I haven't posted for a couple of days so here's an update.
I made my drop in Laredo first thing Monday morning. I then deadheaded a whole 3 miles to our Laredo yard. I sat there for several hours waiting on a load of pick-up truck frames to come across the border from Mexico going to the Chrysler plant in Warren, MI. After about 4 hours, they called me to load and as it turned out, the load I got was sitting in the yard the whole time. I was not a very happy camper because I wasted all that time. Needless to say I got it loaded and and started my journey north.
They informed me that if I can deliver it legally by Wednesday, there is a $725 bonus. So I kept the left door shut and trucked on up the road. I ran my log out Monday and Tuesday and made it to the plant on time. I must say, and no offense to anyone that's from that area, but if I never go back up there it will be too soon.
When I accepted the load, I was told there would be a backhaul lined up going back to Laredo. So when I called in my empty status, I was not too pleased when they (L.S.) told me that there were 25 other trucks in the area and they over booked so the Laredo load was gone. Not too happy about that either. However, less than 30 minutes later my dispatcher called called to tell me he went ahead and booked me a load out of South Point Ohio going to Springfield, MO just to get me out of the area so I wouldn't be waiting for ever. The bad part is that it is a 350 mile DH!!
The good part is that even with the DH it still pays decent. So I high tailed it out of Warren as fast as I could and ended up shutting down in Monroe, MI just before my log ran out.
Got up early and started making my way south and stopped in Brander, OH to call the shipper for an appointment time and final directions into their facility. Well the guy tells me that they WERE supposed to be ready with my load around 3pm local but the truck that has most of my load on it never showed up the night before as planned. So now they will not be ready for me until Friday morning. I called into my dispatcher to let him know and now I am waiting on him to call me back to inform me if I am still going to load there or cancel it.
So far I have hauled only 2 loads for Lone Star and although the pay per mile has been decent, in fact better than any load I hauled for my previous company, I am still stitting on the fence with my opinion about their organization. Seems to be a lack of communication between the terminals and dispatchers at this point. But it just may be a fluke, still kind of early too tell.
I'll post an update later when I find out whether I am still loading in South Point or getting a new load elsewhere.