My Journey as a Truck Driver

Pick up a load of pork headed to Laredo, TX. A little frustrated because I basically drove 250 miles in 3 days. This load is 1216 miles which sounds good, but its spread out over 4 days basically, which isn't so impressive.

Anyway, I pretty much take I-35 all the way down, didn't realize until I get to Texas that Laredo is a border town. A bit of a shock as well going from 20 degrees to 90 degrees. I don't know how dangerous things are still there, but I heard from other drivers that parking is tough to find. Even though I have a 0700 delivery time, I park early at the TA in New Braunfels, TX leaving me about 3 hours. I need a shower anyway.

I reach the receiver in Laredo about an hour early, trucks everywhere, and can't really figure out where I need to be. I find a place to park on the side of the road, and walk back to the address, where I see a sign that says they don't open till 0800, and that they are first come/first serve. I can only assume that CSR got lazy and scheduled whatever they wanted, but would've been nice to have gotten an extra few hours of sleep.

Recap: Marengo, IA > Marshalltown, IA > Laredo, TX
Pay Miles: 1216, Actual Miles: 1308
Average Fuel: 6.5 mpg

Random comment: I'm shocked by the lumper fees that I've paid. Most are $150-200 range. How much work is really involved, is it kosher for driver to lump own loads? For that kind of money, I think I should be doing it myself.

 

Deadhead from Laredo, TX to McAllen, TX - Mission, TX - and Uvalde, TX. Pick up oranges, limes, and cabbage. According to my GPS, route takes me along Rio Grande most of the time. It's even more Mexico than I anticipated it would be.

Get into a few jams trying to get into shippers, one of them was in the middle of an orchard with dirt roads to reach it. This is also a broker load, and I'm finding those guys to be pretty annoying. They don't schedule very well, and they like to micromanage . . . yet getting information about the load is impossible. Since it was a 3-stop LTL, I wanted to know weights in order to make sure it was loaded properly. First load was 6 pallets of oranges, weighing 12,000 pounds. Next load was 4 skids of limes . . . no weights. Final load was boxed and bagged cabbage, 16 skids . . . no idea on weights. My truck has a air pressure gauge on my drive axles, so I can set it up knowing my drives are legal, but I have no idea on gross weights. I tried to scale at 3 different times, but scale was broken twice, and under construction once . . . fortunately I never had to find out if I was legal or not. Would love input on what I could've done differently to know for sure.

There also isn't much in the way of truck parking in the area, but I find that I can always find a Walmart, however it makes it difficult to shower, and I feel bad just going in to use restroom etc. I've spent quite a bit of money with them getting my truck set up, so I figure it's all good.

Recap: Laredo, TX > McAllen, TX > Mission, TX > Uvalde, TX > Commerce City, CO.
Pay Miles: 1329, Actual Miles: 1371
Fuel: 6.6 mpg

 

Deadhead from Commerce City, CO to Greeley. I have a preplan to take pallets from Eaton, CO to our beef plant in Grand Island, NE, and then a load of beef to Harmony, PA. I get to our Greeley terminal about 1500 because the pallets won’t be ready until the next day at 1100, planning on a run, shower, and some good sleep, etc. In the middle of my run my DM calls me on my cell, I just know I’m going to lose this sweet run, but she has me picking up a trailer with 2 pallets of t-shirts from our Greeley beef plant (no idea how/why there are t-shirts there, I’ll bet there aren’t many JBS drivers that have hauled t-shirts) and taking them to the Grand Island plant, so all’s good. Even better, I don’t have to wait until 1100, I can pick up anytime.

If only things were that easy. I get to the Greeley plant about 0300, no one has any idea about a t-shirt trailer, and night dispatch doesn’t know anything, so I have to wait until 0600. But now my 14 hour clock has started . . . not much I can do though. So I find a place to park and sleep a few hours until 0630. I get to the plant again, and they tell me I have to go washout the trailer. Normally I would’ve done a trailer washout before going to terminal, but since I was picking up pallets, didn’t think it was necessary and forgot about it. Grrrr, I go to the washout place, they don’t open until 8am. Now I’m starting to get concerned about making it the 450 miles to Grand Island today.

