Profile For James M.

Can you go back to the last company you worked for?

I left on good terms. It was a overnight local gig that I hated. I'm more interested in going back to regional for the time being. I miss the independence and living in the truck haha

Hello! I've recently been on a hiatus from trucking for the last year or so. I was unsure if I was fit for it, and after having some time off I feel ready to get back in the truck and give it another go.

I've driven roughly 10/11 months, and then I quit back in about the end of last March.

I'm wondering if that 10/11 months could be considered recently verifiable driving experience, or will I pretty much be starting over completely?

I kept my CDL, would I be currently qualified for a job asking for 6 months-10 months experience?

If I end up having to go with a trainer again, would I be qualified for a 2 year experience required job in 14 months (24 months total driving)

Any advice about getting back into it after a bit of a hiatus would be greatly appreciated!

So you've been solo for around three months, but leaving already for another company?

No, I've been solo for 6 months now. I joined this forum 3 months ago.

Hiya, James.

Maybe my math (or my brain?) is off, but IIRC you were only one week out of the SWIFT academy, when you joined us 3 months ago. Something about your ABS harness, I believe.

How are you going to handle the money you owe them for training; have you factored THAT in? Seems that's even a bit MORE important than the two weeks or 10 days notice. Just IMHO.

Who's this 'local' gig you are going with, if you don't mind me asking? Had you not checked with Swift, to see if they had something more regional or dedicated to get you home more often? Is this 'local' gig involving Dollar type stores? Just trying to understand your conceptual reasoning is all, so I too, can form a more 'educated' piece of advice on this topic at hand.

Thanks, have a blessed day & best wishes~!

~ Anne ~

Hi. I never sent to Swift's academy, I paid for my training out of pocket. I guess it would be more accurate to say I've been solo for 5 months, but have 6 months of driving experience. I factored in my time with my on the road trainer to get that figure.

So you've been solo for around three months, but leaving already for another company?

No, I've been solo for 6 months now. I joined this forum 3 months ago.

I just accepted a local position at another company and I'm supposed to start mid December. I'm currently on the road with home time scheduled for the 6th. I'm supposed to start the new job on the 16th.

I'm worried that if I put my notice in they'll tell me to turn the truck in before I can get home and unload my stuff and would have to leave most of it behind.

I also need a couple days before the job to do prehire drug screen and orientation classes.

If I come out of home time and say I would like to turn my truck in will this negatively affect future employment? Or maybe I can give 1 week notice instead of 2 weeks?

Late based on my appt time. Never late with the trainer. He said he's never been late. Told me to always set my ETA at the end of the delivery window. So if it delivers between 09-16 12:00 and 09-17 14:00 to set ETA to 09-17 14:00 and still get it there asap. So if I think I'm going to be late I should say that in my ETA when accepting or should I counter offer before accepting it or just send my late macro after accepting?

Most of these I'm late because of unforeseen circumstances at the time of taking it, but one was late because there wasn't enough time to get it there on the delivery window. Which I should've counter offered in the first place I guess.

What do you do if your hours run out while you're waiting to be loaded/unloaded?

My buddy told me to use personal conveyance to get to the door, go on duty while they load/unload you, and then use conveyance again to leave and get to a safe place to sleep. Is this ok to do?

I've been solo for about a month now. I feel like almost all of my loads are late, unfortunately. I feel like I just have terrible luck. Whether it's because I blow a tire, or pickup a broken trailer that I feel I need to get fixed (this has happened at least 3 times!) or get held up at a shipper/receiver, and today my fuel stop authorization was not working and took me almost an hour to get emergency fuel from dispatch. I feel like I must be having the worst luck in the industry right now.

My trucker friends and my mentor all say they never have been late and never will be late. Especially my mentor. Said being late is unacceptable. And I just feel so frustrated that at least half of my loads have been late. And I feel like some of them, yes, have been due to poor planning on my part. But I feel like a lot of them were honestly out of my hands!

So I was just wondering how often you are really late, under what kind of circumstances, and what happens when you're late? How negatively does it reflect on me? And how do you deal with being late? I feel like it's taking a toll on my headspace and confidence, as I feel like no matter what I do I am late a lot of the time...

I'm 100% with Banks, same thing happens to me where they come on and go out, I usually just note it on my DVIR.

When you say you note it on your dvir, I have a few questions.

Do you do a dvir electronically through the Qualcomm or on paper?

And how do you do that? My trainer taught me to always say that everything is satisfactory on the dvir, even if it's not. And if it's not satisfactory, get it taken care of. But never say that the vehicle's condition is unsatisfactory.

Is that bad advice?

And if you note it on your dvir do you put 'no' when it asks if condition is satisfactory?

Does it put your vehicle out of service or something if you put no?

Thank you guys. I feel a bit better about it now, I think I just needed some reassurance from some other, more experienced drivers. My friends and family at home (not drivers) all say I'm doing the right thing and then everyone I talked to in the industry is kinda giving me the 'f it, just go' spiel (my friend, who has only a little bit more experience than me, and the OnRoad guy both said this)

I've tried the tricks with the cleaning off the electric connection, making sure there's no debris, and checking the abs line in the back of the trailer to no avail so I figured obviously the trailer needs some kind of work. Turns out it needs a new ABS harness and I have to wait another day for that.

Also, what is "brake week?"