Calex Express....My New Home!

Just remember, if you can make it for one year with what ever carrier you choose, then you can write your own ticket. The first year or two will be tough, but it will work out to your advantage to stick it out. Good luck, and remember to ask questions here, there are a lot of seasoned drivers willing to help.

 

Derrick, it was nice meeting you also. Sorry to hear about your truck. At least you didn't loose a load while it's down. I must say, I enjoyed the short time we spoke. Be safe.

 

Well I'm sitting at the T/A in Youngstown Ohio waiting on Garylobo. I was at the yard around 7am, got my dispatch, had a cup of coffee and drove down to Lancaster Pa to load. I made it here with the plan on having the next 4 days of driving completed by 8pm every day so I can get my beauty sleep every night. I don't need any more 4am start times this weekend like I had all this week. I now have 4 days of 7am start time and being finished around 8pm. I deliver in Concord Ca Tuesday at 8am. I then will take my reset and reload Thursday coming back to Pottsville Pa. Gary has a 3 drop load in Reno and Stockton and will be empty Tuesday also. Right now I'm 4 hours ahead of him. Hopefully he will catch up so I can have some poops and giggles the next week and a half.

I have to tell you about my load. We haul a lot of NY Times freight and I have a load of Yellow Book yellow pages. Heavy? Without a doubt. I pulled away from the dock and knew immediately this was a heavy load. Usually going west we have about 18-22 thousand in the trailer. Not this time. The bills said 44,850, so with the load and the reefer trailer I checked my air gauges on my suspension and saw them at 63lbs for the drives and 58lbs for the trailer. That told me to weigh the load. I stopped at the Pilot in Duncannon and weighed the load. Hows this for a perfect load,

33,980 on drives
34,000 on trailer
12,000 on steer

This is with full fuel in truck and trailer. My thoughts about my load revolved around Sherman Hill going into Laramie Wy, Parleys Summit going into SLC, and Donner Summit going into Ca. Nothing I have never done before, but pulling these hills will make for extra work. Oh well, that's why we make the big bucks!

 

Glad everything is working out for you. It was nice seeing you too the other day. As they say, the way to get one year is one day at a time.

 

Well I'm sitting here in Cheyenne Wy at the T/A taking my 10 hour break. I woke up yesterday morning at Youngstown Ohio. Garylobo and I met up at the truck stop, had breakfast and left. We made it to Brooklyn........Iowa at the 201 mm and called it a night. We left around 8:30 this morning and put in a good truck driving day today. With the good Lords help we should be sleeping in Elko Nevada tomorrow night, then on to Reno so Gary can get his 2 drops off early. I had those 2 drops before and they will take them off as soon as you get there. I told him that we would leave my truck at the T/A and I would go with him to show him where they are. Then it's on to Boomtown for the Steak and Lobster buffet before going over Donner. I figure as hard as I'm working dragging this heavy wagon I'll treat myself to a good meal. Talk soon all!

 

I'm sitting here empty in Livingston, Ca. I got empty yesterday at 5am in Concord and met Gary here at our fuel stop. I called into dispatch and told Pat I was empty and that I had started my reset. He asked me where I would be and I told him I was going 100 miles south to Livingston. He said fine knowing that would be the middle point of where I would reload.

I got here and started my camp out for the next 24 hours. I needed a haircut and some restocking for my fridge so Gary and I found a Super Target and a haircutting place yesterday and took care of our business.

Louie is on vacation (again) this week so Pat is doing double duty. While sitting in the chair getting my hair cut at 6:30pm my phone rang and it was Pat telling both Gary and myself what loads we were getting for tomorrow. He said not to move until he had the final confirmation from our customer and that he would call in the morning with the info.

I got the load info around 11am this morning. I pick up after my reset finishes today in Watsonville with a load of Strawberries going to Milton Pa for 4am Monday morning. I called the shipper and asked if the load was ready and was told yes they are gassed and cooled and they would load me as soon as I get there. Gary is parked next to me waiting on his load info. He's loading a straight load in Reedly going to the same place I am in Milton. He is running back across 40 and I'm running back across 80. The nice thing about Calex is they allow us to route ourselves and we get paid the way we run so the extra 50 miles I endure will be paid for. I'll update as I go along. Talk soon all. Be safe and God Bless.