Comments By FR8 M4N

Awesome!

A new chapter in truck driving is set to kick-off in a couple of weeks as I start a job with Simon's Trucking out of Farley, IA. Keller had been a good starter company, but the pay is just not enough to get ahead of our commitments.

Until later...

Thanks for the reply, RB! I've had the thought that being number one isn't the most important thing, but just by being focused on fuel economy and safety will keep me in the high ranks knowing that I'm doing good for myself, others around me, and for the company. By working on the metrics, I naturally climb up and maintain a good ranking. Like you said, they're tied at the hip; neat observation. Have a great week!

Still working on those safety and fuel efficiency metrics. I managed to get to the number 8 spot, so my goal of breaking into the top ten has been achieved. Now headed for the number 1 spot.

It must be fierce competition in the top ten because the names move in and out fairly quickly. I dropped back to the middle teens from number 10 then back down into number 8, in the same day.

This week I was in the 20's. Weird. But on the whole, fuel efficiency has been going up.

I'll keep working at it. Probably gonna be one of those things where you get it dialed in then just keep it consistent and try to improve all the time.

Plenty of miles this last week. I let my FM know I'd be available for Saturdays, if needed, so he was able to accommodate and I put in around 3k, finishing up at home Saturday morning around 8:30.

A bit of a tough week, though, as my start times were in the early morning hours; which isn't too bad since I enjoy the lesser amount of traffic on the roads at those times. But the sleep schedule got a little skewed to accommodate the delivery times. It's all good. It's one of those challenges of driving.

I may have finished up my 6 month contract, as my safety bonus has increased as of this last week. Maybe a week early? I have recorded going into my 24th week this next Monday, the 17th. Yeah!

Pet peeve that has crept in is traffic merging into the highway. Seems they don't know how to press on the go pedal.

Another pet peeve is the auto brakes on the truck as they seem to have a mind of their own from time to time. I've picked up on that the radar tracks a vehicle further into an adjacent lane than my old truck, and if they're slowing down, my brakes may be activated. So I've adapted to that occurrence pretty good and keep a good eye on the tracking. It can be defeated by pressing on the go pedal.

Another time is those hard shadows from bridges that come out of nowhere and scare the crap out of you.

And if I'm too close to the vehicle ahead of me, and they start braking too quickly, those brakes may activate, which is annoying and makes my blood boil as I'm in complete control of the situation when this occurs. But I do have the radar looking as far ahead as possible, which is about a 10th of a mile. The fix is for me to react sooner to the following distance, and in most cases is just what I do, but occasionally you have some motorist jump in front of you and jam things up. Still, in the big picture, I need to adjust the following distance and all will be good. So I'm working on that so it doesn't happen that the brakes apply automatically.

Until later...

One trip into hilly/mountainous terrain can cause a significant dip in fuel economy. Do your best to hit that top spot, but know that where you rank may have more to do with who had longer stretches of straight/flat highway with no traffic delays. No matter where you fall in that ranking, you are a great asset to your company because you are focused on the right things. Fuel economy and safety are tied at the hip because the drivers who most frequently have the best fuel economy are the drivers who have the best safety record.

"License and registration..." "Yes sir." "Do you know why I pulled you over?"

Well, it happened; I received a citation for being in the third lane. Thought I had a valid reason for being there, but he wasn't swayed at all. No problem. I'm definitely not going to argue; just be as polite and courteous as possible.

Called my company to let the Safety Dept. know of the incident and I'm left with the knowledge of losing the safety bonus for four weeks. Big bummer! But, that's life and I own up to it and will do better going forward.

Had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day at a shippers soon after that. Waited 11 hours and 15 minutes before I got out of there. That was a big example of how a little communication could've saved me a bunch of headache and time.

Another day, going down the interstate, I get pulled into the scale. There the officer found there was a weight distribution problem between the trailer tandems. One was over the legal limit and the other hardly carrying any of the load. So with that, he had me swing around the building where he informed my of that condition with the axles and happily announced that he would do a full inspection.

There! I had my first Level 1 full inspection! Actually really liked the experience. The officer was really nice to interact with and I was glad to be helpful in any way I could.

Essentially everything else checked out good with the exception of one trailer light being in-op (that I had informed him about prior to his inspection) and stated that I had already reported in the DVIR to be fixed during pre-trip this morning.

The officer informed me right away that I'm not leaving until it fixed. No problem. I'll call my work place and get the ball rolling. Well, that ball rolled for a very long ways as it took over 5 hours to get back on the road! Doh! The joys of trucking!

Until later...

I only take it off when backing, as well. If moving in the yard or truck stop, I have it on. Just not at all comfortable without it on otherwise.

Or to raise/lower a tag axle?

It's the professionalism and honesty that kept me around. I, too, closed a few tabs when researching this career path.

Keep up the good work, everyone!

Chuck Norris counted to infinity... twice.

Hi ya! Still have the same rig, too? That's a nice looking one in your bio info.

Thanks!

That's a great achievement for any driver at any job, but especially for the things we go through daily. Congratulations!