Sheeze, now you are going to make me get out and work too? Yeah, I bought a digital camera for that very reason back when I started with TMC. I never did use it much. I'll see what I can do.

I just got off the phone with my Business Consultant with ATBS. We talked for about 15 minutes about my concerns and how to better run my business. We came up with a budget. At my current numbers with the economy the way it is right now I should be able to bank $1,000.00 each week after all business and personal expenses.

That is encouraging to me.

I have been holding out all day for a weekend run. Looked hopeless. I jumped on a load offer from Menomonee Falls, WI to Milford, UT. I have to stop by our yard in Gary, IN to pick up a trailer. This will be my first time pulling a RGN.

I wanted to get out of the North East where I was for the last few days and all the load offers last night and today were taking me back to the the Northeast, so I jumped all over a load to UT. I was resigned to loose money sitting over the weekend, because the load doesn't pick up until Monday morning and delivers Thursday.

I called the shipper, anyway, and they will take me Saturday morning at 0700, and thanked me for being early and the consignee will take me whenever I get there. So, I went from loosing money sitting all weekend to making money, able to load next week and get out West. Now life will be complete if I can only find a Starbucks Coffee on the way.

I was on the way to pick up the RGN when I received a qualcomm message that the load was cancelled. Very disappointing. I ended up continuing to Mt. Vernon, IL. Now I have no load for the weekend, a slim possibility I might get a load tomorrow, picking up on Monday. I wouldn't get lay over pay if that happens before noon. Plus now I will not get my 34 hour restart.

Maybe on Monday I'll find out what happened.

I did have to sit all weekend. Noon Thursday to less than an hour short of noon Monday. I am assured this is a freak occurance and I tend to believe them. My dispatcher promised me something for sitting, I'm not sure what that will be. Loosing a load that I could have run over the weekend and delivered almost four days early on Monday earning me a little over $2K, but I guess this is the world of trucking.

I was dispatched on a load, picking Pipe Spool, just painted pipes, up in Kaukauna, WI delivering in Port Arthur, TX. It was a preloaded trailer. I delivered that today and will pick up a load in Port Arthur delivering to Ingleside, TX on Monday. It is Easter Weekend and a lot of shippers are going to be closed on Good Friday.

I have to put my truck in the shop, so I'll bounce up to Austin, put my truck in the shop and spend the weekend at home.

I have a few settlements now. The first was just for fuel, no earnings. The next two are OK. As I get settled in, I hope these numbers go up. I'm sure they will as the economy approves. I try to get those settlement uploaded for your viewing pleasure.

Did your Kaukuna load look like a bunch of odd shaped pipes piled onto a trailer, LOL?

Lease programs no matter who there with are for the benefit of the company ,for whom you will lease from...Ever since midwest distribution put lease purchase on the map, companies have used it as a way to pay for their equipment sometimes as much as 3 to 4 times over reselling the same truck...My opinion is save your money, and buy a truck... truck credit is not easy to get...Buy from arrow who uses their own finance company "transport funding" This will help you establish truck credit...

Exactly, and painted white. It was 86 pieces. They had to unload me by crane, one piece at a time. I was there for a while. They almost refused the load. They asked me if there had been snow on the pipe, I said no, at least not since I had picked it up. They told me they couldn't handle pieces that had snow on them. You see, this was in Port Arthur, TX and they were just giving me a hard time. I started giving it back to them, then told them I was from Austin, TX. They left me alone after that.

I loaded the next morning, also, in Port Arthur. There were signs all over the yard saying leave the aligators alone. I never saw one, though.

I am trying to post my actual settlements and I'm having trouble doing so. ATS makes them available as a Tif file. I have to use some program from the internet to open them. It is like a slide show. When I copy it and change it to a jpg file it will not copy the second page, only the first.

Worse case, I'll scan the documents they snail mailed me and post them that way.

I sent ATS an app on friday evening and I hope to hear back at the first of the week. I drove for Maverick from 2003 thru 2006 and I really want to expand into specialized/OD. I really want to eventually haul wind towers. How does Anderson handle their flatbed training. I obviously have flatbed experience but nothing oversize. I was also wondering how do the pilot cars work. Is it like a reefer driver finding a lumper or does the company make all of the arrangements?