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

Just like those World Market loads y’all used to haul. Hours and hours of sitting waiting for them to unload because they only had one person per store to do it most of the time and they also had to deal with customers.

 

If y’all ever get sent to Bissel in Rincon, Ga it is the very first left turn off gateway parkway and straight past the yarn warehouse through the gate at the end. I accidentally went to the wrong end of the warehouse and had to do a U-Turn but the ladies in that guard shack were really nice though, said everybody always goes down to there end cuz there is no sign to tell you Bissel is the first left.

 

i see abilene is advertising on facebook, driver job openings.

 

I have people constantly asking me questions about Abilene on Driver Pulse. I just tell them they don’t want my answers, especially after this go around with them.

 

Dropped my vacuum cleaners at the walmart dc north of fort campbell ky and figured they might send me to Volvo or the WM yard but nope, broker load that picked up at Con Agra in Humboldt, Tn. Had to run US79 to 45W, through woods to grandmas house we go, lol, fast load thankfully. Going to Lockbourne area and the darn warehouse is in a group of warehouses that the roads to there are not truck friendly. The best way you can’t go due to a 13 foot 2 railroad overpass which looks beat to hell from truck’s thinking they’ll fit looking at google earth. Looked to see if marked but it it isn’t, but could be old photos not updated. Found news article thankfully stating the height saying businesses were laughing every time a truck hit it. Apparently Columbus applied for federal money to fix that area up to make it more truck friendly according to another article I found. I trip plan the hell outta of my loads cuz I don’t trust the truck gps any further that I can throw it, lol! Spent a good 45 minutes searching routes and that overpass that wasn’t marked.

 

Got sent to Wytheville after delivering my Big Lots! load, picked up a Pepsi load going to Pikeville, KY. Pre-plan after that sent me 17 miles away to the Kellogg's plant in Kimper. Always makes me wonder why they put a Pop-Tart plant out in the boonies in the middle of the Eastern Kentucky mountains. But it's good miles, so I ain't gonna complain.

Load drops tomorrow morning in Breinigsville, PA. The route from Kimper to Breinigsville involves I-68 through the Maryland panhandle, and every time I drive it I think to myself "I am going to avoid this route the next time I haul this load." Just seems like going over Cumberland on I-68 with a 45k load adds 45 minutes to the trip. This time I pulled the trigger and drove up through Uniontown, PA to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Added 13 miles and 24 minutes to the route according to my trucker GPS, but I feel like I came out ahead vs. how much extra time it would've added hauling 22 tons of Pop Tarts up the Appalachians. (I mean, I still took 'em up and down the Appalachians. But the PA Turnpike is a lot smoother than I-68.)

Coulda made it there tonight, but then I woulda been outta hours and wouldn't have had any place to park. Besides, I needed fuel, food, and a shower. So I'm at the Carlisle Petro for the evening.

 

Taking a 34 after empty here in Lockbourne. DM decided to get me preplanned for Sunday. Load comes through, pick up on swift yard a short 95 mile load to Lima for 2200 Sunday night. Got angry and ripped DM a new one. 34 be up 0300, so 17 hrs of sitting on a load cuz they can’t properly plan stuff and just throw stuff out….I do not accept the “this is trucking” excuse except under certain circumstances. This place has seriously gone down hill in the 5 yrs Ive been here, and it is mainly the past year that has gotten me frustrated freight/load wise cuz somebody obviously messed up and we have a lot of undesirable and driver unfriendly freight now. At least for me anyway. Ok, rant over….