[freebirdrfd]

Let us know if Barry still takes you out for a steak dinner

[Malaki86]

I don't know about the steak dinner, but for our dinners, we get a $10 card for Eat 'n Park, which is across from the parking lot from the motel. Lunch is served in the cafeteria at the terminal (not the best food, to say the least). Breakfast today was an actual meal, while the next 2 days is donuts & coffee (fine for me).

[Malaki86]

Orientation Day 1:

This is your typical 1st day of orientation. The first half of the day is hectic, get everything done. Road test, backing test, pre-trip inspection, physical & drug test. Then, round 1 of your paperwork (taxes, verifying everything on your application and a 'personal profile'). We still have to do our benefits paperwork and some others that I can't recall. The 2nd half of the day was the killer - sitting and watching video's, listening to speeches, etc. Everyone in the room was ready to drop (14 in the orientation).

They also began the process of assigning the trucks. We were asked which type of truck we would prefer to have (no guarantee's that you'll get one, though). They still run a very small portion of the fleet with autoshift transmissions. Because of my arthritis, they definitely help, so I requested one. He said if there's one on the lot, I'll get it (I was the only one that asked). We won't get new trucks. In fact, he said the average truck we'll get will be a 2008-2009. As long as it's maintained, that's fine with me.

I did my road test in a Coronado. That was weird. A Century/Columbia dash in a square-nose truck. I didn't have any problems with the road or backing test, but the other driver that road-tested the same time as me has been in an automatic for the past 5 years. That was plainly clear. They do expect you to double-clutch every gear. That's hard to do when you're used to floating them. The truck had an air-ride front suspension, which was a first for me. The first time the truck leaned into a turn, I grabbed the seat cushion a little tighter with my butt cheeks.

I'll be 100% honest and say that I haven't done a pre-trip inspection on any truck since 2000 (when I tested for my CDL) until today. It's the full deal - tell the instuctor everything that you're checking. You also do the 100% air brake test. I missed 13, and he said I did good. One guy in the class (no one knows who but the one it happened to) missed 45. I did catch an air leak in an airbag that no one else has caught in 2 weeks.

We don't have to be at the terminal until 7am tomorrow, but a driver mentor is going to give us a tour of the facility before class. They said that the instructor will give us the same tour, but will do it in just a couple of minutes and we'll be lost. He'll take an hour to do it.

[Malaki86]

Originally Posted by Allan M

If your truck is being worked on all day they expect you to be rested and ready to drive all night when it's ready.
When your 24 or 48 hrs off is done at home they expect you to be sitting in the truck waiting for dispatch whether they have something for you or not.

I just finished my 2nd day and no one has mentioned anything whatsoever about this. No one in operations, the shop, or any of the numerous drivers we've talked to that are onsite.

[Malaki86]

Orientation Day 2:

This is, by far, the most boring day. All kinds of presentations: CSA, logbooks, operations, safety, etc etc etc. I'm sure 99.9% of you experienced drivers have went through this same type of orientation.

We'll be assigned our trucks tomorrow after lunch. If everything is good with the trucks (no issues with them), we should be dispatched and rolling by 3 or 4pm.

One person has to retake their pre-trip inspection test. If he fails tomorrow, then, yes, he'll more than likely be going home on a bus.

[Malaki86]

Orientation Day 3:

Today is the day we've all been waiting for. The first 1/2 of the day finishing up with paperwork (benefits & such), a class to explain the Qualcomm's, etc. Just before lunch (11:30), they gave out the truck assignments. That's where things went downhill.

Four of us couldn't find our trucks. Turns out they were all in the shop for repairs. A couple of them were done within about an hour. The 3rd guy got his truck around 4pm. Everyone kept telling me that my truck would be done at 3. Well, they told me the wrong 3. When they didn't have it by 5pm, I knew I was going to have to spend another night there, arrangements were made to put me in one of their dorm rooms for the night. I had to leave my fuel card at the dispatch office as 'collateral'. The last time I checked on it last night was at 7pm. I went to bed shortly after. When I woke up at 3am, I decided to just go look, and sure enough, there it sat, ready to roll!

