CRETE - A Year in Review

Well, looks like things have gone awry once again in my absence. Let's see if we can't upright the ship.

I was finally able to make it to a Sprint store to replace my air card. Life without internet is a real bear. Feels like being cut of from the rest of the world.

I've got some catching up to do and I'll start with a few weeks of updates that I have ready to go.

 

Hey jd, how's life been treating you. I've been taking a nice close look at the new Internationals. $3250 down and a 5.5% loan is making it look interesting, not to mention the fuel mileage those things are suppose to be getting.

I've talked to a few of the displaced GMills drivers. As a matter of fact, I just had a chat with one here in Springfield, MO this morning while sitting at a Grocery Store WHSE waiting to unload (something he wasn't used too).

He was going through a bit of a culture shock after years of basically nothing but drop/hook and running non-stop but seemed to be adjusting.

I'm curious as to how Redbeard is doing too.

 

WEEK TWENTY
Monday, May 18th through Sunday, May 24th



This week started at a truck stop on the northern outskirts of South Bend, IN. I had just finished off a 34hr reset. Not really because I needed on all that bad, but it never hurts to start a week off with a fresh 70hr clock. It’s not like I really had any other choice though. My current load had an 8am appointment delivery for this Monday morning anyway. I wanted to arrive at the customer at least one hour early but the time needed to complete my reset would not allow that. I barely had enough time to fit in the reset and make it to the final destination with about 15 minutes to spare. I didn’t have to worry about being late so much as not being the first in line to get unloaded.

The load info showed that they opened at 8am and I was headed to a first come first unloaded facility and showing up at opening time is a great way to insure an unwanted delay at the beginning of my day. Sure enough, I pulled in shortly prior to the customer’s opening time only to find two other trucks waiting in line and there was only one dock available for unloading. I may have been able to finish off my reset, but it didn’t come without a price.

The wait wasn’t quite as bad as I had anticipated and I was backed up to the dock within 90mins or so and the unloading went by very quickly, which was followed soon there after with my first MT call of the week. Last week had concluded with a respectable tally of almost 3300 miles and I was hoping for a repeat this week. I was expecting a load into the middle of the country, as is often the case when picking up a load in the Indiana region, but instead I was blindsided with Wal-Mart load going to the dreaded PA. I have had nothing but back luck whenever I’m sent in that direction and don’t expect this trip to be any different.

The load itself wasn’t all that bad. As a matter of fact it’s just the kind of load that I love to get outside of the final destination. The live load didn’t exactly thrill me, but at least it was an open window PU and I could pull in at any time instead of sitting around waiting for my appointment which is something that has become far too commonplace of late. The delivery was a drop and hook set for anytime on Wednesday, but it was only a 547mi trip and if things went well I could have it there by tonight. It would be close as far as my 14hr clock went because of my little delay this morning. It sure would have been helpful if I would have been the first one unloaded today, but that’s what happens went you wait until your actual appointment time to show up.

An earlier arrival would have moved my day along nicely. It wouldn’t make any difference as far as how many miles I would turn for the day, but my time of arrival would have a significant impact on the next few days of my life. Even if I made the delivery tonight I would be completely out of hours and have to wait until the following morning to move out. My reason for wanting to arrive today was not to get a load out tonight, but for the sole purpose of getting on the load list ASAP for a load out the following day. Putting in an MT call tonight as opposed to the first thing tomorrow morning could make the difference between picking up a load Tuesday or spending my time in a truck stop waiting for a mercy beep from the Qcom.

Off to my next assignment I go, arriving at Del Monte mid-morning to pickup my load. This was another first come first loaded facility and I had expected a line but was pleasantly surprised to see only two other trucks at the docks with a couple of openings waiting for me. Good news indeed, I might just be able to pull off my planed early drop at Wal-Mart tonight. A quick trip into the shipper’s office netted me a door assignment and moments later I was sitting in the sleeper waiting for the truck to start bouncing around.

When I had arrived I was thrilled to see open docks but didn’t realize just how lucky I had been to show up when I did, for within 20mins there were six trucks lined up for the last two docks and by the time I was loaded the line had a few more customers cued up. It’s amazing the difference a few minutes can make in your day. The loading process wasn’t exactly completed a neck break speed, but I eventually got the call on the CB after 90mins or so and headed on inside for my paper work. Minutes later I was headed on down the road under a very tight schedule.

It would have been a cakewalk if I was running I-80/90, but that was a toll road and I was being routed on two lane roads through the middle of IN and OH to avoid paying the tolls on this trip (so much for practical miles). The length of the trip was almost identical via the two lanes, but it would undoubtedly cost me precious time along the way especially since this was a very heavy load and I would be driving over terrain that would be most effective at slowing me down along with an endless barrage of small towns and stoplights along the way.

