Comments By Rob S.

Hmmm, I've heard that posting pictures here is tricky. I haven't tried it in a very long time. Turns out when I followed the instructions it worked on the first try. Go figure.

JJ, It sounds to me like most of your concern is related to driving without proper rest. When you're OTR you can never have what civilians call "proper rest". When you have to shift from day driving to night driving as the loads vary, don't be afraid to take an extra short break. Pulling off to catch a 20 minute nap sometimes does wonders to refresh you. You won't be earning during that time but you won't be driving off the road either. After a couple months you'll get used to it and it won't bother you. When I had to drive an "off" shift I would wake, shower, and have a small coffee with some honey in it. That's as close as I get to an energy drink. Be patient and stay safe.

Maybe dump truck or cement truck. You'll have long hours during the construction season but might be laid off in winter. With your lower income needs, it might fit.

I should add that there's a lot of close quarter maneuvering involved so it really isn't the greatest for new drivers.

Maybe dump truck or cement truck. You'll have long hours during the construction season but might be laid off in winter. With your lower income needs, it might fit.

I did several loads there when I was with Swift. We used the Walmart multi zone reefers. Follow their policies for multiple stop loads. The had a veteran walk me through the process, it was pretty straightforward. Fuel, park and shower at the Swift building in Los Lunas. I was running to El Paso every trip but I think they serve a big area. Maybe Gladhand did the same gig I think.

Congrats and nice pic. Where are you though? I didn't think that was legal in California.

If you're at the T/A on I5 I could swing by and say hi for a few minutes. I pass there frequently.

I did a favor for a planner, 4 miles from terminal to customer and try to deliver a late load. The customer rejected it any forced a reschedule. The planner knew I tried and hooked me up with about a week of work that sent me away from California and ended with me picking up a brand new trailer from the factory.

Another load was 70 miles of dead-head to pick up a load at the terminal and deliver it 11 miles away. I dropped the trailer and bobtailed back. When I finished I went in to talk to the planner, I was trying to get Northwest for home time. He said there were about 20 drivers waiting for loads but since I was the one that had just done the short haul, I got the west bound load that was sitting in the yard. I was only there long enough for a shower and those terminal rats are probably still griping about no freight!

All pretty good guesses, for those who suggested that it was riding to low they are correct I noticed on my walk around that it was really low on the right side. Normally I can fit my whole fist vertically between the tire and the box, on this one I could barely fit a finger.

Why was the trailer frame cut? That part above the tire isn't optional. That entire piece and all the rivets are important. It needs to be intact, not carved up with a smoke wrench. Although they did do a nice job of it.

All of our 28 ft pups come from the factory like that.

Well, I guess I learned something today, Thank You.

Some other details of local milk hauling;

We are required to chain up when necessary. Parking and waiting out the weather isn't an option. My company pays hourly though so that takes some sting out of it.

We use different log book rules than when I was OTR. The 11, 14 and 70 clocks are the same but we use the local option that lets us do 12 hours with no 30 minute break and up to one 16 hour shift per week. It took me awhile to get used to it but since most days are the same it doesn't take a lot of study.

A typical week for me is five days starting at 0300 and returning to the yard about 1430. Then three days off. Lather, rinse and repeat. Last year's gross pay was about $60k.