Guess it's time for an update..............
I was supposed to load out of Tulsa, OK on Monday the 13th going to Houston, TX. However, it wasn't until about 3:30pm before things got sorted out and the load was now going to a refinery in Tupman, CA with a much better rate. Since the day was shot, I told my dispatcher that I would just load it first thing Tuesday morning since I was only about 20 miles away. I called the shipper to find out what time they wanted me there and he said 7am would be good.
I arrived at 6:45am (early is on time and on time is late.....
) and they weren't even ready for me. The load (structural steel) was scattered throughout their yard and shops
. The the guy asks me how I want it loaded......I replied "well where is it"......so we walked around as it pointed out this and that. Now I am sure all the flatbedders out there will understand this......it's real difficult to try and get a mental picture of various sizes and pieces to put on your wagon when they are all over the place. It's like putting together a jigsaw puzzle and all your pieces are scattered over a few acres. Nonetheless I get a pretty good idea of how we were going to do it and told the guy it may change a bit once we start loading. Although a bit of a pain, at least they were reseptive to how
I wanted it loaded and not the usuall B.S. you get from some shippers where they say this is how we do it whether you like it or not.
By the time they gather all the pieces, loaded it, and I got it straped and chained down, it was already 12:30pm. I had hoped to get to Albuquerque, NM before shutting down for the night but by Santa Rosa I was exhausted and decided to call it quits.
The next morning I get trucking down the road and receive a call from a buddy of mine that I still stay in touch with from my previous company. It turns out that he was loading in L.A. and was headed East on I-40. Since we haven't seen each other in a while we decided to meet up at the Pilot in Lake Havasu, AZ where I ultimately shut down for the night. It was great seeing him and swaping lies
.
Thursday morning I hit the road and make my way to Tupman. I have never been there and this place, especially the refinery, is out in the middle of nowhere. I make the drop an hour earlier than I anticipated and called in my empty status. My dispather asked me how I felt about leaving my trailer st the Fontana terminal. I said not too comfortable why?? He then tells me he has a 48' dry van that needs to go to some place in AR and was paying $6300 plus $1800 FSC. I said "10-4" lets drop this trailer.....LOL.
Just as I about to hit I-5 and start heading south, he calls me back and tells me that there was a "F-up" and the load got posted on their load board but he was on the phone with the V.P. of operations to complain about why they would send it out for brokage when there are L.S. trucks in the area. Guess the V.P. was not too happy but unfortunately the load was snaged too quick for them to pull it back.
Not all was a total loss as about 15 minutes later he called me back with a no tarp load from Fresno, CA to Dallas, TX. It weighs in at a whopping 3k and is 35' long.
and pays half way decent. Would have liked the other load a lot better, but it gets me out of Cali and will carry my through the weekend.
You know, thus far, my heaviest load has been 35k and the lightest will be this up coming one at 3k. If you took all my loaded weights and averaged them out, it comes up to less than 20k. That explains the great fuel mileage I have been getting
. With my previous company almost ALL my loads were between 40k-48k. On a rare occasion I would get a light one but it was far and few between.
On a side note, I am still undecided as to weather or not I chose the right place to lease onto. These guys seem to have the freight and at decent rates, but there are some issues or bugs if you will that I have experienced in the 2 weeks I have been here that have me questioning this company. I don't want to air them out on here, at least not right now. I am trying hard to keep an open mind and stay positive. I did have a little chat with my terminal manager and expressed my concerns. She is still reassuring me that these issues are NOT the norm and promises to do what ever it takes to smooth things out and keep me happy. I told her with all do respect, actions speak louder than words and we'll see.
Anyways, I am held up for the night at the TA in Buttonwillow, CA. Since I can't load until noon tomorrow and am only about 100 miles away this is just as good of a place as any. The "light at the end of the tunnel" is that tomorrow I will be headed out of the beautiful (
insert sarcasm here) state.
