System Transport - Spokane, WA

Shut down for the night near the Spokane yard. Made 670 miles today.

Had a shower at my fuel stop yesterday and didn't catch that the stupid e-log didn't give me full credit for the 30 minute break. Stopped, did my post and put up my privacy curtain, ate dinner and noticed that instead of 40 mins left I had another hour too!! Grrr!!

Some tires on the trailer are about shot. I've been nursing them all week. Looked in the daylight at my 1st load check and got nervous. Was all set to get them replaced in Missoula, but the texk looked and said he thought I'd be fine the 200 miles to the yard, though they are on the edge. Told road service we saved some money but they got pissed because they'd already approved the ppwk. Oh well.

Looking fwd to getting a free shower in the am and turning in some equipment that's in rough shape. Then it's onward for four stops over 500 miles or so.

 

Back home in Central WA for a 34. My best friend's wife died Thurs night and I was in Chicago loading. Looks like I'm gonna miss the funeral, but I'm here.

Sad times. Contemplated powering my load, but.. I'm here. It's enough. Having dinner and spending the night with my buddy.

 

Apologies to all for not posting for so long.
So things go apace with System. Still happy with the company, my fleet and my dispatcher. I got stupid excited over having completed for being through every state west of the Mississippi. Kind of a small personal milestone to have driven thru CA,OR,WA,ID,MT,ND,MN,WI,IN,IL,OH,WY,UT,CO,NM, NV,AZ,TXKS and OK! Not to mention BC,AB,MAnitoba and Saskatchewan!
Had some major issues with a load of structural steel I hauled fro Mexico that was loaded so stupid the loaders should be taken out and shot. Had to stop at a lowes and get some 2x4s cut to brace it up, but here's the thing: I KNEW what to do!
That's a big deal. I saw where the problem with as going to be and handled it. Pain in the butt, and that's 8 freaking hours of messing with that load start to finish I never got paid for, but I did it. Happy consignee, everything safe and I learned some important techniques.
To any new drivers: LEARN about belly wraps.

Had one issue that made me come close to quitting and another that made me think the company is pretty awesome. How's that for confusing?
On the phone with my dispatcher who casually mentions that I need to sign a disciplinary letter. I literally have no idea WTF he is talking about.
Turns out safety was charging me with "equipment abuse" over normal worn tires and rims and the small rust spots. Long story short, told my dispatcher there was no way in Hell I was buying that, he got it fixed and made it go away. But if t left a very bad taste in my mouth and I seriously thought: Melton, Leavitt, etc, here I come.
Decid d to stick with it though.

So two weeks later I wake up and my left elbow hurts like Hell. I'm 51. Waking up with something hurting is not news. Blew it off. But it kept hurting, not getting better and made bucking chains unpleasant. A couple weeks later I'm in Fresno tarping a load. Miserable, 103 degrees, already worked 10 hours before I even showed up. Fell thru the top of a box, the tarp all fell into the same elbow and twisted it bad. Called it in, because it hurt BAD.
So I get this load all tarped, THEN (because I'm a stupid noob) look at the airscale..... Ya, overweight, but no scale at the shipper. Go park, sleep, wake up the next AM and the elbow w hurts like Jesus, Mary and Joseph are all mad at me at the same time. Go weigh and I'm over 2700 on my trailer. Got BACK to the shipper, UNtarp, UNstrap, REload, REstrap, and I can't get my tarps up. Simply can't grip with my left hand. So I'm sitting there trying to get ready to reroll the tarps one-handed, have the shipper put the up for r me and resigning myself to THIS IS GOING TO TAKE ALL DAY, when this other system driver for ves in and comes to the rescue!!! Helped me out a lot, got the tarps on, weight d, good and gone. By the time I get the load to Spokane, the arm is a bit better. Go in, see the doc. I'm on light duty for a week or two.
Now here's where I shamelessly plug System.

They are going to pay me 96% of what I make the n the road to do basically make work. Nothing of value at all. And put me up in a hotel the entire time.

I'm pretty impr essed with that. It's costing them a LOT of money they are under no legal obligation to pay. So that's where things are
At the moment. Not exciting work, but beats Hell out of making 60% sitting at home.

 

Ya, doing the gate guard thing, which is awful boring and utterly useless, but it beats nothing. Hopefully the elbow heals up FAST, cause this us not fun.