Mike's Book Club: The Legend of Werner Enterprises 1956-2002

Discussion in 'LTL and Local Delivery Trucking Forum' started by Mike2633, Mar 11, 2018.

  1. Shep Shiloh

    Shep Shiloh Medium Load Member

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    If you want to see Miss Connolly in a movie that went under the radar when it was released in '90 check out The Hot Spot. Great noir starring Don Johnson and directed by THE Dennis Hopper. Also if you like horror movies check out [i[Creepers[/i] from '85. Miss Connolly has her first starring role in that.
     
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  3. Mike_77

    Mike_77 Medium Load Member

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    IMG_0051.JPG IMG_0052.JPG
    I just stumbled upon something of interest concerning old Werner trailers... At one of my companies terminals I noticed one of the old 53' Trailmobile dock extension trailers had a few scratches that revealed what looks like Werner blue beneath the white paint. As you can see in the picture the manufacturers data plate shows it was built in 1990.
     
    Last edited: May 30, 2018
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  4. Mike2633

    Mike2633 Road Train Member

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    The question is how long has it been since Dorsey stopped making dry van trailers. Considering Trailmobile isn't in business anymore and Dorsey now only makes flatbeds.
     
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  5. Mike_77

    Mike_77 Medium Load Member

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    Yes, I understand you were asking about Dorsey. I just thought it was interesting to put a manufacturers date on a Werner Trailmobile. Apparently they might have used Trailmobile
    after Dorsey and before Wabash??? Or maybe they purchased from both Wabash and Trailmobile simultaneously post Dorsey ?
     
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  6. Mike2633

    Mike2633 Road Train Member

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    They certainly could have Wabash really wasnt on the map till about 1992.
    Dorsey and Trailmobile would have been first. It’s interesting to know that as recent as 1990 Werner was using Trailmobile and not Wabash. If I had to guess the Wabash showed up probably around 1992.

    Wabash’es hay-day would have been 1992-2016ish.

    Considering you’re seeing Hyundai and Great Dane sneaking in. I see quite a few Great Dane trailers out there now.
     
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  7. Mike2633

    Mike2633 Road Train Member

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    Hello everyone, how are you today?
    So you are probably wondering or maybe you're not where the link to the TNT thread is? Well, right now I'm having some agricultural difficulties in simpler terms I'm on the verge of trying to head off a major fungicidal outbreak in my yard. I have a corner lot and my grass is not the best the minute it gets hot my lawn goes straight to heck. It was looking nice, but it's weak and the minute it gets hot which is what we had here this week the dollar spots show up the weeds come out of know where because the grass is so weak and the lawn turns to pot. So really don't always like the heat I watch my electric bill and water bill shoot through the roof not to mention the ants are out of control this year. I pushed them back to my garage which is progress, but it's not as much progress as I like to see. I thought about getting an exterminator for prevention sake. You know an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

    Anyhow, it takes me 5 hours to water my corner lot and 3 different sprinklers to get the job, done, but the one thing is it's the end of our trucking season kind of were starting the off season now. Which I know sounds maybe strange. Now just because I call it the off season doesn't mean there's no work, but we have a lot of routes that slow down or get eliminated or cut or reduced which would be the same as a slow down so after getting to work at 1am on Tuesday and getting home at 11am I had plenty of time to do some projects around the house. Actually it's a nice little break the money slows down a bit, but it's not like the worst ever it is what it is. Soooo that's where that is I finally finished watching Outback Truckers about road trains in Australia. That's about I guess you could say I've been taking a small hiatus.
     
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  8. Oldironfan

    Oldironfan Road Train Member

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    Can I be the one who says, What in the hell!!?
     
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  9. Oldironfan

    Oldironfan Road Train Member

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    Freightliner Columbia truck started appearing in 2003 I believe.
     
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  10. Mike2633

    Mike2633 Road Train Member

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    Hello everyone good morning to all of our friend's out east like me. To all you west coasters well it's early yet for you.

