Comments By Dutch

Welcome aboard to the both of you!

6,

I have been with Crete almost 2 years. I have pulled reefer for them in the past, just to help things come together for them, but I run Southeast dry van most of the time. I did get a load out of the house in North Alabama to Idaho recently. Even though I am technically regional, they throw me a bone from time to time that can be hard to refuse. They ain't tried to run me to Boston yet though!

I remember being told once when I first came to the company, that they really cater to their reefer teams, and give them a lot of extra perks. I'm pretty sure that includes the best loads, and much higher paychecks. I haven't had a chance to sit down and talk to any Schaffer drivers at length though, while I have been at a terminal or truck stop.

As impressive as the company is, I have been told by some of the veterans that it used to be even better.

The thing I like best about them, is that they seem very sincere in doing everything they can for us, to improve our overall driving and working experience. That sincerity is important to me, because I feel that when things aren't ideal in a particular situation, that they are usually always doing the best they can.

My terminal manager in Marietta, GA. is really good to work with, and has helped me on more than one occasion, when I needed an assist.

One of the best things I like about them, is they leave me alone for the most part. I always keep moving, making OTD, and they rarely ever leave me sitting waiting for a load. In fact, sometimes they try to get me to take 3 at once, and I have to ask them to calm down, if the loads aren't drop and hooks with delivery windows. It makes me shake my head sometimes, at how efficient the load planners are at doing their job.

Now it should be even easier to get your hood taken off at the Pilot across 465.

Juan, Crete/Schaffer is really good about paying us our detention just like they are supposed to. Just make sure you send in your #16 macro after 1 hour, and be sure to fill out your transflow paperwork to match the times your macros were sent. In a lot of cases, the customer will say they cannot sign any detention papers, so in that case, just write "refused to sign." Payroll still pays us our detention whether they sign or not.

Also, they only require us to log 15 minutes unload time, so if you can get inside or outside the customers property before you shut down, you can get your reset and not have to worry about burning any of your 70 hour clock while you are waiting. The load planners do a fantastic job, so they will almost always get you under another load shortly after sending your mt call. In fact, in most cases, they will send you a preplan before you even send your mt call.

In some cases, I have had a customer waste a lot of my time, and when that happens, the load planners will work to try to get you a higher mileage load, so that you finish out the week with good miles before the Friday night deadline for transflow.

Theron, there is a lot concerning this scenario that you mention, dependent on a company's resources and organizational skills.

If the company has the resources to purchase a lot of trailers, and leave them on the company's property, as well as offer them a discount for pre loading the trailer, it can make a huge difference in keeping drivers moving instead of waiting for live loads.

For instance, some companies I service, give me a passcode to their gate, so that I can pick up a preloaded trailer after hours. I go into the shipper, go to a designated area where they leave multiple bill of ladings for different companies. I locate the one that belongs to me, I fill it out, and do a quick drop and hook and I am on my way.

Same goes for making deliveries early. If the company you work for has you involved in virtually all live loading and unloading, once you get some driving experience, you can start applying to companies who have better resources and capital, which allows them to keep their drivers moving much more effectively.

Having said that, even the best of companies can find a driver in a location, where freight is scarce. In that case, I pick up the load, and see if I can t-call the load or relay it with another driver, where we swap loads. In some cases, dispatch can make this scenario work so that it is beneficial to both drivers, and allows a load to be delivered on time that otherwise would need to be rescheduled.

Steven, first of all let me try to simplify the 70 hour clock for you.

Take your calculator and divide 70 hours by 8 days. That should give you an 8.75 hour average per day. DOT only wants you to work, (drive, fuel, drop and hook, etc.) for 8.75 hours a day.

However, they will let you borrow time from your 70 hour clock, if you need to work say 10 hours one day in order to make on time pickup or delivery, but now you have borrowed 1.25 hours from your 70 hour clock. Any time you work more than 8.75 hours in a day, you are continuing to borrow from your 70 hour clock. If you continue to do this, you eventually run out of 70 hour clock, and are forced to do a 34 hour reset.

To simplify this, take a piece of paper, and number lines 1 through 8. On each line, write 8.75 hours. Now, look down at the last line which is number 8, and the number in that box is the amount of time you will earn back, that will be added back to your 70 hour clock tomorrow. This time will vary in box 8, depending on how many hours you worked 8 days ago. I just told you to write 8.75 on each line to simplify the learning process.

As for the best driving schedule, prime time is generally 6am to 6pm, because more customers are open for pickups and deliveries during that window, however prime time can vary from company to company, depending on the freight being hauled.

