Stevens Transport aviary

a good route to avoid the arkansas scale, is up highway 259 to US 70 to Hot Springs AR, over to I 30. Only adds a few miles. and a good ride.

 

Thanks TLea

 

Thanks Clegg!

 

Made it.,..got to the flying j....scaled.at 80160 with just over 3/8 on guage... got the prepass green light...

50 gal shuffle the rest of the way and hopefully in fuel they will agree to stops after the scales...

Thanks for all the helpful tips and suggestions

 

Coming into the yard wednesday for my 'quarterly'. Been doing well. Just laying low and working.
A word of encouragement to those of you struggling along. Time and experience improves circumstances.
Someone mentioned taking the time to learn the 'system'. Boy, I couldn't have said it better. Take time to learn who the planners are and introduce yourself when you're on the yard. It can make a difference when looking for loads.
Think of it as being a salesman learning how to find and talk someone into a 'sale'. They have a load and you want it!
When I worked with Emulsified, I use to listen to our sales staff talk about the process of landing a sale. I have never been in sales and I was always amused at the process they would go through to convince a customer to give them the job.
Now I think back at all I heard and realize I have to do the same thing to convince the planners to give me a load.
Each planner has a customer to satisfy and in turn convince to give them a load. Think about it... they work hard to get a load. Whether it's Whole Foods, Tayor Farms, Tyson or Hershey. There are lots of other truckers out there vying for that load. They have to convince that company that not only can Stevens haul their load without problems, but they should pay Stevens more money than many other carriers! They spend time promising how we'll deliver on time, without damage, without worry.
Now that the sales staff at Stevens have a load, they want the planners to make sure it happens perfectly. So now the planners have to make good the promises of the sale staff. They want to make sure that once they've assigned a load to a driver, he (she) will do a 'perfect' job.
Now think of yourself as a sales person convincing the planner you are the best person for the load. Why should they trust you? Because if you fail, poop runs uphill! They have to answer to the sales person, the CSR, the customer...and trust me...there isn't a place to hide when a load goes bad. The planner is the scape goat.
So if you develop a relationship with these people and show them you are trustworthy, you WILL deliver and once they've given you a load, it will be there barring tornado, earthquake or the Second Coming, then they feel more confident in giving you a good load.

I once had a conversation with Jim Pruitt, a planner that works Laredo. Jim, for those that don't know him, has been around since the company had fewer than 50 trucks. He knows where the bodies are buried.
I was begging for a particular load out of Laredo that ran up to Jersey. He told me, "If that load misses a beat, it's my as**. I can't hand it to you because I don't know squat about you!"
I told him, "Then give me your crappiest load and let me prove to you that I'm good!"
He gave me a three dropper that took two extra days, but I did it without complaint. Then each time I was back in his area I'd call him and say, "Jim, since we last talked, I've run 5 loads and not one service failure. Jim, since we last talked, I've run 9 loads..."
Finally he started giving me better loads.
Now I can call and get those good loads and that's what needs to be done with the planners. That's also the reason I keep my miles up and so better this year than last and better than the year before.
Take the time to develop a record, develop a relationship and build your business. That's what's meant by 'paying your dues'.
There are drivers with this company that have built a good record and relationship with these planners. You need to build a case as to why you are just as trustworthy as these old salts. It takes time, but it's worth the effort.
Remember, Rome was not built in a day.

 

I use to ask the driver in the hole next to where I needed to get in if they would unhook and make room. Often they would and once one driver started doing it, others followed suit. I always unhooked and was prepared to pull out if the truck next to me needed out or another was coming in. Made for a lot less stress and courtosy is catching (most of the time).
Yea, I agree...you don't forget Ralphs!

 

The irony about the APU exception is the state that forced APUs on the trucking world? California.
One of the states that does not allow an exception? You guessed it! Cali!

