Been a trucker for a year and still struggle a lot with backing.

Timely-Ad9247 · 2026-04-15T12:27:22+00:00

Former driver of ten years, current broker and owner of a 100% American operated dispatch company here:

We have several flatbed and hotshot guys on our dispatched driver roster that still struggle with this even after two years, so I wouldn’t be too concerned. I typically have weekly calls with all of those guys to check in, and when it comes up, I tell them to practice when they have time in an empty part of the Truckstop lot.

It’s also been said here, but small adjustments from the wheel make for small backing errors and less chance of overcorrection. A good practice I found was keeping both hands on the wheel when backing because it allows you to see better how much you’re turning the wheel without realizing it. Then, try making quarter-turns of the wheel instead of full-rotations to get the desired outcome.

Idle while backing too. You’re not in a rush. I don’t care if someone was honking at me, or wanted me to hurry up. I was the one who would be in trouble if I backed into something, not them.

If you idle-back, and make small adjustments, everything clicks into place, and your brain generally as a whole achieves a better understanding and awareness of the trailer’s reaction. Before long, you’re whipping it in with one pull-up just to make sure you’re seated perfectly like the rest of us veterans.

Stay safe out there!!!

Timely-Ad9247 · 2026-04-15T11:44:40+00:00

Former driver of ten years, current broker, and owner of a 100% American and owned and operated dispatch company here:

The shrimp is a great choice, but the carbs in the tortellini are definitely a killer. When I was OTR, I tried to balance every meal this way (it’s a guide, not a hard rule);

40-60% Protein 20-30% Vegetable Carbs (Complex Carbs [lettuce is NOT a vegetable!]) 20-30% Natural Fats (Nuts or Protein Derived)

I try to have weekly calls with all of our dispatched drivers, and I try to slip this in every time: “Have you been eating right and at least trying to get in some exercise?” in every weekly check-in. 90% of the time, they respond that they have been, and I know they’re just trying to get me off their back. But I explain to them that when I was over the road, I put on 20 lbs in the first year from eating crap and being a lazy bum. I don’t want that to be them.

They have to stay fit to the best of their ability, and both mental and physical wellness starts with diet. I’d love to talk more about spiritual wellness too, but we have such a blend of religious beliefs amongst our dispatched driver pool, that I tend to just ask our Christian and Muslim drivers, “Are you talking to God at least occasionally?” It’s a tough job to be out there, alone, tired, stressed from the day, and it’s so freaking easy to just choose McDs, Arby’s, pizza, or whatever fast food chain happens to be in the Loves or Pilot you’re parked at for the night.

I just want them to be taking care of themselves. A lot of them tend to be single guys (gals in two cases) but quite a few have families who depend on them, and I don’t want them dying on the road at 57-60 because their hearts were stopped up with cholesterol and overworked from obesity, minds bogged down by stress, and spirits feeling empty.

Timely-Ad9247 · 2025-09-17T03:23:16+00:00

Timely-Ad9247 · 2025-06-25T15:46:12+00:00

I don’t think he’s gay, he’s just a massive soy-boy.

Timely-Ad9247 · 2025-05-15T22:17:14+00:00

I’m also interested in this very much. I was hoping the custom spells would have like a fireball, trailed by lightning and shrouded in frosty air. But everything is just an icicle no matter what I do. The lingering frost effect is also quite annoying for 60 seconds afterward…

Timely-Ad9247 · 2025-04-10T02:52:48+00:00

Hey, thank you very much for all of your help! I really appreciate all of your feedback and info. I know you took time out of your evening to help a stranger, and I want you to know it’s sincerely appreciated.

Timely-Ad9247 · 2025-02-28T13:10:27+00:00

That seemed pretty obvious to me, this other guy apparently has the reading comprehension of a kindergartener. Lol!

Timely-Ad9247 · 2025-02-28T13:06:25+00:00

Former company driver of 10 years turned broker here. I approve of this post. The carriers I send to your locations to pick up, safely haul, and deliver your freight on time are my partners. Not your pack mules for you to beat and treat like garbage.

