Profile For Davy A.

Hey you noticed your mistake and fixed it way before you got to the bridge. That’s a win. Sure, make sure you’re paying attention and not missing signs but you did well I think. Out of curiosity where was that bridge? There’s a 9 something foot bridge close to one of the places I unload at. For ****s and giggles I took the truck bobtail under it one day when there was no traffic to see if I could clear it (I got out and looked before driving under it to make sure I wouldn’t hit it) since I don’t know exactly how tall our trucks are. Our trailers are too tall but now I have a better idea how tall the truck is

The railroad bridges on 60th Ave in commerce city. Was going to fleet services down there, right off Vasquez.

Stuffs been strange lately. I'll get to the bridge issue in a second.

My current DM let me know he will be leaving soon in private. He's a really nice kid, and has bent over backwards for me, but he has struggles with getting me routes that I need from the load planners, they seem to take advantage of him.

His alternate is on the ball and I get along well with him. The other alternate I clash with. I asked the alternate I groove with if I could get on his board when my dm leaves. He said yes please, he loves having great drivers on his board. He talked with the TM, and they have both been dispatching me loads on the sly. I took care of a bunch of pita local loads for them and they are handling me loads that I want and need.

It feels kind of crappy to do to my regular DM but it makes a large monetary difference per week. I don't want to get caught in the middle of a conflict so am still principally running under my regular DM but having the new guy fix loads. Both the TM and DMs flat out told me that they want to ensure I stay happy and well stocked with good loads as they count on me. Feels good in that aspect.

Ok, the bridge. Been doing local weird stuff, had to shuttle a bad trailer to a fleet service place. Was tired and hungry, not paying attention, with my head in my emotions. Drove past the alley, past the 9'0 Bridge ahead signs. Very tight road.

That gut level instinct popped up, as I passed an unused exit to an oil refinery. The garmin started popping alarm tones. I put on the hazards and pulled over half on the road, half on what little shoulder there is. 35 mph road, but tons of traffic.

I walked down about a quarter mile to see the bridge height, Super low. 9 feet. Lots of swear words and self condemnation. Quick thinking, no where for a u turn at all. Thinking I'll have to call the DM, safety and police. Then I remember the entrance, nicely on my sight side. I'll have to back up and do a 90 into it. I go walk it, check it out, it will work. No spotter around and it's following a blind corner.

I hustle, pre angle the 90 and go backwards in the other lane, whip it in first shot, no pull up, perfect, no adjustments.

All well that ends well, I message to please include the warning of the low bridge if you miss the driveway (it's overgrown and easy to miss) in the directions for the customer.

I told my DM what happened, he replied "I trust you and no worries, and you're all good"

I think GTown said to be careful with the emotions going on with the break up. Very true. Not happy with myself over it. It's another instance where I just have really good luck and instincts. Not how I want to run.

Yep. The Sinclair in Wheatland WY. off I 25. I marked all off the out of the way ones in Google maps when I was in training. He knew every backwater little hole in the wall spot. I usually park at them still because of the times I drive. Occasionally I'll call him and tell him about a new one I found.

That being said I'm at the pilot in mesquite nv. I had to stop early because I only have 3 hours left on my 70 and don't get recaps til midnight. But this pilot usually has plenty of parking til about 10 pm.

I'm guessing millennial. I've hired and fired too many of them to count. A sense of entitlement only works in our soft educational system and mommy and daddy's basement, the real world crushes it.

We regularly have to hook and disconnect trailers in 115 degree heat, sometimes fix them, the weather doesn't care about our feelings on it, just part of the job. Good workout too.

If you can't deal with homeless and scarry people in training, you'll never survive some of the truck stops that we frequent. Try delivering in some of the cities we do.

If you can't stay in your lane, mind your own business and stay situatitionally aware, you're liable to mouth off to someone and get beat like a drum for it.

