Yup; thanks for the insight, tndieselgrl. Without an owner's manual to be found anywhere, I was able to find Snoop's sweet-spot in the powerband. He hasn't run loaded with me yet, but it is plain to see that he runs better in the lower portion of the tach. The first clue was the size of the turbo housing; considerably smaller than on the Detroit.

Smaller turbos have smaller impellers. Due to less rotational mass (hey! there's that word again!) they spin up faster with less exhaust gas pressure, which means they come on boost faster at lower engine speeds. Too bad Snoop didn't come with a boost guage and a pyrometer.

Your comment prompts me to research the design principals and technical information on the ACERT technology. I love knowing what's going on, from the engineer's perspective.

Restaurant recommendation: Jamil's Lebanese Steak House. Found on the south service road, parallel to I-40, about 1/2 mile west of the Harvard Ave exit in Tulsa.

Lebanese steak house??? Never heard of such a thing. Dinner includes Jamil's hors deurves which include generous servings of: fresh carrots, celery sticks, radishes, pickles, home-made tabbouleh, hummus, bread, pita bread, and a dish with a stick of butter. Next comes the second part, including smoked ribs, smoked bologna (????) and a stuffed cab age. Next comes the salad, which I declined as I was already filled to capacity. My main course was the rib eye. Most of which is sitting wrapped in aluminum foil on the table in my hotel room.

It's a 63 year old Tulsa icon. Dinner, with all the aforementioned and iced tea was $22.00. Next time, I'll just get the hors deurves for $8.95. The rib eye is probably 16 or so ounces, and by the time it arrived, I couldn't even put a dent in it.

The service is relaxed and very good. You will not be in a hurry when you get here. You couldn't; there so much stuff to graze on while awaiting your entree. The rib eye was perfectly seasoned with lots of garlic and other spices. Medium was more like medium rare, but I like it just warmed and red in the middle anyway.

You don't want to miss this place when in Tulsa, especially for those who love red meat.

Note: The people at the Tradewinds hope not to loose Arrow driver's business. The Days Inn West is out at a very busy intersection by the Quick Trip and all the truck dealers. It's OK, really. There is a Mexican restaurant out there called Monterrey that is excellent. The dude at the Tradewinds told me that they will continue to honor Arrow's preferred rate in the interest of retaining our business. $32.00 sheckles, plus taxes. Very fair indeed.

OK, back to Arrow to check up on Snoop, then over to dispatch to see what, if anything, is cooking. Contrary to what the weatherman said, there's no snow happening, at this time, in Tulsa.

Fingers and toes crossed, I'm shutting this Mac down.

Best wishes to all.

 

OMG Jamil's is the BEST place to eat!! we found it by accident one day and we try to eat there each time we are in Tulsa.

I am glad to know that the tradewinds is still honoring the Arrow rate for the drivers....I think the days inn is a rat hole in comarison (sp?)

I hope ya get a load out of there today....we are headed to WA state out of pittsburgh so hopefully we will have an event free trip.

take care.... 8)

tootie

 

and if you're one of those drivers that has a pet on board, I can recommend the Vet across the street.

 

I used to have a pet on board, but no longer. If you scroll back aways, you can read about Bob. Thanks for the recommend, just the same.

Snoop is in the shop_still_. Issues concerning the check engine light keep him from working. The Caterpillar specialist is going to check it out at 0630 tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, I ran back, with the help of another driver, to get my car from Neosho. Gee, what a mess this place is. Ice took out all the trees and powerlines.

If my old friend Murphy doesn't bang on the situation tomorrow, I might actually get put back in service. Two weeks and no loads makes Jack a dull boy..........

Onwards.

 

:roll:

Poetry 101

I'm thinking of a word,
it rhymes with "trucking".
All I got from Arrow,
was a damn good fu$%ing.

Buyer beware: There is absolutely no way you can "know" your chosen new company, until you go to work for them.

This company has freight issues. So little that any *new driver* stands slim or no chance of getting near it.

Another concerned individual writes about her newly hired hubby:
"He was told he would go out with a trainer today, but found out earlier he would have no such luck today and could not get an indication of when this would change. He said that many of the others that are waiting for trainers are heading home as they are running out of money... no one is making money for sitting in the motel! He also said that the guys that have been assigned trucks are just sitting with no loads."

At the time of my stay in Dallas, the dispatcher said that there were approximately 105 empty Arrow trucks in the immediate area, awaiting dispatch.

At the time of my departure for home today, the Arrow Tulsa yard was jammed with about 50 idling rigs and a pathetic-looking bunch of disgruntled drivers hanging out in the penitentiary-esque driver's hole <ahem> lounge.