Even with those obstacles I was hoping I could pull off a delivery tonight, but in the back of my mind I knew it probably wasn’t going to happen. Not only did I have to worry about making it there within my 14hrs, I had the very real problem of parking to deal with if I managed to accomplish my goal. There were no truck stops in the area and I had to assume my only choice of parking spots would be somewhere on the PA turnpike once empty. The service plazas would be full by that time of night, but I could always find somewhere to stop for the night on one of the many pullouts along the Turnpike. . If I went with that plan of action I had to worry about which direction to go on the turnpike in my quest of a resting place for the evening, East or West. If I guess the wrong direction and my next load out the following day was in the opposite direction I would have to run almost 40mi out of route by the time I made it to the nearest exit in either direction and backtracked to where I started. I also had to worry about sitting on the side of the turnpike for an entire day if my anticipated load offer never arrived.

I don’t much care for shutting down on these pullouts to take my breaks, but if it was my only choice at the time I would make the exception tonight. Actually, I would be more prone to bobtailing out of Wal-Mart for the night which would make it very easy to find a hiding spot somewhere in town and return in the morning to retrieve my empty trailer. The one problem with that little plan would be the possibility of another Crete driver pulling out the last empty trailer in that time frame. I would be able to assess that situation later tonight when I arrived.

The most important part of this whole plan was arriving tonight and getting onto the load list ASAP to assure myself a load out sometime tomorrow. I would deal with all the other headaches after I get there.

All of these thoughts were occupying my mind as I made my way toward PA and they were all for absolutely nothing because the back roads of IN and OH did a number on me and my progress was painfully slow. It became clear as the day wore on that I would not be dropping this load tonight and the final outcome was a night spent in the Somerset Service Plaza on the PA Turnpike. Considering the fact that I didn’t pull in until after 8pm I had to count myself very lucky to get a parking spot, the last one as it turned out. I had expected to pull into a full lot, as it is a very small service plaza and continue on down the road looking for a pull out to call home for the night.

I pulled out the following morning as soon as my logbook would allow and completed the final 40mi of the trip by 7am. I dropped my trailer and headed around back to see if there were any empty trailers available and found a number of them to choose from. The empty call went in and the #### “No Freight” message followed soon there after. Big surprise!

I had noticed a dirt lot in town as I passed through on my way to the Wal-Mart DC. It was next to a fast food restaurant and it had a number of trucks parked in it with a few openings available. I had assumed I would be returning to this very spot once empty and fulfilled said prophecy by backed into my preselecting parking spot for what I assumed would be the remainder of the day. I just love PA.

After sitting for a few hours I sent in a reminder message to dispatch only to be informed that all of today’s loads had been covered and not to expect a load offer until the following morning. Ew! That’s even worse than I had been expecting. Well, not really, because that is exactly what I had expected to happen. Hoping for an alternative outcome had accomplished nothing but frustration which seems to have become a regular part of my daily life.

Having nothing better to do than watch TV, movies or updating this weekly read, I opted for a marathon of movies in the interest of biting my tongue with regards to spending yet another day sitting in the back of my truck instead of moving freight on down the line. I also realized that even thought I’m not exactly thrilled with the way this day is working out; time will undoubtedly work in my favor. Although the miles aren’t rolling in effortlessly like they once did, by the time the weekly tallies come in I usually seem to find myself with a sufficient total. It’s just takes a little more juggling and some good ol’ fashioned deep breathing exercises to calm the nerves from time to time.

So, after spending the entire day watching movies and fitting in a little walk during the day I found myself getting a little tired and was starting to think about calling it a day when out of the blue I get myself a beep from the Qcom. Based on the time of the evening, my first assumption was that it was just a company info message that they tend to send out from time to time. But instead of that it was actually a load offer along with a message “Can you deliver this ontime”.

At first glance I thought it was a load that picked up in the morning and that’s basically what it was except that the pickup time was anytime between Midnight and 7am; final destination Atlanta (688mi), with a 5am appointment the following day. The length of the trip was just far enough away that I would have to take a 10hr break along the way and made this a very tight run. The open pickup time lead me to believe that this would be a drop and hook pickup load but I wasn’t sure.

What that meant to me was that it may have had a final arrival time at the shipper of 7am, but I would have to show up well before that in order to make this delivery on time, especially if it ended up being a live load. It would have been immensely helpful to have received this load offer earlier in the day so I could have planned my activities accordingly, but as it were, I found myself with enough time to fit in 2hr nap at best and then head on down the road. If it was actually a drop and hook I would be able to pull over along the way and catch a good nap if needed. If it ended up being a live load I would be pressed for time and would probably have to drive most of the day before pulling over. All I could do at the moment was to get in as much sleep as possible, which turned out to be all but impossible.

