Diary of a Gainey driver

Yeah mt1trucker, it seems the majority of Gaineys freight is in the north east. Actually, I just delivered a load to NYC then hopped over to LI to pick up the first of a 2 stop pickup load. (which, in orientation, they told us Gainey doesnt do)
Im now on my last pickup and....if theyll get their butts in gear and finish it off, Ill be headed for Indiana.

The only news I heard about the Wachovia deal was that they were suing Gainey and Harvey said they were trying to negotiate, but assured us freight would stay strong and whatnot.

 

Week 9 started with my coming off a 34hr restart in MS. Midway through the reset, I got a preplan for a load picking up 230 miles east in Alabama. It was a paper load bound for Michigan with a nice open window delivery time. The drive went well and after I was MT, I was send on a high priority load.

It was a pretty big customer and could not be late under any circumstances. It picked up an hour north off US-131 and delivered to your favorite city in the whole United States. You guessed it, New York City! It would be my first time going into the city since starting my driving career 10+months ago. After a little 'talk' I had to have about the load(just my FM letting me know its importance, if I was sure I could deliver on time, that its a big customer, ect). I said youll make me late if you keep telling me about this load! j/k, I didnt say that.
So, after a relatively short live load, I was sent on my way to NYC. It was a painless drive across I80, but I couldnt help but feel my stomach twist and turn at the thought of what lie ahead. Ive always heard NYC is the absolute worst place for a driver to go...the traffic, streets, cops, air, people make it a truck drivers nightmare.
My delivery was in the center of Manhattan. Ave of Americas and 46th ave. Since NYC is on a grid, it would be really hard to get lost, IMO. After getting real dirs from the customer(the QC dirs werent accurate-what a suprise! ), I was able to take a much easier route. One right and a few left turns and I was at my destination. Best part? I arrived only 3 minutes late! I gave myself 2 hours cushion once I hit NYC traffic and that 'guess-timation' was pretty good for a first timer. I got a kick out of the way the idiots drive up there. The pople trying to cross the street dodging the speeding taxi cabs reminds my of the old game Frogger. Remember?
All in all, NYC wasnt nearly as bad as all the drivers portrayed it to be. Also, I get $100 NYC pay for delivering to the NYC area. Thats ok by me!

After a couple hour unload(they unload in the street), I was MT and sent 1/2 hour away to Long Island. This was a 2 stop pickup load that was bound for Indiana. Both pickups were short hops down to New Joisey which neither stop was in the middle of the city, so I was allowed time to recover from the NYC thing. Since I had 3 stops this day, I was only able to run about 75 miles before the HOS would end my day. This was going to a DC, so it had my favorite open window delivery time, but that would soon prove to be a blessing I didnt really need(Ill explain in next update)

Week 9-2827 paid miles, 3009 act miles thanks to the 3 stop day which messed up a good week. Oh well, thats truck drivin'

 

Month 2​

Months paid miles-10538
Months actual miles-OOR miles-11104
OOR miles are only an estimation.
Also, I learn Gainey does not pay MT miles when coming off hometime. What a scam! So, subtract 72 from the paid miles figure you get if you add them all up.

 

Week 10 is in the books and it was my first week at gainey where I was left to sit awaiting load offers.

It started with running the last bit of the 2 stop "we want you here at XX:00 but we'll get you loaded whenever we get to ya". The trip to Evansville went well, and I got there first thing in the morning hoping to get a good pick at the days freight after MT.

Well, it did no good as I got the "keep checking the QC every 30 minutes" message. I went a few miles north to the Flyin J in Haubstadt, IN and sat there for the better part of the remainder of the day. After about 13 hours, I got a load that was bound for Lowell, AR that picked up all the way in the Chicago area. It was a 262 paid mile deadhead.

Since I got there after hours, the customer was closed so I didnt have to worry about the 'hurry up and wait' ordeal that we all go through. The comments on the QC said the bills would be taped to the trlr crank handle and the trl was RTG. Welp, the trl wasnt with the other preloaded trlrs so I was about to shoot dispatch a message when I saw their little loading dock area. I found the trl sitting at the dock still BUT...it had a green light and the bills were attached to the crank handle as the QC said. Not too bad! After manuevering my way through their electric gate(one side didnt open so it was a bit narrow), I was on my way to see JBs town!

