Profile For Susan D.

Yeah we just had a driver who was ticketed for watching the news on their phone while driving. Yes, they were also fired. They were caught by the "trooper in a truck" thing going on. Also had 3 fired this month for having their phone IN THEIR HAND of all things.. just ridiculous and completely unacceptable. Our trucks are equipped with bluetooth and controls on the steering wheel for phone use not to mention the fact that headsets aren't hard to come by.

I've threatened to throw more than one trainees phone out the window. Yeah, I'm mean like that if they even begin to reach for it. I've not tossed one out the window yet but I did grab one and toss it in the sleeper.

The HyVee DCs I've delivered to have TV, tables/chairs, occasional chairs, showers, wifi, free coffee, tea, hot chocolate, vending, microwaves, free showers etc. The sad part is if you aren't a HyVee driver, you'll probably need all that because you'll be there a while.

I know I've barely been on there the last week. It's been a nightmare from hell. My sweetie and I were on vacation getting land cleared etc. last week.

We were to both go back to work this past Monday, but last Sunday, Michael became suddenly very very sick and almost died. Hes been in the ICU here for a week and was on a ventilator. He's much improved and came off the ventilator yesterday.

Its going to take a little time before he's able to return back to work. He felt bad last Sunday morning and asked me to take him to urgent care and I did. He was diagnosed with the flu and I brought him home. Within 3 hours he didn't know who he was (or anyone else) and couldn't speak real words.. just garbled random syllables so I called an ambulance.

He had meningitis and also has pneumonia. They aggressively treated him with antibiotics and antivirals when he got in the ER because there wasn't enough time to figure out if it was bacterial or viral so was treated for both. They strongly suspected west nile, but couldn't prove or disprove it because of the aggressive meds, his spinal tap cultures weren't growing anything.

Anyway, he's really weak but back to his regular old self and they're hoping to be able to let him come home tomorrow. It was just awful because legally, I'm nothing. Ironically just last week we had discussed having a power of attorney drawn up for both of us this week. It took me a day to contact his mother who is legal next of kin and despite her own chronic illness, was able to come to Kentucky for a couple of days but had to go back to SW Georgia last Wednesday.

After all the hefty drugs had worn off and he was well oriented and talking yesterday, he surprised me. Said we really need to take care of this immediately and asked me to marry him. He's my best friend and soul mate so yes, we're getting married.

I really need to get back to work but west side is going to keep me very close so I can take my 10s here frequently. They've been fantastic, allowing me to park my truck and stay with him, so maybe by Tuesday, depending on whether he can drive himself to the doctor or whatever around town, I'll try to get back to work.

At west side, we don't use stamps, however, we are expected to write the load number, our truck number and driver ID as well as in and out times for bo5the shipper and consigned before we scan the bol using trans flow. That way our payroll department knows to look for the amount of detention in the contract for that load. If we do our part, the company knows to bill the customers for it. Makes it very simple since it's so easy to verify that we were at that location from our elogs.

What part of the country are you residing in? They basically have to be able to verify where you were and what you were doing.. also you must live within the hiring area of whatever trucking company you apply to. Some companies are pickier on work history than others.

If you're in south Florida its difficult to find a driving job starting out.

Most of our trailers are reasonably new but we have some I'm sure must be from the dinosaur age.

Ah.. so it's just another name for a migraine. I had those years and years ago when I was married to my first husband. I'd literally have to lock myself into a darkened room away from any noise whatsoever. It's funny that after we separated, they stopped as suddenly as they'd began happening. I lived a healthier lifestyle after that (pretty much stopped consuming alcohol and began exercising regularly) and I'd like to think that that, along with reduced stress took care of it. 4 or 5 years later I had a friend who got migraines that took imitrix? injections for them? Not sure if that's still a common thing to use for them in this day and age or not. Possibly your regular physician could help treat his migraines.

My CB is currently on the fritz and I'm so lost without it. Every time I can get near a cb shop lately, its been closed. I rarely talk on a radio but they sure are handy for stuff like that. I've had them save me more than a couple times.

I don't really understand what a barometric pressure headache is, but as a driver who is also a registered respiratory therapist, people (including me) will sometimes get sinus headaches due to a dried out mucous plug causing a vacuum pressure in the facial sinuses when the barometric pressure changes. Most people simply do not understand facial anatomy at all. Basically a sinus (meaning hole or airspace) is a small cavity in your skull/facial bones that connects with your nasal turbinates/passages. If you suffer from allergies or even a simple cold and have nasal drainage, sometimes that snot or drainage can dry out creating a little plug that blocks a sinus (or cavity/hole) if you will. Then if the barometric change occurs, it will create a "vacuum" of sorts in that space causing pain. Have you ever blown your nose and what comes out is a teeny dried little plug, then clear nasal drainage afterwards (or even yellow or whitish snot)? If so, you cleared one of those plugs, had fluid built up within that sinus cavity that was able to drain out.

