CDL in hand... Now What ? Decision time, that's what...

Picked up a load of steel plate in Montpelier, IA; heading to Rice Lake, WI. Must have been at least 20 preloaded TMC trailers at the shipper and a bunch of their trucks about the area; clearly one of their main accounts. Very well-organized process at this shipper. The securing/tarping shed was nice to keep out of the sun.

Now at a smallish independent truck stop off US61 in Maquoketa, IA - have about 250 miles to the consignee. The planners seem to be making the best use of what little time I have on my 70 hour clock.

 

Steel plate delivered at midday then received an assignment to pick up a trailer in the Scofield, WI drop lot. First time there for me. Turns out the trailer is a Conestoga flatbed - a type that I was not aware our company had. It is loaded with some custom stainless steel structures and parts that are destined for a construction site in Traverse Cit, MI. Made it to the Eagle Express T/S in Peshtigo, WI. Lots of heavy-haul trucks here.

A bit more than 300 miles to go tomorrow so up early and on the road again.

 

Made it to the consignee in Traverse City, MI at 1400. At first there was no one from the contractor around. Someone showed up after a short while and the unloading started. It was very complicated to unload because there were 16 straps and some very odd-sized structural pieces and also some long skinny pallets. And then there were the loose door frames (un-palletized, not banded) - there were 3 of these that had to be unloaded by hand. First time I have checked the "driver unload" box on the computer.



Working with the Conestoga trailer was interesting, to put it politely. This thing really seems to be designed for two people to open and close it. One side would get jammed up and I would have to go around to the other side. I lost count of how many times I switched sides on that trailer to get the cover open and closed. I did spray WD-40 on the rollers; that helped somewhat. I'll take a regular flatbed and tarps over a Conestoga or curtainside trailer ANY day thank you very much.

 

Very soon after sending my empty call I received a load assignment as follows: Deadhead (empty trailer) 336 miles to L'Anse, MI to pick up a preloaded trailer of ceiling tile heading for...
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San Antonio ! 1572 loaded miles

for a total trip of 1908 paid miles. This is my highest mileage load to date. The delivery is scheduled for Monday morning so I have essentially 4 days to get it there. And I am still bumping up against my 70. It will take careful planning and a bit of luck to make this happen. Fleet management is aware of my constraints, and it is possible that the delivery could happen later that what is scheduled on the load assignment. For now we'll just run with it and see how it goes...


Went across the Mackinac Bridge twice today; once each way. $50 cash out of pocket to be reimbursed eventually....



Now at the truck stop just on the north side of the bridge in St Ignace, MI. 228 miles remain to get to the shipper.

Had the wind at my back for a good part of the day, so the fuel consumption is looking good. Average so far on this tank is 8.1.

 

Made it to the shipper in L'Anse, MI at about 1030, trailer was preloaded, secured, and nicely tarped with just a handful of bungees so all I had to do was add the remaining bungees, put a couple of extra clicks on the securement straps, and inspect the trailer. Made it to the Appleton, WI terminal where laundry and a shower were waiting. First time in a while I have been near a scanner so sent in all the loads from this week. Total miles going on the next paycheck will be 1,970, down a bit from the last two periods, mainly because this load I have now will be on the following week's check. 1360 miles to go to the consignee in San Antonio. Talked to the receiver, who is with a contractor working at a job site. He asked me to park at a nearby Lowes, where he will meet me and take me by pickup truck to survey the entry into the site prior to taking my truck in. Sounds like it might be a challenge...

Another TTR member, Lantern, is here in Appleton as well. He has been sort of following in my wake recently, having gone several of the same places as me just a few days later.

 

I have met about 5 or 6 members that I know of so far. All good folks

 

As the photo shows, I drove 5 minutes shy of the limit today, going from Appleton, WI to just east of Springfield, MO for a total of 658 miles. And it was all legal too, including the required load checks every 150 miles or 3 hours, as well as staying at or under the speed limit. Given the current DOT time constraints and the fact that our trucks are governed at a maximum speed of 63mph, it is likely not possible to go much further in one day. I encountered only one relatively short-lived traffic slow-down, so everything went better than I could have hoped for.

I get back another 8.75 hours at midnight, so will have the full 11 hours of drive time available for tomorrow.

If I am able to get nearly as far down the road tomorrow, I will likely shut it down Saturday late afternoon/evening and then finish it up Monday morning, so that I may get a 34-hour reset. According to the GPS I am now 704 miles from the destination. Even though it would be great to also get layover pay, I am not counting on another 650 mile day tomorrow (recall that one must be within 50 miles of the consignee to claim layover). At this point, the reset is more important that the layover, as it will set me up for success next week, including the intent to start working my way toward home.

 

The reset will happen. Made it just over 600 miles today. Now in San Marcos, TX with a little more than an hour to the consignee meeting location. Happy weekend