Post Gordon ~ Thoughts, Commentary & Reflections

From Sideling Service Area I-76 (E of Breezewood, PA)

Sept 22, 2013--Current company, NOT Gordon...

This is the longest run I've done for this outfit since I trained back in May, I think. Have to check to be sure. One side of the Indy turn is done, both sides of the Rochester and I'm on the first leg of the 'West Pitt'--which turns out 'West Pittsburgh' is actually Bridgeport, OH on the other side Wheeling, WV.

I thought I was going to Pittsburgh. Not. I commented in another thread (one of these piss-contest threads, unfortunately) how easy to see our ancestors, forebearors, facing down British muskets and armor for this land. Have been up and down I-90, I-81, I-476, I-276 and tonight I-76. What great scenery. These roads are the dreams we've all had of trucking and sweet driving--well, mostly. From Philly to Pittston road construction is pretty ugly driving.

Came out the long way from Indy because of a placarded load. Left Philly for Rochester with a non-Haz load, so planned straight through the Lehigh Tunnel. Noticed leaves falling as I approached Pittston, where I spent the night at the Pilot across from Wal-Mart. On the way, thought I saw browns, reds and yellows trying to push out from the carpet of trees visible from the hwy.

Above Pittston to Scranton you get 65 mph speed limit, good road, long rolling hill country and fall colors popping out like a too tight pushup bra. Just can't stop looking. Always heard talk in Minnesota each Fall about taking a leisurely trip to Florida just when the colors popped so to watch 'em explode all the way South. (As in Dixie, yes.)

Here's the Lehigh Tunnel: Lehigh Tunnel - YouTube

There are Haz warnings on either side of the tunnel. Couldn't read them fully. Did see the word 'bulk' on way up to Rochester but not enough to read exactly what was and wasn't allowed through. I needed to know if the return load was Haz, of course.

In the meantime, the mountainous hills are long, sweeping and just right to set the cruise at 65, toggle the engine brake from 1, 3 or off on the down side. (I have three settings: 1, 2, 3. Haven't used '2' in these hills at all.) Very, very rarely touch the brakes and between the cruise and toggling the engine brake, set it, forget it and enjoy the show. Very nice. Not exhilerating like Eisenhower Tunnel, Vail or Glenwood Canyon, but very, very nice.



Written Sept 22, 2013, Sideling Service Area I-76, PA. All rights reserved by author.

 

The Lehigh Tunnel

Sept. 23, 2013--Not Gordon

Up in Rochester there were three trailers at three doors. Eenie... Well, the Philly customer left me some keys with the bills, all in a plastic, see-through envelope. So, it's a double-drop-and-hook. Drop mine, pull one out, spot it temporarily, put the trailer I brought... you get it! But which one? There are three and one has placards.

My heart drops a little when the keys open the first placarded trailer. Shucks, can't go back through the tunnel. Ugh! Wonder what the get-around route is? But, no, this trailer isn't loaded to go anywhere. It's storage. Got drums on top of drums. Cool! I get one of the un-placarded trailers. Door two, coming up!

Door two is my trailer but I don't know it yet. Definitely Haz and definitely loaded to go. Once I open door three, which also is storage, where I find a spare padlock, I've got the return bills and my marching papers. Have to study the manifest and sign transport papers for what seems like forever, then figure out my Haz placards...

In due course I figure I'm going to fly a 'Dangerous' and a 'Flam 3'. But what about that darn Lehigh Tunnel?? How am I going to get back to Philly?? Dunno.

The nice thing about a small company is that everybody is helpful. Always seems like the head of Transportation is on relief when I call in. He gives me a couple other drivers' phone numbers to call who have done this run. I need that because I can't get through to the Pennsylvania Turnpike or the PA State Police. No help from officialdom.

The short of it is that only bulk is prohibited through the tunnel. Cool! I'm not pulling a tanker and I don't have poly totes. Just drums and packages. No bulk. I'm good through the tunnel. Very cool. As I pull out from the Rochester lot, my antique Garmin chimes in for me to turn left, not the way I came in.

I look over to the left and about six hundred feet down I see an eleven-foot, one-inch clearance sign and a low railroad bridge right past it. Oh, my! That could have been three (3) miles down the road and not 600 feet! Guess I'll go back out the way I came. By the time I make the right turn, Garmin's already adjusting--I hope. Dunna-wan' anymore low bridges, thank you.

So, the tunnel, the Lehigh Tunnel. Turns out that I-476 was much opposed in Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia Inquirer called it "the most costly, most bitterly opposed highway in Pennsylvania history." And it wasn't originally intended to be the Lehigh Tunnel but the Thomas J. Evans Tunnel, for the Turnpike Commission chairman who hung in there through all the fights to build the tunnel and the turnpike.