So if you have a sinus headache, caused by a plug and there's a change in the barometric pressure, you can sometimes relieve that by a hot steamy shower, a warm compress to your face near the location of the pain, a couple drops of normal (0.9%) saline in each nostril as you lie back letting the saline clear the dried plug then sitting up and blowing your nose gently, thereby clearing that plug, hot soup, spicy food, chewing on a tiny sliver of fresh ginger root, etc. there are many natural drug free remedies to ease that. I find a couple ibuprofen also does wonders for me as well. BTW normal saline is simply a salt solution that is equivalent to tears. A solution that is too salty or not salty enough will be very irritating. Contact lens solution (with no preservatives) makes a good substitute as long as you don't contaminate the solution lol. You can also make your own normal saline solution by boiling 1 cup of water and dissolving 1/8 teaspoon of salt (meaure accurately) into it and letting it cool completely before using it.

I would absolutely never recommend CBD oil for any reason by a commercial driver, due to problems with trace amounts of thc that could be in it.

I'll look up these so called barometric pressure headaches because I've never heard of anything being called that before, but suspect its probably just a basic sinus headache, hence my advice in this response.

I hope you get to feellng better soon and find relief

Why would he have 4 hours on duty at a consigned?

My nephew went through Steven's Transport. He liked it while he was there for a couple years. Only left to start a hotshot business working for his uncle. He always said they treated him very well. He lives in Florida.. near Middleburg.

Different numbers of goals are allowed for different backing maneuvers when performing the skills test for your cdl. In Kentucky I think they allowed 1 for the straight line, 2 for the offset and 3 or 4? for the parallel. I honestly can't remember anymore.

I've had a couple that were under 1k. Back when Mickey ds still used those wonderful styrofoam cups a whole trailer load weighed 4400 pounds. We used to haul those out of romeoville Illinois to various Martin Brower locations as they distribute regionally to McDonald's. Since the styrofoam went byebye, those nasty paper cups weigh about 22000. A load of bubble wrap out of Miami once was about 3000.

Absolutely Grumpy. You have to swerve and stategically block traffic (4 ways on) and just take control of the road. They'll just have to wait.

At my company a dispatcher is a dispatcher/driver manager and a fleet manager is the dispatchers boss, but a couple of our fleet managers also have their own group of drivers and some dont. Seems every company calls them or classifies them slightly differently. We think of fleet managers as supervisors.

When I teamed we just agreed to do 12 hour shifts each... 0700 to 1900 for me 1900 to 0700 for him lol. So guess who got both morning and evening rush?

I've seen some teams just do 8's each. No 30 minute break required. The cool thing about teaming is someone ALWAYS has hours.

The thing about teaming with a spouse or significant other? You honestly don't get much quality time together because when you're off duty, you're SLEEPING while they drive. You're only allowed to ride in the passenger seat for 2 hours or less during your 10 hour break or you'll have a "passenger rule violation " on your logs.

I had a simple case of an upper respiratory infection. I'd requested some vacation and actually got sick on vacation. I had to extend my time off for 2 extra days. Because I was technically out sick for more than 48 hours.. yup, my company policy required I get a return to duty authorization from my doctor.. and guess what. Yes a new DOT physical.

It is against federal regulations for a driver to operate a commercial vehicle when they are I'll or have a medical condition. These companies simply do not want any liability of putting a driver back out in their equipment because if something were to happen? You can bet your ass that any lawyer would have a field day with it.

Our companies want us back out working as badly as we want and or need to be, but the federal regulations are no joke and the risk of liability to a company is so high, they are extremely cautious. My situation was very minor, unlike a blood clot with complications. I'm not surprised their policy is for you to wait 3 months. I'm hoping you're able to draw short term disability during this difficult time. I've also heard of companies dismissing a driver temporarily in cases like this, and if so, you could draw unemployment.

If you've not been examined and failed a dot physical, you re free to pursue other employment but you know any new company would require a new physical as well and your have to disclose the surgery there. I'd reccomend continuing to work with your current employer.

I've rescued many a loaded trailer from a dealers repair shop. Companies simply find a driver with the hours to do it that's nearby and change their load plan. A simple relay between drivers. I really really dislike the freightliner dealer in Baltimore. It's a PITA to get to and any towed trailers are parked in a rental lot across the road.

Those tape measures are indeed handy at times.

Although I'm not a motorcycle fan, this is certainly cool info to know as I often train new drivers who'd be thrilled with the ability to rent one here and there. Thank you so much for the information!