Im Giving Trucking Another Chance

After having a horrible week of getting lost, breakdowns, qualcomm issues, being stuck in a Lowe's parking lot in a horrible neighborhood for almost 4 days while my trainer was on home time, not being able to back in to tight spots, my girlfriend ending up in the hospital, qualcomm macro instructions for loads that make absolutely no sense what so ever, getting sent to the wrong shipper 3 times in a day, not being able to eat for 2 days not having time to shower or do laundry and all the other BS that comes with team driving and a million other issues I had had it with trucking but I've decided to try and stick with it if they will let me. Most of these problems were caused by my own stupidity and lack of understanding this business, my trainer didn't teach me as much as he should have, we pretty much just team drove so I've pretty much been thrown to the wolves. Hopefully they don't fire me I know I have royally ****ed off my DM , and if I don't improve my backing skills soon then I will probably start looking for something else but only time will tell what's going to happen

Also I have no idea how the hell to slide tandems , almost all the loads I got on my trainers truck were drop and hook with no tandem or 5th wheel sliding, so sliding tandems is a really confusing concept to me

Also I have no idea how the hell to slide tandems , almost all the loads I got on my trainers truck were drop and hook with no tandem or 5th wheel sliding, so sliding tandems is a really confusing concept to me

I'll be able to go more in depth in a couple hours unless someone beats me to it. In the meantime look it up on YouTube . To be honest thats how I learned to do both. Its real easy once you see it once. 5th wheel moves above 250 pounds per knotch and tandems anywhere from 300 to 500 per hole. That is just a rough estimate but it'll get you close enough to make adjustments

It's not stupidity, it's a learning curve. Have you ever done anything in your life that was easy at first? I haven't. Evening learning to walk sucks. You fall a bunch of times and sometimes you get hurt. Now, it's normal day to day stuff.

I see a few problems here, Zach. First, you're still teaming. Have you communicated with your DM about this situation? Did you take Jammers or Old School's advice about going over their head?

Secondly, you let your emotions get the better of you. Trucking isn't emotional, it's logical. Everything is a puzzle and there are levels to it. You stay a game at level 223, you start at level 1. You're wanting to start at level 223. Slow down, calm down and think about everything you're doing and what you could have done differently. The reason you have to do this is because these situations don't change, the way you handle them does and they makes a world of difference

If you read my diary, towards the end I have an experience there similar to yours. I got dispatched to Harrisburg, PA. When I got there, they told me I was taking a rail container back to my domicile in the Poconos. When I hooked up I realized my tires and mudflaps didn't have the clearance to make a turn. I got back in the cab trying to remember how to slide the fifth wheel. I was taught how to do it, but I never did it and forgot how to. My solution was simple. I found someone pulling a rail with the same tractor and I stopped him. I asked if he could show me how to do it. He got in my truck and said you hit this switch, get out and make sure it worked. You see the teeth there went in and now you move the tractor. Get out make sure ther3s enough space and then you got the switch and get out again to make sure the teeth came out otherwise, when you stop it'll be bad. When the teeth are locked you give it some tugs forward and back to make sure it's locked and then you're good to go.

Simple solutions for simple problems. You need to stop overthinking and getting so angry about everything that goes wrong. You're early in your career and I hate to tell you this, but you're going to encounter more problems that are worse than ones you've faced. It's all in how you handle the problem and the solution.

We can keep telling you this and telling you how to handle these situations and what you could have done differently, but I'm starting to feel like it's falling on deaf ears. You keep popping up to complain, but you never follow-up with what you did to improve the situation or if you followed the advice you were given. We're not there to do this for you, you have to do it for yourself. If you choose not to for whatever reason then that's on you.

Also I have no idea how the hell to slide tandems , almost all the loads I got on my trainers truck were drop and hook with no tandem or 5th wheel sliding, so sliding tandems is a really confusing concept to me

Make sure the brakes are set. Go back to the rear axles and pull that lil knob out to release the pins. Go back to cab and push in yellow break knob leaving the red break out. And then slide backwards or forwards. Might have to rock it a couple of times to ensure pins are released. Might even have to hit one or two with a hammer to knock the in. 12th hole is max for most states except for California which is The 6th hole max. Just don't be over 34k lbs per axle and over 80k gross weight. The 5th wheel really only changes the front axle weight. I never mess with that one.

It's not stupidity, it's a learning curve. Have you ever done anything in your life that was easy at first? I haven't. Evening learning to walk sucks. You fall a bunch of times and sometimes you get hurt. Now, it's normal day to day stuff.

