Sit sit sit drive drive drive....lol

Well, once we got under way from the seatbelt thing, we got us some freight and got going. Only to stop and wait. Again. Let me explain. Once the seatbelt thing was sorted out in our truck, my Mentor and I almost immediately got a load (albeit a short one) that went from Chambersburg, PA to Wilkes-barre, PA. I think the total paid mileage for the load was 143 miles. It was a mixed merchandise load for a major retailer. We bobtailed down (bobtail means "with no trailer") to Chambersburg and hook onto our trailer. My mentor then turns it over to me and off we go! It's a pretty easy run up I-81 and until we got to exit 107, it goes pretty smoothly. Then the rain started. Before too many more miles went by, the dash board warning came on to tell me that there were "freezing conditions". A couple more miles and the rain turned to snow. Fuckin marvelous. Now I was not feeling too good about this. When it's slippery, you have to be VERY gentle on the airbrakes and cannot use the "jake" brake (engine brake) as it could cause a skid or a jackknife. When using the air brakes, you have to be careful that the tractor wheels don't lock up or the trailer wheels don't lock up. In slippery conditions, it's actually easier to stop a heavy load because you can get on the brakes a bit harder. Anyway, back to the story. So we're cruising up I-81 at about 50 mph and getting blown around a bit by the wind when we come to our exit. Our exit is at the bottom of a hill and is a 15mph exit ramp as it curves under the highway. I did just manage to get it down the hill safely although I did see the trailer wheels start to slide at one point, but I let off the air and managed to recover it. We dropped that load and headed over to Wal-Mart for the night.

The next day, we headed up to Mountain Top, PA to a major sports drink bottler to pick up a load of this particular alligator related drink. This load was HEAVY. VERY HEAVY. When we went to the scales to weigh it, (to make sure we're in the legal limit) we weighed 79,640 pounds. (Legal limit is 80,000 lbs) Fun huh? We ended up taking this load about 480 miles south on I-81 to Wyethville, VA where this drink company has a distribution facility. Now is when the wait comes in. We dropped this load at 9AM and were back to the truckstop by 10:30. We did some laundry, got a bite to eat, and waited. And waited. And waited.....

Finally we gave up and went to bed.

The next day, we found out that we were assigned a load from Johnson City, TN to North East Texas. Trouble was, it wouldn't be ready until the next morning at 9 am. So we ended up just putzing around the Flying J truckstop all day. I managed to catch "Smokey and the Bandit" in the drivers lounge while we waited. I seem to remember someone asking me and the 4 or 5 other drivers why we watch trucking movies in our off time, which is a very good question!

The next AM, we drove down to Johnson city and picked up our new trailer. I drove the length of Tennessee (About 340 miles) to the terminal in Memphis, then my Mentor drove the rest of the way from Memphis to Texas while I tried to sleep. We expected to be able to drop the trailer at the customer a day early (which is why we were hauling ass to get there) and get another load to get us home for the holidays. When we awoke in Texas, we called the home improvement warehouse's warehouse and asked about the early drop. Nope. Not a chance. Fuck. Guess we're sitting in Texas for 24 hours before we can get rid of this damn thing. So we did at a little Loves truck stop. That evening, my mentor drove to the drop-off and then he drove to our next pickup in Ft. Smith, AR. while I slept.

Early the next morning, we picked up a load of Johnny Walker liquor bound for New Jersey. My Mentor hit the bunk and I drove across AR to Memphis to get fuel again, and then part way across TN. We stopped for the night and both slept soundly until the next day, when I drove the rest of TN and all of Virginia, stopping in Martinsburg, WV for fuel. My mentor drove from there to exit 77 in PA where Karen picked me up for the holidays. My mentor finished the run to NJ and is now headed home to Ohio.

Sounds like fun huh? I'll be leaving the day after Christmas to do it some more, and I'll keep you updated about that.

Until then, Happy Holidays!
Russ

Trucker Lesson No.1 - Sit on your ass and wait.

Wednesday started out to be a good day. I had orientation in the AM, and then after lunch, we took some tests and I passed orientation. It wasn't hard, a lot of it was paperwork and basic stuff, so it wasn't too difficult. About 2 PM, the lady who manages us trainees during our 6 weeks came up and told about 3/4 of us that she had mentors for us and that we should stick around while the others went home and waited until more mentors showed up. I got to stay as my mentor was here in the terminal. Once I was placed into the system, I met my mentor, Chris, and we headed to the truck. That's when things stated to go downhill in the wrong gear.....

