Comments By TwoSides

G'town responded "what am I looking for" maybe I should have mentioned that in the beginning....

My goal is to get into heavy haul. I'm looking for a company that can assist in that goal. My ideal freight would be construction materials such as turbines, wind generators, transformers, etc.. The three companies I mentioned do heavy haul loads and have advancement opportunities into that field. Just wondering if there are other companies I could look into that have the same advancement opportunities...

If it helps I am located in Philadelphia, PA but I do not mind traveling or possibly moving to another state for employment. Thanks again for the responses, I will take a look at every company that was mentioned.

Thank you all for your input. Pack and Davy, upon reading your responses I have requested a copy of my DAC report. I think it said 5-7 business days. I know for certain one incident will be on there. I have spoken with Wiley, Maverick and Kaplec trucking. I explained in detail my two incidents and they said it shouldn't be a problem, hopefully that is the truth...

G'town, what Robert B said is the reason for leaving Knight. I would like to expand in this industry. Getting into heavy haul is my main objective, I am only wasting time staying with Knight. Also with this dedicated account I find myself getting lazy. I am lacking with my trip planning because I have been to many of these places multiple times. I see myself forming bad habits and I have to remind myself not to be so comfortable doing this job.. Not to mention, my settlement being habitually incorrect is very frustrating.....

Hello drivers, I was just looking for a little help with my decision on a flatbed company. As some know, I am currently working at Knight in the flatbed division. Knight has been my starter company and now with 9 months experience, I think its time for me to try another company. I will try and stay for a full year but it wouldn't hurt to look for my next company now.

So far I have looked into a company called Klapec aka "KTC" in Reno, PA, ATS and Wylie. Wylie stands out to me because they are strictly a flatbed company. I have spoken to drivers from both ATS and Wylie and have gotten more positive feed back from drivers that work for Wylie. Also in my research I have come across a company called Lonestar based in TX...

Just wondering if anyone has anymore info on these companies and also if there are smaller companies or other mega companies I have missed in my search... Any response would be greatly appreciated, thanks and stay safe drivers!

Thanks Davy, I appreciate your input on the food ideas. I guess I will have to try the Uber thing to stores when I'm low on food. Yup, still with Knight... for now. I have been looking for a new company to go to soon but I will try my hardest to complete a year here. Also I'm sorry to hear about your situation. I know it must be hard but keep your head up brotha. Good things always come after the storm...

So in my last post I made an error. The day I thought was Friday was in fact Saturday. For some reason I thought that day was Friday. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that I was held up with the trailer. I planned that trip as if that day was Friday and I surely would have missed the appointment times that was scheduled. But the load was completed without further issues and I was able to get out of Southern Georgia before bad weather hit. Had a backhaul from Gainesville, GA to Atkins, VA which was fine. Ended up coming home earlier than I planned because of the food situation. My DM didn't have a load ready for me so I asked if I could go home to regroup. So spent some time at home relaxing and getting things in order. I will get back in the truck tomorrow ready for work.

Continued.....

It's Friday and it's not due till Monday and Tuesday so I do have time to have this figured out. I'm not too excited about this load and tarping it. And this is what I mean about plan A never working out haha. I got this load as a pre-plan on my way back from Illinois and had an idea of how I was going to run this weekend. But of course nothing ever goes as planned, it's always something haha.

But I have been trying to enjoy my time out here. For the past two weekends me and three other drivers from Knight have gone to a Olive Garden that is about 15 min away from the terminal. It has been a lot of fun hanging out with them and we have given each other nicknames. One guy name is "12'6" because he tried to go under a 12'6 bridge with a Conestoga. According to him the tractor fit but halfway through, the Conestoga hit the bridge. No real damage was done because he said he was going 5 mph and was able to back out from under it. He did rip the fabric on the trailer though and almost got terminated for his decision. There is "Roger buddy" aka "Roger" because he always says roger buddy haha. Another guy we call "Hibernation" because he spends 15hrs in the sleeper and I'm called "Quarter tank." The reason is because I'm always at or below a quarter tank of gas when I get to the fuel pump. In my defense, haha, I am using the company's fuel solution spots. I don't know who is recommending these places but it's coming close to me running out of fuel trying to get to them. We are trying to make this a tradition, that every time we are all at the terminal on a Friday or Saturday we will go to that Olive Garden. This weekend we couldn't make it. Roger went home, 12'6 is in Illinois and hibernation is in Virginia.

