A Month Of Trucking With Daniel B.

Great thread as usual. Checking in to let you know I look forward to reading new updates.

A couple things I haven't found answers to yet, so I'm just gonna ask..

How do you get signal on a your TV? Rabbit ears?

Are you playing COD online with your Xbox?

What do you do for an internet connection? I have 6 GB of data on my phone and the mobile hotspot enabled and I have to budget my data wisely to avoid going over. How often do you get a chance to connect to free WiFi?

Thanks for all the time you put into writing your threads, they truly are epic!

Great thread as usual. Checking in to let you know I look forward to reading new updates.

A couple things I haven't found answers to yet, so I'm just gonna ask..

How do you get signal on a your TV? Rabbit ears?

Are you playing COD online with your Xbox?

What do you do for an internet connection? I have 6 GB of data on my phone and the mobile hotspot enabled and I have to budget my data wisely to avoid going over. How often do you get a chance to connect to free WiFi?

Thanks for all the time you put into writing your threads, they truly are epic!

Thanks for the questions.

When I'm watching tv it's usually Netflix or local channels. Pretty much every modern truck comes with the coax cable to plug into the back of the tv that will provide you with local channels. Not a great signal unless you're in the city.

But if I'm watching tv in usually just watching Netflix.

Yep, I'm playing CoD on Xbox Live. Gamertag is 'Dan and Olga'. Anyone reading this, feel free to add me.

Here's how I have everything set up. My wife is a manager at a RadioShack so I get a nice 50% off at Verizon. So I have 40gb of data to use every month.

I also have a iPhone 5s which has the built in hotspot. I turn on the hotspot on my phone and connect my Xbox to it for Xbox Live/Netflix.

Unfortunately, 6gb isn't much when using all of this technology so that will limit you badly. Xbox Live hardly takes any data, but obviously Netflix eats it up. Otherwise you have the mobile hotspot which is all you'll need.

Free wifi really isn't good. Truck stop wifi is awful at all times of the day besides early morning and isn't cheap. It's really tough to find a decent wifi around here. And I don't really like to use it because it's unsecured.

Thanks, that explains a lot. 40 gigs!? My jaw is still dropped :O

Thanks, that explains a lot. 40 gigs!? My jaw is still dropped :O

Yeah, I keep dropping jaws lately.

Great thread as usual. Checking in to let you know I look forward to reading new updates.

A couple things I haven't found answers to yet, so I'm just gonna ask..

How do you get signal on a your TV? Rabbit ears?

Are you playing COD online with your Xbox?

What do you do for an internet connection? I have 6 GB of data on my phone and the mobile hotspot enabled and I have to budget my data wisely to avoid going over. How often do you get a chance to connect to free WiFi?

Thanks for all the time you put into writing your threads, they truly are epic!

Thanks for the questions.

When I'm watching tv it's usually Netflix or local channels. Pretty much every modern truck comes with the coax cable to plug into the back of the tv that will provide you with local channels. Not a great signal unless you're in the city.

But if I'm watching tv in usually just watching Netflix.

Yep, I'm playing CoD on Xbox Live. Gamertag is 'Dan and Olga'. Anyone reading this, feel free to add me.

Here's how I have everything set up. My wife is a manager at a RadioShack so I get a nice 50% off at Verizon. So I have 40gb of data to use every month.

I also have a iPhone 5s which has the built in hotspot. I turn on the hotspot on my phone and connect my Xbox to it for Xbox Live/Netflix.

Unfortunately, 6gb isn't much when using all of this technology so that will limit you badly. Xbox Live hardly takes any data, but obviously Netflix eats it up. Otherwise you have the mobile hotspot which is all you'll need.

Free wifi really isn't good. Truck stop wifi is awful at all times of the day besides early morning and isn't cheap. It's really tough to find a decent wifi around here. And I don't really like to use it because it's unsecured.

I do 30Gb and can generally make it through the month without issues..

There is also a way to drop the amount of data netflix uses...

Log in to netflix, click on your profile in the right top corner and goto your account. Should be at this page

Click on the Playback button that i have circled, and it'll pop up a box

pick your desired setting.. I use the lowest and never really have an issue with quality on my mobile, however on my laptop its a little low qual. helps keep data down a bit though. I can watch a 2hr movie and use 700mb on low.

I've been in that Cargill/AmeriCold 4 times myself. I was always a live load and they did a pretty good job of getting me in and out. Always remember seeing several Prime trailers there. Thanks for the update. Be safe!

12/13

I had parked on the street at my final delivery for this load. The Qualcomm said that they had parking on the street so that's where I ended my day yesterday. I woke up at 0500 and rolled into the facility. There was a case on top of a pallet that went to my previous delivery, they said it wasn't there's so I put it on top of a pallet that delivers to this facility in Denton, TX.

