Calex Express....My New Home!

Thank you for the kind words. Tell your dad to stay in touch with Mort.

 

I would have to say that yes, they are doing rather well. They have a new, very large distribution center in Pottsville, new trucks and trailers and 24/7 unload.

 

It was nice meeting you. Let me know if you need anything, I would be glad to help in any way I can. Good luck.

 

Never drove a KW or Freightliner. This Volvo is like driving a cabover with a hood.

 

It's been a rather uneventful trip so far. I left the T/A in Wheeler Ridge early Thursday morning for the 166 mile drive up to Firebaugh. The packing house was 3 miles off the 5 freeway. I got there right at 8 am and was given a door immediately. I was loaded in 35 minutes with 13 pallets of Cantaloupes. They were just out of the field so they were warm and heavy. I had them single, double, single the first 3 rows in the trailer, then single the second to last pallet, this was so that I would be able to scale the load when finished loading. I left my first pick up and drove the 50 miles to Turlock to finish out.

I checked in and was given a number to put in my windshield. About 2 hours later I was called to back in and finish loading my last 9 pallets. These pallets weren't even cooled, they came right out of the field and into my trailer, what happens then is that all the moisture that is being held inside these lopes makes for a heavy load. When they are cooled, it takes all the moisture out of them and lightens them up. I closed my doors and left the packing house. It was 5 pm and traffic was a horror show. I got up to Ripon and decided to stop off at the Loves to scale out. Boy was I glad I did.

I was 3/4 full of fuel and full of reefer fuel. My scale ticket told the story, 11,800 on my steer, 32,900 on my drives and 35,400 on my trailer for a grand total of 80,100. I really hate driving across the country playing the fuel game. I adjusted my trailer and put the weight on my drives and steers knowing the first place to lighten up would be my steer axle. I knew the scales on 80 by Roseville would be open now, but would be closed after midnight. I decided to sleep at the Loves, take my 10 hour break and leave at 3am local time.

Idle-Aire is up and running at this Loves so that's were I stayed. Our Idle-Aire cards aren't working so I payed cash for the 10 hours at 1.95 per hour. I had the receipt emailed to me, and printed it out to hand in to get reimbursed. Yes, I have a printer in my truck. I woke up and was on the 99 freeway praying my plan would work. It seemed like I was the only truck on the road and I guess California decided to leave me alone. The scale was closed and on to Sparks I went. I topped all my tanks off knowing that the only scale I had to worry about was Utah P.O.E. I pulled off at Wendover at the Pilot to reweigh my load only to hear that the east bound port was closed. I got off the off ramp and got right back on. It was closed and I made it to Sapp Brothers in SLC for the night at yet another working Idle-Aire. It's now a holiday weekend and all the scales will be closed so I don't have to worry about my fueling. I'm at the Flying-J in North Platte Ne. taking my 10 hour break. That's all for now be safe all, God Bless.

 

Well all good things eventually come to an end. My uneventfull trip turned out to be a real disaster. My A/C quit, the engine started running hot, and I blew out a drive tire. All this with less than a thousand miles to deliver.

I delivered on time yesterday, got back to the yard, handed in my write-up then went into safety to talk to Jim about a new truck. I was given a choice of 2, one was the loaner I took to California a couple of months ago, the other was a husband/wife team truck that is a 2010 with 270k on the clock and is absolutely the cleanest truck I have ever seen. I ran back in and told Jim I'm moving into the team truck and to let the team know how much I appreciated their housekeeping. This truck has an APU, full size fridge and 600,000 less miles than my old one.

My old truck was finally getting tired and now is the oldest one in the fleet. It now will be used locally. It was sad to move out of her, but it was time. I put 165,000 miles on it and have a lot of fond memories of the old girl. I hope xx331 gives me as much pleasure as xx227 did. I spoke to Louie and have to check back after lunch for my Florida load. I'm waiting on Gary to get to the yard and compare war stories about our trip. He delivered this morning in Milton and is on his way back to Pittston.