My experience with Lester Coggins.

See, it's truckers like you that I hate. My attitude is correct - I came here to work - not lay around in a truckstop. If I wanted to lay around, I would go back home. Repeat, I am here to work. It's probably because of drivers like you, that don't want to work, is why trucking companies don't want to run their drivers.
They make more money when the trucks are rolling, too ... so my attitude is correct.

 

LOL, yeah probably. I have met some characters here for sure .... some real weirdos.

 

Sorry guys/gals, my phone is turned off and haven't had internet for a while. I see that my last post was 3 weeks ago, when I was waiting for a load at Okahumpka, FL on Feb. 27,2010. I will pick up the narrative from there:
They deadheaded me to TKM in Belle Glade, FL and I picked up some Lettuce going to Dole in Bessemer City, NC. I promptly ran straight up there, upon getting loaded, but they didn't receive my product until appx. 10 am Monday morning. My pickup was on the other side of the building and I got out of there about 4 pm. The load went to Winn-Dixie in Orlando, FL, and I didn't get unloaded until 5 pm on March 02, 2010. That day was shot, so I went to Okahumpka and washed out my trailer and washed clothes. I loaded the next morning # Silver Springs Citrus in Howey-in-the-hills, FL going to Wal-Mart DC in London, KY which didn't deliver until March 04, 2010 # 8:45 pm. My next load was # T. Marzetti, in Horse Cave, KY the next morning which I didn't get loaded until appx. 11am EST. It didn't deliver in Lakeland until like Saturday, if I recall, so I got the bright idea that I would ask to drop in Okahumpka, FL and turn on the yard. Instead they had me drop # the Super Service Yard in Ellenwood, GA, which was only half-way and effectively ended my week # appx. 2580 pd. miles.

Next, they deadheaded me to FPL, in Augusta, GA, where they said that the load would be ready # 8:00am. I figured since it was Saturday, it was a drop and hook. NOPE! I sat there until 4pm waiting for the load. I was 35 miles from home and SHOULD HAVE WENT HOME, AND NEXT TIME I WILL GO HOME. The first stop on that was Murphy, NC, then 3 stops in downtown Chicago, IL and a final stop in Rockford, IL on Monday. I thought I would have a good week, until I got my next load assigment. I was picking up # Bruss, in downtown Chicago,IL, with one stop in Conklin, NY, and the final # MBM in Aberdeen, MD. The first stop was scheduled for Thursday, but I got it off on Wednesday, even though the customer got mad at me for delivering early. I got Aberdeen, MD rescheduled for Thursday, but all of this did me no good. I sat in Aberdeen, MD all day, until right # 5pm, when I got a message to call a number for a load from Landover, MD going to Forest Park, GA. The number was for CH Robinson, and it indeed was a CH Robinson special. I didn't get loaded until 10 pm that night, I had a hand written bill with no piece count and no weight and had to chance it # the Quantico, VA scales, which I found out later that I was 60 lbs over on the drives. I got to Forest Park, GA and unloaded # appx. 3 pm the next day, and that ended that week. I ran appx. 2810 pd. miles.

The next week started off with a blast. I spent the night # the QT off of Fulton Industrial Pkwy, in Atlanta, to pickup Sunny Delight the next morning. I got to the shipper to find out that it was a drop and hook, and the drop yard was 3 miles away. I pulled up to the guard to present my clean trailer, full of fuel, and was told that my trailer "had an odor." I had to go 10 miles up to the Blue Beacon, where mysteriously they sold "deodorizer" which I have never seen before # Blue Beacon. I had to go to BB because the truck wash # the QT was not open. A few hours later I was rolling with the fake juice. It delivered # 11 pm on Sunday night # Sav-a-lot in Yorktown, IN. I chilled all day Sunday in Yorktown, got off the juice that night and proceed to my next pickup # Nestle, in Anderson, IN, which was scheduled to be ready # 5am. Lo and behold, the load was ready so I promptly dropped and hooked and headed for Blue Ridge Beverages in Salem, VA, which I ran straight thru and got unloaded before they went home. I wasn't supposed to be there until the next morning. As a prize, they sent me to Bessemer City, NC to load the next morning for Dole in Springfield, OH, which I ran straight thru and got unloaded, and then deadheaded to T. Marzetti in Horse Cave, KY to get loaded for MBM in Lakeland, FL. Now, here is where a good week went bad:

