Yeah, this thread is useless without pics, Nova!!!

Haven't posted yet because I have been enjoying my home time, but it is about time to get back on it, so here we go. The trip home was a decent one, other than some stupid drivers, and a few hold ups, all was well.

I got the pictures of the trailer that I was talking about, turns out that it WAS NOT the trailer being pulled by the truck I posted earlier, BUT the driver did walk away from it, so that's a good thing.

http://images3.pictiger.com/thumbs/f...894c5fb.th.jpg

Here she is, not that bad, but bad enough, I am glad I didn't do it! Even with the damage, and it was obviously twisted cause the back doors aren't lined up at all anymore, it pulled nice and straight, even though I figured I would have to fight it the whole way up to WI.

http://images3.pictiger.com/thumbs/8...173188e.th.jpg

Here is a shot from the inside of it, lets you see all the daylight coming through. All the stuff in the picture are pieces of the truck that was pulling it.

http://images3.pictiger.com/thumbs/e...8b669e8.th.jpg

You can see that it wasn't a all out professional place I had to find, it was really a residential area for the most part. It wasn't a business, this was a house. You can see how narrow the road was, and how the fence was fighting against me getting it out of there. You can't see it here, but the wrecker is just out of view on the right of the picture, which was preventing me from swinging wide enough to make the turn.

http://images3.pictiger.com/thumbs/7...b0f1270.th.jpg

Here is what happens when you are in too much of a hurry. There was a back up on the interstate just north of Atlanta and this four wheeler didn't want to wait in line, so they took the inside emergency lane at around what appeared to be 70 or so. I guess the drivers side tires buried up in the soft ground, and it just pulled it toward the middle, and the driver over corrected, and this happened. (that was the talk on the cb anyway, so take it with a grain of salt)

Funny thing is, I saw it pass and thought about how stupid it was to do something like that, and that's a good way for someone to get hurt. But it passed, and in about 20 minutes I seen it sitting there like above, I figured I was coming up on the wreck that was causing the back up to begin with, but it was this guy. On a good note, he appeared to be out walking around with no problems, so at least no one was hurt. Turns out he hold up was construction.

There hasn't been much to post, which is why I haven't done any updates, today is no different, but I thought I would write anyway since I am really bored, lol.

I left Monday morning, not too early, still had some odds and ends to do around the house, but I was gone by 9am. I was due in Marshfield on Wednesday morning, so time wasn't all that tight, but I figured if I got up there earlier than required, maybe some miles would be thrown to me.

I drove nice and easy, no big hurry, just enjoying the drive. I got to Gary later in the day to fuel, and decided to just shut down there since I only had a couple hours left of drive time, plus it would mean a free shower, internet, and cable inside. While I was there I decided to look up someone I met on this board and is currently in training.

Turns out he was out with a trainer already, so we didn't get to meet up, but I was talking with one of his instructors for a little while. He asked me if I was happy with Roehl, and I told him I am now, it was a little rocky at times, but now, I couldn't be happier. He asked if I was happy enough to be a trainer, I told him that I hadn't really thought about it, but might consider it after a little more time passes.

His boss was in the room too, and over heard us talking, and he came over and was saying that my trainers had advised Roehl that I would be a good candidate for a trainer and all that, plus they were pretty sure that I would get a brand new truck if I wanted to go that route. So they told me to take a few weeks to think about it, write down any questions I might have, and get back with them if I was ever interested.

I went ahead and got my shower, and sat down to see what was on the tube. Watched that for a little while and decided to finish the night in the truck. When I got out to the truck, I decided to call my trainer whom I keep in touch with, to let him know what they told me, and to see what his thoughts were on me becoming a trainer.

He said it didn't surprise him that they would ask me to think about becoming one. I had recommendations galore, and a good track record so far, plus he has heard that Roehl is down to like 9 total trainers, and have no women trainers at all(which reminds me, when I was in orientation with Roehl, one of the higher ups, I won't use his name, but lets just say titles don't go much higher, asked me not to leave the company and run off somewhere else because he needed women trainers badly, I think I mentioned this when it happened, I will go back through my posts to see if I did or not).

So anyway, that is something for me to think about, my trainer seems to think that my paycheck would jump around $300 a week if I decided to give it a try, so that sounds pretty good. But the thing is that IF I did decide to go for it, they would have to understand that I would have to do things my way. I want to be a trainer, not a team driver. I can't teach a darn thing, or answer any questions if I am in the sleeper asleep. So I already have a list as long as my arm of questions to make sure I can do things my way. About the biggest things I worry about are how much my home time would be affected, and what would the trainee do when I am at home for a reset, I don't think I could make someone just sit in a truck that isn't theirs while I am enjoying being home. One thing I do like is the fact that I can still stay se regional, which I didn't think was possible.


Anyway, back to my day, I wasn't too worried about getting a early start, so I slept in till 8am Tuesday morning. I got a qualcom asking where I was, I told them I was fixing to leave the Gary terminal. They ask if I can hang around there for a couple hours so I could give a guy a ride up to Marshfield so he can pick his truck up.

Well, I didn't really want to wait around, but Roehl has been really good to me the past few weeks, so I thought I would help them out. Plus it would give me someone to talk to on the way up, and maybe I could answer some questions, or give some pointers to him, since he was a new hire, fresh out of school(well, he had been through training, but no solo driving yet).

