Originally Posted by JimTheHut

Unloaded in kalida Ohio then got a load to pick up at coil plus headed to Springfield tn.
Stopped.at the pilot at mm 36 because I did not.want to take a chance.getting stuck in Cincinnati going to.Florence.
Will get up at 0200 and.be on the road at.0300....Jim.time...lol

Made it down to Martinrea Fabco no problem. I had been there once before, but I never came in from this direction. The first time I was there I got lost trying to follow the directions that were on the qualcom, so I guess it was good I cam in from another direction.
From there I got a load to pick up at Gerdau Ameristeel in Jackson Tn. and this load was going to Rockford Il. I knew when I got the load that I would probably not make it out of the shipper.
That was certainly the case.
They require you to put up the netting while you tarp. I put it up but I did not put in every single metal clip into the trailer. While I was securing, they came out and one guy was watching on the camera and directing another guy to go around my trailer and put in every single clip. I acted doumb...which is not hard for me...lol and asked..."Did I do it wrong?"
The guy whispered to me....."You hear the guy on the load speaker....he said no big deal....I told him sorry, and I would make sure I do it all the way the next time...lol
By the time I got finished, I only had 30 minutes left on my clock so I parked down on the road.
I got up at Midnight and left at 00:30 as I had a 10 hr run up to Rockford Il. There is virtually no traffic on the road at that time. It was a full moon and was a really nice drive.
Got up to Liebovich bros and of course as soon as I got untarped, they took an hour lunch break.
When I got finished there I had just a little over an hour left to drive.
So I called in and told them I was heading down to the truck stop at Rochelle Il as there was not enough time for me to get another load.
Made it to the pilot with 30 minutes left. At 3 in the afternoon, it was packed...only about 20 spots. So I went across the street to the Petro.
That is one very nice truck stop. Watched a movie in their theater and when I went back to my truck there were two messages. One asking me when I could pick up and then a work order assignment.
I called my FM and let him know I could make the pick up at 0800 at US steel Tin Mill in East Chicago.
As you know you can only check in 30 minutes early. So I tried to time my leaving so I would have enough time to get there by 0730 but not get caught in the traffic around Chicago.
I stopped for about 15 minutes at a scale house and arrived on time.
I got into the dock right away. My WO said skidded coils but in warehouse 61 there are no skidded coils.
I put the load number in my windshield like I have always been told to do but no one came around. I saw the crane operator up in the crane, just off the rear of my trailer. I am the only truck in there. I finally saw a lady and asked her if I was supposed to check in with anyone else other than the guy who told me to back in. I also asked her about the coils and she said you will be getting one of these, she pointed to a large coil.
So I set up for a single shotgun coil. Still no one started to load me.
So I say here again and asked her what the procedure was for getting loaded. She says, what is your load number. Then she says where is your card. I told her in my windshield. She says how is he supposed to see it?
(The crane would go way past my truck all the way to the front of the bay, but this guy was not going to move his crane to look at my windshield)
So I get the card out and walk back and hold it up so that he can see it.
He then goes and brings me a coil. It looked rather small for a 42k lb coil.
He sticks his head out the window and asks me if I knew I was getting two. I told him no. So he pulls away. I yell up to him and ask him how much they weigh. He yells down, it is on the coil and spins the coil around 20 feet in the air...like I can read the writing on the piece of paper. I yell up to him that I can not read it and he lowers it down to me...I then read that it is 21K, so I set up for two eyes to the side coils.
Now at no time did I receive any information of what I was receiving or how much they weighed. All I had was my work order saying skidded coils which was incorrect. I sent a message in and told my fm that there are no skidded coils out of door 61.
So I get my coils secured and partially tarped before the next truck arrives. So I pull out and finish in the yard.
The weather report was for 6 to 8 inches of snow or maybe more around there, so I was wanting to get out of there and home.
There was a ship going through the channel so the draw bridge was up and the police were re-directing traffic. I did not want to take a detour and was willing to wait because I did not know another route out of there other than Michigan Ave. The police made me turn. I told them I did not know that route. He said just go down and make a big loop. So my gps finally picked up and showed me to go on us 12 and then back to Clime ave south to I 80.
Made it home no problem. This load is going to nextec in Pittsburgh which I have not had very good experiences with...lol
So I will head out Sunday morning and spend the night there. They start unloading at midnight so I think I will get these coils off of me and then sleep in. I already have a preplan picking up pipe 14 miles from there and taking them back to Indiana. The delivery is set for Tuesday but since they unload until 22:00. I will go there and get unloaded and spend the night and be ready to get a load first thing Tuesday Morning.

I did 2018 miles this week but it seemed like a did about 3K. You definitely work harder when you have all short runs...but I am not complaining!
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Originally Posted by 5m's dad

Excellent thread here! Read 1/2 of it today while off for a rain day. Working construction in the winter makes me want to go drive a truck where you work in any/all weather. Looks like Maverick is the way to go. Interesting though how JimThe Hut's attitude and tone changes from pages 1-5 to 220-224. It has lost it's appeal and novelty so now it is just a job. Jim, you gave your financials at the end of the year. If I may ask, (and you don't have to answer if I'm getting too personal) how did year 1 compare to last year moneywise?

Although it is a job, I still find.it fascinating. There is never a dull moment for sure.
I will get the numbers when I get home...it started.in February with orientation and then three weeks with trainer so the numbers reflect that.

I have tried to keep true to telling it like it really is out here without the usual recruitment hype..llol.