Leaving My First Company

Bet that thing is a B**tch to push start

Yeah they are. You really need to wear some boots with great traction!

Actually big rigs are super easy to pull-start when needed. I think every driver winds up doing it or having it done a few times in their career. Just like a car - turn on the key, pop it in gear, hold in the clutch, tell the guy pulling you to start rolling, pop the clutch, and for God's sake get your foot back on the clutch and your other foot on the brake before you plow into the guy towing you after that thing starts!

Just an update, since finishing orientation Wednesday afternoon, I had a load to leave out Thursday morning and as of tonight, I have completed about 2100 miles on the odometer since I left the terminal. Headed on my third delivery in the morning in Cincinnati, OH. I got assigned a 2012 Mack Pinnacle with 187,000 miles on it. I am enjoying it here so far, and the best part is I have an APU and a company installed refrigerator so I can actually keep food and drinks cold. I also have a company installed 2500 watt inverter under my bunk so I could probably find a small microwave to bring when I go home if I wanted to. This company is very safety-oriented, every time you leave the yard or come in the yard, you are supposed to take the truck and trailer into the shop and they will do a level 1 inspection on it while it is in there before you leave the bay. They also have very high standards for the drivers, which is a good thing in my opinion. Some examples of that are that if you have an accident that is obviously your fault, you are responsible for paying the deductible for the insurance. Also, if you are convicted of one speeding ticket for 15 mph or more over the speed limit, you are automatically terminated. If you have one ticket for less than 15 mph over, you are put on probation and your truck is turned down 3 mph from 68 to 65, the second ticket, your truck is turned down another 3 mph and the third ticket is automatic termination. I think I found a good landing spot to stay for a long time after leaving Schneider.

Terminal:

A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

Here are some pictures of my truck that I was able to post after Brett put up a link with instructions on how to post pictures from photobucket. Thank you, Brett.

That's a nice looking truck!

Heck yeah! That's a sweet lookin ride!!!

Sweet ride....it even has the cow catcher on it !! they were called cow catchers on trains...I guess they are 4 wheeler catchers now.....

Never quite understood the "Cow Catcher" on trucks. Deer when you hit them can break axles in half. You think a aluminum bar in the front of the truck will stop a deer? Sure it might prevent some damage but if you hit a deer square on not only will it break the wields on that bumper guard but the metal parts are going to through the grill of the truck and wrecking pretty much everything the deer would have in the first place. Maybe its an insurance discount or something. Very few trucks actually hit deer. Mostly its the Four Wheelers that the deer are hitting.

Never quite understood the "Cow Catcher" on trucks. Deer when you hit them can break axles in half. You think a aluminum bar in the front of the truck will stop a deer? Sure it might prevent some damage but if you hit a deer square on not only will it break the wields on that bumper guard but the metal parts are going to through the grill of the truck and wrecking pretty much everything the deer would have in the first place. Maybe its an insurance discount or something. Very few trucks actually hit deer. Mostly its the Four Wheelers that the deer are hitting.

Hey There Guyjax, just went over to your Youtube page and watched some of your videos..awesome stuff man. You had me cracking up on the video of you replacing the seats in your truck..and those videos of the port were amazing..how on earth do you find your way around in those places??

Never quite understood the "Cow Catcher" on trucks. Deer when you hit them can break axles in half. You think a aluminum bar in the front of the truck will stop a deer? Sure it might prevent some damage but if you hit a deer square on not only will it break the wields on that bumper guard but the metal parts are going to through the grill of the truck and wrecking pretty much everything the deer would have in the first place. Maybe its an insurance discount or something. Very few trucks actually hit deer. Mostly its the Four Wheelers that the deer are hitting.

Hey There Guyjax, just went over to your Youtube page and watched some of your videos..awesome stuff man. You had me cracking up on the video of you replacing the seats in your truck..and those videos of the port were amazing..how on earth do you find your way around in those places??

Lots of trial and error. Thankfully I had a lot of drivers in the container fleet for my company that helped out a lot. The worst thing about the ports was they changed the "flip area" every single week but thankfully I knew what port union worker did what areas and just learned to watch for their instruction.