[samael9]

Originally Posted by Crackaces

Now back to your Swift flatbedding programing ..

Thank you, Dr. Card Shark, (ahem) CrackAces. So very nice to have you bust in with a physiology lesson. And how right you are..... Foolish me; I should have been more patient in my composition, lest I be publicly humiliated by one more knowledgable than MMMMMEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! :shock:
"Who you jivin' with that Cosmic Debris?" sang Frank Zappa.

0800 drop in Fort Worth went swimmingly. The trip down I-45 to Houston; a marvel. The trip through Houston and out to I-10 east? Excruciating. So many cars, so little time. As I have no hair on my head, I could only say that I sprouted a few more gray chest hairs while going around Houston and out to the east. Oy; as they say in New York and Flahhrida. Next time, we'll do that one late at night.

I-10 east out by Beaumont was no picnic either. Lots of construction necking down into one lane at times... Yeah Buddy. Plenty of stand up, umm sit down comedians out there on channel 1 Niner. BUT, I made my drop in Sulfur, LA @ 1600, just like I said I would.

I had to flip the bird to the Petro in Beaumont as I sped past it. It was the home to several days of nothing while awaiting dispatch from Arr, ahh, never mind.

So: Sitting here in southern LA right next to my first drop of the day (Tuesday). I can't wait to head back up to my 2nd drop in New Orleans just so I can see where the heck I am.

Oh yes. Another $1300.00 paycheck hit my account today. Looks like I might actually punch right on through $50k in my first year with Swift.

I plan on spending some of my hard-earned dollars on a bicycle which I can ride once a day and keep myself and my blood sugars in check. And thanks for the reminder about heart rate, Sir. You can bet I will be getting a heart rate monitor just so I can "keep it real".

So it will be off to New Orleans in the morning after this drop, then two in Alabama. That will conclude a 3300 mile run. Gee; ...wonder what's next?? :roll:

[tootie04]

Now you know that Petro is really Arr under cover terminal in TX 8) 8)

tootie

[samael9]

Originally Posted by tootie04

Now you know that Petro is really Arr under cover terminal in TX 8) 8)

tootie

Well, I should have been fairer. The Petro does have fairly clean facilities, much to the contrary of Arr's sh*thole of a terminal in Houston. For that matter, they all are like that, aren't they? Thus catering to the more feloniously inclined.... Pfft.

Yours truly delivered right smack at 0800 in Thibodaux, LA to some extremely nice people and some fantastic freshly brewed java. I think that one of the things I am seeing in flatbed is that most of the people whom I come in contact with are real coffee-a-holics. I have yet to be disappointed at any of the drops I make in the wee hours of sunrise.

Generally, my first prerequisite of making any overnight stay is that coffee must be within easy walking distance of where Ms. B tossed her air valves. A morning without coffee is like triple Mercury-in-Retrograde. It's just askin' for trouble. I've thought about having a French press or some other java-rendering device on board, but it kills the fun of seeing who else is hovering around the life-giving dispenser. So be it. One more source of mess to clean up, which I can do without.

I got out of Thibodaux and made the New Orleans drop in a scat one hour and change. Another very nice crew. The forklift guy at this one was likely that fastest gun I have seen yet. When I complimented him on his expeditious work, he informed me that he had a late one the night before and was dying to get out of there. <hehe> By the looks of the sweat rolling off of his face, my estimation of 100 proof desperation was well within reason. I remember those days.... 8)

I was doin' my best to make the Birmingham drop before they closed. I was running with my foot down for most of the way, but the body reminded me that I had not yet had anything to eat. So, with sugar levels crashing, we stopped for a spot of lunch.

Back on the highway, I called ahead to inform them of my arrival only to find out that these folks close at 1630 sharp. Dang. I figured on 1700. La te da..... Just means that I get to catch up on some extra rest.

My GPS had me pulling off on Derby Parkway, which looked rather suspicious for an equipment rental/retail establishment. Emily, are you sure??? Yup, she says. I look down the narrow tree-lined road, which she insists is where we need to go. Uhhh, no sweetie. See that "no truck" sign over there? Ooops. Of course you can't. But look! There's an empty lot with lots of room to park, surrounded by trees. Cool. We need a nap.

And nap we did. For like 3 hours.

