Comments By Matthew K.

My WV brother!

Come join me and another Mountaineer at Schneider driving OTR. Starting pay is .40, you'll probably have Columbus as your home terminal, and everyone is super nice.

I actually had to call my dispatch about a Wal-Mart appointment I had. Even busting ass, there was no way I could make the delivery on my 14. They wound up giving it to someone else and giving me a run to Rome, NY. No complaints, Wal-Mart was a pair of live unloads and a grand total of 260 miles, this new load is 400 miles for a drop and hook.

Awww yeah. Despite the filthy, bug infested truck, I've gotten everything sorted out and am now halfway through my first load. Figured I might as well update my status :)

MyNameGoesHere, please do start a thread on bed bugs. I have a new guys in my truck all the time now that I train and it's a concern of mine. I don't want them bringing it in and my truck being infested.

Preventative measures would be best option. Have them do all their laundry, even their bags, on high heat. The heat will kill off whatever's in their bags.

The worst part is, the students stay in hotels, hotels are a common place they get picked up at. The students may not have had them before and picked them up along the way.

Same thing with your clothes and bedding before you bring it in your house, bag it and straight to washer on high heat. Just as a safety precaution.

I'll definitely try to get something put together this weekend.

Everything I owned that could be put in the dryer went in the dryer. Including my backpack (removed all the paperwork), duffel bag, and shoes/boots. Set it to high heat for an hour.

I may not be able to finish this before I have to get moving.

I used to work in pest control. It can take 3 months or a little longer from the time of introduction until the time they get noticed. It'll be 6 months before they start getting really bad.

It has nothing to do with cleanliness. Just like lice they piggy back on the infested to the new to be infested.

You need treatment to last. It takes about a month for an egg to hatch, so if it's not killed then in a month you'll be seeing them again. Steam treatment works well, followed up with a NON repellent chemical. Repellents basically let them know it's not safe so they'll move to a safer area and wait until it is safe. Adult bed bugs can hibernate up to 18 months if they need to.

If I miss something I'll add later.

The guy said something about 200 proof alcohol. He absolutely drenched the interior of the cab and sleeper, so I'm hoping that it kills everything. If not, and they start to repopulate, ill drive the thing to the nearest OC and demand a different truck. I may be a driver for a living, but that doesnt mean I have to get eaten alive every night.

Man, that's a huge bummer.

Did the company give you a new mattress and all that?

Hope they give you a whole different truck with new mattresses.

Same truck, new mattress. It got sprayed down at 1400, Orkin is coming back in 24 hours to check it, if he says its good I'm gonna have the company clean it out.

Finally got my truck, prepared to sleep in it at the yard overnight, woke up covered in bed bugs 3 hours later. The exterminator they called told me that it was the worst he'd ever seen, and based on the amount of them, they have been in there at least a month. Thanks to QualComm, I know that someone was using it 4 days ago.

How can someone live like that? I wish I had taken pictures to show you guys how awful it was. I can't comprehend the level of sanitation someone had to maintain to allow it to get so bad.

First day back in the truck at Charlotte, everything was great until backing. I set up poorly, and wound up tipping over a cone :( Shouldnt be a problem though, I know where I messed up and can correct before the test. Not even sure why they have the cones, the spot is normal size between two dropped trailers. The cones actually make the spot a few feet narrower than normal.

Update: I learned afterwards that driving that day WAS the test. My instructor passed me despite the cone incident, because he said it looked to him like I knew what I was doing.

So now just one more day of classes and paperwork, then I get my truck in Columbus on Monday/Tuesday.

First day back in the truck at Charlotte, everything was great until backing. I set up poorly, and wound up tipping over a cone :( Shouldnt be a problem though, I know where I messed up and can correct before the test. Not even sure why they have the cones, the spot is normal size between two dropped trailers. The cones actually make the spot a few feet narrower than normal.

Did 2200 miles on my week training. The average is about 1300, so I'm feeling really good about that. My backing has improved, my shifting is better (still needs work, though), and my stamina throughout the week suprised even myself.

On the very first day, after about 30 minutes, the trainer mumbled about this being a good week. When I asked why, he said that I was leagues ahead of his last student. Now, I did have a couple hiccups along the way (I rubbed a couple curbs that I easily could have avoided), and my shifting would alternate between seamless and bbbbbbbrrrrrrrrgggggggrrrrrr clunk, but overall it was a great week.

I take the company road test this week, wrap up some paperwork, then off to Columbus to get my truck!