Another nice easy day today. It was a little over seven hours from Lancaster to West Memphis. That seems to be about the length of time that I like to drive in a given day. If you think about it, it was 470 miles. So that means that you could work six days like this every week, cover over 2,800 miles, make some good money, take a day off, and never run out of hours. Ahhh, the world of daydreaming...
Anyhow it was the usual light weekend traffic and the weather was cloudy and cool. Pretty much ideal for me. Even though I won't be home for a few more days, it seems almost like my time off has begun. Before I left Laredo, they planned me on a run picking up in Columbus Monday night and delivering in Traverse City on Tuesday morning. I'm guessing that means beer. But anyway, there's probably not a whole lot of freight coming out of northern Michigan so my best good hunch is that I'll deadhead home from there. Maybe I'll even get back in time to vote in the primary, since I forgot to get an absentee ballot the last time I was home. Having an idea of what lies ahead (going here, then there, then there, then home) has some kind of psychological impact. This is, for all intents and purposes, just a nice productive weekend. Having visions of the first frosty pint of Guinness though... now that's the kind of motivation that I've been missing.
So today wraps up our first seven day pay period, as I understand it. 2,737 miles is cool with me. Time for some football. I really thought they would just cancel the playoffs after the Redskins lost, but apparently they're determined to go through all the way to the Super Bowl. Since I really have no dog in the fight, I guess I'll just root for New England to run the table. At least that would give people something cool to talk about for years to come.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Friday, January 11, 2008
1/11/08
Sometimes I walk up next to my truck without a trailer attached and it's surprising how big it is. When I get a chance to bobtail around, I would swear I was driving a Pinto. I can go anywhere! Or at least I think so. I spent the day yesterday bumming around Laredo and had a pretty good time at it. I went to the mall for a while, had lunch at Carino's (awesome), dinner at Taco Pallenque (awesome), watched a movie I had already seen, and just generally got a chance to relax. Even back at the terminal, I got some (ironically) good news. They did the annual inspection on my truck and sent me to a local tire shop for two new drive tires. I knew the tread was getting low, but I was resigned to the fact that they would make me go to Joplin for new tires. I don't like Joplin. Bonus for me, no trip to Joplin just yet and the rest of my tires are in good shape.
Some time in the evening the dispatcher called me in and gave me a load bound for Cincinnati. That's a pretty good first step in getting me home, plus it's a 1,365 mile weekend so that ain't bad. Since I couldn't leave until after midnight, he said he would let me swap it out if any Canada-bound loads crossed last night. Apparently nothing crossed because I never heard from him again. No big deal though. I moved an appointment from the 15th to the 22nd so I have plenty of time to get to Taylor. So I spent the night in Laredo and headed out this morning. My truck got a much-needed bath and then I was on my way north.
That drive up I-35 sucks balls. I mentioned that I angled over on the way down, so I had to go through Austin and San Antonio a couple nights ago. That was in the middle of the night though. It wasn't so bad. Today I thought about angling over toward Texarkana but I decided to take the interstate instead. This way my hours work out pretty well in terms of stopping at CTL terminals tonight and tomorrow, so I know I have plenty of parking no matter how late I arrive. So I got to deal with the stupidest hundred miles of 'no trucks in the left lane' in America. Way too much time riding the brakes for my liking.
So I pulled into Lancaster a little while ago and I'll head for West Memphis tomorrow.
As I sat at the tire shop yesterday, I made some phone calls. On a whim, I dialed the number for CTL's information system and listened to the latest message from our CEO. He mentioned that he will be hosting driver forums in the next few months to get ideas for a good fuel bonus program. If you're invited, and you want to have some useful ideas, look no further. The following is provided to you at no charge, courtesy of Fenian Godfather Consulting:
The first issue with the old program was that it was seen as unattainable by several drivers. To remedy this, you have to lower the standard at which a driver sees a tangible benefit. The catch is that it's not financially sound to pay extra money to people for meeting a subpar standard. Carrot & stick time. If the fleet average was previously 5.9mpg, as we've been told, anyone at 5.9mpg or below should get the truck turned down to 65mph. Anyone at 6.0mpg to 6.2mpg gets 67mph. Anyone at 6.3mpg or above gets 70mph. The company has expressed concerns about the excess fuel burned above 65mph. The built-in trigger would remedy this to an extent. If a driver with a faster truck does indeed burn more fuel, he will no longer have a faster truck. In comparison to the system in place until a week ago, this produces zero additional cost. In comparison to a full fleet of 65mph trucks, it may produce some cost. (Some people who were getting good MPG may get even better MPG with a slower truck.) But some of that cost will be countered by an added incentive for drivers not to idle their trucks. I presently sit in comfortable 55 degree air, with every truck within hearing range idling around me. The trucks are turned to 65mph, but the drivers have no reason to give a shit about the fuel that they're needlessly burning. Carrot=faster truck. Stick=running with the pack.
