As I am sure all have noticed I have been gone a long time. Well I took my vacation but even before that started on my last week of work I managed to injure myself. Go figure. That in turn extended my time off for 3 months. After I was cleared to go back to work the company I was working for underwent a management change and all new rules went into effect that made working for that company no longer something I wanted to do so, I hit the want ad's.
I started out looking for a local truck job but they are very few and hard to come by these days with the economy sucking as bad as it is. I even applied for one job 3 days before it was posted in the papers and my app got shuffled under 100 more drivers who applied for the same job.
So I went back to what I know best, hauling food all over the country.
I would still like to work a local job and be able to be home every night but until things get better I will stick to what makes me the cash I need to support my family. That is the reason most OTR (over the road) Drivers are out here.
I am running for a much smaller company then I am used to now and it seems to be a bit better and by smaller I mean about 300 trucks in the fleet.
I have been in company's with thousands and to them you are just a number they push around their computer screens. I didn't mind being a number tho because if you didn't call attention to your self they would leave you alone. Of course you would have to learn how to play the big company games. With big company's came the big list of rules because nothing was on a personal level and the rules had to fit every possible situation they could think of.
First, you learn the rules and who has control of who. With most big truck company's the safety department has control over everyone else, and this is a plus for the driver if they know how to use it.
Second, you make sure you have a perfect "on-time" record. This is a bit tricky depending on how close the company wants to cut the time you have to run their loads and how much control they give away to the customers they haul for. Some company's give way too much control to their customers and naturally they want the load delivered yesterday even if it is 2500 miles away. Most of the big company's have computers in their trucks and when you get a load the first thing you do is calculate the time it will take you to get it picked up and delivered.( There are several ways and formulas to do this by. I will try and explain them at a later date but for now lets stick to just saying that's what you do.). If the load is too close you send a computer message stating that you can not deliver this load on time safely and legally. Once it is in a company computer message it is permanent record and cant be disputed that you warned them and by most big company rules you are no longer responsible for the load being late. It does take a good bit of time in the trucking industry to get this bit of knowledge down to a working system but it is what it is and it works.
The third Part comes after they notice your record for "on-time" and safety and legal log keeping. There will come the phone call where they ask for a "favor" and it wont be from your normal dispatcher, it will be from his boss or a load planer. This phone call will be about a HOT load they need done and can't find any one to run it or it could be a rescue load from a broke down or a driver who got into trouble. Jump on this chance to help. EVERY company keeps a file on each driver and things like this are kept in there believe it or not it counts for or against you depending on how you answer this call. So if you can in any way run this load for them legally DO IT. They will state "they owe you one" and that means they put it in your file with their name on it and having the bosses name with a good remark or a I.O.U. goes a LONG way in getting you what you want in the way of runs or time off not to mention if your make a load planner happy you tend to get some real gravy runs out of them.
I am not saying this all works every time but for me it has been a great way to run in a large company.
So now I have to see if I can run in this smaller company the same way or maybe I might have to make a few changes. I am not too worried tho I do know the basics that you need for every job, Cover Your Ass at all times. Its hard to sit and drive with no ass.
Til next time, keep safe.
Tsu
Monday, November 17, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
Trucker Poets
I found a link to a few Trucker Poet winners in Land Line a OOIDA (owner operator independent drivers assn. ) i thought some were very good and wanted to share them with you just follow the link.
http://www.landlinemag.com/Archives/2007/Nov2007/Features/poetry.html
I also found a great one that i will have to type in by hand. Look for it soon.
Unitl next time stay safe.
http://www.landlinemag.com/Archives/2007/Nov2007/Features/poetry.html
I also found a great one that i will have to type in by hand. Look for it soon.
Unitl next time stay safe.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Winter
I am at home right now and enjoying my time off with the wife and family. I am playing a lot of Warcraft and a little Sims Golf, tons of fun.
Winters are a bit harder on truck drivers because of all the changing weather. Unexpected delays
cause time management to become critical and that changes the hours we would normaly sleep to change. To sum it up we never seem to sleep at the same time every day. We could be sleeping at night and then have to change it to sleeping during the day all depending on when the load delivers and what the roads are like.
The weather effects other things like the fuel in the trucks when its 10 degrees or less. The fuel will gel and stop the truck from running. To stop that, we put anti gel in the tanks and some tanks have fuel heaters too. When it is under 0 degrees we have to run the trucks to keep them from freezing up. In places like Wyoming where the wind is also blowing on top of the -0 degree weather you have to consider what direction to park your truck so the snow is not blown in the engine or again it may freeze up.
When the temperature drops below 0 all things change into a life or death situation when it comes to keeping your truck running. The truck becomes your life line. If it runs you can get warm, if it stops, you can freeze to death before any help can come to help you. There are many places in the country where you can be 60 to 100 miles from any help and -0 temps will not take long to freeze you. That brings us to the things you can do not to freeze if the truck breaks down. First thermal underwear and a good winter coat that goes below the waist. I also carry thermal padded coveralls that keep me very warm. In the bunk I have a 0 degree rated sleeping bag I can crawl into and you can get heaters that will run as long as the batteries in the truck last. They also make blankets that plug into the lighter socket.