Chris drives a 2009 Volvo tractor. I loaded my crap in the truck and we prepared to head west with a load. Except for one little minor thing....

The passenger side seatbelt and it's lack of length. Most specifically, it's inability to fit over my fat ass! We decided to check out some other Volvos to see if it was me, or whether it was his truck. Turns out, it was his truck! The other three trucks we tried didn't fit and another mentor tried ours and confirmed it was too short.

We checked with the shop and they told us they had another seatbelt in stock, so we could get it replaced and get on down the road. Good right? Nope.

We got in the shop right away and about 2 hours later, our truck was ready to go, so I got in and checked it. Nope. Not happening. My mentor looked at the belt and discovered that it hadn't been replaced at all! Now, I should tell you that the belts are neon green (Conrail Zito Yellow) so that they can tell that the driver/passenger are wearing their seatbelts. Strangely enough, the driver side belt was now black. Hmmm... Even though we wrote "Passenger Side" on the work order, they replaced the driver side belt. Ugh...

See what I mean about Downhill? It gets worse.

Thursday morning, they ordered a new belt from the Volvo dealer, which had to be ordered so here we sit on Friday, still waiting. The new belt SHOULD be here today and SHOULD be installed by 4PM if everything goes well and hopefully we'll get a load out of here.

The thing that really sucks is the fact that even though I'm getting paid for training, my mentor isn't getting paid at all. Nothing. Nada, Zero. This close to Christmas, that's not a good thing. I actually have the utmost respect for my mentor as he could have very easily dropped me as a student and gone out with another or gone solo and he didn't, so brownie points awarded.

I'll post again when something happens, but until then, we're just relaxing in the terminal.
Russ

Ps. It's getting icy in lots of places now. Drive carefully!

GOT MY CDL! / And an Automotive Rant

Yesterday, I passed my CDL test! I'm now a CDL licensed driver in the US!

That's really all the trucking related info I have for today except that I'm going to be in Orientation Monday-Wednesday and then I'll be out for 6 weeks with my mentor learning the ropes with truck driving before I get my own truck to drive. WOOHOO!

And now, on with the rant....

(Gets up on soap box)

Todays topic of this Boober rant is the proposed "Big 3" US automaker bailout.

All I have to say is WTF? Why should Congress (and my tax dollars) go to bailing out private industry? Especially those assholes! Ford, Chrysler and (especially) GM deserve what they're getting now. It's been a long time coming and now they go whining and crying to the government for free money which they'll squander away on building a crappy product and in a couple of years time, they'll be back where they are now.

But let's look back for a moment and see why these companies are in trouble in the first place.

Back before the 1950s, domestic care makers had little competition (except from eachother) and everyone wanted their own car, so it worked out nicely. You'd go down to the local showroom and talk with "Pappy" or "Skip" that owned the place and you'd pick a car based on equipment and color, and to show how much he cared, the salesman would throw in floormats or some other "premium", making you think that you'd really gotten a "good deal". There was no haggling over sticker price and no real comparison shopping, so everyone was happy. The Automaker sold cars, the dealer made money, and you drove your new Chevy off the lot thinking you'd made a good deal and enjoying your new car.

Then the automakers opened up franchising dealerships to just about anyone and soon, Smalltown, USA had TWO Chevy dealers! Well, why would you choose one over another? First you'd go to Smith Chevrolet, where your family has been doing business for years. The salesman there was your contact in the car business and offered to throw in those free floormats and undercoating because you were a "valued customer". On the way home, however, you pass Miller Chevy, the new place in town with it's flashy showroom and slick salesmen. Just for fun you stop in to see what all the fuss is about and while there, Slicky McSalesman gets you into a conversation about buying your new car and tells you that he can not only get you those floormats and undercoating, but he can knock $50 off the price of that new car if you buy TODAY. So you go back to Smith Chevrolet and complain to your trusty car adivsor that Slicky offered you the car for $50 less and now, Smith must match or beat the deal to get the business.

Word of this soon got out... CAR DEALERS ARE FLEXIBLE! This action unknowingly began pulling bricks out of the domestic car manufacturer's wall...

