Good Night From II

East of Topeka at a service area, waiting for the place to open at like 0730. Picked up in Otay Mesa lift gates with 5 stops. The big ones are rock solid, but they stacked the scissor gates on each other 3 high and I don't trust it. Light as they are I know it's paranoia, but still I'll be glad when I drop em off. Stop 1 was in Denver, Stop 2 is Lawrence KS. Stop 3 is in st Charles MO, stop 4 and 5 are both in chicagoland. Student is in team status, he had driving experience from the oilfields, so we are delivering this stuff as soon as we get it there during buissness hours.

@moose I want salmon, and I 2nd your grand experiment, the most feasible would be acid though, effective in ultra low concentration, easier to distribute as an aerosol. I figured out the acid bomb instantly, that would work. Now thanks to you my brain is working on a way to distribute weed effectivly, it dosent absorb quite so easy so it's a bit more challenging. (Might be the most I've ever used my degree for.)

@blsqueak almost the best outcome for that, short of it not happening obviously.

 

Took a load from ending hometime out of Las vegas drop yard to Visalia, CA. Left Sunday & got to Bakersfield FlyingJ same day. Load Assignment said no appt. yet. Figured CSR would schedule it for sometime Monday. Nope, Tuesday 1500hrs. Of course worthless DM isn't in today when he is suppose to be. He must have FMLA and abuses it allot. Most of the time he is not there during his days of work it seems. I've had him for approx. 4.5 years now. If he isn't there tomarrow, going to ask Fleet Manager for a new DM. Wanted to see if could get at least 50 bucks for sitting all day yesterday and most of today. 363 miles for 2.5 days is not cool.

 

Baytown, TX at the TA.

I've had a couple nice loads this week. My last one was 1400 miles from Worland, WY to Conroe, TX. This one is from Beaumont, TX to Tracy, CA - 1900 miles. Plus 270 empty miles.
I'm running very thin on my 70 as a result.

This load also had no appointment times, but I figured they could just work with the hours I had and accepted it.
A short time later the times came in. Pick up was no problem, but there might have been with the delivery.
When I got the actual load assignment the delivery gave me until 0445 the following morning, so that was cool.
I set my loaded call ETA at that time and was rewarded with a message that I would be late for the 11/21 1200 delivery time. 'Please send a macro 22', which I have ignored. They know my hours, and what was sent in the load assignment.
And besides, I might just be able to make that original delivery time if all goes well.

 

-- newbie alert! --
What just happened to Moosetek13 is what has been floating around in my head since I started studying for my CDL. How do you determine if the delivery time given by dispatch is doable or not? Are you just plugging in the route in a GPS? Is there special software that takes in account the route and HOS requirements along with traffic conditions? I hear a lot about people who are being pressed to make tight deadlines. I am thinking that unless the driver is just sitting in the truck stop watching Jerry Springer, it would seem to me (a super newbie) that there isn't much a driver can do due to HOS and E logs to make an unrealistic deadline.
Also, is there a reference somewhere about what the different Qualcomm macros are for? I frequently read about Macro 22 and some others, but don't know what they mean.

Thanks for any info.
-- end of newbie alert! --

 

Being good at trip planning is a must. The method i use to determine how many hours it take is 50 mph. So if you have a thousand mile load, i would figure it take 20 hours in drive time. Now you have to figure you breaks, pre/post trip and fuel times. Add those times together, thats the tiem it will teke you to get from staŕing point to finish. . Each companies mac mean differant. Swifts mac 22 means you are running late and lets you inform the planners. Mac 9 is acceptingor refusing a load. Its been ovèr a year since i drove. So dont remember everything. Not sure if theres a thread here on definitions of macs.

 

I use the 50 mph average to give you time for traffic and other slow areas.also kn pick up... i figurw i will be there 2 hours. Sometimes its fastèr and sometimes its longer... but thats the average i use

 

It just comes with time, trip planning you should. Take into consideration if you are going through major cities, and what time you will be going through them. And if you are out west the weight of the load and what interstate or highway you using. Because a 45,000 pound load running from Denver to Kansas city is no big deal. But a 45000 pound load coming from Toledo, OR going to Sacramento, CA have to adjust times. One thing that irritated me with swift was the evil plus 1 but the deal breaker was the camera so I just said F it I quit and retired for good lol my rule of thumb was 50 mph to figure how many hours it would take to get from point A to point B

 

There is a list of all the macro's at the terminals, and your mentor should explain the most commonly used ones.

And yes, I try to figure things out with the GPS as a first thing. It is probably the best tool you could have.
My RM 520 will give the drive time and ETA in the destination time zone. If the options are set correctly the route and times will be pretty accurate.

That gives the basic times, but then you have to figure in break times, fueling and scaling time, extra time for laundry and showers if you will need them during the trip, extra time for rush hours if you are going through big cities at those times, etc..
Not to mention watching your HOS clocks.

Swift has computer programs that calculate some of that and dish out loads based on those figures, but they are not very accurate.
You have to figure out these things on your own to be sure.
If you try to use what Swift says you can do, you will no doubt be setting yourself up for many service failures.
And if you try to run the hours as presented by the program you will no doubt be deprived of good sleep.

That is where mac 9 comes into play.
Mac 9 is the macro used to accept a load, or reject it.
But you can also use it to adjust the pick up and delivery times with the 'C' option (Counter).
If you want or need more time for the load you can input your own times. If the customer pick up/delivery times are compatible the load offer will be sent back to you with your times. If not, the load offer will be removed from you - with no repercussions to you.

Keep in mind that Swift does not show you the time windows for pick up and delivery that the customer gives them.
The load offer is sent to you with the times the computer program 'thinks' you can do it in, with no leeway for other considerations.
It is an effort to make you run as hard as possible at all times.

Personally, I don't put up with it and run my truck the way I want to - for the most part anyway.
There will always be some loads that are very tight on time with no leeway, and I take them when necessary. But most loads have some extra time built in that can make your life a lot easier and less stressful.

Not all companies work this way. Many just say to do it in this time, with no options.
That's one of the reasons I like it at Swift. I have some options and some control.

 

I hate the Plus1 thing also. I hate having to call Swift, waiting on hold, just to find out if there is a window or not for delivery or pickup. Waisted time. Way around it, Macro9 counter. Put in your times. It either works or it doesn't. I got tired of playing there games & hanging on hold.