Profile For Drew D.

Yeah its a head scratcher but I think I'm going to settle and see how things pan out over time. I'm still relatively new all things considered. And the worst that can happen is I end up with a 2-3 year work history when and if I branch off.

This is all good input and I appreciate the time.

Also, I am out of Caldwell, ID but my company is out of Idaho Falls, ID.

I also average around 11k per month.

I'm not unsatisfied with my pay, but I didn't want to undercut myself either.

But having said that, after much thought, I will stick with these guys out of respect. They did go out of their way to get me in the door and get me moving on my first solo job. The least I can do is show the same respect for time invested and see where it goes.

Thank you for all the great advice as always. :)

Just finished my 1 year solo mark and have been thinking about the same thing nonstop the past couple weeks, stay here longer (currently at .46 cpm otr) or find something local/regional for more home time and potential pay increase.

Gotten a few approvals from different companies but it’s been such a headache trying to decide what to do, so I think like you I will just stay put for now. I like this company for the most part, I know how they operate, and I know what I can do better to make more $ weekly, but I do not know these things about the other companies except from reading mixed reviews.

I know that facility well. My company is always making drops there. I always see the Crete trucks. Not sure if they would let me operate out of Boise, but it is something to think about down the line if things don't pan out where I am at.

I'll tell you one you could check that is fairly close for you. Check out Crete, specifically the Walmart dedicated account out of the Cheyenne DC. I made a lot of money there in 2021, only leaving because I wanted a return to OTR driving again.

This is all good input and I appreciate the time.

Also, I am out of Caldwell, ID but my company is out of Idaho Falls, ID.

I also average around 11k per month.

I'm not unsatisfied with my pay, but I didn't want to undercut myself either.

But having said that, after much thought, I will stick with these guys out of respect. They did go out of their way to get me in the door and get me moving on my first solo job. The least I can do is show the same respect for time invested and see where it goes.

Thank you for all the great advice as always. :)

Hey all,

I am coming up on my one year mark with my company and I had a few questions regarding potential decisions.

So I'll start with: I really really like my company. They are a mid sized carrier, my DM is great, the team is great, the equipment is great, and I genuinely do not want to leave. They also have a heavy haul fleet that does dedicated runs along the corridor my house is on. So I could, one day, get OTR miles / Per diem / no touch freight but with a semi local home most days setup.

That said, I am currently sitting at .42 per mile. One of those pennies is a safety mile. We do get slight mileage bonuses if we hit 12k in a month and the miles are good. But..... I do this because I want to ensure my wife and kids are cared for and taken care of. After one year, is .42 cents a mile decent? What is a general median rate after year one? What is a good earning potential bracket if you had a safe and productive first year?

I only ask because, while I have nothing but love for my company, I am out here to make money. So you can see the moral dilemma.

On a side note, I only ever had two jobs before this. Spent 11 at one and 6 at the other. And the only reason I left that second job was because I moved from WA to ID. So I do enjoy earning stripes and gaining seniority. But I also know trucking is very different when it comes to personal politics and job hopping. Thoughts?

Funny you mention that. I had to take a trailer with a pesky ABS sensor that took 3 shops to iron out in Amarillo last month. Both TA and Speedco failed to fix it. Finally, it had to goto Utility.

I had a nightmare trailer. It took three shops (one at the terminal, and two on the road) to convince them it was an auto inflator issue, and the sensor was going off, because the damn thing was dropping the tire pressure to 85psi. First thing I had done, when the warning popped? Got out the manual guage. Used my gladhand air chuck to fix the psi, then bam. Inflators would bring it back down.

You have to stay on top of your company shop, too.

For the sake of professionalism, I'm not going to sandbag anyone on a public forum, but from some recent experiences I've had, if your internal shop won't fix issues you know need fixing, escalate to a fleet manager or higher. Don't let someone else's laziness or lackadaisical attitude sway you from addressing problems that you know need to be solved.

I didn't have a very positive outlook on the future of our society. But listening to Dan Bongino's more recent podcasts, I realized that betting long on America is always a safe bet despite the fact that mental health is at an all time low and no one wants to work these days.

I look at it as an opportunity. Who is going to get the job? A dedicated prospect willing to learn? Or some entitled basement dweller that needs their a-hole powdered every hour on the hour by their boss?

As far as where they get the balls, I think a combination of poor parenting, social media, and false sense of entitlement has ruined this generation. We are definitely at the "easy times make weak people" part of the cycle.

You have to stay on top of your company shop, too.

For the sake of professionalism, I'm not going to sandbag anyone on a public forum, but from some recent experiences I've had, if your internal shop won't fix issues you know need fixing, escalate to a fleet manager or higher. Don't let someone else's laziness or lackadaisical attitude sway you from addressing problems that you know need to be solved.

I was told that, if I need to scale between a scale house and a pickup and there are no CAT scales along the path, you need to backtrack. It sucks, but better than getting popped.

