I remember stopping for fuel today under sniper fire. I was supposed to check the oil and wash the bugs off the windshield, but instead I just ran with my head down to get back into my truck.
I'm sorry. I misspoke just now. I made a mistake. That happens. It proves I'm human, which, you know, for some people is a revelation. Hey, it's the first time I made a mistake in the last ten hours.
In reality, it was just a ho-hum trip through SEC country. After hanging out with my redneck relatives last night, I didn't set an alarm for today; Just woke up and left whenever the mood struck me. I knocked out a good 600 miles though, so I'll have about 550 left tomorrow. Maybe I'll get lucky and get to leave another load at the terminal, but I'm guessing they'll make me deliver it Monday morning.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
3/28/08
On balance... good enough. I had a pretty cool morning and a throroughly annoying afternoon today. I headed south on US-220 out of Roanoke around 8:30am. I think I've driven that road before. In any case, it was a fun ride with an empty trailer. I pretended I was on a roller coaster and I didn't even have to buy a ticket. The 100 mile trip took exactly two hours. Directions to the customer were accurate and easy to follow. The people in the shipping office were friendly and helpful. The dock area had tons of room to maneuver. All good up to that point.
At the dock, I was chatting with the guy in the truck next to me. I won't mention his company's name, because I can't verify what he said, but the conversation about miles was fairly interesting. He was asking a lot of questions - average weekly miles, pay per mile, length of haul, etc. I was answering politely, but not really asking any questions of the other fella. It may or may not come as a shock to you fine folks that I honestly don't give a rat's ass about the companies for which other people work. Anyhow, he asked if we get a lot of long runs. I said not really, estimating that the vast majority of my runs are under a thousand miles. Then I noted that this one is 1,530 miles, so that's not bad. He said, "I knew my company was screwing me." Apparently he is getting 1,300 paid miles to go from Danville to Laredo; 230 miles less than I get. My actual route will be closer to 1,490 miles, as I take US-59 out of Houston instead of going over to I-35, but it pays 1,530. If he's telling the truth, that's a pretty severe hosejob that he's getting. My old bootleg version of PC Miler says that the route I take is the 'truck shortest' route. That guy's company is chiseling around 200 miles from his pay. Bum deal.
Then I had to drive some more. This load was like a 42,000 pound albatross around my neck all afternoon. Up the hills, down the hills, and up, and down. Every time I would think I could settle in, someone would wind up in front of me going 45mph. Any time I tried to get into the left lane and go around, we would hit a hill. So I had a hell of a time getting any momentum. That was pretty much the story of my afternoon - one big test of patience. If the test is scored based on not running people off the road, I suppose I passed. If the test is scored based on not screaming obscenities and cursing Isaac Newton all day, I failed miserably.
I stopped in Buford, Georgia and called up one of my cousins. My will to be on the road had expired, so I figured I might as well hang out here for the night. I guess we'll grab some dinner and see what's what. My dispatch has me due in Laredo at 3am Monday (when the broker will be closed, duh...), so I'll knock it out in a couple of ten hour days from here.
I did get my layover pay (from a couple weeks ago) on today's check, so that's pretty cool. I didn't, however, get my missing $17.50.
This brings me to the exciting news. I am proud to debut a new weekly segment of the blog, titled Where In The World Is The Godfather's UPS Pay? Here's how the game is played. I'll give you three clues. Then, anyone who guesses correctly each week will earn a share of the $17.50
(minus taxes, handling fees, fuel surcharge, environmental recovery fund fee, and closing costs. Net payment estimated at $0.00).
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS THE GODFATHER'S UPS PAY?
EPISODE ONE
1. Home to twenty million people
2. Important base for Allied forces in WWII
3. Gained independence in 1948
Have at it!
At the dock, I was chatting with the guy in the truck next to me. I won't mention his company's name, because I can't verify what he said, but the conversation about miles was fairly interesting. He was asking a lot of questions - average weekly miles, pay per mile, length of haul, etc. I was answering politely, but not really asking any questions of the other fella. It may or may not come as a shock to you fine folks that I honestly don't give a rat's ass about the companies for which other people work. Anyhow, he asked if we get a lot of long runs. I said not really, estimating that the vast majority of my runs are under a thousand miles. Then I noted that this one is 1,530 miles, so that's not bad. He said, "I knew my company was screwing me." Apparently he is getting 1,300 paid miles to go from Danville to Laredo; 230 miles less than I get. My actual route will be closer to 1,490 miles, as I take US-59 out of Houston instead of going over to I-35, but it pays 1,530. If he's telling the truth, that's a pretty severe hosejob that he's getting. My old bootleg version of PC Miler says that the route I take is the 'truck shortest' route. That guy's company is chiseling around 200 miles from his pay. Bum deal.
