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tracer 12-30-2010 11:14 PM

Gambling with Nevada
 
I booked this load from Quebec Canada to Nevada:

Line/haul: $5,900
Fuel surcharge: $1,068

To the truck: $1,068 + 73% of $5,900
Total to the truck: $5,375

Loaded miles: 2,925 miles
D/H from Sydney NS to the pickup: 587 miles

I got up at 4 am this morning to drive the remaining 2 hours to the shipper in Quebec. Moose warnings were everywhere but I got lucky and didn't see a single animal. Got to the shipper in Mont-Joli QC around 8 am and of course I was at the wrong gate. Had to drive around on some narrow city streets to get to the correct gate. They loaded me with 8 (!) small skids full of some metal parts and the total weight is 30,368 lbs. Each skid is only 46 inches long, so I had the forklift guy - who spoke 2 words of English - put 4 in front of the signal light on my trailer and the other 4 behind (in rows of 2). No tarping was requested (I had checked this before booking the load, as I don't carry tarps on my stepdeck).

I passed Montreal today (I hate this town) and shut down at the Flying J on the western side, in the suburb of Vaudreul. From here it's only 30 minutes to Ontario where everybody speaks English!

My delivery is in the town of Golconda, NV so when I pass Chicago IL I'll just stay on I-80 all the way to the town. After that it's a bit tricky... Here's directions to the consignee as written on my paperwork:

"take Exit #... off I-80, travel north 15 miles to end of payment, then 12 miles to the mine."

This is going to be interesting!

tracer 12-31-2010 09:38 PM

I got up at 5 am, grabbed coffee at the Flying J and was on Hwy 20 out of Montreal by 6. While driving towards Napanee, ON on 401, it occurred to me I might get a LTL shipment out of Canada to US. A half of my trailer is empty: despite what the agent said ("it's a full 48' load"), what I have is 8 skids each only 46" by 46" and 24" tall. The weight is 30,000 lbs so I still could take 19,000 lbs, in theory...

I stopped at the Flying J in Napanee, logged on to the Landstar Loadboard to see if there was any loads out of the Greater Toronto Area going west, but the search produced 0 results. I did see however a bunch of loads out of Nevada but the pickup time was Jan-03. I called the agent who posted one of the loads and told her I"d be in Nevada on Jan-05 and will have to do a 34 hr reset but if she has something on Jan-07 I'd be glad to move it for at least $2.35/mi to Landstar. She took my cell phone number and truck number and promised to call once an Ontario-bound freight pops up.

I drove from Montreal at the steady 1,270 RPM and 95 KM/H (59 mph) and my fuel gauge is still above 1/4. After I had that overpriced fueling in New Brunswick ($1.187 per liter or $4.48 per US gallon!) I was determined to make the fuel last as long as possible. My odometer now shows I'm more than 1,200 miles away from that Irving in NB and I hope to reach some truck stop in MI to get more fuel. No more diesel in Canada for me, at least for now!

I'm at the Duty Free on the border in Sarnia, ON and my Verizon USB stick already catches the US signal. I stopped here to check if my ACE is ready for crossing, and will sleep today somewhere in Michigan.

Happy New Year from Michigan, everybody!

-tracer

Steel Horse Cowboy 01-02-2011 02:24 AM

Speaking of gambling..... I won $3500 at Sierra Sids Casino (ta truckstop) in Reno back in May :)

tracer 01-02-2011 03:32 AM

1 Attachment(s)
It is 2000 miles from Capac, MI to Golconda, Nevada where I must deliver on January 5th. So, I had 4 days at my disposal. I checked Google Maps to see what truck stop was roughly 500 miles west of Capac. Walcott, IA caught my eye where the 'world's largest truck stop' is located. So, I set myself a goal to reach Iowa-80 by the end of Saturday, Jan-01. It'd be a perfect place to take a shower and do my laundry.

As usuall it took 2 people at the McDonald's to process my 'double espresso with hot water' request, and I left Capac at 9 am. As I drove west on I-69, I-94 and then I-80, the temperature started to drop. It was +4C or 39F in Capac, MI, -3C or 26F in Chicago, IL and by the time I reached Walcott, IA it became really chilly at -9C or 15F. The roads were all clear, with hardly any snow in the ditches, but a strong western wind started up after Chicago and it kept blowing head-on all the way to Iowa.

