Stevens Transport A year in review

My suggestion is to find a company that will high new students, and see what schools they accept students from. Then go to one of those schools.. Many schools have financial help. I suggest to everyone for the same reasons emulsified has stated, go to and pay for you school first.. then go to the trucking company.

Stevens training is safety based. Safety trumps all other departments.

Ask lots of questions, until you understand the answers. Best cost for training, a community college.. although it takes longer. Home time as a rookie driver, not happening in the OTR business.

 

I know I am behind on updating my adventure... life, holidays, I have a down day sunday, will get my updates caught up then...

Did enjoy many days at home for thanksgiving, and two extra days due to no freight in the area. Then from Colorado to Washington DC, and back to Dallas for this week.

 

Miles Ran 2754

Miles paid, 2620

Miles tansflowed, 0

Left parasall TX in the early am, running across the back roads of Texas, headed for Oregon. Have a full day on the log book, so I plan on using it all, and stop at Vaughn NM for the night. Watch snow pellets fall, and go to sleep. Plan on making Milan NM in the AM which is all the farther my log book will allow me to go. Also this will give Stevens plenty of time to find a repower for this load, as I can not make it to Salem Oregon by Thursday morning. Pull into the Petro, at 0900 dallas time, send in another running late message, and another repower request. DM lets me know he is working on it.

Get a tire replaced on the trailer, and get the tractor serviced. I will be here until Wednesday due to log book. At 4pm, I call my DM about what is going on with this load, He has set up a repower, but had forgotten to send it to me!!! Okay, repower is Wednesday morning, 6am. Now I will be fully rested too.

Other truck knocks on my door at 630am, we swap, and I get a load to National City CA, due on Friday at 1300. 732 miles, and 2.5 days to get there. So much for a good week this week. I look at what I can do, ask my driver manager if he needs help with any other loads that deliver sooner, and he says, "thought you were out of hours." I was, I have 11 today, 10.5, Thursday, 10, Friday. I make the best, and become a tourist for the day. Drive US 60 across Arizona, on this warm late fall day, and the Salt creek Canyon. Pleasant drive, lots of scenery, and I pull into Casa Grande AZ for the night. Have a message from dispatch, wanting my ETA to final, as there are plenty of loads needing picked up in Southern Cally. ETA is Thursday by noon, but I have a hard appointment for Friday 1300.

Talk with another driver at Petro, he has been setting there for 2 days, but after further discussions, it was his own fault, as he had refused two short runs that picked up in Mexicali, and delivered in the Bay area. Not the way to make money as an alliance driver in my experience. Stevens was trying to get him paid loaded miles to move him into Northern Cally, for a long run out.
Oh well, Next morning stroll across I8, and stop at the golden acorn Casino. A place to kill 24 hours, and I even spent 4 hours on the slots at their expense. Played until I lost the free money.

Rolled into National City arriving at the receiver at noon, they were on lunch, but promptly at 1pm I backed up to the dock, and 30 minutes later I am empty. Wish all receivers were this quick.

Get a load picking up in Colton CA, at Castle and Cook, going to Cheyenne
WY, for delivery on the early AM Monday. Looks like I will be home for thanksgiving.

Drive over to the Ontario TA, and park at the west side...lot was half full all night. Ask stevens if they will pay to run the southern route, as the storm rolling into Utah is a huge one. They refuse, the southern route is 200 miles farther, but will evaluate the situation in the am. Yea Saturday Morning, no changes will be made. Head down to colton for my 6am pick up, run just like a walmart DC, check in, and get told it is a drop, my trailer is preloaded... Hook up send in my loaded call, call produce, get told they will not pay for the southern route, as the storm is not that bad in Utah.

I am stubborn, and do not like to work for free, so off to Utah I head. I really don't care if I am home for thanksgiving or not. Stop in springville UT for the night, as the snow starts to fly. The chain law is up for Parley Canyon.

Get up Sunday Morning, call in my produce check call, notify them the chain law is up for I80, and get an apology from produce dispatch, informing me that at noon Saturday they started route all trucks on the southern route. A little late but accepted. There is no way I can legally make the appointment in Cheyenne now. One can no longer park on the street leading to the DC. Am told to keep them informed, and get a message the appointment has been changed to 0630... thanks a whole 3.5 hours later.

Pull out of springville UT at 9am, as the chain law is lifted...Wyoming will be iffy, across the three sisters... (I80, evanston to fort bridger). Utah was just wet as I went up. A truck had lost it just after the echo port on the west bound side, there was nothing left but the frame of the tractor, and the twin 8in chrome stacks. The WY port is ruff ice, and the Three sisters are spotty ice. Then it clears up across the red dessert. Stop in Wamsutter to check the weather, and it is getting ruff around Rawlins. Make the decision to carry on, and on the west bound side at the 214 exit to the TA, 6 to 8 trucks ran together and had the west bound Interstate closed. Slow it down to 40 to 45, reach walcott jct, the variable speed limit is 35, and bare foot it up the hill, with the power divider locked in. CRST's were spun out in the right lane, but traffic worked around them, and over the top I went. Drove for about 5 miles just before laramie via rummble strips, through a snow squall. Laramie was high and dry and cold. Topped sherman, and dropped into fog, thick fog, and finished the trip into Cheyenne at 30 miles an hour. Pulled the breaks at the loves after fueling, had used 10:45 for and 8:30 normal trip. I could even still fit in a 10 hour break, then head over to Wally World, then home.
So ends this week.

