Hey I rememeber those, Steve. Think I sent you an e-mail once. Pretty handy huh? And into OH to boot. Nice.

Awwww, shut up. $11,000 for each truck + another $1,200 for trailers liability only....and that's after shopping around.

I honestly don't know why my insurance is going down. My Mustang GT went from $1,100 to $500 also?????

My Harley insurance went way up when I moved to this town just 10 miles from where I lived in another town. I was told it's because it's a somewhat rich town and tons of people with money in there 50's and above now have the money to go out and buy a Harley without any experience. So I'm being put into that class without them taking into consideration I've been riding my whole life. I've never had an at fault accident with anything!

I'm in NY and stopped for the day and will get an early start in the morning. I just couldn't take the type of traffic any more. There are tons of people on the highway that obviously are not use to driving on it. There's more and more traffic as each hour passes. It started raining and I said, that's it. Pulled off into a service center, put the curtain up, make coffee and watch a movie. I love going to sleep and hearing the rain.

I know Rank. Getting a load to Ohio is like winning the Lottery!!! lol

There is a load with Pittsburgh Logistics heading back to my area that I may take. I'm on there good list and I get to see the loads before others do. They also pay all the fuel surcharge to there drivers which is always a nice surprise when you get your check. My last load for them was $1,300 and when I got the check it was for $1,500.

Steve I just viewed your truck in your photo gallery and I have to say it's well... BI+CHIN'! lol, I always loved the color red and on a truck well what can I say. Nice pick! Hopefully it hasn't given you to money mechanic problems

Where's Steve's photo gallery? How do you get to it?

Thanks. The paint for some reason is like right out of the showroom. I'm not sure if they use something special on trucks or if it was repainted at some point but I can't tell. I've looked a bunch of times and can't find any hint of over spray or different shades.

The truck has been great so far. Just normal maintenance like an alternator, shocks and stuff like that.

Would you ever haul tankers? Is it worth the extra money? Maybe do Super-B Trains? Like around here, it seems if you can do something specialized then it's more likely you'll get a higher rate of pay? Maybe something you could look into.

No, I'll stick with the flatbed. I like pulling all different stuff and I get to go to really cool places. Everyone loves to see the flatbed pulling up too. It's usually something special that they are waiting for.

I like the long hauls and I'm guessing that doesn't happen with a tanker seeing as how you would end up dead heading back.

Well, that didn't take long to get a load after unloading. Right on queue the phone started ringing around 7:30 and took the 3rd load heading back East to Vermont at $2.00 per mile. I'm sure I could have got more going some place else but loads back to the East coast seem to be prime ones.

It's only a 20k load of rails for the railroad company. I'm in Solon Ohio right now and not a bad place to get into and out of.

This is the first time I just sat after delivering before getting another load. I always seem to head for a truckstop and it's in the wrong direction of my next load.

Steve, or anyone who has been through this.

When you first got your authority and called to set up your safety audit,..how did it go?
I called today and the guy said that I will get a call in the next 6 months for my safety audit. I asked him if it was OK for me to go ahead and start driving next week, and he said that I'll get a call in the next 6 months. Then he mentioned crossing state lines and that I would have to get my safety audit when I cross the state line for the first time. I asked again if I needed to get my audit before I drive next week, and he said I'll get a call in the next 6 months.
What did you do?
Tomorrow I get my DOY physical and that's the last thing I need to do to be ready, this guy speaking in codes has me thinking I need to do this audit before I go out on the 14Th.

You can start driving right away. You don't call for the audit, they call you when they are ready. They give you 6 months so you can have a log book, maintenance records and everything else with data in it. Don't forget to fill out an application for employment for yourself and get a driving record.

If you go out of state each scale should come up with a big red flag that says "INSPECT". This never happened to me. After you get inspected 3 times you will have a safety rating. Your safety audit will count as one although you will not get a fine for anything wrong but it will effect your safety rating.

Your good to go except for one thing. It's mandatory for you to post pictures on the board before heading out and while on the road for the first 3 months. It's written in the FMCSA regulation 134.48.587.12345, look it up if you don't believe me.

I think safety audit consists of a level 1 and a level 5. Your truck and trailer is gone over with a fine tooth comb and your paperwork at home is also gone over. It's a freebe with no fines associated with anything they find wrong except with your truck. If they find something really bad your out of service.