FCC--Fremont Contract Carriers

I never really thought I-80 west of Lincoln had that much traffic to be honest, at least compared to other portions of interstates previously mentioned. But i can see why they would want to

 

Apparently Mars in Aurora is closed until 11 am tomorrow for some reason. I’m going to use that as an excuse to detour by the house for the night. Then i’ll swap trailers in Aurora tomorrow morning and take a load out to Victorville to drop next Tuesday. I should have well over 4,000 miles this paycheck since i couldn’t deliver that Savannah load until Wednesday. It’ll probably be closer to around 4300, which would be a record for me on one paycheck.

 

And uncle Sam will really like a portion of your pay. Warm and fuzzy feeling when you see how much taxes they can take.

 

Got my load assignment to leave out on Sunday as planned.

Picking up from a packaging company in Clarksville TN via a broker going to a food service company that’s nearly next door to a place we pick up retail shelving at in Omaha for Tuesday 5am. I didn’t expect to have any miles on next weeks check due to being home since Sunday afternoon. Hopefully I can pull my van back up to Fremont and grab something flatter.

Also, not sure if I mentioned previously. The parts department didn’t want to supply me with a van door lock until I asked him a few times. Saying I was flatbed and didn’t need one. (During initial load out). In 2021 they stocked flatbed drivers with logistic straps and the lock, 2024 they do not. So I ran around harbor freight today and grabbed a few.

 

After I delivered in Victorville, they had me do a load with 2 pickups in greater LA going to Kearney. Nebraska. Both places closed early and with LA traffic that proved problematic. The first pickup was in Vernon California and it was a bear. The road was closed a couple of blocks past the one entrance to the place and it was 15 minutes or so to go the last few blocks. Then had to back into the building which was easier then expected. Then I had to hotfoot it to the next pickup in Bell which closed at 3:30. The entrance was still blocked with wall to wall traffic so I had to pretend to be a New Jersey driver and force my way out. Made it to the second pickup at 3:27, they close at 3:30 so they were not happy to see me. by the time the finished rush hour was in full swing and I was down to just under 2 1/2 hours of drive time. Had to go to Ontario and pay for a spot. Took about 2 hours and 40 minutes to go 50 miles. Had to pop into PC for the last bit.
The load picked up Thursday but didn't deliver until Monday so I squeezed in a reset in Sidney Nebraska.
Next up had a Kawasaki load going to Goodlettsville, which unfortunately is appointment only and closed at 14:00 I couldn't get there until about 17:00 Tuesday so I had to wait until 10 Wednesday which is the earliest the appointment fairy could find.
Bounced from there to Morrison for my next pickup. Wound up getting stuck in several backups in and around Crashville and then the shipper was pretty horribly backed up. Finally got loose and then ran into yet more traffic. Decided when I got to Oak Grove I was getting too ill tempered to keep going and shut down after 9 hours and 300 miles. Took off early in the morning and beat feet to Woodridge Illinois. It was fun dealing with 2 guards who didn't speak English and the one native speaker whose shtick was monosyllabic answers. They sent me to drop it in the lot where I got yelled at by the yard spotter because they were supposed to tell me to put it in Door 49. Got spun around, put it in the door and then found an empty.
Said empty looks like it owed someone named Vinny money and tried to skip town. It got hit by a hail storm, someone's backed into the front of it, a piece of wood is driven into the wall, and someone had a go at tearing off the new gladhands they put on the front 2 weeks ago. I thought about just grabbing the other one on the lot and leaving the domestic violence training dummy for somebody else but I'm too much of a Boy Scout. Headed to the house but could not get the red air line to stay secure. It kept walking itself loose. The clip is just so boogered that the red air line keeps walking from the seated position. Tightened and played with 3 times between Woodridge and Kankakee and it still yearned for freedom. Stopped in Kankakee and talked it over with Breakdown and we agreed that buying another red gladhand was cheaper than buying 8 trailer tires so checked in with the Love's shop and waited an hour and a half for the guy to come out, look at it, and say "We can't fix that" 4 dollars worth of zip ties and a bit of MacGuyver later and hopefully it ain't going nowhere. It was already late so I spent the night in Kankakee and then ran home in the morning. Talked to Trey in Safety and his recommendation is going to be that they sell the trailer as soon as it gets back to the mothership.

 

A Country boy can survive:

Pay your loan shark:

 

That must be one of our 3900 series trailers. I have one but it seems to be in considerably better shape than that one