Sandstone Mtn, otherwise known as Widowmaker on 64 in WV. Fun as heck to go across in a car but not a truck with it's off camber turns and 8% grade. I usually rocket down the east side at around 90-95 mph in my little pickup if the weather is good. The only real good thing about it is that it's only one sided. There is no west side to the mountian.

77 between Beckley and Charleston isn't much fun either in any vehicle. Nice and windy with ups and downs but the WV speed bumps you go across while in the middle of the turns could be done without. I've never driven on a road that causes my front wheels to hop across the pavement like they do there after hitting a bump.

 

[quote="Novacane"]
The night they tried to make me take the load, as soon as I saw what it was, I was telling dispatch I didn't want it. I told them via qualcom on 3 separate occasions that I would not tarp. Each time they came up with a reason for me to go, even saying that the company would tarp it for me! I had the feeling like they were going to get me up there and then pressure me into taking it, and that is what they did.


I also told him that I would not haul wool in the future as well, and if that meant them firing me to let me know cause there are other companies waiting to come pick me up. He said that none of the other drivers had a problem with it, and didn't understand why I was making such a big deal over it. I told him plain and simple, I don't feel safe on top of that load, so if I get in trouble by putting safety first, then Roehl shouldn't brag about safety.


:dung: You still turn down the load after the company will tarp it for you? I don't get it. And telling a higher-up to go ahead and fire you because there's other companies "waiting to pick you up"? Probably not the best of ideas especially to the people who give you loads and miles you think you deserve. I'm not saying kiss their asses, but it's not a bad thing to be on the dispatchers good side.



Anyway, I get done at 8:30 and have to wait till noon before finding all the right flags and such, I was so excited to pull out of that lot, man this sounds stupid I am sure but whatever. I drove until around 3 and realized that in all the excitement of the moment, I had done something stupid. I left all the paperwork and permits at the yard, I was anxious to get going, man this sucks. Just goes to show you how easy it is screw up. I contact dispatch, and they tell me to stop by a fax somewhere and I they will fax it to me, cool.

[quote="Novacane"]
Today I had a hard time getting started. It started when I left with this permitted load, they didn't have the paperwork I needed, and they didn't have my route planned either, but since they did have enough for me to get home, I didn't care. Well that came into play today. I got up early to head out since of the day time only driving thing, but when I called dispatch to give them the number to fax my paperwork to me, they didn't have it ready.



So when you left with the load, did THEY not have your paperwork or did YOU leave it? And why wait 3 days to get it? Roehl doesn't have a weekend dispatch the could have faxed it? You said over and over that you refuse to run "illegal", how did you get that load back to the house, across a scale, without paperwork and permits? Or does "illegal" not pertain to you when getting home for the 3 day weekend?





And get this, they want me to call everyone and see if I can be there in the afternoon instead, yep, lawyers, cops, and bank investigators usually have free schedules all day long, they just set up appointments weeks ahead of time for the heck of it.


You mean kinda like a consignee when they have pre-scheduled delivery appts and drivers don't make them? I was taught that the driver is a direct reflection on the company. When the driver looks bad, the company looks bad and can possibly loose the company a contract.


[quote="Novacane"]
I am starting to doubt myself, maybe I am not as good as I think I am. I just keep getting the short end of the stick, maybe I deserve it. I have always thought that some people wanted me to quit driving flatbed because I am a woman, but maybe I am just not good enough, or too safety conscious for my own good. I just don't' get it, I can drive, I can load, and I don't mind work, if I did, I wouldn't have started driving flatbed. Yet I get wrote up, yelled at, don't get home for important appointments(even with notice) and don't get good miles to boot most of the time.


That's a good assessment. You're never as good as you THINK you are. I don't know if getting wrote up for speeding is very safety conscious or riding around with a broken stack. 99% of everything you've been blaming on "bad luck" for the past month and a half, you could've easily avoided with maybe even an inkling of forethought on your part. You said Chris has an electronic degree but can't or don't go out in public? Can't he do something at home to help out financially? That ought to pay more than a driving job anyday.

 

When I was deployed to WV last year I made the trip from Hurricane to Lugoff SC twice a month. Your right the winds between well the last tunnel going into WV all the way up until you get Charleston, WV was horriable, even in my 4 wheeler. Ya just didn't know when there would be a heavy wind slinging ya from side to side on that part of the interstate. I heard what their govener said while I was there that they plan to fix the roadway, but which ones, the roads all tore up through there. :roll: :moose:

 

:lol: ops: My bad, meant the road winds around the mountains and valleys on 77. Yes, there is also a lot of wind too, but that is to be expected with Beckley being on top of a mountain.

No way to really fix the roads because of the weather they get there. With so much traffic on 77 and the harsh winters they get along it, they will be fixing the road year round. The main troubles with the bumps are coming onto or going off a bridge that is in a turn.

 

Well, I for one LIKE your posts Novacane. I think they offer a very good look as to what a driver goes through. I feel that you are more than fair when dishing out blame. You admit your mistakes and faults and that means a lot in my eyes. All the things that you post about add up to one thing: EXPERENCE!!!

Good luck and keep the posts comming.


Ridge

 

If I went through all that on a daily basis... I'd still be a dental assistant.

 

Yes I turned down the load, and no the company wouldn't tarp it, they lied to me. I asked the place I went to if they would tarp like Roehl said, he laughed. They knew from my training that I didn't want these loads, and they told me that it wouldn't be a problem and that they wouldn't dispatch me to one, but they did. So like I said, they made me go down there hoping to force me to take it. And as far as dispatchers go, I am on very good terms with mine, he is on vacation this week though and I am dealing with someone else.