I had my truck for a month, and it would not pull a greasy string out of a hog's behind. Also, I was only getting 5.7 mpg, even with light loads and empty. I had not idled this truck a single night since I had it. The A/C didn't work, either, but since it was cold, I hadn't complained. I noticed the the fuel filter was full. The truck also had a holland 5th wheel, which I had never had before. It was taking me 10 or 15 minutes to disconnect from a trailer, so a friend of mine suggested that there may be an air leak. Well, I don't complain too much, but my load didn't deliver until 1 am friday morning, so I hurry down to Okahumpka, FL as fast as I can to give them plenty of time to check out these problems. I sent my DM, Joe, a QC message explaining all of this, and that I was coming to the shop the next day. I handed my DVCR to the shop foreman, LARRY, and was asked, "WTF is this? This won't get fixed today. Gees, are you trying to get the truck back this year." My reply was, "Just some things that I have noticed since I had the truck. I tried to give a thorough explanation since I'm not a mechanic. I sent QC message to my DM yesterday and he said he forwarded it to you." He said, "I didn't get no GD message." I said, "where would you like for me to park the truck?" He said, "park it behind the shop and hand this to your DM, so you can get your truck put on 'shop status.'" No problem. I disconnect from the trailer and walk inside to hand the paper to my DM and also to try and get a new cab card, since the current on expires on March 31. Upon going inside, I found out that my DM had a death in the family and that Richard was watching his board. He gave me an awful look. "What's this?" he said. I said I had told Joe I was coming through, and Richard said that I should never come through Okahumpka with a loaded trailer because they would have to t-call the load. I said, "there is no need to t-call the load, just give me a loaner truck and I will deliver the load and, in fact, you can keep me working, because I am here to work - I just need a different truck temporarily." I also told him that Joe said nothing about not coming through there with a loaded trailer. Richard said that, in fact, I shouldn't come through Okahumpka at all, that the shop is horrible, and that I should only get repairs done on home time. I exlpained to him that I don't live in Florida, and he said that sucked for me. However, he told some big shot, Coty, what had transpired at the shop, and that I was there to work, and to make a long story short, I spent the rest of the day moving into a different truck. It's not a newer truck, but it has an APU and runs much quiter, and gets better fuel mileage, and it is white, so I don't have to field questions about why I have a red truck anymore.

Anyways, I had to deliver at MBM, in Lakeland, FL at 1 am on Friday morning, and they are certified butt-holes there, and then I had to go to Dunedin, FL(that's 25 miles west of Tampa) to Coca-cola after they let me go at 4am, and I didn't get out of there until 9 am. My first stop was Breese, IL this morning # Haag Grocery, and I have 2 stops in Chicagoland, tommorow. My preplan a load going to Orlando, FL, but since I don't have it yet, I won't disclose the details.

A note about Haag Grocery: These guys are running a scam. I had one pallet to deliver and they wouldn't let me pull it b/c I didn't have a forklift license. They charged me $50. Then they charged another $50 for the breakdown. So,I had to get 2 check for $50 each over 1 pallet. What a racket !!!

Last week netted my 2725 paid miles, so it is obvious that 2700 miles is about the norm around here, which translates into massive sitting time. I am not here to sit and I don't like it. I also got a bad feeling that as soon as July gets here, which is when some of the companies that I first looked into said they would consider hiring me, that CSA 2010 is going to really hurt me. I really wish I had a way out of this industry, but I don't, so I just have to do my best.

P.S. The rumours continue that LCT will close it doors around Mother's Day, and I keep talking to several drivers who say they are not getting paid. I hate to call anyone a liar, so I won't speculate as to why they haven't gotten paid, but all I can say, is that my pay has been correct so far.

Y'all take it easy out there.

 

NO! I have not been home. I thought that if I stayed out, was available for dispatch, delivered on time or early, that I would get a bunch of miles - WRONG! It has gone from bad to worse.

Honestly, I can't afford to go home yet, and probably won't be able to for another month. I just got all the late bills caught up on the necessities, and property taxes paid, etc., but my phone is still turned off along with Dish Network for my wife, so I need to stay out. By the time I pay all the late charges on those, it will be time to pay utilities/truck payment again, so I am probably going to be out for another month and a half.
I do miss my wife and dogs, especially since she doesn't have a phone and the computer got a virus, and she can't even text me. We'll get through it-it is just a matter of time.

 

Ok, here's the update from March 23, 2010 to this morning, April 02:

On March 23, 2010 I made the final 2 stops on that juice load in Hickory Hills, Il and McCook, Il. Then I deadheaded to Alsip,IL and did a drop and hook going to Walgreens in Orlando, FL, which was also a drop and hook, and could deliver early. It was scheduled to deliver on Thursday, March 25, 2010, but I told my DM, Joe, that I would be there Wednesday night. I made it on top of Monteagle that night and told him he next morning that I was still good on my eta, and then reminded him again before he went home. I delivered as promised. A note: *DO NOT - DO NOT run Fl sr50 from Clermont into Orlando - it is under heavy contruction and it took me 1.5 hours to go between those 2 towns*.

