My Return To Work
Topic 26298 | Page 5
What can I say that hasn't been said before other than congratulations! I will be following and taking note for when I start my own journey. Thank you for sharing.
OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
Drove 10.5 hours today. I’m exhausted.
A note on road bogeys (boogers). I wasn’t prepared for this aspect of driving... I see nasal spray in my future.
The week or so off a truck threw a monkey wrench in my backing.
Good night all. Drive safe.
Cheers,
G
Another long day of driving. I wasn’t as nervous had a chance to look around.
The run I’m on isn’t super interesting, but I saw more of it today.
We ran 99k on our first leg. Heavy beastie.
The return we had to slide the tandems , a task I hadn’t seen/done before.
Last night while being super tired I had one of those thoughts: what have I gotten myself into?
A good night of sleep and a good day of driving has yielded a positive answer. I enjoy this quite a lot.
Good night all.
Cheers,
G
Tandems:
Tandem Axles
A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".
Tandem:
Tandem Axles
A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Hello
Can you refresh my memory who you are driving for and what are you hauling?
Safe Travels Chris
Swift. I’m with a mentor that has a dedicated heavy haul reefer for Costco.
We unload in Spokane, WA at 0530. Back haul (the last couple of days) recyclables, again heavy. Average of 95k for tcall in Sumner. Pick up a preloaded reefer from Costco DC and head back to Spokane.
Going over Snoqualmie 2x daily has been trying. I’m getting better at it. I’m getting about 600 miles a day and running out my clock.
I was chatting with a classmate earlier and mentioned that I have around 2k miles since Tuesday. He’s got about the same, but started a week ago Wednesday...
I’m starting to feel comfortable sitting up high in the truck. It feels good.
I’m going to sleep now.
Take care,
G
Reefer:
A refrigerated trailer.
Good evening all,
We back hauled 51k (net) of split peas from Spokane to Sumner. It was snowing at the pass. That was rather stressful and my first time driving the truck in the snow. The road was clear, thankfully. I just slowed down and use my engine brake.
We didn’t have a return load Saturday. My mentor dropped me at the terminal and picked up a trailer for delivery near his home. I came home last night!
It’s nice to be home and catch up with the peeps. I’m beginning to feel that phenomena of losing track of the day to day things at home. I laughed when I realized that I hadn’t flushed my own toilet in a week and that I missed it... I had no inkling that would pop into my mind.
I’m scheduled to hop back on the truck tomorrow night in Sumner. When I stopped driving Saturday I had 43.5 hours and about 2500 miles! At 50 hours we convert to team and will gain additional variety in our runs.
Driving my POV was quite strange after the truck. I felt like my butt was in the road. Overall, I am really enjoying this career! I’m back to considering reefer when I upgrade. Running reefer really hasn’t been a problem.
In training/school I was told that if I ran reefer I would have to use Utah as my home terminal. It seems that may be the case, but getting home won’t be a problem.
I’m heading to bed. I’ll update when I’m back on the road. Take care and drive safe!
Cheers,
G
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
Reefer:
A refrigerated trailer.
OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
I just slowed down and use my engine brake
Never use brake retarders in inclement weather. It can lead to a nasty jackknife.
I just slowed down and use my engine brake
Never use brake retarders in inclement weather. It can lead to a nasty jackknife.
Very good advice, thank you!
G
Good evening all,
I’m totally exhausted. That said here’s what we did today.
Left Sumner bobtail to Napavine ~60 miles. There was a serious accident on I5 yesterday that closed both directions. We took over a load heading to Costco in Hillsboro, OR.
Traffic was heavy from Vancouver, WA through Hillsboro. After a live unload we took the empty trailer to Woodburn, OR Winco DC. Picked up a heavy dry van for delivery in Federal Way. Traffic was heavy from Olympia to Federal Way.
We delivered the trailer and picked up an empty. Delivering it to Costco DC in Sumner. We picked up a full heavy reefer for Spokane. My mentor needs to start his clock at midnight. I ran out my 14 hour clock right as we parked!
404 miles through heavy traffic...
Good night all,
G
Bobtail:
"Bobtailing" means you are driving a tractor without a trailer attached.
Dry Van:
A trailer or truck that that requires no special attention, such as refrigeration, that hauls regular palletted, boxed, or floor-loaded freight. The most common type of trailer in trucking.Reefer:
A refrigerated trailer.
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The next phase started today! I met my mentor at Swift’s Sumner terminal.
We pulled an empty reefer to Costco, grabbed a full one. Scaled, then I hit the road to Spokane. My first trip!
Heavy haul dedicated Costco. When I upgrade, I’m planning to go OTR dry van.
The reefer just kicked on... kind of startled me.
The space on the top rack is tight, comfortable though.
Cheers,
G
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Dry Van:
A trailer or truck that that requires no special attention, such as refrigeration, that hauls regular palletted, boxed, or floor-loaded freight. The most common type of trailer in trucking.Reefer:
A refrigerated trailer.