You aint gonna believe this... Yet Another Ic Choice thread move over DFO!

Discussion in 'Schneider' started by ew2108, Aug 17, 2014.

  1. ew2108

    ew2108 Road Train Member

    1,212
    493
    May 31, 2011
    Baltimore, Md
    0
    Maaaaaan oh maaaaaann oh maaaaan if I could give this week back (i apologize now for being long winded ive been in isolation this week i need to vent). Week looked promising at the start. I started it off on Tuesday in Wilton

    Tuesday i wake up and its snowing but being a Marylander i don't worry to much about snow it's usually just a sprinkle. Big Mistake you'll find out why later. I wake up around 2pm and run to Hudson New York and grab a load going to Robbinsville Nj (10k 1.30 pm $317) Pretty uneventful. Next load is in Bethlehem pa going to sharon springs ny (8k 2.11 pm $615) . But first I have to drop a trailer in a completely different part of Bethlehem wasted about a hour... I really think i should've been paid for it. I start heading for NY and it starts snowing in pa but it doesn't seem bad. I park at exit 219 at the pilot i found a spot around 2 am talk about luck. ($522 fuel purchased)

    Wednesday I wake up and the snow is coming down i'm thinking uggggggh #### that dispatcher of mine but i should be alright. So i get trucking up 88 to sharon springs. NY hasnt plowed a thing its almost like they didnt expect they storm but for the most part i was able to run close to highway speed up until about 330-4 o clock before the sun set. Snow got thick and I didn't trust the traction. Once off the highway i started wishing i listened to my instincts and shut down because now I am goatpathing (stole your word dfo ) on unplowed roads. Running about 25 mph for 12 miles i get to US 20 which is my last road and leads to the customer. I see a walmart truck parked in a random lot and i wonder why considering the distribution center is 16 miles up US 20.
    I start heading there and within a mile i know why he was sitting in that lot .... He is either very light or empty and the road has maaaaaaaajooooorrr hills. I pull the first couple hills no problem then they get steeper and more snow covered i start spinning tires and wishing i was heavier but i get over the hill. The hill that was likely the peak of the range shut me down. Maybe 500 feet from the top the angle of the hill was more than my limited traction could handle.

    I shovel snow back up and try to get going nothing works. I tell my self i should've been prepared no salt, no kitty litter, no boots just a shovel that isnt helping ... well it helped free a older gentleman and his wife i felt good about that. At some point it became Thursday and I decide im sleeping on Us 20 tonight after 2 hours of trying to get free. As soon as i enter the bunk a beautiful snow plow roars by, however im still stuck in my lane, how can my luck be that bad. It snowed 3-4 in the 2 hours i set by the way. 10 more minutes go by and its another plow clearing the lane im in, he plows all the way up to my back bumper and right in front of me I get going still spinning tires "dang walmart internet load" but i get up and over the hill and to the drop.
    Make the drop and get stuck unhooking and trying to hook to a empty took a hour + on that delivery and i couldn't get a mt because i couldn't get traction.
    Leave there and find a rest area covered in snow so i start shoveling it. YES I STARTED SHOVELING THE WHOLE #### REST AREA i had lost my mind at that point. 5 minutes in a plow showed up and plowed the entire lot for me. Once parked i find out that i have 0 phone service but i can watch tv, a tv antennae was across the road i got close to 50 channels. I wake up the next afternoon and im buried in snow so i just go back to bed. At around 430 the plow driver that rescued me from us 20 and plowed the lot earlier in the morning saved me once again I think i owe him steak and lobster.

    Time to pick up a mt SNI says go 153 to walton NY i say no chance and go back to walmart and swipe a empty in a different zone i felt sorta bad but they still have a mt to load let them get stuck pulling it out. I get trucking to TUNKHANNOCK Pa for a load going to N. Smithfield ( 17k 1.41pm $616). 10 truck line upon arrival and a pissed off jockey that made me go into a holding pattern to drop my empty. I make that delivery early friday and shutdown in mass at a pilot. Check my tire pressure and my valve stem completely falls apart... now I have a flat. That morning was stressful 4 days in and only $1500 made.