It has been fun out here so far with its share of headaches of course but I'm enjoying my time. Always learning and trying to become a better driver. My backing is coming along very well. I still remember the days I got frustrated not being able to park this spread axle trailer haha. But there was one time a few weeks ago at a flying j on 280 where I got a little too ****y. I tried to fit in a tight spot and my ambition was greater than my skill to say the least. There were multiple empty spots available but I was determined to try that spot. At the end of it all I ended up aborting and chose another spot to park. I will be honest and say my feelings were hurt a little haha.

This has been a long post so I will end it here. For those wondering, yes I am still alive and well and running hard haha. Just been a bit busy lately but I will try my best to update more frequently.

P.s....For Momma Anne or any other OTR driver that reads this....., is it possible for you to send me links to posts about cooking food on the road? I know there are some in this site but I can't find them and I don't want to make another thread about it.... I'm staying out for 6 weeks this time and the most I have ever done was 4. I usually cook 4 weeks of food at home and bring it to the truck. But I have ran out of food on week 4 right now and I'm already tired of eating this truck stop garbage. I do have a microwave on the truck and I was thinking about bringing my air fryer and/or crockpot to the truck. Also I will need another freezer for the extra food, if anyone has any ideas on which one I should get.... Thanks.

Can't believe it's been over a month since my last post. Time is definitely flying out here. I'm almost at 9 months now and I'm shocked at how time has flown by. I started this journey in winter, made it through the spring, summer is ending and now onto fall. The one year mark is definitely coming quick. I'm still learning out here and taking it one day at a time. The one thing I have realized in trucking, is that nothing ever goes as planned, nothing! I start my day having a plan but something always comes up that makes me go to plan B. Then something else occurs then it's plan C and on to plan D smh. A good day for me is when I can stick to plan B or C. When things get to plan D then that's a bad day lol.

I'm really not sure we're I left off so I'll just start with what is fresh on my mind. I have been doing a lot of different type loads lately. I had one load a few weeks ago that went to a military facility in York, PA. I don't want to say the name of the place in fear of being hunted down haha. I picked the load up in Romeo, MI unaware of the place I was taking it to. I took pictures of the weird shaped metal but erased them because they didn't come out nice. I planned to take another picture of them when I dropped it off but that wasn't possible. Arriving at the facility, I had to check in at the security gate and get a badge which I was told to wear at all times while on the property. The guard also told me the strict 5 mph speed limit and no pictures were allowed or I will be prosecuted. I was a little upset that I couldn't take pictures of the load I had because it was something I have never seen before and quite unique. I transported 3 long sharp metal plates that did a number on my tarps. I had V-boards for the straps but nothing to protect my tarps. The aftermath looked like wolverine went crazy on them. I had a lot of fun patching them in the blistering 93 degree heat that day lol. Something else weird about that run was my DM calling me when I put my loaded macro in. He told me the broker wanted me to download an app so they could track me. I refused, the other option was to call him every 3 hours with my location, I chose that. But after I put in my empty call I received a txt from a number saying thank you for the delivery. So I was being tracked the whole time anyway...

I had another different load come out of Michigan which were Pods they were going to Cinnaminson, NJ. I have to say that I do not enjoy driving in Michigan or New Jersey at all lol. Both of those states can get crossed off my list of places to travel.... The 3 Pods weighed 10k, 8k and the end was 10k. Since this was a new load for me and being a bit nervous, I put 4 straps on the front and back Pods. And for the first time put a twist in the straps not sure if I did it correctly but the straps did not budge. No movement, no flapping in the wind, nothing at all. They weren't even loose during my load checks. I tightened them so tight that I even broke a strap. It was funny when it popped because I went stumbling across the parking lot. The winch bar went one way and I went the other, I had a good laugh over that. The only problem I had was trying to get the straps off the winch. I tightened them so much that I had to put everything I had into getting them loose.

Ah, also had a blow out in the trailer tire. I was on 80w in Ohio near Hubbard when this happened, I have a CB now that I bought off a Knight driver for $60 because he found a local gig, While driving, a driver behind me came on the radio and told me that my tire has blown. This CB has been useful, a few weeks back I was on 78w and a driver came on the radio and said "There's a big gator on the zipper at exit 16" I had no idea what that meant and I was coming close to exit 16. There was a truck in the left lane and a truck in front of me in the right lane. They both went to the outside of their lanes and opened the view for me where I saw a big piece of tire laying on the dotted lines. Ah!, gator on the zipper haha, now I understand. That sucker was big too, it was half way in both lanes.

