No rest for the weary
Mar 11, 2016 18:36:27 GMT -5
Post by rah on Mar 11, 2016 18:36:27 GMT -5
Two weeks in a row I worked both of my normal days off. After the team runs in Canada last week I got in a 34 hour break to get back my hours and was gone again. Thought I was going to get my full time off this weekend but it's not to be. Take off at 21:00 Saturday night to go to Findlay, OH and then on to Ayre, MA.
This week as soon as I had my 34 hour break in to get back my hours I departed at midnight Monday for a place they say is in MD but is inside the I-495 loop on the east side of DC. Finding parking for a big truck anywhere near DC is always a pretty bad problem so I stopped that the welcome center on I-70 in MD 68 mi from my destination for my 10 hour break. This welcome center is adjacent to South Mountain which is where a Civil War battle was fought that was a precursor of Antietam/Sharpsburg. It is also where the black hats of the 1st Div of the 1st Corp of the Army of the Potomac were given the name "Iron Brigade" by General McClellan. Also very near is the only Civil War monument to War Correspondents.
First time at this grocery warehouse. Nestles load. Delivery "appointment was 22:00 Tuesday night. As is not unusual with lazy inconsiderate types, they schedule a whole lot of trucks for one appointment time so they can get all their paperwork started at the same time. I waited 2 hours before they put me in a door and was not done there until 5 hours and 14 minutes after my so called "appointment" time. I hate places like that but those kinds of places are one reason why I decided being a Salary driver was the way to go. It all pays the same.
After being unloaded I drove up to Pottsville, PA (28 mi east of Reading) to pick up a load of the catalyst used in Catalytic converters in car exhaust systems. I was then supposed to go on up to another place near Dubois, PA up on I-80 to pick up some other stuff but the 1st stop loaded me to the back doors so they had to find someone else to pick up the stuff from the 2nd stop.
I also tried out a new system. Remember when I was asking about a way to scan documents from my truck? Well I have it now.
At most grocery warehouses you have to pay "lumpers". Lumpers work for a company separate from the customer. Their job is to unload the truck and break the pallets down for distribution to the various grocery stores where the product will be delivered. The shipper ultimately pays for that but the driver/trucking company pays the fee initially. Lumper fees run between $50.00 and $320.00 generally.
So they tell me how much the fee will be and I call back to the company and get authorization for a comcheck. Think I've explained that part before to you. But now instead of having to stop at a truck stop to scan the paperwork and lumper receipt and send it in via Transflow I can do all that from the truck! Transflow has an app. I take pictures of the documents with my Samsumg Galaxy S6 and it converts them to scanned images. The cover sheet Carter provides has a bar code that identifies the paperwork as going to their account. So it all gets transmitted digitally right from the truck. It worked great! After I got done delivering in DC I drove up to Pottstown, PA to pick up. Had to hurry because I was running out of hours due to the delay at the first stop. While they were loading me at Pottstown I took the pics of each page of the documents. Just sat on the bunk and filled out the cover sheet and put the documents in order. Then one at a time I put the page to be imaged on the black plastic top of the pull out table and took the pic, cropped it, and checked the image for clarity. When I had them all done I hit a button and off they went via the transflow app. which gave me a confirmation code that tells me the transmission was successful and is my proof that I had sent the documents in. Really is a time saver and was easy to do.
I can also do my import documents by scanning them in the same way with my smart phone and sending them as an e-mail attachment to the girls back at Carter that handle that stuff. So my issue with how to scan documents and send them from my truck has been resolved.
While and after being loaded I took a 10 hour break and departed the facility at Pottstown at 16:10 for the 648 mi journey home taking the PA turnpike and I-70 most of the way. In good weather with a load of 17,000 lbs I enjoy driving the hills and curves and tunnels of the PA turnpike. It's really enjoyable because it really is driving and working the jake break, accelerator, and brakes to make the best time is a good challenge. I've driven that road enough I know every turn.
Got back to Carter at 03:30 3/10. As I type this I have finished a pot pie and am going to crawl into bed for a good sleep since I didn't sleep well during my break at Pottstown.
On the way back at MM 76 on I-70 west of Columbus, OH there were flashing lights on both sides of the road. On the right shoulder was an Old Dominion tractor that had been pulling two 33' "pup" trailers. The tractor and first pup were up right but the rear pup was on it's side blocking the right of the three lanes there. Then 100 yards further west was rig with a standard 53' trailer on the shoulder no apparent damage except for the grey Grand Prix that had it's hood under the side of the middle of the trailer up the windshield. The truck and trailer was on the shoulder and that car looked like it perfectly "T-boned" that trailer at a 90 deg angle. Still haven't figured out how that could have happened.
Exactly 10 hours to the minute after I got back from that run I got the call to run again. Carter has new business for Lear and work through a series of cross docks called LINC. The Laredo team down the Laredo I considered going for is that new Lear business. Glad I didn't take it because it has not worked out to be nearly as good as we thought it would be.
After getting called I Bob tailed through Indy rush hour to LINC center and there and hooked to a loaded trailer. On the way out I had to divert my route because of an accident on I-69 which cost me time. Took that trailer up to the LINC Center for Detroit in Romulus, MI. Big place with trailers parked everywhere. Found the office I needed and put the trailer in the door that was assigned. Then went back to the office and they gave me a packet for another loaded trailer. Found it and hooked to it and took it the LINC center in Indy. Then bobtailed home. Got in at 04:30. It was a 13 1/2 hour day and I went over my 11 hour driving time by 31 minutes.
