I got up and drove over to our terminal in Marietta Saturday morning and dropped my load off there. They turned around and offered me 3 loads to choose from, every single one of them were 500 or more miles away and delivered on 6/1 or 6/2. Had to remind him I was supposed to be in Marietta on night of 6/1 for the safety class on Tuesday. So they gave me a load off the yard that had been dropped earlier to be delivered to Petsmart DC in Newnan, GA at 8am Sunday morning. So I picked it up, drove to Newnan to a truck stop there and sat until Sunday morning.
I delivered to Petsmart this morning, full load of dog food. They next gave me a load on the Marietta yard again, another dropped load. It has 3 drops on it going to 3 different grocery warehouses, my favorite places. First stop in Athens, GA, just across the street from where I am right now at 4am tomorrow. The second drop is in Suwanee, GA back toward Atlanta at 7:30am tomorrow. After that drop I go back to Marietta, set until get class out of the way Tuesday, then drive back over just down the street from my second drop and drop the final 13 pallets Wednesday morning at 10am. I guess they planned that just for me.
No TV reception in this hick town, so I guess I play solitaire until go to bed.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
Long Week
Well, never intended to get this far behind on my blog. When made the last post I was expecting to be sitting for awhile, but they gave me a load to pick up the next morning in Granite City, IL, across the river from St. Louis. It was a Proctor & Gamble load going to a grocery warehouse in Albertville, AL and delivered on Memorial Day. Was a bit surprised by that, usually they are closed on holidays.
Once I delivered that on Monday morning, they gave me a load from Krannert, GA, near Rome, going to Newtown, CT. This was load of rolled paperboard out of International Paper. The rolls are about 3500 lbs a piece and had 13 of them on the truck. Had a fast trip to get there on Wednesday morning.
Once unloaded there they sent me over to Norwich, CT, all the way over on the other side of Connecticut, 88 miles away. It was a load of copper tubing. Expensive stuff. Had 6 pallets of this weighing about 7000 lbs a piece. They put 3 in the nose of the trailer and 3 in the rear so it will even out on the axels. The load went to a customer in Claremont, NC. I made it to Milford, CT around 1pm and was about out of hours for the day, since I had started out at 3am. There are few truck stops in Connecticut, and a lot of trucks looking to park. This one is the last before going through New York City going south. The trucks were lined up out on the street trying to get in. I bypassed them and went to a tiny truck stop next door and found a spot to park. This place was a dump next to the Pilot everyone was trying to get into next door, but I just wanted to go to bed.
I got up at 2am and drove to the Pilot, got my fuel and drove through NYC before traffic got bad. I made it down to Mount Airy, NC (Mayberry) and spent the night. Got up this morning and delivered 80 miles down the road. They then gave me a short load out of Kelloggs in Charlotte, NC going down to Augusta, GA. I picked this load up and delivered it at 3pm, and they gave me another load out of same place going to Missouri for a Monday delivery. Since I have to be in Marietta to take a safety class on Tuesday, I will have to drop the load in the morning in Marietta. I hope to get some short loads over the weekend to keep busy.
They had a Krystal hamburger place next door. Used to love those things when growing up, anyway stocked up on them for supper.
I
Once I delivered that on Monday morning, they gave me a load from Krannert, GA, near Rome, going to Newtown, CT. This was load of rolled paperboard out of International Paper. The rolls are about 3500 lbs a piece and had 13 of them on the truck. Had a fast trip to get there on Wednesday morning.
Once unloaded there they sent me over to Norwich, CT, all the way over on the other side of Connecticut, 88 miles away. It was a load of copper tubing. Expensive stuff. Had 6 pallets of this weighing about 7000 lbs a piece. They put 3 in the nose of the trailer and 3 in the rear so it will even out on the axels. The load went to a customer in Claremont, NC. I made it to Milford, CT around 1pm and was about out of hours for the day, since I had started out at 3am. There are few truck stops in Connecticut, and a lot of trucks looking to park. This one is the last before going through New York City going south. The trucks were lined up out on the street trying to get in. I bypassed them and went to a tiny truck stop next door and found a spot to park. This place was a dump next to the Pilot everyone was trying to get into next door, but I just wanted to go to bed.
