for the most part, I saw some trucks waiting in Council Bluffs, IA the other day, however the day before that there was a nonstop convoy of trucks loaded with Griffin Pipe out of the same place headed east. I haven't had to wait much lately, got delayed due to oversize permits last week and that's been it.
It has not been too bad as of late, but it all really depends on the area your in, where you want to be(as far as home time) and how you as a driver decide to run and play the game. As far as I'm concerened, I try to get home every weekend to be with the family and I also feel I run hard and try to do things with the game the best way possible to make money. I think I have been pretty fortunate getting 4-5 loads off my truck a week steady for a while now. Being I want to get home I consider myself NorthEast Dedicated, (EZPASS anyone? had to throw that in there, lol)...They may be short runs and not pay too good but I'm moving and for the most part I get home.
Last night we had gone down to MS for some errands. While driving back up us-78 from olive branch to TN at just about the state line on the TN side he was going southbound. A WHITE TMC t-800 (pretty sure may gave been t-660) I know for sure it was a TMC logos, clean lots of lights and plus the trailer had the TMC mudflaps. Just thought it was kinda cool to see one the "albino" HAHA TMc trucks out and about. Im assuming this was a o/o or l/o (which ever u prefer to call it). i remember about a yr ago i seen a white TMC volvo on i-40 headed east, but havent seen it again. just kinda cool to see!
A few months ago TMC was trying to sell the T-800's to drivers. They had a bunch of them they wanted to get rid of for $70k. I would have been interested but they were automatics and I've got little faith running mountains with an automatic.
Running mountains with an auto is no different than with a stick you just put it in the gear required to get down the mountain.
I don't mean the mechanics of getting it up and down the mountain, I mean the mechanical ability of an automatic over the manual to tolerate mountains. They are not nearly as bullet proof as a manual particularly in the mountains where that tranny can overheat. They are also more expensive to get fixed and maintained.
