Profile For Pete B.

Haven't mastered that skill yet but parking between the lines is overrated.

Like PJ, I have the basic company-issued green chemical suit for protection against corrosives and the non-flammable hazmat chemicals, and Nomex (FR) coveralls for the flammable chemicals and whenever it's required to enter some facilities. My hardhat has an attached face shield, and we received side-shield safety glasses and goggles, as well as a respirator. It's all the basic PPE. If you want to go another step and purchase supplemental gear, I'd recommend Grainger, or just google 'hazmat PPE.' You'll find several outfits that will sell you pretty much anything you want. Some of the things you're looking for don't seem necessary, however. Chemical gloves slip on and off fine without any kind of liner or insert. I do wear a thin pair of cotton gloves under in the winter, just for added warmth. I have several pair of cold-weather chemical gloves that were given to me by customers, they have a thin fleece lining. The chemical boots don't have strong pull handles; they're just really big and slip on and off quite easily. The water cooled clothing? Keep yourself hydrated, and just make sure you have dry clothes to change into when you're done with the offload. Yes, you'll sweat through everything you're wearing, but I just change out of the chemical suit and into dry clothes before I get going. I'll bag up the suit and hang it up to dry overnight. Keep lots of water handy and you won't dehydrate. As far as storing your hazmat clothing, if you get any product on your chemical suit, you can spray it off with water. After it dries, bag it up. The only thing I really get on my chemical suit and nomex is dirt anyway. Often I'll wear the chemical jacket or nomex just for added warmth or to protect against rain. Right now all of my hazmat garments are folded into Walmart plastic bags and stowed away. Like PJ said, the really nasty stuff the customer won't let us touch anyway. In those instances we are told to just stay in the cab. No need to overthink it.

Well, this guy (Stow A. Way) rides with me every October when I decorate the truck for Halloween.

That is beyond awesome.

I got the Air Horn Arm Pump Request the day before yesterday; I think it might excite me more than the kids making the request. One or two times I’ve had young adults do it; just goes to show you in some ways we never grow up.

Wow. Congratulations Mike! Stay safe and hope to meet you at the Trucking Truth banquet next year!

Knight/Swift really needs to get into the tanker market... I’d be first in line.

Patrick, why would you zero in on such a small company anyway, that you can’t find anything about? Red flag!

Seems to me that in this business, unless you’re independently wealthy and don’t need to earn much, which at your age may be the truth (that’s not a slight, just an observation), you’d want to go with a larger company with better resources and deeper pockets.

William J., I just see a whole lotta bad decisions being made here, by your friend. If he’s not going to use the navigation system supplied by his company with the truck, then he should have made himself real familiar with the trucker’s atlas, or have at least invested in a professional GPS programmed for trucks by one of those companies like Garmin, Rand McNally, or RoadPro. You reported he was using his phone’s GPS to begin with, which got him lost, and sticking with that same phone’s GPS to get him out of trouble? It should be a surprise to no one that he wound up in that predicament. I’ve taken a wrong turn on a back country road before, but I just kept going ‘til I found a suitable place to turn around (7 mi later). Did not interact with my phone or Qualcomm. The road was narrow and I was unfamiliar with it. And no, there is no reason to mess with the Qualcomm while driving. In our trucks, when the wheels are turning we can’t interact with any of its functions anyway.

There’s no good reason to fiddle with devices when you’re driving. There is no ‘need’ to, there is only ‘want’ to. When you’re driving your hands should be on the wheel, and your eyes on the road, mirrors, gauges, and professional nav system of choice. Messing with the gadgets shows a lack of patience, focus, and professionalism.

Seeing phones mounted on others’ windshields and dashes: what constructive point are you making? You’re not suggesting a hundred wrongs make it right, are you?

And Mikey B, phones and CBs... apples and oranges. Do the differences really need to be enumerated?

C’mon guys, stop arguing this stuff... be professional and be better.

Re: CDL schools, not all companies have in-house schools. At the time I began working for Schneider, Schneider did not. So I went to a private school. Yes, you do pay all of the money up-front, but most companies, as Schneider does, offer tuition reimbursement with a one year contract, the payments made in installments throughout the year.

