Profile For Dave T.

Excuse my ignorance as I haven’t driven OTR in over 15 years, but is idle air still a thing at the truck stops? The company I worked for didn’t want us to idle while in the bunk so they paid for it if it was available. I haven’t seen it in a long time but then again, I get to sleep in my own bed every night. I wish we could have had APU’s on the trucks, that would have made it a lot more comfortable. Nowadays it’s just annoying if the AC doesn’t blow cold enough 😂

I have been using unisom sleep gels for years. It has the same ingredients for sleep as the Benadryl does. I got hooked on Ambien a long time ago and it took forever to get off of that. Now I can’t sleep at all without some kind of medication but at least I don’t sleep walk anymore like I was on the Ambien. That stuff is dangerous. Also, my ears ring really bad at night so I have to have noise to sleep with but I have a super noisy neighbor upstairs who works night shift from home… his office is directly above my bed with hardwood floors. I tried different types of headphones but I’ve been using the soundcore sport x20 ear buds for almost a year now. They make ones specifically for sleep but the x20 sport has the ANC feature plus the ear hooks so they stay in my ears while I sleep. After almost a year of every night use, they still last 8-9 hours of continuous play. I use a sleep sounds app on my phone and it helps to drown out the noise from upstairs and anything else so I can sleep. They’re actually comfortable to sleep in and I’ve only lost one in the bed one time since I started using them.

It’s tough making that transition for sure. I went from working second shift for 6 years to having to be at work at 6am and it took me a long time to get off that night shift sleep schedule.

Back when I was jockeying trailers at a good size distribution center, I had a guy come in the yard one evening who worked for a local carrier. Our company had contracted with them to help us shuttle trailers between the DC and the cross dock. I was absolutely floored when I pulled up to his driver window to give him some instructions and he held his finger up to tell me to wait while he wrote on his note pad. This guy was 100% deaf… driving a big truck. Nothing against him at all but I couldn’t believe that he was able to pass the tests without being able to hear. It was extremely difficult trying to communicate with him in a high pace setting like that. I’ve got no problem with folks with disabilities bettering themselves, but I just couldn’t believe it. I guess he was able to get his CDL after those lax regulations were passed.

I’ve been hauling fuel for about 3 years now and I’m way out of shape. The toughest part of the job for me is getting in and out of the tractor with a bad knee. We have a few customers who made terrible decisions on their drop placements for their tanks that make it very difficult. Sometimes I have to run a 20’ hose under the trailer because the drops for different products are on opposite sides. Lifting that hose full of gas and trying to drain it can be tough. We have other customers who placed their drops above the level of our load heads so you’re technically dropping fuel uphill. When those hoses are full of diesel, they can be extremely heavy and difficult to manage without making a huge mess. Sometimes I think we deliver to those places because other companies refuse to due to driver safety. If you go with one of the bigger companies that mainly does gas stations, it shouldn’t be too bad. You can always get creative and never have to lift a full hose like I try to do if I can. We carry jugs of diesel additive to dump in before we drop… I keep a few of the empty ones around to place under the hose so it’s a gradual downhill from the trailer to the drop tube. Work smarter, not harder.

Nah, that’ll buff right out. 😂

I’m glad I only have to load in Roanoke and don’t have to deal with all those headaches 😂 It very rare that we need anything we can’t get here.

I got my CDL back in 2008 because I lost my job when the housing market crashed. I was working on a survey crew at the time and when things slacked off, I was low man and was first to go. I was working as a civil drafter before they put me in the field. Before that, I was working in aviation as a civilian contractor doing mechanical and electrical drafting and design for a company that did military aircraft modifications… started in the engineering department before I even graduated high school in 2003. 16 years later, still making more money driving a truck 😂

There are probably plenty of companies that haul equipment OTR but I can only think of one off the top of my head right now and that’s Keen. After looking at their website and job listings, they require at least 18 months OTR. Your best bet is to get the training and get your license then drive OTR for a year or so with a general freight carrier then start looking. Plenty of construction companies are hiring for RGN drivers but they typically require 2-4 years of experience from what I’ve seen lately. I did heavy haul for a short while and I only got out of it because of the company and not the job itself. I’m hopefully setting myself up for a job now and have my foot in the door where I can both haul equipment and do what I’m doing now which is hauling fuel.

Chipotle (or any eating) is extremely surprising. People get warnings for not getting their helmet on quickly enough after exiting the cab. Kind of encourages more head swiveling on my part during loading in the future.

I already approached one of your crew, 189 or 193 or something like that, bigger guy. Said he didn't know TT but had an idea who you were. Still in 9973, starting around 2 pm at any given rack.

Saw your tractor today at KM1 around 1230 but when I saw you don’t start until 2, I figured y’all must slip seat. I’m in 183 which is the only tractor we have on the road without the pump and hose reel behind the cab. Still gonna keep my eyes peeled.

You don't work nights, weekends or holidays?

Also I agree with the rack issues but only at buckeye on Starkey recently. Wish they'd figure out the 1st regular arms on lane 1 and 3.

We are scheduled to work a half a Saturday (2-4 hours) every 5 weeks but we only work if we can’t hit those two accounts before Friday or they can’t wait until Monday. I’ve worked one Saturday since I’ve been there. 90% of the time it’s Monday through Friday daylight hours.

I hate loading at Buckeye period. It’s not so bad now that they’ve updated their computer system but they still have a lot of issues to work out. I try to only use lane 3 if I can as everything’s working most of the time. What I really can’t stand is the period from 1230-1400 at KM2… we call it Sheetz-o-clock for a reason. That shift change is a pain. KM2 is supposed to be shutting down a diesel tank soon and shifting a lot of product to KM1 so that’s gonna be a nightmare too. As far as the load pay, from what I’ve seen it makes everyone rush more and the lack of safety is very noticeable among some companies but not all. Saw a driver just the other week eating his burrito bowl from chipotle while loading in lane two at Buckeye in the middle of the day.

Still hoping to run into you sometime, spaceman.