Now, thanks to these antics of old, The big three will offer huge savings on cars to get you in the door. For instance, a new Ford F150 has an MSRP of $24,250, but you can get rebates and incentives of $5000 off the MSRP price. Most people's first thought is "Wow! That's a good deal". Is it? Really? Let's look closer.....

So now Joe Customer has a truck for $19,250 and newfound $5000 in his pocket, right? Nope. Slicky's Grandson now works at the dealership and talkes Joe Customer into a Toneau cover for his new F150 and maybe some alloy wheels and an extended warrenty! Cost of add on products is (let's guess) $4500. Now Joe will be financing $23,750 and thinks he's in good shape because he's still paying less than MSRP and getting all those extras to boot. So Joe finances the $23,750 plus tax and tags for a total of $25,387 (figuring $200 for tags and 6% tax)

Not a good deal now, is it? Joe's just put himself on the hook for just over $25K, but that truck is only worth 19K. This is already a $6000 difference. Now Joe drives his new F150 off the lot and a year goes by. Now that F150 is worth about 40% less than it costs new. (about $12,500) so now Joe is stuck with that F150 and it's loan (now about $24,900) for the next 4 years at $500 a month.

Now do you see why people don't want cars from these people?

But why did Joe's truck's value drop like a stone? Several reasons...The same reasons that contribute to the US auto indstry demise.

Over Competition- This drives down the price of the cars, but it also drives down the value as illustrated above.

Fleet departments - Now this is one most people don't understand. Ever gone to Enterprise or Budget and rented a car? What did you get? Probably a fairly new Ford or GM product, right? Maybe a shiney new Pontiac G6 or a Ford Fusion, maybe even a Chrysler 300 if you put down a little more cash. Rental companies always seem to have newer cars, right? Sure they do, they want to attract customers by having nice cars to drive (Mustang convertible, anyone?). So every year, they take all their 2 year old cars and replace them with new ones. The Big 3 give them a great price on the new ones (Afterall, it is kind of free advertising and they are buying 5,000 new cars nationwide) So now you've got 5,000 Chevy Cobalts floating around a rental car company. Two years later, those Cobalts go bye-bye to an auto auction such as Manheim. With 6,000 Cobalts to choose from (5,000 rentals and 1,000 dealer trade-ins), buyers can be very picky. Some of those not so nice cars sell for less due to damage, less desireable color or options, etc. This drives down the average value on the car. Now, this will get back to the dealer in the form of a "blue book value" or "black book value" which is an approximation of what the cars are selling at for auction. Now, Jane Customer wants to trade in her Cobalt and Smith Chevy only wants to offer her $5000 for her two year old Cobalt (Let's say they're averaging $5500 at the auction) so that they can make an extra $500 on the deal (That's right, the dealer keeps the $500 difference between the auction sales price and the trade in value) Jane wonders why the $14,000 Cobalt she got only two years ago is now worth only $5000, the short answer, the "Supply and Demand" drama that is Fleet Sales.

Another reason that the Big 3 are dying a slow and cash hemmoraging death is the Auto Unions. I'm sure that this won't get me any love from the unions, but the unions (United Auto Workers mostly) are slowly choking off the carmakers too. In the early years, car companies paid workers little and gave them fewer benefits. Feeling used and abused, the workers did the only thing they could think of and banded together to form unions. Good idea, right? Sure it is! Better conditions and better pay and benefits? Who wouln't want that. Strikes were organised and car companies came around and began negotiating with workers to settle strikes and get things moving again. Workers 1, Carmakers 0. Now, flash forward to today. A guy in Detriot is getting paid $39 per hour to push a button that starts automated welders working on the car chassis sitting infront of him. He works 8 hours a day, Monday through Friday pusing that button and when he retires in three years, he'll get a pension that he can live on for the rest of his life and a gold watch to go with it. Meanwhile, a non-union Honda or Toyota employee presses the button for $25 per hour and has a company matched 401(k) to retire on. Which one is better for the company? Definately the Honda/Toyota guy and the 401(k). Keeping up the healthcare and pay of a retired union person costs a pretty penny to the auto companies and as their workforce ages, it's costing them more and more. These methods are outdated and can no longer support the retiring workers, nor should they have to. Those workers should have saved their own money with 401(k)s instead of the company sponsored retirement packages. Perhaps the big three could fare better if they changed all operations to non-union with lower wages and had the employees start 401(k)s rather than rely on retirement packages. The companies' costs would be less and I doubt that any of the employees would starve. (Those currently on pensions would have to be taken care of though as it isn't fair to remove someone's pension when they have no other money)

I'll add more to this later. Hope you're enjoying this!
Russ

Swift School Over! CDL Test coming!

