Profile For Pete B.

That’s all great to hear, Victor; your tenacity is really paying off! Best of luck to you with your flatbed adventures.

Thank you for that, G-Town. What a great post; I rarely visit the ‘diaries section,’ mostly out of laziness, but I’m going to follow this one.

“Using space that wouldn’t always be there...”... I call that “opportunistic.” The end goal is to not hit anything. When space is available, use it. There will be plenty of opportunities to knuckle down, concentrate, and put your trailer in a challenging hole. The longer you drive and learn comfortability with your truck, driving forward even, the easier it will be to back in to tight scenarios, because all the while you’re learning how your truck handles.

Follow IDMtnGal’s advice; moving forward, don’t vacate a trainer’s truck until a higher authority than your trainer’s tells you to do so. Do your trainer’s bidding; considering the length of your driving career, the time spent with a trainer is equivalent to the blink of an eye. Your trainer is not going to get you 100% ready for going solo anyway. Much of what you’ll learn will be gained from solo on-the-job experiences. Good luck, be humble, keep your eye on the prize.

Apply everywhere. Anyone hiring for a CDL-A position, apply. Search the classifieds, Craigslist, job boards, and if you can go OTR again, look at the ‘second chance companies.’ Just type that into the search bar on this site. Your situation is pretty cut-and-dry; there’s no angle or backdoor maneuver to instantly find a comparable job to replace the one you lost. You’re going to have to take your licks and find anything that will keep your CDL active while accruing that one year of safe driving. Good luck, this isn’t the end of anything, I hope you understand, it’s just a setback.

I’m constantly amazed at the number of couplings I witness at the tank washes where drivers don’t get out and check the trailer height. I’d wager 95% of the drivers I see don’t do this. I commented on this once to another driver, adding that I’d seen a guy with a ‘million mile safe driving’ sticker on his cab fail to check the trailer height (and kingpin-5th wheel alignment), and his reply was along the lines of, ‘well if you’ve driven a million miles you’ve probably hooked up to enough trailers that you don’t need to get out and look.’ Needless to say I disagreed. It’s the easiest thing to do, and saves an incredible amount of trouble.

Agreed. I’d like to have more spare lights and mudflaps than I do, but I’d be expected to pay for more than the allotted amount that’s been issued to me. When I use one of my spare lights for a trailer, I turn in the defective light for a new one, so that I always have at least one spare available. I picked up a trailer earlier today that was missing a mudflap, but I was at an OC, so one of our shop techs put one on in seconds. Can never have too many seals.

Hello Aaron, First off I am not a Knight or Swift driver, but feel I can still contribute to your questions. I am sure that since the merger, the drivers of both companies are entitled to stay at each others terminals. The company I work for (Schneider) bought a smaller company (Watkins Shepard) several years ago, and shortly thereafter I began seeing Watkins Shepard trucks parked at Schneider OC‘s. So I’m sure that that’s an industry standard.

The question about pulling each other’s loads... i’ll just say that regardless of your truck being branded Knight or Swift, there will never be a shortage of loads. That’s a non-issue.

With regard to driver training and public safety, i’ve observed Knight and Swift drivers to be some of the steadiest, safest, and most courteous drivers on the road. Of the numerous trucks I’ve seen crashed due to excessive speed on ramps or in inclement weather, I can’t remember ever seeing one being a Knight or Swift truck.

Congratulations with your retirement and best of luck with your trucking research. If you do decide to become a professional truck driver, please make use of The High Road Training Program found on this site, it’s the very best CDL prep learning program available anywhere, and it’s free.

Careful with that, Jamie! Don't turn into another me! There's a fine line between "having things" to "I may need that....eventually".

I chuckled after reading that, PackRat. Out of curiosity, what are one or two things you’ve unnecessarily hoarded? For me, I realized last night I’ve stockpiled about 15 ice bags… Because one day, at one of our OC’s, I went to get ice and they were out of bags. So apparently I’ve been hoarding ice bags, have about 15, and no longer have a use or need for ice. Fortunately, theIr combined weight is almost 0 pounds, and they don’t take up much space. Perhaps this should be the topic of a new thread: So What Do You Hoard?

