STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

Life Day 22330: Communique From Cheyenne

Let’s see, where did I leave off in my last post? Oh yeah, I was waiting for the Ogden, UT to Paris, TX load to be ready.
I waited for most of the day to be dispatched on the load so I could go pick it up. Without being dispatched, I have no way of knowing exactly where the load picks up. All I get in the PrePlan is the company name and the city and state of origin. I sent a couple of inquiries during the course of the day, but all I could get out of the weekend Planners is the load would be ready about 1600. At 1600, I again asked about the load, this time requesting directions to the shipper so I could see what was going on for myself. After I got the requested directions, I drove to the customer. There, I checked with Security. He asked me for my pick-up number. I, of course, didn’t have one because I still hadn’t been dispatched on the load. It turns out that the load had been ready since before midnight last night, because this customer doesn’t work weekends. I sent a snarky little note to the Planner asking him/her why I had been sitting all day waiting for a load that was already pre-loaded. I never got an answer to that question, but I did finally get dispatched on the load so I could pick it up. I finally got out of town about 1730, but the trailer was missing a mud flap, and I needed fuel, so I had to stop in Salt Lake City to take care of all that. I finally, finally got out of “Dodge” about 1930, already tired, frustrated and fuming. I drove to Springville, UT (just south of Provo) and called it a day/night.

The next day, the 24th, I drove to Albuquerque, NM. Nothing exciting or unusual occurred.

The 25th brought me to my destination in Paris, TX. Along the way, I received and accepted a PrePlan which picked up at another customer in Paris and delivered in Laredo, TX. After I did the drop/hook delivery, I drove to a nearby small truck stop and settled in for the night.

The 26th was a fairly straight forward day. I picked up my load and drove to Laredo. I stopped twice. The first stop was in Lancaster, TX at our terminal for fuel. The second was in Hillsboro, TX. I had dinner here at a Black-eyed Pea restaurant. This is a small chain of “home-style” restaurants located in Texas and Colorado. The food is excellent, plentiful, and cheap. I got out for $15.00 and change, less tip, but including a drink (iced tea, naturally), desert, and a extra side order of Black-eyed peas (why go there if you aren’t going to try the signature dish). While I was waiting for my order, they brought me a plate of bread (two nice sized dinner rolls and two pieces of corn bread). They offered more bread during my meal, but I refused. I was too full already. I had Meat Loaf, Corn, Mac & Cheese, and the above mentioned Black-eyed Peas for my dinner, and Peach Cobbler for desert. YUM, YUM, YUM!!!

The 27th went all right for the most part. I arrived at the customer about 1015. Much to my surprise, it was in a residential area downtown. Not a good place to be in a 73 ft vehicle. The customer opened my trailer, checked the load, re-sealed the trailer, and said I was to take it back to the Swift terminal (13 miles north) and drop it for transportation across the border later. This whole process didn’t make much sense to me. Couldn’t he come to the terminal once a day, check his trailers, and release the paperwork. Why put us drivers at risk traversing narrow streets with absolute MORONS doing everything they can to screw up your day. After I returned to the terminal and dropped the trailer, I went to the TA truck stop. I put my truck in the shop for a PM service, and had lunch. Later in the day, I accepted a load to Miami, FL (not even thinking of Gustav or Hanna). I picked up the load and drove to Brookshire, TX and stopped for the night (that pesky 14 hour rule).

