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ODFL | Meet and Turns

I've been lucky. All my meet guys have been great on the bids. Extra board was another matter. But I agree..get to where you need to go, then take your breaks. And even then remember someone is waiting for you. Whether it be the dock or another driver needing your trailer.
 
Ump said:
I've been lucky. All my meet guys have been great on the bids. Extra board was another matter. But I agree..get to where you need to go, then take your breaks. And even then remember someone is waiting for you. Whether it be the dock or another driver needing your trailer.
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In all fairness, which I'm sure you also realize Ump, sometimes the tardiness of extra board drivers on meet / turns is the fault of the dispatchers and planners by not doing their job in covering the run in an effective and timely manner.
 
Good meet driver can definitely make or break a run. My best meet guys communicate well without pestering, show up when they say they're going to show up, update me when they run into unforseen events that will significantly delay them, are patient and understand when I get held up, and can mutually appreciate the difference between a late driver and a driver that's late due to waiting on loads / dispatch / planners. I guess most importantly, a great meet driver will also know how to do a freaking pre-trip, and actually have knowledge of hazmat and check their paperwork.
 
wawtrucker said:
In all fairness, which I'm sure you also realize Ump, sometimes the tardiness of extra board drivers on meet / turns is the fault of the dispatchers and planners by not doing their job in covering the run in an effective and timely manner.
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That could be true, but not always. I definitely fall in the camp of wasting my own time if I want to waste any at all. I stop only when necessary on the front side of a meet.
 
wawtrucker said:
In all fairness, which I'm sure you also realize Ump, sometimes the tardiness of extra board drivers on meet / turns is the fault of the dispatchers and planners by not doing their job in run in an effective and timely manner.
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Absolutely..But you also know who the problem children are from personal experience and war stories from other divers. But by in large most guys run pretty hard.
 
Ump said:
Absolutely..But you also know who the problem children are from personal experience and war stories from other divers. But by in large most guys run pretty hard.
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Yep, the same names tend to pop up over and over again.
 
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Slim86 said:
Never understood guys lollygagging in general. Don't they have a life outside of the truck? Personally I want to get done as quickly as possible. My time starts as soon as I log out of the BLU, and anything that I can do to maximize that time is a bonus.
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I like to keep rolling and don't like to wait, but I'm also not rushing to get out of the truck. I love my job, love driving that truck, and look forward to seeing and talking with my co-workers. And yes, I love my family and time at home too. I feel pretty blessed. My terminal feels like a home away from home. I never plan on leaving.
 
Meet and Greet turns work only as good as the drivers meeting each other.
Got to say with the new rule for Cali drivers things have changed, not bad for the normal meet driver but the wild driver covering the run.
If there is any delay enroute we reach out to each other, we call with appx time of arrival and change meet point if necessary. We know when the other is not running and get numbers of who is covering.
We ensure that the trailers over 18,000 lbs are scaled and a good PRETRIP and Haz-mat is correct. This is very important, as we do not like wasting each other's time.
Here are some things that drivers forget to do.....
1st: check manifest, any Haz-mat?
2nd: are axle weights, dispatch (Service Center), drivers number, truck number there?
3rd: seal numbers correct
4th: trailer/Dolly PM up-to-date
5th: are the ALL the lights working (you may pull during the day, but the run continues at night)
Let's ALL do a good PRETRIP and be SAFE.
 
Spot on inthegame. All those points should be the minimum a driver should do. A lot of drivers also don't even bother opening the hazmat enforcer, you can tell by the envelope still being sealed. I caught an error just last week from my terminal that called for a placarded load, according to the enforcer, because the info was inputted wrong into the software that prints those enforcers. Turns out after checking the shipping papers, the weight was totally wrong, which for that particular load, being Table 2 material, didn't need placarding since it was under 1001 lbs. Just one example of why each driver is responsible for understanding hazmat and the rules.
 
I know in the Rockies that's one of the biggest tickets you can get. Go thru that tunnel with hazmat that should be placard not only do you get a big fine but you're also made available to the industry.
 
Ump said:
I know in the Rockies that's one of the biggest tickets you can get. Go thru that tunnel with hazmat that should be placard not only do you get a big fine but you're also made available to the industry.
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Those of us that run through western PA need to be aware of hazmat regs because we go through the PA Turnpike tunnels. The Penna Turnpike has their own rules in regard to passage with placarded loads. But to even understand their rules, a driver has to understand the rules from the DOT in regard to hazmat.
 
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wawtrucker said:
Those of us that run through western PA need to be aware of hazmat regs because we go through the PA Turnpike tunnels. The Penna Turnpike has their own rules in regard to passage with placarded loads. But to even understand their rules, a driver has to understand the rules from the DOT in regard to hazmat.
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The way I understand it is that in PA everything is allowed through the tunnels except for explosives or anything requiring a UN specific placard. I might be wrong, but that's how it was explained to me.
 
Penna Turnpike Web page can be confusing, but basically for all PLACARDED loads, no explosives and no table 1. There are restrictions for bulk hazmat as well.
 
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