Comments By Chris M

I honestly never expected anyone from the company to tell me happy birthday. I'm one of 20,000+ drivers. That's an average over over 50 birthdays per day lol. But it was really nice to get this message. This was from the flatbed operations manager at my terminal. The man who is literally in charge of every single flatbed driver based out of that terminal.

Everyone thinks that just because you work for one of the mega carriers, you're not treated as a person. In my experience, that couldn't be farther from the truth. Just last week, I called Ed with a question about a load. I called his personal cell phone number, spoke to him about the load, got a detailed answer to my question, and exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes before hanging up. Not once during that call did I have to give him my truck number, or driver code. He just knew who I was.

Don't let all of the crap about being "just a number" get to you. It's just that, crap. The people in charge know who the good workers are, and who the bad workers are. Do your job to the best of your ability, and your name will stand out. Not just your employee number.

Yes the dorm style and I never got a mattress for the top bunk because I don't have a need for it. I haven't had any ventilation issues whatsoever. It's completely open all the way around the fridge, with two straps over the top holding it down to the bunk. Works like a charm

Yeah I haven't heard that about the 2019 trucks coming with fridges, but I also haven't been inside any of them. I know that none of the other trucks come with them. But all trucks should have inverters installed now, and if you get on one of the remaining older trucks that doesn't have one, the shop will install one for you.

I bought the 1.7 cu foot refrigerator from Walmart and it has plenty of room for me. Don't expect the freezer to keep anything truly frozen, but the refrigerator works great and is not loud. A lot of drivers strap them into the passenger seat, but I have mine strapped on the top bunk on the passenger side.

If you have a large inverter installed thar is connected directly to the batteries, then the fridge will not turn off. Also, in my truck, the 12v outlets are always on, unless the main power switch is shut off. They stay on even when the ignition switch is off.

My truck will last 3-4 days with the fridge running and the main power switch off.

Every company has a "hiring area" that covers where the majority of their freight lanes are. As long as you are in that area, it does not matter if you are close to a terminal or the company headquarters.

Also, if you are not close to a terminal, the company will allow you to take the truck home and park at a secure location while on hometime.

So no, location does not matter, provided you are inside of the company's hiring area.

At swift you'll get an "enforcer" lock set which is a padlock and kingpin lock. The set is $80 if I remember correctly, and they deduct if from your pay. If you lose it you'll have to get another and they'll deduct it again.

At Swift if you pick up a loaded dry van or Reefer trailer from a terminal, you are not allowed out of the facility without a lock on it.

Also, when you send you're loaded macro, there is a check box asking if you put a lock on the trailer. If you say yes, and something happens to your load and it wasn't actually locked, you're terminated.

It is company policy that ALL loaded trailers are to be locked.

There is really no reason to ever not lock a loaded trailer.

Even with the paper rolls, sure no one can just carry them out. But let's say you're at a truck stop asleep during the night, and someone breaks the seal, opens the doors to see what's inside, and realizes they can't take anything. Do you think they'll be polite enough to the close the doors back and latch the handles? Nah. So if your doors stay open and you get a little rain shower during the night, now you've got a rejected load because you've got a wet roll of paper.

Seriously, always lock your loaded trailers. There is just no reason to skip that step.

Turtle mentioned the trick of letting slack into your strap to use it as a sling to get it over a high load. I completely agree with that and if I ever run I to you I'll be glad to show you!

Also, I'll add that the width of your trailer matters. Your load is allowed to be 102" wide, (securement does not count against the width), regardless of whether it's hanging over the rub rails or not. My company has a lot of flatbeds that are only 96" wide. This means if your load is hanging over by 3" on both sides, you're still legal.

Blain's farm and fleet in Woodstock looks like a good place to try, depending on if that's close enough to you. They've got a pretty big lot and may be willing to work with you

You can ask around at any of the major retail stores, any place with a large parking lot. Think of any places you've ever seen a truck parked in your area and call and ask. Remember the age old adage, it never hurts to ask lol. Also you can check with self storage places. Often times they have even and boat storage areas and they may be willing to let you pay a few bucks to park there for a few days a month.

If you wanna say what city or town is closest to you I'd be willing to look at Google maps and see what I can find that might work.