Comments By Mike D.

Are there any Millis regional drivers here for Texas that could answer some questions for me?

Thank you

How was your experience with Millis, Pack?

I'm here....

Thank you. I actually started training on August 3rd, backing is bit challenging but I'm getting it down.

Are you still with Millis? If so, what's your opinion after a year?

Thank you

Haya, Mike D. Not sure if you are addressing this to Kevin, or whom. Grumpy drives for H.O.Wolding and always has; haven't seen Kevin pretty much since that post; sorry!

Anyway, one of our most recent Millis drivers is Pete E Pothole, and the story of 'how' he got that 'earned' name is in a thread. Here's a link to all his posts:

Pete E Pothole

Also, our longtime driver and moderator, PackRat, drove for Millis for quite some time. I'm not too sure (or know how?) on linking two members...so LOOK UP PackRat (all one name/word) and you'll even see PHOTOS of him w/his Millis truck, AND meeting Pete E Pothole.

Wish you the best; just saving you sometime with the waiting game, as to who's around, and who isn't.

Be safe, good sir.

Anne

Congratulations and keep up the quality work.

That 45/75 mix up has happened to me, multiple times, and it sucks in a regular four wheel vehicle, an 18 wheeler must be extremely stressful.

Congratulations on passing

August 8, 2020: Final drive to Springfield, Missouri

I take over in Dallas, my least favorite city so far, about 0600. The thing I don’t like about Dallas, is that the interchanges have very short distances to get to the lane you need. Even with trip planning and the GPS telling you what lane you need, you still need to make split second decisions at many of the interchanges. Well, I missed one for Interstate 45 that was to lead me to US 75. Rather than getting off at the next exit, which may have put me on streets where I’d rather not be, I continued on my current Interstate until the GPS rerouted me on major highways.

One last challenge before my TNT ends. I stopped along US 75 at a Pilot to get coffee. As I’m going in, another driver flags me down to let me know that a piece of the dunnage, a 3 X 3 board, had partially worked its way out. The dunnage was at the back of the load, providing significant support, so I didn’t want to remove it completely. But the steel beam where the dunnage had worked itself out had collapsed some, so I couldn’t just slide the dunnage back underneath. Rather, I used another piece of dunnage to pry up the steel beam and slide the 3 X 3 board back underneath. In addition to having slid out, the dunnage had slid to the side as well. So I used the other piece of dunnage to knock the 3 X 3 board over so that it was more even.

After the last little flatbed challenge, I headed out north toward Oklahoma and Interstate 44, my last highway for my entire TNT phase. The excitement of ending TNT grew at each benchmark; getting onto Interstate 44, 100 miles from the Springfield terminal, crossing the state line into Missouri, 60 miles or 1 hour from the terminal, 30 miles or 30 minutes from the terminal, pulling off the interstate, and pulling into inbound at the terminal.

After we get through inbound, I drive over to the “truck transfer area” where Prime has a place where you can park your personal vehicle right next to your truck to unload or load. I get all my stuff off the truck and after a few parting words from my trainer, I’m in my truck with all my stuff and free from Shawshank.

I will have a few more entries to describe the upgrade process and then a few entries on my thoughts about the training process.

Started on Monday

When do you start?

Thank you, Peter.

Best of luck to you.

That was a truly impressive synopsis. Thank you.

Pay is important, of course, but so is home time.

I just want to interject something into this conversation. I think it's important or I wouldn't be bothering. Having been a part of this forum for many years now, I begin to see things that are brought up frequently. This idea of getting top pay and lots of time at home is something a lot of newbies specify as critical to their decision on a company to start with.

Trucking is an incredibly diverse industry. There are jobs available to meet a really wide set of expectations. It's also an incredibly competitive environment that requires plenty of work, yet yields relatively slim margins. Productivity is key to it's success. That goes for all the people working in this business from the upper level managers to the lowliest of them all, the driver.

As drivers we are the "boots on the ground." We make up the front line in this army. It's critical that we are making great things happen out here. We are relied on heavily, and hyper productive drivers are valued greatly. Anybody can do this job, but any cursory search of the internet concerning trucking jobs and/or companies will reveal that only a few do it well.

I think I'm just wanting to point out how you get to experience top pay and also enjoy the time you desire at home. Those two things don't spring from company policy. They are produced by a driver's ability to be really productive. Now there's a lot to being productive, and much of it is misunderstood. That's why we have such voluminous accounts of truck drivers airing out their complaints online. They don't get the results they want, and they blame their failures on the industry and/or their dispatcher/company.

Anybody wanting to maximize their earnings, and go home when needed, must establish themselves as Top Tier Drivers. That's something that isn't affected by the name of the company emblazoned on your truck.

I see reports all the time of drivers claiming to be treated as slaves because they weren't allowed to go home. Anytime you read something like that you have to read into it something more. What you're probably seeing is a driver who isn't earning a dime for the company and their dispatcher is desperately trying to develop them into someone productive. You aren't seeing a modern day version of life on the plantation.

I was blessed to learn so much in this forum, and quickly realized how to produce results out here. Sometimes I practice things that others don't even attempt, but I'm always angling to be the best I can be at this job. That has resulted in very good treatment by my employers, my dispatchers, and other managers. I can simply make a request for something and they start moving mountains to make it happen. That has nothing to do with the name on my truck. It has everything to do with the way they appreciate having a productive driver on their team.

I'm sorry - I'm making a short story long. I'm bad about that. The bottom line is that to get the things we want out of this career, we must put in the things that are necessary. Don't look to company policies for direction on how to succeed at this career. Look to your own efforts and levels of productivity. Trucking company policies bend and adjust themselves to productive drivers. If you want special treatment it's available, but you'll need to earn it.

Millis as well. They have a terminal in Ohio and give you three days for every two weeks on the road.

Thanks for the replies. I’ll look into those other companies, too. I’ve been thinking about doling this for a long time. I actually joined this site a few years ago and decided to just stay where I was instead. Now I’m just ready to make the change.

Wilson Logistics is pretty big in the west.

Thank you, Laura for your great advice

I wish I would have done first but now I am looking for a company to start with no experience

I am sorry for your loss as well.

I found a company that a friend of mine owns. I am going to see him tomorrow. He said he's willing to train me if I can get hired on with them

So wish me luck tomorrow.

Thank

Mark