Comments By Chris eff

Dented intake cracked fender. Could be much worse.

Well today i had my first real accident today in a loves parking lot. Ill admit i was a bit exhausted and or fatigued during the time. I was trying to do a 90 in a spot. I hit an older 379 pete no serious damage. I dented the driver side intake and cracked the fender. I was backing and was going get out and look after i pushed the trailer just a bit more when i heard a small crunch hoping it wasn't what i thought it was. Wish i had gon with my gut on this one. Anyways got it all sorted out and took the proper steps. I know i wont get license points but how long do accidents stay on your record? How many csa points do you get? How do you obtain your DAC?

PTL

Just had to share how happy i was because at first at my new company things were a little rocky. Ive been here 3 going on 4 months and was happy to get a sign on bonus and for them to actually sign me on at the cpm thet said they would over the phone. I went to another companies orientation and they said on the phone x amount cpm. Then i hit an e-mail that said 2 cpm less. Then i met my recruiter and the cpm was lowered another 2 cpm. Glad i didnt sign on. At first things were good here the first couple weeks then they were replacing dispatchers and things got real shaky and frustrating. Its crazy i thought about quitting but im not a quitter so i said to myself I'll roll with the punches. Now they got me rolling load to load back to back. The only thing that holds me up is unloading or a load that cant be delivered until a certain time. My planner/dispatcher is sending me loads before im done being unloaded and i love it. As long as i operate my clock good i just keep rolling!

Little off topic but one time i had a walmart phone responder lie to me instead of just saying no. She said the power was out and they were closed. I said hmm i wonder how shes using the phone. I had a hunch and it was a difficult lot to try to get in but i saw some truckers parked on a dead end next to the store and there was one spot left. I took it. The best bet is to call ahead. And if someone a manager warns you to leave its best to listen. You dont want to wake up to a ticket or whatever else.

Hi guys! I've asked this before but once again Im from Ohio and they have local or city income tax as well as state. I know some states don't do a local income tax. I just wanted to ask those of you that do have that local tax if your employer takes your local tax into account and deducts it from each check or "sends" it in? Or did you do your own withholding, or have them set that withholding up?

Well I'm almost at my one year mark. I've been solo for going on 10 months now. I did three months dedicated and realized what I really wanted out of trucking was adventure, travel, new experiences; not going to Michigan all the time. Nothing against Michigan. Then I went OTR and after a month briefly hauled some reefers on a dedicated Walmart account (which floored me, because even know the money was good it was night driving and dedicated and very very short there and back runs. I have nothing against night driving I do it all the time and am very cooperative. I was just ready to be otr.) Now I'm working on endorsements. I already passed tankers. No doubt some people think trucking is "easy". Its not exactly always hard. I've even gotten comments from friends which really upset me or had me thinking "wow, so that's what you think?" Heres a couple, before I started trucking I told a co worker and friend that I wanted to become a trucker and the response I got was that I just wanted to sit on my behind. That's not even close too why I wanted to started trucking. And then once I started trucking my friend makes a comment that what I do is cake work because I "sit on my behind all day." I can't believe these people. The second friend has a job and literally its in a office...sitting on their behind talking on a phone and doing paperwork. I think they were mad but sitting in a office doesn't come close to driving the big rig. The chair they sit in is stationary, no riding the bull which it sometimes feels like when going through twists and turns bumps, grooves and construction zones. Also the aloneness is real..haha. Man meeting and seeing new people everyday and being in a new state everyday is sometimes crazy. All in all it has gotten easier, in many ways. I've found that even know the gps tells me how to get places the atlas is my friend. I've come to accept the fact the I'm going to be in the way when driving and **** people off. For example I use to not want to upset people when passing so I would get up too close to the truck in front of me and then get over and pass. Now I leave proper room, get over and pass. Navigating cities has become easier too. Its easy to understand that a even number in front of a three digit interstate number means loops back to the interstate and a odd number means it comes to an end but now I see how in different cities that even number will take me around the city if for any reason I don't want or need to go through. So a lot of things have gotten easier I just want to know from the seasoned drivers how things got easier or even better for them?

I would really like to bring my bicycle along and seriously need to keep working on weight loss. I've seen a few trucks with a bicycle and rack on the back and am wondering if its custom or something i can buy and have installed. I work for PTL and our fifth wheels are locked in place. They can't be moved so i dont have to worry about that. Any body done this? Im sure fabrication would be cake work but I'd rather something i can buy. Pics?

For my own good and communication i have bought a cb. Im waiting on the opportunity to take it to someone experienced to help me set it up right. I connected it to the in cab cb antenna connect and so far i can only get channel 6 and its not always that clear. Im thinking the stock antenna isnt that great. The one frghtliner cascadia says is mounted in the roof somewhere. So i also got a mirror mount antenna im going to try but the cable wouldn't go in the connection on the back of the radio. So i may get another cable.

As is says I am so excited about this summer. I've been a little over 7 months on the road solo now. Three months dedicated, four months otr with a side of dedicated runs. I just thinking...warm weather, the road and me..me and the road! Haha. It will be my first summer behind the wheel. I remember many summers wanting to go places and being bored at least before i started tinkering with cars. Now its here! On the down side i worry about winter. The main thing that worries me is the mountain states i hit all the time. I go through wv, va, pa all the time. On top of that places semi major or major bridges scare me a little at the thought of winter. I still dont know whether they salt or put that liquid stuff down. I guess ill know when it gets here. Im going to be a safe driver but i keep picturing that major highway pile up that happened on 70 or 80 out west. I even imagine my mileage may decrease just a "pinch" due to needing to go slower.