The 28th turned out to be another frustrating day. When I figured out my available hours for the rest of the week, I discovered that I would be about 2 hours short of being able to deliver the load on time. I was told to drop the load at our drop yard in Houston. A little while after I did that, I was told to take an empty trailer to a customer in Hawkins, TX for the hurricane relief effort. Along the way, I received a PrePlan that picked up in Longview, TX and dropped at our terminal in Gary, IN. Silly me, I assumed that the Planner realized that I would not have an empty trailer available when I was done because I was doing a trailer re-location trip. After I dropped the trailer, I asked to be dispatched on the Longview to Gary load. They (night shift dispatch in Phoenix) asked me what empty trailer I had. I told them that I didn’t have an empty because I had just dropped it at the customer in Hawkins as instructed. They then dispatched me with the same empty trailer I had just dropped. This started a chain of phone calls and QualCom messages that spanned over 3 hours. At the end of it all, they finally realized that I didn’t have an empty trailer, and why (or so I thought). They then asked me if I wanted directions to get an empty trailer or if I wanted them to void the dispatch. I said give me directions to an empty trailer. They then sent me directions back to the same customer in Hawkins. I told them NO!! I wasn’t going back the the same customer to which I had just dropped an empty trailer for a Humanitarian Relief Effort and ask for an empty. At this point, I just told them to void the dispatch and I would deal with people in the morning who had functioning brain-stems. (Centralized Dispatch, not unlike Centralized Government, is rife with incompetence and incompetents). I drove to the nearest sanctuary in Tyler, TX and went to bed.
The 29th was a much better day. I received a PrePlan and directions to an empty trailer (not the customer in Hawkins) at the same time. It picked up in Mineral Wells, TX and has two deliveries in Wyoming on the 2nd of September. They are both to Wind Farms near small towns (Glenrock, and Hanna), so it should be interesting. Anyway, after I picked up the load, I drove to Amarillo, TX where I stopped for the day.

On the 30th, I drove to Cheyenne, WY. I’ll stay here until Monday afternoon, then drive to Glenrock, which is up near Casper. I want to find this place while it is still daylight. If possible, I’ll just spent the night there at the wind farm. If not, at least I’ll know where it is so I can drive straight there on Tuesday morning from whatever sanctuary I can find nearby.
I haven’t had any luck reaching any of the relatives here in Cheyenne. They must be off gallivanting for the weekend. Oh well, I’ll keep trying.

Life Day 22322: Otiose in Ogden

Not much more to add to since my last post. I spent a relaxing and enjoyable couple of days at the WWW and environs. The highlight of my stay was going to get my mail. I had a package from Scentsy, which I had ordered a couple of weeks ago. With the K9 kids in the truck, it gets a little “close” sometimes. The Scentsy products help alleviate that. They are 100% better than any of the “air fresheners” you can buy at the truck stops. They are a bit expensive, but they last a long time. Anyway, so much for the commercial, back to business.
I made myself available on Friday, the 22nd, at noon. The Planner for the Vegas area called me while I was having a late breakfast and told me to take my empty trailer to a customer in Henderson. I finished my meal, then did as requested. I was a dubious about dropping my empty trailer, but soon after I arrived at the customer, I was rewarded with two PrePlans.
The first picked up at our drop-yard in North Las Vegas and delivered to my old “stomping grounds” in Corinne. It was there waiting for me. I drove to Corinne, stopping only once in Cedar City for fuel and a snack. I arrived at the stroke of midnight, did the drop/hook delivery, and drove to my current location in Ogden at the Flying J truck stop. I was fortunate to find a parking space at that time of night/morning.
The second is the one for which I am now waiting. It picks up in Ogden, UT and delivers ASAP in Paris, TX. It’s supposed to pick up at 1600, but it is a also supposed to be pre-loaded, so it could be ready anytime. I’m hoping for sooner rather than later. I’m ready to go right now. Not a bad way to start off my driving week. Most of the driving will be over the weekend so it will be easy going for the most part.

