Beginning New Career With PTL. (A Diary)
Topic 3152 | Page 3
I've read a lot of stuff on the internet about the trailer conditions at PTL. Just thought I'd relay the experience I just had. Picked up an empty from the drop yard in Memphis. The front left clearance light did not work. There just happened to be a mechanic at the drop yard from our west Memphis terminal. He fixed the light in around 20 mins and we are headed to the p/u.
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.
Wow. You'll hit your 6K mark in no time, at this rate. How are you getting along with the trainer?
Wow. You'll hit your 6K mark in no time, at this rate. How are you getting along with the trainer?
Trainer is a 20 yr veteran and a pretty nice guy when I'm not waking him up by shaking him out of the bunk.
Load was drop and hook at UPS in Philly airport. Got empty to take to Lyons PA and then to iowa. Cutoff for weeks pay is at 2300 on Thursday so were gonna get what we get and t-call later tonight. I'll post what my paid miles and my logged miles are then. I'm looking at close to 5k miles at 15 cpm this week. Not too bad for trainee pay in my book.
CPM:
Cents Per Mile
Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.
Drop And Hook:
Drop and hook means the driver will drop one trailer and hook to another one.
In order to speed up the pickup and delivery process a driver may be instructed to drop their empty trailer and hook to one that is already loaded, or drop their loaded trailer and hook to one that is already empty. That way the driver will not have to wait for a trailer to be loaded or unloaded.
Good deal. Sounds like things are moving right along.
Load is dropped in Memphis and we have one going to philly. 1000 miles. Will give us a total of 4508 for the 1 st week. I'm freakin exhausted though. Been awake trying to learn procedures for dropping, picking up, transflo, and all the Qualcomm stuff. Need to try to get some bunk time. Thank god I'm out of Arkansas I-40 (aka Ho Chi Minh trail),
You mean everything they have been telling us on this forum is true? Feast of Famine it seems. First you were bored and now exhausted. To tell you the truth, I'm really looking forward to being exhausted with 4,508 miles in the tank. Sounds like you are having a blast! Keep up the good work. Why is Arkansas I-40 referred to as Ho Chi Minh Trail? Do B-52's bomb the trucks on it occasionally or something? I wonder what you age is because I wonder if you are old enough to remember the original trail. That's in reference to all of us old farts. You might be a kid, I don't know . . .
Jopa
I'm pretty sure only a B-52 or possibly an army of backhoes could make a road that rough. BTW, I'm 40. Too young to remember Vietnam but I probably know more trivial facts about it than the people who actually fought it. I feel blessed that my generation never had to fight in a major war. No offense to desert storm vets meant.
Qualcomm:
Omnitracs (a.k.a. Qualcomm) is a satellite-based messaging system with built-in GPS capabilities built by Qualcomm. It has a small computer screen and keyboard and is tied into the truck’s computer. It allows trucking companies to track where the driver is at, monitor the truck, and send and receive messages with the driver – similar to email.
Just finished 646 miles in 10 hrs 54 mins. Trying like crazy to get this load dropped from PA to IA before 1500. It's not scheduled to deliver til Monday but we really really wanna drop it today and get another. Looks like we are gonna roll in between 1505 and 1515 so it's gonna be close call. During my 30 I grabbed a quick nap and the 30 turned into 60. I desperately needed the nap but right now I'd love to have those 30 mins back. Keeping fingers crossed again to not spend whole weekend in BFE Iowa.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
WOO- HOO. I thought I was gonna be stuck in Iowa for the weekend. Got a load from Des Moines to Columbus OH at 1000 on a Saturday. Delivers on Monday morning. I'll ( hopefully) put it there a day early and try again.
Awesome! Keep those wheels turning and the money flowing into the bank account!
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
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You mean everything they have been telling us on this forum is true? Feast of Famine it seems. First you were bored and now exhausted. To tell you the truth, I'm really looking forward to being exhausted with 4,508 miles in the tank. Sounds like you are having a blast! Keep up the good work. Why is Arkansas I-40 referred to as Ho Chi Minh Trail? Do B-52's bomb the trucks on it occasionally or something? I wonder what you age is because I wonder if you are old enough to remember the original trail. That's in reference to all of us old farts. You might be a kid, I don't know . . .
Jopa
Qualcomm:
Omnitracs (a.k.a. Qualcomm) is a satellite-based messaging system with built-in GPS capabilities built by Qualcomm. It has a small computer screen and keyboard and is tied into the truck’s computer. It allows trucking companies to track where the driver is at, monitor the truck, and send and receive messages with the driver – similar to email.