About halfway there. Trucks are allowed through Indianapolis now, so that was pretty cool. I don't know how many miles more it takes to go around the loop, but it annoyed me.
It looks like my timing is going to be pretty good on this one. A day sooner and I would have had snow and ice to deal with. According to the weather reports on the radio, the rest of the trip should be pretty good for me tomorrow. I don't think I'll have enough hours to get to Providence, but I'll get as close as I can. I'll probably have to knock out a couple of hours Monday morning before my 9am appointment.
Not a whole lot went on today. Nice light weekend traffic. No lines at the fuel island. Just a good easy day on the road.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
2/22/08
I chose to stay in a vacant lot in the northeastern suburbs of Dallas last night, rather than drive down to the terminal in Lancaster. After all, they always send me up through Dallas to pick up a load. Anyone wanna guess where I picked up a load this morning? Give yourself a pat on the back if you said 'Lancaster.' Add a self-hug if you guessed that it was at the terminal. The drive through Dallas would have been nicer last night than it was during this morning's rush hour, but that's just the way it goes for me. Apparently they had about fifteen people on the board this morning, so my rare show of initiative in delivering early and boarding last night appears to have paid off.
From Lancaster I was dispatched to a drop/hook customer in Pacific, Missouri. That tacked on another 614 miles, plus the 31 mile deadhead, bringing my total miles for the week to 2,279. Anything for the weekend beyond that would have me in "I'm not complaining" mode. And... I guess we really do get pre-plans now. A few hours into the drive, I got a plan summary to grab another load in Pocahontas and run it up to Providence for Monday morning. A bunch more miles, another thirty bucks in northeast pay, not too shabby. That moved me past "I'm not complaining" and straight to "3,500 miles? Kickass!"
How many pre-plans is that lately? I guess I could read through my old entries here and see, but I'm not nearly that curious nor ambitious. I do know that it used to be something like one pre-plan every three or four months. These days I seem to get a couple per week. Whether it's merger-related or the planners are just on the ball lately or those other 800 drivers finally quit or I'm just a righteous dude, I don't really care. I just know that pre-plans are a good thing, so they can keep 'em coming.
Today's drive was a pretty long one, but I managed to stay on the road and get to Pacific in under ten hours. I ran straight through Dallas and up through Oklahoma and Missouri without any major delays. There was a big backup at the spot where I left I-35 to shoot over to US-75, but it moved along after a short while. From what I heard on the radio today, I suspect that it may have been related to that motorcycle cop who died. I really don't know though. The 65mph truck thing hasn't really been a hindrance as far as I can tell. A few times today I might have been inclined to pass if my truck were faster, but I stayed back because I had a heavy load and didn't want to tie up the left lane. It's probably good for me anyway. I tend to get a little aggressive behind the wheel sometimes. The slower truck might help me grow up a bit.
At the place in Pacific, there was a sign saying that I was to check in at door 17 between 6am and 1:30am, Monday-Friday. Nobody there. So I swung back around and checked the sign again. Between 1:30am and 6am, it said to use door 8. It wasn't anywhere near 1:30am yet, but I tried door 8 anyway. Nobody there. I decided to park and chill for a while, thinking the night shift might be at lunch. An hour later, the place was still a ghost town. So I snooped around the (unlocked) building, looking for some kind of indication about where they may or may not have been expecting me to leave my trailer. Nuttin. That left me in a position to do what I hate to do. It was nighttime. It was a weekend. And I had to contact CTL.
I shot them a message, asking if it is okay to drop a trailer with nobody at the customer. A half hour later, having received no response, I decided to have a cigar and call it a night. In some twisted way, I thought it might be a little healthier for me to go for a walk as I enjoyed my nice dark Nat Sherman. I got around the corner of the building and saw a pickup truck pulling in near door 8. So I ventured over and, what do you know, the dude was able to help me. I don't remember his exact words and I would hate to misquote him, so I'll just tell you what the words sounded like to me:
"Go around to the west side of the building. That's the side with the skinny driveway and no room to maneuver. Over there you'll see a row of trailers on an icy, unmaintained patch of ground. Blindside your trailer into the one opening and then somehow manage to get out from under it. Then go over and hook to your empty. The turn you'll have to make from that spot, in order to get out of the ice rink, will be more suited to a Pinto than a Kenworth. You'll do fine." Yeah, like I said, these weren't his exact words.
