Location:
Davenport , IA
Driving Status:
Experienced Driver
Social Link:
I am currently a driver with G&D Integrated, I am regional and truly enjoy not being out for more than a week or two. I am very happily married and have been blessed with 4 beautiful children. I am an experienced driver who doesn’t know it all and learn from other drivers daily. Truck driving for me at times can be rewarding and at times trying. I however have kept the attitude of the “Glass is Half Full, Not Half Empty”.
Stay safe out there!!!!!
Posted: 3 years, 2 months ago
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Put flashlight on trailer tandems?
There has been some good sound advice given, I can’t add much more besides it becomes muscle memory for the most part, everything will become natural and second nature. Slow and steady wins the race, take your time and be safe doing so. Your speed is your speed and your comfort level is your comfort level. The safer you can be and by taking your time, in turn the more valuable you will become in the industry
Posted: 5 years, 7 months ago
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Congratulations Turtle, Happy New Year
Posted: 5 years, 8 months ago
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Went solo today, new Cascadia with collision avoidance system
Congrats on Graduating to Rookie Solo and on your new truck. I have a 2019 Cascadia fully loaded. I absolutely love it. Once again I am very happy for you
Posted: 5 years, 8 months ago
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Failed pre-employment drug screen
I would believe that it would be on your Dac or placed somewhere else. By failing a DOT drug screen I believe it’s registered in a database somewhere.
Posted: 5 years, 8 months ago
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The only time I do not shower is when i stay at a rest area without shower facilities. I plan my days accordingly and know where I am staying the night/day at for my 10hr. I also keep about 4 back up plans in case I cannot make the furthest one, and checkpoint as I go. Sometimes if I know I am not going to be at a truck stop, I may try to shower on my 30 minute break if available. That is based off the lanes our company runs. However I understand that not everyone can shower every single day in this industry and thats the cold hard truth in this industry. I am currently at flying J in Aurora, Co and the wait is 19 for a shower, so number 19 may wait for 3hrs for a shower. It happens and this industry is not perfect.
Posted: 5 years, 10 months ago
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Trucking Is Where I was meant to be
I should start a blog, however I don’t ever know exactly what to say. I can chat it up with the best of em, however when it comes to putting my experiences to paper, I find I have a hard time doing so. I had an opportunity to leave trucking and take a position that was offered to work for the railroad. However as the time came closer for me to start working, I started getting really apprehensive about leaving the trucking industry and moving to the railroad. Long story short I had decided to stay in trucking.
There are a lot of misconceptions about different companies and I sit back and think to myself, that there are good drivers and bad drivers everywhere, that no two drivers experiences will ever be the same. I find myself here in SLC, UT and there is a training class here, the best advice is go into this with an open mind, pay attention to what they are teaching you. The industry has changed, I say that because I am a 3rd generation driver, remembering stories my Grandpa had told, Stories my Uncle has told. I feel that as a whole the industry needs to get back to the drivers helping each other out, and not bash other companies. We were all “rookies” and new drivers at one point, I have made my share of mistakes, and still do from time to time. I have a clean PSP and MVR, but have still made other mistakes. This is why I cannot do a blog, because I just go off on tangents.
Thanks for reading!!!!!! Be safe drivers
Posted: 6 years ago
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TRUCKING TRUTH HELPED ME BECOME AN ELITE DRIVER.
Thank you old school. I will miss it, I truly will. I am here more than people think. I don’t always sign in but I do drop by and read the posts and replies. I considered myself selfish because I wanted to be great at what I do, and used all the useful information here to my advantage/benefit. At least I can admit it. Its been a great experience and I will share my experience in trucking more in depth as time gets closer for me to go onto the next chapter in my life. Thank you for everything especially your 8-2 story a few weeks back. I have used it also to my advantage. I learned about that on here as well. Be safe out there and keep the shiny side up.!!!!!
Congratulations on that new job Jason!
The trucking industry will miss you, and I'm sure there will be days that you'll miss it. It's been great having you in here on occasion, and of course you're always welcome in our conversations.
Posted: 6 years ago
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I have taken enough urine tests to know that the little black strip on the bottom is the one that records the temperature of the urine. I have never ever had one that was a cold sample. I have had more of them than I can count on hands and toes. I am a former addict and 3 time convicted felon. However I came out of the depths of hell alive and have had a good run in the trucking industry. I will say this, you cannot BS a BS’R you are only fooling yourself. How come you didn’t say anything at that moment and give another U/A? If I was as adamant as you are on here, you really should have been that adamant then at that moment and subjected yourself to another U/A. Those temp gauges or the thermometer the nurse used was probably pretty accurate.
I hope for the sake of everyone out on the road that you never get behind the wheel of a semi when you have that crap in your system. To many holes in the story and past posts leads us to believe differently about what you are saying and how it all went down. I am very glad that companies and clinics are getting better at detecting this kind of stuff.
Just be glad it happened the way it did, and not after a major catastrophe. You saved yourself some serious headaches
Posted: 6 years ago
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TRUCKING TRUTH HELPED ME BECOME AN ELITE DRIVER.
First I want to say thank you Brett for starting this website. This is going to be bitter sweet for me. When i first joined this website and still to this day, I do not comment to terribly much or post that much. I was very selfish and really only read what was posted and peoples comments because I wanted to learn and practice what I read on here and obviously google helped too. However the majority of my knowledge came from here and applying it to real situations as deemed fit, because each situation has multiple solutions and if I applied some of the things I learned I was able to get myself in position for success.
Last month I logged 13,759 miles and was the top driver in the fleet, we are governed at 68 but I only averaged 63mph for the entire month. I am not bragging, only saying that I learned about logging, setting yourself up for early delivery and great weeks, even took 133 mile loads without complaining because it lead to the 2700 mile load made the company money along the way to grabbing my 2700 mile load. Little did I know that was waiting for me. I learned a lot from this website. Also I learned a lot from the green book, FMCSA rules and guidelines as well. I also learned how to maximize my clock as to maximize my miles too. I learned that the only way to make money is by keeping that left door closed more often than not.
I know I am probably going on and on, but there is a point to all of this. I am actually hanging up the keys in 3 weeks, to pursue an opportunity in the railroad industry that will allow me to be home almost daily and enjoy a great salary with top notch benefits and insurance package. I have trucking to thank for the transition, because if it wasn’t for trucking I never would have looked into railroading. If it weren’t for this website I wouldn’t have become as good of a trucker as I am today. Hence if you’re wanting to get into becoming a top tier trucker, this is the website because there is a wealth of knowledge on here and in these rooms.
Thank you all for everything and for reading it was a pleasure for the last few years, and I am glad to have met you all on here. Safe travels to all of you men and women that move America one load at a time!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted: 3 years, 2 months ago
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Companies that train felons?
To piggyback you also have to be careful with over the counter medications. I read the labels and every single time I am prescribed a medication from the doctor, I ask about side effects ie…Drowsy, or could it give a false negative on a DOT urine test. I value my cdl and it feeds my family and puts a roof over their heads, so I take every precaution to protect that. I am a convicted felon and have been super blessed, we all make mistakes and you probably will get a lot of no’s but that is to be expected. However take the yes even though it may not be the greatest, grind it out a year or more, get the experience keep the license clean, and then you can pretty much go wherever