I am not sure why I didn't have a load scheduled for me on Monday, but I know why not today. It looks like i am going to be running down to Spring Hill, TN, as a dedicated run now. Which means I have to get slotted into the schedule. Last week I ran Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, so logically this week it would be Tuesday and Thursday. Unfortunately logic does not apply, I missed Monday, I still don't know why, and am scheduled for Wednesday and Friday this week. Then next week it will be Tuesday and Thursday.
The reason for the three then two is so that the guy who ran opposite me this week gets the same amount of money, which is only fair. Unfortunately I will be alternating between a really good check and a good check every week, with two good checks in a row (which kind of sucks) So I will be trying to pick up extra work on my Tue + Thur weeks to get a bit more money.
So tomorrow it is up early and head on down South with another load of engines. At least I won't have to carry as many clothes, only will need a day with some spares vs a whole week with some spares.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
It really needed replacement
Friday while pretripping my truck I noticed that the mechanic had decided to replace the tie rod and a set of shocks on the truck. These were the ones that the Kentucky DOT had flagged but the mechanic down there could not find what was wrong. So basically I put the truck and trailer in for a third opinion. I don't know if they did anything to the trailer, but I have a feeling they did.
It wasn't until I started driving it that I knew that it was handling a lot better. I was having to make a lot fewer minor adjustments while steering, it was never anything major, just an inch up or down to hold the straight line. The biggest difference was when I started hitting some of the major bumps in Kentucky along I-71. The new shocks improved the ride by so much that it makes me wonder about some of the other trucks I have driven for Falcon. I had just thought International tractors had a rougher ride, but with new shocks it was almost as good as the Freightliners I drove in the past.
Going down I had another driver catch a ride down to Nashville. He was a trainee that lived down there and was going to be getting he=is next trainer from the terminal in Nashville. He was nice enough, but I did feel a bit sorry for him since the passenger seat in my truck is not very comfortable at all. This did get him home two days earlier than he originally thought he would be there. He was originally going to be catching a ride down on Sunday.
The drive Friday was extremely frustrating as I caught extremely heavy traffic from Dayton all the way down to Cincinnati. The huge construction project going on through Dayton didn't help things either. That is apparently scheduled to be done in 2011. The traffic around Louisville was pretty bad as well, looked like a back-up due to an accident that was long gone by the time I got to the front of the line.
The funny thing was that even after all the delays I got to Saturn, oops, the GM Spring Hill Assembly Plant, GM is taking a more active roll down there. I just hope the changes don't kill the efficiency and flexibility that was a part of the Saturn culture. Anyway, I got there at about the same time I usually did. It just shows how much faster a truck is when empty than when loaded. Those hills through Kentucky really add time to a heavy load.
Driving home Saturday was fairly uneventful, the gray skies promised rain, but none ever fell. I was hoping the rain would wash some of the dust off the truck for once. I was annoyed to find out that nothing was planned for me yet on Monday. The person I talked to tried to make it my fault for not calling and talking to my driver manager on Friday. All I could say was that I didn't realize I needed to call to check and see if he was doing his job.
Hopefully it will be more of these runs down to Tennessee, they go pretty fast and rack up the miles fairly quickly.
It wasn't until I started driving it that I knew that it was handling a lot better. I was having to make a lot fewer minor adjustments while steering, it was never anything major, just an inch up or down to hold the straight line. The biggest difference was when I started hitting some of the major bumps in Kentucky along I-71. The new shocks improved the ride by so much that it makes me wonder about some of the other trucks I have driven for Falcon. I had just thought International tractors had a rougher ride, but with new shocks it was almost as good as the Freightliners I drove in the past.
Going down I had another driver catch a ride down to Nashville. He was a trainee that lived down there and was going to be getting he=is next trainer from the terminal in Nashville. He was nice enough, but I did feel a bit sorry for him since the passenger seat in my truck is not very comfortable at all. This did get him home two days earlier than he originally thought he would be there. He was originally going to be catching a ride down on Sunday.
The drive Friday was extremely frustrating as I caught extremely heavy traffic from Dayton all the way down to Cincinnati. The huge construction project going on through Dayton didn't help things either. That is apparently scheduled to be done in 2011. The traffic around Louisville was pretty bad as well, looked like a back-up due to an accident that was long gone by the time I got to the front of the line.
