WSE - from my point of view

Discussion in 'Motor Carrier Questions - The Inside Scoop' started by 94nole, Nov 13, 2009.

  1. 94nole

    94nole Light Load Member

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    Jul 28, 2007
    JAX, FL
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    Good luck, not sure if the Port St. Lucie address will be an issue. Usually I-4 is the cut line.

    Call Gavin Reynolds in Elm Springs, he's an honest guy and won't lie to you...at least, he didn't lie to me.
     
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  3. TB John

    TB John Company Shill of BYOB & CBD

    3,141
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    Dec 28, 2008
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  4. DozerCowboy

    DozerCowboy Light Load Member

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    Jun 8, 2009
    Port Saint Lucie, FL
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    I used a JACKSONVILLE address . . . Hopefully i hear some good news!! Thanx
     
  5. 94nole

    94nole Light Load Member

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    Jul 28, 2007
    JAX, FL
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  6. 94nole

    94nole Light Load Member

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    Jul 28, 2007
    JAX, FL
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    I'm dying out here. I am sick of sitting around!!!!! I don't know if it's my fleet manager or if it is the amount of freight. I am about to head home for a few days and will re-assess what I am doing. I am also interviewing for an accounting position. As bad as I hate to go back to accounting, I just can't justify staying out here earning what I am earning.

    This trip started on Monday Feb 15 when I headed up to Brunswick GA to haul a load of mozarella cheese sticks to Lebanon TN. That has become my usual "get out of JAX" load. This was my first "drive all night" load. I hate that but it was the only way i could get it there on-time. Abt 600 paid miles.

    From there, I head over to Cleveland TN to grab a load of candy on 2/16 and take it to Waco TX. Nice drop and hook load and abt 1000 pd miles. Due there at 2300 on 2/18, they are 24 hr D&H and thus, I got there abt noon on the 18th.

    My next load plan was a load of paint from Garland TX and headed back est to NC. Picked up on 2/19 and didn't deliver until Mon AM on 2/22. Trip was abt 1150 miles pd. This is where my trip hit the skids.

    After sitting in Statesville NC for almost 2 days waiting to deliver, I head over to Maxton NC to grab a load of soup going to Schodack Landing NY. Just look at the weather history of Southern NY during that week. Things continue to go down hill.

    I show up for my 1400 appt at 1230 and am told "that load won't be ready until after 1900". There goes my logbook. So, I find somewhere to park, come back at 1900, get the trailer (another D&H) and head back to parking spot to wait for log book to get right for me to leave. I had two days to go 725 miles so shouldn't be a problem although I am seeing the forecasts and not likely what I am seeing. Major winter storm coming. Did I mention that the trailer was missing a mudflap so I had to factor in a fix for that too.

    To add insult to injury, I missed my exit for my fuel stop (I guess I was asleep at the wheel) so I go to the next exit, find a lot, flip a U'ie to head back to get fuel and get my mud flap replaced. When I turned, I crossed a small hump and the left wheels of the trailed went into a ditch and nailed the DOT bumper on the left side, leaving it fairly significantly bent up on the left side. Dang!!! what else is going to happen on this trip. I didn't know I had damaged the bumper until I stopped at the shop for the mudflap. I couldn't believe it. The shop guy replaces the mudflap and I head down the road. I simply ignored the bumper.

    I get within 30 miles of the delivery, it's 1AM, and it is snowing so hard that I literally can't see where I am going. I have never been more scared behind the wheel of anything. So, I get to an exit and bail out. I see a Home Depot and think "that would be a good place for safe haven". Well, the drive to the parking lot was slightly up hill and curved and IF I HAD NOT STOPPED, I WOULD HAVE MADE IT.

    You guessed it, I got stuck. Believe it or not, there was a guy a couple hundred yards away operating a front end loader. i run over, ask if he could push me up the hill and reluctantly, he comes over. He can't budge me. In fact, I ended up worse off than I was. I ended up calling a wrecker and by the time he got there, the Home Depot employees were showing up. The manager was great and said I could stay in the parking lot (once I got there) as long as I needed to.