The load dropped at a yard which was used as a storage place or something. There was no one to deal with and plenty of MT trls to chose from. After my MT call, I again got the "keep checking the QC every 30 minutes" message. I went down to a nearby Pilot with hopes to wait there to avoid racking up OOR miles. Guess not! The place is packed so I went another 20 miles down I540 to Greenland. I ended up taking my 10 without a load offer. Around 10am, my movie(Eraser with Arnold Schwarts.....) is interrupted by a load offer. It picks up in extreme south eastern OK and delivers 40 minutes from home! Maybe thats why it took so long to get a load offer...because they were trying to find something going home.

After a short wait at the shipper, Im headed home. It was a drop and hook delivery, so I could run this joker as fast as possible. Actually it was said in the comments to deliver on the scheduled date only so I had to hold short about 30 minutes from the destination.

Week10-1390 act miles, 1558 pd miles (short week since I went on hometime)

 

Week 11 was a pretty bad week(both mentally and physically). I constantly had to remind myself that "it could be worse".

It started with coming off hometime and repowering a load from a driver that was having mechanical problems. This load was bound for Orlando and was (what I thought) a JIT "show freight" load. Once again, Gainey didnt feel the need to give their drivers the oh so important directions they need. After hopping on Mapquest for a bit, I got the directions along with a layout of the bldg. It was HUGE and I had no idea which part I needed to go to. Remember? No directions or anything about it in the comments. Maybe I should quit driving and become a mind reader since thats what companies think we are.

Anywho, after getting on the main road leading to the place, I start seeing signs saying "show freight". I follow and am led to a spot where 4 other Gainey drivers were. Well, we all made it to the same place, now what? Not ONE of us had any idea what where we needed to be. Im getting hot just typing this, so Ill cut to the chase. After taking an un-needed tour of the place, we are finally told where to dock to get unloaded. Oh...unloading was done piece by piece and took 3/4 of the day. It gets better. We could not charge detention until after 6 hours! Oh well, sucks to be the truck driver!

After MT, I was again left with no load offer. I start heading south to the nearest truck stop to wait for a load. I get headed south(or West on I4) and get a load offer. Of course, it picks up in GA and I am headed in the wrong direction. At this point, Im still pissed from the previous ordeal and say to heck with OOR miles and keep heading to the T/S. I racked up about 65 OOR miles round trip, but didnt really care. You kinda get that way after being treated like a disposable diaper.

This load picked up off I20, so it was a pretty long D/H. 374 pd miles actually. It was bound for southern NY. It was a drop & hook at a DC, but had a stupid 4pm delivery time. The trip was eventless and I arrived in the morning of my del date in hopes of getting unloaded early. Not to be true, I found out. There were 5 or so trucks ahead of me and I had the latest appt time of them all. That meant Id again get to burn off nearly a whole day sitting.

3pm rolls around and I get my door. After getting told one thing by the security guard and another thing by a dock hand, this ####y dock hand asks "if I could handle that" (Yes, I told him my take on his companies lack of organization), I am finally docked. 1/2 hr later, Im MT and ready for my next load offer.

Oh, I forgot to say. I got a preplan while waiting. First preplan in a while! It was a one stop load bound for Cincinnati, OH. One bad part was that I was MT on a Friday. Since most of Gaineys customers seem to be smaller businesses that operate M-F, Friday seems to be the WORST day to be MT due to the possibility of sitting over the weekend waiting for the cust to open. Looks like Ill be taking an un necessary 34 hr restart.

This load picked up in the Newark, NJ area. Last time I was here, I got horribly off track and ended up on some weird road with all the pedestrians looking at me like I was an alien.

Actually, this load picked up just south in Linden, NJ. The QC directions seemed accurate and Mapquest verified them, and the automated dirs the customer gives were just a repeat of the QC dirs. As I cruised down hwy 1/9 southbound, the dirs said "2 miles after the 278 interchange by a QT gas station". Well, 2 miles turns to 3 miles and so on... Crap! I missed it! I get turned around and come back to the gas station. I go inside and ask the clerk where this street is. It was right along the QT but it turns out the street I needed to turn onto, was restricted to trucks. Also, she said the street has NO street sign(duh). ALSO, she says the cops like to sit back there and wait for trucks that mistakenly take that street.

After getting on the correct street, I find the place with minimal problem. That minimal problem was that I missed the place the first time around. The freakin sign can only be seen from ONE direction! WTF?
Since the QC directions were just an echo of what the automated companies directions said, one can safely assume that Gainey got their directions from the companies automated directions. Since these were so horribly wrong, Id bet the dirs were for cars and not trucks.

Now, I sit taking my 34 hr break in the wonderful area of Grantsville, MD at the Pilot. Really, this area looks nice and Id bet its a wonderful sight to see with a blanket of snow.

Week 11-1942 pd miles, 2198 actual or 2123-OOR miles