Profile For G-Town

Mike in order to eliminate any risk, settle your tickets. The background checks conducted by potential employers are thorough and comprehensive.

Yes, there is no doubt, it is an important skill. You never know whether there will be empty space, and even if you lucky with that, there will always be some dumpster or just a pile of trash, ruining your day... I remember one delivery to a small sheet metal shop, the yard was so full with trash, that I had to get out and move it away from my tires couple of times. A very tight dock. So I was struggling for about ten minutes, the shop guys were looking and laughing at a free show, then finally one of them came up and told me that drivers don't back to the dock here, they just stop in the middle of the yard and get unloaded with a fork lift :-)

You should have asked for an entertainment fee!

Pay them.

Happy Birthday Laura!

Yes, there are many older docks in Massachusetts which have their doors either parallel or at a small angle to the building. Often times though there is enough space in front, so it is more of a backing at a slight angle rather than a true parallel parking.

I understand you point. However thus was a true parallel due to trailers parked in close proximity to the dock.

I do not want to diminish the importance of the parallel backing skill.

Heck yeah it is! I do this stuff about every fifth store delivery out here in the west at their Walmarts, so it is definitely a skill worth having, just like blindside backing.

Great point, G!

*like !!!!

Here is a real-world, parallel park required to dock for a Walmart Store delivery. Pictures are worth a thousand words... for the students who wonder why parallel parking is taught and tested.

Manville NJ Walmart.

Congratulations Rainy! Well deserved!!!!

So I'll ask the obvious question! Have u been asking the same question on here for 5 years?

At least twice before this time...

So “Duane”... what’s the deal ? You are either a very slow learner or a very boring Troll.

Enjoyed meeting you Rob!

Parked on your left.

Can't miss me.

13:30 ish. On my way

Leeva has an opinion...

It’s amazing how mega’s will do everything to stop a rookie from even improving.

That is pure BS. Where do you come off making a foolish statement like this?

Rob has it right...

I'll share my experience how never refusing a load has helped build my relationship with my FM.

I've had a lot of loads that I suspect were refused by several different drivers but I took them anyway. And I never said anything to my FM other than a casual remark about it took me awhile to secure and therefore affected my time.

I've even had a load as short as 123 miles but I never complained. My FM adds pay on those short loads.

As a result, when I came off my home time I got a load from Calipatria, California to Boston. 3,000 gravy miles. On my next home time my FM will swing me through St. Louis to pick up my son, get me to Salt Lake City for my home time in Moab, and then swing the back through St. Louis to drop off my son after home time.

After having some time pass, those nightmare loads don't seem that bad. In addition, I generally get a lot of good loads. So, in my personal experience, never refusing a load has paid dividends with my FM.

As in most every aspect of life; you gotta give a little, to get a little. Unless there is a safety reason, don’t refuse a load. Per Rob’s experience, over time it will work to your advantage.

I'm in the southbound lot. When you get close I'll go inside.

Look forward to meeting you.

I’ll also be in the southbound lot. ETA is later now, likely noonish. DC is really slow loading right now...

Good morning Rob. Looks like luck might be favorable; I’m dispatched on a store delivery destined for Sommerdale NJ. The route will put me on I-476 south. I typically duck into the service plaza to use the restroom and fill-up the coffee mug. My guesstimate for ETA is late morning, 11ish.

Are you in the southbound or northbound lot?

I’ll post again when departing the Walmart DC. Thanks for reaching out on this. G

Hey Rob... if I’m dispatched south, I’ll likely be able to swing in there to meet you. I’ll let you know.

Bumping this...

Ours is by far the best. As an added bonus, it's free!

High Road CDL Training Program

Garrett wrote:

Its just so frustrating because parallel is the one you almost never do in the real world and alley dock is the one you do almost every day and also the one I'm good at.

Garrett a couple of things here...

- if you can parallel park a rig, these skills are useful in enabling most any backing situation. Setup is key and understanding how the slightest of steering wheel input effects the trailer and the approach angle.

- in many of the Walmart store and Sam’s ducking scenarios a parallel or variation of a parallel is required to get the truck in the hole.

Please do not underestimate the relative importance of this skill. Practice it!

Good luck!

Errol replied to Jared:

I was told by a friend of mine who used to work for Swift to stay far away from them.

Smile when you say that, Jerad. There are a few Swifties here who will take issue with that. I'm one. I went through Swift's training program, then drove Swift, then taught at the same Swift Academy I started at.

I'm glad you understand you're still not ready for Prime time (oh, Hi, Kearsey!). Understand you need to ride OTR with a trainer for roughly six weeks before they'll let you out on your own. Ask Ace Hardware about that. With a CDL, you can Apply For Truck Driving Jobs and be rolling with your trainer in a week or so.

Jared I’ve been with Swift for over 7 years now running NE Regional Walmart Dedicated.

I take exception to what your friend said... he has no clue.