Next, the dollars and cents of it all. Mpg is the standard number used, but it's only a partial indicator. The company provides information, after each dispatch, telling drivers where they can buy the cheapest fuel along their route. The drivers ignore these recommendations since they don't give a shit where to buy the cheapest fuel. We are told that the company gets bulk fuel at 18 cents below retail. Might want to encourage drivers to route themselves through terminals, eh? But what do we get if we decide to add a few miles to our route and top off at a terminal? Reduced MPG, for starters. MPG is the only number that CTL cares about, so that's no incentive. How about the inspection bay in Joplin? Maybe they find some minor issue and you end up in the shop all night. Not much incentive there. How about cruising into whatever neighborhood houses the terminal, as opposed to a truck stop right on the interstate? Not much incentive there. The same general thoughts (although in smaller dollar figures) apply to using cheaper truck stops. If the fuel in New Jersey is a few cents cheaper than the fuel in Delaware, but a driver was planning to take a break in Delaware, he has no incentive to top off in New Jersey, does he? You need a more comprehensive approach to the bonus structure if saving money is the ultimate goal. Luckily I have just such an approach.
You start by establishing a baseline. The baseline would be as follows; (Total dollars spent on fuel as a fleet)/(Total miles dispatched for the fleet)=CPM. The CPM figure is how much money, as a company, CTL spends on fuel for a mile that a truck drives. I don't know what that number is, but I don't need to know. Somebody knows. If the average truck goes 120,000 miles in a year, at 5.9mpg, with an average fuel cost of $3.10, we can come up with an imaginary number to use in this example. Those figures would give us a CPM of .5254 ((1/5.9)*3.1). That would be [((120000/5.9)*3.1)/120000] in the long form, but the numerator and denominator parts cancel out the two 120000's. Anyway, .5254 per mile for the (imaginary) average truck.
There are a couple of ways for an individual driver to get a better (lower) CPM number. One is to use less fuel. The other is to use cheaper fuel. A MPG-based bonus addresses the first variable but ignores the second. I would recommend that a given driver (let's say me) should be expected to meet the CPM baseline, multiplied by the number of miles that he drove. For our "fuel year" (December through November) I drove 127,508 miles. So you multiply that by the CPM baseline and you have the amount of money that I should have spent on fuel for the year. $66,992.70, that's the number our imaginary CPM baseline would yield. So if I spent less, I did a good job. It should make no difference to the company if I was very judicious about MPG or if I was very judicious about routing myself to fuel at terminals and other cheap locations. A dollar is a dollar.
So if I got 6.4mpg, but spent $3.25 per gallon on average, I would have spent $64,750.15.
If I got 6.085mpg, but spent $3.09 per gallon on average, I would have spent... $64,749.33.
See how that works? Under the first scenario, CTL thinks I'm a good boy. Under the second one, they think I'm so-so. The first way would have gotten me a meager fuel bonus under the old program. The second would not. But what if that first Godfather, despite spending a little more on fuel, totally killed the MPG standard, achieving 6.9mpg? He would have spent $60,058.11. Almost $5,000 less than he did at 6.4mpg. Surely he gets a bigger reward, right? Not under the previous system, he didn't.
This is so incredibly simple, I can't believe they haven't seen it yet. You use the baseline CPM to establish what a driver "should" have spent. You compare that to what he did spend. If he spent less, you share the savings in the form of a bonus. If he spent more, he deserves no bonus. For every dollar saved below the baseline, maybe the driver gets 50 cents, maybe he gets 20 cents. I don't own the company, so I don't know the economics of their situation. What I do know is that under the Fenian Godfather Doctrine, every one of the following statements is true:
Some time in the evening the dispatcher called me in and gave me a load bound for Cincinnati. That's a pretty good first step in getting me home, plus it's a 1,365 mile weekend so that ain't bad. Since I couldn't leave until after midnight, he said he would let me swap it out if any Canada-bound loads crossed last night. Apparently nothing crossed because I never heard from him again. No big deal though. I moved an appointment from the 15th to the 22nd so I have plenty of time to get to Taylor. So I spent the night in Laredo and headed out this morning. My truck got a much-needed bath and then I was on my way north.
That drive up I-35 sucks balls. I mentioned that I angled over on the way down, so I had to go through Austin and San Antonio a couple nights ago. That was in the middle of the night though. It wasn't so bad. Today I thought about angling over toward Texarkana but I decided to take the interstate instead. This way my hours work out pretty well in terms of stopping at CTL terminals tonight and tomorrow, so I know I have plenty of parking no matter how late I arrive. So I got to deal with the stupidest hundred miles of 'no trucks in the left lane' in America. Way too much time riding the brakes for my liking.
