Good Night From II

At Home Depot in West Valley, UT for the second stop on this trailer. The appointment wasn't until tomorrow at 06:00, but they were GLAD to see me this afternoon instead of tomorrow. Wednesday's they are always busy with full trailers from their DC.

I just might make it up over Parley to Kamas before the last customer closes receiving at 16:30. That would be sweet, basically saving a full schedule tomorrow for my next load. No matter what the customer confirmed I can park there overnight and then I can log pretrip and delivery first thing in the morning.

Moral of the story is to be willing to take a 10 anywhere and to communicate with customers to see if you can deliver early. If I can snag a good load tomorrow I'll be running and gunning instead of wasting half the day tomorrow with two live unloads.

 

Jel Wen load? Sometimes I liked those, sometimes not. The not being screwy delivery times and when I called they said I could not deliver early. Utah loads I never had a problem with that though.

 

237 days until I get the title ... but, still got to figure out how I'm going to manage the bill for the new turbo and cam ...

 

The good news is I made all three deliveries on the Jen-Wen load today instead of waiting for the last two to deliver tomorrow, then got a load picking up in Salt Lake City headed to Sumner.

The bad news is the pick up is at the Swift(Central) terminal. An hour to get inside and another 20 minutes to figure out the t-call situation put me with less than an hour on my 14 by the time I would get out of the gate. I decided to go ahead and spend the night here, then blast away in the predawn hours to get clear of SLC traffic.

I'll have to run hard tomorrow to bang out over 600 miles in 12 hours to play "Work Up" and make the appointment for live unload delivery in Sumner on time. I've already checked out "Plan B" options for roadside pullouts on I-82 short of exit 80 at the Tomahawk or Rest Area in Prosser. Looks like I've found a couple dirt parking areas that might work in case I can't run as far as Prosser. It will all depend on how clean the drive over Cabbage goes.

 

Still running solo without requesting another trainee and there's a reason for it. I've got a tough decision to make shortly.

My brother in OKC has been doing really well running flatbed loads into oil rigs for a company that is dominated by hotshots, leaving full tractor trailer rigs in demand in spite of the downturn in the oil business. Now he's laid up with a bum shoulder that may require surgery and his truck is sitting. He's putting a full court press on me to come out there and join him, initially as a team to train me on load securement while giving his shoulder a chance to heal. He can get medical clearance to drive, but not for securement.

As a team I'd make a tad more than I'm currently making as a trainer with Swift. However, the upside is much greater, with the plan for my brother to purchase a newer truck and sell me his '03 KW T2000 that he's put a LOT of money in over the last year (basically he removed the steering wheel and put another truck under it). This would certainly slingshot me toward my ultimate goal to become a true O/O with an eye toward becoming a fleet owner in a high revenue lease.

I'll be making a decision shortly. Just came off home time two days ago, headed to Sumner, and thinking of doing another "home call" for the OKC terminal and turn the truck in there. Think that would fly? Any thoughts regarding needing to give notice (perhaps AFTER getting final routing to OKC)?

 

Swift's been a good gig for me and I've become comfortable with how to maximize my income within the systems, communicating well with my DM and the planners, and I've really enjoyed being a trainer (except for the odd trainee)

... but I need to take this opportunity to have a shot at becoming an O/O and running flatbed with higher revenue. I'll keep up with how folks are doing here and keep you posted regarding my doings. Might start a thread in the O/O and/or flatbed forums when the time is right, but I've got a lot to absorb along the way.

 

good for you lepton. wish you well on whatever you choose to do.

 

Lepton, I'm a rehire. when I first started for swift, I quit due to an incoming divorce. I gave two weeks notice, and didn't burn any bridges. I worked for a couple years in a non-driving position. After I was free of the divorce, and a 168lbs of fat lighter, I decided to come back. All it took was a call to a recruiter, they verified that swift would take me back, and I was off to orientation the next week.

All you you have to do is be polite and honest, and you'll have a good fallback. (As long as you can verify employment with your brother.) lol.

Good luck, whatever you choose.

 

More than just the turbo ... actuator, DOC filter, a sensor and other misc part in addition to the turbo ... that was 7K ... Then another 3K for the cam and damaged rollers.