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whorutommy · Joined: 12 Jun 2004 Posts: 75

WELL LETS 4 GET MY ISSUES ON FLAGS... I HAVE GRAND PARENTS WHO CAME 2 THIS COUNTRY FROM GERMANY, THEY WHERE HIGH GERMAN, AND VERY LOYAY, PATRIOTIC AND PROUD 2 B HERE. AND THEY NEVER ONCE DISPLAYED A FLAG OTHER THEN AMERICAN! I JUST FIND IT INSULTING TO DISPLAY ANOTHER COUNTRIES FLAG WHILE LIVIN, AND MAKING MONEY FROM US. FORGET THE FREEDOM OF SPEACH THAT IS THROWN AROUND, MUST HAVE ETHICS! iM NOT A MORON, BUT JUST PISSES MY ASS OFF 4 FLAGS DISPLAYED FROM OTHER COUNTRIES, WHILE IN US! BOTTOM LINE! GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR QUEST!

VitoCorleone99 · Joined: 23 May 2006 Posts: 362 Location: Detroit

whorutommy wrote: Hey i was in CN. a few yr.s back listening to how great italy was, in a hotel lounge. he talked about how great there forces where, and blah blah blah.. he was a engineer.. then after all his bs. He stated he graduated from Penn State! I remeber walkinbg toward him after working a very long day, and telling him 2 shut up, he mouthed back, i then proceeded to lift him out of chair, throw him over railing, then pounce on his ass ass he laid saying your taking it wrong, after that nite the guys and i had to relocate to another hotel, and earned the name 2 step Tommy, 2 steps is all it took! Anyone with a flag from another country need not be here, its treason... And direspect! So wipe your ass with your home country flag! And raise the red white and blue! Be a patriot! If things where so good in whop land why did u leave?

Your absolute inability to speak the English language has left me with sincere doubts about your own nationality. Perhaps you're a self-loathing illegal who hangs out in an internet cafe. I don't know. Hell, even the most uneducated jackoff can usually get his ethnic slurs straight.

I would like a single explanation of how respecting my grandparents and my heritage is treason. Preferably it could be on another thread since, as I stated and you were unable to comprehend, this thread is for another purpose. I imagine you'll be able to impress us all with your countless tales of bravery and patriotism, based on imaginary bar fights with college graduates. Suffice it to say that we're all aware that your own education has fallen somewhere short of a Ph.D. Your posts have the hauntingly familiar tone of a 13 year old kid hiding behind the anonymity of the internet. If such is the case, you should go and mow the grass before your father gets home. He doesn't like you wasting your time on the computer.

I tried to provide you with some much-needed education in my last response. It was ineffective as evidenced by your continually pitiful grammar, so here's a little cultural lesson for you to try on:

Quote: John Barry - father of the United States Navy "John Barry was born in a modest thatched cottage in 1745 at Ballysampson on Our Lady's Island, which is part of Tacumshin Parish in County Wexford, Ireland..."

Patrick Cleburne - Confederate States Army major-general "Patrick Cleburne a North Georgia Notable Born: County Cork, Ireland, March 17, 1828 (St. Patrick's Day)"

Michael Corcoran - United States Army general "A policeman in Ireland, Michael Corcoran became a symbol of what an Irishman -- and a Fenian -- could make of himself in the New World..."

James Hickey - leader of Operation Red Dawn "Hickey is the son of working-class Irish immigrants..."

Stephen W. Kearny United States Army officer, noted for action in the southwest during the Mexican American War

Andrew Lewis - Continental Army general "LEWIS, Andrew, soldier, born in Donegal, Ireland, about 1720"

Thomas Francis Meagher - United States Army general, Fenian "THOMAS Francis Meagher, Irish nationalist. captain in the 69th New York State Militia at 1st Manassas, and Civil War general..."

Richard Montgomery - Continental Army general "MONTGOMERY, RICHARD (1736-1775), American soldier, was born in Co. Dublin, Ireland, in 1736..."

Audie Murphy - most decorated combat soldier of World War II "One of the countless young Irish Americans queuing up in front of the recruitment offices was Audie Murphy from Greenville, Texas..."

Timothy Murphy - marksman, Continental Army "His parents, Irish immigrants, were Thomas and Mary (Lundy) Murphy..."

Jeremiah O'Brien - captain in Continental Navy "The shamrock centered at the top of the pile alludes to Jeremiah O'Brien's Irish ancestry..."

John O'Neill - United States Army general, Fenian "General John O'Neill arrived in the United States from Ireland in 1848..."

