Another Week Ends, Another One Starts

It was late but the shop did a great job with my truck. I have a new alternator and 4 new batteries.

Monday, I got a load of powered milk right there in Black River Falls. It was milk for baby calves and delivered to three different farms in Michigan. I get a little extra pay for each stop after the first so I don't mind as long as it can be done quickly.

Farmers are not the type to dodge work so it didn't take long. Finding them did. These places were way out in the country. These places didn't have docks to back into. Two of the had pallet jacks to move the pallets to the end of the trailer so they could be lifted off. One didn't and we had to use chains to hook around the pallets and drag them out.

I was worried that I would be stuck for the weekend because I was so far out in the country. It turns out there is a sugar refinery right there in farm land and I got a load of powered sugar going to Kentucky. I just had to take it as far as Trenton OH. A regional driver will finish the run today.

I was able to bobtail to Kroger and get some groceries and catch up on some rest Saturday night.

Sunday morning I was given a load of that golden nectar going to Oswego NY. I met a friend at a truck stop along the way to NY and we swapped some movies and things. Then I finished the day driving to our terminal in Weedsport NY. to spend the night.

This morning I drove the 34 miles up to Oswego and found the customer. I was given a delivery time of 0700 - to 0800. I always try to be early so I arrived at 0645 and was told that they don't start unloading until after 0800.

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In the Shop

I made it to the shop in Black River Falls WI. This is the World Wide Headquarters of Millis Transfer. It will be taken care of here. I hope as well as this car.



I see a couple of brand new Kenworth T2000's that some lucky drivers will get. I notice some of the really big carriers terminals while I'm driving. Some of them have hundreds of trucks just parked. That has to hurt the business. I don't know the inside working of Millis but we are all staying very busy and while some older trucks must be replaced I think the fleet might be growing a little too.

I lost track of the actual paid miles last week but it was well over the 3000 mile goal I have for each week. I was at 15 different customers or drop yards.


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My Truck is Breaking

I'm having trouble getting updates posted because my trucks is breaking. It has bad batteries or a bad alternator.

I got to Cherokee by noon on Sunday and dropped my load. Then I was told that there are no empties. This customer has about 20 of our trailers that are still loaded. Free storage. I haggled with them to empty one for me and finally I got the second shift to work with me. It was after 2300 when I finally hooked to one and went to the truck stop.

My truck batteries have been running down just minutes after turning it off. The meter never shows it charging up to 13.5 volts like it should. Monday morning it was dead and wouldn't start.
With help from some other Millis drivers that happened to be around, I got it jumped off.

I had a load assignment that I didn't want to give up. I told my dispatcher and maintenance and they said to get the load and don't turn off my truck. I picked up in Memphis TN on Monday and am in Sioux Falls SD now. The truck has been running the whole time. It's like Apollo 13. I can't run anything electric like the coolers or air or CB or inside lights.. Luckily most of my food is gone. My water is warm. I can't run the air for long but now that I'm up north that is OK.

I deliver in the morning in Marshall MN and have a preplan to pick up in Belgrade MN, delivering in Eau Clair WI. That will take me by Black River Falls so I can stop by the shop and get fixed.

Git it Got it Gone

I got to Black River WI and dropped off my passenger then went the 50 mi. to Eau Clair WI and dropped that load. I was already preplanned for the weekend so I was ready to go.

When I got up this morning in Eau Clair I dead headed east across upper WI to Neenah. Loaded there, I am now on my way to Cherokee AL. I drove some 600 mi. or so and am resting in a truck stop at I57 and I70, in Effingham IL. Tomorrow will be easier because I have only a little more than 400 miles to go.

After walking for about 40 minutes I got a shower and after updating this, I'm going to watch a movie.

I need the rest.

Typing as I Go Down The Highway

I really am.

I got beeped around 1330 waking me up last night. I couldn’t stand the mystery so I got up to see what it was. I had a load assignment picking up there at the Trenton yard and delivering in Knoxville TN. Again, not many miles. I got some more sleep ( not much) and got up around 0430 to get ready to go. By 0515 I was moving.

After dropping the load I sent a ready message and got offered a load. It was carpet, picking up in Dalton GA and delivering in Eau Clair WI. The catch was that I had to give a driver in Cartersville a ride to Black River Falls WI. I agreed because it’s good miles but was a little concerned about the rider.

Dispatch didn’t know why he was needing a ride to the World Headquarters of Millis Transfer. Was he new or was he in trouble or something. What if he wanted to smoke or cuss or complain all the way there.

It turns out he is a Millis Southeast Region driver and he is going there to pick up one of the new trucks that they are going to use.

