Hey zexersix!

Nice to have you chime in from “lurker-mode”. I didn’t think that there were any other Swifty’s on this thing. Only pissed-off non-Swifty’s. Do you pull a flat? Glad to hear that your mileage is back up! It sucks when it’s slow. Things get very expensive for me when I’m stopped. I start looking for good restaurants and other fun things to do.

Would I be correct in assuming (given your handle) that you have a Kawasaki Ninja stashed somewhere? I L-O-V-E motorcycles!!!!

I wouldn’t take my Betty in for so much as a light bulb to the Gary shop. I love seeing the people in the office though, and I always take time to catch up with Kelly, one of the local flatbed haulers.

And don’t be afraid of that nit-wit CB JR. I’ll be sure to cut off an OD driver in his honor, next time one goes to pass me (Nyah!) Beep beep Echo… hiss, good buddy. What’s your vector, Victor? Over…..

Yeah Tootie. I always seem to pass gas whenever I go by Elwood Ave in Tulsa. It just feels like the right thing to do.

It was an interesting couple of days clearing out of my place in Neosho. I almost didn’t do it. But in allowing myself to go through with the process, I felt I put several years of unnecessary bulk behind me. I gave away thousands of dollars worth of furnishings and such. I resigned myself to eliminating anything and everything, which would not fit in my old Dodge van.

This left me with my computer gear, my beautiful custom-built tube stereo and all my remodeling tools. Everything else went bye-bye. This severance gave some closure to much of my past. I think I finally let go of any residual suffering over the loss of Bob. It also confirmed in my mind that I am 100% confident in my position with Swift.

As my home was in a major shipping lane, it almost guaranteed that I would be under a load in order to get home. The clock would always be ticking, and therefore, I wouldn’t be able to relax. Call it an over-developed sense of responsibility, whatever. Energetically, it just wouldn’t work.

So now, I am as Joni Mitchell sang, “a prisoner of a white line on the freeway”. Good for me.

So now, I have no home-related expenses. Just my cost of living on the road. Packing up and moving out was made much easier with the thought of finding a boat somewhere on the Gulf near to the Laredo terminal. I am such a homebody that I know I will long for a place to call my own. But in the meantime, I can settle all my debts incurred when I was hideously ill this past fall. Once that gets done, I plan to start banking some serious cash as I move towards my oceanfront property, as Geomon so aptly put it.

Yup. I kept all the little trappings of home, which would make dear Betty even cozier. I have my down comforter and pillows and a few other feel-good things to make my crib even more delightful to be in. I love my truck anyway. I got a good one, and so far, she’s been very dependable.

So here I sit, in Itasca, TX with nothing behind me, and everything in front of me. No safety net of home to fall back on and sheer determination to run on. I’ll hit Laredo a few hours ahead of my ETA, un-deck my car and then it’s off to see the Gulf Coast for a couple of days.

And yes, CB JR, I’ll be sure to be careful in Laredo. Thank you for your thoughtful words of caution!

More good pics coming soon!

__________________________________________________ __

Well, that was yesterday anyway.

I made the Laredo yard this afternoon and had to hold the cummulative exhaustion at bay while I finished up my paperwork for this trip, strip all the securement off my trailer, un-deck my car, etc. By the time I was all done with everything neatly stowed, I was nearly delerious. I found the Executive Inn; a very nice small two-story hotel way past all the busier cheap hotels. King size bed, pool, and my favorite.... in-room coffee. The down-time is much needed. More later.....

Oh well. Whatever. I can't speak about your experience or past knowledge of the company, and I can't say that I really care if your eyebrows go up, down or sideways. In my experience with three trucking companies to date, the people at the Gary terminal are an incredible bunch indeed and light years beyond anything like the offices at either W/S or Arrow. Not saying that you are insinuating that I am lying, BTW.

I knew you wrote something to this thread today. I could feel it as I was driving. Funny how the vibe-thing works. I hadn't thought about you in quite some time....

Anyone with even half a brain would watch their payroll, out-of-pocket expenses and mileage pay. I keep track of absolutely everything. I scan all my trip information and receipts and store them as .pdf's by trip number. Since day one, Swift has been unfailingly precise with all my pay and reimbursements, so no worries there either. As one might expect, mistakes do happen from time to time, and if a person keeps easily retrievable and organized records, then rectifying discrepancies presents either little or no problem.

