Post Gordon ~ Thoughts, Commentary & Reflections

Ceramic clutch on this truck's a PIA...
--From 3rd with 44.3K it starts to buck
--And you just let it out, can't do much feathering
--Maybe can feather bottom of pedal to get a slight roll
--On an incline, though, need 2nd and 2nd bucks like Hell
--Downtown, on 6W for trucks, even missed one light
--Basically have to hold trolley valve down, give some pedal
--Then release trolley, otherwise bucks really hard, kills. Ugh!
--At Pilot, first couple slaps on CAT scale button, nothing.
--Standing just out of truck with door open, give it a hard slap
--"First weigh or re-weigh, driver?" comes the squawk
--'First weigh' I holler back over all the noise.
--Then he wants tractor number, more hollering
--Nice thing about CAT scale, you get all weights, no math needed
--Don't have to pull up axle by axle and do the math
--Inside, after tractor number, he wants trailer number, company name
--Paid $10 with ComCard, compliment him on good scale ticket
--He responds with small high-5 with me...

 

Too easy... too smart.

Truck has trouble driving across scale while shut down, too.

Logistics problem. : 0)

Hey! At least I passed the forklift test. Per hour, they probably beat us. All we have going for us is unlimited work hours in the day and week. Yes, I have paper logs...


Hi BAR5M! Hi driver1189! Hi Hurricane69! Hi flyingmusician! Hi randomname! Hi bigjoel! Hi yuban! Hi AgentSloth! Hi browndawg! Thx for visiting!

You, too, Bumpy...

 

Arrived Muscatine, IA facility 2:55 pm Central...
--They close at 3 pm Central
--Found 1st bldg on right past railroad tracks
--3:00 pm at Door 7, wanted me to undo logistics stick
--Gal is one forklift driver, pulls 4 skids out
--Pushes them 50 yards across warehouse, then repeats
--3:10 pm trailer empty, BOL signed.
--Swept up blue/green corn seeds for her and me (warehouse & trailer)
--Why so late to arrive? 1 hour lost on goose chase in Decatur
--Extra long stop at Decatur Pilot (Hwy 48/I-272) for no good reason
--Then 30 minute nap at Morton, IL TS... old fart, you know
--Got a bunch of 'extra' creamers, including Stok creamers from Pilot
--Stok creamer, free, = cup of coffee's caffeine in 1 creamer
--If 1 or 2 of those doesn't straighten you right up, nappy time
--Took much needed half hour nap at Morton
--Yeah, I do that... even at risk of being late.
--Man, I conked. Feel good now.
On to Prairie du Chien!! Empty for the hills, that's the ticket!!

 

Think about it...
--Those 4 forklift trainees at Monsanto Decatur
--Probably making $12/hr-ish, right?
--I left out Sunday late afternoon, my day today started
--Just before 7 am Central; 7:30 pm Central now
--Just pulled into Prairie du Chien account, waiting for Yard Goat
--Pull trailer out of Door 'C' so I can load;
--Now those forklift trainees will work an 8-hour day, most likely
--And consider anything over 8 overtime (what's that, BTW, 'overtime')
--By tomorrow evening I'll be back in Indiana
--They'll get 2 8-hour days for $96x2 = $192
--I get $150 plus $329.16 = $479.16
--But hey!! Divide out the hours! Divide the hours!!
--Start from Sunday afternoon.
--I should be so lucky to make as much as a Monsanto forklift driver...
--For all my hours since Sunday afternoon!
BTW, 400 miles today, pretty easy miles, too. Empty on the all important hills.

 

Well, they're getting right on this tonight...
--Once the spotter moved offending trailer, boom!
--They jumped on loading me out and banged on trailer
--To get me to notice green light and leave, please!
--Driving Hwy 61 South to my DEL in Muscatine today
--Looked over approaching University, across from Menards
--Maid-Rite. Maid-Rite?? I grew up in a small Minnesota town
--Grand Rapids, and we had a Maid-Rite, sloppy joe hamburgers
--Never seen one since... until today, could it really be?
--Stopped, called; Oh, yeah, she says, it's Maid-Rite
--"Am I going to see you?" she asks.
--You're darn tootin', I tell her, parked (probably illegally) on 61
--Grand Rapids, MN diner has been gone for years and years
--"This is the original barrel," she says, pointing to a root beer barrel
--Well, the deep-fried creamed corn thing I could do without
--But the original Maid-Rite is heavenly, a little mustard, that pickle!
--Wow!! A little Minnesota nostalgia here. From 60 years back.

 

Meanwhile, back in Spencer...
--Word came down about the time I left Morton
--Health Dept would issue TH a 5-day vacate notice
--Sorta releases 48-hour vacate notice and tactical shift
--As I closed in on Muscatine with the GPS not knowing
--The street number, and listening to Google Maps off the iPad
--Through my headset, we caught a break
--Switched to the cell phone, my co-conspirator, a CPA
--We discussed how TH has been helped, 'rescued'
--Any number of people have tried help TH over the years
--A role he's gotten way too comfortable with
--CPA's like hot-wired into town goings-on and politics
--Apparently the Health Dept guy refused to serve the notice
--Back to square one for the only council-member pushing this
--No vote today on TH, only takes 2 of 3, he did not have
--Another vote!! Haven't taken any time today to look at
--Load board for my load out Wednesday/Thursday
--Truck's shut down for the night next door at Wal-Mart
--Why does Boyd & Boyd park so others can't get out???
--I ask you!! Bohemia and Tilapia salad for me...
Tempting right now to skip outbound, take all Wednesday off.

 

Hi GoldenFan,

No, wasn't aimed at you, just the reality that I'll be out here at least 48 hours to make $479 little dollars and still head-and-shoulders above beginner OTR because I get 39 cents/mile for the Prairie both ways and $150 for my outbound. Most drivers would get just the 39 cents.

That's $10/hr. Everyone should do the math.

Vic


//Still fishing for loads. TQL agreed, then canceled $900 20K Plainfield~Maquoketa, while I spent an hour at Maquoketa Kwik Star on the board. Now, stopped again, Bettendorf Rest Area to talk to brokers again. Pepsi Logistics wants badly to move 8K Plainfield~Cedar Rapids but only $800. CH Robinson offered $600 for 20K Decatur~Cedar Rapids. Told him $750-$800. Target $3/mile.

Loads to DEL Thurs not as hot today as will be tomorrow...

Hi wichris! Thx for visiting!