Then I had to drive some more. This load was like a 42,000 pound albatross around my neck all afternoon. Up the hills, down the hills, and up, and down. Every time I would think I could settle in, someone would wind up in front of me going 45mph. Any time I tried to get into the left lane and go around, we would hit a hill. So I had a hell of a time getting any momentum. That was pretty much the story of my afternoon - one big test of patience. If the test is scored based on not running people off the road, I suppose I passed. If the test is scored based on not screaming obscenities and cursing Isaac Newton all day, I failed miserably.
I stopped in Buford, Georgia and called up one of my cousins. My will to be on the road had expired, so I figured I might as well hang out here for the night. I guess we'll grab some dinner and see what's what. My dispatch has me due in Laredo at 3am Monday (when the broker will be closed, duh...), so I'll knock it out in a couple of ten hour days from here.
I did get my layover pay (from a couple weeks ago) on today's check, so that's pretty cool. I didn't, however, get my missing $17.50.
This brings me to the exciting news. I am proud to debut a new weekly segment of the blog, titled Where In The World Is The Godfather's UPS Pay? Here's how the game is played. I'll give you three clues. Then, anyone who guesses correctly each week will earn a share of the $17.50
(minus taxes, handling fees, fuel surcharge, environmental recovery fund fee, and closing costs. Net payment estimated at $0.00).
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS THE GODFATHER'S UPS PAY?
EPISODE ONE
1. Home to twenty million people
2. Important base for Allied forces in WWII
3. Gained independence in 1948
Have at it!
Thursday, March 27, 2008
3/27/08
Another nice easy day and another pre-planned load set up for tomorrow; I can't complain. I rolled out of Nashville bright and early and, aside from the morning rush through Knoxville, everything was cool. The load was only 18,000 pounds, pretty light by ConWay standards, so even the hills didn't cause me too much annoyance.
I got into Troutville a little over an hour early and made my relay. I had received a pre-plan before I left Nashville, so I knew what the next few days had in store before I got here. I will be picking up in Danville tomorrow and heading for Laredo. The load picks up at 11am and there really doesn't appear to be a lot of parking between here and Danville, so I guess I'll head down in the morning and take it from there.
The run to Laredo will put me above 2,660 miles for the week, so again I can't complain. In point of fact, I think this week will actually be below my average for the last couple of months. Since I generally treat 2,500 miles as my target average, I have to say the miles have been pretty damn good so far this year. I was told, more than a few times, that I couldn't get miles with a 65mph truck; that the one cent raise we got would amount to a pay cut. Going backward from this week, my miles since I got the slower truck have been:
2,663
4,000
2,083
3,171
2,740
3,447
2,260 (In Laredo until Wednesday afternoon)
So what is that, on average? 2,900 miles? In a slow truck (aka "pay cut")? Whatever, dude. It works for me. Obviously, the odds suggest that this pace won't continue indefinitely. The point remains though, that the speed of the truck has very little impact on the total miles driven. It's the availability of freight that makes all the difference.
I got into Troutville a little over an hour early and made my relay. I had received a pre-plan before I left Nashville, so I knew what the next few days had in store before I got here. I will be picking up in Danville tomorrow and heading for Laredo. The load picks up at 11am and there really doesn't appear to be a lot of parking between here and Danville, so I guess I'll head down in the morning and take it from there.
