Comments By Robsteeler

I'm assuming you have direct deposit and she has access to the money? Also, you need to have time to talk each day and stuff to do to make you less lonely on the road. No, not lot lizards, books, PC, or some sort of TV. I have an iPad that I watch TV with, and read my books on.

I've been getting so many live loads lately that 400 miles would be a good day. I came flying into Pilot today with 10 minutes left on my clock and 380 miles run. Spent more than 6 hours between a live load, and a live unload.😐

On our last weekly safety call, the safety officer said we should be doing half hour pretrips, because it takes 10 minutes to do the cab/brake check alone. I used to make sure I logged at least 20 minutes, but I've been extending them since the call.

Plan B, I'll bet you the fault lies in the components then.

Susan, I can't believe they lock out manual mode. I use it for driving down mountains, and backing into shipper's all the time. I'd think not using it would be harder on the tranny.

Oh, I don't think I'll have to turn in my keys yet. I'm in South Carolina about 3 hours away from my drop. I'll be there nice and early. 🙂

My roommate in orientation went to the Swift Academy. He was one of the best drivers in our group. Good luck with school.

How do you do creative logging with elogs? Just wondering. Also, I don't envy your position. When I nailed that deer last month, the company shop made my truck look better than it did before. 😂

Does it also show you truck stops and parking? That’s mostly what I use TP for.

Are you paying for that trucker path routing? I tried it and it just used google maps. It gives you some different routing for 100 bucks a year, but I don’t know if it’s any good.

After two and a half hours I called again and they said I wouldn’t get an assignment tonight. So I ran over to the Carlisle OC and parked. Went to Walmart in the company car and restocked my truck with supplies. No sooner did I get back then an assignment came over my tablet with a pickup in the morning. Doesn’t have to get to Georgia until the 14th, but if it takes me that long, I’ll turn in my keys and go home!😂

Well the truck still worked technically. I asked for them to fix the radio which gave a very low sound, and to fix the ghost flashers. Neither issue stops the truck from making money, so I was just glad they fixed the radio! If it was an actual mechanical issue, I’ve seen them put people up in hotels. They gave me a loaner truck a few months ago when my old truck was in the shop for a few days. I won’t do that again. Truck stunk so badly of cigarettes that all my stuff stunk when I got my truck back. If it happens again I’ll just go without pay. I hate cigarette smoke.

Wow. I hope you feel better. I had an issue with the crank yesterday. Somehow I wrenched my back. I got on one of those massaging chairs last night on the turnpike and it really helped! Getting old isn’t for sissies! 😂

50 is not too old! I started at 52. I had a lot of aches and pains, but if you want it, you push through. I was set on Roehl and Prime. Roehl would not take me because I’d been retired from law enforcement for 7 years and they said, “we’ve found that people like you don’t do well.” I wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean, so I talked with Prime. One of my friends husband is a driver and he told me to look around more. So I talked with Schneider. I will say that Schneider will give you a chance when many others won’t. I don’t love everything about Schneider, but no company is perfect. They gave me a chance, even paying for two more tests for me when I failed, then after I did well and persevered, they gave me a brand new truck. Keep them in your back pocket if you run in to problems elsewhere. Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want as far as account, and pay. I’m glad you posted because it gave me a chance to remember that they did right by me and I need to remember that!

I called and asked but they said no. They did offer an empty truck for me to sleep in, but I didn’t want to clean it and make the bed. I hung out, slept for three hours, got my truck back (they couldn’t fix the flasher thing, but they fixed the speakers), and I stayed up until I couldn’t anymore. Then I slept my butt off and rolled for York, PA. Been here 2 hours waiting for an assignment. Almost out of hours now.

Old School, I guess that’s why so many companies seem to push leasing. They only pay a percentage, plus no upkeep on the equipment. Big savings.

We do get per diem, and it is listed separately on the statements. I wish I had one to show you, lol. It is also listed on the adp pay statement under other. It shows your deductions and also per diem. I would show that if I could cut all the personal information, but I can’t. I’m about to crash hard anyway. Been up all night but they finished my truck now. I don’t think I can stay on the phone with tech support right now I’m not making sense to myself, lol. Good night, hopefully I can get this fixed soon.

Bruce, I don't get anything mailed I look at it on compass. I've been thinking about this based on everyone's advice and I've decided to let the cpm difference go. It's not that important. I do need to figure out the issue with the regular pay though, because I'm doing the work and I should get the full pay. I'm at the Gary OC so I'm going to log on compass on a PC and call tech support again. I really hope they can figure it out, I just want to know what's going on.

I had to give them the key last night and I've been sitting in the driver's lounge. Been up since 2am so last night about 2am, I asked the guy if they were done yet because I was tired. He pulled the truck out onto the apron so I could sleep in it. I figured they'd be back pretty early for it, but I guess the day shift comes in at 0530 because that's when they woke me up to take the truck back! 😂 I'm back in the driver's lounge now. I really hope they fix what's wrong, but right now I'm feeling like I can live with the issues! I hope they finish it today because I want to be well rested when my reset is over.

