CRETE - A Year in Review

Ouch! NC is tough at the moment. I drove off the last 110 miles of my run Wen morning and delivered my load in Greensboro and had my MT call in by 7am thinking I would get a load out. I sat the rest of the day and as suspected ended up getting a run right back into PA (380mi) that didn't pickup until this morning (Thur), but at least it was a drop delivery and I got it here a day early. Of course there was no freight available once empty, but I didn't expect anything at 5pm. I was content with waiting until 2mrw morning for a load out, fulling expecting to sit around until at least 2mrw afternoon.

Four hours into my break I start getting messages from dispatch. They need a Shaffer load covered (at least my truck will match my trailer for a change). Someone Tcalled it in the New Kingstown yard and I guess I'm in the best position to get it delivered less late than other drivers. So I will be running a 3 stop delivery to 3 different Wal-Mart DC, and because someone dropped the trailer and they didn't get it covered in time, I will be making 3 late deliveries to those 3 different Wal-Mart DC's. It may be a 1000mi run, but anyone want to place bets on how well this weekend works out for me.

Should be a hoot! Love a challenge.

 

One thing to keep in mind is that the regional guys get preferential treatment when it comes to getting loads so that they can make it home on a weekly basis. I saw it in action when I was sitting in the Columbus terminal yesterday (I put in for the night to get the truck worked on AGAIN. Nothing big, just the same little problems that no one can seem to figure out). OH was a horrible area for freight this week. I was in the Columbus yard most of Friday and talked to a number of drivers that had been there since Wen morning and they were either getting loads out Fri night or early Sat morning. Apparently there were something like 115 trucks waiting for a load on Thurs. Anyway, I was was talking to a SE regional guy who had delivered into town Fri morning and already had a load offer going back to Atl to get him home for the weekend.

So basically, your weekly average may not be all that good, but if this economy gets any worse, us national drivers might be getting close to your mileage soon. At least you know you can get home almost at will.

My miles are slumping a bit, instead of 3400-3500mi weeks, I seem to be running around 3000mi as an average. This week looks like I'm going to end with just under 2700mi and the previous weeks were 3950, 3052, 3200.

I also talked to one of those annoying GM dedicated guys. He is still getting 3200-3500mi per week with 90%+ drop/hook and almost always preplanned . Grrrrr!