Prime Flatbed; Springfield, Missouri; Spring 2020

Uncle Rake,

Prime is moving to pretty much all automatics. Kearsey can tell you better the number of remaining manuals in their fleet, but my guess is that it is almost none.

As far home time during TNT , there is no usual or common of which I am aware. It's all up to your trainer. If he/she takes home time then you will get "home time" as well in the sense that you are not running loads. I was lucky in that both times my trainer arranged for me to actually get home.

Rob.

July 19, 2020: Mobile, Alabama; 34 hour reset.

Just hanging out in the Love’s parking lot. There are quite a few flatbeds, one of whom had a C.I.B. in his front window. So, I stopped to talk to him for a few. 10th Mountain Division, beginning in 1986. Same vintage as me.

Trainer starts driving at about 18:30 headed Hickory, North Carolina.

July 20, 2020: Delivery to Horse Farm; First NYC Load

I wake up about 0100, expecting to take over but my trainer says he will drive the rest of the way to the receiver. So, I go back to sleep, as best I can. We arrive about 0500 and go to a Loves truck stop nearby to take a short nap before delivering at 0700.

The receiver is a farm at the end of a narrow, two-lane paved road that turns into a one lane dirt road canopied by low hanging trees. The driving is not difficult but the top of the cab takes a beating. As we pull up an elderly man greets us and motions us to park in the middle of a grassy area. We start to take the tarps off and unstrap while the man, the farm owner, goes to get the tractor.

The farm house and where we are unloading are in the middle of three separate fields with horses. You can see many of them in the photo album. As we’re removing the securement several curious, friendly dogs come trotting up followed by the matriarch of the farm, Nancy, who gives us more information about the horses. They raise race horses. One field has the two mares that they breed with American Thoroughbred race horses. In fact, one of the foals (the one standing in front of the woman in the pictures) was bred with Justify: the last triple crown winner. According to Nancy, when the foals are about 2 years they have a veterinarian report done and then sold at auction. One of her foals sold at auction for $900,000.

I learn all this on the tour of the farm. While I’m waiting for Nancy’s husband and Billy, her hired help to unload, Nancy gives me the grand tour of the farm. The property had been a dairy farm dating back to 1780 when the house on the property was built. Nancy and her husband bought the property over 40 years ago and have been raising thoroughbred horses since that time. In addition to Billy, who is a “pothead and you can only tell him one thing at a time,” Nancy has a hired a retired school teacher who works on the farm. Nancy and the hired help do most of the work with the horses because her husband is allergic to horses, literally.

After all the alfalfa is unloaded, we head back to the Loves to wait for our next load, which as expected is Charlotte Pipe, actually out of Charlotte, going to the Bronx.

July 20, 2020: continued

I drive about 120 miles to Charlotte Pipe where we drop our trailer. The drop yard has angle-forward parking to drop the trailers. The left side (sight-side backing) is full, but there are quite a few right side (blind-side backing) spaces open. No surprise right? So, I get to practice my blind-side backing with an extra challenge. The controls for our flat passenger mirror are temperamental and not working. So, I have to rely solely on my fish-eye mirror to back up (in addition to G.O.A.L.s). I do just okay. I get it in with one or two pull ups, but the trailer is too far away from the passenger side trailer next to it. So, two more pull ups to reposition it. After dropping the trailer and checking in with the shipping office, we find out our load is not ready and won’t be ready until after lunch. My trainer finds a soul food restaurant in downtown Charlotte and I Bobtail there, passing the NASCAR Hall of Fame on the way. We get our food and head back, but just when I get close to Charlotte Pipe, my trainer says “turn around.” Apparently, his food was so bad he decided to take it back and get his money back.

Although we took the extra time to go back to the restaurant, our load is still not ready. It’s about another half an hour before its ready. It’s just four sections of iron pipe to pretty easy securement and we’re off to the Bronx.

I drive through until about 2330 with a little extra stress at the very end of my shift. We don’t really trip-plan because we’re team driving. So worst case scenario, I pull off on an exit to swap out. I leave a truck stop south of the “Capital Beltway” with 1:20 left on my clock. As soon as I’m on the highway, traffic slows to a crawl. As I’m creeping along, I watch my clock dwindle to less than an hour. At about this point, I use the “up ahead” feature of the GPS to find a switch over place. With 59 minutes left my options are a Pilot 61 miles ahead and rest areas 56 miles ahead. One impossible and the other not probable. And I’m still stuck in this traffic but moving at maybe 30 mph now.

