From desk to own authority part 4
 

No, I didn't request my last thread to be locked down. I did on part 2 but that was because I screwed up the database pointers.

Got my serious physical exam this morning and getting pretty sick of being called in all the time for blood tests, 2 to 3 physicals per year, stress tests, EKG's and so on. When you have Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO I think the doctors see dollar signs and order up everything under the sun. I have nothing wrong with me other than slightly high blood pressure and also on the Lipitor.

I hope to be heading out on the road tomorrow although things are pretty slow here in New Hampshire and no cranes heading out this week. I'm bored out of my mind and there isn't anything I can do to the truck. We've been pounded by snow this week and the highlight or my day is going down to shovel off my flatbed. It warmed up a few days ago and the snow melted then froze and all the wheels of my truck and trailer were encased in ice and frozen to the ground. I had to take an axe and free all the wheels. I also had to take my snow chains and lay them on the ground to get out of the ruts.

I've found that you just can't leave your truck and trailer alone for a week while your home without taking care of stuff on a daily basis. If I didn't go down and brush all the snow off my ladder it would be encased in ice and the cat walk storage box would be also frozen shut.

We had a somewhat warm day yesterday and right now is 4 degrees outside so I'm sure something else will need to be addressed today. Once your rolling, YOUR ROLLING and everything is happy. I'm going to give my truck a womans name. They don't like to be ignored. Lets see, I wonder what name I could use????

I have a 60" side box on my trailer and had all these nice plastic storage boxes with everything stored real nice and sorted. Well, they are all in a million pieces and my stuff all over the place. The cold weather and constant pounding I'm guessing has caused them to shatter. So, back to Wally Mart and I'm going to replace the plastic with some type of rubber containers if they have some.

Well, hopefully I'll head out tomorrow with a load and can stay out for a while. Tootie always gives me crap for getting a load home.

Re: From desk to own authority part 4
 

Not sure if you are open to suggestions but I vote Abigail. Steve maybe you should get a list and then have a vote. To me Abigail is a good solid name, though I know Bertha is a good name if she is a cold beast(sorry to the Berthas out there), I have read your fond of Britney a bit rebellious though. Do any of these fit your truck?

Steve, you might think about getting one of those cheap tarps to wrap around your ladder. It will keep it clean and may help on the snow and ice.

Re: From desk to own authority part 4
 

It was sort of a joke. I thought 20 people would have replied, Paris. :lol:

I did have a tarp around it but it didn't last too long. It ended up getting chewed up by the wind and it was a pain to bungee it up.

Just got back from the doctors and got a clean bill of health and was taken off my blood pressure medicine and Lipitor was decreased to half the dose.
He attributes my blood pressure decrease to trucking instead of my old stressful job. I still have to keep my BP machine with me and write down the results.

Re: From desk to own authority part 4
 

Sorry Steve,

Thats right Paris, then you can take movies of you two and post them online :wink: :wink:

Re: From desk to own authority part 4
 

That is what I was gonna say!! :lol: :lol:

tootie

You are one of the FIRST Ive know to be taken OFF of BP meds because you are trucking :shock: . Most are put ON meds for driving!! :wink:

I was only border line. 140/90. Now I'm 117/76

I was always under a lot of pressure to meet deadlines at work and a few times when the pressure was on felt like I was going to pass out.

I know what you mean by stress....it CAN kill you. I was an EMT for 7 years or so and that is a VERY stressful job.

Livivng with Bo is stressful to but not quite that bad!! :wink: :wink:

tootie

I've always named vehicles...off of characterisitcs mainly..a couple of them were Vanessa for my lifted z71...cause it had big tires, and I used to be all hot and bothered for a Vanessa with...well, big tires...plus they were both sexy... I named my blue 5.0 Marvin..yea its a guys name but it seemed kinda fitting..I think of a Marvin as chubby, glasses and dorky..and just the contradiction was kinda funny...nothing dorky about a low 10 second street car with a roadrace suspension..im tossing around names for my 379, and im thinking Claudia...but your right...trucks are very tempermental and will let you know when they aren't happy with you!

I may have to vote to lock this one instead and reopen the other one. :lol:

You guys are acting like this site is some type of democracy.

How about naming your truck "HobbyHorse" , sorry couldnt resist :wink:

:lol: :lol: :lol: Even if I wasn't drunk, that would still be funny.

My truck is named Peter Bilt and my trailer is named U. Tility with her step-son Therm O. King.

I actually like that name!!!

You would :)

Hope you enjoy sweet talking your HobbyHorse. :D 8)

Now wait a minute BD , if the step son's last name is King and her name is Tility and trucks name is Bilt , there are some family issues you need to clear up. :wink:

Better to have more branches on the family tree than not enough! :shock:

True, but here in KY there are some trees as slick as a light pole.

