Comments By Woody

I have the Rand 720 and overall am very happy with the unit. But as with all GPS units you have to watch the routing as sometimes it is just insane. I bought mine from the Rand website as a refurbished unit. A quick search online and I found a 20% off code so the unit shipped was like $210. Hard to beat!

When it arrived they did not ship the cig lighter power cord. I sent them an email that night then called the next morning to find out they had received the email and my cord was already in the mail.

Woody

I work for YRC and doubt that you got anyone in trouble. Doesn't matter how many times drivers check them those darn pig tails between the trailers can find a way to work loose.

To add another level of learning to this thread for new drivers I'll add that he may have known the lights were out. I say this because I've had it happen a couple times but in one case I did not immediately pull over. I was going from Indianapolis to charleston WV traveling on US35. I was on the section that is two lanes and winding road with no shoulder. Now there are a couple of places that I could stop but I decided it was actually more safe to keep going and wait until it was back to split 4 lane. At either of the available places I would have had to come to a very slow speed before pulling off. This on a road where most trucks are doing sixty and no where for them to go if they did not notice me with my lights out.

I HATE driving with no lights on a trailer but in this case there was no way i was going to take the chance of pulling over. Sometimes you have to weigh the risks and do something you normally would not do because it is actually the safer action.

BTW Heavy most drivers would appreciate you going out of your way to try and keep people safe.

Woody

Ill tell you why, because you dont know when an opportunity may arrise that you needed the endorsements for.

I came out of school with all my endorsements. I drove OTR for 4 months just waiting to ger enough experience to move to linehaul. A friend told me some were taking people straight out of school so i got online and applied immediately. A few weeks later i was making twice the money, had full paid insurance, and was home at least a couple times a week if not more.

I told a friend of mine about it and he now works here too but he had to wait until he got the endorsements. Took him a few months because he had to do it on home time, he was otr. Most linehaul jobs work off seniority and he losrt SEVERAL spots because he couldnt get back to get those endorsements.

And as far as pulling doubles 6 String is right, its no biggie in fact in many case it is easier. Yes you can flip the rear pup much fasrer than a long box but if you do your job its not a problem. You do have to be even more cautious on bad roads but the way i drive in bad weather im safe anyway. As long as you dont try to back up too far its really no big deal.

Not trying to talk you into doubles but you will kick yourself later if you need the endorsement and dont have it.

Woody

I have often heard that in your personal vehicle cdl holders are only allowed .04 but have never seen the actual law written anywhere. Can anyone confirm this?

Hi Mike, welcome to the boards.

It all depends on what you want. Based on what I would want I would not take that deal. But to me being home every weekend is worth quite a bit. You really just need to break things down. They have 401k but your taking a pay cut to get it. Would you be better off taking the 200 per month you would lose and investing that in a retirement fund on your own? The stock option would probably be the toughest one to figure out if it is worth it or not.

You do not say where you are located. If you are close to a major city you may want to look into LTL running line haul. Companies like Old Dominion, ABF, YRC, Conway. Old Dominion seems to be a great company with good equipment and pay is very good. I work for YRC which is a union company. My CPM pay is currently lower than what I could probably make at OD but I get paid for time on things that other companies do not pay and my biggest advantage is my family insurance is free. My biggest concern where I am is the retirement package. It has taken a pretty big hit over that last few years. Problem is with the things that are going on in the political world I'm not sure how safe retirement is anyplace right now. Thats one reason I mention maybe staying put and investing on your own. I will be getting raises over the next few years that if all goes as planned I will take that money and invest on my own for retirement.

If I had 12 years experience it would be very hard for me to move to another company that would be paying me less.

Just my oppinion.

Woody

If I had read that story on any site other than Trucking Truth I probably would not have believed it!

Best shipper award without question.

Any way to "fight" a mistake on their part?

In this case no, there is not. Even if it where something you wanted to fight you couldn't since he only gave you a warning. A ticket you can fight but unless I was misinformed in school there is nothing you can do about a warning.

Just a little FYI.

Woody

Thanks for the heads up 6. I am going out this afternoon I hope they don't send me up there!

Yea .25cpm is kind a low, I started at 28 two years ago and now have .35CPM..

I'm not sure which surprises me more, a new driver at .25 per mile or a driver with 2 yrs experience accepting .35 CPM.

David I know there is a lot to be said for a company with which you are comfortable. But I gotta ask why you are still there knowing other companies would gladly pay more to snag a driver with 2 yrs in the seat? This is a sincere question, they must treating you well.

And Snappy there is no way I would sleep while someone else is driving for .17cpm. I see you are in Indiana too, if you are with in an hour or so of indy you need to get ahold of me. I don't get on here much anymore and often forget to check my email but send me a PM if you want.

Woody

I think that did a lot of damage honestly. Build your relationship with your DM with kindness, respect,safety, and favors. Trust me, your DM knows you've been getting terrible loads lately without you telling them. To get the good stuff, you have to work through the bad stuff. Sending a message to your DM asking for more miles or a nice load isn't a bad idea. But how you ask makes all the difference. That message you sent is definitely not the type of message your DM wants to hear. Here's a few messages I send when asking for more miles:

As is usually the case when following a post by Old School or Daniel there isn't much left to add. The only thing I will throw out to go along with this paragraph is that I thanked my dispatcher for EVERY load I was given. In fact I still do even though in my current set up dispatch often times has little to no control over the load I end up with.

Just keep in mind every crappy load is not a crappy load (no pun intended) it is an opportunity to show your DM you are different than most drivers. And believe it or not somewhere there is a driver with no load wishing he had yours

Woody