Profile For Errol V.

W-Bill asks:

Errol, your ticket shows just over 34,000 on the drives and trailer. Is that kosher? I thought 34,000 per tandem is the absolute max. Would the extra 120 lbs on the drive risk a ticket? Or is there a little leeway? I know there’s an exemption for the drives on a refer in some states.

You are correct. However, three things:

• #1, I didn't want to move the 5th wheel forward.
• #2, like driving 52mph in a 45 zone, chances are slim you'll be caught. I have been waved through a scale before with one axle over but the total was less than 80K.
• #3, I knew they was no scale houses between the shipper and the destination. So my calculation was I'll go for it.

This is what a maximum load looks like on a Cat scale ticket. The 45,415 is the B/L listed weight. So use Old School's arithmetic.

Sharon. Pete has a good idea. Get a 12v cooler from Walmart. Use your points to get a cellphone headset (either the ones that hang on your ear or the kind that has only one earpiece) at the truck stop. The good ones cost about as much as a cooler and will make life in the driver seat more comfortable.

Get a "stick" style. The truck stop will have the correct range (goes up to 150 psi). Also, the end will have two valve fittings. Ge tthe one witht eh fittings "bent" to each other. The "straight" fittings seem to be hard to push onto the tire.

When you say "cooler" are you thinking of a picnic cooler for ice or a 12voild\t one? I had a Coleman 12v cooler from Walmart. The cooler worked but the fan kept stopping. I finally got a supply of fuses to replace. I don't know the quality of the 12 volt coolers at truck stops, but they re there!

Patrick, from my experience (I've served two cats in my lifetime), in the car they may very well get down under your feet as they think this may be a safe place. If your Kitty starts doing that, simply stamp your foot and make some "HEY HEY!" noises until they move. Kitty will learn that they get kicked around if they go to that place.

Cats are their own owner, you know (I've seen Facebook photos of you and I think you had a black cat a few years ago). Even though they may do as they please, you have to make them understand that the place under the brake pedal is your resting spot. Maybe make a cat-bed up on the "desk" in the sleeper area. Cats also like to be up "in the tree" watching their surroundings.

Patrick, my friend, ask yourself this: "is the next step in my driving career worth $100?" If you think you'll be able to earn the hunnert bucks back quickly then don't worry. Maybe you'll be surprised your new company will pay you back after you get into a truck. (Save the receipt.)

There are several reasons your new company may require one.

Don't be a stranger on Trucking Truth, Patrick!

Welcome to Trucking Truth, Sualen!

First, to answer your questions. If you look on websites where people post their own reviews, you will certainly get many [Put trucking company name here] sucks and screws their drivers. So don't believe them. Ex-drivers who don't understand what the job is all about and get booted for their own mistakes are motivated to blame anyone but themselves.

A warning about local jobs: local is much harder to do what with lots of City driving and many more pickup & delivery points. If you get on with a local company chances are they are a small business. This means probably that they have fewer resources, and more business problems than a major carrier will have. Your best career route at the beginning is OTR of some sort.

Read this: Truck Driver's Career Guide.

National carriers will have newer equipment and can get you all the miles you can eat. Yes, you will be gone from your home town for weeks at a time. But that's the nature of the beast.

Don't worry about daily pay. Most companies pay weekly. It's easier to manage & track your work instead of having two or three payments to sort out.

Have you used the menu at the top to look through all our resources? Touch on the three-bar menu on the to left. There's time you many be interested in.

Hey, Patrick, how ya doin? Long time no hear from you!

Can't help you with any experience of pets in board. I've had cats at home, though but so have you. If you can, stay on the truck with the cat, without going anywhere, without the engine. After the overnight, start the truck up and idle for 30 minutes to an hour, just so he'll get used to it. Make sure he knows where The Box is. If he's nervous he'll do his best to get out. A collar & leash on the truck, at least for a while?

• WD-40 for tandem sliders
• Short Tin Snips (not wire cutters - something with scissor action to cut metal door seals)
• Push broom - your own broom for sweeping out trailers instead of the beat up ones on the dock that you may have to wait for. Yes, you must sweep out trailers if you haul anything that might come in contact with food, or paper from mills.

Errol ! How cool is that — what made you leave the classroom ?

About 100 12 year olds.