I called it quits today. The best thing I seem to have accomplished for this outfit in the last two weeks is to shuttle two ailing power units to various shops and terminals.

The glimmer of hope, as provided by Steve Savage, V.P. of driver development was quickly smote by Arrow dispatch. Today was day 13 of *no work for this kid* and none in sight either. Scott, the hateful dispatcher @ the Tulsa yard gave no clue to anyone as to when one might reasonably expect to leave with a load. His apparent prime objective today was to piss everyone off who darkened his desk. And the last words you ever want to hear in association with your tractor number (heaven help us should they address us by name) is "new driver". This designation will earn you a place at the subterranean *bottom* of the barrel. And there ye shall sit......... and sit.......... and sit.

Yesterday, I had the fortunate good idea to run back home and get my car, thus allowing me to return the rental, a new Jeep with 2700 miles. Lovely vehicle, BTW. Really nice design. You can certainly feel the fresh breath of Daimler in the Chrysler.

Just to give a glimpse of the unconscionable behavior of Arrow:

I went around and asked non-working drivers if one of them would like to ride with me back to Neosho and drive my vintage '96 Volvo Turbo Wagon back to Tulsa. Most said no. One driver, whose name I will not reveal, said yes. He needed the $50.00 I was offering and literally had nothing else to do.

Very nice person, he. A Hispanic man, age 40-ish, fair English, enthusiastic about his hire with Arrow. As we rode along, he told me about his classroom experiences. I asked if he knew how to do his paperwork, trip sheets, logs, etc. Shocking was, he didn't know much. When I asked if the instructors took extra time to explain things, he said no.

Then, I asked him the really scary question: Do you understand how to use the QuaalCom? He said they hardly covered it, because they were in such a rush to cover the paperwork, the securement class, and certainly to push the lease-purchase program. I told him that it was his lucky day. Not only did he make some cash, but I would teach him as much as possible with regards to the paperwork and QC.

When we returned to the terminal, I got all my junk put away and spent the next three hours going over paperwork procedures and the QC. We covered the most important macros, I taught him how to set up his trip sheets and log, how to legibly record his route solution and fuel stops. I was aghast with his lack of familiarity with these things, and I knew he got the rather short end of the Arrow stick during class.

All he wanted to do was work......... Sound familiar?

I'm thinking of a word..........

I felt so bad for the guy, who came all the way from North Carolina. 7 kids, wife, rent and bills. To come to the land of opportunity in Tulsa, and the teachers probably wrote him off as being stupid, because of language, which was a mistake. A human mistake, which Arrow seems to repeat frequently. Think about it: Had it not been for me, this ubiquitous gray box would be beeping at him, and he would not have had a clue as to why.

Should he have gotten a load assignment, he would have never known, because he did not know how to communicate using this device. What would you think if it were you, facing some foreign beeping thing on the floor with no idea as to what it **even** was???

And it rhymes with trucking..........

So me and Senor X went over everything until my exhaustion kicked in and finally ended the session. He was overloaded, but I knew, even if he only retained 10% of what I showed him, that he at least had **a chance**. That was the best I could do by 21.00.

I saw Senor X this morning while dealing with my own BS with the company. He did, in fact, get QC'd this morning with a load assignment. He couldn't recall everything from last night and because he couldn't confirm receipt of the assignment fast enough, they re-issued the load to someone else and told him it wouldn't be until Friday until he got another one. In his frustration, he went and spoke to someone in the office about his dilemma. Their reply to him was to go see someone in the training department and get help.

All they dish out at Arrow..........

Yup. I handed out an ultimatum to my dispatcher. Snoop finally came out of the shop today at 10:30 am. I told him that if I were not under a load by 1200, that I would be packing my little red wagon and heading back to weather-scarred Neosho. Then, I told him that I would go run some errands and stay busy until 1400. I went to the public library to get on line and start applying to other trucking companies, because I knew this one was for the birds.

I learned from some other reliable sources that Arrow, indeed, is having an unusually tough time in securing freight. Could be due to the excessive number of roll-overs and other DOT reportable crashes which have been coming over the QuaalCom lately. Apparently, many of them have been occurring towards the end of the driver's 11 hours. The safety department at Arrow sends us this info in the hopes of making everyone even more aware of what we are doing, but I think it tells a more chilling tale of how the freight runs, and who Arrow hires.

Anyway, I'm out of the loop now, and happily seated at my desk in my bathrobe and slippers, G5 a'blazin' away. And yet i cannot dismiss the eerie absence of my best bud, Bob. Sickening that I lost him while running for this "turd of the industry" in white clothing.

Some people have it working for them: Tndieselgrl, tootie, etc. And I say in all sincerity; congratulations. You made it through the fire and did well. Which proves that it can be done. Getting there though, that's the bitch. Can you afford to feed yourself during this time of freight shortage? I could, easily, but chose not to.