I stage myself at their staging area and walk inside the receiving office. They were very kind and even had a restroom that didn't smell like a skunk. I back into my dock door and take a 1.5 hour nap. I get a phone call from the clerk telling me that they're done and my paperwork is ready.

I strolled into the office and got my paperwork. That case I just talked about wasn't theirs either, and there was a 3 shortage of one product. Is it my fault? No, this was a preloaded trailer and the shipper loaded and counted it.

So I head back into my truck and call the Claims Department to tell them about this. I tell them the information for the shortage and about that case. He gives me a Claims # and tells me that he will get back to my about that case no one ordered. He needs to contact the shipper to ask them what to do with it.

15 minutes later I get the message from him telling me to throw away the case. My ass! I'm keeping this!

So I got 6lb of Premium Boneless Ribeye Steak. Yeah, you read that correct. This is a benefit of reefer. Sometimes you score big. In fact, one of my first loads at Prime was a Mars Chocolate load and there was 700$ worth of candy that wasn't on the BoL so guess what? Claims told me to throw that away too! Luckily, it was the load that was taking me home. You should have seen my wife's face when I opened the trailer doors to 10 giant cases of Snickers, Twix, and a bunch of other candy. I remember loading it all up in my Lancer and that thing was so low to the ground it must have been at least 400lb. We were abundant in 24 pack king size snickers and twix.

Well, this is a problem. A good problem might I add. First thing I do? Crank that reefer to -22 degrees to freeze that meat up good. Then I headed on Off-Duty Driving to the nearest Pilot and bought a cheap cooler and filled it with ice. Then I got my next load.

Next Load:

Pickup: Fort Worth, TX App Time: 12/13 @ 1300-2359.

Delivers: Denver, CO App Time: 12/15 @ 0600.

A 775 mile load with slightly too much time on it.

This is perfect. I'm going to ask my DM if he can get me a load through the house on Monday. If he says yes, I can drop all of this meat off at home and be stacked for a while. I make homemade beef jerky at home as a hobby and this will keep me stocked for many batches.

What's special about this load? This pickup facility is the first place I delivered to ever. I remember in training, my trainer picked me up in Fontana, CA and he was already loaded heading to Fort Worth, TX. He was behind on the load so we had to hustle badly. I was put on the wheel and he watched me for an hour then went to sleep. I don't know how I survived that. But this was where my first delivery to place. Lots of memories as I was here.

Another thing, when it usually gives a giant pickup window, most of the time its a preloaded trailer. Not always, but the chances are good.

So before I head out I top the reefer in fuel, its a bit lower than the minimum required 3/4 of a tank because I've been blasting it at -22 all morning. Remember I Off-Duty Drove here? You can only drive Off-Duty when you're empty and not under a load. Well, my pickup is an exit from this Pilot. Talk about luck, eh?

But that didn't matter. You absolutely must be On-Duty when fueling so even though I could have gotten to my pickup without starting my clock. I couldn't because I had to fuel. I follow the rules, I have integrity.

I had arrived at my shipper and it was indeed a preloaded trailer. I dropped my empty at the door they told me to and went to look for my preloaded trailer. I found it and hooked up to it.

The trailers at Prime have a Right Weigh gauge on them. When you supply air to the trailer the air bags inflate, and this Right Weigh is connected to the air bag and tells you how much weight on is them. It must be calibrated or else its not accurate. Well, I hooked up to my trailer and when I came to the "balancing your weight" part I noticed that the weight was already evenly distributed with the tandems all the way back. What I mean by that is, the trailer tandems were as close to the trailer doors as possible (away from the tractor). This told me that the product is loaded all the way to the back. I left the tandems at the back because none of the states I was crossing cared about the kingpin setting.

The kingpin setting is the distance from the kingpin to the center of the rear axle. For example, CA does not allow more than 40' kingpin setting.

I took off and drove until Boise City, OK. A 450 mile day. I woke up at 0500 and ended my day at 2200. I only have 300 miles to do tomorrow so I'm sleeping in big time! This week isn't a very good week in my standards. I am keeping an eye on all this meat, I will be devastated if it goes bad on me. Maybe I should get myself a small grill and have some barbeque on the road? What would you do if you were in my position with all this meat? I could ship it, but I want the adventure!

Get a Forman grill, make a couple steaks or if they got bones, trulim and cook and make sandwiches..

Would be bad if it went bad.. you could buy a cooler like mine that allows your to set it to 0 degrees.. hehehe

12/14

An easy 300 mile day. I woke up when I felt like it. I can't tell you how rare it is to actually be able to sleep in. Usually I end my shift and no matter what, in 10 hours I must be back at it. So if I shower for an hour, eat for 30 minutes, and then it takes me 30 minutes to fall asleep, then I only get 8 hours of sleep. But today I get to sleep in!

I woke up to this on my windshield. Awesome people! Bless the people who come out here in the middle of the night to hand out these. Truckers need it.

