Superior Carriers 2013-2014

12/3-12/6

My truck was at the International Dealership getting the EGR cooler replaced so I had Monday off as well as the weekend. That was actually a good thing since I got a day to rest after the Tampa Panther game in Charlotte. I got to take my son with me since he was home from college. I also got to watch the Saints lose on my TV at the house Monday night.

Tuesday they had a paint load for me to run in another drivers truck. He took a week of vacation to recover from bronchitis. I sort of figured this was going to happen so I packed up some stuff I normally leave in my truck. This was a typical paint load...scheduled for 10:00 AM but not ready until 4:00PM. I went in a little early, sprayed the inside down with Lysol and cleaned the truck real good before moving in. It wasn't all that dirty but I like to leave another guys truck better than I found it.

They had me swap out a trailer so I planned on split breaking and coming back in Friday morning. If you run hard this load can be done with 2 sleeper berth breaks if the delivery time is under 5-6 hours. Being in an unfamiliar truck I chose to take my time and planned an 8 hour split break at the unload point. Had I run hard that would have meant stopping around 2:00AM Wed and Thursday morning and getting back to the terminal around midnight Thursday. I got back around 7:30 AM Friday running the way I did and felt a lot better than I would have running hard.

I picked up the load and ran to Beckley WV shutting down around 9:30 PM for 8 hours. I headed out the next morning at 05:30 AM and took a 2 hour shower/lunch break in Jeffersonville Oh. I got to the plant at 6:00 PM and took 10 there while they unloaded me. The unloading took 5 hours. I headed out about 5:00 AM and ran back to Beckley. Slept in the next day to let the fog lift and had a leisurely ride back to the terminal. I stopped in Wytheville and got the truck washed at Blue Beacon to let the sun come up since it was so foggy on Fancy Gap.

My truck was on the yard so I was able to move back into it. I sure do wish the Dealership mechanics were not such pigs. I am going to have to clean my truck like I did the loaner. They left cigarette ashes all over the place and tramped a bunch of grease on my carpet mat. I might have to throw it away.

For this week I am doing a N Chicago liquid zag load with a new twist. Instead of running up there empty I am loading out of Orangeburg SC Monday morning and heading up loaded delivering to the same plant I load at. This is the first time we have done it this way and they don't know if it will be top loaded or if I will have to get washed out before loading for Brown Summit. I am planning for the worst and heading down to Orangeburg Sunday afternoon to give me maximum time to work with up there. I also have a football game to watch Sunday night. Fortunately I will be in SC and should have no trouble getting the game on TV.

This could be a real PITA getting washed and reloaded but will pay well since its basically loaded both ways and over 2,000 miles. Dispatch was talking about trying to find a tankwash closer to N Chicago but I have a feeling it will be Markham which means running the length of 294 4 times around Chicago by the time its said and done. Should be an interesting challenge.

 

My truck is at 152K right now. It probably could have gone a little longer. I was only using about a gallon of coolant per week. Another guys truck went in at the same time. He was going through a gallon a day. Both times the light came on while I was backed up in a traffic jam. I had no detectable performance issues. If I hadn't wanted a couple more days off I probably would have kept driving it. The loaner truck had the check engine light on as well.

 

I hear you. For all I know they ran a few local loads in it after it got back to the yard and one of my coworkers left it that way. It's a pick your battle kind of thing and I needed to mop the floor anyway. This shop does good work for an International dealership so I am not inclined to rock the boat.

 

12/8-12/13

I got to do the first load of a new twist to our N Chicago dedicated load. I headed off the yard Sunday afternoon with one of our dedicated fiberglass lined tanks and ran about 215 miles down to Orangeburg SC where I camped out to get an early start in the morning. I had a 7:00-15:00 window to load so in the future will probably leave sometime Monday morning. I wanted to watch the Saints Panthers game and get some sleep so I headed out Sunday.

I made it to the plant right at 7 AM. It ended up taking right at 5 hours to get loaded due to several screw ups one of which caused me some problems on the delivery end. The first one was a broken down fork lift sitting in the lane they needed me to back down to get close enough to the tanks to load. They had me back up to an elevated platform where they ran 2 inch hoses over to the top of the tank to load. They were in the process of running fixed pipe so we can load under an actual rack in the future. After an hour to move the fork lift and couple of hours to load the truck I pulled around to the scale and was told it was too light and to go back for more product.