I drove to Cartesville, after picking up the load on the way, and picked him up and then drove to Manchester TN. That used up my driving hours so right now he is driving, and I am in the back typing.

And…… now,

you know,

the rest,

of the story.

Back in Trenton Again

Tuesday I got a broker load assigned to me. It picked up in Springfield OH and delivered in Joliet IL. I was really crunched for time because I had to fuel and find an empty before going to get it. Why didn't I already have fuel and an empty you ask? You have to expect to get a load from the brewery here so that would be loaded already, no empty trailer needed. As for fueling in advance; if getting a load from the brewery it may be very heavy and until you know how heavy you can't fill your tanks because your truck may be over the 80,000 lb gross that is allowed.

This morning, in Joliet I was given a load to pick up in Chicago going to Middeltown OH. That’s just 10 miles from the Trenton terminal so after dropping there I'm back here at the terminal and on the list for tomorrow morning. So, 368 miles yesterday and 337 miles today. At least I'm moving but I need 500 or more miles a day as often as possible.

I mentioned the trucks weight. I drive a Kenworth T2000 with a nice size sleeper cab and pull 53 foot van trailers. It's heavy even empty. The gross weight of 80,000 lbs means the maximum weight of the whole rig; tractor, trailer, freight, fuel and me and my stuff.

But that's not all there is to consider. How the weight is distributed is important. Basically, there can be 12,000 lbs on the front tires of the tractor (the steers), 34,000 lbs on the 8 rear tires of the tractor (the drives) and 34000 lbs on the trailer tires (tandems). Freight comes in all shapes and sizes so planning must be done so that the freight is placed in the trailer distributing the weight between the front and the back. I don't decide how much weight is put on or how it is distributed but I do have the responsibility to make sure it does not exceed the limits above.

I have two ways to deal with that. I can control how much weight is carried by the steers and the tandems. I begin by judging how the freight appears to be distributed. The tandems on our trailers can be moved forward and backward beneath the trailer. By moving them forward I put more weight on the tandems ant that takes weight off of the drives. By moving them back I allow the steers to carry more and the tandems to carry less.

It is my responsibility to make it legal so I have to go to the nearest scales and weigh. It costs $9 to weigh the first time and $1 for each re-weigh. It saves money and time to be able to get it right the first time.

I also have to consider how much fuel I can carry. That adds to the gross and also to the weight on the steers and the drives. Since it is my responsibility, and the tickets and fines would be mine, I can refuse a load that is over gross or can not be made legal by sliding my tandems. The planners are good though because I have never had to take a load back to the shipper and I have had some that were very close to the max gross.

I picked up my newly services and washed truck Monday morning. I got a load of glass going from East Point GA to Trenton OH. It was good timing as I missed the thunderstorms crossing the south from east to west and I missed all of the rush gours in Atlanta, Chattanooga, Knoxville and Cincinnati.

There are a lot of other drivers here so, this morning I have a message on the Qualcomm; "no load available yet". I'm on the list so I hope I get something going a long way from here. It seems that I always have to wait a lot in Trenton.

I want to say something about cars merging onto the highway. It seems to me that most car drivers don't begin to look until they are half way down the ramp. when they see a big long truck they just stare at the front of the tractor. I guess they are expecting the truck to speed up or slow down or move over.

First, a big truck can not slow down very easily. Also, they can not speed up easily either. In fact most trucks are governed. Mine can not go faster than 65 or 64 MPH. If I the limit allows I will be going as fast as I can. This is usually slower than the limit and surly slower than the flow of traffic. That is why I stay in the right lane. I do not want to slow down because I loose momentum or inertia. (momentum Physics. A measure of the motion of a body equal to the product of its mass and velocity.( (inertia n. Physics. The tendency of a body to resist acceleration;) Also, I often can not move over because of traffic.

It is the responsibility of the car attempting to merge to pick a space and put the car in it at a speed equal to the flow of traffic. First, the driver should start looking at the available spaces as soon as they get onto the ramp. Do not look at and fixate on the front of the truck. Your car will go where you are looking. That is why so many people end up at the end of the ramp right beside the trucks tractor. If you choose a space in front of the truck, look at that space and accelerate to it. Merge at a speed equal to or better than the trucks. (Remember the truck probably can not speed up any way.) Do not merge in front of a truck going slower than the truck and do not slow down in front of the truck. Also, make sure to move into the space as far in front of the truck as you can.

If you look at the trucks driver in your mirror and they are smiling then you did it right.

Catching Up

I’ve gotten behind here so I will catch up now.

After making it to Cherokee AL I was able to drop and hook to an empty. I had to wait until Monday to get my next load.