The funny thing was that even after all the delays I got to Saturn, oops, the GM Spring Hill Assembly Plant, GM is taking a more active roll down there. I just hope the changes don't kill the efficiency and flexibility that was a part of the Saturn culture. Anyway, I got there at about the same time I usually did. It just shows how much faster a truck is when empty than when loaded. Those hills through Kentucky really add time to a heavy load.
Driving home Saturday was fairly uneventful, the gray skies promised rain, but none ever fell. I was hoping the rain would wash some of the dust off the truck for once. I was annoyed to find out that nothing was planned for me yet on Monday. The person I talked to tried to make it my fault for not calling and talking to my driver manager on Friday. All I could say was that I didn't realize I needed to call to check and see if he was doing his job.
Hopefully it will be more of these runs down to Tennessee, they go pretty fast and rack up the miles fairly quickly.
Friday, September 26, 2008
The day after..
After sleeping rather well, I got cleaned up with the facial cleanser clothes and baby wipes as best I could. Why people think those baby wipes actually make one cleaner I will never know since I simply felt less icky. I always have some water in the truck so brushing my teeth last night and this morning were no problem. So after double checking things on the truck adding some coolant and wash fluid, down the road I went.
It wasn't to long until I started hearing about an accident that had shut down northbound I-65 for some time, which means huge back-up. So it seems I have time to stop for a shower after all. Swinging into a Love's at the 58, I found out that the accident was at the 77 or so and the back up was to the 71 mm (mile mark, yard sticker, etc). Checking out my map I found a way around it on 31W so off to the shower.
After my shower the radio (cb, squawk box) still was telling how bad things were, but my initial reroute still sounded good so up to the 65 to catch 31W and then get back on at the 81. This detour rapidly turned into a line of trucks moving at a very slow pace. So to travel what would have taken less than half an hour on a clear highway, I managed to do it in about 90 minutes. Some pleasant scenery though, lots of cows staring at the trucks like this was the highlight of their day, or more like what the heck?
This entire traffic mess was made slightly more annoying by the fact that if I hadn't been stopped last night I would have spent the night at the 86, Glendale, KY, Petro, and missed all this pleasantness. Things moved pretty well after that until Cincinnati, then it was one slow down and back up after another. Mostly due to construction or long cleared accidents. It wasn't until after Dayton that the highway began flowing well again. I encountered my one bit of good luck that day when as I approached the north bound weigh station (scale house, chicken coop) north of North Baltimore, the sign changed from open to closed as I got close to it. Of course, the way my trip had gone so far, I was half expecting to have to ague with an officer that the sign changed to closed, really.
Back in the yard I wrote up the truck and trailer for what the DOT had said was bad, for a third opinion on it. This was mainly because both will be traveling through there again and it would be bad to have the same items noted twice for the same vehicle. Bad for me, bad for the mechanic that signed his name, and bad for the company. I also noted a few other things on the truck, and to home I went.
Friday I will be doing another round to Spring Hill, TN, unfortunately delivering at 11 PM eastern time. So I won't be home until Saturday afternoon at the earliest, more likely Saturday evening.
It wasn't to long until I started hearing about an accident that had shut down northbound I-65 for some time, which means huge back-up. So it seems I have time to stop for a shower after all. Swinging into a Love's at the 58, I found out that the accident was at the 77 or so and the back up was to the 71 mm (mile mark, yard sticker, etc). Checking out my map I found a way around it on 31W so off to the shower.
After my shower the radio (cb, squawk box) still was telling how bad things were, but my initial reroute still sounded good so up to the 65 to catch 31W and then get back on at the 81. This detour rapidly turned into a line of trucks moving at a very slow pace. So to travel what would have taken less than half an hour on a clear highway, I managed to do it in about 90 minutes. Some pleasant scenery though, lots of cows staring at the trucks like this was the highlight of their day, or more like what the heck?
This entire traffic mess was made slightly more annoying by the fact that if I hadn't been stopped last night I would have spent the night at the 86, Glendale, KY, Petro, and missed all this pleasantness. Things moved pretty well after that until Cincinnati, then it was one slow down and back up after another. Mostly due to construction or long cleared accidents. It wasn't until after Dayton that the highway began flowing well again. I encountered my one bit of good luck that day when as I approached the north bound weigh station (scale house, chicken coop) north of North Baltimore, the sign changed from open to closed as I got close to it. Of course, the way my trip had gone so far, I was half expecting to have to ague with an officer that the sign changed to closed, really.
