I blew my road test... badly.

[Brisket]

I asked when i was hired

Keep that in mind when peak rolls around...it may change.

 

[Rick Ross]

okay well i am exempt at my other job so it appears i only work 40hrs

You need 10 hours off all jobs before you can legally drive a commercial vehicle. If all you are doing is driving Saturday you need to be under 60 hours when you finish Saturday and have 10 hours with no work before going in.

If you aren't driving during the week you can still work tons of hours, you could work 24 hours a day up to Thursday afternoon and get your 34 hour reset before starting Saturday morning.

 

[Rick Ross]

Were you with the UAW when GM introduced the two tiered wage?

I was at a supplier with almost identical pay. In spite of record profits our Union put in the two tier system and offered buyouts. 15 years ago they would have had original employees at $29 an hour and new guys starting at $14 and topping around $20.

The company fixed that with their next contract...the entire plant went to around $20 an hour because the company started shipping work to Brazil and had them scared.

Meanwhile our CEO pay went from $3m to almost $30m per year and US employees went from 100k to about 60k.

 

[OrioN]

Some of FedEx isn't under the DOT HOS.

That's if u don't drive a vehicle over 10k lbs?

I'm currently driving a cargo van under that weight limit, yet I have to watch my 10 hour reset time for the next day when I'm out until 2330 the previous night...

 

[RuthlessSupSlayer]

Keep that in mind when peak rolls around...it may change.

i was hired as a seasonal but the day i was supposed to laid off and i was looking forward to it then, they asked if i would stay and i said i cant work 5 days a week so they offered me a 4 day work week.

 

[Rick Ross]

Definitely is possible with a c of sleeper runs,

$37*40= 1480
$56*20= 1120
$56*10= 560 (shifting in yard only after 60 hour rule) not allowed on highways. Like I said, different locals, different area and supplements. In our area we are allowed to shift in yard only extra 10 hours after max hours.

Weekly gross = 3160
3160*52 = 164,320

I haven't calculated the mixture of those hours with sleeper runs pay. And believe me, those sleeper run checks are heavy.

So break down a weekly schedule for me. How big is your hub?

They are either shifting a 6th day or moving their start time back an hour every day of the week to account for meal time.

My dispatch can barely cover runs, I can't imagine them being able to accommodate drivers wanting to do this, not to mention the fact we wouldn't have enough tractors or Yardbirds.

 

[Rick Ross]

So break down a weekly schedule for me. How big is your hub?

They are either shifting a 6th day or moving their start time back an hour every day of the week to account for meal time.

My dispatch can barely cover runs, I can't imagine them being able to accommodate drivers wanting to do this, not to mention the fact we wouldn't have enough tractors or Yardbirds.

So instead of disagreeing maybe post a schedule.

In my building if I had a 3AM start time they want me off by 16:59 or they would adjust my start time for the following day. That is a 12.98 hour paid day because we are forced to take an hour meal. Sometimes we can get away with a 30 minute meal which would give you 13.48 hours

I don't see how this math adds up with any type of regular work schedule.

 

[rchx]

You had no clue what the job involved before starting your first semester?

You will be bored to death doing this job.

You will feel like an intellectual zero.

People with far less education will feel themselves superior to you and will treat you like a delivery boy.

College degree does not mean a lot in current real world, even if with a master degree too, especially without good GPA, without giving a good reason why they should hire you; graduating from college might only giving you 4 more years' play time and delaying your career for even more years.

Computer science degree is not for everyone, same as being a UPSers I believe. I consider UPSers to be my second chance in my life since I am so tired chasing for non-stop learning in Computer Science field which I wasn't even sure if I like it.

I like helping people, I enjoy organizing, planning ahead of time for what to do next, loving cars and driving cars, but I ended up working in front of a computer everyday for years only because I was brain-washed when I was in school that computer science is the future with good pay.

If programmer can't manage himself to be promoted to be a supervisor or manager in certain years, that means this is not for you; years of experiences in computer science is only 50% in consideration when hiring people; the other half is new/smart ideas to give the company more benefits when you are hired.

Even people saying transportation is a hard job, but it's just a right fit for certain people, not for everyone.

 

[BurntSienna]

Work inside. Make book as a part timer, get the benefits and sign up for Sat air driving. That will give you the experience you need. You will get another shot at driving. I did.

Hello everyone, I'm a 26 year old college grad. For some crazy reason decided I would rather break my back than sit in front of a desk all day.

I applied as a seasonal driver, but that didn't go so well. I really wasn't expecting to get thrown behind the wheel right away. Man was it nerve-wracking. I probably should have asked if I could drive it around the facility a couple more times before leaving just to get a little more comfortable with it. I've driven a couple U-Hauls before, thought maybe it would be similar.. nope. I wasn't doing to bad at first. I searched around on here before the test to get an idea what to expect, and unlike a lot of people, I didn't have any trouble shifting or anything. The clutch was easier to use than the one in my car, and after I was told to forget about first gear, man did it become easier.

Biggest problem was getting used to the width. That and calming the hell down, I was a nervous wreck. I got a couple demerits for driving too close to the white line. Harder than I thought to keep the thing in a straight line. Started getting the hang of it and finally got some a little confidence and I vocalize that, but then the guy says "yea, you are shifting good but I'm more worried about you staying in your lane!" This was after I already had corrected it. Can't blame it on him, but there went my confidence. Got on the highway, that went pretty well. Got off the highway and turned into a shopping plaza. As I'm about to merge onto another road in the plaza, the traffic going straight had a stop sign, I was coming from the right and didn't have one. There was a car at the stop sign and when we were just about to merge the guy goes. We each had our own lane, but from my perspective it looked like he was going to hit me, so I freaked out and took it into the curb. I was so disappointed in myself, I scratched up the front wheel and both the front and back tire sidewalls got damaged. I felt so bad, I thought there goes my shot at ever driving here again.

Anyway I was shocked that they offered me an inside position. I'm going to do part time preload 4am - 9am. Definitely not as fun, but it's permanent and comes with benefits so I'll live with the $7 an hour lower pay for now. In a way it kind of puts me ahead because that was probably where I would end up after the peak anyway. I was told that I would probably get another shot at driving once I hit seniority, but do you guys think they will really let me behind the wheel again after an accident like that? I mean I know it would have been worse if I hit a car, but they might have to replace those brand new tires because of me. I just love the road and I don't mind working my ass off for 4+ years to get there, but do I honestly, realistically have any chance of that? Also if anyone here started out a preload and made it to full time driver, how long did it take you? I'm not trying to rush thing I'm absolutely willing to work for it, just trying to get an idea what I'm getting myself into.

 

[Brisket]

Sat air is close to being extinct in most if not all over.

 

[Sissy Brown Short Shorts]

I feel like they're really just looking to see if you can keep your cool and work under pressure. If they really wanted to test your driving abilities they would let you practice or give you driving lessons before your road test and before driving school. I was only ten points away from being disqualified, he told me the big thing he was looking for and why he felt comfortable sending me to school was because I could hold a conversation with him while I was behind the wheel without missing a beat or losing my cool. Try again in six months and don't over think it. Ask a car wash or sup at the end of the night to drive a car around, eventually your package car will be an extension of your body.