Well, last Friday I tested out of Swift School. I actually finished top of my class! I had a 96% class grade and missed only 2 points on the road test (and they were really stupid things too). Wednesday I go back to Jonestown for some practice and brushing up on my skills, then Thursday at noon I have an appointment with the testing facility (3rd party tester for PennDOT) . Next Monday I have orientation with Swift, and then I'll be off with my mentor for 6 weeks. I'm not too sure I like the idea of the mentor thing, although It's good for students, I just don't like the idea of being cooped up in a truck with some random dude. I shall, however, get on with it and get it done so that I can get out there and start making money. Money I fear will become a big problem here very quickly if we don't get some of it soon. There are several bills that are about to be big problems for us if the cash doesn't start flowing soon, including vehicles. I've been considering a voluntary repo of the Sebring as it's $200 a month that could better be used elsewhere, but I really don't need that on both of our credit reports. The main reason I'm considering that at this point is that we're behind a couple payments and with me on the road, I won't be needing a vehicle at Jonestown, so ..... What to do?

I probably won't get rid of it as the wife really likes it and it is a nice car. I just hope the money fairy shows up soon...

I'll update again after my CDL test (hopefully good news!).

Thanks for reading!
Russ

Almost done with Class

This Saturday, I'll be completing class and range work at school. After that, I'll head back to PA from Richmond, VA to go on the road for a week and learn to drive that rig in traffic.

Since my last entry, I took and failed my pre-trip inspection (PTI) yesterday and passed today. I failed the Airbrake portion as I forgot to drift test the service brake. So I took it again with James and passed. Then James and I sat in the truck and BSed about the trucking industry in general and specifically Swift and their place in the world.

I also worked on the 45degree backing excercise. I did ok with that, but it's still kicking my ass. I'm trying to do it without taking my pull-up, but I'm only getting it in there 3/6 times. I am doing better on the testing truck than the others though, which is good.

We also worked today on shifting. I actually did pretty well. I managed to get it up the gearbox without grinding, but coming back down was a bit more difficult. I ground a couple gears, but managed it fairly well. I wish Dorothy (normal shifting instructor) had been there to see it.

I'll post more soon, but for now, I need to get some sleep. 4:30AM comes pretty early...
Russ

Remember how I said that I wasn't going to post every day? Well, here I am backing up that statement. Speaking of backing up, backing up SUCKS! (More on that later....)

Now that we're in the swing of things here, I'll tell you a little about what goes on. Johnny (my roommate) and I wake up at 4:30AM. At 5:15 we're outside waiting for the "Rusty Bus", which is an old Bluebird cabover school bus painted white witht the Swift logos on it. At 6AM, school is in session and they take role. Then we either go to the range, or stay in the class room. The range is where the school's trucks live. They live there permanantly as they wouldn't probably stand up to being on the road anymore. They all have more than 600K miles and have various bits and pieces bent broken cracked or missing. The big thing is that they still start and pull the trailers we get. All of the trailers are 53' trailers and are out of road service for some reason. Usually holes, patches and other assorted damage.

On the range, we do pre-trip inspections every day. The PTI involves checking about 180 parts of the tractor and trailer for items that are bent broken cracked or missing, or hoses / air lines that are frayed leaking or bulging. I won't go into details about what's what, as I might lose you and it'd be REALLY boring, but there are 5 airbrake parts on each end of each axle that have to be checked every day. Once your ground checks are done, you get into the cab and do your air checks and electric system checks... Boring huh? Yeah, and lots to remember.

Once those are completed, we drive! Well, we drive around the lot. To get a CDL in PA, you have to be able to perform certain manuvers. In PA, it's the "straight line back", the "45 degree alley dock", and the dreaded "parallel park".

Straight line backing is fairly easy. It is, as it's name implys, backing the truck in a straight line using only the mirrors to keep the truck and trailer in a lane 3 feet wider than the units. Easy you say? Keep in mind that it's 3 feet total, not on each side and the trailer is constantly trying to go it's own way and if you over compensate for it, the tractor will be outside the lines. If that happens...FAIL

Parallel parking is exactly what it is in cars, but with 70' of truck and trailer.

