I need a hat, a chain for my wallet & a can of snuff.

Greg said:
Will the job keep you on the road and over night in hotels a majority of the time?
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I can do whatever I choose to do with them. They are very accommodating. I can be home every night, weekend or any time I want. I opted to do the first to weeks of training out of High Point because I could get the opportunity to see what this is like. It's payed off big time. I'm gaining far more experience then had I run local. I may choose to run local when all is said and done but it's nice that I now am gaining this experience.
 
Just started a 36 hour reset of my driving time. Going to pick up a load of ??? in downtown Cincinnati at 6am Sunday. From there it's straight to Richmond for delivery. I think it's about 500+ miles. Pickup and delivery on each end of that run same day. That'll be a good day. Until then, it's going to be downtime in the hotel. Gonna go out for some wings at Rooster's tonight.
 
Really enjoying the updates DPK.
what does your family think of your career change?

Your updates are making me rethink my taxi posts, maybe I should start posting updates again.
 
DanicaFreak said:
Really enjoying the updates DPK.
what does your family think of your career change?

Your updates are making me rethink my taxi posts, maybe I should start posting updates again.
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I think everyone is fine with the career change. I think it's a big change for my wife this week because of all the things that I do around the house aren't probably noticed until I'm not there. I mean, that's the case when anyone is away for any period of time. I sure miss my wife and everything about being there. While I like going out for dinner with my wife every other week it so, I don't enjoy living day to day having to hand someone $'s for my next meal. I sure miss my wife's cooking.

While I'm enjoying the time learning all of this by jumping in with both feet, I wouldn't want to do this all the time. I like that I'll have the option to choose or change my path when I'd like. The place I'm at really treats their driver's well. I've now spent a bunch of hours at a handful of terminals taking with others. Most everyone has stated that they intend on being there until they retire. That's a great sign IMO. Makes me feel that I did my research and made the right choice.
 
Loading in Cincinnati as I type. Just about loaded and then off to Richmond. Unload time rescheduled for tomorrow morning.

Some mountain driving ahead today. Lots of hills and curves. Should learn s lot today.
 
526 miles later and I'm at my hotel East of Richmond. Deliver at 6am so it's not going to be a late night.

Lots of hills and turns today. Gross weight was 78,800lbs. Some hills I was only running 30mph by the top. The weight was pushing me down the other side of all those hills.

Tomorrow, after delivery we'll either have to take the tank for cleaning to Baltimore or back to High Point. I'm kinda hoping that it's High Point so we can make daily local runs until I head back home on Friday/Saturday.

If I were doing the over the road runs on my own, I'd be taking food from home to get me through most days. I'm really getting tired of eating out. Besides the expense, I'm missing the home cooked meals. I'd have to purchase one of those 12v cooler freezers and a microwave along with an inverter. Then I could bring a little bit of home with me
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
526 miles later and I'm at my hotel East of Richmond. Deliver at 6am so it's not going to be a late night.

Lots of hills and turns today. Gross weight was 78,800lbs. Some hills I was only running 30mph by the top. The weight was pushing me down the other side of all those hills.

Tomorrow, after delivery we'll either have to take the tank for cleaning to Baltimore or back to High Point. I'm kinda hoping that it's High Point so we can make daily local runs until I head back home on Friday/Saturday.

If I were doing the over the road runs on my own, I'd be taking food from home to get me through most days. I'm really getting tired of eating out. Besides the expense, I'm missing the home cooked meals. I'd have to purchase one of those 12v cooler freezers and a microwave along with an inverter. Then I could bring a little bit of home with me
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Check out 12V compressor units. The thermoelectric kind won't cool. I did fine with a medium sized full refer kind. Most of the portable frig/freezer are pretty large and take up a lot of space. I would put frozen in the bottom and run around 34, 36 degrees and be fine for two or three days sometimes more. I had a small bucket with a lid under the bunk that had packaged food/snacks and bottled water for emergency's. Even though WalMarts are everywhere easy in easy out (they always have a truck receiving area) sometimes you get run ragged when you are low on provisions.
 
Finished offloading and then took the tanker to be cleaned at a local tank washer South of Richmond. Apparently, we're going to use this same tank for our next load that we're going to pick up near the Virginia Beach area. That'll happen sometime tomorrow mid day. That load of ??? will be heading over to the Greensboro, NC area. Tomorrow should end back in High Point.
 
I've been pretty lucky so far. I only got a total of about 60 minutes of rain in all my driving time to date. Not really knowing how will these things travel in the rain is a concern of mine. Not to mention the snow season later this year.
 
Another piece you might want to look at is a 12V Road Pro cooker around 35, 40 bucks. They have them at all the truck stops. They look like a lunch box, kinda toy like but they aren't. You can cook or warm up about anything while driving down the road in one. Comes with a nice cook book. You can get the tin foil liners at the Dollar type stores.
 
