Comments By Jeffry T.

Just an FYI, the year of the truck is irrelevant. The ENGINE must be prior to 2000. You could buy a 1950's truck, but if you shove an engine built after 2000 in it, than you would be required to have an ELD in it. The date is the manufacture date on the id plate for the engine.

This is right I should have been more specific .My truck is equipped with a 1999 Detroit 60s series.

The part about being required to use an elf is not entirely true.....

This is the only time I have seen a truck use an elf.

Darn autocorrect strikes again. smh

Kevin your asking a very odd question. First and foremost your no longer allowed to run paper as the eld mandate went into effect 12-18-17. So that is out. I also can not think of a situation where you would drive for 2 companies on the same day and be required to keep logs. I guess it could be possible but very unusual to say the least.

The part about being required to use an elf is not entirely true there are 3 exceptions to this rule. The company I work for issued me a 1999 freightliner fld they built as a glider kit and recently rebuilt for the second time. Being that this truck is older then a 2000 I am not required to have an elf and can continue to use paper logs. Also if you are not traveling more then 100 air miles from your home base you are not required to use an elf your company is required to tracks your hours. and the last exception is if you don't travel more then 100 air miles normally but you do so less then 8 times in a 30 period you are allowed to use paper logs but should you have to do that a 9th or more times then you are required to use an eld.

I also forgot to mention I work for G&F Trucking Leasing as a company driver.

1. Small Family owned company that treats you like family. 2. I can call the owners anytime day or night with an issue and they answer the phone and it is dealt with with in minutes. 3. They are honest about everything if you are getting a low paying load or you are going to have a long dead head they are up front about it and work hard to make up for it

When I was in school for my cdl my instructor drilled in our heads we are not driving the tractor we are driving the trailer by the means of the tractor and that has always helped me since.

Roehl does run all 48 states however it may take you longer to see every state being that the bulk of there freight comes from the northeast and they also do a lot of regional short haul stuff. In my time there I met drivers who lived all over the United States and traveled as much as well.

There is a flatbed steel hauling operation out of buffalo new York called Ficel Transportation you can find them on YouTube and there website. They run a heavy hauly operation using trains and multi axle sleds. I believe if you already have a cdl they will train you on the flatbed stuff. I don't work there but I have talked to a lot of people that do and have not heard much negative about them.

The plastic ones can get very pricey those old wooden pos ones might not look pretty but they do the job just fine.

They pick on all of the major carriers. Just like you will always hear people saying how terrible swift is. They are huge they thousands of power units with that much equipment rolling down the road your going to have things happen and if you really break it down its a very small fraction of the company as a whole. If these operations were as bad as you hear they wouldn't continue to be such large and successful carriers.

I worked for them for just under a year in a regional flatbed fleet. Everything they told me they would do they did. I enjoyed my time there and have no real complaints other then when I was brand new to trucking I was paired with a then brand new fleet manager who was also new to trucking so sometimes we had to go through a learning curve together no big deal though. They are still family owned and do understand the value of your own family and need for home time. They have more homesite options then just about any other carrier as well as several different fleet options. I learned a great deal while I was there I made decent money and most importantly gained my cdl through them and can say without a doubt I got a top notch education as far as cdl training goes. They have a school in marshfield and it was a great experience for me. The only reason I left was due to the need to be home daily and they did not have a local spot available at the time. If you do online research you will find several negative reviews about them however I can tell you if you work hard commit to doing the things they expect of you and holding them accountable for the things they promised you then you can be as successfull there as anywhere else.

I am a local driver home most nights hauling steel exclusively .I mainly stay with in 75 miles of northwest Indiana but i do travel overnight occasionally never further then Cleveland Ohio. I typically run a 5 axle flatbed with a covered wagon hauling steel coils, sheets, and skidded steel products. Recently I started operating what in my area is called a sled its a 6 axle trailer with 3 axles that lift with the flip of a switch from the cab, this trailer enables me to run an allowable gross weight of 134000 lbs.

The amount of drivers with no regard to personal hygiene or dressing in anything other than joggings pants and t shirts

You dont have to have it but to gain entry to any port when they have a ship docked its a must have. Its not terribly hard to get just a few minutes then it comes by mail

Its a fun game to play but in terms of helping prepare you for driving a big truck it would probably be minimal.

Sue,on February 9th last year i did the same thing. I was at a shipper and and slipped getting out of my truck to check in. The security guard seen me and for this reason i was sent by ambulance for medical attention. If I were you I would notify my company. My ankle was not broken and did not immediately swell but was severely sprained and started to swell over the next 3 days. I was off work for 90 days and had to go to physical therapy 3 times a week for 8 weeks. To this day over a year later my ankle is still swollen and when it is bitterly cold still hurts. I have returned to work since last may and for the most part it does not bother me. I am not saying your injury is the same as mine but it could be a possibility .

While those feelings of nervousness do get better it is my opinion that you should always be thinking about what is sitting on that deck and watching it. You might not paralyzed by fear so much but as the driver you are the one responsible for making sure what ever is on that deck stays in the same spot the shipper set it in when you arrive at your consignee. I haul steel mostly coils and even though i have what is refered to as a covered wagon I am constantly worried about what is loaded on my trailer. It is also good to stop and do your in route securement checks because depending on what you have loaded you may find that every time you stop there is something that needs tightening.

Prime had a contract a a tubing manufacturer where i often deliver to and they have a good mix of condos and mid roofs.

I live about 2 miles from that petro at exit nine. If you go to the ta at exit 6 make sure you lock up everything and take anything of value out of plain sight I know several people that jave gotten there trucks broken into there.

They aren't trying tontrick you into going up to marshfield. Marshfield is where Roehls headquarters is located so the facilities there are much larger and that is also where their driving school originated. I went to school in marshfield myself and had a great time and got quality training.