Snackbar is chillin'....at Shaffer

Surprised this story didn't end with the guy showing off his new alligator belt....lesson here is, don't mess with a man's pooch in FL!!

 

Their tails are probably already in someone's freezer, and the rest is on their feet

 

Nothing like adding drama to my already interesting life. Got my 34+ hr restart in, and thought I timed it so I had some extra time for uh-oh's. Went to do my PTI only to find a flat tire on the trailer, off the bead. With this auto-inflate system Creaffer uses, you can post trip all you want. Unless there is a significant leak on a tire that you can hear, it's gonna check alright. But, it wasn't a big leak. After 34+ hrs sitting there with a tail heavy load, it squashed it bad enough that it came off the bead. But the odd thing is, I had to limp it to the Love's in Ontario, OR from the Peelot...and somewhere in between, it remounted itself. When I pulled it in the shop, he's like 'which one was it again?' He found a small nail in it and repaired it. I made it to my receiver 1 minute before my appointment. And Op's said they are very pickey about being on time....whew!!!

 

One good thing I can say about Creaffer, their paid miles are as close to actual as I have ever seen. This load paid 3160 total miles. My Garmin nag-a-gator said I ran 3178...and I went 12 miles the wrong direction after picking the load up to get to a CAT scale and park for the night.

 

Picking up in Portland going back to northern IL for Monday. The preplan for this load was sent to me on Monday, showing it picked up Tuesday, after I delivered to Salem. Had to say no at first because I knew my 14 would be all but used up once I was empty. Then, it was sent again after I was empty, with the exact same times in it. Then a message from the planner saying they were working on a Wednesday pickup instead. So I accepted it. Then, I get a call from my DM...no appointments for Weds were available, and I have the hours to pick up today. (I had a whopping 1.5 hrs on my 14, which wouldn't be enough to get to the shipper, load and get to a place to stop). He said that on Weds, I will be a work in, and it may be an all day wait, but if I could get there Tues, I could get loaded, then PC to a truckstop since I would be out of hours, and the customer has a tiny lot in a neighborhood that doesn't allow overnite parking. I told him that I didn't feel comfortable pushing the logs into that area because after getting loaded, the closest truck stops (Troutdale) would be packed, and then I would be screwed. If I get there Weds a.m. and it takes at least 7 hours...I can split log and get part way across OR before I call it a night. Plus, I have plenty of time on this run.

And my routing is up thru WA, to ID, then MT, ND, MN and WI down to IL, rather than ID, UT, WY NE, IA and IL. When I ran the numbers, it's only 8 miles further to go their way rather than across WY. And since all my forced fuel stops are on their route, I guess I get to see some beautiful scenery instead of the boring desert of WY. Besides, it's been a while since I've gone thru the 4th of July pass, and it's suppose to be some decent weather for the trip. The way it's starting to feel to me is that the fair weather drivers have gotten their flip-flops and Bermuda shorts ready for the winter, so I think I am gonna see more of the west and northwest for a while...but hey, like I've always said "miles is miles" and this load is 2100 miles after a 3100+ mile run...and I'm not afraid to hang iron when needed, so bring it on.