With 17 minutes left on my clock, I’m approaching the northern intersection of I-495 and I-95. I figure, I’ll just take the first exit onto I-95. As I go through the interchange, I see a weigh station sign (closed) and decide “that’s my spot.” I pull in, do a loop around the parking lot and find one empty pull through spot. I set the brake and my fingers fly to the Qualcomm reading 3 minutes left on my clock.

Now we had planned to drive as close as we could to the Bronx to shut down for a few hours before my trainer drove into NYC. We’re about 4 hours away, plus some cushion, and we know we have a spot. So we just stay here until my trainer starts driving at 0300.

I went in the Army in 1986. 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, HI.

July 19, 2020: Mobile, Alabama; 34 hour reset.

Just hanging out in the Love’s parking lot. There are quite a few flatbeds, one of whom had a C.I.B. in his front window. So, I stopped to talk to him for a few. 10th Mountain Division, beginning in 1986. Same vintage as me.

Trainer starts driving at about 18:30 headed Hickory, North Carolina.

July 20, 2020: Delivery to Horse Farm; First NYC Load

I wake up about 0100, expecting to take over but my trainer says he will drive the rest of the way to the receiver. So, I go back to sleep, as best I can. We arrive about 0500 and go to a Loves truck stop nearby to take a short nap before delivering at 0700.

The receiver is a farm at the end of a narrow, two-lane paved road that turns into a one lane dirt road canopied by low hanging trees. The driving is not difficult but the top of the cab takes a beating. As we pull up an elderly man greets us and motions us to park in the middle of a grassy area. We start to take the tarps off and unstrap while the man, the farm owner, goes to get the tractor.

The farm house and where we are unloading are in the middle of three separate fields with horses. You can see many of them in the photo album. As we’re removing the securement several curious, friendly dogs come trotting up followed by the matriarch of the farm, Nancy, who gives us more information about the horses. They raise race horses. One field has the two mares that they breed with American Thoroughbred race horses. In fact, one of the foals (the one standing in front of the woman in the pictures) was bred with Justify: the last triple crown winner. According to Nancy, when the foals are about 2 years they have a veterinarian report done and then sold at auction. One of her foals sold at auction for $900,000.

I learn all this on the tour of the farm. While I’m waiting for Nancy’s husband and Billy, her hired help to unload, Nancy gives me the grand tour of the farm. The property had been a dairy farm dating back to 1780 when the house on the property was built. Nancy and her husband bought the property over 40 years ago and have been raising thoroughbred horses since that time. In addition to Billy, who is a “pothead and you can only tell him one thing at a time,” Nancy has a hired a retired school teacher who works on the farm. Nancy and the hired help do most of the work with the horses because her husband is allergic to horses, literally.

After all the alfalfa is unloaded, we head back to the Loves to wait for our next load, which as expected is Charlotte Pipe, actually out of Charlotte, going to the Bronx.

I don’t blame your trainer. Life is too short for bad food. Sometimes you gotta make a stand. Really enjoying the diary When I was in mobile yesterday I wish it was at a farm instead of downtown lol

Hi.... TNT home time can be determined by you or your trainer. Expect to be out at least 6 weeks at a time. As a trainer, I usually try to get people home 2 to 3 times just to get them to relax a bit and get us away from each other to eliminate problems. If the trainer takes more, you could be down wherever they are or in the terminal. If the trainer doesn't take home time, you could run for months without going home, so be sure to request it through your Fleet Manager , not the trainer. I have seen some trainers ignore home time requests so tell the FM at least 2 weeks in advance.

Some trainers stay out for months at a time.... even 6 months and forget that is so hard for "normal" people.

Good luck

I went in the Army in 1986. 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, HI.

July 19, 2020: Mobile, Alabama; 34 hour reset.

Just hanging out in the Love’s parking lot. There are quite a few flatbeds, one of whom had a C.I.B. in his front window. So, I stopped to talk to him for a few. 10th Mountain Division, beginning in 1986. Same vintage as me.

Trainer starts driving at about 18:30 headed Hickory, North Carolina.

July 20, 2020: Delivery to Horse Farm; First NYC Load

I wake up about 0100, expecting to take over but my trainer says he will drive the rest of the way to the receiver. So, I go back to sleep, as best I can. We arrive about 0500 and go to a Loves truck stop nearby to take a short nap before delivering at 0700.

