Comments By Cincybeerhawk

Thanks for the (very) quick response, Pearl. You answered my question perfectly.

Restated, it seems that I should get one or the other: either a per diem (straight up money for which I owe no taxes) or an additional sum which will be treated as wages and I’ll need to pay the appropriate taxes on it. Either way, it seems like a win for us.

CBH

Team:

I’ll be re-entering the industry after two years away. I earned my CDL during the Covid year of 2020 and went to work driving a skateboard for Home Run, Inc for about six months before returning to my pre-pandemic job in the hospitality industry with a F&B provider at a MLB ball park. I will be rejoining my truck-driving brethren in late April/early May after getting the park open and the season started.

As I recall during my first tour, I was given/provided with a $66 per diem provided I was at least 100 miles from home (not hard to do since I was driving regionally). Here’s the question/search for knowledge: 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.

It’s good to be back. I should have never left.

Cincybeerhawk

It’s been (too) long since I’ve made an entry in my diary. A lot has occurred since my last post. I’m starting to see (a little bit of) the light, but I’m smart enough to know that there’s still so very much that I haven’t experienced.

I’m typing this while I’m stuck at a travel plaza east of Bryan on the Ohio Turnpike. I’m not ‘stuck’ in the sense that weather has me at a standstill, rather I ran out of hours, both daily and for the week, after picking up a load at the nearby Menards’ DC. I’ll be here all weekend (at least until 4:00 a.m. on Sunday). Rather than make the three hour, 45 minute drive down to Xenia, then another hour home, only to turn around about six hours later in order to pick up my truck and drive to Indy for a 5:00 a.m. Monday delivery, I’ll sit tight until about daybreak on Sunday, then drive straight to Greenwood (a southern suburb of Indianapolis).

This sucks on toast (weird visual and one that I hope doesn’t get me censured by Leaderships here). Tonight was suppossed to be ‘Date Night’ for my wife and me. I guess it could be worse. This place does have (a) a shower, (b) laundry facilities, and (c) Burger King and Starbucks, but on the downside I won’t get to work on the farm or see my wife and our dog.

I get it; this is a customer service industry, so asking management at a well-known home improvement store to expedite the unloading of drywall from my flatbed (no way should it 4.5 hours to empty a 48 foot skateboard), is stepping out of bounds, and I shouldn’t need to spend three hours searching for my trailer at a drywall manufacturing company. Both factors contributed greatly to my current plight.

If you’re still reading, thanks for tuning in. I’m sure I’ll have more to say (sic) between now and early Sunday morning.

I’m taking my 10 at the Love’s on US 24 on Woodburn, Ind. Anyone else here? I’ll be ready for a meal in about an hour. I’d love to sit quietly and learn some stuff...

I now have a week under my belt as a company driver for Home Run, Inc. I’m not sure 5500 characters will be enough to adequately share all that has gone one in the past 168 hours, but I’ll try.

Last Monday was pretty simple as I was assigned to a truck - a 2006 International 9200i 10 speed. Like all of trucks in HR’s regional fleet, it’s red. With over 1.1 million miles on it, you can imagine the amount of cleaning it needed (and still needs), so I spent the better part of Monday and Tuesday cleaning it as best I could while the area got hit with about 3” of snow and freezing rain. I’ll tip my cap to Jeff Saylor and the night staff of mechanics who spent way too much time with me answering questions and adjusting various components.

I set sail Tuesday afternoon. I had a Noon pickup on Wednesday at Continental Building in Cold Spring, Kentucky (just across the river from Cincinnati) for my first load: drywall found for a lumber store in Findlay. It didn’t make sense to drive home, then back to Xenia for the truck very early the next day, so I stashed the rig in the parking lot of a Lowe’s near my home.

Four hours. That’s how long it took me from ingress to egress at Continental. As can be expected, my 45 degree alley dock skills are a work in progress, so it took me a while to drop the empty trailer. We’ll compound my lack of skills with my failure to remember to pull the release arm so I could disengage from the flatbed. My bungi cord work was on point, however my strap throwing technique was about on par with my alley docking. Findlay is a pretty easy drive as it’s straight out I75, the only problem was that I was nearly out of hours, so I spent the night in a ‘bootleg’ truck stop (read that as a vacant gravel lot behind the Wendy’s off of Exit 99 in Anna. I had my choice of hamburgers, Taco Bell, of Subway. I was very pleased that a 24-hour Speedway was across the street.

