Profile For Bobcat_Bob

Jamie your not alone, a couple years ago one of the guys at my terminal hit 3 deer in a week!

When it comes to linehaul and you have an assigned run, does you paycheck fluctuate at all

It can depend on the run, mine does a lot do not my trainer runs to Des Moines and back and his check only changes by a few dollars depending on how many drop and hooks he has.

When you guys get shutdown for the day by the company or you choose to not run due to weather do they pay you anything or are you required/given choice to use vacation/personal time

We do not get paid unless we use vacation days. Personally I don't unless like in January there are a bunch of days off in a row. I save my vacation for when I want to take off.

As someone not familiar with all aspects of trucking, can someone breakdown what "linehaul" is and entails?

Banks and OS did a good job of explaining it if you have any more questions I'm more than happy to answer.

I wanna be like Bob when I grow up lol. We have 4 linehaul spots opening up soon, I'm hoping I'm lucky enough to snag one.

I hope you get one too, if you do before you know it you will have moved up. In 2 years I went from the bottom to having about 10 people below me now. Hopefully when the new terminal opens I can move up to one of those $120k runs lol

I've seen a few pay stubs for OTR and regional drivers but none for linehaul so I thought I'd toss one of mine out there incase somebody was wondering about switching to or starting with linehaul.

OTR is not the only option when it comes to trucking although it is a great place to start and opens many doors should you decideyou do not want to be away from home everynight. I'm off Sunday and Monday plus I'm home every night ( weather permitting).

Unfortunately I do not know anything either, other than I see both them and KRD a lot on 65. I did hear they get paid by the load something like $50 per trip.

I spoke to my neighbor who is a deputy in IL a few months ago he said his county wants them issue tickets to commercial vehicles if a accident has occurred no matter how minor.

But he said if they feel like a ticket is not warranted sometimes the wrong citation is issued so a judge has to dismiss it, but since you still have to deal with court you learn a lesson without it going on your record.

Hopefully that is the case for you. Which she kinda hinted at

You'll be fine Jamie companies would rather fix that then have drivers roll over trying to avoid deer.

I actually thought it was going to be my turn to get one a few weeks ago a good size buck came running out of the woods, I saw him and knew there was nothing I could do but luckily he came to a stop at the white line and then went back into woods.

Just don't let it get you down, I'm really hard on myself when I do something dumb and it can snow ball into a bigger problem.

At least it wasn't worse and it makes for a good learning experience. When we have a accident we either meet or have a phone call with safety he asks a bunch of questions tells you what you can do better. Plus we have to watch a 1.5 hour safety video and then videos on what ever is relevant to what you did. It all adds up to a minimum of about 2 hours.

I think he was in front of me one day there was a silver Dodge mini van with a huge antenna on the roof, and since he is a retired driver I'm pretty sure it was him. It really amazes me with how many people get mad and argue with him.

On the plus side he does provide accurate information on accidents and traffic.

I do about 2500+ miles a week all on the same stretch of road between Joliet Il and Indianapolis, my average MPH would be higher too than someone in the mountains or in east coast traffic.

The drivers that do have their CB's on act like 3rd graders on them. Perfect example was yesterday.

For sure, then you get the guys who spam some incoherent music or tv show. Or that guy who rides up and down 80/94 around Gary trying to rile people up by offering to meet them at the Pilot and "put a whooping on them"

Although I do not agree with the condescending tone here, most of the message is good. If you see a problem report I even report problems on trailers that are not mine that I notice in the yard.

Moat companies do not want drivers fixing things, maybe at most a quick patch to get it someplace for a proper repair but even then you should check first.

Changing a light bulb shouldn't be a problem if you can get to it, as stated above some are very difficult to access now. On our newer trailers the lights are riveted in no way to change them easily.

Our trucks are 65 unless the run is 600+ miles then they are 68 and we have some 70s not sure what the mileage requirements are to get one of them but my terminal doesnt have any.

For that you just look at the tractor and you'll know who's pulling it.

Most of the time now I don't even need to see the truck, just the headlights or trailer bobbing and weaving and I can usually tell who it is.

Another thing to remember is a lot of people come here after seeing the other trucking sights which paint a horrible picture of all companies and the trucking industry in general. So they probably expect the same type of crabby miserable uncaring people here. I saw a different site where one guy was telling someone how bad the mega companies are and he has never even had a CDL but his word was taken as gospel.

This was a contractor with a sleeper usually I can't keep up with them as they go way faster than my 68. The company trucks are a lot more professional

I'm glad for you you haven't given up and I think you will make it work this time.

This am on 80/94 I was passed by a FedEx wiggle wagon and noticed he had a bunch of sparks coming out of the left side brake on his rear trailer, I tried several times to contact him on the CB to no avail.

Luckily I was able to get up next to him and blow the horn and get him to pull over and see he had a CB in the cab so either it wasn't on or he wasn't listening. When I came back the other direction 2ish he was still on the shoulder so hopefully he got it fixed.

Last Friday there was a accident on 80 and having my CB in saved me from being stuck out of hours 30 minutes from my terminal since I was able to take a alternative route.

I upgraded from T Mobile to Verizon and should have done it years ago. Way better coverage and about the same cost. Remember if you get stranded in the middle of nowhere saving a few dollars in cell phone bill will come back to hurt you.

Congratulations and good luck! They seemed like a great company unfortunately I got sent home from there for failing the agility test, try to lay off caffeine for at least 48 hours before you get there it will help keep your heart rate lower. I missed by 1 beat per minute

On the CB in Gary IN there is a guy who says he sells, Dell laptops for a $100 bill, flashlight/stun gun combo for $20 I think and some other totally not stolen stuff.

Also when I drove a Taxi/Limo there was a guy at Midway airport who would come and try to sell burgers and chicken sandwiches he had ready made plastic bag and another who sold cologne from a store that closed 10+ years ago.