Back in the yard I wrote up the truck and trailer for what the DOT had said was bad, for a third opinion on it. This was mainly because both will be traveling through there again and it would be bad to have the same items noted twice for the same vehicle. Bad for me, bad for the mechanic that signed his name, and bad for the company. I also noted a few other things on the truck, and to home I went.
Friday I will be doing another round to Spring Hill, TN, unfortunately delivering at 11 PM eastern time. So I won't be home until Saturday afternoon at the earliest, more likely Saturday evening.
A night with the Kentucky DOT
Wednesday night I was heading back North along I-65 when something happened that I have never had happen before. While going through the weigh station the sign flipped to park from back to I-65, so to the back I went. This was going to be my first time having to go into a weigh station so as I updated my log and got together all the required paperwork, all I could wonder was why. For that matter why was I the second Falcon truck back there.
When I got inside I found out why, and that I forgot the trailer registration. The why was that while looking at our trucks with an infrared camera, it views heat in black and white, they noticed that one or more of our trailer brakes were cool compared to the rest of them. Watching the camera as other trucks when by, the glowing white brakes were quite obvious to see, so a dark one would be just as glaringly obvious. The paperwork check didn't take long as everything was in order, once I grabbed the trailer registration that is.
Then it was time for me to pull it into their inspection barn. It was here that I found out that all sorts of things were wrong with the underside of the truck, steering, suspension, and the two brakes that were misaligned. So I was now shut down until repairs were made and the sheet was signed off on by the mechanic. Looking at the clock it was at this point that I knew I would be spending the night here rather than at a truck stop two miles down the road, I was almost out of hours to drive, bumping the 14 hour limit.
The mechanic was there fairly quickly and got the other truck rolling just as fast, then it was my turn. As he was checking all the parts marked off by the DOT, he became more and more confused, since according to him all that he found was the brakes needed adjusting. So with a lot of phone calls to my breakdown department and his boss, and some more checks, he adjusted the brakes and signed off on the sheet that I was good to roll. By this point it was now a good hour or two after my 14 hour limit, so no driving on for me. I was stuck there for ten hours. The only thing remotely close to facilities a small porto pottie off in a corner, lovely.
When I got inside I found out why, and that I forgot the trailer registration. The why was that while looking at our trucks with an infrared camera, it views heat in black and white, they noticed that one or more of our trailer brakes were cool compared to the rest of them. Watching the camera as other trucks when by, the glowing white brakes were quite obvious to see, so a dark one would be just as glaringly obvious. The paperwork check didn't take long as everything was in order, once I grabbed the trailer registration that is.
Then it was time for me to pull it into their inspection barn. It was here that I found out that all sorts of things were wrong with the underside of the truck, steering, suspension, and the two brakes that were misaligned. So I was now shut down until repairs were made and the sheet was signed off on by the mechanic. Looking at the clock it was at this point that I knew I would be spending the night here rather than at a truck stop two miles down the road, I was almost out of hours to drive, bumping the 14 hour limit.
The mechanic was there fairly quickly and got the other truck rolling just as fast, then it was my turn. As he was checking all the parts marked off by the DOT, he became more and more confused, since according to him all that he found was the brakes needed adjusting. So with a lot of phone calls to my breakdown department and his boss, and some more checks, he adjusted the brakes and signed off on the sheet that I was good to roll. By this point it was now a good hour or two after my 14 hour limit, so no driving on for me. I was stuck there for ten hours. The only thing remotely close to facilities a small porto pottie off in a corner, lovely.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Waiting
Of course now it is a waiting game. For some reason they never plan to far out on loads unless it is a regularly scheduled run. So here I am with my 14 hours up at 2:15 PM and 5 hours left to drive, killing time while my next move is calculated. According to the trip information I got, this was supposed to get here at around 5 PM today, like I am going to take that long to drive it up here from Glendale, KY (344 miles) . Round trip it wasn't bad over a thousand paid miles, but I wanted to get going as soon as I got here. What will most likely happen is that I will be taking a ten hour break and then start out again, on what I don't know.
Driving at night though Kentucky along I-71 I saw several groups of does and fawns along the highway nibbling at the grass. It looked as if they had mowed it recently, so they were probably after the new growth that mowing causes. The interesting thing is that even when I blew my air horn as I passed they barely flicked an ear. It is no wonder there are so many deer/vehicle accidents, we lay out a buffet and then wonder why they come to eat it.
