wish me luck, off to celedon orientation

[geeshock]

yes sir, I knew that part. pretty consistent with most companies. Got my 1st dispatch today, they got me from greenboro to richmond, then got me home, and set my pta for 8 am tomorrow. Just needed to get my stuff, looks like my hazmat came in handy, thats the load that got me to richmond. The prostar runs really smooth, just gotta get used to the swiches and buttons since I'm used to frieghtlinner.

[Malaki86]

Just wondering how things are going for ya after a few weeks. I'm sitting in London, ON right now. Wish I'd never even gotten my stupid passport...

[Syncrosonix]

Just wondering how things are going for ya after a few weeks. I'm sitting in London, ON right now. Wish I'd never even gotten my stupid passport...

ontario is one of my favorite canadian provinces. alberta is my second.

[Malaki86]

Ontario is the only one I've had the joy of being in. I had a preplan to take a load to Quebec yesterday, but I have to have a 24hr break before I can move again. So, no QC, and hopefully be back in the states today.

[Syncrosonix]

i don't care for quebec. been to montreal once and i never want to go back. new brunswick is pretty neat, though.

[Malaki86]

I do want to see BC at some point, preferably in the middle of summer when the roads are clear.

[geeshock]

sorry for not replying in a while. I realy do miss my wireless conection. sitting here in laredo, tx getting my 34. to be honest, I don't see what all the hype about this place is. They are running me prety well so far. only complaint I have is I had 2 loads they relayed to me and my load went to another driver. they were both short runs so needless to say they ate my runtime up. other than that the only time I sit is if I have to do my 34

[Malaki86]

I just did 2 back-to-back runs into Canada. Both trips, after I unloaded, they had me go to a drop yard and get a local run before I got a long one. The first one was 22 miles each way and the 2nd was 69 miles empty to drive 3 miles to drop the trailer. I'm in KY now on my way to Laredo after picking this load up in Woodstock, ON. Love runs that are 1,800+ miles. My 70hr clock is tight, so I won't get there until Friday morning, but when I deliver I should have about 9hrs and ready to roll right back out.

[geeshock]

I've noticed they do LOTS of Laredo runs. 4 or 5 of every 10 trucks headed out of Laredo were Celedon so I have a feeling I will become well aquanted with this place. At least I know where there are 2 wal marts and a grocery store. My bank is associated with wells fargo and I know where there is a branch here where I can bobtail into. All my needs are prety much met, not to mention they have some halfway decent food here at the terminal, just got to remember to get in there early if you want any

[GMAN]

It is my understanding that Celadon was one of the first U.S. carriers to put a yard across the Mexican border when the NAFTA mess started. I expect that Celadon will pull a lot of freight back and forth across the border.

[Malaki86]

Celadon owns a Mexican carrier - Jaguar. The US & Canadian drivers working for them bring the loads to Laredo, where Jaguar or other Mexican carriers actually deliver the loads. If I'm going to be 'stuck' in Laredo for any length of time, I bobtail out and go to the Flying J to park. The only other place I've ventured to there is the closest Wal-Mart. I try to avoid eating the food in the cafeteria they have there, if that's what you want to call it.

[geeshock]

well, I liked it ok, also you have vendors that sell food to us as well. had an awsome bbq chicken, spanish rice, refried beens, and baked potato for $5. you can't beet that.

[geeshock]

yess, I knoticed the jag trucks in the back by the inspection bays. I worked for swift and celedon both had a mexican counterpart. tex-mex for swift, and jaguar for celedon

[Syncrosonix]

It is my understanding that Celadon was one of the first U.S. carriers to put a yard across the Mexican border when the NAFTA mess started. I expect that Celadon will pull a lot of freight back and forth across the border.

some years back, swift bought mexico's largest carrier, transmex. go down to laredo or calexico, or otay mesa and you'll see them all over the place. before the craziness really began in laredo, i went into nuevo laredo with a couple of swifties and a group of transmex drivers. their rule was "stay within arm's reach and in eye sight at all times!" it was a crazy-fun time for sure. that was one of the best 34hr restarts i ever had!

[GMAN]

I have heard some real horror stories about drivers taking their trucks into Mexico. I would not take my truck across the border. Mexico used to be a fun place to go. It is really dangerous to cross any more. Even if you aren't directly involved in something you could be caught in the cross fire between the cops and drug cartels. It is dangerous enough on this side of the border.

[Syncrosonix]

I have heard some real horror stories about drivers taking their trucks into Mexico. I would not take my truck across the border. Mexico used to be a fun place to go. It is really dangerous to cross any more. Even if you aren't directly involved in something you could be caught in the cross fire between the cops and drug cartels. It is dangerous enough on this side of the border.

i should have clarified the visit into nuevo laredo. i went down there by way of a taxi cab and the trans-mex drivers as my escorts/protection. there was another time shortly before that restart. only this time i had been sitting at a wal-mart parking lot in calexico over the weekend. it was myself, 4 other swift drivers, 3 cfi drivers, and one independent o/o. we all had a meeting and decided to go down to mexicali. that was an even more awesome night than the time i spent in nuevo laredo. the only bad part is we all had to leave a swifty stranded. the guy took one sip of liquor and became a jekyl & hyde case. we knew we had to ditch him because he would have gotten all of us in some serious trouble. as we were going elsewhere, he attracted the attention of the federalis. the rest of us made it back to our trucks later that night. he didn't. monday came and he was still down south of the border. is it messed up to leave another behind? you bet. however with it being mexico, you've got to CYA.

[bentstrider]

Hey, congrats on the new gig Geeshock.

I've got another month left before I'm somewhat in the clear to get on with a few decent OTR outfits.
Perhaps I'll be running some re-introduction threads similar to your own.

[geeshock]

hope so, so far things are going ok. Like with any outfit, the longer you are with someplace, the more issues you see but I can say, they don't leave me sitting. Miles are slowing a little this week but I think that has more to do with the loads I've hauled, yesterday I spent 4 hours at on dock in grand rapids getting unloaded and almost 4 hours getting loaded in chicago, needless to say, my miles realy sucked yesterday. Most weeks my milage is 2600 or better though.