More on that here: http://m.roadnow.com/us/pa/road_description.php?road=I-476-PA&id=r10001789

And here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_476

Seems that Chairman Evans' July 25, 1967 conviction for conspiracy to defraud the Turnpike Commission of $19 million put the damper on the plan; the tunnel got named the Lehigh Tunnel and Evans' infamy became his legacy.


Written Sept 23, 2013 at the Sideling Service Area, I-476. All rights reserved by author.

 

On the Gordon Front

So I just learned that The Intimidator and The Fleet Manager are no longer with Gordon. They figure heavily throughout my five-month experience with Gordon. I need to think about this. What would really help is to hear from folks who are Gordon rookies now or soon to go through Orientation.

Calling all Gordon rookies!! Are you out there?? I know you are, Gordon runs Orientation every, every week.

This much is true about ANY job, not just trucking. The people you work with matter. Depending on who was on the other end of the QC (QualComm) or phone, Gordon was a completely, completely different company. A change of personalities will not change some things. Great equipment. The logistical challenge of keeping 2000 trucks and drivers moving 24/7. The rookie experience of feeling like you've got a ring through your nose and pulled from load to load.

But once you learn how to set your availability--and that you can--a Gordon driver does have a strong sliver of control. Want to start at 8 a.m.? Cool, do it. Set it and make it so. You can do that and probably won't hear a peep.

Low pay for rookies? Sure. What I learned at Gordon offset ALL of that. Gordon better prepared me for what I'm doing now and some other things I'd like to do. Time well invested. No regrets. The money wasn't good enough to stay. And leasing a truck from Gordon and still having forced dispatch made no sense in the final analysis.

(Funny, I can bring my dogs with me now, with this company I part-time at now, and I haven't so far. Money's $200 plus/day plus break down, plus wait time over 2 hours and no quibbling. Paper logs. Trip meter was at exactly 500 miles yesterday. I absolutely hated to zero that out. An even 500. No tenths. Ha-ha-ha. Yeah, I watch when the numbers line up. The odometer will hit 42,222 today. Will I notice? Probably not. And I'll be pissed that I missed it, right in front of me... )

/BTW, that's 1,042,222 and I did miss it. A very solid, older KW T800 with a no-drip Detroit. Do they make those any more??


From the Sideling Service Area, east of Breezewood on I-76. All rights reserved by author. Time to get rolling. Slightly gray, cool days are my favorite. A beautiful morning... Bright One (double yellow) has a point (or two). Maybe some people just suck. Driving doesn't have to if you've got the right job that you like. Lovely green, wooded hills all about... but this job could change. Great right now, who knows later? Plans to head west for a month or two (at least) as winter closes in.

 

As I was saying...





[TTR shutdown... here]





: 0)



Sept 25, 2013 I-70 rest area Hebron, OH E/B. All rights reserved by author.


/Back in Indy. Got pay stub for recent Indy/Cincy and then five (5) Cincy/KY/Cincy turns before returning to Indy. Less than 100 miles on each leg. Less than 200 miles per turn. Thought it paid about $500. Surprise!--$937.50. See msg #234, page 24. That's over $900 for Wednesday thru Friday. Short, easy runs. Pretty country.
/Oops. It was more than that. Another $81, wait time and breakdown. $1018.50, Wednesday to Friday. Wow!

Moral: All trucking jobs are not the same. Gordon would have paid peanuts.

 

Correction on HazMat/Tunnels

I said:

On the big sign ahead of the tunnels there is a row of 'Tier One' Haz commodities, like explosives and inhalation risk prohibited from most tunnels.

Then there is a larger grouping that cannot travel through tunnels in bulk--poly totes or tankers. We don't do explosives, as far as I know. But we do handle things that have the potential for a 'weapon of mass destruction'. So it's not trivial. Nothing, though, on my recent runs was verboten through the tunnels, all drums and packages in a dry van, no poly totes and no tanker, smooth bore or otherwise.

The last time I had a tanker I got to my destination in the St. Louis area, climbed up and opened the dome (to fill, air must have an escape route) and found the tanker half-full. Usually that would beat you up, with sloshing and surge but I hadn't felt a thing. I texted dispatch, "What am I supposed to do with a half-full tanker????"

I knew this was a mistake and they were scrambling to decide. About 5 minutes later I got a text back. "Fill it." Ha-ha. So that was the solution. It went back to Indy half full because that was the end of a larger tank being emptied. It wasn't delivered. So we fill it up this time.