I pulled out at 1am and drove the 90mins to the shipper to find that I would not be picking up a preloaded trailer. I had hoped otherwise, but it looked like a live load was in my near future. After the standard back and forth with the shipping department I found myself at a dock door and jumped in the bunk and tried to catch a little more sleep, once again failing to have any success during the loading process.

By the time I was loaded I found myself looking at time schedule that was doable, but not the least bit desirable. There is, of course, no dependable parking in the Atlanta area, not that I would have the hours to make it there anyways. That would mean that I would have to hold up at one of the truckstops some 100 miles away and have to once again start my day at a very early time in order to make my appointment.

I had only managed to make it a few hours down the road when the rising sun made me well aware of my lack of shut eye over the previous day and I finally had to give in to my sleep deprivation. Due to the live load I didn’t have all that much time to waist, but I figured I could squeeze in a 90min nap and pulled into the next truckstop to do just that. I was asleep the moment my head hit the pillow and awoke refreshed and ready to go. That was all I needed and the rest of the days driving passed without incident.

My little nap didn’t come without consequences however, although I was still within an acceptable timeframe to make my delivery on time, I put myself in a position where my 14hr clock ran out before my 11hr drive time clock did and I wasn’t able to make it as far as I had planned today. The end result was that I had to stop for the day in South Carolina at 2pm and I would have to finish off the last 160 miles in the morning. That also meant that I would have to get another very early start to make my 5am appointment.

I made it by 4:30am only to find that my appointment time was a drop and hook instead of a live unload and I put in my MT call moments after arriving. This was a wonderful turn of events because I should be able to get my next load and get out of town before Atlanta’s rush hour could get its grips on me. A load offer followed soon there after and it was a nice drop/hook pickup going to MS(379mi). It wasn’t the longest run in the world, but I had already put in 160 miles to get to my delivery this morning and this run would make for a respectable day of running. It had a 5am delivery, so I wouldn’t be hung up waiting for a mid-day appointment and if all went well I should be under my next load well before noon. The pickup went flawlessly and I was out of town before the traffic could cause me any problems.

Since I had started my day so ridiculously early I found that it came to a conclusion much sooner than my average day also. I had been up and working for just less than12hrs, put another 500 plus miles behind me for the day and the clock hadn’t even hit noon yet. I was parked at a truckstop directly across the street from my customer with specific instructions not to deliver early. I would have to wait for my 5am appointment the following day. Not a big deal to be honest thought because even if I had been able to get this load off today I would have been out of hours for the day anyway. The only advantage an early delivery would have garnered me would have been the ability to start my next day at midnight once again, and that isn’t exactly what I would call a good thing. I was more than content to call it a day and get my schedule back on a more reasonable time frame.

I had plenty of time to spare and started looking for something to do. A quick search on the “internets” revealed a nearby movie complex a little more than a mile away and of more interest I also discovered a minor league baseball stadium was located even closer than that. Basically just around the corner. Looks like a fun filled day ahead for me. I checked out a movie and then headed on over to the ball park. For a nominal fee of $12 I found myself in a forth row seat on the third base line and joined in with the locals to cheer the Mississippi Braves to a victory over the fine Mobile Baybears. What’s a Baybear?

The festivities eventually came to an end and Friday started at the fine hour of 4:30am. I drove across the street to make my delivery and was empty within 30mins and ready for my next load. The offer came through and it was a little out of the ordinary. Apparently, there was another Crete driver in route who needed to get home for a medical issue with his wife. He was under a load going to Texas and I was being asked to meet him at a truck stop just up the road so that we could swap out trailer. It wasn’t the greatest run in the world with only 450 miles left on it and the timing wasn’t much better.

I was empty by 5am and was now being told that the other driver would meet me late morning. I wasn’t exactly thrilled about this, but I assumed there was a good reason for it, most likely home time or a mechanical issue. Once he arrived I found out that his wife had just been admitted to the hospital. He had called dispatch and they immediately re-routed him to his home here in Jackson, MS and told him they would have a driver waiting there to repower his load. So considering the circumstance I was more than happy to help out, even if it meant a less than prosperous day for myself. I would rather deal with a slow day as opposed to what the other driver was going through.