:lol: :lol:

I think WonderWoman would be fitting, as she will compliment SuperMan, who is always riding along side trying to get some from WonderWoman as he flys down the road chasing the truck.
Correct color also.

Steve O,.....I was going to say Paris (but then your truck would sound like a skanky ho-bag),..of course,..but Hobbyhorse sounds better, and it has a neat ring to it. I've been calling mine Biggirl (after my dog who passed 2 years ago :cry: ), and it also seems to fit this big old lumbering beast.

I kind of like "Skanky Ho-Bag" for a name also. That has a nice ring too!

Well, lets see, where did I leave off since my encounter with Batman. I had my doctors appointment and was taken off blood pressure medicine and now dealing with the side effects of withdrawal making me feel sick. Should be over in a few days from what I was told.

Not much going on for load out of New Hampshire so I figured I would be here for the weekend. Then around 11 Friday the phone rang and it was the crane shipper in a panic because the truck that was suppose to show up at 6am was still not there. Well, just so happens I'm free at the moment so off I go. It really pays to have everything you can possibly have done when your ready to head out done. I was out the door and loading up within the hour.

The load is about 4' off the back of my trailer and the paperwork says 44,000 but my air gauge says about 25,000. They are always wrong at this place and if you get one of the engineers involved they usually come up with the correct number but it didn't phase me since it's way under my max.

The owner came down and gave me a $50 dollar tip for coming so quickly. He's given me tips in the past for this and that and I've learned to just take it and say thank you. He's the type of person who does NOT take NO for an answer and realized a big smile and thank you makes him happy.

There also seems to be a scandal going on maybe. I told the owner I was just sitting at home since yesterday. He said I should have called. I said the logistics person has my number and I've called in the past but he never calls back and the only time you call is when your in a panic. He said thank you again and went off. Now there is some activity going on between him and a few other people. I crab to the guys loading me up how come they never call me. He said, Joe doesn't get any money from you!!!!!! OK OK OK....this is the first time I've encountered this. Does this go on? Should I be giving this guy a kick back?

So I get loaded up then once again do the tarp job from Hell. Walking on top of these loads is like traversing the lava flows in Hawaii. Straps and chains were required on this one.

The load doesn't have to be delivered until Monday morning so I headed home after loading up and will take off this morning sometime after breakfast at my favorite place. I'm heading to Cheraw SC so I should have plenty of options getting a load out of there. I have about 850 miles to go so I'll do an easy day today, maybe 400 tomorrow and the rest early in the morning on Monday. This load will take many hours to unload and usually takes some creative fork lift techniques.

So off I go for a while and hopefully will stay out for at least 3 to 5 weeks. I don't have to be home for anything for the next 3 months so this is a good thing.

Concerning the "pay to play" situation...... I would not do it for a couple of reasons.

You are getting into a situation that will cloud your reputation in the future. Where does it end? Do the guys that load you expect some too?? Will the next guy with a truck out-bid you???

You are far better off staying friendly with the owner and providing superior service...

The shipping dude will probably end up loosing his job when #1 starts to look into the situation...

Honesty lets you sleep better anyway..........

No, the guys that load me are awesome. It's 2 guys and the laughs are non stop. It's a cool place with so many different things going on. I love to walk around and watch them make the parts. Everyone is very nice to me there and I don't mind all the time it takes to load me up.

No, absolutely not IMHO. I made a decision long ago I would never pay to make it in this business. Where does it end?

As for naming your truck How about H.M.S. Vessago? :lol:

Welcome to the business world Steve! It's almost like discovering there's no Easter Bunny. I agree with not taking part in it. As was said above where will it stop?

I always thought that if my work wasn't good enough on it's own then they can KMA.

I don't see it a lot but I have seen it.

There's other things you can do to promote your business that are on the up and up.

That would be hysterical :lol: :lol:

I NEVER pay someone to do business with them. In fact, I would talk with his boss and ask about it if approached. Business owners don't like to have employees taking or soliciting kickbacks from vendors. If you pay someone to do business with them and the owner or his boss finds out then you are most likely going to be permanently out of that company, if they have any ethics. If I found out that I had an employee who took kickbacks from a vendor he would be out the door. :evil:

lol....Might as well name it the Titanic, they both went down.

WHAT? :shock:

This guy doesn't work for the company, he's a logistics contractor but does have an office there and works full time just for this company.

Steve...too bad you don't know anyone else in the logistics contracting field as you could let the owner in on what his contractor is doing and at the same time offer him an alternative to help him get out of that situation.

That would also give you favorable status with whomever got the new logistics contract.

But that, of course, is in a perfect world :?

I sort of went about it in a passive aggressive way by acting stupid saying, I was home, I wonder why they didn't call. Sort of like being at work and saying, have you seen John yet today when in fact you know he's late for work.

I would rather not rock the boat. I get plenty of loads from these people and I've been pretty lucky getting loads out of New England.