Right now I'm sitting at the terminal because I have a little situation with my load going to Georgia. This monstrosity is weighing in at 35k and there are only 5 winches on this trailer. No way in hell I'm pulling this with only 5 straps on it. My DM left early today so when I sent him a message, the terminal manager responded saying call back in the morning when my DM is in... I already know this load is going to be a headache because it has to be tarped. Also it's a 5 stop run. The 1st stop is only getting one piece which I'm guessing is on the back section at the top of those tubes. The tubes are for the 2nd stop and the 3rd stop is sitting in the front section on top of the 2nd stop haha. I wonder how that's going to play out. Not to mention, how in the world will I be able to re-tarp that after the first stop?

Thanks George and Momma Anne. Yes I think that vacation was the reset I needed....

Well that easy care free day didn't last long.... It rained all day Thursday delivering in VA. Luckily my first stop was indoors but the tarps were soaked. The second and final stops were unloaded outdoors and it was a joy un-tarping and folding the tarps in heavy rain. When that run was completed I received a load assignment for a four stop Texas trip. One stop in Alabama two in Arkansas and finishing in Fort Worth. I'm excited about that because 1. That's a lot of miles plus stop pay! lol and 2. It's new places I would travel to. I didn't have enough time on my clock to make it back to Cressona so I parked at the flying j exit 80 on 81.

Arrived at Cressona Friday 11am. I received a call from my DM saying something went wrong with that Texas run so he is sending me on a two stop Milwaukee run. That sucked, I was looking forward to doing that trip. So I drop my empty trailer, get the paperwork for the Milwaukee load and go around to this Conestoga trailer. I check it out and notice the hub seal is leaking Now I know things breakdown in trucking but everytime I get to a Conestoga trailer there is always some type of issue. Whether it be major or minor, it's always, always something with these trailers...

Called breakdown and they asked if I could bring it to a Loves shop to get fixed. Yea, no problem. I back under the trailer, do a tug test, then like I always do, I look to see if the locking jaw is actually locked on the kingpin. While doing that I noticed there is a space between my fifth wheel and trailer on the right side It's weird to me because it's only on the right side. The other side is fine. I'm thinking maybe its on uneven ground, let me raise the legs and maybe it will even out?? If not I would move the trailer to a flat surface, drop the legs and hook back up. While I'm cranking the handle I noticed only one leg is going up. Hahaha that's the problem. The trailer wasn't on an uneven surface, the one leg was higher than the other.

I call breakdown back and told them the new problem with the landing gear. I saw that there was a bolt missing and told him that may be the problem. He asks if I could find a bolt to temporarily put in there so the legs can lift and take it to a Loves shop. I get a bolt, which is not the correct size but it holds, and try to lift the trailer. It's a no go, I get two good turns and that's it. This load is 36,484 Lbs. I'm not about to strain myself on company equipment. I did however ask a forklift guy to lift the trailer so I can have a better go at it but they are all too busy. Now I'm waiting 3hrs for a Loves guy to come out. Hopefully this gets fixed so I can get to my relaxing weekend drive. This load isn't due till Monday but I don't want to have to rush to get it there.

Also I'm not sure if I should go off duty or use the sleeper berth split. What I have learned so far about the split, I think it is best to use it. So I will see how that works out...

First day back from vacation. I went to the beach in Destin, Florida with my family and had a wonderful, relaxing time. Went to the beautiful beach, did Go-Karts, Jet skiing, and a boat tour. It's nice down there. Came back home Monday but took Tuesday off to recover, now it's back to the real world.

Got my load assignment and it's a 3 stop run to VA on a flatbed, not a Conestoga. Even though it's on a flatbed and tarped it's an easy run, straight down I-81s. The week off did not make me soft. I did a decent tarp and backed between 2 trucks here at Pilot in Greenville. There were spots with multiple empty spaces but I chose this one to continue practicing. Needed 1 pull up with this and a little close on my left but it's fine with me. First day back is going smooth so far, wishing the rest of the week emulates this day....

Excellent, Excellent video!! Thanks for sharing. Thank you for your dedication teaching us rookies and sharing your knowledge with others. Much appreciated!!!

Congrats on a year driving BK. Hopefully many more safe and profitable years to come