Profile For Bobcat_Bob

But my mentor is a lease op so he might let it go. He doesn't talk unless I ask questions. He has his beak in his phone almost 24 hours a day.

That is why I am not a fan of lease drivers training, seems a lot of lease ops are more interested in extra money rather than training. Not that it doesn't happen with company drives as well.

Congratulations!

And good luck!

Trucking has allowed myself with a GED and no college to make 75k in my first year, this year should be as good or better.

I have been able to afford a vacation, tickets to any sporting event I want, I bought a classic pick up to that my father and myself are going to start restoring when it warms up a little. I plan on trying to buy a house this year, all thanks to trucking.

Enjoy your strike I'll toot the horn on my way past.

Congrats on your new job, and welcome to the linehaul family :)

Good luck!

My father thinks it is probably a late 70s or early 80s Freightliner cabover

Yeah, driving on the road will be much better than practicing backing on the pad, but I'm OK with either one.

We had a 04 International on our practice pad and you would have to lift yourself out of the seat to push the clutch, luckily every other truck I have been in takes little effort. The one in my 2019 Kenworth just look at it will push it.

I-65 construction was horrible for awhile, I use to run the speed limit or slower one lane with a slant makes the rear trailer wiggle happy sometimes. It amazes me how many trucks would blow past me at 70+ I just hoped they didnt crash in front of me.

After 2 weeks of shifting continuously for 4 hours a day, I don't care if I never see another stick, and my hip is praying I don't

I felt the same way in school, now that I have been doing it for a year and a half shifting has become 2nd nature. I only use the clutch when starting from a stop for the most part otherwise I float. When ever I catch the morning rush through Chicago I definitely wouldn't mind a auto though.

Linehaul is a little different, as it is difficult for us to just shut down somewhere for weather. So I called my dispatcher and asked if we where running, they said my route hasn't officially been closed yet but it is being dispatched on driver discretion.

Since the storm will be chasing me all the way to Indy with 40 mph winds, I called off for weather and said I will run Sunday instead.

Congratulations!

I completely agree, but I have to think there is room for a small, driver-friendly, lean, efficient, quality, trucking firm.

I am not seeking to compete with the big firms, I know that is folly, but I can nibble at their edges ;)

There are literally thousands of small firms "nibbling at the edges", so there isnt much edge left to nibble at.

Plus they already know the in and outs of the business which will give them a huge advantage booking loads over the new guys. I remember when I was thinking about buying my own truck before I even had a CDL most of the load boards work on senoirty, with the company which means you have to start with the low paying loads or loads that take you to a freight dead zone.

I would advise becoming a driver first, no it will not teach you everything but it certainly will help.

Not sure. I have seen on UPS doubles , long bristles covering the area shown in the photo. What are those for anyway?

They are basicly just additional mud flags to cut down on spray off the side of the tires.

No, I can use a PTO day if I want but I like to save them for vacation days. We may have to run Sunday instead which stinks, but I would rather do that then end up in a ditch, snow and wind are not a sets best friend.

In my limited time OTR we where in Pennsylvania and the Walmart had covered horse parking.

And you're right about this weekend. Saturday in particular I think we're going to get SLAMMED.

Unless something changes I do not think I will be running Friday night/Saturday morning. Unfortunately my entire route to Indy is supposed to have 6 plus inches of snow and high winds.

All pretty good guesses, for those who suggested that it was riding to low they are correct I noticed on my walk around that it was really low on the right side. Normally I can fit my whole fist vertically between the tire and the box, on this one I could barely fit a finger.

Why was the trailer frame cut? That part above the tire isn't optional. That entire piece and all the rivets are important. It needs to be intact, not carved up with a smoke wrench. Although they did do a nice job of it.

All of our 28 ft pups come from the factory like that.

Thank you. Can I ask a question on something a little off topic? What tank is in your profile pic? It looks to be a Sherman tank?

Too small to be a Sherman, looks like a light tank to me, probably a Walker Bulldog.

Luckily I do not have to run 30 anymore, unfortunately I-65 between Rensselaer and Remington gets very slick, lots of accidents and slide offs in that 20 mile stretch.

The Black and Gold are Million Safe Mile drivers... the diamonds are female drivers. Prime calls us women "Highway Diamonds" and they have an annual gala discussing womens issues and a huge party with keynote speakers...like a semi formal event.

That is cool they do all that, OD only puts your name on the door for the million milers and your truck cant be driven by anyone else. We have a few women drivers in the terminals I go to as far as I know there is no gala unfortunately.