Profile For Dave T.

I’m not sure about the rest of the state but here in VA (the Roanoke area at least) the state has made it illegal for drivers to park in the weigh stations when they’re closed. Years ago, there was a good size TA at the 81/220 interchange that they closed and turned it into a “green space”. There is a tiny Pilot across the road with almost no parking and really nowhere else in the immediate area to legally park for big trucks. The rest areas also have very little space. I don’t know how you guys do it anymore with such limited parking.

Now, I have never run an E-log outside of logging on, taking a break and logging off since we had them in our yard trucks for some reason at my last job. I haven’t had to run an actual log since 2009 when I started working local. I can’t imagine the headaches those things can be but without any experience at all with them, I’ll never know. I’m sure they have some advantages to them but I guess I’m “old school” and see them as more of a hindrance. I guess nowadays the pay is better than it was back then but when I first started out making 33 cents a mile in a 62 mph truck, I never could have survived without the comics.

I tend to leave mine on during the day too. This time of the year I’m making home heating oil deliveries (unfortunately) and almost always have to park in the road in front of the houses or as close to the tank locations as I can get. I try not to park in driveways unless I have to in case I have a leak, spill or just a few drops of diesel from the hose nozzle. I’ve had quite a few close calls with people not paying attention but the 4 ways and the headlights help especially when I have to park the wrong way in the road. It’s not company policy, it’s more for my safety. Same goes for the big truck but luckily I don’t have to worry about parking in the middle of the road with that.

I’m a big Oakley fan. That’s all I wear anymore outside of a rare day I might wear my costas. They have saved my eyes on several occasions on the job and the lens clarity is awesome too. My eyes have gotten so sensitive over the years that I can’t stand to be outside when the sun is up without them. Even when the weather is bad or slightly before dawn or at dusk, I have to have them on. A fella once asked me early one morning if I was wearing them because of a bad night and I said nope, when you’re this cool the sun always shines! Anyway, have you tried the transition lenses? I think Oakley makes them or atleast they used to. They don’t get nearly as dark as a regular pair of sun glasses. The polarization on them makes a big difference too. I have a few pair of flak jackets with one being about 15 years old that are still holding up nicely. There’s a company called revent optics that make decent replacement lenses for a fraction of the cost. As for the salad, I need to eat more of those. I’ve lost close to 50 pounds in the last year but I’ve got a long way to go.

From what I understood when I got my CDL, you can take the endorsement test just like any other one but you have to actually have the bus to take the passenger skills test. I tried to get mine just to have it but didn’t have access to a bus to do so. You could also look at a tour bus company. The big one here in town is pretty hard up for drivers as well as the local school board. If you talked to them I’m sure they’d be glad to help you with the testing and employment.

I only had one person try to break into my tractor when I was OTR. It was in NJ at a shipper location. I was even sitting in the driver seat. Luckily the doors were locked because she (a crazy homeless lady) even climbed up on the truck and started pounding on the glass. She wanted food, then asked if she could drive the truck and then proceeded to ask if I would marry her 😂. I had to turn her down and got up and closed the curtains. She pounded on the truck for a good while after that and finally left. I hate that state.

The MyRadar is a good one to have. It will send you alerts for sudden changes and future severe weather events in your area. It’s location based so as long as you have it set up to track you all the time, it should be current to where you are. You can also look at the radar maps along your route and see how the weather is tracking and what you’re in for ahead. You can also change the map layers for precipitation, temperature and wind speeds to gauge your trip planning but of course it can change in an instant. It also sends alerts to my watch which is nice for when I’m out in the woods.

I had the “rona” back in January and I’m still experiencing the long term effects. I’ve got a cough I can’t shake and just this past weekend started on a cpap. I can’t breathe nearly as deep as I used to and get outa breath much more easily with a burning sensation in my lungs. I’m a big guy but before covid (and my leg surgery) I was able to do some pretty strenuous hiking and whatnot with no problem but now, even after losing almost 40 pounds, it’s much more difficult. I got the ****s and still ended up catching it at work.

I have never delivered food (other than ice cream and dairy products) but I have delivered beer. I’ve been in and out of the same places those guys have that work for those companies. I can’t say much for the food but I’ve had to lug kegs up and down the same steps, in and out of the same bars and restaurants as they have and it’s not easy work. They probably have to rotate products just like I had to rotate beer inside those coolers too. They have quite a few stops during the day and night. We have two restaurants close to where our office is where the delivery drivers have to park in the middle turn lane of a busy two lane road to make deliveries. Lots of places want their deliveries on certain days between certain times so it can also be a time crunch. I thought about trying it but I’m way to outa shape for that anymore. They do make good money but they work hard to earn it. If the food doesn’t tickle your fancy, give beer a shot or even Pepsi or Coke if you’re looking for a job to keep you in shape.

I don't know anything about that straight truck work but sounds awful. You said you bucket drained for the diesel to go in, why did you have to drain so much? Refused load?

Yea I had to bucket drain the gas out so I could load the off-road to make heating oil deliveries. Can’t be putting gas into peoples home tanks. I had dropped the gas so I didn’t have any in my line but there were a few gallons in the load heads.

I’m back on ethanol today so I’ll be spending most of today at buckeye.

I used to keep mine on all the time. I was on the PA turnpike one day and a trooper got in the radio, he was looking for the location of a wildfire so since I saw the smoke, I told him it was a few miles behind me. I’ve used it a lot to ask about shipper/receiver locations too when I’ve had trouble finding them.

