Comments By Moe

Seriously dude you over think and gripe too much.

If it bothers you so much use some of that nice $5K bonus to buy a set of quality ear plugs or perhaps a nice set of sound cancellation headsets (Bose or Beats perhaps) and fall asleep to some classical music or perhaps nature sounds.

It ain’t that hard……smh

At 50 it can be a bit cold for some to sleep comfortably. Some owner ops do not have APUs either.

If the noise of the idling trucks or reefers bother you so much, why do you park where they do?

Why do owner ops feel the need to leave their truck running all night when the temp is only 50-60 outside??? I drive a company truck and I don't leave my truck running... Owner ops are actively draining their bottom line and polluting at the same time. Some of them sound poorly maintained too, no wonder there's so many jokers parked on highway shoulders, and it's like being next to a pesky annoying reefer.

My message to these ppl: "Cut that btch off!"

I DON'T park next to reefers and I avoid rest areas and busy truck stops as much as I can. I'll park at the furthest end of a truck stop with a huge lot and some reefer will still manage to park next to me by the end of the night.

How will they survive if their truck or heater doesn't work and they're stuck in -40F weather? I have an electric heater and I'll only use it as long as the battery lasts. I have 2 comforters, a sleeping bag and warm pajamas to sleep in that still keep me comfortable. I also bought insulation for all my windows to help keep my truck cool during the summer.

I'll take the $5K bonus per quarter over being comfortable 100% of the time. If I invested those bonuses over 20 years, it would add up to over one million by the end. And the $5K is only part of the fuel savings since I'm a driver, owner ops get 100% of that. I don't know, I'll take retiring early over spending my nights in grungy and noisy truck stops.

And yes, I will continue to fight against the idea that truck stops NEED to be noisy and filthy places. A couple of decades ago, most people thought the average trucker was a plaid-wearing, chain-smoking, redneck that had to be on the road for months and months at a time.

At 50 it can be a bit cold for some to sleep comfortably. Some owner ops do not have APUs either.

If the noise of the idling trucks or reefers bother you so much, why do you park where they do?

Why do owner ops feel the need to leave their truck running all night when the temp is only 50-60 outside??? I drive a company truck and I don't leave my truck running... Owner ops are actively draining their bottom line and polluting at the same time. Some of them sound poorly maintained too, no wonder there's so many jokers parked on highway shoulders, and it's like being next to a pesky annoying reefer.

My message to these ppl: "Cut that btch off!"

Marten keeps us moving with reefer work. I average between 2500 to 3000 a week. It’s definitely been slower and we aren’t getting the holiday bonuses that we used to get.

There will always be some work in Reefer, we gotta eat in good times and bad! lol

I'd like to find out from more of you how well they're keeping you moving. Spring is upon us, so hopefully we'll get a little freight action, but I'm not confident we'll see much of a pickup.

Thank you for the kind words

I live in Florida and I can tell you that there is plenty of work down here. Of course I brought my job with me when I moved and do OTR. Not sure who is hiring or how strict they are.,

If you are ambitious (which it sounds like you are) and work hard you can make a go of it anywhere I think. Jacksonville has some distributors but it is a ways away from Daytona, and forewarning Truck parking on the 95 south of JV is minimal at best, impossible late at night. The rest areas and truck stops fill up around 1530 to 1700.

Once you hit the last rest stop north of Miami - forget it there isn’t anything for truck parking. But if you manage to swing a local gig parking won’t be that big of an issue for you.

I’m in the process of relocating to Daytona beach Florida (yeah I know it’s a sinkhole for trucking) in my area are all three beverage company’s hiring drivers. I’m just trying to see who has an inside scoop on which is going to be better for pay and benefit's, as well if any one of them is union and what the hours are like. Trying to be specific to that location in Daytona.

Also, before anyone comes out and says it’s back breaking work you should stay away. I’m 20 years old in the garbage industry right now and I can confidently say that hard work does not scare me. I run all day long doing thousands of stops a week from dawn till dusk and I love it. Just got my license and am looking to get some experience on my record.

