From the schoolbus to Transland

Here is a pic of me at a cave loading dock.

 

November 2nd - November 8, 2008

Well I had asked for the Halloween weekend off and Transland delivered. (No pun intended) But I had to worry about another week where I may not get out until wednesday. Sunday I stayed home which was no surprise so I took advantage of the day and hung out with the kids.
Monday I called my FM I didn't have to go to work yet but I had a load going to Plainview, TX that left first thing in the morning. Not as much a late start like last time but there was also a preplanned for after the Plainview run which was good news.

Tuesday I got up early and headed for work. I loaded my truck with my groceries and fresh clothes, did a pretrip which found my wipers and headlight fixed and bobtailed 9 miles to the shipper. I hook up and noticed my weight pressure gauges acting funny. The weight of this load was just over 42000 lbs which is the border of which I decide to scale or not. Most of the time I pick the "sweet" spot in the tandems read the gauges and I am usually ok. But this shipper sometimes loaded these trailers heavy in the nose so it was off to the scale for me. I had my guess right in which I had both the tandems and drives perfectly balanced but to my surprise I was 100 lbs over on my steer. Every time I have scaled this truck my steer has always been 11900 or 11800. I noticed my trailer seemed closer but I haven't moved the 5th wheel.I guess now was a good time to attempt to move it. How it moved in the first place is still a mystery. Well the pins wouldn't budge on one side so I headed out a little delayed but not to worried about just 100 lbs. I still had plenty of time to get there. I get to just outside Plainview and hit the bunk.

Wednesday I get to the consignee which was a drop and hook at wally world distro center. I lucked out and found an empty. Right before I hooked to it I sprayed all the moving fith wheel parts with wd40 and was able to adjust it and started my dead head to Big Springs, TX. My appointment wasnt until 4:30pm but seeing as how this place had a major attitude towards drivers I had low expectations to get loaded early. I took my time and park at the TA just near the shipper in Big Spring. This place wanted the trailer immaculate because they need them clean for the plastic bottles that get shipped so I got out my broom and did some work. After I was done it was about noon and I headed to the shipper. When I get there I see one of our new Transland trucks and the driver greets me when I am on the way into the office. She tells me she has been sitting since 8am because they rejected her trailer. Even though she swept it there was still aluminum bits from her last load. Surprisingly they were nice to me, nice about me being early, and they accepted my trailer. I backed into the dock and watched some prarie dogs in the neighboring field for entertainment. This load was going to a cola place in Wichita, KS for a 4:30pm thursday appointment. There is no room to stage at the consignee and you are not allowed to be more than an hour early. I fueled at The Pile-it in Weatherford which took an amazing longer time than usual but it helped my timing to miss most of the rush hour in Dallas. I get to Ardmore, OK and hit the bunk for the night. The wind was getting bad and with me only having 3000 lbs in the wagon I was glad to get off the road.

Thursday I slept in. The thunderstorms and winds swayed my truck side to side all night. According to the weather news it looked like the wind was going to get worse towards Kansas today and tonight. I figured out the right amount of time that I needed to get to Wichita and headed out. The wind was ridiculous. The wind had all of us big trucks all over the road. I timed it where I got to my destination right at 3:45. To my surprise I was given a dock right away. Another surprise was I had my next load assignment. It was to deadhead 81 miles to Lyons, KS with an open window pickup until 10pm. Should be plenty of time to get there. After an hour I realized that it might take longer than I thought to get unloaded and the cola place was known for taking three and four hours to unload. As long as I could get two hours to get to Lyons I would be ok. Three hours later I am unloaded and I rush as much as my 65mph truck would let me to Lyons. The wind seemed worse plus I was empty and I had heard on the news that two big trucks had been blown over just north of where I was. I made it safe and sound and got loaded right away. It was 45000 lbs of rock salt headed to California, MO. For once I was glad I had a heavy load plus now the wind was a tailwind as I headed to Hesston, KS where I bunked for the night.