The run to Laredo will put me above 2,660 miles for the week, so again I can't complain. In point of fact, I think this week will actually be below my average for the last couple of months. Since I generally treat 2,500 miles as my target average, I have to say the miles have been pretty damn good so far this year. I was told, more than a few times, that I couldn't get miles with a 65mph truck; that the one cent raise we got would amount to a pay cut. Going backward from this week, my miles since I got the slower truck have been:
2,663
4,000
2,083
3,171
2,740
3,447
2,260 (In Laredo until Wednesday afternoon)
So what is that, on average? 2,900 miles? In a slow truck (aka "pay cut")? Whatever, dude. It works for me. Obviously, the odds suggest that this pace won't continue indefinitely. The point remains though, that the speed of the truck has very little impact on the total miles driven. It's the availability of freight that makes all the difference.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
3/26/08
Well, when the load is ready on time, the weather is good, the traffic is light, and the trip is only five and a half hours, I guess that's pretty cool. Things were completely stopped on I-65 into Nashville, but I hopped off on the loop and got around it with no trouble. My drop at the Nashville ConWay came with four sets of directions, all pretty similar but none exactly the same as each other. As has become my standard practice, I went with the last (and presumably most recent) directions. Nope. No good. "Take exit 212, south on Fessler." From exit 212 I could go east or west on some other road, with no Fessler in sight. I went west. Then went south on some other road. Then turned onto some other road. Then another one, and another... Somehow, as I bumbled along, I came across Fessler's Lane. Beauty.
About a half hour before I got to Nashville, I received the information for my next pre-planned load. It was to leave Nashville at 3:30am tomorrow and go to Troutville, Virginia. 3:30am usually means ConWay or beer, and I've never pulled beer out of Nashville. Troutville, Virginia seemed like an unlikely destination as well, so I assumed that I would be relaying a ConWay load there. Thus, after dropping off my loaded trailer, I didn't hook to an empty right away. Instead I sent in my forms and waited for the directions to my next pickup. Yep. ConWay in Nashville.
With no trailer and lots of time to kill, exploring seemed to be the thing to do. I asked one of the ConWay guys if he knew a good place to go for lunch. He took a few minutes and came up with directions to some Chinese buffet place. I'm not into Chinese food, but he put so much effort into his directions that I just said "thanks" and went out looking for myself. I found a Ruby Tuesday a little ways outside of town, so that was cool. Now I guess I'll try to find a movie theater or something. I really should do some laundry, but that doesn't sound fun at all.
If I keep getting these early morning loads, I'm going to have to grow some blue hair and frequent the early bird special at Denny's. They don't quite fit my style. 3:30am is usually around the time I fall asleep for the night. Oh well, it's a little over four hundred more miles for tomorrow, so that's not bad. I have to relay the load at the Godforsaken T/A in Troutville and then see where I go from there. Since I didn't work much today, I'm looking really good in terms of hours leading into the weekend.
About a half hour before I got to Nashville, I received the information for my next pre-planned load. It was to leave Nashville at 3:30am tomorrow and go to Troutville, Virginia. 3:30am usually means ConWay or beer, and I've never pulled beer out of Nashville. Troutville, Virginia seemed like an unlikely destination as well, so I assumed that I would be relaying a ConWay load there. Thus, after dropping off my loaded trailer, I didn't hook to an empty right away. Instead I sent in my forms and waited for the directions to my next pickup. Yep. ConWay in Nashville.
With no trailer and lots of time to kill, exploring seemed to be the thing to do. I asked one of the ConWay guys if he knew a good place to go for lunch. He took a few minutes and came up with directions to some Chinese buffet place. I'm not into Chinese food, but he put so much effort into his directions that I just said "thanks" and went out looking for myself. I found a Ruby Tuesday a little ways outside of town, so that was cool. Now I guess I'll try to find a movie theater or something. I really should do some laundry, but that doesn't sound fun at all.
If I keep getting these early morning loads, I'm going to have to grow some blue hair and frequent the early bird special at Denny's. They don't quite fit my style. 3:30am is usually around the time I fall asleep for the night. Oh well, it's a little over four hundred more miles for tomorrow, so that's not bad. I have to relay the load at the Godforsaken T/A in Troutville and then see where I go from there. Since I didn't work much today, I'm looking really good in terms of hours leading into the weekend.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
3/25/08
I think yesterday was just what the doctor ordered. I woke up at some point in the afternoon and just lounged around all day, watching movies and eating fast food. I can't get on the board with no hours, so I sent in one hour and just "borrowed" it from today, in hopes of getting some kind of assignment before this morning. Worst case scenario would be that they sent me somewhere an hour away and I had to figure out how to fit the hour into my log book. Best case would be that I got set up for some work this morning. This time around, I got the best case scenario.