Bo always seems to call when I am sleeping. Too bad he doesn't sound more like a Veronica or a Roxanne. I shunned his first attempt, but caved to the second. Musta been something "marine" in nature, so off we went. Boats. Ahh, boats....... I really think we should get a crew together from this thread and find someplace salty and blue and just friggin' tie one on.

• Birmingham tomorrow morning, as soon as I figure out where Miss Em went wrong, then a tiny 75-mile sprint to Boaz, AL and this trip will be finished. 3400 miles, almost to the tenth thereof. Can't wait to see what this one's worth! Yummy....... :P

[samael9]

It was another long day on the highways.

I made my final in Boaz, had a nice breakfast at the local Huddle House and was greeted by a blinking QC upon returning to my truck.

Deadhead to the Greer, SC terminal and pick up a T-Call load of chassis heading to Wakarusa, IN. OK. 280 miles to the terminal and 680 or so to the drop. Best get moving… I’ll be heading straight through Atlanta, but fortunately, I’ll be a couple of hours ahead of the evening rush. And good thing too, because even though I went through the city during off-peak, the traffic was rather dense.

Got into Greer last night, and sure enough, there was my pre-loaded trailer. The driver who picked up the load was kind enough to leave all the securement in place, so I didn’t have to chain it all down again. But the weird thing was, my load assignment came with a tarp-pay notification. These usually indicate that the load requires tarping, and that my DM has issued payment for it. I’ve never seen chassis tarped before. We tarp frame rails, which is for certain.

So what to do? It’s well past my DM’s hours and I planned to leave early. So in the interest of erring to the cautious side, I went ahead and tarped the load. It sure took a while to cover it all. Lots of bungees too. Completely shagged from the exercise and the ridicule from the door-slammers, I took a long, hot shower and went immediately to sleep.

The next morning, I QC’d my DM to ask if I was in fact supposed to tarp. My heart sank when he replied with a “no” and that the extra pay was for securing the load. Oh well. Chalk one up to experience. At least they arrived clean.

On the way to Wakarusa, my DM QC’d me again to tell me that the consignee would be closed for Good Friday and that the load would be T-Called at the Gary terminal. Oh, goody. Much less work, but it puts me back for getting on Quick Pay.

Just for your information: Swift has an accelerated pay program. After a new hire successfully delivers a certain amount of freight, (excluding T-Calls) they will calculate your mileage pay at the time your dispatch has been accepted and add that to your weekly pay period. This makes getting your trip envelopes turned in a little less critical. A very nice benefit, but it takes a while to earn the privilege. I will probably get there in another month or so.

So I made the Gary terminal this evening, and I am one step closer to some time off. I’ve been out on the road for six weeks now. I am really ready to let my truck-brain take a breather. These past few trips have been long and complicated. Made more tedious by the timeframes required to meet the demand for service. Do not misread this as complaint. I asked for this kind of pressure because I like it. But I have to be honest with myself in saying that I need some rest.

I have earned six days off. The first three will be spent in Neosho. I’m moving out of my nifty little house as I never get see it. It just seems like my time is better spent working in the interest of a foreseeable retirement. That house was about Bob and myself. Bob lives on as an energetic component of my psyche and will always be a part of my heart. But the emptiness and the expense of a home no longer suit my purposes. So there it goes. The yard crew are coming to do some spring cleaning and the Goodwill truck will take away most everything else, save for my desktop rig and all its ancillary bits, my stereo, studio lighting, remodeling tools and a few keepsake books on the Black Arts. The rest is history.

The second three days, hopefully, will be spent down in Laredo, from which I will go look at Corpus Christy and Brownsville, TX. I’ve not been to either, however the thought of seeing Gulf waterfront is very appealing to me at this juncture.

It is freezing cold and windy up here in Gary: A rather sharp contrast to the balmy climes of the south. This is the first night in which I’ve idled my truck in quite some time.

It will be nice to see my DM in person in the morning. There are a few other folks I am looking forward to seeing as well within the terminal offices. And certainly I am looking forward to seeing Kelly, my trainer.

All in all, it’s been a great few weeks of running. I’ve been from Iowa to Seattle, down to Texas and Alabama, up to South Carolina and now, Gary IN. This country just doesn’t seem to be that big any more. The only part I haven’t seen so far is New England. But I am sure that that is somewhere in the cards……..

