Rocky Start With Barr Nunn

I guess it is time to do a quick update.

I started with Barr Nunn on the 3rd of March. Orientation is 2 days, at the end of the second day you are issued your truck.

It started out a bit rocky in that I am supposed to get home every weekend (or close to that) as a regional driver. I ended up sitting in Carlisle PA at the Petro the first weekend (was not a happy camper). Ended up having to get the Operations director involved to get me home the second weekend. I got home on Friday, came back out on the following Tuesday.

The freight is about 50 - 50 on running days/nights. So far I have been stuck on running mostly nights. I am not a night person, but have been dealing with it pretty well. The tone for the week is pretty much set with the first run coming out of home time (this week I had my first run in the evening of Tuesday). Hopefully the next time out I will get a day run to start.

Have been all over the place (mostly up in NY/PA/OH the first week). So far this week I have been in NJ/NC/OH. Have a run that I will relay to our yard in Charlotte NC that goes to FL. Another driver will pick it up and deliver it on Monday 03/24/14. They will get me a load that gets me going back toward the house in VA once I get to the yard.

Most of my loads have been drop/hook and relay type loads. Will update again as time permits.

Ernie

Yeah, that's the problem with starting over at a new company....you're a nobody to them. They're going to test you and push you around and generally see how much they can get away with before you put your foot down. It's annoying when you know you're a proven top-tier driver.

You wish there was some kind of secret password that only experienced, proven, top-tier drivers know like "banana sandwich" so you can get "in the club" with your dispatcher right away. But nope - no banana sandwiches in this industry. It's just, "We don't care if you're God's Gift To Trucking. Please wait at the end of the line for your name to be called with the rest of em."

That sucks.

Well the cream rises to the top and it won't be long before they'll know what you can do and what they can't get away with. You'll get your miles and you'll get your home time the way you should. But in the meantime try not to let it get to ya too much. Just keep in mind that 90% of the drivers out there aren't all that good at what they do but they think they are. As far as they're concerned you're just another "hero in your own mind" until you prove otherwise. And ya can't blame em for taking that approach. That's what the numbers dictate.

I once spoke with a driver who told me his father had owned about 6 trucks from the time this dude was a baby. He said, "In all those years he said he never once had six good drivers at the same time." It never crossed my mind to doubt the truth behind that.

Ya want me to call dispatch and give em h*ll for ya???? I'll scream and yell and call em names. Then everything will go smoothly from that point on for ya I'm sure.

Hang in there man! I changed companies a number of times throughout the years and I know exactly what you're dealing with. You can only hope your patience lasts longer than it takes for them to figure out how good you are.

Made it to our yard in Charlotte NC ok.

Presently sitting at the Petro in Kenly NC. Pickup in Rocky Mt NC tomorrow afternoon & have to be up in the Baltimore MD area by 11 tomorrow evening. Then I get to go home (deadhead from Baltimore to Norfolk VA area where I live).

That is what I was told to do by my dispatch once I am done. Will come out of the house Wednesday, I guess I will see what the future holds in store coming out of the house this time (last week was stuck on night runs). I hope to get on some day runs this time, sure would be nice. Been doing mostly night runs since I started.

An interesting thing happened this evening when I was having dinner, had a conversation with an O/O that runs for Cowan. He, like me is a retired veteran from the Vietnam era. He is going to call someone he knows at Cowan to see if they have any openings in their Norfolk VA terminal. They mostly have dedicated routes, pay .54/mile, home weekly. Will see how this works out. Never know who you might run into at a truckstop.

Ernie

Cowan is a great company to work for. I get to talk to a lot of their drivers where I am now because the dedicated I am on shares warehouse space with Coca Cola and Cowan does a lot of work for Coke. Most of the drivers seem very happy, equipment is clean and well maintained. I talk to mostly the local drivers but every once in a while there is a regional or two that come thru.

Definitely take a look at Cowan, I think they usually require 2+ years of experience though.

Cowan is a great company to work for. I get to talk to a lot of their drivers where I am now because the dedicated I am on shares warehouse space with Coca Cola and Cowan does a lot of work for Coke. Most of the drivers seem very happy, equipment is clean and well maintained. I talk to mostly the local drivers but every once in a while there is a regional or two that come thru.

Definitely take a look at Cowan, I think they usually require 2+ years of experience though.

Got that in the bag. Hopefully I will hear back from them while I am on my home time.

Ernie