Profile For Spaceman Spiff

Lumber kilns in Quincy, CA. Then me at the raw material side of the facility.

Mecalux pallet racking. Most warehouses and hardware stores have a variety of this.

Good idea, I need to take more pictures anyway.

My ride out to the site

Thanks Brett. Honest to all, there isn't a single thing that has surprised me in my first year still due to my constant engagement with this website in the time prior and during my employment with Prime. Everything from income to home time, equipment and culture has been right on the mark.

Turtle, I think the count was hovering at 22 on this one. You must have really busted all the binders out. I'd much prefer this loading job in lieu of MBCI or Bluescope where they put the little boxes and loose items on the very top though.

We have all seen them while driving. Pivots they are called, large wheeled watering machines that move in circles around a cropfield.

The units themselves (starting around $75,000 installed per my receiver yesterday) are loaded like a Lego kit on a flatbed trailer in Lindsay NE. Boxes, tubes, tires and angle iron.

Upon arrival I was positioned at the concrete base (about a 5' x 5' slab) that has four foot thick corners and two foot thick center. This also houses the plumbing connection.

The pipes are on the very top of the load and are the first to go. The guys are on the flatbed, one in front and one in back, and then I move slowly forward and they quickly roll each section off as I drove straight out away from the base.

Once all the tubes are off, I offset my truck a few feet to one side and back up while they unload each wheel section, tires, motors, the angle iron etc. Then we drive forward again and they offload the tension rods all the way out again.

I had delivered one of these in Delaware but the crew just dumped it all on one area and complained to each other that they ordered wrong parts and who was going to break it to the boss etc. Night and day difference with these two guys.

So I imagine by today this farmer has a nice new watering pivot unit that he can control with his smart phone from anywhere. Pretty cool.

I was spreading pieces of a Zimmatic watering unit in a field today in Utah with a couple of buffalo farmers and got this message. It's easy to keep your head down and grind but getting a nice message from your teammate really put a little kick in my day.

Also some pics of the delivery.

This father and son team are one of the most efficient and used installers. The dad has over 1000 units installed and has it down to a 14 hour system with 3 people!

Haha, fleece purchase, that's great.

Up in Milwaukee right now, came through Chicago this morning and saw multiple wrecks then lost traction myself in an onramp at low speed. Figure skated for a second and straightened out slowly without brakes then kept to the active lanes.

All seems well now. I shut down in Indiana Sat for ice and wind but it's sun shine and warming to almost freezing. Come on up to the Windy City.

But hey a grad school for truckers, anyone wanna go in with me on this investment? With the little ties?

Is this like grad school for truckers? Is there a uniform with a little tie? Come out with a master's in backing arts?

Seriously though, what the hell is anyone doing paying out for instruction in one aspect of the CDL test? Or is it an actual CDL school with 160 hour course?

Holy underwear. Your first trainer is the example that self driving tech companies have in mind when they are marketing to the public.

Otherwise, good job Steve!

Hi Matthew.

Is this your first license ever? If so, the best thing you can do for your future in trucking is keep it sparkling clean. Protect it as if it was your commercial license already, in essence it is a huge step in the process.

Also, stay employed at all costs, and if you're not or self employed or caring for someone, maintain lots of documents and contact information. Trucking companies want to know you have been working or staying busy one way or another and not out of the country, climbing the corporate ladder of Al Qaeda.

As always, study hard here with the high road training program and keep asking all your questions in the general forum.

Welcome!

Hi Joseph,

Can you throw the differential lock switch on that model? That will give both axles power to get you out of a bind like that.

I helped a driver in a slushed up dirt lot who was spinning all four supers trying to move the trailer he had just hooked. Ended up wrapping one of our cargo chains around each front drive and I pulled from a safe distance as the tire ate it under and bounced forward slowly. Not a great way but a last resort.

That feeling when realization set in that contact was made is the envy of no sane person. I'm sure the impression it will set in your mind for the rest of your driving days is beyond measure though.

Sorry this happened but like the others said, you just do the right thing. Have you had any other kind of action or incident before this?

Or - to put it another way people might enjoy - You can't blame the GPS for driving into a lake.

"No, no it means BEAR right."

Nice, Jrod.

DC I too am on Verizon Wireless. I have 22 g hi speed and then 15 g mobile hotspot.

The hotspot data does not incur against the 22g data, they are separate.

I pony my PS4 onto my phone's hotspot connection and can stream Netflix Hulu Disney etc as well as game with the wife. The data really trickles slow when gaming, even with headsets being used to talk to each other. Something like 1 gig for 4 hours on Red Dead Redemption 2 online.

Internet streaming might eat a bit more like on a laptop or something but if you do run over the 15, they just throttle the speed back to 600 kbps and not charge any extra.

Yo Jay, glad to hear you're cleared for training.

I started in the salt lake terminal as well March 2019. Some things I can bullet point:

-Bring all your papers. Like the world war 2 German sentries, they want to see "ze papers." Everything on the email list, yes including the social security card.

-The passport isn't mandatory. TWIC will be a step you take between PSD and TNT if you don't get it prior to shipping out to salt lake.

-The motel is basic but it is free. Keep your focus on training not amenities.

-Get on the first shuttle on day 1. Ask the clerk at the motel check in what time the first shuttle is. There are Prime shuttles and a motel shuttle. All go to the same place. Once in a while, the last morning shuttle will be late tho.

-The morning priority every day is getting the lunch orders scheduled. Free.

-Pack as if you were going to be standing outside for three to four hours at time... Cause, you know, you will.

-If you expect any verification of any kind will be needed, be it medical or a job history entry, locate and save good phone numbers before you get there. Some folks spent three days making constant phone calls for a tiny issue that they just hadn't found a good number for contact on.

-Do laundry at the terminal. You still need quarters for our machines. 50 cents wash 50 cents dry.

-Friday is pizza day. Free.

-Don't get distracted on your first day on the pad. If you and your pack begin watching the week two students backing practice, the instructors will make you do push ups. No, but they will snap you back to focus on pre trip. It's all you should work on first two days.

-Some trainers come and scout potential trainees on the pad. You are being evaluated.

-The mechanics may be short with you. They are short with us too sometimes. They are busy. Don't take it personally, they are great teammates and will take care of you later on.

-Food trucks come to the parking lot. The schedule is taped on doors around the terminal.

-coffee is free. It's downstairs in the driver's lounge, right turn after you enter the building. Enjoy.

What specific things do you still want answers to?

And beards too!

Great pics Old School. Like pulling the bed sheets up for someone to hop in.

Your Hydro people were the last ones to give me a multi stop and it was good practicing, as I honestly don't run across it enough. I was ready at the first stop, un strapping the tarps on one side and after I moved to the other, the "nice" plant workers wanted to help out and two of them pulled the tarps off from the opposite side as I was walking around the front of the tractor.

But after re doing all that plastic and tarping I did get to perform your method at the next three receivers.

The tarps really do become a monster in your first few months before they work some useful seams and "relax" a bit. Then they become much easier to work with and are second nature.

As far as weight, you can always improve your ability to lift and safely carry or place similar weights before and during training. I would focus on squats, bicep curl, overhead press (unless you don't have a top tarp box to worry about eh?) and especially safe lifting technique from the ground up.

My first few weeks I was hustling and trying to put the alphabet of things I had to do in proper order while racing that evil clock. At one point I realized I was wrenching my back just bending over and lifting them quickly up and on to the flatbed to strap them down for transit. It made me consider how much money I would lose slowing down a few seconds and properly lifting carefully versus how much money I would lose for time dealing with a back injury.

In all things physical, be careful out there. Sometimes there will only be you and no cell reception.