I got up at 2am and drove to the Pilot, got my fuel and drove through NYC before traffic got bad. I made it down to Mount Airy, NC (Mayberry) and spent the night. Got up this morning and delivered 80 miles down the road. They then gave me a short load out of Kelloggs in Charlotte, NC going down to Augusta, GA. I picked this load up and delivered it at 3pm, and they gave me another load out of same place going to Missouri for a Monday delivery. Since I have to be in Marietta to take a safety class on Tuesday, I will have to drop the load in the morning in Marietta. I hope to get some short loads over the weekend to keep busy.
They had a Krystal hamburger place next door. Used to love those things when growing up, anyway stocked up on them for supper.
I
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Iowa
I got to Walmart this morning early and dropped the load. They had already warned me yesterday afternoon they didn't have any loads. Told me again a bit ago. After dropping my load I had to drive 20 miles north of Mount Pleasant, IA to the nearest truck stop to find parking. Doesn't look good for the weekend. I will probably be stuck here for awhile.
If they don't come up with a load offer before 1 or 2 pm today, it may be Tuesday before I get something. Where I am sitting in Ainsworth, IA, I can see the truck stop I am sitting in and corn fields in every direction. I have 2 tv stations I can pick up and a weak computer signal. I guess I will watch the complete 5 disk collection of Harry Potter this weekend.
Happy Memorial Day. Remember the Veterans this weekend, and especially the ones who gave all their tomorrows so that you may enjoy this day. Take a moment to read about my great uncle and the sacrifice he made for all of us this weekend. PFC Hollis A. Cloyd, the link is below.
http://76thdivision.com/indexhac.html
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Green Bay
I got to my delivery in Eau Claire at 3pm this afternoon. Was a drop and hook at Menard's Distribution Center. Was in and out in less than 30 minutes. They gave me another load as soon as I was unloaded. So far I have had 2 good weeks now. They gave me a load that picked up in Green Bay, WI, it is about 200 miles from Eau Claire and I made it to a truck stop about 30 miles from where I pick up.
The load is at Georgia Pacific on Lombardi street about a couple of blocks from where the Packers try to play their football. Ain't the same without Brett Favre.
The load goes to WalMart in Mt. Pleasant, IA and will deliver Saturday morning. Nice and comfortable up here, mostly cloudy with some showers today. High in the upper 60s and down to the 40s tonight. Good sleeping weather. Wisconsin is a beautiful state, especially in the northern areas. The trees are much like the ones in Maine last week. Kind of things that grow where it's too cold to live, at least if you have any sense.
The load is at Georgia Pacific on Lombardi street about a couple of blocks from where the Packers try to play their football. Ain't the same without Brett Favre.
The load goes to WalMart in Mt. Pleasant, IA and will deliver Saturday morning. Nice and comfortable up here, mostly cloudy with some showers today. High in the upper 60s and down to the 40s tonight. Good sleeping weather. Wisconsin is a beautiful state, especially in the northern areas. The trees are much like the ones in Maine last week. Kind of things that grow where it's too cold to live, at least if you have any sense.
Hello Wisconsin
Made my delivery at Colonial Heights, VA outside Richmond. I was told by dispatch that they opened at midnight Sunday night and you can deliver 24 hours up to Friday at midnight. Since I was parked just down the street I got up at midnight and drove around the block to the customer. Alas!!! They actually opened at 3pm on Sunday for the week, and there were 20 trucks in there. Eight in the docks and 8 waiting. I checked in and parked and waited. Waited. Waited some more. Seems at 1 am every time a truck would pull out of a dock they would stick one of their empty trailers in that dock for loading. They kept doing that until 8 am. I did not get into a dock door until 9am and did not leave the customer until 10:30am. Had been there 10 1/2 hours. Ended up with very little sleep and still had to get down close to Macon before taking my break so I could get to the other customer drop rest of the load, and still have hours to pick up another load.
I made it to Columbia, SC, which is about 6 1/2 hour drive in my truck. Remember my truck only goes 61 mph. Rough when all the southern states have speed limits of 70 mph. Hard not to get run over.
I slept a full 9 hours that night, a rarity for me. Left Columbia around 9 am and got to the customer one hour before my appointment. They put me right into a dock, and since I only had 5 pallets of beer for them, I was done in 15 minutes. One of the cases of Micolob Ultra slid off the top of the pallet and so had to sweep up the broken bottle. Got another load rather quickly picking up down the street from where I was in Macon going to Eau Claire, WI.
