Rookie Solo Adventures Of A Knuckle Draggin Primate (Rob D.)

4/10/2021 Update; Boston edition (not the city, but the band).

It’s been such a long time, think I should be goin, yeah. I’ve been busy running, and although I had almost an entire week at home, I’ve been busy with personal stuff as well. So, my diary has lagged. Sitting at the Love’s south of Portland on another 34-hour reset.

As I approached Vail Pass, they had the chain up signs up. I stopped to check out the situation. Three separate chain up areas. I waited until they had only one chain up area and then rolled. My first time chaining up, and maybe my last. I got mostly off the road, waiting for the traffic ahead to clear, which it did not. So I started chain up. When I’m almost done, a Vail Police Office (a woman) says “Is there any reason why you’re chaining up here instead of in the chain up area, when there is plenty of space ahead of you?” I looked to see that it is clear NOW. I explain that it was full when I stopped. She told me to finish my two tires and then pull up to chain the other two drive tires (we run super singles). Because, as she said “technically, you’re supposed to have four drive tires chained.” I researched this later, Colorado, does not differentiate between duals and and super singles. After I get rolling and to the chain removal area, which I missed, there was another chain up sign. So I left my chains on. Then again, immediately aftern the next chain removal, you had another chain up section. So, I left my chains on for about 40 miles. I ended up breaking one in the last mile before I took them off.

After my first experience with chain, while I think there is a traction purpose of the chains, I think it more of a traffic reduction scheme. How do you reduce truck travel? Turn on the chain up sign. Only those truck drivers who REALLY want to drive will be on the road.

I got to Denver later in the day Monday but couldn’t deliver until Tuesday because of snow. This was the big snow storm they had recently. In fact, my second delivery said this was the worst snow storm he had seen in his life and he grew up there. The firest delivery had to plow the lot for me to unload. In fact, I’m surprised I didn’t get stuck driving through the lot. There was van truck that had gotten stuck in the main drive aisle, and I had to navigate around him. The snow was so heavy that a regular truck with a snow place could not push it. They had to get a big CAT bucket loader to plow the snow. And the forklift had large tires and snow chain. I get unloaded and ask the guy if my second drop would complain if I showed up without retarpiing (It’s the same company). As is often the case, they say they don’t want these loads tarped, and they have told the shippers that numerous times. So I don’t retarp.

My second delivery in Loveland, Colorado, which had even more snow, was fun. This guy did not have a big forklift with chain and got stuck several times unloading me. In fact, when I moved the truck just to reposition, I got stuck on a thin layer of packed snow/ice. Despite several methods of trying to get traction, my drives just spun. So, I ended up letting them spin until the friction melted the snow/ice and I could move. But in the end, no tow truck for me today.

4/10/2021; Continued

Next load is Rocky Mountain Steel, slinkies, out of Pueblo, Colorado. Got there the night before, but had to wait a while. Had to tarp the slinkies. No big deal didn’t really take that long. There was a Western Express truck there, a rookie driver, who actually got secured left before me. As I have mentioned to Turtle, while I continue to work on it, I am not that fast at securement. This load delivers in Van Buren Arkansas. The Western Express driver arrived just after me, but got untarped before me. Western Express used a two tarp system. I had three tarps on my load.

Next few loads were string of gravy runs. Back and forth from the Midwest to the Northwest. First load was the easiest shipper of all: JM Eagle. Large pvc pipe. Easy securement. This was one is going to a job site in Bothell, Washington. There were three Prime trucks getting loaded at the same time. One of whom I would meet later down the road. My route took me along I-90. There weather was actually very nice and warm, so I didn’t expect the chain up sign approaching Lookout Pass. I decided to stop at a truck stop and wait it out. I had already encountered ice on a bridge that morning and decided to play it safe and wait it out. I was not delivering until the next morning anyway. That’s where I had met the other Prime driver. We chatted while we were waiting out the storm and decided to roll together as we were both delivering to the same place. We ended up staying the night at the TA west of Seattle and then rolled out together the next morning.

We delivered the next morning. This jobsite did not have any place to unload on the site so we had to unload on the street. And they could only do one truck at a time. The third Prime truck had gotten there ahead of us, so I ended up staging on a street in a “dead” center turn lane. By dead, I mean a section where there are no turns so I don’t have to deal with anyone wanting to use the center turn lane.

Next load was rough cut cedar delivering to Whitewood, South Dakota. I have delivered there before. Pretty uneventful, other than there was some confusion as to whether the load should be tarped, which it did not.