Driving at night the past few months has also made me realize that for some reason newer cars have fewer reflectors on them. If you compare a car made even five years ago there is a significant difference between them. Going back even further it is even more pronounced. Then have people covering the most reflective part of their car, the license plate, you end up with vehicles that are basically invisible until you are already on them. There is no doubt in my mind that is a cause of a lot of accidents as well. I know on the Ohio Turnpike they will put two reflective pylons behind a disabled vehicle to make it more visible at night.
That is it until I find out what is going on next.
Driving at night though Kentucky along I-71 I saw several groups of does and fawns along the highway nibbling at the grass. It looked as if they had mowed it recently, so they were probably after the new growth that mowing causes. The interesting thing is that even when I blew my air horn as I passed they barely flicked an ear. It is no wonder there are so many deer/vehicle accidents, we lay out a buffet and then wonder why they come to eat it.
Driving at night the past few months has also made me realize that for some reason newer cars have fewer reflectors on them. If you compare a car made even five years ago there is a significant difference between them. Going back even further it is even more pronounced. Then have people covering the most reflective part of their car, the license plate, you end up with vehicles that are basically invisible until you are already on them. There is no doubt in my mind that is a cause of a lot of accidents as well. I know on the Ohio Turnpike they will put two reflective pylons behind a disabled vehicle to make it more visible at night.
That is it until I find out what is going on next.
Monday, September 22, 2008
I have been to Saturn
The car company, though the other would be fun too.
After several weeks of a dedicated run from Bay City, MI to Parma, OH on a run going to the GM Powertrain plant there, I am now back to doing what ever I am assigned, over the road. I started this week late Sunday night with a load of engines out of Canada heading to Spring Hill, TN. I was able to get a decent amount of sleep prior to the run so only had to stop to get a quick 15 minute power nap once.
I arrived at my destination about an hour early, fortunately they allow you to be up to an hour early, otherwise I would have had to wait. The size of this plant is just staggering, from the gate it took me almost ten minutes to get to where I was going, and the longest section of that was at a posted 35 mph. Compared to the size of the Jeep plant in Toledo, the Jeep plant is small. Of course they had a lot of room to spread out down here, and they sure took advantage of it. They even have some sections leased out to farmers for crops since they didn't need the land yet.
Anyway I am now in the midst of my 10 hour break in Glendale, KY at the Petro there. IT was close making it here with my hours, since dispatch wanted me to start the run so early, but I made it ok and am now in the air conditioned comfort of Idle Aire, waiting for midnight when I will head back to Toledo with this return trailer of empty racks heading back to Canada. When I called earlier they didn't know what I was doing next yet, so I might be doing this again, or something else entirely, we shall see.
For some reason I am not getting as good a connection here as I have in the past, no idea why but it is irritating not being able to watch hulu for some good old fashioned tv.
After several weeks of a dedicated run from Bay City, MI to Parma, OH on a run going to the GM Powertrain plant there, I am now back to doing what ever I am assigned, over the road. I started this week late Sunday night with a load of engines out of Canada heading to Spring Hill, TN. I was able to get a decent amount of sleep prior to the run so only had to stop to get a quick 15 minute power nap once.
I arrived at my destination about an hour early, fortunately they allow you to be up to an hour early, otherwise I would have had to wait. The size of this plant is just staggering, from the gate it took me almost ten minutes to get to where I was going, and the longest section of that was at a posted 35 mph. Compared to the size of the Jeep plant in Toledo, the Jeep plant is small. Of course they had a lot of room to spread out down here, and they sure took advantage of it. They even have some sections leased out to farmers for crops since they didn't need the land yet.
Anyway I am now in the midst of my 10 hour break in Glendale, KY at the Petro there. IT was close making it here with my hours, since dispatch wanted me to start the run so early, but I made it ok and am now in the air conditioned comfort of Idle Aire, waiting for midnight when I will head back to Toledo with this return trailer of empty racks heading back to Canada. When I called earlier they didn't know what I was doing next yet, so I might be doing this again, or something else entirely, we shall see.
For some reason I am not getting as good a connection here as I have in the past, no idea why but it is irritating not being able to watch hulu for some good old fashioned tv.
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