Superior Carriers 2013-2014

Its been dedicated as long as I have been with the company. We have about 12 trailers that only run it, nothing else.

 

I am running dedicated but not exclusively Plaquemine. There are 6-7 different out and back loads that they rotate me around on

 

7/14-7/17

I started this week with a Plaquemine leaving Monday morning. I decided to become a little more proactive with the trailer prep and bought a 16 foot pole, alligator clip and a big box of white rags before heading out this trip. I swabbed the tank for 45 minutes before getting the white rag to come back clean. It still wasn't good enough..tank rejected head on down to Giesmar to the tank wash. The tank was obviously not clean and needed a pressure washer to get the residue out.

They got me in and out pretty fast at the tank wash. I got back and had to wait 2 hours behind other trucks at the rack before they could inspect the trailer again. This time it swabbed clean enough but the tank wash had sealed the external valve full of water. Rejected again so head back across the Mississippi bridge on I-10 this time during rush hour.

Since I wasn't going to get loaded that day I dropped the trailer at the tank wash and bobtailed on line 5 out to have dinner and parked at our terminal for the night. Third time was the charm and I got loaded the next day and started back by 10AM. All that tank wash and loading delay Tuesday will pay me 9.75 hours plus another 120 miles. Its a pain in the butt but really doesn't hurt the check. In fact it helps it since I am able to log off duty or sleeper birth for some of it and still get paid for that time.

I fully expected to be done for the week when I got back and probably head back out Sunday. I figured the extra day in La would prevent me from getting a second load. That proved not to be the case. I got a call this morning from dispatch saying they added a rare Saturday load in N Chicago at the last minute and asked If I could do it. Since my wife and son headed to Fla this morning I figured why not. I have 32 hours left on my 70 so I will pretty much use all of it.

I will be home Sunday afternoon and need to reset so I will still get a couple of bachelor days at the house to brew up some beer for football season before they get back. This will probably be my best check of the year to date with all of the hourly pay added in.

 

7/21-7/31

Wound up not getting my reset. Got back in Sunday from N Chicago and got a Holland Mi for Monday. It was a challenge since I only had 4 hours to run on recap for Monday. It took an extra day out, I got home Thursday around Noon and was off until Sunday morning for a reset.

Got pulled over for a Level 2 on 35 in WV. No violations fortunately.

This week has been busy. Ran a N Chicago Sun-Tues and am sitting in Plaquemine as I type this getting loaded. Should be home for a reset Friday afternoon.

 

8/1-8/3

Uneventful trip to Plaquemine. My trailer passed inspection with flying colors and the computer problem the plant was having did not affect me because my loader had the foresight to print out what he needed the night before. It still took 4 hours but could have been a lot worse. Trucks were backed up everywhere. Made it home Friday around 5 PM after dropping the load on the yard for a local guy to deliver Monday.

Heading right back down to Plaquemine Monday for another one loading Tuesday morning. This is the product that tends to get the trailer rejected. I don't know if it gets looked at closer or is just harder to clean. Going to swab it extra long with my white rags and pole set up. Hopefully it will pass the first time. I am making it my personal goal.