Profile For Bill M.

They're at normal, around 40'. Anchor points in frames are fine. Lines look like they had a third attachment point added, two are in use. Lines are at 16" from road surface.

If these are really low down, down near a foot or less from the road surface with th he tandems set at a normal spacing, I would report it to your company maintenance team. The anchor points up on the trailer frame could be in the wrong location, causing too much droop, even with perfectly good springs. I keep a couple spare springs with me.

That's good to know also. Thanks for your feedback.

Yes it is. Mine have been that way for 4 years and cleared 3 inspections. Most important is they are not touching the catwalk.

There are 2 springs. But, still hanging too low.

Yes it is. Mine have been that way for 4 years and cleared 3 inspections. Most important is they are not touching the catwalk.

I think he's talking about near the tandems.

On this trailer, how many springs are there now? Should be at least two, Bill.

Question: is it legal to use a bungee with "s" hooks to secure your trailer airlines so that they suspend the required 17" above the road surface? The springs are in place but the lines sag below 17".

Thanks in advance.

Looking good guys! Keep on trucking!

05/15/22 wrap

From my fuel stop I made it to the PA Welcome Center to take my 10h break. I’ve stopped here before during training.

Today’s Summary: Total miles = 463 Driving = 8h 31m (54.4 mph avg) On Duty = 8h 48m

I stopped at 17:49 CDT. I’m 300 miles from my 90.

I worked out an ETA of 10:00 CDT / 11:00 EDT. Put my PTA at 12:00 CDT/13:00EDT.

Then 2.5 hrs to drive 125 miles to new 01 in NJ gives an ETA of 14:30CDT/15:30EDT.

With this input Dispatch is asking Sales to get extension to the appointment window that now ends at 15:30EDT.

On another nice note a Pack Rat met a Longhorn today in Ohio.

Hey! Is that Pack Rat trying to pick my pocket?

Thanks, Anne.

Best to you as well!

Thanks, Dennis. Happy to hear you went solo. Enjoy it!

Beautiful truck, Bill

Ditto, KUDOS on the truck; it really looks great, and you look great in front of it!

Best always,

~ Anne ~

Thanks, Dennis. Happy to hear you went solo. Enjoy it!

Beautiful truck, Bill

Yezir. Gongrats! You earned this!

Hi Anne!

All us well. I don't do much on the internet or social media or otherwise. I'm just doing my thing in trucking. I still love it and am convinced I should have been doing this along rime ago. Been thinking about writing a new lost about my experiences. But when I get off the road all I do is eat, sleep, and try to fish as nych as I can.

I still haven't a a sandal to my name. 🤣

However, I am amazed at how many people wear them. In my opinion those things are terrible and have no place whatsoever in trucking except to shower, if one must. Seriously, wear some shoes. And I really don't care who doesn't agree with me on that point. They just aren't appropriate.

Here's a picture of ne and my girl Roxie.

Im startung to pickup on things like thay also. My question is, how? Anyway, I don't even own a pair of sandals so you won't catch me at a truck stop with them. And I don't drink soda pop either. Lol.

No, I study the drivers at truck stops, shippers and receivers. I can guess with accuracy what truck they are in many times by a driver's appearance.

It's BEEN awhile, Bill.

Did you get lost, shopping for sandals (finally ?!?!?)

Just kidding, man! Hope all is going great,still!!!

~ Anne ~

Not a word...

That's 100% accurate.

I agree 100% I can not believe Indiana can't figure out how to join a bridge and road. Even after "fixing" them they are horrible.

Im startung to pickup on things like thay also. My question is, how? Anyway, I don't even own a pair of sandals so you won't catch me at a truck stop with them. And I don't drink soda pop either. Lol.

No, I study the drivers at truck stops, shippers and receivers. I can guess with accuracy what truck they are in many times by a driver's appearance.

As you can probably tell by my appearance, I'm not a sandals kind of guy. But, I guess I'm part of the white Volvo mafia, de facto.

With that white Volvo, did the company give you a choice of sandals, or a track suit to wear? Hopefully that one keeps you rolling.

