Stuff

And things. Mostly stuff Greetings! My name is Steve and I'm a professional driver. Most people refer to what I do as trucking which means I drive a tractor trailer combination vehicle. I was local for a while but now I’m back to sleeping in a truck for a week at a time.

[zhefyr]

Someone pissed off the yard jockey.

[zhefyr]

I’m back, bitches!

I went local for close to 3 years but then got the itch again. I’m currently regional and so am home at least once per week, rather than once per 3 weeks with SuperService.

To add, I’ve been with A. Duie Pyle since 11/5/18, so it’s been a bit.

[hella90s]

IT’S TIME TO GET READY FOR FALL!

It might only be the middle of September, but fall is right around the corner. Found this company last year called Cute & Cozy who sells amazingly soft scarves. They’ve even got a sale on right now: spend $30 or more and get a $5 Starbucks Gift Card. I’ll take two scarves and a PSL. K thanks :D

Check them out HERE

[zhefyr]

My fatass thought these were all frosted cupcakes with a candle in the middle at first glance.

[just-shower-thoughts]

If you shouldn’t be sad because other people have it worse, then you shouldn’t be happy because other people have it better.

[cloacacarnage]

i know its the mets, but this is the coolest shit i’ve ever seen a human being do

[futureblackwakandan-deactivated]

Wtf????

[theryanproject]

Smoove with it too 

[meqabitch-deactivated20200901]

This is the kind of shit you see in anime that shows that a certain character is stronger than other characters. 

[bankuei]

“Pathetic.  You can’t even hold the bat you dare step to the plate? Have you no respect for the sport?”

[pardonmewhileipanic]

reminds me of this gif

[sueanoi]

[batter-sempai]

Baseball players are to be feared

[cynosurecosplay]

[thenamesdede]

Reblogging for the last one

[saito-91]

^Same for me

[amuzed1-deactivated20241106]

They just kept getting progressively more “woah”

[scp2008]

much woah

[lord-blongus]

Oh my god this is a lucky universe

[cleoselene-deactivated20260315]

every time this post comes around, my favorite part is the “I know it’s the Mets” qualifier at the beginning lmao like how baseball that this zillion note posts starts with “sorry for putting this hellteam on your dash, bUT”

[gif87a-com]

[red-faced-wolf-deactivated20251]

Please watch with sound omg

[itsperegrine]

I hate you for this.

[ummquestion]

I lost it at the computer error.

[defydamage]

This is the funniest shit I’ve ever seen.

[shinierchrystal]

The neck crack sound

[angry-eevee]

Fantasy RPG Races as Dogs

Human:

Elf:

Dwarf:

Halfling:

Half Orc:

[bluebandedagate]

This is the best description of the fantasy races I’ve ever seen. Let me add some more!

Half-Elf:

Tiefling:

Gnome:

Dragonborn:

[zhefyr]

Quitting Is Always An Option

Hey folks!

So in my last post, I talked about being on a dedicated account. This account was Kohl’s - I’d take a loaded trailer from the distribution center in the Catskill region of NY and deliver to Kohl’s stores around the New England area.

I knew that it was only temporary and that, once the Christmas rush was over, I’d be back over the road doing general freight. So with that in mind, I’d asked around to people I knew and kept my eyes and ears open for a local position.

I’d gotten an offer that I was poised and ready to take once I returned my truck to the company, which would have also been general freight but local in that I’d get home once every other day if not every day.

After I was offered the local job and had already gone for the interview, I’d been informed of a different local job. I applied to that one and was interviewed and given a tour of the facilities.

When I went back out the next week on my dedicated, I’d decided to take the second job I’d been informed of and subsequently submit a notice of resignation and also to call the first job and decline their offer.

I’m now home every day and get the weekends off. Occasionally I’ll miss driving over the road, but I will not miss getting home once per month for 4 days.

TL;DR: I resigned my over-the-road job in favor of a local job.