So I pulled into Lancaster a little while ago and I'll head for West Memphis tomorrow.
As I sat at the tire shop yesterday, I made some phone calls. On a whim, I dialed the number for CTL's information system and listened to the latest message from our CEO. He mentioned that he will be hosting driver forums in the next few months to get ideas for a good fuel bonus program. If you're invited, and you want to have some useful ideas, look no further. The following is provided to you at no charge, courtesy of Fenian Godfather Consulting:
The first issue with the old program was that it was seen as unattainable by several drivers. To remedy this, you have to lower the standard at which a driver sees a tangible benefit. The catch is that it's not financially sound to pay extra money to people for meeting a subpar standard. Carrot & stick time. If the fleet average was previously 5.9mpg, as we've been told, anyone at 5.9mpg or below should get the truck turned down to 65mph. Anyone at 6.0mpg to 6.2mpg gets 67mph. Anyone at 6.3mpg or above gets 70mph. The company has expressed concerns about the excess fuel burned above 65mph. The built-in trigger would remedy this to an extent. If a driver with a faster truck does indeed burn more fuel, he will no longer have a faster truck. In comparison to the system in place until a week ago, this produces zero additional cost. In comparison to a full fleet of 65mph trucks, it may produce some cost. (Some people who were getting good MPG may get even better MPG with a slower truck.) But some of that cost will be countered by an added incentive for drivers not to idle their trucks. I presently sit in comfortable 55 degree air, with every truck within hearing range idling around me. The trucks are turned to 65mph, but the drivers have no reason to give a shit about the fuel that they're needlessly burning. Carrot=faster truck. Stick=running with the pack.
Next, the dollars and cents of it all. Mpg is the standard number used, but it's only a partial indicator. The company provides information, after each dispatch, telling drivers where they can buy the cheapest fuel along their route. The drivers ignore these recommendations since they don't give a shit where to buy the cheapest fuel. We are told that the company gets bulk fuel at 18 cents below retail. Might want to encourage drivers to route themselves through terminals, eh? But what do we get if we decide to add a few miles to our route and top off at a terminal? Reduced MPG, for starters. MPG is the only number that CTL cares about, so that's no incentive. How about the inspection bay in Joplin? Maybe they find some minor issue and you end up in the shop all night. Not much incentive there. How about cruising into whatever neighborhood houses the terminal, as opposed to a truck stop right on the interstate? Not much incentive there. The same general thoughts (although in smaller dollar figures) apply to using cheaper truck stops. If the fuel in New Jersey is a few cents cheaper than the fuel in Delaware, but a driver was planning to take a break in Delaware, he has no incentive to top off in New Jersey, does he? You need a more comprehensive approach to the bonus structure if saving money is the ultimate goal. Luckily I have just such an approach.
You start by establishing a baseline. The baseline would be as follows; (Total dollars spent on fuel as a fleet)/(Total miles dispatched for the fleet)=CPM. The CPM figure is how much money, as a company, CTL spends on fuel for a mile that a truck drives. I don't know what that number is, but I don't need to know. Somebody knows. If the average truck goes 120,000 miles in a year, at 5.9mpg, with an average fuel cost of $3.10, we can come up with an imaginary number to use in this example. Those figures would give us a CPM of .5254 ((1/5.9)*3.1). That would be [((120000/5.9)*3.1)/120000] in the long form, but the numerator and denominator parts cancel out the two 120000's. Anyway, .5254 per mile for the (imaginary) average truck.
There are a couple of ways for an individual driver to get a better (lower) CPM number. One is to use less fuel. The other is to use cheaper fuel. A MPG-based bonus addresses the first variable but ignores the second. I would recommend that a given driver (let's say me) should be expected to meet the CPM baseline, multiplied by the number of miles that he drove. For our "fuel year" (December through November) I drove 127,508 miles. So you multiply that by the CPM baseline and you have the amount of money that I should have spent on fuel for the year. $66,992.70, that's the number our imaginary CPM baseline would yield. So if I spent less, I did a good job. It should make no difference to the company if I was very judicious about MPG or if I was very judicious about routing myself to fuel at terminals and other cheap locations. A dollar is a dollar.
So if I got 6.4mpg, but spent $3.25 per gallon on average, I would have spent $64,750.15.
If I got 6.085mpg, but spent $3.09 per gallon on average, I would have spent... $64,749.33.
See how that works? Under the first scenario, CTL thinks I'm a good boy. Under the second one, they think I'm so-so. The first way would have gotten me a meager fuel bonus under the old program. The second would not. But what if that first Godfather, despite spending a little more on fuel, totally killed the MPG standard, achieving 6.9mpg? He would have spent $60,058.11. Almost $5,000 less than he did at 6.4mpg. Surely he gets a bigger reward, right? Not under the previous system, he didn't.