I end up waiting about 4 hours, when him and his trainer finally pull into the yard, cool, lets go! It was alright having someone to talk to, he had many questions too, not really about driving, but how the icon system works, what kind of trucks, how have they been treating me, blah blah blah, you know the typical stuff.

I make it to Marshfield, and watch the excitement, and fear in his eyes as he is seeing his first truck, and realizing what it meant to be out there on his own, I remember that look really well, I seen it a lot when I started my first job. I found a parking place, dropped the trailer and qualcom a message letting them know I am early, and want a load if possible(we talked earlier in the day when I was asked to give the guy a ride, and they said they would have a load for me)

They promptly get back with me, and give me a trailer number, so I go on the hunt, finally find it, and it's a big one, this load is almost HALF A TON! :shock: That's right, 648lbs, I didn't know if the truck could handle a load this huge, but I figured I would give it a try, lmao :lol:

It was a small load of aluminum heading for Prentice, cool, all of the oversize loads I get to pull to have come from there, maybe, just maybe, we will see. I make my way to Prentice, and shut down in the drop yard we have there since the place I am going to is about a mile away.

I get up nice and early this morning, drop my load at the consignee, which turns out to be the place that makes the machines I get to pull(called a knuckle boom loader). Whoo hoo, today must be my lucky day, I am told to run back to the drop yard, drop the trailer I have and pick up an oversize load AGAIN!! :shock: 8) :D

Now this is the 3rd week IN A ROW I have got to pull the high dollar oversize loads, and it's the 3rd week my paycheck has been huge, 639 and change this week, and THAT will do. I have all my bills paid for the month already! The rest of my checks this month will go into savings, and for a head start next month. And to think that last month I was thinking I would lose everything(and really could have).

Anyway, I hook to my load, and start getting the flags and brand new nice and shiny oversize load sign put on, lol. I get all that done, get my permit that will get me to the WI state line, and head to Marshfield to pick up the rest of the paperwork, and permits. Now this is the only thing I don't care for about these loads, it just seems like they would have all this worked out by the time a driver was ready to take it, especially since it is a "daylight hour sensitivity" load.

I get to Marshfield to pick up the paperwork, and guess what, it's not ready, wait over an hour, nothing. I say screw it, and figure if I am going to wait, I am going to wait as far south as I can, no sense in not going as far as I can, I can still get a couple hundred miles under my belt, unless I hang around at the yard waiting on the paperwork.

So I hit the road, and start heading south. There is a pilot I am supposed to fuel at, and it is right at the state line on 39, so I figure that's a good place to get everything in order, cause they will surely have the paperwork done by the time I get there. :roll:

I get there, fuel up, and go inside to pay, get on the horn with Roehl to give them the fax number there, and of course, the papers aren't ready. Oh well, I only have about a hour of daylight left anyway, I will just shut down for the night.

So that is what I did, and as I was filling out my logs for the day and all that, I saw a hit and run literally right in front of me. Man I hate being in these situations, on one hand I don't want to get involved, but on the other hand, I don't want to see a innocent driver pay for the mistake of a careless one.

So I sit contemplating what I should do. I figured the driver was inside the store, since when it hit, he would have had to felt it and come out of the truck to see what was going on. I get in the back to arrange some things, and think over what I should do. I come back up front after changing clothes, and there is a a police woman there looking at the truck. The driver comes walking out, and has a reaction similar to the one of the kid from "home alone" when he slaps on the aftershave.

I can see that he is telling the cop he doesn't know what happened, but there is another driver out there that was a witness as well, and he is the one that called the police to begin with. Well, I decide to do my good deed for the day, and talk with the police as well, and let her know what I saw, not to mention the nice picture I took of the truck since he was right in front of me. I wasn't able to get the license plate, but hoped the picture would tell on him, but it didn't, you could see it, but you couldn't make it out.

Anyway, I tell her what I seen, and verify with the other drivers dispatch that he wasn't even in the truck, since they were wondering how he got so much information if he wasn't in the truck. So I assume he didn't get in trouble, and I helped out like a good person should, so I felt good. Plus his company told me to look for a check in the mail as a reward for coming forward with the information I had. It will probably wind up being $5 or something, but you never know. Plus another great thing was, that his truck was messed up pretty bad, it got hit in the front fender, but the damage also got his radiator, and he wasn't able to go anywhere, so they gave him a brand new company truck to come and pick up in the morning, so that was pretty cool, he was grateful for everything me and the other driver did for him.

So that is what has happened over the past few days, nothing too exciting, but I wanted to update something to keep the post alive. Now, lets go to Mississippi! :)

Happy to hear things are looking up for you these days. You sound alot happier since everything was taken care of by the bank. Don't have to much fun now. Oh and by the way, just pm me and I will give you your new Savings account # (mine), so you have no worries anymore. :lol: :lol: just kidding. BOL

Skills

to rat or not to rat.i guess you have to be their to decide. looks like you took moral high ground . im sure the truck stop has cameras on the fuel islands and entrances parking lots etc.
training i hope your not seriously thinking of doing that in all honesty you schould have at the least 2 years exp. no one wants an inexperienced trainer im sure even you can appreciate that. After all this is someone elses livelyhood you could be effecting not to mention they may have families depending on their new career.
but then again i was trained by a super trucker and an old timer not at roehl. i didnt didnt learn a damm thing and i turned out all right.
On the other hand you can make some serius extra change for your pocket by training, god be with you.

my week at roehl not so bad either only got 3200 miles.

no reply from novacane hmm must be lost again

Nope, not lost just busy. We had some pretty bad storms come through last week, and I have been busy trying to get things cleaned up, and fixed. Chris's car took a pretty good beating from hail, he said it was pretty amazing at the amount that fell. There are literally no more leaves on trees in my neighborhood, they are all on the ground and road. This just kills him, he loves that car almost as much as he loves me! But, it already has so much of his blood sweat and tears in it, that a little more won't hurt anything. Our house also took on some damage, nothing major, just enough to cause problems, shingles blown off, 2 windows broken, small things like that. That isn't the story for people about 50 miles from me, 3 and 4 thousand square foot homes completely destroyed, it was pretty amazing.

