Ashley Furniture? Good company?

flyingmusician:

Been there a few times will post the info today.




rotax74:

Was that one of our truck drivers that tore off the hood,or some one hit him?

 

no someone tore the hood off our truck. it wasn't a terrible week picked up an extra 100 miles plus an extra 2 drops. so I ended up with 2800 miles and 22 d/h. ill leave out Monday with a plant pick up out of mt.top going to leesport. and prolly run back and forth to Syracuse all week.

 

well let's see.....take it day by day.....

Monday didn't get planned until 1130. pepsi out of Wytheville to dc. ####### dc. that set the tone for the whole week lol. by the time I got to the yard, grabbed an empty and got out of there it was 1300. 2hrs to Wytheville then a 4hr load counting being #8 in line to load. took a look at the sat map to see what the final looked like and if I could park there since the phone number dispatch gave me wasn't good. looked like an empty warehouse and lot right next to where the address showed on the map. something about it just didn't look right though so trusted my gut and ran up to mt Jackson and stopped at the sheetz there since it was already late and parking chances were getting slim. good thing too. the empty lot/warehouse next to where the map said I was going was actually where I was going and fully fenced with a guard. if I hadn't listened to my gut and gone all the way I'd have been screwed with nowhere to park. all the spots on the back row of the sheetz are blindsides and they were the only ones really empty by the time I got there. luckily I had 5 empty in a row and had room to setup and sight side it into a blindside spot. about 30 minutes watching the comedy show of guys circling and passing up the blindside row Roehl comes in going the wrong way up the wrong side of the lane. 4 other trucks coming down the right way and one behind him. he decides to swing a U right in front of everyone and try to setup the same thing I did but didn't have the room to do it at that point......and got crossed up and couldn't go forward or back. finally he gets it in there.....30 minutes later and there are so many backed up they could hardly move. the old hand across the aisle came over and started trying to explain to Roehl what he did wrong and the unwritten rules of etiquette in the truckstop lol I could hear a few words here and there but it was clear the kid wasn't interested in someone with much more experience than him trying to give him a few legitimate pointers. finally I heard very clearly 'well either you're just ignorant or just plain stupid' and it quickly went south from there. i just pulled the curtain and turned the tv on to spare me seeing the kid get his ### whipped lol......a few minutes of raised voices later all was quiet. rolled on up to dc and 4hrs to unload. that put me trying to get out of dc right at the beginning of rush hour empty up to leesport. got a load to Albany out of leesport with just enough time to get there.

Tuesday morning parked at the customer in Albany. 1130 appointment and I'm up at 830 so walk in the back to let the guy know I'm there and just check in and maybe hopefully get in and out early. first thing the guy says when he sees me is....'1130. I don't want to see your face in my warehouse until 1130.' now, I always handle myself professionally and with courtesy even when I'm faced with an ### like that so I just said okay I'm just checking in and letting you know I'm here.......to which he says.....'I thought I said I don't want to see your face until 1130. 1130 1130 1130 1130 1130 what part of 1130 did you not understand? I know you're here I saw your ####### truck when I came in ' for a millisecond I almost lost my composure and told him where to stick the truck but didn't. about 10 minutes later another guy came out and told me he'd take my paperwork don't pay attention to the other guy you were supposed to be here yesterday. just out it in door one and there's another one ahead of you. when he gets here and is done it'll be your turn. I told him the load may have supposed to have been there yesterday but I wasn't. I can only run it when they give it to me to run. he said no problem i'll let you know when we're ready. normandin comes in and backs in beside me and goes in he's gone in about 10 minutes. I'm just laying there watching tv thinking it sure is taking them long enough, about 30 minutes later mr personality comes out beating on my truck. I go to the window and he says 'you gonna get started anytime today? I've got other trucks coming in today and I'm not running a ####### truckstop here'......I not so politely this time told him he was going to have to stow that attitude and asked him get started on what? he said I needed to get in there and get the trailer unloaded he had people standing on the dock doing nothing waiting. told him I'm ptp I don't unload. 'well, you're going to unload this one we don't unload.' this guy clearly needed to get laid lol I'd hate to think I hated my life that bad that my attitude sucked that bad every day. by this time the other guy is out there too and he said this was a driver unload they don't unload and every driver has to tailgate. so I go in and take care of it and in the interest of not stuffing this guys head up his ### in front of his employees would work off my irritation. full 53, and not a light piece on it.....half of it weighed more than 100lbs. dressers, headboards, chest of drawers, nothing small on it. I'd have rather had 4000 small pieces than the 400+ huge ones that were on it. took me about 2hrs but got it done. then called dispatch and addressed mr personality and how did I get stuck on an unload? a head sup would have been nice since I was still in the rental and didn't have a peoplenet. they said something happened somewhere and I shouldn't have been put on it but got the $105 for the unload. they said they'd address the other issue as that wasn't the first time they'd had issues with the guy.

