Cheeseman Trucking, Fort Recovery, Ohio

Yes I am a company driver.

 

Well I stayed out last weekend and picked up a load at our terminal in Ohio with a two stops. My first stop was in Springfield, Mo. anytime Monday morning, and the load finished up in Houston, Tx.. I decided to squeeze in a 34 instead of bumping up against my 70 all week. I decided to take my break at the Pilot in East St. Louis since they have the Idle Aire back up and running at this location. Cheeseman will reimburse us for Idle Aire as long as you turn in the necessary receipts with your weekly paperwork .

I left East St. Louis about 0400 Monday and had my first stop off in Springfield about 0900. I made it just North of Dallas Monday night, and pulled into this little dump of a truck stop on US75. It wasn't much to look at, but they had a great chicken fried steak (hand breaded), you get two huge pieces and two sides for $8. I will definitely make it a regular stop.

I got up about 0400 so I could beat the Dallas morning rush, and had my last stop in Houston off about 1100, I then went across town to La Porte and had a broker load of mattress going back to Sc. I was loaded rather quickly once they figured out what side of the building they wanted me on. I made it over to Lafayette La. for the night and shut down at one of my favorite cajun spots that has a great sausage and chicken gumbo. The next day I made it to Piedmont Sc. and I was only 15 miles from my delivery. I had the load off by 0900 Thursday morning, and made 4 pickups in Sc. and Ga. that were going back to the terminal in Sc.. During the day on Thursday I became aware of a break chamber on the tractor that was leaking, so first thing Friday morning I took it over to the local shop that does the repairs there in Duncan and had that taken care of. I then headed to the yard to see if the were busy or if I could head to the house. Dispatch said the didn't need me, and since I stayed out the previous weekend I could head home and call them Saturday to see what they had in store for me next week.

I will be picking up a pre loaded trailer off the yard Sunday with 4 stops. The first stop in in Va. then Md. and finishing up in Ct.. I wish I could stay home Sunday and watch the Talladega race and the Titans VS Chargers, but I need to get out there and get my miles back into the 3000+ average. Usually if I leave out on Sunday I have a good week. Have a safe and productive week.

 

I left out Sunday with a load that had 5 stops on it, all of the stops were on the East coast in the "$25" zone. In certain areas on the East coast and in the Chicago area all stops pay $25 while all other stops pay $10. My first stop was in Norfolk, Va. I made it to Big Charlies T/S on the Norfolk / Virginia Beach line and called it a night. I had 4 skids that came off there Monday morning my second stop was in Jessup Md.. On my way to my second stop dispatch called and asked me to detour over to Dover, De. after delivering my second stop in Jessup. I shot over to Dover and picked up one rental lift from P&G that was going up to N.J.. That evening I made it as far as the flying hook in Carneys Point, N.J..

My goal the next day was to get my three stops off in N.J. plus my final stop on Long Island. I knew everything would have to come together for this to happen, but I like a challenge. I had stops in Dayton, S. Planifield, and Oakland N.J., everything went smooth and I was headed across the GW about 1300. Now here is where I felt like I was in the twilight zone. I had absolutely no traffic across the GW, cross Bronx, and on out to Hicksville, LI. I was empty and had a pick up of rolled paper on Staten Island, I was filling lucky so I headed on over to Staten Island choosing to run 495 across the Verazono bridge. Again no traffic things ran smooth all the way over to Staten Island. Now the customer on Staten Island is usually packed with trucks waiting to get loaded, last time I was there it took 4 hours waiting to get loaded. I pull in to the customer.......no trucks WTF is going on? I am immediately put into a door and loaded and rolling back in N.J. in 20 minutes. That day was a 1 in a million in that part of the North East. The trucking Gods were shining down on me that day. The rest of the day on over to Pa. I was thinking that things had been going to smooth, and that my engine would blow any minute.

