H.O. Wolding is a GREAT company!

My preplan to Clarkesville got canceled. I assume its because Coca Cola in Grand Rapids took a solid 4.5 hours to unload me. Got a new preplan, a very short 121 mile trip but adding in the empty miles its not terrible. I had to drop my empty 53' trailer in Albion and picked up an empty 48 footer because that shipper can't use the 48's. Got loaded and parked about 30 miles into the trip because I'm still not willing to attempt to park in a full truck stop. I have two more preplans lined up after this trip which get me to Neenah and then the foundry going to Homer. Might request to go home after that because I've got a wedding I wouldn't mind attending.

 

Interesting day, albeit short. Got a pre plan picking up in Bellemont after I deliver that delivered in Riverside, CA on Thursday @ 0300. Get ready to leave and then beep. Pre plan was cancelled. Go about a half hour down the road and another beep. I pull off in the rest area on I 17 to check it out. New pre plan, pick up in Flagstaff delivering in Irvine, CA for Thursday @ 0600. When I got to the Love's in Chandler, asked where they wanted me to get an MT as I know this shipper requires one for the drop and hook. Was told to use the one I had once I get empty. Thought it was weird they were going to have me dead head up to Flagstaff empty so I asked to make sure. Beep. Pre plan canceled. Beep. Another pre plan picking up scrap in Tempe going to Flagstaff. Asked if I was going to California, was told they were working on it so I could get a reset out there. Beep. Got the same pre plan going to Irvine and was asked if this would work? Yeah, except now I need an MT after I drop this loaded trailer in Flagstaff. Dispatcher told me he was working on it. Even a short day can be complicated.

Oh, and it's wicked hot down here.

 

Yeah it's pretty warm up here in Wisconsin at almost 10pm. Is there usually a struggle to find stuff for you to do when you're out west? Like a lot of broker loads? Every time I'm sent to Omaha I can bet I'll have a broker load and there seems to be a consistent goal of getting me back to Wisconsin, which makes sense.

I've got a load from the foundry headed to Homer and then I'll be off till Monday morning for a wedding. Gonna stay out for two weeks to make up for the lost time. In general I'm really digging the home on weekends schedule, though the loads don't tend to go as smooth.

 

I would say it's 50/50. I've done both regular stuff and brokered stuff with both the van and reefer. We have one regular shipper up in Sumner, WA that goes to Omaha or De Pere. In SoCal we have quite a few regular shippers, whether it's scrap going back to Flagstaff or runs back to Midwest. We have a run CA-TN and back to CA that's pretty regular. I've done it a couple of times. When we do broker, it almost always goes back to Wisconsin or Minnesota so we can move more of our regular freight. Both times I've gone up to Washington I didn't get brokered out, was brokered out in Oregon. Basically, if you're out west and you're not in California, Washington, Arizona, or Montana, you'll get a broker load. But you have a good chance of getting a broker load as well. All depends on freight.

Omaha I usually go up to Mitchell, SD for a broker load or I've picked up once in Omaha from a regular shipper or head down to Kansas City to a regular shipper. Have only done the latter two runs once a piece.

 

Just for the record you Never Ever want a brand shiny new dispatcher

 

That bad huh?

 

The preplans usually say to pick up at Bosch at 10:30 and drop at Akebono Brake in Clarksville 01:00 the next day. Needless to say, this comes to 14.5 hours and thus is impossible. Grab the load at Bosch in the early afternoon and run it straight down. BTW, the shipper told me that most trailers are loaded on the second shift so if for any reason you want to grab the load first thing in the AM you can usually do so. Akebono is strict on their appointment times so if you are early or late expect to have to wait a few hours. Finally, the Pilot near St. Joseph (I believe it is Berrien, MI) is close to Bosch but it is filled with prostitutes who will bang on your truck door all ########## night if they see a light or hear a radio on.

I have spoken with Marc Wolding regarding these incorrect preplans and how frustrating they can be to new drivers. I don't know if anything will change but he knows.

Your Guardian Devil

 

Yep it's that bad, I feel kinda bad for her there are some things she should have been taught before ever giving her a driver, hummm I'm thinking how the hours of service work would be a good start.

HEY I've never had a prostitute bang on my door! Although I did have a guy think I was a prostitute when I had to wake him up to move his truck.

 

I have to go to the yard for my 90 day road test with Fran. Yeah and for those of you keeping track it will be a year in June for me, so it's a little late

 

Very insightful. I totally agree with you about some of these preplans. There are a lot of learning curves in this industry, but reading where you're going and the shippers/receivers rules shouldn't be one of them. Also, the route suggestions. They're very confusing to read when you're new and even with a few months now I still see some things in there that are just weird. Example: route on 80/90 through Ohio, at some point it tells me to be on "FRER" (or something like that) for 127 miles. And we don't make enough to just outright buy a trucker GPS And even if we did, we should still cross-reference the directions.