This is so incredibly simple, I can't believe they haven't seen it yet. You use the baseline CPM to establish what a driver "should" have spent. You compare that to what he did spend. If he spent less, you share the savings in the form of a bonus. If he spent more, he deserves no bonus. For every dollar saved below the baseline, maybe the driver gets 50 cents, maybe he gets 20 cents. I don't own the company, so I don't know the economics of their situation. What I do know is that under the Fenian Godfather Doctrine, every one of the following statements is true:
- A driver just below the company average still has an incentive to improve, if for no other reason than to earn a faster truck.
- A driver exceeding the company average has an incentive to exceed it by even more, since every dollar saved would mean some amount of money in the driver's pocket.
- A driver faced with a choice of fuel stops will have an incentive to find the cheapest one on his route, most notably if a route passing a terminal is an option.
- A driver stuck in cold weather and idling a lot won't conclude that all is lost after the first few months, essentially giving up on fuel conservation, since he can dramtically lower his CPM by combining effective MPG driving and cost conscious fuel stops.
- A driver who may or may not need to idle on a given day will have something to think about. He will be forced to weigh the possibility that a portion of that fuel he is burning will result in a corresponding reduction in his bonus. If he is below average and not earning a bonus, he will have to consider the impact of his decision on the speed of his truck.
- There is no potential for manipulation, i.e. buying fuel "out of pocket" to get a bigger bonus. Since the bonus is a function of dollars spent, the driver would in essence be spending the price of a gallon in order to get a portion of that price as a "rebate."
I addressed this approach, along with a few other suggestions, several months ago on the CFI Drivers message board. The conversation had me a little rankled at that point, but I think I was fairly coherent. That topic can be found here. I don't know. Sometimes things just don't seem that complicated to me. Anyhow, maybe if a few drivers take actual logic to the table the company will listen. I doubt it, but you never know.
Cheers until next time.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
1/10/08
Monday night, I was pretty burned out. I stopped in Illinois, ordered a pizza, stayed up late and just unwound for a while. Tuesday morning, after I slept in and before I took off, I got a message from CTL asking when I would be rolling. I replied that I was taking off soon, but I could only drive seven hours. Their next message said, "Don't be late on this load." Ummm, wasn't planning on it, but okay. I replied that the load would be there on time and left it at that.
Wednesday I took a break in Arkansas on my way to Texas. I got a message from CTL while I was there, indicating that I was on the late board and they needed me to update my status. I informed them that I was 650 miles from Laredo at that point and, once again, the load will be there. I could have gotten into a crying match about how tight the dispatch was and its borderline legality, but I just said it would be there. I accepted the load and I would deliver the load.
I rolled into Laredo in the middle of the night (this morning). The guy in the inspection bay was kind enough to inform me that I could deliver the load... between 9am and 8pm today. Dickheads. I got that "late board" message on my way from California to Illinois. I was there an hour early and could have been probably another hour ahead if I wanted to. I got two such messages on the way from Illinois to Laredo. I altered my route to Laredo (angling over to I-35 and down) and started the last leg a little earlier than I was supposed to, just to put my employer's mind at ease. I showed up early and was told basically, "Tough luck dude. Might as well go to bed for a while." Either that's a load of bullshit or I just need to get off the road for a few days, or both.
So I got up this morning and went over to the broker. "Make a right on Sara and the customer is on the left," were basically the directions. So I made my right on Sara, I saw the customer's building on the left, and I turned into what looked like the back lot. Nope. I needed to make a left on some other street in order to get to my broker. The lot into which I turned belonged to another company. Icing on the cake - no U-turns. They had some kind of gravel lot and you could see the deep grooves where people have spun trailers around. So they told me I had to back out of the lot, onto the street, and go the other way. So as I tried to inch back onto the street for ten minutes, watching one cocksucker after another speed up to cut me off, I wasn't enjoying my day a whole lot. Some dude from the security booth eventually told me that I could pull in, back into a slot, and then pull out forward. I just had to promise not to make a U-turn. Sounds good amigo.
Around the corner at the correct broker, it was the usual Laredo chaos. I hate Laredo. I did manage to find a place with two open slots next to each other, so backing in was easier than usual. And then it was time to wait for something. For what, I don't know.
I'm #65 on the board as I sit at the local gas station, but I am highlighted for home. I just got a note telling me to have an annual inspection done, so I guess I'll head back to the terminal and let those guys do their thing. Assuming I get a load today, I can leave Laredo at... midnight. Fucking feds.
Wednesday I took a break in Arkansas on my way to Texas. I got a message from CTL while I was there, indicating that I was on the late board and they needed me to update my status. I informed them that I was 650 miles from Laredo at that point and, once again, the load will be there. I could have gotten into a crying match about how tight the dispatch was and its borderline legality, but I just said it would be there. I accepted the load and I would deliver the load.