My company is cool with us just leaving the truck secure at a truck stop nearby my house for a few days. Some companies have terminals or drop yards for load splitting. It really is a case by case basis you will want to confirm with your driver manager.

Document everything. When I worked emergency roadside, the last person to touch the company equipment or the member's vehicle is on the hook.

It is tedious and it sucks. But it is an unfortunate reality that covering your own ass is mandatory to prevent wrongful accountability being leveraged against you.

I disagree with cleaning someone else's mess though. I used to have to deal with that in tow trucks and I finally had enough. Told my boss that, I will take before and after photos, but if I am sharing a truck with someone, I will clean MY mess, but I don't get paid to change some else's adult diapers.

Is it just me, or does time seem to fly faster in trucking than any other job you have had? Like I cannot believe it has already been a year since I enrolled in CDL school and early April is when I started this company. But man, I feel like I should try not to blink!

Thoughts?

Old school, that is some good information.

I was just curious about the motors because I want to learn whats what before I buy my own tractor way down the line. Just seems like every corner of the internet when it comes to trucking says to avoid Paccar like the plague. I knew I would get rational information here. Which is why I asked.

Why do Paccar engines get so much hate? Just curious as I plan on one day purchasing my own Kenworth. Are they really that bad?

These are great, thanks. I was concerned over being and to slow on a grade and this clears it up.

Good advice on the Jake/rpm relationship as well. In dry weather, I use the hell out of the Jake more so than the service brake. I should mention that I intend to buy this T680 from my company when they sell it. Does the Jake really cause a lot of wear and tear on the engine?

Appreciate all your responses!

Thanks! And I will! Lol I will keep these tips in mind!

Stop down at the bottom and get one of these shirts at the Arrowhead Truck Stop.

Pretty soon the trucks will be permanently parked if diesel gets any worse.

Also, this will never pass as no one profits from it. All truckers really need is an open parking lot. I would be content just knowing I have a place that isn't the interstate to park my rig and lay my head down after a late night delivery.

So I am in a Kenworth T680 with a PACCAR engine / automatic.

Typically when I go down 6%+ grades, I jake most of the time with limited use of my service brake.

Now I keep hearing that using a jake on a steep grade in the winter is a no-no due to potential Hazzard if the trailer tires lose traction as the jake only slows the tractor.

I guess my question is, how does one manage these grades in an automatic? Yes I know you can slip into M mode, but how should I safely manage my speed once I start gaining? I can't imagine riding the service brake would be good due to overheat.

I am going down Cabbage tomorrow to Richland,WA and this will be my first snow/ice downslope. I really don't want to screw up. And yes, I know to take it very slow. I am just curious how you would approach such a decline without a jake while maintaining safe speed and control.

Drove Eastbound on I-40 just inside Amarillo two days ago. Near MM 66, some tweaker looking bum was standing over the fog line on the left side of the freeway. I was in the middle lane. As I was driving past, the dude looked like he was going to throw something at my truck but instead ran out infront of traffic. Had to slam on my brakes to avoid killing him. He ran straight across toward the Amarillo mall. I called the Amarillo PD to report the incident. A lot of mentally unstable people out here.

I have only been trucking just shy of a year at this point so my opinion is limited by the other experience presented here.

But I can honestly say that the overwhelming number of dock/receivers I meet are great. They are blue collars folks just like us who just want to make it through the day with minimal headache (also like us). Occasionally, I will bump into a moody receiving clerk or lumper representative. I just kill them with kindness or keep it one dimensional. Some of them have reasons to be upset, others are mad that the sun rose in the east and set in the west as per usual.

Personally, I find delivery day to be one of the better days on the job because I usually get to BS with employees of smaller DCs for a few minutes which breaks up the routine of driving for days.

I find that I have more issues with other truckers than I do anyone else in this line of work. Some are great and want to nothing more than to help (like folks on this forum), some others are rude, inconsiderate, and have grossly over inflated egos.

Regardless, if someone presents an issue, the best option is to not lean into it. You will only hurt yourself by taking the bait. But again, I can't stress enough how uncommon these unpleasantries have been for me. But everyone's mileage may vary.

This may be the dumbest question I ask yet, but is there a more streamlined way of checking the weather along your routes for the specific days you are planning to run through that area? Or do you really have to pull it up town by town?

I use most 511 apps Check Wyoroads Google/weather check the passes

Am I leaving anything out? What is the most efficient method you samurai level truckers use to get ahead of the weather?

Example: currently East of Dallas on i20 doing a ten. Going to leave at 3am to beat Dallas traffic headed toward the 287 and into Washington state. Now at Amarillo, I can go north to Limon / i70, I can take the Raton pass up the 25, or I could go through Moab through Soldier. Soldier will be snowing the day I run through it. But I'm not sure how bad. Raton looks clear but I'm not sure about the rest of Colorado on Friday or all of Wyoming for that matter. My head hurts... 😫