My Diary About Joining JS Helwig

So I had some difficulties with using the Omnitrac navigation mode. I had to revert to using my road atlas and phone GPS. Thankfully, I had a very simple route, but next Monday I’m going to be on the phone with questions. If I have time this weekend, I’ll get on YouTube and watch some instructional videos.

All in all, it’s going great. The truck is great, weather is great. I did name my truck Helen, just in case she turns out to be “hell on” fuel and oil.

I worked with an Omnitracs unit for years. Navigo is their branded GPS. At least with me, the dispatch route was sent to the Navigo and was easy to invoke. My experience; I found it very easy to use and fairly reliable.

So I had some difficulties with using the Omnitrac navigation mode. I had to revert to using my road atlas and phone GPS. Thankfully, I had a very simple route, but next Monday I’m going to be on the phone with questions. If I have time this weekend, I’ll get on YouTube and watch some instructional videos.

All in all, it’s going great. The truck is great, weather is great. I did name my truck Helen, just in case she turns out to be “hell on” fuel and oil.

I've used the Omnitrac gps, a few times, just to see how it compares to google maps on my phone. Usually pretty equal, I just remind myself the cell ain't like a Garmin/Rand, sometimes, it does try to route me to residentials but I wasn't born last night lol

Otherwise my cell's been pretty damn spot on. Omni sometimes can't find street numbers, usually because a warehouse/dc is pretty newly built. But I've found every place I needed to be and the correct entry gates, not the address entry lol

My first 6 days of driving a Helwig truck went like this:

Day 1. 497 mi. Day 2. 612 mi. Day 3. 278 mi. Day 4. 58 mi. Day 5. 539 mi. Day 6. 567 mi. For a total of 2551 miles. The 58 mile day was for making my delivery on Monday and then spending the rest of the day loading the truck and doing a few errands. That’s the first time I’ve exceeded 2500 miles in a week. As I settle into the Helwig routine, I expect to hit the 3000 mile mark on a regular basis, but I’m very happy with my first week. Thanks everyone for all the advice and encouragement.

My first 6 days of driving a Helwig truck went like this:

Day 1. 497 mi. Day 2. 612 mi. Day 3. 278 mi. Day 4. 58 mi. Day 5. 539 mi. Day 6. 567 mi. For a total of 2551 miles. The 58 mile day was for making my delivery on Monday and then spending the rest of the day loading the truck and doing a few errands. That’s the first time I’ve exceeded 2500 miles in a week. As I settle into the Helwig routine, I expect to hit the 3000 mile mark on a regular basis, but I’m very happy with my first week. Thanks everyone for all the advice and encouragement.

Congrats, BK!

Awesomeness.

Now, go into Lil'Red Riding Hood's thread, and follow the directions I left for you there (explicitly!) on photos, haha!

Until you get to see your 4 y/o grandson, try MY way!

Sending blessings, always ~

~ Anne & Tom ~

Sounds like things are going well Bruce. Did they ever explain why they pay twice a week? I've never heard of anything like that before and it sure seems like more work for them.

Hi Harvey, I’ve asked about that and can’t get a definitive answer, so I’m unsure how that twice a week pay system was adopted. But I understand that Helwig will go to a once a week system in April.

CRST used to pay that way too twice a week (before my time) Tuesday/Fridays

CRST used to pay that way too twice a week (before my time) Tuesday/Fridays

Yep! I remember that when I was there.

Just to make a long story endless, I set a personal miles record today. 652 miles, beating my previous best by 5 miles. I still had 30 minutes on my clock, but I was at my planned parking area so I didn’t want to press my luck.

I would have hit 700 but I got caught up in a big traffic stoppage due to a rolled over truck on I40 in Arkansas. Cost me about 1 hour.

Altogether, there were 4 trucks off the road today that I passed in Arkansas. Good day for the heavy duty wreckers. And probably 4 drivers checking to see if McDonalds is still hiring.