Profile For Sandman J

I thought about this thread the other day as I started out in Connecticut and ran through New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, briefly into Maryland and West Virginia and ending my shift in Virginia. So 7 is my record. Our stopping point was on 77S at exit 1 so another mile I would've been into North Carolina!

I had a good view of it from Dickson, TN, west of Nashville. I left Grand Prairie, TX, around 0100ish and was clear of Little Rock before morning traffic hit. I luckily suffered no eclipse-related traffic shenanigans.

It's great to see your hard work recognized!

Rob's gonna become an initiation of sorts for young deer trying to prove themselves. "He got a few of ours before but if you cross in front of him and live to tell about it, you can date that doe over there. Here he comes!" 😄

I haul a lot of scrap paper and finished paper products but I'm currently hauling lighting trusses for concert shows.

I got my CDL through Veriha and drive for them. They have had guaranteed minimum pay (g-pay) but are redoing their pay structure and neither myself nor the other drivers I talk to know for sure what it will look like when it's all said and done.

I don't do full SSBs often, but whenever I do I use what I've learned here to do the calculations myself and compare that to what my ELD shows. Luckily it's matched, so far. The last time I did it, it was to make a middle of the night delivery, get some rest, then get to the next shipper before they closed for the weekend then make it home.

Mountains of great advice here. I'll just add, like Old School said, it's about taking charge. Before trucking, when there was a problem I told someone and they told someone who eventually fixed it. That mindset carried over. For example, when I first started trucking and had a breakdown issue I'd send a message and wait what seemed like an eternity as my clock ticked down for a solution from the company. I eventually realized that I could find the solution myself and include my plan in that initial message and head for a service center en route to my destination. You can find how best to help the situation you're in on your own, within the parameters of your company.

I'll just touch on one part you mentioned and the others can give more eloquent responses to this and more. I recommend getting all endorsements you can. You'll already be in the studying mode for the CLP so just add in the other parts. I have my Hazmat endorsement. So far I've paid more to have the endorsement than I've earned by having it, but still glad I have it. It's gotten me long loads I otherwise wouldn't have gotten. It's gotten me a load home I otherwise wouldn't have gotten. Same with tanker endorsement. Some van loads require it and same story as above. Also, you never know where you'll want to end up as you learn more about all this industry has to offer. Good luck and buckle up, it's quite the adventure!

I am on the western US part of this tour now. My parting gift out of El Paso was something hitting my windshield causing damage. And wouldn't ya know it five minutes later as my welcome to New Mexico was an open Port of Entry. I pull up to the first shack labeled credentials check where I'm told, "They wanna see you in Bay 2." Well the feeling sure wasn't mutual but that's not an invitation you can RSVP no to so I pulled around back. I was told I'm getting a Level 2 walk-around. Everything went well and 24 minutes later I signed my clean report and I hightailed it out of there!

Next up is a couple LA-area venues then further north.

This was my first Level 2 so I'll go over it for those who haven't had one yet so they know what they might expect. For mine, he initially checked lights and tires. Then it was wipers with juice, air horn, and extinguisher and triangles, followed by my logs which he went into the office to look at.

He returned and said I need four things from you: Truck and trailer reg, BOL, license. He got those and went back to his office. To my surprise and delight he never mentioned the window issue.