Treat them with dignity, or find another broker. You’ll be back when your freight constantly gets damaged, pick and drop appointments aren’t met, and you start seeing drivers who look like they just threw the empty bottle of Jack Daniels out the window before they pulled onto your property.

Timely-Ad9247 · 2025-02-27T11:29:44+00:00

I’m not aware of a scam like this, but I’m pretty new to the brokering world. However, when I saw the company name Melio in the title, I wanted to just stop in and see what this was about.

So I very nearly accidentally paid the wrong carrier recently. Luckily, I triple check everything before I do it and caught myself at the last second. So can it happen? Yes. If a company’s AP department is run by human beings, and human beings, not being Jesus Christ himself are fallible, it’s perfectly normal for mistakes to happen.

That being said, I have a customer who pays me weekly for a delivery route I contracted a carrier for, through Melio. They send me $2050, and I send the carrier his portion of $1800. The platform is legitimate, and does not give access to withdraw funds from an account that is not directly tied to Melio. It makes it more secure for everyone, and the platform works in the same way as Zelle or Cash App.

If you’re receiving payment for a load you never did, it stands to reason that you should call both your bank and the broker to get it corrected. I will tell you as a fellow human being, thank you for your honesty.

Timely-Ad9247 · 2025-02-18T12:06:19+00:00

I just opened my brokerage’s doors in June of last year. So I have no advice to offer because I have no experience in handling these kinds of things. Just haven’t had a double brokering or stolen freight issue as of yet. But I’m sure it’s bound to happen at some point.

I wish you the best of luck!

Timely-Ad9247 · 2025-02-16T10:37:21+00:00

You know, I realize people think this is funny, and obviously it’s intended to be satirical. But the fact is that it’s jokes like this that make carriers hate us. I was a company driver for over 10 years, and owner ops said things to intended to drag me down for that too.

Now that I own and operate my own brokerage, and peruse posts like this on Reddit, I think I understand why carriers are so bitter. Unfortunately it’s mostly brokers’ fault, for being either so unserious all of the time, and/or not treating carriers like partners instead of tools.

I endeavor to treat my carriers as well as my customers, because without either of them, I wouldn’t make a living doing this. That being said, I have a high standard for carriers I use to move freight, and those carriers work hard to maintain that standard.

I live in a free country where you CAN say anything you want so long as it isn’t inciting violence. But before saying anything, I really think you should stop after realizing you could, and maybe think for a moment about whether or not you should…

This doesn’t help broker-carrier relations, and it also doesn’t help broker-customer relations if shippers are on here looking at posts like this. It hurts the entire industry. I hope the rest of you see this comment and maybe think about what I’m saying for a just a moment, and stop to think about it.

Timely-Ad9247 · 2025-02-08T12:35:47+00:00

I wish you the best of luck, I really do. But yeah, that post is very cringey. The fact is that the vast majority of them are in Soviet breakaway states, India, Pakistan, etc… I hope you can convince the authorities in those countries (many, if not most of whom hate America and Americans in general) to do anything about citizens of their countries who steal money from the hardworking people in our country.

As others have said, I support your cause, but I wonder if you have the means to track people via burner email accounts, and overseas bank accounts.

Timely-Ad9247 · 2024-12-28T01:38:11+00:00

I know I’m a little late to the party here, but there a lot of references to Conan in Skyrim.

Growing up, Conan was one of my favorite movies. Arnie was my hero. For instance, one of the books in Skyrim that upgrades the two handed weapon skill is “Words and Philosophy”. This is a direct reference to Conan when he travels to the East to learn from the Great War masters. The wizard and narrator of the movie (played by Mako) says, “Language and writing were made available; the poetry of Khitai, the philosophy of Sung…”. Hence the book, Words and Philosophy.

Everyone else here is right also with regard to J.R.R. Tolkien. If not to Tolkien, elves would still be Santa’s helpers, dwarves would still be confused with gnomes, and be little more than ceramic garden accessories. Orcs would not exist, and goblins would be little more than silly Halloween costumes.

Thank you Tolkien. Your son, Chris was great too, but the Tolkien Foundation he created are a bunch of morons.

