Profile For Noob_Driver

I work for Millis, we have a terminal in Trenton and I know they need midwest regional guys now. Not sure where your located but they also have local guys in the area if you dont like regional. Also we run the Miller brewery in trenton and they hire spotters as well if your interested in that as well. I did a diary a few years back as well as another driver still with us, pete e pothole. I cant speak for any other training programs but Millis is very picky and because of that classes are small. It will be you and 4 other students max, so tons of driving time and tons of backing time. We also have a terminal in columbus if your closer to there, but the class is in trenton.

Good for you pack rat, I tried a diary for about 2 weeks before I stopped lol. Maybe I should have stuck with it, any tips?

Stop relying on someone else's memory when it comes to details would be a great place to start.

Hey! I remembered a whole 2 weeks worth of loads today I should get some credit for that. And one was a 5 stop John deere load!

Good for you pack rat, I tried a diary for about 2 weeks before I stopped lol. Maybe I should have stuck with it, any tips?

My old truck would pick up steel cable guard rail in a curve outside a conagra in st elmo and stab the brakes on me. Probably happened a dozen times. Thankfully it hasn't happened to me on the interstate at highway speeds.

I'm curious how sitting in a dock counts as on duty time. Specifically if your logged in as on duty unloading/loading in the qc will that eat into your 70? Or will the company pay you from your arrived at Shipper/final macro but allow you to stay off duty to conserve clock.

Terminal location in relation to home of record does not really matter, except in FL (south of I-4), Alaska, and Hawaii.

Not necessarily true. I live in a ...... not great area. The nearest truck stops are the 4 in Gary Indiana and I'm not allowed to park there (for good reason). The nearest free safe spot would be 50 plus miles away, or I could pay 200 a month for storage for 5 or 6 days a month while on hometime. Im sure my situation is unique but having a terminal close is important to me because it's cheaper to drive to a terminal than pay a rental fee.

You can do your 30 at anytime with any status other than driving now, in any combination. At least the on my qualcomm. You can split it with 15 min on duty fueling and 15 minutes off duty. You can also do it during a drop and hook. On duty yard move, drop your trailer then drive to your loaded on yard move. On duty loading time. A few more minutes off duty and your good to go.

5 gallon plastic ice cream bucket with lid. Use as pail when cleaning things, washing dog feet, holding anything nasty until the next trash stop.

Umm I know this is an old thread but where can I find a 5 gallon bucket of ice cream please?

I run everything I'm given. I don't complain at all to my dispatcher and he keeps me rolling. This summer has been great to me so far. I've been averaging 3300 miles a week since march on nom hometime weeks and I thinks it's because after 2.5 years of taking every load I get taken care of. Now I could be wrong I dont know. My dispatcher is similiar to me and we aren't very chatty and can be gruff and anti social so we havent had that discussion. Dont get me wrong I complain about runs I dont like alot to friends I talk to in the company but never to my dispatcher. I literally did a zero mile run this week. I picked up in black river falls and dropped at a terminal in Black river falls because my dispatcher asked me for a favor. I know he will hook me up later for that.

I think I would enjoy a dedicated run, I did a dedicated run for a few weeks from edwardsville I'll to middle Tennessee and back and loved it until I had a hometime scheduled and never sniffed it again. Again, that was two weeks it might get boring after awhile. How does line haul even work with the "bidding".

Not sure about yesterday but I heard today a Saia double hit a wall in the construction jersey wall area where it splits and caught fire carrying fireworks.

I don’t understand why it’s such a big deal with parking. I know I’m new to the trucking world- but, why does it matter?

For example- I park in a couple of independent lots on my runs... there will be 40 open spots and truckers will bypass all the empty spots to back between two other trucks.

I have been told it’s because then they don’t have to worry about others backing next to them, especially rookies.

I think it’s just an industry cultural thing- for me, I always look for easiest place to park... no matter what 🤣

I find it easier to back into spots or docks with another truck or trailer on my right. It gives me a a sense of where I need to be with my trailer, sometimes theres no lines or faded lines and butcher my back and end up straddling two wide open spots.

If I remember correctly you're out of Joliet right? That's a nice little run. Been thinking about trying something home daily for awhile now but dont want to be running up and down 294 and 94 all day.

I am, its not a bad run miss most traffic so that is nice.

Yeah anyplace around here sucks, 80, 294, 94, 65 sooo much traffic. One day Ill have enough seniority to get a Saint Louis or Des Moines and get away from the craziness.

Very true. I'm parked at the last toll plaza in indiana with 2.5 hrs left on my clock because I'm running recaps and dont feel like wasting 25 minutes in traffic running all of 294 up to Milwaukee this afternoon to get closer to my final. I'll roll through at 2am everytime and deal with the lane closures.

Twice a day, my run takes me out to Richmond In off of 70 then back.

If I remember correctly you're out of Joliet right? That's a nice little run. Been thinking about trying something home daily for awhile now but dont want to be running up and down 294 and 94 all day.

I think the majority of use a GPS, some trucks have an integrated GPS in our Qualcomm but I have a garmin. I ask for company directions on every new place I go to because our company directions are submitted by drivers so it makes getting to the shipper/reciever easier especially in regards to which entrance to go in or where the check in office is or any other instructions that might be applicable.... yellow vest, safety goggles, overnight parking, etc. Also a GPS will take you down roads you shouldnt be on so be careful.

That's going to be annoying for a long time. Do you run through there alot Bob?

Thank god the newer trucks have auto creep. My 17 didnt and I set my camera off at least 50 times backing under a trailer.

I work for Millis and have for about 2 years now. I started their school in Richfield Wi in February of 2019 I believe and graduated march 12 I think. I have a diary in the training section here somewhere. I love my job and love my company. Terminals were a major factor in my decision because I live on the south side of Chicago and most companies i contacted would not let me leave my truck at a Gary indiana truck stop (totally understandable, lol) when I go on hometime. So I picked richfield to do my schooling and to be my home terminal. Millis's school is amazing at richfield and I've heard good things about the other schools as well. I'm not sure where your from though. Class sizes were insanely small when I went. I had 5 and one left so we got lots of backing time and in truck experience. With covid they've actually cut that in half so it's a max of 3 students at the richfield school which is nuts for actual behind the wheel time. After graduation you go out with a trainer for 15k miles which usually ends up closer to 20k by the time u get your own truck because of scheduling and loads etc. Plus by the time 15k gets around you and your trainer are comfortable and you can get some fat checks by running as a team for a week or 2 while using 2 clocks. I was in my own truck in about 6 weeks I believe including 2 sometimes. While pot hole pete who also is with millis and did a diary around the same time as me took a bit longer (his diary is trash ignore it).

As far as miles go I dont run like a madman and I clear 2800 to 2900 weekly miles on average for the 2 years I've been here. We run a ton of heavy loads weather its beer loads or paper rolls but you get used to that. Great equipment, I started with a 2017 kenworth t680, last summer I got put in a brand new t680 and we dont usually let our otr and regional trucks get over 2 years old. If you got any other specific questions let me know.

Some of our drivers have been talking about a Galanz 3 in 1. Apparently it's a microwave, air fryer, and convection oven. Been thinking about replacing my microwave with it.

Not gonna lie, I generally run 1 or 2am to noon and I've taken quite a few 30s at fuel islands. I think being the middle of the night I can get away with it hopefully.