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

Thank goodness for that!

 

It comes down to parking in the 5 boroughs. With Commercial plates, even on a windowed van (but the rear seats have to go), a delivery person can park in certain spots where a passenger-plated vehicle gets towed, where the red signs are. But the Comm plates keep that vehicle off Parkways, which are passenger vehicles only. In Manhattan that includes Harlem River Drive and West Side Hwy. Just north of NYC that means the Saw Mill, Sprain Brook, Bronx River, or Hutchinson Parkways, which are all 4-lane. On Long Island there are also several of those, like a separate network of highways only for cars.

Expressway is their word for I-road. Anything goes but thus more crowded and likely to be jammed, so comm vehicles will try to sneak on the Parkways to make time. I worked with guys who had a silver van and their company lettering was another shade of silver that was barely readable. The clearances on the parkways are just enough for cars in some places, I've seen trucks getting removed from them and it probably wasn't a cheap day for that driver, lots of flashing lights involved.

To complicate matters further, Connecticut offered a Combination plate, which sometimes got a pass on the parkway and sometimes was honored in comm parking zones, but sometimes not. A big Mercedes with combination plates was likely to be towed from a delivery zone in midtown while a beat up van might not be, vice-versa for parkway running.

 

Doesn't make me wanting to avoid NYC any less.

 

Wait... When did we get cameras???
I hope they get my best side...

 

And yet you keep searching...
One day you will find it ... LOL

 

Well, from NYC I ran to another customer to swap my dry van for a reefer and headed to VT to pick up a load of VT Cheddar Cheese.

Taking it to Groveport to drop...
Not sure what's after that...

I hit just about everything today... Rain... Snow... Sleet... Snow... Fog... Rain... Repeat.

Then I hit the High Winds after the system passed over... That was enough... Pulled over, fueled up, and called this day complete.

Will drop in Grovesport come morning.


Stay Safe,
MD

 

My turn to rant about other Drivers.
Ok, maybe not rant but come on guys!!!

At the turn of the year, JohnBoy gave an annual review of the company that included the words "can/will vs can't/won't" to describe the different Drivers we have here at Abilene.

The other day I met a driver in the can't/won't camp...

I was on the yard for a few hours the other night... Part of that time I had my truck in the shop looking into the check engine codes it was tossing up at me the last couple weeks.

While waiting outside the shop I began talking to one of the drivers that was also waiting to get their truck looked at. This driver began complaining about not getting miles and having engine troubles and etc... I start feeling bad for the driver... Sucks to have a truck down and not drive... This driver was then commenting about the truck they gave to replace the other truck... One of the brand new KWs that just rolled onto the yard. (By this time, it's wearing on me)

Driver began to comment about being bumped out of line with their truck service. I asked what was wrong with the brand new truck, I have heard in this thread we had some issues with the new KWs. Well, it seems this brand new KW ... Wait for it... Needed some oil and had a loose screw on the door.

WHAT???

I just listened about not getting miles, and you are waiting and getting bumped by others to get your truck looked at... Started feeling sorry about them... AND ALL YOU NEED IS OIL???

Now I am not mechanically inclined... So I am glad we don't have to work on our own trucks but come on... Your waiting to have your oil topped off while complaining about not getting miles???

Now I am not bragging or patting myself on the back... So please don't read that into my following comments but...

Compare that to my experience that night.

Rolled onto the yard... Walked into the guard shack hoping some paperwork was there for me which wasn't. Talked to the night dispatcher guy a bit. It came out that I have been running nights lately and was only two hours into my 11/14... He had a troublesome load that he was not able to get covered. I told him it depends on my truck and the engine codes but if it's simple or gets fixed that I would run it up to NYC for him.

Now, guess who's truck was bumped to the head of the line... Part ordered and installed in under an hour... Hooked a King Pin and rolled off the Yard on what turned out to be a very nice long haul to NYC to VT to OH...

Now, personally, I don't give a hoot about which list I am on... And I didn't do anything but volunteer to help out the night dispatcher...

The other driver might still be there waiting to get the oil topped off and a screw on the door tighten...

Still complaining about not getting miles.

Ok... End of Rant...

 

Yea, that is inexcusable. I don't want anyone's job but mine. Sounds like that driver has my job.