Profile For Schism

GWB / NJ Turnpike combo during weekday afternoon traffic satisfied all my NYC curiosity .

I did drive LA @ 530pm on weekday traffic pulling the dreaded Coil . I am convinced the team mate/trainer planned the whole thing. It was an enormous relief finally getting east of that mess and being on open road interstate .

Old School ,

Those slinky's are such a bread and butter account for Western . I was at that very same location no less than 3 times in 5 weeks . Every time I was there there was another company driver or two !

i25 south through Raton is a great drive . I was shocked to see all the large mammals in NM the first time thru there .

My most shocking NM experience was driving for what seemed like 2 hours directly at the center of an enormous storm . Watching the temperature drop from 79 degrees all the way to 41 degrees , driving at the storms edge and then into the beast as the hail started to fall was a bit suspect ! The hail came down so fast it accumulated 1 1/2 to 2" over the course of 2 miles . Driving speed went from 64 mph to 38 mph and I was overwhelmed to get to the other side of the storm and see dry ground again !

I was just in Littleton,NH yesterday !! Its directly on i93 , but as Ernie had mentioned a short run from/to i91 which is Vermont .

There are plenty of routes you can take to do the SW to NE run . I think you can do worse than i40 all the way to Nashville/Knoxville areas of TN , and then pickup i81 to get you into PA . From PA you have choices to make on how you actually get into the Northern side of New Hampshire .

Jumping on i70 or i80 too early or too late may or may not be too mountainous and or efficient for what your looking for . I personally loved driving i70 once east of of Denver , CO . Its wide open Colorado/Kansas for a lot of miles . There is also i80 PA to consider which puts you into the Pocono's which is not serious elevation but is mountains .

Have a great trip !

Congrats !

I took my cdl a test in NH with a state Trooper in the B seat . First attempt stress got the best of me and I went top to bottom of the in cab brake check with brake chambers empty and spring brakes applied.

Second attempt I had 4 or 5" of a driver tire over invisible line during parallel park .

Third attempt I ran out of points using pull ups during 90 degree ally dock.

I went thru school top of the class . I was out with a driver trainer at Western Express for 5 days and he said I should be solo.

All that matters is that you got the license . The priority now going to work for a company is that you don't hit anything.

Melton and Roehl is 3 years.... Western Express is more lenient ! You can look at the company if your having trouble finding a company to give you a job.

Hey Red...

With only 5 weeks otr myself I am not surprised you found a lemon. There is a ton of drivers out there lacking in key elements that comprise the skill set of a professional driver .

Last Saturday I was in Nashville TN after my 5 weeks team driving , to road and backing test to company standards and get my solo truck .

I had no issues at all ... I've driven a 53' flatbed with a 10'2" spread that has an 8 foot tail past the rear trailer axle . We tested using a 48" spread axle flatbed with no tail.

Anyway....one of the others guys testing had a sad setup..shallow entry between a flat and dry van...multiple pull ups and ultimately hit one of the other trailers . He was OTR team training with 53' trailer and couldn't put the smaller trailer in the hole.

About an hour after testing our paperwork came down...and was handed out. His paperwork showed the numeric negative for things he did wrong on the road and stated that he hit another trailer during the 45 degree backing ...and that he PASSED and was qualified for a solo truck. As far as I know he drove away from Nashville monday with a truck pulling a load .

Scary as the facts are this industry is short a few hundred thousand licensed cdl A drivers and there are companies which are fine taking high csa scores and inadequate drivers.

High blood pressure is easily controlled with meds and diet .

I think you will be fine . Just get it under control .

It is not a DOT disqualifying scenario . Get it under control before you get to a Trucking company, which is going to give you a dot physical anyway .

Keep your eyes open . Keep your expectations low. Don't allow super trucker wannabee' to deter you from the plan .

I have just finished up my 5th week team/training with Western Express, which is one of those reputed 'bad' companies and I don't understand it. This truck has ran 6600 miles in a week...the work IS here for the taking. The equipment is in solid shape and things get fixed when needed .

I think you will do well if you plan it that way.

Keep your eye on the prize and keep the shiny side up ! Congrats.

Schism

Prior to a quick forceful tug of the toilet paper against the plastic jaw intended on ripping the paper free from the roll it's a good idea to hold on to the paper enclosure with your opposite hand otherwise the flimsy enclosure will pop open allowing previously mentioned roll to launch out of the aforementioned case and unravel quickly underneath the door which you entered to get to this situation in the first place .

When people are present on the other side of the door it's humiliating . If there is no one there at all it may be worse still .

Schism !

I played bass for many years . Cover band work payed pretty well up until about 10 years ago .

Best project I was in was a TOOL tribute act that played in New England . All my gear has been bought and sold so many times since the 90 ' s I cringe to think about what it all cost me.

Strangely enough as much as I loved playing I don't miss it .

I imagine that has a lot to do with years of experience versus my 3 weeks otr .

I absolutely enjoy driving....I wouldn't do it if I didn't but with only a limited time on the road my lack of conditioning as well as some expected stressors can make some days heavier than others .

Am I the only one who has ever breathed a sigh of relief when qualcomm beeps and says

You have 1 hour and zero minutes left of your drive time .

Some days I hit the 10hr mark and cant believe the day is that far gone....other days I pray for that beep which can't come fast enough.

A driver can triple and even quadruple check but the fact is that it's so slow moving a loaded rig from stop to get the hell moving we will always be at the mercy of slow to react personal vehicle drivers .

I restarted the cell and no change. So you get an idea what I am talking about.... Your pic frame is nearly to full windows worth before getting to the posted text in landscape.

On portrait mode the user/avatar tag is longer than the posts. As in manydown scrolls to get to the text post. In landscape mode on you last post Brett...your user/ avatar is like 4 times longer than your post...scrolling down.

Prior to this recent change i did not have to scroll anywhere near as much in portrait or landscape .

The individual thread posts are enormous now...As are the avatar pics. I need to scroll down a lot ...not sure I like the new format . Side by side formating is fit to screen though .

using a galaxy note 2 .

Patience is not only a virtue...it's an absolute necessity in Trucking .

Hang in there . If you can't get thru the preliminary process you are going to go insane when you're at shippers and consignee ...never mind the traffic...the qualcomm failures.... the dm that do not respond ....the wait for a shower in the Pilot...parking in the pilot....the price of food .... etc etc ad nauseum .

Bottom Line...If you want it...hang in there .

You can go off duty on the logs...but it does not extend the day. Your 14 HR clock starts the second you go On Duty for thqt day and need to get your On Duty Driving done in that window .

On elogs. ..sorry. damned cell phone autocorrect is the devil .

I would not complain about the load but I would definitely advise dispatch that it's nearly impossible to run 750 mi a day under HOS .

I'm running loads with a trainer...and he says 2 HR for every 100 miles. pulling hills...loop roads around major cities and a 64 mph governed truck .

650 mile a day trucks is stretching it on else's .