Comments By The Dude

Don't even worry about the grades. They don't have to be scary if you get into the gear you're comfortable with and use the engine brake.

In fact, I'd say climbing and descending is ten times easier than city driving. I find it to be more annoying than difficult. I know I can put my truck into 7th gear and climb up a hill to the moon at 28 mph. I can put her in 6th and slide straight down to the core of the earth at 25 mph. Things don't have to be scary and fast, they can be slow and annoying. Just put your four ways on.

I think what has happened is you've looked into your route and it's making you nervous because you have to do Snoqualmie and it has a bit of trucker name legend to it. I've done it about a dozen times and it's nothing to be afraid of. Just find your comfort zone with your gears.

And also, if this will be your first time driving up into the Pacific Northwest, I'm jealous of you. There are things in life that are remarkable experiences the first time you do them, like driving into the PNW, watching Breaking Bad, and, well... other things. Consider yourself lucky and enjoy the experience.

"Now if you had stayed with the first company and gotten in that same fender bender they would have likely kept you. Why? Because for one they've already invested a lot of time and money training you and they'd like to recoup that money. For two, you have some experience there and hopefully you've shown good potential so they still believe in you."

Exactly my story Brett. Tail whipped a Silverado in a parking lot and was basically forgiven.

Except I managed to make it about 96 days into my career. Thank goodness for a company who understands that mistakes can happen and trusting me to do my best not to make them again.

Haven't really looked at it quite like you so eloquently put it Brett. As someone really opposed to it you have opened my eyes to company sponsored training.

.02

See, now imagine you had left the first company after two months and got in that fender bender one month into your second job. You could easily have been fired from the second company and would not have been rehired by the first company. Not only that, but you would owe a ton of tuition to the first company for quitting before your contract was up and you'd have one heck of a time finding that third job. Talk about a whole different story! Instead you're cruising along just fine, gaining more experience with your first company.

Company-Sponsored Training is an awesome opportunity but most people don't understand the nature of it. It's more like a tryout than it is a school. You're constantly being monitored and tested, whether you realize it or not, to make sure you're putting in the time and effort the company expects. These companies want to help people get their career off to a great start but a lot of students that show up simply do not have their heart in it. They go in skeptical, lazy, or simply underestimate how difficult the task at hand really is.

Do you just naturally wake up at 4 a.m. to begin the day and start writing great 200 word replies to posts?

I'm in Reno and it's 1 a.m. after a very long day so I have an excuse to be up!

Amen.

Met two guys on the pad and one guy in the laundry room and had my choice of the three before Prime ever had someone call and approach me.

I'm getting a little bored and lonely and I'm looking for a change. I'm thinking running a team truck might be a glorious and possibly painful change, but well, I've never been one to say no.

I'm offering a team opportunity for 6 months. Come Christmas break I may choose to leave Prime to find local work but I promise a partnership until then to make good money running a team truck.

I'm a company driver running flatbed and I run hard. I get 2800 miles a week as solo pretty easily. I have no type of home obligations and I take my home time wherever, whenever I feel I need a break.

I'd be very happy to partner with an established Prime flatbed driver, but I may also be interested in working with a student. I'm eligible to begin training TNT and my dispatcher wants me to do so, but I would be picky about doing this. I would need you to do your PSD on a flatbed truck, be serious and passionate about a flatbed career, and be a person who shows initiative.

- If you want to do this but you can't find a flatbed PSD instructor to save your life, PM me and I will do what I can to help you out.

Here's what I can offer if you get on my truck:

- I have the best company flatbed dispatcher that Prime employs. He teaches the flatbed orientation class, and the flatbed instructor of the year and runner up were both on his board. He's a pro's pro and a really good guy, he keeps the truck running and he knows you by your first name.

- I am good with the customers and will usually want to be present at all of the 01s and 90s which means I will do most of the load securement. I'm not sure what this means for driving shifts, but I will want to be there for that stuff.

- I have SiriusXM, a fridge, a microwave, and a laptop you can use. You can do whatever you want and eat whatever you want as long as you don't eat my Sun Chips.

- I try to get a hotel twice a week right now, not sure how that would work out in a team environment, but I'd spring for a double bed room any time the opportunity is there.

- I shower every other day but you could get one every day when the truck fuels if you wanted.

PM me if you're interested. If you're an established driver and want me to get on your truck, PM me too.

Always open this thread if it's made by Old School.

Never open this thread if it's made by your girlfriend.

They run ads in my local craigslist too, but they advertise 65k for my area of the country.

Ruan is a pretty established company with a good amount of trucks on the road.

They ask for a year of experience. 65k-72k for a regional hazmat tank driver seems pretty on par to me.

So points of reference while backing are good, and trying to pass a backing maneuver in some scientific way will get you passed on your CDL exam, you're still just following some regimen where the truck is your master.

My advice to students is to beg your trainer to find an open lot for you to just play with the truck and learn it, to just stand back and let you learn what you need to do without bothering you in a place where you can't damage anything.

Points of reference will pass you, but eventually you'll just be a new solo driver who can't back and then you'll really learn in a trial by fire.

I remember trying to learn how to parellel in training and begging my trainer for more points of reference and him telling me I'm too smart to not start feeling it without more points. Never understood what he meant until I was solo.

Learning to back is like riding a horse. You have to become master of the vehicle. Tell your trainer you don't need him to teach you how to pass the exam, you need him to help you learn to train the truck.

The Moapa Paiute Travel Plaza in Moapa, NV has really good food. Had some good enchiladas there the other day. It's a fun place. They're always doing wacky things like lighting off fireworks and having a Brett Michaels concert on the 4th of July.

It's really impossible for any of us to understand the dynamic of your relationship and if it can sustain this and I feel like this is what you're both really worried about when I read your post.

Personally, I split up with my girlfriend before I got into my OTR journey because I knew how difficult it would be, but that was only a 5 month relationship. So many guys who run out here are married and they make it work. I don't know how, but they do.

The good news, I know exactly where your town is, right outside of Akron, and there's no shortage of available local big rig jobs there. I'm from Detroit and in our little tri-state chunk of Michigan/Ohio/Indiana, there's all types of driving jobs. Get a little experience and you can find a good local job. Heck, you might not even need experience. Just show your CDL and pass a road test and you might get a good local job.

I'm just glad to hear someone is governed at 61, one lower than I am. I hope to pass you some day.