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Post by jerbear on Jan 13, 2016 18:03:30 GMT -5
This morning the price of diesel dropped to $1.99. I was wondering Rob, what the prices are where you travel?
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Post by rah on Jan 14, 2016 4:34:44 GMT -5
Haven't been paying attention lately Jer. On the road we're forced to use Pilot, Flying J, or Loves truck stops. My determination of the ones I use is not based on price but on logistical realities. The objective is to make the delivery, pick up the back haul and make it back with minimum delay so that I'm available to run again ASAP.
We are only allowed to fuel in PA in an emergency because they now have the highest fuel taxes in the country and that effects my decision as to where and when to fuel when going east. If I'm going to deliver in eastern PA when using I-70/I-76 I will top off at the Pilot at Exit 208 at Morristown Ohio. It's the last pilot going east before I get to PA. When I know I'm going to MA where we have only 3 fuel points in the whole state and am taking I-90 I will top off either at the Flying J at exit 223 at Austinburg, OH or if I have the range to make it I will top off at the Flying J at exit 48A at Penbroke, NY along the New York state throughway. There are a several other Pilot truck stops along the way on I-90 in NY but they are well off the road and so crowded it's a pain in the butt. It has taken me an hour just to fuel at a couple of those places.
I always fuel at the terminal as much as possible. This time of year that is particularly convenient because Carter pre-treats their fuel. If I fuel at a truck stop in these cold temps I have to add fuel treatment which I carry a couple bottles of in the drivers side tool box of my tractor.
After my exertions earlier this week I guess I was worn out. I slept almost all day Wed and didn't get up until 03:00 Thur.
Saw several wrecks Tuesday and quite a few slide offs along with three hard jack knifes. Sent me up to Holland, MI on the west edge of the state along Lake Michigan on Tuesday. Regular driver had a wreck on the way up so they gave me another load of empty racks going the same place and had me pick up his load. Took me 5 hours and 40 minutes to make the 220 mi. going up but I made much better time coming home. All because of road conditions and dumbass drivers. If you can't do 40 mph on a 65 mph highway you don't belong on that road let alone in the left lane. I don't mind cautious drivers. Just the stupid ones. I intentionally avoided Interstates around the big cities as much as possible because during times with crappy road conditions your likely to get stuck in a back ups due to accidents. So I used two lane highways to get to US-31 which took me right to where I was going. Came back using essentially the same route.
What made it tough Tuesday was the black ice. Some places where the road looked great it was an ice rink. Wind blew me to the right on one of the slick stretches. Turned the wheel 1/8 left and still was going right. Turned it to 1/4 turn and then started easing it back off before it grabbed. That's the thing that'll get you. Over compensating and then hitting a good surface with your wheel turned too far. I would guess that about 1/4 of the jackknifes one sees in slick conditions occur just because of that.
Saw one bad accident on US 31 just south of Holland. Three big trucks got into it. Dry bulk trailer, the kind that sorta looks like a tanker but has two or three hoppers on the bottom was over turned blocking the North bound side. Thankfully I was going south bound by then.
I am thinking about making a change at work. I'm not getting any younger and the hectic nature of this job and odd hours is running me down sometimes. I can still do it but recovery takes longer. So there are some dedicated team runs coming up for bid soon. Two round trips from Anderson to Laredo, TX per week. Gotta do the math myself but another driver that is a friend told me about it and had done the math and figured it would pay $1,448.00 per week. If I find out he's correct then I am probably going to jump right on it as soon as it comes out for bids and team with him if we can get a run that leaves out between Monday morning and Tuesday morning. That kind of money earned in 4 days with 3 days off, weekend included, and no midnight calls, no waiting to be called, and no being sent to where ever the weather is the worst at the time, and no east coast is sounding pretty good to me right now. I already let my boss know what my intentions are. I've been doing this on call gig for over three years now and during that time have done some things for them even the other four guys doing this job refused to do, like truck and trailer recoveries in tough situations or weather.
I'll look hard and try and figure all the angles before I leap but if I do go for the team run I know that my partner is a first class driver and that makes a huge difference. He and I went through Schnieders training together when we first started and he is a million mile safe driver.
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Post by rah on Feb 1, 2016 7:37:43 GMT -5
This last week I did two trips. Seems that the $2.00 per gallon price for diesel is about what it's running up here right now.
The first was a run from Anderson, IN to a plant in Columbus, IN where I delivered. Then I drove a couple miles to a warehouse owned by the same company I had delivered to and was loaded and took that load down the terminal in Andersonville, TN (Just north of Knoxville). Dropped that loaded trailer there. Went and got a good catfish lunch from a local joint and took a 10 hour break. Then at 23:00 that night I hooked to a loaded trailer and took it to a place in Louisville, KY to be unloaded and then drove back the Anderson, IN.
On this trip I drove over the Clinch River on I-75 a little south of the Norris Dam in Tennessee. The Clinch is a major tributary of the Tennessee River and already a good sized river where I crossed it. I was surprised to see skim ice covering a good bit of it’s surface.
My other trip last week was taking a load of Boost nutrition drink from the Nestles plant in Anderson to another Nestles facility in Breinigsville, PA (Just west of Allentown). Delivered there Thursday morning after a 10 hour break then drove 57 mi south, most of it on hilly winding PA 100 to Thorndale, PA and was loaded with 24 Gaylords full of plastic beads. I brought them back to Anderson for a local driver to deliver later today. Turned that trip in 34 1/2 hours from the time I left until I got back.
The three major Rivers I crossed over during thislast trip were the Susquehana,Monongahela, and the Ohio. No ice on the Ohio where I crossed over at Wheeling, WV (There was considerable ice on it this time last year). A little skim ice along the banks of the Monongahela where I crossed over near Belle Vernon, PA. Last year at this time I think the Monongahela was pretty much frozen over so a person could walk out on it except where the barge channel ran through. The Susquehana near Harrisburg, PA appeared well on the way to be freezing completely over but not solider enough to be safe to walk out on very far. White as far as I could see right down to the nuclear plant at Three Mile island.
Still serious snow in the ground in eastern PA. Had to drag one side of my trailer tandems through about 3′ of it to get around a tight turn. I hate doing that but there was not alternative. One never knows for sure just what’s under that pile of plowed snow.
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Post by jerbear on Feb 2, 2016 9:04:53 GMT -5
I notice it is at $1.75 at Fast Gas or whatever the fuel depot place is next to our station. $1.43 if you like alcohol fuel.
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Post by jerbear on Feb 9, 2016 22:13:18 GMT -5
$1.49 for regular gas in Dallas today.
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Post by jerbear on Feb 14, 2016 20:57:06 GMT -5
Regular gas down to a $1.45 at the station near work and a $1.39 at a cash only station by my home.
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