Anyhow, I got it all taken care of. As I wrote down my new trailer number on my log book, I did a double take. Wh-wha-what!?! The empty trailer that CTL told me to pick up was actually the empty trailer that I found? I thought they just made up those numbers when they sent those "pick up trailer XXXXX" messages. They always say to retrieve a trailer that isn't there.
In true night and weekend fashion (meaning late and not terribly useful), I had received a reply to my earlier Qualcomm message by the time I got done dropping and hooking. It said that there should be someone at the consignee and I would probably just have to wait until my appointment time if I couldn't find anyone. Yep. This kind of insight comes free of charge, right over the satellite. It's awesome, I know.
So, I got dispatched to Pocahontas and made it here in something roughly resembling eleven hours of driving, within something roughly resembling fourteen hours of starting my day. Good enough. By the time this week's check hits my bank account next Friday, I guess we'll have to say The Laredo Experience is officially forgiven. Next week might get off to a pretty slow start since I'll be a little hamstrung by the 70 hour rule, but these last two weeks haven't been bad at all.
From Lancaster I was dispatched to a drop/hook customer in Pacific, Missouri. That tacked on another 614 miles, plus the 31 mile deadhead, bringing my total miles for the week to 2,279. Anything for the weekend beyond that would have me in "I'm not complaining" mode. And... I guess we really do get pre-plans now. A few hours into the drive, I got a plan summary to grab another load in Pocahontas and run it up to Providence for Monday morning. A bunch more miles, another thirty bucks in northeast pay, not too shabby. That moved me past "I'm not complaining" and straight to "3,500 miles? Kickass!"
How many pre-plans is that lately? I guess I could read through my old entries here and see, but I'm not nearly that curious nor ambitious. I do know that it used to be something like one pre-plan every three or four months. These days I seem to get a couple per week. Whether it's merger-related or the planners are just on the ball lately or those other 800 drivers finally quit or I'm just a righteous dude, I don't really care. I just know that pre-plans are a good thing, so they can keep 'em coming.
Today's drive was a pretty long one, but I managed to stay on the road and get to Pacific in under ten hours. I ran straight through Dallas and up through Oklahoma and Missouri without any major delays. There was a big backup at the spot where I left I-35 to shoot over to US-75, but it moved along after a short while. From what I heard on the radio today, I suspect that it may have been related to that motorcycle cop who died. I really don't know though. The 65mph truck thing hasn't really been a hindrance as far as I can tell. A few times today I might have been inclined to pass if my truck were faster, but I stayed back because I had a heavy load and didn't want to tie up the left lane. It's probably good for me anyway. I tend to get a little aggressive behind the wheel sometimes. The slower truck might help me grow up a bit.
At the place in Pacific, there was a sign saying that I was to check in at door 17 between 6am and 1:30am, Monday-Friday. Nobody there. So I swung back around and checked the sign again. Between 1:30am and 6am, it said to use door 8. It wasn't anywhere near 1:30am yet, but I tried door 8 anyway. Nobody there. I decided to park and chill for a while, thinking the night shift might be at lunch. An hour later, the place was still a ghost town. So I snooped around the (unlocked) building, looking for some kind of indication about where they may or may not have been expecting me to leave my trailer. Nuttin. That left me in a position to do what I hate to do. It was nighttime. It was a weekend. And I had to contact CTL.
I shot them a message, asking if it is okay to drop a trailer with nobody at the customer. A half hour later, having received no response, I decided to have a cigar and call it a night. In some twisted way, I thought it might be a little healthier for me to go for a walk as I enjoyed my nice dark Nat Sherman. I got around the corner of the building and saw a pickup truck pulling in near door 8. So I ventured over and, what do you know, the dude was able to help me. I don't remember his exact words and I would hate to misquote him, so I'll just tell you what the words sounded like to me:
"Go around to the west side of the building. That's the side with the skinny driveway and no room to maneuver. Over there you'll see a row of trailers on an icy, unmaintained patch of ground. Blindside your trailer into the one opening and then somehow manage to get out from under it. Then go over and hook to your empty. The turn you'll have to make from that spot, in order to get out of the ice rink, will be more suited to a Pinto than a Kenworth. You'll do fine." Yeah, like I said, these weren't his exact words.