Just like I wrote it the first time. When I left, I forgot the paperwork they had for me, even though it wasn't complete. They had only figured out the route, and got permits for me to get home. They were supposed to figure out the rest of the route later and fax them to me while I was home, since they didn't want me wasting any daylight sitting there waiting on it. Yes they have weekend dispatch, but just because they have them doesn't mean they do what they are supposed to do, since they didn't fax the paperwork I needed like they said they would.

Again, read what I wrote, they had enough paperwork and permits ready for me to get home, therefore there was nothing illegal about it. As far as it not pertaining to me on the way home, for one, if that were the case, I wouldn't have been stuck less than 2 hours from home and still not being able to make it, for two, Roehl asks you to send in via qualcomm when you start and end your day, so there is no way to cheat the 14 hour rule, they know how many hours you have left. Like I said, I won't run illegal, even if I am on my way home, even if there is an emergency, even if........well SURELY you understand now.

All my delivery times are windows, not set times, I have a window of usually 2 hours, and a consignee has never been waiting for me. Even though I was half an hour late, there were still 5 trucks in front of me, some of which had been there for a few hours, so even if I did make it "on time" the consignee wouldn't have got their product, any sooner, or if I had been early for that matter. If my normal dispatcher had been here instead of on vacation, it never would have happened.

Doing 67 in a 70 isn't unsafe or considered speeding, and you are in no position to judge how safe I am on the road. As far as the stack goes, I have wrote before about how many people I talked with, and how every single one of them(including company safety) told me it would be perfectly safe to drive, and it was. Maybe I should have ignored what every professional told me, and paid for the stack repair out of my own pocket since Roehl didn't want to fix it right then and there, maybe it would have been a little more safe than perfectly safe. Do you think they would let me drive an unsafe truck for almost 3 weeks and risk some kind of lawsuit?

It's easy to sit here and read my posts and say well you should have done this, or this was simple, no problem, make the company do this, tell yourself to do that, that was a stupid thing to do, I would have done it this way............... Yes I said Chris has a degree, I have also mentioned that he is disabled. It isn't possible for him to work, if he could then of course he would, but when you're in his position, it's harder than you can imagine. We have looked into work at home jobs for the past 9 years, and they don't exist, at least that we have found, if you or anyone personally knows of a decent program, let us know, it would help us out a lot.

 

Thanls for taking all the time to write this thread.
Gotta love your attitude. !

 

You're right, doing 67 in a 70 isn't unsafe or speeding, unless you drive for Roehl apparently. How dare that dispatcher go on vacation and make one of his drivers 30 mins late for an appt. (due to bad directions :wink: ). How can the company get away with lying about how one shipper would tarp a load to get it out the door when another shipper just laughed at the idea. I don't understand how a company like Roehl can wait to compile and fax paperwork to a driver 3 days later when the driver finally calls for it. How can all these companies stay in business when they ask so much of their drivers, like relaying loads, that they'll get paid for, on the weekends? That's like working overtime in a factory. I mean, I know when I'm at home, I hate to get called back in to work even though I get a set amount from the Navy every two weeks and not paid by the mile anymore. Why in the world would anyone want to be a truck driver with all this going on? Of course, I know that I'm just being sarcastic.

 

Never said dispatch had anything to do with me being late, just that if I didn't have to wait 4 hours(as they told me to) I would have made it easily, and would have had the time to call and make my own directions like usual. I admitted that if I hadn't stopped to shower the day before I would have had the time as well.(which is why I said everything I do comes back to bite me in the rear)

They can't, they tried to, but I still refused. But they did tell me everything I said they did.

Because they didn't have all the permits ready, yet the load was due. I was only able to drive during daylight hours, and they wanted me to get on the road. They gave me enough paperwork to get from Wisconsin to where I live in Tn. The load was due on Tuesday, so I spent Saturday and Sunday at home, got the rest of my permits and assigned route Monday morning. Whats so hard to understand? Maybe I should have sat in Wisconsin refusing to move until I had my paperwork, making no money, and going against what THEY wanted me to do.

Maybe because it's what I have always wanted to do, and even with all the drama I go through now and then, it's still the best job I have ever had. You must not have worked in factories(at least the ones I have worked in my entire life) that much. Plus, even with the low miles lately, I STILL make more money than any other job(besides my first driving job) I have ever had.

On another note, I got home today to find out the local truckstop where I park my truck is starting to charge a daily amount to park there. That's kind of a bummer, but I have my eye on a spot that is walking distance from my home, and is where another flatbed driver parks his truck. I just don't know who owns the land. I was thinking of leaving a note on his truck with my phone number, but thought he might get angry to have someone around his truck, what would everyone here do if you got a polite letter asking who to contact about parking there?

The trip home today was wonderful, the weather was mostly sunny until I got into the volunteer. I made my delivery around 8:45am, and was unloaded, and ready to roll by the time my actual delivery time rolled around. Plus I got a call from dispatch, and my usual dispatcher is back! We talked about how the vacation was and told him I was happy to have him back. He said about 50 people have told him that so far and he has only been back a couple hours, lol.

I got home with no major hiccups, and got my permit for parking when I noticed what time it was. I only had 10 minutes to get to the local Pilot(this is a small one with almost no parking which is why I don't park there) to scan in my paperwork. Made it by the hair of my chinny chin chin, lmao. The last paper had a time of 11:59:22! I wouldn't have been that big a deal if I hadn't made it, so I wasn't too worried, but that should make my check next week a little better.

Now I have to go to the meeting at the bank, so wish me luck. Take care everyone!