Comments By Klutch

Not all trucking jobs are created equal. I’m on track to hit 6 figures this year and I’m only averaging roughly 45 hours a week.. home daily with weekends off. But yeah the OVR stuff you refer to is ridiculous, not the life for me either.

PS I definitely made a mistake I should’ve done better research my bad ! I started to get my cdl a few month b4 they passed the law about having so many hours of training, that’s why I joined Trucking Truth but I ended up backing out of it because of the liability and responsibilities. .. Trying to hold out thinking and/or hoping things would change in my industry as a welding Inspector ? When it didn’t I went ahead and decided to get my cdl, I knew the money wasn’t going to be near the same but I found out there was a lot that I didn’t know about all the expectations and free time that they expect you to volunteer lol, it’s a joke compared to what I’m used to ! So much so I think I’m just going to go back to welding pipe again. ..

I will say this I do have a new found respect for you fellas. .. My dad drove a truck all his life when he wasn’t working on them. ..

Peace out

Your airbags are fine? You checked them physically as well as the switch as suggested previously? Airbags was my first thought. You shouldn’t just keep driving it like that.

Yeah, they're all the same size. Like I said, this is a recent development, things were fine before.

Happens all the time there. On the interstate there’s a huge light up sign before the exit that says NO trucks, trucks will not fit… $$$ fine etc.

Amazing how many people blindly follow their gps and ignore the giant signs

Less air, less power.

That’s what PFG, Sysco and US foods run as well.

Started my new job as a shuttle driver on Monday with Ben E Keith food division. My initial impression so far is very positive.

From application to offer it took about a week and a half. The background checks seem to be more thorough than most companies . A friend of mine told me it’s because you are dealing with food but I don’t know. It could just be the agency they use.

There was only 4 of us in our 2 days of orientation/ onboarding. Most of the information was not transportation related but ALOT to do with proper food handling, OSHA type training. Then your basic jj Keller trucking videos that everyone knows about

The facility was new and top of the line and everyone was VERY friendly and accommodating. The people that work here definitely believe in the company and try to represent it the best they can. Very professional and polite all the way through. The HR rep and the transportation manager asked us where we wanted to eat and took us to a local bbq place and ate lunch with us. When I got to my yard I was assigned a mentor who walked me through hooking doubles and the elogs system. The elogs and pretrip procedures here are very different than what I am used to but I’m picking it up. I’m trying to feel my way around the procedures and how things are done so I am taking my time.

The warehouse pickup procedure is very organized. We fuel up on the yard and they have a fuel station that allows you to hit both tractor tanks, def, and both reefer trailers at one time. It’s a very smooth process. And the people dealing with getting the loads out and the yard drivers are great and very helpful

Every driver at the yard and every employee I have met has nothing but great things to say and so far it seems like this is going to be a very good fit. Only about 7-8 hours on duty a day. 5 days a week.

So far I’m very impressed and glad I made the move. I have been missing driving since I left Werner. I enjoyed my time teaching but I think this is going to be a much better fit.

You run reefer pups? Don’t think I’ve ever seen those

That’s just a stock Wilson photo I imagine. Quickly searching google images I found a couple pics of the same woman for Wilson training.. so just same avatar or bots have invaded.

That's very strange. We thought you were an experienced driver. You've been asking questions for some time now about your equipment. You were using the screen name A W.

What happened that you now need to go to school for licensing? All of a sudden you've got a new name, a new account, and more questions. That's a great way to just get ignored.

Here's an example of one of your earlier questions...

Steer Tire Issues

That’s exactly what I’m doing for PFG. Congrats and best of luck. I personally love it.

Looks like I’m in stores for some new adventures!

I left the Werner DG account at the end of 2021 and started a training as a cdl instructor. Overall instructing was a very rewarding experience. Like any job it had it’s ups and downs with more ups than downs. I really enjoyed helping people to build the confidence and provide training and feedback to take the test and get their CDL. But the whole time I really missed actually driving a truck. I think once driving gets in your blood it’s kinda hard to let it go. So after awhile I decided to start looking around and if I found the perfect setup I would get back on the road! It took a few months and I was doing it casually at first and then I found it!I won’t say the name as yet because I’m not sure of their policies but it’s a food service company that is not Sysco, us foods, or pfg. Did a working interview and background and now have an orientation date scheduled next week.

Shuttle driver! I made sure to verify that I was in no way interested in touching freight or being a delivery driver lol! Essentially it’s running empties double from a drop yard to the dc. Picking up full ones and bringing them back so the young and strong guys can deliver. The schedule seems nice. 2pm till about 9-11pm Depending on the warehouse. I’m really excited to get back into the swing of things and will do an update after I’m on the job for a few weeks!

I took a local job pulling doubles after being OVR for a year and couldn’t be happier. Any details on the position? Some parts of the country would definitely be more challenging.

Food service still going strong. In fact they just announced a 4k$ incentive this week for not missing any days between the end of may through September.

The position was open at the local depot, only required a year of experience. The hours and home time are no better for the delivery drivers, shuttle seems like a lot better gig. We actually have a decent amount of delivery guys that moved there from shuttle, they didn’t like it for whatever reason. Maybe they didn’t like running doubles or maybe with the delivery component pay they have the ability to make more money. No seniors or drivers that couldn’t cut it doing deliveries on our crew…

How did you get your position? Seems like a tough gig to get. The shuttle guys on my account are either senior citizens or young guys who couldn't handle it as a delivery driver.

There are drop and hook positions in food service 😉

After rereading the original post though I thought that is what he was referring to and its what I currently do but I believe I misread it. Still though, food service companies employ more than just delivery drivers, like our shuttle team who operates similar to linehaul. Doesn’t seem like the OP is going to respond but curious if that’s the type of position he was talking about, if so I would highly recommend it… the job not the two week trial.

Hey Bobcat, that's a good and legitimate response. I probably was not clear in my meaning.

My concerns are that there seems a lack of commitment to what it is he wants to switch into. He seems to want to go try something new for two weeks and then decide whether to stay or jump ship. That doesn't seem a good approach to me.

Local work is great and takes as big a commitment as any OTR driver has. When I see someone who doesn't seem to make much distinction between a drop & hook job versus a food service job, I start to wonder what it is they really want out of trucking. I always think it best to know what you want and then go for it. That involves commitment.