I woke up at about 0900 and drove off. I drove for about 100 miles and stopped at a small Love's along the way. They only had two shower stalls and luckily they weren't being used. I entered my shower to discover pubic hair on the toilet seat and facial hair all over the sink. So much for a sanitary shower facility. Absolutely disgusting. This folks, is why you absolutely must be using sandals in these showers. Truckers are dirty, a lot of them are dirty people.

This was top 3 worst showers I've ever had. And because of how bad it was I didn't take a shower for long.

Anyways, I continued driving and I drove the entire 200 miles that were ramining. At one point there was etremely heavy hail and snow. But its all a part of the journey.

I get to my delivery location, I've been here 6 times before already. I park at their staging area and walk in to give them my paperwork at approximately 1530. I'm over 12 hours early.

They said they'll call me when they're ready for me and until then I played Call of Duty on my Xbox 360. Its a great way to burn the time! During this time I take my cooler and put it under my trailer so it can stay chilled. Its a lot colder outside than it is in my truck, and those cases of meat are my babies.

Surprisingly, I get a call at about 1800 that they have a door for me. I take in my cooler and proceed to the guardshack. They give me a door but no instructions on where it is. The man was too busy puffing his cigarette.

I knew where I needed to go since I've been here a ton of times before though. It took a while for me to get to my door because the guy in front of me had the Quallcomm that would put him on Driving status if he went over 5mph. So I just dragged myself behind him. Sure I can pass him, but I don't want to make myself look reckless and my company look like they employ unsafe drivers.

I get to my dock door and open my trailer doors slowly. Remember I said that I think the product is all the way back to the trailer doors? Well, it could be leaning up against the door, and when I open it it could fall on me. I've had it happen to a friend of mine. So I opened my doors gently and sure enough it was inches from the door but was held up by a load lock. Funny how you can't even see inside the trailer but you can guess how far the product goes back.

While they unload me and count the product I go to sleep. I got woken up at approximately 2100 that my paperwork is ready. Everything was good with the load! Since they don't allow parking within the facility I'm forced to try to find a spot at the staging area. Of course, there wasn't any available there because it was so late.

So I decide to drive to the TA on Off-Duty Driving. I decide to get myself a truck wash since its been about 3 weeks. Prime gives company drivers a free truck wash every 2 weeks. If I take one right now, I can take one right before I go home on January 3rd.

So I drive to the Blue Beacon located at the TA in Denver. There's no one in line so it doesn't take long at all.

I also get myself a trailer washout. I drive away from the Blue Beacon Truck Wash to try to find a spot and I can't find one! I make a spot and within 5 minutes get stopped by a parking enforcement officer. He tells me there's a spot available just down the row and he was totally right! Except, the worst spots are always the only ones available this late in the day. Its a blindside backing, between two trucks, with a bunch of large rocks in front of me that I have to watch out for.

12/14 Continued.....

It wasn't an easy one. It took almost 10 minutes with 4 pullups and I got out and looked 3 times. Did it take a while? I guess. Could I have aced it on the first try? Not a chance. But the golden question is, did I hit anything? If you didn't hit anything then pat yourself on the back because that's all the matters. I consider myself to be pretty good at backing, but I don't take chances. Remember that these trucks are plastic, and the trailers metal, if you back up into a truck that usually means thousands of dollars in repair - and usually your job too.

Use extreme caution, take your time. Don't ever think you have it all figured out because you don't. The day you have nothing left to learn is the day you're a liability. Don't let your pride get in the way.

And get this. I had one truck on my drivers side waiting for me and two trucks on my passenger side waiting for me. Not a single driver got out to help me. Folks, this is how the typical driver is in this industry. None of them care about anyone but themselves and its a miracle to get someone to spot you. So why would I put my career in jeopardy for these jerks? Take your time! Did I need help? I did without, but I would have loved a spotter.

Tired after a long day, late at night, a tough parking spot - that is the ingredients list for a backing accident. Use even greater caution when you'll be in this situation.

Anyways, as soon as I parked I set my reefer temperature to -15 degrees and them I put my cooler of meat in there to freeze. David, why spend 700 on your cooler when I have a 53' freezer? Haha! I'm still extremely determined to get this meat home.

My day is over. I did 300 miles in a 13 hour day. Most of it was spent playing CoD and sleeping though. Not a very good day money wise.

I want to talk about how to organize your load information. I write everything down. I believe this is the best way because then you can just bring your notebook with you to your facility and have all the information right there. Its also nice to be able to go back and see what you've done and where you've been.

Here is my notebook, take a look. This is where I write everything down and what order I write it down in.

Now this is how it looks when I'm done. Sensitive information has been deleted because this is a real order. If I have multiple pickups/deliveries I move everything down to make room. On the back of the paper I write down my routing so that I can easily see where I need to go in case I get lost. I hope this helps! Any questions feel free to ask!