I planned to fuel up at Iowa-80 but the price was $3.31 per gallon, so I filled only 1 tank. Diesel might get cheaper further west, you never know ... In Capac, MI I got one tank too and it was 3.25 per gallon.

I have never been to the third floor at the Iowa-80 truck stop, but that's where you have to go to get showers and do your laundry. They also have great pictures of old trucks on the walls, and I ran into this old fuel pump on a stairway landing (see the pic). Don't you wish sometimes that at least for a month diesel became this cheap? Ah.. the good old days, when classic Peterbilts were the way to go and nobody cared about fuel mileage :)

oneliner 01-02-2011 03:56 AM

When you get out to Wyoming,Utah you will find fuel for under $3.00 gallon.

rank 01-02-2011 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tracer (Post 491697)
No more diesel in Canada for me, at least for now!

It wasn't too long ago that I was whining about the price of fuel in ON and you told me it was cheap after fuel tax and HST rebates!

Quote:

Originally Posted by tracer (Post 491697)
I'm at the Duty Free on the border in Sarnia, ON and my Verizon USB stick already catches the US signal.

How much does that stick cost you? Does it work good? Does it work running down the road?

Malaki86 01-02-2011 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rank (Post 491764)
How much does that stick cost you? Does it work good? Does it work running down the road?

I'm with Sprint. I currently use the hotspot feature on my EVO (19.95/mo unlimited), but I previously had a standard USB stick. I paid $59.95/month (5gig limit). It worked great, and, yes, it works while driving down the highway. There were very few times I wasn't connected to the internet even though some times when out in the sticks it would be a very slow connection, but connected nonetheless.

oneliner 01-02-2011 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malaki86 (Post 491766)
I'm with Sprint. I currently use the hotspot feature on my EVO (19.95/mo unlimited), but I previously had a standard USB stick. I paid $59.95/month (5gig limit). It worked great, and, yes, it works while driving down the highway. There were very few times I wasn't connected to the internet even though some times when out in the sticks it would be a very slow connection, but connected nonetheless.

I use Virgin Mobile...$40 a month unlimited and no contract.Works well every place I've been and yes it is slower depending on the area.

no_worries 01-02-2011 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oneliner (Post 491750)
When you get out to Wyoming,Utah you will find fuel for under $3.00 gallon.

Since when? NE is the cheapest fuel on I80 these days.

Maniac 01-02-2011 05:08 PM

Quote:

I planned to fuel up at Iowa-80 but the price was $3.31 per gallon, so I filled only 1 tank. Diesel might get cheaper further west, you never know ... In Capac, MI I got one tank too and it was 3.25 per gallon.


When you pay your quarterly fuel tax, which Landstar will deduct you will see that the pump price means nothing, pay it at the pump or mail it in quarterly, NO difference

solo379 01-02-2011 06:33 PM

Any one have a 3G Ipad? How is that thing working?

tracer 01-02-2011 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rank (Post 491764)
It wasn't too long ago that I was whining about the price of fuel in ON and you told me it was cheap after fuel tax and HST rebates!

Because it's far more than $4 per gallon!

Quote:

Originally Posted by rank (Post 491764)
How much does that stick cost you? Does it work good? Does it work running down the road?

The Verizon one is $55 per month for 5 GB per month which is a lot (I rarely use more than 2 Gb/mo). I'm thinking of trading up for their new 4G USB sticks. The connection is faster (when 4G is available) and it's $50 per month for the same 5 Gb.

The stick works great. I love it. It gives you independence. I can't tell you how many times people with sad faces would come over to me and ask, "Do they have Wi-Fi here?" and I had to say, "No. I'm using my own USB stick!" Even in places where they do have "free" Wi-Fi, I sometimes just get tired of waiting for the connection, plug in my USB stick and I'm online in 15 seconds.

The Bell stick I'm using in Canada works actually worse than the Verizon in US: for some reason it kicks you off the Net if you stay idle for over 10 or 15 minutes (eg when you're reading something online). I called Bell about this and they said that's how it was designed, to prevent people from down- and uploading too much stuff. But it is a bit cheaper than Verizon.

Everybody is going crazy about smartphones, but I like browsing Internet on my 15" screen Dell with ultra-sharp 1,920 x 1,080 dpi resolution.

oneliner 01-02-2011 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by no_worries (Post 491774)
Since when? NE is the cheapest fuel on I80 these days.

Your right....was looking at gas prices.