Anyhow, I got it all taken care of. As I wrote down my new trailer number on my log book, I did a double take. Wh-wha-what!?! The empty trailer that CTL told me to pick up was actually the empty trailer that I found? I thought they just made up those numbers when they sent those "pick up trailer XXXXX" messages. They always say to retrieve a trailer that isn't there.
In true night and weekend fashion (meaning late and not terribly useful), I had received a reply to my earlier Qualcomm message by the time I got done dropping and hooking. It said that there should be someone at the consignee and I would probably just have to wait until my appointment time if I couldn't find anyone. Yep. This kind of insight comes free of charge, right over the satellite. It's awesome, I know.
So, I got dispatched to Pocahontas and made it here in something roughly resembling eleven hours of driving, within something roughly resembling fourteen hours of starting my day. Good enough. By the time this week's check hits my bank account next Friday, I guess we'll have to say The Laredo Experience is officially forgiven. Next week might get off to a pretty slow start since I'll be a little hamstrung by the 70 hour rule, but these last two weeks haven't been bad at all.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
2/21/08
Just for the record: I've been proud of my country for my entire adult life and I probably would have hooked up with that lobbyist chick. It feels good to get that off my chest.
For about the first minute after I woke up this morning, I had no idea where I was. I had no idea where I was going. I had no idea when I had to get there. That seems to happen about once a month and it's not all that fun. Even after I looked outside, it took a few seconds for things to register.
So I headed inside the terminal to make a copy of my bill of lading, then decided to knock out my safety training while I was there. In order to get the safety bonus, we're required to complete safety training or attend a safety meeting at least once within the prior year. The bonus quarter ends with February, so I needed to get mine done before next week. That was a 100% retarded waste of an hour, but hey, now I know that I need to watch my trailer as I make a turn. So I've got that going for me.. which is nice.
The drive was a dreary and weary affair through Arkansas and eastern Texas, but it only took around seven hours. Lots of rain and a few slow patches, but not too bad overall. I found nobody in the guard shack at the customer, along with a locked gate. So I backed into the street and headed out to find a parking place. I wasn't in the mood to drive down to Lancaster, so I figured I would just park somewhere until morning and then check in. I saw that the employee entrance to my customer had an open gate and I was pretty sure I could squeeze through. So I did. I parked inside their lot and started to catch up my log book.
Then a security guard came out of the building and showed me where I could check in tonight. They had an empty, I did my drop/hook, and I got on the board tonight instead of tomorrow. #1, according to the website. Beauty. I've parked for the night at a neighboring warehouse that is still under construction. My last few pickups around here have been in the northern suburbs, so I'm not going to bother going to Lancaster tonight. I'll hang out here and see what the morning brings.
I just took a look at the paycheck that will hit the bank tomorrow morning. It has almost everything I expected, plus eighty bucks in detention pay for a load I pulled at the beginning of November. Sweet. They still owe me thirty-five bucks from that damn UPS load, but my fleet manager told me a few days ago that he was re-submitting that one. Maybe next week. Between the miles, northeast miles, detention, layover, and reimbursements, it's not a bad check at all. So far this week, I'm sitting at 1,634 miles plus some northeast pay and an extra stop. I could use a good weekend to make it a decent week, but it sounds like people have been getting short weekend runs lately. I'm going into tomorrow with pretty low expectations.
For about the first minute after I woke up this morning, I had no idea where I was. I had no idea where I was going. I had no idea when I had to get there. That seems to happen about once a month and it's not all that fun. Even after I looked outside, it took a few seconds for things to register.
