Since you are in the area I think I promised you a coffee at the being of the year. I didn't forget and I hope you didn't lol. I will pm you my number so you can call me and we can meet. I work local driving a propane truck all day so I will be around and can take my lunch when I want. So give me a call and we can meet so I can say hi.

George

Hey George,

Got your number and will give you a call. Tootie frootie and her hubby will probably be there also. I'll be at the Jubitz truck stop. I was going through Nebraska on 80 I think it was and there was a sign on the side of the road, 1280 miles to the Jubitz truck stop!!!!

That's way out of my area and it's that lowly flatbed freight. But I'll give it a shot anyway.
I'll get you some profit and make that lazy truck driver in you work a little bit. How about tarping 4 picks and 4 drops? What's my cut?

5% and don't stick me in down town Chicago or N.Y City!!!

But you're OK with the tarps + the 4 and 4? Yikes I was only kidding. :)

I'll post your truck for wed and we'll see what happens. You better show up tho.....don't want my 100% on time record blemished.

:)

Oh, good about the 4 picks and drops. I wasn't able to refuse of I would lose face on here ya know.

I'll be there. Never been late in my entire extensive career!!!

Stevie.... C'mon what are your rates from the Rose City... I don't know jack about flatbed, but I could get you and your tourist cheerleaders $2.00+FSC by opening the yellow pages..... Listen to the Rev, GMAN and even myself if you want to make real money.....

Steve I have PM'd you some shippers in WA with flatbed loads going back EAST.

Yup, got your PM and the leads, thanks a lot!!!

Got to give the old Ranker a shot first though. He'll make enough off the commission to take the family to Chucky Cheese. Or is that Le Chuka Cheeso in Canada there.

C'mon Steve...

Downtown Chicago is a breeze.

I delivered a load of drywall to a place called Lee Lumber last week.

I get in front of the place to find out 18 wheels just don't fit in their teeny little "yard" :shock:

Most of their deliveries are brought in on straight trucks.

I made it work. (although I probably pissed off several dozen fourwheelers while i backed half a block into a dead-end side street... :D )

Hey don't worry about me. Go get a shipper. Our currency is so high I can afford TWO hot dogs at Chez Chuck now.

:)

GEEZUS H, that's all I need to hear!!!

Right behind ya there steve....The "tourist Cheerleaders" are on the way to Portland OR!! We will be there Wed I think and will unload Wed afternoon or Thursday morn. Then we will take our time and find a good load back. :wink: If not, then we will do some short runs out there for a few weeks. We will not be in a hurry to find a load.....since we are the "tourists" we have to take a few days off for sight seeing in OR and WA!! 8)

I found this load out and it paid 1.80 a mile so not bad I dont think!! :wink: That was the FIRST load I have EVER found on my own. It was not so bad. I let our freight god do the talkin g though.

well, be careful and drive safe!! see ya soon

tootie

Tootie, Are you guys running your own authority now, finding your own loads?
Or are you still with Diamond or what? Who are your freight gods you refer to?
Lost track of things since you got rid of the second truck.
Steve

I may be gone by the time you guys get in. I plan to head out Wed so I should be able to put something together on

I'm in Idaho Falls right now at the Flying J waiting to get my truck washed. There is some jerk off in one of those parachute things flying over head shooting cheese balls at my truck.

I plan to shut down in Boise today around 3 then head into Washington tomorrow and drop my load off then head to Jubitz for a day off.

Steve,
After a year of doing this, are you happy with the decision to buy a flat bed?
Would a step deck been of any more or less value or is the flat doing just fine?
Just curious.
Steve

I sure hope you meant that your in Twin Falls...not Idaho Falls...or did ya just want to go out of route to see the spud cellars?

Ya, Twin Falls. I kept losing my connection and was trying to type fast before they finished washing my truck.

Outta Here,

If I knew then what I know now, I WOULD DO IT ALL AGAIN THE SAME WAY!
Flatbed is just fine for me and I like it a lot. I delivered onions once to a loading dock and didn't like it at all. Having to pay lumpers, the tight backing in and just everything in general with other people jockeying for position.

Everyone loves to see a flatbed coming and it always seems to be something special that they are waiting for. It's almost always one on one service and everything is personal.

