Hauling Produce

MACK E-6 · Apr 19, 2018

Rubber duck kw said: ↑

Out of curiosity would you call asking the shipper what they're paying to have it moved and then beating the broker with it unethical too?
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I don’t know about all that, but in my mind it’s always worth offering to the shipper the ability to deal with you directly.

believe456 · Apr 21, 2018

x1Heavy said: ↑

That I have done all my early life.

There are two things.

You have limits on your driving. In my time after 10 hours driven, you cannot drive until you have rested or were home off duty a certain amount of hours.

You can drive 10 hours somewhere, then spend the next 30 hours shuffling freight from large pallets, say 48 of them double stacked in your trailer into about 105 small wood pallets. And counting, checking barcodes and product codes against the large spreadsheet they give you while you do it.

There is no limit to the number of hours you physically can work in that trailer back there yourself after driving. You just cannot drive again until you have rested.

Finally there is no overtime for trucking who work in trailers. There is a exemption in place. for that. I once loaded butter in Baltimore SW every day drive into the night, wait to morning and unload it in several customers at Hunts point NY. On the floor, 45000 pounds of it and off the floor again in several stops then drive deadhead the next day and load back towards maryland. You don't sleep.

Some of my actual medical issues that are disabling is directly traced to the manual labor I did in my younger years with that spine. I would be loading and unloading twice a day every day except weekends where it's time to run across the Nation to be somewhere early monday morning to do it all over again.

When I reached 32, I decided enough manual labor in the produce. Enough is enough is enough. I was being abused by places like Associated Grocers, Krogers and Walmart etc. enough.

I started changing by hiring onto a company here in Arkansas called Ronnie Dowdy, a hauler of produce in Batesville. He had a drop hook account with walmart and a number of other shippers and recievers. Suddenly all that manual lumping labor went away in 10 minutes when you drop a loaded trailer in say Waco Walmart DC, pick up a empty and roll out past 50 other truckers waiting their turn on the dock. Boom done. Next load please sir. Oh california with missouri apples? KEWL let's go.

From there reefer work improved with FFE and reached it's absolute best in Medicines valued at million and beyond in 60 degree reefer winter or summer with McKesson of Memphis.

When you are not laboring in the trailer, you are either resting or actually rolling down the road making money. Resting is a benefit to your ability to be ready to roll on the road and make mileage pay when you are told it's time to go. Youre late.

That is the last and greatest abuse ever anywhere. I pulled into a Walmart 10 minutes late, I think in Oklahoma probably Pauls Valley somewhere after a really difficult run. (That is not a excuse... you are a professional who is very happy you MADE IT AT ALL....)

Gaurd girl says, hum. Youre late. Makes phone call into traffic manager. hangs up and says get off my property, do not come back with a appointment earlier than 5 days from now. Git.

That phone call to my boss was not a good one. He had a preplan that just got ripped up over 10 minutes tossed a bunch of money along with it. And now has to sit and burn fuel baby sitting a loaded trailer 5 days.

Solution. Trailer went to a drop lot that had staff which fueled and baby sat trailers. So one load gone. Bobtail get another trailer. Sit two days as a punitive punishment while dispatch decided what to do with you after investigating your late trip to the reciever to decide if you are going to have your job or not.

Its a can of worms. If there is a problem, it really tends to escalate. You as a produce or any driver are not allowed to cause problems or become part of one. The boss man does not want to even hear it. If he did, you are fired and he will find another person who will get the job (Hopefully) done without causing or being a problem in some way. YOU as a driver might do everything within your power, but when other people says sorry youre late, get off my property... that is THAT.

I got harder in my heart in the trucking business to the point of questioning dispatcher, when is that load due to deliver, date, time and how many miles. Figure the run in my head and say yes I'll take it or NO I will not, give it to a team. You are late already.

There a a thousand ways to be late with a load. Only a few of them are valid, such as running out of legal hours in your driving today. Decades ago they fired you for not working the logbook correctly. (NOT the legal way but THEIR WAY...) Now we have the ELD.

Again, I enjoy produce work, as long it;s medicine loads and drop/hook. It eliminates MANY PROBLEMS.

There is just ONE Produce customer who is my personal Favorite. If you want a EXAMPLE of a FIRST CLASS Facility, take a look at Pokomoke City Maryland on the eastern Shore, near the ocean at about the 114 mile marker on I think 13.

You arrive any time in the night before your appointment. The woods to the side is the bullpen, you get your rest with the radio waiting for your dock call in the morning. When you are legal to go to work after your sleeper berth time, you get to the dock (Preferably early) and they unload you. Hand you the bills when done. You are not allowed to touch nothing. You are not allowed to sleep all day. They will check on you. You deliver, get the bills, and get out.

And see you next time in Pokomoke City. No problems every. time. Ive been going into there I think over 20 years when sent there and my family ordered food products from there as business people for a while. So, some of the things Ive hauled ended up on our tavern dinner table. Who knows. SO that's motivating.

Just one little thing. Maintain a watch on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel System if coming from the south. Nor'easters and wind speeds will determine as well as how much weight you have in your trailer your ability to cross that ocean at all. Just be warned that sometimes the ocean rollers will come across the bridge decking now and then and you will want to find a blue beacon or something to get that salt off your rig before you lose your wiring to it.
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Wow thanks i live in Norfolk va. So I’m close to that place

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