Next load was more lumber out of Spearfish, South Dakota. Very top notch shipper. Very well organized, very fast, three scales on the property, including an axle scale right after you load, great flow of traffic layout from staging, to loading, to scaling, then to tarping, then to final securement, and then very good signage directing you off the property. The only hiccup, was that I didn’t have any pick up numbers. After I scaled in I went to the shipping office, who didn’t have any loads for Prime or a load going to Granite City, Illinois. The closer I looked at the load assignment, I noticed something funny. The receiver phone number was 555-555-5555. The address was “x.” And the receiver name was “Mystery.” I thought maybe this was sales’ idea of “build it and they will come.” Send Rob and they’ll find a load for him. After a while, I did end up getting load numbers, loaded, tarped, and out of there. Another hiccup was that a door swinger was block the exit scale by sliding his tandems on the ramp to the scale. A-hole.

I had extra time on this load, and rented a Ram 1500 to see Mt. Rushmore. And because this load was going to Granite City, I got to spend Easter Sunday afternoon at the house. Delivered first thing Monday morning.

Next load was cable channels going back out to the Northwest: Hillsboro, Oregon. Another 2,000 mile plus load. This time, my route took me along I-80. Nothing really eventful heading out. Again, decent weather heading out. I made good time and made it a day early. I called to make sure that I could deliver early. But when I got there, the forklift guy said “you’re supposed to be here tomorrow. I can’t unload you.” I replied that Jonathan told me I could get there a day early. “Well, he’ll have to stay late and unload you.” Not my problem, I thought, but didn’t say. Got unloaded, but had to wait until the next day to get another load. So, I stayed at the Jubitz Truck Stop in Portland. It was okay. One thing that stood out about Portland is the massive homeless camps by the roadside.

Next load, as you might guess coming from the Northwest, as lumber. Roseburg Forest Products. I got the load about 8:30 Central time. And got there about noon Central time. But my appointment was not until 15:00 Pacific time. But they got me in early. I had some frustrations with my securement. Just having a bad day for securement. Plus, they loaded me heavy and they had to take some product off. I ended up not getting out of there until about 2100 Central time. I drove just enough so that I could be able to make it comfortable to Blackduck, Minnesota by Tuesday (later in the day). And stopped where I am now.

May 2, 2021; Bayou Edition

I am on a 34-hour reset in Hammond, Louisiana, which is very close to New Orleans. While I had planned to do some exploring, the forecast is for thunderstorms. So, rather than explore, it’s a good opportunity to update my diary. While I have had some time off since my last update, I have been busy with other things and let my diary slide a little.

I delivered my load of lumber in Black Duck, Minnesota that Monday. Pretty uneventful, other than seeing snowmobile trails by the side of the road, which they don’t have in Missouri. My next load was Bobcats our of Roger, Minnesota. This was a “live load” of four skid steers which took all of 15 minutes to load. Two chains per skid steer and I’m on my way to Mankato, Minnesota for my first stop. I stayed at the same truck stop where Kearsey had stayed a couple of nights before. A smaller mom and pop place with a dirt lot. There were not any real spaces in the parking lot so I backed up to the dead end of the street next to parking lot. While eating a salad kit for dinner, I watched a ground hog popping in and out of his burrow and roaming around the grass in the filed next to me.

Backing into the delivery the next day was tough because it was a blind side back and the gate was on the other side of a small parking lot offset from the curb cut from the street. And there were cars in the parking spaces. Didn’t’ take me that long. The receiver said that they’ve had some drivers take an hour and a half to back into the ramp. As a reminder, Bobcat deliveries generally involve backing up to a ramp.

Although, my next delivery in Blue Earth, Minnesota the receiver backed a flat bed truck, like a tow truck, to the back of my trailer and drove the Bobcat onto that. My final stop was in Des Moines, Iowa. I would have tried to reach out to Rob T., but I didn’t have much time.

Next load is liquid totes with mulch dye out of Ames, Iowa. This shipper has the type of shipping dock where you back into a “chute.” But rather than concrete platforms on either side, there was a scaffolding that lowered down to the deck on each side after you backed in. To lower the scaffolding, both myself and the forklift operator had to push a button. And there was a gate to walk on the scaffolding that was magnetically locked. I didn’t need to get onto the scaffolding because I didn’t need to tarp this load. In fact, tarping season is pretty much coming to an end. There are still loads that you will always have to tarp, like sheet rock. But certain places, like Charlotte Pipe, only require tarping in the winter months and only if you’re going to certain states. The forklift guy showed my pictures of how to strap the totes, including examples of how NOT to strap the totes. The totes have a metal “cage” that goes around the tote. You don’t want to torque down on the straps so much you bend the metal frame. Threw my straps and I’m on my way to Cedar Park, Texas.