Friday morning I was awakened by a message from my FM. I had my next load assignment. It was a 100 mile deadhead to Union, MO and needed to be picked up by 4pm. After estimating my time I called in and said it was gonna be tight and I risked sitting in a small town all weekend if I didn't get there in time. My FM called back and said the shipper would hold out until 6pm. If I can get unloaded in California within an hour's time I could make it. The bad part is that I still had a fuel stop and I had to weigh this load. I get to the hook and get fuel. That part went smooth but just getting my reciept to sign took over ten minutes. Because of that I decided to guess at the tandems and slid them without scaling. Just a little down the road I had a funny feeling and decided to stop at the TA before the scalehouse to weigh the load. That took longer than needed thanks to an inconsiderate driver who weighed his load and then parked in front of the scale to go inside. After he moved I scaled, parked my truck, ran inside and was surprised to find no line. Good. but apparently I was over on the drives and slid the tandems back to where they were before. Apparently my first guess was right on the money. Geez, at least it's one less worry. Awhile later I found myself at the customer and was unloaded promptly. I hauled booty to Union, MO with only a half an hour to spare. Whew. I was picking up a nice load of milk crates (empty) to go to a drop and hook customer in Fayetteville, AR due monday morning. I asked my FM if I could stay on this load and do my 34hr restart in Fayetteville. I had friends there so it wouldn't be bad and it would be better than possibly sitting at home until wednesday. Drivers sitting at the house were lower on the dispatch priority than those sitting in their trucks. I drive to Lebanon, MO where my hours were up bunked for the night.

Saturday I drive to a small Pile-it where I get the last parking space available, had dinner with friends and sat until monday morning to deliver. This week I had just over 2000 miles which is good considering it started late on Tuesday.

 

November 9 to November 15
I had made the choice of staying in the truck this weekend in hopes of getting a load quicker and to keep moving this week, or it could backfire and I would be at a truckstop for two days. If that happened I at least would get layover.

Monday I headed to my destination which was a dairy inside Fayetteville, AR. I get there and look for the shipping/recieving office which became a small challenge. I go into a myriad of different doors and even asked the tanker side where I could find someone. Finally after no success I track down one of the local drivers and find the person needed. I drop and hook and head to a grocery store I spotted just a block away to wait for my next load assignment. I used this opportunity to get some groceries and before 11:00 am I had my next load. Deadhead to Carthage , MO 90 miles away and take it to New Braunfels, TX which was a 606 mile load with a tuesday delivery at 1pm. When I am loaded I expected to have a 44,000 lb load but was surprised with the truck only being half loaded. It was wire and they only had half or what the customer asked for but was told to ship what they had. Other than a fuel stop in Muskogee, OK I drive without incident to Waco, TX where I hit the sac. I didn't have far to go and I was hoping that the customer would unload me early. I was willing to gamble even though I hadn't been there before.

Tuesday I wake up to a massive thunderstorm and head out. I drive in torrential rain almost to my destination sometimes going at only 40 mph. Even the supertruckers were taking it easy it seemed. During my drive I get my next assignment which is to dead head 186 miles to Laredo, TX and that goes 1111 miles to McDonough, GA. The best part is that the trailer was preloaded and the GA end was drop as well with an open window thursday. I get to the reciever in New Braunfels and find out that they were more than happy to unload me early. Great. I didn't even have to back in a dock because they use thos portable ramps. At first I thought I would have a heck of a time getting out but they had a system. Instead of a truck turning around (which would be difficult in their small lot) one backs into the adjacent street while a worker with a stop sign stops traffic for you. I get out and head for Laredo. I show up only to find out that they didn't have a trailer to preload and my load was gonna have to be a live load. Plus the shipper also had some rules on the quality of trailers and I was worried about mine being rejected. Luckily they accepted my trailer and was loaded fairly quickly. I headed out and experienced my first time going through a scalehouse that was near the border which had the dogs and xrays. I wanted to get enough miles in to where I could drive my full 11 hours on wednesday and drop early thursday where I could have enough time to get another load offer before the day was done. I picked a nice rest area and hit the sack.

Wednesday I timed the entire trip where I wouldn't be hitting any big cities during rush hour. I am getting better at this and it payed off today. I find a rest area four hours from Atlanta, GA and went to bed.
Thursday I get to Mcdonough which is just outside of Atlanta and drop and hook without incident. As I was doing this I got my next assignment. It was to deadhead 30 miles to Union City and take it to Goodletsville, TN which is just outside Nashville. This was only a 273 mile run but the worst part was that my pick up time was 9pm and the load had to be in at the reciever by 8am friday. I head to the shipper and gambled to see if I can get loaded early. I get there and this place is a big cluster of too many trucks and trailer in a small space. My gamble didn't pay off this time and was told to come back at my appoinment time. I did luck out and found a truckstop nearby which was good because to do this load legally I had to put in a ten hour break get loaded and drive most of the overnight hours to pull this off. After trying to sleep I get to the shipper and sat in the dock for two hours. A yard jockey says I am ready so I pull out and to my surprise I am not even half loaded! I go to the office and am told to go across the street. Apparently they have more product in another warehouse and that was where the rest of my load was. I go across the street and had some really thick fog to manuever in.

