[jvnd1953]

Hey devildice, do you know what happened to dewercs2? I'd call him but the last I heard he had that minor accident and was in the hospital from kidney stones. I hate to call him if it's bad news. I just caught up with your thread. Congrats on your achievements. You've come a long way from Davis. I'm still with Arrow but not for long. It appears I'll be driving a dump truck in my future. Just waiting a few more weeks till they get the truck registered and right now they only have work for about 3 days a week but they will need a driver who can work 6 days a week shortly. The owner is a good friend of mine and he said he doesn't want me to start until he can guarantee that I will make some good money. I can wait a few weeks. $20 an hour but I pay my own taxes. Only getting an average of 1000-1500 miles a week with Arrow. Also cutbacks in layover pay, etc. Breakdowns in our main terminal which I'm at now waiting for an oil cooler to be fixed may take 7 to 10 days at least. Have to wait in line. dewercs2 was smart to quit. They have changed regional driving area to Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. I think the company is going under. Anyway, drive and be safe. I am still maintaining the thread dewercs2 started but will end it when I quit Arrow.

[devildice]

Originally Posted by jvnd1953

Hey devildice, do you know what happened to dewercs2? I'd call him but the last I heard he had that minor accident and was in the hospital from kidney stones. I hate to call him if it's bad news. I just caught up with your thread. Congrats on your achievements. You've come a long way from Davis. I'm still with Arrow but not for long. It appears I'll be driving a dump truck in my future. Just waiting a few more weeks till they get the truck registered and right now they only have work for about 3 days a week but they will need a driver who can work 6 days a week shortly. The owner is a good friend of mine and he said he doesn't want me to start until he can guarantee that I will make some good money. I can wait a few weeks. $20 an hour but I pay my own taxes. Only getting an average of 1000-1500 miles a week with Arrow. Also cutbacks in layover pay, etc. Breakdowns in our main terminal which I'm at now waiting for an oil cooler to be fixed may take 7 to 10 days at least. Have to wait in line. dewercs2 was smart to quit. They have changed regional driving area to Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. I think the company is going under. Anyway, drive and be safe. I am still maintaining the thread dewercs2 started but will end it when I quit Arrow.

No I have not hear from or about dewercs2 in a long time. Maybe those aliens finally got him? In any case, I hope he's alright.

Not sure whats going on over there at Arrow cuz some drivers I talk to say they are doing very well and yet others say they are starving. I wish you the best of luck with your upcoming move.

[jvnd1953]

Well, I hope Paul is okay. I have been doing better then most Arrow drivers. I need at least 2000 miles a week to barely survive. Ithink Arrow is going down. They have to pay COD for parts from the dealerships here in Tulsa. They had to move to a different motel to use because they owed $10,000 tgo the previous one. Just stuff like this. I'll miss the road and you never know, I may be back when things get better.

[devildice]

Originally Posted by jvnd1953

Well, I hope Paul is okay. I have been doing better then most Arrow drivers. I need at least 2000 miles a week to barely survive. Ithink Arrow is going down. They have to pay COD for parts from the dealerships here in Tulsa. They had to move to a different motel to use because they owed $10,000 tgo the previous one. Just stuff like this. I'll miss the road and you never know, I may be back when things get better.

If that's the case with Arrow, then I don't blame you a bit for getting out of there. If you hear from Paul, let us all know how he's doing.

[jvnd1953]

I will.

[devildice]

Guess it's time for a quick update on what's been happening.

We (the family) left the house on the 18th of August on our way to Virginia to help my son get settled in at college. We arrived in the Norfolk area on the 21st. Everything went smooth and we turn the trip into a short vacation and stopped at various places and points of interest along the way.

Since he is attending Hampton University under a NROTC scholarship, he along with about 80 other students from 2 other colleges in the area had to go through a week long mini "Officer Boot Camp" of sorts. They basically had a crash course on military bearing and a LOT of physical fitness.

While my son was going through that, the wife and I visited with some friends. We had intended to bounce down to South Carolina for a few days to visit some other friends and relatives but never made it down there.

At the end of the "mini boot camp", they performed a formal "Pass & Review". For those that are not familiar with the military, a Pass & Review" is simply where they all were in uniform and formation and marched around. It was rather impressive because these "kids" have never had any training like this before and in a week the ROTC instructors were able to teach them enough that they looked very sharp. While we were at the ceremony, I run into 2 old shipmates of mine that had their kids enrolled in the program too. We were all impressed with their performance and joked about how we worked so hard to "earn' our Khaki uniforms and here are our kids wearing them after one week...... Anyways, we spent the next few days helping my son move into his dorm room and just went enjoying some quality time together. By Sunday the 30th, the wife and I had to say goodbye and head on home as we both need to get back to work.

