Comments By Zach

Congrats Daniel,no van driver will ever understand the thrills of tarping a load in the windy city like a flat bedder ,never mind the satisfaction of delivering that load safely and dry thru deluges of rain showers for a thousand miles ,getting drenched countless times while adjusting strapps and bungees....and the immense satisfaction where upon arrival at your destination ,the crane operator unloading your load ........drops it into the biggest and muddiest mudhole on his lot.... ;-)

That's too funny. I can totally see that happening. =-D

In this case it was total truth .Picked up a piece of machinery from a closed factory ,was being shipped to a company in Texas to be refurbished and put back into service in Mexico eventually. There were many times I was required to tarp a load that really didn't need it ,but the shipper is paying for it so you do it anyway.

Congrats BTW..

I still say my idea is the most awesome lol

As ideas go ,it really isn't a bad idea ...but ,playing devils advocate here ,please don't take my comments the wrong way ...its only effective as you describe if the key used has a sharp enough end to penetrate ,otherwise all you've done is **** someone off ,preload several keys between all fingers and you have Freddy Kruger like slashing device instead...

I'm always amazed at people who live up north and have been exposed to winter their whole lives and still don't know how to drive in snow and ice.

Six

Ironically, I used to drive a delivery truck and a milk truck (not the tankers) in S.E. Pennsylvania. I drove on ice covered cowpaths congested with BMW's, Mercedes, and other expensive cars that the rich folk from the Main Line (Old Railroad money descendants) drove. Never had an incident. I really don't know where this apprehension comes from. I guess I was under the impression that you didn't have the option of stopping and waiting for better conditions. I just assumed the company expected you to soldier on through it, "That's what we're paying you for!" Now that I know I have the option of stopping, I'm a little less concerned.

Unlike straight vehicles ,tractor trailers act differently on ice .Once control is lost ,even if you find traction again,chances are good your vehicle is already sideways or worse case ,jack-knifed ...that pooch is screwed.If there is ever any doubt about conditions ,park it.

Congrats Daniel,no van driver will ever understand the thrills of tarping a load in the windy city like a flat bedder ,never mind the satisfaction of delivering that load safely and dry thru deluges of rain showers for a thousand miles ,getting drenched countless times while adjusting strapps and bungees....and the immense satisfaction where upon arrival at your destination ,the crane operator unloading your load ........drops it into the biggest and muddiest mudhole on his lot.... ;-)

I would keep looking, I had BOA and after a house fire in which I lost my house and my girlfriend they overdrafted my account and wouldn't work with me to fix it. It came to about 750 dollars, I found it hard to be able to open an account after that but was able to find a bank that doesn't even check. You could also have a parent open a joint account if you trust them....I would be weary of putting my check into my girlfriends account.

Oh hell, we've been together for several years.

My wife and I were together 18 years til we one day with no warning she decided she didn t want to be together anymore ,...she didn't hesitate to remove every single dime from our joint account and tried to close out my IRA as well...

What Brett,Roger and Daniel said. My 2cents worth as a former truck owner ,the only advantage to owning your truck is you can trick it out with all the chrome accessories,pinstripes and fancy graphics your little heart desires but none of those things make you earn one penny more .Stay a company driver and all you have to worry about is keeping yourself legal and making it from point "A" to point "B" as safely as possible .

Weight gain or loss has more to do with your metabolism and lifestyle choices then anything else .Prior to driving, I worked mainly in an office ,going to lunch with the guys to various buffet type places followed by more hours sitting at my desk ,followed by lazing around the house with my kids .I was slightly plump.

After I began driving I lost appx 30 lbs and for the most part kept it off ,but then I was significantly more active than before too.My first couple of driving jobs saw me frequently in/out of my truck on drop and hooks or hand unloading at grocery warehouses.One company I delivered retail goods to a line of chain stores,these were all live unload where I tailgated the freight at each stop...talk about a work out .Echoing the guy above me ,you really want to lose weight ,be a flat bedder.

Losing or gaining a little bit I wouldn't be too concerned with ,but if it really bothers you ,seek the advice of a doctor ,perhaps something else is amiss and your recent career change is coincidental to a health problem only now coming to your attention.

So I rented a car for the day and I was driving down to Anderson's Split Pea on I-5 and I pulled off to the side of the highway for a min because I saw a HUGE! SPIDER eeekkk I am terrified of spiders. I get out of the car start wacking at the spider with my newspaper and here pulls up a cop behind my car and he scared the daylights out of me, - ( I didn't realize he even pulled up til he said something to me,) I was so focused on killing this spider everytime Iwent to wack it though it move away so i would just barely miss it. So the cop says ( Everything ok miss?) I freaked out jumped back newspaper went flying and i scrame lol once I realised it was a cop I calmed myself down this guy laughed at me lol ( be honest if i was the cop i would laugh at me too) I told him yeah there just a spider in my car i was trying to get. I kid you not this guy sees the spider and with no hesitation he picks it up with his bare hands sets it on the ground NEXT TO ME!! I scrame again and ran away from the spider. i said thanks to the cop and i went our seperate way.

What a day!!!! Well hope you had a good laugh :)

It was great to see I am not the only one out there that is scared of bugs. I am absolutely terrified of june bugs and water bugs (you know the giant ****roaches). I once had a june bug fly down my shirt while I was working at jack in the box. I had leaned out of the window to give a customer their order.

The order got thrown into the car and my shirt with it. The darn thing was down inside my bra at that point and I was able to get it out without too much more hassle. The customers had a great laugh. My manager did not. But since the customers weren't mad I was only given a verbal warning to keep my clothes on, regardless of the size of the june bug that may fly down my shirt.

Now thats funny ,i dont care who you are ,if you don't get a laugh out of the mental image of a cashier at a drive up taking her shirt off for a customer (hope it was male ;-) )...im betting the customer had no clue initially .....too funny ,made my day ....now off to mickey s with my bug collection...

My first carrier was US Express ,I was lucky if I got 1600 miles per week

That's funny. I worked for them for 6 years and couldn't beg for a break. Hardly ever got less than 3000 miles a week running OTR and regional. For two years I was on a regional fleet that got me home every weekend and I still got 3000 miles most weeks.

Hey I love it for you Brett,were they your first carrier right out of driving school?,was your first run a shuttle between Springfield and Indy?That pretty much set the tone for my first 6 months as a driver for them.Short runs that typically took all day to complete followed by many hours sitting/ waiting on the next few crumbs.By the time I left them I knew the locations of just about every terminal and drop yard in the system,having visited pretty much each and every one .At least Werner was up front about it ,stating all new drivers were expected to shag at least one day out of every ten worked .