Comments By jakecatt22

My first truck(two years ago) was a 2006 Freightliner Century with 900k on it. It was clean when I got it and had a brand new mattress in it, but that will vary by company.

My next truck was a brand new 2012 Cascadia that I had to rip the plastic off the seats and off the rolled up mattress under the bunk.

Hey Jakecatt, I see you're driving for Schneider. I'm giving them serious thought since I received a pre-hire from them. Just wish they had a company sponsored training program. Paying out of pocket for school will be difficult for me but I really wanna drive a flatbed in the western region and they offer that. How long have you been with them? Have they been good about getting you home when you've requested? What division are you in (reefer, dry, flatbed)? Any advice for someone like me? Thanks in advance and good luck in your position!

Andy, I have been with Schneider for a little over two years. If you want to know what it was like when I was a new driver with them, you can go and read my blogs on this site, I have a few and detailed all of my experiences there, just search for them.

SNI did away with their company sponsored training program during the recession, so that is the one downfall with them, you have to get your CDL first. I thought long and hard about that, but ultimately decided to pay for it out of pocket myself. SNI does have tuition reimbursement, so make sure you ask about it!!!!

I will say SNI is VERY good about getting you home. When I was OTR(the first year) I was always home within 48 hours of my requested home time. Now that I am regional my home time is every weekend. For the last year there were only 2 weekends I did not make it back by Friday night. Neither was the fault of SNI, one because a shipper had a production breakdown and the other was because I had a break down LOL.

I drive dry van(we don't have a lot of refeers, only on dedicated accounts).

The only advise I can give you is the same advice anyone on this board that is experienced will give you. Keep a good attitude, work you butt off and it can be a great place to work. I really believe SNI is one of the better companies for new drivers to start at, unfortunately, because they no longer have their own school, it is not an option for some new drivers.

If you have any other questions just feel free to ask!!!

PS: Heard a rumor that SNI is opening a brand new operating center in AZ and hiring a ton of new drivers for that area as they have really increased their freight there.

Glad to have you back Jakecatt!!

who woulda thought you could have bad cookies in your cpu?????

This forum is actually very light on resources. What browser are you using? Internet Exploder? If you're not using Google Chrome, you should be. That's the way to go.

Brett, I use Firefox, could not get use to Chrome, but I think I have it figured out. Can you help me with one thing tho? Is there any way I can get the forum to leave me logged in so I don't have to log in everytime I come back?

How is everyone? Been a long time....sorry I am not around much, seriously Brett, my CPU doesn't like this new forum!!!! BUT I think I got it fixed(who woulda thought you could have bad cookies in your cpu?????)

Anyways, thought I would let everyone know I am not dead, and still driving, and should be around more.

Hey Jakecat! Great to see you returning. I've been gone awhile myself. Still driving, fortunately! In fact, I'm switching away from Swift again-hopefully for good this time! How ya been? Are you still with Schnieder?

Yes, I am still driving for Schneider. I was set to leave and join a more local company, but SNI offered me a 5 on 2 off Monday thru Friday home every weekend gig to get me to stay, so I stayed. I leave Monday around 8 AM and get home Friday around 8PM, have been home on time every weekend but twice in the last almost year.

It is completely the Store managements discretion to allow or not to allow trucks to park there.

After pulling many a WM load for our dedicated account, and getting a list from our dispatcher of which ones were ok to park at and which ones were not, I finally asked one of the managers about it.

He point blank told me, some managers will allow it, others will not, but usually for different reasons. Reasons he gave me for NOT allowing it:

1. Truckers are pigs and leave the lot filthy(biggest one) 2. SOME towns have a noise ordinance in affect. IF a truck is in the lot idling, and someone calls the cops, the STORE gets fined. 3. Some parking lots were NOT built for the weight of a big truck to be sitting on them for continues amounts of time. These are usually stores with a defined "truck entrance" that stays clear of the parking lot back to the docks. 4. Some managers, well, they are just jerks LOL

When I was looking at companies WAAAAAAY back in the day, Brett always told me that the company I picked wouldn't be that big a decision as I thought it was. I thought the ole man was whack and out of his mind.

Once I chose a company, and learned the job, and became a driver, I realized he was right.

I drive a dry van. I would NEVER flatbed....that is just my preference.

WHY? I weigh a buck fifty.....that is less than most tarps, and I don't see myself trying to tie down a tarp in January in Chicago, ain't gonna happen LOL

How is everyone? Been a long time....sorry I am not around much, seriously Brett, my CPU doesn't like this new forum!!!! BUT I think I got it fixed(who woulda thought you could have bad cookies in your cpu?????)

Anyways, thought I would let everyone know I am not dead, and still driving, and should be around more.

Gotta say, Brett is spot on, again.

When my company hired me, they demanded my Military medical records. I disclosed all of my medical problems(surgeries) when i filled out my app and talked to them. They still wanted to see my records. I have had two knee surgeries, a back surgery, and hernia surgery. They wanted to ensure it wasn't going to affect my job performance, which I can understand.

I had the VA send them my records. My doctor also sent them a letter stating the only limitation I had was lifting more than 150 pounds. Anything other than that I was good to go.

They are putting you in an 80,000 pound truck and taking full liability for you. If they put you in a truck, and you have an accident, and it is found out the accident was because of your medical condition, the company is going to lose a boat load of money. Can you blame them for wanting to know everything before they put you behind the wheel?

after 4 min of running the check & stop engine lights comes on then truck turns off....

Our trucks do that because the computer is set up that way.

The Company feels that if they don't have an "automatic" shut off, then we would let them idle all day..... We probably would

:-)

Bill

This, our trucks are set up the same way, they have an idle temperature gauge installed, after 4 minutes of idle, the truck shuts off.