Anyway, back to my day(s). When I left off, I was pulling an oversize, heading for Mississippi. Well, again the route was really messed up, but still, no big deal, I just hate pulling on smaller highways where good places to stop are few and far between, and with having to shut down before nightfall, I get nervous sometimes worrying about finding a place to park for the night. Thankfully I have Chris and he has books, and the internet, so he can find me a place just about anywhere when I need him to.

I did have some problems with the trip though. I have always bragged about how Tn has nice clearly marked roads, but I am starting to take some of that back. I ALMOST messed up a few times, due to roads not being marked. It wouldn't have been that big a deal, except I am only allowed on the roads on my planned route, so messing up isn't an option, there is no going up the road a little way, and turning around, so I spent a lot of my time stopped trying to make sure I was going the right way. The one time my gps unit(I don't really use it much anymore) would have really come in handy, it wouldn't work, I think the usb plugs are going bad on the dell laptop I have, but thankfully I rent, and I can just return it and have it fixed for free(just in the nick of time, it's almost paid off).

So I finally make it to the consignee on Friday, drop the machine, and that's when I get a call from Chris telling me that I am in a tornado warning zone, and that the storm is bearing down on the house as well. I soon found out that he wasn't kidding, the sky went from clear to dark as night in less than a half hour.

Since the time he called, I was on the phone with Roehl asking to get me something so I can get out of the area, and hopefully home in case something happens. The get back with me, and tell me to bobtail home for the weekend, and they will have a load for me on Monday, cool, I needed to go home, and bob tailing will let me get there much quicker, it all lined up perfectly.



I actually made it home that night, which couldn't have been done without bob tailing, considering I was out of hours, I literally pulled into the driveway with seconds to spare, I didn't even have time to stop by the local store to pick up some goodies for everyone which has got to be my weekly ritual.

I was really scared as I was coming into town, can't see the roads, lights out everywhere, road crews working around every corner, looked like a disaster zone, I could only imagine what my house would look like when I arrived. But as I pulled up, it was still standing so I was happy, lol. I shut down and began catching up on the days events, and looking for any damage that needed to be fixed since it was still raining pretty heavy.

I got all that took care of, and had to leave Sunday evening to be just outside Indianapolis on Monday morning to pick up a new trailer to bring to the yard. I get to the shipper today on time, and pick up the trailer, aww man, it's a van again! Oh well, with the good comes the "bad"(pay cut) and much to my surprise, they want me to go and pick up a load before heading to the yard.

I found the shipper, and it turns out I am picking up a load of my favorite material, raw wool. But thankfully, since it's a van, there was no dangerous tarping involved so it was no big deal. I did get a chance to remember just how different a spread axle backs than a van. It took me a long time to get used to the spread axle design, and now that I am used to it, a van seems weird to back up. I had to pull up 3 times to make it into a dock that was pretty easy with only one real obstacle!

The people at the place remembered me from when I was here during my training, and thought I had gave up pulling flatbed(I am STILL the only woman flat bedder they have ever seen) but I told them the story and they were surprised I was still doing it.

So I got loaded with no problems, and hit the road headed north. When it came time to shut down I picked a harder parking spot to get into just to polish my skills, but I had gotten used to how it backed and nailed it the the first time so it made me feel better about having to pull up so many times. A van will turn a lot faster than a spread, it just takes a little getting used to is all :wink:

Novacane, in earlier post you mentioned that they would run you really low on fuel before letting you refuel,Is this still a problem?

This has been a busy week so far, and a lousy paid one as well, my check this week was less than 300, but that is mainly because I didn't get my oversize load scanned in time, so it will be much better next week. Anyway, I left off with a new trailer full of wool, and did I fail to mention I really hate that freaking wool?

I take the load to Gary, drop it off, and grab another empty, take it through Chicago, get loaded, and start to make my way to South Carolina. The trip down really sucked today, first I get started, and am slowed so much by construction, there was obstacle after obstacle it seems today, if it's not construction, it's traffic, or well, the list goes on, I seemed to get a little of it all today.

I finally make it out of Indiana, and hope that things will start going smoother, but I was wrong. I stop for fuel and check a qualcom I got going down the road I didn't want to stop for, it was a urgent message to call dispatch. I call, and am told that I am being wrote up for not scaling the wool load, because the driver that picked it up got a over weight ticket. I told them that I did scale it, and it was fine. But I got in trouble any way, I don't know how it was over gross with another driver, I went through a scale with it, and my truck should be heavier than a van truck with all my equipment and so on. But it did no good, so I was off to a bad little start for the day.

I figure that there is no reason to worry about it, cause there is nothing I can do at this point, and try to put it out of my head and concentrate on whats in front of me. Well, after I fueled and got over the shock of it all, things seemed to pick up a bit, traffic was better, little construction, and the miles were starting to drop off pretty good. Get through Kentucky, then Tennessee comes, and that means the gorge on 40, which is no big deal, been through there a million times, but it seems as though there is always a test of some sort when tackling it, so I was on my toes as usual.

