Superior Carriers 2013-2014

2/6-2/9

I have been to that one as well. Dispatcher told me Calhoun.

This wound up being Dalton Ga. 3 compartment tank with half the load going to one plant and the other half going across the street. Had to weigh 3 times on the plants scale. I have done this load 3 or 4 times before. The first time its a PITA because you have to figure out where the racks are. They have so many local drivers in and out all day long they assume you know where to go.

Apparently they are having some problems with their 2" piping getting clogged. The driver the week before me spent all day there because product froze in the pipes under the tank. This product doesn't return to a liquid after it freezes. It becomes more of a wet sand like consistency. It was 70F the day before and in the 50's at unloading so freezing wasn't a problem.

I aired the tank up and noticed the pressure gauge wasn't working on top. I could hear an air leak coming from the Christmas tree but it didn't sound too bad. Product wouldn't flow so they assumed it was clogged pipes again and called the engineers and maintenance folks.

Meanwhile another local driver backs in next to me and proceeds to unload Caustic into a connection right next to mine. Complacency runs rampant at this plant. The Caustic guy doesn't even wear gloves much less PPE. He would just wash his hands in the eye wash station after hooking up the hoses. It made me a little nervous when the 2 maintenance guys and an engineer started disconnecting the pipes to clean out the check valve tripping over the caustic hose as they worked.

I asked the driver if he ever had a hose rupture. He said "not since we got these new hoses...used to happen all the time before." We talked some more and I found out he was running about 44 lbs of pressure to make the run to the back of the plant. The piping set up makes 3 90 degree turns and then runs up the wall and across the plant ceiling several hundred yards. He was telling me it takes 25 lbs of pressure minimum to push his product. That made me a little concerned about my air leak. I switched from truck air to 60 PSI plant air and that still wouldn't push it so I went to work trying to fix the leak. My middle compartment was empty so I switched christmas tree assemblies. That solved most of the air leak problem and gave me a working pressure gauge. The gasket had failed on the other one. I still had leaks but with plant air was able to reach 20 lbs of tank pressure. After about 7 hours I was done. The second plant took about an hour at 22 lbs of pressure.

I was paid hourly for my time but this screw up still cost me money. They had me planned on an out and back load for Friday that would have totaled about 500 miles plus the load/unload fees. I wound up stopping above Atlanta on 75, sleeping in and running back to the yard on Friday. I got back around 3 PM and have been off all weekend.

Monday I will grab an empty and run to Iowa City for a Scope drop and hook that comes right back to Browns Summit. Maybe I will get to see the bald eagles this trip.

 

I run out of High Point as a system driver. My last 4 years are pretty much documented weekly in this forum. There are a lot of short runs but also some coast to coast and Canada. I have averaged around 55K per year the past 5. The truck stays on the yard. Home time depends on how much you want to work.

 

You will have some short run weeks mixed in. Home time is pretty good with them and the dedicated out and back stuff. It's not like pulling a box. With the hourly pay 2000 miles a week equals $1000 roughly. We are on e logs too. You might want to hold off on the passport. Superior will pay for it if you get hired on. Wanting to run Canada will be a plus. I ran 109940 miles in 2012. Minus 2 weeks of vacation that's around 2100 per week average.

 

When I am running system loads, the terminal closest to the delivery point controls the next dispatch so yes I am subject to dispatch from any terminal. The general policy is that they load you back towards your home terminal as it gets later in the week. I can also ask for home days to be put in the computer if I want to be home for the weekend. That might send me home earlier.

During the recession in 2008 we were often deadheaded home. When in the system away from home we get paid hourly for any wait time over 14 hours. That protects you paycheck from slower freight. I think general policy for system drivers is 5-7 days out. In 5 years the longest I have stayed out is 2 weeks and those times were California trips.