Rug_Trucker Goes OTR What I Am Learning

I am the Rug Trucker because I am a certified carpet installer. My '79 Dodge Maxivan has a R/T emblem in the grille. I tell people it is a special edition for carpet guys. A rug truck!

I used that as my name on Moparts. com for my Mopar habit.

Things have been rough guys. Spent 2 days in Memphis getting my A/C fixed. It crapped out on me 2 days later. They refuse to let me take it anywhere except a terminal to get it fixed. I did get $50 break down pay. That is for 24hrs. The next day didn't count.

Memphis was short on mechanics, 2 called out on Sunday last, 3 were approved for vacation that Monday. I really like the guys down there. Friendly and easy to get along with.

I had the fan clutch replaced in Louisiana and they didn't change the solenoid as the tech in Eden NC said was bad. It burned out the new clutch. Had too much collant in the A/C system and everthing worked good until I wanted to warm up the temp while going down the road. something blew and I smelled the lube and got warm air.

Been getting some really junk trailers lately. I did a local run in Memphis and had to get 2 tires changed before doing it on a preloaded trailer.

My last 2 runs before my hometime I did 2 pallet runs from Walmart in Hoptown KY to Corvette City. My last one the consignee pulled me in to look at the interior where Wally World tore up the roof bows. Bent the crap out of them and where they were attached on the outside it tore holes in the roof. I have to message Onroad and see where they send me with this MS Carrier trailer. Hopefully to Memphis so I can get the A/C fixed.

My sweetie and I are going to do 3 weeks in the truck. She is a school teacher and off until The last week of July.

Her mom is doing good and we need the time together.

I am trying to get sent out West as my comfort zone. I got in NJ and they kept trying to give me 98-139mi. runs. One was up around Newark I refused it as the idea of going that close to NYC scares the crap out of me. Told them that and requested to go West. They gave me a 2 pick up load from Mannington in South Jersey to Michigan.

I turned a corner in Inkster MI and saw the pump station and bulk plant for Sunoco where I helped my granpa Rug_Trucker Sr. pack his desk stuff from when he retired in '69 or '70. I stopped on the way back and snapped some pics for dad (Rug_Trucker Jr.) he retired from Sun in OK. In the 90's.

Got a call later that day from my DM and fleet manager about me taking the pics. They asked if I had an accident because I was seeen taking the pics. I told them what was really going on. Suppossedly a Swifty saw me taking pics. I knew I should have told the people there why I was taking pics. Let them know I wasn't a terrorist!

Gotta do a 1 YO birthday party, cut grass, pack truck and message the OR folks.

Later!

 

She has taught me many things in our short time together.

Messaged onroad about this trashed out trailer and broken A/C. They sent a message for me to be routed to Memphis. I messaged Memphis told them I would update my stats and head down there tomorrow AM.

Time to cut some grass,.........I say that a lot don't I?

BTW the gator tail incident has been removed as a preventable! AFAIK I checked my stats and it wasn't on my record.

 

Took my sweetie to Memphis and sat for 2 days to get my A/C fixed again. This time the compressor crapped out. Working fine now! My dash cluster crapped out too. Mark and his crew in Memphis got me rolling right.

They offered me a load to pick up at Central in Memphis. I declined it because of HOS. I wasn't allowed to leave until I did a group log class that I was required to have done by Sept 29th. I wasn't happy after sitting so long in line at the shop. They gave me a hard time on the Qcom asking how HOS was a factor in turning down the load. It picked up at 20:00 and was a JIT load to Irving TX. It delivered at 0:800.

I was told my truck would be done after midnight. Swift got me a room at the Holiday Inn. I have to pay $18.65 for my sweetie to stay with me. I got up early to find out it wasn't ready.

Took my log class and logged the time thus starting my 14 at 13:00. No time to go to Irving.

More later..........

 

I tried to get my comfort zone switched to 907 which is everthing West of the Mississippi. Told that I have to live out there to get it now. I got up in Deleware and got offered short runs all over NJ. I turned down one because it was going North of Newark across from NYC. Another shorty from NJ to NJ. Another going 139mi. 80 miles West of NYC. I refused as it was out of my comfort zone. I was really hoping they would entice me with a longer haul out of that area. I guess I should of told them to back it up and I would have taken it. The Newark load I refused because I was scared to go into that area.

I did end up hauling a load from Williamsburg VA to Marcy NY. I stayed off I-95 as much as possible and it was a pleasent run. Went to DePere WI from there. Another nice run.

