I'm a Maverick driver running RMW (regional midwest) if you have a question

It's a new year, and a new quarter. The short video below has my Performance numbers for the 4th quarter of 2016 at Maverick Transportation.

 

My first week out after the new year was a bit short! I Stayed home for a long weekend until Tuesday late afternoon. and I got back home Friday afternoon! Just time enough to make my first drop of steel bar in the Lexington, KY area, then reload with stainless coils along the Ohio River. My coils were bound for Houston, TX, but I swapped loads with a driver coming north with more bar for Lexington. We drove toward each other and met outside Memphis, TN, then turned back around and went the way we came. It grew cold and snowy, but never bad for me. I had some tire problems on my trailer that needed fixing, but it kept me rolling. I unloaded the second load of bar, and then drove to the Cincinnati, OH area for drywall. It's going to greater St. Louis, so I brought it on home for the weekend in Indiana. I'll rest here then leave Sunday late afternoon for our Madison, IL yard to spend the night and get my 10. I think next week I'll be back in the swing of things! Be safe!

 

Thanks Jim! Hopefully this cold will break and the roads will clear. I haven't had a full week out since before xmas, need to get some miles in!

 

I left the house Sunday afternoon with a good cold coming on. It hung with me all week, but I think I licked it! I delivered in the St. Louis area Monday morning, so I drove over Sunday late afternoon and got my 10 in at our Madison yard. The trailer I'd swapped for last week needed work, and I had a bad tarp, so I scheduled into our shop to get it fixed. They were busy, and there was a lot of work to do, so that was the day for me. I got a load set to pick up Tuesday early very close by. I got an early start Tuesday and loaded railroad undercarriage parts for Roanoke, VA. I wasn't feeling very well, so I'm glad I had plenty of time built in to make my delivery. Ferocious wind from the South across Illinois and into Kentucky, but it was a pretty drive. I was set up for my delivery in a rest area close to the consignee Wednesday evening and delivered uneventfully Thursday first thing. But what a place! Space is tight when you're making railroad cars, driving in and out was a trip. I got a load of OSB board from a big wood product plant in eastern VA, so I deadheaded about 100 miles East to load. I loaded fast, at least for a lumber tarp load, then started heading back to Wooster, OH where it was destined. By Friday morning I was unloaded and headed up to the NE corner of Ohio to get a load of finished steel parts for a large semi truck trailer manufacture in IN. It was a tricky load our drivers have been having trouble with, so Maverick had sent out pretty specific instructions for doing it right. Required a bulkhead, many straps in specific places and then double tarping. I didn't have quite enough hours to get home Friday night, so I took it easy and drove a good chunk of the way to a Pilot in Sandusky Ohio. Weather was "iffy" with a major ice storm coming through the midwest, so I did my research and came across to my home from the North. It was a smart move and I didn't have any trouble for the most part. I'm home now and won't leave out till Monday morning early. Getting a new student this weekend! Stay Safe!

 

Just finished my new student's first week, and it went great! He met me at the truck Sunday afternoon so we could load some of his things, then I put him up in the local Baymont Inn. We left out early Monday and drove to deliver our trailer parts in Monon, IN. Empty, we deadheaded over to Danville, IL to load 8 rolls of paper. They load them "shotgun" and we needed to use out lumber tarps. My student got up top with the fall restraint harness and got it done great! That load delivered in Fort Dodge, IA, and we made it most of the way there before camping out at a nice Sinclair truck stop. We were at the receiver when they opened and ended up loading drywall (gypsum) to take to Indpls. That particular place can be slow as they preload trailers for their "another" company, so I ended up with a couple of hours detention pay. We unloaded in Indy and drove out to Crawfordsville, IN to load a coil going to Knoxville, TN. By the time we got out of there we were short of hours, but could make it down the road far enough to park in my home town! We stayed in the truck right where I normally park it every weekend, never did go home. My student started driving when we left Fort Dodge, and he was doing great. There was a bit of ice, but nothing bad. In Knoxville we unloaded, waited for a load, then drove to a truck stop for a shower and a truck wash. We received an appointment to load in the morning, but it was Friday by now and we were wondering how we would get home for the weekend! Our load was rebar going to Charlotte, NC...the wrong direction from home. I called my wife and told her we might not be making it home, and my streak of a year and a half of getting home every weekend might be over. We kept a good attitude and my student had the opportunity to drive through the gorge on I-40. We arrived in Charlotte early and got unloaded with a preplan... a preplan to drive SOUTH to Charleston, SC 200 miles to load in the morning! Funny thing was it was a load for the Chicago area to deliver on Tuesday. Hmmm, we were going home for our 34! My streak wasn't broken, but I had a late weekend. We loaded two suicide coils and were ready to go, but a guy in front of us in a blue truck, Welten or something like that, was in the way. He could have pulled out, but needed help, so we helped him get his tarp on. It seems they sent him out without much knowledge. He was an experienced driver, with no flatbed experience. I gave him one of my Maverick cards and said we'd train him right if he came over. Poor guy had never seen a tarp before! I didn't see his securement, I hope it was good. Anyway, we left out with a long drive home ahead of us. My student took us through heavy rain all day and we parked after dark in Kentucky at the weigh station safe haven on I-75. Home by 11:00 Sunday, not as good as Friday, but Maverick got me home! Now I've got a couple of days to relax, and maybe put in a new hot water heater.