Profile For Pete B.

Good luck Bruce; should you decide to return to driving, I hope your transition back is seamless and rewarding. I selfishly hope you keep up with the forum, I love your sense of humor!

By the way, I have a complete website redesign in the works. It's going to be a while before it gets implemented, but it's a pretty radical upgrade. Everything will function exactly as it does now, it's just going to look a lot better.

Take note drivers. The best never rest!

Quietly behind the scenes Brett is always working on improving the performance, appearance, and functionality of his web site. That's on top of all his other pursuits and interests. It's a common trait among people who excel at their chosen careers. The Michael Jordans of the world keep hammering away at being the best even when they are lightyears ahead of everyone else. They are still competing even when no one else realizes what they are competing against.

Professional drivers can increase their income substantially by focusing on improving their results. Always Keep Striving To Improve Yourselves.

We’ve all seen those t-shirts, “I went to The School of Hard Knocks;” I’m thinking of a shirt that reads, “I went to The School of Old School.” ... ... Always teaching. Love it!

The best truckstop is the one that has a spot available. I’m a parking sluut. I’ll park anywhere, except on the side of the road or shoulder of a ramp. I take my showers in the afternoon, so for the night I’m just looking for an available space. My first choice is always someplace where I can get coffee in the morning, but sometimes that doesn’t work out, which is why I always keep a can of coffee in my plug-in cooler. Right now I’m in a parking lot next to a truck stop, parked in the lot of a closed business, surrounded by a bunch of other trucks. I’m sure I’ve missed out on plenty of good ‘diner’ meals that have been spoken of here, as I make my dinner every night in my truck. Truck noise doesn’t bother me; I sleep like a rock.

I’m late to the party Bruce, but I too am living out of my truck, going on two years. No storage lockers either. I did purchase a PO box at a post office that is walking distance from our Houston OC. As long as I have a current PO box, they’ll hold packages for me for up to six mos. I have clothes for all seasons on board. I’ve saved a ton of money this way. If you have any questions about it feel free to ask.

I believe Oakley are all o/O's. You need your own truck and authority.

They have company drivers as well; the guy I spoke to was a company driver.

An Oakley driver of 8 years told me that before Oakley will put you in a tanker, you have to pull one of their dry vans/ dry bulk trailers for a year. All tanker companies should have this requirement. Not that my opinion was asked. I don’t know if previous verifiable experience pulling a van helps or not. The guy was very happy working for Oakley; had nothing but good things to say.

CWC, I spent some time talking to a guy at a tank wash… His first 34 years he spent as an owner/op, and the last eight as a company driver for Oakley. Loves the company. And he offered some very sage advice: all companies are going to have their problems, but the difference is how they deal with them. There’s at least two threads embedded in this post: a guy who spends 34 years as an owner/op, and then transitions to a company driver (he had much to say about that), and the advice he gave about all companies having their share of problems.

Prime may be your best bet; Schneider does not haul food grade... we carry liquid chemicals only, and many of them are HAZMAT. Also, the nearest Schneider OC from Richmond is Coraopolis, PA, which is about 10 mins. northwest of Pittsburgh. Tanker drivers cannot drive their trucks home. Oakley, an excellent company from what I hear, hauls food grade, but they require experience, and even then they put you in a dry van for a year before allowing you to drive their tankers.

Nope, my dbl said the company was fine with my decision to leave the tractor in Savanna. In fact, my dbl said the sooner I get a car and get home the better. They are placing me on a 30 day discretionary leave so I can get things together. So I’m not fired after all. She even went so far as to tell me I was a good driver and she didn’t want to lose me. So I guess the ball is in my court now. I’m glad I asked for advice here and didn’t make a knee jerk decision.

You miss the point. Going the "extra mile" for them, even when you don't need to, is a good thing. It is doing them a favor, by advancing the load, and it gets you closer to home. They will remember this.

I concur. You did do well communicating, and have the opportunity to fix this, which I know you will. Looking very forward to reading in a month a post by you exalting your return to trucking.

Bruce, I’ve lost track of where you are with your hours... have you been off for 10?

I’m guessing here, but my thought is that if the nearest OC from your present location is Atlanta, and that’s where they want you to turn in your tractor, they’re not missing an opportunity to fill a load by having you bring a trailer with you. That’s simply the machinations of a giant corporation. Perhaps your short history w/the company and your driving record is standing in the way of special allowances being made. It’s nothing personal.

Bruce, you’ve not been fired. As Rick pointed out, it’s all about being in compliance. If you were to get into an accident where there were injuries or worse, and an investigation revealed you were fatigued, the CPAP issue would come into play. Schneider will not put itself in that position. Follow the steps necessary to get your arse back in compliance, stay in communication with your DBL and/or Safety/Regulatory, don’t miss any stated deadlines to make it all happen, and you’ll be re-issued another tractor. Yes it’s going to be inconvenient and out-of-pocket expensive getting back home, but you’ll make it up. Good luck and don’t waste any time with this.

Congratulations Neek... and keep right on boasting about your successes! It provides an excellent example(s) of how well hard and smart work pays off in this industry. Great job! And while you’re on the Yucatán Peninsula, follow CWC’s advice and spend a day or half-day scuba diving. The sights underwater around the reef are amazing!

That’s good stuff, Mik D. Of course, it made me think of this video I’d seen:

costumed characters in road rage incident

I get to see my immediate family 2-3 times/year, whenever I have a load passing through my hometown; before that, it was once every 1-2 years.

That the approach plate isnt missing causing the trailer to be leaning on your drives. This is loaded mind you but is a reminder why its important to do a complete walk around. Needless to say this trailer was put out of service and luckily didnt damage the truck in any way when I unhooked.

As a matter of habit I always check the alignment of the king pin, and the height of the trailer, before I back under it. Many times I’ve lowered the trailer to ensure I don’t high-hook it. I’m confused as to how this happened (the photo). Did you arrive at the trailer, and just back under it?

Backed under a shiny new Prime trailer. One of the 20 ones (Primates know what I'm talking about). Checked tires, lights and all that fun stuff. Then it occured to me that I better check to see if it was clean because I was fixing to pickup a meat load. Wouldn't ya know it, 10 or so empty pallets and a bunch of debris.

Notified dispatch that it was full of crap. Then with my tail tucked I decoupled and found an old 14 that took 45 minutes to air up because it had sat so long.

Leason learned here, check it out before hand.

Wouldn’t it have been quicker to just toss out the pallets and sweep out the debris?

Okay, Danielsahn, game on. Softball tournament between flatbedders and box haulers. Winning team gets bragging rights for a year.

GAME ON!

I want in! I’ll throw in with the flatbedders.

If you’re returning to Nebraska empty, take I-70 going back; it’s easy empty, your jakes will be all that you need, and you can see what everyone’s talking about w/regard to the steep grades.

There's also free parking and free showers I believe it's on two of the rest areas on the Ohio Turnpike. Haven't use the showers yet there but I don't think there's anything ominous going on... LOL

I think all of them do

I’ve taken a shower at one of those service areas in Ohio, off I-80... it was fine... clean & dry, until I was through with it! I wore my platform shower shoes, like I always do. Bring your own towel. And soap.