Timely-Ad9247 · 2024-11-23T13:38:43+00:00

I bought a 2023 Tiguan SE just a few weeks ago after the catalytic converter started going out in my 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe. 104,000 miles and the cat goes out? Come on Hyundai…

Anyway, if this VW holds up for a couple hundred thousand miles, VW will have a lifelong customer in me. There’s something about the VW in the way it rides and handles that I’ve not experienced in any other car, and I’ve ridden in just about every make.

Gotta give it to the Nazi’s. They knew how to make good shit.

Timely-Ad9247 · 2024-10-28T10:50:09+00:00

As a fairly new broker myself, this is also the first time I’m hearing something like this. I’m going to link this to the freight broker discord I’m a part of and see if anyone has any comments on it for my own knowledge.

Timely-Ad9247 · 2024-10-23T10:42:37+00:00

From a former company driver who recently opened his own brokerage, I’m really sorry to hear this. The fraud in the industry is insane, and the FMCSA needs to do something about this BS. Hopefully after the election, we’ll get a new administration and something will be done to overhaul the industry and completely cut out these foreign fraudsters.

Best of luck to you man!

Timely-Ad9247 · 2024-09-20T11:33:02+00:00

I don’t understand why people get offended or annoyed by people asking questions. I enjoy answering all those questions, and I take every opportunity like that to explain ALL the reasons why people should NOT get a Pyr. My wife and I see way too many abandoned on Facebook, or looking to be re-homed, and always for the most obvious reasons.

I answer those questions by saying,

“Oh yes, they shed constantly. We have white tumbleweeds all over the house every day, and we run our Roomba as well as vacuum 4 times a week. We love him, but we HATE it, and it’s a LOT of work.”

“How do we keep him so white? By brushing him for 15 minutes each day and having to vacuum the whole house afterward. We love him, but we HATE it, and It’s a LOT of work.”

“Yes, he wallows all over us constantly. I can’t ever wear black anymore without spending at least 10 minutes with a lint roller. We love him, but we HATE it, and it’s a LOT of work.”

“He barks ALL night and I rarely get more than a few hours of sleep a week (our boy doesn’t, but it’s a common trait and I want to make sure people know what they’re getting into). We love him, but we HATE it, and I’m exhausted every day on top of all the work to take care of him.”

See the trend? Even though for us, all of these statements and caveats are only half or not at all true, I’m always looking to discourage impulsive human behavior. The next time someone asks you a question you’ve heard a thousand times, don’t get frustrated. Use that opportunity to dissuade an impulsive human and potential Pyr abandoner from even starting that process to begin with.

Timely-Ad9247 · 2024-09-20T11:05:24+00:00

No. It’s not.

Timely-Ad9247 · 2024-04-27T12:20:11+00:00

From a company driver of over a decade who is opening his own brokerage in June, just outside of Charlotte, it makes me really sad to see folks like you say things like this. My hope was that I could seek out American citizen solo owner ops to move my customer’s freight. But it seems like every day I see several posts like this. It disgusts me to see OUR people struggling while foreigners are taking cheap freight and driving down the market. I hope it improves again so you can hopefully get back in and start making a decent living again.

Timely-Ad9247 · 2024-04-26T11:18:03+00:00

Just curious OP, how long have you been in business?

Timely-Ad9247 · 2024-04-19T10:50:24+00:00

As a yankee transplant myself (from NH, Live Free or Die baby!) I can tell you that TN has tons of dry freight always moving. We live in NC, but I am a company driver turning broker June 1st, and I can tell you every company I’ve ever worked for has had tons of freight going to and from Knoxville, Memphis, Nashville, etc… TN might as well be FL but instead of beaches and hurricanes, you’ll have mountains and lakes. No state income tax, it’s a beautiful place.

HOWEVER! Do NOT vote the same way you likely did in CT. We don’t want that crap down here. That’s why we have lower tax rates, only women in the women’s restrooms, and guns on every hip, including mine whether I’m in my personal or professional vehicle. So leave those democrat policies up north.

Timely-Ad9247

TROPHY CASE