The load of paper I picked up on Staten Island was going to Streetboro, Ohio. I had that off the next morning by noon, and was dispatched over to Bucyrus, Ohio to pick up a preloaded trailer going down to S.C. for the next day. I made it to Duncan, S.C. around 1500 Thurs., and then dheaded over to the yard and went in to dispatch to see if they had anything else to keep me rolling. They had a two stopper loaded, with a stop in Covington, Ga. for 0800 the next morning and finishing up in Pine Mountain Valley, Ga.. I got both stops off by noon Friday, and made two pick ups in Ga. going back to the yard in S.C..

I had a good week with the miles, stop pay, and handling pay. I wasn't sure when I started here if I would like LTL freight, but one thing that I have found with the LTL side of it, is that you very seldom have to deal with appointments. The majority of the time you just get to the customer during normal business hours and get the product off, and then move on to your next stop. Sometimes if were delivering new fork lifts to a customer and you have to meet a Crown rep. there,you will have a set appt. time, but those are few and far between. Here is an example of the stop pay for the week.

North East del. 6x$25=$150
North East p/u 1x $25=$25
LI/ Burroughs pay $80
all other p/u 4x$10= $40
all other del. 4x$10= $40
* handling pay $45
total extra pay $380

*handling pay consists of blocking/unblocking forklifts with wood blocks paid .25 per 100 pounds of what the machines weigh.

I arrived home Saturday around noon and I will leave back out Monday morning picking up a load near Asheville, N.C. going to Ohio for Tuesday morning. I requested this load as I am over due for a service on my truck and need to get up to our yard in Ohio to have the service done. I hope everyone has a safe and productive week.

 

Hey man your Raiders are playing good ball...I like to see teams that have been down and out for awhile i.e. raiders, chiefs, rams, and lions start to improve and play good ball again. I bet the redskins wish they had never gotten rid of Jason Campbell.

 

Well since I last updated I have stayed fairly busy. Last week I picked up a load near Asheville, N.C. going to Cincinnati Ohio, from there I was due for a PM service so the dead headed me up to our yard in Ohio. They had the service done fairly quickly and put some new steer tires on, so now I have all new virgin rubber on the truck for the Winter.

I picked up a pre loaded trailer off the yard with 4 stops on, one in IN., two in Ky., and it finaled in Dyerysburg Tn.. After getting empty dispatch called and asked if I would mine a load going to Texas....I knew I might get hung out over the weekend, but I agreed to take it. It was a broker load out of Memphis with two stops in Texas, the first stop was in Tyler and finished up in New Braunsfels at a wal/mart DC. The first stop came off with out a hitch, but wallyworld took 5 hours to unload less then half a truck. No biggie I was paid $20 hr. detention after the first two hours.

From there I was given a deadhead move to Laredo. This is where my week goes in the toilet. My load was originally supposed to come across from Mexico Friday night, but it got held up and wouldn't come across the following evening. It's just one of those trucking deals so I just accepted it and dispatch offered to put me up in a hotel room, but I declined because I was hooked up to Idle-aire, and I am actually alot more comfortable in my truck then some hotel room. I was also paid a layover for the lost day, and I was able to squeeze in a 34.

When the load finally came across Saturday evening, I went to the drop yard and grabbed it and headed to North Carolina. I could have gone home after delivering in North Carolina, but figured I would just stay out until the following weekend. I finished last week with 2067 miles plus a layover. This week I had 3058 miles plus $110 in stop pay.

I will leave tomorrow morning with a load out of Spartanburg, S.C. going to Andover Mass. for A drop Monday night. I will be home Wed. night for Thanksgiving and I don't have any family coming in town so I will Volunteer to leave back out Saturday with something that has some miles on it, so hopefully I can get a good start to the following week. I hope everyone has a safe and productive week and is lucky enough to be with there loved ones for Thanksgiving.

 

I have completed my first 90 days at Chesseman and here is a quick braekdown.

Gross pay $ 14,903.77

Miles 36,915

Stop pay $ 1,195.00

Handling pay $ 1083.40

Overall grade thus far B+