I had to shoot over to Dekalb this morning and pick up a load of tires headed for Lafayette, Indiana. That run utilized exactly the number of hours that I had available, so it was pretty good planning on someone's part. Then I was in the same situation as yesterday - no hours but I didn't want to wait for tomorrow to get on the board. So I sent in one hour of availability and reported tomorrow's hours as being one less. This time they actually did give me a one hour drive for today. So I had to figure out how to squeeze it in to the log, but I think it's all good.
I made a quick and easy drop/hook in Dekalb and then, after the three hour drive, another quick and easy drop/hook in Lafayette. Within a few minutes I got my next assignment. I was to go down to Plainfield and stage for a ConWay load leaving tomorrow morning, so I actually had to use the hour that I reported as being available to me.
I got about fifteen miles down the road before the "quick and easy" label had to be removed. My fleet manager called to inform me that the empty that I had taken was in fact a trade-in, now belonging to Wabash. So I had to double back to Lafayette and return it. I spoke with the boss man there and he gave me a list of empties that should be okay to take. My fleet manager also sent me a list via Qualcomm. The two lists didn't have a single trailer in common. My fleet manager's list consisted entirely of loaded trailers, so that was out. The list from the guy at Wabash actually matched up with what I found on the lot. So I picked out an empty, hooked to it, and called CTL. I wanted to double-check and make sure that the new empty was in the computer system before I left and had to turn around again. Nope. I was told that it wasn't supposed to be used. So they called Wabash and got some other boss man on the phone. Apparently this guy is the big Kahuna of trailer trade-ins over there. I unhooked from the empty and awaited further instructions. Twenty minutes later they sent me a message saying that the only trailer that I could pull was... the one they had just told me not to pull. Peckerheads. Hook it back up... again.
So then I actually did drive down to Plainfield and set up for tomorrow morning. As for the log book... well, I came up with something so that will have to do. Tomorrow's run is something like 300 miles from here down to Nashville. I'll be there early in the afternoon and I'll finally start picking up some decent hours tomorrow, so I would expect that I'll get something else to move me out of Nashville pretty quickly.
On a more positive note, I got a message saying that my missing layover pay was paid today. That's always a plus. It doesn't presently show up on my pay screen, so I'm hoping this means that it will be on last week's check when I get paid this Friday. Otherwise I guess it would just go on this week's check, although that would usually show up on my pay screen. Getting it on this week's pay wouldn't be the worst thing in the world since I'm off to a slow start on account of the 70 hour situation. I guess we'll see on Friday.
I had to shoot over to Dekalb this morning and pick up a load of tires headed for Lafayette, Indiana. That run utilized exactly the number of hours that I had available, so it was pretty good planning on someone's part. Then I was in the same situation as yesterday - no hours but I didn't want to wait for tomorrow to get on the board. So I sent in one hour of availability and reported tomorrow's hours as being one less. This time they actually did give me a one hour drive for today. So I had to figure out how to squeeze it in to the log, but I think it's all good.
I made a quick and easy drop/hook in Dekalb and then, after the three hour drive, another quick and easy drop/hook in Lafayette. Within a few minutes I got my next assignment. I was to go down to Plainfield and stage for a ConWay load leaving tomorrow morning, so I actually had to use the hour that I reported as being available to me.
I got about fifteen miles down the road before the "quick and easy" label had to be removed. My fleet manager called to inform me that the empty that I had taken was in fact a trade-in, now belonging to Wabash. So I had to double back to Lafayette and return it. I spoke with the boss man there and he gave me a list of empties that should be okay to take. My fleet manager also sent me a list via Qualcomm. The two lists didn't have a single trailer in common. My fleet manager's list consisted entirely of loaded trailers, so that was out. The list from the guy at Wabash actually matched up with what I found on the lot. So I picked out an empty, hooked to it, and called CTL. I wanted to double-check and make sure that the new empty was in the computer system before I left and had to turn around again. Nope. I was told that it wasn't supposed to be used. So they called Wabash and got some other boss man on the phone. Apparently this guy is the big Kahuna of trailer trade-ins over there. I unhooked from the empty and awaited further instructions. Twenty minutes later they sent me a message saying that the only trailer that I could pull was... the one they had just told me not to pull. Peckerheads. Hook it back up... again.