I honestly see a softer career as a better fit for the op. Something that doesn't require thought, work ethics, humility, common sense and a willingness to close the mouth and open the ears.

The beatings will continue until the student is willing to learn.

I have absolutely zero interest in local. PcA In Denver is like that. It's hard to even get a trailer out. Even in a day cab. Two of our million mile guys ended up with incidents there. It's the local hub for Denver, old warehouse in town, just not enough room and too busy. Add to the fact that most of it blind side only.

Thanks to everyone for the support. I pulled off a few times today, just gathered my thoughts, enjoyed the scenery, walked a couple miles today.

I've started a workout program in the truck, just bodyweight and isometric along with resistance bands. Accompanied by a high protein lower carb diet. I found that by putting the armrests down on both the chairs, it makes a great parallel bars setup for pikes, dips and raised crunches.

I'm lean but was getting a little doughnut around the middle i dont care for. was in gymnastics as a kid before I broke my back and lifted for years, I'm still able to get the resistance I need for size and strength simulating low rep high resistance training just done with natural exercises such as push-ups, incline push-ups, pull ups using the top bunk frame, thrusts and squats and creative use of coolers, tire chains and space. It's making me feel a bit better and keeps me out of my head.

Once again the support here is much appreciated and a life saver.

Totally relate. Just got done being relatively at home, told the now ex that I go to work to relax after exhausting home time.

It went over like a turd in a puchbowl. But it's the truth. I get tired of the litany of questions and accusations that I'm a bad guy for loving my career.

Onward and upward. Do what's right for you, unapologetically and embrace it.

How goes it Two Sides

How goes it with YOU, Davy?

~ Anne & Tom ~ (and TT !)

It'd been rough emotionally lately. I put a post up in general on it.

Glad to see you're keeping on keeping on Two Sides.

I haven't been around too much lately, my relationship is ending with the Mrs and it's easy to isolate and get into one's head when that happens.

It serves to remind me to pay attention to my emotional well-being and not drive distracted. Although truth be told, the driving is therapy for me and let's me put the situation out of my mind.

I'm by no means recommending anything to anyone about relationship vrs driving but for me personally, I simply can't return to a non driving career and I long for the varied places, the sunsets and sunrises, the freedom I experience out here.

There is still a sadness at the loss but choices are made.

Some random things from. The last few weeks.

I did Monarch pass loaded. Pretty intense road. Technical driving.

My DM will be leaving soon. He told me that I was known as the one driver that they can hand any load and know it's going to get done without a problem. That if there are issues I make them aware immediately and usually have a solution. Its gratifying to hear.

Saw a driver go down Vail pass today flying, brakes on the whole time. His trailer and tractor brakes were on fire when I went by at the bottom. I never even used my service breaks on it.

The guys at the shipper today asked if I could help a new guy strap his load (beer load) so he could get out of the dock. He was new and spent a long time backing g up. I helped him out and gave him a few pointers on backing up. He spoke broken English. Was a strange thing. Pulled me out of my head though.

Anyway, one foot in front of the other, onward and upward. And I just drive through the emotional roller coaster. It's my sanctuary.

There are so many variables as was stated. Different loads, geographic areas, safety questions. For instance, I ran us 50 over monarch pass on CO. With 43k in the box. It's a very steep mountain pass that is 20 to 30 mph turns with no guard rails and no shoulders in many spots. Had I been concerned with my miles for the day, I would put undue pressure on myself. On top of the safety aspects, I had a two hour delay due to construction.

My DM knows that it doesn't pay as well as a 500 mile job out in Kansas, so he bumped me some extra layover pay and a local surcharge on it. The load was on 278 miles total. I got it delivered safely, and picked up my next load, then squeezed in a 34 due to a stray tornado and inclement weather. During all that I got layover pay for one day added for the weather too.

The only time I start really focusing on miles is towards the end of the month as we get a production bonus based on them, and even then, if I had too much time off, it simply is what it is.