Thank you for sharing your concerns.

Well im in Memphis,Tn....t-called a load here.I am a door slammer, i tried when i was in school to go flatbed,but they said,they dont take people from Florida.Which im glad,i dont even like making my bed,let alone tarp a load.

I sold my zx6r after i came back from Afghanistan,just didn't have the thrill for riding anymore.I might get the zx10r in a couple of years,i still have my endorsement.

This week i have 3100 miles, my hours are real low, debating on taking a 34hr restart, or get the hell out of Memphis.

Be safe out there,so many retarded 4 wheelers out there.

Yeah, that's a good one! Those lumber tarps are pretty heavy and nothing compared to a blanket. Can't help it; the visual on that one had me in stitches.....

My last bike was an '03 Gixxer 1000. I had it in San Diego and bought it just after my RC51 was stolen. We used to go ride Mt. Palomar every weekend. What a rush that was. I sold it shortly after I saw a few idiot kids coming up the tight side and sliding over the paint of the double yellow. I was down on my left puck and the thought of having a head-on with an out-of-control'er just finished the fun of it all.

One thing on my "gotta do" list is own a Ducati. The Paul Smart Special is the one for me. It beckons the days of the old bevel drives, in terms of styling. The thing really does it for me....

I don't like Memphis, so my vote would be for the latter of the two. I'd ask my DM if I could just get loaded and then take the re-start. How was your hours from the previous week? Can't you run off your re-cap?

It was a very nice chill day down here in Laredo. I stayed in bed in my hotel room until 10:45. I had just enough time to get clean before check out time.

I went back to the yard, got Ms. B to the truck wash and got my insurance application handled while waiting in line. I'll have coverage on May 1st. Good thing too, because my Diabetes meds run about $250.00/month. And I managed to fracture a filling while down here, so a trip to the dentist will be coming soon.

I got my pre-plan this evening as well. A nice, light chassis run back up to Elmhurst, IL. 1350 miles. Nothin' to it.....

I had fun hanging around the outdoor tables at the driver area here at the yard tonight. There were some cool people to talk with. It was fun hearing their stories about sliding tandems, heavy loads etc. I gotta say that I don't miss dry van, like, at all. The waiting, the lumpers, the high-value load scrutiny, all of it. In so many ways, flatbedding is so much simpler to deal with. There's none of the dicking around that the box people gripe about. And the "extra work" associated with tarping and securement, to me, is such a small price to pay for a more efficient load/unload scenario.

So it's back to work tomorrow after a few good days off. I'm ready to hit it again anyway. Funny how addicting movement can be.....

We did very nicely today. The weather down in Laredo was perfect. Last night, I went to dinner at Johnny Carino’s and then went to see Grindhouse. Both were excellent.

My load out of Laredo was running late, so I spent a good chunk of Thursday hanging around the terminal waiting to hook, chain and go. But as the afternoon wore on, I decided on dinner and a movie. No matter. Just a little more R&R to make things even better.

Sure enough, when I got back to the yard, my pre-loaded trailer was just sitting there. There was another guy chaining the same load as mine. He got out last night, but I figured another good night’s sleep wouldn’t kill me. So I decided to wait until morning to get busy with this one. Had the load arrived from Mexico on Thursday morning, I would have made the Elmhurst, IL drop by closing on Friday. But such was not the case.

Once secured and under way with my three street sweeper chassis, I called ahead to my DM to see about T-calling the load at the Gary yard and picking up something else in the interest of keeping moving through the weekend. It didn’t look as though it would happen, based on his initial reply. Oh well. It’s a pretty gentle run from Laredo to Elmhurst.

Later on in the day, the QC starts beeping. Sho’ ‘nuff, Joel got me T-Called and had a load out of Gary heading for Natchogales, AZ. So, 1350 miles to Gary and 1850 miles down to AZ. Not too shabby for just getting rolling again. Another epic week in the making. Gotta love it :P

New photos here:
http://web.mac.com/samael9/iWeb/SwiftBetty/041307.html

Hah...I would imagine you would get a few "reactions" to your travelling companion. "Yes officer, I swear it was a body in that truck...I saw it with my own eyes....poor girl had a cracked cranium".