On this note, I'm thinking young, dumb, and entitled.

Queue the loser (thinking he's a winner) here: Teen doing 151 in a Beemer before killing Six.

Sad. RIP, workers. Glad they finally LOCKED UP this idiot.

~ Anne ~

Well. Another week in the bank. I wish I had it in me to post everything that went on this week. Another strange week. More GPS fails. Me trying to outsmart my gps and the gps was right, that time. lol. But, we got it done. I feel better just mapping it out; writing down my routes, fuel stops and customer/consignee instructions, then letting it roll. Much less stressful for me. I'm getting good loads but I need to get faster in and out of the yards and with my trip planning.

This week my safety score placed me 4th in the company overall. If it wasn't for that hard breaking incident, I probably make it to 2nd, it's that tight in the top 5. I know we here safety first, all the time. But, as a rookie, it really is my priority. I know the efficiency will come with experience and patience.

Moving on. I've come to prefer the Volvo over my freightliner. As luck would have it today Veriha notified me I can stay in the Volvo. :-) I was speechless. Well, almost. I told the them I've named the truck and there's no going back. Her name is Roxie. She smart, pretty, strong-willed, and stubborn. At least that's what the urban dictionary says.Roxie Lol.

They are recovering my freightliner after I transfer all of my things out of it on Monday.

So, next week Roxie and I have a fresh start to a full week starting with a 475 mile load.

I think this will close out "my first week solo" thread. All for now. Be safe out there.

312 miles bobtail? Oof.. thats a rough ride. I think my longest was 220. Looks like you have your weekend plans. Take care out there.

Then plan now is that we bobtail to Plainview, TX about 312 miles to pickup an empty trailer.

Then we drive north on I-27 to Cactus, TX north of Amarillo to D&H a load of meat going to Elloree, SC for live unload on Sunday morning.

My 10-hrs break will end at 19:17 CDT, so I’ll drive out the remainder of my Noon - Midnight shift. Then Robert takes over.

Yes sir PackRat, all valid points. As I was saying. I've only gone bow 1/4 tank once or twice in my povs during my lifetime. I'm new, trying to hit all the fuel stops as planned. Since then, I've pulled over for a splash to get me to the next stop without chewing of my fingernails waiting for the next exit. They're very supportive of us that way.

Thanks Anne.

Ya. The truck was in the shop for a couple of months. My thoughts were, this shouldn't be out of service. It should be ready to go. I could gear the air leak over the engine humming. I did a leak test anyway, figuring it wouldn't pass, and it didn't. It lost 10 psi in a out 30 seconds.

Anyway, they were good.about getting eight on.

Speaking of rest. I'm shutting down for my 10 hours, or slightly more after 550 mules today and terrible sleep yesterday.

Be good. Talk soon .

Freighliner parts are on National backorder. Great news though. Veriha found me a fleet Volvo only 97 miles from my house. This morning, my wife drove me to Wheeling WV to pick it up from the Volvo dealer. Bad news though, it had a suspension air leak on roadside air bag. Bad enough to make it DOT OOS. Good news, the dealer jumped right on fixing it after a call from our maintenance department. They had it repaired in about 30 minutes. I did one more leak test for good measure. Then, calibrated the brakes. Off I went. She's purring like a kitten. Feels good to be back on the road. But, I had to shut down a little early because in reality my clock started 3 hours earlier being as I was in my car with my wife driving. I don't want to push to hard just yet.

A bit of rest and an early start tomorrow. 😴

Safe travels everyone.

So great to hear, Bill !

Apparently, your company has some clout with the shop people, eh?!? :) Always great to hear! (Did you, or they, calibrate the brakes?) I had to re read that; got it now! IMHO, A purring putty tat of a truck is always a GREAT thing! Pix and her name, forthcoming, we hope!

I'm so excited for ya. I remember when 'I' was that 'wife person,' trying to find something wrong with Tom's truck to keep him home a bit longer, hahaha! Now, sadly (or not?) I know better!

Awesome, man.

