USA,,,, DAY-cabs? WTF?

Well my school rig was stick, and so was my trainer truck. But then I went OTR for 8-9 months with an auto. So I kinda forgot.

(gotta keep looking at the diagram on the dash board to see what number comes after 7, and I can't count to 21 with my socks on either driver)

 

*snicker* two weeks out with this POS and it's already in the shop.

Man, can I apply for foodstamps while on this job or what?

USA, we don't hire drivers, we just like having people sit around our terminals all day so we LOOK busy.

 

Well this week is turning out better,,,ish.

After the "Great Trailer Hunt of 2009" Where the fools of the weekend dispatch proceded to send me on a 3 day, 800 mile goosechase across 90% of Virginia, I finally got a few solid runs from GA up though OH and out to ME. Turn around time could still be better (put in an empty call at 9am and within 20 minutes get a load assignment for 4pm.)

Got a chance to swing by the house on this last load and picked up the wife.

Good times.

To bad I seem to have slipped into night shift driving again,,, but usually that's where I'm best.

4 more days and I get my 1st break. Hopefully between turkey and football I can get my CB working, and a few minor tweeks to the truck that I won't bother the gorrila squad with.

I prefer to do my own work on my truck when I get the chance, I'm pretty good at the nickel and dime repairs (tracking down squeeks, tightening loose connections, minor adjustments.) that the shop can never be bothered with.

Last Memorial Day weekend in my old truck, I cleaned the whole thing top to bottom, including opening up the airbox under the seat and getting all the crud out of the heat exchanger-A/C unit.

 

Well I'm home for Turkey Day Weekend. My bro-in-law showed up w/out the wife and kid, and my sister-in-law's bf stopped by,,,

So it's an "adults only Thanksgiving" Which translates to "oh dear god how much have I had to drink." LOL. I think in one night I made up for being stone sober for 6 weeks. And yes we all stayed overnight at my in-laws place,,, responsible!

The last few days before going home though were pretty productive. As I recomend all Yousa Drivers, you want hometime on time? Put in for a few days early. I put in for the 24th, so of course on the 22nd I was in CT with a load going to Indiana. The next day (I started early) I was halfway though PA before dayshift dispatch came aboard. They asked for a status report and I told them I was heading for OH with a load for IN and I could relay at Austintown/Youngstown.

They said, "STOOOOOPPP!!! Don't go any further untill we figure this out!"

So I spent a few hours at a reststop on i-80. Put a friendly message on the back of my trailer in the dirt (I'm a pretty good artist) and waitied. I figured I could swap in OH and still be home in time.

Well they flipped me back to Harrisburg, and I ran out of hours. "Overnight" they swaped my load with a team running west and I got a load going into upstate NY. I told them I could still pull out a north east load if they wanted and they obliged, Mass to Albany. Unfortunately I just didn't have the hours to pull it off. So overnight in Mass (cute town) and AM delivery in Albany. "Any more" I asked, and they gave me a run up to the Canadian boarder to link up outside NYC. Done and done.

So I got home ontime, got another 900 miles, instead of going home dead-head or bobtail, and I get the full weekend. Plus I look like a hero for pulling all these nickle and dime regional loads so that other drivers don't have to come cross-country just to pull <200 mile loads.

Lookng forward to December,,, LET'S MAKE SOME $$$

 

On your marks,,,
Get set,,,
G,,,er, WAIT, take a 34.

Gotta love it. Since everyone was off over the 4 day holiday, nobody made a receiving apointment. Our dispatchers, the consignee's recieving department, all off. So the first thing they did Monday is try to make an appt. Which of course by that time the earliest they could get would be Tuesday evening. Since I was only a hour out, I turned around and spent another night with the wife. Really gonna burn my next paycheck though, unless they give me a nice 800+miler next.

Shoot it's already almost Wednesday, and I'm still under a load from last week.