The thing about "save you're receipt" sounds like you paid a school for the training. Then you hope either Covenant or Prime will pay you back. This happens often. Sure I cannot speak for those companies, but any company that wants to hire you could be happy to pay off that tuition.

The deal would be "bill paid" but in that contract you will commit to drive for them for about one year. They have all the marbles so it's not much of a negotiation. Do ask the recruiter whether they can do that when you get on board.

Go to the head of the class, Wild Bill!

Here's the secret: burning that extra 2mph actually slowed down your trip. Huh? Do the math: 2mph is 2mph. How far do you get going 2mph for 20 minutes? 2/3 mile. Yay. You saved a whopping 36 seconds at 67 mph.

But, as Wild Bill discovered:

- I have more power to pass if needed. On the rare occasion I need to get by someone, I have plenty of speed left in reserve to do it.

So you move up behind a truck that is governed at 64 or worse, 62mph. Without that extra 2mph oomph it would take you forever in the left lane to snail-crawl past Pokey, if you had the chance. You are sentenced to 1/2 hour or longer at the slower speed.

Taking 2 minutes of your smart pass, you quickly get around and move back to "full speed". The best use of your Smart Pass is in passing only, not in squeezing an extra 30 seconds out of your trip.

Great to share, Garth, and congrats on looking forward to retirement from your driving job (in a good way). Enjoy!

BTW, you "graduated" from rookie two years ago. But that's OK.

DATELINE: Memphis TN April 24, 2020
I just received a text message as follows:

(Swift Transportation) Hey ERROL! Have you considered coming back to Swift? We've got more miles, more money and more support for our drivers than ever before. The harder you run, the more you'll earn with our $200 weekly OTR bonus! For more info, call me

(The contact information has been edited out.)

I do know that their newer trucks have on board refrigerators and I think APUs and flat screen TVs. Nice improvement. I spent three years driving Swift trucks and left on good terms. Though my truck school is closed for now, I'm going to hold out for a few more weeks before I give in to the OTR urge.

Speaking of trailers.... I wasted more than five hours on this one yesterday.

Packrat, I bet this didn't happen in the trailer yard! But some driver had to get that delivery in so they could get back on the road.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please pay it forward and we can all maximize our miles.

William says:

I don't like to endorse one over the other because I think they all have merit. Let me put it this way, do the research and review each company. Find the one that fits what you want the best out of a career and then make your decision. I'm a believer in don't be lured by the sign on bonus because if there is a large bonus they possibly can't keep drivers. I looked for a company that would keep me rolling and had lots of freight options, I also took a look at their CSA score and safety record. I spent a lot of time researching and found it to be worth while because I for a company that I was very happy driving for.

BING BING! Yes! This is the attitude we take and offer to people who ask which trucking company is best. View the long term because training and even sign on bonuses are only for a short while in the big scheme of tings. Thank you!!

I drove for Swift for three years, and taught at their Academy for more. However, Prime, Schneider or Western Express may be someone else's best fit. I'm more interested in the "question asker" making the right decision for themselves.

Brett observes:

Most people share Errol's opinions because they get them from the same source - television. And when they're presented with facts they can't reconcile with their own opinions they try to dismiss them by muddying the waters with nonsensical quotes that call the source into question.

Yes, admit I linked to information on Wikipedia. I also called it a "stew" of information. My Bad. However, none of the information or links I wrote were from or to Television or radio (See Pete's comment). If you consider globalresearch.ca or Worldometer or CNBC (a TV network more or even as authoritative as Becker's Hospital CFO Report Beckers Hospital Review, Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins University the Oxford English DictionaryOxford English Dictionary or The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, that I did quote and link to, so be it.

Well, I tried to express a 100% differing opinion. Dealing with public safety involves all humans and I thought it was important to speak up here. At any rate, dropping mic and leaving the stage. Not necessarily leaving the building - teaching about trucking is important to me these days.

Dean, in my Swift training, my trainer told me to start my clock, wait 30 minutes and then get going. Nothing at all about pre-trip.

Mike, the reality about trailers is that the driver does not want to waste his 14 hour day on trailer maintenance. "Get the thing to the receiver so you can get to your next load". I was mostly regional and my trips were such that I had no problem stopping for tires, lights or landing gar issues. One week - the only time I complained to my DM about maintenance - I had five tires to replace. One on my truck and four on various trailers I was given.