John P. O'Neill - high ranking anti-terrorism expert

Molly Pitcher - Revolutionary War heroine "She survived her husband many years, known of course as Molly McCauly, and the statements so frequently made that Molly Pitcher was a young Irish woman..."

Philip Sheridan - United States Army, General of the Army, Cavalry "John and Mary Minah Sheridan, Philip's parents, came to America in 1830 at the urging of John's uncle, Thomas Gainor, living in Albany, New York. John and Mary were from County Cavan, Ireland."

John Sullivan - Continental Army general "General John Sullivan: His Irish Family Background"

The list goes on, but I've made my point. I know some of these words are a little too big for you, but hang in there. The next time you see that guy from Penn State you can tell him you're going to throw him a beating unless he tells you what they mean.

This will be my last response to this ridiculous topic, so hopefully the moderators will be able to assist the rest of us in keeping the original subject of the thread in mind. It's rather unfortunate when a discussion that, according to some, has provided interesting and useful insight ends up spiraling into this type of nonsense. In case the military history is a little over your head, I'll leave you with one more little tidbit that you might be able to comprehend a little better.

Quote: Julie Clarke - Playboy Playmate "...an all-natural lass of Irish descent, Julie's beauty is unrivaled."

Alexandria Karlsen - Playboy Playmate "...a natural redhead, Lexie's sexy from head to toe."

Karen McDougal - Playboy Playmate "...Karen combines American wholesomeness with the exotic beauty of her Irish and Cherokee heritage."

Colin · Joined: 19 Jan 2005 Posts: 1421 Location: Kennewick, WA

whorutommy wrote: Hey i was in CN. a few yr.s back listening to how great italy was, in a hotel lounge. he talked about how great there forces where, and blah blah blah.. he was a engineer.. then after all his bs. He stated he graduated from Penn State! I remeber walkinbg toward him after working a very long day, and telling him 2 shut up, he mouthed back, i then proceeded to lift him out of chair, throw him over railing, then pounce on his ass ass he laid saying your taking it wrong, after that nite the guys and i had to relocate to another hotel, and earned the name 2 step Tommy, 2 steps is all it took! Anyone with a flag from another country need not be here, its treason... And direspect! So wipe your ass with your home country flag! And raise the red white and blue! Be a patriot! If things where so good in whop land why did u leave?

This has to be fake. Really. The whole thing. Post, person, attitude, etc. :moose:

johnday · Joined: 04 Aug 2006 Posts: 24 Location: Monroe, Michigan

Hey Vito, how ya like my avatar?? :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Colin · Joined: 19 Jan 2005 Posts: 1421 Location: Kennewick, WA

johnday wrote: Hey Vito, how ya like my avatar?? :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Mine's better. 8)

johnday · Joined: 04 Aug 2006 Posts: 24 Location: Monroe, Michigan

Colin wrote: johnday wrote: Hey Vito, how ya like my avatar?? :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Mine's better. 8)

No it isn't, MINES better'n than yours. And my dog is smarter too!!! :P :P :P

Skullitor · Joined: 18 Oct 2005 Posts: 928 Location: Your Sisters Room

Hey for your information CN = Canadian National Railways!!! :shock:
NOT Canada! :x Eh?

arky · Joined: 02 Dec 2004 Posts: 276

Hey Vito! Here's my flag :D :D

Gotta support what ya believe in ya know :D

Skywalker · Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 12:27 pm Post subject: Re: maybe so.

whorutommy wrote: But I have American flag!!!!!!

Properly spoken or written "English", aka "American english" would be said or written: "I have an American flag". Good for you, that makes you just alittle bit like the other many millions of us. However, like many of the others here... I think you "don't" have alot of "smarts".

Quote: And believe all flags being displayed in U.S.A. should be AMERICAN!!!!! gOT 2 gO mORON!

While the First Amendment pretty much guarantees that you have the right to "free speech"... keep in mind that your "opinion" is yours, and while it seems to be much like an unwashed "rectum', its not necessarily welcomed by anyone here.

However, the "spartaweenies, naysayers and professional morons" over at "truck.net" will probably welcome you with open arms and embrace you as a brother.....a dubious honor at best, but hopefully you have at least one or two nuerons and synapses that are working....and you are getting the hint...

Beyond that, moderators, you may wish to consider

VitoCorleone99 · Joined: 23 May 2006 Posts: 362 Location: Detroit

Well, just wrapped up the first full month on my solo truck, so I thought I would recap for anyone who might be wondering about some of the little things. I keep a spreadhseet to track my miles and such so the first full month of data was pretty informative for me.

