Comments By Mark P.

Awesome. Good for you Mark.

Safe travels.

I appreciate that! Thanks

Yep, same thing with riding/racing a sportbike ("crotch rocket")....if you crash, quickest way to get over it is to get back on the saddle. Good luck to you, I'm sure it was quite the scary experience.

Thanks for the encouragement!

Greetings everyone and fellow Primemates. Back out here with a trainer as ordered by Prime due to the black ice incident in December where I had a jack knife in an empty truck. Good side is that I am with my original PSD/TNT trainer. We get along well and have remained friends since last Summer. Got into the Petro on I 80 in York NE about 4 this morning after driving through nearly identical conditions as on the morning of my accident. I found myself to be far more nervous than I had anticipated driving in blowing snow with some ice. Especially seeing a spinout happen on the other side. But I guess its like getting back on the horse after being thrown - its the only way to get over it.

Your musical equipment in useful detail, please!

I found some great threads on the subject of music, but none yet on the equipment best suited to the environment.

I have a Kurzweil SP88x stage piano at home. Too big for the road. Want to get a 73 or 61 key Korg or Roland workstation for the truck so I can save new musical ideas.

How many Springfield there is in the US? lol

I think every US state has a Springfield.

Wisconsin has 2!

I found ways to improvise workout equipment with things on my truck. Do pushups with feet on the bunk and hands on the driver and passenger seats. Rowing using the bunk safety belts as handles to lift bodyweight. Feet can go on the floor Take one jug of coolant/oil etc and use it as a dumbbell. Or bungee 2 or more jugs together and use the bungee as a handle for bicep/tricep exercise. Can also use a load lock as a chinup bar...if the trailer is empty...

I kinda have to have one. If you live in the Atlanta area like me its a necessity. But it's a cheapo. I keep it at my parents house so they can use it when I'm out.

It depends on company policies. I had 2 in my past but the most recent was 11 years ago. I think it varies from 5-10 years but others may not "look back" as far.

So after moving my stuff into a new tractor, going through a safety class and several computer training modules, my Fleet Manager calls and tells me they have decided I will be going back out with a trainer for a while. Turns out the decision took longer since my FM was trying to keep me on the road solo. Certainly modifies my opinion of him. But at the end of the day I did say "whatever happens, happens" ( even though people assumed I was talking about wrecking... Thanks for the benefit of the doubt). So I get to be home for Christmas which matters not, and then out with my original PSD/TNT trainer who has remained a good friend. So it ain't all bad.

So I finally got dispatched back to Prime in Springfield after running a load from Idaho to New York and then from New York to Kansas City. Now at the Campus Inn and scheduled to take a safety class tomorrow morning. And have been assigned a new (to me not to Prime) tractor. An International this time... Let you know what I think of it. So if any of you are in Springfield let me know!

Two very similar incidences, and 2 completely different outcomes. One goes back to training, and one takes a safety class. I am glad both you are safe. This leads me to the question, how long have you been driving? or, does your individual dispatchers, have a say? I am very curious, now. I wonder how many different variables were at play, in both outcomes.

Thanks for the update, and....

Stay safe

I have been with Prime since May of this year when I started training. Drove straight trucks all over the Southeast for almost 20 years and wanted to see if the $$ could be better in a big truck. So I came in already aware of log books, dealing with shippers and receivers, truck stops etc... As far as my Fleet Manager having a say, from what I hear his opinion does carry a decent amount of weight. No idea as to what other factors led to this though.