ESTES Express (5 Year Review)

OTE="Muskie, post: 11450225, member: 240322"]I can never tell out West here with all the outside drivers we bring in. Been fairly steady here. Been out for 3 weeks straight. Problem is not the freight, it's getting a hotel. People are going crazy, all out, anything west of the Rockies booked solid, CLC blows. So the first thing I do on any load offer on my board is arrange a hotel, if one and done, which is usually the case here out West.[/QUOTE]


Yeah, I hear you. Had to sleep in a bunk room last week in Tampa because couldn't find a hotel on Friday night. I would take a clapped out nasty sleeper truck over that bunk room any day of the week. And when you're doing three loads a day you don't ever know where you're going to end up at the end of your drive shift.

I guess the honeymoon phase is officially over, I've gone from being pre-planned on every day for 3 months straight to having to call to get rolling and then wait. Don't know if it's freight levels or some things changed at central.

I wasn't killing it before anyways but was happy with how they were running me. Now with less miles it's starting to get frustrating. I'm not starving or anything but I hate sitting.

 

Sometimes it's just seasonal.

Call Central an hour early before you want to role or your 10 is up. There are ways, if you know the routes/freight, to change your position to a better location. Often it requires a push to stay out, not go home.

For instance, Central at the end of my (1st week getting going again) scheduled week wants to send me back to Minneapolis from Joliet or Des Moines. But that is just a half day and if I don't have a Fargo load, I know there is one sitting in Minneapolis. So I push Central to allow me to go to Fargo, but have to sell them on it or depending on who is dispatching, simply changing my load destination to Fargo. Often there is a Billings load in Fargo needed to be run, once I'm in Fargo, I also fall under the West dispatcher (shared with upper plains). Now I've broken free of the midwest/upper plains and can get to SLC/Denver by back door, Montana.

 

Randy said R+L still crazy busy. Said he will forgive you and let you come back. Come on back to the Green crew and be treated good in that Bose seat. I can put a good word in and get you a new truck.

 

LMFAO. Don't you dare put that evil on me!!! Estes got a lot of wood to chop if they want to compete with the kind of trainwreck that RL is.

It's just a matter of time before you're back at BigE. I have no idea how you ran all that northeast when I don't ever go up there and I'm probably closer. I probably just jinxed myself though.

 

Your time to shine will come baby boy. When it comes it hits you just as hard as that R+L trainwreck. Absolutely not will I come back to big E. I don't want no part of extraboard and being gone. I got a buddy at UPS. October the new hub is going to be done. I'm trying see if that works out in my favor.

 

Oh on the east they are quick to plan you before your 10 is up. @055 9hours into your break the girl from 055 would call and say hey head on in when your ready we got you ready to go. Okay cool where am I going. NORRISTOWN. Thats when you go outside start the truck and feel like pushing the gas right into your hotel room..

 

Tired. Been at Estes about 2 and a half months out of 041. Too many loaded trailers on the yard. Don't try to find an empty, especially a 53. Trucks are tore up from the floor up. Smh..........this p and d stuff is wild. Don't want to run linehaul. Those guys leave too late for me. Overall, pretty good company, might have to sling a couple pallets because the dock ####ed up but all in all, it pays well and the folks here are cool. I know Kao hates 041 but I live here in the big A so I ain't got no choice