It’s been so long since I’ve updated my diary, I have forgotten many details of the trip, but suffice it to say that Texas is one of my more favorite states, sans Dallas, which is my least favorite city for traffic, because of the confusing interchanges and the speed of the traffic. My delivery was to a rather massive landscaping operation. There were several trucks stacked to get loaded with products for local delivery.

Next load is coils and angle iron coming from NCI, which is the place where we haul a lot of the building materials. These coils are more narrow. They put three shotgun style just behind center of the trailer, two more shotgun style just in front of center of the trailer, and then two that they laid down dunnage on the deck. This was a tarp load, and I pretty much used all of my moving blankets. I’ve ordered a couple of thick canvas tarps 5’ X 10’ and 6’ X 8’ to use to cover loads like this. I think it will take less time, but we’ll see. This load is going to another NCI in Tolleson, Arizona, which is close to Phoenix.

5/2/2021 continued:

Next load is out of Phoenix. Allied Tube, which is normally the razor-sharp round tubes, but my load was these electrical cable tray hardware. Similar to Cooper B Line that we get out of Highland, Illinois. It’s a tarp load but low profile. So, two steel tarps. Pretty easy. The difficult thing about this load is that it is four stops. And they don’t have the bundles for each stop grouped together very well. Rather, there are four sections front to back and stop two has at least one bundle in each stop. C’est la vie. And while the total distance is long, almost 1,500 miles, it’s like four separate loads. In fact, they have a Saturday delivery scheduled.

However, when I call on my way to the 02 in Albuquerque on Saturday, there is no answer. And the business hours say that they are closed on Saturday and Sunday. Regardless, I make it to the 02 about 1500 on Saturday. No surprise, they are not open. I let dispatch know and head to the TA about one mile away. I’ll get a nice long 34-hour reset, or so I think, because the 02 doesn’t open until 0730 Monday.

I settle in and decided to go ahead and break out my Charboil portable charcoal grill to cook some chicken thighs that I have had in my refrigerator. I had made sure that I backed up to the fence so that I’m tucked away where no one can see me. I don’t know the rules about grilling in the TA parking lot, but I figure if no one seems me it won’t be an issue. After grilling and packing stuff away, I decide to call it a night. I got all day tomorrow to do whatever I want, or so I think. ‘ Sidebar on tarping.

Recently, I have become somewhat obsessed about coming up with a better tarping system. My steel tarps always seem to get holes in them, even though I’m using every moving blanket I have and all the best practices Thus, as I mentioned about, I have ordered 21 ounce canvas tarps, based on what I saw someone do at Cooper B Line in Highland. He had a large fender cover that you use for working on cars and draped it over the front. My thought with my two 5’ X 10’ and 6’ X 8” canvas tarps is that I can simply cover the entire front and rear of a load like these electrical cable tray hardware and be done with it.

I also researched tarp quality on the internet. Based on what another flatbed driver mentioned when I explained how my steel tarps are always getting rips. He mentioned that it was probably not the thickness, but rather the “backing” that was the weak link. Tarps are made by starting with either nylon or polyester weave then melting vinyl pellets into the weave. The “weight” of the tarp comes from how much vinyl pellets they melt into the fabric. But the strength of the tarp comes from that nylon or polyester weave. The other flatbedder that I mentioned above said that he only buys his tarps from Montana Canvas in Belgrade, Montana. I researched them and found out that they are one of only two tarp manufacturers that give you the technical details on their tarp material. And they disclose who manufacturers their tarp material. So, based on the other flatbedder’s recommendation and my research, I end up buying two 26’ tarps with 6’ drops, and a 6’ flat on the front. They were pricey but if they are as good as I hope they are, they will be worth the money.