My newly acquired load was destine for a Wal-Mart and had a wonderful anytime drop delivery on it. Had I been able to get going as soon as I was empty I would have had plenty of time to deliver this load and get started on my next one. But my late start now had me in a position where I was going to be hard pressed to even get there today before my lack of hours would force me to shut down. The actual delivery date was set for tomorrow, but as usual; I was determined to get in my MT call tonight in an attempt to improve my options for a load the following day.

I had two things working against me. The clock and the availability of parking once empty if I were able to get to Wal-Mart tonight. There were no truck stops listed in my books anywhere near the place and I would be in the middle of nowhere. I had considered holding up at the nearest truckstop for the night, but that was an hour away and I was looking at a rather lack luster day as it was with this short run, I didn’t want to shut down early and make it even worse. I put my trust in the hope that I would be able to find a dirt lot or defunct business (there seems to be plenty of these around lately) to spend my night after putting in my MT call.

The rest of the day was just driving. I had 450 miles to go with very little time to spare. For the most part I would have to drive nonstop with the exception of a fuel up at a Pilot along the way and maybe a quick 5min leg stretch in between. The fuel stop didn’t go well at all because the driver in front of me, being the professional that he was, seemed to be under the impression that he was in a parking space as opposed to a fuel island. That’s enough to get the blood boiling and it seems to happen at the most inopportune times. What should have taken 6-7 minuets ended up costing me 25. So much for my short leg stretch later on down the road. I would have to drive nonstop for the rest of the trip in order to make my delivery today.

All went well, other than a pressing bladder issue, and I managed to pull into the Wal-Mart DC just as my 14hr clock came to a close. I had made it a point to look for a parking spot at I got close to my final destination. There were two places that weren’t exactly perfect, but would do in a pinch. That issue was solved as I pulled in however, because there was ample street parking available just outside the gate. Minutes later I was sending in my MT call along with a message to dispatch to tag “overnight parking avail” to the directions for this customer.

A load offer followed shortly there after with a preloaded trailer that could be picked up anytime tomorrow with a final destination of OH (1331mi) that delivered next Tuesday. It was a perfect load. With the help of a shortcut through TN, I would be able to shave a few miles off the trip and make it a two day run. Doing so would give me just enough time to fit in a reset before making my delivery on Tuesday morning.

This turned out to be a great week, mainly because I was just able to fit in a reset at the beginning of the week. I didn’t need on at the time, but because I made it happen I had a solid 70hrs available to me this week. The final result, 3451 paid miles for the week. That’s the good part. The bad part, it took a solid 7 days to do it. That means that this weeks reset will occur on a Monday instead of Sunday. This will, in return, make for a short 6 day week ahead of me to get in my miles.








WEEK TWENTY
Monday, May 18th through Sunday, May24th
Miles include deadhead

South Bend, IN to Goshen, IN(final leg).………………………………………..47mi
Plymouth, IN to Bedford, PA…………………………………………………........547mi
Winchester, VA to Atlanta, GA……………………………………………….......688mi
Atlanta, GA to Richland, MS…………………………………………………........379mi
Jackson, MS to Cleburne, TX………………………………………………….......459mi
Ennis, TX to Ashtabula, OH………………………………………………….......1331mi

Total Paid Miles……………………………………………3451 Miles
Actual Miles…………………………………3466 Miles

3451 Miles x .43 = $1483.93

 

WEEK TWENTY ONE
Monday, May 25th through Sunday, May 31st
​

This week did not start out good at all. I had great miles the previous week, but due to a few hangups along the way it took the entire 7 days of the week to run them. In an ideal world (last year) I could run those miles in 5 ½ to 6 days and use the 7th day to reset and start my next week anew. But that didn’t happen last week and I am now looking at Monday reset and starting my next week on a Tuesday. What that basically tells me is, “Don’t get your hopes up for this week”.

I realized it was not going to be a stellar week, the question was, “How not stellar” would it be?

It didn’t take long for things to get ugly. Once empty, the load offer came through and it hurt a little bit. I was empty by 6am, (it was a drop/hook that I had to sit around for a day and a ½ to deliver) only to be put on a load that didn’t pickup until 4pm that day at the very same customer with a final destination of MI (250mi) the following day and it was a two stop load to top it off. I wasn’t a happy camper at this point.

While dropping my trailer I had noticed a number of preloaded trailers on their lot and assumed one of them where mine. All may not be lost; it was early enough that I might just be able to get my load delivered today. It was worth a shot anyway. I went back inside to get the paper work only to be turned away. Although there were at least 10 preloaded Crete trailers on property, my load was not one of them. As a matter of fact, even though my load was suppose to be ready by 4pm, I was told it was a night shift load and to check back at 7pm to see if they had started on it yet. “NO WAY! Dispatch and I need to have a little talk. I have no intentions of finding myself empty in MI on a Wednesday evening with a grand total of 250 miles for the week and a “No freight” message staring me in the face.

