Team Adventure: In the Box

Friday, November 20, 2009

In the Box

I did it! After 8 grueling hours on the range yesterday I finally got my parallel parking in the box...without killing any cones! I was very proud. I am so sore today from backing and turning that steering wheel over and over again. I might get rid of my old lady arms by the time this thing is said and done. I was very proud. It was quite an accomplishment. I have finally figured out which way the trailer goes with the movement of the steering wheel. It isn't as easy as it looks and can be so frustrating when you just don't get it!

This is Craig, our range instructor, talking with Jeff. To his credit I believe, next to my husband, is the most patient man in the world! He has never raised his voice at me and if it wasn't for him, I don't think I would have made it as far as I have. He is always helpful and gets my sense of humor, or lack there of when I am frustrated. Kudos to Craig. I got my first, you did a great job today from him yesterday and it made me feel very proud.

Jeff worked on Alley-backing and was frustrated at first, but by the end of the day seemed to have a pretty good feel for it. That is my next range assignment on Saturday....oh boy, can't wait. Any way you stack it, range time is backing time and 8 hours of range time is exhausting. Not only physically, but mentally as well. Trying to make sure you are doing everything right all the while shifting and turning the wheel completely one way and then the other. Our muscles are better after this session but our old joints are a little achy. Our hot tub has been the best investment we have ever made. Not only does it feel dynamite on our achy bods, it also makes you sleep like a baby. When you have to be out on the road or the range by 6 am, you need all the sleep you can get. Yes that's right, we have been at school by 6 am, which means we have to leave the house at 5:15. I'm not sure who is more confused, our dogs or us.

This is Jeff coupling up the truck, something we do on a daily basis. this is when you back your tractor and hook it to the trailer. Once that is complete you lift the landing gear on the trailer and hook up your lines to the trailer so you have breaks and power to the trailer. This is becoming a no-brainer at this point which is good because we will be doing this many times in one day. We have been very lucky in the weather department and are not looking forward to executing this maneuver when it is cold and snowy, but I don't thing we will have any choice.

We go on the road today again for 8 hours and then have range time on Saturday, then mountain driving on Sunday. Until then we hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and enjoy your time with your family. Thanks for listening.

- Jeff & Melissa

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ABOUT TEAM LINN and OUR ADVENTURE

We started our adventure 4 years ago. Our first trucking job was with Watkins Shepard out of Missoula, MT. Great company to start with. Gave us fantastic training in their 10-day orientation on top of our CDL training we already had. We stayed with them for a year and half and decided we wanted a change.

We went to work for Diversified Transfer and Storage out of Billings, MT. This was no longer a truckload, it was LTL, less than a truckload. We ran reefer and had a terminal in Denver, so we ran 4 weeks and had a week off. That part was great, but the company was not a good fit for us. Loved the LTL, couldn't deal with working for an owner who was a piece of crap. I wont even go into further detail....

Next...we wanted to go back to full truckload reefer so we decided to go with US Xpress. We were very happy with them for the first 5 months. We ran consistent miles from the east to west coast and loved it. Our Fleet Manager Mike Gibbs was the best Fleet Manager we have ever encountered in this business. We became one of the top Teams on the reefer board with US Xpress. We were called by the Fleet Owner, the VP of the Reefer division and the COO of US Xpress to tell us what a great job we were doing and how much they appreciated our service. But then it all fell apart and our miles started to drop and our awesome FM was thinking about transferring out of the division. Jeff and I saw the writing on the wall and we decided we wanted out of this company before things got even worse. I still speak with many Teams that run with US Xpress and they are having horrible issues. This was a driver friendly company, but since Pat Quinan passed away in January of 2012, things changed dramatically. Pat was the compassionate one that knew the company was about the Driver. Unfortunately after his passing things quickly changed to being about numbers on a spreadsheet, our FM moved on and we turned our truck in at the Irving Terminal and never looked back at our decision.

We then wet to The Waggoner's Trucking out of Billings, MT. Yep, can't seem to get away from Montana based companies. We now ran a dedicated run from Denver to Oklahoma City three times a week. We ran a flatbed, split axle trailer...which is only 48' now, instead of the 53" we were used to. We were met in Oklahoma City by the owner of the company David Waggoner to give us our new truck. We were no longer a number, but we were The Linn's again. We pulled into the OKC terminal and everybody knew our name and we knew theirs. We were part of a family again and it was so nice to be back in the surroundings we have missed from working at Watkins Shepard. We were in a Kenworth W900 Long Nose truck. We were home every other day in Denver and have Sunday and Monday off every week to enjoy our house in Denver again. We really debated on a dedicated run, since we love traveling the 48 states, but after almost 3 years, we have been to every state and it was time to get back to some connection to our kids, grandchild and our awesome house in Denver. It was so nice to be home more often. But on the flip side:

We ran this route for a year, yes dedicated was great, home time seemed to turn into one of us sleeping...even though it was in our own bed....however, we both got tired of running the same route and we only ran our route at night. Although the company was great, working 7 days a week was tiring and we decided we wanted to go back to enjoying why we started doing this in the first place...to see the country and meet awesome people so...this brings us to our next job change.

We now are working for Gemini Motor Transport, which is the trucking company that Loves Travel Stops owns and services their truck stops. We are working in the SW Region, which includes, CA, AZ, NM. Plus CO and WY when we come back home. We are hauling a tanker truck now, which is only 42' long...getting shorter, I'm liking that, and we haul DEF (Deisel Exhaust Fluid) only. We are the first husband and wife Team that Love's has ever hired. I am also proud to say that I am the only woman that works in the SW region that drives a truck. We are responsible for 33 stores and growing, along with one other solo driver in the region. Our job is to make sure that no stores ever run out of product in our region. Since teaming is new for Love's we will be sent to other regions as well, as needed, possibly the NW too. Our first week we serviced 11 stores in Southern California (all the way up to Corning), plus New Mexico and Arizona. It has been a big change, but once again, we are up for the challenge. I know I have never been so glad to run on a different road and see new things. There are good things about running a dedicated run, but I am so glad we made this transition and I think we picked a great company. We get a reset every week and we only work 6 day a week now. Plus we are paid by the day, not by the mile. We will also be home for every holiday...paid. This company is hard to get into and I am so glad they picked us. The Vice President of the SW region flew in to DIA twice to meet with us before we decided to take the position. He is our direct boss and an awesome one at that. We could not have made a better decision making the move when we did. The dedicated account would have been much more difficult to do with the new Hours of Service that changed in July 2013. So once again, we made the jump before it took anything away from our adventure.

We are happy to answer any questions you may have about trucking in general, teaming or any of the above companies we have worked for. We had to start out just like you and had so many questions, but not a lot of people to answer them. Shoot us an email @ hobotruckers@gmail.com we would love to hear your questions or comments. Thanks for following along in our adventures.

Team Adventure

Friday, November 20, 2009

In the Box

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