Comments By Snappy

Pat, the last coil that size that I hauled weighed 45,000 pounds. Four coil racks under the beveled hardwood, and 12 chains on it as tight as I could get them.

Hey Snappy< your only about 45 minutes from me lol good to see someone local. And thanks for advice guys! It helps a lot

That's awesome! Yeah, just the other side of Eville! :)

I've always been a big fan of manual transmissions in cars. I've never driven an automatic in a truck. I know a modern automatic outperforms sticks in cars, but I don't know how good the truck autos are.

Heck, I'm about six months in, and the days that I feel like backing is easy are finally outnumbering the days where I feel like I'm attempting rocket surgery.

Good one.

Thanks. It's an old family favorite.

Another tip that I remember hearing that helped me -- imagine that you're pushing a wheel barrow, your trailer tandems are the "wheel" and your tractor is the handle in your hands. Turning the tractor pushes the handles left and right, spinning it around on that wheel. Get that pivot point in the right spot first, and you can use the tractor to move the front of the trailer where you need it.

That's awesome stuff, Daniel! Great read! Man, I would have flipped out if my first ever drive in snow and ice was in an 18 wheeler!

Personally, my tech arsenal includes, in order of importance/usefulness, a Rand McNally GPS, a RM paper atlas with the weatherproof pages, Google Maps (for scouting out the layouts of shippers, receivers, and parking opportunities), and the Truckerpath app (useful for trip planning and evaluating possible parking spots.)

Personally, I love how the GPS speeds up trip planning. One of my favorite things about the RM GPS is that it will point you to the page and grid location in the atlas.

The bottom line for you is the benefits don't come close to passing for the headaches and hassles of running your own business.

So I guess all of those apparently happy Schneider IC Choice drivers I've encountered are just pretending to be happy...

It's a little hard to believe that being an O/O is such a bad deal, as portrayed here, when there are so many drivers doing it....

You like being a company driver... great! ... But no need to denigrate the alternatives.

I think the important thing to mention here is this site is for new drivers. Nobody gets to know the ins and outs of this industry overnight. There's a lot to learn when you're new: backing, floating gears, how to run hard, efficiently, safely, and legally. It takes a while before someone is going to be comfortable with how things work, to get to the point that they want to go the O/O route. If they even want to.

Just don't forget the first rule of driving -- don't hit anything! :D

Seriously, take your time. Know what's around you. Take a little more time. Get out and look one more time. And don't get discouraged. Heck, I'm about six months in, and the days that I feel like backing is easy are finally outnumbering the days where I feel like I'm attempting rocket surgery. That being said, today was kind of frustrating, but those are the times you need to be extra careful. Taking a deep breath can help.

Just remember, as long as you don't hit anything, it's still all good :)

Hi! I just started with Melton about a month ago, and am very happy.

To clarify on the Hazmat, it is out there, but pretty rare. They were glad to hear that I had one.

As far as the trip planning goes, my trainer when I first started out recommended logging only 8 to 9 hours a day -- 5 to 6 is just leaving miles, and therefore money, on the table!

Having done a little bit of math, I try to burn up my driving hours as much as I can -- using as many of them as I can for driving, of course. It's more efficient to use your time that way. Daniel B has an excellent thread floating around here discussing that very topic! If I had it bookmarked, I'd link it here. I might search for it later.

As for mountain driving, it is a good thing that you're concerned about it -- your trainer should show you Swift's way of doing things. I'd rather see a new driver be cautious about that than overconfident.

Have fun in your new career, and be safe! :)