I'm going along, and minding my own business, cruising around 55-60 and come to a decent little curve, get started around it, and bam! White smoke so thick, you can't see anything. All this while in the middle of a curve on a decline at that! I literally can't see the end of my hood, I don't mean low visibility, I mean NONE, no exaggeration, I was scared.

I had no choice but to lock it down, I don't know whats in front of me, for all I know it could be a pile up, but at the same time, I know people are right behind me, so I am praying that I don't get rear ended. I was on the brakes as hard as they would go for the first time ever. So here I am, in a blind curve, coming to a stop on the interstate, yelling over the cb for everyone to shut it down, you can't see, all the while hoping that nothing appears in front of me, or I don't run off the road, cause you can't even see the lines on the road, I was blind in every aspect.

People are yelling back at me, "get it off the road Roehl, just pull over and we will come through" and I am telling them they have no choice but to back it down and crawl through, and that it will sneak up on you, but most didn't listen, they thought I was over exaggerating, but soon after, THEY are on the cb yelling to lock'em down, you have no sight.

Now there were 2 reasons it was like this, one, there are walls on both sides of the road, so the smoke has no where to go, and two, the reason for the smoke, a blown turbo on a truck in front of me. Luckily, just a couple hundred feet or so into it, there was a clearing, and the smoke dissipated just enough to see the lines on the roads, so I took a gamble, and hoped nobody was wrecked in front of me, and sped up a little to keep from getting rear ended. Luckily, I was out of it in a few seconds, but man, that seemed like a lifetime, I was truly scared today(along with many other drivers).

Now, I have been wrote up, blinded, scared for the first time, and braked at 100% for the first time, all within few hours, but thankfully, everything after these mishaps went ok. I got to the consignee on time, delivered, and dispatched again in a pretty nice time frame, then to top it off, I got a really good parking space, at a nice little truckstop. 8)

So now, I got to pick up a load in the morning about an hour away, take it to Ellenwood, drop it, and see what happens next, I just hope I can be home for Easter this weekend, but we will see.

Exciting stuff, girl. I felt like I was reading Stephen King.

Where did you scale the load? At a CAT scale? Do you have the receipt?
At the shipper? At a DOT scale? If it was at a DOT scale there will be a record of you going thru there. You said the other driver was over gross. Maybe a difference in the amount of fuel in your tanks vs. his tanks? Don't let them "ding" your record for no reason.

Yeah, that is shady. It was fine for you, so why even worry about telling anyone. It is up to the next person who gets the load to make sure its ok for them.

Novacane: Remember that guy you called who was above your dispatcher? The one that made things happen? Time to give him another call! NO WAY you should accept a write-up for that if you have a scale receipt!

I'd PARK the next load they give you and tell them it's NOT moving until this is rescinded!!

Novacane, did you remind dispatch there is a free scale at the Gary yard?
Like others said, if you scaled it you should have a copy, or if it was at a customer, you may have wrote the numbers down.
But more important, the other driver had every chance to scale before he left the company yard!
I always left copies or hand written receipts with the relay paperwork, including the type of tractor I was driving and gallons of fuel in the tank (my Eagle held 200, Century held 160!)
I will say, I'm glad they are doing something to those that drop off "true" overweight loads! I would back that 100%, having been burned several times on relay loads!
Good luck!

Well, thanks for all the help everyone, much appreciated, but I think I took care of it. I mentioned some of the things everyone suggested, and I think it worked. I never even thought about the fuel level, and how much weight it can add, and I realized that I had a fuel stop right after that load was done, and I was pretty much empty. This is something that has been slipping my mind, I didn't realize how much of a difference it can make, but it is another lesson learned, take the fuel level into consideration, seems simple, but I really never thought of it.

I told them that it was the other drivers responsibility, and asked if when I pick up a relay, and don't check the load for securement, then a coiled steel roll comes off and kills someone, would the driver that dropped it in the yard be held liable, or would I. I think he understood the point I was trying to make, and backed off, so it's ok.

Anyway, I started early as usual, and made it to the shipper, got loaded and on the road, and about 20 miles from the shipper, I met a oversize load that was pulling a mobile home that was on the side of the road. There wasn't really a safe place to pass because of the way he was sitting, so I grabbed the shoulder. I figured there was no sense in sitting there waiting for them to move, so I got out to see if I could help them out. Turns out part of the plastic sheathing had blown loose and was starting to tear really fast. I asked if there was anything I could do, and they asked with desperation in their voice, "please tell us you have some duct tape" my reaction was hey, I'm a truck driver, of COURSE I have some! So I let them have a extra roll I had, and let them use my cell phone to call the place they were going to let them know why they were late. It was a simple little thing that really helped them out, and they really appreciated it. They got back on the road, and I did the same.

It wasn't long before I was back on the interstate, and the miles started to drop off the trip pretty quick. I heard over the cb that there was a truckstop ahead that was giving free food for "driver appreciation day" so I figured I would stop and take advantage of it since it was lunch time anyway.

It was a new truckstop(mobil) on I-85 at exit 4 in South Carolina and every other Thursday from today on, there's gonna be free food for drivers. They had barbecue chicken, hamburgers and hot dogs galore and it was all free, and all good, and to beat it all, they weren't greedy about it, they told everyone to eat till they were full, so many of us did, it was great, so if any of you are coming through there and it's Thursday, take a chance to enjoy some free good food! I think it will be a success, the people there are really nice, and everything was good and clean.