This worked out good, because it delivered anytime on Thursday up to midnight. This gave me time to drop by the Marietta terminal and get my truck serviced. They got me done Wednesday morning by 9am and I was off. I made it to Champaign, IL last night and now will go on up to Eau Claire, about 7 1/2 hours, and drop this load.
I made it to Columbia, SC, which is about 6 1/2 hour drive in my truck. Remember my truck only goes 61 mph. Rough when all the southern states have speed limits of 70 mph. Hard not to get run over.
I slept a full 9 hours that night, a rarity for me. Left Columbia around 9 am and got to the customer one hour before my appointment. They put me right into a dock, and since I only had 5 pallets of beer for them, I was done in 15 minutes. One of the cases of Micolob Ultra slid off the top of the pallet and so had to sweep up the broken bottle. Got another load rather quickly picking up down the street from where I was in Macon going to Eau Claire, WI.
This worked out good, because it delivered anytime on Thursday up to midnight. This gave me time to drop by the Marietta terminal and get my truck serviced. They got me done Wednesday morning by 9am and I was off. I made it to Champaign, IL last night and now will go on up to Eau Claire, about 7 1/2 hours, and drop this load.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Virginia
I made it into a Pilot truck stop about 1/2 mile from where I deliver my first drop on Monday morning. In Colonial Heights, VA on the south side of Richmond. I started out from Sturbridge, MA around 4:30am yesterday.
I stopped in Milford, CT for fuel and then came on down I-95 through the Bronx on the Cross Bronx expressway. This is the main road through NYC and leads you to the infamous George Washington Bridge. Some days it has taken me up to one and a half hours to go the 3 or 4 miles across the Bronx, and across the bridge and into New Jersey. Yesterday morning, being a Saturday, I breezed right through. Still have to go reasonably slow though, or the pot holes will knock a wheel off. I must say that it is smoother through there than in years past though.
I have got to get me a transfer cable for my camera to download these pictures I have, maybe this next week sometime.
From NYC I came down the Jersey Turnpike the length of New Jersey, across the Deleware Memorial Bridge, across the 17 miles of Deleware and into Maryland. Stopped just inside Maryland and got me a $5 footlong at Subway using my driver's points at the Pilot. The points that they put on my Pilot card for fueling. They give you 1 point for each gallon of fuel purchased. You can then use the card to purchase things in their store. I usually let mine build up then start cashing them in for footlongs. I can half one and make 2 meals out of it.
Didn't want to stay there too long, because I needed to get on through Baltimore before the traffic got heavy going over to the Preakness. Went through downtown Baltimore around noon, through the McHenry tunnel, 40 miles to Washington, DC and around the loop on the east side and into Virginia. I got to Colonial Heights around 2:30pm with a driving time of 9 hours.
I will deliver my first drop here in the morning, then will drive to Macon, GA to drop my last part of load there on Tuesday afternoon. I did get to watch the Preakness. Mine That Bird almost did it. I thought it was interesting the kick he had to come from behind. He came within 3/4 length of catching the filly, and he was just a gelding. What was he going to do if he did catch her???
I stopped in Milford, CT for fuel and then came on down I-95 through the Bronx on the Cross Bronx expressway. This is the main road through NYC and leads you to the infamous George Washington Bridge. Some days it has taken me up to one and a half hours to go the 3 or 4 miles across the Bronx, and across the bridge and into New Jersey. Yesterday morning, being a Saturday, I breezed right through. Still have to go reasonably slow though, or the pot holes will knock a wheel off. I must say that it is smoother through there than in years past though.
I have got to get me a transfer cable for my camera to download these pictures I have, maybe this next week sometime.
From NYC I came down the Jersey Turnpike the length of New Jersey, across the Deleware Memorial Bridge, across the 17 miles of Deleware and into Maryland. Stopped just inside Maryland and got me a $5 footlong at Subway using my driver's points at the Pilot. The points that they put on my Pilot card for fueling. They give you 1 point for each gallon of fuel purchased. You can then use the card to purchase things in their store. I usually let mine build up then start cashing them in for footlongs. I can half one and make 2 meals out of it.
Didn't want to stay there too long, because I needed to get on through Baltimore before the traffic got heavy going over to the Preakness. Went through downtown Baltimore around noon, through the McHenry tunnel, 40 miles to Washington, DC and around the loop on the east side and into Virginia. I got to Colonial Heights around 2:30pm with a driving time of 9 hours.
