The Luckey Log

No. We were at Lakeside Warehouse in Dunkirk.

 

Well, we sat in Dunkirk until about noon. We finally got dispatched to Penn Oil in Warren, PA. Drove 107 miles to Warren to get loaded with 44,300# of trans/brake fluid coming back to Minooka, IL with a scheduled delivery time of 1pm on Tuesday.

By the time we got loaded and started down the road is was 2:30pm. My trainer was sure we were overweight on our drives and so we stopped in Erie, PA at the Pilot to scale. We were about 1500 over on the drives. Slid the tandems and problem solved. On a side note, that Pilot is zoo. There is a small bridge at the truck enterance that only one truck can go across at a time as it is too narrow to fit 2 trucks. This along with the turn required just before and just after the bridge make for a lot of tight squeezes and backed up traffic.

Going around Cleveland on 480 we ran into some severe weather with blinding rain, hail and high winds. It lasted about 20 miles and judging from the debris we saw after the storm was over, it wouldn't surprise me if there was a tornado involved.

***Side note: One of our company trucks was in the Joplin area when that tornado hit. The truck was lifted off the road and put in the ditch on its side. The driver got some bumps and bruises and was in the hospital overnight but should be OK. The truck and the load weren't as lucky.

We drove all the way through to Minooka and got in at around 1:30am CDT. Checked in around 7:30am and were allowed to drop the trailer at a door. Were told they would call when it was unloaded. It's now 11am and we are still awaiting the phone call. Can't leave the trailer as we don't regularly deliver here........

So far so good.

 

Our trailer got unloaded in Minooka and we were ready to go by noon. Got a choice of 2 loads. Streator to Ridgeway, VA or Joliet to Garland, TX. Both are about the same miles, however the VA run puts us through the mountains. My trainer says he likes to have a trainee make a run through the Appalachians at least once before he gets his own truck. Since we are able to do that in week one, and since I have done well at the others tasks so far (backing, scaling, trip planning, etc) if all goes well through the mountains and I want it, he said he could recommend me getting my own truck starting next week.

He has also showed me how to float the gears and I have been doing it on the upshifts for about 400 miles so far today. Frankly, it is pretty easy to do. Maybe it's this truck, but I had it down after the second time through. Sure makes it a lot easier to drive around towns, that's for sure. We are just approaching Cincinnati and are going to stop in the Ashland KY area for the night.

I'll report back on the mountains tomorrow night............

 

Arrived in Ridgeway, VA about 3:15pm for a 7:30am appt Thursday morning. The warehouse usually leaves around 3:30 but we took a chance and talked to the warehouse manager and he agreed to unload us now. Woohoo! The unload only took about 20 minutes. Called all in out MT and was given our return load.

We are scheduled to go about 30 miles east to Danville, VA and pick up a load of salad dressings and sauces and bring them back to Joliet, IL. We are scheduled to get loaded at 9am eastern and scheduled to deliver Friday at 1pm central. We called the shipper and were told that we can park there overnight and stand a good chance of getting loaded by 7am. The plan is to drive all day Thursday and get to Joliet by Thursday night/Friday morning and see if we can slide in early. We are told that the receiver will not change an appt, but will do their best to get you unloaded early.

From there it is back to the yard and I will be getting my own truck. I did fine through the mountains and my TE says I am good to go. I will probably not be dispatched until Tuesday as the company is closed on Monday. A nice perk is having 6 paid holidays a year............

Will update the trip back to IL on Thursday night/ Friday depending on arrival.

 

We drove all day Thursday to get from Danville, VA to Joliet, IL (851 miles) on Thursday night. We were able to park in a lot next to the receiver for the night. By 7:30am we were at the receiver. Good news! We were assigned a door and were unloaded by 9:15am.

At this point we were instructed to go back to the yard. The trailer we were pulling was about 6 years old and is due to be traded in. (The owner just purchased a 100 new trailers). We got back to the yard by 11:00 at which point I was informed that I would indeed be assigned my own truck on Tuesday morning at which time I will get my fuel cards, office keys, shop keys, etc.......

We started the week at 1pm CDT on Sunday and we were back at the yard on Friday at 11am CDT. We drove 2907 paid miles. If I were being paid miles instead of training pay it would have looked like this for the week:

2907 miles
x .34cpm
__________
$986.00

By the time I get assigned a truck, go over it with safety, get fuel cards, etc on Tuesday I will not likely be dispatched until the afternoon. I will update on Tuesday night.

 

Went in Tuesday and was assigned my truck. It is a 2009 KW T660 with 335k.

Got all my stuff moved in. was dispatched to our lot in town to pick up an mt trailer (we had none at our home terminal), Picked up the mt and drove about 30 miles to drop the mt and pick up a loaded trailer. It was 44k of "unprocessed" styrofoam beads. Who knew "raw" styrofoam could be so heavy? You learn something new everyday. Load delivered in the Grand Rapids, MI area on Wednesday morning. I go in about 8pm local time on Tuesday. There were a few people still there. Managed to track down a guy who agreed to unload me. I had to back into a building to get to the dock. My first time for that........... Al went smoothly and was unloaded by 8pm. Shot over to Holland, Mi for my back haul. Talked to a guy at about 9pm. No loading until 8am...... That is where a sit now. I have checked in and am first in line. Should begin loading at 8am for the trip back to Peru...............