I get back again to the plant, and start to drop my trailer, while security tries to figure out where the t-shirts are. As I’m setting up, getting ready to back, I notice the yard shag driver just sitting watching me. OK, not a big deal. I’m backing into a hole, it’s a little tight, but not as bad as some I’ve done. I GOAL once, feel comfortable with things, and back into the hole. As I’m lowering the dolly, security comes up to me and tells me that they need my insurance information . . . the shag driver says I backed into a trailer next to me. I’m shocked, there is nothing on my trailer indicating anything, and we look at both trailers next to me and don’t see anything. Then security summons the shag driver over, and he points out a scratch on the blindside trailer about 12 inches long. I still don’t know how it happened, I’m not even sure that I did it, but the shag driver says he saw me . . . so there it is. I report the incident to JBS . . . hopefully its not a big deal.

Recap: Commerce City, CO > Greeley, CO > Grand Island, NE > Harmony, PA
Pay miles: 1437, actual miles: 1516
Fuel average: 7.3 mpg

Random Tangent: What is up with all the firework stores everywhere? I don’t get it, and they seem to market/target truck drivers in particular. Some of these stores are massive, with huge parking lots, and in the middle of nowhere. Are truck drivers really buying that much fireworks? Can someone explain what the deal is? And I never notice any cars or trucks parked in the huge lots . . . Weird.

 

Pick up a load of dry pasta in Mechanicsburg, PA headed to Dunn, NC. After I drop the load, I have about 20 hours before my next pick up. It also happens to be my birthday the next day, so I decide I’m going to golf. I have my clubs with me in my truck, so all I need to do is find a course. Google maps says there is a course 4.3 miles away from my delivery and it’s on the way to my next load 54 miles away . . . perfect!
I call the course to make sure they have enough parking to fit my truck and the golf pro assures me they have plenty of room, and easy to drive to. I time my arrival for about 1900 to make sure the lot will be empty so I can maneuver around to exit. It was only 4.3 miles, but the last 2 was in residential area and traversing roads that didn’t even have a center line. I was pretty nervous, and would’ve turned around, but there wasn’t any possible place to do so. The last third of a mile was the worst with the road lined with trees and some curves. It really was a beautiful neighborhood, perfect place for a golf course . . . but no business having an 18-wheeler. I’d almost rather do the Bronx again. I got a lot of peculiar looks from the residents that I ignored as best as I could. When I arrived at the course, there is only one car in the lot, belonging to the golf pro. Apparently he used to be a yard jockey at some warehouse, so he thought there was plenty of room in his lot . . . normally there would be, but since his lot was split down the middle with trees, not so much. There was barely enough room for me to maneuver, although I about wore out the transmission doing so. There was only one place for me to park where I could be assured of exiting freely and not take up too much parking, as long as someone didn’t park in one particular place.

I wake up the next morning, and there are already 3 cars in the lot . . . locals ready to play. Wouldn’t you know it; someone is parked in the one place that would block me. Fortunately the driver is right there and he moves his truck. I take a golf cart and park it in the spot to keep anyone else from taking it. It was pretty foggy, so had to wait 90 minutes or so to tee off, and some of the locals weren’t happy that they no longer had the biggest truck in the lot, but all in all it went well. Was fun to get the first round of the year.

Recap: Harmony, PA > Mechanicsburg, PA > Dunn, NC
Pay Miles: 622, Actual miles: 682
Average Fuel: 8.2 mpg

Question: Can someone tell me if its kosher to “lump” my own loads? I’ve had drivers tell me I shouldn’t for various reasons. The last two loads I’ve had though I’ve paid $200 and $160. The pasta load in particular seemed ridiculous. I was going to lump it myself, but have no idea what’s expected of me. Do I have to have my own pallet jack, or can I use theirs? How does process work really?