    By 9AM, it was plenty light and the snow had subsided enough that I headed to the receiver. It was still pretty treacherous and probably not a good idea but I made it with no incident. I pull to the gate and ask if they can unload me and he said no, they'd have to reschedule for that night. Another 12 hours of sitting around. Luckily there was a Pilot right across the street and an empty parking space.

    Appt time comes around, i head over, get unloaded and come back to the Pilot to spend the night. I was really sweating the DOT bumper and whether the truck would properly dock. Luckily, it did. I was never happier to see the dock light turn Red!!! That meant that the trailer was able to be locked in. Whew!!! I didn't know what I was going to do if I wouldn't dock. This was about 870 pd miles.

    My new load plan came at about 1000 the next morning which takes me further into the Catskills and right to ground zero of the major winter storm. I made it 2 hours down the road, and bailed in Newburgh NY arriving there on Thurs at about noon. I have never seen snow heavier and longer in my life and I will be 50 this year. And there I sat until Monday morning. The interstates actually reopened on Saturday but the shipper didn't "Live" load on the weekends so I was stuck.

    Oh, this story gets better.

    I get my load by about 11AM on Monday and I head out. This load was bound for Norcross GA. The bill indicated that the load was about 43k lbs. I didn't think anything of it as I had hauled heavier loads. Walton NY is a pretty small town and I was anxious to get to the South as quickly as possible...so I didn't hunt a scale.

    I get to my first fuel stop in Pittston PA and I put the truck on the scale. 82790 lbs!!!!!!!! 3000 over gross!!!!!! Now what? I call my FM and since I was more than 100 miles from the shipper, I did not want to go back. The trailer had about a foot of snow on top and that was probably the issue but never the less, I was 3k over. I tell my FM that I would use Streets and Trips with my truck stops plus overlay and re-route to drive around all scales.

    I did pretty well until I found myself on the 295 parkway out of DC and determined that this was a PROHIBITED ROUTE for commercial vehicles. Dang!! what else will happen. Luckily, i made it back to I95 without getting snagged.

    I had a phone interview scheduled for 11AM so I wanted to be sure that I was stopped to take the call. So, around Greensboro NC, I find an empty lot, turn in and spin around. There was a big muddy hole that the rear left trailer tires ended up in and I literally thought I would turn the trailer over. It scared the heck out of me. So, I backed the trailer up to get it out of the hole and what did I do? I ripped the newly installed mudflap right off but I didn't know it at the time. I'll talk about this more later. I completed my call and headed back out on the road.

    There is one place on I-85 where you can bail to US74, go around the scales and get back on 85. There is a scale on 74 that my software didn't show!!! Thank goodness it was closed!!! Whew! That was close.

    So, I get almost to Charlotte and it's snowing to beat the band again. I was so frazzled by then, I almost parked the truck and bought a plan ticket to JAX. I am so sick of snow.

    Believe it or not, I made it successfully around all the scales and to the receiver. it was a drop and hook thankfully. Remember, i said I would discuss the trailer and mudflap again? I get out to walk to the guard shack and look at the trailer and I see where the mudflap was destroyed AGAIN!!, the bracket was bent terribly and had been rubbing on the tire since NC. There was a groove worn in the middle of the tire and I am not sure what prevented it from flatting.

    Here's where my nerves got the best of me. I dropped the trailer as instructed and contrary to my normal truthfulness, I didn't report the issues with the trailer. I left it on the drop lot for someone else to deal with. if it comes up, I will probably get fired...not for causing the damage, but because I didn't report it. Please don't follow my example...at least, not this time. This load was just over 1000 miles.

