Comments By Uncle Rake

Rick, yes I am driving for Prime. The only thing I have heard about their policy in relation to adverse driving conditions is that if you think it is too unsafe to drive, you are free to park it and wait. If I understand correctly, the only time my trainer felt the need to do that was in a blizzard in Maine where he could not move. He has also shut down when mandated by law enforcement. Normally, he attempts to continue as long as possible, even in adverse conditions. This time the need to put on chains was suddenly mandated by conditions around us. I guess we could have parked there and waited, but we chose the other option. As it turned out, despite installation in very hard snowfall and removal in hard rain, the experience was not that difficult.

Fifth Time Is the Charm

The first time I went through Snoqualmie pass (on I-90 in WA) was just after I started TNT training. It was snowing, and my trainer was asleep in the sleeper. I used the engine brake to control my speed. At one point I felt the truck slip a little so I quickly disengaged the brake. That was the only time I noticed a problem, and I did continue to use the engine brake. The second time I went through the pass, my trainer was sleeping, it was snowing, and I went through it again.

On our third attempt through the area, my trainer was scheduled to drive and we had been under a chain order. We were wondering whether or not to go ahead and chain up when someone came through and told us they had lifted the chain requirement. We checked the Washington DOT website, and sure enough chains were not required for Snoqualmie. So we took off across the interstate again and as soon as we got under one of those LED warning signs, it said chains were required. We wondered about the discrepancy but decided to go ahead and take our chances. We made it through the area without any problems without chains.

The fourth time we encountered Snoqualmie, my trainer woke me at 0100 on January 12, 2021. He said we were approaching the area and chains were required. He had never used chains and I certainly had not. We were pretty fast learners I would say. I think we had our six chains on in about 40 minutes. That included moving a lot of things to get to them. (I will just leave that statement as it is.) As we eased out on the highway the ride was so rough we wondered if we had done something wrong. Eventually we got up closer to our 30 mph limit and the ride was much smoother. We made it through the area without any problems. When we got to the worst area, it was not difficult to tell why chains were required. And then, when we got to the chain removal area, behold, all six chains were still on the tires!

Following the completion of our last load in the northwest, I needed less than 1500 miles to complete my TNT training. I figured they would route us toward Springfield so I could get my miles done and to be ready for an upgrade. Instead, we are picking up two loads in Washington and taking them to Connecticut, a total trip of over 3,000 miles. By the time I do manage to get back to Springfield, I may be closer to 60,000 miles. But that's okay.

When I checked the weather for Snoqualmie last night, just in case we headed that way, which according to our history would seem likely, it showed that no restrictions were required. Sure enough, that is exactly the route we took, and thankfully, the roads were indeed clear. So if you have to go through Snoqualmie, and conditions are less than favorable, keep trying and eventually it will get better. That’s not to say the entire trip was easy this morning. I experienced times when I thought I was in a snow globe. But the temperature stayed in the middle 30s at least so conditions never got really bad.

Is that a serious criteria of yours Uncle Rake? If so, I am curious why? If it's just a personal preference, that's fine, but it sure seems to be an extremely limiting factor in today's marketplace.

It was just a question based on [previously] unconfirmed information, OS. At this point in my career, I’ve only driven for Prime whose fleet is limited to automatics. So my license is limited to automatics, but I wouldn’t consider that a difficult hurdle to overcome, if necessary.

Turtle, I have a couple questions about driving for Walmart.

Do they require you to live within a certain distance from the DC?

Someone told me they are moving toward automatic trucks. Can you confirm or deny that?

Thanks for the information, Kearsey.

Thanks for your willingness to help, Ted. I told my fleet manager today that I will be a company driver, and that I am 100% certain of that decision.

Thank you for the link, Rob. I know I have read dozens of articles on TT about leasing and none of them recommended it, to say the least.

But in all that I had not read Rob‘s experience and the responses. If I had, I would probably not have posed my question.

Some of you asked about my current progress. We have a load headed to Washington right now which should put me over 49,000 miles toward the required 50,000. Wherever they send us from Washington should be enough. I wish I knew how soon after reaching the limit they would start processing me toward driving my own truck. Please do not read into that phrase “my own truck” that I have any idea of leasing. (Btw, editing this post on an iPad while lying in the sleeper of a Freightliner on a bumpy road in the Midwest has reminded me why I seldom write posts at this point in my progress. In fact, it has taken me six or eight attempts to successfully hit the preview button for this post.)

Butch is very thankful for all of your responses. He is still trying to understand the best way to do things, and hopes within a week or so to be making decisions on his own so that he does not end up in these challenging predicaments.

Let’s say a driver named Butch begins with a fresh clock by driving to a Walmart DC. His appointment time is at 0400. Butch starts at 2300 and arrives at the DC an hour early at 0300. Butch will eventually get through the gate and get to a door and get checked in with his paperwork by 0340. Butch will wait to be unloaded until 0830.

Butch went off duty at 0300 as soon as he entered the gate. Then he used personal conveyance to get to the door so that his clock has not been running since he arrived. Since he has been off duty for 5 1/2 hours, Butch decides to use PC to move to a truck stop about 20 miles away. There he waits an additional four hours to end his 10 hour break and get his time back to continue moving to the next stop.

What is your assessment of Butch’s actions? Could he have handled things in a better way? What options would the split sleeper birth provide in his situation?

It’s been a while since my last update. When this load to Washington finishes, I should have about 40,000 miles of TNT training completed. Perhaps I can finish training within the first couple weeks in January. I have had a couple close calls with the trailer, but thankfully saw the situation in time to keep from hitting anything. I keep thinking of what G-town’s trainer said about “watching your wagon.” That phrase often goes through my mind as well.
I probably spent over 100 hours reading the posts at trucking truth before starting my training. Once I got into the long days of TNT training, I guess it just took me a while to get back to taking the time to read and respond. Thank you to everyone for the wealth of wisdom provided in this site. It continues to help me in many ways.

Well, it’s been about six weeks since I asked for input from lease operators and I never heard from anyone. Perhaps that in itself answers my question. Thank you to those of you who responded.