Well I headed out at 0430 and immediately ran into heavy dense fog. The route over there on 36 was winding and hilly and I had to proceed very slowly as I could not see very far in front of me. When I left I thought I would have to sit for about an hour since I had an appointment at 0800. As it turned out, I got there at 0759. I hate to ever be late and I was not this time...by the skin of my teeth. I got to pull into a bay right away and as soon as I was untarped and unsecured, they were pulling the coil off of me. I sat for about an hour and then I got a load picking up right there going to Ryerson Tull in Charlotte NC. In order to pick up there you have to leave and then come back in. I asked the guard where there was a place to turn around. This guy could care less. He told me to just go out into town and turn around someplace. I asked, what about the place down to the left. He said you might be able to turn around down there. I went that way rather than take my chances in a town that I was not familiar with. Turned out there was a big area to turn around in. You just had to watch the turn coming back into the place. I got two 22k coils put on in a pretty short amount of time and I was on my way. The directions for my next stop were all wrong and so was the address on the work order. I should have seen it on the bol, but I just looked as far as the name of the company. Got to the old location and called them up. She says we have not been there for years. So I had to drive 15 miles to their new location, but still made it in time for my appointment. The next pick up was at EDSCO, six miles up the road from where I was. It a 8K piece of metal that they bury in the ground and then mount the large light poles on. It was only a 643 mile run, but was not scheduled to deliver until thursday morning. I was not excited about taking two days to get there but I figured there was a reason for it. I made it to Fraziers Bottom for the evening and headed out early the next morning. I was going to shut down as close to the receiver as I could so that I could roll in there at 0800. I then decided to call them to see if I could spend the night there. In talking to them, I found out that I could deliver that day up until 17:00 so I continued on and got there aroud 14:00. I got a load right away to pick up at US Steel tin mill in East Chicago. This was going to be close as to if I could make it on time as you have to be in there 30 min before or after. I made it right at 15:30 and had enough time to get loaded and then make it to the gary yard and shut down. This load was taking me to Ball Metal in Springfield Arkansas. I could deliver either Thursday or Friday. I decided I would go for Thursday, shut down there, and then be on the board early for Friday morning at Fort Smith. I drove 657 miles in 10 hrs and 48 minutes.....had only 12 minutes left when I pulled in there. Got unloaded and then was told to head to Ft Smith. I called them up and told them I was out of hours and was told to come to the fort around 0800. When I first got to the Ft Smith they did not have any loads going to Ohio. I then asked for any 1000 mile loads anywhere and they did not have any. I waited about 15 minutes and went back in and they had a load going to Colfor in Malvern Ohio. 66 dead head and 929 loaded. I got 4 bundles of grey bar and two bundles of shinny bar. I had just enough time to make it to the Madison yard. As I was approaching St Louis, there was the two ends of the rainbow and the beginning of a funnel cloud. It was pretty intense looking. Washed the truck and the trailer, took a shower and then settled in the truck and watched basketball. Headed out at 0530 and made it home yesterday afternoon at 1500. I can deliver as early as 0600 tomorrow, so I will spend the night at the truck and head out at 0400. It was very foggy here this morning so I am anticipating it to be the same tomorrow....so it will be a repeat of last monday, but US 30 will not be as hilly. Had I not been proactive this week, I probably would have only had 1500 miles. But I ended up with over 2200 and am starting the week with 995.
Sorry to hear about the Sand Division.... That sucks. I would encourage those SWN drivers who have not pulled a flatbed to seriously consider giving it a try. Just my two cents.... Good luck Guys!
A few have, some at Maverick and a few came from TMC. I haven't but I'm going to learn even with my health issues. I had knee surgery in November but I wear a brace and it helps. I had bypass surgery in 2007 and a pacemaker put in that same year but all is well with my heart. I'm looking forward to it just to be more physically active. Most of us came to Maverick because we were tired of being on the road. My wife is 100% disabled so going back out is going to be especially hard on her. We still haven't been called to do the prefill on the next well which starts Tuesday. That is not a good sign. If we don't work then the next couple of checks will suck. Maverick is going to pay us $550 for training but it looks like it's going to be at least a couple more weeks before we can begin making any good money again. We were told that even though we aren't experienced flat bedders, we will come out of training with top pay because of already being Maverick drivers. I have a weeks vacation I can use if I need to but I'd rather not yet
I would request the money and not just let it sit just in case something goes south. You can take the money without taking the time off.
Well I got hung out this weekend. Started the week finishing up a 800 mile run, that helped me get 2800 miles this week! I am sitting at the Pilot in White Pine, TN doing a restart. Shutdown last night with 3.5 hours left on my 70 Head out Monday about 5am to deliver up in Abingdon, VA.
The US division. BTW, for some reason I cant approve friend requests with my phone's browser. But I accept lol
Well it's about that time to head to the truck after a week off doing the military thing. Got about 5 weeks before I have to take off another week to fly again. Let's hope that the CSR's will be good to me this morning.