Maniac 01-02-2011 10:44 PM

Quote:

Any one have a 3G Ipad? How is that thing working?


I have one, works real good but it is limited what you can do with it, if you just want internet surfing it works fine.

Steel Horse Cowboy 01-02-2011 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malaki86 (Post 491766)
I'm with Sprint. I currently use the hotspot feature on my EVO (19.95/mo unlimited.

I do the same thing with my EVO..... great phone. Might I suggest you getting the bigger battery tho. I got mine on AMAZON for $50 and I don't have to recharge it for 2 days, compared to recharging the stock one twice a day...WELL WORTH THE $$$$$

solo379 01-02-2011 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maniac (Post 491785)
I have one, works real good but it is limited what you can do with it, if you just want internet surfing it works fine.

Thanks Steve! I just got one for my birthday, but i'm home for now. For me it would be a mostly entertainment for now, and some internet surfing....

tracer 01-03-2011 01:58 AM

1 Attachment(s)
My first stop after the Iowa-80 truck stop this morning was a Bosselman/Pilot near Altoona IA, where I took the attached picture. Somehow, the words "24 days without an accident" do not instill much confidence, do they? If I were the manager of the truck stop, I'd probably hide that sign in the closet till I had at least "100 days without an accident". Otherwise, it kind of makes you think, "What exactly happened 25 days ago?" Did a runaway forklift truck kill 5 people in the shop or was it something worse?

Driving came easy today, thanks in part to the great audiobook I picked up at the Flying J in Lake Station, IN the other day. This thriller by John Lescroart is called "The First Law" and it came with 5 CDs with a running time of 6 hours ... all attactively priced at $9.99. Were I to spend that money of a DVD movie, the entertainment would be over in 2 hours. With the audiobook inside my Sony CD player I spent the biggest part of the day following the adventures of Leutenant Abe Glitsky, his friend Dismas Hardy the lawyer and Hardy's former client, John Holiday. Here's from the jacket, ".... Cut off from the system that they both served, denied justice from the corridors of power, and increasingly isolated at every turn, Hardy and Glitsky face their darkest hour..." :)

I did 568 miles today and shut down at North Platte, NE. The price of diesel still hovers is $3.30 per gallon at the Flying J and only a cent cheaper at the Love's across the road. The good news is I only have 1000 miles to go to the drop, so I only need one fill-up.

Heavy Duty 01-03-2011 03:26 AM

Tracer, you need to fuel at TA/Petro. the cost plus price you get will almost always be the best. Today OKC Petro cash price $3.19, LS price $2.97 Loves cash price $3.18 LS price $3.10. Use your book to call and check TA/Petro, when the price of crude is falling the discount can be .40 or more

Steel Horse Cowboy 01-03-2011 05:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heavy Duty (Post 491799)
Tracer, you need to fuel at TA/Petro. the cost plus price you get will almost always be the best. Today OKC Petro cash price $3.19, LS price $2.97 Loves cash price $3.18 LS price $3.10. Use your book to call and check TA/Petro, when the price of crude is falling the discount can be .40 or more

I remember when i was with LS, I could get fuel at the Wildwood T/A for almost $1 less per gallon than the posted price...... now I just pay the pump price and QC evens it out to $1.25 per gallon. I got a $74 rebate today :)

Steel Horse Cowboy 01-03-2011 05:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tracer (Post 491797)
Driving came easy today, thanks in part to the great audiobook I picked up at the Flying J in Lake Station, IN the other day. .

Wish I had known... you were only 20 miles from my house.

tracer 01-03-2011 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heavy Duty (Post 491799)
Tracer, you need to fuel at TA/Petro. the cost plus price you get will almost always be the best. Today OKC Petro cash price $3.19, LS price $2.97 Loves cash price $3.18 LS price $3.10. Use your book to call and check TA/Petro, when the price of crude is falling the discount can be .40 or more


I know ... that's what they told us at Landstar. I fueled this morning at the Flying J in NE and the posted CASH price was $3.29. There was a Love's across the road - same price. I then passed a TA while driving on 80 thru NE and the CASH price posted on the sign was $3.34!

tracer 01-03-2011 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steel Horse Cowboy (Post 491802)
Wish I had known... you were only 20 miles from my house.