I found for me personally, there is a rhythm that occurs, I'll have a pick up and delivery day, with shorter miles, lots of activities and then a driving day. If it's wide open, I'll get maximum miles for my time driving, usually about 8 to 9 hours. Sometimes the load demands a full 11 hours driving though, and ill sleep at the customer or terminal.

In general it's much more important to me to plan every well, eliminate pressure and stress and drive relaxed but alert in safety.

I cringe at the term mega carrier. It's usually said with disdain.

I like having terminals all over the country I can go to, shower and do laundry, having 24 hour fitness centers in many of them.

I enjoy never even a raised eyebrow when I put in for layover,(another 200 bucks in added pay this week) detention pay, hotel reimbursement, truck wash reimbursement.

I enjoy top of the line equipment and maintenance, immediate response on breakdown, hotels and rental cars provided.

I enjoy knowing everyone on a personal first name basis at my terminal, it's like its own little business. It's like a family. At the same time, I have requests and suggestions going all the way up to corporate.

I really enjoy that I get left to my own devices, a level of mutal respect and professionalism between myself and the office, I make excellent money consistently and get a lot of perks based on my high level of performance. Though I may have my complaints with the "mega" carrier I work for, the benefits far outweigh the issues.

It's good that you are taking responsibility for it. And yes, GOAL is extremely important. Also though, something that comes to mind is preventing having to back into a tight spot under pressure of the clock. Perhaps one of the best ways to avoid the situation is to not place yourself in the position of desperation.

It's an opportunity to examine trip planning and clock management. I personally plan a lot of my day with where and when I am going to park. I always shoot for a couple hour safe buffer to find a spot to shut down. I chose to tackle tough backs and parking spots on my terms as safely as possible until I was comfortable.

Often I look for out of the ordinary large areas and non mainstream truck stops, shippers and recievers that I can park at, alternatives to the large overcrowded high risk truck stops.

The things I do long before I park the truck each day can have a profound effect on weather or not I succeed on a daily basis.

I've riden motorcycles and road raced for many decades. Various states handle single rider crashes differently. In CO for instance, a single rider is charged with reckless driving in the event of a crash as its assumed the rider was riding reckless enough to crash. Unfair? Probably, but it's just the reality of it.

There may be some avenues to remedy the accident report through legal means. It will cost you time, energy and money. I'd recommend calling Law Tigers or a similar rider advocate law group and seeing if you can get the report removed or changed to no fault.

I hit a patch of oil on cold tires. At the time, I allegedly may have been doing in excess of 135 mph in a 45 zone. The resultant high side, left me with some head trauma, a broken shoulder, cracked hip and some road rash and burns from body armor panels melting into my skin. I was transported for care and in the hospital for a couple days.

The officer charged me with reckless driving and filled out an accident report listed as at fault. Both of which I went to court on with evidence showing the oil patch, etc. In my case, the judge dismissed the charge and changed the accident report to no fault as the officer didn't show up to court and of all things a different officer did but was for a different case. The judge seemed very irritated with both the officers. I got very very lucky.

Reason number7988316 not to work as a 1099. Also perhaps a lesson in picking the hill you want to die on.

I would ask why you are so partial to the anthem?

If I was put into any of the other trucks in our fleet besides a Kenworth I would probably quit, but it's for a very good reason. I have back issues from previous accidents. I've found that the three other makes we have, as equipped, are just simply too painful and dehabilitating for me to drive. Of them, the volvos and internationals have seats that just kill my back to the point of not being able to walk after driving them. The freightliners are ok seat wise, but cause me great pain in the way the suspension handles large bumps.

I say might quit, because if assigned a volvo or freightliner, I may just choose to pay the money for a custom seat to be installed. I flat out won't drive our internationals long term due to a myriad of issues including their steering mannerisms, I say that after driving brand new ones as well as older ones.

I guess what I'm getting at, is the reasons behind my choices aren't superficial or frivolous. But I also produce well enough that it's highly unlikely my TM won't secure me another KW when the time comes.

