Time to start Houffing -- new gig at Houff Transfer

Looks like I'm gonna finish the week with around 2900 miles. Which is a lot more than what I was getting per week the past few years at Abilene. Last week I did 2574 miles. Which is also a lot more than what I was getting per week the past few years at Abilene. The past few years at Abilene, I was averaging 1500-1700 miles per week.

Still no complaints.

I wake up every morning between 5:00 and 5:30. I have my alarm set for 5:45am, but I am almost always already wide awake when it goes off. It has been this way for years, long before I got into trucking. And one of the things I have always hated since Day 1 of getting into my own truck at Abilene is sitting around in the morning wide awake without a load. I really want to have my butt in the seat and the truck in gear at 6:00am, every day.

There was a glorious couple of years at Abilene, long about 2019-2021, where I had a driver manager who was great for always having me rolling at 6:00am like I like. He knew I wanted to be behind the wheel 15 minutes after waking up, and most of the time he was able to set me up with loads to do just that.

The parade of driver managers I had after he got promoted never could manage the same trick with any regularity. The last couple of DMs I had rarely even bothered. Probably because the loads just weren't there like they were back in 2020.

The new place, though, has been absolutely aces in this respect. Most of the time, they have planned me out a load or two in advance, and they have arranged my affairs such that I have been able to get up every day and have this bucket in gear at 6:00am.

So far I have only had one occasion where I got to a receiver and got unloaded and didn't have my next load assignment. But once I sent in the "Empty trailer" macro, it took 'em about 3 minutes to send me another load.

Just makes me think of all the times @JohnBoy would gripe in the old Abilene thread about getting unloaded and having to wait a couple hours before getting another load because Abilene didn't even start looking for your next load until you finished your current one. I remember him sending testy messages to dispatch along the lines of "I've been keeping you updated on my status and ETA. Why are you surprised that I'm here and ready for a load?"

I dunno how much this bunch would be his cup of tea, but I think he would at least appreciate that they don't ever seem to be surprised by the fact that I'm at a receiver getting unloaded.

 

I've done that a few times too. The worst was when I was in my last Kenworth. For some reason, Abilene ordered their last batch of KWs (2020 models) without an airbag dump. So the one time I high-hooked my KW, there was no way to lower the suspension and save myself some cranking. Only option was to crank the kingpin fully above the fifth wheel.

 

They getting work out of me. I actually changed a fuse for the first time in my 10-year trucking career. Long-time readers of the old Abilene thread will no doubt be thrilled and amazed.

And here shortly I will be locking a tire to the spare rack, again for the first time ever.

Even before Abilene got bought, they used a breakdown service. After they got bought, we switched to using Knight's breakdown service. So for the past 10 years, whenever I have had a problem of any kind with the truck or trailer, I made a phone call and it magically became Someone Else's Problem.

Abilene trailers were equipped with tire inflation systems. If a trailer had a flat, very often all that was needed to whip it back into shape was to roll it for a mile or three. That would heat it up enough for the tire to catch on the rim and get itself inflated by the TIS. Not so with the new gig. They're old school. I hooked a trailer earlier that had a flat tire. I was close enough to the TA in Elkton, MD to drive it over there. Had to set up my own repairs. I have been instructed to have the shop replace the flat with the spare. The shop says they'll do that, but it'll be up to me to get the old tire secured in the spare rack. Liability issues, they say. If the tire isn't properly secured, they don't want it to be their fault.