Comments By Dan67

G-town is correct when he stated some drivers just don't care..

I have witnessed this first hand before and had to deal with it. It sucks.. I used to drive for Werner on the Home Depot account and was delivering to a store near Myrtle Beach SC. It is a drop and hook account where you have to drop the loaded trailer behind the store and hook to the empty at the dock door and pull it out to put the loaded back at the sane door. I get there and drop the loaded trailer and turn in the paperwork. Inspect the empty trailer and notice on the ground are hundreds of 2" drywall screws on the ground.. I do a good inspection and notice all 8 tires have screws stuck in them. Went back inside and spoke with the store manager and took pictures. After that I had to get my broom out and clean the area up. I had to go under the trailer and turn off the tire inflation system just so the air tanks would fill up. I had to pull that trailer out with all 8 tires wobbling off the rims and go back and clean the area to make sure I got all the screws up. Then put the loaded trailer back into the door. Notified breakdown and had to explain why I need 8 tires plus send in pictures. Needless to say I got a 10 hour break behind the store waiting for 8 new tires. When the previous driver opened his trailer doors a box with 10K screws fell out and busted on the ground and the driver just backed over them.

I have a Garmin Dzl-770 and it is mounted center bottom of windshield using the suction mount. Easy to see and does not interfere with my vision. Again don't 100% rely on any GPS, it is 1 tool in my bag. I also rely on my RM lamented road atlas, google maps, and my phone to call customers to get exact pinpoint directions.

I work for a local company that is owned by Cardinal Logistics and we have a dual camera. One faces forward and the other towards the driver and we are instructed to cover the driver camera. It is not a big deal and mine is covered with thick black foam tape.

If you overheated the brakes you need to let someone know. Brake pads can glaze from excess heat and that will cause the brakes to lose effectiveness and should be replaced.

Have maintenance check the cabs air ride leveling valve, those can stick open and cause a slow constant leak..

Not all trucks have an air dump switch. I always lower the gear and give an extra crank until i hear my airbags hiss to know I have taken some weight off and uncouple. I know many drivers in my company lower the legs until about 1" from ground and drop the airbags and pull away. The problem with that is if the next guy does not have a air dump, the trailer might be too low to couple and will need to be raised to get under the 5th wheel. A loaded trailer is alot harder to raise then it is to lower it. Had a trailer last week that was so low I had to dump my airbags just to get my frame under the trailer and use airbags to lift it to make cranking the handle easier.Something else to think about, if you are driving an auto-manual it is to couple and not ram the kingpin when you take weight off the 5th wheel.

Everybody likes to eat. a gift card to a local restaurant that he/she likes is perfect.

Never ever rely on the QC/Omnitrac. That will shave miles and send you down roads not designed for a truck. Never blindly follow any electronic device. Look up the route and see where it is taking you, Use a Rand CMV Atlas and look up the route. When I was at werner their qualcom was notorious for routing you down the shortest narrowest road including residential neighborhoods and over bridges with restrictive weight limits.

I have a Garmin Dezl 770. It did great until the latest software update, as it as crashed a few times. And it will send you on some goofy directions every now and then. But remember it is only 1 tool of many. I still have my Road atlas and use it every day.

Like Yesterday returning from Tuscaloosa, AL to Anderson, SC. I-20 east to Atlanta, I-285 north on inner loop to I-85 north. GPS said to take I-20 and turn left onto I-285.. It is an right turn, there is no left. And from I-285 to I-85 south and loop around back north when the north ramp is a straight shot.

I never call a customer unless it is some hole-in-the-wall place and I call for directions or hours of operation. I am sure to use google earth on my laptop while talking to them so I know exactly how to get in and edit/paint to draw out the directions. I also write down the directions. I let my dispatcher and the office staff to deal with any other customer issues.

I still have some contacts with Werner and they are completely baffled on the Jury's decision to blame Werner for the accident. Highway patrol did fault and cite the pickup driver for the accident as "driving to fast for conditions". The Werner driver was not cited and was doing way under the speed limit and was in the right lane at the time of accident. It was a tragic accident and could have been easily prevented had the idiot in the pickup decided not to speed in a winter storm.

The dreaded "Swamp A$$".. The Anti-Monkey Butt is good but I prefer the good old Gold Bond Medicated Powder. Its like AC for you junk. used to use it in the Army on those long road marches, aka 12+ mile hikes with full kit.

Last load was from Toledo, OH to Anderson, SC. 52 Plastic skids filled with foam dashboards for BMW.. 10,080 lbs.. loved that 10.2 mpg

I drive a 2016 and they all do it.. Keep an eye on the transmission temp gauge. If its getting above 150 F, it loves to jump into gear when you go into reverse from drive or even neutral. When it is cooler its not an issue. Just try to keep it as straight as possible.

Autos also like to slam kingpins when coupling. The best advise is to take as much weight off by raising the nose of the trailer so that it just barely touches the 5th wheel. Gently feather the throttle and let it roll back under the trailer until you hear the kingpin click into the 5th wheel. Give 2 sold pulls on it then get out and do a visual inspection from underneath the trailer.. need a flashlight.

Don't overlook adult education grants and education lottery funds. There are many government programs out there, just have to do some work applying. I went thru a local technical college and I was able to use grants and lottery funds plus VA funding to cover all but about $400.

I run a dedicated route between Michelin Plants, Pendleton, SC to Woodburn, IN and back. Two trips this week plus an extra run from Pendleton, SC to Tuscaloosa, AL and back. Good run for the week 38,500 lbs with a 15,000lbs backhaul. Total was 3300 miles.

I just left Werner last Friday. I was on dedicated home depot account in SC. Worked out of the Home depot distribution center. I was delivering hard loaded truckload freight to the stores int he region. Home weekends. Low miles but at a higher pay rate. Left because the miles are just too low to make any money. It was allot of tight backing and drop and hooking trailers. About 30% backing is blindside 90s. Either you get good at backing or you get fired for hitting stuff.

I am a fan of local technical colleges that offer CDL training. That is the path I took. Yes the cost can be higher up front but there are programs out there to help offset the costs. IE.. lottery funds, grants, even the VA can help. Apply for every thing you can. My school was longer and I learned more then the new drivers that went to my employers trucking school. First two weeks was learning about rules and regulations, bridge law, paper and elogs, and trip planning. Learned how to back and do slow maneuvers on the range. We did allot of driving including night driving. Did allot of skills practicing for the state test. We got the pretrip drilled into us every day and we had to pass that. You can compare the time in the schools vs each other too. Company training 3 to 4 weeks max vs 8+ weeks. Mine was 11 and 1/2 weeks long.

Glad you found it and got it reported to be repaired. So many drivers just get lazy and don't look. I find bad stuff all the time and report it for repair or tag it OOS. On a dedicated retail account where there is allot of drop and hook you really have to be through. I am on anywhere from 3 to 5 trailers per day.

As for the GI Bill expiring that is not a big deal depending on if you go private (technical college) vs company sponsored schools. My GI Bill expired way back in 08' and I was able to get the VA to pay a portion of the tuition. I was laid off unemployed and was able to get state lottery funds, VA, and state workforce funding to cover the majority of costs. I just had to come up with a small bit. There are programs out there. Do some research comparing company vs private schools.