So then I actually did drive down to Plainfield and set up for tomorrow morning. As for the log book... well, I came up with something so that will have to do. Tomorrow's run is something like 300 miles from here down to Nashville. I'll be there early in the afternoon and I'll finally start picking up some decent hours tomorrow, so I would expect that I'll get something else to move me out of Nashville pretty quickly.
On a more positive note, I got a message saying that my missing layover pay was paid today. That's always a plus. It doesn't presently show up on my pay screen, so I'm hoping this means that it will be on last week's check when I get paid this Friday. Otherwise I guess it would just go on this week's check, although that would usually show up on my pay screen. Getting it on this week's pay wouldn't be the worst thing in the world since I'm off to a slow start on account of the 70 hour situation. I guess we'll see on Friday.
Monday, March 24, 2008
3/24/08
We all have things that we think and we have things that we know. One observation of mine has moved from the former category to the latter. I always assumed that the guys who claim to drive 4,000 miles a week were full of shit. Now I know it for certain. Monday morning of last week, I sat with an empty trailer and waited for an assignment. Monday morning of this week, I am now empty again. That's exactly seven days and exactly 4,000 miles. Even if I weren't exhausted, which I am, my logbook still would be completely shot. I can't work any more today and I can work four and a half hours tomorrow. So you tell me how I could knock out another 4,000 miles this week. I don't buy it.
The overnight drive up to Illinois was a pretty mellow one. There was a flurry here and there, but overall conditions were good. It was never cold enough for any snow to stick on the roads. It was dark, so visibility was limited, but as nearly as I can tell there was still a town underwater at exit 272 in Missouri. I hit a little of the morning rush into the Chicago area in the construction zone on I-55 around I-80, but got through in relatively short order. At the customer, it took me longer to get backed into the dock than it did for them to unload my single pallet. It was one of those indoor/outdoor setups, so with the rising sun outside and the relative darkness inside I couldn't see where the hell my trailer was pointing.
So I'm empty, out of hours, and in a major metropolis. That is pretty much spelled H-O-S-E-D when it comes to parking. I headed north and caught I-90 east, hoping there would be a spot open at the oasis on the toll road. There was, so here I am. It looks like my Easter holiday will just come a day late.
Speaking of Easter Monday, those of you who share my ethnic heritage are probably aware of the day's significance. I think, in the larger perspective, this is part of the reason various groups of white people get so pissed off about being called racists. My ancestors never owned slaves. For all intents and purposes, they were slaves. They never stopped fighting though. Easter Monday was a big step in that process, the start of "winning the hearts and minds" if you will. For the history buffs, these guys provide a pretty thorough synopsis. Brass freaking balls, man. Brass balls. Anyone wanna guess whether or not the muslims will be taking over Ireland in the future?
The overnight drive up to Illinois was a pretty mellow one. There was a flurry here and there, but overall conditions were good. It was never cold enough for any snow to stick on the roads. It was dark, so visibility was limited, but as nearly as I can tell there was still a town underwater at exit 272 in Missouri. I hit a little of the morning rush into the Chicago area in the construction zone on I-55 around I-80, but got through in relatively short order. At the customer, it took me longer to get backed into the dock than it did for them to unload my single pallet. It was one of those indoor/outdoor setups, so with the rising sun outside and the relative darkness inside I couldn't see where the hell my trailer was pointing.
So I'm empty, out of hours, and in a major metropolis. That is pretty much spelled H-O-S-E-D when it comes to parking. I headed north and caught I-90 east, hoping there would be a spot open at the oasis on the toll road. There was, so here I am. It looks like my Easter holiday will just come a day late.
Speaking of Easter Monday, those of you who share my ethnic heritage are probably aware of the day's significance. I think, in the larger perspective, this is part of the reason various groups of white people get so pissed off about being called racists. My ancestors never owned slaves. For all intents and purposes, they were slaves. They never stopped fighting though. Easter Monday was a big step in that process, the start of "winning the hearts and minds" if you will. For the history buffs, these guys provide a pretty thorough synopsis. Brass freaking balls, man. Brass balls. Anyone wanna guess whether or not the muslims will be taking over Ireland in the future?
Sunday, March 23, 2008
3/23/08
Well, through Oklahoma and into Missouri before the hours ran out. It looks like a little under 500 miles to go from here as I wait for midnight to arrive. Guess I'll try to sleep.
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