I got back around and they hauled the hoses back up on top and put another 500lbs in the tank. They also decided they needed to pull a sample off the bottom of the tank to compare to the one they pulled off the top. For future reference on these tanks always close the internal valve first after pulling a sample. These guys left the 2 inch pipe full of product from the internal to the ball valve. On this tank its about 3 feet long.

After about another hour long wait for the lab I was on my way and was real glad I had come down the night before. I made it to Corbin Ky after driving up 26 to Asheville and 40 through the Pigeon River Gorge.

Tuesday morning I woke up to about an inch unexpected snowfall but it wasn't an issue on the roads. I had a delivery appointment for Wednesday and really wasn't in a hurry with only 520 miles to get to the plant. I slept in, took 2 hours of weather delay pay, and headed out at day break. At this point I didn't have a delivery appointment time but know they don't take product before 5 AM and had plenty of time to get there and make that if necessary. I got a call with a 10 AM delivery appointment that got me a couple of hours of layover pay after stopping at the TA on I-94 at the Wisconsin Il line.

The next morning I headed to the plant and was met with the good news that they would be top loading without a wash out for my load back. I spotted the trailer and kicked back. Then the cussing started. It was 12F that morning and the Temp hadn't been above freezing for well over 24 hours. The 3 foot long pipe was frozen solid as was the air powered internal valve. Fortunately the plant had steam and a hose was set blowing on the pipe and outside of the valve assembly until it melted enough to unload. That took close to 2 hours. Total delivery time was about 5.5 hours.

Fortunately they reloaded me fast in 45 minutes. Its funny how loading this product takes 1.5-2 hours normally but when it gets close to quitting time they can do it in less than half the time.

That put me out in Chicago rush hour traffic. I was still able to make it to Richmond In Wed night. Ran the load to the terminal Thursday and went home that night for 10. Came in Friday morning and it only took 15 minutes at the plant to deliver it. I was home by 9:00 AM Friday.

This will be a good load once all the kinks are worked out. I could see them loading it in under 2 hours once set up and with a delivery and top load done well you could run this in 4 days/3 nights on the road. It adds about 400 miles to the load and all but 200 or so are loaded.

 

12/18-12/23

This week found me getting a couple of extra days off Monday and Tuesday waiting for a Paint load to get ready. I didn't mind though after a 4 PM starting Panther game and getting home around 11:00 PM Sunday. Had a great day with a friend I have known since High School tailgating on a beautiful day.

It was also a better deal starting Wednesday around 9 AM as opposed to either running after midnight or turning the trip into a 3 break load. I made it home around 8 PM Friday.

It was unseasonably warm for the route up to Holland Michigan. I did have a scary moment on the way up. Just as I took the ramp from US 30 to US 33 in Ohio I was faced with blowing snow covering the road to the point that it was hard to see where the road ended and the corn field started. It was a surprise since the roads were clear and dry up to that point. There was a steady 15-25 MPH wind from the south that blew a river of snow across the the plowed road. Fortunately traction wasn't a problem but this was a 2 lane road with no shoulder and therefore little margin for error. I slowed down and was able to see just enough of the lines in the road or tire tracks or someplace where there was a bush or tall grass creating a wind block. I also only had to run about 15 miles on it before stopping at the Motor Inn truckstop at 33 and 127 below Van Wert. It was bad enough that they ran school on a 2 hour delay the next morning in that area.

The rest of that trip went off without a hitch. I am off until after Christmas when I will probably run something Thur-Sat. Another driver told me in Holland that we have 4 Holland loads scheduled Thursday and Friday. I am sure there are some Plaquemine and N Chicago as well.

How bout those Panthers. Sitting on top of the NFC South. Yesterdays game was one of the more memorable ones for me and my wife. The rain just made it more so. If we can take care of Atlanta next week I will need to ask off for one more home game in about 3 weeks. Playoffs baby!!!