Also, the best way to maximize your clock, is to drive at all times of the day or night, and sleep at all times of the day or night depending on what you need to do to make on time pickup and delivery. If you are the type person who can work a swing shift, and constantly change what time of the day you sleep and work, you will be able to maximize your clock to maximum benefit for the largest paycheck.

Here is an example. Let's say I am 2 hours away from my receiver, and I am supposed to deliver at 7am. I will do a pre-trip, and start driving around 4:30am. Once I drop my loaded trailer and pick up my empty, it will be around 7:30am. If I don't get a load immediately, I can go off duty, and if I stay off duty until 5:30pm, I have stayed off duty for a period of 10 hours, giving me a fresh 14hr clock. (Remember being in off duty status or sleeper berth status will earn you back your 14hr clock after 10 hours.) If at some point during the day, the company offers me a load that picks up at 7pm, I will be able to pick it up and run all night with it or deliver, until my clock runs out at 7:30 in the morning.

The trick, is to get some sleep during the day while you are waiting, so that you can stay up and run all night. You may run that schedule for a few days, but anytime the customer makes you wait, or dispatch doesn't get you a load immediately, you may find yourself back driving during the day and sleeping again at night.

This type of swing shift driving is necessary when you work for certain companies to maximize your paycheck, but not necessary if you work for a different carrier, running a different type of freight.

There isn't much that can be done about customers who leave you sitting and waiting, but good load planners working for companies with good resources, will keep you moving with little downtime, which equates to a consistent sleep and work schedule.

As they say, "If the wheels aren't turning, you're not earning," so you need to be as flexible as possible to keep the wheels turning.

Sam, there is so much red tape involved in these processes, sometimes it can make you feel like a lot of the process is totally out of your hands even when common sense tells you that you should have zero problems.

I remember back during my 3rd week at C1, they called me into the office, and started questioning me about my unemployment period prior to attending training. I explained to them that I had told the recruiter that after being laid off, I had been drawing my unemployment during that time. Then they wanted to see all my unemployment check stubs, or something equivalent. I told them they were back at home, and I could have brought them with me, if they had only let me know. I had listed "drawing unemployment," on my application, and asked the recruiter if I needed to bring proof of it, but over the phone he didn't make an issue of it.

So I asked them would it be possible for me to go to the unemployment website where I filed weekly, and make a copy of my record of received payments. At first they said yes, but then the next day they said that it would need to be mailed from the State of Alabama. So I got on the phone, to request a copy from the State of Alabama, and was told I could get what I needed, but it would take 6 weeks to process it.

When I went back and told them that they replied, "Never mind, just forget about it."

All this uncertainty took about a week to play out before I could forget about it, and go back to concentrating on passing my tests.

Looking back on it now, it was just a sample of what was to come down the road. If you are the type person that gives up easily, trucking ain't for you, that's for sure.

Chickie, successful backing is all about having your trailer "pointed" correctly. If it's not pointed correctly, you will struggle to back in. Even when backing up bobtail, you will begin to understand the concept of getting your drive tire pointed correctly, in order to slide under the trailer and be lined up properly.

When you begin to understand when you aren't pointed correctly, you will immediately know when you need to stop trying, do a pull up, reposition, and begin backing up again.

I was in Michigan last year and saw on of those, if you hit this sign you will hit the bride ahead, signs hanging over the road. I thought to myself what a stupid sign because the bridge height is clearly posted on both sides of the road.

Now, I realize how much money the DOT is/could be saving.....

Those type of signs are targeting a specific type of truck driver. It reminds me, of a sign entering the shipping and receiving office of Kimberly Clark in Owensboro, KY. When you enter, there is a door directly in front of you, with a sign that reads, "Please use the other door." Then to the left, there is another door with a sign that reads, "This is the other door."

Cracks me up, every time I visit them.

The real answer to this dilemma, is to be choosy where you park, and be especially careful not to park anywhere, where no witnesses are present.

If I am a thug, and I have you all to myself with no witnesses, the process is pretty straight forward.

I knock on your door, and when you get out of the bunk and stand, I know that you are standing in a space roughly 4 feet by 3 feet. It doesn't take a genius to figure out, that if I send a volley into the sleeper and cab of the truck, I will probably end up with a dead truck driver. He can swing that tire thumper all he wants inside the truck, but my .357 or .45 has a little more reach.

Once the driver has expired, gaining access to the truck by breaking a window is simple. Ditto on taking my time to go through their personal belongings, and cherry picking what I want, when no witnesses are present.

If Mike Boeglin had been more selective in where he parked, he might still be alive today. Remember, never allow dispatch to send you into a situation, where you feel your personal safety is at risk. Safety is safety, and my life is just as important as anyone else's.

Trucker Found Shot Burned in his Truck in Detroit