So You Wanna Be A Trucker?

In my case, i really want this. I am now about 12k in debt getting here and that does not include the lost income for the periods of training and such. Here is my week as of 1/17/15

1/17 to 1/18 Load from neelys mo to london ky. 381 miles (not bad)

1/19 to 1/20 load from kimper ky to west jefferson ohio. 240 miles(Not bad)

1/20 to 1/20 load from ohio terminal to pataskala ohio. 17 miles (17 miles. Wtf. Went fine though)

1/20 to 1/20 load. 7 empty miles from terminal. Had to bobtail there cause another driver dropped and abandoned a loaded trailer in recievers driveway. "Hook up, back into dock and they will unload you quickly" so dispatch says. I get there around 8:30 pm with 3 hours on my 14. I thinking i got enough time to get back to terminal and get the hell out of there so i dont have to spend night at terminal. Good plan right? Well, lumper says "we cant unload you till midnight" and oh yea, you can not break on premises. Great. The planners are crying now. Cause i cant legally do this. So i tell them. I got this, dont worry. They were very appreciative. So i wait. Then they come get me early, i back in they unload me and i got 30 minuets on my 14 left. Nice, at least i can get to terminal. Well they did not get me paper work for 27 minuets. Nice. I am outta cigs, out of time and hungry at this point. So i leave and at the next intersection is a store. Got cigs and got to eat. No room to park so i spent the night on the side of the road.

1/21 to 1/21 columbus oh to austonburg oh. 186 miles. My dispatch says delivery on. 1/21 13:00 "dont be late or we will have a $500 fine" no problem. The further north i go the more snow and ice i see. Start seeing cars in ditches and such. Ooh boy. So i get there 2 hours early pull in and walk in with my paper work all proud that i just navigated my way through all the whether and made it. They take my paper work and say. "Your appointment is not till 1:00 am." i'm like muther f'er. So i go park in flying j right in front of reciever. Get ahold of dm and let him know. Well after about 2 hours he calls me and says the planners are freakin out cause i wont have time to do the next "VERY VERY IMPORTANT" load. I have already figured it out. I have to go back to reciever at 1am back in get unloaded and leave with out ever going on duty or driving so i dont start my 14. E logs put you on duty driving at a cetrtain speed and or x # of miles. So at midnight 30, i creep over in 3rd gear, get everything done and creep out. Status did not change. So i am good.

1/22 to 1/22 solon ohio to sidney ohio. 183 miles. So i show up for my "VERY IMPORTANT" load at 5:45 am. 15 minuets early. I am in a huge industrial area and had to call woman at shipper twice to figure out where they were. there were 4 shippers in one building so door after door, and i getting ****ed. So i call again to get help. Well shipping office is in the very front entrance through the glass doors. (Very unusal) every place i have been has some inconspicuous door on side of building. (There is not one single sign anywhere) when i get in there i tell her "i can't believe i missed all the signs" she said "what signs?" i said "exactly" so i sign in and then she tells me the appointment was for 6am the day before and they will not load me untill my company calls and reschedules. Great. Not my fault. Dispatch said today. So i inform dispatch. My dm sends me to truck stop close to terminal and here i sit. No word, nothing to do. I accepted a preplan to north Carolina but gotta wait for it to show up to terminal. Good break though, got a shower, ate a good breakfast at dennys. So now i just wait. Lol

With all this said and as frustrating as it is. I am still in good spirits and will not let this get me down. If nothing else its a great opportunity to be seen by my dm as a hustler who can get through it all with out throwing towel.

Thats Truckin

So If I've added this up correctly, you got 831 miles for the week? Ouch! Talk about paying your dues...

Since I went solo I have had only a handful of runs under 500 miles. I just did the last 2 weeks with over 2800 miles each. My next run off my home time is a 1200 mile run to texas again.

It was all going good till i hit ohio. I think they hired a bunch of monkey's up here as planners.

In my case, i really want this.

Hey Ricky, I've been following along with your recent posts and I know you are getting run through the ringer. I was so glad to see you start this post with that statement, because that is what it takes to get started in this career. I doubt you are familiar with my baptism into trucking but, I struggled just to land a job, and then I started going through the kind of stuff you are facing. It doesn't take too many 3 or 4 hundred dollar paychecks after putting up with all kinds of stress and what seems like a total lack of concern from dispatch to start to wear a guy down.

It takes a lot of determination and desire to get the ball rolling in this business. We try to prepare people for just how tough it's gonna be, but the reality usually bites most people in the back side without them even being prepared for it. I was wanting to jump in on one of your other posts the other day but I was tearing down the highway trying my best to get something accomplished, and when I finally shut down that night you had already been given some really great advice.

It will get better... trust me, they want you moving down that road much more than you are now. It's hard to understand how everything works in these trucking operations, but when you are the new guy you just are really not even on anybody's radar yet. Just keep plugging away and doing your best to "get er done". From what I can see you are doing just that. It just takes a while for you to get accustomed to how things work, and it also takes a while for them to realize "Hey, this new guy Ricky really seems to be doing a great job - we need to get behind him and see what he can do for us."

That first three months was killer for me - I was so stressed out, and trying to do my very best with what seemed like little or no helpful information being provided to me from dispatch. One day it kind of clicked for me - they were not going to babysit me, in fact they were looking for guys who could figure it out all on their own - those are the types of people who really succeed at this thing we call trucking. I was self-employed for thirty years before starting this as a second career, so I was well versed in taking care of my own affairs, but still it seemed odd that I was busting my tail for these guys and most of the time they didn't even respond to my requests or even recognize that I was out there until I screwed something up. then you would think I was at the top of someones list of the most important people!

The other thing I want to point out is that there are certain cultures that develop at different companies. Whether that is by design, or if it just sort of organically takes place, I'm not sure, but some trucking companies won't even let you get into the same building where the dispatchers are - that's right, some of them are behind bullet proof glass like tellers at the bank! It takes a special badge to unlock the door to get access to the room, and there's not a driver in the company that's given one of those badges. That doesn't mean it's not a great place to work, but it is the culture of that certain workplace. Western Express was that way, and in my opinion that culture was even getting worse when I left there, but I still excelled at my job, and very much enjoyed my time there.

The thing about it is that you just have to adjust and work within the structure that is already set up. It may seem to you like it doesn't make any sense, but it is the way it its, and you can't force it to change to what seems like a much more functional way of doing things. I know you've heard us talking about having to roll with it. That is what we are talking about. Some drivers put a lot of extra stress on themselves by constantly struggling against the structure that they are expected to function in. When a little more time goes by and you settle in and know better what to expect you will start getting more miles and making more money, you will also start getting the hang of things and doing some of the little things you are struggling with real quickly right up there in your head.

I'm glad to see you posting some of your struggles, because it helps others to see what they may be up against when they start running solo. But I am really glad to hear you say:

With all this said and as frustrating as it is. I am still in good spirits and will not let this get me down. If nothing else its a great opportunity to be seen by my dm as a hustler who can get through it all with out throwing towel.

Thank you for your input oldschool. It does help to know thats the way it rolls and its not just me. Lol. Again thank you for your time and input. Its much appreciated.