Too bad there's nothing like "location" service on thsi board. Then we could post our location at the end of the day and may be it can be tracked automatically -when you log on to classadrivers. I know Facebook has something like this, when you can see where all your friends are. I deleted my Facebook account after someone applied for a credit card in my name in Edmonton, Alberta!

tracer 01-03-2011 03:08 PM

Remember those useless subjects we wasted time on in school? I think basic math plus maybe some physics plus chemistry ... okay ... some biology (to know how things work around us) were at least somewhat useful. When I stopped in Sydney NE for breakfast this morning I used those basic math skills - well, kind of... I took out my cell phone, opened the 'Calculator' application and punched in my hours for the past 7 days :) It turned out I have only 7.5 hours to work today! What's worse - I"ll have only 4.5 hours for tomorrow! That throws a big monkeywrench in my plans... I thought I'd deliver the load early on Tuesday but now that's moot (especially since the consignee stops receiving at 3 pm Mountain Time). I'm going to have to take it easy for now and just try to be in Golconda NV before 3 pm on Wednesday, Jan-05th.

Bigmon 01-03-2011 03:49 PM

What ever happended with your trailer tire?

Steel Horse Cowboy 01-03-2011 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tracer (Post 491815)
It turned out I have only 7.5 hours to work today! What's worse - I"ll have only 4.5 hours for tomorrow! That throws a big monkeywrench in my plans... I thought I'd deliver the load early on Tuesday but now that's moot.

Well, luckily for you, Landstar uses paper logs....... just go back a few days and "find some lost time"

tracer 01-03-2011 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigmon (Post 491816)
What ever happended with your trailer tire?

As they say, "three times is the charm". The guy in Newfoundland was Mechanic #3 who worked on it and he found the tire had been 'pinched' in a pothole. So, it had 2 (TWO!) holes on both side walls. The holes were tiny but they were loosing air. Mechanic #1 and Mechanic #2 failed to diagnose the problem and fixed only 1 hole. After Guy #3 fixed both holes, the tire keeps air like there's no tomorrow. I just have to watch for potholes: the tire is 245/75R17.5 so it's much more narrow than a regular 22.5 tire on a truck. The truck tire will just roll over a pothole, while the trailer tire will go right in and damage its sidewalls.

tracer 01-03-2011 06:56 PM

From Laramie, WY
Pilot, x. 310 off I-80

I called our LCAPP department - the one that deals with discount programs on tires, fuel etc - and now I finally know how to find out the "Landstar Price" I'd pay per gallon BEFORE I fuel. The LCAPP rep on the phone said the only way to do that is to call the 1-800 number listed in our LCAPP fuel directory (an orange thin booklet) and it only works for TA and Petro truck stops. The service is fully automatic and when you call you choose what price you'd like to know, "retail" or "base plus". I chose the "base plus" and then I punched in the 4-digit code for the truck stop location in Rawlings, WY (the codes are listed in the booklet). The computer told me the 'base price' today at that TA truck stop is the unbelievable ... $3.049!!! According to the orange booklet, it's cost plus $0.025', so as a Landstar driver I'd pay $3.049 + $0.025 or only $3.07 per gallon!

They kept telling us to fuel at TA and Petro for best savings but I never bothered to compare the prices at 'cost plus' locations with regular Pilots and Flying Js. Now I'm a big believer, and here's why:

The Pilot truck stop in Laramie, WY where I'm now shows $3.259 as cash price per gallon, and I could fuel here too. According to my orange booklet, I'd get 4 cents off the cash price at this location, so my "Landstar price per gallon' would be $3.219. That's all nice and dandy, but that's still 14 cents MORE per gallon than I'd pay at the TA in Rawlings, WY!

TA and Petro are the only two truck stop chains that offer this 'cost plus' discount program to Landstar drivers. The 'plus' part varies from 2 to 3 cents and is only available in US. All other truck stops have the 'cash minus cents per gallon" deal.

Heavy Duty 01-03-2011 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tracer (Post 491821)
From Laramie, WY
Pilot, x. 310 off I-80

I called our LCAPP department - the one that deals with discount programs on tires, fuel etc - and now I finally know how to find out the "Landstar Price" I'd pay per gallon BEFORE I fuel. The LCAPP rep on the phone said the only way to do that is to call the 1-800 number listed in our LCAPP fuel directory (an orange thin booklet) and it only works for TA and Petro truck stops. The service is fully automatic and when you call you choose what price you'd like to know, "retail" or "base plus". I chose the "base plus" and then I punched in the 4-digit code for the truck stop location in Rawlings, WY (the codes are listed in the booklet). The computer told me the 'base price' today at that TA truck stop is the unbelievable ... $3.049!!! According to the orange booklet, it's cost plus $0.025', so as a Landstar driver I'd pay $3.049 + $0.025 or only $3.07 per gallon!

