110 year sentence for truck driver....see?

[Cowboy Mac]

Btw, I received 2 days "training" and took my State driving test the 3rd. Had never even looked inside a tractor.

Was instructed about lower gearing on grades and such. No driving instruction. No practice.

Went sleepers and NEVER received any formal training....matter of fact not a word. Told to report an hour early my first day of sleepers to find out about HOW TO DO SLEEPERS....absolutely true.

Turned loose on every road in America. Any mountain road was possible.

I think this style of management is at least stupidly negligent.

And if I crashed and burned down mountain road....? Would be some great questions there.....about training....experience.

We don't have "mountains" around here.

Did they at least partner you with an experienced driver? That’s what I think these companies are failing to do. Some starter OTR companies will make someone a trainer after 6 months or a year. I know that after a year of driving package I still didn’t know squat.

Also the CDL manual and training does not fully prepare you for actually doing the job. The book says 4-5 seconds of following time is acceptable on the highway…

So you’re given not enough/the wrong kind of information to get a CDL then you’re unleashed on the public roads, where it is up to the company to train you. They fail you by giving you not enough time with inexperienced trainers.

What about dispatch? They give you a load going through the Rocky Mountains. Do they think to ask how experienced you are at mountain driving? Just like you wouldn’t throw a brand new package driver on a heavy commercial downtown route.

Im not excusing his actions, I’m just saying that there were many layers of failure here.

 

[oldngray]

 

[No1 Special]

I only caught the tail end of him. Thank god.

You can go back and read some of his 83,350 very informative postings. If you do not have time, cliff notes: lease a Nissan, buy a condo, give ex-wife half your pension, get hit by a car, and adopt a cat.

 

[UnionStrong]

View attachment 364278

Change the company name to No Brakes.
I know, I just couldn’t resist

 

[Just A UPS Guy]

You can go back and read some of his 83,350 very informative postings. If you do not have time, cliff notes: lease a Nissan, buy a condo, give ex-wife half your pension, get hit by a car, and adopt a cat.

Yeah, in my short time with him, all of that was made clear. Lmao

 

[Just A UPS Guy]

Change the company name to No Brakes.
I know, I just couldn’t resist

 

[UnionStrong]

View attachment 364286

 

[DumbTruckDriver]

You can go back and read some of his 83,350 very informative postings. If you do not have time, cliff notes: lease a Nissan, buy a condo, give ex-wife half your pension, get hit by a car, and adopt a cat.

Don’t forget “thinks he knows what happens in every UPS building based upon what happens in his specific building.”

 

[Wally]

MSN

www.msn.com

 

[Indecisi0n]

Feeder guys would know more about this than anyone. Are they trained what to do in failure mode?

Open the door and tuck and roll bitches !

 

[quad decade guy]

Did they at least partner you with an experienced driver? That’s what I think these companies are failing to do. Some starter OTR companies will make someone a trainer after 6 months or a year. I know that after a year of driving package I still didn’t know squat.

Also the CDL manual and training does not fully prepare you for actually doing the job. The book says 4-5 seconds of following time is acceptable on the highway…

So you’re given not enough/the wrong kind of information to get a CDL then you’re unleashed on the public roads, where it is up to the company to train you. They fail you by giving you not enough time with inexperienced trainers.

What about dispatch? They give you a load going through the Rocky Mountains. Do they think to ask how experienced you are at mountain driving? Just like you wouldn’t throw a brand new package driver on a heavy commercial downtown route.

Im not excusing his actions, I’m just saying that there were many layers of failure here.

With all respect...

You really don't have any idea how sleepers work?

The "A" driver gets to pick whoever he wants to be the "B" driver. The run belongs to the A driver. He runs the run how he wants. The B driver agrees or is gone. The A driver is not an absolute ruler, but he decides what shifts(day, nights) are taken etc.

It is possible to have 2 raw rookies(just out of feeder school) to go over the road.

Ups does not care about safety or good experience practices.

I spent 5 productive days driving locally and then was turned loose and expected to drive anywhere and in any conditions within our possible drive time range. That is UPS policy.