So I headed inside the terminal to make a copy of my bill of lading, then decided to knock out my safety training while I was there. In order to get the safety bonus, we're required to complete safety training or attend a safety meeting at least once within the prior year. The bonus quarter ends with February, so I needed to get mine done before next week. That was a 100% retarded waste of an hour, but hey, now I know that I need to watch my trailer as I make a turn. So I've got that going for me.. which is nice.
The drive was a dreary and weary affair through Arkansas and eastern Texas, but it only took around seven hours. Lots of rain and a few slow patches, but not too bad overall. I found nobody in the guard shack at the customer, along with a locked gate. So I backed into the street and headed out to find a parking place. I wasn't in the mood to drive down to Lancaster, so I figured I would just park somewhere until morning and then check in. I saw that the employee entrance to my customer had an open gate and I was pretty sure I could squeeze through. So I did. I parked inside their lot and started to catch up my log book.
Then a security guard came out of the building and showed me where I could check in tonight. They had an empty, I did my drop/hook, and I got on the board tonight instead of tomorrow. #1, according to the website. Beauty. I've parked for the night at a neighboring warehouse that is still under construction. My last few pickups around here have been in the northern suburbs, so I'm not going to bother going to Lancaster tonight. I'll hang out here and see what the morning brings.
I just took a look at the paycheck that will hit the bank tomorrow morning. It has almost everything I expected, plus eighty bucks in detention pay for a load I pulled at the beginning of November. Sweet. They still owe me thirty-five bucks from that damn UPS load, but my fleet manager told me a few days ago that he was re-submitting that one. Maybe next week. Between the miles, northeast miles, detention, layover, and reimbursements, it's not a bad check at all. So far this week, I'm sitting at 1,634 miles plus some northeast pay and an extra stop. I could use a good weekend to make it a decent week, but it sounds like people have been getting short weekend runs lately. I'm going into tomorrow with pretty low expectations.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
2/20/08
Just after I got loaded yesterday, I received a message from CTL. They apprised me of the fact that my consignee was notorious for not responding with a drop number. If I hadn't received one by the time I got there, I should go ahead and check in with them, then they would give me a dummy appointment number. Okay.
This morning I got rolling around 9am, with about 25 miles to go to my drop. Just for the hell of it, I sent a quick message asking if a drop number ever came through. That touched off more of that infamous trucking company communication. The first response said that the consignee should take me with no number, and that I needed to hurry up because I had another pickup scheduled for this afternoon. I replied that the next pickup was only fifteen miles away, so I wouldn't have a problem. Five hours to cover a total of forty miles... I think I'm okay. The next message said that people were working on getting me a drop number. I wasn't too worried about it, just thought I would ask before I got there.
The 25 miles took nearly an hour, as apparently today winter conditions actually did exist. I rolled in a little before my scheduled time of 10am. Then I got another message telling me that they hadn't received my arrival call, I need to send that right away, blah blah blah. I had literally been at the customer for ten seconds. So I sent my arrival call. Weird.
The security guard acted like I was remiss for not having a drop number. "That's happened with every CFI truck today." Yeah, well... you know what? Nevermind. No major surprise there, I guess. It took quite a while, but she got me a number and checked me in.
As I was waiting, another CTL truck pulled in behind me. He got out of his truck and I told him it would be a while if he didn't have a drop number. "I don't need a drop number. Mine's a 24/7 drop and hook," said he. I told him I'm aware of the location information, but if he didn't have a drop number the security guard would have to get him one. He got out his delivery receipt and said, "I have all the numbers right here. I just have to do a drop and hook. I don't need an appointment." Trying my best not to chuckle, I advised him that the drop number would have come through after he was loaded, and it wouldn't be among the numbers on his delivery receipt. It's not an appointment per se, but a confirmation that the customer knew that the trailer was coming. It wasn't that long ago that I was the new guy, learning the procedures and such. Obviously this dude was making his first drop/hook at a Kmart facility. So, given what I just told you, the next conversation was a whopper.
Him: "Your miles are way down, aren't they?"
Me: "About the same as always."
Him: "Oh, you just wait."
Me: "Okay."
Him: "A thousand trucks went empty and another eight hundred are on the way out."
Me: "Is that right?"
