Big T's Swift Adventure: Mentor Phase

My apologies for my absence on here.

Since my last entry: I dropped in Salt Lake City and then picked up a load that I dropped in Shelby, MT. We then dead headed to Wyoming and picked up a load that we once again dropped in Salt Lake City.

My mentor decided we needed to take a 34 because I was down to 8 hours on my 70 and no recaps for two days. I needed to do laundry so I was fine with it, but it started a slow frustrating week.

My mentor was scheduled for home time this weekend so the planners kept us in the area (as is normal procedure by most trucking companies). To make matters worse, my mentor informed me he was taking six to ten days off. So I informed driver development that I was going to need a new mentor. I'm now sitting in a hotel because they have not found one yet.

My numbers are 69 behind the wheel hours and twenty backings.

Hey Big T, those backing number are really good, did you and your mentor enter a truck rodeo? Great numbers. You'll easily surpass the minimum of 40.

Best of luck for continued success. Safe travels.

No rodeo although that is on my bucket list.

I am not one to sit and wait for opportunities to show up. I need 40 backings to get off my Mentor's truck so any chance I can I back. Unless the load is super tight I try to back every time I stop at a truck stop. I also dont turn down a chance to back.

I am getting one more night in the hotel. They have a new mentor for me, but he wont be here till morning.

That is all I have for today.

Hey Big T, those backing number are really good, did you and your mentor enter a truck rodeo? Great numbers. You'll easily surpass the minimum of 40.

Best of luck for continued success. Safe travels.

My new Mentor picked me up yesterday at the Lathrop terminal with a load going to Cheyenne.

The fun part is I drove first. This means I got to tackle Donner for the first time in a decade at night. To make things better, this mentor had a straight ten instead of the auto I spent the last week in.

I did ok shifting once I remembered to turn the jake off when climbing.

This mentor is on the reefer fleet which is great considering I want to work on that fleet.

Now I'm going to eat dinner and relax. If anyone is at the Flying J in Cheyenne I'll be here till at least tomorrow.

Yesterday I drove from Cheyenne, WY to Liberal, KS to pick up a load of beef. We are grossed at 78,800 right now. Our tandems didn't want to slide because of the loose dirt at the plant so we ended up going to the Loves right down the street and used the curb as a chalk to slide the trailer.

Now we are about 30 minutes from Omaha and can't deliver till 0500. Our next delivery isn't until 0100 on the sixth.

On my way to the Shipper I had to pucker moments. The first when a pick up with a trailer tried passing me in a corner he almost hit someone and almost clipped my front end. Had i not been slowing down to try and let him pass he probably would have. Then a car going the opposite direction tried passing another car with only about three car lengths in front of me. Still not quite sure how I managed to avoid that one.

Be careful out there. People are more focused on fireworks than they are on the road.

Good Morning TT

Yesterday was a good day of running. I started my shift in Newark, NE running empty to Dodge City, KS where I picked up a load of meat going up to MN. I made it back to Salina, KS before ending my shift. 561 miles 511 of which were on state or US highways.

Currently I'm sitting at the Flying J in Hazlewood, MN about 100 miles from the customer. I'm going to call them in an hour to see if we can deliver early. If I can then I will start the clock race. If I cant then ill grab a couple more hours in the bunk.

I finally hit my halfway point on hours yesterday. The holiday weekend and change in mentors turned last week into a write off basically. I ended up getting three restarts which isnt exactly thrilling, but sometimes that is how the chips fall.

Stay safe everyone.

I lost the clock race in Minnesota on that load. We couldnt deliver early, but once we got there it took them almost four hours to unload us. The customer was waiting on paperwork that it turned out they already had.

In the end it was no big deal really. The only thing that sucks is as a student I dont get paid detention pay. I could stay on duty and get paid, but then that eats hours and only driving hours get me off my Mentor's truck.

It did cause a problem for our next customer though because they needed an empty trailer to load. We got a message that the shipper was ready for us and to roll in as soon as it was safe. I let them know we were still waiting for a dock, and would roll once unloaded. I then called the shipper to let them know we were delayed and what the hours were.

One thing to remember is communication and attitude are everything out here. We never know who we are talking too, and that interaction could be a deciding factor on whether or not an account is lost or kept.

We got to the Shipper and did our drop and hook. The load was scheduled to deliver at 2000 tomorrow, but we were able to drop it around 0200 this morning.

The next load pics up in the morning headed to Colton, CA but we will take it to the Jurupa Valley terminal. I will get to meet the person that is going to be my dm once I'm done with training.

I will be staying on the reefer fleet, and will have a rock star dm so those two days stuck in Lathrop are more than paying for themselves now.

Stay safe

The end is in sight. I am at 149 hours and have completed all my backings. I'm currently sitting in Springfield, OH waiting for our load that is supposed to be ready at 20:00.

We are supposed to pick up a hershey load tomorrow going to Ogden UT which we are going to run super solo so that I'll use as many hours as possible. We then should be headed to TX where I will upgrade if all goes right.

I will be staying on the reefer fleet following training and will have the same DM which is cool because she seems like a rock star.

All I know right now is I am ready to get home and hold my daughter for a couple days and then get back at it.

Stay safe TT

I need 7.5 hours. I can see the end but come on already lol. Taking a load to the Dallas area so I should upgrade in Lancaster Monday. I'm ready to head for home and see my wife and daughter for a few days.

What a difference a day will make... Good luck "T".