My delivery appointment was Wednesday at 7:00 a.m., so I wasted no time at all learning what we all know so well: don’t trust Garmin. I didn’t get lost, or routed down a one-way street or into a residential neighborhood, however the directions led me through Columbus Grove rather than two exits further north which would have allowed me to utilize state routes designed for industrial traffic.

Once I was empty I was directed back to Continental for another load of sheet-rock. This time my destination was the newly-minted Menard’s in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. I was (much?) quicker with the securement this time (two hours, fifteen minutes), however I was ‘live-loaded’ since my shipment was not ready when I arrived. I gotta think a good bit of the time savings was due to the fact that I was not required to drop my trailer. Due to my lack of confidence in my backing (especially in the dark) I opted for a ‘work-around’ and spent the night at a 24-hour ‘comfort’ area at the weigh station on I71 just south of the 71/75 split. I was there early, so I got a prime spot.

I was up well before dawn on Friday in order to miss the morning commute through Louisville and make my appointment. The Menard was so new that its address (100 Menards Way) did not register on any navigational aids, so it was fortunate that I had called for directions. I arrived on time and in a steady but light rain. I will not spend any time on a monologue/stream-of-consciousness relative to what occurred during the 4 1/2 hours it took the staff to take delivery. I’ll leave it at this: we were all new at our jobs at one time (kind of ironic, huh?) and it showed.

The delay put me behind as I was assigned 50K of mortar from a factory in Sellarsburg, Indiana. I wish I had the two fellows who loaded me at Lehigh Hanson (another address that was missing/inaccurate on navigational systems) with me at Menards. Clearly, they were professionals as they were very practiced at their craft. I, on the other hand, needed about three hours to properly tarp, strap, and secure the load. Again I was out of hours, but it didn’t matter as a minor (?) train derailment prevented me from exiting the immediate area. Another night, another adventure as I spent it on the side of Riley Road, just east of US 31.

My dispatcher, the lovely and talented Kami Wristel, had already been in touch with the good people at Columbus Builders Supply and had advised them that I would be delivering the cement on Monday (today) rather than the end of the day on Friday.

I dutifully logged my 10 hours off duty, then left the Hoosier State (I have no idea what highways I used, but I experienced my first tunnel while driving a semi) and arrived back at the Lowe’s on East Kemper around 7:30 a.m. A quick post-trip, a VIR, laundry grabbed and the truck secured and I was off for a very short weekend.

Since I had to deliver at 7:30 this morning, I wanted to get a jump on the drive (Columbus is only 90 miles from Cincinnati), however since I had driven on Saturday, I was subject to a 34-hour re-set. I just can’t tell time, I guess, ‘cause I logged in eight minutes too early which caused all sorts of distress back at the mother ship. Another night and another unique resting place...this time at the ‘on’ ramp from the NB rest area on I71 at the JB Morrow Bridge in Warren County. I made sure to keep the driver’s side drive tires on pavement in order to avoid getting stuck literally.

I’m out of space and I’m exhausted. I’ll work to pick up the thread tomorrow.

I’m hoping that this is my last post...under the title ‘Company Driver in Training’ as tomorrow I meet with the training director/recruiter/HR Manager for what I believe will be an assignment to a truck. I’ve been in training for about six weeks. There have been a couple of hiccups — Keith’s positive Covid 19 test and Gary’s micro-managing style — however through it all I have learned a lot and have improved my skills a bunch. I’m smart enough to know that I don’t know nearly as much as I need to know and will continue to utilize all available resources as I strive to meet the standards set forth by the professionals in this business.

I owe a debt of gratitude to Keith Taylor, Gary Ellis, and Gordon Burge who all gave selflessly of their time and experience. It wasn’t always easy (nothing worth earning ever comes easy) or pleasant, but I know that their intentions are pure.

My goal was to complete my company training by mid-November and I almost made it. Now, as I look at the forecast for the next 40 hours, I see that the region is under a ‘Winter Weather Advisory’. Beautiful. I’ll be inventorying the truck, pre-tripping it, and ‘moving in’ with temperatures in the upper 20’s and about 3” of snow accumulating (do not laugh at me, those of you who routinely travel the Upper Midwest, The Great Plains and the Continental Divide). Actually, I’m looking forward to the challenge. My belief is that any (most?) rookies ought to be able to pilot a rig when the temperature is 75 degrees, the roads are dry, and visibility is ideal. We’ll find out what kind a game I have when conditions are less than perfect. I’m smart enough to know this: if I don’t believe I have the skills to be driving, I’ll be parked. Safety is the key to everything.

