Good night from...

in dreaded phoenix.....

 

Lubbock, TX... Got my first flat tire today. Took me about 15-20 mmiles to figure out something was wrong so I stopped to water a tree and discovered the source. Only lost about 120 miles
Today because of it. From time stopping till on road finished up was 3.5 hrs.

 

why you dread phoenix? the heat or because it is the heart of the dragon! Co headquarters...lol

 

Denver terminal...tried three different truckstops along I70....everyone ##### spot taken! and it was only 5-6pm! wtf? haha well allready snagged aload for lubbock tommorrow after drop....because this terminal is full,full of drivers...i feared the worst....but did a mac 30....and only thing available....coors beer!

 

I live 20 miles from the Phoenix terminal. It used to be my home terminal, no more. I'm based out of Lewiston now.

Let's see, they held me hostage for 25 minutes at the fuel island after I delivered my load and just wanted to go home. Ended up red tagging the MT I had. I have a load set for tomorrow evening. Problem is I'll have to wait til Phoenix feels like assigning me an MT, then drive 20 miles across town for my load.

Yeah, I can see why some drivers do not care for Phoenix.

 

Troutdale terminal behind the shop. They couldn't do much with the ac today but I'm first up in the morning when they can get parts. Nice group of guys here in the shop. They actually asked if there was anything else I needed taken care of and fixed a bunch of minor issues.
Frank

 

Google maps shows Lathrop to Seattle I-5 north all the way as 809 miles and diverting off to 97 to 58 to I5 as 807 miles albeit 20 minutes longer according to Google. I like that route going north because 97 if pretty much flat and 58 is pretty much downhill all the way to 5 which is pretty much flat again all the way to Seattle. Staying of the 5 through the Siskiyous is a lot of work, 25, 35, 45 miles per hour climbs and descents (that one section is 18 miles per hour downhill). Constant shifting, sucking down fuel, and the satellite radio cuts out all the time every time it sees a tree.

Seattac, macro 30 shows a load picking up late this afternoon (Monday) but delivering Wednesday afternoon only 777 miles away, didn't bite, will wait for planner to come to work (0400 here now) and see what else is available.

 

Scotty,

What's wrong with the above mentioned load? Yes, it probably has some wasted time (which is better than the load I took last night with NO TIME at all), but it adds 777 loaded miles to this week's settlement.

 

that might be quicker then. the only thing i would worry about is at the tunnel on 58 ive had delays of 2 minutes and ive had delays of 30 minutes. good luck and stay safe whichever way you go

 

According to both the signs I saw on hwy 97 2 weeks ago and OD DOT website OR58 is closed nightly (8:00 pm-6:00 am) at the tunnel.

Nice to know about the alternate route. Scotty is right, I-5 in southern OR is a real bear in a heavy truck. My last time through there was in a flatbed loaded to 79,000 lbs. I was southbound so it wasn't that bad, northbound is much worse.