CRETE - A Year in Review

I hate backroads. In a truck, anyway.

Love 'em in my car. But then, I'm not worrying about 3-ton trusses or missing turns. ("oh, I missed a turn...so? I'll go on a new adventure." rather than "oh, ####, I missed a turn. Sure as #### hope I don't roll up to a 3-ton truss or a low bridge...and I wonder how far out of route THIS is going to take me!")

 

Started working out recently...did upper body yesterday...thinking that may have been a mistake...ouch. Overdid it a little. Can't...move...got to...hold on...to...steering wheel.... Seriously, you overtrained when you're dreading the shift from fifth to sixth because you have to move the lever further than on other ones. Where's my Advil!? (Grumble grumble didn't used to faze me grumble grumble getting old)

 

very imformative

 

Went to that Bagdad AZ mine today. Very scenic and beautiful drive but my trailer, clothes, everything reeks of those bags of hazmat powder. Had to sweep that cr@p out and probably got toxified so don't look forward to returning to that place. I have the trailer doors open for the night and hope Purina doesn't reject it.

BTW, does anyone know a short way from that mine up to Flagstaff? The suggested Crete route was back to 93 and up to 40. But my truck GPS was showing a much shorter direct route. I couldn't even see the roads it was giving me on the paper atlas though so I just went the long way.

 

thanks goldsmith... ive graduated now .. crete did give me a prehire but then took it away because of my background. i only have a pre hire from western express so far.. thanks for the info

 

That is the PS with the electric "bar" system. Mine always sounded like a hair dryer. Between the insulation and the blow dryer it drowned out most everything.

 

I'm almost to the point where I miss the old Airtronics air heating bunk heater instead of this water heating system. Although if it stays cold enough, it doesn't cycle up and down as often, so it doesn't go through the vibration stage as much. Last night in Walton, KY it was 20, so it stayed heating a lot more. The other nights in Brookhaven and Tuscaloosa it was in the low 30's and it short cycled all night. I can't count how many times it wakes me up doing that.

 

I got a nice surprise when I picked this load up in Monticello, MS. The Ga Pacific use to be a nightmare there. Only 1 entrance, long waits to live load, then if you wanted to use their scale to check your weight, you had to wait in line with the log trucks and use the wood scale. Not anymore. Trucks coming in to pick up go through their own branch of the main drive, and they split it into two lanes in, 1 out. Then on the outbound lane, we have our very own scale. A platform, whole truck scale(not axled out, but I have an app for that). I was in, loaded and out in around an hour. I remembered that if you want to live load early there, you can go in ahead of your pickup time(they had 10 or so empty Crete's) so I got out of there hours before my q/comm pick up time.

 

Well, gotta be in Laredo before 1600 tomorrow, 982 mi according to my Maps app, 850 mi according to my Qualcomm. Wish I could drive the dispatched miles and get paid the actual miles instead of the other way around. Right now I'm waiting for the kitchen staff here at Petro to finish raising and butchering the chow so I can finally get the breakfast I ordered 15 minutes ago. I'm going to try to do this entire run at 55-60 and see how little fuel I can get away with. Wondering if I should take I10 to San Antonio and make a left on 35, or take 59 from Houston all the way down. Lower limits on 59 but I'll be doing 55 anyway. WHERE'S MY BREAKFAST!?!!?? Could have eaten and left by now....

 

Mine isn't doing all that, just an occasional whine (just like a driver!). Guess I've got something to look forward to as the system ages.