I rolled into Laredo in the middle of the night (this morning). The guy in the inspection bay was kind enough to inform me that I could deliver the load... between 9am and 8pm today. Dickheads. I got that "late board" message on my way from California to Illinois. I was there an hour early and could have been probably another hour ahead if I wanted to. I got two such messages on the way from Illinois to Laredo. I altered my route to Laredo (angling over to I-35 and down) and started the last leg a little earlier than I was supposed to, just to put my employer's mind at ease. I showed up early and was told basically, "Tough luck dude. Might as well go to bed for a while." Either that's a load of bullshit or I just need to get off the road for a few days, or both.
So I got up this morning and went over to the broker. "Make a right on Sara and the customer is on the left," were basically the directions. So I made my right on Sara, I saw the customer's building on the left, and I turned into what looked like the back lot. Nope. I needed to make a left on some other street in order to get to my broker. The lot into which I turned belonged to another company. Icing on the cake - no U-turns. They had some kind of gravel lot and you could see the deep grooves where people have spun trailers around. So they told me I had to back out of the lot, onto the street, and go the other way. So as I tried to inch back onto the street for ten minutes, watching one cocksucker after another speed up to cut me off, I wasn't enjoying my day a whole lot. Some dude from the security booth eventually told me that I could pull in, back into a slot, and then pull out forward. I just had to promise not to make a U-turn. Sounds good amigo.
Around the corner at the correct broker, it was the usual Laredo chaos. I hate Laredo. I did manage to find a place with two open slots next to each other, so backing in was easier than usual. And then it was time to wait for something. For what, I don't know.
I'm #65 on the board as I sit at the local gas station, but I am highlighted for home. I just got a note telling me to have an annual inspection done, so I guess I'll head back to the terminal and let those guys do their thing. Assuming I get a load today, I can leave Laredo at... midnight. Fucking feds.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
1/9/08
I had never, before today, gone very far off the interstate in Arkansas. I assumed that it would be hilly and slow and a general pain in the ass. It would be hard to conclude otherwise, having looked at the Motor Carriers' Atlas. Pleasant surprise today though. US-67 was a pretty flat, pretty easy ride down to Little Rock. Then down I-30 for a while and onto US-59. It has been a rather enjoyable day. That is, it was a rather enjoyable day... 'till the feds and their damn rules caught up with me. Out of hours and waiting for midnight. Same shit, different day.
So, as I sit here on this beautiful January afternoon I have been able to reach a couple of very important scientific conclusions. Since I don't believe my ancestors (with the possible exception of Uncle Ernie) were apes, I've been told by some that I don't believe in science. Well, on the contrary my friends. I just need to be able to evaluate the data and see the results for myself. Evolution has too many holes that can't be explained, so I'll stick with God on that one. Today though, I have sifted through the data and the variables and concluded the following:
(1) Snickers with almonds is far superior to the original incarnation of Snickers, to such an extent that consumption of regular Snickers should now be considered uncivilized.
(2) Pibb Xtra is, without question, more flavorful than Dr. Pepper.
No thanks are necessary. I'm here to help. You can feel free to donate funds in order to assist future research though, if you are so inclined.
So, as I sit here on this beautiful January afternoon I have been able to reach a couple of very important scientific conclusions. Since I don't believe my ancestors (with the possible exception of Uncle Ernie) were apes, I've been told by some that I don't believe in science. Well, on the contrary my friends. I just need to be able to evaluate the data and see the results for myself. Evolution has too many holes that can't be explained, so I'll stick with God on that one. Today though, I have sifted through the data and the variables and concluded the following:
(1) Snickers with almonds is far superior to the original incarnation of Snickers, to such an extent that consumption of regular Snickers should now be considered uncivilized.
(2) Pibb Xtra is, without question, more flavorful than Dr. Pepper.
No thanks are necessary. I'm here to help. You can feel free to donate funds in order to assist future research though, if you are so inclined.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
1/8/08
I can't drive anymore today. I feel good. I'm not tired. I have a lot of ground to cover. The weather is fine. There really is no reason that I can't drive anymore, but I can't. Last night, when I was tired, I was legal. Tonight I'm out of hours. Feds...
If someone had offered 100-to-1 odds against me making it from Peru, Illinois to Neelyville, Missouri today without driving in rain, I would have said the odds weren't generous enough. Apparently the middle of the country got blasted pretty good. Yet I (blessed, not lucky) did exactly that. I slept in and got rolling a little after 11am. I drove for seven hours and never encountered more than road spray on my windshield. The wind down here is pretty insane right now, but it's not raining.
