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Posted: 5 years ago
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Staying Relevant In A Competitive Environment
I'm still pretty new, and I get a bit of anxiety asking my dispatcher if I can deliver early all the time. I really hate to bug people and make more work for them, but I am always getting loads that I can deliver a lot earlier than the due date on them. Like the one I am on now. 4 days and a few hours for a 720 mile run. The miles I made at the end of the day today, plus a drive shift tomorrow will set me up nicely to deliver the following morning. I don't need those other two days, so I am going to have to ask again if I can deliver early or drop at a yard since it will be on a weekend.
Maybe they like me bugging them like that and I am anxious over nothing, lol.
Posted: 5 years ago
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The one I run into most often is drivers exiting out of the entrance. No biggie in most places, but in some, it gets pretty tight. Not too long ago, I was trying to get into the TA outside of Snoqualmie, WA, and one of Swift's DIAMOND drivers was trying to exit the entrance and I had to pull in for him to make the turn to get out... well I could only pull in part way because he didn't give me enough room. He finally figured out he would have to pull partly into the road for me to get past his trailer and get my butt end out of the road. Then I had to wait for a Penske truck and a pickup pulling a camper to squeak past me because they were going the wrong way too. If the parking hadn't been full, it wouldn't have been as tight, but still, the drivers should have known better.
Posted: 5 years, 1 month ago
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Ugh. You are one of THOSE guys that drives 55 in Cali... lol.
Posted: 5 years, 1 month ago
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Thanks for the replies everyone. You have made me feel much better, lol.
Posted: 5 years, 1 month ago
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One hole off I would not have worried about that, either. The cops aren't looking too closely at anything that minor.
I considered that, but on this particular trailer it has a big arrow pointing down with 40' written above it where my rear tires are supposed to be centered.
Posted: 5 years, 1 month ago
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So far, mostly being able to drive on any road I want and park where I will, lol.
Other than that, I miss my mountains and the great outdoors (I'm from a town in the foothills of the Cascades in Oregon), hanging out and drinking with friends and family, having a bathroom, shower, kitchen, wifi, a desk, a nice bed, room for my stuff, and room to move around at home, lol. Going fishing after work and on weekends and I am missing hunting season as we speak.
However I am seeing so much more country and places, environments, and flora & fauna (I love geology and biology), and I am learning new things. OTR may not be forever for me, but I am enjoying the new experiences while it lasts.
Posted: 5 years, 1 month ago
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So I get on my solo week at the end of my company training program, and I go to pick up my first solo load. I show up and get loaded, my weight is fine, but a storm just hit in montana and the roads are icy and they shut down the interstate and I get stuck in a rest stop. No big deal the dispatcher says, these things happen. About 18hrs later I am up and running again and I make it to just before the california border the next day and I stop to check my tandems to make sure they are california legal. I am one pin too far back so I try to slide them and one pin won't stay back, so I go around to the passenger side of the trailer to try to figure it out and realised that I made a mistake. When I inspected the trailer I only checked the locking pins on the drivers side and not the passenger, and the passenger side is missing the one opposite of the pin that won't retract. It was too late on a friday for the local TA to order the part, so they did it on monday, and they didn't get it yesterday like they said they would. They got it today and now my load is going to be almost a week late mostly because of a mistake I made. All on my forst solo load on my solo week when I am supposed to be showing the company that I can do this and be reliable.
Do you think they will let me go for this? I have been good so far, passing everything on my first attempt and being reliable and hard working teaming with my coach. Might this mistake ruin their confidence in me?
Posted: 5 years, 2 months ago
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4. No matter what direction you are driving, if there is any wind, it will be a side wind. =P
Posted: 5 years, 2 months ago
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Thanks guys. I'm on a budget, so a cheap gps and cheap dash cam it is. Anyone have experience with multiple brands? Do you think Rand, Garmin, or Tomtom are better?
Posted: 5 years ago
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Highs and Lows - Passed Permit test, got flagged for sleep apnea test
My father uses a cpap, and his doctor said tap water is usually treated with chlorine to kill off pathogens. This means there is chlorine in the water and the cpap turns it into chlorine gas, which is really bad for you.