[Colin]

That's cool Swift is doing that pay thing for drivers. JB Hunt did the same thing, although from the first day. If you made your delivery macro before 11:59 Monday night, you got paid Friday. I never screwed around with dropping off trip paks, but it was a nice thing for them to do. May Trucking did not do that, but I wanted more control over the trip paks anyway. The longer LOH at May made juggling the time I dropped necessary.

[samael9]

Yeah, Colin.

It is a cool thing and nice of JB to get it going right from the start. I guess with Swift, the turnover rate at the bottom of the food chain is so high. Also, the "dependability factor" might contribute to the delay as well. I certainly haven't given anyone cause for concern, but policy is policy and technically, they don't really know me yet in the corporate offices. I'm doing alright anyway. We have 38 terminals, so it's not too difficult to hit one and drop the envelopes.

I was hoping for a little slack in the schedule today, but no such luck. I woke up @ the Gary terminal, sent in my daily check call (Macro 10) and before I could even put the dern box down, my pre-plan for Laredo starts beeping at me. Which is what I wanted anyway, but it could have waited long enough for me to get my morning fix.

Actually, it all came together perfectly. I got a 35,000 lb. coil and twisted my DM's arm to let me run it on a step so I could load my car and take it with me. Whoops, better go clear it with the terminal manager first. Sure enough, Carol approved it with no hesitency. Most companies would have said no. W/S told my friend that they would charge him $400-$500 to move some of his stuff once. Swift? Nothing....

So after all the obligatory hi-how are ya's?, I headed out to have some quiet time and breakfast at the Kennedy Cafe in Hammond. Perfect way to get the day going.

I went back to the yard, untarped my load, clipped to a step and ran to Sawyer, MI to snatch my coil. No one was there. 13 bays and I was the only guy getting loaded. Lucky me; no waiting. A quick dash back to the yard and off in my car I went. I have a great massage therapist nearby and I almost collapsed on her table. The hour went by way too quickly.

But, I still had work to do. I grabbed a quick bite along the way to the yard and headed in to deck my car. Having decked and un-decked Sprinters, the car was a piece of cake. I kept the ramps so I could use my car when I hit Neosho and un-deck when I hit Laredo.

Fortunately, the coil is in no great hurry. I just need to have it down there by Tuesday afternoon. Fine by me, I have all the house stuff to do over the weekend. If I leave by 1500 on Monday, I'll have plenty of time to make the journey and deliver on time. And that will be when I get a few days away from Betty. Can't wait.

Now for some Zzzzzzz's.....

[zexersix]

Glad to hear that Swift is also treating you good. I was hating it,in the slow season,only averaging 2000m on a good week,now if i dont hit 2800+,its a slow week for me.I'm not getting the dollars you are getting,but my take home pay is between 600-900 a week. Whatever you do,dont get a B-service in Gary,IN.It took them a day to do it,they have no dedicated lanes like Atlanta. If you ever are at a terminal and see a golden looking cocker spaniel,and myself laughing at her,that will be me, stop by and let her do her happy pee(damn dog).

In fact i have a drop in Houston,TX on monday,usually from there it will
be Larado or dallas they'll send me. I havent named my truck,but those dang Freightliners are like the Energizer bunny,they keep going and going.Swift is having so much problems with Volvo's, i'm so glad i have a freightliner.If i think about it,when i graduated from my trainer,i so badly wanted one.

I like your column,usually when i get done for the day,first thing i do is look to see if you have any new entries,good reading. Stay safe out there everyone,and Happy Easter.

To those tailgaters out there,I one finger salute you....I know the dang truck is slow,but come on now,if you see a Swift Freightliner truck,get in the passing lane.

[CB JR.]

Get out of my way you Swift drivers, I gotz me some freight to deliver ...echo...echo... *beep* Be careful down there in Laredo Clint.

[tootie04]

Hey clint....Arrow charged us 1,000 dollars to move our little 10x10 box from OR to OK. We even had "full loads" on the trailer and they STILL charged us!! Oh well....

We are in Grand Island now.....me and my injured knee :cry: Not sure how I did that one!! I just know it HURTS!! :cry:

tootie

[dieselgrl]

Swift used to charge for use of company equipment, so I'm suspicious of this. Not saying you're lying Clint, just makes me raise my eyebrow is all.

Just make sure you keep tabs of your trips (when you send them in and when they are paid). Payroll will lose a few through the cracks from time to time. Keep copies of all your receipts as well.