I went around St. Louis and down I-55, then cut down onto US-67 to get to this point in my trip. The routing programs suggested I go across Missouri and down I-35 all the way to Laredo, but nah. I hate going across on I-44, I hate going through Dallas, and I hate going through Austin. San Antonio is no fun for me either. I tallied it up and this route might be a few miles longer, but not much. I'm going to run through Texarkana and then down US-59 all the way to Laredo. I like that drive better than the interstates for some reason. It gets a little congested in the Houston area, but otherwise it's pretty mellow. According to one report on a St. Louis radio station, I'm probably avoiding some more bad weather by going this way too. Can't complain about that.
If you were smart enough to bet on LSU, based on my belief that Ohio State would win, I expect my cut by the end of the week.
If someone had offered 100-to-1 odds against me making it from Peru, Illinois to Neelyville, Missouri today without driving in rain, I would have said the odds weren't generous enough. Apparently the middle of the country got blasted pretty good. Yet I (blessed, not lucky) did exactly that. I slept in and got rolling a little after 11am. I drove for seven hours and never encountered more than road spray on my windshield. The wind down here is pretty insane right now, but it's not raining.
I went around St. Louis and down I-55, then cut down onto US-67 to get to this point in my trip. The routing programs suggested I go across Missouri and down I-35 all the way to Laredo, but nah. I hate going across on I-44, I hate going through Dallas, and I hate going through Austin. San Antonio is no fun for me either. I tallied it up and this route might be a few miles longer, but not much. I'm going to run through Texarkana and then down US-59 all the way to Laredo. I like that drive better than the interstates for some reason. It gets a little congested in the Houston area, but otherwise it's pretty mellow. According to one report on a St. Louis radio station, I'm probably avoiding some more bad weather by going this way too. Can't complain about that.
If you were smart enough to bet on LSU, based on my belief that Ohio State would win, I expect my cut by the end of the week.
Monday, January 7, 2008
1/7/08
Any gamblers out there... I would be all over Ohio State plus the points tonight, so you might as well mortgage your house and bet on LSU.
Ole ConWay Truckload (no more CFI apparently) just keeps moving me along. I have heard, off and on since I started here, about how some people have trouble getting miles. For a week here and there, maybe. Over the long haul, I just don't see it. The religious show that I heard last night said that I shouldn't think I'm lucky, so I will just say that I must be blessed. On the way to Rockford I got a pre-plan for a load picking up at the other end of town and heading to Laredo. 1,353 more miles and another few days of solid work. Good enough for me.
I got into Rockford about an hour early, having taken the scenic route through Iowa for the better part of the morning. Once I checked in there, I was unloaded in short order and dispatched for the other place in Rockford. They may have been the friendliest bunch I've met out here in quite some time. On my way in, the yard dog motioned for me to stop. "Just drop it right here. That will be fine." I asked if he wanted me to slide the tandems as the instructions said. Nope, he just took it as it was. He cranked up the landing gear while I disconnected the air and electric lines. Didn't make me back it into a slot or anything. Then the ladies inside were really nice. After I signed the bills, they even gave me three cases of Dentyne gum. I assume they give the gum to everyone, but they were really friendly nonetheless.
Once I hooked to my loaded trailer, I got myself into a little predicament (as I tend to do). I pulled forward and, seeing that I couldn't possibly clear the trailer on my left, I turned right. Nope, too tight that way too. The yard dog had mentioned that he would pull the trailer out if I needed him to, but I didn't see him around at the time. I saw a line that I could drive up a ramp near the scale. Then I could loop back out by the loading docks and all would be well. So I went up the ramp and turned right. Fence. I couldn't see from where I started that the path I intended to travel was not in fact a path I could take. The ramp was a one-way ticket to a dead end. So I wiggled and shimmied and got my tractor swung around enough to angle my trailer in the opposite direction. Then I managed to back my way over the ramp and across the scale in order to get sorted out. There were about three inches to spare outside my right steer tire at one point when I got out to look. But, at least that fiasco saved me a step. The load is 43,000 pounds so I needed to scale it. I was going to have a hell of a tight turn to make in getting to the scale. In point of fact, I hadn't quite figured out how I was going to do it. By screwing up so badly in the first place, I left myself sitting squarely on the scale without having made that tight turn. Blessed, not lucky.
So, loaded and inspected, I was ready to lock up the trailer and go. We'll just grab the padlock here and... no freaking padlock. Yeah, I set it on the bumper of my trailer as I opened the doors at the first place. Then I drove off without it. Shit. So I could either drive back to the other place and hope to find it or I could just head to Laredo and have ConWay Truckload (heretofore referred to as CTL) force me to buy a new one. They issue us some kind of special lock for which they have a master key. Supposedly they're tamper-proof as well. I don't know about the tamper-proof part, but I have dropped a few trailers in Taylor and left my lock on them. Each time, the dispatchers pulled the lock off and gave it back when I returned to work. I would normally just blow the whole thing off, but the security guards in Laredo won't let us leave the terminal without a company lock on the trailer.
