Talking Shop: The Just Talking Thread

I always get a little concerned when I'm driving through a rural area near a small town and my GPS says to turn on main Street because I know that it's gonna look just like this and basically every other Street in the town is gonna be a no go for me.

oh come on, that's when the fun starts! Fortunately with my gig I've been to an overwhelming majority of our stores so I can avoid getting into too much of a pickle though today I went to one I haven't been to before.

We have many small town stores that are difficult getting a truck into but at this point in my career it's a welcomed change. We received a text last week that the company just spent $750 redoing landscaping as a driver tore up someone's yard going down a road they shouldn't have been on near one of our small town Missouri stores. If they'd simply gone one block further it wouldn't have happened.

Today I ran 611 (of the scheduled 653) miles with 11 stores. Made it to a truck stop with 17 minutes to spare and had the family drive the 4 miles to come pick me up. Had I tried to make it back to the yard I would've came up about 30 minutes short. It was nice making it home when I took the route expecting to be out overnight. They'll drop me off at the truck around 2am but those lucky boogers get to come home and go back to sleep while I'm out there working again.

I always get a little concerned when I'm driving through a rural area near a small town and my GPS says to turn on main Street because I know that it's gonna look just like this and basically every other Street in the town is gonna be a no go for me.

oh come on, that's when the fun starts! Fortunately with my gig I've been to an overwhelming majority of our stores so I can avoid getting into too much of a pickle though today I went to one I haven't been to before.

We have many small town stores that are difficult getting a truck into but at this point in my career it's a welcomed change. We received a text last week that the company just spent $750 redoing landscaping as a driver tore up someone's yard going down a road they shouldn't have been on near one of our small town Missouri stores. If they'd simply gone one block further it wouldn't have happened.

Today I ran 611 (of the scheduled 653) miles with 11 stores. Made it to a truck stop with 17 minutes to spare and had the family drive the 4 miles to come pick me up. Had I tried to make it back to the yard I would've came up about 30 minutes short. It was nice making it home when I took the route expecting to be out overnight. They'll drop me off at the truck around 2am but those lucky boogers get to come home and go back to sleep while I'm out there working again.

Hey Rob. 611 miles and you made 11 stops? That is pretty impressive. What is your top limited speed? And is it mostly interstate driving between stores?

Hey Rob. 611 miles and you made 11 stops? That is pretty impressive. What is your top limited speed? And is it mostly interstate driving between stores?

We can do 70, but i refuse to speed when its marked less. Decent amount of interstate but dealing with a ton of traffic lights after getting up to the Minneapolis area around 830am. It was scheduled to leave at 330am but I came in an hour early to get a jump on it. First 2 stops were in Mason City, then a stop in Charles City IA about 30 minutes east of MC. Then up to the twin cities for another 8 stores primarily in the west and north suburbs of Minneapolis. Being familiar with the general traffic patterns from both driving there frequently but also growing up in the area helped me avoid getting caught in traffic. Each store received 1 pallet of flowers each, just pulled the pallet off onto dock and hit the road. I only got held up at 1 store by another one of our drivers so I took my 30 there instead of the next store like I planned on. Fortunately the traffic jams that have been happening on I35 where it's down to 1 lane near Faribault MN were moving at a very decent pace today, only had to slow to 56 (in a 60). Last Friday we were doing 7 mph and took me over 45 minutes to go 10 miles. Im not a fan of being out overnight from the family but took the route to boost my pay and take Friday off unpaid to take em to the state fair instead of going saturday when its sure to be packed. I told my wife the plan was to shut down just into IA at Diamond Jo casino but after seeing that I would make it close to home with 20 minutes to spare after getting through the (usually) problematic construction zone I figured I may as well just park at the truck stop near home and get picked up. I'll start my day sometime between 2 and 230am, make the 40 minute drive to the yard and run a 2 trailer load tomorrow. Only 250 miles combined with 5 stops tomorrow, in addition to the 43 miles back.

What was the longest trucking day you had as a driver?

I experienced my first one yesterday (Monday) that bled over to this morning (Tuesday).

On Monday about 7:30-ish pm, I drove 1 and 1/2 hours to Lebanon, KY to a company only to realize that I had the wrong trailer. Le sigh.