So, I had a full belly, and had to get back on the road. I made it to Ellenwood, and dropped the trailer I had. I also got my next load, I was supposed to grab an empty trailer and head down to Vienna to pick up a load in the morning that's going to Illinois. I had plenty of time left, and since I was at the yard, I decided to take advantage of the facilities and wash my truck, cause it was about 9 different shades of funky, poor little baby! So I get her washed up looking pretty again, and even did some minor polishing(I have a new polish called "speedy all metal polish" and it is the best stuff I have ever seen, if you get a chance to get some, I would say go for it, it's pretty amazing stuff) so it was looking good and I could tell she was eager to get back on the road to show off a bit.

Just when I finished up, the other driver that was supposed to pick up the trailer I dropped showed up, so we swapped equipment, and I hit the road, well, uh, almost.............

I went to leave the yard to head toward my shipper, and when leaving the gate, I looked in the mirror to check where my trailer was just to make sure everything is ok, but it wasn't, something was terribly wrong, THERE WAS NO TRAILER! :shock: Stupid me forgot to grab an empty trailer before I left :roll: I can't believe I done that, of all the mistakes I have made, wow! I bet no one here has ever done THAT!

Anyway, I ditch the brain fart, and grab a trailer eager to get back on the road, but there was a car on fire on 675 in a bad place. It goes from 3 to 2 lanes at one point, and that is where the car was, so now it's going from 3 to 1 lane, needless to say I was sitting in traffic for a little while. Still, it was no big deal, and I made it down here, worried about where I would spend the night, and it turns out there is a Pilot down here at the exit I was supposed to get off at! So now, I hope to get loaded in the morning, and will be on my way home for the Easter weekend, and since the load isn't due until Tuesday morning, I will actually have a nice Easter weekend with the family, AND to top it off, the weather is supposed to be almost perfect the whole weekend, so I am happy right now. So what cha say we head north and get some home time!

nice to see there is at least one place left in the world that gives a crap about drivers lol hard to come by these days. Looks like duct tape saves the day again....what a great tool.

Hey Novacane, did they ever finish the work at Ellenwood?
Did they pave "The Dust Bowl" or just enlarge it?
Anything to new at that terminal??
Have a safe trip!

its to bad that relay roehl driver another dum f who doesnt get it. if their that curious he could of put it on the scale in gary or went to a truck stop and got it done what a whiney ahole. iv had this problem too except i told them what the actual axles weight were wieghed at shpr and they still whined about it oh well were gonna have to weigh it any way what a bunch of . i bet the load im p/u on the yard aint weighed no big deal. i guess their a bunch of whiney tight wads who dont know how to read their susp guage or spend 8 bucks.

Yep, nothing like duct tape when you forget to pack your belt! :lol:

A roll of gaffers tape is great too. Not as strong of a stick, but it doesn't leave any residue when you remove it.

How much does 1 gallon of diesel weigh?

Usually figure about 8 pounds per gallon.

I had a great Easter weekend, I hope everyone else did too! Perfect weather, all the family, so much food I'm still in pain, and a decent amount of time off to boot!

But I had to get back on it today, and even looked forward to it. But it was a smooth, easy day, nothing really to report. I have a delivery due in Montgomery Illinois at 11:30 tomorrow, so since it was only about 70 miles away, I decided to spend the night in the Gary yard, to take advantage of the free showers and amenities.

I figured that holiday traffic would be brutal today, but much to my amazement, Louisville, and Indianapolis were smooth sailing, so I made out really good. I don't know about this place tomorrow, I have never been on the highways going to the town, so I don't know what to expect. So even though it's a hour and a half trip, I am gonna give myself 3 hours to get there since it's a scheduled appointment, and if I miss it I could be sitting for a whole day, so I don't mind losing an hour or so to make sure it's on time.

Anyway, sorry there's nothing more exciting to report, but no news is good news, or so I have been told! :wink:

Well, the whole leaving early to get there on time thing blew up in my face. It was a easy drive, and I got there early only to have to wait to get unloaded, oh well, I knew I took that chance. Thing is, that I didn't even get unloaded when I was supposed to, I had to wait 2 and a half hours past my delivery time, so needless to say many hours were burned for nothing, but that is what happens sometimes in the wonderful world of truck driving.

I finally got unloaded, and was ready to go, but I had to wait again for a pre-plan. An hour later, I finally got some news, not that good, but at least I could start rolling. I was to head about 40 miles away to pick up a load, and run it about 300 miles to deliver, but when I arrived, I again had to wait 2 hours to even get in the docks. 45 minutes later I was finally loaded, and anther 45 I was tarped. But by now, I was out of hours and had to spend the night in the lot of the shipper, which is why I couldn't update last night.

I had to get up around 3 am to make it to the consignee(which I should have been able to do yesterday, but since all the delays, well you know) by 7. I got there this morning, hoping everything would go a little smoother than yesterday so I could maybe make up some miles. But again, it was another hour and a half before I got unloaded, oh well, not too bad.

Dispatch was on it today trying to help me out with some miles, which was cool. I was supposed to go and pick up a preloaded trailer, cool, no waiting, just drop and hook, whoo hoo! It was only about 40 miles away, so I made it there pretty quick, only to see the preloaded trailer meant just that, not secured, just loaded, oh well.

