Profile For andhe78

No drug addicts hiding out here yet. My ride-some companies still buy new manual trucks.

You sound like a nightmare to train with as well to be honest

Lol, you're right, I probably am. With what we haul, I am a real stickler for doing the job the right way, every time, all the time. The company doesn't seem to mind though.

As for the FT with my wife, I understand that. She asked me and I said sure, I did not even look though and was completely focused on driving

Honestly thought I was not reading your original post right because nobody wanting to be a driver would think facetiming while driving would be a good idea. Lol, I was wrong. You didn't look though, nice job, you're more disciplined than I am. (sarcasm)

did not offer any advice what so ever

You're right, and I am so sorry. My advice, ask your trainer to pull over, grab all your gear, and start heading home. You don't seem to have the right mindset for this job.

I'm sorry, I can't stop laughing, I love it. Nude facetiming while driving is fine as long as I don't look. Thanks for making my day.

Didn’t Prime give you a number to call if you have problems with your trainer? I’d go that route before asking strangers on the internet-you might not like their answers (specifically my answer.). You sound like a nightmare, arguing over setting the brake terminology and whining over having to pull the king pin release lever??? As for the phone thing, if I heard a trainee have this exact conversation with his wife, I’d check to make sure he wasn’t actually FaceTiming his nude wife while driving too. You actually told your wife to bring the phone in the shower, you just weren’t going to look??? Dude!!! I’d have kicked you off right there.

Worse still, this law puts professional drivers, including CDL holders, in an impossible situation. Use your medication legally and risk your license? Or suffer without treatment?

I think you’re missing something here.

I'm a former Maverick driver who got my start with them and never regretted it. It's been years so my info may be a little out of date, but some thoughts on some things you've said and some thoughts on why I went with Maverick when I was in your position just starting out (had invitations to orientation at both TMC and Maverick.)

TMC's percentage pay-they love to say you'll make more on percentage, but I've talked to dozens of TMC drivers over the years, and at the end of the year, the pay comes out to about the same. Some weeks percentage will do better, other weeks cpm will be better. Personally, while I'm sure TMC is completely above board, I've never liked my pay being based off what the company tells me they got paid for the load-how do I know they are telling me the truth? That being said, Maverick used to pay zip to zip (not sure if they still do.) That can make a lot of drivers angry too, but never really bothered me. The minimum pay was actually started my second year there and by that time was quick enough at the loading aspect of the job, that I don't remember ever getting it. Could be great for a new flatbedder when the tarping jobs are still taking five hours and you're losing mileage pay.

That 60 cent per mile seems low, feel like I was making that and more seven years ago at Maverick.

Tennessee is a great spot for flatbed. Tons of loads in that area and Maverick should have very few problems getting you home every weekend. No need to "uproot" your family or move closer to a terminal. They used to have a terminal in TN if I remember correctly.

The "starter company" and "suck it up" thing. Yeah, they'll hire new drivers, but doesn't mean you've got to suck it up with a horrible outfit. It was a great place to work. They've got hundreds of million mile drivers. There's things I still miss about that outfit and would probably still be with them if I weren't on the very edge of their hiring zone which made getting home hard. I went with their flatbed division because I wanted experience in general flatbed freight instead of just hauling specialized freight, but they actually have a glass division just down the road, and If I wasn't happy with my current gig, would be right back there hauling glass.

Now, the actual reason I went with Maverick instead of TMC (and again, my info may be out of date now days), Maverick's trainers rode in the passenger seat the entire time you trained, at the time, TMC would go to team driving after a couple weeks. Not sure if they still do, but at the time, I felt more comfortable with the trainer always keeping an eye on things.

Do the reset on the front half.

Sometimes I have to run a 20’ hose under the trailer because the drops for different products are on opposite sides. Lifting that hose full of gas and trying to drain it can be tough.

Wow, your trailers are not set up to unload on both sides? That's rough.

We have other customers who placed their drops above the level of our load heads so you’re technically dropping fuel uphill. When those hoses are full of diesel, they can be extremely heavy and difficult to manage without making a huge mess.

Get yourself one of these.

Hose drainer tool

Mental requirements are more important in this job. There’s a lot of fuel haulers around here in their seventies and even a couple in their eighties, so obviously the physical part of the job is not overly onerous. Having the mindset that allows you to do the job for forty years with no incidents is the hard part.

Probably haven’t lifted anything over twenty pound in this job. We do do a lot of standing around in the weather while delivering.

I was a welder for 13years and was fabricating bulldozers for Caterpillar until the pandemic shut the factory down.

By the end of my welding career I was training newbies how to weld like me. I got new guys to be as good as I am in two weeks because my training style is so good that I was the number one guy that my bosses at Caterpillar sent new welders to.

So I do know a thing or two about training.

This is where your thought process is wrong about a trucking career-you are thinking a couple weeks of excellent training and you’ll be as good as a thirteen year veteran. Not the case here-this job throws new things at you all the time and you’re going to have to figure it out on your own (you’ve already alienated an experienced driver you could possibly call for help.). I’d almost guarantee even if you had a year with a trainer, you’ll run into an unknown problem your first couple days. Who’s gonna tell you what to do then?

but that's because it was the end of the night and I was getting tired and for some reason forgot to raise the landing gear haha.

Hahahahahahaha, hilarious!! We fired a guy for this last week. Lost a six figure job a month before Christmas. But let’s laugh about it.