    So what's been going on?
    Well I do indeed have to get cracking on the next subject, but I think we have some new people on here and Friday is historically a long day for me at the office. You'll have those in trucking. Let me tell you how my day was yesterday maybe you can relate.

    02:00am-my alarm goes off and I call into to check my work messages and I hear that my trailer is going to be at the drop lot at 3:00am. Ahh crap, this is actually good and bad it's good because I need an early start it's bad because I'm tired ha-ha it's 2:00am.

    So I get in my car and drive to work. Get there maybe at 02:45am-02:50am and I get the hand held logged in and ready to go.

    So then I drive back to the truck parking and I see my trailer is dropped over there it's about 0:300am now maybe a tad later.

    So I go and walk over to my tractor we have assigned units so I have the same tractor everyday. I get that thing fired up and aired up.

    Hook up to the trailer and do all the stuff associated with that, cranking the landing gear up checking the lock jaws around the fifthwheel checking the lights and tires and hooking up the air lines. Checking the load.

    I open the trailer up and the back is littered with non-cons and it's almost loaded to the back door.They packed the heck out of it.

    I checked the paper work according to the paper work 19,500lbs for 994 cases. It looked like it ha-ha.

    So my Friday takes about all the equipment you can throw at it to get it done.
    Hand Trucks.jpg
    My Friday is kind of a pain.

    Anyhow, so after moving some stuff around and some fighting I get all my gear loaded in the back of the trailer and take off at about 03:30am.

    About 04:15amish sometime around there I get to my first stop. It's a biggie 226 cases 4900lbs.

    So I open up the freezer and the back and unload my gear and take the ramp and hook it on to the side of the trailer to get the freezer unloaded 79 cases just for the freezer.
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    Of course the freezer has the living daylights packed out of it absolutely packed out of it and sure enough there's some out places in the way so I find a place to put them off to the side. Considering the freezer is packed to the gills and it wasn't an oversize freezer either they just packed the heck out of it.

    So I employed a strategy which most guys don't do or would do and I grabbed both knock downs.
    I have one of the new model Magliner Gemini XL knock downs which is really nice I recommend you all buy one. That wheeler has breaks and over size casters on it that do not fall into the ribbing on the trailer floor. Mine is just a bare bones model I didn't put any extra's on it.
    GeminiXL.jpg
    I also have a Magliner Gemini Senior which is the regular sized Gemini.
    Wheeler Load II.jpg
    The two of these that I own I had upgraded both of them, they were upgraded with decking, stair climbers and you can see the extended tongue. Which is nice, because it packs the load in and makes it more stable.

    Anyhow after a bunch of sliding of cases down the ramp and onto the wheeler's and a few back and fourth trips to get the remainder and about 35-45 minutes of that the freezer was unloaded hurray.

    Then I had to do the rest of the stuff. So I moved the ramp to the back of the trailer where it normally goes and after some fighting with the non-conveyorables I spend the next hour I don't know unloading the rest of that stop.

    So it was close to 5am when I was getting out of there.

    So then I drove across the street to my second stop 220 cases and essentially did the same exact thing. Now I will say this the second stop was a bit easier not as much trouble considering there was some room made now that I had 226 of them out of the way.

    So after an hour and a half across the street it was now late in the six o clock hour and time to go.

    The third stop at 7:00am is a big pain took about 45 minutes.

    Then I had a handful of smaller stops. Of course it was warm yesterday and I had bottled water and stuff and I found a missing case for my third stop mixed in with my fourth stop sigh....

    So anyhow threw that to the side don't have time for that right now.

    So about 9:00am I'm done with the Chagrin Blvd Block. Chagrin Blvd and Interstate 271 is the busiest intersection in the Cleveland Metro Area. It's the worst street to drive down a lunch time I won't do it. ha-ha.

    Anyhow, loads starting to get harder to handle because it's shifting and settling and other factors I won't get into, but I can handle it.

