Comments By Auggie69

Hello, forgive me is this has been covered already although I cannot find anything in the topic list.

After 25 years+ in the auto parts business, I have become disillusioned and for over two years now have been considering getting my CDL and driving OTR to see our wonderful country that I have officially become a citizen of after 20 years.

I am single so can come & go as I please and don't mind my own company so that checks a couple of OTR boxes I reckon.

However, I own as opposed to rent my home so one of my biggest concerns with embarking on this career is leaving it unattended for long periods. Not interested in selling it.

What advice would other truckers in my situation have concerning handling: emergency repairs, mail/packages & general security?

My family & close friends are also some distance away (FL, TN, Ontario, WA) and maybe OTR would allow me to see them more if routes & resets aligned?

Thanks, Brad

Not in your boat but hire a rental company and rent it out?

Tomorrow I will deliver at Enfield, Connecticut and my next assignment is in Lawrence, MA. It’s a pickup at Hostess - JBS Lawrence. I’ve never been to Maine and I am wondering if anyone has experience with this location. Any input would be very helpful. Thank you.

I'm familiar with Lawrence but not this place.

If it's JSB Industries at 309 Andover St it doesn't look bad. Muffintown.com :)

495 to 93N to River Rd east River Rd becomes Andover St. JSB is on the right.

You can also take 495N a little further to Rt28N then take a rt on Andover St but the other way seems less crowded.

Google maps street level will actually show you the entrance at the end of the building back to the docks.

Now, again, I've never been there so this needs to be double checked :)

I’ve been driving nights a lot and sometimes get bored. I started making a mental list of the road kill critters that I’ve seen on Interstates, US and State highways.

These are my unscientific observations.

Most Common Road Kill Critters

1. Armadillo (must be dumb as a rock)

2. Possums

3. Raccoons

4. Deer

(Hey DOT, please spend some money to remove the deer carcasses. I appreciate that buzzards and crows need to eat, but come on guys, gets gross after a couple weeks)

Less Common, but have seen more than once

1. Tortoises

2. Coyotes

3. Fox

4. Skunk

5. Squirrel

6. Raptors (Owls, Hawk)

7. Dog

8. Cat

Very typical to see Armadillo, Possum and Raccoons in clusters of 2-3. Must be getting whacked while hooking up for romance.

Usually I see the smaller 6”-8” tortoises, this is migration season for males seeking mates. However, I saw two very large 12” at least tortoises I think still alive on rural MO highway. I was able to straddle them so hopefully didn’t kill it.

I’ve seen both a live Armadillo and a Possum crossing interstate at night. Again I was able to straddle them with the truck, but don’t know if the trailer missed or not.

Passed a Bloodhound sitting in tall grass on a rural MO roadside. Thankfully it just sat there as I passed.

It breaks my heart to hit someone’s puppy or cat. I hit a puppy with my car on US65 in AR. The dog was chasing something across the highway at full speed. No way to avoid it. Some people should take better care for their family pet safety.

The grossest sighting was coming upon a fresh deer kill at night around a curve. The poor animal was torn to pieces. Blood and guts everywhere. Felt like I needed both a truck wash and shower after that one!

I see a lot of deer around 1:00-3:00am. They like the fresh grass along highways. I usually mentally tell them “Stay where you are, Sweeties. I don’t want to kill you”.

I know this is a macabre topic, but I was bored!

If you straddled the armadillo, you killed it.

When armadillos get scared they jump straight up in the air and then come down running.

I straddled one long ago in my van and it sounded like a basketball bouncing up and down the floor boards as I passed over it.

Oh, and they have armadillo races in San Angelo, TX. Funniest thing is to see them start the race by pounding the ground on either side of the armadillo. Armadillo jumps and then hits the ground running.

I'm going to start this new job pulling doubles. I understand that the tractor's 5th wheel needs to be moved back, but no one has specified how far back it should be. If you have pulled doubles, where do you position your tractor 5th wheel? Do you slide it all the way back to the last pin?

Thank you in advance.

Yeah slide it back. I’ve killed a few flaps since I don’t drive tandems often.