Friday morning at 2am I was finally loaded and I headed to the TS to scale the load. I made the proper adjustments and headed to a very thick foggy drive. I was ok on time until I get 20 miles from Nashville and the highway is stopped due to an accident. Now I was worried about making my appointment time. Finally the freeway starts moving and I get to the customer with only a half an hour to spare. After getting unloaded I head to a small TS where I will wait for my next assignment. I guess this week is over and I have about 2300 miles. Until next time.

 

Hopefully I can catch up this weekend. This week I got in over 3000 miles paid. That's not counting the miles that were unpaid.

 

November 16 - November 22

Basically I spent most of Friday and Saturday in my truck at a small crappy TS in Goodletsville, TN. I debated going to the Pilot in Nashville but from what I have heard about that place and the risk of losing the decent parking I had I decided to stay put. Saturday Afternoon I get my next assignment. It was to pick up in Nashville at 5am sunday and it had two stops. One in the heart of chicago and the second in Bolingbrook, IL With a total of 463 miles due on Monday morning 8am.

Sunday I get up at 4am and deadhead to the shipper. It was fairly easy to find except for the shipping office. After walking almost around the whole morning I find the shipping office and was granted a dock door off the bat. Within an hour I was loaded and I headed to the pilot for fuel and to scale the load. My plan was to make it into Monee, IL to park and then head into Chicago early. With my appoinment time being 8am that would put me deep in the heart of the city during rush hour which could possibly make me late. It's always best to head out at 4am and "adjust" the log later. Sunday afternoon I barely squeeze into one of the last spots at The Petro in Monee and hit the bunk.

Monday I did my usual and head to the heart of Chicago and said a small prayer hoping the directions I had were correct. As I get closer I discover I am definitely heading downtown. It was at The Chicago Tribune where if I threw a rock I could get close to the Sears Tower. It was fairly easy to find. I get in line where the recieving worker obviously hates his life and was unloaded promptly at my appointment time. Now for stop #2. Getting out became a small challenge due to my ignorant missed turn. After trying to flag down a couple of locals I found myself in a neighborhood that looked unfriendly. In fact at one point I passed a liquor store where a patron literally fell and passed out in the sidewalk walking out as I drove by. I was able to flag down a maintenence guy and he helped me back to the interstate. I get on the interstate and head to Bolingbrook which is outside of Chicago and is a major industrial park off of I55. This time my missed turn was due to bad directions but someone helpful pointed me in the right direction. I bumped dock just in time and waited. I did have a preplan with an open window in Aurora so no worries there. One hour later I was unloaded but told to find a parking spot by dispatch because my preplanned was cancelled. So I find a hidden corner of the reciever's lot and await my orders. An hour later I get a load assignment. It was to deadhead to Woodstock, IL 60 miles away and was to be delivered to Springfield, MO on Tuesday anytime D&H. Off I go. When I arrived at this plastics place I had to put on a hairnet, a beard net, and a disposable smock/jacket suit thing. After putting all this garb on I walked up to the window and told to back into a door. A lot of waste just to be in for five minutes. I bump dock and passed the time watching the snow fall. Luckily it wasn't sticking to the roads. I was loaded within an hour and I headed to Springfield with only 10000 lbs. I got to Springfield, IL where I shut down for the night. I was tired and there was no reason to push especially since I was heading back to my home town not knowing if I was gonna get a load or not tomorrow.

Tuesday I was wakened by a small woman asking if she could get in my truck at 3am. I told her not so politely no and got a couple more hours of sleep. I head out towards St. Louis at rush hour but I have learned to go through the middle and you avoid the traffic on the loop which proved to be another good decision and got through fairly easily. I get to Springfield where I was delivering to a dairy place. Just like the one in Fayetteville last week no one seemed to know where recieiving was. After sneaking into a cold storage area and going through a moving maze of milk and their crates I find the right office. I get my papers signed and was told there were no empty trailers. It didn't matter because I had a load where I was to bobtail to a shipper in Springfield pick up a preloaded trailer and it was gonna go 728 miles to Macon, GA due by wednesday 4pm. I get as far as Calvert City, KY and hit the bunk.

Wednesday I wake up and head out for a good solid 8 hour drive. After hitting some bad construction traffic outside Atlanta I make it into Macon. I drop the trailer and and was getting ready to grab an empty when my Mobilemax squealed at me. My next assignment was from the very same place going back to Springfield with a Thursday night delivery. The trailer wasn't ready so I waited at a nearby fast food joint and ate dinner. Two hours later I head out and back through Atlanta. Just about took out a minivan which was driving without headlights in the dark. Shortly I saw that the van had hit someone and was pulled over argueing with someone. I make it to Cartersville where I fuel and bunk for the night.