There was a guy on the CB here at the truck stop selling his CB for $35 bucks. It sounded great and someone pulled off the highway right away and said they would buy it. Before the guy got here he asked why he was selling it and he said he ran into mechanical problems and was hungry. This guy was sincere. A bunch of us offered to give him money but he wouldn't take it. Felt pretty bad.

that's trucking.

not if your prepared

Steve,
What I meant was I know you love flatbed, I think I'd be the same way. But over the year have you ever said to yourself, I wish I had a step deck for this load or would a step deck been of more or less value to you. Would a step deck have gotten you any better loads or don't you pay that much attention?
Steve

Steve where the hell do you park here in Washington? I'm heading to Kent. I am going to try the Flying J in Tacoma in the AM. I should have stayed at the one at exit 109 but even though I don't have to be there til Tuesday I can't relax until I'm near where I need to be. The T/A at exit 34 was full. I'm in front of some bar now and guess will stay here til morning. (Outside of it I mean; I don't drink)

Washington? I thought you were looking for a load out of Portland?

That is so sad. I feel for the guy.

I ran out of fuel, I missed my stop and forgot to stop again LOL, on night in eastern OR and the minute I got on the CB I had a lot of people help. So I pulled in to a rest stop as my truck sputtered in and out and it took knocking on windows at night in a rest stop for 20 minutes to get some help. Final I got a guy who pulled bucket load out of his truck to help my get off to a fuel stop down the road. He was from twin falls driving his in las cab over. What was really messed up was I had no cash only credit card with me. LOL O the good times I don't miss.
All the company drivers I asked were like hell no I ain't giving you any fuel. It was the low point of my trucking career as an OO. That was the last load my truck pulled......

I'm gonna go watch some tv now on my nice warn couch and get ready for work tomorrow. We get to have a safety meeting a Elmer's in the AM! Yahoo! free breakfast and were getting paid for being there. I really don't miss my truck on days like that.

I was at the reststop this morning a few miles from Idaho in Montana. I was releasing the air from the airdryer and this guy came up to me and said something about me being from Florida. Turns out he was from South Florida too. He had a German accent so it was hard to understand him but he was driving a pickup with a nice RV behind it. I guess he has a job pulling those things. He told me he just lost his house last month in a foreclosure.

He sleeps in the back of the pickup and makes anywhere from a $1.00 a mile to $1.13 which when you think of it, he must be getting a hell of a lot more mpg then we do. Then in Post Falls, ID I think it was, I noticed somemore pickups with what looked like the same company on the side and pulling RV's. A lot of sad stories out here I guess.

I am. I'm just delivering over the border into Washington then heading back to Portland to the Jubitz truck stop.

I really don't know because I've never checked the load boards for anything other than a flatbed.

Not sure where to park. I'm just heading in to unload then back into Portland to the Jubitz truck stop.

ok gotcha. Taking Tues off & ready to load Wed AM?

Yup, I could load Tuesday. I'm ahead of schedule so I'm unloading this morning instead of tomorrow morning.

I'm only about 200 miles away. It's 9:30 my time but 6:30 their time. Just had a little snooze, having coffee then off I go for the last leg. The temperature dropped like a rock while I was sleeping.

That Flying J is a NIGHTMARE come true merrick. If you find a parking place be sure to put up concrete barriers so no one hits your truck!! That is the WORST place to park I have EVER seen. We sat there for 4 days once and saw no less than 6 wrecks in the parking lot. :shock: :shock:

There is a casino south of there about 17 miles or so I think....there is a Home Depot across from it. That is where we park up there now.

tootie

Only one call for your truck today. Wanted you to go to somehwere in Cali.

I only had time to call on one. Vancouver, WA to Newton, MA. Very few dead miles in that trip....50 dead to puckup and 50 to your hometown. Too bad it only paid $3460 on 3025 (their) miles. We were both laughing at the same time on the phone. Jones Motor Group. 12,000 lbs, tarp, 1 pick 2 drops.

That's a crappy freight area you've got yourself into. I'll stick to the northeast thanks.