This week as soon as I had my 34 hour break in to get back my hours I departed at midnight Monday for a place they say is in MD but is inside the I-495 loop on the east side of DC. Finding parking for a big truck anywhere near DC is always a pretty bad problem so I stopped that the welcome center on I-70 in MD 68 mi from my destination for my 10 hour break. This welcome center is adjacent to South Mountain which is where a Civil War battle was fought that was a precursor of Antietam/Sharpsburg. It is also where the black hats of the 1st Div of the 1st Corp of the Army of the Potomac were given the name "Iron Brigade" by General McClellan. Also very near is the only Civil War monument to War Correspondents.
First time at this grocery warehouse. Nestles load. Delivery "appointment was 22:00 Tuesday night. As is not unusual with lazy inconsiderate types, they schedule a whole lot of trucks for one appointment time so they can get all their paperwork started at the same time. I waited 2 hours before they put me in a door and was not done there until 5 hours and 14 minutes after my so called "appointment" time. I hate places like that but those kinds of places are one reason why I decided being a Salary driver was the way to go. It all pays the same.
After being unloaded I drove up to Pottsville, PA (28 mi east of Reading) to pick up a load of the catalyst used in Catalytic converters in car exhaust systems. I was then supposed to go on up to another place near Dubois, PA up on I-80 to pick up some other stuff but the 1st stop loaded me to the back doors so they had to find someone else to pick up the stuff from the 2nd stop.
I also tried out a new system. Remember when I was asking about a way to scan documents from my truck? Well I have it now.
At most grocery warehouses you have to pay "lumpers". Lumpers work for a company separate from the customer. Their job is to unload the truck and break the pallets down for distribution to the various grocery stores where the product will be delivered. The shipper ultimately pays for that but the driver/trucking company pays the fee initially. Lumper fees run between $50.00 and $320.00 generally.
So they tell me how much the fee will be and I call back to the company and get authorization for a comcheck. Think I've explained that part before to you. But now instead of having to stop at a truck stop to scan the paperwork and lumper receipt and send it in via Transflow I can do all that from the truck! Transflow has an app. I take pictures of the documents with my Samsumg Galaxy S6 and it converts them to scanned images. The cover sheet Carter provides has a bar code that identifies the paperwork as going to their account. So it all gets transmitted digitally right from the truck. It worked great! After I got done delivering in DC I drove up to Pottstown, PA to pick up. Had to hurry because I was running out of hours due to the delay at the first stop. While they were loading me at Pottstown I took the pics of each page of the documents. Just sat on the bunk and filled out the cover sheet and put the documents in order. Then one at a time I put the page to be imaged on the black plastic top of the pull out table and took the pic, cropped it, and checked the image for clarity. When I had them all done I hit a button and off they went via the transflow app. which gave me a confirmation code that tells me the transmission was successful and is my proof that I had sent the documents in. Really is a time saver and was easy to do.
I can also do my import documents by scanning them in the same way with my smart phone and sending them as an e-mail attachment to the girls back at Carter that handle that stuff. So my issue with how to scan documents and send them from my truck has been resolved.
While and after being loaded I took a 10 hour break and departed the facility at Pottstown at 16:10 for the 648 mi journey home taking the PA turnpike and I-70 most of the way. In good weather with a load of 17,000 lbs I enjoy driving the hills and curves and tunnels of the PA turnpike. It's really enjoyable because it really is driving and working the jake break, accelerator, and brakes to make the best time is a good challenge. I've driven that road enough I know every turn.
Got back to Carter at 03:30 3/10. As I type this I have finished a pot pie and am going to crawl into bed for a good sleep since I didn't sleep well during my break at Pottstown.
On the way back at MM 76 on I-70 west of Columbus, OH there were flashing lights on both sides of the road. On the right shoulder was an Old Dominion tractor that had been pulling two 33' "pup" trailers. The tractor and first pup were up right but the rear pup was on it's side blocking the right of the three lanes there. Then 100 yards further west was rig with a standard 53' trailer on the shoulder no apparent damage except for the grey Grand Prix that had it's hood under the side of the middle of the trailer up the windshield. The truck and trailer was on the shoulder and that car looked like it perfectly "T-boned" that trailer at a 90 deg angle. Still haven't figured out how that could have happened.
Exactly 10 hours to the minute after I got back from that run I got the call to run again. Carter has new business for Lear and work through a series of cross docks called LINC. The Laredo team down the Laredo I considered going for is that new Lear business. Glad I didn't take it because it has not worked out to be nearly as good as we thought it would be.
After getting called I Bob tailed through Indy rush hour to LINC center and there and hooked to a loaded trailer. On the way out I had to divert my route because of an accident on I-69 which cost me time. Took that trailer up to the LINC Center for Detroit in Romulus, MI. Big place with trailers parked everywhere. Found the office I needed and put the trailer in the door that was assigned. Then went back to the office and they gave me a packet for another loaded trailer. Found it and hooked to it and took it the LINC center in Indy. Then bobtailed home. Got in at 04:30. It was a 13 1/2 hour day and I went over my 11 hour driving time by 31 minutes.