Week 46
Short week
Nov 22 to Nov 28

Miles ran 616

Miles paid 2781

Miles transflowed 0

Wondered over to Wally world, checked in, 2 hours after my appointment time, back in to get my paperwork.. it is now 9am. I have 2 pallets of rejected grapes. Takes OSD about an hour, I have to head to denver to deliver...Ouch, more miles to travel to get home once empty. The wind is gusting to 50 mph, and I will not drive an empty in this wind. Move over to the J, and wait. Watching the weather, there should be a break, where I can get to denver, then up to casper, will all depend on the reciever in Denver. Call, they recieve 24/7, but take a break from 4pm to 6pm. 8 hour break in cheyenne, drive to denver, 2 hour break in denver, then head home. And the plan actually worked out. I pulled into home at 11:30 pm.
I planned on going back to work on Saturday.

Get called on Wednesday to verify when I will be returning to work, and meat dispatch says we have plenty of loads. He says Saturday is good, and to call his extension when I am ready to roll. enjoy thanksgiving with friends. Saturday, call in to my DM to get taken off of home time, and ask which meat patch I am going to... He tells me there are no loads until monday or tuesday from the meat patch??????? He is looking...

Saturday Afternoon finally get a load from Windsor CO, that picks up Monday, going to Maryland. Now if I wait until Monday morning to roll out, I may not make it, as another storm is rolling in, so on Sunday I drive the 250 miles down to Windsor, but they are no longer open on Sundays, so over to Johnson's Corner, and pick it up in the morning.

So ends my week at home.

 

November 2010

Actual miles ran 10,251

Dispatched Empty Miles 627, loaded miles 8992, total 9619

Miles drove to complete those dispatched miles, 10431
Unpaid miles 812, vairience 8.4% (527 of these miles is going home)

Fuel milage average for the month 6.5

Total Miles paid in the month of November, 12040

Net pay per mile .352

net fuel cost per mile .175

A good month again. A 20% increase in miles and pay over November 2009.

 

November 29 to December 5

Miles ran 3090

Miles paid, 0 home time

Miles transflowed, 1844

Head over to Kodak to pick up my load, they have cut that plant down drastically. Digital photography is taking its toll. Stevens only has 2 dropped trailers there now. Get my load, scale it, legal, and head off across Colorado...I80 is nasty, and I70 has black ice, but US 34 is windy, high and dry. Got to keep ones options open this time of year, and knowing the area helps too. Roll across Colorado and Kansas, stopping in St Joseph MO for the night. Fuel at the loves was 20 cents below the national average, so I filled up.

Tuesday run across US36 in Missouri, a nice 4 lane divided highway. Stop in Richmond IN for the night. The receiver will not take the load on Wed, so I head to the TA in Jessup MD. The place is cleaner, and patrolled by county deputies, but the fun and games still go on. Roll the 20 miles on Thursday to my receiver just off the 495 north of Washington DC. Give myself extra time for traffic, but did not need it...They do not start receiving until 8 am, but at 9am I am empty.

I am given a load that pickup at Americold Strasburg VA at 1700 Thursday. To make this work with my log book, I head up to the shipper, check in at noon, am informed that load is not scheduled to be loaded until saturday. Thanks I call Stevens meat, inform them, and am told I will be loaded today. This place makes you wait outside the gate. So I park, and walk up the road to the dennys to eat, informing security. As I am eating, my phone rings, the shipper needs me to put my trailer in a door ASAP. I finish eating, walk back down the hill, security tells me to put it in door 16. Put it in the door, check back in, get told it will be the next shift that will load me. Don't get in a hurry, as this load is not scheduled to be loaded until saturday. I again call stevens, telling them what I had just been told again. At 8pm i feel them loading the trailer, and at 9pm I am signing the paperwork. works for me, as I am again legal to drive.

Head over to toms brook to scale, and maybe park for the night. No big hurry on the load, delivers on monday morning in Grand Prarie Tx. 1257 loaded miles. As expected, I barely can get to the scale, so I head south, and finally find a parking space in Harrisonburg VA. Getting reports of snow by glade springs VA.

Make my way to the north 40 truck stop in Holiday TN. Watch 2 werner drivers flirt hard with the waitress. When she got tired of them, she dissapeared for 20 minutes, and they finally left. Got me a good shower, and caught some zzzz's. Get awakened by the crunch, crack pop, of fiberglass and metal. Jump up, look out my window, and the truck beside me is hung up on the pete 2 trucks over. I watch to see if the driver of the pete gets out, no show. I right down as much information as I can as the other truck continues to pull out, ripping the hood open on the pete, and ripping the bumper off. The truck that did the damage noses in by the Restaurant, and parks again. I got a quick look at the driver... get dressed and go inside looking for the driver of the pete. Can't find him, we had crossed paths going in and out. He came back in wanting to call the police to report a hit and run, as I was hanging up with the sheriffs office.

It took about 2 hours for the Highway patrol to arrive, but all was sorted out, the driver that was denying he had done the damage finally was cornered and admitted he did it. He got 2 tickets, reckless driving, and felony hit and run.

The driver of the pete was very thankful, and called me last night to thank me again. He was able to drive the truck, and had dropped his trailer at a drop yard, and was headed home to Florida, and to get the truck repaired. It had a hard pull to the right, and lots of duct tape on the hood.

Today I am here at the TA in rockwall TX, taking a day off. Log book is almost shot anyway, I have over 3000 miles for the week, and a reset will make next week a possible good week also.