STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

Life Day 21246: Denver Dawdling

September 12, 2005 on 6:53 pm | In On The Road |

The 9th brought me a PrePlan which picked up at our Henderson Drop Yard, and delivered ASAP in Reno, NV (14 miles empty and 455 miles loaded). I left Henderson at 1130 after a leisurely morning and drove to Hawthorne, NV. I had an early dinner here @ the Golden Arches. I left at 1930 and drove directly to the Customer in Reno. I did the drop delivery, then drove to our Terminal in Sparks to spend the night. I worked 9 hours of which I spent 8.25 driving 496 miles.
On the 10th, the MMM allowed me to ’sleep in’ until almost 0700. I took them to the Petro Truckstop for their AM stroll, then went inside for breakfast. After breakfast, I went back to the Terminal to see if I could get a load. They offered me a load which picked up in Reno at the same Customer where I dropped last night and had 6 stops in the Denver Area on the 12th (0 miles empty and 1016 miles loaded). I accepted it and “bob-tailed” back to Reno. I was not paid for the empty miles to Sparks because I opted to drive there rather than being directed to drive there by Swift. I arrived at 1100. This load was loaded on a ’set’ of (Doubles). I haven’t pulled a ’set’ for about 10 years. I haven’t lost my touch though (just like riding a bicycle).

There are advantages and disadvantages to pulling a ’set’. The advantages are 1) a smoother ride, 2) more manueverability in traffic (they bend in the middle so they turn ‘tighter’), and 3) other drivers tend to give you more room when they pass you. The disadvantages are 1) they are virtually impossible to back up (they bend in the middle), so you need to find a ‘pull through’ parking spot, 2) they are “squirlly” in inclement weather, and 3) the extra work involved in hooking and unhooking them (especially with a multiple stop delivery).
This load is unique in that when I arrive in Denver, I am to take my paperwork to the Dispatch Window where they will schedule a “local driver” to deliver the back “pup” (trailer) leaving me only the front trailer to deliver. This thankfully alleviates #3 in ‘disadvantages’ above. I’ll still be paid for the entire unload and all 5 extra stops. An unusual “good deal” for a driver. Anyway, I put the ’set’ together and left Reno at 1215. I drove to Winnemucca, NV. A short MMM stop here, then off to Wendover, NV. Another short stop here for the MMM and a couple of Hot Dogs, then I drove to our Terminal in Salt Lake City, UT where I stopped for the night. I worked 9.5 hours, utilizing 8.75 hours driving 531 miles.
Before I start my “travelogue” for the 11th, let me ruminate about Sept 11, 2001. At the moment America was wantonly attacked by Terrorists, I was traveling on I-10 between New Orleans, LA and Baton Rouge, LA (both of which, as you are aware, have recently been in the news) . I had been listening to a “book on tape” ( Steven King’s “Christine”) so I was unaware of what was happening until I walked into the Truckstop and saw virtually everyone crowded around one of the “display” TV’s in the store. It was tuned to ABC news with Peter Jennings doing the Anchor for the “Special Report. My first emotion was total shock. This was almost immediately replaced by intense anger. “Who the F___ do these “Rag Heads” think they are”. At that point I was ready to “nuke” the entire Middle East into the Stone Age. I had to “roll” so I went back to my truck, tuned my XM Radio to Fox News and left. I soon remembered why I had stopped, and pulled into the next Truckstop and bought a Carton of Cigarettes. During the course of the day, my anger subsided to a “slow simmer”. I made it a short day and stopped in Houston, TX. I went inside the Pilot Truckstop to watch the ‘coverage’. Anyway, 4 years and 2 wars (1 just and 1 unjust) later, I was traveling between Salt Lake City and Rawlins, WY. I stopped for lunch at the TA Truckstop in Rawlins. I had sub-standard Mexican food (3 beef tacos w/ rice and beans). At least the Chips and Salsa was good. I left at 1415 and drove to our Terminal in Denver. I checked in at the Dispatch Window with the paperwork. They did the “Computer Work” and returned the paperwork that I needed to make my “share” of the deliveries to me. I dropped the rear “pup” and the “dolly”, then went to the Fuel Islands. I tried to take on a full load of fuel, but was thwarted by “pump Demons”. The ’satellite’ pump worked properly, pumping at about 30 GPM (gallons per minute), however the ‘primary’ pump was only pumping at about 5 GPM. When the left (satellite side) tank was full, I just shut everything down. I managed to take on 140 gallons of the 200 gallons that I could have taken if both pumps were operating properly. I drove to Lakewood, CO and spent the night in the parking lot of my 1st delivery in the AM. Of the 9.5 hours I worked today, I used 9 hours driving 548 miles.
Today, the 12th, I awoke at 0630. I took the MMM for their morning constitutional, then waited for 0700 (my scheduled delivery time). Nobody showed up. At 0730, an employee arrived, but this was his first day and he didn’t know anything. Finally, about 0745, the rest of the employees started to arrive. I was told where to position my trailer and the unload began about 0815 (1.25 hours late). This was a load of tires, so I had to “tailgate” the load meaning that I had to roll the tires out the end of the trailer. This goes fast at first, but the farther you get into the trailer the harder it becomes. The tires are stacked to the top of the trailer and become ‘wedged’ together from ’settling’ during transit, and can be “buggers” to free-up. A reciever (or 2) then sort and stack them. Car tires are easy, but those huge, knobby, 4×4 pickup tires are heavy and a pain in the Butt. This load was about 1/2 and 1/2. I unloaded 205 tires here. At 0915, I left and drove to my 2nd delivery, also in Lakewood, about 5 miles away. I unloaded 265 tires here, again about 1/2 and 1/2. It took about 45 minutes for the reciever to count the load after it was unloaded. Geeeze, he was slow. They were already stacked and sorted???? At 1145, I left and drove to my final stop in Englewood. I parked on the street because I couldn’t see a way in for my truck and checked in with the reciever. At this stop, in order to position my trailer, I had to “blind-side” back into an alley from one of Englewood’s busiest streets across 2 lanes of traffic (3 lanes if you count having to ‘jump’ the divider into opposing traffic) moving about 45 MPH. The Customer refused top provide a “spotter” or give any other assistance. It took almost an hour for traffic to subside enough to make the maneuver safely. I only had 132 tires to unload here, about 3/4 car tires and 1/4 “knobbys”, so all went quickly once I was in position. After the unload, I went to the restroom to ’spruce up’ as I was “perspiring profusely” by this time. At 1330, I left Englewood and drove back to our Denver Terminal. I had to exchange my 29 ft “pup” for a “real trailer”. Somewhere between stops, the Planner offered me a load which picks up in Denver and delivers in Havre (pronounced Haver), MT (20 miles empty and 800 miles loaded), and I accepted it. I dropped the “pup”, found an “real” empty 5 spots away, hooked to it, then drove to the Fuel Island to “top off” my tanks (fuel is more expensive in Wyoming right now and much more expensive in Montana). The pumps are still not working properly, but I only took 60 gallons so it wasn’t too bad this time. My PrePlan won’t be ready until after 1800, and since it doesn’t deliver until noon on the 14th, and since picking it up at 1800 would mean driving south 10 miles on I-25 in “rush hour traffic”, I’m going to take the rest of the day off to recuperate from the manual labor today. I’m getting “too old for this unloading stuff”. I’m exhausted!! I’ll drive over to the Shipper and do the drop/hook about 0400 and hopefully beat most the AM traffic.