I got one and it was a live load in Florence AL going to Eau Clair WI. After I reminded my dispatcher that I had a home time request for Wednesday night he told me to drop it in Richfield WI. I got to Richfield Tuesday morning and a while later I had a load going to Smyrna GA on Thursday morning, but I got to drop it in Cartersville GA on Wednesday.

I gave my truck to the shop for service and will get back out on Monday morning.

I plan to add something new. In the future I will include information about the equipment I operate, laws and rules I have to follow and traffic and safety considerations involved in sharing the road with cars.

I don’t know if many people even read this stuff so if you do; please leave a note to let me know.

July 4, Happy Birthday America

I made my way through the miles and miles of construction in Chicago and arrivred at the customer in Oconto Falls by 1130 for my 1200 appointment. I was told that I could drop the load but found out that there was no empty to take out. After telling them that I had to leave with an empty I was told that they had problems at the dock and it would be best for me to just drop the load. I sent a message to dispatch explaining and the said they would have someone call them and tell them to unload me. The dock man finally told me to back in so I set up and started backing when a woman came out to my truck and told me “there was no way that I would be unloaded” and that I was in the way and needed to move on.

It’s times like these when this job gets to me. A customer wants a product delivered from over 900 miles away at a specific appointment. For some reason it becomes inconvenient at that time they think they can just send you away and you can come back another time. This was the day before a holiday and if I couldn’t get unloaded soon I won’t make it to my next load in time and that means that I’m facing a long weekend with no load.

I moved to the far end on the customer’s lot where it would be to far for her to want to walk and waited for my instructions. Finally I was told to wait until after 1600 and then go back to the dock and I would be unloaded. Apparently they were able to talk to someone oriented toward getting things done rather that being a bit control freak. I assume the control freak goes home at 1600 after which productive activity could resume.

The back to the dock was interesting. It is a long, narrow, down hill back that turns to the blind side at the bottom.



It's down there some where..

Still going back...



This is what it looked like fron the seat after getting down there.

The freight was interesting as well. It was virgin eucalyptus pulp from Brazil.

Finally empty, I was able to dead head over to Green Bay and drop and hook a load going to Cherokee AL. It doesn’t deliver until Monday though. I stopped in Richfield for the night and Friday morning the shop was willing to install my inverter. Now I can cook in my Micro wave and make coffee.

I drove just 50 miles to Kenosha WI and parked at the Woodman’s Food Market, a giant grocery store and did some shopping then I walked over to the Texas Road House and enjoyed a rib eye, potato and green salad.

This morning I drove to Paducah KY, in driving rain all of the way. Will stay here tonight and fuel in the morning before driving the remaining 220 more or less remaining miles to Cherokee. I'm going to see if they will take this tomorrow so I can try to get a load for Monday. I'm short of the 3000 miles that I want to get for the pay period.

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I left Albany at around 0200 on Monday morning, after sitting for 34 hours. I avoided Atlanta rush hour and got to Eden NC. After sending my 'dropped trailer' message I get my new trip information. It's the same load going to Baltimore MD. Eden NC is a good bit out of route but since I dropped and got a new dispatch, it pays all the oor miles and the trip to Eden still counts for last weeks pay check.

On Tuesday, I again got an early, 0400, start and headed out to Baltimore. The shortest route would have been I95 but I have learned not to get into Washington DC traffic so I went I81 north to 70 east. I had an open appointment time and the customer had an open dock so I got right in there and was unloaded shortly after noon. I didn't have a satellite signal because the building was in the way so I had to move to a vacant lot to sent all my messages to finish the trip. By the time I finished sweeping my trailer I had a new dispatch.

I had to go to a drop yard just ten miles away and drop and hook to a load going to Oconto Falls WI. I really felt lucky to get a quick dispatch and drop and hook because you don't want to be hanging around Baltimore or even the state of Maryland when rush hour starts. It is the worst traffic I've ever seen and a very truck unfriendly state. I headed out I70 and stopped at a Pilot truck stop in Hagerstown MD for fuel and got there early enough to get one of the last three spots to park for the night. I got a shower and the temps were cool for sleeping for a change.

This morning I headed out I70 and picked up I68W, the National Highway, then I79N to I70W again then I77N to the I80/90 Ohio turnpike. The more direct route would have been I76, the Penn turnpike but Millis doesn't want us on that toll road. Going that way would have been toll roads all the way from the east to Wisconsin. I drove 655 miles today and I am in Indiana now at a plaza on the turnpike. I have 306 more miles to Oconto Falls, which is around 100 miles west of Green Bay I think. The worst part of tomorrow will be Chicago and unless I get up really early again I will hit heavy traffic and construction there. I'm tired of getting up at 0200 or 0300 so I will just deal with Chicago.