    Next load is in Manchester CT going to Keasbey NJ (9k 1.38 pm $298) This one was pretty uneventful except the 2 hours i spent in a construction backup and i had to jockey trailers around because no one was home and they don't own a mule. The deal is supposed to be put loaded in always open door and take mt from the next door but one of our drivers must've decided he wasn't taking a mt messing up the system. ($220 fuel Purchased) Next load out of North Bergen New jersey biggest S@#$ hole in jersey if you been there you know what i mean. North Bergen to Montgomery Ny (18k 3.54 pm $343) I get to this receiver and give the guy my Id and he ask whats your first name?.... pause.. writes... whats your last name?... writes.... is this trailer loaded?...... are you sure its loaded?..... are you live unloading it? (the facilty is closed on Saturday btw)
    ok so this is loaded right? I dont know where empties are... umm is your truck number t680? I just laughed at that point. He got assistance and they figured things out I head to pittston from there.

    ($560 fuel Purchased) Saturday morning i pickup a pittston to mt crawford load (27k 1.38 pm 547) That was the only easy delivery .Next load is in bridgewater going to philly it was listed at 40k but after getting the bills (5k 2.65 pm $707) This one was simple too until my truck locked me out.

    Sunday evening I go go to post trip my truck and i get out and hear a clink but think nothing of it. Do my walk around and go to get in the truck and the door is locked. I burst out laughing because its how my week has been. I have bunk lights on the cab lights on fourway flashers going the utility lights on and i'm locked out. I started crying laughing when my Apu fired. Its like it was telling me i gonna waste fuel to keep this giant Christmas tree lit while you stand there and look dumb 95 dollars later im back in the truck my driver door no longer unlocks from the outside via key and locks itself when you close it so i think a trip to KW is in order. I was going to take a monday load but ive had enough trucking for a week so i just bobtailed the 116 miles home. The plan is head back out Wednesday.


    Load summary
    Hudson - Robbinsville 1.30 pm $317
    Bethlehem - Sharon Springs 2.11 pm $615
    TUNKHANNOCK - N Smithfiled 1.41 pm $616
    Manchester - Keasbey 1.38 pm $298
    North Bergen - Montgomery 3.54 pm $343
    Pittston - Mount Crawford 1.38 pm $547
    Bridgewater - Philly 2.65 pm $707


    Total Gross 3443
    Fuel 1302 .62cpm
    Cost 1132 .53 cpm
    Net 1009 .48 cpm
    1.63 on all miles
    51 total hours worked this week

    I'll have fuel til Thursday or Friday



     
    skyviper73, dieselfuelonly and 91B20H8 Thank this.
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  3. dieselfuelonly

    dieselfuelonly Road Train Member

    2,475
    5,086
    Nov 12, 2012
    Chapel Hill, NC
    0
    Man... what a week. I think a trip to the midwest or southeast is in order. Look, even sadwar who lives and breathes the NE is taking a break from it right now LOL.

    Couple things I see -

    When you find a load on the load board it has the pickup location, and the drop, and any stops in between right there on the page. This is what you agree to when you clicked assign. Not as a free shuttle service to move Schneider's empty trailers around. I have _never_ dropped an empty trailer at another location that some box planner added in AFTER I assigned the load. I didn't agree to that when I accepted the load with a single pickup and a single drop location. I don't care if it's on the way, I don't care if it's next door. I don't work for free, and that's easily an hour of your day down the drain by the time you add in an extra stop just to move a trailer. There is guaranteed to be a line at the gate, no empty holes to put the trailer in, and a line to get back out. Customer you're picking up from doesn't need the empty? Fine, I'll bobtail. But I don't get paid for shuttling an unneeded empty trailer, and therefore I don't do it.

    You should pick up a cheap set of cable chains! Don't have to have a huge set of them, but I bet just two single tire chains would have helped you out of that situation. I'm pretty sure there is a link on crossroads that will give you information on where you can pick up a set for a discount. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that carries a shovel, it's come in handy more than I would have ever thought.

    As for the key, been there, done that. Luckily it was back when I was a company driver and it was at the Carlisle OC, LOL. It was a Century and took the mechanic 2 minutes to open it with one of those tools you jam up the door frame. When I got my T600 I thought the door lock was broken at first, I couldn't figure out why I couldn't lock the door and then shut it when I got out. WTF? Then I realized, you can lock the door from the inside when it's closed (so you can lock your doors when you are closed in the truck), but you can't lock the door and then close it. You have to lock it from the outside with a key, so it's impossible to lock yourself out unless you lost your key after walking away from the truck.

