Good night from...

Inspection only if trailer is going to Mexico

 

Are you certain....about the live unload. Just because you have an address in Laredo doesn't mean you'll unload there. Most of the time you're dropping the trailer at a broker which means inspection. Be advised that most (if not ALL) of the brokers are not open on weekends. Another "rule" concerning Laredo is that if you have a pre-plan before you arrive you can t-call the load at the yard, supposedly if you arrive on a weekend the same "rule" applies because the broker is not open. That said the "rule" I just mentioned is not written down anywhere and subject to change. I'm just speaking from my personal experience with Laredo.

 

Joplin, MO at the Petro.

First time I've been here. Pretty nice place.

Smoke shop across the street has the best prices I've seen yet.

 

A21CAV, I think our paths will cross sometime tomorrow.. I'm on the 30 Near Benton...

 

I was told trailer inspection every time. I had a live unload, paper from Saratoga, NY, at one of the brokers and as soon as they were done I had to unhook and leave the trailer. They wanted the inspection sheet before they would even look at the BOL. I also had to sit from Saturday afternoon until Monday 6am even though I asked if I could tcall drop it. It may have been because the yard was jam packed with loaded trailers that weekend. Micabay, where is your load being delivered?

At a Shell/Baskin Robbins/Chester Chicken/Pizza Inn truckstop in Osceola, AR on I-55. There's also a Huddle House a quarter mile down the road. Yummmmm! I deliver tomorrow night at 8pm in Franklin just south of Indianapolis and then need to shut down for a 34. I'm thinking of going to the Indianapolis Speedway Museum on Tuesday. Sorry I missed you, Micabay. If I'd known you were going to be on the same road we could have stopped and met.

Frank

 

Santa Rosa, NM. Was going to try for Moriarty but after 620 miles of winds comming out of the WSW the whole way, 15mph, I got a case of the, $*&^its. Dropped my mpg down to 8.1. From the weather map, will have these winds the whole day tomorrow all the way accross NM and to Flagstaff.

 

Come on guys, use your heads, if you have a live unload in Laredo that the trailer is NOT going to Mexico, NO inspection is needed. If you are unloading at the Best Buy or Home Depot, or Kohls, or any number of places in Laredo, and you are sure it is a live unload and the trailer stays with you afterwards, it is just like any other trip in any other city. It is up to you to figure out with the help of your DL or Laredo Staff whether or not the trailer needs an inspection. I'll admit that most of the time the inspection is needed, but most of those times the Q/C will spell it out for you in the comment field.

 

If you have a load to Laredo...

You will go through the Swift terminal and the trailer will be inspected.

Just a rule of thumb to go by - because it will always be that way.

So, plan your time accordingly.
Add at least an hour, 3 if possible, to your ETA.


Although, I hear that the staff is really great there - at least to their own.

I'm not from there, and my general experience is to stay away if at all possible.

If I need shop time, it will be 3-5 days before I'm fixed - even for a problem that takes 20 minutes to correct.
If I need a shower, I am taking a big chance of catching something bad.
If I need a load out, well - our own come first, and corkscrew you.
Have a t-call load that picks up after 1800? Well, come back at 0830 tomorrow - because the person that does the BOL's won't be back before then, and he/she didn't get yours done.


Laredo is the armpit of the universe, AFAIC.

 

Personally, I have never had a problem with Laredo. Never sat, and that includes arriving on a Friday. As far as the staff, had to hook onto a MT their one day, and the guy at the t-call window told me to find one and let him know, so I did, and according to the computer, the trailer was still listed at a customer. They paid me to supposedly pu the trailer and bring it back. As far as inspections, I have to say, every time that I have been there, had to have inspection, but then, all of mine have been going on accross the border.

 

Not so.

I had a straight forward drop. But I had to have a trailer inspection sheet from the shipper. Which I did.
But when I got there, I was told I had to have an inspection sheet from Swift at Laredo.
And I had already gone through that crap and had an inspection sheet.

So I had to go to the terminal and wait through the line for the all important form.

It set me back about 2 hours.