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Thread started by bentstrider at 05.23.08 - 3:38 pm
Pushing 13 gears on a Volvo engine, pulling produce from CentCal to the NorEast.
Got the bike locked up at the Van Nuys terminal, but pushups and leg-simulations are serving me just fine.
Little bit of every type to tell you the truth.
The first one I'm doing is picking up near Salinas and going out to some Trader Joes in Massachusetts.
No Qualcomm to rely on, so it's going to be all about reading the atlas, calling shippers/receivers, and google maps for the directions.
As I said, I'm just working on the 3-6 months needed to get back into a big company like Swift, or JB Hunt.
But, the time I spend here will definitely have plenty of stories to keep the campfire lit, boys and girls.
Bentstrider if you could see me now you would see me pumping my arm so as to grab hold of that chord and blow that horn brother!! Wow! You are heading across country to Massachusetts how cool. I know you have to roll day and night probably huh? take photos and blog it man. get that mobile wifi cellular card I heard its actually pretty cheap.
i didn't know you were looking for a gig, drop my name at JB Hunt and you'll never get hired, stick to 11 west, make $ and be home more often, trucking just doesnt pay no more.
best trucking outfit to get hired on is Walmart, that's a dam shame,
JB Hunt's going to be next goal after I get my three months in over here.
I talked to their recruiter a while ago, and they told me that 3months was needed regardless of the accident.
Only catch was that it had to be after the accident, so here I am.
This outfit's a little, less equipped, but 90 days should fly by like nothing if we play our cards right.
Soon, I'll be home every other weekend to make it down to the rides like always.
talk to an OTR JB Cunt driver on the road and ask him for a referral card, the JB driver gets $500 bonus if you make it past your probation period and it get your foot in the door, Also when you apply go to the South Gate terminal, i may still know the head of safety there, I could put in a good word for ya, oh and don't go to the sanberdoo terminal and stick to 11 west, u must have hazmat,
I've got all my vital endorsements, so once I've got that three months, I'm good to go.
I feel for those drivers that only have A and the air-brakes endorsements.
Nah, that wasn't me, but the side-decals tell me it was a Swift, owner-operator, Kenworth.
As far as my stats go, this isn't going as smoothly as I thought.
The team-operation thing really hasn't changed much since I stopped doing that in '04.
Couple that with poor, office-management and bad-to-no directions and I'm in a world of hurt.
The good news is that my prior employer will still hire me back in a heartbeat, and there's still two, different trucking companies that will let me onboard with my aforementioned setback.
-Robertson's Transport out of Rialto that pulls bottom-dumps and pneumatic tanker doubles.
-An owner-operator with Calif.Express out of Montebello that pulls cargo-containers within SoCal, farthest East would be Texas.
Both of these companies are solo and local for the most part, so I'll be able to get my experience back and stay trim like I've always been.
Perhaps I should keep my mouth shut before I got too excited.
Apparently this particular outfit was more shady than I realized and I'm just glad I picked up on this before any harm was done to my CDL-A.
Apparently, the owners of this company don't give a ratshit about
their drivers getting ticketed for overweight fines, and they seem to turn a blind-eye to logbook upkeep.
Lastly, team-operations=no life for you, and also the lack of directions to shippers/consignees.
So anyone looking to go into trucking, stay away from Wolfe in VanNuys, nothing but an accident waiting to happen.
In the meantime, I've already located a few more companies in the LA/IE area that do strictly local and Southwestern, solo runs.
That means I get to stay healthy, ride my bike, take my pictures, and get more seat-time to smooth over that rollover-accident.
And last, but not least, I get to have and keep a life.
After dealing with the hariness of NYC, I'll gladly not take any runs requiring me to drive a 53' footer through there.
Anywho, I just feel it's necessary to keep y'all informed of the trials and trivial pursuits that occur within the cutthroat industry of transportation.
Hey, finding the right company is like trying to seek out the greener grass on the other side of the hill.
It all looks pretty from a distance, but then you get closer and begin to smell the bullshit.
But, other's have it fairly worse when it comes to "job-floating".
Truckers have all sorts of options depending upon how bad/good their DMV printouts look.
Other industries involve having to accumulate at least 5-20 years before you could begin to have employers bid for your name.
Well, after dealing with that nightmare in Van Nuys, an owner-operator finally called me back on Wednesday asking if I was ready to roll in a week.
This time, the gig involves shuttling containers from the railyard in LA, up to, Victimville for the most part.
Fuel's paid for, truck is well-maintained, and worst I have to do is 2-4 runs a day.
I'll be making 40% of what the loads pay and the only headache I'm aware of is the IRS, quarterly earnings paperwork I'll have to fill out.
But, for getting my accident-free in, this isn't all that bad.
Not to mention I'll actually have time to relax!
-Sure thing dude.
Not to mention that instead of having to go all the way back up to Victorville each night, I'll probably just crash out in the sleeper berth.
The truck's owner told me to furnish whatever I need to be comfy, so I don't think he, or the yard people will have a problem with me being inside there.
If anything, I'll just say that I want to be ready to haul when the morning, or night comes.
That said, I could actually see the LA skyline from the yard in Montebello, so I'll be able to make my appearances more often than not.