The best way to negotiate tuition reimbursement that is truly a reimbursement not a pay doc.

Clarify. Negotiate tuition?

Also, if you mean reimbursement as in deducting their payment from your paycheck, that's the way it's done.

BTW 11 year in a middle school grade math class here.

Pete is bothered:

It doesn’t feel like it’s a fair comparison, the numbers of infected + deaths generated by the flu versus those numbers incurred by COVID-19.

Pete, I appreciate that you are thinking about this issue, and wondering about it for yourself. I added my thoughts earlier on this topic - see Page 37page (warning, geeky details ahead)

Clarification: COVID-19 is a flu virus. In fact, the term "Coronavirus" has shown up for years - some one claims there is a US patent on it. The problem is that "coronavirus" is like "dog": What breed are you talking about? The virus group called "Coronavirus" was identified in about 1965. COVID-19 is a type of Coronavirus. You want documentation of the similarities and differences? Coronavirus Disease 2019 vs. the Flu from Johns Hopkins.

COVID-19 is one virus strain. any illness or death labeled as COVID-19 is only from that one strain of bug.

Flu is actually an umbrella of several strains of influenza viruses. So when you see the mortality compared (as of April 23, 2020, US deaths are 46,785. Flu averages 12,000 - 61,000 per year. See the Johns Hopkins link above.) Go ahead and sniff, "See? COVID-19 is right in the middle of the pack!" No, for two reasons. The year ain't over yet, the 2020 flu season doesn't really start till fall. and you are comparing the COVID team to the whole league.

The flu has been around for over 100 years, and the herd still hasn’t become immune to it. Tens of thousands of people (or more) get the flu every year, and it’s not as if people who come down with the flu only get it once

Flu virus usually takes about two years from a new source till it hits the worldwide population. That's a two year head start in developing a new vaccine for the new flu strain. So especially in the summer-fall you are often urged to get a flu shot. Like a magazine, the issues are similar, but different.

We do not have the luxury of two years to develop a vaccine. In that Johns Hopkins article they do point out that an official mortality rate for COVID-19 isn't settled yet, "but at present, it is thought to be higher than that of most strains of the flu."

‘Herd immunity’ seems like a buzzphrase implying a feeling of safety or return to normalcy through the natural development of antibodies or immunity by widespread exposure to this virus.

The Oxford English Dictionary says Herd Immunity is

The resistance to the spread of a contagious disease within a population that results if a sufficiently high proportion of individuals are immune to the disease, especially through vaccination.

This is more like Social Distancing, only with people who are immune standing between the people who may get the disease. It's not a buzz word.

As I said on Page 37 here, COVID-19 is more than a fancy name for a flu, and it's not a conspiracy by Big Pharma or secret Illuminati organizations. The shut down is not easy on anyone but the population needs to stay separated from each other until some form of vaccine is made available. Drugs that lower or remove the symptoms do not cut down on spreading the disease. Only hand washing, face masks, social distancing and such can slow the disease down. A vaccine given to everybody is the only way to kill the virus once it gets into you.

Pete says,

Please note I did not mention politicians or the media. Both have the ability to facilitate this transition or serve in an unproductive manner

Yes. News reports are not documentation. If yo want to look up information, look on non-news web sites that you personally figured were trustworthy a year ago.

Welcome to Trucking Truth, Jake. I'm surprised no Primeates have shown up in the last 6 hours. Must be too busy rolling them miles! :D

Yes, Prime is a fine company to drive for. Also, I looked into Covenant a few years ago, Covenant would pay drivers a commission if they made a new-hire referral. That's a hint they are doing something right if they aren't afraid for their drivers to talk up the company. But they seemed a pretty decent company when I was looking.

I'm assuming you're new/no permit or anything. Here is some reading for you:

• Truck Driver's Career Guide
• Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
• High Road CDL Training Program
• CDL Practice Tests

Also help in deciding a company:

• Trucker's Career Guide: Choosing Your First Truck Driving Job
• Article Category: Finding The Right Truck Driving Job
• Forum Topics Tagged "Choosing A Trucking Company"

And yo can look up Trucking Company Reviews.

BTW, up at the top left is a three-bar Ξ menu. Touch on that and look at all the stuff we have on this web site. Bring your questions for straight answers.