Beginning the Long Awaited CDL Process

Hello There.



This is one of those rare times when I get aggravated.



I expedited myself to Madison, WI to be sure I reached the receiver for a 1145 delivery appointment. I made it right on time. But guess what?

Turns out the appointment is for 2345 tonight.

I have a great pre-assignment that picks up in Ft. Atkinson, WI and delivers in Louisville, KY. I have a window up until 2200 to pick up the P/A. But unless USX can sweet talk this receiver into unloading me in the next 6 hours, that won't happen.


I'm waiting on word from dispatch, but I think they're rolling the dice on this one. I'll put in for detention pay to cover the wait, but I'd sure hate to miss out on that run down to KY.



All part of the game.



At this point I would rather have the pre-assign rescheduled and camp out here for my 10 hour break. Moving this truck at the wrong time could create big problems with making my appointments running as low on my 70 hour clock as I am. I've managed the time well so far, but I'm not sure how this one will shake out.



I'll be sure to let you know.



Thanks for reading.

-Wedge

 

Update.

First, I received an appointment change not long after I posted, setting my delivery appointment for 2345. I guess the sweet talking thing didn't work.

That was followed by a call from USX, offering to reschedule the pick up appointment on my pre-assign. Problem is by the time I'm unloaded here, I won't be able to pick up the new load and make the delivery appointment on time, which unfortunately, cannot be changed. So I told them to give it to someone else.

But they came through with a new pre-plan from Green Bay, WI to Reynoldsburg, OH. About 100 more total miles and picks up in the morning.



It works for me. At least I'll get some sleep tonight.

 

I remember being on e-logs when I was with them. Are you running paper logs?

 

They have their good points and bad points.

The negative being when you need to reach a safe haven to park and you don't have enough time to get there. E-logs record right down to the last second. No fudge factor allowed. So when you trip plan with e-logs, you must be sure to allow for that.

I like them, but there are times when I wish I was on paper. Like last night.

 

Hello Everyone.

I picked up a load in Columbus, OH, about 8 miles from my delivery in Reynoldsburg, OH. It was a Snapple load headed for Aspers, PA (not in my atlas).

It was a live load, which I don't much care for. Reason being before arriving for this load, I had just driven 2.5 hours to make my delivery appointment on -time, which was a live unload. I was 3rd in line to be unloaded which killed my off-duty time. By the time I was loaded up with my Snapple load, I had 7 hours left and a 6 hour drive. And knowing I was going to lose time running through the hills of WV and PA, chances were I would run out of hours before reaching the receiver in Aspers.

Can't stand it when I get it right.

During my run through the hills, I lost my margin of 1 hour. Hauling 43K up those hills will take its toll on your cushion. I contacted dispatch and told them I would run it in the next morning. No issues there.

The next problem I had to deal with was to find parking for the night, while using up as much of my clock as possible. I was heading east on I68/70 in MD heading to I81. My plan was to head north to the TA at exit 5 in PA.

I was successful, but when I shut down I had 8 minutes left on the clock. That's a little close. I was lucky that traffic was light.


When I looked over the stats for the day, I had driven 526 miles, 1 live unload, and a live load. I didn't realize how much I did until I sat back and looked at the numbers. If I could have been unloaded immediately in the morning, I would have been able to make the Snapple run to the receiver last night. Instead, here I am this morning, bumped up to the dock being unloaded.

I have a pre-plan that picks up here. Nice, huh? But it only runs to the railhead in Harrisburg, about 45 miles away. Can't have everything.



So that's it for now.





Thanks for reading.

-Wedge

 

Hello There.

I'm sitting at a Pilot in Columbia, SC waiting to be re-powered. I've been fighting the 70 hour clock for almost 2 weeks and it's finally caught up to me.


I picked up a load in Raphine, VA that was to drop in Miami, FL. This was to be drop & hook at the shipper, but instead it was a live load which ate up almost 2 valuable hours on my clock. Although I had sufficient hours to make the run, USX elected to re-power me and will have me swap loads with another driver. He'll take this load to FL, and I'll run his load into Concord, NC.

I only get back 4 hours tonight, and to be honest, I could use the break. Last week I ran 2749 miles and it didn't include a 500 mile run. So a 34 hour reset is a good thing.


Hope my re-power gets here soon. I only have 30 minutes left of off duty time before my driving time is affected.



I'll try to recap later.




Thanks for reading.

-Wedge