Profile For Pacific Pearl

The hot new thing in the PNW is, "mobile refueling". Not sure if other areas are doing it yet. You drive a small tanker - 2,000 gallons with 2 axles - to a nearby Amazon DC and refuel the Amazon delivery vans at night while they're parked. I know two drivers who started this recently and they're very happy.

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Diesel Direct

Mobile Force Refueling

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...Phones have Wi-Fi hotspots built in. Why would you need a router?

1) Terms of service generally restrict you to ONE device connected to your hot spot at a time. The wi-fi solution allows you to have your tablet, GPS, smart TV, Apple TV, etc. connected at the same time without violating your ToS.

2) Hot spots don't automatically reconnect. On iPhones the hotspot only shows for a few seconds when you initially activate it. You need to activate your hot spot on your phone then connect your device to the wi-fi signal before it drops off to use it. Using a wi-fi router you don't need to set everything up again if you take your phone off the truck, just reconnect your phone to the router and all your devices will reconnect to the network automatically.

One more:

SEALSKINZ Waterproof All Weather Head Gaitor

We all get caught in the weather - why be miserable? This covers your head, ears and your neck. Waterproof, insulated and breathable. BONUS - counts as mask if you find yourself in mask nazi territory.

Here's a short list of things I keep on my truck:

Microwaveable Bowl Enjoy ramen noodles and soup on the road. Great on a cold, wet day and easy clean up.

Leatherman Accept no substitutes. Gives you blades, a pair of pliers, can opener, bottle opener and pair of scissors all in one!

Crocs Make great shower shoes and dual purpose as slippers if you're lounging in the truck or a hotel room.

Wipes I hate it when someone else drives my truck and the steering wheel comes back sticky. Wipes are a quick and easy way to clean your truck's control surfaces so you can get back on the road without worrying about catching hepatitis.

Shower If you have to shut down someplace without a shower or you pull into the truck stop and see the dreaded, "Our showers aren't working" sign. This gives you a heated shower ANYWHERE - just stand in a storage bin, bathe, then dump the water out. You can rinse out the tub and store the shower unit and your towels inside until you need them again. Stores nicely under the bottom bunk.

5G Router Gives your truck wi-fi! Plug your sim directly into the router (if your carrier allows), otherwise connect the router to your phone with a USB cable and set your phone up as a hot spot with the USB connection.

I'm down to 28-35 hours a week but I have a minimum pay guarantee. I'm not sure if that's because of the industry, UK employment customs or my employer is just extra generous. Without the guaranteed minimum I'd be kicking rocks.

The TLDR;

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Welcome to the forum. Hazmat is a two-part process - a TSA background check and the test at your local DMV.

You'll want to start with the background check first. It can take weeks to complete. In some states you can the test at the DMV before your TSA check is complete in others you must wait for the TSA before you can test at the DMV.

... was I provided this money out of the goodness of the hearts of leadership at HR, or is there a government mandate on this issue? Thanks in advance for the comments.

Both. Your corporate masters could have just said, "We'll give you an extra $100 every night you shut down more than 100 miles from your home". If they just gave you a lump sum it would be considered a wage under applicable laws and taxable as part of your income.

There's no law that says an employer MUST pay you every night you shut down away from home. If there were THOUSANDS of CDL drivers would be owed checks.

Your management decided to help you with out of pocket expenses when you shut down out of the goodness of their hearts. By structuring the payment as per diem the law considers it an expense reimbursement instead of a wage so you aren't taxed on those payments. There's a little extra paperwork on their end to justify the business expense without any receipts but they were willing to do that so you would get the money without having to pay taxes on it.

The government didn't force your employer to pay you for your nights out of town, but they would have forced you to pay taxes on those funds if your employer didn't structure it as per diem so you could say the government mandated that your employer structure the payments as per diem so they could do that.

So far I got to say I am pretty impressed with the company...

Said the man who has yet to turn a single mile. I have no reason to believe Veriha is anything but an upright, legit trucking company but companies usually wait until orientation to let their freak flag fly. Some things I've heard or heard from trusted sources at orientation:

You will be required to take and submit a minimum of 7 photographs for every DVIR. You will be held financially responsible for any damaged equipment not documented in your DVIR, even if you have documented it before.

Truck speed is monitored and ALL speeding will be handled with corrective action. Even 1 mph over the posted speed limit counts as, "speeding" and if you're in the top 10% of drivers on the speeding report in a given month you will be written up. If it happens 3 times in 12 months you will be terminated.

We're on track to have 143 accidents this year (out of 200 drivers). That's A LOT, are these trainee drivers? No, most of accidents are from experienced drivers we hired from other companies who have been with us for at least a year. So they're learning bad habits or being put in bad situations here? No. Drivers are on their BEST BEHAVIOR during their first 12 months on a new job then slack off after 12 months. Seriously?

My question is, does your son already have experience driving manual transmissions? If he already knows how to drive a car with a manual transmission the risk of failing his CDL exam because of a manual transmission is close to zero. If he has to start from scratch AND learn how to drive a truck there's more risk.

Most trucking companies replace their trucks after ~500k miles and most trucks will turn that in less than 4 years. The major carriers moved to all automatic transmissions about 7 years ago and most of the drivers they trained in the last 7 years have a manual restriction on their CDL. It's a case of the chicken or the egg. Since the largest companies use automatics most trucking schools don't offer manuals so most new drivers have a manual restriction so companies have to move to manuals or pick from a shrinking pool of potential drivers as the older drivers retire and the new ones have the manual restriction.

Your son will have no problem finding a job with a manual restriction and he can always go back and add it later. The companies still using manuals fall into 5 categories:

1) They don't turn that many miles. This could be seasonal work, like agriculture or like a cross-town moving company where they need the capacity to move a lot of furniture but don't drive very far.

2) They have parked trucks. Trucks that were either waiting for parts or were attached to a dedicated account that was cut. It can take a large operation months or years to decide where to reallocate a truck. Maybe a truck was in an accident and their fleet is large enough they know if they wait long enough another truck will be involved in a different type of accident and they can cannibalize parts to make a frankentruck.

3) Small companies owned by skinflints or large companies whose management have made poor choices. You'll see companies acting as necromancers - running trucks with 2m+ miles. Usually that's a red flag meaning they can't afford to replace their trucks. It's more expensive to maintain a truck with that many miles than it is to just buy a new one. Their interiors are bio-hazards.

4) Grumpy old men. Rare, but you'll see shops whose drivers are all over 55 who insist on running manuals to show that they're, "real drivers". Don't worry about these jobs - they won't like your son anyway.

5) Special use trucks that require a manual transmission. This would be heavy haul or or other special applications that make up < 5% of the industry.

That said, the company where I work had ONE truck with a manual transmission at my DC. That was the truck they used to give potential new hires a check ride. Two years ago they replaced that truck with a new one with an automatic.