Rainy. It’s not messages, it’s my detailed settlement statements. They always agreed with my pay statements. I’m not sure how Prime does it, but the settlement statements get updated all through the week. I always check them the day after completing assignments to make sure what I’ve just done is on there. Like I said, the pay on Friday has always agreed with the settlement statements until a few weeks ago. One week I was expecting around 1100 and got 800 instead. I figured maybe I completed a task after the cutoff and it will be paid out next week. Nope, that one was short around 200. Those two I showed my dbl and she said it looked wrong to her, but she would check it. More weeks passed and it keeps happening. I’m at an oc now and I’m going to call tech support tomorrow. They want to try and reset everything through a desktop pc instead of on my phone. I hope they can because I don’t know how to prove anything without it. I know if they can restore it I’ll be printing copies from now on.

Now, you made some valid points, but also some points I don’t agree with. I don’t think relating the problems I had physically in cdl school was complaining. There’s a difference between that and whining. I’ve got bad knees and I had so many backing problems because I wasn’t practicing enough. It was my own fault I now see, because I insisted on getting a manual license. Little did I know that it didn’t matter at all. I wasn’t even given a manual when I got here. Of course the manual trucks companies use are a far cry from the schools trucks with super stiff spring clutches, so I wouldn’t have the same issues, but it’s a moot point.

As far as owner, I thought I was pretty clear that I don’t really want to do that. I don’t think the hassle is worth the risk and possible financial ruin. I said it would fit my personality better because where I’m at, you use the app and pick your own loads. I’ve met some guys and they told me they set up their loads sometimes for their entire run before they even go out. They don’t have to deal with dispatch. I’m going to read the articles you mentioned because I seem to fly by the seat of my pants sometimes. I do alright, but I want to do well not just get by. Some things seem to get brushed over in training and time runs out. As time goes by, you get embarrassed to admit you don’t understand something. I just learned what one of the switches on my dash did, because I finally asked a trainer about it. I’ve already decided that every time I’m at an oc, I’m going to find out something else I have questions about. Unless I find the answers myself. I’ve been reading the big book they give us that nobody ever reads and have found great information. Who would have figured? 😂

As far as bashing companies like prime, no. I didn’t bash them. I only said I didn’t want to go out with a trainer that long. I like Prime. I have serious issues staying in a truck with someone for that long. I kind of wish I didn’t feel that way, because sometimes I regret not going that route. I was signed up with them, but decided to go with Schneider instead. I never had to spend the night with my trainer. He went home daily. That was good for my personal issues, but bad for my development as a driver. It has cost me though, in little accidents at shippers, but I learned a lot from my mistakes. I’ll read what you suggested and see if it helps. I do appreciate it and I don’t feel negative about anything. I was super stressed at first, but my comfort level has grown immensely. Staying out for the month has helped too. I definitely get much more practice. Once I get rolling after my reset, I’ll post some of my weeks and you guys can see what I’m doing if you’d like. I post much of it on Facebook now. If any of you want to see, send me a message and I’ll give you my name etc on Facebook and you can see it. I post screw ups and triumphs on there. Thanks for the advice Rainy. It’s hard sometimes to see how you come across to people, and their perception of you through your writing. That’s one more aspect for me to endeavor to improve. The tone of my posts. Obviously, it’s more negative than I intended. Overall, I’m happy at Schneider. There are a lot of nice people here. Their Facebook page is good about letting people say the things they don’t like, and I haven’t seen them hide posts. I read a particularly harsh comment from someone, and they didn’t take it down. I asked on their posts about amenities for drivers on the new trucks and mentioned that I didn’t have a single one of the things they said they gave drivers on their trucks. They suggested I ask for a new truck. People posted the laughing emoji when they read that, but damned if they didn’t give me a new truck when I did ask. I came back to my original post on there and told all the laughers that the did give me a new truck. That was amazing. But there will always be aspects of the company that I don’t like, and if I started going all over, I’d find things I didn’t like there.

I had a tough time quitting. Went back constantly until I looked at it like an addict. You have to decide that you can never have one again, not even one time. If you can do that, you’ll quit. It’s been 20 years almost since I’ve had one, and I still miss them some days, but I know I can’t have one.

Thanks Old School. That means a lot. I wasn't sure your intention, but I was really hoping it wasn't a dig. I am using a lot of my 70 lately doing live loads and unloads. I put myself off duty, but of course that doesn't stop my 14 from counting down. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong, but I'm not sure what to do about it. I'd really like to be the best driver I can be. Seriously. I've spent 27 years in law enforcement between the military and my department. I've got an ingrained suspicion of people's intentions now. It's something I'm working on, but it's hard when you feel like you're being messed with. I had so many driving problems in the beginning that I really love the feeling of driving the truck now. I've become so much better that it makes me want to do even better. Some days I still have trouble backing, and it really annoys and embarrasses me. Other days I really feel like a pro. 😂 I want more days like that and I'd love to figure out how to be more productive and happy, because you're right, this money thing is just a distraction from my goal. It is human nature though, to be upset, so I really need to figure it out. (The statement money, not the cpm. I'll figure that out eventually.) Thanks