~ Anne ~

ps: Hope this finds you well rested!

It's not a good idea to run with low fuel.

1) All the sludge and other junk is at bottom of the tank where the pickup is located.

2) A lower amount of fuel takes less time to gell during cold months.

3) What happens if you are stranded somewhere for a lengthy period with only 20 gallons? Think accidents or weather shutdowns.

4) Suppose your fuel stop has no power, or is closed, or they are out of fuel?

Thanks Anne.

Ya. The truck was in the shop for a couple of months. My thoughts were, this shouldn't be out of service. It should be ready to go. I could gear the air leak over the engine humming. I did a leak test anyway, figuring it wouldn't pass, and it didn't. It lost 10 psi in a out 30 seconds.

Anyway, they were good.about getting eight on.

Speaking of rest. I'm shutting down for my 10 hours, or slightly more after 550 mules today and terrible sleep yesterday.

Be good. Talk soon .

Freighliner parts are on National backorder. Great news though. Veriha found me a fleet Volvo only 97 miles from my house. This morning, my wife drove me to Wheeling WV to pick it up from the Volvo dealer. Bad news though, it had a suspension air leak on roadside air bag. Bad enough to make it DOT OOS. Good news, the dealer jumped right on fixing it after a call from our maintenance department. They had it repaired in about 30 minutes. I did one more leak test for good measure. Then, calibrated the brakes. Off I went. She's purring like a kitten. Feels good to be back on the road. But, I had to shut down a little early because in reality my clock started 3 hours earlier being as I was in my car with my wife driving. I don't want to push to hard just yet.

A bit of rest and an early start tomorrow. 😴

Safe travels everyone.

So great to hear, Bill !

Apparently, your company has some clout with the shop people, eh?!? :) Always great to hear! (Did you, or they, calibrate the brakes?) I had to re read that; got it now! IMHO, A purring putty tat of a truck is always a GREAT thing! Pix and her name, forthcoming, we hope!

I'm so excited for ya. I remember when 'I' was that 'wife person,' trying to find something wrong with Tom's truck to keep him home a bit longer, hahaha! Now, sadly (or not?) I know better!

Awesome, man.

~ Anne ~

ps: Hope this finds you well rested!

It's not a good idea to run with low fuel.

1) All the sludge and other junk is at bottom of the tank where the pickup is located.

2) A lower amount of fuel takes less time to gell during cold months.

3) What happens if you are stranded somewhere for a lengthy period with only 20 gallons? Think accidents or weather shutdowns.

4) Suppose your fuel stop has no power, or is closed, or they are out of fuel?

Congrats on your new journey. I just finished with school earlier this year. I upgraded to solo a couple of weeks ago. From the sounds of it, you're going to do just fine. Couple of things that worked for me, maybe not for everyone. Each night I read through the entire pre-trip. I went through at least 1, sometimes 3 complete pretrips, tractor and trailer, every day when I wasn't backing or driving. I spoke everything aloud so I could hear how it would sound to the examiner. Once per day I would ask a fellow classmate to test me on a section of PTI. Some of my classmates thought I was over the top with it. But the day I tested for my CDL, the examiner told me "you absolutely crushed the pre-trip inspection." It's one of the most important parts of passing your exam. Can't get out of the parking lot without passing it.

Again, it sounds like you'll do well.

Freighliner parts are on National backorder. Great news though. Veriha found me a fleet Volvo only 97 miles from my house. This morning, my wife drove me to Wheeling WV to puck it up from the Volvo dealer. Bad news though, it had a suspension air leak on roadside air bag. Bad enough to make it DOT OOS. Good news, the dealer jumped right on fixing it after a call from our maintenance department. They had it repaired in about 30 minutes. I did one more leak test for good measure. Then, calibrated the breaks. Off I went. She's puring like a kitten. Feels good to be back on the road. But, I had to shut down a little early because in reality my clock started 3 hours earlier being as I was in my car with my wife driving. I don't want to push to hard just yet.

A bit of rest and an early start tomorrow. 😴

Safe travels everyone.