From School to Superior Carriers

6/27-6/30

Made it to Carlin with plenty of time to spare. Gar Rose was right. There really weren't any hills much larger than what we drive on in the east. Going across Wyoming I was surprised to see the continental divide at 7,000 plus feet. It was a gradual pull and I never got below ninth gear until right before Salt Lake City and after the salt flats into Nevada.

Carlin is a dump. My directions were to meet a rep for the shipper at the truck stop there. If i go back I will stay about 1 hour east. The Pilot in Carlin is poorly managed and was filthy.

My delivery went well. On the road I noticed that the hydraulic jack for the internal valve was leaking brake fluid around the fill cap. I picked up a bottle of hydraulic jack oil at a hardware store down the street because the truck stop didn't have brake fluid just to be safe. I am glad I did. The jack worked fine but about 3/4 of the way through the air off it lost all pressure. As I walked to the front of the truck to get the oil I noticed brake fluid all over the front left fender of the trailer. It was shooting out of the emergency release valve. I got a hold of one of the mines maintenance people and they had some brass bolts the right size. We were able to fix the leak and with the oil I had keep the internal open to finish unloading. I am going to stock up on some brass plugs that size in case this happens again. It took 6 hours to unload and I am shut down just west of Salt Lake City. They are deadheading me 1800 miles to Memphis and hopefully a load to get me home for the weekend. I only have about 7.5 hours to drive tomorrow but pick up 9 and 10 on my 70 the next 2 days so hopefully I can get to Memphis by Thursday with time to load if necessary.

 

7/3

Made it to Memphis today with 15 minutes on my 70 to spare. Worked out ok though since my load won't be ready until 1600 Saturday 7/5. That means I won't get home until Sunday. They put me up in the Holiday Inn in W Memphis right across the street from the Casino. Real nice hotel. I also figured out that I will make 16 hours of layover pay. Superior pays 8 hours after the first 15 that you sit then 8 after each 10 hours until you get up and running again. That makes it a little easier to stomach not getting
home for the 4th. It will be good having a few days during the week next week. I have run close to 4,000 miles since Wed last week.

 

7/5-7/7

Got up Saturday morning well rested, went downstairs and had a nice breakfast in the hotel restaurant and then decided to give the shipper a call in hopes that it would be ready early. My load is a spotted trailer. It was scheduled for 1700. I was delighted to learn that it was ready to go at 9:00. 15 minutes later I was hooked to it and headed for home. Made it to Marion NC and shut it down for the night. Got home Sunday morning. Was finished unloading the next day by 10:00.

I was looking forward for a few days off and hoping to go back out Thursday. Got called out today (Wed. 7/9) to load glue at 1400. This load is under 200 miles to Greeneville Tn delivering early 7/10. I asked if there was anything else later in the week and was told no but Kingsport might have something better. I trained for a couple of weeks there and look forward to seeing some of those guys again.

My last month has been pretty good and I expected this weeks check to be smaller. We will see what Kingsport has to offer.

 

I have been averaging right at $1000 per week gross before taxes. I do not take Perdiem. I have the Family plan for insurance and that costs $37 per week for the entire family. The insurance is outstanding. My wife recently changed jobs and now works for Blue Cross Blue Shield. We kept the Superior family plan because it was cheaper to insure the entire family than to just put my son on my wifes coverage.

 

7/9-7/11

What a busy couple of days. This glue load delivered Thursday way back in the sticks. It was about 30 miles around 2 lane roads with no shoulders, 90 degree turns and exposed water main pipes.

Once I got to the plant 3 people asked me if it was my first time there...then laughed. They were nice people. My unload went without a hitch. I got a dispatch from Kingsport immediately once I sent in my deliver shipment message. I had a load that delivered to Indianapolis Friday AM. That was no problem. I was finished at noon and planned to get within an hour of my delivery point without running too hard.

When I got to the terminal I was informed that this load wouldn't be ready until 9:00 PM. I decided to take my 10 hour break and leave at 10 that night with a fresh 14. I saw both of the guys I trained with but couldn't get more than a couple of hours sleep. I found out that the consignee has truck parking on site from the local guys in Kingsport. I ran it hard arriving around 5:30 AM and got a couple of hours sleep before the front of my delivery window at 8:00. Got in the plant and was unloaded by 10:00.

I called dispatch in Cincinnati and got a load out to Greeley Colorado that delivers Mon at 6:00 AM. This week just got better in a hurry. Unfortunately I have to run overnight again but can shut it down earlier, get back into a daytime driving pattern and still have a couple of easy das over the weekend.

 

7/12-7/14

Finally got back to a daytime running schedule. I made it out to Greeley Co no problem. This was the easiest unload I have ever had. The guy at the plant told me to drop my trailer over on a gravel lot with concrete pads for the landing gear. About 2.5 hours later he came and got the trailer, took it into the plant, unloaded it and brought it back 2 hours later. I used the time to wash my windows and install a cb radio antenna.

Bought one of those bluetooth cbs tonight and installed it in the truck stop tonight. Works great with my phone. No more driving and holding the phone to my ear when dispatch calls.

I am now on my way to Markham. Its about 1000 miles empty. I will be there Tuesday and hopefully will get a load home. I could use a long weeked

 

Pets are against company policy. We go to many chemical plants that don't allow animals inside. You also can't have passengers go with you for the same reason. I would love to take my 14 year old son on the road with me but that isn't allowed.

 

7/15-7/18

Got to Markham around 7:30 PM EST wed 7/15. I had gotten no tank wash/drop trailer qualcomm message and there was no paperwork for my next load. I dropped my trailer and went to bed. The next morning I called Kankakee dispatch and they told me I would get a load out that day. I was already over 15 hours sitting so I got 8 hours of layover pay. Finally got a load that picked up at 2:00 AM Thursday delivering in Oakwood Ga at 8:00 AM Friday.

I took an afternoon nap and got up around 7:30PM. I got to talking to some of the local drivers and found out that this customer had plenty of parking where I was drop and hooking my load. I decided to head on down to Kankakee and wait for my load there. Made it no problem and to my delight my load was sitting on the lot ready to go. After an hour or so of dropping /hooking and paperwork I was on the road. I drove until a little after midnight and shut down about 450 miles away from the customer so i could get back on a daylight driving schedule.

The next day I hit the road only to get into a traffic jam that ate up 3 hours of the 8 that I had to drive that day. I made it within 120 miles of the consignee but that required me to drive around Atlanta to make an 8 am delivery appointment. I couldn't leave until 6 am and still get my break in. I sent a qual com saying I would be about an hour and a half late depending on traffic. Made it there by 8:30 the next morning.

This place had a pretty tight rack to back in. It required a blindside set up but there was plenty of room on the left side. I got in and straight. Only problem I was about 6 feet to the left of where I should have been. Finally got it inched over under the rack after about 5 pull ups.

Unloading took about 1.5 hours and i was sent home with my empty. Made it to High Point with 15 minutes to spare on my 70. My new CB actually allowed me to avoid a wreck that would have caused me to run out of hours. I stopped for lunch and let it die down.

I am home now until Tuesday