    If you're gonna be runnin' in that mess up there, take the time when you're at home to load up on some decent cold weather gear and some tools/supplies for your truck. Or just take a break from the northeast, lol. Looking at your rate for the week you could do just as good running some warmer and generally easier parts of the country without the hassle of snow and NE traffic.
     
    TennMan, ew2108, moosc and 1 other person Thank this.
  4. stevep1977

    stevep1977 Road Train Member

    3,701
    22,351
    Dec 23, 2010
    Chicago, IL
    0
    I have a spare key zip tied to a hole in my front bumper assembly. Hope you do that from now on. And in regards to running the northeast at the rates you are mentioning, it just isn't worth the frustration. 1.36 per mile to go to New Jersey, that's just ridiculous.
     
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  5. moosc

    moosc Road Train Member

    3,284
    1,172
    Mar 5, 2009
    Lincolnton NC
    0
    Yeah you need some coveralls, winter boots, chains, cables, or autosocks, some MRE or something similar, Schneider has a nice winter survivel guide with tips n tricks. And don't forget those ice cleats
     
  6. sadwar

    sadwar Road Train Member

    2,143
    3,370
    Jul 8, 2012
    Lockport, IL
    0
    That's the snow that hit my house... I live 30 mins south of Sharon Springs..
    Sorry you went through all of that....
     
  7. sadwar

    sadwar Road Train Member

    2,143
    3,370
    Jul 8, 2012
    Lockport, IL
    0
    I NEVER move trailers for free!!! Just say no ew......
    If you want some help pm me, I'm happy to assist.....
     
    ew2108 Thanks this.
  8. Hegemeister

    Hegemeister Road Train Member

    1,912
    1,660
    Jun 16, 2012
    Mechanicsburg, PA
    0
    Hang in there EW, sometimes thing happen in groups. I've been in that laugh / cry mode before. Feels like your slowly going crazy. Then it all comes together and things work out.
    When your in that Helll mode, just keep your eye on the big picture and focus on your year and not your day.
     
  9. mickeyrat

    mickeyrat Road Train Member

    7,859
    7,542
    Nov 24, 2011
    on my 30 min break
    0
    enjoy your TAH.
     
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  10. ew2108

    ew2108 Road Train Member

    1,212
    493
    May 31, 2011
    Baltimore, Md
    0
    After the first couple days all i could do was laugh. I'm usually optimistic about everything even getting locked out of the truck. The run to philly was the icing that made everything alright I'll take a 1k net over a 6 or 700 net


    I have a blank that the shop Ib GB gave me im gonna get that cut tomorrow, That'll be my ignition key and the other will be attached to me at all times. But I'm gonna have to get By KW to get my door fixed. Those trips to Jersey were all late with no traffic. And i needed that load to get me out of Connecticut i ran a overall week average rather than. Pairs like usually I just wanted to keep moving after the early week chaos.


    I had an entire list of stuff i planned to get but i said ahhh it wont be that bad

    I know that now I'll keep that in mind. My ica did say they would automatically pay for approved trailer moves but i only get assigned them during support shift.. Maaaaann You guys get dumped on up there, you all can have it lol ill stick to my md sprinkles. I knew snow was bad when i seen the OPtimus Prime snow plows :biggrin_2559:
     
  11. ew2108

    ew2108 Road Train Member

    1,212
    493
    May 31, 2011
    Baltimore, Md
    0
    DFO After new Years im venturing out for sure Ill probably run a 2-3 week stretch and see how far from the north east i can get.
    About the empty i tried to tell support shift i never agreed to a move that would make me late to pickup but they gave me a hard way to go.
    Im going to email my ICR Because my ICA sucks and tell her my issue with these moves she usually takes car of me.
    I'm gonna look into the cable chains. I tend to be prepared for all kinds of things but i dont know why i went into new york with just a shovel and a push broom like that would keep me from getting stuck.
    My KW is the same you cant lock it with the door open unless you hit the lock the moment you open the door. I dont think mine will lock with key if the door is open either.

    I surely ran cheaper than normal this week I usually average between 1.85 and 2.05 and as i Said im ready for a break.
     
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