60 strap protectors, and 12 straps later the load was secure, and I went inside to get my paperwork and hit the road headed south to Birmingham, which is some pretty decent miles. Well, I get the paperwork, and when the load arrived, it was ok, but after getting galvanized, it added a lot of weight, and I was afraid I would be over gross. I tell them I need a beam removed from the load to be safe, and they said no problem..................but you will have to wait for the loader to come back from lunch. Grrrr, so I started unstrapping, so I could have everything done by the time he got back.

He showed up a few minutes after I finished, and got me unloaded in a decent time frame, not good, but decent.(of course it was just ONE beam) I secured the load again, and was finally able to hit the road, but man was I tired, and I am running low on hours, but I decided that my goal would be just south of Milwaukee at a pilot so I could get a free shower and hit the sack, plus it was almost exactly far enough away for me to use all my hours getting there.

So a bad string of events yesterday, hardly any miles, and a 30-45 minute drop and hook today took 3 and a half hours. PLUS I still don't know what the weight is, I have to drive 20 miles south to get to a scale, and if I am over gross, I will have to drive back again, taking back roads to avoid the scale house in the north bound lanes.

Anyway, I call to see if I can fill up the truck before I scale, since I only had about a eighth of a tank. I get no answer, and decide to just go on, I am sick of waiting around, I need some miles, so I took off. I got to the scale, and was delighted to know that I was good to go, whew, if I would have had to drive back to wait to be unloaded again, I would have been.....well you know.

So I made my goal I set for myself, I made it down 41, went through Milwaukee with a little detour that I was hoping and praying wouldn't effect my stop I had planned for the night. Thankfully, it was just a small stretch, and was soon on 94, and finally made it to the pilot today, just within my hours, and boy was I tired, I went inside took a shower, that made me feel as though I was melting away, almost didn't have the energy to climb back in the truck, but the bunk was calling my name loud and clear.

So now, I have rested a bit, and thought I would write and update the post. Now I am going back to bed and sleep to around 4 before I head out, cause this load is due in Birmingham on early Friday morning, and that leaves me with a 13 hour trip to shave down to 11, or at least get close enough to make the rest of the trip Friday morning. At the very least dispatch said they could reset it since I spent so much time waiting today, but that might screw me out of scanning my paperwork by noon, and without this trip on my check, it won't be hardly nothing. Of course with this weeks check I brought home 645, so I am happy! If only I could bring this home every week, but oh well, who knows, maybe one day. Oh, and I got a raise! I now earn 33 cpm, instead of a measly 32!

Now, lets go to Alabama!

i still feel the need to post my week at roehl
only about 3700 miles this week nice 1400 something dollar check and what do you know i get next week off woowhoo.

Sounds like a pretty good week ken_o.

Well, I got to my consignee with no problems, and only one little event taking place. I was about there when I got a qualcom telling me to call dispatch, oh man, these things are usually not too good, if they needed something they would send me a message.

I finally get a chance to call, and much to my surprise, I won a MPG award, so I get a MPG jacket, or a $50 gift certificate to spend at Roehlmart. I think I will choose the jacket since not just anyone can get it, no buying that I know of, here is a link to the little beauty(can you tell I am proud about this?)

http://roehl.logoshop.net/updateable...cfm?pageID=231

That just got my day off to a great little start, and I was raring to go. And even though it was raining like pouring pi$$ out of a boot, I pushed forward. I made it to the consignee, early as a matter of fact, and got unloaded pretty quick, no big long lines to worry about. I already had a pre-plan they sent me the day before instructing me to head about 40 miles west, to pick up a load of lumber, oh man, here come the tarps.

I make it to the shipper with no problems, even though it was back roads the whole way that weren't marked all that good. They loaded me quickly, again the lucky streak gaining momentum. Plus it was actually a easy tarp job to, AND now I get to head home for the weekend!

Had to drive through mild to moderate storms pretty much the whole way home, but it was no biggie really, and that just about sums it up, I know it sounds boring, but it was a good day, and that is fine with me!

I get home, and the rain stops, I get up this morning to a picture perfect day. Chris and I got the nova out and had some fun, picked up his dads truck, and came home to do some spring cleaning................5 hours later, the basement is clean, the upstairs is clean, and the yard is mowed and trimmed, and I am officially tired, lol.

Now, I have to leave tomorrow evening to be in KY first thing Monday morning to deliver this load. Hopefully they will give me something past a terminal, so I can get my jacket, lmao, I can't wait to get that sucker, it's the only thing I have ever "won" or earned and actually got, shoot, I might even frame it!

Now, lets go to KY!

P.S. Ken, how long have you been driving, and was the 1400 gross or net, I would hope net since I gross right at a grand, and run a thousand miles less. Wish I could get miles like that though, but at my current cpm pay, I would have to drive 4250 miles to GROSS that much money, my hats off to you!

Novacane,

Big congrats on the MPG award. What did you have to do to get it? That does look like a very nice jacket.

I sent you another PM.

sauerball

even if i was top of the pay scale 3700 miles would only be a hundred more grossbut if i trained i would gross180/300 more a week.
you schould took the gift cert for roehl mart got you some pull over jacket deals. maybe even some outer wear after all your gunna be tarpin in the rain.

Not a very productive day today, lot's of time sitting waiting.

