Good night from...

Iowa 80, TA - the Biggest Truck Stop in the World!
!!!

West another ~60 miles for a 0730 delivery, then pick up a load going to VA.

Plus-one either had a brain farrt or had the 4th off. The pplan had time windows on both ends.

 

Wabasto. When it's a 100 degrees outside not real sure what good a simple fan is going to do me!

 

In Kingston, TN holed up in a Motel 6. I'm 30 miles from final which doesn't deliver til noon tomorrow. Got here @ 5:30pm, 17+ hours is long time to sit in a truck when it's over 90 degrees outside.

 

Memphis vicinity. At 105 degrees, the 8000 btu air conditioner is struggling to keep the truck cool. I'd say we're about 80 degrees inside the truck. Fans blowing the cooled air around feels good but overall will be idling every few hours to help til the sun goes down, then it's Eskimo bundle up time!

Got a load to Alcoa TN tomorrow, Frank, didn't you have a load there recently? What do I need to know?

 

I ain't nothin but a hounddog, Tupelo, MS. Came real close to a cluster this afternoon in Memphis. Comming accross I-40/I-55. I was 2/3rds past a Conway truck when the sign on his side said right lane ends. Conway would not back out of it. Then sign on my side says left lane ends. Conway, still will not back out of it, so was heading to the breakdown lane I am on my brakes, and at that time, he decides to hit his brakes also and then let me finish passing him. The back of my trailer was even with his door. He just was not going to give it up.

 

Scottie,
Alcoa is pretty easy but it might take some time. When you arrive you park in a dirt lot and call the guard on the cb. When they're ready they'll call you in, do the paperwork yada and give you a hardhat, goober glasses if you don't have your own. You get to keep them, too! Then you cross their scales, drive around to a lot where you drop your trailer and wait for the yard monkey to take it and dump it. When he brings it back, sweep it out on the ground and head out.
Frank

 

At an AM Best in St. Joseph, MO. The store is closed for the 4th!

In a weird situation. Got a pplan to load tomorrow after 4pm where I'm delivering in the morning going to Hagerstown, MD, 990 miles, and deliver day after tomorrow 730am. Impossible for a solo driver. Decline with early pu time. Get a msg, no other pu or del times available, please commit. Get same pplan again, same timeframe. Decline with late pm delivery. Get a nastygram about declining same load twice, call dm.

Now I'm on some kind of no pplan hold until I talk to my dm tomorrow. I quit driving 37 years ago because I wasn't allowed to drive legal or safe. I've now been placed on hold because I insist on driving legal and safe. I will call my dm in the morning because he's a straight up good guy. I wll also be calling the Memphis terminal manager and Phoenix in the morning.

There's a saying, "If you ##### with the bull, you get the horn." All I can add to that is, Moooo.

Frank

 

Spent the night at a WalMart, waiting for a preplan... Nothing yet... Trying to get west for a little RR with my wife.

 

Wow what a day. So I emptied out yesterday but the next dispatch didn't come thru right away like usual. No problem, I figure the next crew coming in will know how to do their jobs and correct that. About 8 hours into my 10 hour break, I sent a reminder message to get the dispatch out. Reply back was they couldn't dispatch because Elogs were showing negative hours. Huh? It was another 5 hours before the dispatch finally came through.

This really fouled things up, can't get to the final before they close for the day, and therefore can't get emptied out in time to complete a 10 and be in position for the next load offer. Brilliant.

Forgot to mention that the Tcalled trailer that I picked up at the terminal had an upper clearance light not operating. So that ate up some more valuable time waiting in Quick Lane when the driver who Tcalled it should have taken care of that. Most terminals make you fill out a sheet, one of the questions being 'will the trailer pass a pretrip-- y n ' That driver deserves a service failure for that.

Went from 100 degree Memphis 50% humidity to 70 degree Knoxville 100% rain lol.

 

Jasper, AL. This has been the day from he&&. Sent a pplan, pick up around the corner from where getting empty. Said no delivery date but showed a pta for the 6th, so I accepted. Note to self, never accept a pplan that does not have a delivery appt. I figured, Home Depot, DC, drop, 366 miles away. Well later, appt sent to me, and now 0330. Resent mac 9, declined because of HOS. Received a msg, already accepted so contact DM. They then sent the same pplan again with the same hours for delivery, after I already sent it in with a 0700 eta. Said that it did not work. Contacted my DM, he could see that I did not have the hours and he would contact the planners and get them on the same page, and in the meantime, do not accept or decline the new one. About 2 hours later, received them again and was told send mac 9 on both of them and the reason. Did this and they finally sent me one that I can do. Del north of Findlay, Home depot, with lots of time, a window of 0200 until 1600. Could not believe that the planners could not see the hours.