Indian River

Glad you’re liking it, Oleskool 75! I love it here. This month is my 4 year anniversary with IRT. I’ve done a few more Baltimore to Montebello (suburb of Los Angeles) loads since I last posted on here. My miles are great. I did a Baltimore to LA, then deadheaded to McAllen a few weeks ago. Left Baltimore on a Sunday, was in McAllen on Monday. That was 4,200 miles in a week and a day ($1,955 net deposit). I hate posting about money on a public forum, but I figured that fat check was worthy of it. Lol!

Left McAllen, delivered in Spokane, then ran one to Watsonville, CA from Washington. I’m on my way back up to Washington now to load for Florida. That will be a nice 2,900 mile run for next week. I honestly have zero complaints about Indian River.

2 or 3 years ago I would’ve said the only negative was getting home on time, but it seems like that got fixed a long time ago. Every time I schedule home time now, I never have any issues. I’m not familiar with the way things are for local or regional drivers here, but I never hear anyone complaining when I talk to them. I am an OTR driver, and things are great for me. I don’t experience short runs with big gaps between pickup and delivery times. Almost all of my loads are 1,200 miles plus. The timing allowed between pickups and deliveries are just right for me. It’s hardly ever too tight and very rarely is there a big gap. When there is, it’s usually around a holiday where a customer isn’t open or it needs to load early due to an upcoming plant shutdown. I assume all truck drivers experience that on or around holidays, regardless of company or type of trailer.

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and has a Merry Christmas this year. Drive safe and stay away from the virus!

Larry H.

 

One more thing since a few of you guys are new hires and have been in the Northeast lately...

We’ve been pulling loads out of Baltimore that go to Montebello, California. If you get dispatched on one, pay attention to the additional comment section when you scroll all the way down on your load assignment. There are 2 or 3 places with the same name that we load at in Baltimore. They can be tricky to navigate yourself to. One of them is by the Port, another is kind of in the heart of the city. If you go to the one in the city, you have to get to it from a one-way street that doesn’t look like it’s meant for trucks. The one by the Port is tricky to find too. The first time I loaded there, there were 3 or 4 of us that did too. Each one of us had trouble finding the place and had to call dispatch for detailed directions, so don’t get frustrated if it happens.

If you take one from there to Montebello, California, do not plan on going in early and sleeping at the customer in Montebello. There isn’t room at the facility to hang out and sleep. It’s also a tight back in off the street in Montebello (90 degree passenger side) but the receiver will guide and watch for you. It’ll be a live unload, but they do it quick (45 min or an hour).

Always check the additional comment section at the bottom of your load assignments, because some customers require a truck stop scale ticket and IRT will note that in the comments. When I first started 4 years ago, I burned myself a time or two by overlooking the comments at the bottom and had to back track to get a scale ticket after showing up at a customer facility. Baltimore doesn’t require one, but there will be some directions in the comment section you’ll need.

 

I don’t have either one. You can pay for a Port escort in Wilmington if needed (reimbursed), but we have a driver who preloads them and sets them outside for us now. It’s a drop/hook about a mile outside the gate.