I will deliver my first drop here in the morning, then will drive to Macon, GA to drop my last part of load there on Tuesday afternoon. I did get to watch the Preakness. Mine That Bird almost did it. I thought it was interesting the kick he had to come from behind. He came within 3/4 length of catching the filly, and he was just a gelding. What was he going to do if he did catch her???
Friday, May 15, 2009
Back south
Well I made my delivery last night OK. They had posted on their window in the warehouse what the parking options were around Portland, ME. Wasn't much considering it was midnight when I got out of there. They don't let you park on their city streets.
The first option was a service plaza on the Maine Turnpike back southbound about 20 miles. It was full when I came up north about 3 hours earlier. The second was north on the turnpike about 20 miles. I looked at it on Google Earth and it only had about 5 spaces for truck parking, so I ruled that one out for that time of night. The last was a rest area on I-295 north of Portland. That interstate is not as traveled as the turnpike was, so I headed up that way and hoped for the best. It was a small rest area and had about 10 spaces for trucks, 3 of them available. Lucky me. Ten minutes after I parked the other spaces were gone too.
They finally gave me a load offer about noon today that picked up in Devens, MA which is next to Harvard. Came out of Anheuser-Busch and has two drops, one in Richmond, VA and the last in Macon, GA. Nice sunny drive this afternoon and the traffic around Boston wasn't too bad. No tie ups anyway. Got back to Sturbridge, MA and got a spot for the night and will take off in the morning and try to make it down near Richmond tomorrow afternoon. Will have to go down through NYC in the morning and try getting across the GW bridge again. This time it is Saturday so maybe won't be too bad in the morning.
Have a good weekend.
The first option was a service plaza on the Maine Turnpike back southbound about 20 miles. It was full when I came up north about 3 hours earlier. The second was north on the turnpike about 20 miles. I looked at it on Google Earth and it only had about 5 spaces for truck parking, so I ruled that one out for that time of night. The last was a rest area on I-295 north of Portland. That interstate is not as traveled as the turnpike was, so I headed up that way and hoped for the best. It was a small rest area and had about 10 spaces for trucks, 3 of them available. Lucky me. Ten minutes after I parked the other spaces were gone too.
They finally gave me a load offer about noon today that picked up in Devens, MA which is next to Harvard. Came out of Anheuser-Busch and has two drops, one in Richmond, VA and the last in Macon, GA. Nice sunny drive this afternoon and the traffic around Boston wasn't too bad. No tie ups anyway. Got back to Sturbridge, MA and got a spot for the night and will take off in the morning and try to make it down near Richmond tomorrow afternoon. Will have to go down through NYC in the morning and try getting across the GW bridge again. This time it is Saturday so maybe won't be too bad in the morning.
Have a good weekend.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Missed a few days
I'm not keeping up here, been busy for a change. Actually going to run out of hours tonight, at a bad time as usual.
From Atlanta they sent me down to Columbus, GA to pick up a load from Keebler going to Kelloggs distributor in Gardner, IL. That is south of Chicago on I-55. Got in there on Sunday, was a strange situation. One of the deals where you go in and drop your load and pick up an empty, write on the bills the time and date you dropped it and leave because no one there on Sunday. Problem arose with dealing with weekend dispatch. You can't break Kelloggs seals for any reason and they won't ok it, but the load had to be dropped in the dock, had to break seal to open door and back it in. Sunday dispatcher told me to back the trailer in and drop with doors closed. So I did. I go down to their drop lot pick up an empty trailer and about to leave and the owner of the place drives in, checks the dock comes over and tells me I'm supposed to open the doors and drop in door. Duh!!
Well I told him you sign the bill with seal intact and I will do that. So I dropped empty pulled out the loaded trailer broke seal laid in back, backed in and dropped, pulled out another empty from another dock door, because he asked me to, dropped it in lot, and got my empty back. Now I'm ready to go to a Wal Mart DC near Peru, IL to pick up a load going to Wal Mart DC in Midway, TN which is near Greeneville.
I go in and get the load and get near Bloomington, IL for the night, and down to Middlesboro, KY the next night. This is just below Cumberland Gap, the junction of Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee where Daniel Boone widened an Indian trail through the Cumberland Mountains to get to the other side, where the question came from, why did the chicken cross the road?
