I drove truck during the summers while I was in college. After that I became an o/o, then sold my truck and got into management jobs. Not once, but twice I made the mistake of letting my employer know that I had a CDL. If we got short-handed the boss would ask me to help by driving (in one case one of my drivers had a back injury that took him out of the truck for six weeks). Did I get rewarded for doing something that was not in my job description? No, in fact in both cases I got grief because my regular job did not get done! In my current job, my boss knows I have a CDL, but I lied to him and said that my medical card was not up to date.
Logbooks I had a logbook for every day of the week. Had trouble sometimes remembering what day it was. Always kept good records no matter how bogus. OT
That’s fine till your terminal gets audited or even worse you have an accident and someone is seriously hurt or killed.
I bet within the next 10-20 years it will be reguired if you're runnin' interstate and it won't be long after that for intrastate. They will probably be tied into a GPS system to track fuel taxes etc. as you cross state lines too. :stir: opcorn:
The last company that I worked for had the Cadac system that logged your time. I ran out of hours one time and had to listen to it beeping like crazy for 2 hours. I had a fender bender in Myrtle Beach during black biker week and the Highway Patrol had me return to Charleston with the load of gasoline since there was no possible way to deliver it. I logged 17 hours on duty that day, 10 of it in gridlock. Dispatcher got charged with my accident, touche' jerk. OT
as a matter of fact I just went through a DOT audit. amazingly the only thing he was not impressed about was the drug testing.waytogo
I'm 23 and have been driving for a little over two years. Not over the road, but locally hauling gravel and other aggregate products. I also drove in the winter hauling beet pulp which is a byproduct of making sugar from beets. I did all of this in end dump trailers and belly dumps. I also haul sugar beets in a 24 ft. end dump during the harvest. I enjoy this type of driving because I'm home every night. My truck this summer was a '96 Mack CH with a 36" bunk, 327hp Mack engine, and a 9spd Mack transmission. I pulled a 34ft Trailstar tri axle air ride end dump or a tri axle belly dump. This truck doesn't sound like much, but that 327 was strong. Mack engines are rated at their actual horsepower from the wheels rather than the crank and this thing would fly too. During the winter, I ran a '95 Mack day cab with a 427 Mack engine and a 9 spd. I pulled a 26 ft tandem axle Cobra end dump. I grew up around Macks and loved their power and durability. This year's beet harvest will give me a new truck. A '99 Volvo with a 330 hp Cummins and a 9 spd. Nice trucks, rides great, and is quiet, but deffinately not a Mack!
I've been driving for right around 2 years. Which is not much compared to most of ya here, but in that time I've done quite a bit. I spent this summer in a '96 Mack CH with a 36" bunk, a 327hp Mack engine, and a 9spd Mack tranny. I pulled a 36ft Trailstar end dump, tri axle with air ride. Last winter I ran a '95 Mack CH with a 427hp Mack engine and a 9 spd Mack tranny pulling a 26 ft' Cobra end dump. This summer I hauled aggregate products and hot asphalt. During the winter I haul beet pulp which is a byproduct of the sugarbeet processing. During the beet harvest, last year I ran a bada$$ '93 Freightliner Severe Service FLD with a 425hp Cat and a 10 spd. I pulled a 28 ft end dump and wow would this thing haul! This year I run a '99 Volvo with a 330hp Cummins. That Freight would really haul the mail, but it's no Mack
I've been driving for about 2 years, not much compared to most here but I grew up around Mack trucks and did some driving before I was legal. This summer I drove a '96 Mack CH with a 327 Mack engine and a 9spd. I pulled a 36ft Trailstar end dump tri axle with air ride. I also hauled hot asphalt in a tri axle belly dump. I had a great time doing this and once I'm out of college I hope to start my own small business with trucks hauling aggregate products and maybe some sort of specialty products. I enjoyed the driving I did because I was home every night. I did do some jobs where I was on the road for a few days to a week, but never more than that. During the winter for extra money, I haul beet pulp which is a byproduct of processing sugar beets. The pulp is used for livestock feed and I hauled this with a '95 Mack CH daycab, 427hp Mack, with a Mack 9 spd. I love Macks and always will. I've driven other trucks such as, Freightliners, Internationals, Volvos, and Kenworths, but none are as special and reliable as a Mack! waytogo
Cdl I drove for Jim Palmer Trucking, pulled mainly reefers,also pulled for Hoovestol Inc,pulling USMail
Yeah, I've driven/drive truck for Construction work (boom truck, crane, etc.), never OTR though. Sounds like the big companies are driving the Owner-Operators out of business, as if the Govt isn't doing enough themselves. I wish that everyone who gets a regular license would have to ride in a rig for a little while, might make them think twice when they cut one off, drive in blind spots, or just drive like inconsiderate pricks around trucks/ truckers. Ignorance really is bliss I guess, until they get hit with 80K worth of truck.
My grandpa used to do it for the state of Kansas. My one uncle does it for his county and counties around him. My dad owned a couple of semis on the farm when I was a kid. I guess you could say there is a little trucking history in my family and some of it is still going on today.
