My new experience with Gordon Trucking, post-buyout

Made it to the HAEI terminal in Seagoville, Texas. Not a bad place, but our GTI procedures surely seem strange. I am in a company-operated location with fuel services but I have a fuel solution that will take me to a PFJ in Dallas for a fill. That, dear reader, makes no sense to me at all. There is a wash bay here, too, but it is dark; I do have an all-day stay here (my pickup isn't until 2200 tonight) so maybe they open later than 0700.

One of the biggest challenges for any merger is having the employees figure out how "the others" work. I have to say my journey down that road with HAEI has not been smooth so far. But it is early...

 

Now I'm waiting at a "nearby" Kellogs to pick up an empty.

 

I'm sitting in a Flying J in Anna, Texas, at the end of my short day. Interesting factoid, as told to me by the Heartland Dallas shop manager. Truck washes there at places other than the blue beacon cost less than five dollars. More like $2.50!

I did not know that. Thats a good price, but then again, the double wash my tractor got (I went through twice to get the road grime off, with his permission, since Heartland requires a truck and trailer be washed) cost nothing. And my aquatint is bright and shiny!

I hooked a 38,000 lb load of plastic bags and have the same weight distribution problem I had a few weeks ago...12K on the steers, almost 34K on the drives, and just over 29K on the tandems, which are all the way forward from the last driver. Apparently, this is not an uncommon problem. So I put on a few gallons of fuel (I didn't think following th fuel solution of "fill up" was a good choice) and will see how it goes down the road.

 

And for those of you unfamiliar with the Dallas road system, two things:

1. They are all being redone. At the same time. My poor GPS doesn't know where any of them are, which makes getting around in rush hour traffic rather, um, challenging. Especially in Dallas traffic.

2. TX 121 is a toll road but there are no toll booths, just the overhead antenna array like Chicago uses. How an outsider-visitor pays a toll is beyond me, but I'm sure the company will hear about it.

 

That, I know. Unfortunately, the 'trouble' loads have all been drop-hook.

 

The steers aren't the big problem. So far, all the coops have been closed and I'm running with about half tanks, so I'm not that concerned. But I'm haven't gotten to Indiana yet...

 

A good driving day today. 550 miles and almost 11 hours of driving. Not too shabby. The only problem is I only have 390 miles to the receiver and a delivery scheduled for two days from now! Maybe I'll send in a Mac 16 with a new time...maybe they can accommodate me early; it's a lumper unload, so maybe. That would be nice. I might get another short haul before they send me home; I was supposed to be there this week, but my time is flexible, especially when it comes to a 2,800 mile run to the Left Coast and a 2,600 mile run (so far) back. Even if it did include Texas, which I HATE driving in. Or they could send me to Indy to get my APU fixed; I learned today from Green Bay that APU repairs are now only done at GTI shops. No more TK or whatever.

The interesting thing is the last two places I've stopped - I'm at a Pilot in Pacific, Missouri, now - are places I stopped at at the beginning of my 6-weeks out! Awesome.

I also neglected to mention in a previous post that while I was in Rancho area, I saw my first-ever Tesla car. Very expensive, driven by a rich guy, and not all that special except for the name. I wouldn't own one.