops can be a b*tch if you get there late, they fill up and your running out of hours ect. Also maybe lines for the showers, heard that can be a problem at truck stops also.

Companies like Swift, Knight, Schnieder, Prime and a few others have 15-30+ terminals and lots of them have convinces like showers, vending, lounges, some if the same stuff as truck stops. So if you have food in your fridge you can bypass the "truck stop hell" sometimes. Also guessing company lots don't smell like ****, have beggers, lot lizards and the riff raff that goes with it (besides company drivers). I read a few posts where guys are deticated, regional or OTR and just trip plan well and they are at terminals 1/2 the time. Also read a post where a guy hates the terminals and does truck stops exsclusivly, don't understand that one.

What are your experiences with overnight parking at terminals vs truck stops? What are some other Pro's, can you see any Con's of a terminal? Also what will this do if I have a OC near my house? Will it help my options with other work besides OTR, like local, regional, dedicated or LTL? If this turns out to be a positive, companies with lots of terminals could be on my top 5 deciding factors behind things like CPM and Benifits.

Anyone one of you "Trucking Truthers" have a Youtube channel?? Hey Rainy, have you seen that guy Junior Honduras who drives for Prime? He has a great channel that I have been learning a lot watching. Where is your channel Rainy? I wonder if he makes a lot with referral bonuses with that channel.

Old School, great response, thanks! Yes I am not even driving yet just trying to get a better idea of the buisness, I know I'm not at that level yet. BTW I believe all of what I see and 95% of what I hear, And 100% of what I see and hear on YouTube trucking channels.

I have heard for the most part smaller companies pay higher CPM than mega carriers. Yes I am sure you can find an exception or an example to contradict this, but for the most part is this true? If so what percent more? As a base line we will say a Solo, dry van with 5+ years experience. What % or how many CPM are we talking here as an average? Is it a 2-3 CPM differance or more like 5-7 CPM? Just curious, weighing my options on whether to go big or small company.

Do you find that money wise mega carriers make up the difference in other ways like better and cheaper health benefits and high 401k match, bonuses and other things? Or do you find smaller companies have the edge money wise all around. I know there are tons of other differences between big and small but just speaking about the money aspect here.

Orange and yellow.mutlianes are good. VT will have a few roads.

US 7 to US4, to VT 100 to VT 107 to I89.

those are good and traveled often. where you headed?

Nowhere yet, just picked up my Rand Mcnally and getting a jump start on learning before I start my CDL school.

Did the last 2 paragraphs stump some of you old school, truckers?