Life Day 21361: Salaam from St. George
The availability of freight is still woefully lacking. 'Management' has even sent a QualCom message to that effect, saying that it is due to our customer's "inventory". I don't know what it is, but I hope it soon picks up. Anyway, I did nothing else "Blogworthy" on New Years Day.
On the 2nd, I left Las Vegas around noonish and drove to our 'drop yard' in Henderson to retrieve my trailer. They say it's in Henderson; it has a Henderson Zip Code, but it is actually on US-95, 4 miles south of the US-93/US-95 split just past the Railroad Pass Casino towards Searchlight. It's actually closer to Boulder City than Henderson. It cannot even pin-point it using Microsoft Streets & Trips. It is 26 miles from the Wild Wild West Casino, and 29 miles from the Flying J in North Las Vegas. I digress. After hooking to the trailer, bringing my Log Book to 'current' status, sorting through my Permit Book to purge all of that old, usless, outdated 2005 stuff, and letting the MMM have a good untethered romp among the indigenous flora and fauna, I left "Henderson" at 1330. I drove to the TA truckstop in Kingman, AZ. Being the 'official' New Years Day, the Port of Entry was closed. Damn, and after all that 'work' in my Permit Book. I had breakfast, or lunch, or dinner here (call it what you will). I tried to go 'onlne' to check my e-mail, but couldn't get a connection. I left at 1700 and drove directly to the first Consignee in Tempe, AZ, arriving at 2030. I just 'camped' here for the night. I worked 5.75 hours using 5.5 to drive 333 miles.
On the 3rd, I awoke at 0600, walked the MMM, then waited for the recieving personnel to show up. A little before 0700, they arrived and I spotted my trailer in the dock. I was finished here by 0800 and then drove to the 2nd Consignee in Phoenix. This stop consisted of only 10 rolls of 'bubble-wrap' and I was done in less than 15 minutes. I arrived at the final Consignee in Phoenix at 0900, was immediately assigned a dock door and was unloaded 30 minutes later. I then drove the 4 miles to our terminal in Phoenix for fuel and to wait for a load. I waited, and waited, and waited. About 1400, the Planner offered me a load which picked up in Chandler, AZ and delivered in Fillmore, UT (24 miles empty and 536 miles loaded). For lack on anything else, I accepted it. Unfortunately, it wasn't scheduled for pick-up until tomorrow AM. Since it was still relatively early (1400) and I had some driving hours still available to me, I called the Customer to see if I could pick-up the load today. They said that I could, so at 1430, I set off for Chandler. Traffic was surprisingly light so I made the 25 mile drive in about 30 minutes. I did the drop/hook and departed at 1600. I drove to Kingman, again through surprisingly light traffic in the Phoenix Metroplex. I arrived at 1930, took a 15 minute MMM break, and drove to Searchlight, NV where I ran out of available hours (the 14 hour Rule). I worked 7.75 hours, expending 6 of those driving 332 miles.
I left 'thriving' Searchlight at 0715 on the 4th, the earliest time I 'legally' could. I drove directly to the Consignee in Fillmore, arriving at 1245. I was assigned a 'door' at 1300 and was finished unloading by 1345. I beat my ETA of 1330 by 45 minutes by not stopping to dilly-dally enroute. After being unloaded, I did dilly-dally for a while, waiting for a Pre-Plan. I accepted one that picks up tomorrow in St. George, UT and delivers in Prewitt, NM (160 miles empty and 434 miles loaded). That is a dead-head percentage of over 36%, but it was all that was available. Normally, you want a dead-head percentage under 10%, but these are trying times. I drove to St. George arriving at 1745. I fueled immediately upon arrival, then settled in for the wait. I worked 9.25 hours utilizing 8 hours to drive 490 miles.
On the 2nd, I left Las Vegas around noonish and drove to our 'drop yard' in Henderson to retrieve my trailer. They say it's in Henderson; it has a Henderson Zip Code, but it is actually on US-95, 4 miles south of the US-93/US-95 split just past the Railroad Pass Casino towards Searchlight. It's actually closer to Boulder City than Henderson. It cannot even pin-point it using Microsoft Streets & Trips. It is 26 miles from the Wild Wild West Casino, and 29 miles from the Flying J in North Las Vegas. I digress. After hooking to the trailer, bringing my Log Book to 'current' status, sorting through my Permit Book to purge all of that old, usless, outdated 2005 stuff, and letting the MMM have a good untethered romp among the indigenous flora and fauna, I left "Henderson" at 1330. I drove to the TA truckstop in Kingman, AZ. Being the 'official' New Years Day, the Port of Entry was closed. Damn, and after all that 'work' in my Permit Book. I had breakfast, or lunch, or dinner here (call it what you will). I tried to go 'onlne' to check my e-mail, but couldn't get a connection. I left at 1700 and drove directly to the first Consignee in Tempe, AZ, arriving at 2030. I just 'camped' here for the night. I worked 5.75 hours using 5.5 to drive 333 miles.
On the 3rd, I awoke at 0600, walked the MMM, then waited for the recieving personnel to show up. A little before 0700, they arrived and I spotted my trailer in the dock. I was finished here by 0800 and then drove to the 2nd Consignee in Phoenix. This stop consisted of only 10 rolls of 'bubble-wrap' and I was done in less than 15 minutes. I arrived at the final Consignee in Phoenix at 0900, was immediately assigned a dock door and was unloaded 30 minutes later. I then drove the 4 miles to our terminal in Phoenix for fuel and to wait for a load. I waited, and waited, and waited. About 1400, the Planner offered me a load which picked up in Chandler, AZ and delivered in Fillmore, UT (24 miles empty and 536 miles loaded). For lack on anything else, I accepted it. Unfortunately, it wasn't scheduled for pick-up until tomorrow AM. Since it was still relatively early (1400) and I had some driving hours still available to me, I called the Customer to see if I could pick-up the load today. They said that I could, so at 1430, I set off for Chandler. Traffic was surprisingly light so I made the 25 mile drive in about 30 minutes. I did the drop/hook and departed at 1600. I drove to Kingman, again through surprisingly light traffic in the Phoenix Metroplex. I arrived at 1930, took a 15 minute MMM break, and drove to Searchlight, NV where I ran out of available hours (the 14 hour Rule). I worked 7.75 hours, expending 6 of those driving 332 miles.
I left 'thriving' Searchlight at 0715 on the 4th, the earliest time I 'legally' could. I drove directly to the Consignee in Fillmore, arriving at 1245. I was assigned a 'door' at 1300 and was finished unloading by 1345. I beat my ETA of 1330 by 45 minutes by not stopping to dilly-dally enroute. After being unloaded, I did dilly-dally for a while, waiting for a Pre-Plan. I accepted one that picks up tomorrow in St. George, UT and delivers in Prewitt, NM (160 miles empty and 434 miles loaded). That is a dead-head percentage of over 36%, but it was all that was available. Normally, you want a dead-head percentage under 10%, but these are trying times. I drove to St. George arriving at 1745. I fueled immediately upon arrival, then settled in for the wait. I worked 9.25 hours utilizing 8 hours to drive 490 miles.
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