The reason whey I got the 26’ tarps with 6’ foot drops is that many of our tarp loads are 5’ drop and 40’ feet long. Prime’s steel tarps are 24’ long, but only 4’ drop. Plus, they don’t have a flap on the front. So, while total length is 48’, you only have 38’ feet of effective coverage (48’- 4’ drop in front – 4’ drop in back – 2’ overlap). So, for a load that it 5’ drop and 40’ long, you need both lumber tarps and a steel tarp sideways. And with the 8’ drops you have 3’ feet of excess hanging down. With my new tarps, I can cover a load up to 50’ up to a 6’ drop. The new tarps weigh about the same as my steel tarps and I can fit all four or them in my clam shell above my headache rack. My other obsession with tarping lately has been rope vs. bungees. This other flatbedder gave me some tips as far as using bungees that will minimize the holes in my tarps from bungee hooks. But, I’m still not a fan of bungees, because you have a somewhat narrow range of distances for the bungees. It seems that your anchor point is either too close or too far, such that it’s either too loose or too difficult to hook. So, I have begun to experiment with rope, which avoids this dilemma with bungees. But threading 50’ of rope through rub rail takes time. So, I ended up buying these Husky 18” straps at Home Depot. The straps have two loops on the ends and they are perfect length to go around two spools and then up through the rub rail. I can thread the rope through the loops above the rub rail and can pull a longer section of rope through, without it getting bound up on the edges of the rub rail spools. And the straps are less likely to cut through the rope. I am still in the experimentation phase of using the rope, but so far, it secures the tarps better than bungees.

5/21/2021 continued:

Back to the main story.

I sleep late on Sunday, and walk to Home Depot to get more of those Husky straps. Then I go to Twisters for breakfast. While I’m eating breakfast, I get a message from dispatch. “The 02 says come by now to get unloaded.” I could have argued that I’m in the middle of a 34-hour reset, but I don’t. Because getting unloaded on Sunday lets me get going earlier on Monday. Plus, I can PC to the receiver, because I went there Saturday, but they were closed. I head back to the truck, drive to the 02, and get unloaded. The other benefit of it being Sunday, is that we unloaded in the street. Based on what the receiver said, Monday would be a zoo because there is a school next door. The receiver is a small business and he comes in on Sunday to catch up on paperwork. So, he got the message that morning when he came in. I get unloaded, chat with the owner a little, and then head back to the TA.

I grill some pork chops that afternoon, clean up the truck, etc. and then call it a night relatively early. Because I’ve already delivered to my 02, I can get an early start Monday for my 03.

My 03 is in Oklahoma City. I get there early afternoon. The delivery address on the paperwork is not where I was supposed to deliver. It is a retail store with little storage. Rather, they send me to the warehouse location which is about a mile away. That place is a zoo, with them loading trucks for delivery. It takes over an hour to finally get someone to unload me. Then they have trouble verifying the load. This cable tray hardware is funny. For my purposes, I only count bundles. But the packing list doesn’t have a bundle count. It lists the total linear feet. So, you need to know the length of each bundle and the total count in each bundle, and then do the math. And, add in the fact that the warehouse facility was not the same company as the receiver. So, they had to get the order information from the receiver. I was there for almost 4 total hours.

I had pretty much run out of time by the time I was finished and headed to the closest truck stop.

My third and fourth stop were both in the Houston area. The bulk of the rest of the load came off at the third stop. After that, I had only two bundles left and less than 40 miles. So, I put my lumber tarps and bag of moving blanket at the ends, slapped my smoke tarp over the top, and rolled.

The final unload took about 30 minutes. At first, dispatch said “see you tomorrow.” But on the way to the truck stop, I got a load that I could have picked that night. But, I decided to go ahead and stay the truck stop because 1) I had a spot, and 2) the shipper did not allow overnight parking, there would be no spots in the Houston area after I loaded.

I go the shipper very early. This was an NCI building materials load. It took a while to find the trailer. These places have a loaded trailer area, an empty trailer drop area, and then the “active” loading area. Well, they had loaded the trailer in the active loading area but the yard dog did not move it. Well, I find trailer 520020 in the active loading area. Prime’s trucks and trailers have a method to their numbering system the 5 is a flatbed, the 2 is the year, and the 0 is a 48’ trailer. And Prime only keeps their trailers for about 5 years. So, this is not a 2012, it’s a 2022. Manufactured in two month ago. I strap up and head on my way, with pretty much a full clock.

This load is going to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Another nice long load. The night before my delivery, I stay at the Pilot in Mobile, which has the Black Jack, Harley Davidson right next door. I’ve got some extra time because I can’t deliver until 0800 EDT and I only have about an hour and a half to get there the next day. So, I take the time to find a Geocache that is about ¾ of a mile away in a Cypress swamp. It was nice to get off the truck and walk.

I get there early the next morning, but there are already two trucks ahead of me. It takes about two and half hours for me to get unloaded and rolling.

5/2/2021 final.

