Old Dominion--A Newbie's Experience

Thanks Shaggy, I'll chime in after a bit on that one.


Mileage a little slow this week, but nothing to complain about.

Thursday--Columbus, OH. 380 Miles.
Friday--St. Louis, MO. 510 Miles.
Saturday--Double turn to Memphis, IN. 400 Miles
Sunday--Marion, IL. 486 Miles
Monday--Chicago. 384 Miles

I just found out today that Indy will be going through another bid this week. There are so many runs being added that we have to re-bid after having gone through a bid in November. Maybe I'll get off the extra board... although it would probably mean being stuck on a crappy bid for a while. I promise I'll keep all my loyal readers apprised of the situation!

 

Well, here I sit in Chicago. Stuck here for 10 hours. That's trucking, right? I'll add more to the story later; it's a little hard to type it all on a smartphone keyboard.

 

Well, last week was definitely a long week.

Thursday-- Went to Nashville, TN. Now that it is spring break season, there's a lot of traffic down I 65. I heard through the grapevine (and Google maps) that there was going to be a LOT of traffic around Seymour, IN due to construction, so I decided to detour myself around the construction. Well, after miles of twisty country backroads that my atlas said was safe for trucks (hah!), I think I would'nt have lost that much time if I had just stayed on the freeway. Made it to Nashville with 5 hours remaining, and made it to I 70 in Indy and ran out of hours. Still made it back to the terminal, I just got a 10 minute driving violation. 626 miles after all the alternate routes; 612 miles usually.

Friday-- Rockford, IL. Made it up there and was told I was headed to Chicago first, then back to Indy. Whoopee. Well, I go and hook my trailers, and almost make it out of the yard, when I notice that the tire air indicator light on the aeroskirt of the trailer was on. So I walk back and check, and the inside left tire on my rear trailer is off the bead. Not completely flat, but definitely off the bead. So I call road service, they come out with a tow truck. Driver of the tow truck says to drive to the service center and he'll follow me and flash his lights if he sees a problem. Well, I make it to the service center. They discover that the tire is definitely punctured. So I spend and hour in the service center waiting on them to fix the tire. They get the tire fixed and I get on my merry way. Unfortunately, because of the delay, I have to bag out in Chicago. Indy to Rockford: 300 miles, and Rockford to Chicago is 95 miles, so 395 miles today. Not bad, but was really hoping for a 600+ mile day.

Saturday-- I get to the Chicago terminal, hoping to go directly back to Indy. Nope, I'm going to South Bend, says the dispatcher. They need to get two trailers bound for Harrisburg, PA to get there so a triples driver can take them. I ask if they're setting me up to go home to Indy. Was told yes, there's several Indy-bound trailers waiting in SBN. Alright, fine, I'll go to SBN. Get to SBN, and meet the triples driver who's not too happy that he had to wait on his trailers. Get him taken care of, and hook another set. Joy of joys, this set is going back to CHICAGO! I call the central dispatch, and they told me they made a mistake; they thought I was a Chicago driver. Right next to my name in the computer system there's a little field that tells the dispatcher that I'm domiciled in Indy. After I pitched my little fit, I drove back to Chicago and finally got a load headed back to Indy. CHI to SBN to CHI is 204 miles and CHI to IND is 192 miles, so 396 miles.

Sunday--Double turn to Hamburg, IN. For a Sunday, the traffic was AWFUL! I had to bypass around I 65 N at Seymour again due to construction and an accident in the construction. My 2nd meet guy got to the meet point before I even left the yard, so the poor guy was waiting there for over an hour and a half before I got there. 400 miles.

Monday-- Meet/turn in Pacific, MO. Finally, a straightforward run this week! 546 miles.

We got the bid schedule published this week. There are 110 scheduled runs out of Indy. I'll probably still be on the extra board if I don't decide to take one of the Chicago runs. Last bid my seniority number was 168 out of 180 drivers. Now I'm 159 out of 183. Movin' on up!

 

You're very welcome, and thanks for reading! I've learned that you just have to keep yourself open to whatever opportunities come along, because one of them just might be a doozy!

Felt like a long week this week, but it really wasn't that bad.

Thursday- Meet/Turn at Morristown, OH. Traffic through Columbus was a bear! All the rain didn't help things either. 544 miles.

Friday- St. Louis. One of my favorite runs. Out there and back, fairly easy. 510 miles.

Saturday- Meet/Turn in Nashville, TN. It figures that KY would start their construction season at the same time as Spring Break. NB I 65 was backed up at Elizabethtown for 9 miles, so I detoured around it by taking US 31 all the way to Louisville. 600 miles after I added the alternate routes.

Sunday-- St. Louis.

Monday--Morristown, OH again.

 

It's on Harrison Ave, off 2.

 

Rockford is a smaller location, but it does a lot of freight to and from Chicago. Don't rule out relocating to Indy; we need lots of drivers, all linehaul positions.

I think they pay extra for triples, but I'm not sure what the pay is. Maybe someone else can answer that question better than I can.

True dat! My wife and I have thought about moving somewhere more horse-y for her and it's comforting to know I could get a job just about anywhere.