Good night from...

dropped the load of scrap metal in rancho domingues this morning. delivered another walmart load to apple valley dc, then went over to the micheals dc in lancaster ca and tcall that in mira loma. got here with about an hour left.

 

Yeah, I got nothing from Command ... but Swift is pushing loads out of the Walmart IDC in Baytown to all the DCs, preload under 25K. P/U as soon as you can and deliver as soon as you can ... running one to Searcy.

 

In MN wanting some home time here, now headed for TN.

I was sent a pplan this morning picking up by 1230 and headed right back to MN for the day I wanted home time.
I could not get there until 1330, so it was taken off me.
And hour later I get the same pplan with a 1330 pick up, and I pushed it out to 1430.
It was taken off me again.
Over an hour later I was called by the planner asking why I kept refusing the plan when they accepted my time. I explained that when I got it the first time I could make it by 1330, but when it was resent an hour later it would be 1430. DUH!!!
I told him that if I went on-duty and started my pre-trip this minute, I could get there at 1500.
He said the shipper would be closed by then and he would try to find another solution.

A bit later my DM called asking the same questions, telling me these were hot loads that needed to get done - and I gave him the same answers.
He said 'sorry, I didn't check the times between pplans'.

My opinion is, if they are such hot loads, don't wait so long to assign them. They could have sent it to me hours before, but waited until I could not get there in time.
My PTA was 0700, and I didn't get the first pplan until 0800. It was 220 miles away, on slower roads with many small towns to go through.
Funny thing is, I traveled the exact opposite route to the pu when I delivered my last load - so I know exactly how long it will take.

If they had sent it just an hour earlier I could have done it.
If they had accepted my initial pu time, right then, I could have done it.

Then I got a pplan going to TN, delivering on the 21st.
Too much time on the load, but if I can get a load right back to MN for my home time I'll be happy.
My DM messaged that he e-mailed the TN planners to get me right back to MN.



I am so sick of planners relying on Plus-1 times, figuring we can do 60 MPH on 55-25 MPH roads.
Or schedulers doing the same.

That end of the system needs to be fixed more to the drivers advantage, since we are the ones that have to deal with slower roads, towns on back roads, construction zones, rush hour traffic, ... the need for more than a few hours of sleep or the need to shop for supplies, and many other things.


I get stressed out about it when I really think about it.
But, on the other hand, I am pretty much in control of how I run.
I'll not accept a load unless I think I can do it safely and legally - and without getting a service failure in the process.
It is up to them to deal with it.

And I've yet to get in trouble over my decisions.

 

They paid me 421 loaded miles to dh from the Lancaster area. Call the planners; you have a 50:50 chance if you do and zip if you don't.

 

Yes, it was Quaker in Mtn. Top. Not planning to go back to the NE any time soon.
I grabbed another Quaker load going to the Big Lots (across Phillipi from the terminal) in Columbus. Live unload 6:00 am Monday. My plan is to call Command as soon at 7:00 CDT and see if they have anything from Ohio back towards Phoenix.

 

Steve, ask them for a Chillicothe load. Last time that I was offered those, I was given Mesa and CA.

Mystic, I was thinking about that today. Every time that I am in Houston, it is either Baytown or LaPorte. Hate those Searcy loads. Never seem to be able to find something close to pu and have to deal with Memphis.

Frank, it is worthless to try and call the planners on a weekend. Been there, done that.

here in Charleston, MO.

 

Mark,

Do you recall what the Chillicothe-Mesa loads are paying?

 

got a preplan to pick up at anheiser busch(sp?) in van nuys and deliver to el paso tx. called fontana and said i'm on the walmart blits stuff. they said it was tcalling in mira loma and that theres ne walmart loads going out today. i said well.. it doesn't say that on preplan. they resent it with tcall added. i told them i would've accepted it 45 minutes ago if it was communicated properly to the driveer. had her put no service failure on the qc since it was late for pickup already. also sat for 2.5 hrs waiting for a load.

 

hmmz I guess I could always spend the night around Tejon pass which would put me somewhere around 60 miles away or so, at least with the rest area its huge and has ample parking most of the time, there is the brake check area also further down the road.

 

finally found an empty at mira loma yard. went to back under it and found it had a kingpin lock on it.fontana dispatch said it was good to go and to go to dispatch window to get the master key. they said they dont have one. she called the security gate for them to bring theirs. waited by truck for 20 minutes and went back to dispatch to see what the hold up was. she called the security gate and they said trailer didn't have a lock on it. after dispatch told me that, i said do you want a picture of it.lol after awhile,called jeremy and he said to come to fontana yard and get one from the corner lot. wasn't to happy with the mira loma crew