I got up and drove a couple hours to the consignee this morning, got there on time, and wound up having to wait 3 hours to get unloaded. At this point I thought it was no big deal, sometimes it just happens, so I didn't let it bother me, or ruin my day. Plus it gave me a chance to bug dispatch by sending them messages like, "any idea on a preplan, I should be unloaded any minute" hoping to cut down on the time it takes them to give me a new load.

After 3 hours, I am finally unloaded and ready to go, and dispatch had me a load assigned as soon as I sent in the unloaded macro. Cool, a decent run, little over 600 miles, and to make it even better, it was a load of truck hoods, which are really light, for instance, my current load weighs a whopping 3700 pounds, lol.

I had to leave Ky. and head up to Columbus to pick up the load. Made it there with no problems, and ahead of schedule, cool, maybe I can make up some of my slow day..................NOPE!!

I sit there waiting to get loaded almost 4 hours! By this time I was beginning to get a little frustrated, but it didn't get to me that bad thankfully, like I said, sometimes it happens. I finally got loaded, and was on my way, but I could only make it a short distance before it was time for me to shut down for the night.

So what it all boils down to is I had a 13.5 hour day that made me a whole 105 bucks, hmm, by my math, that is about 7.75 an hour. BUT that isn't all that bad considering that I was sitting in the truck watching movies, playing games, chatting with other drivers, or twiddling my thumbs, lol. It just makes me mad that if I could have been driving like I should have been able to, I would have made almost double that. But I must admit, I have never had a job where I could make a hundred bucks a day, so believe it or not, I am pretty happy.

Anyway, I have to head to Alabama with this load, so tomorrow, I should be able to make up some ground, and besides, when the miles have been short here lately, dispatch has tried to "hook me up" with better loads, so we will see what I get after this load.

I made it to the drop in Alabama about 30 minutes ahead of schedule this morning, having drove almost 600 miles yesterday. I actually was around 30 minutes early, and got unloaded nice and quick.

I was dispatched for a load in Ellenwood, so I took off toward Hotlanta. I got to the yard, with a message to call dispatch, I hate when they tell me this. So I call, and sure enough I am in trouble. I have an awful habit of not sending in a arrived at consignee marcro. Its mainly because when I arrive, I am trying to figure out where to put the truck, and getting it unstrapped so it can be unloaded so I can move onto the next load.

So even though I wasn't late to any appointments, I was still wrote up for not sending the correct macros. I would forget to send it when I arrived, and by the time I think of sending it(usually when I am on top of the load) it's after the delivery time so according to the computers I am late. This really upset me, but then again, it is my mistake, and I think I should have been "punished" for it, but not wrote up, or something that aggressive, of course that's my opinion, and it really doesn't matter. So I will have to work on it.

I got to the yard and while trying to find the trailer I HAD to get to Tn TODAY I realized that it hadn't arrived. So since I was waiting I asked if someone could look at my batteries and possibly replace them since I have had to get a jump start about 4 times in 3 weeks, and it's getting old. They checked them out and said nothing was wrong, so nothing happened. I have been having problems with my fuel filter vacuum, and told them to change the filter because the check engine light was coming on, and it would sputter every now and then, and that is what happens when the filter is too dirty.

I would have done it myself, but I just had it changed less than 2 weeks ago, and it shouldn't be dirty by now, so I figured something might be up with it. Again, nothing is wrong, and of course the check engine light is on, and it still sputters every now and then. They did find a problem I didn't even know about, they said something was wrong with the brakes, even though they showed no bad signs to me. So they fixed them, and now I get to enjoy the nice squealing sound they make every time I touch the brake pedal, which I guess is a good sign that they are working properly since before they were totally quiet. :roll:

Now they are talking about letting me go home today, which I don't understand, nor do I want to do. My paycheck was another whopper, 305 bucks, but again next weeks should be better, since again I didn't get a trip scanned in time for this week. But if I get sent home early this week, I will be behind again.

I know everyone gets tired of me complaining so I will end it here, surely today will be a better day. Don't get me wrong, it hasn't been a horrible week, but it ain't been the best either. Just the low miles, getting wrote up, the state of my truck, and being sent home early gets to me a little.

Wish me luck!

I think your income would go up if you started to put in your macro's as your company wants. Unless you tell them that you have delivered or at least arrived, they won't start looking for another load. Perhaps you could just get in the habit of sending a macro when you first arrive. That way you won't forget to send it. Most of these companies have guidelines which they have found works for them. If you follow their guidelines, you will do much better financially. Good luck. :D

you schouldnt of told them what to check. all you schould of done is told them on the maintaince thing that the truck isnt starting has to be jumped.alot of the time. then let them figure out if its the batteries ,starter, solonoid or alternator, fuel pump etc. if they persist in not rectifiying the problem, tell your dispatcher until its fixed be polite but be affirmitive you want a trk that works. before you jump the truck call breakdown tell them you r attempting to jump the truck, every time you jump the truck let your dispatcher know also. all else fails you can prey to god when you turn the key.

How are things going ?? We have not heard from you????

To be honest with you, I have just been lazy, and a few computer problems. That combined with nothing special to write about and here we are. I will get back into it next week, if nothing else happens.

Besides that, it would be mostly negative stuff, and most don't like to hear about that, so I haven't been "into it" here lately. Nothing major has happened, but my miles have sucked really bad, I have had 4 sub 300 mile runs, and all of them have taken the better part of the day, so I have been getting around 300 miles a day, while tarping in the Florida sun(I am a red head, with very light skin and burn easily) which is no big deal, I actually prefer it, but I wish I could have a break in between the sun burns instead of putting a fresh one on top of another, lol.

