12/21-27/07
Not much has been going on lately but I thought I would give a quick update. I am currently still at home relaxing and enjoying the holiday season with my family. Christmas was great with a few close friends and family coming over for dinner.

Every morning I tune into the news and am thankful that I am here at home in southern Texas instead of out there on the road in some of those snowy/icy areas. Unfortunately my time here at home will end soon and I will once again be back in the thick of things.

I finalized (finally) all the paper work on the truck and trailer that I am buying. It has been a long drawn out process that has taking a LOT longer than I expected. I am told that the long process is normal for a first time buyer and that things get smoother and faster the 2nd time around.

I am still planning on leaving home on the 2nd of January and heading up to Kansas City, MO to pick up the equipment and take back to Missoula. I am anticipating having to spend a few days there while they inspect the truck & trailer, install some things such as a headache rack and inverter, etc and of course once all that is done I expect there may be a day or two waiting for a load.

I am confident that the New Year will be prosperous for my family and me and am actually looking forward to getting back out there on the road.
I also want to wish everyone a very Happy, Safe and Prosperous New Years!!!! :P

 

Hi DD... I was wondering... Have you thought about giving a break down list of what the truck makes per load in your posts? Since we pretty much run the sameway I would like to see how it goes...for when I jump into O/Op.

I do the same as far as watching the weather....

thanks,
pb

 

sure....in fact, I'll kick it off by letting you know what I bought and how much it cost me. As you all know I did not do the LP deal with Davis, but instead went out and secured my own financing and bought the following from a dealer in Kansas City, MO.

The total price for both "out the door" (including warranty) was 51k. I put $11,250.00 down and it cost me an additional $1,160.00 in document and processing fees.

2001 Western Star 4964EX
590k
12.7/500hp
10spd
3.58 rears
244 wb
24.5 matched virgin rubber
all aluminum wheels
air slide 5th
dual 142gal tanks
(2yr/200k warranty)
Monthly payment=$730.00 for 48 months

2003 Transcraft Eagle II
48'x96"
aluminum/steel combo
air ride spread
all aluminum wheels
24.5 matched virgin rubber
3 boxes (1ea between spread and 1 on right center)
16 sliding winches
in deck chain tie downs
Monthly payment=$480.00 for 36 months

 

I have been off a week and I failed to give an update on my last load with Davis. I picked up in Chicago steel tubing that was going to Tacoma. I was relaying the load in Missoula, cleaning out the company truck, and headed home to Oregon in my pickup.

The product was in to 2 24' sections that was loaded very quickly with a large forklift. The rear section extended 30" over the end of my trailer. This should have been my first clue that there was problem, but I didn't catch it. Second, when I scaled the load at the shipper I got 35,500 lbs on the trailer axles as I move forward on the scale adding one axle set at a time. When I moved forward and only had the trailer axles on the scale I as at 33,800 lbs. I guess in my rush to get out of there and tried to beat Chicago traffic(I didn't :sad: ), I thought I had a good weight.

When I came to the South Dakota POE, I was, you guess it, 1600 lbs over on the trailer. I cost me a $180 fine and $280 for the tow company to move 1 bundle from the rear section to the top of the front section. When I pulled my tarp off the load to prepared to shift the load, I saw my mistake clearly. The rear section had 9 bundles thou only 2 were a full 24' long; The rest were about 20'. The shipper to balance the load on their forklift had even out each bundle so that their was a more than a 2' space in middle of the trailer in front of the rear section. I had to have seen this as I was up on the deck tarping the load. If I had been paying more attention to detail, then I should have had the shipper moved the shorter bundles forward on the trailer which probably would have made the load legal. An expensive lesson I learned. :sad:

The other issue was since the load was 30" over the end of the trailer, my metal tarp did not fully cover the load. I had several bundles sticking out exposed to the weather. The weather was clear for the first 3 days, but last it was snowing going over Homestake Pass. By the time I got to Missoula, there was road spray all over the back of the load. The relay driver, the yard boss, and I had to clean up the product and put another short tarp on the back of the trailer to cover the load. I felt I really failed the company and the other driver since it was my last load. I will have to be more diligent in the future.