I was actually able to get dispatch on the phone and plead my case. I pointed out that there were a number of loaded trailers just sitting here waiting for someone to love them and I was waiting with open arms. My sob story must have worked because I was pulled off the nightmare load and sent another offer. As it was planed out, this load was no better than my MI load (worse even), but I saw an opportunity to turn it into a productive load. It would require me to make some early deliveries, but I’ve run multi stop loads for the shipper before and I knew that each stop had receiving hours. The appointment times we are giving in the load assignments are simply general guidelines. Basically, you can be early, just don’t get there any later than the posted times.

This particular load had three stops on it, one in Albany, NY and two in the Boston area. The Albany drop was set for the first thing tomorrow morning with the next two the following day. If done in this manner I wouldn’t be empty until mid-day Thursday with the strong possibility of sitting until Friday morning before getting a load. That would have me sitting with a grand total of 627 miles for the week on a Friday morning. But I had other plans.

My first stop in Albany accepted deliveries until 4pm. Now, I realized that I couldn’t show up 10 minutes before that and expect to get unloaded, but if I drove nonstop I would be there by 2pm. That would certainly be plenty of time to get me unloaded. I could then head on into Boston and spend the night at the next stop. I would then deliver that stop as soon as they opened (a day early) and be off to the final stop just up the road. This would turn a horrendous run into a profitable one and I would be a happy camper.

Sounded like a great plan to me and it started out just as I had seen it unfold in my mind. I arrived at my first stop a full two hours before closing time and hunted down the receiving clerk. Here is where my plan started to unravel. The one thing I had failed to take into consideration was the fact that I was in New York, and when you are in New York one must always be mindful of the New York state of mind. At this particular point in time, the mind was in the mood to be an absolute jerk. Even though it was 2pm and they accepted loads until 4pm, this yahoo “didn’t feel like unloading it today” and told me I would have to wait until the morning. He didn’t think he could get it unloaded by closing time. I let him know it wasn’t the whole truck and his load was just 1/3 of the truck, but his mind was set and all I could do was pull around back and park and be happy with my 400mi day.

Not only did I have to sit around and twiddle my fingers for the next 17hrs waiting for them to return to work the following morning, it would now be all but impossible to make my next two drops tomorrow. That guy sure screwed me over good and was intent on doing the same the following day. Receiving hours were to begin at 8am, but he managed to putz around for an hour past that point before getting started on my load. There wasn’t all that much to be pulled off at this stop, but he stretch it out as long as he could and finished up about 90mins later.

The agony finally came to an end and I was on my way to Boston. I had a 3hr trip ahead of me and plenty of time to get to my second stop. I would be able to make this delivery a day early and there was actually the outside change of getting to my final stop before they closed if everything goes smoothly at stop #2. Oddly enough, there wasn’t a single problem with the next stop and I was unloaded in a matter of 15mins once docked. I was actually going to be able to make it to my final stop today with the outside possibility of getting unloaded tonight, but I wasn’t counting on it. I would be pulling in with less than one hour left in their business day and expected a response similar to the one received in Albany the night before and that’s just what happened. They did allow me to open the trailer doors and back up to a dock. That way they would be able to start unloading me when they arrived in the morning without waking me. Wow, wasn’t that nice of them.

A serious blow to my weekly mileage totals, no doubt. Had I been able to put in an empty call this afternoon I would have stood a good chance of getting a load out Thursday morning? Instead I would be putting in and empty call on Thursday morning and according to other drivers in the area, shouldn’t be surprised to get a “no freight” message once again.

The unloading process was painfully slow and I wasn’t able to get my MT call in until almost 10am and the resulting outcome was most predictable. “No freight, find a place to park, we are working on loads for tomorrow, don’t bother us” blah, blah, blah! This is soooo bad. I’m looking at a grand total of 627mi for the week as of Friday morning. My next run better be a doosey. I want my Mommy!

A few hours had pass when I was sent a load. It picked up the following day at 6am and was destine for SC (950mi). I wasn’t to keen on the idea of sitting around for yet another day of doing nothing but at least the run had some decent miles on it. I had a moment of contentment before the panic set in. Sure, 950 miles is a good run, but the 6am appointment delivery 5days away had my head spinning. “They can’t be serious?”

As I sat there trying to compose myself and formulate a message to dispatch that didn’t contain endless streams of vulgar language or threats of life long curses place upon their family members another message popped up on the screen informing me that I could Tcall this load at our Greensboro yard “if I wanted too?” OK, life is good again, sort of.