I’ll continue to post (hopefully on a more regular basis) as I enter the mainstream of the industry. I’m sure I’ll have questions, and I trust that you will have answers. I’ll celebrate my victories, and game-plan to avoid a repetition of my mistakes. I’ll get plenty of sleep, eat properly, and manage my finances correctly. I’ll make the most of my home time by ensuring that I spend time with my family. Finally, I’ll remember that everything I do when I’m out on the road reflects not only on me and Home Run, Inc., but also on all of you, regardless of the name on the side of your truck.

Thanks for reading.

CBH

Rob: Thank you for taking the time to construct and share your response. I’ll certainly take it to heart. Perhaps I am expecting too much. After reading your entry I realize that regardless of who trains me or how much instruction I receive, when I’m assigned to a truck I will still be lacking ‘the big E’ — Experience.

I get that, and I’m prepared for it. ‘Work the problem’ is a phrase I’ve adopted ever since I heard it on a television show (Seal Team, I think). I believe each individual learns best in one of three ways: (a) by being shown, (b) by doing/performing the action, or (c) by reading about the action. I’m definitely a ‘doer’, however the trainer I rode with the past two weeks was definitely one who subscribed to the ‘show’ method of instructing. By the time we returned to Xenia on Thursday we were both very frustrated.

I’ll work this week to improve in all aspects and have set as my goal to be assigned to a truck on Monday, December 1.

CBH

I am creating this entry as I sit at home here in the 513 after another week of training. Yesterday, upon our return to Xenia, I sat down (literally) with our recruiter/training manager and requested another week with a different instructor. It’s not that I’m not getting ‘it’, it’s that I’ve not had the requisite amount of opportunities to work on and practice our craft. For those football enthusiasts reading along (thanks with sticking with me throughout my journey), it’s sorta like being allowed to be in the huddle, but then being told to stand behind the line of scrimmage and watch while the play is run. I learn best when I perform the action, not while I’m watching it or reading about it. The instructor to whom I was assigned was a ‘shower’ and that greatly retarded my learning.

Fortunately, Home Run has a deep well of training talent and I will be working with a trainer who lives in the Portsmouth, Ohio area but who has a Mississippi (601) area code for a cell number. We talked briefly on the phone yesterday (Thursday) afternoon and the plan is to meet somewhere in the southern Ohio area as soon as we learn where we’re headed on Monday.

The on-boarding with HR has definitely taken longer than I had planned, but I’m not disappointed or frustrated. If I had been told that I was being assigned to a truck beginning on Monday, I would have been ok with it, however my confidence and my abilities will develop to a higher level with another week with a tutor/mentor.

I’ll tip my cap to those in the industry who are trainers. It can’t be an easy job. You’re committing yourself to a partnership with a random stranger (was that redundant? I believe it was) for an unknown period of time. Living with a rookie in the cab of a truck (8X8X8) has got to be a challenge. You are exposed to all sorts of personal quirks, cultures, hygiene practices, and last but certainly not least, driving abilities and work ethics. On behalf of myself and the other FNGs in the industry, thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge and experience with us as we work to establish ourselves.

CBH

Incidentally, I just read an article that the bridge is scheduled to stay closed for repairs through 23 December. OMG!

You are correct, sir! I will not dedicate any of 5500 characters with a lengthy monologue/soliloquy concerning the advantages of the available detours. There are benefits and drawbacks to all of them depending upon the destination and the time of day one may be traveling.

We’ve read all types of reports and responses about trainers, both good and bad. Some trainers seem to generally care, while others are in it solely for the money. Here’s a question I’d like to pose to the community: how many companies actually have some sort of ‘train the trainer’ program where those that are entrusted with the development and shaping of us FNGs are taught what the company wants and expects of a rookie?

It seems that often times trainers may simply attempt to create a ‘fraternal twin’ of themselves when attempting to teach a newbie using the mentality ‘well, that’s the way I’ve always done it, so that must be the best way to do it’ when presenting a necessary skill to the uninitiated. Do companies/corporations have distinct, specific plans and structure for their neophytes?

I’ll hang up and listen off the air...

Cincybeerhawk