    So get the 7th stop out of the way there done and I head to the 8th stop it's about 09:45am when I get there and the place isn't open, but it's packed.
    Haserot got the good spot.
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    Sysco ended up parking over on the side:
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    So that leads me kind of almost out of options so I had to park in the parking lot off to the side next to Sysco. So that meant that I had to load up a knock down a couple times to get all 51 cases in. Place was packed because at the same time Pepsi and Morgan Linen Service were also there. Morgan Linen Service is a typical textile and uniform company there plant is on Abbey Ave in Cleveland's famous Ohio City neighborhood and they have quite a few accounts. They do a lot of places I see them all the time. It seems the fancy 5 start name brand chef places like to use them.

    Anyhow fought that one off and the hotel block started up again as I had (2) hotels to do. The one is kind of pain lots of separation and nothing is what it seems it's a pain so that stop was 2800lbs so get that place off. Then had another hotel after them, that one was smaller though not nearly as hard.

    So now it's 12:15am still not done yet oh no.

    The next stop is one of our company stores we have our own chain of grocery stores and I had 3000lbs to take off at our store so I headed over there and pushed 3000lbs off at that stop.

    So now it's 1:20pm in the afternoon. So now we start the country club block.

    Yes now I have a couple country clubs to knock out when you're on the rich side of town you'll have that.

    So I go tot the first place I have out in rich people's rich town actually years ago I went out with a girl from that town her dad had to have made big bucks because she had been through all of the most expensive private schools in the Cleveland area and she really wanted me too and I don't know why, but that's water way over the bridge now.

    Anyhow I got to that place and there set up is a little strange like most country clubs there layout is a little strange you have to drive down the driveway then ally dock backwards down a road and that road goes down a hill along a parking garage and all the way down and you park next to there driving range and that's as far as you can go because there loading dock has a bridge over it and the trucks taller then the bridge. However this place only gets really only a few things, they buy bacon, fried chicken batter, some snacks and a couple minor freezer things. However there kitchen is real professional best one I've seen all the cooks and chefs have chef uniforms on and there always cranking. Actually couple weeks ago one of the head chefs there made me a cheeseburger and put it in a to go container and I got to take it with me.

    So I got them taken care of and then it was on to the next country club down the road a little way and that place I think is like $45 grand a year to be a member at it's some insanely expensive number. So I get there and they don't always go on Friday and this place uses use us for there general grocery what they do is they buy there expensive meats and fish from Euro USA or Northern Haserot or Blue Ribbon christ sake everyone buys meat from Blue Ribbon in Cleveland there isn't a restaurant in Cleveland that doesn't buy from Blue Ribbon Meats. Hell I've bought from them as a private person I phone in my order and drive to there warehouse in the middle of the hood near the scrap yard on stock Ave. I've been in the back there and everything they took me into the warehouse once because my mom wanted to buy a brisket and what she wanted wasn't available at the grocery store.

    Anyhow the last country club was pretty easy they just had a Friday hold over order it was mostly snacks chips stuff like that country clubs go through a lot of chips and gatorade and stuff like that because those are things that golfers like to consume. So this place buys a lot of consumables like that off of us and they buy chemicals to dish machine detergent, washing machine detergent etc etc.

    Actually that place isn't bad the kitchens only a few guys who have been around a while and cooking a while and the head chef's pretty nice sometimes if they have there lunch buffet ready they give you a sandwich and some chips and a big glass of pop.

    Even if they don't they sometimes give you some cookies it's nice when you don't pack a lunch.

    So it's 2:45pm when I got done with them and now technically I'm empty, but I have that missing case that I found oh what's a boy to do. Well I figured I was already on a road and while it was a little bit of a hike that would get me to what was my third stop way earlier in the day. So I went back that way and dropped the case off there and headed back in to the yard.

    I got into the yard at about 03:15pm in the afternoon thank goodness the highways and biway's weren't all backed up and it all worked out.

    Now on the way home I ended up hitting traffic the entire way, but oh well.

    Anyhow that was my Friday.
     
  11. Mike2633

    Mike2633 Road Train Member

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    @taodnt
    Are you working anywhere yet or selected a company to apply for?
     
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