I see a few problems here, Zach. First, you're still teaming. Have you communicated with your DM about this situation? Did you take Jammers or Old School's advice about going over their head?

Secondly, you let your emotions get the better of you. Trucking isn't emotional, it's logical. Everything is a puzzle and there are levels to it. You stay a game at level 223, you start at level 1. You're wanting to start at level 223. Slow down, calm down and think about everything you're doing and what you could have done differently. The reason you have to do this is because these situations don't change, the way you handle them does and they makes a world of difference

If you read my diary, towards the end I have an experience there similar to yours. I got dispatched to Harrisburg, PA. When I got there, they told me I was taking a rail container back to my domicile in the Poconos. When I hooked up I realized my tires and mudflaps didn't have the clearance to make a turn. I got back in the cab trying to remember how to slide the fifth wheel. I was taught how to do it, but I never did it and forgot how to. My solution was simple. I found someone pulling a rail with the same tractor and I stopped him. I asked if he could show me how to do it. He got in my truck and said you hit this switch, get out and make sure it worked. You see the teeth there went in and now you move the tractor. Get out make sure ther3s enough space and then you got the switch and get out again to make sure the teeth came out otherwise, when you stop it'll be bad. When the teeth are locked you give it some tugs forward and back to make sure it's locked and then you're good to go.

Simple solutions for simple problems. You need to stop overthinking and getting so angry about everything that goes wrong. You're early in your career and I hate to tell you this, but you're going to encounter more problems that are worse than ones you've faced. It's all in how you handle the problem and the solution.

We can keep telling you this and telling you how to handle these situations and what you could have done differently, but I'm starting to feel like it's falling on deaf ears. You keep popping up to complain, but you never follow-up with what you did to improve the situation or if you followed the advice you were given. We're not there to do this for you, you have to do it for yourself. If you choose not to for whatever reason then that's on you.

You're right, I let things get to me easily, it might end up being the reason I'm not successful at this line of work. I also have a ****ed off DM breathing down my neck and being late for appointments because of stupid things going wrong, if that keeps happening I will be let go for sure you can guarantee that and I would never be able to get a truck driving job again if I wanted to. As far as going solo I've tried but I've never heard back, im sure neither my DM or anybody else with WE has any interest in doing me a favor right now regardless.

Also I have no idea how the hell to slide tandems , almost all the loads I got on my trainers truck were drop and hook with no tandem or 5th wheel sliding, so sliding tandems is a really confusing concept to me

I'll be able to go more in depth in a couple hours unless someone beats me to it. In the meantime look it up on YouTube . To be honest thats how I learned to do both. Its real easy once you see it once. 5th wheel moves above 250 pounds per knotch and tandems anywhere from 300 to 500 per hole. That is just a rough estimate but it'll get you close enough to make adjustments

My biggest problem is getting it lined up to the right hole

Here is a graph I saw here on TT that I screen shot and saved for future reference. It explains how the weight moves. Hang in there man, it’s too early to quit. Staying the course and overcoming these challenges and frustrations in a calmer manner will reduce your stress levels and get you much better results. Hope this helps you some.

My biggest problem is getting it lined up to the right hole

A little trick G-Town taught me is to put something on the ground next to your driver side step to measure your move.

Example: if you need to move tandems forward 2 holes, your reversing the truck about a foot. Put your marker on ground next to step about a Foot from front step edge. Then smoothly reverse truck until marker is even with the step edge, tandems should have moved the 2 holes you wanted

Do you do your teammate have the same DM? If so, is he getting the DM mad at him too?

The problems you're having are lessons. You learned about the mudflap, you learned about the fuel issue, you learned what to do when the qualcomm goes down. If these things happen again, I bet it won't bother you so much. There's a reason why companies pay more for experience and it's not because they get from A to B. It's because they get from A to B without getting hung up on the little things in between. Once you figure out how to not get hung up, there will be no stopping you. The first time my eld went down, I thought it was over. Can't drive or I need a different truck. I went into dispatch and he handed me a paperlog. He said get moving you need to make your gate. I was so mad because I felt he was dismissive. I thought about putting the truck out of service so he'd have to give me another one. FedEx has burned integrity into my brain so I decided not to do that and I just filled out the paperlog to my gate time and started driving. End of the day, I turned in my log and the world didn't end.

And don't be afraid to ask for help. If you find yourself in a situation where you're not sure what to do, ask another trucker. Most of the people out there have been where you are and don't mind helping out. Offer to buy them a cup of coffee for their troubles and say please and thank you.