Profile For Mary D.

Go for it! At 42 I went company sponsored and don't regret it. I love my company. Originally I figured I would do the year and try for a local job... but after a couple months I realized there was no point. Not married. ..no kids...so why go back ? My company is awesome I love my dispatcher. Not non driver there has been disrespectful. Claims.. safety.. payroll.. you name it. Every dept has pleasant people to help us.

I'm a control freak aND this is the closest to being your own boss as you can get... and I'm a company driver not a lease or owner op. Dispatch tells me where to pick up at what time and where to take it. They give me a route and tell.me where to fuel. They dont care what time of day I drive or where I stop... if I take a short break every couple hours or a 2 hour break once during my day. As long as I'm early and safe.. I'm left alone.

As far as the HOS... the elogs tell you how long you can drive and by what time you need to break. Only 9ncr since ingot my license in oct did I violate and that was actually covered by a 2 hour exemption ruke because the highway was shut down. I told dispatch 50 min before i violated i was stuck due to an accident. No problem. It's easy. As far as tickets fines and tows... that is on your trip planning. Drive safely... and you wont get a ticket. Inspect your vehicle thoroughly aND you wont get fined. My company letd me take the vehicle in for repairs pretty much whenever i want...I just ajve to tell them. Some things are majorly important and need to be done on the road... others can wait til i get to a terminal. Plan your day correctly and you wont need to be towed.in bad weather you just message dispatch "shut down due to snow will update later". This covers your butt with the Appt time on the load.

Some people are morons. This industry is performance based and you make what you put into it. With 5 months solo I'm making good money as far as I'm concerned without the stress and aggravation I had at the federal govt. I don't have to unload or load the freighr... if I know I'm going to be late I tell dispatch and they have someone else finish the load... but that takes me communicating with them EARLY so they can plan it. And you will know if you will be late. I usually know 12 hours in advance which gives them Plenty of time. It's when someone is an hour away from the place and says my Appt is in 15 min and I'm not going to make it that ticks my guy off.

I treat my truck like my own. If I see soemthing wrong I report it and make arrangements to get it fixed. We have a "road assist" dept for that. My dispatcher sees those messages and knows I'm taking care of business without asking him "what am I supposed to do?"

Don't listen to morons hahahh

Your reply is the first one I read, but it sounds like I am making the right decision to get my CDL license and start driving. I don't think I'm a moran (lol), so I should do pretty good. I am currently working as a cab driver in Phoenix, Az and I love the girls abd guys in dispatch that I work with. That's a good sign, right ?? Thanks again for your input.