Comments By Cwc

Hopefully you were wearing your brown pants.

I'll be the first to admit that I've never heard of a company turning a driver loose without a "finishing trainer" of some sort.

That to me just sounds like an awful learning experience. And I side with everyone else, say thanks but no thanks. Aside from the safety aspect. I felt like I learned much more on the road than on the skidpad or school driving area.

And you gotta ask yourself. If the norm is to spend a month give or take with an OTR trainer... Why are these guys not doing that?

Sparky if I read it right you already have a truck right? I'm guessing they thought you are good enough. I mention that because it seems like your asking for a specific way to line up a hole in one so to speak. That's typically not the case in the beginning. It can happen but for the most part. You learn basics in a class and then with a trainer. After that it's just doing it poorly but safely till you get the mechanics done. I get the feeling your probably doing ok but just wanna skip a step... Yep people might laugh or honk but... Earn it... Laugh with them.

If I missed my mark/ I usually try and wait till my door is about the middle of the truck past the spot I wanna back into.

Also if you try and think of it as backing bobtail into the spot next to the one you want it kinda helps with your setup.

*Disclaimer* I pull a 48ft trailer, and I think I have been pulling it for longer than I've pulled a 53ft trailer?😕🤔

Brett do you work for WE? It seems like you do since you know a lot of things about how much I would be making each week. As far as what I will be doing is my business

At just about every truck stop you'll find a board with cards or pamphlets from all the big trucking companies. You could throw a dart at it and go with the company it hits and make a grand a week after some solid skills and good habits are made.

As for Brett mentioning "how good was the other offer?" A few cents per mile doesn't really mean a lot. Other things come into play. And job hopping is a very real thing in trucking. So is losing money from your own desicsions. I believe someone else already pointed out your two options. Pick up a phone and call an attorney or Western. And don't get mad when people don't tell you what you wanna hear. Deal with it and move on. I'd love to tell you I've never did anything stupid... But that's just not the case.

When it's really hot you'll need the engine. Some trucks you can flip the splitter to the up position and turn on the cruise control and it may override the idle shutdown.

If that doesn't work then make sure you are on a level surface. Set the trailer brakes and push the tractor brakes in... And you should find that your tractor doesn't turn off. Please don't skip step one.

That would be some massively expensive fruits and veggies, sounds like to me.

But who knows? do that and sell to high end restaurants that only want exceptional quality, along with some high income customers and it might work.

Or maybe very well thought out farms. YouTube"Never Sink farms" They seem to do pretty well for a small farm.

I've been looking for some land for Black Walnut and pecans here in SC.

Last thing I read today was that loads are dropping off. This doesn't really affect me as I pull liquid. It may in the future but for now I bet I can count more freight haulers than tankers and even less that haul food in this truck stop parking lot. But your new aka bottom of the food chain. And that really only comes into play by location. If you have a lot of your company's trucks near you that's strike one. And if you have a lot of other trucks near you strike two. No loads leaving that area.... You get the picture.

Could be as simple as a bobtail to another location or your company may have a policy against that... Weird times right now but I wouldn't jump ship just yet. Especially not solo at a couple months. Don't be afraid of picking up the phone but don't pick it up every hour. And remember they have your number also.

And now would be a good time to get out of that truck and explore... Have a little fun... Yes things are closed but... Long walks on empty trails never hurt... Just see whats near you.

Cwc has an idea:

Dropping a trailer at the Pilot/Loves 2 blocks away isn't a bad idea either.

Well, this might be a bad idea after all. Many companies have strict policies about dropping a trailer on your own. Like, it may not be there when you get back. Regardless whether you had to buy a trailer kingpin lock or not, if there's a problem since you abandoned the trailer for just a minute, you will have some explaining to do.

Yep I see the signs all the time but in my experience a quick chat with a manager has resulted in 1 "flat out no you can't drop your trailer" in four years. The rest have been "for how long?"

Guess I should've mentioned asking for permission first. But I do recall being pretty uncomfortable dragging a wagon into a parking lot full of cars.

Also you don't need to be at home to go to Wally world. You need google maps... And you need to really look at the parking lot before you go into it. Also dropping a trailer at the Pilot/Loves 2 blocks away isn't a bad idea either. And occasionally you can find a truck stop right next to the Wally world or even a grocery store.

And Errols recommendations about water and flavor packets will keep you away from sugar.. I used to guzzle Pepsi like they were going to discontinue it. I highly recommend getting away from sugary drinks asap. Gatorade Zero is also pretty cheap at wally world.

If you have a decent inverter, grab a microwave and don't spring for the 1200 watt model just the cheap dorm/ 700watt. Or an air fryer. I think my air fryer sees more action than the microwave.

Otherwise I grab the premade salads and as much as I shouldn't.. The flying Js have pot roast and mashed potatoes.. I haven't had it in months but it's pretty good in a pinch.

When I was still with CRST I switched codrivers while on home time. My new codriver picked me up after he got loaded but was out of hours. I asked if he scaled it "yep" I drove out and hit the first scale and guess what... It was a VA scale, fixed it and no ticket. Learned alot feom that driver... Told me trucks are to heavy to blow over from wind. Nice enough guy but we didn't stay together long.