CRETE - A Year in Review

We need to quit doing this...or people are going to think we are the same person(except your miles always eclipse mine by a whole lot) I thought the positive miles were going to pick up right where they left off before hometime, but....screeeeeeeeeeeech. Pulled a load of empty cans out of Jacksonville, FL to Mooresville, NC...with a 1400 Friday delivery...and like usual I show up early. Partly because I've been to this customer before and they have a drop lot, and hoping to get in, drop early and roll, I show up 3 or so hours early...well, when I mention that I know we have drop trailers here, and hoped I could do a quick drop and hook to the customer, I had 2 receivers kinda chuckle...never a good sign. Turns out that this customer is so busy, they have been just live unloading every truck that comes in lately, and haven't gotten around to unloading the other drop trailers...or so they say...but they were more than happy to live unload me early...so it all worked out ok. Then it was Hickory, NC to Ellenwood, GA for a late Friday evening delivery...a total of 812 miles since I left home in a day and a half. After that a load out of E.Point GA to Hopkinsville, KY drop the next morning...and here is where it screeeeeeeeeches to a stop. Only thing they have moving on Saturday. Clarksville, TN to Ennis, TX, that doesn't load until after 12 on Sunday, and is an appointment delivery at 1045 on Tuesday(or what ever the paperwork says - at least that is what the Q/C load instructions say...'if delivery time on b/l is different than Q/C, ignore the qualcomm and deliver at that time' which is exactly opposite of normal.) By the time I get it loaded and am able get to the Wilmer yard, it'll be too late to t'call, and load instructions also say, don't show up early, small lot, must leave immediately after unloading. Plus, all this makes me a bit nervous, because I've talked to a number of drivers lately that were 'apnea test shanghaied' when they got near the Wilmer yard, and a couple didn't fit the weight profile of having the obstructive type apnea...and none of them had been advised by a doctor as being a candidate for testing...and after a less than stellar week due to home time, I really can't afford to take the time off to be tested right now, whether or not I have it. So I hope it's just my vivid paranoia kicking in again...

 

The reason they don't pay that way, it's cheaper for them, insurance wise and product damage wise, to have a slow and steady loading process...or at least that's the way it's suppose to be...many places forget the 'steady' part of that equation and are just plain slow. And unfortunately because of the freight ups and downs, and with all the competition out there, you don't get too pushy with excessive detention time charges, or you don't haul their freight for very long. And there's no way with all the budget carriers out there that everyone could get together and push for doing it different, someone would buck the system and haul it regardless of how long it took, then they'd get all the business.

 

This past week on "the roaddog" sirius channel I heard that sometimes sleep apnea is misdiagniosed in people who suffer from HYPOPNEA....shallow breathing.

The misdiagniosis is usually confirmed when the sleep apnea machine does not help. Which causes the person, especially a driver, to conclude that the diagniosis of sleep apnea is just a money grab.

 

I have Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea Hypopnea Syndrome, basically I have both it sucks, I am on a bipap machine now on a fairly high pressure reading. At least my company so far has been pretty understanding with my need to regulated sleep. Safety said if I ever have concerns feel free to get them involved. I am a rookie what channel is that on Sirius someone else mentioned a trucker station.

 

Sirius 147

 

On Sirus it is 140 something, on XM it is 171. As you can guess I have XM.
There are several shows on this channel that you can learn allot from.
Dave Nemo has good guests and so does Evan Lockridge. Nemo is on in the morning and Evan is on at 1400 eastern.

 

SSB, unless they have changed things they are only testing those who are out of the Wilmer terminal. Same rationale as to why they make you take your physical at your home terminal. If you fail you don't have far to go to get home.

 

I pu a load going to atlanta from kansas city it was 20k lbs and a 800 mile run,they had me drop it at the yard an pu a 41k load going to rochelle il..mabe a 500 mile run..got the load it turned out to be 44700 put me over gross..got repowered and been sitting sence...least i had time to get the ac fixed in my truck

 

44.7 and over gross? those bills must be lying. My Prostar is heavy, but even with full tanks I can scale 45.2 and just under 46k if I dance the 20 gallon shuffle. You still have chains and a spare on your tractor?