Talk About Bad Luck. New Prime Driver

Thanks for the tip. I'll be there Monday AM.

Hey Terry her name is Kylah 417-521-3170 is the number Ken C.

What, you hittin on her too?

Oh Boy! I can't wait for Olga to see this one!

Daniel, you are a slow learner! I've tried my best to help you but you just seem to like life on the edge.

OS, there's a misunderstanding. Ken likes to smooth talk the ladies, he's very good at it too, and he has so many numbers. Apparently he's hitting on Kylah too and has her number.

So when I said that I meant it in the exact opposite way. I never talked to her except once to get my truck.

Thanks for the tip. I'll be there Monday AM.

Hey Terry her name is Kylah 417-521-3170 is the number Ken C.

What, you hittin on her too?

Daniel It's Strictly Business.....

You handled the situation amazing well, Terry. Glad you shared it with all of us because I plan to follow your lead when (not if) I hit the same situation. You really took it in stride and I think I'll follow your example :-)

Well I finally got home after getting my assigned truck and here's how it went down:

On Monday per Daniels advice I went to the leasing agent first thing in the morning and told her my plight and to see if I could get another truck (hoping to get in an International lightweight). I explained that my truck has been in the shop since I received it and they shop wasn't even planning on looking at it until Monday night. Well she called over there to get the 411 on what was going on and got the shop to take in the truck right then and there instead of later that night. If it was going to take time to fix, she was going to assign me another truck no problem. So I head to the wonderful cafeteria at the Prime Millenium building and have some breakfast and then back to the campus inn for a nap. I get a call 3 hours later from the shop and the mechanic asks me exactly what was wrong with the APU because they can't find anything wrong with it. (of course) They got it to start and run for a couple of hours. Isn't that how it always works with auto mechanics? Your machine will have a problem and as soon as you get it to the mechanic it freaking stops.

Soo without a problem they can fix and a truck with a working APU and the fact I've now been sitting for over a week between orientation and breakdown I say F--- it, I'm coming to get the truck and get out of here. I head to my fleet manager and let him know I"m ready to PTA and head home to Florida to grab some cold weather gear, rain gear, tools and other things to equip my truck. As I stated before he'll only allow me to be home no more than 24 hours to take a break, grab my stuff and go. Even though I've been away for weeks.

Monday night comes and I'm headed out the gate with a load going to Atlanta as there is nothing in the yard coming in or heading to Florida. Hopefully my fleet manager can find something from Atlanta head to Florida when I get there. I have no problems getting to Atlanta and even had enough time to stop at a CB shop on I-75 at the T/A in Cartersville GA to get my CB cleaned (it had been sitting for 14 years since my last time driving a truck) and mounted in my truck. I make delivery Wednesday morning an hour earlier than my appointment then am able to stay in the overflow lot of the receiver to get some sleep. I get my next dispatch and its heading to Macclenny Florida, less than a 100 miles from home! Everything seems to be working out great! Now I have until 11:00 PM to pick up this load and get it 624 miles. Since I started my clock earlier I stay in the lot to get my 14 back to make pick up and delivery and still make my 7:00 AM delivery at Wal-Mart DC.

Thursday rolls around and I make my appointment an hour early and check in. IF everything works out right and Wal-mart gets me unloaded in the 2 hour window they're supposed to I can drop the trailer and make it home before my 14 expires again. Nope.....they have a shortage in the load and now have to take extra time to make a complete count so my clock expires at Wal-mart. The plan was to take my empty trailer to Anheuser Bush in Jacksonville and bob tail home on my Off duty driving time. My FM gives me directions to AB over qualcomm and I read: "not able to drop empty trailer and bobtail out." I tell the FM about this and now he's gotta take time to find a place for me to drop the trailer. He tells me later to take my empty to the Prime floral drop yard in Pierson with is a little out of my way enough I can't do it in ODD. Plus I have to get the trailer washed out and fueled. More time waiting for my clock......when will I ever get home???

I finally get the trailer washed out and fueled and dropped in Pierson with the few hours I got back at the T/A in Baldwin, which was enough to allow me to get to Pierson and nothing more. Now I take ODD driving from Pierson the 42 miles to my house but its gonna be 6:00 PM when I get home and I have to be ready to go at 10:00 AM the next morning. Well as I'm thinking the worst is behind me and I"m heading home, one final blow happens. My check engine light comes on. Now I have to pull over in the middle of nowhere Florida and get a hold of road assist and let them know what's going on. I do a complete check of the truck and find that my engine oil is low. The truck just came out of the shop how can that be? I look at the truck every time I stop and haven't noticed any oil puddles on the ground where is it going? RA tells me how to reset the check engine light and lets me know its ok to get to a truck stop and get oil. Now I'm not getting home till late with only a few hours to collect all my stuff and try and get sleep and have to be back ready to go in 12 hours. By this time I've been up for 27. More bad luck........

But wait, I"m going to end this on a happy note!! I message my FM on QC to let him know of the events that have and are unfolding. I get the surprise of my life when he comes back and says: "you know Terry I"ve been thinking, we're going into the weekend and you're there in Florida close to home, why don't you go ahead and stay home the weekend. Will you be ready to head out for at least 3 weeks 10:00 AM Monday?" That's 3 days at home that weren't supposed to happen!! I tell him "Hell yes I'll be ready!!

TL:DR Newcomers this is just a little taste of the day in and outs of OTR trucking. Learn to roll with the punches. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

Bobtail:

"Bobtailing" means you are driving a tractor without a trailer attached.

OTR:

Over The Road

OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.

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.

Fm:

Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager

The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.

Fleet Manager:

Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager

The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.

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.

Wow! That's a great post Terry, and full of great lessons for the noobs snooping around this site. Thanks for posting, and have a great weekend!

Well see that terry. With all that went wrong and taken in stride some good came out at the end. So did that apu ever fail on you again or did that gremlin move on to someone else's truck.

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.

Woo-HOO! What a great story! Ma-an. I remember the thread about you wanting to lease and I am SO glad to hear that you didn't. Oy! Have a great weekend! What would you do without your wonderful wife, too, hunh?

-mountain girl

Wow! That's a great post Terry, and full of great lessons for the noobs snooping around this site. Thanks for posting, and have a great weekend!

Thank you Old School. It IS a great weekend!!

Well see that terry. With all that went wrong and taken in stride some good came out at the end. So did that apu ever fail on you again or did that gremlin move on to someone else's truck.

My APU has been working ever since I took it out. I hope you're right and the gremlin has found another!

Woo-HOO! What a great story! Ma-an. I remember the thread about you wanting to lease and I am SO glad to hear that you didn't. Oy! Have a great weekend! What would you do without your wonderful wife, too, hunh?

-mountain girl

I wouldn't be the man I am without that wonderful woman beside me!! And like I posted earlier, I'm very grateful to Daniel, guyjax and Brett for talking some sense into me.

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.