Papa Pigs Zainy Rookie Solo Adventures

So, it’s new year and I have been doing this for 7 months now . I have learned a lot and continue to learn more every day. I have had victories and failures, good days and bad.... days that I quit 10 different times in my head while unloading in the back of a trailer or pulling up to a difficult stop that I had absolutely no clue how I was going to get in there. For those that told me I was taking a hard road when I started I definitely understand why. I do want to thank Brett and old school and some of the others I think posted about what it takes being a top tier driver. Those lessons along with having a good trainer have helped tremendously. I’m not saying I’m top tier but do my best to improve day by day. IMO .. with my account ,being top tier is being the guy that can get it done. The driver they know will get it there and not complain. That will get the load off early if possible or bust his ass to get done quickly.

Example - if the manager says it will be a while before she can get the door open and the storage room ready. Ask if you can break the seal and start unloading in the parking lot so you can just push it in when she’s ready. Time is money

It means knowing how to run your clock, when a split break is advantageous or not

It means if you park at 11 pm and they knock on your door at 5 am and ask if you are ready to unload, you smile, nod your head affirmative, brush your teeth and go from dead asleep to pushing rolltainers in the space of minutes.

I didn’t ***** about short runs when I started. And when my fleet manager apologized for having to get me a crappy load I told him that I am an employee and will do whatever run I am given to the best of my ability. After that...I don’t get many short or low paying runs.🤷🏻‍♂️

I had my first encounter with a “terminal rat” on my account while waiting for my trailer to load. She came from another less stressful account and was complaining about Werner lying and messing with her pay. She said that she was “promised” at least 1000 per week and that she had been here for a month and hadn’t seen it yet. She had 2 years of experience on me so makes about 2 -3 more cpm than I do. When I told her that i was averaging between 1700-2000 a week she at first didn’t believe me, and then accused me of being in the “(good ol boy click). Some people don’t believe that hard work pays off I guess.🤷🏻‍♂️ When I asked her if she was doing certain things like parking at the store over night , how long it was taking her to unload, had she turned down loads. Etc. that let me know why she wasn’t making money.

Just wanted to give an update and wish y’all a happy new year! Stay safe! Keep the greasy side towards the road!

Good to hear from you glad everything is rolling good for you man happ New Years your way

So, it’s new year and I have been doing this for 7 months now . I have learned a lot and continue to learn more every day. I have had victories and failures, good days and bad.... days that I quit 10 different times in my head while unloading in the back of a trailer or pulling up to a difficult stop that I had absolutely no clue how I was going to get in there. For those that told me I was taking a hard road when I started I definitely understand why. I do want to thank Brett and old school and some of the others I think posted about what it takes being a top tier driver. Those lessons along with having a good trainer have helped tremendously. I’m not saying I’m top tier but do my best to improve day by day. IMO .. with my account ,being top tier is being the guy that can get it done. The driver they know will get it there and not complain. That will get the load off early if possible or bust his ass to get done quickly.

Example - if the manager says it will be a while before she can get the door open and the storage room ready. Ask if you can break the seal and start unloading in the parking lot so you can just push it in when she’s ready. Time is money

It means knowing how to run your clock, when a split break is advantageous or not

It means if you park at 11 pm and they knock on your door at 5 am and ask if you are ready to unload, you smile, nod your head affirmative, brush your teeth and go from dead asleep to pushing rolltainers in the space of minutes.

I didn’t ***** about short runs when I started. And when my fleet manager apologized for having to get me a crappy load I told him that I am an employee and will do whatever run I am given to the best of my ability. After that...I don’t get many short or low paying runs.🤷🏻‍♂️

I had my first encounter with a “terminal rat” on my account while waiting for my trailer to load. She came from another less stressful account and was complaining about Werner lying and messing with her pay. She said that she was “promised” at least 1000 per week and that she had been here for a month and hadn’t seen it yet. She had 2 years of experience on me so makes about 2 -3 more cpm than I do. When I told her that i was averaging between 1700-2000 a week she at first didn’t believe me, and then accused me of being in the “(good ol boy click). Some people don’t believe that hard work pays off I guess.🤷🏻‍♂️ When I asked her if she was doing certain things like parking at the store over night , how long it was taking her to unload, had she turned down loads. Etc. that let me know why she wasn’t making money.

