I don't want to use chains either but if it pays.. There was an article in the paper the other day saying you don't get rich doing what you love you get rich doing what others don't like. I think it was in the USA Today.

I'm freezing as it is right now in Montana. I bought a hat last night but I don't have winter clothes; I don't even really own pants as I wear shorts all year round mostly. This APU only goes up to 86 I wish it would go higher. I need to logon to WearGuard and buy some good thermals. I don't even know if they are still around.

Making good time and want to be there by tomorrow night so I can reset my hours on monday and get another load after I deliver on Tuesday.

No_worries I alway look at the fuel price after discounting the state tax but I don't understand something. Michigan supposedly has &.304 tax but when I fueled up the other day I got 63.776 gallons and it says state road tax came to $9.57. well $.304 times 63.776 comes to $19.387. What am I figuring wrong here?

So far I have spent (I started with a half tank) $819.86 and have a full tank and have about just under 1,000 miles left.

I find myself mostly fueling at the Flying J. I think it was Mike3 who said that he finds the places that don't charge extra for the use of credit card and I have done that too, but the problem is that a lot of times they don't code the purchase right and I only get 1% back and then I have to pay anywhere from $6.50 to $9.00 for a shower so that eats up the savings.

One more thing I am having trouble with, I notice when it is real cold the tire pressure reads very low. When it says "cold" on the tire I don't think they mean freezing like it is now. When I was in Wyoming a few weeks ago, I woke up and checked the tire pressure and it was low, so I figure when I get to the Flying J in Rock Springs where I was going to reset my hours, I would let them get cool again and then air them up. Well when they got cool again they didn't drop to the early morning pressure as it was now noon and wasn't so cold out. So I'm not sure, I mean early morning in the freezing cold is not a true reading I assume? I think I am going to buy those cat's eyes things. I didn't want to spend the money, but it's too cold to be out here airing up all these tires.

Rock Springs for a reset....YUCK!! :sad:

try stopping a cabellas they have awesome cold weather clothes.

tootie

I wouldn't worry about any notation on the receipt as to the amount of the road tax, it's irrelevant. When your tax person calculates your tax all they'll take off the receipt is the number of gallons. My guess is MI maybe has some multi-tiered allocation of fuel taxes whereby some goes to road tax and some goes into other pots. Purely speculation on my part 8) Don't worry about it.

As far as tire pressures go, everything I've come across on the subject says the most important thing is to make sure your tires are at the recommended pressure when cold, regardless of the ambient temp. Cold air will cause the pressure to decrease so you need to account for that. For instance, you start your day in 70 degrees and the pressure is fine. The next morning (after sitting all night so the tires are "cold") the ambient temp is 35 and your pressure is 5 lbs low. At this point you should add air to bring the tires up to the correct pressure. That pressure is calculated to allow the tire to keep its shape through normal temp variations during driving. Technically, the opposite is true. If you go from cold to warm temps, your pressure may be a little higher. You can certainly adjust, although it's not as important. It's preferable to error on the high side than the low. So, check your pressures after the truck has been sitting for several hours and add as much air as needed to bring it to the recommended pressure, regardless of the ambient temp. You'll probably find that you'll be needing to add air much more often when you go into colder temps, but it pays off in terms of tire life.

This is just the sum of what I've been told and researched. If anyone else finds info suggesting otherwise, by all means post it. I in no way consider this to be the final word on the subject. There should be an industry recommended practices paper, but I can't find it.

Try making it to Little America down the road. It's wicked nice. Get a whole roasted chicken and a coke and you'll be in a coma for the rest of your reset!!! Free ice cream cones too.

Merrick, if you have an APU you can buy an electric 110v heater like I have and it will heat the cab up BIG TIME. Most APU's will tell you to plug the block heater in or put a load on the APU so it puts out more heat. I get my electric heater out at night and plug it in so in the morning I just reach down and turn the switch on after I start up the APU. It takes a while for the APU to put out some real heat so the electric heater really gives you a jump start.

I would suggest going online and ordering a flannel shirt from LL Bean and it will be waiting for you when you get home. They also have awesome flannel lined jeans too. LL Bean also carries the Mad Bomber Hat. It's lined with Rabbit fur. You look like a total geek but it is the warmest hat in the world. When it's 10 below and the wind is 30mph you'll be the envy of every trucker.

Just one more note on the subject. This is what I have for winter.

