Abilene Motor Express....A New Place To Call Home

That's the thing about all the companies touting big CPM. That's great if your out a week and home every weekend. If I'm going to sit, I prefer my couch. But when you're out 4+ weeks, keep me rolling please.

I actually use that as sort of a formula when looking at companies. Big CPM most often means less miles. Unless of course you're a seasoned vet who's both earned it and can command it.

 

I'm with you, if I'm going to be away from home keep me busy. Nice thing about Abilene are those west coast runs. A lot of companies won't let solo drivers go coast to coast anymore. I love running the west coast, to me thats a big plus. Who wants to load and unload everyday, not me. I don't mind doing my share, but it sure is nice having a mix of both.

As usual, spoke to JB today and he was extremely gracious with his time, thanks again John!

 

I'm just the opposite. I do like going on long hauls, don't get me wrong. But I really like short runs. I like the runs where I start my day at 7:00am, hit my consignee around noon, get the next load assignment by 1:00pm, and am at the next consignee by 6:00pm.

I don't have the attention span to keep the door closed for 6 hours or more, so I like having my day broken up into smaller chunks. I still have very fond memories of the day I started out in Wytheville, finished up in Wytheville, and in between ran to the Hyster-Yale plant in Berea, KY. That was just a great day. Felt like a local driver!

And I still like the Gatorade loop. Wytheville to Indy to Wytheville to Indy... Lather, rinse, repeat. I'll run those any day of the week. Solid miles, beautiful scenery, and the always-entertaining West Virginia Turnpike. And it's drop-and-hook on both ends. I understand some folks dislike that run, but I can't see why. Unless they just don't like having 21 tons of Gatorade pushing them down the side of a mountain. But that's what makes it fun!

 

I don't mind those gator runs once in a while. But too much gets boring fast. And it's not about the weight. After all, try your hand at pulling this 22 tons of basically dirt from Lovelock NV to PA along the 80. Just a couple hills to be pushed down on this path. That's cool. It's dragging them up the other side that's boring.

 

How is the yard in Richmond as far as drivers personal vehicles. Is it paved or dirt, usually full or plenty of room?

I'm considering keeping my personal vehicle there when on the road. I'm not real close but not too far either, 150 miles. Would be nice to have the ability to go home if my truck were ever in the shop for 24 hours or so. Not sure how often that happens.

 

The yard and employee lots are paved. The only dirt area is the overflow tractor parking outside the gate. I've never had an issue finding parking for my personal vehicle in the lot but usually it'll be in the back.

 

I'll take the Gatorade loop any day. Steady miles, drop/hook and knowing exactly where you are going and what you are doing when you get there. Boring has its advantages.

Coast to coast has its advantages too. Usually can make your own driving schedule and minimal contact with crabby shippers and receivers. The only downside is that those runs tend to include California.

 

Ugh! Y'all can have those lovely Gatorade runs. I'll be sure to let them know y'all will gladly take the run so I won't have to! LOL I just did Columbus to Wytheville then to Mountain Top. Beat me to death for 2 days. The pos I drive (injector issues which the shop won't listen to me about since I'm a girl so I can't possibly know what I'm talking about - imagine that) can't even pull worth a dang to get them up the hills. Heck, I've even gotten up and gone in the back to make dinner just trying to climb Flat Top!

 

Oh, trust me darlin, it has nothing to do with you being a girl. I'm a guy AND a mechanic and they know it. They still won't replace my injectors and I've had the issue from day 1 when I rescued ole Bessy from the dealer in WV last July.

What did the dealer do to it? Put ONE new injector in it. I said only one? That's really odd. They said yeah. It's all our shop would authorize. If y'all remember, I barley made it to the shop cause the engine was shaking so bad I really thought it was gonna jump off the frame. Been trying to get new ones ever since.

The closest I've come is FINALLY getting reimbursed for SOME of the injector cleaner I've been adding. It helps a lot but it's no cure. Aside from power issues, MPG is also crap in this truck.

 

Speaking of the Gatorade loop, I did a drop-and-hook here at Indy yesterday. Most of the time, I drop a loaded trailer and grab an empty. But yesterday, I dropped a loaded trailer over on Decatur Dr and then picked up a loaded trailer here at Orly Dr.

Doing my usual pre-trip inspection of the trailer, I noticed that either the yard jockeys or the previous driver had left me a little present in one of the tires. It was holding air, though, so I decided to motor down the road a ways and get it fixed after I stopped for the night.

Actually didn't get it fixed until this morning (the one guy at the shop was out for a roadside repair when I rolled in, so I figured I'd wait until this morning), and they pulled this out of my tire:



After getting that taken care of, I scaled out to make sure my axles were legal. I've gotten pretty good at estimating where to stick the tandems to get the weight distributed evenly, but when I'm hauling 44,800, it never hurts to be sure. And that's when I discovered that the fine folks at Orly Dr had also left me a present:



Most of the weigh stations between Indy and Wytheville are perma-closed, but that one close to Wytheville is always open. And I won't burn off enough fuel between here and there to be legal by the time I arrive.

Unfortunately, I had waited until I was an hour and a half down the road before weighing out. This is my own fault. I've run the Gatorade loop a dozen times at least, and while I've had to adjust the tandems after weighing out, I've never actually been over gross in a dry van. I got overconfident and decided to drive down the road a bit before hitting the scales instead of scaling out nearby. So I had to drive 1.5 hours in the wrong direction back to Orly, and here I sit waiting for them to remove a pallet or two.

Live and learn!