No cell signal in Middlesboro so did not get on computer. Delivered to Wal Mart the next morning and got a load to pick up at Conagra in Newport, TN going to South Portland, ME. Got the load and made it to Harrisonburg, VA for the night and got up the next morning to try to make it up close to the Connecticut/Massachusetts line. I don't deliver until 10 pm Thursday night, so need to get close enough to drive on in there just before appointment.
Everything going fine until get in to New Jersey and they start talking about the George Washington bridge being closed. Come to find out there was a fuel spill on the upper deck. The deck east bound crosses on, my direction. So have to make hasty decision to go another direction, not a lot of choices to get across the Hudson River in a truck without going many miles. I ran up I-287 north around and across the Tappan Zee bridge north of the GW bridge. Supposed to bring me back down to I-95 which will get me back on my route going up to Maine. Well now they say there was accident up near Milbury, CT, and that it happened over night with fatalities and the freeway had been closed for 12 hours and was still closed. Can imagine what a mess that was going to be. So another route change on the fly. Took I-684 north to I-84 and took that into Hartford, CT, and back on route again. Made it to Sturbridge, MA, about the last truck stop in the northeast before Boston.
The tricky part is that I leave here at 5pm headed up to South Portland, ME. Will be about 3 hour drive or 166 miles through evening traffic and rain. Will have 5 hours to make it so will see. Once unloaded the problem begins, it will be near midnight and only truck stops in Maine are about 50 miles further north. Imagine that. South Maine where all the people and businesses are, no place to park. Go up in the freeking woods with all the meese, and they are speckled around up there.
Usually when I come up here will get a load of paper out up around Bangor, or that direction. If they give me something with a direction that will be great. If they don't will be roaming around Maine til morning. Unless the customer will let me park there after unloaded. Looking at lot from Google Earth, don't look like a possibility. Kind of small. Will see....stay tuned.
Sorry Eric, couldn't find a Zaxbys with truck parking. Why I have to eat turkey sandwiches every day. I did see a sign for one though.
From Atlanta they sent me down to Columbus, GA to pick up a load from Keebler going to Kelloggs distributor in Gardner, IL. That is south of Chicago on I-55. Got in there on Sunday, was a strange situation. One of the deals where you go in and drop your load and pick up an empty, write on the bills the time and date you dropped it and leave because no one there on Sunday. Problem arose with dealing with weekend dispatch. You can't break Kelloggs seals for any reason and they won't ok it, but the load had to be dropped in the dock, had to break seal to open door and back it in. Sunday dispatcher told me to back the trailer in and drop with doors closed. So I did. I go down to their drop lot pick up an empty trailer and about to leave and the owner of the place drives in, checks the dock comes over and tells me I'm supposed to open the doors and drop in door. Duh!!
Well I told him you sign the bill with seal intact and I will do that. So I dropped empty pulled out the loaded trailer broke seal laid in back, backed in and dropped, pulled out another empty from another dock door, because he asked me to, dropped it in lot, and got my empty back. Now I'm ready to go to a Wal Mart DC near Peru, IL to pick up a load going to Wal Mart DC in Midway, TN which is near Greeneville.
I go in and get the load and get near Bloomington, IL for the night, and down to Middlesboro, KY the next night. This is just below Cumberland Gap, the junction of Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee where Daniel Boone widened an Indian trail through the Cumberland Mountains to get to the other side, where the question came from, why did the chicken cross the road?
No cell signal in Middlesboro so did not get on computer. Delivered to Wal Mart the next morning and got a load to pick up at Conagra in Newport, TN going to South Portland, ME. Got the load and made it to Harrisonburg, VA for the night and got up the next morning to try to make it up close to the Connecticut/Massachusetts line. I don't deliver until 10 pm Thursday night, so need to get close enough to drive on in there just before appointment.
Everything going fine until get in to New Jersey and they start talking about the George Washington bridge being closed. Come to find out there was a fuel spill on the upper deck. The deck east bound crosses on, my direction. So have to make hasty decision to go another direction, not a lot of choices to get across the Hudson River in a truck without going many miles. I ran up I-287 north around and across the Tappan Zee bridge north of the GW bridge. Supposed to bring me back down to I-95 which will get me back on my route going up to Maine. Well now they say there was accident up near Milbury, CT, and that it happened over night with fatalities and the freeway had been closed for 12 hours and was still closed. Can imagine what a mess that was going to be. So another route change on the fly. Took I-684 north to I-84 and took that into Hartford, CT, and back on route again. Made it to Sturbridge, MA, about the last truck stop in the northeast before Boston.
