Calex Express....My New Home!

Hello all, got home late last night. I will update the blog and answer all questions this weekend. It's a very busy weekend for me, (my birthday, anniversary, and Valentines day).

 

Hopefully I have answered all your questions here. If not ask away!

 

With Calex, if they are light on freight you are home. I have gotten numerous resets on my log at home. I happen to have a Passport and am able to go into Canada. I have been on a steady PA/FL/Canada run all winter long.

 

They are getting ready for the produce season out of AZ/CA so if your record is clean apply.

 

You probably could roll out of bed and fall into our yard!

 

Good morning all. I will update my last two weeks of travels. I unloaded in Orlando on Monday Feb 1st and quickly got dispatched for a load that loaded in Cedar Springs GA going to Cleveland TN for the next day. I knew about this on my way home Friday. I was told that I would be going back to Canada and this is how it usually works. After the deadhead up to GA, I was loaded around 6pm and took my 10 hour break a the shipper. I awoke and was rolling around 4:30 am and made it to the receiver on time for my 1pm apt. My Canada load was ready right there in Cleveland so I drove the 4 miles to the shipper and did my drop and hook and was sitting in Knoxville by 4pm. From Knoxville to St. Catherine's Ontario is 775 miles so I decided to take my 10 hour break at the TA and left the next morning around 4 am. The trip was very uneventful. There is 2 ways to go, one is north on 75 thru KY/OH and the other is up 81 to 77/79. The second way is 18 miles farther but a lot less traffic and I think a little easier. I decided to go the 81/77/79 route and got to Harbor Creek PA for fuel and my 10 hr break. I got up early the next morning, cleared customs and arrived at the receiver at 7am. After sending my arrived call I was immediately dispatched for a load picking up in Rochester and delivering in the Bronx the next morning. This is where I first heard of a major storm that was to hit starting that night and lasting all weekend long. Dispatch usually brings us back to the yard when we empty out in the city but this time they had us go directly to our shipper in Williamsport for my reload going back to Orlando. The only problem was that it loaded Saturday but I was told that if I could be there b/4 5pm Friday they would load me and get me out before the storm hit. I got there at 4:15 and they backed me in and had me on my way by 5pm. Usually this is a drop and hook, but we didn't have any empty trailers there so it wound up being a live load. Garylobo was an hour ahead of me an called to let me know that the snow was starting to come down just south of I-80. He said he was going as far as Greencastle and shutting down. When I left the shipper in Williamsport I had enough time on the clock to also make it to Greencastle. But that wasn't the case. Just north of Duncannon PA the snow was really coming down and the roads became snow packed. My clock ran out about 15 miles from Greencastle and I decided with as much snow as they were calling for I would try and get to the TA in Greencastle instead of the rest area. Luckily for me I got to the TA and found a spot and spent the next 36 hours at the TA. We left at day break on Sunday and fought all the weather and bad roads that mother nature had thrown at us. In my time here at Calex, this was the first time I wasn't able to go home or meet my wife at Ft Pierce for my time off. I got to my delivery on time and was empty in Orlando by 10am. I no sooner sent in my empty call that I got a phone call from my dispatcher Louie that they where reloading me to TN for another Canada run. I figured that if they at least kept me running I wouldn't mind being out and missing my home time. My wife was a little upset but she understood this was due to Mother Nature and we have no control over Global warming, isn't that right Al? Anyway I needed to be home he following weekend because it was my birthday on Sat, and my anniversary and Valentine's day on Sunday and I promised my wife I would be home, (and I was!). I got loaded around 4pm in Savannah GA for a load that delivered in Forest Park Ga. the next morning. I bumped the dock at 8am and was empty by 9am. When I got back to the truck I had a new dispatch for a drop and hook in Cleveland Tn for a load going back to Canada. My wife called and told me some startling news about some other storm that was suppose to hit that night and the next day. Come on how bad can it really be? I would soon find out. Here are a few pictures of my adventure. The story continues.............

 

And now, the rest of the story.........
I got to the shipper in Cleveland and found out that the trailer they were loading would be finished in about an hour. I spotted my empty then ran over to Wal-Mart to resupply with needed necessities, (food). I got back to the shipper, hooked up and made it to Knoxville. Louie callied and told me that the delivery was changed from Thursday to Friday and to call him in the morning to see if I was to bring it to the yard for a local driver to bring it to Canada. I left Cleveland and made it to the 36 mile marker on 81 in TN and took my 10 hour break. When I went to sleep it was raining like crazy, when I woke up it was snowing like crazy. I went inside to find out the road conditions and call dispatch to see what they wanted me to do with this load. I was told to bring it to the yard in Pittston and one of the regional guys would deliver it on Friday. This would work out to my benefit in the long run as I was about to embark on another Al Gore global warming theory. It took me all day to get as far as Toms Brook VA at the Wilco T/S where I shut down for the rest of the day and night due to a raging blizzard from the MD/PA line northward. Safety sent out messages over the peoplenet telling all trucks headed to PA to shut down until further notice. PA shut all interstates in the state and the Governor called out a state of emergency so I sat out the storm until Wednesday around 10am. I heard so much garbage over the CB that I had to laugh. One that stuck out was a driver that kept asking abut the roads because his dispatcher kept calling him telling him the load he had HAD to be delivered in Washington DC ASAP or they would loose the account. He came up with a brilliant Idea, he would leave when the storm passed then hurry to DC. Great theory on paper, but I mentioned that the storm would indeed pass, but what about the 47 inches of snow they had in 4 days, and the fact that all of DC was paralyzed and shut down. I hope he made it for his dispatchers sake. When the roads finally opened on Thursday it was like a herd of cattle letting loose. Most exits with truck stops were blocked and a lot of places had no fuel. I left Toms Brook Va and my next stop was Pittston PA. I dropped my loaded trailer and got an empty and was dispatched to Williamsport for a drop and hook for Orlando. On my way home my wife called and gave me some more weather news, 3-5 inches of snow from Savannah Ga north through the Carolinas. Every time this woman calls me with a weather report I just want to throw up. I drove hard and got home Friday evening to enjoy my weekend off and spend some time with my Valentine on our Anniversary. This has been a rather long snowy winter and I'm about over this. I'm home now getting ready to leave tonight to deliver in Orlando 5am Monday. Be safe all and God Bless!
These pictures are just a reminder of what we go through to deliver the freight!