The receiver is a farm at the end of a narrow, two-lane paved road that turns into a one lane dirt road canopied by low hanging trees. The driving is not difficult but the top of the cab takes a beating. As we pull up an elderly man greets us and motions us to park in the middle of a grassy area. We start to take the tarps off and unstrap while the man, the farm owner, goes to get the tractor.

The farm house and where we are unloading are in the middle of three separate fields with horses. You can see many of them in the photo album. As we’re removing the securement several curious, friendly dogs come trotting up followed by the matriarch of the farm, Nancy, who gives us more information about the horses. They raise race horses. One field has the two mares that they breed with American Thoroughbred race horses. In fact, one of the foals (the one standing in front of the woman in the pictures) was bred with Justify: the last triple crown winner. According to Nancy, when the foals are about 2 years they have a veterinarian report done and then sold at auction. One of her foals sold at auction for $900,000.

I learn all this on the tour of the farm. While I’m waiting for Nancy’s husband and Billy, her hired help to unload, Nancy gives me the grand tour of the farm. The property had been a dairy farm dating back to 1780 when the house on the property was built. Nancy and her husband bought the property over 40 years ago and have been raising thoroughbred horses since that time. In addition to Billy, who is a “pothead and you can only tell him one thing at a time,” Nancy has a hired a retired school teacher who works on the farm. Nancy and the hired help do most of the work with the horses because her husband is allergic to horses, literally.

After all the alfalfa is unloaded, we head back to the Loves to wait for our next load, which as expected is Charlotte Pipe, actually out of Charlotte, going to the Bronx.

I went there in 1991 when I was activated for Desert Storm.

I was lucky, I got out and never had to see any combat. I honestly hated Hawaii as a young man, felt trapped. I wanted either Alaska, Panama, or Korea on my wishlist and got Hawaii. That's the Army for you.

I went in the Army in 1986. 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, HI.

July 19, 2020: Mobile, Alabama; 34 hour reset.

Just hanging out in the Love’s parking lot. There are quite a few flatbeds, one of whom had a C.I.B. in his front window. So, I stopped to talk to him for a few. 10th Mountain Division, beginning in 1986. Same vintage as me.

Trainer starts driving at about 18:30 headed Hickory, North Carolina.

July 20, 2020: Delivery to Horse Farm; First NYC Load

I wake up about 0100, expecting to take over but my trainer says he will drive the rest of the way to the receiver. So, I go back to sleep, as best I can. We arrive about 0500 and go to a Loves truck stop nearby to take a short nap before delivering at 0700.

The receiver is a farm at the end of a narrow, two-lane paved road that turns into a one lane dirt road canopied by low hanging trees. The driving is not difficult but the top of the cab takes a beating. As we pull up an elderly man greets us and motions us to park in the middle of a grassy area. We start to take the tarps off and unstrap while the man, the farm owner, goes to get the tractor.

The farm house and where we are unloading are in the middle of three separate fields with horses. You can see many of them in the photo album. As we’re removing the securement several curious, friendly dogs come trotting up followed by the matriarch of the farm, Nancy, who gives us more information about the horses. They raise race horses. One field has the two mares that they breed with American Thoroughbred race horses. In fact, one of the foals (the one standing in front of the woman in the pictures) was bred with Justify: the last triple crown winner. According to Nancy, when the foals are about 2 years they have a veterinarian report done and then sold at auction. One of her foals sold at auction for $900,000.

I learn all this on the tour of the farm. While I’m waiting for Nancy’s husband and Billy, her hired help to unload, Nancy gives me the grand tour of the farm. The property had been a dairy farm dating back to 1780 when the house on the property was built. Nancy and her husband bought the property over 40 years ago and have been raising thoroughbred horses since that time. In addition to Billy, who is a “pothead and you can only tell him one thing at a time,” Nancy has a hired a retired school teacher who works on the farm. Nancy and the hired help do most of the work with the horses because her husband is allergic to horses, literally.

After all the alfalfa is unloaded, we head back to the Loves to wait for our next load, which as expected is Charlotte Pipe, actually out of Charlotte, going to the Bronx.

I went there in 1991 when I was activated for Desert Storm.

Rob D. I forgot to ask. Since you have a marine background. What is your favorite flavored crayon and do they let you update your logs with it? 😂

I kid I kid

Where y’all at this weekend?

Rob D. I forgot to ask. Since you have a marine background. What is your favorite flavored crayon and do they let you update your logs with it? 😂

I kid I kid

Where y’all at this weekend?

I like red. Tastes like cherries (at least in my mind).

I'll get out updates this weekend from Long Beach California.

Anybody got suggestions for parking tomorrow morning?