This was one of those 4 foot wide barriers like what they have at the back and it was of the space to keep you from pulling forward too much. It was also right next to the Idleair office so I thought it might be a handicap spot. I usually don't even get out of the truck for a cone. I just park right on top of it.

Bigger questions is can our new O line generate a consistent running attack. Looked good against Indy not so much against you guys. If we can run Delhome will be fine.

Peppers will be a beast this year. His contract depends on it. The guy looks bigger and stronger this year. He has always been able to get by on talent without working as hard.

Smith is a wild man. He will just slap a little tiger balm on his jock come game day and be pisssed off and ready to go. Hopefully he won't have to carry the team if we can get the run game going.

The Eagles will be good but thats a tough conference.

8/24-8/26

Looks like this will be a good mileage week. Got another load of wood sealer up to a Wood Mode plant in Kreamer Pa. I really like this load. Its 454 miles and you can sleep at the plant. The customer does all the unloading. This was the second time I have done this load. I left Sunday afternoon and got backed into the unloading spot at 11:00PM. My unloading appointment was 7:00 AM the next morning. I didn't even have to get out of the truck. The guy knocked on my window and I handed him the paperwork and product sample out the window. I went back to bed and was unloaded by 10:00 AM. It was great having 2 hours of my 10 hour break during unloading. I got back to the yard by 6:15 PM and slept in my own bed Monday night with 900 miles to finish up last week and start this one.

Got the same load for the rest of the week that I had week before last. I loaded this morning at 10:00 AM in Richmond Va headed to Houston Tx delivering Thursday. If it turns like the last one I should be able to get home by Saturday evening. This run alone is 2500 miles.

8/27-29

Things were going great. I called dispatch and got my delivery time in Houston moved up to 1500. Got there at 1400 and they took me right in. Sat there for 4 hours and not one pound of product came off. There was another truck waiting behind me for the rack so they sent me over to our terminal in Pasadena TX 20 miles away to steam the product. Only problem is it was 250 degrees when I got here yesterday at 1830 and its 230 degrees now. I don't think the problem is product temp. Someone here told me they have had this problem before, the load was refused and sent back where it was thinned. The product is plastic in a hot ethylene glycol solution. They add more hot glycol to thin it. I was going to pull the empty back since its a dedicated trailer so getting loaded miles both ways is cool with me.

Nice thing is this is all detention pay so I am going to be paid hourly until they either get me unloaded, put me on another load, or send me back with this load if refused. Its been 20 hours so far and I am still waiting for a delivery appointment to go back. Should make for a good check this week.

Pretty much shoots down a holiday weekend though. I was sitting in Memphis for July 4. There is a Russian hurricane (Gustav) sitting in the gulf that could become a pain if I have to sit here too long.

Really appreciate your time,effort,details and pictures that you put into this thread. It's been a big help explaining the tanker schedules, procedures and overall job in general.

Thanks

I agree.... I've been enjoying keeping up with this post too.

Finally got a delivery time on the 29th..... 1800. I decided to head on over at 1400 to avoid rush hour traffic. They checked the product and it had thinned enough that they could get it off. The bay was open so I figured they would take me early. There was a Miller Transport truck unloading that they said would be done soon. This place is tight and they wanted him to be out of the way before bringing me in. I pulled over to the side.

An hour or so later I see a Miller service truck show up. Another 30 minutes later I get out and go in to see what is taking so long. They told me the Miller truck was leaking product all over the ground. I saw a couple of guys working on it wearing respirators. I hurried back to my truck. About an hour later they come out and told me they were going to move some cars so I could get in. 4 or 5 plant workers pulled their cars out and parked them on the street. That allowed me to pull in around the Miller truck. An hour later I was unloaded.

Dispatch had told me earlier that I would be dropping the trailer overnight. I had gotten a hotel room and had to go back and get my stuff. I decided to just go to sleep and drive back the next day. It would take 2 days anyway.

I got up the next morning had a waffle and headed out. I was making great time until I got to Hammond La. Then I ran into the 1,000,000 people that evacuated New Orleans. It was bumper to bumper at 45 MPH all the way to Mobile on I-10. Used up a lot of my hours on my 70. I have just enough left that if I can average 62 mph I can get home Sunday. Otherwise I will have to wait for midnight to pick up enough to get home.

Gus is really messing up traffic. All of the major arteries were probably clogged. Just curious which return route you chose ? I am assuming 65N. Have you talked to any other drivers who went north on 59 to 20 to ATL to avoid the I-10 conjestion? or was everything pretty much the same?

Speaking of Traffic, I have been reading about the dash express gps for a while because it has (live) real time traffic features from other users travel time and always offers 3 routes to choose from. Mike3fan on cad bought one and I am waiting for his opinion. There are 3rd party app's being developed for it also. Not really geared for CMV's, but it's still in the early stages from the reviews. It's best feature is that it allows a user to send an address (send2car) from a computer directly to the unit (by right clicking and selecting) then routes it automatically, and also a yahoo search feature for a business that has a review in the yahoo database. Con = no business review = no data so they are working out the bugs. I will probably get one before Christmas.

How's that new bluetooth CB for traffic reports etc and hands free cell quality?

Have a good weekend..what's left of it anyway.
Good luck with the Chargers next Sunday.

