Calex Express....My New Home!

Holly, welcome to the forum and welcome to our little world. I'm not sure if they hire out of NH but I will ask for you on Monday.

 

Hello all, just got home this evening and will give an update of this past week in the morning.

 

Thanks, we try to be very honest here, at least on this blog!

 

Good morning all. Got home yesterday afternoon after a week that started out rough and ended just fine. After unloading in Orlando last Monday morning I was dispatched to load in Cedar Springs GA for a load of paper going to Cleveland TN. I've been to this shipper before and was in and out in an hour the last time there. This time I got there at 5pm and didn't leave until 10:30 pm. I had an 11am appt to deliver on Tuesday so I spent the night driving through 2 lane country roads in the fog to get to my delivery on time. I always wondered if the consignee has any Idea what we go through to deliver their product on time in a safe manner.
After getting to the consignee with 20 minutes to spare I was told that I didn't have an appointment and that he would try to work me in if someone didn't show up. I very politely told him that when and if he was ready for me that I would be sleeping rather soundly in the truck and to please knock loudly to make sure I woke up. At 11:45 am there was a pounding on the sleeper and Mr. Personality told me to put it in door 1 when it was empty. By 12:15 I was empty of my 6 7000lb rolls of paper and was looking at my reload on my Peoplenet that was a drop and hook right there in Cleveland going back to one of our customers in Scranton PA. I called the shipper for directions and come to find out it was only 4 miles from were I unloaded. Well, that 4 miles took me 15 miles, an hour later after touring all of Cleveland TN I finally arrived at the shipper to find out that yes it is a drop and hook but that they hadn't started to load the trailer yet. So I asked the shipper if he would mind loading the trailer I had instead of the one he was going to load because the one I had was brand new and was clean and looked pretty good hooked to my truck. He said sure and about 2 hours later I was out the gate headed to Scranton for Thursday morning to drop the trailer at the consignee and bobtail the 15 miles to our terminal. I was able to catch up on my sleep that I had missed the night before and was refreshed and full of energy on Wednesday to finish my trip. I knew going to our customer in Scranton that when I got there it would be a drop and I'd be on my way. I got there at 4 am on Thursday, pulled into the receiver, found the yard jockey who signs the bills, dropped the trailer in door #5 and was in the yard having coffee at 5am. When dispatch came to life I was handed my load information that picked up after 8pm that night and delivers in Winter Haven FL at Wally World 4am Monday morning. Well everything else since then has been quite uneventful and I'm at home relaxing waiting to leave to unload tomorrow. As I was leaving the terminal my dispatcher asked me what I wanted to do for Thanksgiving. (are you kidding me?) I told him I wanted to be home and he said, I quote now, "Great that's one less truck I need to worry about". So after I unload I'll be home by noon enjoying the Wife, Honey & Coco (our 2 Labs) and my Harley for a few days! To all you drivers and families out there, please be safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

This last weeks totals,
2769 total paid miles and home for Turkey day!

 

Holly, I spoke to Mort in safety and he said that they do a case by case hiring process based on your application for that area.

 

Thanks! We finally cooled off so first thing Thursday will be a ride around Lake Okeechobee, it's a nice 100 mile ride. Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving, in Southern California.

 

Well I'm home now for the holiday. Left last night and delivered at 4 am at Wally World. Put the truck to bed untill Friday. Time to take care of some things on that ever growing honey do list.