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

I have heard so many horror stories about that place. Ranks right up there with Brooklyn for me.

 

Wallow away, for a while. It will make you feel better afterwards. And hopefully you will have a terrific birthday and anniversary when you get home.

 

Sorry to hear that JB, hopefully you find a food truck while you're there. Instantly puts me in a better mood, and it just gets me out of the truck. Sometimes it's all you need, hopefully you get rolling soon my friend. You deserve some much needed home time.

 

Well delivered my BH in Atlanta 0400 1st stop. Ran down 75 and the sleet started at 0330. Did a 2nd stop at 0500 and it was all just rain. Went to bed and got up at 1430. No rain, no snow, no sleet. Got a buddy that lives in Dawsonville and posted a pic of snow in the yard so I guess just north Atl got it. My phone woke me up with an Atl State of Emergency message so they are expecting it sometime today.

Turned the truck on and a load assignment came through. When my QC goes to sleep I have to turn the truck on for it to come on, it does not boot up on its own. Hey look a 1230 appt and here it is 1430 and I don't come off my 10 til 1500. I call the broker and get the info. It's just down the road at Americold. Get there at 1645 and they said it was a 1500 appt. they said no problem and put me in a door. 2100 I was done loading, but hey I bet detention will be denied b/c it was a 1230 appt and I was late. What a joke. Just like my 2500 or less miles a week. This company has been going down the crapper since that big meeting they had a couple months ago.

 

A clean truck is always a good start!

Happy birthday/anniversary next week, JB!

 

I can sympathize with Johnboy on this issue. He has done a terrific job and not asked for a lot out of Abilene. Do companies make mistakes?? Sure, but they ought to take care of their drivers first foremost as they are the driving force of the industry. Will be interesting to see how this plays out. sorry to hear the bad news about your aunt JB. Happy Birthday/Anniversary JB.

KH

 

So far this week, I have been down to Miami to Publix, then picked up flowers for Lee Sigler (nightmare load!) headed to Elizabeth NJ. Let me tell you, I was there for 16 hours. Gotta love that! And they charged $400 for the lumper. The shipper got them talked down to $300, but he didn't want to pay more than $150 for it. After much arguing back and forth for 2 hours, Abilene finally paid it. Then headed to Dayton NJ to pick up fish for Star in Richmond. Had gosh awful traffic all the way thru Baltimore when I finally said enough and shut down for the night at the rest area at the 38 mm. A couple hours later, the snow began. Had a fun filled morning driving on the not so plowed roads, but did have a great running partner who helped me tremendously with pointers for the weather/road conditions.

I so wish this snow would go away. Sitting on the yard tonight after being assigned no less than 2 loads that were not possible for me to do (and 1 that was already assigned to another driver) because I have home time scheduled for this weekend. Seriously. First, they wanted me to go to Halls in South Plainfield NJ for 8 am delivery. Could not do. Didn't have hours for today and if I was to leave at midnight, I would not have gotten home on time. Next, they gave me a different Halls load, um.....SSDD people. Next, got a Williamsport, MD load out of RCS for 11 am delivery, so headed over there to get the trailer and haul boogie as the snow and ice began again. Got a call from my FM as I was pulling into RCS that my trailer was actually on the yard and my appt. was for 3 pm instead. Mind you, I was BT in all that crappy snow and ice. I asked my FM if he was just trying to give me more winter weather driving experience! LOL

This pay period has been the worst since I got Walter for my FM. The lack of preplanning really hurt me this week. Especially on the Miami load. I had so much time to get down there so I stopped at a couple places I had been wanting to see and didn't get the reload information until Sunday. I would have utilized my time much better had I known what my next move was. I could have dropped the nightmare flower load on the yard and (hopefully) turned and burned with another load. Also, coming off home time last week, I had 2 days to go 600 miles for my first load out. It's just been strange. I have only been running in the north and NE for the last 2 months with the exception of 3 FL loads (until the Miami load, my last FL load was on 1/10). I called Walter and asked who had a boner for me because I had been getting a mix of loads before. Then went on to list how many times I had been to each state in the north and NE in the last 2 months. I had my facts together and I think I handled it pretty well. Never did get an answer to what the issue was, but I do know that any time I am in the Richmond area or coming off home time, I get crappy freight. Haven't hauled a HP load in months, mostly LL and Sabra. But, I can't seem to get out of the cycle right now. I have consistently been getting 5500-6000 miles per pay period until this one, even with the runs I have been getting, so I can't complain about that. I have been getting what my buddy calls "hard" miles. Pick up one day, deliver and pick up another load the next, repeat. Haven't really had long loads to stretch out on. And that is something that needs to change.

Hope everyone is safe in this nasty weather and I know we all can't wait for spring/summer so we can complain about how hot it is! LOL

 

All the drivers I talk to have been through similar in the past pay period. Terry was one of the other trucks in Miami for the flowers too. They switched his load there 3 times. He did drop on the yard. As for your FM when he answers I hang up and call back!