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

Got my 5 drops off yesterday early. Instead of being done at 8pm, I was done at 4pm. At every stop I had, it took me longer to set up to get backed in then it did to actually unload. I sent in my empty call at 4:15, heard nothing back and drove to the TA the 111mm on 77 in Canton Oh to wait for my next adventure. I'm still waiting. I thought maybe I would get sent something by midnight but that wasn't to be. As soon as I get out from under the covers I'll send in another message.

 

I ordered from northamericanmattress.com, the "Road Elite". Size 78x42x6. $335+ shipping. It came to right at $395. The company is up in Portland Or. It came in 5 days by Fed Ex ground. It's a memory foam mattress with a pillow top. The best truck mattress I have ever slept on in 33 years. There's no flipping, or turning needed. A little pricey, but what a good nights sleep I get. If you get one, remember to take it out of the box inside the truck. It also takes a good 12 hours for it to fully expand into it's proper size. I just wish I had one years ago.

 

I've been a little busy the last few days. After I woke up in Canton Oh Tuesday morning I was bounced down to our customer in Columbus for a drop and hook going back to our customer in Colonial Heights. The load was ready when I got there at noon, drop and hooked then drove the 535 miles to the drop at the other end. I was up and in the shower at the Pilot yesterday morning when my phone rang. It was dispatch telling me that my reload was sitting on the yard and had to be in Mountain City Tn before 7pm last night. I got to the yard, hooked to the trailer and was at my drop at 5pm yesterday. I was done at 5:30. No reload came over the Qualcomm so I looked at the map and saw that I was only 24 miles to the Petro in Glade Spring Va. I decided to go there and spend the night, figuring they would send me a deadhead move in the morning to go to our Wytheville yard. At 8:30 this morning that's exactly what they did. I drove up to Wytheville, dropped my empty dry van, hooked to an empty reefer then was deadheaded back to our customer in Colonial Heights to drop the empty. I bobtailed back to the yard and got an Amazon load that I need to drop and hook at 2:30 in the morning. I need to be in Hebron Ky by 3pm. I should be there about noon. This is the same load I did for my very first one here at Abilene. This will be the 4th time I've done this particular load. Great on both ends. I'm just wondering what I'll be doing after I finish tomorrow, especially since it's Friday. I'm not concerned at all though, the way Abilene keeps their trucks loaded, I'm sure I'll be rolling over the weekend. Time for bed, gotta be up early.

 

Ok, let's see if I remember what I've done. Got loaded yesterday morning in Chester Va, suppose to have a 2:30 am drop and hook, got there at 2am, wide awake and ready to go, wait, the trailer wasn't done yet. I finally hooked to it at 4:30 and got checked out of the gate at 5am. It's 538 miles to Hebron Ky. I made a pot of coffee to fill my thermos and drove 4.5 hours straight then took my half hour break on the WVA Tpk. I left there then drove the last 4.5 hours nonstop to the delivery. I got there with exactly 2 hours left on my 11, was done there in 30 minutes, sent in my empty call then drove the 15 miles south to the Pilot. As soon as I parked and got ready for bed at 4:30 yesterday afternoon my reload came over the Qualcomm. Just as I figured, I had a drop and hook in Murray Ky, 325 miles south. The load was ready yesterday. I woke up and was rolling at 2:30 this morning. I got to Murray at 7:30, got my trailer and was headed to Denver with 2 drops for Monday. I'm now sitting at the Pilot at the 101mm on 70 in Mo, fueled, showered and will be leaving at 2am. I have to meet a driver in Salina Ks in the morning to get his snow chains for my truck to make the state of Colorado happy. My whole trip is 1390 miles including the deadhead, I put in 695 miles today, and should do the same tomorrow with a little less stress. My first drop is in Denver at 7am Monday, then Boulder at noon.

This was the first time I have gotten empty late on a Friday afternoon so I had some concerns about getting a reload. Knowing how Abilene keeps us loaded, it worked out just like I hoped it would. With some of the issues we have, staying loaded and rolling isn't one of them.

 

This was the 5th load I've done from there, and every one has never been on time. I couldn't go back to sleep so I had been up almost all night and half the day, I wrote a note to dispatch when I got empty that I was going to bed for 10 hours and basically didn't care that I had 2.5 hours left on the table.