After dropping and hooking in Orlando, they told me to come to the terminal in Okahumpka, because I wasn't preplanned. Delivering early bore no fruits again. The next day, March 25, they gave me a load of juice sitting on the yard for Merchants Distribution in Hickory, NC, to deliver 5am Friday morning, the 26th. I got to the door at 3am and was empty at 5 am. Again, I wasn't preplanned, and there was no load waiting on me when I got empty, no was there any messages for the next 10 hours telling me that there was no freight or that they were looking or anything. At 3:30 pm I got a message to call a broker and ask about a load from Arvin Meritor in Forest City, NC to Medina, NY. I was told I had until 7 pm to get there, but I got there at 5pm. The shipper told me the load was supposed to pick up that morning and that we were late and they weren't going to load it, and literally they told me to leave and they locked the door behind me. Then LCT told me to check in, in the morning. I got permission to get the trailer washed out in Duncan, SC, but I only did this to get paid to go to Duncan so I could get a shower that night.
The next morning I got a broker load (CH Robinson) from US Leisure in Stanley, NC going to Marsh DC in Yorktown, IN for Monday. I was told I had until Noon to p/u the load. I got there # 11am and they got mad at me, because they were fixing to go home and they had to stay and load me. Anyways, I had 2 days to do a whopping 548 hhg miles. I took every back road and shortcut that I knew of and I still got 581 actual miles-LOL.
I delivered that load Monday, and I was dispatched on a load from Nestle in Anderson, IN to McClane FS in Fredericksburg, VA. I forgot was a tough pull I-68 through Maryland was! Anyways, I got empty at about 9:30 am the next day and I had not been preplanned and I didn't not get a dispatch nor a message telling me there was no freight or that they were even looking. At 3:30 pm I got a message asking me where I was, and I responded, "I am at the Hardees across the street from the delivery location. Why?" I got a response, "I may have a repower for you shortly." Before Joe went home I sent a message, "Joe, you said something about a repower - do you have details?" He responded, "I don't have any details but there is a truck loading in NC. At 7:30 pm I sent a message about the repower, and I was told that I was repowering where I was. I called and told the night dispatcher that I had to details. He said I was swapping with truck 476, who loaded in Raeford, NC, and would be out of hours when he got to me, and that I had 4 stops in MD and PA. Ok, at this point, I am still thinking that an LCT truck is going to pull into the Hardees soon. I go and get a bite to eat and prepare my log book. At 11pm there was still no truck so I decided to lie down. At 12:19am, I got a message that the truck ran out of hours at Skippers, VA 125 miles south, could I go and get the load. I replied that I could not drive all night after having been up all day babysitting the qualcomm. I told them that I would have done it if I had had the information sooner and had an opportunity to rest. They got mad. I said that reason that I was at LCT making $.32 per hhg mile was because of an accident and I was not interested in having another one. I went to sleep. At 7:30 am the fit hit the shan. My DM called up and started yelling at me. In 12 years of driving I have never had a dispatcher actually yell at me before. Yes, I yelled back at him and told him that I felt unsafe attempting to pickup and deliver that load after having been up since 5 am staring at the QC. He said the only way I could refuse a load was if I was out of hours. I said that is BS, and that I am not going to have another accident. He also said that I got the message to go to skippers at 8:30 pm, which was untrue. I got the message at 12:19 am, accompanied by a phone call trying to wake me up. After this, amazingly, a broker load was ready to be picked up in Chesapeake, VA going to Ocala and Miami, FL. I picked the load up and I delivered the first stop in Ocala, FL this morning and was told to drop that load here in Okahumpka, FL

I guess I still have a job, but they feel the need to punish me - LOL -they are making me pickup a pre-loaded trailer sitting on the yard going to Winter Haven, FL. I barely have 2000 miles for the week and this doesn't help. This company is an absolute joke, but I cannot leave them until I find something better. I had a driver tell me that LCT would make me cry, and doggone it, I believe his prediction may turn out to be true sooner than later!

Ok, that is the update. I would like some feedback on the incident in Fredericksburg. I would like to know if any of you would have picked up that load after sitting all day, and/or if you feel like I did the right thing refusing to go and get it. You have the details - please be honest.

I wish all of y'all a happy Easter weekend and I hope you get to see your spouse and/or kids and/or families' and celebrate the one singular event that our very culture (Western Civilization) is based upon: the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Satan and Death the middle finger, and said, "See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya !!!" Y'all take it easy.