We got back to the house Tuesday afternoon and by Wednesday, I had a load booked for Friday from Lackland AFB going to McConnell AFB in Kansas. This was going to be a sweet load because I live about 12 miles from Lackland and the load was paying 2.98 a mile. I immediately started getting my truck together to go back on the road. The batteries needed to be charged as they were dead as a door nail and I had one flat drive tire. As I am charging the batteries and loading up the truck with my belongings, I get a call from the agent saying that the load has been canceled.

By Friday, I booked a decent paying load that goes from Dublin, TX to Isabel, KS. Unfortunately I can't load until Wednesday the 9th and I have a 200 mile DH . I Do have a 2nd load lined up after this one that will take me from Salina, KS to St. Paul, MN. After almost a full month off with no income, I need to get back out there and hit it as hard as the available loads will let me.

So, for now I have been at the house taking care of some personal stuff as well as just relaxing. Tuesday afternoon I will bounce up north close the shipper so I can load first thing Wednesday morning.

[devildice]

:badmood::badmood::badmood::badmood:

Well this has NOT been a good start back out on the road after my "mini" vacation. If I were to post all the blow by blow details it would probably take up 2 pages so I'll just give the cliff notes.

I, along with about 22 other trucks, were loading crane parts at a windmill site in Dublin, TX going to another windmill site in Isabel, KS. We spent a solid 6 hrs at the job site in Dublin waiting to get loaded and another 9 hrs in Isabel waiting to get unloaded. On top of that, all trucks, both legal and OD loads had to have permits to run in Barber County up in KS. It turned out that the permits were wrong and we all went down the wrong route to the job site.

In addition, I originally had a re-load lined up out of Salina, KS on Friday going to St. Paul, MN. While waiting to unload in Isabel I get a call from the customer in Salina asking how tall can I go on my trailer. I told him that running to St. Paul I can only be 13' 6". He said that they believe the load was going to be at least 8' 9" or possibly 8' 10" and that he would buy the permits as well as add some more money onto the linehaul. This would have been fine with me, but LS will not allow over height loads on flatbeds and essentially I lost the load.

So now I am stuck for the weekend here in Newton, KS because there were no decent loads on Friday. The only "possible" saving grace to all this is that the agent is trying to get detention pay for all the trucks. As nice as it would be, I will not hold my breath for it and if by some miracle they do get it, I am sure it won't be any where near compensatory to 15 hrs of waiting.

[terrylamar]

Sometimes it works out. I had a load going to Total Petrochemical's laydown yard in Port Arthur. They deadline is 1400. I was pushing hard to get there by the cutoff, running 70 mph, which is a rarity for me. I do get there, barely. They are closed due to some emergency. I got $750.00 for having to wait until the next morning.

[danske]

Originally Posted by terrylamar

Sometimes it works out. I had a load going to Total Petrochemical's laydown yard in Port Arthur. They deadline is 1400. I was pushing hard to get there by the cutoff, running 70 mph, which is a rarity for me. I do get there, barely. They are closed due to some emergency. I got $750.00 for having to wait until the next morning.

DD, I ran that dedicated run for 7 weeks from Renton, WA to Tucson, AZ. Unfortunately on Friday I found out that my company was underbidded for contract. So, I am done for that run. Bummer!! I have this next week off where I am in San Francisco Bay Area spending time with my family and friends. When I go back to work on Tuesday 22 Sept, I will back running in the system again.

But, I was going to tell that on the Friday before Labor Day I delivered my empty containers in Tucson. The return load was stuck in Mexico because of the hurricane going thru Baja and Gulf of Mexico. I had to spend the long weekend in Tucson. My company is paying me $600 and picked up my motel room at the Triple T.

So I hope you are as fortunate in getting all the detention pay due to you.

Take care

[JimmerZ]

Hi DevilDice!

This is my very first post to this board. I first off want to thank for the 2 years of posting your journey. I wish more people did the same! I have been reading/lurking around this board for over 2 years now trying to make up my mind if Trucking is for me or not. Actually I know it is, but deciding if I want to make the plunge or wait for a better economy first.

It was amazing how many places I have been across this country in a 4 wheeler (even over the past 2 years) and been to many of the same truck stops, riads, etc that you mentioned along the way. Got family in Shertz and Selma Texas. In fact, I am sure you have driven right past my Dad’s house on many occasion. My Grandma is in Claysville, PA, which you mentioned the Petro there, and all the construction on the 70/76 interchanges in that area (Washington, PA). I live in Denver, CO, so I know of all the places around here and the surrounding states.

I rack up about 40,000 per year in my 4-wheeler going to see family in Texas, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio, and Nebraska. There sure is a lot of beautiful country out there! Thanks for all the pic's too!

Again, thank you for your posts from the school you chose to first carrier to 1st O/O to 2nd O/O to 3rd O/O gig. Much appreciated as it really DOES help those of us considering this field.

Good luck to you and your family, and keep those post coming, especially in the times we are in right now. It would help some of us on that are on the fence.

JimmerZ

PS: Will be in your lovely state in October! I sure as %ell hope it is cooler than it was in July! :smile