So I asked myself, "What would the real fenians do?" As it turns out, that is a really stupid question to ask. I'm not under any kind of oppression or religious persecution from a foreign empire. Besides, they would just blow shit up and demand their freedom. That really wouldn't serve any purpose for me. So I was left to make my own decision. I chose to detour back to the first customer and take a look around. Nothing. I rang the bell and asked if anyone had picked up a lock. Nothing. I walked out toward the road to see if it had fallen when I turned out of the lot. Nothing. Well shit, it looks like the first hundred miles of this trip will be earmarked toward the purchase of a new lock. A quarter mile down the road... what do my eyes behold? There it was, sitting in the middle of the street. The little bastard had held on until I went over a pretty rough patch of road. So I threw on the brakes, pissed off a few motorists, hopped out of the truck, and grabbed my lock. Beauty.
I headed south a little ways and decided to call it an early night. I'm sick of driving, I want to watch the game, and the 70 hour rule is breathing down my neck. Here's the conundrum of the damn 70 hour rule. I didn't work hard at all last week. Then I had a very long weekend. I'm tired. Right now I need a break. I could have driven a couple more hours tonight though, within the rules. Next I'll have a couple of short days and get some relaxation. Then what? I'll be fine, but until next weekend (when I pick up big chunks of time) I'll still be hamstrung by the rule. What do the events of eight days ago have to do with how tired someone may be today? I'm not even one of those guys who wants to drive 4,000 miles a week. I just wish there was a logical reason behind the regulations. There isn't.
I'm due in Laredo early in the morning on the 10th, which should work perfectly toward my goal of getting home on the 15th. The last time I highlighted from Laredo, they sent me straight to Taylor with a load. Since I don't do Canada runs, and 90% of the stuff I've pulled to Taylor was bound for Canada, I am curious to see how they will work this situation. Does the 'no Canada' selection mean that I never get those runs in the first place? Or does it mean that I can still be given the load to Taylor and one of the guys on the Canada fleet will deliver it? I guess we'll have to see.
Ole ConWay Truckload (no more CFI apparently) just keeps moving me along. I have heard, off and on since I started here, about how some people have trouble getting miles. For a week here and there, maybe. Over the long haul, I just don't see it. The religious show that I heard last night said that I shouldn't think I'm lucky, so I will just say that I must be blessed. On the way to Rockford I got a pre-plan for a load picking up at the other end of town and heading to Laredo. 1,353 more miles and another few days of solid work. Good enough for me.
I got into Rockford about an hour early, having taken the scenic route through Iowa for the better part of the morning. Once I checked in there, I was unloaded in short order and dispatched for the other place in Rockford. They may have been the friendliest bunch I've met out here in quite some time. On my way in, the yard dog motioned for me to stop. "Just drop it right here. That will be fine." I asked if he wanted me to slide the tandems as the instructions said. Nope, he just took it as it was. He cranked up the landing gear while I disconnected the air and electric lines. Didn't make me back it into a slot or anything. Then the ladies inside were really nice. After I signed the bills, they even gave me three cases of Dentyne gum. I assume they give the gum to everyone, but they were really friendly nonetheless.
Once I hooked to my loaded trailer, I got myself into a little predicament (as I tend to do). I pulled forward and, seeing that I couldn't possibly clear the trailer on my left, I turned right. Nope, too tight that way too. The yard dog had mentioned that he would pull the trailer out if I needed him to, but I didn't see him around at the time. I saw a line that I could drive up a ramp near the scale. Then I could loop back out by the loading docks and all would be well. So I went up the ramp and turned right. Fence. I couldn't see from where I started that the path I intended to travel was not in fact a path I could take. The ramp was a one-way ticket to a dead end. So I wiggled and shimmied and got my tractor swung around enough to angle my trailer in the opposite direction. Then I managed to back my way over the ramp and across the scale in order to get sorted out. There were about three inches to spare outside my right steer tire at one point when I got out to look. But, at least that fiasco saved me a step. The load is 43,000 pounds so I needed to scale it. I was going to have a hell of a tight turn to make in getting to the scale. In point of fact, I hadn't quite figured out how I was going to do it. By screwing up so badly in the first place, I left myself sitting squarely on the scale without having made that tight turn. Blessed, not lucky.
