Profile For Kevin K

In the long run it's still best for faster trucks to pass slower ones, even if it takes them a minute to do so. Otherwise there would be lines of trucks a mile long and that ain't good for anybody. I just wish every company gave their drivers an option to bump up the speed a bit a few times a day.

^^^^ in response to Rob T.

I actually prefer a driver not trying to signal me over at all unless my lane is ending/emergency vehicle on my side and they're slowing up to allow me in or inclement weather. I know when I'm clear and dont need another driver trying to dictate my actions. That's just my personal preference, though I will flash my marker lights to thank them.

I hear you on this. "I don't need your help - but thanks for your help" lol.

I will dim just to let them know that I'm not a dink and won't speed back up on them. Sometimes I'm in a good mood too and just saying hi to a fellow driver.

I have had driving jobs for 25 years but only recently started driving a truck that's governed at 65. It seems like every night I come up on another truck going 62-ish and when I start to pass them they bump it up a notch and block me from getting back over. When I finally do crawl past them and get back over they slow down again.

The last thing I want to do when someone is slowly passing me is speed up, prolong the process, and aggravate the other driver. I just bump the cruise off for a second and dim my lights when it's safe for them to get back over.

What is the mentality behind this?

Has it always been like this?

Congratulations Kevin K .! That's AWESOME!

So where are you based? (I live in Butler, N. W. of MKE - near 45 and Hampton Ave.).

RE: Averitt. They were my early first choice but they seemed to insist on 4 months. Curious how you started there.

I thought I wanted to drive for their On Tour Logistics division (once I met the 12-months and FM approval requirements). Not so sure now as I think they only make $1,200 / week and are out for a long time (duration of the tour).

Even applied to drive a forklift there and emailed the recruiter several times. Never got a response...

Happy to meet and buy you a cup o' Joe if timing / logistics ever works out!

Thanks, Marc.

I work out of the terminal near 13th and College. I grew up near 108th and Hampton and know Butler well. I went to school and church at Immanuel across from the True Value and my first jobs were at James Pharmacy and Sentry. You might be familiar with both from back in the day.

I went to MATC and got about a month of tractor trailer experience at the company where I was driving that straight truck. I filled out an application for Averitt online and didn't hear back, then saw somewhere that they were having a hiring event so I went down and talked to the recruiter. He must have liked something about me because I got a call shortly after.

I'm not sure why they accepted my one month of experience but I think there might have been a mix-up -- it's too long and complicated of a story to tell here. I do think that MATC had a lot to do with it and my Class B experience probably helped too.

I don't think we are hiring drivers now but I think it's a great place to work. Laid back and good people. City and Shuttle (linehaul) positions open up frequently enough. I can let you know when we have an opening.

Congratulations on completing that first year. You definitely did it the hard way. Best of luck for many years of continued success. If you could give us a current review of Averitt, it could help so many. Keep up the great work.

Thanks, Big Scott. I don't know if it was the hard way, but it certainly was the long way!

What time areevery night. I Get passed by a few Averitt trucks everynight on my linehaul run to Indianapolis.

Glad it is working out for you!

I usually crawl past an OD truck on my way down Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I get to Winamac around midnight. I'm set about 65.5 and most of you guys seem to be about 64 or 64.5. Turtle races lol. If you see a Volvo sleeper it's probably me.

This is a long-overdue (and long-winded) "thank you" to Brett and everyone at Trucking Truth. I made it through my rookie year and I couldn't be happier with my job.

I'm 46 and have held many driving and delivery jobs over my work life. I started off delivering newspapers in my car, throwing the rolled-up papers out the sunroof and onto the porch. Early on I delivered phone books, groceries, and flowers, and in the mid '90s stepped up to a delivery job at an expedited P&D company driving vans and eventually straight trucks. I got my Class B with HazMat 8 years ago.

A year and a half ago, I realized I would never be able to save enough money doing what I was doing to retire comfortably and decided to get my Class A. I worked my way through most of the High Road CDL Training Program and studied Daniel's Complete Pre-Trip Inspection. I took all the tests, got my permit and all the endorsements, and attended a first-rate technical college to get my Class A. I had perfect attendance and a 4.0 to boot.

I had no desire to go OTR so I filled out several applications with LTL companies and was hired, or in the process of being hired, at all of them. I wanted a linehaul job. I was tired of running around the city doing P&D but I never tired of long drives at night. In the end I chose Averitt over Old Dominion, R+L, and Rock Transfer. I'm glad I did.

After six weeks of training with a city driver I began a nightly Milwaukee, WI to Lebanon, IN meet and turn. I'm now doing a Milwaukee to Nashville, TN laydown twice a week with a meet in Greenwood, IN on Fridays. I love my Volvo sleeper and I average about 2800 miles a week at .58 cpm. Averitt is an excellent company. Good pay, great benefits, a few really nice perks, and they treat their drivers with respect and heart.

I had two incidents that put a damper on a great year. I put a couple of scratches on a trailer when I brushed against a concrete pole at a fuel aisle when I was in too much of a hurry. And I got a warning for following too close - again when I was in too much of hurry. That last warning was an awesome blessing in disguise. I was so in the mode of hurry-hurry at my expedited straight truck job. I realized that I didn't have to run like that at Averitt. I could get the job done safely and with a lot less stress by holding back and practicing good space management.

I also had one of the most stressful days of my whole driving career a couple of weeks ago. I left Nashville in a steady rain that changed to ice north of Louisville, then snow north of Indianapolis, and more of just about everything from northern Indiana to Milwaukee. The precip never stopped. I took it steady and even made it back to Milwaukee in time for a city driver to get the freight he needed for his route that day.