The tricky part is that I leave here at 5pm headed up to South Portland, ME. Will be about 3 hour drive or 166 miles through evening traffic and rain. Will have 5 hours to make it so will see. Once unloaded the problem begins, it will be near midnight and only truck stops in Maine are about 50 miles further north. Imagine that. South Maine where all the people and businesses are, no place to park. Go up in the freeking woods with all the meese, and they are speckled around up there.
Usually when I come up here will get a load of paper out up around Bangor, or that direction. If they give me something with a direction that will be great. If they don't will be roaming around Maine til morning. Unless the customer will let me park there after unloaded. Looking at lot from Google Earth, don't look like a possibility. Kind of small. Will see....stay tuned.
Sorry Eric, couldn't find a Zaxbys with truck parking. Why I have to eat turkey sandwiches every day. I did see a sign for one though.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Georgia
After taking my break on the customer's lot I sent in my ready to go message. They replied with a pretty much standard reply now, no freight at this time, check back in 4 to 6 hours.
So at 8am I moved to the nearest truck stop since I may be sitting for a while and that was 25 miles away. Around noon I got a load offer to pick up that was 2 blocks from where I had just delivered. I had to drive back to where I was, pick up the load and go right back by the truck stop I was sitting at, you just never know. It was a load from International Paper, bales of scrap cardboard, going to a recycling facility outside Cincinnati, OH. I had a delivery appointment of 4:30pm the next day. It was a very tight facility to get into. When you arrive you have to slide your tandems on your trailer all the way under your trailer so you can fit the long truck and trailer on their short scale.
**(The tandems or axles on the trailer will slide forward and backward to adjust your weight distribution of your load. You are allowed a maximum of 34,000 lbs on the dual tandem for your tractor and 34,000 lbs on the trailer. This leaves 12,000 lbs for your steering axle for a total of 80,000 lbs gross weight. You slide the tandems on the trailer to adjust the weight. This is called the "bridge law" which keeps the weight going across a bridge or road to a manageable amount to minimize tearing up the roads. If you slide the trailer tandems toward the tractor it puts more weight on the trailer and takes it off the tractor, slide them back it puts the weight on the tractor and off the trailer. You do this by locking your trailer brakes only and releasing your tractor brakes and thus sliding the trailer along the rail over the tandems of the trailer. There are pins that fit in holes under the frame of the trailer and the holes are normally 4" or 6" a part. If they are 4" apart each hole you move the pin will shift 225 lbs and is approximately 675 lbs per foot moved. Works great on newer trailers, but the older ones are so wore out it is sometimes impossible to pull the pins. I carry a special tool that can be attached to the lever so that when you jockey the trailer back and forth it will pull the pins for you, sometimes. This is how you adjust the weight on your trailer to be legal going down the road.)**
After unloading the load on Thursday afternoon, they shot me another load to pick up at noon on Friday in a Cincinnati suburb of Mariemont, OH going to Atlanta, GA. I will deliver the load in southwest Atlanta around noon Saturday.
So at 8am I moved to the nearest truck stop since I may be sitting for a while and that was 25 miles away. Around noon I got a load offer to pick up that was 2 blocks from where I had just delivered. I had to drive back to where I was, pick up the load and go right back by the truck stop I was sitting at, you just never know. It was a load from International Paper, bales of scrap cardboard, going to a recycling facility outside Cincinnati, OH. I had a delivery appointment of 4:30pm the next day. It was a very tight facility to get into. When you arrive you have to slide your tandems on your trailer all the way under your trailer so you can fit the long truck and trailer on their short scale.