I dont know, I see WE all over the west coast and midwest frequently. I have a front facing camera, non driver facing. My safety bonus is contingent upon it. I actually just got my own dashcam and installed it and will likely change it out to driver facing as well so I can dispute issues that come up frequently such as ghost triggers of the mitigation system and false threats from the forward looking radar. (I had 14 hard braking events due to shadows in 4 hours of driving the other night).

From an ideological standpoint, I find driver facing cams installed by the company invasive and repulsive, but thats and ideological viewpoint. I wouldnt choose to drive for a company that employed them based on that, but thats personal choice and ideology. Front facing cameras I can totally understand as long as there is no audio. My biggest gripe with them isnt their data, its the interpretation of their data effecting my safety bonus, but thats just an idiosyncrasy of the company I work for in that even though the camera showed no vehicle or threat in view, my safety manager can not get the points removed so I still potentially loose money.

The camera itself as was mentioned isnt a bad thing, it can and does clear the driver of many if not most events. I dont even know I have one most of the time to be honest, the lights on it were so bright and annoying at night that I put tape over them. I just drive as safe as possible anyway. if records it does, if it doesnt it doesnt.

I havent done DG. From what Ive read though, Not only the parking lots, but many other factors make it a tough gig for new drivers. I do however deliver to a fair amount of tight parking lots, Sams clubs, Walmarts, misc weird customers, Hotel parking lots, etc. A lot of them I kept track of in my Diary with intel and pics.

I have a very systematic approach for intel on shippers and receivers. Once Ive checked my route with an atlas, and then on my GPS, I bring up google maps and check it in satellite mode, check the entrances, exits and dock area, looking for the least amount of traffic, then making sure its a sight side, or if a blind side can I convert to a sight side and then finally exit. I also toggle the street view and check it from ground level. Final phase is to call the customer and ask what the best path is, and specific directions. I also check all this with the directions provided by my company with the load info.

I cant speak for DGs, but most types of customers follow patterns, its like putting together a puzzle or leveling up in a boss fight in a game. Beer distributors for example usually have a similar layout. Most Sams Clubs have a back way in that avoids traffic, but some dont. Most Lowes, have a side entrance but you will come in right at the docks, but can almost always turn around right there. After time, you will get quick at recognizing cues on what it will be like there. Some stick out in my mind, either because they were challenging or had some kind of special thing I had to do to get in.

As was said, theres a like a two year diary of DGs or local in here, I forget whos it was, Im sorry, but its very detailed with pics, maps and intel. I always found it very fascinating, but nothing I would consider at this point in my career. I know for me now, the process is very quick, but sometimes If Its a new place I will spend a lot of time pouring over intel and getting accurate recon on it. I always make sure I have a solid plan, exit strategy and back up and can execute it without looking at the map when it comes time to deliver or get the load.

Congrats, Not an easy endeavor.

I'm very fortunate in that my pay is usually correct. If not containing pay that I didn't even ask for occasionally. I seldom if ever has to ask for it in proper channels.

I'm wondering though if there's a process in writing through messaging that would help secure your pay correctly? Im guessing maybe OS would know as he's delt with the people you do? Also, is it possible for you to transfer terminals if you are having that many issues with your DM?

My attitude periodically gets poor as well. Often it's a combination of a lot of little things like the Mrs and family putting pressure on me, not getting the results that I want in a situation and just plain Ole imagination. If you're an overthinker, it's easy to tick off miles contemplating how bad the company is and completely loosing perspective of where we're at in our career.

Some days by the time I stop, I've mentally constructed the company into something way more than it is. I find that taking a few days off from the truck, completely off. Not worried about scheduling and pay and everything else helps refresh. My trainer referred to it as hitting a brick wall mentally and emotionally when you've been out too long.

Pretty cool Saturn 5 rocket, at a rest stop in AL