Well, this day was a total bust. I hadn’t even started the engine yet and I had been informed that it would be another day before I would have anything to do. I considered staying put at the customer for the rest of the day. They had plenty of parking available on site and there were a number of businesses in the area to occupy my time. The resulting reset certainly wasn’t needed, but one never knows what the following week will bring. I realized it might come back to bite me in the butt later on down the road, but I wanted to take a shower and there was a Pilot between here and my pickup the following day. After that I could head on over to the customer and spend the night in their lot, maybe. The load info stated they had overnight parking available for 3 trucks. It would be a gamble to count on that though, because if those spots where taken upon my arrival I would have to travel at least 30 miles before making it to another truck stop, only to backtrack the following morning to pickup my load. I assumed that I would be able to arrive early enough to secure a place but would worry about it after fueling up at the Pilot and my shower.

An hour later I was pulling into the Pilot and my parking dilemma for the night was solved. Apparently someone had taken out a fuel pump and punctured one of their newly filled tanks in the process resulting in an extensive fuel spill which required the attention of a Hazmat crew. This resulted in four or five of the fuel pumps being shut down and the line to get fuel was six trucks deep at the remaining fuel islands. I needed fuel, but wasn’t about to sit in that line and decided to park it here for the night and fill up in the early morning when things had calmed down a bit. Even that was no easy feat with so many trucks backed up trying to get in and out. It was a solid 30mins before I was able to get backed into a spot. What a Cluster that was.

Thursday morning found me arriving at my appointed hour (a bit earlier actually) for my pickup. I pulled in to find two other Crete ahead of me. They had arrived the night before like I had wanted to do. Oh well, I can’t always be the first one in line.

It turned out they had both received the same instructions that I had. We were all picking up loads going to the same SC address, but were all told to Tcall our loads in Greensboro. The first thing that came up in the conversation was the question of available empty trailers when we got to Greensboro. It’s definitely not one of our larger terminals. As a matter of fact it is little more than a drop lot. I had used this yard on a number of occasions when taking hometime when I lived in NC. It was not uncommon to pull in with a loaded trailer with the intentions of Tcalling it there only to find no empty trailers available, forcing me to either wait around for someone to bring in an empty trailer or putting off my hometime for a later date.

It was too far of a drive for me to make it in one day because I had held up at the Pilot for the night. I would be arriving Saturday morning. Because the other two drivers had spent the night onsite, they would actually have just enough drive time to make it today if they put in an 11hr drive day and where efficient with their time. If they had a full 11hrs available to them on their log that is. If they were the kind of drivers didn’t take resets and just picked up 7-9hr a day as their hours rolled around, they too would be pulling in on Saturday morning. The big question was, “Who would be pulling in first?”

If I were the first one being loaded I could answer that question for you, but as it were, I would be the third one out today and I was also informed that another Crete driver had pulled a similar load out last night with the same plans as us. I was a little more than concerned that even though I had permission to Tcall this load, I may very well get stuck under this load far longer than I cared for.

We were all assigned doors at the same time, but there was only one forklift operator loading us up, so I stood by patiently waiting for my turn and had a nice conversation with the Crete driver in the door next to me. He was a nice enough gentleman, but had a story to tell I’ve heard from some other Crete drivers, usually when I’m stuck in a terminal waiting for the truck to get out of the shop for a 6hr B service or something along those lines. He was doing OK as far as miles went, but not entirely happy and was telling me how he was thinking about going elsewhere.

He just couldn’t understand why he wasn’t getting the miles that he used to get. Disregarding the underlying problems with the economy which he didn’t seem to think should have any real bearing on his miles he then immediately started to complain about this current trip. He just didn’t understand why they wanted him to Tcall this load in Greensboro. He was pointing out how it was a 1000mi run and he only liked to work about 8hrs a day anyway and he would rather just stay under the load and deliver it. I had a hard time following his logic on this once since it was now Friday morning and the load didn’t deliver until Tuesday. That makes for a staggering 250 miles a day. I wonder why he is having troubles getting miles?

The loading didn’t really take all that long, maybe 30 minutes a truck and I was ready to go soon enough. As I stepped outside I noted that the first Crete was no where to be seen and the second one was just pulling out of the gate. I would be hard pressed to beat the first truck to the yard if he were a motivated driver, the second one should pose no problem. I did the standard checkout thing with the gate guard and headed on down the road. I arrived at the nearest public scale just as truck 2 was leaving, again truck 1 nowhere in sight.