I've got three pre-hires at the time of this writing. It'll be fun to see what ultimately comes......

And all I got, along with Senor X and a few others,

was a damn good, (whoops.....) F^%*ing

Don't do this one unless you really dig boredom and have some spare change in the bank to see you through; 'cause you are sure gonna need it!

Peace.

 

Well , I don't know what to tell you there Clint . BOL in company next in line , I'm sure CFI wouldn't have pulled that if you went with them . You seem like a very intelluctual driver but you give up way to easily , most of these companies are total garbage , If you try CFI and feel the same I would venture to say driving just isn't for you as they are one of the best OTR companies around . I know you would have to go out with a trainer for awhile , it's way better then just picking a random company , you know how that ends up .

As far as driving goes , I've had to deal with OTR garbage from day one up until this July I'm glad I can now relax and wait for my load while on the clock relaxing , reading the paper , watching TV or whatever I choose . I started driving when I was 22 , had been in a big truck for a total of 7 weeks and yet was on the side of the road broke down , 3000 miles away from home in California , I broke down 11 more times in 6 months with my first company and was frustrated , but didn't quit driving . I went onto Roehl and enjoyed my tenure there , I kept my mouth shut for the first year or so and then started making a few demands , it's very unfortunate , but until you prove yourself as a great on-time courteous driver you seem to be at the mercy of the company and that's one of the many problems with the OTR industry which is exactly I love my job now , if you stick it out good things will happen .

 

What are the plans now Clint? I would've bailed after hearing over a 100 trucks camping out in the same area myself. These Arrow rigs hang out up here in WA for a day or two waiting upon freight as well.

To be honest with you, I don't think you're going to find a large OTR outfit that'll treat you better than what W/S did. Though the pay is mighty low, the people there sure were a pleasure to see every time you'd roll into Missoula even with a problem.

Hope the best of luck turns out for you bud. There's no need to put up with the BS these guys have been throwing you, especially when you have the money to move on elsewhere. Keep us posted.

 

Hiya, Smooth. :shock:
Gave up way too easily???? Dude, c'mon (said witha laugh). Thank you for your valuable insights. You really thought about what you wrote and it shows. Like minds..... I would guess.

I thought I hung in there pretty decently given the number of regulatory infractions, break-downs, shop time and NO LOADS/NO MONEY (not shouted, merely emphasized). And who cares if the less-intelligent see me as whining. They don't pay my bills, and likely, they don't even pay their own. Pffft.........

My life is an adventure in perpetuity and motion. (See Aristotle/Newton earlier on in the thread).

Given the fact of my own philanthropic attitude, in that I would never have done what has been done to me, all I did in return is journal the experience in the interest of sparing someone else the dilusion of doing well, at this time of the year, at Brand A. It's my ethical principal which fuels my journaling.

CB JR. We had the same epiphany. W/S dispatch loved me. I made sure of it. Nothing was every late, I made all the re-scheduling calls in the interest of making the dispatcher's life less complicated than it already was. And because of these notable actions on my behalf, they never let me sit. They always knew that they didn't have any concern with whatever assignment I was given, time-critical loads included. Yet the monster had two sides, in that I could never get home, and I burned out from the pace of things.

And to both of you fine gentlemen, and and to anyone else who cares: I always land on my feet. I always look for lessons learned from experience. And in keeping with my most fundamental motto, My Will, not thy will be done..... I am onto my next adventure. Motto number two says: If it ain't fun, I ain't doing it. Both of these have given me permission to continue to not loose sight of who I am in this situation, and move accordingly. Balance will be found and had.

And don't worry, I'll keep writing. For better or worse........ :roll:

 

Clint,

I really hope that you were more or less joking regarding your motto's, as you know that neither one of those is reality.

First off you owned your own business for a while. I do not know if you got to the point of hiring employees or not, but could you imagine if an employee came in with that attitude. It is your business on the line but this employee comes in and says hey it's my will not yours! That will not fly with many people. When I owned my own business if someone came in with that attitude I would say don't let the door hit you in the rear on your way out.

Aside from safety issues it seems like a very self centered attitude. And it will be difficult in life, in relationships, work or anything else as the world does not revolve around you or me for that matter.


Again this is not reality. Sometimes life is not all fun. Especially work. You have to take the good with the bad. And as long as the positive out weighs the bad you are in good shape.

For your sake I hope you were just joking about this. If not you are in for some very big disappointments and will never find contentment.

Goin Fer It's Wife

 

Thats funny....we sat 1 hour this morning in seattle and were stacked with a load to winchester Va...2700 miles. That added to the 2500 we just dropped off and that is not a shabby week

tootie