[devildice]

Originally Posted by 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

Thanks for the compliments and I fell honored that you chose my thread to make your very first post. I am glad that some of my postings are helping you and perhaps others.

As I am sure you know, I used to post frequently and have become a little lazy in doing so now. Withe that said, I think it's time for an update

[devildice]

Myself and one other LS driver loaded out of Salina, KS on Tuesday. It's a military load that is paying O.K. heading to Starke, FL. I was a little apprehensive about going to FL as it can be hard to get out of. Lucky for me though, I have a reload right in Starke heading up to Gary, IN and then another load lined up after that in Mt. Pleasant, MI going to Maricopa, AZ. So after that "snafu" on the TX to KS load, things seem to be looking up. :thumbsup:

[devildice]

Originally Posted by danske

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

Sorry to hear that the dedicated route is over for you. I am also sorry that you had to stay at that Triple T truck stop :lol: (what a $h^t hole that place is).

Enjoy your vacation!!!

[dewercs2]

allright I updated....

[GMAN]

I think that is the first convertible tractor that I have seen, dewercs2. I hope no one was seriously injured in making the transition.

[devildice]

After that "load from hell" (Dublin, TX to Isabell, KS) I got on a small hot streak.

I went from Salina, KS to Stark, FL with one miltary flatbed trailer, then reloaded in Starke with some kind of sand that they use to make molds for molten metal and took that to Gary, IN. From there I bounced up to Mt. Pleasant, MI and loaded 4 Seed seperator Conveyors and took them to Maricopa, AZ.

I "had" a load lined up out of Pheonix, AZ going to Monticello, MN for Friday, but it got canceled . So I made the drop in Maricopa and bounced up the road a few miles to the Love's in Chandler. With in 30 minutes of parking, I had an agent call me and ask if I would be interested in a load from Tucson, AZ to Boiling Brook, IL. She called me back about an hour later and said that the shipper postponed the load until Tuesday or Wednesday next week .

So now I am "stuck" here in Chandler for now. It was triple digit heat here today and the news predicts it to be that way all weekend. If that's the case, I may just DH out of here. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

[danske]

Originally Posted by devildice

After that "load from hell" (Dublin, TX to Isabell, KS) I got on a small hot streak.

I went from Salina, KS to Stark, FL with one miltary flatbed trailer, then reloaded in Starke with some kind of sand that they use to make molds for molten metal and took that to Gary, IN. From there I bounced up to Mt. Pleasant, MI and loaded 4 Seed seperator Conveyors and took them to Maricopa, AZ.

I "had" a load lined up out of Pheonix, AZ going to Monticello, MN for Friday, but it got canceled . So I made the drop in Maricopa and bounced up the road a few miles to the Love's in Chandler. With in 30 minutes of parking, I had an agent call me and ask if I would be interested in a load from Tucson, AZ to Boiling Brook, IL. She called me back about an hour later and said that the shipper postponed the load until Tuesday or Wednesday next week .

So now I am "stuck" here in Chandler for now. It was triple digit heat here today and the news predicts it to be that way all weekend. If that's the case, I may just DH out of here. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Hey, if my dedicated run from Tucson, AZ to Renton, WA hadn't be canceled 2 weeks ago we may have had a chance to cross paths. The run was canceled because another company underbidded my company. Oh well, back to driving the system.

BTW, I under a 62ft load from So Cal to Seattle. I will deliver on Monday morning.

Wish you well on getting another load.

Later,
danske

[devildice]

Originally Posted by danske

Hey, if my dedicated run from Tucson, AZ to Renton, WA hadn't be canceled 2 weeks ago we may have had a chance to cross paths. The run was canceled because another company underbidded my company. Oh well, back to driving the system.

BTW, I under a load 62ft load from So Cal to Seattle. I will deliver on Monday morning.

Wish you well on getting another load.

Later,
danske

Thanks and I am sure our paths will cross again one of these days. Take care and be safe.

[devildice]

Well after a week of sitting , I finally got out of Arizona. :clap:

I typically have pretty good luck getting out of there, but for some strange reason I was having rotten luck. Every time I had a decent paying load lined up, something would happen and it got canceled, postponed, or covered by another truck/carrier. It was by far the craziest time I've ever had getting a load. My so called "fall back" load (IF it's paying decent) is copper. The mines were only about 150 or so miles away and the rates were up to $2.05mile gross.

Just as I was about to give in and book one, an agent called me with a better option. I loaded 2 large CAT motors (forgot what models but they were huge) heading to Irving, TX so I jumped on it.

An old friend of mine from when I worked at Davis Transport was in the DFW area so i met up with him at the Pilot in Ft. Worth on Saturday the 3rd. While my log book reset once again, we did the usual of swapping road stories and lies over a couple of cold ones.

Come Monday morning I made my delivery. On my way to Holt, I got offered a load heading right to San Antonio. It was a light no tarp load that was paying just O.K. and since a few "things" have been falling apart at the house I went ahead and agreed to it. Once I was empty, I bounced down to the Loves in Dallas while I waited on the agent to get back with me on the details of the load. By noonish I called the agent only to be told he just heard back from the shipper and it got covered by someone else oh boy, here we go again.

At 2pm with no luck on any loads I was interested in, I decided to grab some gears and bounce home.

Got home Monday evening and immediately started tackling some of these issues at the house. In addition, I have been taking care of a few maint. issues on my truck such as getting my LS 120 day inspection done, replacing all the drive shocks, replacing a broken lock on my tractor side box as well as a few other odds and ends that I had been putting off. Tomorrow I will head over to Peterbilt and get an overhead service/PM done. They are offering the overhead service, oil change, oil filter, fuel filter, tractor lube, and what they call a 21 point inspection for $300 out the door. Supposedly it's a $400 savings.

If all goes well I will head back out on Monday of next week, until then it's "home work" by day and cold beer by night.

[allan5oh]

That's a very good price for that service.