StandOnIt said:
Another piece you might want to look at is a 12V Road Pro cooker around 35, 40 bucks. They have them at all the truck stops. They look like a lunch box, kinda toy like but they aren't. You can cook or warm up about anything while driving down the road in one. Comes with a nice cook book. You can get the tin foil liners at the Dollar type stores.
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Thanks for the tips
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
... If I were doing the over the road runs on my own, I'd be taking food from home to get me through most days. I'm really getting tired of eating out. Besides the expense, I'm missing the home cooked meals....
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Although my truck driving experience was extremely short, the biggest complaint was eating the majority of meals in diners. OH! How I longed for home cooking!! Tough roast beef, string beans and mashed potatoes covered with greasy gravy - and to add variety, sometimes really greasy french fries, which was not a substitute for hime cooking. Same ole fare for breakfast and lunch was hit and miss. Remember, there were few places to stop and eat along the way.
There is one that stood firm to the test of time and is still in business. Esther's Restaurant on old Route 22 in Fredericksburg, PA. My Bride and I still stop there on our way to visit family and during one visit, when speaking with the waitress I mentioned stoping there in the fifties. She went in the office and came back with a picture of the place from that era. Quite a difference but the food is still good and the apple dumpling is the absolute best, especially warmed and with vanilla ice cream.
 
Staying in a Motel 666 tonight. Definitely a place in hell this one is. Cracked walls. Cracked paint. Cracked flooring. I'm on the second floor. This place looks like it should be condemmed. I could be on the first floor by morning. Who knows? The television and internet service work well though. So there's that.

I don't think we load till about 10 or 11 tomorrow morning. Then it's off to Greensboro tomorrow afternoon to offload. Only about 180 miles. After that, back to the terminal in High Point. I think we'll be running out of there the rest of the week doing local stuff. Then, Friday, back in my Jeep to drive the 500 miles back home.

Next week I should be with a trainer out of my home terminal. Probably only making local or dedicated runs. I hope that they let me drive like this trainer has allowed me to do. I've driven every mile since mid day last Tuesday. That's not the norm.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Staying in a Motel 666 tonight. Definitely a place in hell this one is. Cracked walls. Cracked paint. Cracked flooring. I'm on the second floor. This place looks like it should be condemmed. I could be on the first floor by morning. Who knows? The television and internet service work well though. So there's that.

I don't think we load till about 10 or 11 tomorrow morning. Then it's off to Greensboro tomorrow afternoon to offload. Only about 180 miles. After that, back to the terminal in High Point. I think we'll be running out of there the rest of the week doing local stuff. Then, Friday, back in my Jeep to drive the 500 miles back home.

Next week I should be with a trainer out of my home terminal. Probably only making local or dedicated runs. I hope that they let me drive like this trainer has allowed me to do. I've driven every mile since mid day last Tuesday. That's not the norm.
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@dpkimmel2001, do they pay for your overnight hotel rooms? Place sounds like a **** hole. Be damn sure to check the bed for critters. Does the company set these rooms up for you or can you pick? Maybe a perdeum thing?
I have moved on several time, in my traveling, to another Motel/Hotel. I average better around 125+ nights out a year.
 
sdj said:
@dpkimmel2001, do they pay for your overnight hotel rooms? Place sounds like a sh!t hole. Be damn sure to check the bed for critters. Does the company set these rooms up for you or can you pick? Maybe a perdeum thing?
I have moved on several time, in my traveling, to another Motel/Hotel. I average better around 125+ nights out a year.
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Yeah, they are getting me a room every night during training. I just go where I'm dropped off for the night. There trainer sleeps in the truck or there's a room for himself. The hotels are picked for me. Most nights I'm in a hotel that the company has a contract with. This may actually be the first hotel that I'm starting in that isn't.

125+ nights a year. I don't think I could handle that.

Once I'm finally in my own truck I'll have the option to stay in the contracted hotels or sleep in the truck. The hotel room would be free but I would get paid to sleep in the truck overnight. I'd probably opt for the latter most nights. That may sound kind of dumb to many but I think that just being able to climb back into bed may be more desirable than checking into and hauling stuff in and out of hotels. Maybe that's just me?

And yes, I tore this bed down looking.
 
Interesting reading all this...back in the day, getting a CDL and driving was what I thought my dream job.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Staying in a Motel 666 tonight. Definitely a place in hell this one is. Cracked walls. Cracked paint. Cracked flooring. I'm on the second floor. This place looks like it should be condemmed.
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I know the feeling and had to laugh as it reminded me of a night in a motel from hell I stayed in the mid-eighties. I tried to get a room at a late date to attend the Martinsville races so had to settle for anything. The motel looked clean, despite the time clock by the door, (just kidding about the time clock) but it definitely left a lot to be desired and the event is factual. After settling in, went out for something to eat and later retuned to the motel room and was on the phone with my Bride describing the rust around the tub and leaky shower head, among some of the other things when all of a sudden, I felt flakes falling on my head and then, BOOM, sections of the plaster ceiling came down on top of me!!!! I was, to say the least, surprised but got laughing thinking it was about what I would have expected from a place that looked like the one I was in. Meantime my Bride was on the other end of the line screaming into the phone, "what's happening, what's happening?!?" and I was laughing at the idiocy of the entire thing. The bigger problem was, there were no other places to stay. Management got me another room as it was a two night stay but I must admit, it was a first and I slept pretty good none the less.
Then we bought a motorhome so there were no more falling ceilings.
 