One piece snow mobile suit.
Mad Bomber hat
Ski mittens, not gloves with fingers. Mitts are much warmer
Snow mobile boots
Silk long johns
flannel shirts
scarf
Ski goggles

I'm a warm weather guy myself...those lined jeans rock! 8)

[quote="SteveBooth"]I'm pretty sure some state require you to actually posses chains even if there isn't any snow yet. quote]



Most of the western states have chain requirements during certain times of the year. It will vary from one state to another. They will sometimes check to see that you have the correct number of chains on the truck. Colorado just raised their fines for not having chains.

That's why I hung my chains in plain view so it would be just one less reason for them to pull me over.

I also found that my chains are nice and clean. They must be getting sand blasted from my tires. When I kept them in the storage bin they got all rusted up.

well Merrick et al super truckers
when you are sitting on the side of the road and wrestling with your chains
There are guys with their own authority
doing 65 mph on a clear hiway

You should have enough sense
to realize that you don't push winter
you just want to survive winter with the least amount of
white knuckle driving
Its going to come anyway
It is a time to just break even until spring
Talk to any experience otr o/o
and you will here the same reply
"if it requires chains, I am not going"
But then again if you are slapping chains thats one less reefer load I have to compete with.
You guys go ahead and run the Rocky Mtns in the winter
I will enjoy reading about the nightmares
I will be home watching TV

Ain't that the truth. Tarped short haul LTL in the northeast all winter long......MMMMMM.

Sonny with all due respect, I'm not a super trucker, and I'm just figuring out how to do things out here. If you want the truth, the first time I drove a truck in the snow was on a pickup in Lawrence, MA. I think I made it from Lawrence to the NY/NJ border in like 11 hours. As I was making $.28 a mile I was cursing the whole world throughout the day.

Actually I drove through the Rockies in worse snow and it wasn't nearly, to me anyway, as bad as it was that first trip in Mass. I know that doesn't make sense but all I can say my winter memerories are summed up with me getting up on a cold dark Sunday morning and pushing a shopping cart full of Boston Globes and making my deliveries at the age of 12 or so. So maybe it was being in Mass in the winter again, I don't know or that it seemed in Colorado everyone respected the weather conditions and in Mass and up to NY they were driving crazy and causing me more grief (several spinouts happened right in front of me).

I don't know what I am going to do in the winter as really I had not much of a plan when I got this truck as I was going to learn from this other guy which turned out not to be how I thought. But nonetheless I have the truck and am going to make this work.

Tootie, yes Rock Springs wasn't where I wanted to be on my reset but I had a load anyway so I never leave the truck unattened while loaded. When I was with the company I use to rent a car and go sightseeing but things are different now. As you know I respectfully disagree with the hobby trucker label but if people must make those distinctions I am not one of them anyway.

Steve, I got a good laugh picturing you in all those clothes. I like the Mad Bomber hat and the ski goggles. That must be a sight. You however are running a flat so I guess you need all that stuff more. I REALLY like the idea of hanging the chains where they are in plain sight. I do my utmost to keep away from the DOT. Actually I noticed on Safer Web that the roadside inspection Level II I had showed up and he made the comment that I was due for one, so I'm wondering if I am going to have the first year inspection that you all have had.

No_worries, I might contact the tire company. It's frustrating trying to get definitive answers from people. The problem I have and as I ask a lot of questions in general, is that it is tough to find people that really know. Most people answer when they really don't know. Whenever I ask someone something and they say they don't know I always thank them for being honest. I mean if I'm in a bank and I ask a banking question for example.

I saw an ad for something called TMC Recommended and Practice Manual but it looked expensive. Has anyone read this thing? I got aggravated enough once that I filed a Pro Se lawsuit and these practice and procedure books in law anyway were helpful.

By the way here's another thing I'm wondering. When I come down these mountains in 9th gear for instance, the rpm's are going up to about 1900 which from what I was told I should never let the truck go too much more than 1500 (I'm in a ex Covenant Freightliner fleet truck). I asked this guy I was working with and he said the jake brake works better in a higher rpm but I'm worried about doing some sort of damage. I just came down Lookout Pass this morning and I had the truck only going about 35 mph so the rpm's weren't has high.

So I guess the thing is to go slower, but I am usually going so slow that these other guys are whipping by me. Now I know not to concern myself with the other people, but I don't want to be going so slow that I am a hazzard. That is why before I just kept it in 9th and was going at what I felt was a safe speed, but like I said the rpm's shot up. Any thoughts on this?

By the way, my wife got in touch with the cousin that brought that girl over to my house who worked for a logistic and cold storage company in Ecuador. I will be sending you a PM anyway No_worries once I reach my stop cause I want to discuss more this flower issue.