Quite creative there Clint.

Well, Geo.... Thanks! You have to understand where it comes from. I have had a long standing fascination with mannequins. Throughout my time as a photographer, I spent hours shooting mannequins in storefront windows. I have a rather extensive portfolio of them buried on my RAIDS which are now sleeping peacefully in storage.

I shot most of my girls in LA and San Diego. But when I moved to Joplin, I started working with an antique dealer doing his Ebay listings. On the third and forth floors of his building on Main St., he had several hundred old mannequinns and pieces/parts.
See:
http://www.pbase.com/ckapp/women_of_silence&page=all

Before he cleaned out the place and put it on the market, I got to shoot a bunch of them. As part of my compensation for doing all his listings, I got to keep a few of them. Naturally, I was quite pleased to have them.

So when I moved out of my home in Neosho, I wanted to keep one of them with me. I love the crack, BTW. She also has glass eyes and fake eye lashes!! I thought she added some personality to an otherwise benign white tractor. Everything was fine until I left her on the yard in Laredo. I should have known better, but I cannot escape me being me sometimes. Oh well. Sally is up on the top bunk and out of the view of the roving eye..... :oops:

Last week's total came to a tad over $1700.00. And I am getting creamed with income taxes. My net was $950.00.

I dumped my sweeper chassis load last night in Gary. The terminal yard was jammed. Trucks and trailers were parked where ever there was room. It was so busy in there that I just wanted to chain my next load and get out of there. And that is exactly what I did.

There were a bunch of other flat rats there. I spoke to a couple of them and we are all running extremely well. I am not the only example of a successful company driver. Both of them are running 3000+ miles per week. There is a lot of freight running around the country and we all have the saddle sores to prove it.

I left the yard and parked at the Lincoln Oasis on I-80 last night. It is a great place to wake up in. Lots of good food and coffee up there. I think I slept for 10 hours straight.

The ride down I-55 into St. Louis was picture-perfect. In fact, the whole cruise down to Joplin was stunning. 600 and change went by without any effort to speak of. The coil on my deck only weighs 26,600 lb., so Betty has little to grunt and wheeze about. Tomorrow, I'm going to unhook and roll into the licensing office and get my CDL switched to MO along with my car tags. Shouldn't take too long.

My ETA into Nogales, AZ is 20:00 on Tuesday. At the rate I've been going on this trip, it should be easily accomplished. Wonder what's next?

Clint I have been enjoying your thread since you started it and just wanted to let you know that I am glad things are working out for you so well.

It's hard to believe we worked for the same company, but at least they are treating you right. I hope all continues to go well and I look forward to reading your next post.

Hey clint...sorry we didnt get to call you back the other day. We got unloaded then beat feet up to Lacrosse WI and promtly lost signal out in the boonies....we seem to spend alot of time there lately :wink:

tootie

Thank you, Jegzuz!

Ya know, for all the bad-raps and bum steers that Swift gets on these boards, I have not had one bad experience with these people. Not one. And, as you know, I would be the first one to say something.

Sorry that I haven’t written in a few days, but I have been hard at work. And when I shut down, I’ve been going straight to sleep, with out passing go or collecting the $200.00.

I just finished this week’s work (sort of). I ran from Laredo to Gary to Nogales to Los Angeles and on up to Stockton. I have yet to do the math, but it feels like a 3800-ish mile week.

The funny part is that my Stockton drop, for which I had a 0800 appointment today, said that someone called and cancelled my delivery and changed it to Tuesday of next week. (Eek!) Something went weird somewhere. It’s getting worked out as we speak. Fortunately, we have a yard nearby.

Hey Geo!!!!! Is my coupon for an all-you-can-eat Uni-Fest still in force????? I might take you up on it…

It’s been a wild week. Managing hours and fatigue has been a challenge, but I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment I get with this job. Plus, in the short time that I’ve been with Swift, I’ve seen almost the entire country, save for New York and New England. And Betty is 4000 miles away from her B service, which puts us at 26,000 miles since they cut me loose. Dang. Time and miles fly by…

When I hit my 3-month anniversary in May, I will try to post a break down of my earnings and accurate mileage so that all who aspire to a flatbed position will know how much this job is worth. And as I have said on numerous occasions, it rules.