Page Transportation

I'm finally taking a moment to write about my experience at Page. I did orientation in late Oct in NY. It was really only a 1 day deal. They put me up in a hotel, nothing fancy, but clean. Everyone was extremely nice in the office and they move you through fairly quickly. The woman who normally does the orientation was out, so I had a fill in.

I was worned about the shop from someone else, so I wasn't sure what to expect. While the guys were good to deal with, I ended up having to fix a coupe things that I wouldn't otherwise of fixed. Here's where I had to push back on a couple of things. One of the mechanics was insisting that had to install a light for a rear license plate. I have my own IL plate and IL doesn't even offer a second plate, so there's no need for a light back there. Evidently in NY trucks are required to have 2 plates, so there's that. Next I was told I needed to fix the city horn, that DOT required it. And he was wrong, so moving on. Then I was informed I needed 2 brake chambers, they were bad, alright fine, I'm all for safety. Then I needed new air bags. I'll admit the bags were old and should of be replaced, but it wasn't a DOT issue, but I did it anyway. (Truck rides a lot better now) then I was told I needed to replace the seals on both ends of the drive shaft and I said it wasn't a DOT issue, I'll get it done at my local shop. With all that, they're shop rate was $60/hr and I did pay them to hook up a switch to raise the front trailer axle and hook up the trailer air gauge. And I had them install the wet kit, which they did a nice job of.

I come from the tanker world and I can honestly say I've had numerous days where I was asking "what the hell am I doing". A like over a month and things are getting easier and smoother. I asked for a spread axle and got one when I left NY. I do have an older double wall East and it's heavier then I thought it would be. So far I can fit between 22.5-23.25 tons. One trick I learned is if I have a flat rate load and I'm anywhere close to needing fuel, buy fuel before I get loaded. These flat rate shippers want to less then 79,000 gross and I got stuck at a 1/4 tank and no room for fuel. Also, I've since bought RV winterizer to spray the inside. Nothing sucks more then having to scrape fines of turnings from a frozen floor.

On to other stuff. The pay is 80%. If you have a trailer great, if not they'll rent you one. It's $60/day max 5 days, so $300 week max. The rental includes any maintenance. They offer EFS fuel cards and I've been happy with the discounts, but it also depends on where you fuel. I still compare to NASTC and if you fuel at Speedway, NASTC is cheaper.

I run out of the MN affiliate, so they dispatch me and I run a lot of their freight. Since I live outside Chicago I mostly cover the 6-7 Midwest states. I'm not interested in going east of OH. About 70% is scrap of some sort with alloys, coke and some cake mixed in. Lowest rate I've ran was $1.50/ mile, but I got close to $4.00 going down. I typically average $2.40-3.00 mile. I'm going to start keeping better track of all miles vs gross revenue and get an actual true rate per mile.

I know guys are going to ask, do I haul dirty dirt. I am not leased to that side. I talked to NY about that and there's pluses and minus to leasing to Page ETC. (Different authority) I'm considering switching to ETC in the spring, but a lot of the dirty work is on the east coast and jobs are 4 days to 2 weeks. I don't really want to be gone that long, but if the money is there, I may change my mind. Most of the ETC guys run regular loads in between dirt jobs, so it's not like their sitting around waiting for work.

There are days I miss tanking, I won't lie and I still may go bank to it. But I'm truly giving this a 100% effort in the mean time. As a general rule, one of the hardest things I've had to adjust to is the loading/unloading hours. Wtf! Who works 7/8-2:30/3??? I've never heard of a chemical plant shutting down for the opening of deer season also. But then I talk to my tanker buddies and they're scheduled to pu or deliver at 03:00 and I don't miss that. Most everyone has been really nice, but unlike tankers where a lot of the time you hear "glad you made it, we were almost out so let's get you started" I hear "another pile of ___? Add it to the 60' high pile".

Alright, I've said enough. Catch you all later.

 

Yes they do some tanker work, but they only run as far west as Toledo, it's almost all NY to OH. I worked with a guy who lives in Buffalo and it's perfect for him. He goes home every night almost. I'd have to be gone all week and then BT between Joliet and Toledo.

 

So I thought things would slow down for the holidays.... Nope. By Friday afternoon, I'm pretty much booked for the following week. I've yet to wait on a getting a load, so that part I like. Things are getting easier and most of the dump guys I've met or talked to have offered tips & trucks to make it easier on me. The money has been ok. Not great, not bad, just constant. I do love the affiliate I work for, I can't say enough good about them.
I typically run between quad cities - Detroit, IN, KY or TN. So a typical week looks like this. Chicago - IA- Detroit - Sterling- Detroit-sterling/quad. Or Chicago - IA- KY-quad-detroit-chicago. First week of 19 was Chicago- TN-indy-cleveland-mn(i'll sit on the load over the weekend)
Now the bad, I'm gone away more then I want to be. Part of that is not finding a rhythm yet. I thought I'd be doing more hazmat work, but it's a sticky situation involving another terminal, so I've left it alone. I still can't get used to the working hours. I'm scheduled so tight sometimes, if something holds me up, it's a chain reaction. For example, I had 2 injectors go bad leaving ia for KY. I limped back to Joliet and had the injectors replaced by that night. But it put me behind and I lost 2 loads that paid good and ended up with 2 less paying loads. I've found myself sitting at the truckstop at 16:00 because the receiver closes at 15:00.

While I'm starting to like the work, I still miss tanks.

 

29500 MT??? Dang, full fuel I'm almost 34000. If I run half tanks, I can load 23.5 ton legal. But I have an East double wall spread. I have yet to find a half round steel that wasn't 15000+ by itself.