Those are some great photos, Pete.

Get you head inside the cab!

Ha ha! It was! I grabbed those from my dash cam video.

I froze some frames taken from my dash cam:

So many gadgets, so little space....

Timothy, I’d like to shed some light on one topic you’ve raised: that Schneider seems to pay really well. That leads me to believe you are about to make your first and one of the most common rookie mistakes, and that is believing that higher cpm’s = better pay. I know the high cpm’s Schneider advertises with its tanker division seems very appealing, and they may even be offering a significant sign-on bonus in the area you live… but the reason for the high cpm’s is to compensate for the low miles.. the average run is not very long. And most of the time you are given considerably more time than is needed to complete the assignment. That means you end up sitting. A lot. I firmly believe that if you subtract out my sign-on bonus and tuition reimbursement, I would have made more money in Schneider’s s dry van division because 1.) I only asked for time off twice during that first year (for 3 days and 1 day) and 2.) I studied and followed Old School’s rules for success. Which brings me to my next point.

The only thing I think Schneider does wrong is putting brand new CDL holders behind the wheel of a truck hauling tankers. Learning to drive big trucks is challenging in itself; pulling tankers and you multiply the degree of difficulty by 100. 99% of our trailers don’t have baffles, so you’re experiencing the full surge of the liquids pretty much every time you go out.. The only trailers we have that qualify as ‘baffled’ are our compartmental trailers. The over-the-road training period is only two weeks, which I think is much too short.. As excellent as Schneider’s training is, I just don’t think that two weeks is enough time to adequately prepare the new driver to handle the many nuances of pulling tankers safely.

Schneider is a great company to begin and finish your career with.... the training is first-class, equipment is well-maintained, drivers are treated great, the OCs are plentiful and feature showers, laundry, and most have cafés. If you do end up in the tanker division you’ll find no better instruction for offloading chemical liquids safely and with the best equipment. However, I urge you to consider starting out in their dry-van division; give it 6 mos. - 1 year. First learn to drive a big truck; once comfortable with it, then consider the tanker division. It will still be there, and moving from one division to another is pretty easy. This will also provide you the opportunity to speak with bulk/tanker drivers. You will see them at some of the OCs; ask them about their pay. Find out if the money is worth switching divisions.

I know you’ve got some time before you start CDL school; I hope you take this post into consideration. Best of luck to you with your decisions. I look forward to reading about your progress throughout all this. If you do become a Schneider driver, I sincerely hope our paths will cross... coffee’s on me.

A negative about being local is you can't do these meet-ups anymore. I miss you everyday Old School!

Do you still run local out of Sacramento?

Following up on what PJ asks, are you presently a truck driver, or are you new to this lifestyle? I’m asking because I know that Schneider Is not currently accepting new drivers into their bulk (tanker) training program; they’re accepting experienced drivers only.

I should add that most of the regs were written before comp shoes became prevalent., and that “steel toes” have become part of the lexicon when referring to safety shoes. People ask, ‘ Do you have steel toes?’ rather than ‘are you wearing safety shoes?’ For the purpose of keeping your feet safe, in this line of work your comp shoes are more than adequate.

Timothy, those boots will be fine. Most of the notices at Schneider and the facilities we enter list as part of the minimum PPE steel toe footwear, but for practical purposes your comp toe boots will suffice. I also wouldn’t draw attention to the fact that they’re comp toe; if asked if you’re wearing steel toe boots, just say “yes.”

I heard a rumor once that she might have a website where she sells stuff, if you can find it. You have to know someone who knows someone… It’s somewhere on The Dark Web... gimp suits, whips, masks, that sort of thing. It’s all alleged and unconfirmed.

Google “truck mattresses;” you’ll find plenty of options. I purchased mine from Raneys Truck Parts; love it.

I met a lady driver about 2 1/2 years ago who kept a potbellied pig on her truck; she too used a ramp. I suppose that’s the only way that animal is going to get into the truck. I wonder if it was the same pair? Seems too much of a coincidence for it not to be.