Superior Carriers 2013-2014

1/28-1/30

Just got home a few minutes ago. I called dispatch Monday and asked him to put something in the computer to get me home Wednesday. Running on rollover minutes with loading and delivery appointments that required leaving at midnight each day was taking its toll on my mental health. I absolutely hate getting to a truck stop at 6:30 am out of hours and not being able to leave until midnight. To add insult to injury I was less than 90 miles from the house on Monday.

My delivery in Danville Va went off without a hitch and after about a 17 hour break I left at 3 AM and deadheaded back to High Point. I am glad I made that move. I got a load plan that would have me washing out at Nevil Island Wednesday, loading Thursday in McKees Rocks and delivering in Seneca SC Friday. There would have been no time for a reset but I wouldn't have needed to run at night. I would have spent over 24 hours at the tank wash though.

I am taking a couple of personal days off Thursday and Friday.

 

2/1

Just got my load assignment for next week. Out and back dedicated loading in N Chicago Monday morning early. I will miss being home for the Super Bowl but can use another 600 miles on next weeks check since I came home Wednesday.

 

2/3-2/4

This trip has been my first experience with any measurable snow this winter. It pretty much snowed all the way through West Virginia yesterday as I ran to just north of Indianapolis. The roads were fine yesterday. Today I ran into some more heading up to N Chicago. The plows pretty much kept up with it until I crossed the I-290 on I-294. It went from clear and wet to 3-4 inches on the roadway to the point that you could not see the lines on the road. The last 30-40 miles to the customer took 1.5 hours this morning. Nothing like a traffic jam at 5 AM.

I finally got to the customer about 30 minutes late for my 6 AM load appointment. That was no problem.
I checked out the weather radar while getting loaded and noticed that the clipper system dumping all the snow would blow east of Chicago and I-65 about 1.5 hours after I would be loaded. That combined with the sirius traffic report talking about 2 hour commute times into town from the airport convinced me to take about a 1.5 hour nap before heading out to let the traffic clear and the plows to catch up. Nothing like getting paid to take a nap!

I headed out around 10. found clear roads around Chicago and shut down in Richmond In. This load doesn't have a delivery appointment but if I want to deliver it tomorrow I need to get there by 14:00. The same clipper system I was in this morning is supposed to dump 3-6 inches on West Virginia. I will head out about 3 AM and hopefully get home tomorrow. If the weather is bad I will just shut down and deliver it Wednesday morning.

 

I don't use a GPS for anything other than giving me the street names before I get close enough to read a sign that might not be there. I never program it with an address. I have a cheap Garmin. For routing I use MS Streets and Trips on my laptop with the truck stops plus templet that I bought several years ago for around $40. Truck stops plus has some truck specific stuff in it. For instance it will not route through downtown Atlanta. I also keep a card file with directions to every place I have been. Most of the time these are the company directions but sometimes I improve upon them. I also draw a little map on the back that tells me where the racks, scales, etc are located. If I have never been there before I will pull up a satellite view on either Google Maps or Bing. MS Streets and trips actually has a button on the task bar that pulls up Bing. I also keep a map file with all the customers, terminals and fuel stops on it. I also have a paper atlas to check hazmat routes or low clearances if i want to use roads I am not sure of.

 

I write my directions on a 3x5 index card and go by that. The streets and trips direction sheet is too detailed to follow while driving. The problems you will run into aren't on the interstate. Its the little roads in town and getting to the right part of a plant that might cover 3 or 4 blocks bordered by that many streets. Lots of times the truck entrance is around back and not where a GPS will take you. The companies directions will often get you to the right place. If they are wrong I correct them on my index card for the next time I go to that plant.

 

2/5

Got home about 3PM this afternoon. Got a load to Calhoun Ga in the morning that delivers 8 AM Thursday. Its a drop hook on the load end in Reidsville NC at noon. Probably an air unload on the delivery side.