I did my thorough inspection (the complete truck) and found very few (and very minor) issues, such as a crack on the grill & a couple small scrapes in the paint just below it. Oh - and missing the entire CB hold-down bracket (mounted overhead). I was dispatched on a load yesterday, so I didn't have any time to get the CB mount replaced (no big deal this time of year). I gathered up all my stuff and literally just tossed it into the sleeper, except for a pen, a notepad and my phone & BT headset. Before I had went to bed last night, I had a mechanic show me how to operate the APU's, since I've never had one before. Well, the APU in this one is completely different. Not many switches, but I couldn't get the control pad to power on. Went to the shop and it took 3 guys before they found someone that knew what the problem was - the "real" control box under the bunk has a key switch on it. It was shut off.

I grabbed an empty trailer and headed for Bedford, PA to pick up a preloaded trailer. On the way down, I decided that I'd better stop for coffee at a Sheetz that's enroute. Well, I'm glad I did. When I climbed out of the truck and put the key in my pocket, there's the dorm room key. Ya - that means that I don't have my fuel card. So, I get my coffee and reverse my course back to the terminal. Got there, made the trade and, again, headed to Bedford. Lucky for me that I was only 12 miles from the terminal.

On the drive to/from Bedford, I noticed a slight high-speed wobble in the steering. I checked the steers but didn't find any cupping, so I'm guessing that one of the tires is either out of round or out of balance. It's not a bad wobble and doesn't even start until you're over 62mph. So, the next time I'm in the yard, I'll probably be getting a new set.

The load I'm on is going to Sauk Village, IL, which is pretty much at the IL/IN state line off of I-80. I'll be in there by 5am tomorrow. Once that load is done, I'll head to Bristol, IN to pick up a load going to Tipton, PA. I'm trying to get headed to my house so I can get the rest of my stuff. I would've been able to do a passthrough yesterday, but with the repair issue...

[Mackman]

Hey dennis. If you ever see some of the well trucks take some pics for me. You know i like my vacuum tankers lol

[Malaki86]

They had 2 tank trailers and one of their tractors at the terminal. The smaller trucks are all on-site. But, I'll get you some photo's of them if they're sitting there the next time I'm up there.

[Malaki86]

Yesterday was an average day in the live of a driver: I woke up early so I could get in and out of the Gary, IN area. The delivery was a drop and hook, then picked up in Bristol, IN (close to Elkhart). That load is going to Tipton, PA (between Altoona & State College). They're having me take the load through the house so I can finish setting up my truck. I was about 1.5hrs short of being able to make it home last night.

After the load is delivered in Tipton, I have to go back to the terminal in Roaring Spring. The truck has a few small issues that need taken care of. It's scheduled for service on Monday. Another driver from my last job is coming to Smith to work, as well. His 1st day of orientation is Monday. And, yes, when I'm there, if there are any of our water trucks at the terminal, I'll get photo's.

[Malaki86]

Got home this morning around 6:30am. I'll leave here just after my 34hr reset on Monday morning. It's a 3hr drive to the delivery, then to the shop for repairs.

I took today to get all of my stuff moved into the truck. It's done except for building a sliding shelf for the laptop to sit on. I'd work on it right now, but I don't have the drawer slides I need and I don't feel like making a trip to Lowe's. Maybe tomorrow. I had a heck of a time finding a microwave that will fit in the cabinets of a Cascadia. They're all just a couple inches too wide. I found one at a pawn shop that works, though. It's taller than normal (the controls are above the door on the face of the microwave). $25 and it works perfect. I have my coffee pot sitting on the shelf below where the laptop will go. But, once that shelf is in, it'll block the coffee pot (it'll still fit), so I may end up building a 2nd sliding shelf for the bottom of it.

The truck had a SiriusXM-Ready stereo in it, so I just had to pull the radio out, plug in my XM tuner and run the antenna cable. Love those stereo's - no units sitting on top of the dash.

Even though I tried to keep everything sorted as to where I put it in the cabinets, I guarantee that I won't be able to find anything for the next couple of weeks.