get an archbald, pa to leesport out of there and not 5 minutes on the road get the call my truck is fixed. 4 or 5 calls back and forth and they decide go get my truck so reroute me to Syracuse then to archbald since I had time on the pickup. get to Syracuse and drop my empty and head over to the dealer. after 1700 so only 2 guys there and ask if I can get a ride back from the rental place. moron there working on his personal vehicle in the shop bay looks at me and says ' no don't think I can do that I'm busy and don't really feel like it' really? my week for idiots I guess. ask him what I'm supposed to do about getting back to my truck as the rental place is closed and I'm just dropping it off. 'don't know man can't help you' was all I got from him. asked him if he knew of a cab company close by. 'no I don't ever need a cab' asked if he could get me a phone book so I could look one up. 'nope don't have time I'm busy'.....you have got to be kidding me. just turned and walked away. did I mention it's only 1.5 miles from the rental place to the dealer? what a #######. I'd had my fill of morons for the day already and I'm sure I was red in the face my blood pressure was so high. looked up a cab company close by on my phone and got that lined up, started moving stuff out of the rental into my truck. parked right in front of the bay he was working in and he was done and trying to go. I just ignored him and took my sweet ### time moving stuff back into my truck as he sits there flashing his lights trying to get me to move. sat in the seat and piddled with paperwork a few more minutes just to be an ### before I finally pulled out and went over to the rental place, dropped it off, waited for the cab and then got back over there and got my truck and went back to the swift yard and got my empty. luckily got there just ahead of an ltl guy who was looking for an empty 53 to put a return couch on. whew. 5 minutes later and there would have been a couch on my empty. head back as far as I could with the time I had left and made it to the rest area halfway to pa.

get up the next morning and knock out the archbald/leesport....then they're going to give me advance home. on Thursday and it would only have given me 1500 for the week. told her that was just not acceptable. if I'd wanted to run only 1500 a week I'd have stayed where I was and never come here. heard the same hesitation and unsure voice I heard before when I'd suggested my own plan lol. said she'd see what she could work out. the need some empty lease trailers moved from Allentown to leesport so over I go. pick up the first one and the number isn't in the system so they can't clear me to go. we'll get it in the system and call you back. an hour later no call. in the meantime they plan me on a norbond out of Allentown back to leesport then bobtail back to Allentown for another empty then back to leepsort. I call back after the hour and see what's up. still can't clear the previous trip that trailer still isn't cleared in the system. don't worry about going to norbond just do the 2 empty movces. call back in 30 minutes. call back. different person, different story. I AM going to norbond then run the empty move. of course, the 1st trip hasn't cleared and I'm planned 3 trips ahead and nobody knows anything. take the time to go back through the plans from the 1st one and make sure everything is in order and I've got the trip numbers right and in the right order then she tells me to go ahead and go when the trailer clears the trips will clear and load in the system and they'll update everything.