Right now I am at home. Dropped the trailer in Antioch TN at the drop yard. Couldn't leave the tractor there. I drove it to a friend's house in Nashville and got a ride home. I deliver tomorrow in Smyrna TN.

This shouldn't count as home time. I am under a load, I didn't drive the truck 60 miles out of route to go home.

Home time is set for the 12th. I just happened to get lucky and get this slow moving load. I was short on hours and this did the trick. My sweetie is bored in the truck, and was missing her grand kids bad! I talked her into the 3rd week and she has agreed. Last time we can do this as she is a teacher and starts back to work in 3 weeks.

One thing about fixing the A/C. They refuse to fix it anywhere other than terminal. I was rolling down the road in KY. Dashboard gauge said it was 85* out. Inside my cab the thermometer said 105* Lots of heat radiating through the dash, and dog house. Lots coming off the floor too. Metal transition strip between the carpet and floor mat gets too hot to stand on in bare feet.

 

Went out for 1 more week with my sweetie.

I have been really agrivated lately. Sitting for stupid reasons. When I was out the first week with my GF they figured out we didn't have a permit for her to ride. All the paper work was faxed to the number on the sheets. I had to sit a whole day in Illinois getting that sorted out. $9.50 to fax it out. Turns out you need a permit in the cab for a rider. Get stopped at a scale without one? $400 fine!

I got a bunch of lazy factory workers that refused to unload me in Deleware. Said they were afraid of damaging the cardboard rolls that this fabric was on. I got pissed after a couple hours and told them unload me or I was calling it "refusing the load" and I was going to pull out and leave. They unloaded me, stopped half way through because someone had to inspect the rolls.

I had a preplan after arriving. I accepted it. It took 4 hours to get it assigned to me. When I got it I had way too little time to get there. No mention that I needed a TWIC card for the port of Philly on the preplan. I had 2 hours to travel 37 miles and fuel and get into downtown Philly on a Friday afternoon. I had to turn around and get $50 put on my Comdata card to get cash to pay for a "escort" into the port, had to buy a $10 safety vest too. I failed to read all the comments as I had enough time to enter my fuel stop and roll. When I entered my pick up location is when I saw the TWIC info. Called my DM didn't get her to answer. DM said money was put on the card so I could write a check at T/A. It wasn't. Load assignment also said if you were late for your appointment you would be moved to the end of the line. Too much of my 14 had already been burned. I told my DM I was not going to sit in Philly after dark. Told them to pull this load off me. I ended up picking it up and getting out to Paulsboro NJ for the night. This was supposed to T-call in Nashville for a delivery in Goodlettesville tomorrow. I swore it had a 6am delivery on the PP. Nothing on the load assignment.

Dropped this in Nashville at the drop yard and snagged an empty. Told them to attach the empty to me. I notified breakdown that one clearance light was out. Took it ti Petro to get it fixed. They saw I told breakdown that I wanted to go to Petro on my way home. They acted surprized to see me going home. Told them I was scheduled for it tomorrow.

When I was at Petro they noticed some cupping on one trailer tire. They called vendor services and asked if they could swap it out for the spare I was carrying. The person asked if it was holding air? They told them to leave it alone. I have since found out that tire can put me out of service. Someone's head should roll! Still don't know what to do about that.

Got stopped in Maryland crossing a bridge that was under construction. Load limit of 3/4 ton 6am to 10pm. DOT officer gave me a written warning.
That evening I sent a correction to the maptuit instructions because the cop said it will be like that for another year and a half.

Lots of big trucks coming across that bridge! Not very well marked.


Does the warning go on my CSA2010 record???????

 

One thing that is unbelievable is finding empty trailers. This isn't just a problem at Swift, it is pretty much industry wide. Werner, Landstar, etc, etc.

Sometimes you spend hours looking for trailers that aren't there.

Got pissed and some guy from India working for Comdata. I had a bracket on my fender mount spot mirror crack from age. I had $10.50 on my card. The bum wouldn't let me spend $3.XX on a replacement bracket!! I paid cash and will take the money off as nonreimbursed expense on my taxes.

I cleaned all the money off that card.


Our DM's are way over worked........extended to the max. They tell us not to call unless it is an emergency. We seem to be short on mechanics too.

IMO a B service done at Petro or T/A in an hour or two is smarter than having to wait a whole day or more at Swift. Penny wise and pound foolish. That truck could be out making money a whole lot sooner, offset the cost. I talked to a mentor and he told me in New Boston sometimes the wait is for several days.