Stevens Transport aviary

This doesnt make sense to me. My truck gets better fuel mileage loaded than it does empty. Is this common?

At Stevens most of the miles were loaded but where Im at now I run about 40% of my miles empty so I never noticed this at Stevens.

Tuesday I ran from Ft. Worth to Tulsa loaded and according to the Peoplenet I averaged 7.5 and from Tulsa to Ft. Worth empty I got 6.9. My loads arent very heavy as they are normally 4 Mazdas or Hondas.

Just wondering...

 

I remember a 1985 W-900 I had that was that way. Drove me crazy. Then I found out it was in the gearing. If I ran two gears lower, my mileage improved. This was due to the engine running in the 'sweet spot'. It probably has to do with your engine rpms.

 

I am about to climb the walls. My truck has been in the shop for a good 14 hrs so far today, they cam and got it a little after 8am, I have been sitting in the drivers lounge here all freaking day. I believe I am working with a bunch of overgrown children or a geek parade... It has been like the movie version of Comicon in here all day, Batman, Spiderman, crap I never heard of before, nothing but comics on the big screen, I never read that crap as a kid.

God I hope they finish my truck soon. I am ready to throw things.

 

With car hauling this is somewhat common. The aerodynamics when your loaded with vehicles is quite challenging. Also what Emul said as well. Most long haul car haulers average around 5.5

 

I am absolutely fit to be tied but dont feel it right to go into details in here. Lets just suffice it to say Tri-Pak

 

I am in a T2000 that has given me very little Trouble with the sole exception of the APU... I have been on this truck fro 9 months and the APUnhas been repaired 7 times.

 

Sounds like the start of a bad joke: Two guys walk into an oilfield...

And, of course, that not being attached to anything definitely does NOT sound like the start of any kind of joke. Ah, well.

 

OK drivers. Holiday's over and time to get back to normal. As if life in trucking is ever normal!
I had forgotten to mention preparation for the holiday a couple weeks back, but as many of you have seen, holidays are very different.
Shippers scramble to get loads out so they can take days off. And receivers fail to tell us they are closed. The extra day gives more transit time on many of these loads so drivers are 'stuck' on loads with too much time.
And there just aren't repowers around.
Normally, the repower board will show 6 or more screens of loads needing repowers. Last night it was barely 3. When a driver requests a repower, it turns up in a different color on the board. Normally driver requests are about 10-15% of the listed loads. Last night it was closer to 80%.
What this means is miles around and just after a holiday will sometimes be lower. Nothing we can do. It's the nature of the beast.
But we can plan for them. Budget for them. It makes things a lot easier.
We have the 4th of July coming up. It comes on a thursday, which means there will be a lot of shippers taking 4 day weekends.
Plan on it.
It also means operations will be hectic at Stevens during that time. Just be patient, ask for whatever your needs are well in advance.
There are areas of the country that move freight more evenly over holidays than others. In particular, the east coast tends to shut down, but produce keeps moving.
you can't tell the fields of lettuce to 'not grow' for a three day holiday. Produce still moves.
We were begging for trucks in Cali this weekend. Some of you sat because we couldn't get you unloaded, all the while wishing we could dispatch you on a load.
So plan for your holidays. Miles may be down, lead times take longer and traffic will knock your socks off! I can't begin to count the number of drivers who called last night worried they won't make their receiver or would run out of hours while in traffic.
Just a heads up so life can be a little easier during these stressful 'holidays'.

 

A wise man once said; "listen to Emul and you shall prosper" or was it "listen to Emul and you shall repower"?

 

Wow, I knew he was old... but the Wise men knew him? That is Biblical old!