Crete, from one red truck to another

Bad weather, congested roads and a slow shipper made for a real subpar day. Only managed to get in 250 miles. Had about 2 more hours that I was able to drive but didn't want to get hung out to dry with Baltimore in rush hour and really no place to stop that I could reach on the other side. Doesn't matter too much it would have just made the next two days a little lighter if I could have gotten in some more miles. Got the trip planned out and it is going to take an early morning rising on Monday to finish up the trip which isn't a big deal as I will only have about 5.5 hours to work that day anyway. Going to be one of those several fuel stoppers as I am toting over 79,500 with about 1/2 fuel tanks and several scales to deal with along the way.

 

A few numbers get done between Roehl and Crete. Thought it would be interesting to see how some numbers stood between the two. I am a numbers oriented person because "opinions" can vary but the numbers ain't going to lie I recorded numbers for my 13 months at Roehl and for my first couple of months and change at Crete. Overall they are pretty similar in most regards, the biggest difference is the better pay at Crete which is the real important factor when all other things are fairly equal.

Average miles trip (Roehl)
0-200 (16) (.096)
201-500 (43) (.257)
501-1000 (74) (.443)
1001-1500 (30) (.179)
1501-2000 (1) (.006)
2001-2500 (1) (.006)
2500+ (2) (.012)
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167 TRIPS

Crete
0-200 (3) (.073)
201-500 (17) (.414)
501-1000 (18 ) (.439)
1001-1500 (3) (.073)
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41 trips

The 500-1000 mile trips are similar but there is a significant difference between the short trips in Crete (48.7%; 1-500 miles) versus Roehl (35.3%; 1-500 miles).

Ease of loads
Roehl
Drop/hook both ends (41) (.246)
Drop/hook one end (85) (.509)
Live load and unload (41) (.246)
-----------------------------------------
167 total

Crete
D/H both ends (13) (.317)
D/H one end (23) (.561)
Live load and unload (5) (.122)
---------------------------------
41 total

Crete is hands down is a slight winner here with nearly 88% having at least one end of a trip a d/h versus (75%) at Roehl.

Roehl average miles per day when out
(404)

Crete average miles per day when out
(398 )

Not much difference here to speak of. I think some of the difference can be attributed to a higher percentage of short runs that I have done at Crete where more time is spent during the day (checking in/out, etc)

Paid miles versus unpaid miles
Roehl paid (94.5%)
Crete paid (94.7%)
I have done some pretty long dead heads for home time for both so they are probably a little better for some folks than the above numbers suggest.

Hope that helps to give some insights into the two companies from a drivers prospective. It will be interesting to see what the numbers look like at Crete after a year but the initial numbers provide a decent insight into what the long term will look like I suspect.

 

500 miles melted away like butter on a hot skillet today. Got up around 0500 and was done around 1500. Sitting at the TA in Oak Grove, MO and will finish up the WM drop early tomorrow morning. Going to have to get another grill as today would be a great day to fire up the charcoal and cook some vittles over the flames.

 

Week 10

September 19 Eddystone, PA -- Chester, PA -- Warren, OH --- 381 mi
Sept 19-21 Warren, OH -- Youngstown, OH -- Cartersville, GA -- 727 mi
Sept 21-22 Cartersville, GA -- Kranett, GA --- New Kingstown, PA --ca. 720 mi
Sept 22-23 New Kingstown, PA -- Fairless Hills, PA --- 129 mi +35.00 short haul
Sept 23-25 Fairless Hills, PA -- Vineland, NJ -- Harrisonville, MO --- (1204/1254 mi)
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3161 miles + 35.00 short haul pay.

Pretty nice week. Just have a little under 7 hours to work with tomorrow so should be a relatively slow day after I finish dropping off this WM DC load in the morning. Hope to be home by Thursday afternoon to hopefully do some fishing or some squirrel hunting for a couple of days.

Miles update:
week 1 = 3124
week 2 = 3067
week 3 = 2946 (with 34 hr reset)
week 4 (Aug 8-14) = 0 home time
week 5 (Aug 15-16 home) 1810 miles
week 6 = miles 3184
Week 7 (Sept 2-4 home) 1396 miles
Week 8 (Sept 5 home) 2535 miles+ 65.00 extra pay
Week 9 2500 miles (1 day at home)
Week 10 3161 miles + 35.00 short haul

 

Bah. Picked up another heavy load from one of the underground facilities after dropping at WM early this morning. Hadn't been to the Independence, MO underground place before, some pretty tight ### backing in there Had requested to be home by Thursday night but looks like that ain't going to happen as this load is delivering noon on Wednesday in New Orleans. Been a while since I been back to the Crescent City so looking forward to it although going to be back on the graveyard driving shift which sucks. Also rolling through the backwoods of my old home state of Arkansas as well. Should be fun on some of those hills with 79K. Well off to nighty night land early as going to be a long one tomorrow.

 

What a long morning. Couldn't get to sleep worth #### and just about the time I get into some sleep the alarm rings. Grabbed a shower and some coffee and went to battle the rolling hills of US65 through northern Arkansas in the wee morning hours. Got in a power nap at my fuel stop outside of Little Rock and then rolled on down to Tallulah, LA with 15 minutes to spare on my available hours. Only have 4 more hours or so to the customer so I should be able to get back on some track of normalcy tomorrow as the load doesn't have to be there until noon.

Developed a #### cold which sucks and I feel too tired to get out of the truck to eat Oh well so goes the life of a trucker. Perhaps get to treat myself to a nice fried oyster po'boy tomorrow to make things right.

 

Thanks bro. Yep I am looking forward to heading to the woods for a couple of days or perhaps doing some fishing. Hoping to get home by Friday but if not may stay out until the next weekend opportunity.

 

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