STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

FEBRUARY 2005

February 28, 2005 on 1:59 pm | In On The Road |

1 February, 2005 (Tuesday):
I continued the trip to London, OH. I left Walcott at 9:00AM and drove to Indianapolis, IN. I arrived at 3:00PM. There I took a long break to eat, shower, and take the doggies for a walk. I left at 5:15PM and drove to London, OH where I spent the night at the Customer. I arrived at 7:15PM (Mountain time, 9:15PM Ohio time).
2 February, 2005 (Wednesday):
I awoke this AM with a good Pre-Plan on my Qualcomm. The load picks up in Marion, OH and delivers in Miami, FL (55 miles empty and 1170 miles loaded). I made my delivery in London, then departed for Marion at 8:00AM MST. I arrived in Marion at 9:15AM. This was a drop & hook load, so I was in and out of the Customer quickly. After doing the paperwork and my Log Book, I departed Marion at 10:00AM and drove to Columbus, OH. After a break, I left Columbus at 10:45AM. I drove through the rest of Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia to Wytheville, VA where I stopped for dinner. I arrived at 4:30PM. I then drove through the rest of Virginia and North Carolina to Columbia, SC where I stopped for the night. I drove 582 miles.
3 February 2005 (Thursday):
I have a decision to make. I can drive all the way to the Customer in Miami and hope for a place to park, or I can stop short in Fort Pierce, then drive in early in the AM to make my delivery. I also have a problem with available hours. I have 9.75 available today, but only pick up 2 hours for tomorrow. That means that I will have a short day tomorrow no matter what I do. Depending on time expended loading and unloading, I may have to try to find a ’safe haven’ in Miami. That is easier said than done. Miami is not a truck friendly metropolis. The only 2 truckstops in Miami proper are rife with every sort of miscreant imaginable. Therefore I may have to use some “inovative time/distance calculations” to ensure that I can ‘escape’ the Miami environs with my Log Book intact (legal). Anyway, I left Columbia at 9:00AM and drove to Savanah, GA. I took a 15 minute break there and then drove to Jacksonville, FL. I only took 15 minutes there as well because it’s Super Bowl Weekend and the traffic is already getting heavy with all the people arriving for the festivities. I drove to Fort Pierce and called it a day. I drove 465 miles. I arrived at 4:45PM.
4 February 2005 (Friday):
I departed Fort Pierce at 4:00AM and drove into Miami. I arrived at the Customer at 6:00AM. I caught very little traffic because fortunately my delivery was on the North side and I was approaching from the North. After the delivery, I got a Pre-Plan from Miami to Statesville, NC (o miles empty and 740 miles loaded). Not a long run, but i’ll be in and out of Miami in 1 day (using the above mentioned ‘inovative time/distance calculations’). Serendipitously, the Shipper for the Statesville is even Norther ( is that a word?) than the Consignee, so I still won’t encounter much of the ubiquitous Miami traffic. I drove to the Shipper and arrived at 8:45AM, picked up my load and departed Miami at 10:00AM. I drove back to Fort Pierce (woefully over extended on my Log Book. I’ll make it all legal before I drive tomorrow). I could only LOG legally to Pompano Beach, FL. I logged 152 miles.
5 February 2005 (Saturday):
I left Pompano Beach (wink, wink, nod, nod) and drove to Fort Pierce. I departed at 9:30AM and arrived at 11:00AM. I only have 8.5 hours to drive today, so I won’t make it all the way to Statesville, but i’ll get close. I departed Fort Pierce (back to real time now) at 12:45PM and drove to Jacksonvile. I departed at 4:00PM. The traffic for the impending Super Bowl is virtually unbearable. I guess that all of the attendees of tomorrows’ Big Game want to arrive at the Stadium tonight so they can PARTY, or sleep, or just beat the traffic (yuk, yuk). They have the local constabulary at every freeway exit near the Venue directing traffic, and the 2 right lanes are bumper to bumper for miles. I just got in the left lane and prayed that no Idiot did anything Stupid. I drove to Bowman, SC and stopped for the night, once again totally out of hours, but legal this time.
6 February 2005 (Sunday):
I departed Bowman at 10:00AM and drove to Statesville, NC. I arrived at 1:15PM and made the delivery. This Customer is a 24/7 drop & hook facility. The Planners found a load for me that picks up right here in Statesville going to Wilkes Barre (pronounced Barry), PA (0 miles empty and 527miles loaded). However, it doesn’t pick up until tomorrow at 9:00AM. What the heck, I can accumulate some hours and stop this frustrating logging cycle in which i’m currently trapped. I drove to the only truckstop and called it a day. I did stop by the local cigarette discounter enroute and stock up. They are only about $17.00 per carton here. I settled in to watch the Super Bowl.
