Profile For Zach

The Flying J in Avondale AZ, I learned that was one of the truck stops to avoid real quick or atleast stay in you're truck

One thing to consider with C.R. England is that you will be running teams. You might really enjoy it, but what if you don't? I sure didn't and many other folks on this site didn't either and after whatever time period you are on a truck with a trainer you may be longing to never have anyone on you're truck again. Swift is a huge company with ALOT of options, if you find out you hate OTR chances are Swift has something else for you, and contrary to what you may hear about Swift they invest in their drivers and work hard at driver retention

Andrea, put manuals out of your thinking. If a school doesn’t train you on AMT (Auto Mated Transmission, aka ‘auto’, just move on to training that does. The vast majority of training trucks will be AMT.

I trained on manual exclusively and have driven manual vehicles since I first started. When I was issued my first truck, I got an AMT. I would never go back to manual. When I got that truck, I was qualified in driving manual, so I had to get qualified in AMT. it took an entire 30 minutes of instruction from my trainer. Then off I went with my AMT and it was to my benefit. You DO NOT need to learn manual shifting to drive a truck.

Except if she decides to leave the OTR world and find something local finding a job with an automatic restriction could very well be a challenge. Away from the world of mega carriers many companies are still using manual transmissions. The carrier I'm at has some automatics but won't even consider you if you have a restriction and you need to be able to pass you're road test in a 10 speed.

I agree with what Steve said, seems like you have issues with maneuvering a tractor trailer, a straight truck job might be a better fit. The guys who pump Portajohns in my area make good money and it's probably pretty easy to get in to because alot of people would turn their nose to a job like that. It's not a glamorous job but it's a job that pays well and a chance to clean up you're license.

Yes they do, try calling the Nashville yard it should automatically connect you to weekend dispatch however the chances of you getting a load until Monday might be slim unless things changed since i drove for them they are a skeleton crew covering a lot of trucks and its rare to get pre planned over the weekend. A word of advice on Friday if you are close to delivering you're load shoot you're DM a friendly reminder to see if you can be pre planned for another load so you can be covered for the weekend and have to sit until monday. Best of luck

What G-Town said about Indeed and Glassdoor not being reliable holds alot of truth, not just in the truck driving industry but in every industry. People have different experiences, attitudes, expectations etc. Whenever I am home I take my family to a little Mom and Pop waffle house, it is our favorite place to go. I have nothing but good things to say about the quality of food, service, cleanliness, hospitality etc however they have quite a few bad reviews on Yelp, the same things goes for every trucking company in America

Glad you are reunited with the road old school

Would like to put in my 2 cents if I may, I wouldn't recommend a carrier that is team only, if you come to find out you don't enjoy driving teams you are screwed. If you are interested in teaming most mega carriers if not all will pair you with someone and if you decide you don't want to team all you have to do is request to be solo which usally isn't a big hassle. Pretty sure we have alot of Schneider drivers on here

If you still hold a valid CDL Western Express is probably an option to look in to

New Frieghtshakers are seemingly plagued with electrical problems and overly sensitive sensors lots of downtime and headaches. IMO International is a better product.

Don't forget about the DEF sensor going out and putting the truck in derate.

After 14 days they will officially term you from the system and the contract fee will be sent to a debt collection agency and you can either pay it all off at once or do like I did and set up an agreement for a payment plan, I pay it monthly.

It might help us help you if we could trust anything you say. Last week you told us you got banned from the customer. Then you recanted with this statement...

I sent my FM a message about what happened, he or someone in the carrier had a talk with the customer, I assumed the customer probably called right away.i guess I'm not banned the person working shipping and receiving didn't have the power to do that, but they aren't happy

Now you are back to claiming you were banned.

I think it's nerves after the couple of close calls and getting banned from a customer for taking over an hour to get squared up with a dock.

I think you can see why I have a hard time believing you are really interested in learning from us. You do seem to enjoy engaging us with your troubles, but it is so hard to take you seriously when you can't keep the stories straight.

Whatever, I made this post to see why my performance hasn't been good recently and how to fix it not to argue with you, no I wasn't completely banned, you already know what happened so I guess complained about would have been a better word to use. All I was trying to do was see if anyone had the same issue I did and if they had any advice on how to perform my job better but heaven forbid of course you find a reason to knit pick something I say.

After about 6 months out here I feel like I should be way better at it then I am, I think after having a couple of close calls trying to get in to REALLY tight spots it's made me nervous and made me loose some of the skills and confidence that I've had before. Thankfully I've never hit anything except for the one time I clipped a trailer my first week on a trainers truck. I always swallow my pride and pull up for get out and look which is why I haven't hit anything since then even if it makes me look like a jackass. I don't think it's a lack of skill that's causing my problems I think it's nerves after the couple of close calls and getting banned from a customer for taking over an hour to get squared up with a dock.. I'm making really good money and getting good miles I don't want to loose my job over this, does anyone have any advice on what I should do?