**(The tandems or axles on the trailer will slide forward and backward to adjust your weight distribution of your load. You are allowed a maximum of 34,000 lbs on the dual tandem for your tractor and 34,000 lbs on the trailer. This leaves 12,000 lbs for your steering axle for a total of 80,000 lbs gross weight. You slide the tandems on the trailer to adjust the weight. This is called the "bridge law" which keeps the weight going across a bridge or road to a manageable amount to minimize tearing up the roads. If you slide the trailer tandems toward the tractor it puts more weight on the trailer and takes it off the tractor, slide them back it puts the weight on the tractor and off the trailer. You do this by locking your trailer brakes only and releasing your tractor brakes and thus sliding the trailer along the rail over the tandems of the trailer. There are pins that fit in holes under the frame of the trailer and the holes are normally 4" or 6" a part. If they are 4" apart each hole you move the pin will shift 225 lbs and is approximately 675 lbs per foot moved. Works great on newer trailers, but the older ones are so wore out it is sometimes impossible to pull the pins. I carry a special tool that can be attached to the lever so that when you jockey the trailer back and forth it will pull the pins for you, sometimes. This is how you adjust the weight on your trailer to be legal going down the road.)**
After unloading the load on Thursday afternoon, they shot me another load to pick up at noon on Friday in a Cincinnati suburb of Mariemont, OH going to Atlanta, GA. I will deliver the load in southwest Atlanta around noon Saturday.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Ohio
Made my delivery in Knoxville Monday morning and after waiting for couple of hours dispatch gave me a load off the Crete yard in Knoxville going to Soddy Daisy, TN. The driver under the load had his truck in the shop and couldn't make the delivery on time, so they passed it off to me. They gave me only couple of hours to make it to customer before they closed. I made it with about 10 minutes to spare.
After getting the load of Bud off, they gave me a load to pick up in Kimball, TN going to Solon, OH. So I ran over and picked up the load at 4pm, and it had to deliver at 7:30pm the next afternoon. I made it to Franklin, KY before I ran out of hours which left me a 9 hour drive to make delivery.
I had a discrepancy in delivery time on the load. Dispatch gave me a 7:30pm delivery, and the paperwork had a 5:30pm delivery appointment printed on it. Since it was after normal hours, I had to wait until morning to find out which time was correct. In order to make the 5:30pm appointment I had to leave out at 5:30am to make sure I made it in time. If the appointment was actually going to be 7:30pm then I was going to be out of hours by the time I finished with delivery. Where it delivered outside of Cleveland there are no truck stops within 40 miles, which presents a problem.
Appointment was 7:30pm. Luckily the customer allowed me to take my break on site after delivery which saved me the stress of finding a place to park. Wait until tomorrow and see where else I get to go.
After getting the load of Bud off, they gave me a load to pick up in Kimball, TN going to Solon, OH. So I ran over and picked up the load at 4pm, and it had to deliver at 7:30pm the next afternoon. I made it to Franklin, KY before I ran out of hours which left me a 9 hour drive to make delivery.
I had a discrepancy in delivery time on the load. Dispatch gave me a 7:30pm delivery, and the paperwork had a 5:30pm delivery appointment printed on it. Since it was after normal hours, I had to wait until morning to find out which time was correct. In order to make the 5:30pm appointment I had to leave out at 5:30am to make sure I made it in time. If the appointment was actually going to be 7:30pm then I was going to be out of hours by the time I finished with delivery. Where it delivered outside of Cleveland there are no truck stops within 40 miles, which presents a problem.
Appointment was 7:30pm. Luckily the customer allowed me to take my break on site after delivery which saved me the stress of finding a place to park. Wait until tomorrow and see where else I get to go.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Back out again
Well, been a few days. I got home last Monday and got nothing done at home that needed doing except for burning a brush pile and balancing the check book. I did get an old cedar tree that fell down about 7 years ago burnt.
Hopefully a sign of better times. When I gave them my ready call on Saturday morning they came back with 2 load offers. That is the first time I have gotten even one load offer on a weekend leaving home in over 5 months. Hope it will start picking up. Or maybe the company I work for is so stable, and a lot of the others aren't, maybe that impresses the shippers more and giving us more freight.
I took the load going to Knoxville, TN from Tyler, TX. It got me by Calhoun, TN where could visit with mom and dad a few hours. Got a great meal to boot.
I will deliver Monday morning and see if the good freight will hold up. Last couple of weeks have been much better.
Hopefully a sign of better times. When I gave them my ready call on Saturday morning they came back with 2 load offers. That is the first time I have gotten even one load offer on a weekend leaving home in over 5 months. Hope it will start picking up. Or maybe the company I work for is so stable, and a lot of the others aren't, maybe that impresses the shippers more and giving us more freight.
I took the load going to Knoxville, TN from Tyler, TX. It got me by Calhoun, TN where could visit with mom and dad a few hours. Got a great meal to boot.
I will deliver Monday morning and see if the good freight will hold up. Last couple of weeks have been much better.
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