Good night from...

Looks like I am stuck in Salem. First stop this morning, they needed the tandems slid, and onoe pin wanted to hang up. WD-40, hammer, no go. Was sent to the TA. Got it fixed, and put me back 90 mins by the time that emptied. Lost my 930 mile pplan, and now no freight here, at least according to MAC 30. This is going to end up a crappy week. Just hope for a load still that I can del on Wednesday so that not in the hole.

 

And that should be a lesson learned for life...

Never ask directions from a female.

 

With a hammer you might be able to remove that pin altogether - and still be legal.

I've been considering going L/O lately.

But the stress you excude in this post makes me want to reconsider.

Hopefully you have enough saved that you can absorb a bad week or two.
Because, as a company driver I too have bad weeks.
Too many of them.
Every week after home time, and good ol' Plus-1 rushing me on one load just to wait 1-2 days before the next.
Or sitting because every load is planned so badly that I have to turn it down.

Is it the same with L/O or O/O?

 

squeak ... the pin go in when you hit and then just pop back out or was it rusted in place. I've had the rod connected to the pin break and the pin wouldn't pull in. If that's what it was, it takes little finagling, but you can hold the pin in by squeazing the spring with a pair vice grips.

Before going L/O you should have nice little cash reserve ... optimaly at least a couple of grand plus enough to cover your bills for a month.

Iowa ... wating for my 70 to catch up with me then head to Milwaukee.

 

I was sent to the T/A 4 miles up the road. Part of the problem is the frame on the trailer. T/A said that it should be put out of service, but hey, Road Service does not listen to us. At the last minute, received a load, Lowes to Lowes in Coer D'Lane for 10 in the morning. Will be doing a split now. Used up over 5 hours today just sitting around, and send me the load at the last minute. Now sitting in a rest area on 84. The other problem is that this arm has two positions. Could not get it out to the second one. Three pins would come out, one would hang up.

 

Got over to the Phoenix terminal this morning and had to explain the situation all over again to a different guy in the tcall window. He said they should have tcalled it Saturday (Duh, ya' think?) because they have too much freight to allow a "runner" driver to sit. Thought that was an interesting comment; indicates there is some additional info showing on their screen when they pull up a truck number, maybe. He sent me to the rework place by Schmudland and they said it would take a half day to get permission to break the seal and they probably wouldn't touch it til tomorrow. Tcalled!!!!!!

A half hour later I got a pplan for 7500# of Coke cans going to West Valley City, UT a bit sw of SLC. I'm in Flagstaff at Little America on I-40 and will try to get the okay to deliver this early, tomorrow afternoon instead of Wednesday morning. Climbing to 7000' elevation dropped the temps 30* and I'm really enjoying the cool breeze.

I got a call (message: I was driving) this afternoon from my TM about the details of the load and the messed up Laredo scales. I called back and left a message with some of the details but I'll be talking to him in the morning. Stay tuned...

Frank

 

I had one break/hang on my last beer load to Laredo. After they and I fought with it for a half hour, they had me dock it and brought a stack of concrete blocks from the side of the building and blocked it up so it would be stable enough to unload.

Frank

 

Smelterville,ID going to Kalidpell tomorrow. I have 14 extra hours on this load... Story of the week... Why can't ya deliver early if there is so much time on a load.

 

Got the load delivered to Coer d'Lane this morning. Was sitting around and got a message, take my mt to Spokane drop yard, then bobtail the Burlington. No reason why. Now at the Flying J since pretty much ran outta hours after the split. Now waiting until morning, and no trailer. Talked to my DM, and he had no idea why they where sending me to the rail yard. I do not haul tin cans. While at the drop yard, was able to meet with Scottie and Abby.

 

Grand Bay, AL at the TA on my way to FL.
This plan had me picking up last night just after midnight and delivering tonight just after midnight, 700 miles.

Called my DM and asked about the true delivery window because I had been driving all-nighters all week and I really needed to get back to a daytime schedule - those all-nighters really kill me. Turns out it could deliver until 2200 - a drop at a Walmart DC.
So I picked up the load, set the eta for 1600, then headed to a TS.

Got a call just before I got here from someone at Swift. Seems they need help for a dedicated account in that area, and would I be willing to help them out until Saturday or Sunday.
Sure, glad to help out, but I'm trying to get to Denver by next Thursday for home time.
No problem, he'll get with the planners and see what they can do to head me out that way on time for ht.