I considered running 55 N to I20. When I came through there on I-12 it was backed up about a mile to the on ramp. At the time I was moving pretty well and decided on the fly to stay on I-10 to I-65 N. Its about 20 miles shorter. Might have been better but probably not. 1.9 million people evacuated during that time. It was backed up everywhere.

Any CB will give you traffic notice as well as all the other cb crap.. I do like the bluetooth function on mine. Some people have told me I sound far away but they can hear me fine and I hear them great over the cb speaker

8/31-9/2
Got up Sunday and headed out. I had stopped about 60 miles N of Mobile on I 65. There were people all over the truck stop with La and Miss plates sleeping in their cars. The truck stop was out of both Diesel and Gas. I left about 8:45 and traffic was still heavy going N on I 65. Every few miles there were people pulled over on the shoulder either broken down stopping for other reasons. It was never one car, always 3 or 4. People were traveling in caravans, probably entire families. Many were pulling overloaded trailers with TVs, washing machines, furniture and other valuables. Lots of overloaded pickup trucks.

I began to feel sorry for these folks who were leaving behind their homes not knowing if this storm would do to them what Katrina had done a few years ago. I started saying little prayers for people as I passed them on the highways asking God to protect them and their loved ones. It wasn't until I got around the loop in Atlanta that Gustav traffic died down.

I stopped at the Loves in Hogansville for a shower only to learn that they only last 5 days on the card and mine was 6 days old. I wasn't about to fuel there on principle. I went around the stupid loop and fueled at the Pilot in Georgia north of Atlanta. Got a shower and ran it back to the house.

After doing all my paperwork I got in my pickup truck and my left rear wheel was locked up. Had my wife pick me up and we had a nice Labor Day yesterday. Got my truck towed this morning. One of the shop mechanics looked at it and said he thinks a wheel bearing seized up. I thought they had a Holland Mi load for me today but dispatch says it might not go.

When I got to the shop they had my Big Truck in the bay working on it. They found all kind of stuff wrong and need 1.5 days to fix it. I will probably get a load out tomorrow. Its comforting to know the mechanics check the truck when I am not there. I never knew anything was wrong with it. Its been running great.

9/3-9/10

Got a call that afternoon around 3:30PM saying they had a paint load going to Holland Mi that is supposed to be ready by 3:00 AM. I was also told my truck wouldn't be ready and that I was to use another one that is unassigned sitting on the yard. I live 1 hour away from the terminal. At first I figured I would move into this truck right before leaving. Then I remembered seeing my engine in pieces. I called the shop only to discover that my truck would be locked inside. I had to make a special trip down to the terminal to move my log book, bedding and other stuff into the truck. I got there around 4:30 and was a bit rushed since the shop guys were ready to go home. I forgot my air card which is why this update is so late.

The truck they had me use was a freightliner like mine with about 100,000 more miles on it. It was also filthy. I was not a happy camper. No CB, no satellite radio and no internet for the week. I went home and went to bed around 8:00 hoping the load wouldn't be ready until 6:00 AM. Wouldn't you know I got a call around 10:45 saying it would be ready by the time I got there. Wouldn't you know they would be early.

I drug my butt out of bed, grabbed a shower and headed back to the terminal for the third time that day. I got over to the plant about 12:30 and sat there for 30 minutes at the gate blowing the air horn and pushing the phone button. Finally a security guard walks up and tells me they don't take trucks at that time of night and that I would have to come back at 7:00AM. After telling me this 3 times without listening to what I said, I finally convinced him to get a supervisor and I got in the plant. Fortunately my load and paperwork was ready. The guy that prepares it looked like he had been sleeping.

The rest of this trip went great. I drove 3 hours and shut it down for 8 hours. I then took a 2 hour late lunch and shower break to split up the 11 hours I had to drive the next day. I got to the plant with with 30 minutes to spare and got backed into the unloading area around 1:30 AM. I went to sleep and they only bothered me twice to move the truck. It usually takes them 4-5 hours to unload me. This time it took them 11. That worked great since I needed a 10 hour break anyway and this way I got paid hourly for it.

I was on my way the next morning and got home by Noon Friday.

I had told them I wanted to stay out this weekend so I got a load to N Chicago that loaded Monday 9/8 at 6:00 up there. I left Saturday afternoon and arrived in N Chicago just as the Panthers were finishing off the Chargers. Man that was a good game. Got loaded in 1 hour the next day and drove halfway back. Got back to the terminal about 2:30 and dropped my load in the yard. It doesn't deliver until Thursday.

I got another Plaquemine La load that I am under now. I load at Dow at 7:00AM on Thursday. Only problem is that I am bumping my 70 and could only work 7.75 hours today. I am about 400 miles away and pick up 13.5 hours at midnight. I have plenty of time but have to drive all night to make a 7:00 AM appointment. Hopefully they will load me quick so I can get far enough down the road to get back on a daylight driving schedule.

That is one of the stupidest things about the FMSCA rules. They are supposed to be all about safety yet here I sit forced to drive from midnight to 7 AM. It would be much safer to drive another 3 hours and take my break starting at 5PM, leaving at 3 AM the next morning. I can't complain about the miles though and this load delivers Sat at 6:30 AM so I will be off and home for the Panther-Chicago game.

Thank God that Hurricane is hitting well south of Baton Rouge. I will still probably face some nasty thunderstorms tonight along I 10.