In August I was dispatched for a total of 11,570 miles. I have about 145 miles left on the last run, so by tomorrow afternoon that will be complete. Since I ran around 150 on August 1st from my last July dispatch, the total is about right for August. That was my biggest concern when I joined CFI - would the miles be there? So far so good. I didn't take any 'official' home time, so of course that helped get my miles up. By the same token, I was home for a full weekend on account of needing to be at a Friday doctor's appointment and I didn't log many miles in the three or four days leading up to that day. My odometer miles were 12,006 for the same period so my unpaid mileage was 436, or 3.8% of dispatched miles. The main reason it was even that high was that I had an unpaid deadhead of 224 miles for the aforementioned appointment. I'm not bashful about state highways and county roads if they give me a more direct route. I'm sure that helps. Counting that weekend I went home four times, without officially 'going home' at all. Every time I have been to Joplin there has been a run available to Michigan so I make a habit of taking those runs when my turn comes up.

The load I will drop off tomorrow will be the first 'driver unload' of the bunch for me. There are six pallets coming in at just under 2,000 lbs. total. My guess is that it will require much less than the minimum billing of two hours so I'll take the 35 bucks and be happy with it. I had one load during the month that required me to slap stickers on the pallets as the receiver unloaded them, and I had one load that required me to nail down 2x4's to hold the 44,000 lbs. of copper rod in place. Other than that everything has been no-touch.

My fuel mileage expressed in terms of dispatched miles stood at 6.472 mpg. I run the speed limit everywhere, whatever it happens to be (except out west where it's 75 and my truck only goes 70). I drive 55 if the signs say 55, and I drive 70 if they say 70. I could save some fuel by going a little slower, but I like to get the most miles out of my hours so that's the tradeoff for me.

As far as down time, I sat in Laredo for 36 hours the one time I was there this month, and sat 40 hours in El Paso last week. Both times were fairly frustrating since it was so hot and I had to idle the truck, cutting into my fuel mileage and leaving me incredibly bored. Looking at the positives though, I got a couple of 34 hour restarts and caught nice long runs coming out of both cities.

In terms of the extracurricular pay that some companies like to point to, we don't get much of it. I had two stopoffs during runs at $22.50 each. I had around $5 for the few miles I ran in the northeast. I did collect the $25 for passing through customs six times. Most of my runs to Taylor, MI are followed by a run into and out of Canada. I have been lucky enough not to have been delayed at the border thus far. That extra $150 was more than worth the trouble. Plus, each time I have gotten into Taylor at night I have been able to go home, see some friends, and so forth before going back to work in the morning. Most of our drivers hate going up that way so I always seem to be able to find those runs coming out of Joplin.

I haven't had any maintenance issues with the truck itself. My OBCS has had an attitude and the techs in Jopin couldn't seem to identify the problem, but I have since dealt with it myself. My XM radio transponder isn't communicating with the radio, so that's another thing I'll have to deal with the next time I head through there.

Time spent waiting at shippers has been very reasonable. I imagine that has to do with CFI's detention charges, which I'm told they pursue fairly aggressively. I sat at Absopure in Plymouth, MI for a long time, but other than that it has been in and out for the most part.

Thus far the job has been about what I expected. For anyone who takes the time and does the research ahead of time, the number of real surprises should be relatively small and the learning curve should be fairly steep.

I guess that's it for now. Take care until next time.

Skullitor · Joined: 18 Oct 2005 Posts: 928 Location: Your Sisters Room

Vito; Exellent report as usual. 8)

jdimatteo · Joined: 27 Aug 2006 Posts: 3 Location: Southern New Jersey

VitoCorleone99 wrote: I am absolutely amazed at how infrequently some 'experienced drivers' check their mirrors. In school they made us say out loud, "mirrors and gauges" every 10-15 seconds. It was annoying but it really reinforced the habit

I was taught the same thing while I was learning to drive a school bus last year. In practice, I probably don't check the mirrors as often as I should. But in trucking school, I did make an effort to do better. You know what the trainer actually said when he saw this? "Look at where you're going, not where you been." Excuse me?! There's a 53' trailer back there that hasn't been here yet! I thought that was the stupidest thing I heard from this otherwise competent (if somewhat impatient) trainer.

