Good Night From II

Last time I tried to use a P&G scale it was either a coin op or took a credit card and didn't work for me. They finally waved the fee, since there was a line of trucks piling up behind me.

Sometimes it pays to feign Alzheimer's.

 

Still waiting here in El Paso for this driver to show up. Was supposed to be here at 1730, now possible at 1930. There are times that I just hate wating for another driver to bring a load in, especially when the terminal is there home terminal and they know that will not have to worry about it after they drop it. Now will have to push it tonight and try and find a place to park late. This shot my whole plans, and I already have a pplan to pu in Lakeland on Sunday and deliver on the 13th in Columbia, TN. I was planning on pushing tomorrow and Saturday then take it easy on Sunday so would have lots of hours ready to pu next one and get a jump on it. Not now.

 

lima montana. at a rest area for the nite. have 420 mile to get to final. will have to push it to get there on time. should be there about 1130 for a 1200 appt. in spokane wa.

 

Henryville indiana, drop and hook in north Vernon IN then head to Cheyenne

 

Almost home... Drop in 18 miles... Won't pick up again until Saturday morning to do it all over again

 

shut down next to the dc, took a load to Merced which is always fun having to back in from the street, dang 4 wheelers refuse to stop and some try to squeeze past between my tractor and the curb. It amazes me the patience and stupidity of some when if they would just stop I can get backed in way less than a minute. Then had to stop at Kraft in Fresno on my way back since they wanted me to swap my mt for a different one there, then took a load to Lancaster so got decent miles last night. Today I will be running a load to Pasadena and then another one to West Hills, should be fun driving south on a Friday especially before mothers day.

 

I tip my hat to you fellas running up and down California day in and day out. I believe it takes a special set of nerve to deal with that all day, especially during rush hour.

Hometime at the moment. I got nice run from El Paso to Michigan when I leave out tomorrow morning.

 

Just finished an interesting run from just north of Cincinnati to Knoxville with a load of beer, about 45,500 lbs. We picked up the load with 1/8 tank and went 15 miles northeast to scale it: 11800, 33980, 33960... !!!

Okaaayyyyy..... so we are barely legal with 1/8 tank.

I drive just over the border into Kentucky and come to the first Pilot over the border for our scheduled fuel stop for 105 gallons...

... then a little light bulb goes off in my head, "HEY! We haven't passed a scale yet!" I get out my handy dandy Randy McNally and find out the scale is a few miles south on I-75.

So I bypass that fuel stop, get passed the open scale with a green light, and fuel up about 45 miles farther... putting in 50 gallons. I figured if Tennessee's scale house is open I could probably burn off enough fuel to be close to legal.

Moral of the story : beware your fuel route when you are hauling heavy. Pay attention to DOT scale locations vis a vis your fueling locations.

When I ran OTR I made it a practice to never ever fuel up on a fuel plan just before making a delivery. I always bypass that last fuel stop to have less than half a tank in case the next load was a heavy. If it was heavy, then scale it and figure out how much weight you can take on in fuel.

 

I got jammed ip on a load like that in Boise going to Evansville, IN ... Could only take on 30 gallons at Trementon, UT to get across the UT POE and WY POE ... then calculated my fuel burn to the scales in NE. I lost out on purchasing cheap fuel in UT and paid a premium in WY.

I take a opposite approach now ... I go in with full tanks and make them load me legal. If there is going to be any question, I scale mt before I show up.

On my way to PA, unload tomorrow AM.

 

11800, 33980, 33960.

Just getting by with 1/8 tanks, and not even room to slide the 5th wheel.

I try to not go in that low on fuel. Some places weigh you as you go in to determine how much weight they can load you with.