3.5 miles over to norbond. 3rd party warehouse in a row of warehouses. nothing that says norbond I just pull in and go in the door beside where our trailers are docked at. greet the guy behind the window and tell him I'm with Ashley picking up norbond is this the right place?. never even looks up at me playing with his phone and says' I don't know. is it?' #### lol I've beyond had my fill of idiots. tell him he works there he doesn't know where he works? he's the one behind the window if he doesn't know where he's working then I'd hate to see the caliber of person he has working in the warehouse. he just ignores me and keep playing on his phone. another guy comes in and sees me and says 'come on over here i'll get you hooked up. ignore him his wife just left him for a driver and went on the road with the guy and he has a really special place in his heart for drivers right now. he's like that all the time no surprise she left him. he's about one more smart ### comment away from losing his job.' the 2nd guy was nice enough and got me out of there quickly.

get that to leesport and bobtail back to Allentown for the next empty. still 3 trips behind now in the system as the 1st trailer still hadn't cleared. get over there and the guy says no more empties the other guy got the last one about 15 minutes ago. about the same time the phone rings and it's lisa. she asks if I'm back at xtralease and I said yeah I'm standing here the guy just told me there aren't any more. she said yeah she knew but it didn't get to her quick enough to tell me not to go. gave me a management drop for it without asking for it and back to leesport. get a trip up to Holland for Friday. get as far as Bloomsbury then run on up Friday then get polar beverages out of Worcester, ma back to advance. heavy and loaded all the way to the front. didn't think for a second it would weigh out but did just barely at 33800/26800 with half tanks. made it back down to Bloomsbury again last night. on the way there was a guy from ward transport in a straight truck all over the road. center lane and he's drifting half into the left and half into the right, running people off the road. looked like he was drunk. got down to 78 and he's pulled off on the left of the ramp. I'm slowing way out cause that water in those big jugs is heavy and sloshing. could feel it every time I turned or took a curve. less than 2 trucklengths from the moron in the ward truck and off the shoulder he comes crawl;ing onto the ramp right in front of me. I stood hard on the brakes hit the right shoulder and the horn at the same time and it didn't phase him he just slowly bumbled out onto the ramp in front of me. I made it my mission to catch up with that idiot and finally did a few miles up onto 78. pulled right up next to him and he's got his #### phone up to his ear. of course he does. no surprise there. turned on my interior light and stayed beside him long enough to show him my displeasure with him. then called in on him. now, I'm not a big fan of drivers calling in on other drivers and jamming them up with safety and never have before but this guy wasn't just unsafe, he was dangerous. i counted no less than 5 cars he almost ran off the road while I was behind him beyond him pulling out in front of me and almost getting t-boned by me. I hope they fire the moron. emailed them the dashcam video where he pulled off the shoulder right in front of me. I'd just had my fill of dumb ##### for the week.

got parked back in bloomsbury and slept well. I think the long week and stress level of controlling my temper so well dealing with moron after idiot after dumb ### all week finally caught up with me and I was out like a light and didn't move till i woke up to go home. I have to say as much as that place is still a cramped cluster #### of a place it's gotten much better than when I was running that area before. they have a guy now who is patrolling the parking areas and fuel islands and making sure people aren't parking where they aren't supposed to or blocking people in. I woke up after both nights I stayed there and didn't have to snake my way through an obstacle course of people parked anywhere they could stuff a truck into to try and get out each morning before daylight. much improved even though it still isn't very high on my list of places to park.

finally got in around 1700 today. made up some time between leaving Worcester and getting home. all that and only 2330 for the week for my effort. just doesn't seem enough for the week I had.

heading to Atlanta for Monday. was supposed to be 1800 drop but got them to approve it getting in there early so hopefully can get in and out before rush hour cranks up. the way she was talking when she planned me Friday I'm probably going to run the rail yard all week.

 

After reading your post, I am not going to post mine. LOL

It would not be worth it, LOL , DAM!

I can hold my temper, carried a gun, and hand cuffs for a living 22yrs - BUT - I would have told those as#-bags to put there attitude in check, in the nicest way possible.

You are experiencing some POOP up there out of ADVANCE market!



RAIL YARD ATLANTA INFO

Any-way, the rail yard in Atlanta-do not follow the instructions they give you on people-net-unless they have change them it will mess you up, use it as a guide only!

Here's the real Address- 1589 MARIETTA RD, NW ATLANTA, GA. and OAK ST. NW, this will get you to the front door of the place.

GOOGLE MAP IT, YOU WILL SEE IT!

Take 85 into Atlanta to 285 N (do the north loop around Atlanta passing the I-75 N. off ramp)

Get off at exit 16 (right hand exit ramp-west side of Atlanta there is a pilot there-do not go into that Pilot you will not get out it, it is a poop-hole!

