Abilene Motor Express....A New Place To Call Home

The big box in the middle of the windshield of the Freightliner sure gets in the way of seeing traffic lights sometimes. These seats are more comfy though than the Volvo and my back doesn't hurt as bad and the cooling feature is nice too. Finally getting used to this Freightliner.

 

So did they stop putting in the nice third party seats in all trucks? I really miss the seat in my Green Volvo compared to the seat in my red KW. Thought a few times of finding out what Abilene used, or maybe used to use, and just buying one for myself.

 

One prime example to back up this article, which I posted in another forum. 40% of America's trucking capacity is left on the table every day, MIT expert tells Congress - MarketWatch
Drivers have known the problem for years but still nothing is being done to address it. Shippers or consignees could care less and then add incompetent dispatchers, what do you come out with?? THE SUPPLY CHAIN IS BROKE!

 

Finally ditched my overweight load.

The run was a very short run. Richmond to Indy. Picked it up on Friday with 5 hours left on my clock. Wasn't due until Monday morning at 9:00am, but the load planner said I could drop it anytime over the weekend. And I'm enough of a slacker that I figured I'd take a nice leisurely drive to Indy and drop it Sunday morning.

Got there yesterday, and it's one of those places where you gotta call a phone number to get in the gate. So I called the phone number. No answer and eventually it went to voice mail. Voice mail said "If you're a driver at the gate, do NOT leave a voice mail. We're on the phone with somebody else, so just call us back in a few minutes."

Sat there for 30 minutes trying to get someone to answer. No dice.

There's a little gravel lot outside the fence for empties and for overnight parking if you need it, but it looked like a swamp so I made my way to the TA in Whitestown. Made a few more calls to see if anybody would answer, but nobody ever did. And after a while it was past their stated receiving hours, so I figured I'd settle in and watch some football and deliver it in the morning (since I knew it wasn't strictly due until 9:00am).

Saddled up this morning and drove in. Talked to the dude in receiving. Found out that yes, they are closed on the weekend. Told 'em I'd been instructed to drop it any time over the weekend. Dude said "Yeah, that dirt lot out there where we put the empties. You can drop it there. There's a mailbox by the gate where you can put a copy of the bill."

Things I could've known yesterday.

And to make matters worse, my favorite team lost. Woulda rather been driving, honestly.

 

Deliver in Wilmington,NC in the morning,than heading home for the holidays.

Been a great week,everyone stay safe over the holidays.

 

I spend about 90% of my time going down the road trying to get comfortable.These seats are awful to me.

 

Dropped my empty on Wytheville yard yesterday then a round trip from guardian glads in Galax to Marlboro and back today. Started my day at 0200 this morning and finally just got parked for the day back in Wytheville after dropping the return load of empty glass racks in Galax. No open doors so had to drop the trailer on the side of the warehouse where they got racks stacked all over in the way along with the telephone pole in the way too to maneuver around.....took me 30 min but I got it where they wanted it dropped, lol!

 

The ones with multiple air adjustments and the back massager option? I guess they stopped putting in the nice seats.

if anyone has or remembers the seats I’m thinking about let me know. I either need to buy a seat or start visiting a chiropractor.

 

A little late, but Happy Thanksgiving to all y'all out there on the road.

I pulled in to the Petro near Findlay, OH today circa 3:00pm. Was hoping their restaurant was one of the ones still open, and that they might have a thanksgiving plate available.

As I was wheeling around to park, some dude in a church van came up to me with his window rolled down. So I rolled mine down to see what he wanted. Thought maybe he was gonna ask me directions or something.

Turns out, he wanted to give me a thanksgiving dinner! Turkey, ham, dressing, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, and pumpkin pie.

So that was alright.

Got a delivery to the Best Buy DC in Findlay tomorrow at 6:00am and then we'll see what the rest of the day has in store.

 

When the receiving office has multiple signs indicating that they don't pay detention and they don't timestamp for detention, you know it's gonna take a while to get unloaded.