Calex Express....My New Home!

No need to feel sorry for me, I'm sitting here in Barstow starting my reset before I unload in Burbank on Tuesday.

 

Here we go, another short story about my trip out to California.....

Gary and I woke up in Lamar Pa Thursday morning to about an inch of snow on our hoods. After we ate breakfast it was off to CA. I woke up to a blown out headlight on the right side, after finding out it was more than the light bulb I called into the shop to be told that it's a wiring harness problem and that the only place that could fix it was a Volvo dealer. You've got to be kidding me. A blown headlight and now it's off to the dealer. I decided to stop off at Youngstown Volvo to get it fixed, this was the place that found my transmission problem back in October so I was pretty comfortable with the fact that they could get me right in and fix the problem.

On our way across the last 173 miles of PA it looked like a junkyard with all the cars and trucks spread out across the medium strip. This was after a couple of inches of snow, I can hardly wait when it really snows. We got to Youngstown and I told Gary to go on and that I would catch up with him in Effingham. I got to the shop and dropped my trailer. About an hour and a half later I was on my way. I must have been still tired from the trip up from Florida because at 7:15 pm I ran out of steam in Eaton Ohio at the 10 mm and called it a night. I got a good nights sleep and got up early and got ready to leave. After opening my curtains at 5am I saw the hood of my truck covered in snow, not alot, just a couple of inches. I got ready and left. As soon as I got onto the interstate I knew I had made a mistake. I only had 4100lbs in the wagon and the roads were real slick. I heard on the CB that there were trucks jackknifed in about a dozen places between the Indiana line and Indianapolis. Ok, it's the first taste of winter for me, all I need to do is pucker up and go.

I made it past Indianapolis and everything cleared up. Gary called and said he was stopping south of St. Louis for a hair cut and Emo's Pizza. I told him I needed to stop for fuel and I would meet him there. Wrong. While I was at the fuel island in Clayton Indiana I found a flat on my trailer. It was early in the morning so I was able to get right into the shop. I figured it was only a flat and I would be in and out rather quickly. Wrong again. I must have picked up a big bolt because it ripped the steel belts inside the tire and when they patched it, it wouldn't hold air. So now instead of a quick tire repair that I would pay cash with with the money on my card, it now turns into a tire purchase that needs to go through the various channels back in Pittston in order for a national account tire purchase. I called Gary and told him I would catch up with him in Oklahoma City.

I made it to Okie City early the next morning, showered ate and then we left. We ran across Ok and Texas, Gary got tired and stopped to take a nap, I was raring to go so I made it all the way to Gallup NM, fueled and went to bed. Gary got there about an hour after I did and called to say he was sleeping in in the morning. My plan this whole trip was to get to Barstow and take my reset before getting empty on Tuesday, not after. Louie had called me on Friday to ask me when I would be ready to load, I told him Tuesday and he said great, that I would be loaded on Wednesday. It's Christmas coming up and I need to do everything in my power to be in the right position to be home the Thursday before Xmas. I'll be loaded Wednesday, unload back in Milton PA on Monday, reload Tuesday in Pa and deliver Orlando On Thursday. This is what I have always said about Calex, everyone is on the same page and I can literally plan my trips in order to be home.

I woke up at 6am this morning and left Gallup at 7am Pittston time. Gary will tell you, I truly enjoy getting up early and putting that first 150 miles on before daylight. I stopped in Kingman AZ for fuel then made it to Barstow this afternoon and am now into my reset. My reset is up at 3am Pittston time on Tuesday. I'll leave here right at 3am Ca time and drive the 115 miles to Burbank and unload.

One last thing, we are given the liberty to route ourselves, Gary did just that and I must say, it worked out perfectly. He is delivering in Las Vegas in the morning and decided to not run across 80 and 70. Good call, he missed all the bad snow across that way. They have opened the new Hoover Dam Bridge and is now a major highway from just north of Kingman to Henderson NV. I am looking forward to going that way in the future. For many year's prior to 9/11 it was a fiasco going across the dam, now it's a breeze. That's it for now, I'll be in touch soon.

 

Make sure you stay in touch with Mort, he's going in for hip replacement surgery on the 17th and will be out for a few months. Also make sure you tell him about the blog and that we spoke.

 

Calex does things a little different than most companies. They will take all your information you put on your app. and do all the checking and calling to speed things up. They will pull your MVR, Dac, and do a background check all while you are home waiting. Once all that has been cleared they will send you for a drug test/physical somewhere near your house. Once they get the drug test results back they will set you up with a driver that's delivering or passing through your area to do a road test. When that's all done you will be flown to Pittston as a new hire to go through their orientation that takes about a day and a half. Once they tell you to come to Pittston ther's no surprises, you're hired. They will then send you through the house with your first load to pick up all your belongings.

 

I got a very good nights sleep last night, woke up and drove over to the truck wash to get this very dirty truck washed. After it was finished I then went at the inside like a mad man cleaning everything that I could touch. It looks pretty good if I do say so myself. Pictures attached for viewing pleasure taken at the T/A in Barstow Ca. 11 hours left on my reset.

 

You would think so. I don't understand companies that waste everyone's time doing it the other way.

 

I've stopped here ever since this place was built. Long before the Pilot, Flying J and the Love's was here.