My reefer experiences.

Yup. I get a few loads of maters to Cedarvile every year out of Ca when the rates are up. Guessing you came out of Fl for Joe

 

Nope, actually came out of the "city of brotherly love", on a broker load for my company. This has been a sloooooooow trip for me. My company is an "out and back". Haul meat out of Omaha and broker loads to get back. Usuallu done in 6 or 7 days. This one, I've already sat for a 24 hr period and came off of a 10, just to go to Cedarville and do another 10 plus. Will still end up with 3k + miles, just in 8 or 9 days instead of 6 or 7. That the breaks in this biz tho, sometimes your on fire, and sometimes not.

 

I didn't do multiple pickups often, but when I did it was always the same thing which gave me a nice weekend break. I'd have Santa Maria and Watsonville pickups on Saturday. I'd go to Frontier in Santa Maria early in the morning and every single time we wouldn't get out until midnight or so. Now the Watsonville place is closed by the time I got out of there and drove up and they're not open on Sundays. So Sunday would turn into a day at Sunset Beach and bobtailing over to Applebee's for dinner afterwards.

I was always running team for the most part so there wasn't much downtime usually. It was a nice to get a break and a day to relax somewhere that wasn't a truck stop.

Now I'm driving local for the same company and all I do is sit around pretty much. I'd say 80% of the time I'm paid is for playing video games and watching movies.

 

I'm a California based independent owner-operator who picks up loads for any number of brokers who place a high bid on my truck. Usually, the guys loading on the dock door next to me are making less, but they don't have the authority, are dedicated to a single broker, or leased to another carrier. Driving is less important than finding the load when it comes to money. Also, since I'm running on my own logbook, and have a good CVSA record, brokers know I can deliver faster than some big company teams. I'll take multiple pick-ups for a price because most of pickups are close to each other, or are in route to the drop. So, the fuel burned is mostly for the reefer motor, not the truck engine (I don't idle, and in Salinas, or Yuma in winter, the APU is only needed for keeping the batteries charged). I don't go for multiple drops too often though, unless I get a good offer. I also avoid the grocery store chains and prefer the metropolitan produce markets. I don't like lumpers and unfriendly dock workers. I usually run to the east coast with my loads, and then try any number of tricks I've learned to find a backhaul from the east. West coast produces more than the east coast for dry van and reefer traffic at least.

 

I use to haul chicken out of Enterprise and Jasper Al to either LA or Paterson NJ for about 7 years. All no touch and was unloaded a soon as I got there. But the produce loads from Ca. were a pain. To this day I will never shop in a Albertsons or Kroger! Hunts point was a nice place, yeah right! When in NJ I would get loads for Sysco foods back down to Atlanta or Winn- Dixie in Fl they were not to bad either and paid fast.
Switched to tankers in 03' and I really don't miss it except for the nice fast truck!
No more be there yesterday loads either.

 

Where in Enterprise, AL would you pick up? I ask because I was stationed at Rucker for about 3.5 years.

 

No kidding. I am lookin for loads out of Alabama. Chicken is the thing to haul it seems.

 

I hate chicken loads. Gotta wait while the kill the dang things, then cut them up and load them in your truck while still warm. Sitting at one now and only God knows when I'll get loaded. Been here 3 hrs already.

 

Sit @ Cargill in Mt. Crawford, Va for 12 hours and not one pallet was put on the trailer. Lucky for me, I live close to Mt. Crawford, so I cut loose from the trailer and called the owner of the truck and told him to stick this job up his rear.

 

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