Drove 1 and 1/2 hours back to the shop in Georgetown, KY...unhooked the wrong trailer, moved the tandems to the rear, hooked to the right trailer, moved the tandems to the front, and drove 1 and 1/2 hours back to Lebanon.

After that, I was out of hours and called Dispatch to let them know. They stated they would send someone in the company car and he would drive the truck and the load back. By this time, it was about 1:30

I drove out of the dock from Lebanon with 20 minutes left on the clock.

I did not want to continue driving toward G-town only to have the clock run out and I would have needed to park in a pitch-black area so I stopped in Springfield, KY, and found a shopping area.

I waited until the clock ran out and logged out.

I then waited an hour plus until the relief driver came. I had to drive from Springfield to G-town to pick up my car (another 1 hour and 30 minutes) then once in G-town, I got into my car and drove 33 minutes to get home.

I was so done.

Longest day mile-wise was around 670. Biggest was a couple weeks ago about 550 miles with 15 stops. Longest time-wise was back during covid lockdowns. We were exempt from HOS for about a year. It wasn't uncommon to sit 3 or 4 hours for the loads to be ready to head out to our store deliveries. One day in particular during this time I felt like taking it easy. Take an LTL load to the Target Distribution center in Cedar Falls IA then take my empty down to Iowa City to UNFI for a drop/hook. Showed up at Target around 330 or 4am if I recall correctly to be told the appt is at 2pm. Nobody in the office until 7 so I went to Kwik Star and waited for guidance. At 9 they finally decided to have me drag that load back the 2 hours to Ankeny (Des Moines), grab an empty and drive the 2 hours to Iowa City. It ended up being close to a 20 hour day plus a 45 minute commute home on each end. After our HOS exempt status expired I had a couple stores in the Minneapolis area then head to St Michael just north for a backhaul. I sat in the dock for 8 hours. I'd been on duty for 16 hours when I got my paperwork and was forced to PC to a hotel. We use primarily daycabs so split sleeper wasn't an option, the company pays for our hotel. What upset me most was they told me take the following day off as we had too many drivers and I was still 4 1/2 hours away from the yard.

I work what my company calls "Short Haul". Its basically local work paid by the hour, but with a stubby sleeper. I think Prime Inc calls them a lightweight sleeper. I start and end each day at my terminal in Anderson SC. My shift normally starts at 5am. But according to customer demands my day can sometimes start at 3am for the week.

My longest day was a few weeks ago. I had to come in at 3am. In all, I spent 18 hours on the time clock for my shift. Got an empty trailer from the yard and went across town to get a load of refrigerators. Delivered them to Atlanta GA. Dropped load, hooked an empty. Drove to Gainesville GA for a 5 hour live load. Dropped the load at my terminal and hooked an empty. Back to get another load of refrigerators and deliver them to Saddlecreek warehouse in Greer SC. Dropped the load, hooked an empty Back to get another load of refrigerators and stage the truck and trailer back in Anderson SC for the next days delivery. I was able to go off duty status and do a split while in Gainesville GA. When I was finished for the day logged sleeper birth. Left truck, drove home.

I am curious... Who is your favorite truck manufacturer and what is your favorite truck series and why?

How about a top three of your favorite manufacturers and the top three of your favorite truck series?

Who is your favorite truck manufacturer and what is your favorite truck series and why

Personally, I prefer Freightliners. I find them to be to most comfortable.

Next would be Kennworth followed by Volvo. The Volvos I have driven have all been junk, so it probably soured my opinion.

We just received some Internationals but I have not driven one yet. The reviews aren't not great, people say they are too small and uncomfortable.

I’ve only driven Frightliners in my career. So I don’t have any experience with other makes to form an opinion. But if I only drive a Frightliner in my life, I won’t complain, they do everything I need to do in my job.

I drove from the late 1960s thru 2011 and half my career was in Mack's. So in order for me is: 1- R686 Mack with 300 Tip Turbine Maxidyne with 6 spd. 2 stick tyranny. 2- L9000 Ford Aeromax w/3406 Cat with 10 spd. 3- Western Star C/O with KT450 Cummins, 13 spd. OD and 4.11 diff. Very powerful but not efficient.