Actually it wasn't that bad. Plenty of open spots during the day but tight to get into. Fortunately I had a guy to help me as I helped him.
I would have stayed where I was last night but I wanted to do laundry.

I have to say I don't like it here too much. Too cold, too crowded. I don't know who it is on this board from Montana, I think Brian but that was one hell of a place. I don't think I'd want to be there in the winter though, but I love that place.

I'm parked at the Jubitz truck stop in Portland. I've heard about this place but it's not really that special to me. If it hadn't been for the fact that my GPS knew how to get here there is no way I would have been able to find it. I asked on the CB when I was close but everyone said they couldn't give directions, you just had to follow someone once if you can. Now I see why.

The place I dropped the crane off at what a warehouse built in the 1920's. It was all made out of the most massive wood beams I've ever seen. The place was empty and you could have parked a 747 in there and turned it around. It was pretty cool to say the least. Once again, personal attention when driving that flatbed. They want what you have and they are waiting for you.

I got a call from TQL to haul a load from here to the Bronx. They said it was real good money but I didn't even want to know. No way am I going there.

Thanks for the tips that everyone sent me in PM's. I think gcal is showing up today for coffee. Too bad Tootie and Bo are so slow driving or they would be here also. I think they stopped off for some leaf festival. Damn tourist truckers.

I'm taking it easy today doing laundry and pretty much just hanging out. I'll try and setup a load today and give those numbers a try that everyone sent me. I'm sure the day my truck shows up as available the phone will start to ring.

The border of Portland and Washington is so much like New Hampshire it's not funny. It's like I'm home and driving down the road. The forest is the same as at home, so dense you can't walk through it and vegetation growing everywhere.

I tell ya folks, every time I hit that little button on my Rigmaster control panel for heat in the morning I smile for getting it.

There's an 54,000lb X 12' wide step deck load going from Tacoma to Memphis. They need a flat also to take some of the overflow (don't know if the flat is OD) but they're trying to get two trucks from the same company. I told them you are 3 hours away I gave them your number just in case.

150DH to PU
2400 loaded.

OD permits are likely $50/state = $300
weight permits are usually $.03/ton*mile = $300

OK Rank, thanks.

Just sitting here watching TV and everyone trying to get out of there parking spots. This is the tightest truck stop I've ever seen and not laid out very good. Many trucks have no way of getting out unless other people move. I'm just waiting for the guy in back of me to ask me to pull out so he can get out. There is no way he can back up unless people behind him move.

I just helped a guy with a car carrier get a car back on his trailer. It fell off the back and was hanging there. He was able to go down the entry to the truck wash which is real steep and we were able to back it off. There was damage to the under carriage of the car. Nice new Chrysler 300.

There was trouble last night at the fuel pumps. Not sure what prompted it but one guy was yelling at another one. The other guy was calm and just turned and started walking away. The other guy grabbed him and hit him. The guy didn't go down, didn't phase him and walked to his truck and I could see him on the phone. 5 minutes later the cops showed up. They took statements from me and other people. Arrested him, towed his truck and trailer and he went to jail. I asked the cop what would happen. He said he would be charged with assault and will spend the night in jail or until he could arrange bail.

I've seen this happen a few times in my life. You just can't hit anyone, there is no excuse, you go to jail and now have a criminal record. The other guy was the smart one. He did nothing and got the last laugh.

You're saying he didn't back into his parking spot? :roll:
I always thought Jubitz was pretty easy to maneuver in, you should have parked with Merrick in Tacoma
:lol:

There are blue signs starting at the exit pointing the way into Jubitz. Too late for you but at least others will know.

If you head out of OR on I84 you'll be in for one of the best drives in the country through the Gorge. Hood River is my home area.

I'm parked in the very back to the right when you pull in. There are trucks up against the wall of a building in back of the trucks that are in back of me. I did have to pull up about 100 feet so he could get out. Many of the spots are not big enough to fit a standard truck and they hang over the lines by like 15 feet. Not all spots are like that but many are.

I did come through the gorge on 84 and it was pretty darn nice. Do you know what that stone building is on top of one of the big huge rock formations? Looks like a fortress or something.

It's just a fancy scenic viewpoint :lol:

http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_150.php

Well, did you get loaded driver?