7 February 2005 (Monday):
I drove from the Truckstop to the Shipper. I arrived at 9:00AM. It took forever to get loaded (4.5 hours). I don’t know what took so long. I was told to wait in my truck until they came to get me. I departed at 1:45PM and drove to Toms Brook, VA. I arrived at 6:45PM, fueled and called it a day. All the waiting around tired me out. The load delivers anytime tomorrow. I drove 294 miles.
8 February 2005 (Tuesday):
I left Tom’s Brook at 6:30AM and drove to Wilkes Barre. I arrived at 10:30AM. The Planners gave me a load that picked up at the same Customer where I delivered and delivers in Fairfax, VA at 5:00AM (0 miles empty and 222 miles loaded). I departed at 12:30PM and drove to Harrisburg, PA. I had lunch and walked the doggies. I left Harrisburg at 3:00PM and drove to Fairfax. I arrived at 5:15PM. The Consignee is in a Mall, so I just parked there for the night. I drove 456 miles.
9 February 2005 (Wednesday):
I delivered the load on schedule. After a 3 hour wait, the Planners gave me a load that picks up in Aspers, PA and delivers in Duncan, OK (89 miles empty and 1360 miles loaded). I left Fairfax at 8:30AM and arrived in Aspers at 10:45AM. Upon arrival, I checked in with Shipping and discovered that the load had been cancelled. I immediately called my DM and let her know what was happening (here we go again!!). Within a half hour, the Planners found another load for me that picked up at the same place and delivered in Tomah, WI (same empty miles, but only 881 miles loaded). I left Aspers at 12:30PM and drove 25 miles to Carlisle, PA. I had to Scale my load there because the Shipper didn’t have a Scale and this was the closest Truckstop. Fortunately, the weight was Legal. I left Carlisle at 2:00PM and drove the remaining 5 hours which I had available. I arrived at the Great Lakes Service Plaza on the Ohio Turnpike at 7:00PM. I drove 431 miles.
10 February 2005 (Thursday):
I left the Service Plaza at 5:30AM. I drove 5.5 hours to our Terminal in Gary, IN for fuel and a break. I left Gary at 1:00PM and drove to Tomah. I arrived at 5:45PM. I drove 594 miles.
11 February 2005 (Friday):
After delivering the load, the Planners gave me a load that picks up in Shakopee, MN and delivers in Napa, CA (190 miles empty and 1879 miles loaded). I immediately made arrangements to T-Call the load at our Salt Lake City Terminal (which reduced the loaded miles to 1164). I left Tomah at 10:30 AM and drove to Shakopee. I arrived at 1:30PM. After being loaded and taking a break, I left Shakopee at 3:30PM. I drove to Sioux Falls, SD. After a 15 minute break, I departed and drove to Omaha, NE. I arrived at 10:15 PM and drove 565 miles.
12 February 2005 (Saturday):
I left Omaha at 9:30AM and drove to Grand Island, NE. I stopped here because the Restaurant at the truckstop where I spent the night was closed for remodeling. I left at 12:30PM and drove to Hillsdale, WY. I arrived at 5:45PM. After dinner, I drove to Laramie, WY where I stopped for the night. I drove 520 miles.
13 February 2005 (Sunday):
I left Laramie at 7:15AM. I drove to Little America, WY. After a break, I left at Noon and drove to Salt Lake City. I arrived at 2:15PM. I T-called this load and picked up a load sitting in the Terminal. It delivers in North Las Vegas ASAP tomorrow (0 miles empty and 410 miles loaded). I left Salt Lake at 3:15PM. I drove to a Rest Area on I-15 SB @ mm 89. I was getting a little tired, so I went to bed here. I drove 599 miles.
14 February 2005 (Monday):
I departed the Rest Area at 5:45AM and drove to North Las Vegas. I arrived at 9:00AM. After delivering the load, I drove to Las Vegas. I’ll take a couple of days off.