The weight in a lead pup will never be enough to exceed your tandems

We get paid hourly to sit.

Same here👍👍👍

About $32hr for me

Unfortunately, NOT the same here👎👎👎☹

LOL! Yup. I think my best day ever was on a 600mile run. I ran out of hours due to accidents enroute about an hour out of my center. I sat waiting for someone to 'rescue me'. And sat. And sat. I sat there for 4 hours waiting to get rescued. So not only do they pay one to sit, they pay you TO RIDE BACK TO YOUR CENTER! I thought that was cool :)

Anyhow, I blew the big payday because when I got back, my 2d in command boss asked me if I was ok since I had been cranking for like 18 hours or so. I told him yes but even though my ten was going to be up about 3pm that same day, I asked for the day off. He laughed and told me to enjoy it.

So for that one 24hr period I made almost $700 between my mileage pay and sitting pay but taking the next day off cut it in half.

Congratulations, safe flight and best of luck over there. gf/wife there iirc isn't there? She isn't one of the ones panicking about the recent election results is she?

Got my airline ticket and my first days hotel room....I depart on July 1st @ 12:30 pm outta LAX 13 hours to a 3 hr lay-over in Seoul, Korea. Then 4 hour flight, to land on July 3rd @ 1 a.m. @ Cebu/Mactan airport

Just couple things to do, to have everything needed, to depart without issue....Antigen neg. test, travel insur. And an exit, throw away ticket to Singapore, since I bought a 1 way ticket. Have to have those last things, or they won't let ya even board the flight.

Just gotta play their stupid game, better than them 😂😂😂😂

Funny they elected another Marcos. Wonder if he or relatives have a foot fetish? ;-)

Well got my first blown tire this morning lol. Been waiting 2 hours for tire guy said he will be here in about 30 mins. I’m ok with it I’m getting paid to sit here lol

We get paid hourly to sit. About $32hr for me

Nothings changed since the '70s on CBs lol My parents, and us of course were big into em back then. Dad made a LOT of friends on the radio. We were in a group, we would go to CB meets and do parking lot security, during them meetings. Dad n mom won a few door prizes like mobile cb's etc over those years, we had lot of fun at it. We went to Baja, the president had a little mountain spot 1 mile from the beach, we went there on the 4th of July.....Of course there was lots of beer drinking going on, they even had 1/4 sticks of dynamite blowing off those were LOUD!

Me and the old man (dad) got into a fist fight, I was 15, he was drunk, and got in between me and another guy I went to high school with, I was gunna beat his azz after he doused me with a 5 gallon bucket of water I told him not to...I never seen my old mans eyes turn colors like a demon, when I shoved him n told him in a lotta F' bombs etc to get outta my way. Well, I'm ducking n dodges dads punches, getting a few in myself, when he had me up against the horse fence. I took a full on shot at my face, I ducked, he hit 4x4 fence post and busted his pinky bone outta his hand...

Our joke after thru out life, Pop's would tell me, I ain't ever to old to get MY azz whipped HAHAHA, I'd tell him "Yeah old man? I ain't 15 no mo' and I'm bigger than you, so if you feel froggy ***hole, JUMP!" Was good for a laugh, I miss the old guy ! He'd been goin on 90 next year

We got our house roof done 1 weekend by dads buddies in 1 day, lots of beer and pizzas lol.....Dad ended up in '80s with an illegal then, base station and 1000 watt linear (military style pull out base) He's talk to Ozzies etc "shootin skip" It could slide thru FM radio bands, n talk like you're on the phone.Had all the goodies side band, etc.

Heard a few stories, around us there were idiots blowing up with crap spam, talking smack etc. Dad and couple his friends went out at least 2 times during the night. Used a loop tracker thingy, to track down the problem makers.....1 time they hook a chain to this guys tower outside his house, tore it down with the truck and drug it down the street a few blocks, and dropped it.....Another time I heard them talking bout them going out to a couple other guys houses and putting strain pins in the coax cable. So next time they keyed their mic's, it fries their radio's finals, and burns up the radio lol

Ok enuff rambling, the topic, just brought back a flood of good ole' memories

Back in the early 80s I was stationed in Augsburg, GE. We had a really BIG antenna. Caught some guy out of Boston on his CB after work. Hell of a skip.

