Delhi SAPA Plant

You got it Old School, we are Cali bound and have to be proper with axles closed.

We are getting sorted out right now. Luckily we found good pizza last night and made the best of it.

Old School, just curious. When you deliver out of the SAPA plant, do they get you a return load? They don't run you back empty, do they?

Bruce, I'm a dedicated driver for that particular plant. My loads originate from there, but they try real hard to find a backhaul load that will return me somewhere close to the Delhi plant. They don't like for us to sit and wait for a backhaul though. They want us back to the plant as quickly as possible because they want us to be able to move their product. If we are going to have to sit for a day waiting, they just send us back empty. I'd estimate 90% of the time I already have a backhaul lined up before I'm finished with my current load.

Here's this week's assignment for an example. I'm dispatched from Delhi on a six stop load. Almost everything I do has multiple stops.

1st. Stop... Riverdale, NJ

2nd. Stop... Farmington, CT

3rd. Stop... Farmington, CT

4th. Stop... Bristol, CT

5th. Stop... Hamden, CT

Final... North Collins, NY

They've already set me up to pick up a backhaul load from the SAPA plant in Cressona, PA. Do you see how efficient that is? I already know where to go next. As soon as I'm empty, I can keep rolling. It took a few years to get that efficiency established. At this point, I tell them when I will be at my consignee before I ever leave the shipper , and they've had enough experience with me to know it will be a rock solid plan. That gives them the ability to pre-plan loads for me with confidence, thus allowing me to serve their needs better, while knocking down some big miles consistently.

It helps a lot that they have 25 plants across the country. No matter where they send me, I'm not too far from a SAPA plant where we can orchestrate a backhaul load. Occasionally the backhaul will be done in two stages. Here's an example: I might get a backhaul out of Cressona, PA that goes to Miami, FL. Well, that doesn't really put me close to Delhi, LA. So they will then send me to the ports near Tampa Bay where I will pick up some aluminum "logs" that have come across the ocean from Russia or Dubai and I'll deliver them to the plant in Delhi. Bingo, I'm back home for another load!

Just so you know what I'm referencing, here's a shot of some aluminum "logs." These were picked up from a SAPA plant up North. They don't normally have snow on the ground in Tampa Bay.

You got it Old School, we are Cali bound and have to be proper with axles closed.

We are getting sorted out right now. Luckily we found good pizza last night and made the best of it.

Okay! Well, good Pizza certainly makes up for your troubles! It was great to meet you, and I hope to do it again sometime.

How about that , we met up again today! For all those reading, we ran into each other again today while I was getting re worked and old school was coming to get his multi stop load.

Be jealous be very jealous

Old School, really great description of your company's procedure. Your trip plan/stops look like a LOT of miles.

I am really fascinated by aluminum and make custom jigs and fixtures out of it. More of a hobby than a business. From what I've been told, one of the things China doesn't have an advantage in is aluminum production. Aluminum requires tremendous quantities of electricity to produce, and China doesn't have the electrical capacity that the U.S. and other countries have. Fascinating stuff. Always keep learning, never stop learning!

Bruce, you'd be fascinated with the process of making these extrusions. Those logs are heated up until they are cherry red, which makes them pliable enough to force through the various dies that provide the shapes to the finished product. They use huge hydraulic presses to push the aluminum through the die. I've seen hydraulic cylinders at some of the plants that look like they are 6 feet in diameter, and twenty plus feet long.

How about that , we met up again today!

Sure enough, I got to see Spaceman Spiff twice this week!