From School to Superior Carriers

I have been to Nashville. It is a little smaller than Memphis. Never got loaded out of there

Our Companys preferred fuel stops are TA Perto and Loves. You can fuel anywhere that takes a comdata card though. They want you to limit it to 50 gallons if its not Loves TA or Petro.

I have prepass, ezpass and an Ohio Turnpike credit card.

They also pay for idleair

 

1/5-1/11

Not much to report for this week. I got a load I have done a couple of times hauling varnish and varnish reducer to a Wood Mode plant in Kreamer Pa. Its a beautiful drive into the heart of Amish country. Its a bit strange passing horse and buggys in a big rig. My load wasn't ready until around 4:00PM Tuesday in High Point and with all the placarding I hit the road around 4:45. It was sort of a pain because this tank did not have any of the plastic that goes into the placard holders. I know from experience that they will blow off especially in the rain without it. I keep 4 in my side box that I bought shortly after going solo. Fortunately these placards had the adhesive backs and I was able to get them into the holder. It was a pain sliding the sticky side in there. I still had one blow off but They gave me a couple of spares.

I was a little concerned about the weather as they were calling for freezing rain all night and an Ice storm warning was in effect for Harrisburg Pa and Kreamer until 1300 the next day. I was driving at night with a 7:00 AM delivery appt. Its only about 460 miles and I usually drive straight to the plant and park for the night in the unloading spot. I had hoped to get an earlier start. The weather was real nasty but the roads were fine through Virginia. I started hearing reports of icy roads into Pa. I figured the interstate would be fine but was worried about the secondary roads up to Kreamer. I decided to shut it down around the Va state line on I 81. It was about 10:00 PM.

I called dispatch at 6 the next morning telling them that I would be late and to reschedule for about 1300. I left Wed morning about 8:30 and the temp was right at freezing. The Ice storm warning lasted until 1300 but I think it was warmer than they expected. Roads were fine and I felt much better driving in daylight. I got a call from dispatch aroun 11:00 saying the plant had told him that they couldn't take me until 7:00 AM the next morning. I stopped, ate breakfast, grabbed a sub for dinner that night and headed to the plant. Got there about 13:15 and they decided to unload me right away. That took about 3 hours and I made it back to the same truck stop I stayed at the night before. I could have gotten closer to home but decided to split it up since I wasn't expecting a load out on Thursday anyway. Turns out I was right.

Got back Thursday about 11:30AM and they had nothing that day but might have a 1 day load on Friday. That didn't pan out so I was off until Monday. This week will not be too good for the bank account. I only got around 1000 miles plus about 6 hours of pay for weather/unloading delay. I did get lots of family time though. Went to the playoff game Saturday night and even though Jake Delhome sucked we still had a good time.

This week is starting out pretty well. I leave Monday with a system glue load headed to Meridian Ms. Last time I pulled this one I was sent on to Baton Rouge for my next load and it ended up being a pretty good week.

 

1/12-1/15

I arrived at the terminal around 2:30 Monday and cleaned up my truck a little. Went over to the glue plant a little early and they took me right in. I was on my way to Meridian Ms by 5:30 PM. This load didn't deliver until 7:00AM Wed so I shut it down at the Ga SC line.

Got up Tuesday morning with about 380 miles to go. I remembered talking to the plant manager where I was delivering and how proud he was of the cleanliness of his warehouse. My truck still had some salt on it from last week and I was in no hurry so I stopped at the Blue Beacon and got it washed. Made it to the truck stop in Meridian by 5:00 and shut down for the night. If I get this load again I may drive it back to the terminal after loading and spend the first night at home. With the time change I wound up taking about a 14 hour break. That seems to be the theme for theme for this week....Sit in the truck.

Unloading was uneventful and I was routed to Axis Alabama. Dispatch tells me there are a couple of runs loading Friday and delivering Monday. One is to New York and the other is to Cincinnati. He also thinks one plant may call some in tomorrow. They had a tornado at the plant last week and are just getting it back up and running. I am hoping that happens tomorrow. As it is now I am on the layover clock.

Say hello if you are working this week.

 

Yes looking at it now that's exactly what I should have done. I left at 5:30PM and it was 640 miles. I could have made it to Meridian by 5:30AM even if I took a couple of 30 min breaks. That would have given me 25.5 hours before my delivery time and I could have collected another 8 hours of layover pay. The only way to make that work is to take one less 10 hour break though. I doubt I would have been as safe on the road that way. I don't do as well driving after 1:00AM.