Going outside when the temp drops below 0 is also a challenge. You have to cover up every part of exposed skin, this includes face and hands. We have to go out in the weather for a few things several times a day like fueling the truck and bathroom breaks. also, when you get to a shipper or receiver you have to go in to make contact, then open doors on the trailer and chock tires when going to a dock. When the temp is under 0 breathing also changes, you shouldn't take in huge amounts of the super cold air it will make you cough. I have been in temps as low as -45 and at that temp you don't want to go out at all.
I spent a few days this last trip out stuck waiting for mountain passes to reopen that were closed due to snow.
The west coast seems to be the worst when it comes to road closers in the winter. I would guess it is because the snow is warmer and more slippery on the roads and the west has a lot of mountains that are very steep and full of curves to wreck you.
Almost all of the western states have chain laws to follow. Installing chains on a truck is no easy feat. For a truck and trailer with 5 axles in the state of California you have to put on 8 chains, 6 on the drive tires and 2 on the trailer tires. this can take lots of time and still does not ensure that you are any safer on the highway. My company gives our drivers a choice to put chains on or not to. I elect not to because if I have to put chains on I consider the road no longer safe to drive on, and its not because I can't drive on it, but because the other drivers out there in cars become more unsafe.
Trucks can run on snow differently depending on the weight of the truck. A fully loaded truck will push through the snow and make contact with the road helping us have more control. A empty trailer is out right unsafe in snow and ice. There is nothing helping us stick to the road and the trailer will always want to go another direction, it will often try to pass you. Being alert at all times when behind the wheel is a must in winter driving. Ice effects trucks even more then cars because we have more weight pushing us forward, so turns and stops become more of a challenge. You have to do all changes in small amounts to keep control of the combination truck and trailer. This includes accelerating as well as slowing down. Acceleration can break traction just as easy as breaking can and recovering from a power jackknife is hard to do. Actually any jackknife is difficult to recover from but it can be done. I was taught to never give up trying no matter how impossible the situation looks.
It's time to go back to enjoying my little amount of time at home, until next time, be safe out there.
Winters are a bit harder on truck drivers because of all the changing weather. Unexpected delays
cause time management to become critical and that changes the hours we would normaly sleep to change. To sum it up we never seem to sleep at the same time every day. We could be sleeping at night and then have to change it to sleeping during the day all depending on when the load delivers and what the roads are like.
The weather effects other things like the fuel in the trucks when its 10 degrees or less. The fuel will gel and stop the truck from running. To stop that, we put anti gel in the tanks and some tanks have fuel heaters too. When it is under 0 degrees we have to run the trucks to keep them from freezing up. In places like Wyoming where the wind is also blowing on top of the -0 degree weather you have to consider what direction to park your truck so the snow is not blown in the engine or again it may freeze up.
When the temperature drops below 0 all things change into a life or death situation when it comes to keeping your truck running. The truck becomes your life line. If it runs you can get warm, if it stops, you can freeze to death before any help can come to help you. There are many places in the country where you can be 60 to 100 miles from any help and -0 temps will not take long to freeze you. That brings us to the things you can do not to freeze if the truck breaks down. First thermal underwear and a good winter coat that goes below the waist. I also carry thermal padded coveralls that keep me very warm. In the bunk I have a 0 degree rated sleeping bag I can crawl into and you can get heaters that will run as long as the batteries in the truck last. They also make blankets that plug into the lighter socket.
Going outside when the temp drops below 0 is also a challenge. You have to cover up every part of exposed skin, this includes face and hands. We have to go out in the weather for a few things several times a day like fueling the truck and bathroom breaks. also, when you get to a shipper or receiver you have to go in to make contact, then open doors on the trailer and chock tires when going to a dock. When the temp is under 0 breathing also changes, you shouldn't take in huge amounts of the super cold air it will make you cough. I have been in temps as low as -45 and at that temp you don't want to go out at all.
I spent a few days this last trip out stuck waiting for mountain passes to reopen that were closed due to snow.
The west coast seems to be the worst when it comes to road closers in the winter. I would guess it is because the snow is warmer and more slippery on the roads and the west has a lot of mountains that are very steep and full of curves to wreck you.
Almost all of the western states have chain laws to follow. Installing chains on a truck is no easy feat. For a truck and trailer with 5 axles in the state of California you have to put on 8 chains, 6 on the drive tires and 2 on the trailer tires. this can take lots of time and still does not ensure that you are any safer on the highway. My company gives our drivers a choice to put chains on or not to. I elect not to because if I have to put chains on I consider the road no longer safe to drive on, and its not because I can't drive on it, but because the other drivers out there in cars become more unsafe.
Trucks can run on snow differently depending on the weight of the truck. A fully loaded truck will push through the snow and make contact with the road helping us have more control. A empty trailer is out right unsafe in snow and ice. There is nothing helping us stick to the road and the trailer will always want to go another direction, it will often try to pass you. Being alert at all times when behind the wheel is a must in winter driving. Ice effects trucks even more then cars because we have more weight pushing us forward, so turns and stops become more of a challenge. You have to do all changes in small amounts to keep control of the combination truck and trailer. This includes accelerating as well as slowing down. Acceleration can break traction just as easy as breaking can and recovering from a power jackknife is hard to do. Actually any jackknife is difficult to recover from but it can be done. I was taught to never give up trying no matter how impossible the situation looks.
It's time to go back to enjoying my little amount of time at home, until next time, be safe out there.
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