I jockeyed for about 6 years before it tore my knee up enough to require major surgery. I enjoyed the home daily and normal schedule other than working nights. It was a good experience but I probably wouldn’t do it again. If you’re wanting to get out on the road, you won’t get there in a yard truck. Of course you can always go OTR but if you want to keep that kinda money and still be home everyday, you’re gonna have to find a delivery job. It’s hard work but if you’re able, it’s a good way to get experience and your foot in the door for bigger and better jobs. I’ve delivered beer, milk, building materials, water and now fuel. I enjoy the customer interactions (sometimes) and enjoy not being stuck in the truck all day. I hated OTR but I got my one year in and went local.

It’s interesting though you said the work is surprisingly clean and safe. I’ve always wondered about how bad the fumes would be. Because I have talked to a few fuel haulers while the were unloaded and Maybe there connections were half assed because it definitely felt like I was breathing in gas lol. There are a ton of fuel hauling companies in the Chicagoland area always hiring always advertising for 30 plus an hour plus ot usually but it just hasn’t quite appealed to me. Although I’ll say their tractors are usually brand new.

There are certainly ways to get filthy hauling fuel too. Right now I’ve got a good mix of dyed diesel and 89E10 all over me. Had gas on earlier in the week so I had to bucket drain it off to load the diesel for heating oil deliveries today. My whole truck smells like gas and I’ve got a pretty good headache from the fumes. I don’t have that problem on the big truck but in the straight truck, I get filthy. Between getting splashed, dragging the hose through god only knows what all day(then gettin it all over me) and people’s nasty basements, I usually stink pretty bad by the end of the day. I hate doing this heating oil stuff but I sure do like the M-F daylight hours and no weekends 😂

Spaceman, I’ve seen that tractor around town recently. I’ll have to keep an eye out. We only run in VA (at least I do) but we go pretty far out. We don’t do a lot of gas stations but more commercial locations and pump loads. If you get bored at eagle, we need drivers too.

Yeah Dave, I'll always be easily identified as the lone guy wearing the brown San Diego padres hat out here!

Saw a “beagle” truck today (gonna start calling y’all that btw 😂) with two drivers in it but then remembered you said you were off today. Now that the weather is turning cold I won’t be in the terminals very much if at all until spring. If you see this rolling around at KM2, stop and say hey.

Spaceman, that wasn’t me. I was down around Blacksburg yesterday about that time. I saw in your pictures that you worked for them. I’ll have to keep an eye out.

Spaceman or Dave? You deliver to Lynchburg or Floyd/Carroll/Patrick Counties area?

I’ve made one delivery in Lynchburg to our commercial fueling station but I spend my weekends up there as the ole lady lives on the north side of town. Our company does a lot of work in the Lynchburg area though. We have stops in Martinsville and Danville but I’m not sure about about Patrick and Carrol counties.

I haven't been to KM. That's pretty wild you're having allocation issues there. Both one and two?

I was at one this afternoon trying to get the gas and eventually got it. I was able to get it at two on Friday and I had an option at two today but went to one first to save the trip across town. Their computer system at KM is a little bit easier than buckeye. I’ll be at the ethanol racks tomorrow so who knows, I might see ya out there.

Spaceman, are you here in the Roanoke area?

We have still be able to get it here locally but the guys are making more trips to Greensboro. Sometimes they make the two hour drive to still not have the allocation and have to come back empty. I even had some trouble getting a load of gas today at KM. We have customers looking to stock up; I had to go check a few tanks today that a customer got to stockpile the fuel for their cranes.

So I have a job where I drive straight trucks some days and big trucks other days. I make the same amount of money (hourly) either way. The straight truck is very labor intensive where as the most I do during the day on the big truck is getting in and out of the truck. Both are hauling fuel but the straight trucks are for small commercial stops and home deliveries where my semi is only used to haul product around town. It really depends on the type of work you’re looking for and what you want to do. I’ve had jobs both local and OTR delivering beer, milk, general freight, building materials and now fuel that have been very labor intensive but I’ve also had to hand unload a 53’ dry van by hand a few times. If you just want to drive and not do much else, drive a dump truck.

Way back when I was still on my learners permit, I was able to add the doubles/triples and my tanker endorsement. I didn’t have to pay any extra that way to add them to my license. I was going to get my passenger and hazmat too but I didn’t have access to a bus and the background check wouldn’t have been back before my test date. I waited for about 8 years to get my hazmat and then another 6 before I got a job to actually use it. Unless you absolutely need it or want a job that requires it, I wouldn’t add the hazmat because of the testing, fingerprints and background check every 5 years. No point in spending the money and effort if it’s not going to be used.

Trying to possibly get carded at Buckeye tomorrow. Hope all you tankers didn't drink the diesel dry during my one day off.

I spend the majority of my days offloading at the buckeye terminal. They’re a lot more laid back than the KM’s here in town. I’m not a fan of their computer system though. Hopefully it’ll change after the first of the year.

This summer when gas was getting scarce I was about to start loading at Kinder Morgan and the screen displayed, "Low Allocation Warning, 89 gallons remaining". So I quickly loaded 9000 gallons lol. I told my dispatcher and they just laughed, "Good! You got the last drop of allocation and then some!"

That’s hilarious! We’ve had a few instances of that at KM here in Roanoke. Im hoping they’ll let me go down to Greensboro sometime to load so I can get carded down there too.

I try to wave at the other tanker drivers but I get a lot of dirty looks when I drive past them when they’re lined up 10 trucks deep trying to get in to load. It’s kinda nice to drive on around everyone and right to the gate.