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

I thought they were a myth as well, Uturn! Haven't pulled one in about 2 or 3 months. I was stuck in the LL loop also. Now I'm stuck in the Givens and Sabra loop. Chesapeake to Berea then Columbus to Richmond. With a sprinkling of northeast mixed in between. Did get the 1 FL but the backhaul sent me right back northeast. Gotta love it! I'm headed to Berea right now off home time, as a matter of fact. I'm going to call Walter about mid morning and "tell" him I'll just head to Columbus when I'm empty! LOL This load has so much time built into it, it's not funny. Picks up one day at 11 am and delivers the next at 4 pm. And it's 611 miles. Of course with the bad weather, it's nice to be able to shut down and not have to deal with it, but when the weather gets better, it's a straight shot. But, here's the kicker, the receiver will NOT take you early. They say they don't have the room for what we bring in until their trucks go out for the day. Lovely. Would almost rather have LL!

Safe travels everyone. JB, hope you get home soon. .

 

I have a couple of questions. I appreciate answers from Abilene drivers, as my trust in recruiters has it's limits. Does Abilene give you a fixed fuel stop or stops on each load or do they have open fuel cards at approved truck stops? Also, is it forced dispatch to NYC and the NE? And since they don't have APUs on the trucks is idleing an issue when it's hot weather time? On my way to work Sunday I stopped at the Pilot at exit 20 on I-75 in Tennessee and ran into Bobby Jones, a driver for Abilene. He answered many questions and was very happy. Between this great thread and my talk with Bobby I am ready to apply and get back on the road.

 

Always enjoy your threads/posts. Sorry for waking the dead on this post from last year....but being from Minneapolis, I have to ask.....where the heck is this Dunkin Donuts in Minneapolis.... because I'm going to drive up there right now!!!

 

NYC and the NE are forced. Yup. When I started, NYC wasn't, but now it is. We fuel and Pilot, Flying J, and Loves. But we aren't told where or how much. We can't fuel in FL, VA, WV, NC, or PA ( not sure on that one) because all but FL are close to the yard. And FL taxes are too high.

The trucks idle at temps over 68 degrees or under 30 degrees. They don't like you to idle, but they don't tell you that you can't either.

Hope this answered your questions. Everyone is pretty straightforward at this company. Maybe we will be welcoming you on board soon.

 

Rebelchick, thanks so much. I'll be talking to a recruiter soon.

 

Hi gang. We delivered our Hill Phoenix load in Glenview IL right on time this morning. Chicago rush hour made it tough and the location had Big Brin beside himself due to a lack of space. Tighter than a 40 year old virgin female. Oops. Bad parallel. Sorry ladies that read this, but you get the idea. It's the toughest HP delivery he has to do by far, so Rebelchick and U turn1, you should be glad you didn't get this one. It took them 45 minutes to unload and we were gone by 930am. Dispatch had us drop the trailer at a USX yard 40 miles south of Chicago and then we bobtailed to Holland MI just south of Grand Rapids for Boars Head load. We had a 12-4 window and arrived before 4. We got there and the load was not ready and would not be until tomorrow at an undetermined time. Big Brin notified Brett. The load delivers Thursday afternoon Westminster Colorado and Friday 5am in Salt Lake so still plenty of time if they get it done. Anyway we bobtailed to a Wal-Mart and parked there for the evening. Luckily they had a Steak and Shake. Didn't have to settle for Subway again. Thank God! Until next time so long and stay safe.


George

 

George, that is just the beginning. Lol. Plenty of fun dock areas in Chicago, especially the one you have to back in off a 4 lane street downtown.

LL I just did in Hartford, CT took me near two hours. They were getting hammered with snow and the way they had the parking lot pushed you had to blindside scraping a dumpster and plowing the berm with pushbar.

 

They say don't fuel in Southern PA. That is b/c the distance is close enough to the Richmond yard. Use your discretion. If a load assignment isn't going to get you by the yard or you have to run partial tanks or other circumstances go ahead and fuel. You can use the Pilot at the 58 in VA if need be or the 2 hooks near Wytheville. Picking up in Fairport, NY and fueled at Casstleton at 4.48 gal dayuuummmm

 

Wow. I have fueled full up in all those restricted states except WV. Never had one word said to me whatsoever. Breakin the law!!! Tucker failed to instruct my orientation on that I suppose!

 

Ran 631 miles today in 10.5 hours, a personal record for me. Big Brin wanted to put me through my paces and I felt great enough to do it. From Holland Michigan to the flying J in Gretna Nebraska just west of Omaha. BB took over and got us to North Platte. We are less than 300 miles away to our first drop in Westminster CO and we will leave at 8 am. Haven't been to the Denver area in 34 years. Looking forward to tomorrow. I look forward to everyday. Something I couldn't say for a very long time. Goodnight fellow Abilenees.

George