Take a left at the light Atlanta Rd., turns into Atlanta Rd., SE, turns into Marietta BLVD NW, ( you will be on this road for a little bit )

At the intersection of, and at the light-Marietta BLVD NW and WEST Marietta ST, NW (just over an over pass going over some rail yard tracks-your getting close!) Take a right-------on WEST MARIETTA ST, NW

Your GPS should have picked up your approach to this yard at this point or a little sooner, follow my instructions, if you do not you may be faced with a bridge you can not cross!

At the intersection and light of WEST MARIETTA ST, NW and MARIETTA RD, NW make a right go over the rail yard over pass your entrance will be on the left to the YARD.

When you make the left into the Yard entrance keep in your left lane not the right.

They will insp you, and since you may be new, you will have to pull the rig up to the left threw the chk-in park and go inside and reg and rec a code for further access to the yard in the future. (right lane)

They will have you find and empty and most likely go to the heartland yard, 1333 Fulton Industrial Blvd., NW GA,-we use it as a drop yard--

We pull Budweiser out of that market, Cartersville, and carpets Dalton Ga, and Gatorade local pu. These are preloads.


hope this helps

 

yeah between managing a 200 strong union workforce for 20 years, and between the wife and myself 7 kids, 7 grandkids and 4 dogs, I have an overabundance of patience and a sense of humor....but by Wednesday all of it had been used up and even though I was forcing my best fake customer service smile and demeanor I'm sure it was showing through that I was not amused at anyone I came in contact with from that point through the rest of the week lol 20 years ago if i'd have had that week, i'd have been fired by Tuesday. age does bring a certain amount of wisdom and restraint. at least the trip to the yard Saturday was uneventful lol

thanks for the info on Atlanta. I did pull it up on the map already and kinda get an idea on the approach and where the gate entrance is. I always do that anytime I go in somewhere i haven't been before. I use all the tools available and so far has kept me out of trouble. always have an escape route in mind as well if I miss a turn or run into something unexpected and even though I've only needed it once in Tulsa, it was a life saver (truck saver as well lol). I'm starting to realize one of the reasons they pay so well is that so much of what we do isn't a whole lot of fun......but, also why they don't hire just anyone. rail yards and ports are never much fun. at least I won't be hauling cans in and out as long as I'm doing our trailers i'll just bring my rested and recharged patience and sense of humor and hopefully turn some better miles this week. last 4 weeks have been showing a steady decline but 2 weeks of that I have to take into consideration the truck being broken and having to keep me positioned to get it back once it was finished.

I made the mistake of going into that pilot at the 16 very early on in my driving career. avoid it like the plague now lol. and the one on the other side. if I have to stop in Atlanta I do it at the petro. it's worth it to pay if I get stuck there. better to park outside the loop if possible.

 

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/trp/4730205569.html

Interesting thread. I take it you guys are doing something different than the advertised job in the above link? If so, can you shed any light on the LTL position in Pittsburgh?

 

Yeah most of us here posting are doing the truckload point to point side (PTP). We run the LTL loads out to the drop yards for the LTL guys to pick up and run their routes and do plant to plant transfers and raw materials backhauls to the plants.

The LTL guys probably aren't on here posting because they're too tired lol they're the ones making the real money here but they're earning every penny of it lol they do the actual store deliveries. Several store on a trailer, typically 4-8 stops on the trailers I run out to the drops. Tailgate the load and the store folks move it into the store from there.

pitt area runs out of a drop yard in oakdale.

One really good thing about applying with them is they don't do cattle call orientations. They check everything first and you don't show up at orientation and then half the bunch get sent home. If you get invited to orientation you're pretty much in

its not not a bad gig either side. Good equipment, good people and above average pay. The other side just works a lot harder than we do lol

 

Thank you. Any idea of the radius that Oakdale runs? Any NYC for those guys?

 

Not sure about the operating range up there. Oneshot or rotax may know maybe they can fill you in on that

 

I don't think any of our drivers do nyc, they run a bunch box trucks out of leesport for the cities I believe. i think you would stay within a 500 mile radius to Pittsburgh run a load out deliver go back to drop yard run another load. but you never know with them, you could do anything. call them up and ask.