[zhefyr]

Dedicated To The Craft

Holy crap, I'm not dead! In early September, I was placed on a dedicated route. This means that I drive to a specific store in various locations. Stores such as Kohl's, Target, Family Dollar, etcetera. The account I'm doing (at least temporarily) is one in which I have to drop and hook or sometimes double drop to swap out the trailers rather than having to go to multiple stores, such as Family Dollar or Dollar General. A "drop and hook" is exactly as it sounds. You're dropping one trailer and grabbing another in order to grab a different trailer, usually an empty. A "double drop" means that there was only one dock to drop your loaded trailer in, so you drop the loaded trailer somewhere out of the way and hook to the empty. Then, you move the empty somewhere out of the way, then grab the loaded trailer again and place it where the empty was after which you can grab the empty and be on your way. This new run keeps me fairly busy with not that much downtime due to traffic factors.

[zhefyr]

tfw you balance the load equally the first time.

[zhefyr]

Error 404: Package Not Found

Today, a load I had delivered required that I drop my current trailer and grab an empty which is a fairly common occurrence. What's not common is finding something that was supposed to have been delivered amongst the other garbage in the trailer. The individual to whom the package was addressed has probably already gotten a replacement, however that's still a shitty thing to do being that someone had taken the time out of their day to go shopping online and say "You know what? I want THIS one." There is also the possibility that the replacement was not an exact copy of what they wanted due to having already sold the person the last of whatever color/model they wanted. " The item was turned over to the guard, and I'm hopeful that it is delivered to the correct address and thus its rightful owner. So if something is taking a while to be delivered to you outside of weather reasons and appears to have been "lost", this is a possible reason as to why it's not there.

[zhefyr]

I THOUGHT I heard knocking on the side of my truck this morning. They’re at every TA (Travel Centers of America) that I can recall being to. Too bad I'm at a Flying J.

[zhefyr]

Home Away From Home

For many OTR (over-the-road) drivers, our truck is our home when we're not home. As such, we expect certain levels of privacy and respect to be afforded to us, and feel violated in the same way that one would be if someone breaks into your house, if someone enters our truck with neither our knowledge nor consent. Friday, I had gone to a company terminal to get some work done on my truck. I brought a load in with me. This load was reassigned to another driver without my knowledge. Reassigning loads is normal and fine. What's not fine, however, is not communicating that the load is being reassigned and ALSO having that driver climb into MY truck to grab the shipping manifests. It is a company truck, however you must also understand that as an OTR driver, I live in it for about 26 days per month. That was not okay.

[zhefyr]

Homeward Bound

There are many different subcategories in the trucking industry for what you do. The one that people are most familiar with, is probably over-the-road. When you're an over-the-road driver, it can get very boring but also incredibly lonely. Truck stops (before the industry started changing) were, depending on location, riddled with ladies of the night, commonly referred to as a "lot lizard". Some lot lizards are/were not doing this by choice but that's a different post for a different day. As an over-the-road driver, I have a few options regarding home time. I usually opt to stay out for a month so I can spend 4 full days with my fiancée before going back out and doing it again. Some are out for a week but only get a day. It's dependent upon the company for which you work, some companies have you out for MONTHS at a time. Unfortunately as a driver, I have hours of service regulations which must be adhered to even if I'm going home. I was supposed to go home today, however the traffic in Philadelphia took so long to navigate that when I got to the receiver, I had to head to a truck stop instead of going home. This is one of the reasons why some professional drivers have had multiple marriages. More often than not it's an issue with the driver's attitude, however just like a relationship with a first responder, a lot of people aren't able to handle the lack of a physical connection due to physical distances, constant work, and inherent dangers of the job.

[just-shower-thoughts]

When NASA sent out New Horizons 9.5 years ago, Pluto was still a planet. NASA just flew 3+ billion miles to get catfished.

[zhefyr]

Truck butt.

[zhefyr]

Hurry Up And Wait

Being a professional driver is more than just driving from Point A to Point B. There will be quite a few times when you’ll have to sit for one reason or another.

An example of this is today, I’m at a company terminal in Georgia because my truck was due for some preventative maintenance, commonly referred to as just PM. This is to ensure the longevity and safe operation of the vehicle.

Some of the things they do on a PM is spray the 5th wheel with more grease, making it easier to both couple the tractor and trailer as well as making turns with said trailer safer and easier.

They’ll also check the air pressure, oil levels, brake pad thickness, etc, all to make sure your next trip isn’t your last.

The downside is that during this PM, or any other repairs on either part of the combination vehicle, you’re not making any money. A PM can last for hours at a time, simply because of just the sheer magnitude of things that need to be checked off, and also because of the size of mechanical staff working at that time, and how many other issues before yours that need to be addressed.