Today was my first Hazmat load. I didn't know until they handed me the placards. Whatever it was it was thick and heavy. The tank wasn't more than half full. That combination made for some intense surge.

Anyhow..... Back in a hotel in High Point, NC.

Have to deliver this load locally tomorrow and then I don't have a clue where I'll be going. All I know is I'll be done here on Friday and then it'll be time to head home.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Today was my first Hazmat load. I didn't know until they handed me the placards. Whatever it was it was thick and heavy. The tank wasn't more than half full. That combination made for some intense surge. Anyhow..... Back in a hotel in High Point, NC.
Have to deliver this load locally tomorrow and then I don't have a clue where I'll be going. All I know is I'll be done here on Friday and then it'll be time to head home.
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Thank you for the updates. It is fun to read your new experiences and would hope you can continue posting them. :)
 
Well, it sure was nice to be home for a day.

Heading out from the main terminal this morning at 7am with a new trainer on a local run. This time, it'll be a manual transmission. I probably won't be allowed to pull a loaded trailer until I see how the shifting is done under load. This is gonna get real interesting, real quick. Anyhow, I think this trip is going to still be a long run to get done in a day. May have to be an overnighter, I'm not sure.
 
Like I thought, I only got to pull the empty trailer. Still, I had the chance to get back into shifting one of these things. I do like shifting but it's probably going to be a tough experience under load those first times that I get the opportunity. The trainer made it look easy but he's been doing it for 20+ years. Heck, once he's rolling he doesn't even use the clutch.

Took a load to the Cleveland OH area. Got to use the on-board air compressor to push off the load. Most times the receiver supplies the air for this. The rest of the routine for off loading was the same. I think that I've got the procedure down pretty well, it's just getting the rig into and out of the confined spaces. There is not a lot of room for error.

Monday I will get to work more on my backing skills. Looking forward to that. Pun untended.
 
Practicing some backing maneuvers today at a local truck stop. This trainer is giving me different reference points and instructions causing me to rethink my moves. Not comforting. Everyone seems to have their own ways of doing things.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Welp, my work here is done in North Carolina. They have a trainer for me back home some I'm heading back tonight. 500 miles till home.
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You left NC to early. I left the Houston track last night and I'm on the way to Charlotte for a week off before our Charlotte race in 2 weeks. I figured you and I could eat a few steaks and hangout at some of the NASCAR shops.:)
 
Nitro Dude said:
You left NC to early. I left the Houston track last night and I'm on the way to Charlotte for a week off before our Charlotte race in 2 weeks. I figured you and I could eat a few steaks and hangout at some of the NASCAR shops.:)
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Would've been great. A steak would have been a welcomed meal. I did think about heading to a shop or two while I was there but I ran out of time.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Practicing some backing maneuvers today at a local truck stop. This trainer is giving me different reference points and instructions causing me to rethink my moves. Not comforting. Everyone seems to have their own ways of doing things.
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It gets pretty tricky for the most part trying to find truck parking after 4 or 5 o'clock. They sure need more truck stop parking everywhere
 
Nitro Dude said:
You left NC to early. I left the Houston track last night and I'm on the way to Charlotte for a week off before our Charlotte race in 2 weeks. I figured you and I could eat a few steaks and hangout at some of the NASCAR shops.:)
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Hold up now bud. You've been passing within 20 minutes of my place twice a year and have been "Going to stop" for 6 or 7 years now. Your brakes must go out every time just before exit 12. Oh I get it @dpkimmel2001 is a truck driver now. :mad::mad::mad::p
 
Johali said:
Hold up now bud. You've been passing within 20 minutes of my place twice a year and have been "Going to stop" for 6 or 7 years now. Your brakes must go out every time just before exit 12. Oh I get it @dpkimmel2001 is a truck driver now. :mad::mad::mad::p
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I usually go through your area in the early morning and I don't want you or your wife shooting at me for waking you up at 3.00 am:dual9mm:. It's to bad that the NHRA Charlotte race and the NASCAR Talladega race are on the same weekend...if there was a week in between you could pack the camper and come here and stay at the campgrounds they have here and then go on to Talladega.:)
 
Nitro Dude said:
I usually go through your area in the early morning and I don't want you or your wife shooting at me for waking you up at 3.00 am:dual9mm:. It's to bad that the NHRA Charlotte race and the NASCAR Talladega race are on the same weekend...if there was a week in between you could pack the camper and come here and stay at the campgrounds they have here and then go on to Talladega.:)
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I know but I just gotta pull ya chain a little. :booya:
 
Went over a bunch of paperwork yesterday. Where things get filled out, signed, etc.... Lots of paperwork associated with a single load.

Picking up a load this morning locally. Taking it back to the terminal for another driver to haul. Not sure what else is in the cards for today. May just be yard stuff again, IDK.

While I didn't like being away the past couple weeks, busy sure was better.
 
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