Magnum ltd - fargo, nd

I was there myself, couldn’t believe I made it before the chain laws went into effect

 

It will get easier, much easier come in a couple weeks. I’m being nice when I say this but but much fewer people are willing to go out west in the winter.

 

Guess where this driver is going? Yep, you guessed it, back to Jersey. I hate that place a little bit more each time i go there. Picking up at J&J Snack Foods near Camden. My favorite place of all time. Last time i was there i almost got a 10 hour break in. Makes me glad that I live in little ol' Kansas.

 

Apparently. Never had an issue going out west in January or February. The three loads I've taken out there it was like 50 degrees in Montana. I took a load to Utah at the beginning of May and that constitutes my loads out west. I've tried, and tried, and tried again to get a load out west since then and i finally told Jenn to hell with it. I don't have an issue with some snow and ice. I just don't want to be stuck in Missoula for 3 days or something because they have Lookout Pass or Snoqualmie shut down. That's why i look at the forecast for the area before i do go out there. If there's mentions of a severe winter storm hitting the region i don't even ask, but otherwise I'm game for going that direction.

I'm planning on maybe using some vacation time late next summer to go up in that area in my personal car anyways. Can see and experience a lot more in a car than you ever can in a highway truck.

 

I was hoping you would be able to grab that load of sweet potatoes. Someone else must have beaten you to it. Sorry to year your Jersey-bound. I hate the NE too. It's never fun going up there. Maybe you will get lucky and get one out to Washington or Oregon for your next load after you drop in Jersey. That would be some nice miles! I don't know if cross country loads like that exist at Magnum, but you never know, I guess. Good luck out there, buddy.

 

At least I'm not going to northern Jersey around Newark. The Philadelphia area is a little more bearable. Boneheaded shippers don't help though.

 

You could be going to Elizabeth to reload.

 

Arrived in Pennsauken, NJ at 1850 for a 1900 appointment. Guess who's still in a door getting loaded as of 0530? My 10 has already been done and over with. And i thought spending 8 hours here the last time was ridiculous. I'm not sure if we pick up regularly from here but I'm gonna call my DM when she gets in the office and tell her to tell Chad that this place is awful. I'm not one of those people but after two terrible experiences, I'm going to start refusing loads out of this place, even if I have to sit for a couple days without pay. There's no excuse that they should hold a driver hostage for this long. It costs me time and money, and the company time and money. Now i have to hope that this whole fiasco doesn't make me miss my 2 pm appointment in Kenosha for tomorrow.

 

Edit: right as i wrote that i got the call saying i was loaded. Still ridiculous in my opinion. You all can bet your ### that I'm sending in for detention on this.

 

They held you up all night just to kick you out during morning rush hour? That's cold, lol. Were you able to get any sleep? I hate when those ridiculous long wait times happen. They haven't happened to me too often at Magnum, but they do occur every once in a while. It really sucks. I have no problem taking naps when I'm waiting 2-3 hours to get loaded or unloaded, but I have a really hard time relaxing enough to sleep overnight when the ridiculous long wait times happen (like you just had). Unless they straight up tell me I'm not getting loaded/unloaded until the morning, then I can relax enough to sleep at least 4+ hours that night.

I will say, I do wish Magnum had more drop and hook freight. I'll have to look it up at some point but I would wager 90% or more of my loads have been lives, rather than drop and hooks. There's very rare opportunities for "churn and burn" here. But on the flip side the loads are usually longer as well, so I guess that makes up for it. Again I'de have to look it up at some point but I would say anything under 800 total miles (deadhead + loaded) is a "short" run. And it is nice keeping the same trailer that you know is in good mechanical condition and is clean (or maybe just recently washed out).

But when you run into BS like you just described, the desire for more drop and hooks definitely comes around. Hopefully they make it up to you with a nice load after this one.