Life Day 22319: Seething in Sin City

Where do I begin? Freight is still SLOW. After I delivered the load to Spring Valley on the 13th, I accepted a load which picked up in Aurora, IL and delivered in Lenexa, KS; a trip of about 550 miles plus the 80 mile deadhead. It turned out to be an “all-nighter” to get there. After I delivered the Lenexa load in the “wee hours” if the 14th, I drove to our terminal in Edwardsville, KS, about 10 miles away, and went to bed. When I woke up about noon, I had my new Swift contract e-mailed to the terminal,  so I could sign it. Just after I finished that, I received a Pre-Plan which picked up in Salina, KS and delivered in Reno, NV, with an additional stop Denver, CO. The problem was that the Denver stop delivered on the 15th at 0700. Yep, another “all-nighter”. The only way to do it legally was to wait 2 hours, until about 1800, to leave Edwardsville and pick up the load. The pick up in Salina was at a truck stop because the driver who originally picked up the load had some kind of mechanical problem with his tractor and couldn’t continue. I arrived in Salina about 2100, hooked to the load and started out for the Denver stop. I arrived at the consignee around 0400. I didn’t dare to go to bed for fear of not waking up in time, so I just napped on the steering wheel until the delivery time. The unload took about 15 minutes. I then drove about a mile to the Pilot truck stop, had breakfast, and went to bed. It rained steadily all day. Good for sleeping, but bad for “doggie walking”. I left Denver about 1700 and drove to Rawlins, WY where I stopped for the night. The delivery window in Reno was basically any time Saturday or Sunday, so there was no rush to get there. No need to do a 3rd consecutive “all-nighter”.
On the 16th, I drove from Rawlins to Mill City (Pucker Brush), NV, about 150 miles from the customer in Reno.
I delivered the load about noon on the 17th. I then received 2 PrePlans. The first was a short trip from Fairfield, CA right back to Reno. The second was the load on which I am currently, from Sparks, NV to Las Vegas. I encountered a problem on the first load after I arrived at the shipper in that it wouldn’t be ready until after 2000. My 14 hours expired at 1030, so there was no way I could make the 0700 delivery. I informed those concerned and drove until I ran out of hours for the day, then went to bed.
I finally delivered the load about 1100 in the 18th, then went to the next shipper. It took about an hour to “live load”. When I was done, I drove on to the customer in Vegas, stopping only once for a snack and doggie walk in Hawthorne, NV.
Now, for the reason I’m SEETHING. This load, according to the Dispatch, was scheduled for delivery at 0600 on the 19th (yesterday). When I arrived at the security gate, I was told that I didn’t have an appointment. After over 3 hours of B___ S___, it turned out that the customer had changed the appointment for today, the 20th. They e-mailed their Customer Service Representative with Swift with the appointment change, but the CSR neglected to inform me. The Bottom Line is that I wasted over 3 hours of what could have been a relaxing day off, and I still have to deliver the load later this morning. Since I’m technically home (in Las Vegas), I receive no Detention Pay either. Never mind that the customer is 20 miles from the WWW. Due the the gerrymandered, convoluted way Las Vegas is laid out, it’s still technically Vegas. After all the B.S. yesterday morning, I drove to the WWW anyway instead of ‘hanging out’ all day at the near by Petro Stopping Center being bored to tears. It cost me over $20.00 in fuel to do it (40 miles round trip at 6.5 miles per gallon with fuel costing 4.70 per gallon here), but it was worth it to me. I’ll deliver the load in a couple of hours, then take the rest on my home time. Fun, fun, fun.

Life Day 22311: Lollygaging in the Land of Lincoln

These last few days have been slow, with a lot of waiting around and a couple of short trips. Today is no different. I’m 2 hours away from the consignee in Spring Valley, IL, but I can’t deliver until tomorrow morning. Later today, I’ll drive to the closest truck stop to the consignee, a Flying J in Peru, IL about 10 miles away. I don’t want to wait too long, because it (the Flying J) will fill up fast this afternoon.