Funnee. But that is the plus with a small, ad hoc company, inventing as they go. There's too much going on in a small space of time to dwell much on anything. Solve the problem and move on. "Fill it."

 

A Chance to Make Use of the 8/2 Split

Yesterday and today (after just stating before this run that I didn't need the 8/2 Split on this job) made good use of the 8/2 Split. Lost some time in Bridgeport, OH when a temporary patch/fix of the gladhand-receiver unit on the trailer failed. It had been temporarily attached with one of the two bulkhead anchor studs and a sheet metal screw.

Failed as I made a tight but not unreasonable 180-degree turnaround. So there I sat, in view a hundred feet ahead where the trailer needed to go, no way to release the brakes on the trailer and nothing in my tools and gear to cage the cans.

Maybe I'll post a pic.

So lost a bunch of time (altho breakdown time on this job pays @ $18/hr) and my ETA back to Philly looked later than I liked. Solution? 8/2 Split. End my 8 at 5 a.m., roll into Philly at 7:45 a.m. and take my '2' there. Then, heading back to Indy, my 14 was up at 7 p.m. (5 a.m. end of 8, to end of 14-hour clock = 7 p.m.) which took me to the first rest area W/B inside West Virginia on I-76. Did the same this morning. Rolled out at 3 a.m. (7 p.m. to 3 a.m. = 8), hurried on to Indy for morning delivery...

Note to self: Rolling into Philly for 7:45 am arrival worked well, fairly smooth while southbound traffic on 276 and 476 jammed. By the time I got drop-and-hook, paperwork and '2' of 8/2 complete, leaving Philly for Indy was a skate. Another visit to Wawa, this time 'Atlantic' clam chowder (really good) and a roast beef hoagie. Um-m-mm, next time don't even try get the truck and trailer around the building. Yeah, some of the 3-axle day cabs can make it. Backed up around the building and back into my parking spot; went out the same way I came in after reality intervened--which it will. Oops. Okay, fine.



Written Sept 25, 2013 at home, six miles north of Spencer, IN. With thanks to Bright One, double yellow. All rights reserved by author.

 

Breakdown in Bridgeport, OH




How to cage air brakes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSqQTKs6v2A

Air chamber basics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVJSFlp8Pws

More on how air chambers work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytSVUlInq0A

Good on brakes/shocks/tires: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BthmsbFiSTo

Article on brake air chambers: http://www.zafr.com/trucktcom/b_chmbrs.htm

Air brake overview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=likqvlyOhDQ

Air brake overview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mrUMTP4thl

Brake chamber disarming: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WUKLX_cFXM

Aftermarket S-cam install: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei59ysoMdLU

Automatic slack adjusters: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3HRWoof0XM

Relay control valve: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTJm6SzKxXg

 

Breakdown in Bridgeport, OH

Our maintenance had a nearby road service call me. I explain the problem, the gladhand receiver unit on trailer has snapped off and broken the red, emergency air line. He says he'll come out but can't fix it here. ???? I tell him let me talk to my company.

I learn of a closer outfit that does breakdown service for FedEx and call them. They can be out in 30 and can fix it here. I call maintenance and the decision is up to maintenance. The second company comes out but it takes more like an hour. All this time I can see 100 feet in front of me where I need to spot this trailer. Fortunately, I'm on private property and they are not just nice, but very helpful.

The mechanic has the right gladhand receiver unit but instead fabs up the same thing that broke off. I tell him, hold on--let me call maintenance. Maintenance talks to him. I ask the mechanic what maintenance said. "They said get the parts and fix it right." I smile.

Then he's talking about charging us for driving back to his shop for parts. Has to do this, do that. I'm no mechanic but I can see access holes to the air lines underneath the trailer. He decides he can splice the air line from above, now that it's obvious he can splice new line in from below. He gets the right fixture mounted but has a 90-degree elbow at bottom pointing out from the trailer.

"I don't think that's gonna work," I tell him. Says he doesn't have the right fitting but will look again. Finally he scabs the fitting from the part that broke off. When it's installed, he says he doesn't have anything, any silicone, RTV or other sealant to position the air line into where it dives down into the bulkhead. I patiently explain that DOT will look for chafing there.

He comes up with black silicone and it works. $242.37 total and we provide a comcheck on the spot. It's a lease trailer, leased to our customer and I call the customer's leasing company, email photos and a pic of the invoice and copy all that to my company. Happily, I learned that they agreed to pay.

On any given day it's called trucking.


Written Sept 26, 2013 at home, six miles north of Spencer, IN. All rights reserved by author.