If you made it this far my apologies and thank you. Trucking Truth was a huge help to me when I first started this journey and I continue to visit the forum for all of the helpful knowledge and insights. There is no other place on the internet that is free from all of the garbage so prevalent elsewhere. I still have so much to learn. I just put my body and soul and all things in God's hands and pray every day to become a smarter, safer, more courteous, and more professional driver.

You may want to look at Dayton Freight. They are a very good company and I know that they hire Class B drivers and operate in your area.

I want to do exactly what your cousin did but haven't found a company to offer that in the Chicago area yet.

If your class B is current, you have recent experience, and a clean record, look for local companies that operate both box trucks and semis. Apply for a class B job driving the straight truck and there is a very good chance they will upgrade you if you express an interest and have shown a good work record.

I have a cousin who is the safety manager at a 50+ truck expediting company and he has a program he calls B to A. He gets a lot of drivers by hiring dump truck, school bus and other class B drivers and putting them through the program after they have been successful with the box truck.

Indeed.com is a good place to look.

I always forget Dayton has straight trucks too. Another excellent company and right next to that OD in Crest Hill.

If you do not mind working the dock, a LTL companies dock to driver program would work for you where you split time on the dock and learning .

You could try the Old Dominion in Crest Hill and see if they have any openings in their dock to driver program. I'm sure Bobcat Bob could testify that OD is an excellent company to work for - the kind of place you could retire from....

I was a Class B straight truck driver for 8 years when I decided to get my Class A. I attended an accredited technical college that is well respected and put in several applications with LTL companies after graduation. I was hired, or in the process of being hired, at all of them. I ended up choosing Averitt in a linehaul position and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Good pay and equipment, excellent benefits, and home every weekend.

If you are in or near a decent size city I highly recommend going the technical college/LTL linehaul route. If you have a clean record and do well at school you will have your pick of local jobs. You may need to work the dock a little or run city P&D to get started. I was lucky (and did my research) so I avoided all that. Old Dominion is another excellent company and is known to give rookie drivers a shot.

Good luck!

Ah, fun with fire extinguishers...

A couple years ago at my prior job I'm driving a straight truck down an interstate. The fire extinguisher is installed on the left side of the driver's seat. The sun is setting, I've got the cruise on, and I'm deadheading back to the terminal after delivering my load. I kick my left leg back to stretch it a bit and... kick the handle of the fire extinguisher which does not have its pin in place (proper pre-trip amen).

The whole thing promptly empties itself out, spraying that sticky funky powder all over the cab. I roll down the window to let some of it out, doing my best Cheech and Chong impression. I still have an hour left of interstate to go before home...

I stop at the spot where we leased our trucks to fuel and clean it up as best as I can. I've got the power spray hose and gobs of shop towels and still what a mess! Months and months of cleaning the same spots over and over again... the stuff goes into every nook and cranny and is nearly impossible to completely get rid of.

Don't neglect that extinguisher during your pre-trip!

If the car was merging slowly, and the ramp was short, why did it require a split second decision?

It's one of those ramps that loops down and around from an overpass. I misjudged the speed of the car and the length of the merging lane. I thought they had more time and room to get up to speed.

If given the same situation as you were in, I would have slowed down allowing the car to complete the merge.

It was also my hesitation in making a decision that caused it to become a split-second decision if that makes any sense! Instead of hesitating, I should have immediately and gradually slowed down when I saw the potential of a problem.

Situational awareness is perhaps one of the top 3 skills a truck driver needs to operate safely

What's the other two?

Also, I think many truck drivers change lanes to avoid cars far too often. Each lane change is a risk...don't change lanes any more often than you really need to.

Most of the time, changing lanes causes more problems than it solves, and then there is that increased risk for no good reason...

I drove a non-governed straight truck for many years and am now driving a tractor trailer governed at 65. What a difference this has made! I used to have the power and maneuverability to easily pass the packs of tractor trailers I encountered. Now I have no passing power and am twice as long. I am still adjusting and learning that in almost every situation the best thing to do is stay in your lane and slow down.

I had to make a split-second decision last night. A car was slowly merging on to the interstate from a short on-ramp. I was in the right lane and had a UPS doubles truck on my left. My only choices were to brake hard or maintain speed and leave it up to the car to brake and yield. I maintained speed. I was in that no man's land where no decision was a good one. I'm sure the other driver felt as though I had cut them off. I wouldn't blame them if they felt that way. It was my fault for having put myself in that position - alongside double pups and approaching an on ramp where traffic merges slowly because the ramp is so short.

Anyway, it got me wondering how often drivers call in truckers who they feel have done them wrong. What is usually the company's way of handling this? I'd be interested if anyone has received a complaint about their driving and what consequences they faced because of it.

I was tempted to post the definition of schlep...haha

The backpack on wheels might be a good idea. I may end up laying over in motels a couple nights a week so I could do a personal bag and a truck bag if you will. Two bags that can be moved in one trip but one left behind in the truck, one taken in the motel.

It's tough when you slipseat day cabs to lug all this stuff back and forth to work every day but it must be done!

Shim [shim] n. [[< ?]] ✩ a thin, usually wedge-shaped piece of wood, metal, or stone typically inserted under some part so as to level it or make it flush with another part vt. shimmed, shimming to fit with a shim or shims

I've had to spread apart the prongs a bit with a screwdriver before but the whole thing popping out was a new one.

Dang it! A zip tie would have worked like a charm. I'll start carrying some from now on. Thanks Chris.