They kept telling us to fuel at TA and Petro for best savings but I never bothered to compare the prices at 'cost plus' locations with regular Pilots and Flying Js. Now I'm a big believer, and here's why:

The Pilot truck stop in Laramie, WY where I'm now shows $3.259 as cash price per gallon, and I could fuel here too. According to my orange booklet, I'd get 4 cents off the cash price at this location, so my "Landstar price per gallon' would be $3.219. That's all nice and dandy, but that's still 14 cents MORE per gallon than I'd pay at the TA in Rawlings, WY!

TA and Petro are the only two truck stop chains that offer this 'cost plus' discount program to Landstar drivers. The 'plus' part varies from 2 to 3 cents and is only available in US. All other truck stops have the 'cash minus cents per gallon" deal.

Your fuel ticket from the TA or Petro will show the pump price, but if you check your card balance you will see they only deducted the discounted amount. The truck stop don't know how much you pay

Steel Horse Cowboy 01-03-2011 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tracer (Post 491821)
From Laramie, WY
Pilot, x. 310 off I-80

I called our LCAPP department - the one that deals with discount programs on tires, fuel etc - and now I finally know how to find out the "Landstar Price" I'd pay per gallon BEFORE I fuel. The LCAPP rep on the phone said the only way to do that is to call the 1-800 number listed in our LCAPP fuel directory (an orange thin booklet) and it only works for TA and Petro truck stops. The service is fully automatic and when you call you choose what price you'd like to know, "retail" or "base plus". I chose the "base plus" and then I punched in the 4-digit code for the truck stop location in Rawlings, WY (the codes are listed in the booklet). The computer told me the 'base price' today at that TA truck stop is the unbelievable ... $3.049!!! According to the orange booklet, it's cost plus $0.025', so as a Landstar driver I'd pay $3.049 + $0.025 or only $3.07 per gallon!

They kept telling us to fuel at TA and Petro for best savings but I never bothered to compare the prices at 'cost plus' locations with regular Pilots and Flying Js. Now I'm a big believer, and here's why:

The Pilot truck stop in Laramie, WY where I'm now shows $3.259 as cash price per gallon, and I could fuel here too. According to my orange booklet, I'd get 4 cents off the cash price at this location, so my "Landstar price per gallon' would be $3.219. That's all nice and dandy, but that's still 14 cents MORE per gallon than I'd pay at the TA in Rawlings, WY!

TA and Petro are the only two truck stop chains that offer this 'cost plus' discount program to Landstar drivers. The 'plus' part varies from 2 to 3 cents and is only available in US. All other truck stops have the 'cash minus cents per gallon" deal.

I have a link for your mobile phone so you can see all the TA prices and it also gives you the customer location number you will need to enter into the system to get the price.

It's called a "Cost Plus Price" and other companies besides Landstar uses it too. I can't believe they didn't tell you this at the orientation!!!! The cost plus price at the TA in Porter, IN is currently $.31 less than the posted price. You could have saved a ton when you came thru

tracer 01-03-2011 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steel Horse Cowboy (Post 491827)
It's called a "Cost Plus Price" and other companies besides Landstar uses it too. I can't believe they didn't tell you this at the orientation!!!!

They did tell us about it. But I wish they'd use some real-life examples to demonstrate the REAL difference. Because TA fuel desks never know what the discounts are, right. You have to look closely at your Comdata Statement. When I was with Challenger and then MacKinnon, I always tried to fuel at the Flying J, because I got used to dealing with them. But at Landstar TA and Petro is the only way to go, that's for sure. Now when I know how much money I can save, I'll be definitely fueling only at TA and Petro. I just need to apply for that UltraOne card, so that you use only one bonus card at both Petro and TA.

tracer 01-03-2011 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steel Horse Cowboy (Post 491818)
Well, luckily for you, Landstar uses paper logs....... just go back a few days and "find some lost time"

Have you seen the movie "Liar Liar" with Jim Carrie? In this movie Jim's character thinks he cannot do his job as lawyer because his son's birthday wish made him incapable of lying for 24 hours. In the end he managed to beat the hell out of the court system and get it to award $30,000,000 to the unfaithful wife who was divorcing her husband AND they had a pre-nup AND he didn't have to lie! :) What I'm trying to say is that a lot of guys think they have to cheat. Well, if I were a company driver pulling 30 cents per mile, I'd be probably tempted too. But I have my own truck and trailer ... I believe I should be able to make a reasonable living even when staying reasonably truthful in my logbook. Especially when I'm getting short of hours due to OVERWORK. I worked 6.5 hours a day and that left me 5.5 for tomorrow and 8 hrs 45 min for Wednesday. Plenty of time to finish the run and make the miners happy.