Just wanted to give an update and wish y’all a happy new year! Stay safe! Keep the greasy side towards the road!

Some people don’t believe that hard work pays off I guess.

Papa Pig, you've done an outstanding job on that account! You dug in and made it happen. That's what being a Top Tier Driver is all about. I have a lot of respect for you. I had no idea how you would do, but you've been knocking it out of the park since day one. Congratulations - I am impressed!

You are one of my Honorary Nominees for Rookie of The Year!

Haha. Thanks Rat Pack, Old school, Jammer. At this point I’m Just drinking water and hydrating in preparation for summer to rear it’s ugly head again.

Sir you are definetly a top tier driver!! Congrats.. You certainly picked the hard road ( no pun intended). However you made a decision early on, failure is not an option. That is a testameant to your drive, determination, and intergerity.

Very few drivers young or older, experienced or inexperienced have that intergal drive. We seem to attract more of those types here, than most other forums.

Congrats on your success and wishing you well for the New Year!!

I am tired. The holidays messed up our schedule and the warehouse’s loading patterns. I normally leave out Sunday night to deliver Monday through Friday, coming home on Friday evenings. Well, I had to leave last Saturday morning starting my pretrip 2 seconds after my full 70 came back, drive the 2.5 hours to the dc and pick up a trailer with 4 drops that delivered that day! I was able to sling all of that off in record time, pick up my trailer for the next day, drive the 70 miles to my first stop, deliver that then drive 80 miles to my second stop to shut down with 10 minutes left on my 14. Since I started so early I did everything possible (legally) to preserve my 70 and worked 6 days pulling 6 loads instead of my normal 5! Getting home last night. My body can definitely tell the difference with the number of loads, plus not having as long to recover from last week. My FM said he would TRY to keep a load off my back until Sunday night which would get me on my normal schedule. Don’t get me wrong I’m not complaining, just want to make people aware that dedicated accounts aren’t always set in stone and freight will dictate. You can either drag your feet and do the minimum or you can control your clock , bust your ass, and make some additional money. It’s all on you.

Wednesday I made a mistake that could have ended badly but I was able (barely) to get out of my jam. I was doing a rolltainer pickup at a store in orange beach Alabama. When I got to the store I realized I couldn’t turn in from the lane I was in. I went down the street to find a place to get turned around. I saw this shopping center and saw the area where there trucks entered from the back. Having delivered to these types of plazas hundreds of times I thought I would go around back, pull through to the other side.............. well, there was no other side. It got tight and made a few tight right turns and I came upon a dead end. There was no way possible to back out. Luckily there was one little alley that I had to 90 back into. I had about an inch of room between the wall and my bumper when backing up. After cursing to myself and praying to Jesus, plus eating tons of rubber off my work shoes from GOALING I got turned around, went back out the way I came. Made it into the store. Which was a blindside off of a side street 😂🤣

Today I am relaxing. My wife scheduled me for an hour long massage at a place she visits and it was phenomenal and welcome. I had some bbq and coconut meringue pie. Now I’m being fat , sleepy, and channel surfing. Life is good 👌🏻.

That schedule is tough on an Old Guy, ain't it? It would be difficult on a youngster, too. Glad you persevered and didn't let it defeat you! Awesome!

I did that "behind the building into a dead end" thing twice, so absolutely no fun. Glad to read you made it with no bent sheet metal or shattered fiberglass.

Yeah i think it would be tough on most folks . And that whole dead end scenario is hopefully a mistake I do NOT repeat lol.

Not fun trying to line your liftgate up to this at night after delivering a trailer in the morning , drop n hook, drive 6 hrs. Though i figured it was better than trying to do it after I woke up at 5 am

Decided to reward myself though. Nice little Mexican place across the street