Joe

Skullitor · Joined: 18 Oct 2005 Posts: 928 Location: Your Sisters Room

jdimatteo wrote: VitoCorleone99 wrote: I am absolutely amazed at how infrequently some 'experienced drivers' check their mirrors. In school they made us say out loud, "mirrors and gauges" every 10-15 seconds. It was annoying but it really reinforced the habit

I was taught the same thing while I was learning to drive a school bus last year. In practice, I probably don't check the mirrors as often as I should. But in trucking school, I did make an effort to do better. You know what the trainer actually said when he saw this? "Look at where you're going, not where you been." Excuse me?! There's a 53' trailer back there that hasn't been here yet! I thought that was the stupidest thing I heard from this otherwise competent (if somewhat impatient) trainer.

Joe

Joel; Some people shouldn't be trainers. :x

VitoCorleone99 · Joined: 23 May 2006 Posts: 362 Location: Detroit

Skullitor wrote: jdimatteo wrote: VitoCorleone99 wrote: I am absolutely amazed at how infrequently some 'experienced drivers' check their mirrors. In school they made us say out loud, "mirrors and gauges" every 10-15 seconds. It was annoying but it really reinforced the habit

I was taught the same thing while I was learning to drive a school bus last year. In practice, I probably don't check the mirrors as often as I should. But in trucking school, I did make an effort to do better. You know what the trainer actually said when he saw this? "Look at where you're going, not where you been." Excuse me?! There's a 53' trailer back there that hasn't been here yet! I thought that was the stupidest thing I heard from this otherwise competent (if somewhat impatient) trainer.

Joe

Joel; Some people shouldn't be trainers. :x

A funny little thing on the topic of mirrors... we rented a 30 foot RV and headed down to see poor JoePa and the boys get whipped all over the field by Our Lady's brave lads this weekend. Out of habit now, I check the mirrors around every 10-15 seconds. It was funny to me just how small that RV looks in the mirror after driving a big rig for a little while. Before I had this job I thought the 30 footers were pretty big. This time around it felt like driving an overgrown Escort.

On the subject of trainers, yeah, some people just don't have the right mentality. I sure as hell couldn't do it. We went out on the road in groups of four during trucking school, and two of the four in my group could drive anyone to drinking. At least that was my excuse after school :wink:

VitoCorleone99 · Joined: 23 May 2006 Posts: 362 Location: Detroit

I was talking earlier tonight with a fellow CFI driver who started not too long after I did, and through the conversation this thread was mentioned somehow. I was browsing the forum tonight and decided to re-visit. I don't know how favorably the moderators look upon necroing an old thread, but what the hell...

I wrapped up my first year last week. After re-reading this thread from start to finish, I must say that my impressions appear to have been pretty accurate. Some people were implying that this or that would change, but the experience has actually been pretty consistent.

In terms of CFI:

My miles came in just under 140,000 for the year. My best semi-monthly pay period was 7,700 miles and my worst (without going home) was 5,500. The times I was home for a week obviously left me with lower miles for those checks.
I have certainly pulled my share of Conway relays (started to think I qualified for a Conway pension in May of this year).
I've been to 47 states, so if you're shipping something to Rhode Island let me know.
I've gotten home when I needed to.
I earned a little over $47,000.
I never missed time due to a breakdown.
I got the fuel bonus that someone said was impossible, but the dollar amount was low enough to convince me not to worry about it either way.
Some of the people in operations are bumbling idiots and some are pretty sharp.
CFI has its share of useless procedures most likely developed by desk jockeys solely to annoy drivers.
It's been pretty much like I said before, if people do their homework the number of real surprises should be limited.
I know some have had less favorable experiences and some have probably had more favorable experiences, but I have experienced just about what I expected.
There are things that I think they could improve, but I actually take some level of enjoyment in knowing that my opinions are largely irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. If I'm doing my job and the folks at CFI are doing their jobs, we can go weeks without talking to each other. I like that.

In terms of the job in general:

If you have to take a Greyhound to orientation, it will suck.
The solitude would probably begin to wear on most people within a few months, but it doesn't bother me.
I was home for a lot of time earlier this year but lately I haven't been home much. It seems that, as time goes on, a certain level of indifference about life at home starts to set in. I don't know if that's good or bad, but it definitely seems to be happening.
If you enjoy the company of young women with questionable morals as much as I do, this will be the biggest hurdle to overcome. I suppose you could pay for the company, but that's not really my style.
Trying to make an issue of every little thing that happens out here will land you in the looney bin. If you under-expect, people will over-deliver.
If you read these forums enough, somebody, at least once a day, will say OTR drivers are stupid, or people at a given company are stupid, or people who do things a certain way are stupid. It seems to me that the only stupid people are the ones who let others define their priorities for them.
Whether I do this job for another week or another twenty years, the last year on the road has been an experience I would not trade for... well, there are some things I would trade it for, but you get the point.

Cheers.

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