 

Something every driver should do is know your empty weight. Scale your truck and empty trailer with a half tank of fuel and keep that ticket with you. Most load assignments show a weight, and while it's not 100% accurate, it's a telling issue with the load.
If you see a load that says "43,800", you know you're going to be heavy. Some shippers, like Florida Natural, won't cut weight, but usually there is a caveat with the load assignment telling you that. It can help when you're arguing with a shipper. If you produce a ticket showing your empty weight of 34,800 and you've just scaled out at 80,900, it goes a long way in convincing these people that even tho their paper work says their load is 43,800, it just ain't so!
But others will load to the max. Americold out of Pasco WA is just such a place. No matter what your ticket says, they'll load you overweight, wait for you to run over to the J, get a scale ticket, then adjust your weight so you can roll. Well if you go in with 1/8th tank of fuel, you're in big trouble!
So go into your shippers with a half tank of fuel to start with. Can save some real problems. You can usually burn off some fuel before a highway scale if necessary. You might end up doing the '50 gallon shuffle' with some loads, but at least this gives you some latitude.

Also, when being asked to repower a load, ask what the weight is. We can look up the other truck's load assignment, and again, if it's a heavy load and you drive a Pete, remind the repower person, "there might be an issue". Then, before leaving a repower, scale the load. If you're too heavy, talk with dispatch.
I hate trying to figure out solutions to problems after a repower goes down and find there is a weight issue.
Had one last night. Load going into Compton. Senior driver gets load in Arizona from a Training team. Trailer is in 8th hole. Won't scale legal for California. When asked, the team said, "...but it was legal in all those other states!"
What was suppose to be a simple repower to 'save a load' for delivery time, became a headache. No one wins on that one. The team is charged with a service failure, the company incurs additional costs to have the load reworked in Kingman (reloaded), dispatch spends an inordinate amount of time trying to fix everything (time that could be used to do silly things like answer phones!), and the senior driver has lost time waiting for this repower. Now his load cannot be delivered on time, as we planned a team to run his load into Dallas.
Two failed loads due to people not scaling properly and planning ahead.
(By the way, the senior driver stepped up to the plate and decided to run the load anyway, routing around the Cajon scale. We paid the extra miles and set him up with a good load right back out of Cali.)

 

Here's my tip of the week to drivers...especially the newer drivers: Watch your fuel and calculate your miles to your next optistop BEFORE you run out of fuel.
Yesterday, I spent way too much time on four trucks that called, "I'm needing fuel. My red light is on and my optistop is still 150 miles away."
Finding another fuel stop in West Virginia, central N. Carolina or 29Palms, CA is not easy. I just reach into the hat next to the rabbit and poof!
Whenever possible, run your tank above a quarter. Be responsible and watch your fuel levels.
I'm sure you don't relish sitting on hold for a half hour waiting for us to answer as you plow endlessly ahead into oblivion and watching your needle going down,down, down.

One more thing. READ A MAP! I am so frustrated at hearing, "but my GPS told me....".
Remember Sgt Major's basic lesson of routing? Draw a straight line between your two points, then follow the roads that are closest to that line.
Over and over, I am hearing drivers blame their being lost on "...but my GPS told me..." YOU ARE THE DRIVER!
Plan your route in advance. Write it down. Most of the time your GPS will be accurate, but there are plenty of times it will route you around your butt to get to your elbow! Use some common sense.
A GPS, no matter who makes it, is a tool to be used with all your other tools. Including your Atlas! Let it help you, but it's not the bible of routing.
Fully 25% of phone calls on the weekend are GPS related issues...lost, off track, out of fuel because they're way off course. These issues are preventable. Get your maps out, read them in advance and make a plan!

Geez..I'm beginning to sound like Adrian or Bill! (but they're right!)

 

Good afternoon Gentleman and hard working Drivers,
real quick question about what the OR1 Schedule is like? been told a lot of standing around, backing, some driving with second day being a late day due to physicals, not sure about all that as a younger kid in my Florida Road masters class is in OR1 now and he hasn't texted me back all the info, so i figure he is busy, very well.. i hear a lot of good and bad things about this company, to me its like when i first joined the Navy...sheesh the horror scuttlebutt stories...lol I tell my junior kids who i have mentored, its always what you make of it...after 20 years with Uncle Sam, theres nothing that surprises me... just retired and although everything in my current career path takes me towards Law Enforcement which I have done for so many years, I like challenges and I am still stuck on travel mode. I enjoy the posts, these last few months outside of the military have been the most enjoyable new experience... be safe out there and keep your head on a swivel...

V/r
Jason Williams
MA1(SW/AW)
USN Retired