Glad I moved over to Poly Trucking

Well got loaded at the SP News Print place yesterday in about 1 hr and would have been quicker but they had to finish one truck in front of me. I had been there before with Crete and loaded at the front docks and do remember it taking a while but this trip was around to the back and they knocked it out fast. Going to try and kick it off tomorrow instead of Wednesday morning but either way should be set up for a good OB load on Wednesday. Finished with just over 25K miles for Jan/Feb so 2015 is off to a good start. Probably going to run all of March as well.

 

Picked up a backhaul out of Mundelein, IL going to UPN (that recycled scrap plastic). Kinda glad they didn't find me a load south to TX. There's another ice storm a-brewin' between here and there.

 

Well you have blizzard warning for Minnesota. Either it's bad

 

Got 8 stopper from BH. Oregon to Lubbock. 4 of them close together in Idaho. No appointments so just run and drop.

 

rushed up here because it was suppose to get 3-6" overnight...it's now after 6 a.m...and the 1st flake hasn't fallen. There is a small squall west of town, but forecast says snow ending today...then much colder... (-8 tonight)

Started snowing an hour ago...Outbound called. I had a choice of a multi-stop to ME or a choice of two different multi-stop loads to Ferndale, WA. I am headed to Billings, Ferndale and Ferndale (different customers)...all M&P's

 

I got those two loads offered to me as well along with a three stopper in pa and a three stopper which I took, two in MD and last stop in Va.

 

The shipping said that there were 3 drivers and 3 loads this a.m. when I asked about loads...but he's not at liberty to tell me where. When I finally got the call, my load wasn't loaded yet, so I guess there were more than 3 drivers because there was more than 3 loads in his file. Besides, I-94 was shut down west of town due to crashes and spin-outs. So I went and did laundry down the street and got my groceries...then picked up my load and rolled. I had good roads l the way to St. Cloud then the wind really kicked up and the snow started blowing. Then the cars started spinning...and the road started getting icy in spots. 5 or 10 miles of pucker driving, then 5 or 10 miles of clear roads. And that blowing snow that isn't going the same direction you are so it makes you dizzy (or in my case dizzier) . Then I get to Fergus Falls and there was no snow to blow and the roads were clean...still windy...but speed limit ride to Fargo.

 

Doesn't happen often to me but today the old shipping department was 3.5 hours late on getting me loaded so pushed me into rush hour and worse the ice/snow storm down the road on I-20. Usually I just push on through but been up since 0420 this morning knocking off a load in Hutchins and was just worn out so called it an afternoon in Tye, TX. Heading home for a few days as the load to Henderson was apparently the only thing left when they called me besides two trips to upper IL.

 

I fought a cross wind all the way across MN, SD and most of MT to my 1st stop in Billings...where I fueled. Between the wind, the cold and the extra anti-gel I put in because Fargo was suppose to be -10...I ended up getting 4.3 mpg. The wind is expected to be a bit lighter going the rest of the way across MT with the exception of the mountain passes. Got a good long ride ahead of me today. I plan to get to Ellensburg today which will put me within 3 hours of my final stops on Friday. I originally estimated that it would be Friday afternoon when I arrived at my last stop, but, even with the wind and the winter roads, I could arrive as early as the customer opens their doors.

I don't know what it is about Poly, but I have always been a hard runner. A push 'till you drop kind of driver. But here, even when you're running hard...it just doesn't seem like it. By the time I get back to the GP area I will have turned almost 10000 miles since leaving home the 3rd week of Feb. (That is if I head straight back from the NW and not get caught in the west coast spin cycle). It really doesn't seem like I have been trailer trucking that hard...I certainly don't feel tired or rushed like I did at Crete when I ran this hard over there...maybe it's the low pressure laid back dispatch style, or perhaps the 68 mph truck that has enough power to pull a hill...not sure, but turning this kind of miles is simple and easy going...even though I'm not running Majestyk-like miles...I too am having one of my better starts to the year.

 

a few small changes on their own, don't appear to be worth much, but put them together, and the job becomes easy again, and even enjoyable. 4mph faster truck, power to pull the hills, not micro managed on route fuel stops, and not doing 400 mile loads, back to back to back.