Now let me bring you up to speed on how I got here:
I was in Laredo until Saturday about noon, when the Planner finally gave me a “trailer re-location” trip to the terminal in Lancaster, TX, about 400 miles away. I left about 1200 local time. When I arrived in Lancaster about 2000, they immediately took away the empty trailer I had just brought them. I found one of the last parking spots in the crowded terminal and settled in for the night. It was near a nice grassy area for the K9 kids. A little later in the evening, I got a PrePlan to Rogers, AR, which I accepted gleefully just to get the H___ out of Texas. It was Pre-loaded in the yard.
On Sunday, I left Lancaster about 1100 and drove to the Consignee in Rogers. I stopped at the Love’s Travel Center in Atoka, OK for lunch and a good walk for the MMM. I had some left over BBQ and my last 2 ears of Olathe sweet corn. I spent the night outside the consignee. There were already two other trucks there. I received a PrePlan for the trip on which I am currently. It also picked up in Rogers, about 4 miles from where I was.
Yesterday, I delivered the load from Lancaster at about 0630. I took a little over 2 1/2 hours. I then drove to the next shipper and spent another hour there being loaded. After I was loaded, I grabbed a quick bite from a nearby Sonic Drive In. I finally left Rogers about 1030. I drove to Sullivan, MO where I took a quick break for the MMM, and to let the St. Louis “rush hour” subside. I then drove to my current location in Lincoln, IL. I ran out of hours for the day. I had dinner at a Steak & Shake, conveniently located right in Thornton’s Truck Stop where I stopped. They are a pretty good drive in, located mostly in the mid-west and south, and have been in business for over 75 years.
This morning, I called the consignee to see if I could deliver early (like today), but they said NO. My appointment is for 1000 tomorrow, but “they” did say that if I showed up about 0600, they MIGHT be able to unload me then. We’ll see. Right now, I’m going to have lunch, then plod on to Peru so I can get a decent parking spot for the night.

Life Day 22307: Laconic in Laredo

Laconic means to be brief or succinct, and that is my intention in this post. But, you know me…………

I am currently sitting at our terminal in Laredo, TX waiting for a PrePlan. I delivered the load in Dolores earlier this morning about 0800. I was surprised to find that it was just a drop/hook. I hope that the Planner finds me a load soon because the 14 hour clock is ticking away fast.

Now for your edification I present a brief synopsis of my recent travels:
On Tuesday, I waited around until about noon for my Contract to be e-mailed so that I could sign it. It never arrived so the decision was made to have me to proceed with the load and worry about it later. I drove to Jamestown, NM where I called it a day.
On Wednesday, I drove to El Paso, TX. I was “sweating bullets” for the last 200 miles. My “low fuel” light illuminated, and I decided to take my chances and proceed on. I was worried about running out of fuel on I-10 during rush-hour. The most I’ve ever “pushed it” before was about 100 miles. On those occasions, when I did fuel, I only took between 180 and 190 gallons. The fuel capacity of my truck is around 280 gallons, with about 240 gallons of that usable, so I felt reasonably confident that I would make it, and in fact did. I arrived at about 1715. When I fueled, I took 201 gallons, a new record for this truck. The plan was to have my contract sent here for my signature, but it still hadn’t arrived. I decided to call it a day, and drove to the Flying J truck stop to spend the night after walking the MMM and grabbing a shower. There is not much room at the terminal to walk the MMM as these pictures indicate, but it is still better than the Flying J, which has nothing but dirt and stickers.

I took the pictures below of the flowers in the doggie walking area because I liked them.

On Thursday, I left El Paso about 1000. I drove to Sanderson, TX and took a little break. I then proceeded toward Laredo via US-90, US-277, and US-83. There is a short-cut to Dolores via a toll road (TX-255). I decided to take this because it cuts off about 15 miles, and you by-pass Laredo. Here, I encountered one of the most ASININE things I have ever encountered in my 20+ year driving career. A toll road that, after 2200, won’t take MONEY!! The only sign indicating this absurdity is on the toll road itself about 4 miles from the toll booth, after you are 10+ miles onto the road with no place to turn around except the toll plaza. There are even two people on duty there to inform you that the toll road won’t take MONEY after 2200. GEEEEEZE!!! The bottom line is that I had to turn around and backtrack the 14 miles to US-83 and go through Laredo anyway. I arrived, frustrated, in Dolores about 2300 and went to bed.