Starting With Pride Transport SLC On 15 Feb 2021 Ask Away!

We picked up a loaded trailer of cheese in Logan Utah at 10 o clock. Swung by L Dubs truck stop in Logan had an amazing chicken ranch sandwich and we jumped on the road and made a beeline for San Bernardino. Hours San Bernardino drop wasn't due for delivery until 11 a.m. Tuesday. So last night we pulled in and I was given a night off at home. Got back to the truck at noon Monday. Made a quick Dash to Victorville so my trainer could be home for the evening. 8 a.m. tomorrow morning we're going to do some more backing training before we head into San Bernardino. Probably do another 10 to 15 backings which will put me way over the minimum require backings to complete training. We don't have a load yet leaving out of Southern California but I imagine we'll get that tomorrow morning. I'm getting more and more comfortable with the drivertech system and using my trainers Rand McNally. I really like the Rand McNally I'm going to be getting me one it is a lifesaver. We're operating a Freightliner Cascadia DT 15 what's an automatic transmission. The learning curve is just a steep that's when I was learning to use a Road Ranger. But outside of that I don't think I'll ever go back. The lane departure warning system is not without its flaws. Sometimes it will pick up old paint stripes or even asphalt sealant and Buzz in the speakers and it makes you think you've left your lane. Truck also has an anti Collision warning system and if you're in construction and get too close to a jersey barrier it goes off. If you're not expecting it f****** terrifying. The adaptive cruise control that the truck is equipped with is pure money. As long as you're not on to steep a grade it's like a Ronco oven..." set it and forget it!" When we where in Logan Utah we got into a knife fight with the optimized idle. Damn near froze our asses off until we could get it all worked out. For some reason the APU runs the air conditioning but not the heater. If I get my own truck with an APU I think I'll just get electric blankets or a small space heater. If my own truck doesn't have any APU, I may just go run and buy a 2000 watt Honda generator. They will run 8 plus hours on a tank of gas that's slightly more than a half gallon. As of tonight I'm 6 days in and have a little over 46 of my required 100 hours solo driving time. Depending on the next loads I could have my 100 hours wrapped up in about 5 days. Then we roll into team driving. I hope this journals been helpful if anyone has any questions it's probably better than me just blabbering on.

DWI:

Driving While Intoxicated

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

I'm starting to think that San Bernadino equals chaos. After getting 21 back ins we headed to Stater Brothers. Got checked in and bumped the dock, just as me and my trainer were about to do some snow chain training, we were asked to move to a different dock. Eh, no biggie. We got moved and did the chain ups. Doneski. Just as we hit the freeway to head back to Victorville to pick up at Dr Pepper, my trainer get a call for a wizz quiz. Yup, full stop. Do a 180, drop our trailer in a staging yard, run to the **** place, wait an hour at least, back to the trailer for a snatch and grab and book it to Dr Pepper's. The one saving grace there was it was a drop and hook. So by then we lost like 3 hrs. So with all the legal and governed quickness allowed, we beat feet and I ran my clock out in Moapa NV. 7 plus hours tomorrow to get to Corinne, Utah. Strangely enough I'm not as tired as I thought I might be during all this. Also, I am sleeping hella good on the road, reefer and everything. The two may be related...Nah!!!

Made of from Moapa NV to Corinne UT with out incident. Offloaded at a Walmart distribution center then headed over to Dannon in SLC to do a drop n hook and grab a load of yogurt bound fo CA. The trailer tire had an bad cap so we drop the few miles to our yard for a tire swap and a shower. Afterwards we headed to Hurricane UT for another drop and hook before dropping me off for a day off so u can sign some home refi paperwork. It came up kinda short notice. Both Pride and My trainer where understanding and made sure to get me taken care of. I jump back in with the training on Saturday when the trainer rolls back through. I am 70 hrs into my 100hrs of solo/under supervision and have 67 back ins.

So I hate to say it, but I have gotten into a pattern. Training with a dedicated driver does that. I just phased up yesterday and we are now running as a team. I just reset my sleep patterns to pull tonight. I remember reading about a noob *****in about having to drive all the night runs. In my case that gets me more driving time per day to get through my 200 faster. Plus I hit less traffic, winner winner...

First 9.5 hr shift on teams completed!

Kudos, man!

Still happily following, good sir.

My dude prefers night driving, as well. Less traffic, mostly why!

Yep, you'll round up quickly. Congrats again!

~ Anne ~

So today got really exciting. We were southbound on I15 just North of Beaver Utah and the snow was falling pretty decent. My trainer wakes me up as we were getting close to swapping out. He's creeping along in the right lane and a guy in pickup passes us. No biggie, not too fast, the snow was slushy on the road, easy-peasy. The guy gets about 2-3 car lengths ahead and WHOOPIE!!! Does a counterclockwise 360 towards the median and flips over on his top! My instructor stops, I grab my gloves and start running. Now get this. No less than 6 cars drive by with out so much as tap on the brakes. I duck the cars and get to flipped pickup. The driver was able to hit the door locks and undo the seatbelt. His door is jammed so I haul on it to open it wide enough for him to crawl out. NOW, a few people show interest. Unbelievable. The guy was shook up a lot, no major injuries. Few bumps I'm sure. We wind up parked for 2 hours letting this guy stay warm in our truck. Cops and firefighters stopped 3 times to check in. Since the guy was mostly ok, they said to sit tight as there was a lot of accidents between Beaver and UT20. They finally took custody of the guy and we followed the next snow plow that went by and eventually made it to Hurricane to swap out our trailer for one headed to Tolleson AZ, where I now sit. What a day.

Bravo Zulu for your quick actions!

Bravo Zulu for your quick actions!

Thanks Packrat!!! I gotta say it been a while since I got BZ. Just doing the right thing is all.

What's your truck number?