I just hate waiting for hours to get loaded, tarping the same load that all the other flat bed drivers are just strapping and going, just to take it 240 miles away, and then the whole unloading process is almost as painful, just been a bad few days, FULL days using all my 14 and having less than 300 miles to show for each of them.

Then, I got some news this Tuesday that I needed to be home by Saturday before 4pm. Of course they say they will make it happen, but then today I am told that I have to be in GA in the morning, about 7 hours away from where I am, then I have to pick up another load, that will supposedly be a drop and hook, even though I haven't had one yet, that goes to PA due early Tuesday morning.

They weren't willing to work with me on any other load, plus I really need the decent miles that come with the PA load, so I really have no choice but to miss something important(but private) with the family. Even that wouldn't bother me that much considering that I gave less than a weeks notice, IF I was getting some decent miles and had better paychecks to show for it.

On the other hand, I haven't forgot to send a macro yet, and everything has been decent. I have had to tarp a lot here lately, using the dreaded lumber tarps each and every time, but I have that part figured out ok, and am able to get it done a lot better than when I first started, and that makes it a little easier, though it's still a lot of work. Roads have been decent, and the shippers and receivers, although slow, have been pretty nice and all has gone well.

Anyway, that's all for now, I will start with fresh updates next week, take care everyone!

wont you just switch to van already. you know you want too.

Novacane is not going to switch to van she out to prove something I just don't know what. :roll:

If I only ran 300 miles a day I'd sure be looking for another flat bed company if that's what I wanted to run or another division.

Sorry Novacane but you're right don't really want to hear about how you only got 300 miles a day, current more than me, I've been ground due to medication but I'm not complaining in front of a whole forum. Just waitin' for Tuesday night when I can get back to runnin' hard.

Somewhere on here she stated that getting home every weekend was important to her. Well if that is the case then the miles & paycheck suffer can't have it both ways. :wink:

I disagree
 

I do agree that if thats all the miles she runs in a day I would change companies but on the other hand I disagree that getting home every weekend causes the miles and paycheck to suffer. I get home every weekend , usually early on friday before 4 oclock , but always on friday and mostly average about 2500 miles a week and I make alot more than 300 bucks a week.As far as tarping goes , yea sometimes its a dirty job but its really no big deal and no reason to switch to vans just to avoid it. It takes me about 30 minutes to tarp a load of lumber and be on the road, I do it everyday, it gets easier every time you do it, so if you want to flatbed just keep working at it and it will get easier.

Keep um coming
 

I can't speak for anyone else but I would love to read your complaints and negative posts. I really got into everything you wrote so far and this is the real stuff for someone new.

As far as I was concerned, driving a truck is 3000 miles of corn fields, no traffic, mom and pop truck stops, sunshine and lollipops!

Steve

No I don't, lol. It would be easy to make a switch if that's what I wanted to do, in fact I just turned down a local job making more than 10cpm more than I make now, but I like pulling flatbed, and they don't have a flatbed division. The only way I would ever want to pull van would be for a "home every night" job, and even then I wouldn't get the satisfaction I get now pulling what I have always wanted to.

If this was a every week thing, I will, but I have also had really good miles, and good paying loads in the past, and I am pretty sure they will come again, just like the over 700 run I have now.



I know, this is one of the reasons I gave for not posting after I was asked about it.

I have mentioned that being home on weekends was very important to me several times, nothing is more important to me than my son and Chris, no amount of money would pull them away from me for huge lengths of time.

Why can't I have it both ways? I have had weeks where I got 2700, and some even over 3000. Last week I had 2200, and the week before about the same, and that is with all the short length loads I have been having to pull. Just one additional decent run like the one I have now, and I would be up in the "normal" mile range, but I simply don't get them.

It all comes down to what I am dispatched, I pick up and deliver all my loads when they are supposed to be, and in the time frame allowed, and get there early every time I can. I talk with dispatch and have a good relationship with him, what more can I do? I run under "forced dispatch" and have to run what they give me, plain and simple. When they give me good miles, it's cool, and when they give me bad miles it's still cool, cause I know the good miles are coming, and when the good miles stop coming all together , THEN I will seek other employment. I am not complaining, I was asked why I wasn't posting, and I gave my reasons.

Yes, I have something to prove. I like my job and I am doing what I wanted to do since the first day I even thought about getting my cdl. I LIKE pulling flatbed, that's it. I don't do it for any other reason, I like to secure my loads, I like being outside and getting good exercise mixed in with sitting behind the wheel. I like the feeling of seeing a nice tarp job and knowing I done it, I like securing my load and knowing that it's perfect, and I like looking in my mirror and seeing all I have accomplished knowing I am doing what I have wanted to do. The only thing that would make it better would be looking in the mirror and seeing a oversize load with my escort drivers lights blinking away.

Now, I made it to Ellenwood, and for the first time, I really do have a drop and hook, so I am on my way home for the weekend, take care everyone!

Well i always wanted to be a tycoon with a harem of women, but i settled for truckdrivin. its all about want and need you want to pull a flat u need to drive a van. you want to strap,tarp,chain&more all u need is to drive a van and shut the door. exercise maybe the first week or so. aftr that i c it as repetitive and another delay. instead of all that repitive stuff just go for a walk.
This yur thread you started it i hope you keep on posting, i myself enjoy reading about your bad days, so keep up the good work or lack their of.