As far as going down hills, I find the gear that allows me to descend without touching the brakes and that's what I use. I could care less about going too slow. Throw the flashers on, there's a passing lane. Isn't there a 35 mph speed limit on Lookout? I can't remember, but at 80,000 lbs I throw it into 6th or 7th and cruise down somewhere between 30-35, never touch the brakes. You can run your RPM's well above 1500 and that IS what you want to do when using the Jake. Every engine has a RPM limit that you shouldn't exceed. I'd check with a Detroit tech and find out yours. My Cummins is somewhere around 2000. I don't exceed 1850. Most guys will descend and stab the brakes once the road speed or RPM get too high. My preference is to drop one more gear or whatever it takes so that the Jake will hold the speed and I don't have to brake. To each his own, I'm never in that much of a hurry 8)

TMC is the maintenance council put together by the ATA. The various maintenance guys there put their collective heads together and come up with these guidelines. It's good information but, as you found, it isn't cheap. If you're not satisfied with the information you find on your own, talk to a reputable tire shop (not a TS) or call or email a manufacturer. They should give you an answer.

I'm looking at the loadboards and this truckloadrate.com site and I'm thinking that the smart thing to do would be to get a shorter load to California or Idaho and then back to the East Coast.

I came out here for cheaper then I should have and have no intention of going back so cheap. I admit I got nervous and jumped the gun so I will relax for a few days and wait if I need to. I don't need to haul for fuel nor do I have payments to worry about.

Maybe it will be good to write down here the different rate offers I get. We'll see what this waiting does.

Work your way back to Floriduh.... Remember it all adds up at the end of the day. Remember to make contacts at the shippers and receivers you go to, so you do not have to follow and rely on brokers.

I gotcha
what you have to keep in mind
going west to east with a reefer
in winter
no one cares about your snow delay
being a day late with perishables
can be very costly

Thanks BigDiesel. You know I was thinking I can sit and wait but wait for what? I mean I obviously need a goal, as they say goals you set are goals you get.

So I mean what the hell, lets set a goal for me to get back to Miami. I'm thinking no less then $1.70 on all miles. What do you think?

By the way, I'd like to time this right. When does produce start in Florida? Obviously the rates are going to fall at that point and I want to get in there right before they fall.

I do talk to all these people at these places too, but I need to make up some business cards or something.

I actually was thinking of calling on shippers but it's hard when you are a one truck operation or at least it seems that way to me. I mean I assume they want some type of commitment and obviously I don't know where I'll be from time to time. Unless I get a load from point A and then find a shipper at point B back to point A.

Merrick...Out of the Puget Sound there are a couple different types of reefer freight. Fish is the largest commodity, then beef, then poultry. Your gonna hop over into Central WA for fruit, Wenatchee, Selah/Yakima or the Tri-Cities. You will also get beef out of the Tri-Cities.

You will find diapers and toilet paper coming out of Everett, but the crafts paper in Tacoma, probably you are to heavy, what with a reefer.

You will find diapers and toilet paper coming out of Everett,[/quote]

New or used. :lol:


If you can fit cars on your trailer they pay good. Unless you run into Aswego. He runs for .79 cpm on backhauls to CA.

Should have stayed right where I was but made it to the Flying J at Tacoma. What a nightmare.

Anyway the calls have begun. TQL had a load going from Oregon, I think he said Portland to Boca which is 10 minutes from home. I think he said the miles were 3200 and it was paying $4900. He said it was covered anyway but he took my number just in case (though I don't want it anyway)

Next called H&M and they had a load out of Seattle going to Benton Harbor, MI which is a good area paying $3300. The miles he said were I believe 2150 or $1.53 a mile but I would have to be paying this expensive fuel again and for the reefer now too so I politely said no thanks.

Thats all for now I'll keep udating

I just called on one going from Tacoma, Wa to Miami just to see what they would say. She answered Bon Jour so I said Bon Jour como sa va? and she said sa va bien et twa and I said tre bien and then I ran out of my french words. They were in Cananda

They wanted to know if I was bonded as the load is eventually going to Mexico. Anyone know what that means?

Another call. From Kent to Monroe Township, NJ a light load which he kept selling that point and the most he could do is $3900. That came to $1.36.

I politely declined but was asking as I always do where is he strong out of etc.

By the way he said he has been moving them all lately for $3800 and I said I gueess someone always needs to get home. Told him I would be here if he still needed something in the next day or too and wished him well.

By the way state of mind is important, I mean if you are anxious you might take something cheap. I got the $1.70 cause I was mad at the bs I was going through and then got this cheap rate out here cause I was nervous about officially being on my own.