    While in NY, I caught a rock in my windshield, so I spent a night and most of the next day in our pig sty terminal in ATL. I finally get my windshield replaced at 3:30PM and then head back over to the same drop yard to grab my next load headed to FL!!! Thank goodness.

    The trip to Winter Haven was uneventful. The receiver refused about 10 cases of product so I ended up driving that to a food bank about 60 miles away. 10 cases of cottage cheese. Hmmmm. About 500 miles paid.

    I then was able to load right there in Leesburg and take some Coke products to Opelika AL. Again, pretty uneventful, until I got stuck in Opelika for almost 2 days. Only 425 miles. This unloaded on Saturday, 3/6.

    Finally, I get a load plan Monday morning...wow, a whopping 270 miles. Over to Montgomery to get another Coke load and take it to Gainesville GA. Uneventful. I loaded at 1700 on 3/8 and delivered this morning 3/9.

    But here I sit. I am scheduled to load tomorrow morning at 0800 and will be headed to Tampa and will deliver on 3/11 at 0800. Again, only 500 miles.

    I am headed home to JAX after the delivery and will hopefully get the job on Friday.

    I thought I could make it out here. I think i still could, as my wife works and earns enough to meet our basic needs but honestly, I am struggling to justify staying out here for $300-400/week. Not sure how others do it. I have said this probably too many times but I used to earn $300+ per day. It's just that accounting sucks.

    Dang...what to do...I've got to get this figured out.

    Year to date (including the upcoming trip)...I will have 16,100 paid miles in 59 days on the road. That averages to about 273 miles per day...at $.26/mile, that's a whopping $71/day. Oh, my actual miles driven? 17,595. That's about 89% pay for all miles driven.

    Hope this info is helpful for some.
     
    Last edited: Mar 9, 2010
    jtrnr1951 and moderndrifter Thank this.
  7. The Challenger

    The Challenger Kinghunter

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    Dec 22, 2007
    East Central FL
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    Good luck 94 and best of luck wherever you go too. I know it is tough and you are doing the best. Be safe.

    KH
     
  8. jtrnr1951

    jtrnr1951 Road Train Member

    Hey 94,

    Been following you since day 1 .

    You'll make the right choice, Best of Luck,

    Jim
     
  9. JR OTR

    JR OTR Light Load Member

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    Jan 13, 2009
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    Hmmm, lets see. You admit to routinely driving around scales while being over the legal weight limit for your vehicle, and at least two preventable accidents. You admit you left a trailer in an unsafe condition for someone else to find and deal with and you're having difficulty getting miles, and you're not making any real money.

    Perhaps trucking isn't your cup of tea.
     
    Eskimo6804 Thanks this.
  10. trunch13

    trunch13 Light Load Member

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    Apr 12, 2009
    high desert,ca
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    Good luck 94nole its a hard job otr wse is not for everybody you may want to stay on for 6 months and look for greener pasture some whare else.
     
  11. 94nole

    94nole Light Load Member

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    Jul 28, 2007
    JAX, FL
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    Come on, JR OTR,

    I would hardly consider one (1) overweight run as "routinely driving around scales".

    So, JR OTR, are you saying that yoy have NEVER pulled an overwright load or driven around a set of scales? If so, congratulations...you're perfect. I'm sure that you've pretty much done it all in your extensive 2 year career OTR.

    I agree, I should not have left the trailer, or I should have at least reported it to the company, but I did leave it and I didn't report it, and I can't change that now. Well, I guess i could still report it.

    So, SuperTrucker, you're saying that you've turned in EVERYTHING that has ever happened to you and your equipment?

    But, with that said, I'm not sure how leaving and not reporting the trailer has ANYTHING to do with me making money?

    And no, two and a half months in the seat obviously doesn't make me a Super Trucker like you.

    I am not perfect, like you.

    Now, I am going on the assumption that you do drive a truck...correct?

    Or are you merely a lurker here posing as a Super Trucker?

    Give me a break.
     
    Last edited: Mar 10, 2010
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