Containers for Dummies

There are good days & bad days. Mostly bad days. Either broken light, missing crank handle, or a flat tire. It can get pretty stressful.

When I was a company driver I was doing local work. Either cross towns (moving boxes from one yard to another yard) or local customer deliveries. So I would be in & out of railyards ALLLL day. So that means waiting in line to get in & get out. Waiting for mechanics to fix chassis. Waiting to get boxes lifted on or lifted off.

That's why when I bought a truck I had to leave that company. There was no way I was doing local work with my own truck. Because that is way too much wear & tear on a truck. Some of those yards seemed like they were meant for lifted jeeps to come in & go off-roading.

Drivers get really impatient in those rail yards. So you gotta watch out for them & be patient before you turn into one of them.

So now I cruise on the highways, no need for speeding. I'm patient & I take care of my equipment. That's why I prefer regional runs. One & done. Drop empty, pick up load usually at the same rail yard at the end of the day. Go home. 10 hours off since I have a beautiful eld in my truck now..

 

Stereotypes are based in real life situations. If they weren't, then they wouldn't be stereotypes. Right?

 

For example, today was one of the good days. Started at 5 am, finished at 3 pm. Only ran 400 miles. & everything was perfect on the container/chassis I picked up at the end of the day, that I will deliver tomorrow morning.

 

There are two types of loads that were pretty good for seacans. I was always going up towards Summit PA which is south of York, there is a Military Supply Depot with god only knows what loads coming and going in plain boxes. There was a second type of load which we had a cable red ball seal on the trailer. Those went to the Harrisburg Airport for the Customs agent to verify the seal before I cut it off pending delivery somewhere up there that same day. Bolt cutters make easy work of that cable. Snip. But only after the Customs say so. Rolling onto a airport in those days long before 9-11 was a different time.

 

I’d say if you you’re hauling for those rates, then you won’t be able to afford much of a payment.

 

Well it depends on how you will be driving. Or if you prefer better fuel mileage, or more power. I went with more power. I pay more in fuel, but at least I don't have to abuse my truck by slamming the pedal to the floor to get speed.

We get paid 75%. Usually average $1.25-$1.50 per mile. For round trip. Loaded & empty pay the same..

 

Keep in mind that shippers love to load those cans as much as they can. It's not uncommon to get one that says 45k lbs on the bills but the load is more like 55k. I worked for an ag-hauler that we routinely pulled 40' cans full of grain grossing 110k to the railyard. That kills your fuel mileage, and will increase your maintenance. And if you are in hills alot that obviously causes even more grief. I remember getting around 4.5 mpg pulling out of Harrisburg, PA going up to Scranton, or down to Baltimore, or up to Williamsport. And a nice ticket from Maryland DOT for being 1k over on my trailer tandem. Lol.

As for wait times, Chicago railyards did suck, but man until you hit a sea port you ain't seen nothing. My god... and longshoremen are some of the crankiest ######## you will ever deal with, especially those in NJ. Worse then a DOT cop inspecting you on a rainy December day. And yes, the trucks are junk and the languages numerous. More so in the coastal ports than railyards. But, it's not a terrible gig all in all. Lots of downtime getting loaded or unloaded, waiting to get in, finding your chassis or can, getting it fixed (if you can even hook to it,) waiting to get out. And god help you if the can is missing it's seal, or you set the rad detectors off.

Anyway, that's just my 2 cents. It works for some folks, not for others.

 

I just died......that's was beyond hilarious but true!!!!