Good Night From II

Just checked my radar...Yikes! That mess is bearing down on my location. All the more reason to hang here for a bit. I hope I don't catch up to the backside of that frontline on my way down to Mississippi.

 

You know ... maybe there is a higher power looking out for me ... made a FUBAR decision today, going against my gut and it cost me my entire day ... so I'll be picking up my load tomorrow AM, that I would have picked up today around noon. If I had picked it up, I would be sitting somewhere between Searcy and Poplar Bluff on US 67 right now.

 

Im not sure if its different with dry freight vs reefer freight. But every time ive had overage frozen/coller goods on the trailer, they kept it and noted it on the bills, and didnt even give me an option of them not keeping it. I sent in a macro, got a response in a few minutes to make sure they note and sign the bills that it was kept, and then thats it. Makes it so much easier when they keep it.

 

I've had overages of 10 or 12 cases and the customer refused it.
It took several hours for CSR to sort out what to do with it, and by then my 14 had expired. I had to wait until the next day to bring it to a Con-Way yard to unload it.
One was a Costco load, delivering at a store. Sears was another.

 

I-35 SB is closed near Salado, TX due to a very bad accident.
A semi hit the side of an overpass bridge and it collapsed, causing at least one death in a 4-wheelie.
Just north of there was another accident where an SUV tried to get under a DOT bumper, without much success.

Just as I saw the traffic back up I got off the highway to the service road and bypassed a lot of the traffic.
Then there was a 12'2" clearance coming up so I had to get back on I-35. It only took 10 minutes or so from that point to get by the first accident.
About a mile further on the traffic stopped again for the closure.
I had already reset my GPS to the nearest truck stop, a little Cefco, which used the exit a couple hundred yards before the stopped traffic.
I lucked out this time.
I'll have to be driving again at 0200, but I lost very little time.
I'm just hoping the highway has reopened by 0200.

 

I was west on I-20 shortly after that Moose, heard all the chatter on the cb.

The OKC storm yesterday was bad too. Road Dog Trucking station on sirius got footage from a listener of the storm moving in and a big rig getting laid on it's side from wind. They reported the driver was OK but the storm did cause one death. Footage was posted on their website using the forward slash roaddogtrucking siffix. I did view it yet.

My day has been wasted. In a fitting end to this cluster of a load I arrived at final at 07:55 for the 08:00 l/u. Signs instructed drivers to "REMAIN IN VEHICLE AT CONTROLS UNTIL INSTRUCTED BY SECURITY". I wasn't in a mischievous mood so I obliged. One truck in front of me in line. At 08:20 ish the single guard walked back to my truck and got the paperwork. He looks it over and says "so you're my 13:00 appt.??? I couldn't do anything but chuckle and manage a "no Sir I'm an 08:00 l/u. He said hang on and left. Roughly ten minutes later he returned, still one truck in front but they were sliding tandems so I hoped for progress. The guard informs me I'm a 13:00 appt., they can't take me early, I have to leave and they go to lunch from 12:00 to 13:00, all the drivers who been before know this so there will be a line and I'll have to wait. I chuckled through his entire speech. He walked away.

Following a flurry of activity on qc. I actually got permission to drop AND they had an mt. Still took me just shy of two hours but I was finally free of that cursed load. Headed to the TA just a mile and half away to ponder the next excellent adventure. Let two short trips in the wrong direction with tomorrow drop windows expire without a mac9.

Finally got a double stacked offering that wasn't going to head me southeast but at least east. First was a quickie run to get under a tcall for the Lancaster terminal. First p/u window wasn't for 3 hours so I called. A Swift driver was already there. Freeform dm. Took that one off me but left the tcalled p/u in Lancaster headed to Bentonville for a wide window drop. Dm dh'd me to terminal letting me know load wasn't here yet. Arrived to find out "wasn't here yet" translated to "won't be here til 21:00 ish.

Two days from home time after being out four weeks, I've again reached the point of "who cares". Will sleep here tnite, get under it and head somewhat east in the am.

At least the weather was nice albeit OK windy, you know "whipping down the plains".

 

The Laredo terminal. Drop this one in the morning and bob tail back for another one sitting here going to Mira Loma for a drop at Nestles Distribution either Sunday night or Monday morning. Have not decided yet. As long as it is there by 2200 on the 30th. Sent a message to my dm this morning asking how the freight was for here and reminded her of home time in PHX on the 1st and then a pplan, pick up at 1300 tomorrow going to Rockford, IL on the 30th. No idea how that was going to work so refused. Was going to refuse even if not home time. No weight and I know the place that was doing the live load. Been there twice and shafted both times. Not trying a 3rd.

 

Petro in Little Rock, AR dropping at Kimberly Clark in Jenks, OK early tomorrow then picking up in Tulsa for a run to Laredo.

 

Well, it looks like many of us are way south near the border this week.

Hopefully I'll slip in at just the right moment to get a load out of TX.
I don't even care where.

 

I just did a mac 30.
Only 1 load offering.
Pick up any time tomorrow, 126 miles away, and deliver in KY on the 31st at 1800.
1246 loaded miles.
Preloaded, live unload.
Only 18.5K.
That would make it a ~2200 mile week, if I can't snag a very short load for the next day.
And a lot of time on the load, averaging only a bit over 300 miles per day.

But didn't I JUST say that I wanted any load out of TX to anywhere, from deep-south-near-the-border-TX?
I think it might just be that God is granting a request.
And I think I should not look a gift horse in the mouth.

Load accepted, as is.
I'll call the consignee to see if I can deliver early.