Abilene Experience

Got a LL load going to Louisville KY that was sitting on the yard. Hooked to it and to my dismay the local driver had slammed the tandems all the way to the rear and left LL in Hampton. Didnt even bother to axle it out on their scale. Result: tandems set at 43.5'. I couldnt shift wt anymore. So I grabbed Scott and showed him and discussed how pissed this client is for this exact reason. They care enough about legality to rework anything that puts the tandems past 41'. Its bridge law! Whether its enforced state to state is optional.
Got to Louisville and shutdown at store. Woke up delivered and sat for 2 hrs waiting on backhaul. Louisville is Death Valley for back hauls! I had hometime starting Saturday. I had asked Brett to preplan me out of there!! No dice. Deadheaded to Greenville, TN. Picked up Volvo parts and took to Radford, not Dublin. This warehouse is LUL. Will receive until 2230. Deadheaded to Wytheville now waiting for load to Richmond. Steve promised me one. But he is an hour late today. Met Paul and he seems cool. All the people here are great in my opinion.

 

On hometime. This is only the second time in about a year now that I have been held out and missed the scheduled start of hometime. I missed my daughter's first softball practice by about 20 minutes today. Disappointed but it happens. Tried to get George and I's load preplanned but I have to wait for Monday morning. I actually asked Higgins if I could have Blue&White for Tues 6am delivery. I want George to see it and the set up to be able to hit that dock the first time. Very unforgiving place as most of us lucky ones know. Heck it even got me but I blame that on the ice and snow!!!

 

Manhatten. Enough said.

 

After Manhatten I had to really get on Dispatch. They havent figured out a way yet to label us in the TMW system as a Northeast training truck, supersolo at max, NOT A TEAM!! Sorry if I am repetitive on this but every planner sees 2 driver codes and immed tries to team load us. Its happened on all last 5 loads that Tim hasnt generated for us. Well Steve in Wytheville somehow got it labelled finally today after he tried to send us to San Jose CA. He said my truck was sitting on Bretts board and not Tims. Everyone to my knowledge on Tims board is a training truck.
Oh well...it is the communication issue that I dinged The company on in my very first post. I still feel strongly that they are topnotch company and hard to beat. A big part of it is the transition and growth of the company. They have the actual and potential freight and clients to support twice the amount of units on the road. I am really surprised they havent bought another company out for the drivers and terminal. Growing pains...cost of doing business!

 

KH I absolutely agree with you. We run those coolers from the manufacturer who has 4 plants within 10 miles of our home terminal. Tremendous volume. I would take an estimate of between 40 to as much as 100 weekly loads. All lower 48 and Canada. Almost exclusive and one reason they located production near us. Awesome acct. Weather/breakdown aside, we are never late delivering them. Its a cardinal sin to mismanage your clock and termination will be forthcoming!!
A big part of our growth is in the training. The program has gone from an as needed to a must have. It evolves and improves each day but it has become a serious focus area. We cant rely on free agents and must develop talent so to speak. Theyre investing a lot of time and effort to find what works the best. With success and failure. I've said it here and other threads...either you have the common sense. Intelligence and aptitude to do this job or you dont. This company is still at a size that you can build a reputation with the dispatchers and planners that matters. If you are mediocre or less here expect the same treatment in your trips. I honestly couldnt see myself at one of the mega carriers. I couldnt be just a truck number...

 

I agree the USX yards are a great resource for us, but we lease those. I was thinking more along the lines of buying out say a smaller company than us in a different region that had an acct like HP and taking on the staff, terminal, and drivers and equip. Say like in the LA area. We have 2 full time drivers based there and lease the spots at Colton. Say they found a company with 50 drivers and merged them in. We have the freight and backhauls to support it coast to coast. Some of the other areas I would look at would be Murray KY , Columbus OH. We could handle the clients there exclusively like HP with more drivers and equipment. I will now take off my business hat and tell George to not run over any more animals tonight! Score: George 1, Black Cat 0...good thing im not superstitious!!

 

Agree. It has been a key part of success. Take care of your customers. It is a great match. We wouldnt be able to grow or even be at our present size without a client like Hp. And it allows us the freedom and revenue to accomodate new clients.