Stevens Transport aviary

well.. I got back from my first hometime last Wednesday, sat at the J in tampa for a day and a half waiting on a load.. finally popped a 6 drop trop load that i finished up on the 18th (4 of which were within 20 miles of the yard.. i was scared they were going to route me in).. fraking long run with a long time between paychecks... got it scanned in today.. compliance will be happy now, i was worried i would be getting calls soon wondering where my logs were.

got a meat load out of tyson in broken bow, ok headed to jersey.. I do like that tyson though, got in last night, got a door at 11 am this morning, out the gate by 1145 . sitting in w memphis J for the night. Load doesn't deliver till Wednesday.. so hoping for a repower to keep me rolling.. since I'll be in PA by sunday night.

Glad to have the road under my feet again, just need to get back in the loop again.

 

High prices, $8.00 for dinner, with the trucker card which is free, and breakfast was $5.00.

I always fill up before I enter Cally, so I rarely have to buy any fuel while in california. Keeps my long term expenses down.

Like greek food, but alas, my pickup is in colton, so here I am tonight. Delivers in Cheyenne on Sunday night/monday morning.

And dispatch does not think 50 mile per hour wind gusts with snow is enough reason to pay me to run the southern route, which is 240 miles farther. So do I run the southern route at my expense, or go and get stuck for a day or two, somewhere in Utah, or Wyoming, waiting for the highways to open up again? I will ask again in the morning, but I don't hold out much hope to get paid to run the southern route.

I know I am the captain of the ship, but I don't like working for free, even when the idiots in dallas don't understand rocky mountain weather.

 

tlea ive tried the same thing w/my manager and dispatch and had no luck,of course you get up there now and get shut down for weather,you can kinda shove it in their face a little.i know it wont help anything,but it always kinda makes me feel better when i can say told you so,and feel kinda smug about it.i quess they think we just make this stuff up as we go.

 

What happen to Stevens wanting you all to be safe in the winter and snow?
That just seems a little squirrelly to me. Wish you luck with the situation.

 

Stevens' policy is if the road conditons are bad, park.
By routing thru a snow area, they are gambling (and you are too) that there won't be any adverse weather conditions. If you come upon them, you simply park.
This includes more than snow....heavy fog, heavy rain, tornados, ice.
Stevens can't route you around all weather, but they make it plain to stay safe.
I know where TLea is coming from and while I agree with him, I also know Stevens will route you the shortest distance (most of the time).

 

There have been times coming out of California on this same run, that they insisted I run the southern route. This is no small storm...but a series of 4 storms, one a day...
I ran the I15 route up to provo Utah for today...can't go any farther...chain law on Parley, and I80 for 100 miles is closed in wyoming... and will only get worse as the cold air from the north drops in, and the winds shift from the southwest to the northwest.

But nobody wanted to listen to a rocky mountain native...who knows that roads close more due to wind than snow...and this is a high wind event with snow. The only thing stopping it from being classified as a blizzard is the temperature...to warm.

So now instead of paying me a few dollars to run the southern route, and making an on time delivery, they get to reschedule the wal mart appointment and pay the late fee, which is more than it would have cost to pay me to run the southern route.

I am safely, warmly parked at the J in provo Utah...one of the few J's that still have a J restaurant... The remodel of the C store is done, but no plans to close the restaurant according to the staff.

Not squirrley johnny...just normal operating procedure...shortest route always...unless it is over I70 in Western Colo, then they will pay the extra miles.. or when they decide the load is important enough to reroute.... This is a case of me seeing and from experience predicting what is happening... and wanting to avoid it, but I don't work for free...and the southern route is 200 miles farther, and stevens just did not want to pay me the extra mileage on a cheap ### wal mart load. And them looking at the cost, and not really understanding what a series of yankee clippers do to the roads up here.

So yes I am chuckling.... and it will be sunday... and safety does not come to work until 10am.... and produce will be short handed... and all could have been avoided with a quick look at what the Utah And WY DOT's were predicting on their respective web sites. But that comes back to one of my biggest complaints about Stevens...They do not look ahead, or plan ahead. And they never believe a driver is my second complaint.

 

Got a load out of Ft Worth here leaving monday noon, headed for Cheyenne. Maybe the weather will be clear by then, but I'm not counting on it.
Thanksgiving week is a bear every year. Comes in off the N Pacific and raises havoc everywhere.
Was 1 degree in Boise last thanksgiving. Then one storm after another about two days apart. Was trying to get to Seattle.
Looks like I'll spend thanksgiving at the J in Cheyenne. I drop at WM at 1600 wednesday and you can bet there's nobody shipping until monday....unless I head to Holcomb.
I should just bust their balls and deadhead to Boise.

 

Funny Emulsified...even Holcomb closes for thanksgiving...was sent there 2 years ago on the Wed before thanksgiving, arrived at 3pm, and they closed at 4pm, and did not come back to work until 8am friday...got to spend my thanksgiving that year in Garden City KS...And the worst part, I had delivered to Longmont Co, and could have spent Tday at home, then went to holcomb for friday... but Stevens had the DLD as 1800 on Wed. That did not happen.

Wake up this morning, chain law in effect for parley, and WY is open, with slick, slick in spots, snow fall...black ice advisory....sound like winter. Called produce for my produce check call, and talked to John who would not pay me to run the southern route, and he apologized, and said the CSR would not authorize the extra miles. Now it is keep them advised, and get to Cheyenne safely.

Yep normal operating procedure... reactive, not proactive. Time to go and eat breakfast...wait for the snow plows to do their job...and move during the breaks in the storm.

 

Just arrived a couple hours ago to the Crosslands Hotel in Mequite for my second try at this. Wish me luck !!

 

Just noticed KW changed the headlights on the T2000 I think the nose looks better blacked out,or blued out.