Thursday I drive the full nine hours back to Springfield thinking I was gonna be home for the whole weekend when I delivered I had my next assignment. It was unexpected since I asked to be in this weekend. I was to go 38 miles tomorrow to pick up a load at 1pm but it wasn't due til Monday in Decatur, AL at 8am. Good. I bobtailed to the yard went home and slept in my own bed.

Friday I take my kids to school and then went to the yard early to clean my truck up. I head out to Aurora, MO where I was loaded. I brought everything back to the yard and headed home. I will be off until early Sunday.

My breakdown in miles:
Goodletsville DH to nashville, TN - 10
Nashville to Chicago and Bolingbrook - 463
BolingBrook DH to Woodstock, IL - 58
Woodstock, IL to Springfield, MO - 530
Springfield, MO to Macon, GA - 737
Macon, GA to Springfield, MO - 737
Springfield, MO to Aurora, MO - 35
Total 2570

 

Well look at me I have fallen behind again.

Usually this happens when I am rolling. I have been rolling mostly and when I am home I have been dealing with the holidays. So for those that like to read my posts I will start fresh from the new year and keep a much more detailed account of my miles and experiences. But for the last post of 2008 I have some news. Here's the story:

This week was a typical week until Thursday. Thursday morning I delivered in Lamar, MO. After about two hours sitting in a truckstop I was told to deadhead to the yard which was 79 miles.

About halfway home I get a message on my mobilemax. It said to get my things out of my truck and move into truck # ***. Well this upset me for a couple of reasons. First the "new" truck was only two numbers higher than mine. Let me explain our system.
Our trucks are numbered in the order they are bought by the company. The higher number you have the newer the truck you have. A lot of our older trucks have been slated for selling off. Then the truck lines are moved down. The older ones go to our contaner division, the slightly newer trucks that have about 400000 miles or so go to the short haul division, and the brand new ones and newer ones go to long haul which is what I am.
So now I am thinking that I am moving into what I thought was another Volvo that came off the assembly line just two trucks after mine. Not worth the effort of a massive move. I could have sworn that I saw a volvo that had that number so I went in and talked to my FM. He said he would see what he could do. It was the end of the day and the guy in charge of moving trucks around was already gone. My FM said don't worry about moving tonight and to come in the morning because the new truck had not moved for a week and he didn't know why.
So as I was sitting there pouting curiosity got the better of me and I started to look for my new truck. I searched the entire lot. Couldn't find it. So I walked in the shop. To my surprise I find a shiny nice PETERBILT that had my number on it. Woohoo Christmas has come early. I was getting a Peterbilt 387 and a new Qualcomm was being installed. The shop said the truck would be ready by Noon tomorrow. Well I scrambled to my FM's desk and left him a note that the switch was ok and to not worry about it.

Here is a picture



The next day I started the process of moving. Jeez this was like switching apartments with a bad set of stairs. I had no idea how much crap I had acquired. Basically I piled everything on the bed, hooked up my CB radio and had to drive to Tulsa for an early morning delivery. I made it to the J and started messing with settling in.

Now I know a couple of you readers have expressed how you like the Volvo and I will state the main differences. As far as cab comfort, knooks and crannies to put things, and the steering radius I liked my little Volvo. It's also a lighter truck so I could pull as much as 47000 lbs and not be over weight. But the truck's suspension tossed you around. A gust of wind or a rut in a road would throw you around. The truck didn't feel "surefooted" around turns and rough roads. And the Volvo engine just didn't have any power. Even empty you would have to shift down to seven on the Branson foothills.

The Peterbilt has power. I was 79080 lbs yesterday (The BOL said I had 45000 lbs on) and it performed better than if the Volvo had only 20000 on it. The truck doesn't get shifted quite as easily on ruts and wind. The pete has a cat engine and I can only imagine how good the truck would be if it wasn't cut back. This truck is a lot heavier and had a Tripac so I can't take anything That's over 45000. When I got emptied in Tulsa I fueled up and scaled my truck empty with full tanks so I know what my limits are on weight. A good tip my trainer taught me. The truck is a little harder to back up but I trained in one of these and it will be just a matter of getting used to it.

I want to wish everyone happy holidays and I will start with week one of 2009. Cheers!

 

Well everyone I will be updating soon. Last week was one those weeks where I might as well just come out of school. Couldn't get anything right. Still moving though which is good for the current climate. Until then...