Delivered My First Load Safe No Accidents

I did get lost ring to find my receiver in the dark, little bit of drama there. I am currently on my 10 hr and about to get some rest. I've learned a bit and would like to share , not now though, now my eyes are heavy....night....errrr.....morning? Its 633 and my 10 hour reset started at 555 am.

Night

Moe

Awesome! Was it as fun as you thought it'd be?? You got the first one out of the way, let's keep the fun going

Good job Moe! I pretty much did the same on my first load. It gets much better as you learn.

It’s been fun following your journey. Keep up the hard work

Tim

And I have waited all day for an update on the details....

And I have waited all day for an update on the details....

He's still sleeping...poor guy is whooped.

Funny you mention that....... I got up about six hours ago upon my return from boise.

No accidents, no death , no destruction - never a laughing matter on those points either. And I do not make those remarks lightly.

Forgive me I am trying to remeber if today was Tuesday or Weds I think its tuesday because I pulled out sunday from amazon in hillsboro Oregon pulling 12k pounds of FAK going to 1 of their distribution centers in Boise.

I left with the load around 530ish or so from AMZ and headed off HWY 26 to the 405 N to connect to I5 south and onto 84East.

My trip out was mainly uneventful. I stopped for lunch at exotic 104 of 84 east. There is Petros there and good parking. So I found a spot and had my 30.

Took off out to Boise and over the mountains. Doing it at night first time, rather intimidating for me not going to lie. But I did make it safely over the mountains

Speaking of which - for you guys and gals that use automated transmission. When defending down a steep grade, do you use your cruise control to set speed near the peak? My volvo uses Automatic Jake's when in conjunction with cruise. So it held the speed steady. You could hear them really loud going down. Which is what you want. If that sound stops I know I'm in big trouble.

Another trucking friend of mine told me to not use cruise control going down the mountain and set my speed manually (petal) then apply Jake's at the start of the descent.

Which is the safest method?

Apart from that the drive was nice and I saw some beautiful country when I was driving during the day.

Amazon itself was a bit of a cluster. I got lost trying to find the warehouse in boise because the area they are in was not well lit and I couldn't see the signs well at all. So I called my DM and he had to help me get navigated around which involved doing a turn around on a narrow dirt road close by. When I did get close to the warehouse I passed the entrance which was a narrow drive way and ended up having to do a long straight back down to the entrance and get in.

Upon arrival, I checked in handed in my paper work and according to customer instructions I unzipped the seal and opened the doors.

I didnt have much room to turn around and get set for a straight back due to two other drivers taking their 10 just close enough to where I needed to be. So I ended up having to back out and around to get properly set up. All in all it took me 45 minutes to back it. I was just determined not to hit anything and it took it slow. no one said anything about how long it took me either.

Once I dropped it. I awaited my return trailer for about 20 minutes. Got it and hooked up and went for my 10 brk (which is when I made the op).

I think I got maybe 5 hours of sleep. My body is used to the adjustable serta i bought four years ago. So I made the run back as safely and as efficiently as I could .

I kept my speed to about 60 even though the truck limits out on 84 are 65. My truck is governed at 65 so I could have done so legally in those speed zones but I that 60 was safe speed for me. I had several times where a car would get in front of me too close to I applied brakes and backed off giving me my 6 second cushion.

The scariest moment I think I had was getting passed by another semi down hill and then have the same driver pull back in front of me and tap his breaks. I had maybe 150 to 175 feet if I was lucky and I had hit my own breaks and up the Jake setting.

Beleive me I said some words out loud that I will not repeat on here in order to keep this post professional. No judgements though please lol.

That's pretty much all I can sum up. My brains a bit foggy. Currently I'm at home awaiting another run back to boise. That's my route to boise and back. Nice and simple plus good miles and experience

And I have waited all day for an update on the details....

He's still sleeping...poor guy is whooped.

Great job going the speed that's comfortable for you. Just because the speed limit says 65 doesn't mean you need to do that. How's your first week going?

Congratulations!

Tiring but good. I'm learning the ins and outside of driving for sure. I am also learning that a better attitude wins the day especially at shippers and receivers. I'll share an example.

Yesterday I pulled my backhaul into AMZ warehouse and there were some issues with the paperwork on their end. The first dock worker I spoke to was an older gal who had a bit of an attitude. I kept my calm spoke gently and informed her that I was back hauling from their AMZ outlet in Boise.

AMZ (Amazon) is a bit of a wonky set up, they will typically have a main hub in the cities and then several smaller outlets in the same town. The distribution centers are big huge warehouses - plenty of room to maneuver a rig and back up etc. The outlets, those are a bit of a challenge. The one I delivered to on my second trip out there was literally a 2 dock location with a dirt driveway and no signs so it was confusing to say the least.

I had some trouble backing at my second location, but because I chose the humble route and kept my calm I found that another drive and dock worker were more that willing to help me back it and suggest what position my axles should be in. It took me about 45 minutes to get it done but I got it and folks were patient with me because I was patient myself both with myself and with them.

The dock worker even suggest a safe place right across the street that allowed big rig overnight parking where I could take my 10. Rob i slept like a baby. Got a full 7.5 hours and was refreshed for my trip home.

Upon arriving in PDX yestedsy to continue my story. They had some troubles getting the paperwork sorted out and ended up having to speak to their sup. In the end we got it sorted out. The sup was a younger gal in about her early 20s. I introduced myself and gave my name smiles. She smiled back apologizing for the delay and that she hoped it wouldn't set me back.

I assured her it wouldn't I had plenty of hours to get the bobtail back to yard. Her name is Sam. I said Sam, are we going to have a difficult backing today it's not my forte just yet I'm new.

She smiled and laughed, said. Well because your nice im going to give you dock 315. The guy I had 2 hours ago was a jerk so I gave him the harder dock as I can assign those as I need to

Dock 315 is literally a straight back and in about 15 minutes I was backed , drippdd and out if there.

On the way out she saved gave me a thumbs up and I was on the road.

You catch a fly with honey, not vinegar....

Great job going the speed that's comfortable for you. Just because the speed limit says 65 doesn't mean you need to do that. How's your first week going?