I used to sit on my Dad's CB in the late 70s and chat-up my friends. Early version of TikTok ;)

Another shout out, always.. .to Ms. Laura ~ Happy Mother's day!

Thank you Anne.

Got home at noon after washing out the trailer and dropping it in the yard. Fighting a cold so hopefully it won't get much worse. Think when I got soaked and chilled the other night, it decided to hit me 😡

Heard from just my daughter and granddaughter.

It was an okay day, all things considered.

Laura

If it's your sinuses stock up now. I was really bad off for about two weeks and just now tapering off. Mucinex spray worked well for me. Ibuprofen too.

Hey there, TT folks..

Wanted to jump in and give a proper introduction. My name's Adam, living here in Tucson AZ, recently graduated the CDL program offered locally through Pima Community College and acquired my CDL in February complete with endorsements. I started working at SAIA in January ahead of my certification to do their dock-to-driver program, was attracted to the prospect of being able to be home every night and don't mind the stability/predictability of a steady paycheck and route. Plus, so many companies require a year+ experience to start, but hard to land a job to get the experience just starting out.

Working on the dock has been a good experience, and I've learned a lot about loading and securing freight, plus since I have my CDL already they've been having me do hosteling for several hours a night which has been really good experience for maneuvering trailers on and off the docks. After 3-4 months as a dockworker, I'm eligible to apply for the driver training, and am set up to start a 3-5 week training at the end of the month which will take place in Fontana (LA) CA. after that I'll be back at the Tucson hub, and probably do ride-along for a week or two until they set me loose with my own day cab and a city route.

My experience so far with SAIA has been mostly positive, I like most all of the people I work with and the pay is decent. I'm on a swing shift currently which has been a little tough since I'm a morning person by nature but willing to do what it takes to make this work. They have city drivers, and line-haul, city drivers making basically $27-$31 per hour and line haul is paid per mile but potentially more $$$ if you have a good route. As a new driver I will probably be started out as a city driver, which is better hours (daytime, home every night) but also wouldn't mind locking in a nice linehaul if it comes available.

I'm starting in the industry a little bit later in life, I'm 47 now. Worked most of my career as a dental technician making crown & bridge and dentures, but really got burnt out on that industry and was looking for a change. I've also had several warehouse, delivery, Box-truck route, and other assorted jobs over the last 20 years and always enjoyed the work and lifestyle. Getting my CDL and moving up to the big rigs just seemed like the next logical step for me. I would definitely consider doing more OTR style work if I could find the right situation and company to be with. My kids are grown and out of the house, and don't really have a lot of other things tying me down right now. Just want to work and make as much as possible over the next 15-20 years to secure a nice retirement and nest egg. I'm originally form Portland, OR and my kids are at U of O in Eugene, and I have a lil' something going on with a gal long-distance there in Portland, so ideally I'd love to find a lane that has me mostly west-coast or western states with my resets/breaks alternating between OR and AZ.. Gets really stupid hot here in the summer too, and as an Oregon boy I just haven't managed to get used to that despite being here for 4 years now.

I welcome any advice, ideas, questions, comments or whatever. Stay safe and alert Y'all, happy to be here. -Adam

You're not going to find a "lane" being a newby to Saia LTL that will get you from Phoenix to Portland on a regular basis. You may as well just ask where you can run to if you work the Road. If you don't want to stay in Phoenix your best bet is to relocate with Saia or somebody else in the Portland area and just move and run City from there.

If you stay in Phoenix, you can work City and volunteer (probably) to do road runs on your free time. But those runs will be ... wherever. LTL in a day cab is usually restricted to under 700 miles or less in a day so you can figure out where you can go from Phoenix on a daily basis.

But, then again, I'm not really familiar on how Saia does things so maybe you can get to Portland from Phoenix on a regular basis :)