Calex Express....My New Home!

I fully understand your decision. I might not agree with what you did, but I do understand. I'm sorry you left, I always enjoyed meeting you at the yard or at the Petro and shooting the breeze with you. I did see Mort on Friday and he said you might be having a change of heart and might consider coming back, I hope so. Not every driver is capable of running NYC on a regular basis like you did. Whatever you decide I'm sure it will be for your benefit. Keep in touch and good luck.

 

Al, I'm sure that's the one. It's a 700 watt micro wave that fits pefectly in the opening. Gary also bought the same one and we both agree it was probably the best purchase we ever made for our trucks. I'm leaving tonight so I'll take a picture of mine in the opening and post it here to give you a good look at it.

 

Well I'm home. I got here last night around midnight and just about collapsed in my garage as I got out of my car. Boy was I beat. I left the house Tuesday morning and drove up to Jacksonville to load. I got there around 1pm and was loaded and rolling at 2. I was very grateful I only had to be in Charlotte 385 miles away at 11am on Wednesday. After spending a week out at sea being waited on hand and foot, I was not really into this truck driving thing.

I made it to the Pilot in Charlotte a mile from my delivery that evening and went to bed. I was up and at the consignee when they opened at 8am hoping to get empty a little early so I could run down to Greenville to pick up my loaded trailer. They backed me right in and I was done in 45 minutes. I called Louie to see if my trailer was ready and he said that the shipper had run out of our empties and needed to live load me. I ran down to Greenville and checked in. The loader told me to back into door 24 and he would start on me right away. I was pullling out of the gate headed to Ellington CT just north of Hartford 45 minutes later.

I must say, the people at our customers down in SC/NC are a pleasure to work with, things run a little slower down there but it's pretty nice to be treated in a pleasant manner. I stopped for fuel in Duncan SC at the T/A and then headed north for my 6am Friday delivery. On my way up 85 Louie called and we talked about my next load after I get empty. He told me that the west coast was all covered and that he would probably load me out of CT going to Texas with a NY Times load that had 3 drops on it in Dallas, San Antonio and Austin. It's been a long time since I've been in Dallas so I was looking forward to it and talking to the people down there seeking their opinion about the Cowboys this year. I kind of knew what they would say, the Cowboys are a train wreck in progress this year.

On my way up on Wednesday I decided to go through the yard for fuel and to have my front end alignment checked, the truck started pulling to the right and my rear tandems started bouncing. I called Jim early Wednesday and told him the problem and that I would be in Pittston around noon. He called me back and told me to come to the yard and to drop my trailer and to go over to the alignment shop and get it fixed. I'm glad I did, they did a 3 axle alignment, balanced my tires and told me that both rear axles were out of alignment by an 1/8 of an inch. I was done around 4pm and back at the yard to get my trailer and head the last 220 miles to CT.

I got to the T/A in Southington CT at 8pm and found the last spot to back into. Of course it had to be the hardest spot to hit in the parking lot and with a little maneuvering and a few G.O.A.L's, I was tucked in for the night.
I only had 33 miles to get to the consignee and was up and driving at 5am. I followed the directions I got from their office and was totally surprised when I came upon this plant in the middle of nowhere. I got there at 5:45 and was backed in by 6am. Around daybreak I felt the trailer start bouncing and figured at the rate they were going I would be done in 15 minutes. I made a cup of coffee for myself and was truly enjoying this view I had outside my window. I was looking out over pristine farmland, horses eating, cows grazing, acres of fertile fields and just a totally beautiful and relaxing experience, all in Connecticut, amazing!

After I was done with my coffee, I went to the dock and knocked on the door. The gentleman, and I use that term loosely, opened the door and rather rudely asked me what I wanted. I told him I was just checking on the status of my unload and he went off on me. Now you have to understand, if it wasn't for the beauty I just experienced while drinking my coffee I probably would have been escorted off the property and told to never come back. But this jerk off wasn't about to ruin my day, not at 6:45 in the morning. If he's like this at this time of the day I can only imagine what he's like at 5pm. He went on to tell me that this load should of been on pallets, I interrupted him to explain to him that I drive from point A to point B and that his concerns should be directed towards the buyer and salesperson of this product, not me. After all these years doing this I have this uncanny knack of telling someone to kiss my arse while never using those words. After he realized I had far too many things to worry about than his non-palletized freight, I told him I would be in the truck waiting for him to finish. About 15 minutes later here comes someone else with my signed bills. I told him what Mr. Personality said but in a very pleasant way. I told him what had just transpired and he asked me who it was I had just spoke with, I told him the little guy with the broom, you know what he told me? He told me that the guy with the broom was just a janitor who was looking for a promotion to the receiving dock. I just about went out of my mind at this point. I asked this guy very nicely to do me a favor. He asked me what it was, I told him to tell the little guy with the broom that I had handled our little problem very professionally and that the next person he speaks too like that might stick that broom he's holding up his Arse. He laughed and we went our separate ways.

As I was getting ready to leave Louie called and told me COP, (change of plan). I was to stay hooked to this trailer and deadhead to McElhattan PA and pick up a Florida Load. I stopped by the terminal, fueled and left. I was loaded and on my way back home by 4pm. Friday. Louie called me again and said that I'll make one more round out of Florida and be home next weekend for Thanksgiving the following week. He also told me that I'll definitely be headed west after Thanksgiving, I laughed and told him sure, but is it because you need me to cover freight, or is it because it's now winter time and the snow has started flying and guy's will be missing turns. He told me yes to all the above.

I need to be in Orlando at 5am so I'll leave the house around 10pm and be in our assigned door sleeping at the consignee while they unload me. I'll be in touch soon. Be safe all! God Bless!

 

When I first hired on Mort gave me the nickle tour and showed me all the coast trucks parked to one side. He told me that they are serviced first and are givin priority over the others. Until I started running the coast I was in the same position as you. Now it's very different. Like you said, the guys that run regional/local are put at the bottom of the list for service. I don't think it's right, especially if a local truck breaks down in the middle of the Cross Bronx. They aren't perfect by any means, I just hope you reconsider and maybe give it another chance.

 

Well here's a condensed version of my travels so far. I emptied out in Orlando yesterday, had an air leveler go out on my tractor. Got it fixed at the Volvo dealer. Loaded this morning in Cordele Ga. Sitting at the T/A in Duncan SC to deliver in Spartanburg SC in the morning. Pre-planned to deadhead over to Cleveland Tn after emptying out in the morning for a drop and hook for Duryea Pa. Spoke to Garylobo today, he's loading in Ga in the am for Pa also. My biggest work tonight is to figure out a good route to take from Spartanburg SC to Cleveland TN. I have no idea how to go from here. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. That's all folks!