Week 22:
-N/A due to time off.
Week 23:
-Waupun, WI to Mulberry, FL (drop tank), then to Auburndale, FL (hook tank) for load going to Warren, MI (1,342 empty + 21 empty + 1,200 loaded = 2,563 total.....drop & hook 06-06, live unload 06-08/0800-1100).
End of week total: 2,563 miles.
Week 24:
-Warren, MI to Ionia, MI (tank wash), then to Belding, MI for load going to Rancho Cucamonga, CA (128 empty + 14 empty + 2,235 loaded = 2,377 total.....live load 06-08/2230-2345, live unload 06-13/0830-0945).
End of week total: 2,377 miles.
Week 25:
-Rancho Cucamonga, CA to Tulare, CA (tank wash), then to Tipton, CA for load going to Waupun, WI (206 empty + 11 empty + 2,188 loaded = 2,405 total.....washout and live load 06-14/1400-1600, live unload and washout 06-18/0700-0855).
-Waupun, WI to Rembrandt, IA for load going to Norco, CA (416 empty + 1,720 loaded = 2,136 total.....washout and live load 06-19/0815-1015, drop and hook 06-21). This load was the last one that could be completed before my two-year anniversary.
End of week total: 4,541 miles.
Totals from 06-25-2004 to 06-24-2006:
Miles: 287,200
Loads: 139 (278)
Live loads/unloads: 242 (87%)
Drop and Hooks: 36 (13%)
Length of Haul: 2,066 miles
Days working: 549
Days off: 181
Week 26:
-Norco, CA to Chino, CA (tank wash), then to Artesia, CA for load going to Neenah, CA (5 empty + 32 empty + 2,172 loaded = 2,209 total.....washout and live load 06-23/0530-0800, live unload and washout 06-27/0045-0330).
-Neenah, WI to Rembrandt, IA for load going to Abbeville, AL (433 empty + 1,229 loaded = 1,662 total.....washout and live load 06-28/0945-1200, live unload and washout 06-29/1830-2115).
End of week total: 3,871 miles
Weeks 27, 28:
N/A due to time off and vacation.
Week 29:
-Abbeville, AL to Jacksonville, FL (tank wash), then to Blackshear, GA for load going to Ripon, CA (272 empty + 80 empty + 2,643 loaded = 2,995 total.....washout and live load 07-14/0915-1345, live unload 07-18/0800-1000). Had tank washed next day at the yard before going to load.
End of week total: 2,995 miles.
Week 30:
-Ripon, CA to Hilmar, CA for load going to Greenwood, WI (29 empty + 2,145 loaded = 2,174 total.....washout and live load 07-19/1915-2130, live unload and washout 07-23/0645-0800).
-Greenwood, WI to Fair Oaks, IN for load going to Braselton, GA (384 empty + 685 loaded = 1,069 total.....live load 07-23/1745-1815, live unload and washout 07-25/1010-1130).
-Braselton, GA to Montezuma, GA for load going to Winter Haven, FL (175 empty + 351 loaded = 526 total.....drop and hook 07-26, live unload and washout 07-27/2040/2230).
-Winter Haven, FL to Mulberry, FL to turn truck in. (18 empty)
End of week total: 3,787 miles.
2006 Totals:
Miles: 78,565
Loads: 36 (72)
Live loads/unloads: 65 (90%)
Drop and Hooks: 74 (10%)
Length of Haul: 2,182 miles
Days working: 153
Days off: 55
Final Totals:
Miles: 297,853
Loads: 145 (290)
Live loads/unloads: 253 (87%)
Drop and Hooks: 37 (13%)
Length of Haul: 2,054 miles
Days working: 568
Days off: 195
I'd like to say that my time at Jim Aartman was very productive and enjoyable. I'd like to credit a lot of that to the wonderful dispatcher and supervisor I had in Ripon (Pam and Jon). I never had a problem that they couldn't fix, and that the miles and hometime were always there for me. I'd also like to give a shoutout to Kari, for filling in when Pam and Jon weren't there. Y'all will truly be missed, and hopefully my travels with Superior will bring me through there to stop in and visit. :wink:
I'd also like to say thanks to Ron in Fair Oaks. Without him who knows where I would've went, 'cause I wasn't staying with Indian River. I feel fortunate enough to never have gotten that finger of steel in the chest! :lol: :P :lol:
Last but not least a thanks and farewell to the mechanics, fellow drivers, and other personnel that I was able to share the last two years with. Especially those who were formerly employed at the Mulberry, FL yard but somehow ended up leaving, sometimes under strange or unknown circumstances (Faye, Scott, Paula, and Chris) :roll:
To my friends still running food-grade, and those who may like to give it a shot, I wish you all safe and productive journeys. I still say that there is nothing easier than running this stuff with a company like Jim Aartman, Caledonia, Bynum, or Indian River/North American Tank Lines. That is, where the driver simply picks the load up and gets it to it's destination safely with no involvement with the loading /unloading. I'm going to miss it, but unfortunately (at least for now), "easy" does have a way of being very limited to the amount of income
I can make without sacrificing hometime and having to run more miles, and also having a benefit package that is lacking in areas. We shall see how this goes...
So for the time being, this is it for my food-grade adventure. My next update will be once again as a chemical tanker-yanker. Honestly, I was trying for one of those cushy union gigs, but as always here in North Florida, they're only hiring for part-time and/or casual positions with a very L-O-N-G wait to get full-time status, which I simply cannot afford :roll: :roll: :roll: Anyway, as soon as I get a truck I'll put it's number under my avatar. Y'all have a great weekend and have fun. I can smell that barbeque on the grill already
:wink:!!!