That video was shot on I-25N in Colorado, approaching Wyoming, yesterday morning. In Wyoming, I-25 N and South, as well as numerous other roads/highways, were closed to all traffic due to the high winds and blowing snow; I know this because I had to stop in Wheatland, WY, due to the closures. The point here is that while one state (Colorado) might not recognize that conditions are too hazardous for trucks to operate, as professional drivers we need to use our better judgement and shut down until safe driving conditions return. Just because a state [government] says it’s safe to drive doesn’t mean it’s safe to drive.

I’m sorry for your loss, Rainy. Our pets are family, and we grieve for our four-legged family members in pretty much the same way as we go for our human family. Best of luck coping. You of course have another family here.

Pete, that looks more like a whole pie!

I know! They’re crazy big, right?

It’s not really a chain, but a singular truck stop; I’m only mentioning it because it sort of fits in this thread, and is the only truck stop that had made a lasting impression on me. That is the Clearwater Travel Plaza/Petro off of I-94 in Clearwater, MN. The reason being is that there are only two types of food that I get excited about buying on the road, pizza and doughnuts, both of which I rarely buy. This place has almost amazing donuts/pastries. They closely resemble cupcakes: with cupcakes, the best part is the top 1/4, the part with all the topping and a little bit of sweetbread. The pastries at Clearwater are the same, except on steroids. They are the biggest pastries I’ve ever seen. But like cupcakes, it’s the top 1/4 or 1/3 that’s worth eating; the rest, which is just breading, can be left behind for the crows or pigeons. Those toppings though! Huge selection. And ginormous. They are the size of dinner plates.

David, I’ll add just one more thing here... your words remind me of a GM I once worked for; he was a great source for fantastic advice. See, you are already laying the groundwork for a litany of excuses when things don’t go the way you had hoped, supported by the people and/or Internet you’ve been recently listening to. To you my former GM would say, “Don’t prepare to fail, prepare to succeed.” Make it your mission NOT to bring home 500-600/wk; apply yourself, adhere to the advice Brett and Old School have given you, and be that new driver who knocks it out of the park. The name on the side of the door really doesn’t matter... all of the big companies hiring new drivers pay pretty much the same. That ‘perfect job?’ You’re not going to find it, you’re going to have to make it. Best of luck to you David... if it’s in you, you’ll do great!

Sorry about the deer, but otherwise glad to see your work ethic paying off; enjoy the new ride!

Sorry, Cracker Barrel was terrible advice; I drove past three today and they were all closed.

There’s a Cracker Barrel in Wytheville.

1. Duel (1971)... ... ... 2. Breakdown.

Papa Pig, if you’re considering starting with Rogers Cartage, I strongly urge you to reconsider. Inexperienced drivers + tankers = bad idea. Learning to drive a big truck safely is hard enough by itself; add to that the challenges pulling tankers bring, and you’ve just increased the difficulty by a power of 10. Why not just pull a dry van or flatbed for a year, get some experience under your belt, then go tanker if it’s still what you want to do. The jobs will still be there, and you’ll be much better prepared than if you go into it as a new driver. You’re not going to lose any money by putting it off a year; most people think tankers are more lucrative because they pay higher cpm’s, but the reality is that you won’t be turning as many miles weekly as you might pulling vans or flatbeds.

Good luck with your CDL training, I hope you’re using The High Road Training Program ; there’s no better CDL prep course available anywhere, and it’s free. Please keep us abreast of how well you’re doing!

That’s great to hear (read), Rob; I’m happy for you that it ended well in your favor.

Schneider has a dry van o.c. in Houston, as well as a bulk o.c. where van drivers may park their tractors; check the careers webpage for local positions.