My next load is lumber out of Chester, South Carolina. I get there mid afternoon and get loaded and secured very quickly. It a s brand new facility. The forklift that loaded me is the biggest one I’ve seen so far. It doesn’t look big, but it loaded the entire 48,000 lb load in two trips. The forks on this load are around 40’ wide, which allowed him to load one full side of trailer at a time.

I throw my straps and get on my way, stopping short in Commerce, Georgia. I had more time on my clock, but that would have put me right in the middle of Atlanta about 2200. No chance finding a parking spot there that time of night. Plus, I was able to have dinner at Sonny’s BBQ, Turtle’s hometown favorite.

I roll the next day and stop here in Hammond, Louisiana. As I mentioned above, the weather is no conducive to exploring. But I will walk to Target for grocery shopping during a break in the rain.

I also got a message Friday of my Prime one year anniversary. I also got a notice of my one year safe driver award that I can pick up at the company store. Once I deliver this load, I will have over 90,000 dispatched miles.

Congratulations on those recent milestones! Some of us had a feeling you'd make it.

Congrats on the safe driving award. I’m still following along. Love all the detail

I enjoy following also. And agree with Papa- Excellent detail!

5/9/2021 update; Anna Texas

I’m here at the Whataburger in Anna, Texas; right next to Love’s where I spent the night. On another 34-hour reset and I will try to update my diary weekly from now on.

Delivered my lumber load on Monday in San Antonio, Texas. The address in the Qualcomm was not correct and I had to end up finding the place, which was not an easy access. I ended up doing a couple of loops on the u-turn ramps they have here in Texas. But I got it there and unloaded in the 90 plus degree heat, which doesn’t really bother me.

Next load was structural steel going to a jobsite right next to the Airport in Tucson, Arizona. I got there Wednesday afternoon, but they did not have the equipment to unload me. So, I ended up getting there early Thursday morning. While I was the first of four trucks there, I was the last one out. The way they loaded this in Houston made it like dental work to unload. Again very hot in Tucson. After I couple of hours, I get unloaded and wait by the side of the road for a pretty crappy load.

Steel coils, that needed to be tarped, going only 123 miles. Apparently, someone other than my FM assigned the load, because later that day I got a message “Just saw the load. Pay will be added.” And I ended up having problems with my tarp catching wind and had to stop several times to fix it. I made it there that Thursday night, but too late for the delivery. I had been to this delivery place before and they were just as slow offloading this time as they were before. I ended up not getting out of there until noon, even thought I was there at 0700. Such is life.

I get rolling for my next load, which is copper out of Morenci, Arizona. The shipper is a copper mine operation and has several different facilities in the area. The address they gave me on the Qualcomm was just a dirt lot next to the highway. And the shipper never answered the phone. Google maps showed a facility labeled “truck loads.” I plugged that into the Garmin and it just happened to be correct. Driving there was nice because by the side of the highway were fields of cacti. And it was some pretty scenic desert landscape. I ended up getting there just before their 1600 cut off and got loaded. I posted a picture of the copper in the flatbed variety thread. It’s raw material so you don’t have to worry about damaging the product.

As I’m driving away I notice some discoloration on a trailer tire. I stopped and realize there is some tread missing. I’m out in BFE, on a Friday night, so I decided to roll with it to El Paso. If I could make it to El Paso, I have a chance of making it to McKinney, Texas for my delivery. I get in to the Petro about midnight, get the tire fixed, and hit the sleeper.

I get rolling about 1030 the next day and I’ve got 647 miles to go. I end up making it to the 90 about 2230. Somewhat confusing guard shack entrance, but I make it in and get unloaded. I roll to Anna, Texas, which has a Love’s and Pilot, which are both jam packed. I end up parking on the side of the exit. I move the truck the next morning into a parking space. I posted about this in Msgt C’s thread about “unprofessional” drivers making creative parking spaces. I knew that I would be getting in late and would have a hard time finding parking. But delivering late allowed me to start a 34-hour reset sooner so that I will be ready to go again at 0930 Monday morning. By the way, when I was parking last night at the side of the exit, police car was pulling in and didn’t even give me a second look. So, obviously, the cop didn’t care that I parked there. No one knocked on my door asking me to move and I didn’t block anyone. So, as far as I’m concerned, the only grip some one could have about my parking job is optics. They don’t like appearance of my parking job. So what?

And speaking of Msgt C. who changed his screen name, I think now is the time for me to change my screen name to what I had planned after I had gotten some experience under my belt. I’ve encountered a lot of Quints, like Msgt. and Hoopers, like Professor X. But I’ve encountered a lot fewer Brodys, which is where I think I fit. But I'm sure most will still know me as Rob D.