So, loaded and inspected, I was ready to lock up the trailer and go. We'll just grab the padlock here and... no freaking padlock. Yeah, I set it on the bumper of my trailer as I opened the doors at the first place. Then I drove off without it. Shit. So I could either drive back to the other place and hope to find it or I could just head to Laredo and have ConWay Truckload (heretofore referred to as CTL) force me to buy a new one. They issue us some kind of special lock for which they have a master key. Supposedly they're tamper-proof as well. I don't know about the tamper-proof part, but I have dropped a few trailers in Taylor and left my lock on them. Each time, the dispatchers pulled the lock off and gave it back when I returned to work. I would normally just blow the whole thing off, but the security guards in Laredo won't let us leave the terminal without a company lock on the trailer.
So I asked myself, "What would the real fenians do?" As it turns out, that is a really stupid question to ask. I'm not under any kind of oppression or religious persecution from a foreign empire. Besides, they would just blow shit up and demand their freedom. That really wouldn't serve any purpose for me. So I was left to make my own decision. I chose to detour back to the first customer and take a look around. Nothing. I rang the bell and asked if anyone had picked up a lock. Nothing. I walked out toward the road to see if it had fallen when I turned out of the lot. Nothing. Well shit, it looks like the first hundred miles of this trip will be earmarked toward the purchase of a new lock. A quarter mile down the road... what do my eyes behold? There it was, sitting in the middle of the street. The little bastard had held on until I went over a pretty rough patch of road. So I threw on the brakes, pissed off a few motorists, hopped out of the truck, and grabbed my lock. Beauty.
I headed south a little ways and decided to call it an early night. I'm sick of driving, I want to watch the game, and the 70 hour rule is breathing down my neck. Here's the conundrum of the damn 70 hour rule. I didn't work hard at all last week. Then I had a very long weekend. I'm tired. Right now I need a break. I could have driven a couple more hours tonight though, within the rules. Next I'll have a couple of short days and get some relaxation. Then what? I'll be fine, but until next weekend (when I pick up big chunks of time) I'll still be hamstrung by the rule. What do the events of eight days ago have to do with how tired someone may be today? I'm not even one of those guys who wants to drive 4,000 miles a week. I just wish there was a logical reason behind the regulations. There isn't.
I'm due in Laredo early in the morning on the 10th, which should work perfectly toward my goal of getting home on the 15th. The last time I highlighted from Laredo, they sent me straight to Taylor with a load. Since I don't do Canada runs, and 90% of the stuff I've pulled to Taylor was bound for Canada, I am curious to see how they will work this situation. Does the 'no Canada' selection mean that I never get those runs in the first place? Or does it mean that I can still be given the load to Taylor and one of the guys on the Canada fleet will deliver it? I guess we'll have to see.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
1/6/08
Apparently conventional wisdom holds that truck drivers drive eleven hours a day. Thankfully, I never got that memo. I drive more like eight hours a day on average. This was my second eleven in a row and I'm hoping there's not a third. I just don't have the attention span for it. I hardly ever get sleepy (reference my numerous complaints about tossing and turning) but I do get tired of driving. Today was a much easier drive than yesterday. That helped a little. The terrain was flatter, the traffic was light, and the weather was cloudy and 50 degrees. Really an ideal kind of day. Eleven hours is just a long ass time to be on the road.
So... early morning wake up call tomorrow. I made it to northern Missouri tonight, but there's much work to be done in order to reach Rockford by tomorrow afternoon. Depending on what kind of deadhead I get from there, tomorrow could turn out to be the third full driving day in a row. I am trying to recall if that has ever happened to me, but nothing really comes to mind. I'm sure I've pulled three in a row once or twice, and I'm sure I didn't enjoy it. I am thinking I'll grab one more load after this one and then put in for home time.
Not much else to say tonight, I guess. I did learn something though. I'm always happy to share learning experiences. There is a radio show dedicated to scuba diving. In actuality I think there's a syndicated network, but I only heard one show. Anyhow, I have no interest in scuba diving. I do, however, have an interest in mermaids. Well wouldn't you know it - the special guest was a mermaid. Having a party in Florida any time soon? Maybe give Mermaid Nikki a call. I'm just sayin'...
So... early morning wake up call tomorrow. I made it to northern Missouri tonight, but there's much work to be done in order to reach Rockford by tomorrow afternoon. Depending on what kind of deadhead I get from there, tomorrow could turn out to be the third full driving day in a row. I am trying to recall if that has ever happened to me, but nothing really comes to mind. I'm sure I've pulled three in a row once or twice, and I'm sure I didn't enjoy it. I am thinking I'll grab one more load after this one and then put in for home time.
Not much else to say tonight, I guess. I did learn something though. I'm always happy to share learning experiences. There is a radio show dedicated to scuba diving. In actuality I think there's a syndicated network, but I only heard one show. Anyhow, I have no interest in scuba diving. I do, however, have an interest in mermaids. Well wouldn't you know it - the special guest was a mermaid. Having a party in Florida any time soon? Maybe give Mermaid Nikki a call. I'm just sayin'...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)