Profile For Dave (formerly known as KnowItAll)

My pay stub looks just like that but without the per diem. BTW, excellent check!

Clock management is the big one. There are so many other things I've learned here but there isn't enough internet bandwidth to list them all.

Had a pet fly for a short time. Opened the window and it escaped. We'd only been together for a short time but miss the little one. *sigh*

This guy really went all out to illustrate what happened.

I’ve seen this look before...but on the face of a wild turkey.

I would say I saw it on a blackbird, but he bounced off my windshield too fast.

Same but it was a pigeon.

Darn deer just jumped right in front of me. Nothing could be done!

Considering JP as my starting company for best fit. Is manual/stick still an option? What brand/s do they currently run?

Great read, hope all keeps going well.

In my honest opinion, Jim Palmer is a great company to drive for and a great place to start. As of today, I'm a month shy of my year and have no plans on moving anywhere else.

Jim Palmer/Wil-Trans run Freightliner Cascadia and Peterbilt 579 with an oddball Volvo (maybe one or two) thrown in. Unless it was ordered with a manual for a lease operator all the newer trucks are going to be autoshift. They'll train and test in a manual if possible so you won't have the restriction on your CDL. My next truck will more then likely be an autoshift and I'm really looking forward to it.

Be sure to give the recruiters a call as they can answer a lot more questions then I can. Good luck and be safe!

I'll second Big T and Turtle.

G-Town, from your experiences how often does Wal-Mart load tail heavy? Sam's Club load was very tail heavy. Had the tandems all the way back and was still light on my drives. 37k net load 29k drives and 30k tandems. Legal and all but still goofy.

That wind chart, saved that months ago and reference it often. Thank you!

That’s not all that bad though.

Based on my experience, roughly 10% of the time you are tail heavy, almost always with Remix (dry). And usually full water pallets are the culprit . That’s why I scale every load and like you, balance it without going beyond the basic boundary of KingPin law.

I had one last Saturday. 2 water pallets in position 29 and 30. 5000 pounds behind the tandems. Front of the truck were lighter pallets. After scaling and reweighing my axle loads were; steers 11,600, drives 28,700, and tandems 33,500. Tandems were in the 12 hole (regular spacing 6” center-to-center).

That makes me feel better.

G-Town, from your experiences how often does Wal-Mart load tail heavy? Sam's Club load was very tail heavy. Had the tandems all the way back and was still light on my drives. 37k net load 29k drives and 30k tandems. Legal and all but still goofy.

That wind chart, saved that months ago and reference it often. Thank you!

Please take a good look at this...

Thanks for reposting the wind chart G-Town. I was in the "sketchy" zone yesterday. Today I'm empty and the wind is kicking up already this morning. Guess I'll be setting. Grrr. But that's better than becoming a statistic.

Took US 191 to US 26 into Idaho Falls yesterday. Beautiful drive! That is until the wind hit! The last 30 miles where brutal. 25 to 30+ straight line wind with some nasty gusts. Thankfully I was stretched out and had a little weight (37k) in the box.

If you're headed into the Idaho I-15, I-84 or I-86 area today use extreme caution. Weather forecast is for 30 to 40 straight lines and up to 60 gusts.

Stay safe!

Speaking of tire issues I noticed this today after I had to unhook while being loaded, what yall think ok or replace? It's a rear axle inside drive tire btw.

It's okay, slap a few layers of gorilla tape on it and keep roll'n.

Seriously, good catch for both of you! Pot hole craters and rough roads can destroy tires and rims.

WOOT!

I did luck out Matthew, 2018 FL with a bit over 92k miles now and yes... autoshift, which I really like. You can shift manually if necessary but oh so nice not to have to run through the gears especially in traffic.

I can only dream of autoshift for now. Seems me and Ol' Dirty Gertrude will be stuck with each other for a while longer. Although, I am on the "List" for a new(er) truck!

I never had one that guzzled fuel like that. I've had a few that were really loud. One was a beast. It rumbled and vibrated like you wouldn't believe. When it kicked on while in the sleeper I swear I thought the vibrations were going to steadily bounce me onto the floor while I slept.

Haha! I know that one! Rough starting, rough running, rough shutting down and LOUD!

I had one that drove me insane. Setpoint was Freeshmeat 28 degrees in start/stop mode. But the reefer would cool to 27 degrees and then kick on heat to 29 degrees then cool back to 27 then heat to 29....cool to 27....heat to 29....

Road assist just said they'll note it and just roll with it.... It was a drop at the receiver and they'll catch up with it later....

I was so happy when I dropped that trailer.

Yep, sometimes there are the ones you never want to see again.

My biggest gripe with the Peterbilt 579 is no storage. No place for a microwave in a 2016... That changed with the 2017 but you loose storage.

Now that I've almost gotten all the gremlins exterminated it's about time to turn it in. *sigh* Although, I'm looking forward to some of the creature comforts thw newer trucks have. Especially all the goodies on the 2019-2020 Freightliners.

Thank you and happy Father's Day!

On the Prime's reefers the worst is fuel hog and produce sensitive. They run 24/7. Especially bad when the load is set for 55 and ambient is below freezing. Miscellaneous frozen can be bad on the older reefers. -10 with ambient above 90 with direct sunlight they'll run almost constantly.

25 up a hill? 10 speed autoshift sounds about right. That is from my limited experience.

10 speed manual, I'm flying up at 31!

Brian, that's life in a governed truck. We all experience it. These governed trucks simply can't get enough fuel when climbing a mountain, so... going 25 mph uphill is something you just have to get accustomed to.

You aren't doing anything wrong.