I Have Had It

Also, I've never done any really serious mountain driving like Donner's Pass or Cabbage Or Wolf Creek Pass due to TA's freight lanes. So I would like some time to adjust to that as well. So it's not necessarily a bad thing.

I'm not a grizzled veteran driver but the hills in Pennsylvania are every bit as challenging as the famous passes. Donner, Cabbage and the Siskiyou's are longer but I don't think they're more dangerous. I guess I'm trying to alleviate any fears you might have.

Oh Donners Pass, I went down my second solo load w Stevens, no jake brake! Supposed to go down in gear 1/2 of what grade is...9% so 4 or 5(Stevens rule)! It was one lane, 4 feet drop on one side( construction) and 1/2 way down my brakes are smoking. "Hey Stevens, you are going to cook that spinach you're hauling"!! It was white knuckles.😳😳 rambling again

Hey CM. Just thought I would give you some insight real quick as I see you're interested in Maverick. It is an amazing company, I've felt well taken care of since day one. Nothing bad to say about them what so ever. However, seeing as how you're already frustrated, going flatbed is definitely a challenge, especially for us rookies. So make sure you know what you're getting yourself into if you decide to make the switch. I myself plan on staying with them at least a year. I haven't faced what you have, but I went through the series of low checks and all with a baby on the way. It was tough but we're doing much better. Hopefully you can hang in there but I'd love to see ya here at maverick. Good luck to you

Agreed. It's nice to know that the possibility is there.

What's with all these I-80 runs anyways? Is it just the time of year or is it just a super high volume freight lane?

Next to I-90, it's the second longest East/West Intetstate in the US at 2500+ miles. The traffic is generated by it's proximity to major DCs, manufacturers, and ports in the NE part of the country.

Thanks for the insight CT! I'm still on the fence about flatbedding. I'm a fairly small person and heaving those tarps up on a trailer seems a little intimidating. I'm by no means weak, I threw around transmissions for a living before trucking. But I wasn't throwing them up on a trailer!

Maverick is still in the running because of the hometime options. I only live a couple hours from little rock so getting home could be easier. But I only live an hour from Springfield where Prime's terminal is so...

Nothing bad to say about prime either, they were in my top 3 but when with Maverick for home time. Being on that trailer is intimidating at 1st but u get used to it. Rarely will you have to pick up the big tarps very far. Most places either put them up top for you to roll or use tarping machines to reduce injuries. The smaller steel tarps you will pick up but there only 30 or 40 lbs.

Also if you live close to LR, you may get a brand new truck.

Chickie I am trying to follow your logic and the thing that at least to me, that doesn't add up is the desire for longer runs, seeing the entire US. Doesn't that risk being further away from your husband's medical team? Consider what you went through to get him home this time around. The further you are away from home, the less likely you are able to get routed through your home area, at a time that coincides with one of his scheduled Doctor visits. Just adds more complexity and variables for you to manage. Maybe these visits are infrequent, maybe not. Just seems like the planets need to be aligned for this to happen and trucking is not something you can easily plan your life around.

Just seems like you are throwing caution to the wind in the hope of a better situation when what you have with TA might not be all that bad. Like Paul said and I agree with him, the devil you know...etc, etc.

Ultimately I'm sure you'll make the right decision. Good luck!

His doctor gives him enough meds for 3 months at a time so realistically we only need to be home once every three months. The reason this turned into a fiasco is because he had a scheduled appointment that was too close to his meds running out. Normally they schedule them with some extra time to reschedule if there are problems. We are also looking at some alternatives to his health care to prevent this from happening again.

I'm not making any decision right now. If I can make things work out with TA then the best option is to stay put!

Normally you should be able to call the doctor and explain the situation and have them send in a prescription for a couple of days just till you can get home. My doc will do that for me if I need him to. He does not need to write it for 3 months, just enough to get you home. Maybe talk to him about that this time incase you get into a similar situation again. Absolutely no reason he cannot do this for you.

My 2 cents which is what it's worth - I imagine you like to cook on the road - If an APU is important to you don't go with Swift or Knight as neither have APU'S - Prime or Jim Palmer sound better- to me anyway- That is IF your still thinking of leaving TA and Prime or Jim Palmer are interested in you and you have the choice !

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.

APU's:

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.