17 February 2005 (Thursday):
The Planner found a load for me that picks up in Mesquite, NV and delivers in San Diego, CA (78 miles empty and 414 loaded). But first I need an empty trailer. When I delivered my load on Monday, the Customer had none available so I left empty handed (or Tractored). I tried there first, but they still had none available. I contacted my DM who in turn contacted the Planner. He sent me to a Customer in Las Vegas. There were none there either. I drove the 30 miles to our ‘drop lot’ in Henderson and there were none there either. I contacted my DM again. A while later, the Planner sent me to another Customer in Las Vegas. EUREKA, I finally found an empty (85 miles and 3 hours after beginning my search). I left Las Vegas at 1:30PM and drove to Mesquite. I arrived at 3:00PM. After loading, I left Mesquite at 4:00PM and drove to the Flying J in North Las Vegas where I scaled my load and fueled. The load was Legal. I left NLV at 5:45PM and drove to Barstow, CA. I arrived at 8:45PM. After my break, I left at 10:00PM. I was going to drive directly to San Diego and drop the load before going to bed, but when I went through the Truck Scale at Rainbow, CA, they called me in for a random Level 1 Inspection (Credential check). I PASSED. I left there at 1:00AM and finished the trip to San Diego. I arrived at 2:15AM, dropped my trailer and went to bed.
18 February 2005 (Friday):
I awoke at 11:30AM to find that the Planners had me set up on a load that picks up in our ‘drop yard’ in San Diego and delivers in El Paso, TX (0 miles empty and 753 miles loaded). The load was being picked up in Mexico by a Local Driver, so I had to wait for a while. The load finally arrived at 3:00PM. After hooking to the load and doing the paperwork, I finally left San Diego at 4:45PM. I drove to Yuma, AZ. I arrived there at 9:15PM. After dinner, I left at 10:15PM and drove to Tucson, AZ where I stopped for the night (morning). I arrived at 2:15PM. I drove 368 miles.
19 February 2005 (Saturday):
I left Tucson at 1:30PM and drove to Lordsburg, NM. I arrived there at 4:00PM. After feuling and a short break, I left at 4:30 PM and drove to El Paso. I arrived there at 7:15PM. I dropped this load and picked up a load going to North Las Vegas with stops in Yuma, AZ and Gardena, CA (0 miles empty and 1111 miles loaded). When I picked up the paperwork, I saw that the load was overweight on the trailer (tandem) axle by 1100 lbs. It was 35100 # and the maximum allowable is 34000#. I told the Dispatcher that the load was illegal and should never have been T-Called. He asked me to see what I could do because the load was “HOT”. I acquiesced with the caveat that I would not take the load if I couldn’t get it legal. When I got to the trailer I noticed that the Tandem Axle was slid all the way to the rear. I adjusted the axle to get it “California Legal” (which means that there can be no more than 40 ft between the kingpin of the trailer and the center of the rear axle of the trailer. This is also known as a Bridge Law). I then scaled the load and found it to be overweight by about 800 lbs. I was about to go back and turn the load down when I realized that the loads’ first drop was in Yuma, AZ (before the dreaded California Weigh Station) and that I would be unloading about 13000 lbs there. After ridding the trailer of that amount of weight, the load would be legal going into California. All I had to do was move enough weight now to get the axle weight under 34000 lbs to be legal in Arizona, then re-adjust the axle to comply to the Bridge Law after delivering my 1st drop. I did a calculated “guestimate” about 10 holes from the forward most point of the slide rail and locked it in (I thought). After re-scaling the load, I found that I was legal. As I was doing my Pre-trip Inspection on the trailer, I noticed that the the pins that lock into the holes on the sliding rails were not fully engaged. In fact, only 1 was even close to locking in. I tried 3 more time to get them to lock in, but to no avail. I called “on-road” and told them what I needed and that the load was “HOT”. After about 1/2 an hour, 2 huge Wreckers pulled up to help me. They had to POUND the pins in with a sledge hammer, but they finally got them locked into place. This is not the 1st time i’ve had trouble with a load at this Terminal (Ref: “The Load From Hell” on this Blog). I finally left El Paso at 9:15PM and arrived in Lordsburg, NM where went to bed. I drove 633 miles.
20 February 2005 (Sunday):
I left Lordsburg at 11:00AM and drove to Tucson, AZ. I took an hour break there and then drove on to Yuma. I arrived there at 6:15PM. I drove 383 miles.
21 February 2005 (Monday):
I delivered the load at the 11:00AM appointment time. After the delivery, I tried to make the adjustment on the tandem axle to comply with the California Bridge Law, but ONCE AGAIN the pins would not lock into place. I called ‘on-road’ again and they sent out a mechanic from a local trailer shop to assist me. I finally left Yuma at 2:30PM. I drove to Thousand Palms, CA. I arrived at 5:45PM. After a 15 minute break, I drove to Gardena and stopped for the day. I arrived at 8:30PM and drove 283 miles.