The 45 degree is the one that gets me. I can't seem to do it. Think of parking a car in a garage in reverse. Now think of doing the same thing with a T/T in the same kind of space. You must have the trailer in the box without crossing the cones (called encroaching), or going more than 1 foot past the last cone (Instant FAIL) You get 5 points to use for mistakes. Each time you pull up to try it again, that's one point. Each time you encroach the cone line, that's also 1 point, so they add up quickly.

I'll fill you all in on more later. Tomorrow is mapping and Haz-Mat, so it'll be interesting.
Russ

Day 1....again....

Don't be fooled, I'm not going to post every day, but I wanted to cover whats gone on the last week. Last Monday I got sent home from school because my blood pressure was too high. I drove the 255 miles home and went to the doctors. Now, I'm on Diovan and Sunday I drove the 255 miles back down here and today, everything was great! I passed the Workwell tests and qualified for flatbed ops. That's good as I would get paid more for flatbed when I do it. They co-mingle FB and dry van drivers (they don't have a specific division).

Today after the tests, we waited at the training center (4 of our 12 classmembers) while the other 8 went to the clinic to re-do their physicals. Most went to unapproved locations, while others had theirs go past 30 days. (Glad I screwed around on that one...) The 4 of us worked on our homework (5 chapters in the book and have to be ready for a general skills test tomorrow). Tomorrow after the test, we work on mapping and trip planning/log books. I don't think this will be too bad. I know how to use a map and log books aren't too bad. I'll keep you updated!
Russ

Stage 1...

Today, I arrived in Richmond, VA at the Candlewood Suites. (Yeah, Swift paid for suites! Way to go Swift!) When I arrived, I was standing in the lobby talking to a couple other students and someone from Swift and one of the guys checking in commented that he snored, I joking commented that I did too and the front desk chick put us in the same room. Boy, I'll tell ya what, I thought Thor was my carbon copy...This guy is almost better! He's got the same haircut, same likes and dislikes, he even has a boxer as a pet! (It's kinda scary, actually). But he's a nice dude from North Carolina. We start school tomorrow and have to be outside at 5:30AM (ugh...) for the shuttle bus to school. I will be interested to see what tomorrow brings. According to the paperwork we got at the hotel, tomorrow will be strength and other tests. I don't think I'll have any problem,but it's always good to go prepaired for anything.

More updates to come!

Almost ready to hit the road....

You wouldn't think so, but there is a lot of paperwork involved in becoming a truck driver. First, I had to go to PennDOT and get my CDL Learner's Permit. While I was there, I also renewed my Driver's License (As it was set to expire in Jan '09). After that, I took my Airbrake and Hazmat tests, along with a General Knowledge test. All said and done, I was at PennDOT for the better part of 5 hours and a cost of a little under $200. Then, I had to run to Carlisle to the Social Security office to get a replacement Social Security card as I had laminated mine back in high school and lamination invalidates the card. Once all that was done, I thought I was good to go. That, however, was not the case. Turns out I had forgotten that Kris and I had been rear-ended last spring going to a train show in Allentown. Even though it was Kris's car, I had been driving and I completely forgot about it, so I had to fax in my police report about that.

Now it's the Wednesday before I'm set to leave for Richmond, VA where the training center is located. I have 23 straight days of trucking school and then I'll be out with a driver trainer for 6 weeks after that. Figuring it out, I'll miss Thanksgiving and Christmas, but should be back in time for Karen and my birthdays. My calculations bring me back to Harrisburg around the 17th of January (My birthday), so we'll see what happens.

During that time, I'll get no pay for the first 23 days, then $400 per week for the first 4 weeks, then $500 per week for the last two. Once I'm out on my own, I'll be earning $.26 per mile for the first 3 months, then $.27 until the end of the first year. It doesn't sound like much, but I plan on "running my wheels off" to earn as much money as I can.

So all that is left at this point is to pack my bags, round up my paperwork, and head off this Saturday. Keep an eye here for updates. I'll try to update as much as possible, but with a 6AM to 5:30PM school schedule, it'll be tough!

Not there yet

This is going to be my blog about my life as a truck driver. I'm hoping to be able to share my experiences with my family and friends. You'll see points of view that not everyone gets to see, along with a good dose of my opinions, rants, raves, and a good in-depth view of life as a trucker. So sit down, buckle up and release those air brakes....here we go!