From School to Superior Carriers

With our O line and stable of running backs Delhomme only needs to get it to Smith a couple of times a game off play action.

Shawn Andrews won't be "Getting his Michael Phelps on" this game either.

Westbrook will have a good game but McNabb will have a hard time staying upright long enough to do much more than dink and duck behind that O line.

Glad to hear you are running hard.

 

Yeah my NFL experience sort of sucked yesterday. I will say it was more enjoyable than the Arizona playoff game though. Beautiful day with no rain spent with my 15 year old son. Looks like a long year for Carolina.

 

No problem. Good luck to you. If Superior doesn't work out there are several other tank companies in Kingsport. Eastman runs that town and thats where most of the loads come from. Enterprise and Tidewater were the 2 I saw the most of there

 

9/14-9/19

This was the week of changed plans and surprises.

I was told Friday that I was running a dedicated paint load up to Holland Mi and that it would be ready Monday afternoon. I promised my wife I would do a bunch of stuff around the house. That morning just as I got out of the shower about 11:30 AM my cell phone was ringing. Dispatch wanted to switch me to a system resin load that delivered in Holland at 13:00 Tuesday. I was subject to dispatch from Markham afterward and my wife would be pissed.

I live an hour away so I had to pack fast and rush on down to the terminal. Got there grabbed my tank and noticed a wheel seal was leaking oil. The shop guys were out to lunch so it took a couple of hours to get it fixed. That ended up being a blessing since I got to provide a new ETA on the load that at least allowed time for P breaks.

I ran it up to Jeffersonville Oh choosing to stop well short of my max hours for the day. I figured I was going to be sent to Markham and they usually make you sit for a while anyway so there was no sense pushing it.

Tuesday's delivery went great. Record unloading time for the paint plant. Tankwash was to PSC in Chicago then bobtail to the Markham terminal. They even sent me a load with the tankwash message. I was to pick up a loaded trailer at 23:00 an hour south of Markham on Wednesday. It delivered Thursday morning at 10:00 in St Louis Mo. Since I arrived at Markham around 5:00 PM that would mean a full day hanging out at that dump then driving all night to make the delivery. I also have a vacation planned for next week and that would leave me awful far from home.

I went to bed planning to discuss it with my dispatcher the next day. Wednesday morning I woke up about 6:30 slipped my shoes on and was just getting out of my cab when I almost knocked the Markham night dispatcher down. He was about to knock on my door. They had a driver with some mechanical problem and wanted me to take his load. This one loaded in downtown Chicago at 8:00AM and delivered in Cincinnati at 8:00AM Thursday. I got the paperwork switched, looked up the address, backed under the trailer, pretripped it and headed out into Chicago rush hour traffic by 7:15 AM. The plant was only about 15 miles away. There were 2 wrecks and It took 2 hours to get to the plant.

This was one hell of a place and I was wondering if I was in the right place. My directions put me in a back alley with a truck scale and loading pipes coming out of the wall of a big warehouse. The place was deserted so I found the only open door and looked inside. It was totally empty and there was a big hole in the roof. I walked around back and saw a class B truck with the name of the company on the side so I figured I was in the right place. Still didn't see anyone. I walked about 50 yards into this junkyard and finally found someone. He didn seem to know I was coming so being late made no difference. They put me with a loader who didn't speak much english. I weighed empty and we went to this rail yard about 5 miles away to load.

When we got back to weigh heavy I was talking to another driver in the alley at the scale. He said they had an explosion there in March and thats why they were loading at the rail yard. My tank had to have a food grade wash with all the inlets sealed only to be loaded at a dusty railyard. After the guy loaded me he threw the hose on the ground. Go figure.

I finally got out of Chicago and stopped for Wednesday night at the Petro on I-74 about 50 miles from Cincinnati. Made my delivery appointment early and suffered through a 6 hour customer unload. Thank God for demurage pay.

I was tankwashed to the Cincinnati terminal for the night. I like this terminal. Its not in the slums and there is a sports bar within walking distance with good food and lots of good looking women. They also tend to get you out pretty quick.

I got a load to Raeford NC that loaded Friday at the same plant I just delivered to. Went well and I was able to run it to my home terminal Friday and deliver it Saturday morning. As I was driving Friday I got a message from the Charlotte terminal to call them. They gave me a couple of MT trailer numbers in case the plant wanted me to drop it instead of doing a live unload.

I left a earlier than I needed to for delivery Saturday morning arriving at the customer about an hour and a half early hoping they would let me drop and hook. Worked like a charm. The guy had just started unloading another spotted trailer so I got to drop mine and was on my way home 30 minutes after I got there. Perfect timing too since I am taking my second week of paid vacation starting Monday.

 

I guess that's part of the way this company operates. Independent terminals can change the rules as they see fit. Either that or a driver isn't telling the truth. Some think more drivers equals less loads. That may be true in some cases but if there aren't enough drivers to handle a contract we will lose it. Kingsport will always need drivers to service Eastman. If they aren't SPCR they will come from other companies. I suspect we have lost a slice of that pie.

 

I wouldn't put too much stock in what you get from me or gar-rose. Neither of us work out of that terminal. Best bet is to talk to the TM there and find out the real scoop.

Vacation is going great. I love the beach this time of year. Got a great deal on a condo at the Avista resort in N Myrtle Beach. 4 nights for under $400.
Great view from the room. This place is pretty much floor to ceiling glass. Took these pictures from the living room.