Now I'm like whatever, I'm in cloudy Tacoma (Give me a bright sunny day everyday) you wouldn't believe what I had to do to park here (well of course you all do cause you all go through it. I helped a guy back in so he did the same for me.

I just need to go find my iced coffee, relax, deliver this tomorrow and then back to work. I'm nowhere near panic mode. People on this board say sit, and I believe in the people on this board, so I'll sit. You hear that GMAN, I'm taking one for the team if I have to :D

I've seen that load to NJ on the board for a week...unless it's a new load each day. There's one on the board right now to Houston for $4000.

I can't get out of Houston I don't think so anyway. I don't know there might be a hint of panic going on, I am starting to think the one back to Benton Harbor might have looked pretty good especially as I know I can get $2.00 or more back to Florida.

Ok I am going to fight it, I will get out of this truck and go find my iced coffee. Take a breather.

Hey No_worries actually a bunch of spots open here but you need to come in the right way or it's blind back which I tried but couldn't do :oops: Either way I aint moving.

I've got a broker that moves AC components out of Houston into FL :wink: If you get to Houston I'll give you the name. Can't guarantee anything, of course, but faced with the other options I might take the chance.

The J usually opens up from mid-morning to early afternoon. Trucks will be moving in and out of there for awhile, just keep a lookout, lol. The MI one wouldn't be terrible if you can get to FL for $2. If you get a spot check your PM's, you'll have a place to eat 8)

Make sure you put your concrete barrier up at that rat hole!! :wink:

aint no way I could park there....we go to the casinos south of you a few miles and park there.

tootie

If you're still having trouble finding a spot, go back toward the freeway and hang a left on that main road. A block or two down on the right is a Jack in the Box and right behind that, a casino. On the south side of the casino parking lot, right behind the Jack in the Box, they usually let trucks park. Only space for 6 or 8 but in the middle of the day you can often find a spot. You're close enough that you can still walk over to the J for a shower if you want...and you're closer to the restaurants :lol:

Ok I'm frozen. Yes I got a spot and just walked about a mile in the rain and cold in my short pants to get the iced coffee. I saw the PM N_W thanks. I think I ate at one of the burger places.

I just called on a load going from Auburn, WA to Boise, ID. 492 miles and he said it paid $700 or $1.42. I said no thanks. I was hoping for more than that. OF course I can get better freight out of Boise than here.

I called this other broker I know, several actually, and he asked if I need an advance. I said no. I think he was going to double broker it but as long as I get a good rate I don't care but he never called back.

Ok just called another going from Kent to Boca but it's a partial load so only pays $1750. I guess if I could pick up stuff along the way it would be ok but I don't know anything about that.

Still waiting on the anwer to the bonded question? Anyone? Bueller? btw that teacher from that movie is one smart guy. I think he's an economist and just came out with a book.

I'll say one thing, this place aint chicago or Michigan.

I'll take a stab. Normally freight must clear customs at the border. However, there are bonded warehouses inland where freight can be received and go through the customs clearing process, eliminating possible delays at the border. Only bonded carriers are allowed to bypass border customs in order to deliver to these inland bonded warehouses.

Also, loads that P/U and deliver outside the country but travel through the country en route, may only be hauled by a bonded carrier. For instance, a load going from Detroit to Buffalo via Canada would have to go via a carrier bonded in Canada. The same holds true for a load going from Vancouver, BC to Mexico. The carrier would have to be bonded in the U.S. This is most likely the situation you came across. The load is in a bonded warehouse in WA, coming either via bonded carrier from BC or ship from some other origin, and needs to go to Mexico.

You must register for and receive designation as a bonded carrier which is contingent on obtaining the required bond from an insurance or bonding company. Normally the goods would be held at the border until the duties have been paid by the importer. Since you're bypassing the border customs, the bond serves as the guarantee that the duties will be paid. A single truck needs a bond of $5000 in Canada. I don't know what the bond level in the U.S. is nor how much a $5000 customs bond would run.

Thanks N_W. Well today didn't go to well. I guess this was what Steve was talking about cause they didn't want to hear negotiating and just wanted poor rates. I'll sit here for the team but reality has to kick in sooner or later. Either I will get a good rate or I won't. I'm thinking of deadheading to Portland, I think there's better freight there.

Any opinions?

