Good Night From II

Love's in Horse Cave, KY

Got up in Grayson, KY and logged Pretrip as soon as I could get enough minutes for my 57 minutes of available 70 hour clock to work down to zero before the 10:41 coming back at midnight (Pacific Time) would kick in on EST. This way I managed to run through Lexington and eventually south on the I-65 construction zone all at speed limit.

I pulled into this Love's a tad early to be able to snag easy-peasy-nice-n-easy parking spots. It was a tad after 5:00 am CST and the solar powered drivers hadn't crawled out of the sleeper yet. The back part of the yard had several openings, but with all the "make a parking spot" late stop boys I needed a hard jack turnaround to set up for a perfect spot near the entrance. Just as I got there a cluster truck happened. Two solar powered drivers coming out behind me, two vampires entering the lot, and a driver that pulled straight into his slot last night was backing out of his hole...

... all decided to converge on my position just after I hit my 4-ways to indicate I was getting ready to set up for my back...

... 10 minutes later the solar powered drivers had managed to figure out how to get around the second inbound vampire while the first inbound vampire waited in a blocking position for the driver to back out of his hole so he could drive straight into it. Then I threaded a perfect setup and back to my hole after a 4:15 minute "day" and now I'm taking a 10+ to wait for my 20:00 live unload appointment.

Mac-30 returned another "PTA is more than 18 hours in the future, #######" so I sent a Mac-34 and found my PTA set to 4/17 AGAIN. Reset it with Mac-34 and tried Mac-30 with no available loads.

I'm not so sure that Plus-1 is ####### with my PTA. There's no way in hell that my PTA would be reset by Plus-1 AFTER it has already been set. I've sent several Mac-30's while my PTA was PROPERLY set today at 22:00, but magically it was set two days in the future again. Methinks that busy planners are resetting my PTA in the future as they work their load boards.

Morals of the story:

1. Night running yields more miles for the hours you sell on your 70.

2. Always use Mac-34 to check your PTA and manage it tightly.

 

Update...

.... just 15 minutes after I set my PTA for today at 4/15 22:00 I called my DM and found out it had been pushed back AGAIN to tomorrow at 23:57!!!???

I have a home time request.

This ####### with my PTA is beginning to be more than just annoying.

 

Muscatine, IA.

I take it freight is slow in my area?
I got one pplan this morning but the times were impossible. My PTA was set for 1215 and they wanted me to pu over an hour away by 1100 for a live load.
It was also headed in the wrong direction for home time.
Since then nothing in pplans or on Mac 30.

 

Reset my PTA three times today during my midday 10. Each time it was pushed into the future by at least a day. I called my DM about it and to ask him to get the planners working on getting me toward my home time in Lathrop. My DM said that indeed the +1 system is the culprit for resetting PTA's, there is a "glitch" in the program and he doesn't know why it happens.

While I've had issues with my PTA getting reset before, the last few days it has been going haywire. I've reset my PTA at least twenty times in the last three days.

Finally got pre plans that I accepted for something to do tonight after my live unload in Scottsville, KY:

1. Deadhead to Mount Juliet, TN for a drop and hook that t-calls in Antioch, TN at a drop yard;

2. Then deadhead back north to Owensboro, KY to get a drop and hook headed to Wilmer, TX.

Now I can shut up about the PTA issue and go back to get my second sleep of the day before cranking up my pretrip around 18:00 to start fighting the remnants of rush hour to make my live unload delivery.

 

Well the day was shot as I predicted. They fixed the AC so of course it was cool and rainy here lol. They said the lines were the long ones so they lowered the spring with another of the same thingamabobs that connect high to a lower bar. Hopefully that works out.

 

Feel horrible, slept most of the last 28 hours. Time to force myself to take another trip out.

 

Are they the straight rubber or the coiled plastic? The coiled plastic will maintain the tension on the glad hand like a spring. Even on a dry van, on some trailers the coiled one will tug the glad hand lose. Not enough to lose the brakes, but enough to where I have to tighten it up every time I walk by.

Hey moose ran into your mysterious trailer move in PA ... was sent a PP with a planners special ... "Need your help doing a WM trailer reposition. And we will back you up with a good load" ...Told them, thanks but no thanks ... then today I get another one .. this time the planner special said "You are going to be in our planning area. You need to do this reposition, so that we can plan you." Well bye ... Command to Texas.

 

+1 strikes again. It automatically removed the 2nd load stacked on me, the longer load from Owensboro, KY to Wilmer, TX. It seems the system thought I couldn't make the times, even though I have PLENTY of time on a wide open window at both ends.

Called my DM. Then immediately got an identical load from same shipper to same receiver with the same delivery window. Hopefully +1 will keep its nose out of it this time.

+1 isn't well liked by the planners or DM's. It would be nice if they either get rid of it altogether or actually (GASP!) hire some competent programmers.

 

It's been on-line for a couple years now and they still haven't improved it or gotten rid of it.
It seems everyone likes it except for all the people that have to deal with it.

 

Pilot Paducah KY. Had a great visit with another rookie last night at the Love's in Kankakee. Parked right next to him and he rolled down his passenger window as I finished parking and hollered "did you goal that". LOL Why yes I did I was just so fast you didn't see me. Was a 90 I performed like a "not rookie". He's out of Memphis and we talked til I was sleepy.

Ran up to Joliet, picked up this one without a hiccup and had an enjoyable run back down I-57 to I-24. This is a l/u 15:15 manana. Called the customer when I got parked here but shipping/receiving must have gone home. Will call again in am before rolling the last buck 80. Then I have an Ashley preloaded p/u 50 pd Mt miles away going to Arcadia WI for a drop.

Will have to pay attention to direction of loads after that one as I need to be back to Greer week from today. I'll turn Cassie in and be off to make our move to south Texas. Once settled in I'll head to our hades.....er Houston terminal to be assigned a tractor again.