I'm on 95 in CT and ready to head over the GW bridge. My worst place to be. I hate this next 50 miles or so. I'm at a service plaza and going to fill up on Big Macs and hopefully park at a weigh station for the night. I think there is one coming up soon. I seem to be in the minority when it comes to parking there.

The speed limit is 55 and I've had my cruise set on 60 and I'm the slowest person on the road. People are just whizzing by me left and right. I have to get back out West after this load away from cities and people!

Yeah...I just unloaded in Prattsville, NY Thurs. morning and tried to get a load to NH to visit my kids and grandkids this weekend but...no dice. (again)

Ended up with a load of kiln-dried lumber to Old Fort, NC just to get out of NY state...

Too bad you're not coming this way....I'm sitting at the TA in Greensboro, NC hooked to Idleaire for the weekend.

Where in New Hampshire are your kids? If you ever end up there give me a PM or Email, I have a few shippers that you could get a load out with. It's all flatbed stuff and not sure what you pull though.

I'll be within 100 miles of you tomorrow when I shut down but your a little out of my way. I'll be camping out somewhere on 95 around 3pm tomorrow then showing up at the customer site nice and early. It's a crane for Stanley Tools in Cheraw,SC.

I'll tell you one thing. Come through NY and the surrounding states on 95 and it will test your load securement on a flatbed for sure! If you survive that freaking road your load is not coming off!!!

1 daughter in Newport and the other in Franklin....

I'm pulling flatbed for PGT....

This particular load is a broker load cause all my dispatch sent me was an 8oo number to call and set it up.

I'll be sure to PM you next time I'm close because thats 3 strikes (in my book) against the guy in B'ham responsible for broker loads.

They told me coming in they wouldn't have any problem getting me up there to visit 3 to 4 times a year (and thats all I asked).

So far not once in 13 months.

I WILL get up there soon though...even if the truck is a different color :wink:

Sorry Dave, only red trucks allowed in New Hampshire during the winter months!! lol

I'm sitting about 100 miles from my delivery point and ready to head out in a bit so I can unstrap, untarp and unchain before they arrive this morning then off to the T/A in Florence SC for the rest of the day. I hope to get a load out tomorrow to who knows where. Just as long as it's not onions and back up through the East Coast.

I pretty much came the whole way down Rt 95 and there was maybe 5 miles of the road that was in good shape and the rest was just bumps left and right. Cops everywhere pretty much the whole trip. Just one after another either on the side waiting for the next victim or already had someone pulled over. It was tough just being able to do the speed limit.

I stopped around noon yesterday here in NC and it was about 75 degrees out and the sun was shining. I had to take care fixing a few things on the truck and it seemed that everyone else was doing the same puttering around. A few people came over to ask questions about my Rigmaster. I can't believe some of these drivers have to spend the night in a truck that can't idle in temps below zero!! Both drivers said they were going to put the money up themselves to buy an APU.

All my external optional lights stopped working the other day and found that the fuse was blown so I replaced it but it blew right away. So yesterday I figured I would try and find the problem so I checked as much as I could but didn't see anything wrong. I put another fuse in, turned on the lights and in about 2 seconds the whole engine compartment was filled with smoke and a small fire going on inside the end of the bumper. So, now I'm running back into the cab to shut the lights off. The fire started at the end of the bumper lights where the end of the wire was cut off and taped. Not sure why the shorted but I separated all the wires and taped them back up better.

Fixed my Superman. He was kind of flying drunk the past few days. One of the bolts came loose and when I tried to tighten it up, it snapped off. Off to my junk box for a better bolt. So much for stainless steel not rusting.

Fill up some tires with air, wash windows, Rain-x the windshield then explain to a few people who asked why I was polishing the windshield. I should get a kickback from Rain-X.

Suppose to be another nice day here and in SC. I was dying yesterday in my truck with the heat and kept turning it down and down and down until I saw a convertible pass me with the roof down. Then I noticed people had their windows down. I put my window down and it was like, HOLY CRAPOLA, it's freaking hot outside!!

Between a phone call in the morning and talking for a little bit at the truck stop I lost my voice when a friend called a little later. This happens more and more the longer I'm in this business. I don't really talk to anyone for days at a time so my voice goes south pretty quick now days.

I'm sitting at the counter having lunch and there's this guy talking real loud on his cell phone to his wife. I was there for 45 minutes and for 30 minutes the conversation was non stop about, how come the AA batteries in the mini mag flashlight were dead. This was like a full blown criminal investigation with a single possible cause as to why they were dead. Each member of the family was put on the phone to be interrogated right down to the little one possibly replacing his X-Box remote control with better batteries. I was ready to leap over the counter and yell into the phone to just go out and buy some more freaking batteries so this poor guy can eat his cold lunch.....GEEEEEEEEEEEEZZZZZZZUS

I posted my truck as available for a load to Hawaii but no calls yet. I guess freight isn't moving much to that area this time of year. :sad: