Post flatbed load photos here V2.0

So i delivered at the hi crush facility north of Kermit Texas, right on the heart of the Permian basin, and I've learned a few things this morning. 1.That sand gets everywhere, don't matter what you do to stop it.
2. These companies will pay to tarped, this one paid dearly. Then they'll just sit 2 $100,000 pieces of equipment (industrial sand dryers) in the mud and rain without a cover for the next year because that's when they will be needed.

 

Crane mats Chicago to Cohastt Mn

 

Coil, coils and more coils just tell me if your bored of seeing coils. I have a thick skin

 

Didn't take many pictures this week because I was too busy working my butt off to have the time.

Took a load of lumber to a very small town near Sheboygan, WI with another driver for his "US training", then reloaded at one of the famously (or infamously?) slow steel tube manufacturers in Chicago, IL (it wasn't the one I went to before, which I liked, and I was lead to believe by our logistics department that things had "improved" at this one, which was a bold faced lie).

Had an amazing time (not sarcastic) driving into Chicago down the I43 through Milwaukee (amazing looking city from the Interstate, also, Wisconsin is my favourite state to drive in) and had an amazing time (totally sarcastic) waiting 5 hours to be loaded in 36°C (97°F) heat. I don't want to ever go there again. That's nearly 11 hours of my life I'll never have back. It took my trainee almost 8 hours to get his load on the trailer.

We finished tarping his load at about 3:30 in the morning. Running the I294 direct to the I90 is so much better than that game of trying to get on the I290.

What I love most about this training gig is the fact I get all the fun of the OTR lifestyle without the weekly commitment to it. And this is 2 of 2 people I've done "highway training" with now that said they greatly benefited from the experience (both new to the industry drivers). So I'm hoping this will become a "thing" I get to do permanently.

Next trip will be the guy I took to Calgary going down to Chicago for his first US run. I got back across the border today and maybe 15 minutes of driving on the 75 started to miss the Interstate. I also averaged about 6.2 mpg at 75,000 gross for all but the drive from Sheboygan to Chicago. My trainee in a MX-13 Paccar only got 5.7 mpg weighing less. Ol' Beth is running strong.

 

Also forgot to add, you Wisconsin folk sure do know how to make a #### fine cheese curd. Apparently New Bothwell here in Manitoba won the award for best curd a little while ago. I can verify that this was a poorly awarded prize. Cheese is something you do well, and I *love* my cheese.

 

I always liked running Wisconsin too. Something about it always reminded me of home. Especially on the two lanes out of town a little.

 

This is all I think about when I used to go there, OTR... sweet, however!

 

10ft wide flying saucer bodies out of Houston to Ohio

 

I know, lovely tarp job. These darn tarps frustrate me sometimes. Lol At least I put the back down first...