Comments By Miss Miyoshi

Let's face it: The first year or two of driving professionally can be pretty tough and somewhere along the way you realize you don't actually *know* some fundamental things that you really should know. Either it was a situation that never came up during training, or maybe something you forgot but is now relevant. We all have these questions. I know I do. But after driving for a year or so, we shouldn't have these questions, right?

WRONG!!

Everyone is different, and some things just take a little longer to remember. Or you actually never thought about it before and now you're curious.

I definitely have some questions I'd like to put out for our more experienced drivers that might seem obvious, but to me they're not. I'm asking the questions some of you might not want to ask yourself.

1. Does a bobtail have to go through a mandatory weigh station?

2. We all know we're not supposed to use Jake/engine breaks and/or cruise control during inclement weather because it can cause skidding. How much precipitation is the cutoff? What exactly is going on in the truck that causes the skidding in these circumstances using these tools? (Basically, WHY can't we use these?)

3. What exactly is DEF and will my truck really shut down if it runs out?

4. If Channel 19 is the "general" channel on the CB, what are all the other channels for?

5. If I'm at a truck stop and there is a craft beer or wine that is unique and I want to transport it unopened until I get home, is that legal? If so, what are the rules?

6. What is a parked regen and when will I know if it needs to be done?

7. What are the basic scheduling criteria for general maintenance? For example: How often does the oil need to be changed? How often do I need a tune up? Do they have similar maintenance requirements like a passenger vehicle?

8. Do those little deer whistle things actually work?

9. Will driving while off duty start my drive/14 hour clock? Can I off duty drive if my hours have not yet come back?

10. What exactly is a differential lock? When would I need to turn it on?

11. Why in the world would you want to slide your fifth wheel?

12. 10 speed manual transmissions seem to be the norm. But I've heard of trucks with 13 and 18 gears. What are the extra gears for?

13. When sliding tandems, how important is it to make the weights match the drives? Also, when at weigh stations, are they looking for balance between axles or are they just making sure each axle and the overall truck isn't overweight?

14. When fueling, are both fuel tanks completely separate or can the truck be completely filled using only one pump? (Some really out of the way fuel islands don't always have satellite pumps.)

15. If you lose a light while driving but it will be some miles before you can safely pull over to replace it, can DOT still cite you for it?

Ok. I think that's all I have for now. Please feel free to contribute to this thread!

Shut up or your going back in.

Love you

I love the idea of a magnet or sticker identifying us as members to put on our truck. I would definitely go with something like that. I also can't have enough travel mugs, so any style of those are good. I'd also get Alfie a doggy shirt if it was small enough. (My cats are bigger than him!)

AND OMG I WANT A BOBBLE HEAD OF MYSELF

Actually, I kinda already have one....

Yeah, it's weird. The equalization pay is exactly what you said it was. It's the little extra bits that take us to the guaranteed gross earnings. It's a good system if you're running a route where you're not getting a ton of miles like you would be running OTR.

Hey! *I* was the one who escaped from HER dungeon, remember????

Thanks! Yeah, I did pretty well, I think. The in-house Prime FM stationed in Lewiston was trying to get me to join his board, but I love my FM so that's not happening. Hahahaha! It's in the back of my mind that if I ever leave Prime (which won't be any time soon whatsoever, as I love the company) I might apply to be a Walmart company driver. We'll see.

Hahahhaha Miss Myoshi and I are Shield Maidens!!

Damn right we are!!

Request a new trainer if you have a bad one. It's not worth it to suffer through. If it's a good company they will make sure you're taken care of. If not...do you really want to work for a company that won't?

And to the guy whose wife is going to be training soon, I wish this was happening sometime in the spring or summer. I'm considering becoming a trainer, and that's around the time when I would be going for the classes, and I would love to help her out.

I have a dash cam, and it actually got me out of a DOT citation. I drove past a weigh station that I thought was closed. I get pulled over, and he asked why I didn't pull in. I said I thought it was closed, and he said no, the sign before the weigh station was flashing to alert drivers. I rewound my footage and showed him that the lights were not flashing at all. Turns out they turned them on right about the time I was passing and I missed it, but still caught their sensors that I skipped out. So it was useful.

I also use it because I drive in the NE a lot, and when driving in/around major cities I like to have the proof that if something went wrong I can show it wasn't my fault. Obviously, if it IS my fault then I'm in trouble. But more often than not it's been something I've been super glad to have.

Almost every unit I've seen has the capability of recording on a loop, and some let you choose the length of the loop, usually either 3 or 5 minutes each. It records continuously in 5 minute increments and then starts a new file when that 5 minutes is up. Once it runs out of disk space, it starts to overwrite the oldest file, and so on. Some have an optional G-sensor that you can enable that will automatically save the footage if there is an impact. You also have the option of "locking" files that will never be overwritten. I've used this as a way to save "caught in the act" stuff that people have done that caused me to have a critical event (unlike the guy Rainy talked about, all of mine exonerated me) and to save some footage of the breathtakingly beautiful drives I've been privileged to see and share with my family back home. Get one, even if you don't think you "need" it. You'll be really happy you did.

Regarding the woman posting her settlements: it's not the NE regional account. I never went to those stores and most of those states. She might be out of the Olney, IL distribution center and running some sort of regional account from around there.

I'll chime in here as a driver that upgraded, got a LW, and went straight to the Walmart dedicated NE regional route. I can say without a doubt it was extremely difficult. But I will also say this: People had been telling me it can take upwards to 6 months to really feel comfortable backing, driving, etc. Not with that route. In about a month I went from being terrified of backing into any space at all to not being bothered in the slightest. It really does force you to become a better driver much faster. Some people can't handle that kind of pressure. I actually thrived in it. I got almost burnt out pretty quickly though because I was doing anywhere from 3 to 5 stores every night without a break for home time. It's a grueling schedule because you can't do your own trip planning to set up your schedule. The shorter the run, the less control you have over it. I went almost 2 months without a break at all, and my FM decided to pull me out and have me run the regular NE regional route so that I could get more home time. (I'm home for my 10 hour break at least twice a week now.) But if you live in Waterville it shouldn't be too much of an issue for you to get home much more often, possibly even every night. You can park your personal vehicle on the distribution center grounds so after you're done with your load you can just hop in your car and drive home. You just need to show your Prime ID at the gate and they wave you in no problem.

I thought it was an excellent experience, and I'm always happy when I get sent back up to Maine. I loved it so much I actually discussed with my husband the prospect of buying a place up there so I could be "local". At some point in the future I might get back on that route. Not sure yet. I'm debating becoming a trainer.

But congratulations on going with Wil-Trans! The pull Prime trailers a lot so you'll see a bunch of us at some point I'm sure.