Adventures of a Flatbedder at Roehl

As I sit here in Marshfield, AGAIN, I ponder on how my first "trip" has been. Here is my history to date.

Marshfield to Golden Valley, MN (my maiden get me home voyage) 180 miles
Minneapolis to Mt Horeb, WI 306 miles
Janesville, WI to Cottage Grove Yard (Relay drop) 110 Miles (sorry for whoever got it)
Marshfield to Monroe, NC 1234 Miles
Charlotte, NC to Dodge Center, MN 1167 Miles
Eau Claire, WI to Manitowac, WI 348 Miles

So for my 12 Days out that's a whopping 3165 Miles!
Now, I did have a lost day because of the relay issue and load shifting. I also lost out on the weekend taking a reset in NC. Either way I need to get more miles, Flatbed rookie or not.

On a side note, if anyone ever has to pick up from an unnamed DC in Eau Claire, WI.... RUN RUN RUN I spent 6, yes S I X hours getting loaded their. Did I mention I ran out of hours WAITING around. And to top it off, one of their yard dogs, I use the term dog nicely, b!tched at me for following the path that the guard at the entrance told me to do. Then had the nerve to tell me that is not what he said even though I had the route he told me to take in writing. That really pi$$ed me off right from the start. Just got worse from there.
Now, I will say everyone else I ran into was really nice, but 6 hours running from building or area to another to load a trailer is NUTZ! Worse, the lady at the end asked how long I had been there. I said 6 hours and she said.... now this is funny..... WOW, that's pretty quick.

Anyway, I have enjoyed everything so far, just need to get the miles up to match my will to run. On that note, I am dead tired and need to eat and head to sleep. Got a load heading past home for the weekend and delivers on Monday in South Dakota.

 

Sorry all, I haven't been keeping up. Things are still going great! Talked to my orientation roomie yesterday and he finalized his career with Roehl. Got p!$$ed about what had happened to him and went and got a local job. (He had to do the full 14 days of phase training and was the only one who did from our group. He then had to sit for 3 days, came in on Friday, in Gary to get tested out. Then sat for another day while in his truck waiting for a load. Gets his load home and FM asks him to go another 150 miles past his home to pick up another load..... He had enough. And when I say "day" I mean 24 hours min.) Funny thing with trucking, he tried to get local before heading to Roehl and everyone told him he needed experience. He goes through orientation with Roehl and now they will talk to him. Still no experience, but was at a big company so now they will hire him. Oh the trucking industry just doesn't make any sense sometimes.

So what have I been doing?

After Manitowac, WI I got a relay from Appleton, WI (actually Neenah, WI)
Neenah, WI to Elkton, SD 535 miles and spent 48 hours at home.
Sit for a day, nothing in South Dakota so they have me move from Elkton to Mankato, MN.... then finally get dispatched the next day.
St. Paul to Lansing, MI 635 miles total... Maybe more, but I am not sure where the miles from Elkton to Mankato are???? May need to check into that.
So I deliver in Lansing and sit for an hour. FM says head to nearest truck stop while they work on another load. Get to truck stop, grab a pizza, get back to truck and sit down on bunk... Messages start ringing.
Pick up in Grand Rapids, MI and take to Sheboygan Falls, WI 398 Miles... Did I say I was 68 miles from Grand Rapids, but pick up was in 45 minutes? Oh and needed to be delivered next day. Ran like he!!, including getting to Oak Creek Pilot with 7 minutes on my 14 left. Deliver 15 minutes after original schedule time. (FM had changed due time, but still I had to push this load, HARD.)
Now I am sitting on a load from Jackson, WI to Virginia Beach, VA 1070 miles!!

So total for this weeks dispatches.... 2638 Miles and I can't remember how many times I tarped.

So the question to all Roehl Flat bedders? Anyone have any Steel Tarps that are worth a ####?? I have three that have more holes in them than swiss cheese. Thinking about switching them out, but then again do I mess with the devil that I know or the devil that I don't know... Like politicians.

 

On a side note, anyone know how to get these #### Freightliners to idle? I've tried every trick I have heard of. My bunk heater keeps killing my battery and shutting off. Not going thru winter having to restart the truck every 10 minutes at night to keep warm.

 

No APU.. I got screwed with an 05 and no APU.