Heavy Duty 01-04-2011 02:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tracer (Post 491830)
They did tell us about it. But I wish they'd use some real-life examples to demonstrate the REAL difference. Because TA fuel desks never know what the discounts are, right. You have to look closely at your Comdata Statement. When I was with Challenger and then MacKinnon, I always tried to fuel at the Flying J, because I got used to dealing with them. But at Landstar TA and Petro is the only way to go, that's for sure. Now when I know how much money I can save, I'll be definitely fueling only at TA and Petro. I just need to apply for that UltraOne card, so that you use only one bonus card at both Petro and TA.

They cover a lot of ground in orientation, and now they have to explain a over complicated load board.

T/A Petro is the best price on fuel 99% of the time, but not the place for a 120 day inspection. Now with all that money your saving you can buy lunch when you get down to my part of the world and I can help you with load selection, and a few other things.

Steel Horse Cowboy 01-04-2011 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tracer (Post 491831)
What I'm trying to say is that a lot of guys think they have to cheat. Well, if I were a company driver pulling 30 cents per mile, I'd be probably tempted too. But I have my own truck and trailer ... I believe I should be able to make a reasonable living even when staying reasonably truthful in my logbook. Especially when I'm getting short of hours due to OVERWORK. I worked 6.5 hours a day and that left me 5.5 for tomorrow and 8 hrs 45 min for Wednesday. Plenty of time to finish the run and make the miners happy.

HAHA, I ony work 4 days a week, so i don't have that problem either. But in your post, you made it seem like you couldn't make the delivery-time is all I was saying.

The "short of hours due to overwork" should be changed to "short of hours due to me making a stupid decision and taking a load to an island in BFE" LOL !!!!!!!!!!!!

You shall soon learn that MILES dont make you $$$$, accessorial charges and short-haul premiums DO !!!!!

tracer 01-04-2011 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steel Horse Cowboy (Post 491847)
The "short of hours due to overwork" should be changed to "short of hours due to me making a stupid decision and taking a load to an island in BFE" LOL !!!!!!!!!!!!

I had to try it. The money did seem good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steel Horse Cowboy (Post 491847)
You shall soon learn that MILES dont make you $$$$, accessorial charges and short-haul premiums DO !!!!!

I keep reworking my OpenOffice spreadsheet where my required rate per mile is calculated. Now it shows this:

Cost per mile at 10,000 mi/mo

Base cost 0.15
Lease 0.15
Insurance 0.02
Maintenance 0.05
Fuel 0.7
Bills 0.64

Rev/mile 1.71
GROSS REQUIRED: 2.25

OR

$2.64 On 8500 mi a month

So, even $2.25 per mile on 10,000 miles a month will allow me to meet all my financial goals; but to be more realistic - for 8,500 miles - I should shoot for $2.65 per mile (after rounding it off). That's the rate quoted on the load board, GROSS to Landstar.

tracer 01-04-2011 05:44 PM

2 Attachment(s)
From Little America, WY
Exit 68, I-80

I fueled up this morning at the TA in Rawlins, WY. The posted rate was $3.329 per gallon and the sticker on the pump said, "cash and 3 party cash equivalent billing cards receive 7 cents off". When I used my Comdata to activate the pump, it still showed the CREDIT price in that little window and even the rolling dollar and gallon numbers reflected the $3.329 price. But when I went inside to get my receipt, I saw t showed the CASH price of $3.259 per gallon. I don't know yet what the "hidden" Landstar discount price is on my card but is should be considerably less than that.

I'm cruising through the rest of Wyoming and the scenery is breathtaking. The roads are clear but there's lots of snow in the fields. I keep my engine speed steady at 1,270 RPM and the road speed at 95 KM/H or 59 MPH. At this speed I seem to be doing great in terms of fuel, despite the strong wind.

