Comments By Travis

Anyone worked for them? Specifically with doing concrete. Mostt of what I see is positive, especially in regards to training and safety.

Given that I live in Mexicali, Mexico but my license is NC I'm having to book my own flights from NC to San Diego and cross the border for home time if I want to see the wife and daughters and the $ adds up. Schlumberger covers your flights plus has double the time at home. 15 days on 6 off vs 4 weeks on to get 6 days off currently.

Not complaining about my current job at all, I love it, but more time at home and paid travel is a powerful enticement.

Aside from Schlumberger, any tips on oilfield work in particular? Already know it's gonna be cold, hard work these months if I take itand ordered some Ariat work wear and smartwool base layers and socks(can use them if I don't want the job there too)

This may or may not help you

§ 382.107 Definitions.

Words or phrases used in this part are defined in §§ 386.2 and 390.5 of this subchapter, and § 40.3 of this title, except as provided in this section -

Actual knowledge for the purpose of subpart B of this part, means actual knowledge by an employer that a driver has used alcohol or controlled substances based on the employer's direct observation of the employee, information provided by the driver's previous employer(s), a traffic citation for driving a CMV while under the influence of alcohol or controlled substances or an employee's admission of alcohol or controlled substance use, except as provided in § 382.121. Direct observation as used in this definition means observation of alcohol or controlled substances use and does not include observation of employee behavior or physical characteristics sufficient to warrant reasonable suspicion testing under § 382.307. As used in this section, “traffic citation” means a ticket, complaint, or other document charging driving a CMV while under the influence of alcohol or controlled substances.

Refuse to submit (to an alcohol or controlled substances test) means that a driver:

(1) Fail to appear for any test (except a pre-employment test) within a reasonable time, as determined by the employer, consistent with applicable DOT agency regulations, after being directed to do so by the employer. This includes the failure of an employee (including an owner-operator) to appear for a test when called by a C/TPA (see § 40.61(a) of this title);

Obviously you can google the full section and follow up on the definitions etc if you'd like, IANAL and don't know if this would help them not report you for failure to test. Just sharing what I got

I was just told by A LTL company I will be reported to FMCSA for not following threw with their hiring process and getting a drug test. Any way to dispute this question I never worked for the company just talked on the phone twice and got second thoughts of working for them.

The only issue I can think of is if you're using home time to take a urinalysis for one company, decide on another and the company you decide on can't get you one on the dates you'd be home so you wanna move your home time a few days rather than wait 2-4 weeks to take home time again.

Probably a run on sentence but hopefully it makes sense.

Definitely take the test if it's scheduled. What's the downside if one has nothing to hide? As written by the OP, the reality of a true repercussion is that it will show up as a "refusal or non-compliant act". That's a real Kiss Of Death. An hour of time to go pee in a cup is a much better trade off.

Probably the easiest way to avoid issues.

Always take the drug test, even if you changed your mind on the job offer. I've gone to physicals and taken drug tests for companies I know I'm not going to work for. I consider it part of the application process.

For my own future reference what is the protocol for this? Is cancelling an appointment that is a week or more out ok if you decide to look elsewhere? How close to the appointment can you cancel/reschedule and not get a refusal?

I hadn't even thought of this possiblity as showing up as a refusal.

Was there an actual appointment time set up for a drug test and if so did you not not attend? (IE: you decided to look elsewhere and therefore did not go to said testing appointment?) IF that is the case, it would be perceived as refusal to submit for drug testing, which is report able yes. Did you communicate with the company prior that you were going to back out of the hiring process with them and look elsewhere?

I was just told by A LTL company I will be reported to FMCSA for not following threw with their hiring process and getting a drug test. Any way to dispute this question I never worked for the company just talked on the phone twice and got second thoughts of working for them.

Did you see where PayPal jumped the gun and said it was gonna hit users with fines for "misinformation"

Sure this is one of the Leftist goals, Brett: Create high enough fuel costs, constantly bombard the populace with the false narrative that if we all had electric vehicles everyone is happy and we saved the planet together! The left has done this for decades. Say the same thing repeatedly and it magically becomes the truth. "Just take our word for it because we know better than you stupid little people."

I agree completely. We're living through a deliberate destruction of the world's economy so central bankers can install digital currencies. Once they remove cash from society, they have complete surveillance and control over the population. They can dictate every move we make, and eliminate us from society altogether at their whim. China already has this. It's called a "Social Credit Score." If the government approves of your way of living, they'll allow you access to society. If not, you're excluded.

Am I the only one that's noticed this for the past two years? Mysterious fires, livestock deaths, planes crashing into DCs, company sabotage, factories shut down for months by the government for a two hour fix? This shyte is not random IMHO.

