The Adventures Of Daniel B.

Good luck with Prime, with your work ethic I'm sure they'll have you running hard.

Oh and Epic Beard? I love it.

Oh and Epic Beard? I love it.

His beard is epic. He looks like a character I would create in a videogame. I wish I could grow that haha

Good stuff man! Good luck with Prime. I have heard they are pretty good. I almost went with them instead of the flatbed company Im at now.

Oh and Epic Beard? I love it.

His beard is epic. He looks like a character I would create in a videogame. I wish I could grow that haha

What kind of powers do you think a bearb like that'd have?

Oh and Epic Beard? I love it.

His beard is epic. He looks like a character I would create in a videogame. I wish I could grow that haha

What kind of powers do you think a bearb like that'd have?

Intimidation. Warrior. Werewolf.

Hey Daniel - that 12,500 miles it shows on your screen - are those paid miles for the month? That would be really solid!

Hey Daniel - that 12,500 miles it shows on your screen - are those paid miles for the month? That would be really solid!

Yep those are paid miles.

1/7/14

Current Load: Unemployed

This morning I delivered my final delivery to a small meat building in Oakland, CA. This place was actually right near the large downtown buildings, walking distance. It was insane! Cars parked on both sides of the street, tight as can be turns, and a difficult to find place.

Like its always the case, my companies directions were completely wrong. It said to go on an exit that didn't even exist! I found out the hard way that the exit didn't exist.

I took an exit that I saw a bunch of other truck take, if they're taking it then it should be a truck route. And I was right in doing so. I made a right turn and the road ahead of me was a non-truck route road. So pulled into a distribution center and drove towards their guard shack and made a sharp U-turn. Sorry, but you gotta do what you gotta do. I retraced my steps and took an exit that was near my destination and that I knew was a truck route. So I take this road and its clearly a truck route because it has trucks parked underneath the overpass. I keep driving straight and it looks like this road will lead straight to my destination.

Wrong.

Ahead of me I saw signs saying that the road was merging with the interstate , so going straight would lead me nowhere. There's a truck in front of me and he turns right, I did the same. I keep going until I find a road big enough for me and I eventually found one and made a left. If I follow this road and then make another left in .5 miles it will lead me to my destination. Not so easy in downtown Oakland.

This road goes through a farmers market. A market packed tightly with a few semi's and a bunch of baby trucks. The opposite lane was basically shut down due to 10 baby trucks parked and away from their vehicles. And to make it worse the truck in front of me was delivering to this place. So he stopped in the middle of the road in front of me to unload his trailer.

I politely asked him if he can move for me and he agreed. Just as I'm going forward, up comes a semi on the opposite side of me trying to come through this area as well. There's hardly any room for a single vehicle, and no room for two. That semi had to back up into the intersection to let me pass so he can proceed. And he does, all is well!

I make my left, and I find the place to my left.

Can you say

This place was the size of a subway restaurant. A few employees, no dock doors. I pull up onto the side of the building and I'm forced to literally park on the right lane of the road. There's no where to go to get unloaded. They put a pallet jack in my trailer and unload the trailer.

This place was insane! And to spice up all this action, I have my best friend road tripping with me on this delivery. He saw first hand just how ridiculous this job can be.

I did arrive 20 minutes late though. But come on, I got totally wrong directions and had to basically figure out a way to get there on the spot. I had to crawl through a parked farmers market where the street might as well be shut down temporarily. In the end, the folks there didn't care they were just happy I arrived.

I then drove the truck to the Swift terminal in Lathrop, CA and cleaned out my truck and spoke with the fleet leader of the Swift terminal. She thoroughly asked my reasons for quitting and I told her that I can't go anywhere in this company without being forced to lease a truck. I cant train, get on any dedicated account, there's no next foot forward. She then told me that Swift's policies will be taking over Centrals policies in a month. So in a month I can move to Swift no problem and become a trainer there. I politely rejected, and the pay was noticeably lower.

Now I sit at home with about 5 days off to myself. I cleaned the entire apartment for my wife today and I have to be honest, it was very fun. When you're trucking, you miss all the small pleasures of a "normal" life.

Its now pretty much been a year since I went solo. I cannot believe I've had no accidents and came out of this with a clean record (besides a non-preventable but thats not bad).

Its been a tough year. I've grown up more in this one year more than I grew up in all my others years combined. I understand life more than I ever did. I value life because, to be honest, I have been in situations where I honestly thought I might not make it. I've been in struggles where I thought I might not succeed, I was even told by others that I would not succeed, but I tried my best anyways and I not only succeeded - but I thrived.

I joined TT before I committed to trucking and well before I went to my school to get my license. I've had the blessings that come with this site. I've had my foolish plans exposed by Guyjax, Guy Hodges, Brett, and Mike. I thought my plans were perfect until I posted them here. My eyes were opened that I could not achieve them. I underestimated the schooling as well as the job. I thought I could work fulltime overnights and do the trucking school. I was young and ignorant. But I am very thankful that I received help from the fine folks here on TT.

Guys, I've been on the company. Wondering if this is for me. Wondering about the pay. Asking the questions. Wondering about the struggles and challenges that come with this job. And I can tell you one thing from my personal experience.

Asking questions now will save you headaches later on. You never want to learn the hard way!

Man, I can't wait for you to get started with Prime! Very cool! And you'll be training too? That's gonna be great. Should make for some really fun stories!

Yeah Daniel, I too am looking forward to hearing some of your new adventures. My wife is always telling me that I would make a great trainer, but I just don't know if I want to give up my privacy. Seeing how it goes for you may help me to make a decision on it.

Plus I just want to get the opportunity to respond to some of your posts with some 89,754 word paragraphs!