There rest of the day was just a determined sprint to get there first with minimal stops along the way. I had chosen an alternate route to the suggested routing in order to avoid NYC, Washington and Baltimore. This would add a few miles to the trip but save me hours in traffic delays and more than enough in saved tolls to make it a worthwhile to the company. The only drawback is that I would find myself in Roanoke when my 11hrs of drive time came to a conclusion. By the time I would be pulling in the chance of finding a parking place would be a moot point and I had to hold up an hour away to assure myself a home for the night.

My 10hr break was over a 3am and I was once again on my way. My hope was that the other drivers headed to the yard were prone to sleeping in and would make it possible for me to be the first one to arrive in Greensboro. Being the first one in certainly was no guarantee that I would be able to get an empty trailer (therefore a Tcall), but the odds were much better than being the third one to arrive.

Three hours later I was pulling into the yard and with great anticipation. I had made a mental note of the trailer numbers of the two trailers that the other driers where pulling and neither of them where in the yard. I had managed to be the first man in. Only one question remained to be answered, would there actually be a trailer waiting for me? Sure enough, as a matter of fact there were two whole empty trailers on the yard for me to pick from. I selected the prettiest for myself and put in my empty call. Now I had to wonder if there would actually be a load available, after all, it was a weekend and freight in this area hasn’t exactly been plentiful.

Today would continue to be a good day for me and a load offer followed soon there after. I don’t know if there was an abundance of freight or if it was the fact that it was Saturday morning and I had a total of 1400 so far for the week (which I pointed out to dispatch in a previous message). But I got myself an acceptable load offer. I had also put in for hometime while wasting away in Boston in an effort to get my sorry butt out of the area and afford me some leverage in getting me loads going in any direction but northeast.

It was a short run going to GA(402mi), but I had already put in almost 200 miles for the day and this load was scheduled to deliver first thing the following morning. Works for me, also, it was going to a small Sam’s Club DC that I had been to about a year ago. Even though my load had an appointment delivery for the following day, the last time I delivered there it was a drop and hook. I thought that maybe I could pull off an early delivery. It couldn’t hurt to try, if not, I could just shut down for the night at the truckstop that is almost next door to the place.

While I was jotting down the info for my next load I saw what I assumed was one of the other drivers that I had been waiting for, but a quick check of the trailer number told me that it was not. This driver then started to back in next to me and I noticed that he had a seal on his trailer from the same place. It was a rather unique seal and there was no mistaking it, he had the same stuff that I did, but he definitely wasn’t one of the guys that I had been talking to yesterday. That’s when I remembered the forth truck that the other driver had told me about. The one that had pulled out the night before I had gotten there, could it be?

A later discussion with him verified it, sure enough, it was him. He had to hold up outside of NYC after loading Thursday because he didn’t have enough hours to battle NYC traffic that night. He was one of those drivers that only ran 8hrs or so a day and didn’t have the luxury of an 11hr drive day at his disposal because he hadn’t gained enough hours from the previous day. Instead, he had to drive through that NYC Friday morning and hit extensive delays in traffic, not only in NYC, but going through Jersey and Washington DC. The result of that was that he ran out of hours less than an hour away from the terminal on Friday. He then started his Saturday at 6am and was just pulling in now at 7am. I pointed out the last remaining empty trailer and had a great little chat with him.

He was a really nice guy who moved over here from England. He was a “laurie driver” (not positive about the spelling on that one) as they call them over there for 20 some years and had great stories to tell. If you think we are over regulated here, you should hear what they have to deal with in Europe.

I wasn’t in any great hurry, I only had 400 miles to go and had plenty of time to get where I was going and spent some more time chatting with the Bloody Brit for a while. I was really enjoying the conversation and I also wanted to hang around and see what kind of load he ended up with. I really wanted to get back to AZ at this point and wanted to see if I could catch dispatch pulling one over on me. I had no reason to suspect that they had, but I don’t often get the opportunity to test them. I was also waiting for one of the other drivers to pull in and see how much time I had to spare.

The time finally came to pull out and the driver from England was still waiting for confirmation on his Tcall, let alone, getting a load offer. That’s another thing that one needs to pay attention to with this company. If at all possible take care of business before shift changes. I managed to get my empty call in one hour before that time. The driver that I had been talking too put his Tcall in shortly before shift change and was caught up in the delay that occurs as messages back up and the new shift gets settled in. The final result, I was headed on down the road towards my next pickup and the other two Crete drivers were MIA. Whenever they did manage to arrive at the yard, they would find no empty trailers and the possibility of a Tcall and getting another load would be questionable. Dispatch may bobtail them to a nearby customer, but that is a question I will never no the answer to because I made it a point not to be put in just that situation.