With the trailer and relay done, I turned to cleaning out the truck. It is amazing how much stuff you can accumulate in a truck. I spent all afternoon and that evening getting everything into my pickup. I strapped my ladder to the top of the shell. Everything was just piled into the shell, but I did get it all into the pickup.

On Saturday morning, the truck was inventoried, inspected, and I handed over the keys. I said my goodbyes and drove over to Spokane where I stayed with a friend. Sunday afternoon, I drove to Portland and home. It was snowing in Spokane Saturday night and Sunday, and in the Columbia River Gorge it was raining very hard. In fact, the wind was blowing so hard, that my driver side mirror bracket kept getting pushed backwards and I had to kept rolling down the window to adjust. Very frustrating. :evil:

Now, I have been home all week. I enjoyed a Christmas Eve dinner at my friend's house, and on Christmas Day we deliver pies and had dinner at a home for those transitioning from living on the streets. I have repacked my pickup truck and it is ready to travel to my next job.

About my next job, I have an interview with a company on Monday. Based on how this interview goes, I will decide which offer to take. I have 2 other companies that want to me to start on January 7th, but I have been holding them off to meet with this other company. I will let everyone know my final decision.

After the interview on Monday, I am taking a roadtrip with my girlfriend to Vancouver Island in my Jeep Cherokee(The pickup truck is to move my personal effects and equipment to my job). We are going to take the ferry from Vancouver, BC to Nanaimo, BC and spend 3 nights on Vancouver Island. On the last day we will again take a ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles, WA and back to Oregon. Hopefully the weather up there will be good as this is not best time of the year to go.

I suppose if I am going to not be working with DD and I keep hijacking his blog, maybe I should start my own. I have to give it some thoughts while I am traveling to Canada. Until then, have a Happy New Year!!!

 

well it sounds like everyone is doin good...now wheres the darn pics....shesh some people i tell ya....lol

good luck on your next job danske....sorry i never got to meet ya....i think ....i never really know im terrible with names

 

Hey knuckles.......I got to pick the truck up first before I can post pics......shesh some people are thick headed I tell ya.....LOL


oh and btw, got your text a few days back........NICE :wink:

 

12/28/07-01/01/08
Wow, kind of hard to believe its 2008 already. Guess it’s true when they say that “time flies when you’re having fun”.

Anyways, over the past few days I have been busy knocking out my “Honey-Do” list and spent most of today tying up a few loose ends and getting all my crap together. Tomorrow (01/02) I will head up to the dealership in Kansas City, MO via rental car to pick up my equipment. From there it will be off to Missoula to get the truck inspected by Davis (and outfitted), sign a ton of paper work and who knows what else.

Hopefully I will not have to spend a whole lot of time there as I am ready to get back on the road and start this new endeavor.

I hope everyone has a Happy, Safe, and prosperous New year!!!!

 

My best to you in your new role as O/O devildice. I think you will do just fine. You have a positive attitude, the will and desire to succceed, and by the sounds of your posts, you are doing very well so far in this industry. Happy New Year and be safe.

 

Thank you very much, I truely appreciate yours and everyones elses "well wishes".....the positive thoughts mean a lot.

ironically, my family and friends, including my friends that are in the industry, all tell me the same thing you said about how I'll do fine because I have a positive attitude and a strong desire to succeed.

Thanks again!!!!

 

Chief

Best of luck on starting out on your own.

Have been following your adventure ever since the CFI board.

Just ran across this tonight. You may be interested in it to track your business records.
http://www.largosoftware.com/Trucker...InCab_1.3.html

BZ!

RD
Pensacola FL
MCPO USN ret.