This is a common topic in the channels I follow. It's part of the same agenda - to cripple the world's economy and send the world into complete chaos so "the elites" can "rebuild" our society in a way that financially and socially enslaves the entire world.

Seriously, if everyone on Earth read the book "1984" the world would erupt in revolution immediately, and this evil plan would end. There are still way too many people who have no idea what's really happening because they continue to believe the mainstream media narrative.

Resolidified chocolate gets that weird fuzzy looking white coat. I remember getting some Reese's cups during the 80s tylenol poison murder scare. We called cause we thought it was poison 🤣😭

ATL bit me again. As with everything that even comes a whiskers kiss close enough to ATL, it always manages to hose me. Get to my shipper with enough time to get the heck gone after hooking the loaded trailer.

When I walked up and saw the glowing amber "temperature alert" I knew my day and my plan was shot to hell.

Apparently, Ferraro (DHL?) turned on the reefer to load it, but never verified that it was actually running and cycling in start/stop.

A full load of chocolate sat on that trailer in direct sun, for most of today. *Sigh* thank God I always double check before getting under the trailer. I'm now BT, creative parked, and headed to bed. It's been a long damn day.

It stinks for us because our tank wash is off I94 just north of 80 and our OC is off exit 5 in IN. No real way to avoid it

Yea, those "local traffic only" signs are confusing. Exactly how far down the road is considered local? Is it completely closed or do they just wanna cut out through traffic?

If a cop or worker is nearby I'll usually try to flag them down or even get out and ask. Parking and flashers and grabbing a google maps satellite view is something I did once too to see if I could loop around another way.

I have some experience ‘roughing it’ and can manage without some creature comforts. As long as I get enough rest on the road I will be able to adapt. What kind of mistakes are you taking about? Is it really that easy to wash out or fail? I have a college degree, 20 years of professional experience and prior military service driving a little so I had been confident.

I did better than the average rookie my first year, and I did all of those things that I mentioned, and I also made many mistakes starting out solo after training. The harsh reality is that I could have easily been a failed case of a rookie not making it, but my company decided to keep me on, despite some dumb mistakes. I mention this being a harsh reality because it's a razor thin line between making it and washing out.

Driving a truck with a 48'-53' trailer is unlike anything you have driven before. It's unlike anything that any of us drove before, until we did it. It's a steep learning curve. There really is only one way to learn and that is from experience. Because it is such a steep learning curve, it's not easy to get through the first year and remain employed within the industry. Some drivers remove themselves, recognizing that it just doesn't work for them. Other drivers have to be let go. There is also that small percentage that don't survive because a mistake was made that proved fatal. A driver's employability in trucking can change in a split second with the cause being any number of factors that the driver wasn't proactive in avoiding. Things like driver distraction, fatigue, and emotional responses to others can lead to reasons why a driver is no longer employable.

One of my mistakes was taking a wrong turn. I had done all the things I was trained to do with trip planning, watching signs, etc. But, GPS switched up my route on me without me realizing it. The turn it had me take looked like where I was supposed to be. I was in an area where many of the streets look very similar. I was supposed to be on a street that becomes a country road that leads to a farm. Well, I thought that's what I was on. I was on a street that becomes a country road that leads to someone's house. I tried to turn around when I didn't have room and got the truck and trailer stuck. I ended up doing substantial cosmetic damage to the truck. When I discovered that I was on the wrong road, instead of trying to turn around, I should have gotten on the phone and called the police to ask for help in backing out until I could safely turn around. I might have gotten a ticket, but that ticket would have been much better than damaging the truck.

My other mistake was a ticket for not adhering to a traffic device, namely a barricade. I was close to the yard for my company and the road I was on had barricades indicating that the road would be closed at a specified distance, except for local traffic. I didn't turn at the last barricade a few miles later, because in my mind at that time, I was part of the "local traffic." What the signage meant is that the road is a dead end, so unless you live on this street, don't continue past this point. My company's yard is on the next street I would have come to, so rather than taking the detour, I convinced myself that I should be able to make the next turn onto that street. I came up on that intersection and found that the whole intersection was barricaded. I proceeded to back my way out to where the last barricade was. Before I reached that point, a state trooper came up behind me to stop me. This ticket happened 3 months after the first incident. My company would have been justified in letting me go, but they chose to keep me. I have bo doubt that at the top of the list of reasons why is that I have been a solid producer from the beginning of my going solo.

Looks good. How's she sleep?

When I started with marten they gave me a 2022 cascadia. First condo for me so I was happy. Last week my fm put my name in for a upgrade and the ops manager picked me for our terminal! They flew me to mondovi,wi and I picked up a new, new, new cascadia. It had 15 miles on it the first time I started her up! Yes, recorded the first 100 miles and the first 1000. She is the white marten color so I named her Pearl. I’m just tickled pink!!!!!!