Steel Horse Cowboy 01-04-2011 05:54 PM

I love Wyoming...... I went out to Reno like I stated around the end of April and in Nebraska it was 80*. When I got to Laramie tho it dropped to 31* and snowed the whole way to Rawlings. Then it went back to 77* and about 25miles down the road I took a picture of this tornado. Come to find out, it was about 7 miles wide but didn't damage anyhting but some fences. I originally thought it was just a large downpour, but it was on the news that night that it was a F2. I was amazed

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...12/tornado.jpg

tracer 01-04-2011 06:21 PM

Well, it's beautiful here now as you can see from my pics: it's sunny and the temp is at 16F. By the way it's R-a-w-l-i-n-s, WY. There's a Rawlings in VA and MD though.

tracer 01-04-2011 11:00 PM

2 Attachment(s)
From the TA truck stop in Tooele, Utah
Exit 99 off I-80, 20 miles west of Salt Lake City
552 km (343 mi) from Golconda, Nevada

By an amazing coincidence I turned off the ignition at the Tooele TA (pronounced 'too - E - lah') exactly 5 hours and 30 minutes after I started work; and 5.5 hrs was all I could work today ;) The diesel cash price here is ... $3.41 per gallon! I called the Landstar fuel line and 'our' special price is $3.185. It's good that I fueled in Rawlins, WY - that TA is close to a huge oil refinery and I think that's why their diesel prices are lower.

I don't remember the last time I crossed Salt Lake City, UT via I-80 and that hill is quite something, isn't it? The road up was okay (I had to downshift to Gear 7 Low), but the way down was scary. It's 6.5% grade and driving in 8 Low and with the jake brake on Max, the truck got up to 65 MPH in a matter of seconds. I kept my RPM between 1500 and 1600 RPM for maximum exhaust braking power... Thanks goodness, the pavement was dry and clear of snow. Otherwise I'd need chains - I saw the sign right before the grade, saying CHAINS REQUIRED WHEN LIGHTS FLASHING.

I set up camp in the restaurant inside the truck stop with my laptop, scanner and Verizon USB stick. I need to prepare the mileage report so that I can send it quickly tomorrow, when I deliver the load. I also want to scan and email most of my logs I've filled out until today, again so that tomorrow I'd need to send only the bill of lading and the customs paperwork.

Heavy Duty 01-05-2011 12:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tracer (Post 491878)
From the TA truck stop in Tooele, Utah
Exit 99 off I-80, 20 miles west of Salt Lake City
552 km (343 mi) from Golconda, Nevada

By an amazing coincidence I turned off the ignition at the Tooele TA (pronounced 'too - E - lah') exactly 5 hours and 30 minutes after I started work; and 5.5 hrs was all I could work today ;) The diesel cash price here is ... $3.41 per gallon! I called the Landstar fuel line and 'our' special price is $3.185. It's good that I fueled in Rawlins, WY - that TA is close to a huge oil refinery and I think that's why their diesel prices are lower.


.

Utah fuel tax is.105 cents higher than Wyo, take .105 off the Utah price to compare it to the WY price. Should come out close to the same, you really won't like the price in NV, Loves at Wells, NV is $3.42. I suggest you get enought to get back out of NV.

Orangetxguy 01-05-2011 01:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tracer (Post 491867)
Well, it's beautiful here now as you can see from my pics: it's sunny and the temp is at 16F. By the way it's R-a-w-l-i-n-s, WY. There's a Rawlings in VA and MD though.

I spent 4 of the most miserable hours of my life just south of Wamsutter WY.......back in the winter of 81. I was up 60 feet in the air, 40 feet above the rig's windwall, when I slipped and fell off the traveling blocks. Lucky me....I was wearing fall protection......unlucky me......I had the air chugger line and both cat lines tied up on the traveling blocks. It took the rig crew 3 & 1/2 hours to steam their way up the derrick ladder. It was -13F, with blowing snow. Ice covered a lot of the rig...including the traveling blocks. I lost my hardhat and headliner...as well as my glasses....which went down the wellbore. I was hanging upside down for about 45 minutes of that......3 feet above the rim of the wall. The "dyna-brake" for the fall protection worked great...just didn't stretch far enough to get me past the windwall.

*sigh* the good ole days!!! *sigh*

cured me of liking heights I tell you what!!


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