Superior Carriers 2013-2014

It usually works out to 2 one week and one the next running it steady.

They try and spread the gravy around. Running system freight when its busy pays a little better since its loaded all the time. My best weeks have been California runs with a layover and timely reload back to NC.

 

5/6-5/9

Ran a dedicated out empty back loaded from High Point to Plaquemine La to Greensboro. Left about 5 AM Monday and was back at the house by 6PM Wednesday. I took a little longer break Tuesday evening to get behind the rush hour around Atlanta. Deliverd the load this morning and am grabbing a 34 at the house. I have a load sitting on the yard heading out to Bakersfield Ca. I will leave about 6PM Friday. It delivers in a 7:00-14:00 window out there on Tuesday.

This is one example of where the new HOS rules on 34 hour resets would hurt me. I would still have enough hours to run it but it would be much tighter. I have 33 hours left on my 70 and don't pick up anymore on the recap until Midnight Monday. Its 2,489 miles from High Point to Bakersfield. If I ran 650 miles a day that would still leave me 534 miles to run the day of my delivery. Since I started a reset last Friday mid morning the one reset in 7 days would come into play.

Fortunately its not July yet. I plan to run about 400 miles Friday evening. That will allow me to get within a couple hundred miles of the plant by Monday night running a little over 600 miles per day. Much less stress and better rest.

 

5/12/13
Sitting in Webbers Falls Ok waiting for my 10 to end at the moment. Finally getting my 14 worked back to the point where I can shut down before sun down. I hate running at night. Too much scenery is missed. Shut down at 01:30 Friday and 23:30 last night. Should make it to Albuquerque this evening.

 

50% would be the most it could possibly be unless they just give you an empty and say drive around you need the money. System loads East of the Mississippi would probably be below 20%. I am on a West Coast trip now. Its around 2500 with a 1600 deadhead to Houston where they will load me towards the house 1100 miles away. That would be 3600 loaded 1600 empty or about 30% empty.

 

5/13-5/16

Ran to the TA east of Albuquerque Sunday, then on to The loves just before the Ca line. That left me about 300 miles to the plant. I like to keep my sleep cycle on EST when I go west so I headed out about 4 AM local time after grabbing a shower. Got to the plant around 10:30 am. They were very happy to see me when I pulled in the gate.

I had 3 guys walking out to my truck motioning me like they do airplanes telling me where to park. One of them was an Ashland rep who I had met about a year ago in San Bernardino. He asked me if I wanted a cigar and invited me to eat Pizza later when he was buying lunch for everyone at the plant.

They were in the process of installing a new storage tank that wasn't ready. In fact it was 200 yards away laying on its side where the high winds they had last week blew it.

They had 20 or so totes lined up for us to drum the product into. There was a little tension at the end when we thought they might not have enough to hold since they were 250 gallon totes rather than the 300 gallon ones. Fortunately we blew empty on the last good one and they even had a waste one for me to blow my line into without making a mess. This unload took exactly 2 hours so this plant got their moneys worth. I felt good about getting out of that situation without any demurage.

I had talked to Log Ops on the way to the plant. They were looking at some brokered loads as I talked to him on the phone and decided on one loading out of LA heading to Texas. I called him once I was empty and he said those loads were gone. He had me head towards LA Tank Wash but told me not to wash out until I talked to him in the morning.

I got a message just as I was hitting LA traffic saying load canceled head to Pasadena TX. Unfortunately it was after the I-210 exit so I was forced to run I-5 to I-10. Rush hour was building so I shut down at the TA in Ontario after logging about an hour of traffic delay.

There really wasn't any point in pushing it since I only had 19 hours left on my 70 and would need to reset before getting to Houston. I ran 650 miles Wednesday and 350 or so today shutting down in Fort Stockton Tx. I am at the Super 8 getting a reset. I had originally planned to reset in Ozona but the Super 8 there was booked.

I still don't have a dispatch out of Pasadena but plan to call them before closing time Friday to see how early I need to leave Sat AM. A straight 34 has me leaving about 2 AM but I won't do that unless they have a load sitting there waiting for me. I have a feeling I will have time to get some laundry done at the terminal.

 

5/18-5/22

Found out from dispatch that I wouldn't get out before Monday so I slept in and didn't head out until 11 AM or so. I wasn't in any hurry since my layover clock was running on my second 10 hours. I picked up another 5 hours and got paid to do some Wal Mart shopping. Got to the terminal around 8 PM local time. I picked up another 10 hours of layover there.

I got a load from Kenedy Tx to Allentown Pa. Kenedy is 215 miles southwest of the terminal. They said to give yourself 4 hours to get there so I headed out at 3:30AM for an 8 AM appointment. Loading was easy and took a little over 2 hours including scaling at an off site feed mill. I made it to the Petro on 10 in Crowley La before shutting down with 590 miles in the bank.

I ran 599 and 612 the last 2 days leaving me about 135 miles from the plant with a 7 AM appointment. I kept my sleep cycle consistent leaving around 3AM each day. That also kept me ahead of the thunderstorms that hit so hard this week. I feel lucky to have only seen enough rain to barely wash the bugs off of the windshield.

I am dispatched by Pedricktown NJ after this. I wouldn't mind deadheading home for a long holiday weekend. Will see tomorrow.