From School to Superior Carriers

I just enjoyed my first winter excursion in and out of Karns City. I went in empty Thursday morning 2/11 as the storm was winding down. I chose to go in off I-80 at exit 45 rather than come down the big hill not knowing how much work PennDot had done to it. Turned out to be a mistake. That way was a sheet of ice while 268 was plowed pretty well. Now I understand why the terminal directions are off of exit 42.

Last week I ran from Greensboro to Wisconsin to Chicago to Pittsburgh to Karns City to Cincinnati. I just checked into the company hotel. This has been a week of not many miles but I have 41 hours of accessorial/layover pay. That works.

This La Quinta company hotel in Cincinnati is pretty sweet. Its right next to a movie theater, has a sports bar with pool tables in the parking lot and there is a Hooters across the street.

 

LoL I am a quite a ways away from Louisville. I can see a Hooters from my room. Thats good enough for me. If you ever have to reset in Cincinnati I strongly suggest this La Quinta. Takes the company ID.

 

2/15-2/24

A winter storm warning kicked in about the time I started loading Monday morning. It wasn't too bad until I was loaded and headed out. I got stuck at a stop light with cars behind me and had to back down the hill, time the light and get a running start at it. I made it about 50 miles down the road before shutting it down. Good thing too. There were 2 truck jacknifes 3 miles down the road from where I stopped that happened about when I shut down. It continued to snow at about 3/4- 1 inch per hour the rest of the day. By dark trucks were parking 15 feet from the noses of each other so no one was going anywhere until morning.

The next morning the roads were fine. I got paid for 8 hours weather delay for sitting all day. Got my load delivered Wednesday 2/17, worked another hrs local and was off Thurs and Fri. Sat I picked up a load at Caraustar at 07:00 and was off by 9:00 that day. I left with it Sunday morning. It delivered Monday in Crossett Ar and I have been in Memphis since Tuesday morning waiting for a load going to Greensboro.

My miles have been poor the past few weeks but layover/weather delay pay has been somewhat making up for it. I hear from some drivers that certain terminals have stopped paying layovers. I got 8 hrs last week after asking dispatch to load a day earlier in Markham last trip. That would have gotten me out ahead of a storm saving more weather delay pay. Same deal in Cincinnati last week. Had I been allowed to load Sunday instead of Monday I could have beat that storm out and saved the company 16 hours of layover pay on that end. Our system is not very efficient.

I will be glad to get back to running dedicated loads for a while or maybe something out west again.

 

2/25-2/26

This week got better real quick in typical SPCR fashion. Memphis pulled me off my load heading home and had me deliver one of their dedicated loads up to Mescatine Ia and back. The driver who loaded got delayed at the plant and ran out of hours. I saved their butts.

I have never seen tanks like these before. They had 2 nitrogen tanks mounted on the trailer fenders. It was total customer unload and they had me wash the tank out in Blue Grass Ia so it wasn't even placarded on the return trip. It was an easy 1000 miles but forces me to layover in Memphis. Friday night and Saturday.

I have a load heading back home to Greensboro Sunday afternoon. Its identical to the one they had me on initially.

Now I am holed up in the Holiday Inn in W Memphis (Company Hotel). Its a real nice place but you worry about the neighborhood when they sell crack pipes in the convenience store behind the hotel.

 

No APUs. They say its a weight issue and the trucks have a product pump and air compressor where they would be installed. They are small sleepers. Most of the guys from Karns City that I have talked to are happy. They always seem to have loads out of there pretty promptly. I have been there 4 times and only got layover pay once. That time was because PennRico loaded the wrong product.

One thing I would ask about is incidental hourly pay. layover pay for resets, tank washs, traffic/weather delays etc. Different terminals have different policies.

 

2/28-3/5/10

I was heading back to High Point looking forward to some home time when I got the dreaded "call me" GeoLogic message. I called and found out they needed me on a dedicated paint run to Jasper Ia and back. I got to spend 10 hours at home Mon night and was back in the saddle Tuesday morning with a promise of a long weekend at home.

On my way through the WV mountains Wed I once again got the dreaded "call me" message. This time he was begging so I find myself out of hours resetting my 34 in Axis Al at the company hotel. It seems an O/O's truck went down so I am running a Plaquemine La out and back dedicated load. Its been a very good week.

Starting Sunday 2/28 I ran Memphis to Greensboro to Jasper In to High Point NC to Plaquemine la to Axix Al. After I reset my 34 I will run back to High Point Sunday 3/7.

 

That sounds about par for the course. I remember having to wait a couple of weeks waiting for my hazmat background check to come through before getting that endorsement on my CD.

Houston is a good terminal. Don't expect all of them to be so nice. Quite a few are trailers or old houses at tank washes. The staying out as long as you want applies to when the system is running good. If it gets tight you will be out and back. Downside is no layover pay if you sit at home. Good luck.