Start with Color Spot this morning! Will keep ya posted.

Today I start with Color Spot, hauling plants. They seem like a company that I will enjoy working for. I'm happy to get in during the Poinsettia season but I'm already looking forward to the spring. Since I've only driven an Auto Shift, other than 1 week, I'm ready to get to it and learn how to drive with a manual tranny.

From what I've learned they seem to take care of their drivers, as many have been there for a decade or more.

Look forward to being back in the saddle since I haven't driven a truck since April. I'll be getting out to unload the plants, break down the racks so I will inform y'all of how that goes too. I'm looking forward to not just sitting there day in and day out. Hope there is room for my Mt. Bike somewhere on the new truck.

Y'all be safe....and remember I have a VIP pass so when I get into heavy traffic y'all just clear me a path and I will gladly just go by without a problem!!!!!!!

 

Ok first week almost done! The guy training me is being paid well, not for driving but breaking down the racks the plants are transported on. He showed me his year to date earning and how to do it like he does. Alk the other drivers admit "he brings a trailer FULL of racks back everytime"

Now that part of the job will wear you out.....I mean WEAR YOU OUT. Did I meantion its hard work! ok

So his paperwork showed just under $70,000 as of Oct. 3. He has made more than half of that breaking down the racks. We broke down racks in Tulas yesterday morning and I have the list of what it pays per rack, since he is training me he keeps all the money but together we made right at $325 in LESS THAN AN HOUR.

According to the DM, other drivers and the employees where we drop the plants this sucker works MUCN harder than anyone else and even though he may be in a tad better shaoe I kniw I can work just that hard.

The DM said he hired me because "the other college grad" works as hard as 2-3 drivers! Well lets see here you tell me I can be a "truck driver" here and make $35,000 maybe $40,000 OR I can drive AND breakdown these racks and make near $90,000


WELL LET ME TELL YA'S SOMETHING I'M BUSTING DOWN ALL THE RACKS I CAN AND IF A DRIVER DOESN'T WANT TO BREAK SOME DOWN....JUST SLIDE ON IN NEXT TO MY TRAILER AND I WILL BUST MY ### DOUBLE TIME WHILE YOU GOMIN AND FLIRT WITH FLO.

We fuel at the yard....hardly ever on the road, have toll tags, are paid for whatever we buy to do our job (if your breaking down racks) like penetrating oil, heavy hammer, road maintance is pretty quick, we have no "NANNYS" or "hey you can't do that" punks looking over ur backs, NO Fing Queer Qualm and all that so I love it.

 

Well, I'm off and running. We get paid for breaking down the racks...$10.00 per rack taken apart. Basically stacking them after taking the shelves out and removing the ends placing the ends in one rack, stacking the bases on top of one another and pulling out the shelves and placing them in another rack filling it completely.

You can make 16 racks fit into 4 spots by this method thus increasing the amout of money you can make.

However I've had TWO LIFTGATES BREAK on me almost snapping my legs off the last time.

This week I've been paid for 6 days out at $120 a day for driving, one time out I broke down 72 racks for $720, another day 25 For $250, another 56 for $560. The other days I just rolled racks straight on the truck for $4 a rack each.....I don't even add this money up.

I'm in #### good shape and only me and TWO other drivers even break down racks at all because it just kills you!!!!!!!

All arrogance aside most grown men could not hold up but its like the oil patch if you can hold you own and not ##### then your in, on the unlimited plan, left alone and making #### good money.

Told yall I would update you as to the reality of being a "flower child" so there it is hub seal!

 

Well I had more photos but it won't let me upload them. I will try later.

 

Well, Allow Me, allow me, Color Spot wants you to reload with empty racks which they pay $4 a piece for if you just push them on. It says on all papaer work "do not return to farm without 28 racks"
However, people return with less all the time! You only get paid $120 a day though so racks are the ONLY way to make any kind kf actual income. Now, on the other end, they don't (middle managment) like you returning with 80 racks either because then they owe you $800 for that day. The main deal it we usually have to wait till 8:00 pm to get our loads becaue THEY DONT HAVE the racks to reload the trailers. So in reality they MUST have 2-3 guys who will search every nook and cranny to find and BREAK DOWN all the racks they can get their hands on.

So it's like this 2 guys have already made over $70,000 this year while the others are around $45,000 or so.

So every weekend they send trucks on RACK RUNS just to have enough to load plants the following week, which the drivers who have busted their ### getting racks all week resent.....they want the weekend off for all their hard work.

 

O.K, after some time in my own truck it happened like this:

1. Liftgate breakdown and will not raise up, the flippers that catch the racks (loaded with plants) did not have springs either. So while pushing racks back on (brokedown racks are extremely heavy) I had to kick the flipper with my heal to get it up. This is very difficult and outs a ton if strain on my back.

2. Liftgate #2 breaks down snapping off the U bolt that holds it on. Which I was told to "buy a chain and secure it" so I did then drove 700 miles home. This prevented me from breaking down racks! They did give me an additional $130 for the day, however, if the gate was working I MIGHT could have found $309-$600 in facks to return.

3. Liftgate #3 breaks down....well the pin on the hindge comes off. I was scared that this pin had fallen off while on the road, maybe even bouncing through some families window! I worried about this all weekend thinking about all the worst outcomes. Luckily, on Monday another driver said he had found it near the front gate. This liftgate had another problem too, when I arrived to pick it up the motor was running. I disconnected the battery as I could not get it to turn off. The guys who load the trailers had just LEFT IT RUNNING. So I called the shop at 2:30 am and it was "repaired" at 6:00 am so I leave. I get to my first drop which was a doozy because it was in Tulsa, OK in an older part of town nit really friendly to 57 YES 57 foot trailers. Well the plants come off alright but I cannot reload any kf the empties, THE LIFTGATE IS NOT FUNCTIONAL. I calk the Ideal Lease and they come to tell me "its the pump man and I cannot get one till Monday and might not be able to have it on til Tuesdsy"(this was Friday)
I call our shop and they say "well it's probally not the pump....never is when they say it is" Well I had it for that day but I call ideal lease back and telk them I'm still sitiing. I wake up Sat. and decide it try and repair it myself. I start with the eletrical lines and do infact find one with a low current reading. I replace the line and the liftgate starts working. I complete the rest of my 13 stops with the 57 footer and get another 10 racks loaded, head back to Paris Texas. In Paris the gate starts not lifting again.
Thankfully we had another driver heading right by the HomeDpot I was at. We backed our trucks into each other lowered the ramos so that we coukd roll racks from hjs truck to mine. Then he loaded the racks on the ground on to his truck, allowing me to net another $200 bucks since I had broke them down.

Now the liftgate have been a problem and its a pain in the ### to drag a 57 footer through the cities at times but I've made alright money. My last check was $2100 hundred plus Iptwo checks for overnights $60 & $80 you get $20 a night.

The other drivers are helpful and friendly. The dispatch managers are helpful and look out for the drivers. No one calls you while your out to check up on you or bother you. The racks situation ks a bunch kf B.S. though they send you out with a list of stores that SHOULD have racks.....they hardly ever do so if you want to actually make money then you have to drive from store to store and scout them out. Which I do and since no one care where you go to look for them it works out that you can spend 5-7 hours looking for racks then 2 hours breaking them down and boom you have $200-300 extra everytrip, if I have enough time before my next load I spend all my extra time looking for and breaking down racks. This time of year its harder to find them. In the spring there should be plenty of racks.

All that said I went to Kanas to an interview with Kansas Transit and I'm headed to Kansas to haul cars in Jan. I have a feeling that I will be making more money there!