I've yet to meet one, but I keep to myself. I do my best to stay away from other driver's

I sent my FM a message about what happened, he or someone in the carrier had a talk with the customer, I assumed the customer probably called right away.i guess I'm not banned the person working shipping and receiving didn't have the power to do that, but they aren't happy I held things. They had a limited number of docks and alot of drivers trying to get in. I was never once not polite, I remained professional the whole time. I wasn't in the slightest bit upset with the customer, they had every right to be upset with me. I'm more upset with the fact thus happened, I feel like I am way better then this, the reason I was having trouble bumping the dock straight was it was crooked with no lines and the weatherstripping covered the whole door making it hard to see if i was straight or not. I know that's not an excuse and i hope it never happens again.

you are going to deal with a lot of nasty shipper/receivers other drivers etc mad at you

Tammy, you are going to find that there are basically two types of drivers out here. There are drivers who are calm and cool headed. They are almost like monks. There are also drivers who constantly have drama filled days. They are always finding something to make their days difficult. In eight and a half years driving I have never seen anyone banned from a shipper/receiver for not being able to back very well. Nor can I really say I have seen shippers/receivers that are "nasty." I may not always like the way they do things, but that is a big difference from them just being downright disagreeable. There is probably more to this story than we are being told.

In trucking we cooperate with the protocols at each individual place and usually things go fairly well. My career has never had the level of drama that others seem to think there's produces. Don't let this particular incident formulate too many expectations in you mind. You can determine how your trucking career goes, and it does not have to be all drama.

I couldn't get squared up with the dock, what more would you like me to tell you? They were mad I held things up for over an hour and asked me to not come back,I don't know why that's so hard to believe.

Ya well if they make me more nervous by putting me down i think id flip out lol

They banned you from the place because you took too much time backing up? Are you serious? OMG id cry11

Went to go drop my load off this morning and couldn't bump the dock to save my life. Itnwas small dock with no lines to follow there was about a 2 foot puddle of water infont of it but indimt feel like that's an excuse. Took me an hour to get in the door, the reciever was ****ed I held them up, I got my ass chewed out they took down my truck number and banned me from the place. I got my truck in the hole just fine, I just couldn't bump the dock straight everytime I was a couple inches off. I ended up sliding my tandems back to the front and had a very nice million mile driver from Knight came over and gave me a hand getting it in, and it took a few times even then to get it bumped straight. I had trouble the other day bumping a dock straight too, I don't know what's going on with me I'm usually way better then this.

Yeah I think what was a bit extreme but at the same time we are professional drivers expected to be competent at our job and not hold things up.

It sounds to me like you might not be in a truck yet, if that is the case you are going to deal with alot of nasty shipper/ receivers other drivers etc mad at you, you can't flip out every time it happens.

They banned you from the place because you took too much time backing up? Are you serious? OMG id cry11

Went to go drop my load off this morning and couldn't bump the dock to save my life. Itnwas small dock with no lines to follow there was about a 2 foot puddle of water infont of it but indimt feel like that's an excuse. Took me an hour to get in the door, the reciever was ****ed I held them up, I got my ass chewed out they took down my truck number and banned me from the place. I got my truck in the hole just fine, I just couldn't bump the dock straight everytime I was a couple inches off. I ended up sliding my tandems back to the front and had a very nice million mile driver from Knight came over and gave me a hand getting it in, and it took a few times even then to get it bumped straight. I had trouble the other day bumping a dock straight too, I don't know what's going on with me I'm usually way better then this.

Yeah I think what was a bit extreme but at the same time we are professional drivers expected to be competent at our job and not hold things up.

Went to go drop my load off this morning and couldn't bump the dock to save my life. Itnwas small dock with no lines to follow there was about a 2 foot puddle of water infont of it but indimt feel like that's an excuse. Took me an hour to get in the door, the reciever was ****ed I held them up, I got my ass chewed out they took down my truck number and banned me from the place. I got my truck in the hole just fine, I just couldn't bump the dock straight everytime I was a couple inches off. I ended up sliding my tandems back to the front and had a very nice million mile driver from Knight came over and gave me a hand getting it in, and it took a few times even then to get it bumped straight. I had trouble the other day bumping a dock straight too, I don't know what's going on with me I'm usually way better then this.

Heads up, Zach. You didn't mention this, so I'll assume you didn't know: unless you have gotten permission from Swift (still with Swift?) you will soon be out of a job. If you "sneak" her on board, many shippers and receivers won't allow unauthorized people on their property.

If you're paying the insurance fee for a ride along, enjoy the trip!

I've got all that squared away. Just need to get the rider policy forms filled out and faxed over.