It’s been quite a while since I’ve been here. I was thinking of the forum and thought I’d pop in and say hello. Those who know, know I’ve had quite a bit happen in the last year. I’ve moved across country from Oregon to Florida and in the middle of all that my mom died from her long term illness.

Life is finally starting to settle into a new normal and I am keeping it moving forward.

Yes, I am still with Marten Transport it will be my third year here this coming October. I’m also not planning on going anywhere. Staying right where I am planted.

Hope you all are good!

Moe

Thank you so much to everyone for the kind words, thoughts and prayers. I wanted to let you all know that I have relocated safely to FL (mom died while I was enroute here with the U-haul loaded with my earthly goods) and I am now (finally) able to begin the process of handling her affairs. Marten Transport has changed my planned leave to bereavement/FMLA and is giving me more time to deal with all of this.

Thank you again. I will keep in touch. Just wanted to pop in briefly and update everyone.

Be safe out there while on the roads please.

Moe

Hi all,

I just wanted to give the update, so many of you have given warm wishes, kind thoughts and prayers. My mom Capt. Linda L Reinhardt (USAF Ret) lost her battle with the terminal illness she fought against since 2019 yesterday at 1145 AM EDT. I got the news while driving the U-haul through Nebraska. I am currently in Clarkesville, TN spending the night and have to get the Uhaul (safely) to FL then onward to PA to take care of her final arrangements.

Just thought I would pass that on to my brothers and sisters on the road. Thanks so much for the prayers and thoughts over the years.

Moe

Start applying for new jobs immeidately. While you are doing that, you will be making arrangments to return the truck to them. I would highly reccomend saving any sort of text messages (emails, Qualcomm dispatches, texts etc) ONTO YOUR personal phone, take a screen shot of it (camera picture) of the texts line by line.

If the company is giving you the run around about getting home - find a good labor attorney who is familiar with the trucking industry (preferrably) and have them start making calls (if you can afford their services). As much as it sucks, as others have said you can't abandon the truck and load, that could open you up to liability. I would definitly be parking that mofo until all of this got sorted out or I was at least guaranteed a load home and I saw said load home on my qualcomm.

As for missed paychecks contact your state's BOLI (Beauru of Labor and Industry- at least that is what my state calls it, yours could very well be unemployment or some other labor board). the BOLI can go after them for missed wages, I had to do that against an employer once- it only took one call from someone at the BOLI to get me my money. Bosses don't like messing around with that sort of thing.

As others have also mentioned, I wouldn't be sticking around with nor tolerating that gig. I give bosses/employers a 1 week grace for a bounced payment (file that under stuff happens) after the second week or the second occurence- BUBI.

Wish you the best of luck in your journey.

Wanting to know what the truckers rights are as far as a new company that I started for and this is the second week no paycheck and the first check they tried to deposit bounced for non sufficient funds. I want to quit but I do t want to just abandon my truck or load but I am now pretty much working for Free. Help!!!

Thanks again for the well wishes. I am just working on packing right now. I have forgotten how much work it is to pack a house as I have not done it in a long time. So I am sorting through what comes with me and what does not. That in and of itself is WORK.

I had mom's long term care plan meeting today via tele conference (Zoom on laptop) and she is hanging in there. We have her stabilized since her pneumonia but her lung capacity is garbage ( to be honest and hopefully not in too much distaste). To put in perspective, the human lung runs from your upper chest (the upper breast for a woman) down to just below your ribcage. The doctors informed me she is using only upper third of her lung which is the top of her breast bone down to upper lower part of her chest. Everything below that is dead scar tissue. She has pulminary fibrosis. So she is actually breathing on about 45 percent of her capacity.

That is all the update I have for now. I will keep in touch.

Be safe out there everyone please, no freight is worth our lives.

Moe