Him: "Yep, my miles have dropped by half. 40% of CFI's customers cancelled their contracts because they don't want ConWay pulling their freight."
Me: "How about that."
Him: "Yep, you just wait and see."
Me: "Well, good luck anyway man. I gotta go."
Now, the fact that he's a new guy is no big deal. I don't think driving a truck for any period of time makes people any smarter. But to regurgitate that line of bullshit that he must have heard at a truck stop was nothing short of hilarious. With all those empty trucks, why did it take four days to get me an empty one in Laredo? Why did it take another guy four days to get an empty one in Joplin? Why aren't there trucks piled up all over at the terminals? (West Memphis is pretty light on bobtails as I type this. Lots of trucks hooked to trailers though.) Why would your miles drop if 40% of the freight took off and 40% of the trucks are empty? Isn't that a fairly static equation? And wouldn't fewer trucks on the road mean more deadhead miles, in addition to the typical loaded miles? Oh hell, I could go on for a while here, but you get the point. Repeating what you hear at a truck stop doesn't make you sound smarter. More likely, you'll sound like a doofus. Anyhow...
I had a hell of a time getting my tandems to slide back on the slippery surface. I wound up cruising forward and leaving the truck in gear while I cranked the trailer brakes down. First try, the tires just slid along the ground. Second, third, fourth, same deal. I probably looked pretty funny driving forward and backward and sliding around, but what else could I do? On the fifth try, the tires grabbed and the tandems broke loose. Beauty. Now, for an empty. The guy in the receiving office said that they had no available empties and I would need to see the yard dog. The yard dog said he was going to lunch and, when he got back, he would let me know how much longer it would be. So I had two choices:
Option 1: Go and argue with the security guard. Call my fleet manager. Have him call the CSR. Have the CSR call the customer. Have everybody say they don't know what to tell me. Wait for the yard dog to get back. Maybe get an empty before my next appointment, maybe not.
Option 2: Start opening trailer doors until I find an empty. Go straight to the guard shack. Check out and get out of town before the yard dog notices that the empty is gone.
So, of course, I chose Option 1 and called my fleet manager. Hahahaha, that was a good one, wasn't it? Screw that. I grabbed the only empty on the yard and got the hell out of there. It was a quick drive to the next stop. I was a couple of hours early, but they loaded me anyway. Beauty. If they had waited until my appointment time, I couldn't have gotten to West Memphis within my 14 hour limit. As it stands, I'll have a nice easy day tomorrow as I finish the run into Garland, Texas.
It seems to me that my last trip down through Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee was a royal pain in the ass. I guess the trucking gods decided to make it up to me this time. Right through Cincinnati and Louisville during the afternoon rush. Nashville, Memphis, no trouble at all. For 90% of the ride, I was able to set the cruise control and relax. Just what the doctor ordered. My dispatch has me delivering at 6:42am Friday, so I guess that means there's not a set appointment. If I don't sleep too late tomorrow, I'll just head straight to the location and see what they say. The worst case scenario would be that they won't take me and I'll head down to Lancaster for the night. Best case would get me unloaded and on the board tomorrow evening.
This morning I got rolling around 9am, with about 25 miles to go to my drop. Just for the hell of it, I sent a quick message asking if a drop number ever came through. That touched off more of that infamous trucking company communication. The first response said that the consignee should take me with no number, and that I needed to hurry up because I had another pickup scheduled for this afternoon. I replied that the next pickup was only fifteen miles away, so I wouldn't have a problem. Five hours to cover a total of forty miles... I think I'm okay. The next message said that people were working on getting me a drop number. I wasn't too worried about it, just thought I would ask before I got there.
The 25 miles took nearly an hour, as apparently today winter conditions actually did exist. I rolled in a little before my scheduled time of 10am. Then I got another message telling me that they hadn't received my arrival call, I need to send that right away, blah blah blah. I had literally been at the customer for ten seconds. So I sent my arrival call. Weird.
The security guard acted like I was remiss for not having a drop number. "That's happened with every CFI truck today." Yeah, well... you know what? Nevermind. No major surprise there, I guess. It took quite a while, but she got me a number and checked me in.
