Profile For Brandon M.

Thank you old school I was hoping to hear from you about this because of your experience with western. Also strap winder If anyone has used em where other than online can I get one?

So I leave for orientation with western express this weekend and I have some questions for the drivers that have worked or currently work for there flatbed division.

What equipment do they issue to you? Other then straps, chains and binders do they give you rubber mats, coil racks, doneage, 2" straps? Any info on that so I know the things that I will have to buy.

Also this will probably be a stupid question but I'm going to ask anyway. This is to all flatbed drivers. I don't mind the rain or snow I will secure when it comes to those and wind. Lightningstorms though is what the question is about do you guys get out and secure the load if your outside and there is Lightning in the sky?

This is going to be off the topic but I would like advice on this as well. I do have 5 months experience so far but this is still something that I struggle with. Backing, I understand the general concept of it. What I mess up the most is the setup. Any time I mess up at backing and it's taking me a little bit to get it in the dock or a spot at a truck stop especially when people are waiting I start to get in my head. That wasn't always the case though. My second run as a solo driver that I had I was at a receiver in Arizona and the lot was a pretty small lot and there were trucks everywhere I was struggling to get in the dock. About 5 minutes had gone by and a driver who was waiting on me got out of his truck and came up to me as said I need to hurry up and get in there he had places to be. I apologized to him and let him know this was my second run solo. He said I don't care your holding up the line and went back to his truck. I eventually got it in there about 5 minutes later and he drove by flipping me the bird. After that is when I started getting in my head. So any tips about getting the set up right would be great. I'll be pulling dry van if that helps.

Thanks all for the replies as far as the "why" goes. I want to provide a better future and foundation for myself and future family (if I ever decide to have one that is). Also I can't land any job better than this and to tell you the truth since I have been driving I can't seem to work in a building anymore. Believe me I have tried in the 8 months I've been away from the industry. I guess for me anyway I don't know about others nothing really beats the open road and the freedom you get from trucking. In the 8 months I've been gone I went back to what I knew which was food and I felt like I was suffocating. That might just be me though.

Harvey c I do have faith and I'll try to do that when I feel my emotions taking over. Brett and PJ thank you both for your advice too. From now on I'll think about how to keep calm in every bad situation instead of acting on my first instincts and you guys are right I am extremely lucky that I got another chance and I will not waste it. I'll do my time and get back in the good with the industry no matter how long it takes.

Others will likely come along and speak to the mistake you made and offer advice there, but I am going to focus on the question at the end of your post.

You are going to have to make a decision for yourself that no matter what happens, no matter what is said to you in this industry, you are determined to make it work. It's a matter of finding what it is that motivates you and let that be your drive. I have used the fact that I want a better life for my daughter and my future kids than the life I allowed myself to live. Whatever you choose to use to motivate you, remember that important person or thing is more important than your own pride. This industry sometimes requires swallowing pride. Lean into being humble and willing to do whatever it takes to get a job done, but pair that with having the confidence to speak up when you refuse to do something unsafe or illegal.

Thanks for that advice bk i appreciate it

Hello everyone this is my first time doing this so please bare with me.

So as it stands right now I am on my last chance in this career. I have worked for one other company and I had done something that I regret every day since it happened 8 months ago.

I had committed the ultimate sin in the trucking industry and abandoned my truck. No reasoning I can give will excuse the fact that I shouldn't have done it all I can say is it was done out of anger and the only person that it hurt was me because I left the truck close by my home so I could go and check on it every day and I was sending them pictures every time i went there and that is something that I am never doing again I have learned my lesson there.

Now that that's out of the way on to what I want to ask everyone. Western Express is giving me a chance and with the abandoning on my DAC report, this is my one and only chance to make this work and I really do want to make this work because I do really injoy driving.

How do I keep my emotions in check and get thick enough skin to put up with some of the crap we deal with out there or is it something I have to learn and pick up on my own through experience?

Also I just want to make this side note for everyone who reads this mostly the rookie drivers. Just because you read this and I got another chance doesn't mean you will. Don't do what I did because it took me a while to get this chance and to tell you the truth I got lucky. So if your going to quit take the equipment to one of your companies terminals and don't abandoned it.

Any advice is welcome thanks.