22 February 2005 (Tuesday):
I was fortunate to be able to park on the street near the Customer last night. I arrived at the Consignee on time for my scheduled 7:00AM appointment. I left there at 9:30AM. Since they took 2.5 hours to unload me, I may not be able to deliver my Las Vegas stop today. The appointment was for 2:00PM. As soon as I realized that time was a factor, I called the Customer and explained that I would be late, but that depending on traffic, I might make it by 3:00PM. They said that they stopped recieving at 3:00PM, but if I didn’t make it, I could just make the delivery in the AM. The traffic was horrible (which is to say Normal) and I had to drive from Gardena (near Long Beach) all the way across the LA Metroplex. I arrived in Hesparia, CA and stopped for fuel and a break. I arrived at 11:15AM. No way to make it from here to Las Vegas in 3.5 hours, so I stopped trying. I left at Noon and arrived in Las Vegas at 3:45PM.
23 February 2005 (Wednesday):
I delivered the load and took the rest of the day off.
24 February 2005 (Thursday):
I decided to cut my stay short and leave today. The Planner gave me 3 “stacked” loads. The first picked up at our ‘drop lot’ in Henderson, NV and goes to Bellemont (Flagstaff), AZ (13 miles empty and 244 miles loaded). The second picks up in Flagstaff and T-Calls back in the Henderson ‘drop lot’ (11 miles empty and 255 miles loaded). The third load picks up in Las Vegas tomorrow at 1:00PM and delivers in Dallas, TX (12 miles empty and 1229 miles loaded). I arrived in Henderson just after noon picked up the 1st load and left at 1:00PM. I drove to Kingman, AZ for fuel and a break. I left there at 3:45PM and drove to Bellemont. After delivering the load, I drove to Flagstaff to pick-up the 2nd load. I arrived there at 7:00PM. After hooking to the Preloaded trailer and scaling the load, I left Flagstaff at 7:30PM and arrived back in Henderson at 11:30PM. I drove 506 miles.
25 February 2005 (Friday):
I arrived in Las Vegas at 1:00PM. The load was Pre-loaded, so after hooking to the trailer and feuling, I left Las Vegas at 1:30PM. I drove to Kingman, AZ where I stopped to walk the doggies and grab a sandwich. I left at 4:30PM and drove to Phoenix. I left there at 9:30PM and drove to Eloy, AZ and stopped for the night. I wanted to avoid the Phoenix rush hour. I drove 386 miles.
26 February 2005 (Saturday):
I left Eloy at 1:00PM after spending the morning catching up on e-mails, etc. I drove to Tucson, AZ. I departed there at 4:00Pm and drove to Lordsburg, NM. I left there at 7:30PM and arrived in El Paso, TX at 10:15PM. I stopped there for the night. I drove 374 miles.
27 February 2005 (Sunday):
I left El Paso at 8:45AM. I arrived in Pecos, TX at 11:45AM for a break. I left there at 12:30 and drove to Tye, TX. I arrived there at 4:15PM. After a fairly good Mexican dinner, I left at 5:30 and drove to Dallas. I arrived at 8:30PM and went to bed at the Consignee. I drove 602 miles.
28 February 2005 (Monday):
After delivering the load at 8:00AM, the Planner found a load that picked up in Corsicana, TX and deliverd in Fayetteville, GA (57 miles empty and 769 miles loaded). I drove to our Terminal in Lancaster, TX for fuel. I arrived at 9:30AM. The Corsicana load won’t pick up before 4:00PM so I have some time to kill. At 3:30PM I left for Corsicana and arrived at 4:00PM. The load was ready so after the ‘drop & hook’ and doing the paperwork, I left at 4:45PM. I drove to Greenwood (Shreveport), LA. I arrived at 8:30PM and shut down for the day. I drove 263 miles.
COMMENTS:
This month I had 14 trips. I drove 534 miles empty and 9220 miles loaded for a total of 9754 miles. The deadhead percentage is less than 6% which is good. I averaged 696 miles per trip. That’s a little low. I drove 25 days this month for an average of 390 miles per day. That’s a little low too. It seems like all I did was work this month (only 3 days off). Considering that this is a short month I guess it was a good, albeit arduous, month.