As I was waiting, another CTL truck pulled in behind me. He got out of his truck and I told him it would be a while if he didn't have a drop number. "I don't need a drop number. Mine's a 24/7 drop and hook," said he. I told him I'm aware of the location information, but if he didn't have a drop number the security guard would have to get him one. He got out his delivery receipt and said, "I have all the numbers right here. I just have to do a drop and hook. I don't need an appointment." Trying my best not to chuckle, I advised him that the drop number would have come through after he was loaded, and it wouldn't be among the numbers on his delivery receipt. It's not an appointment per se, but a confirmation that the customer knew that the trailer was coming. It wasn't that long ago that I was the new guy, learning the procedures and such. Obviously this dude was making his first drop/hook at a Kmart facility. So, given what I just told you, the next conversation was a whopper.
Him: "Your miles are way down, aren't they?"
Me: "About the same as always."
Him: "Oh, you just wait."
Me: "Okay."
Him: "A thousand trucks went empty and another eight hundred are on the way out."
Me: "Is that right?"
Him: "Yep, my miles have dropped by half. 40% of CFI's customers cancelled their contracts because they don't want ConWay pulling their freight."
Me: "How about that."
Him: "Yep, you just wait and see."
Me: "Well, good luck anyway man. I gotta go."
Now, the fact that he's a new guy is no big deal. I don't think driving a truck for any period of time makes people any smarter. But to regurgitate that line of bullshit that he must have heard at a truck stop was nothing short of hilarious. With all those empty trucks, why did it take four days to get me an empty one in Laredo? Why did it take another guy four days to get an empty one in Joplin? Why aren't there trucks piled up all over at the terminals? (West Memphis is pretty light on bobtails as I type this. Lots of trucks hooked to trailers though.) Why would your miles drop if 40% of the freight took off and 40% of the trucks are empty? Isn't that a fairly static equation? And wouldn't fewer trucks on the road mean more deadhead miles, in addition to the typical loaded miles? Oh hell, I could go on for a while here, but you get the point. Repeating what you hear at a truck stop doesn't make you sound smarter. More likely, you'll sound like a doofus. Anyhow...
I had a hell of a time getting my tandems to slide back on the slippery surface. I wound up cruising forward and leaving the truck in gear while I cranked the trailer brakes down. First try, the tires just slid along the ground. Second, third, fourth, same deal. I probably looked pretty funny driving forward and backward and sliding around, but what else could I do? On the fifth try, the tires grabbed and the tandems broke loose. Beauty. Now, for an empty. The guy in the receiving office said that they had no available empties and I would need to see the yard dog. The yard dog said he was going to lunch and, when he got back, he would let me know how much longer it would be. So I had two choices:
Option 1: Go and argue with the security guard. Call my fleet manager. Have him call the CSR. Have the CSR call the customer. Have everybody say they don't know what to tell me. Wait for the yard dog to get back. Maybe get an empty before my next appointment, maybe not.
Option 2: Start opening trailer doors until I find an empty. Go straight to the guard shack. Check out and get out of town before the yard dog notices that the empty is gone.
So, of course, I chose Option 1 and called my fleet manager. Hahahaha, that was a good one, wasn't it? Screw that. I grabbed the only empty on the yard and got the hell out of there. It was a quick drive to the next stop. I was a couple of hours early, but they loaded me anyway. Beauty. If they had waited until my appointment time, I couldn't have gotten to West Memphis within my 14 hour limit. As it stands, I'll have a nice easy day tomorrow as I finish the run into Garland, Texas.
It seems to me that my last trip down through Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee was a royal pain in the ass. I guess the trucking gods decided to make it up to me this time. Right through Cincinnati and Louisville during the afternoon rush. Nashville, Memphis, no trouble at all. For 90% of the ride, I was able to set the cruise control and relax. Just what the doctor ordered. My dispatch has me delivering at 6:42am Friday, so I guess that means there's not a set appointment. If I don't sleep too late tomorrow, I'll just head straight to the location and see what they say. The worst case scenario would be that they won't take me and I'll head down to Lancaster for the night. Best case would get me unloaded and on the board tomorrow evening.
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