Good Night From II

Chilling in Lancaster after driving all night from Edwardsville to Springfield MO then to Lancaster.

Going to to spend the day here snoozing, eating and catching a ball game. Hanging around so I can try, for the 5th time, to get on the simulator and knock out the winter driving session. Then off to Houston for a live unload. Going on hometime after that to meet my first grandson, born Halloween night.

 

Also, the truck was bobtail. Keep in mind that bobtails don't stop for crap on wet roads...

 

True that. Last time I rolled over an axle scale bobtail it was an eye opener. 15100 on the steers and 8500 on the drives. Just a tad over 1000 lbs per drive tire versus almost 6000 per steer.

 

That would be 7,550 per steer - if you could even get 15,100 on the front.

Maybe you need a math course, or attention to detail... or something.

 

... or sleep....

 

Sleep might help as well.

We ARE expected to manage our time well enough to get enough rest to do our jobs correctly.

 

In Fountain, CO after a morning delivery in Colorado Springs. Since I delivered a day early I couldn't look for a load until I MTed out and so far nothing (that I'll run). Only reason I took the Springs load was to avoid getting stuck in the Lancaster planning area. Now I'm stuck in the 2nd worse Swift planning area.

Oh well.

 

On home time in Houston after doing my live unload last night. Took them 5.5hrs to get me unloaded. Not too fond of grocery DCs.

Go go back out Saturday morning.

 

After leaving my trainee in Memphis on Saturday night, since he had over 200 hours and wanted to test out in Memphis:

I tried t-calling my load in Memphis (headed to upstate New York). Memphis dispatch said that unless I was a team there were NO loads headed west for my home time in Jurupa Valley. Everything not designated as team was for their shuttle runs.

I then ran up to Columbus and tried to t-call the load there. I was told the same thing, they run shuttles.

Thus it seems there is a Great Wall of China through the entire midwest. If you are running solo and need to get home time in the west, then it is next to impossible to break through the barrier of Edwardsville, Columbus, or Memphis.

Two home times ago I was delayed over five days in Edwardsville, running their puddle jumps and sitting on my backside for days... and that turned out a 1500 mile week for a Platinum driver that had hours to run.

Last home time I was given a run around by Edwardsville that delayed getting home by four days.

It isn't just Edwardsville, it's the entire midwest that is running shuttles.

After Columbus declined to help me, other than to say he'd message the planner in Jonestown, PA... I went back to my truck and crafted a polite, but pointed Qualcomm message noting that if Swift is SERIOUS about honoring home time requests then the midwest shuttle runs HAVE to give way to priority home time requirements.

Within two minutes I received a t-call message AND a phone call from the planner in Jonestown, saying he'd work on an immediate solution to get me homeward bound.

By the time I finished showering I had two loads, one for a delivery in Cincinnati and another headed from upstate Kentucky to Dallas.

Tomorrow early a.m. I make delivery in Dallas and just picked up two loads. A local Dallas delivery and then a load headed all the way to Ontario, CA. This gets me home one day past my requested date, which is a far cry better than I've been getting in the last couple of months.

I'm really looking forward to taking my wife to see our son and daughter up in the Bay Area for a couple of days.

 

I'm in Johnson's Corner for the night. Delivered in Sydney NE this morning and picked up a load that leaves Denver tomorrow morning and goes 1100 miles to Lewiston ID.