The rest of Saturday went by peacefully enough. I arrived at Sam’s Club by 4pm and took a shot at making an early delivery. Not surprisingly, it didn’t go as I had hoped and I was instructed to return in the morning for a live unload, there would be no drop and hook for me today. I couldn’t help but notice the two empty Crete trailers sitting directly across the lot from the guard gate as I walked back to my truck. Grrrr! Not a real big problem because for the most part I was out of hours for the day anyway, but it sure would have been nice to get the empty call in tonight. How I miss the good ol’ days when it didn’t matter when an empty call went it. You know, back in the day when all I had to do was send in an MT call and them pick from the three loads that they sent me. Sigh!

Sunday morning found me back at the guard shack exactly one hour before my appointment time and I was at a dock door within a few minutes. As is usually the case with Sam’s or Wal-Mart for that matter, you may get a dock, but they are not about to start unloading until your actual appointment time. But I have learned that an early arrival is necessary to beat the crowd. I have, in the past pulled in closer to my actual appointment time only to find all of the dock doors occupied by those that did arrive early and then told I would have to wait for an available door. So I have found it is better to be docked waiting to be unloaded than parked waiting to be docked.

Unloading was complete within and hour of beginning and I once again sent in an MT call along with a request to get me something going in the general direction of Phoenix. That netted me a respectable run out of the Atlanta area going to Louisiana. Not exactly AZ, but it does get me closer, and more importantly it gets me closer to some of our customers that ship into Phoenix. It’s no guarantee, but it better than a PA run.

The load had a noon pickup on it and I headed that way. I would be there a little early but knew it to be a drop/hoop P/U and assumed it would be ready when I got there. Upon pulling in to the Bud plant I was a bit dishearten by the sight of 3 Crete trucks bobtailing out. This could only mean one thing. They had arrived to pickup their load only to be told that is wasn’t ready. In that case you are instructed to drop your trailer and call back on a regular basis to find out when it is ready. I have had this experience in the past and the delays can be extensive. This suspicion was confirmed with a short chat on the CB with one of the Crete drivers. Not only was his load not ready by its appointed time, he had been told that it wouldn’t be ready until the following day. That is something I did not need to hear.

Expecting the absolute worst news, I headed on inside to check in and was absolutely elated to hear that my load was sitting in the yard ready to go. Talk about luck of the draw. I was in and out in short order and on my way to LA.

I was once again looking at a tight schedule. Not so much so with regards to my 14hrs as to my 11hrs of drive time. Taking into account the amount of back roads I would have to traverse I might have just enough time to get to Alexandria. But if I did manage to do so I would once again be faced with the problem of parking. There are no truck stops in town to speak of and I would have to hope that parking would be available at the local beer distributor when I arrive. If not, I would have to wonder around town a little bit looking for a dirt lot. I could always stop for the night at a truck stop about an hour away, but then I don’t like to leave drive time on the table if I don’t have to. Putting in that extra hour will make it possible to get an extra 60 miles down the road tomorrow and all the other days that follow. I just never know when I will need the extra stretch and hate looking back and wishing I had gone just a little further a few days ago.

I was also headed to a first come, first unloaded facility. If I make it there tonight I will be the first in line to be unloaded. Waiting until the following morning could land me in a line of trucks that could cost me hours. It was a long day of driving, but there was no real urgency to it. It didn’t really matter when I got there, just that I get there and managed to do just that with 15mins to spare in my driving day. I had worried that parking would be an issue but arrived to find a spot just big enough for one truck at the entrance to the distributor and a nice big vacant lot across the street. I had initially parked in the vacant lot to get away from the street traffic in the interest of a quite night tucked back in dark corner, but shortly after arriving I was treated to the sound of gun fired that sounded like it was no more than a few blocks away and decided parking under a street light with my doors backed up against a block wall next to a busy street would be a bit more prudent. I guess I wasn’t in the greatest part of town.

This week ended with a lack luster 2410 miles, but considering the fact that I spent my Monday at the terminal doing a reset and was sitting with an empty trailer on Friday morning with 627 miles to my name I have to admit that it worked out marginally well, especially since the previous week had netted me over 3400 miles. A bad week from my point of view and I still managed to gross over $1000. Good with the bad, right?








WEEK TWENTY ONE
Monday, May 25th through Sunday, May31st
Miles include deadhead



Ashtabula, OH to Wilmington, MA………………………………………..627mi
Norwich, CT to Greensboro, NC…………………………………………..786mi
Browns Summit, NC to Villa Rica, GA……………………………………402mi
Cartersville, GA to Alexandria, LA………………………………………..595mi


Total Paid Miles………………………………………….2410 Miles
Actual Miles……………………….2524 Miles

2410 Miles x .43 = $1036.30 + $60 Drop pay = $1096.30