Getting Ready to Hit the Road with Magnum

Arf!

Ladies and Gentlemen..... This right here IS THE MAN.... that is This Was and continues to be the one responsible for keeping me between the lines..... that's right... Kurt!

Yeah man... you name the day and I will be there. And yep.... we would tear it up..... just say the word

 

Had an interesting morning.... hauling all of that paint in the 55 gallon drums and went over a VERY LARGE bump on the highway. Well I didnt hear anything, but I sorta felt I should check the load anyway. Lo and behold, one of the 55 gallon drums tipped over and fell off the pallet.

As luck would have it, it did not spill and the drum stayed intact, but I did have to lift it back upright and get it back up on the pallet. I would have never thought they weighed as much as they did. But I got it up there and put the load lock back into place.

Rest of the trip was uneventful.

LESSON LEARNED.... when you are carrying loose drums on pallets..... check your load frequently. Especially if you go through rough construction. Glad I did. Had that drum had time to roll around, things might not have turned out so well.

ARF!

 

Been another whirlwind of a week (and it is only Wednesday)

Where to start.....

Last Thursday I got back on the road, picked up in Greensboro, NC, ran the load to Roanoke, VA (all while ducking the tornados). Then picked up a load of Paint and ran it up to 2 locations in Waterloo, Iowa on Monday. From there, picked up a load of tires Monday afternoon in Walcott, Iowa. Delivered that to Fargo, ND on Tuesday. From there, I ran up to Crookston, MN (NW Minnesota), loaded up 45000 of sugar and running it to Rockford IL by tomorrow morning (Thursday) at 6am. As soon as I get that unloaded, I am running up to Milwaukee, picking up a load, and taking it back to Fargo for a Friday delivery.

Other than than, nothing much is going on..... heheheheheh

aaaaarfffffff....

 

Hey there Bud -

Yeah they are keeping me busy.... and that is a good thing!

Hadnt been to Kankakee yet, but I'm sure it will just be a matter of time. Generally I am pulling a reefer, but from time to time I run a dry box. As a matter of fact, I have been running dry for the last couple days, but repowering a reefer tomorrow headed to Nebraska (a nice slowwwwwwww trip). And a welcome trip at that. Recently been on the log or in the bed. Not that I am complaining, but it will be nice to enjoy the scenery for a change.

 

Well rounded, huh? hehehehehehe Not sure how to take that hehehehehe. Yeah, you taught me well. Many things you may have not thought I was paying attention, but I can hear people over my snoring hehehehehehe. Thanks for the kudos......

Well today is Saturday and I am in Fargo. Dropped my trailer in the yard last night and had a LONG night's sleep (thank GAWD!!).

Was able to get the armrest fixed on the driver's seat (it had a mind of it's own) and got the stickers put on the cab for Electronic Logs. Now maybe the DOT will have even more reason not to inadvertantly pull me around back.

Tell you what.... I have been on the e-logs for a couple month's now and they are not so bad. In essence, they can actually save you time if you do it right. There are of course pros and cons with them, as in anything in life. I know that a lot of drivers out there say that they are terrible and that they will make you lose money because you are not going to be able to run as many miles. No argument there. You no longer have the ability to be creative, but I am here to tell you, I ran 3106 miles last week, and it was all done within the limits of the e-logs. And I drove the life out of Tater, but it didn't kill me.

I have heard a lot of drivers talk about "just one more way for them to keep their finger on you", and "I'm gonna quit if I have to do e-logs". For the record... I would rather be passed by someone who has not been driving for 16 hours today. Also for the record, if they have a Qualcomm, or Peoplenet system in the truck, they know exactly where you are anyway. And if one is going to give up their seniority, their career, or start over from scratch just because they might lose a few bucks a week, well I think that is rather narrowminded. Especially when you figure out how much time and money is involved in starting over with another company. Of course, that does not apply to Owner Operators as much.

I am not going to sit here and try to say that everyone should think the way I do. Lord wouldn't that be scary. But for me, I am satisfied not only with the fact that it takes the guesswork out of how much further I can go today, but it also makes it so dispatch can not place unreasonable expectations on me. Hence, I don't get in trouble for not getting a load to the receiver on time. For the record, I do deliver on time (I think I was late once and that was due to an accident and traffic pileup). And I was only late by 15 minutes.

It's like this.... if I am on paper, my fueling, breaks, inspections, and anything else is done in 15 minute increments. On e-logs, it is done by the minute. SO let's say I fuel my truck with 50 gallons (which I do regularly so I can bank my free coffee and showers), it does not take 15 minutes to do so. Actually it is about 8 minutes. Then I jump in the truck and go. Now let's say I run 2400 miles in a week. 50 gallons will get me about 300 miles (give or take). So that is 8 times that I save 7 minutes.... or roughly 1 hour / wk. Now let's say that the same happens for my pretrips. That is another hour. Then combine that with any other breaks (including required Hazmat stops), sleeper berth, and whatever else. Then add to that everytime I load or unload. I go OnDuty for a couple minutes, then switch right over to OffDuty or Sleeper, depending on the situation. Each one of those can save me 10 minutes or so.

Do you see what is happening here? I admit, you can definately "acquire" more hours if you run paper, but if it is done right, and you use a few brain cells, the loss is not near what one might think. As a fact, you will still get more driving hours on paper.... but if you are making $.40 / mile (which a lot of us don't), that is still only $24 more that you are going to get for that hour of putting your life and everyone else around you at risk. And there are days when I have been sitting at a shipper or receiver and only drove for 3 or 4 hours. Could I drive an extra hour or two when I get on the road? Sure I could.

I don't necessarily agree with the 14 hour rule (as I know most of you don't either) and I think there should be stipulations and exceptions. But as my Daddy always said, "These are the cards you were dealt, and you knew stakes when you sat at the table. Make the best of your hand, or fold your hand, and go to another table."

And like I said, I am still able to get the miles SAFELY. Is it worth me driving an extra couple hours to make an extra $50 when I am getting drowsy? Is it worth it to YOU to have me driving an extra couple hours to make an extra $50 when I am getting drowsy? Personally, my life doesn't have a price tag on it.... my life is about getting home and hugging Linda and my daughters. And all the money in the world is not worth compromising that.

Your opinion may be different. That's what makes you and I unique. Like I said before, I may not agree with your opinion, but I will defend to my death your right to have one. And I may not always be right. But please don't tell my daughters that. )

ARF! (and a little scratch behind the ear....)