I certainly hope your putting some back in...where ever it is coming from!! $20 bills or not!!

Oh yeah.....been watching it like a hawk

Hey Happy Birthday, DD. I will answer your questions tonight.

R/

Jeff

thanks! :D

DD, You'll get a kick out of this.

I called in to our CA office/agent and asked why I was seeing some trucks with GAF roofing loads on them running east on 10. I was told that you O/O's are taking loads for .80 cents which is driving down the freight prices. I told him no it isn't it's the big companies coming in and undercutting. An O/O is not going to run out of CA to AZ for .80

what do you think....?

I'm home tonight since I now am the proud owner of a TWIC card. I picked it up down in San Diego.

I would never run a load for .80. I would rather DH out of an area than to let some broker/agent/company make money while I lose money. "F" that!

Hey DD,

Went to get the DOT Physical and the Doc had to take HIMSELF to the ER. I was a bit miffed when I showed up and his office was closed. When I called today to reschedule, he immediately started apologizing. Needless to say I felt like a heel when he told me that. He said all is well and we rescheduled for tomorrow (19 Feb). I took the opportunity to swing by the school and turn in my character references and essay since it was right down the road. They called today and said I got the scholarship. Its only $750 but every little bit helps. She said they really like my essay and it was one of the better ones they got.

With regards to company's, I am still looking at doing at least 2 more years in this Canoe Club (that will have me at 22 years and hopefully a better economy), so far my interests are mainly leaning towards flatbeds and tankers. I am open to anything just to get the experience as a few companies I like require 2-3 years OTR experience. Here is what I am looking at thus far:

Flatbed:
TMC
Lonestar ( I am standing by for you to smack me in the back of the head)
Anderson Trucking Service
Roehl (not interested in there Honor Program, though)
JK Hackl
Kaiser Transport

Tanker:
Superior Carrier
Miller Transporters, Inc.

Also, Tri-State Motor Transit. I really like the nature of the work there.

My ultimate goal is to branch out on my own, but that is years down the road. I have all of this layed out in a "Long and Short Range Training Plan" ( you remember those, LOL). Also the wife and I plan on moving back to the Great State of Texas (I am from Austin), so I need to keep that in perspective as well.

Like you, I am putting in many hours of research. I am also open to your feedback at anytime.

R/

Frat

BZ on the physical AND the scholarship!!:thumbsup:

When was it you're planning on attending CDL school? If you have 2 years left of haze gray and underway, make sure you don't get your CDL too early as many companies will not recognize it if you do not use it and then require you to go to a refresher course.

As far as your list of prospective companies, it looks pretty decent (including Lonestar...they seem to be decent for company drivers). I looked at the Honor Program with Roehl as well as with a few other carriers (same program, different name) and in my opinion, it was not all it's cracked up to be. Just look real close at what they offer you and then compare it in both short and long term to what other companies have to offer.

So is Austin where you plan on retiring at?

Ah....research......my favorite. :D Many of my friends will give me crap about how thorough I get with research and what not. I guess it's the military in me that does it.

I made my drop in Taft, TX and bounced over to Corpus Christi to the WS dealership to have the input seal looked at. I get there at about 9:30am and the service dept says that if I am not in before lunch it will be right after. OK, a little bit of a wait but no big deal. :cool:

Well lunch comes and goes and by 2:30pm I go in to find out what the status is. The guy apologizes and tells me that during some PM's they found some problems and got the authorization to fix them etc, etc. He says they should be getting me in between 3-4pm. By now I am frustrated to say the least because I have been there for 5hrs. :mad:

Around 5pm they take the truck in the shop and within 15min they call me over to tell me that I was correct in that the input seal was shot and the U-joint has some slack in it and recommend changing it as well. I tell them to go ahead as I need it repaired. He also tells me that it will take a little longer because the mech that will be doing the work is out on a road call and should be back soon. :angryblue:

Around 8pm I finally see that my truck is in the shop and that they are working on it. :D To make a long story short, a total of 14hrs there and $600 later :hellno: I was rolling out of there.

One single good thing come out of my visit there. In their parts dept they had a sale on 4"x30' straps. I got a box of 10 for $100. The cheapest I have ever found they for was about $15 each and in the truck stops, which I would NEVER buy them there, they sell for about $30. So paying $10 each was a decent deal. :thumbsup:

I started to head the 120 some odd miles home but only got about 30 miles north before I decided I was way too exhausted (mentally stressed) to go any further and decided to just call it a night. I got up early the next morning and headed home.

I intend to spend the remainder of the week here at home taking care of a few odds and ends and just relaxing.