Comments By Dave Reid

With DOT, no. With some company policies, yes.

If I've been in sleeper berth for 10+ hrs, then switched to personal conveyance for a few minutes to drive down the block then switch back to sleeper berth, would that start my 14 hr clock?

Newer drivers: when approaching intersections controlled by lights, practice deciding each time the spot at which you'd brake or go. It will take a lot of stress off making that decision if/when the light changes - that's not a good time to start figuring it out. Eventually, you'll do this automatically without having to think about it. You'll never blow a red, slow down unnecessarily, or get an unwarranted hard brake critical event due to a red light).

Errol, check left mirror for 25 year old Pete first....if you can see one in the distance, turn off your CB before changing lanes at Swift speed way before the on ramp

Watch upcoming onramps - even on the overpass road for turning trucks. If you see a truck on the ramp, go ahead and move left to make room.

You just started a week ago and some other drivers are complaining about 40 minutes to hook up doubles and pre-trip!?! Just ignore them, and take all the help you can get from proper sources like you're trainer. You'll likely be at that FedEx goal of 30 minutes soon enough, but take whatever time you need to be safe and properly prepared.

A few days ago I received a call from my trainer. He asked me if I was having any issues with my runs because he got an email saying that I was taking too long to leave and there was an issue with gate times. I told him I haven't heard anything, but I wouldn't be surprised I'm not fast, yet. He told me if I had issues to let him know and he'll schedule me in to get some practice. We left it at that.

Today he calls me again and he's not happy. He told me after we spoke he went to ops to see pull my depart/arrival times. Turns out, I haven't been late at all. Some people are complaining that I take too long to hook. They're complaining about me trying to line up my lead trailer and dolly as straight as possible.

Here are my issues

1) I know it takes me a little longer too hook. Because of that, I'm courteous and I let everybody pass before I block everything up.

2) I'm averaging a hook and pretrip in 40 minutes. FedEx goal is 30. I've only been on 5 runs in total, I think I'm pretty decent.

3) Who cares? We're not team driving. If it takes me 3 hours to hook, it doesn't affect anybody but me and maybe some customers. What I do has no bearing on anybody else.

My trainer told me he was going to find out who was talking and address it personally. He said he's not going to let somebody bad mouth his student for doing things the right way. He told me to keep doing what I'm doing because I'm the one driving the equipment and I have to be comfortable and confident that everything is secured properly. He said the office people know I'm new so they're not going to give me a hard time about being late.

Here's the issue, unlike terminal rats I see the same people everyday. It's not in passing or once in a while. I don't want to have a bad work environment. I'm thinking I should just let it slide, but I'm not ok with drivers going to the people that run the place to complain about a nonexistent issue. I don't want people to hear my name and think "the slow guy".

What would you do?

Rarely, if ever, does one become "good" at backing during training, so don't sweat it. You just need to become able to pass tests and survive.

You'll get better with substantial time, effort, and repetition. For some it takes several months, some a couple of years. Just don't hit anything, and you'll be fine.

Hey guys,

I have a question for trainers and a general question.

For those of you who train, I was wondering the average number of times it takes your students to become "good" at the 90. Due to my trainer having two family deaths, we took quite a lot of time off and my progress regarding backing really suffered. Not to mention my trainer usually just backs it in himself. I've attempted the 90 about four times now and am struggling more than I think I should be.

Do you guys start to chase at 90 degrees? Or slightly before 90? I've gotten contradictory advice on this.

Thanks!!

Rainy, you've been an inspiration to many and provided a treasure trove of valuable advice. I wish you all the very best.

Dave

Over the last 4 years, I have made some awesome friends, learned to surpass other drivers on my fleet, had quite a few laughs, and hope I have inspired a few.

I have been neglecting some seriously time consuming issues in my life, and a new chapter is on the horizon. I will try to continue writing the blog articles and pop in from time to time. Unfortunately, I won't have the time to dedicate to the forum as I always have. Those of you who know me well, know I am always "all in".

Stay safe and be good to each other! And thank you for some great years!

An advantage of the Hot Logic - it will hold food well for at least 12 hours

The lunchboxes are pretty quick but will burn your stuff if you dont stay on top of them

I have one and love it....works better than one might imagine. I think it works better than the similar thing from Roadmaster sold in truck stops.

It isn't really comparable to a microwave. It is much slower and can't do everything a microwave can do. On the other hand, what it does do, it does better. It is ideal for reheating previously cooked food. Sometimes, I'll order a large meal at a restaurant when I'm by a good one, and put half of it in a foil container of the proper size and stick that in the fridge. In fact, I've just done that very thing. There was a good steakhouse across the street from the truck stop for the night, so I took one of my containers with me and put half in it. The day after tomorrow, I'll be parking at my consignee, so that morning I'll stick the meal in the Hot Logic and it will be ready whenever I am. I microwave would ruin the meal.

I also sometimes dump a can of stew in it, or beans and franks.

I have been inundated with ads and glowing reviews about this Hot Logic Mini for use in the truck. I do not currently have anything to cook or reheat with in the truck. I have never cared for microwaves but am not opposed to them but this product sounds like it would be nice if it really works as it says. I am not opposed to paying $40 to find out if it is any good or not (have spent more money on worse things) but just curious about anyone who has actually used one. Thanks.

As soon as I know what the thru lane is, I get into it at the next good opportunity. It's safer and less stressful, so long as you don't let others stress you out.

So what do you think? Is it better to merge early when you see that sign in a construction zone that says, "right lane ends merge left". Or do you think it is better to ride the lane until it ends and then merge at the last minute? I've seen it argued both ways. For the record, I get over ASAP...but that doesn't mean it's right.

Most of the companies that hire students are huge outfits all running new trucks less than five years old. You will have top notch equipment wherever you start.

There are some minor differences:

-some include refrigerators -some provide invertors -some have APUs

Of those that don't provide APUs, some allow idling when temps are outside a specified range, others employ a cycling system to run a/c and charge batteries.

Want to join a company paid training, what I Iearnt here is they all the same. So which company has the best and latest trucks with high tech stuff.