 

[Babagounj]

I spent 5 productive days driving locally and then was turned loose and expected to drive anywhere and in any conditions within our possible drive time range. That is UPS policy.

I call it going out blind.
Namely you have minimal knowledge of the area and no idea how the route actually runs.
I , like many others , did it repeatedly.

 

[Buffet Master]

Picking up potatoes in the San Luis Valley in Colorado was always an adventure. You could run up to 100 miles of dirt roads to get to the field you were loading out of. And your directions would be something else.

 

[Red Devil]

Picking up potatoes in the San Luis Valley in Colorado was always an adventure. You could run up to 100 miles of dirt roads to get to the field you were loading out of. And your directions would be something else.

Turn left at the field.

No, the other field.

Stop when you get to the potatoes.

 

[Wally]

Picking up potatoes in the San Luis Valley in Colorado was always an adventure. You could run up to 100 miles of dirt roads to get to the field you were loading out of. And your directions would be something else.

Lots of miles to work out!

 

[Cowboy Mac]

With all respect...

You really don't have any idea how sleepers work?

The "A" driver gets to pick whoever he wants to be the "B" driver. The run belongs to the A driver. He runs the run how he wants. The B driver agrees or is gone. The A driver is not an absolute ruler, but he decides what shifts(day, nights) are taken etc.

It is possible to have 2 raw rookies(just out of feeder school) to go over the road.

Ups does not care about safety or good experience practices.

I spent 5 productive days driving locally and then was turned loose and expected to drive anywhere and in any conditions within our possible drive time range. That is UPS policy.

No, I don’t know a hundred percent how sleepers works. I’m a package driver getting ready to get my permit. All I know is from talking to feeder drivers I know from package, and the bits and pieces that I read on here. Very informative though, thank you.

 

[Buffet Master]

Lots of miles to work out!

When PowerBlock came out with their adjustable dumbbells, that was a game changer for making working out in the truck easier.

 

[Buffet Master]

Turn left at the field.

No, the other field.

Stop when you get to the potatoes.

Haha kinda
14 miles on county AA12 to the intersection of BC7. There will be like 15 ammonia spreaders there. Turn right. If you get to the intersection with 7 or 8 ammonia spreaders you went too far... So on so on.

Those dirt roads ( gravel/dirt really) were a good 3 lanes wide and regularly grated. You could run 75 mph. You should see the category 5 dust storm you kick up at those speeds lol.

 

[Buffet Master]

No, I don’t know a hundred percent how sleepers works. I’m a package driver getting ready to get my permit. All I know is from talking to feeder drivers I know from package, and the bits and pieces that I read on here. Very informative though, thank you.

Mac, the best piece of advice I ever got was when I was a kid from my pap working at his farm, it's cliche but will serve you a hundred different ways and never grow outmoded - You can do something too slow an endless amount of times. It only takes once doing something too fast.
You can apply that to everything just about driving truck - hooking a trailer, climbing in and out of truck or trailer, backing up, driving through a yard/hub/customer property. Driving in the rain, in the snow, going down hill. Always remember too, they're just boxes in that trailer behind you, ain't a single one more important than you back there.
One other thing, driving can be freaking boring. So run situations through your head, like the car coming the opposite direction comes into your lane, what would you do? Come up with a million scenarios. Despite what anyone tells you, when it hits the fan, it is how you react instantly that makes the difference. You don't get to hit pause and think about it.
And ever single day you drive, drive an hour or two with no radio, no cb, no talking on phone. Get to know what that truck sounds like, and especially feels like. You get more information on that truck through what you feel in your feet, back of your thighs through the seat and butt than you'd ever imagine.

 

[Redtag]

Driving a semi down the Rockies is nothing like anything you have done in a 4 wheeler or package car.

1. If your freewheeling down a mountain your going to go from 40-85 QUICK

2. If you lose the brakes and then loose the gear in a standard truck your going to have a hell of a time trying to get back into gear. These non synchro class 8 truck transmissions are nothing like a standard in a car or light truck.

The driver should have taken the runaway truck ramp, that was his fault and he has to live with that, 85 in a 45 was not his fault he had no way to slow that down other than the truck ramp or maybe try to grind the gaurdrail or something.