Before deadheading out you may want to just check the freight in Portland. You could always post your truck for that area to see what happens. Freight coming out of Washington State is usually pretty pitiful. You may want to look at running down I-5. Rates tend to be higher running North and South on the left coast. Doing LTL's is another way to make more money. It does take more work to put the right freight together. It is a matter of deciding what you want to do. You will usually do better if you aren't in a hurry to get back home. The longer runs to the Southeast are usually not going to pay as well as to other areas. You may also want to think about running to Chicago and then finding something heading South.

While freight running from CA to the NW pays well, you won't find much headed south paying much over a buck a mile, at least for vans and reefers. I wouldn't be in a hurry to head to Portland. The Yakima Wenatchee area is generally one of your best bets for reefers in WA. Where you're sitting right now is pretty much equidistant from Yakima and Portland. Remember, you're only 2+ hours from either of those spots and you're already sitting in Seattle. Basically you're smack in the middle of the prime freight area for the NW. There's no reason you can't book a load in Portland and then DH there. Just be aware of the time and when you're talking about the load say you're truck will be available 3 hours in the future. They don't need to know you're DHing so far. If you DH to Portland then you cut your available freight search by 1/3.

Is your passenger mirror adjustable from the drivers seat? If so, position it all the way out to the right and you will become a pro at blind side backing with some practice. You still need to G.O.A.L.

If you want the Kent WA to Monroe Twp NJ, I can pm you the shipper and receiver phone contacts and you can go shipper direct.

Just real quick as I want to go shower, I was in doing my laundry and talking with some guy. He spoke almost no English and was out here running around and didn't even no about the fuel tax. Ignorance is a killer out here.

Anyway I got a load of apples out of Yakima. I messed up cause I had a short load from Kent to Yakima and by the time I got the load wrapped up in Yakima the short one was gone. I'm going to Gray Court, SC for $4400. They had one to Orlando for a little over $5,000 but it worked out to less per mile and from SC I will get a good load to Miami.

N_W do I have to run the reefer on continuous for apples? This is what happens I guess when you don't know what you are doing. I got a good load out of Idaho Falls so I figured I'd go farther and get even more money. I looked before I came here and there looked like ample freight but now I found out this isn't one of the areas that you sit and wait like I could in Chicago.

I say this honestly cause I know people are following this who want to get into this and obviously being so naive as I was makes me look dumb but what the hell, everyone has been so helpful and have been a big help.

Sonny posted that you can lose your shirt out here so I will put down all my foolishness as I am generally an honest person as it is. Fortunately I have the money issue taken care of so that offsets all this ignorance I am showing in other aspects.

So in the end I learned CHECK FUEL PRICES OF WHERE YOU ARE GOING and then I learned just don't look to see if there are loads coming out of someplace. There is more to it than that. What kind of loads and where to?

You know another thing, last week I heard an interview of the Governor of Washington on CNBC and she was talking about how much produce comes out of here. I had no idea. But of course it all comes in cycles. So I guess that played into my great idea to come out here.

Anyway I really appreciate all the help. If it means anything, I just printed out the fuel tax rates from etrucker.com and handed it to this guy and explained how to buy fuel. It serves none of us any good when people are out here not knowing what they are doing this is why GMAN I guess spends so much time explaining things to people. We all benefit in the end which is a good thing.

Thannks agains and thanks N_W for all your help too it is very much appreciated.

Merrick I think you're doing a great job. People need to know how tough it is to make a living at this game.

Thats not a bad rate for end of season apples, considering that the railroad got in to the valley this year, and minimal dh miles.

End of season. You see this is the stuff I need to know. How can it be end of season if I didn't even know the season started? :)

Actually the guy that got me the load use to be the head guy over at CH Robinson SE Produce division and now has his own brokerage. Man does he talk and I'm glad he does. I called him for a load the other day and he never called me back so I just kept calling.

Thanks Rank for the kind words. I do everything in life by "what's smart" or not. For instance if you can't pay your rent then it's "not smart" to be paying for DirectTv.

So it's not smart to buy a truck and trailer and amble about the country looking for work. (for what I am seeking in life anyway.) I need to know when the season starts, when it ends and all the other little things which will come in time. So now when I get out here and I see the freight isn't so good in this part of the state I realize what I did.

Anyway to sum it all up this is a business and there needs to be some type of plan other than I'll get a truck and go to work. I realize the money isn't in the truck it's in the freight.

I must of missed this one before, just saw it now. Thanks LoadIT anwyway but I got a load.

Let me ask you something though, I notice a lot that you mention direct contact with shippers. It it safe to assume that the money will ALWAYS be better that way? and considerably so?

By the way, I can blind back. My first job out of school we had to blind back everyday into the dock but that was a while ago and also I hate doing it when there are trucks sitting there waiting for you to finish.