2 Weeks OTR With David

12/31

Sitting here now getting unloaded. Hate live load/unloads.. waste of time, but gotta do it I guess...

I woke up at 8:45 got my coffee and was ready to roll on. This load drops by 1500. I made another rookie mistake. So use to running CST i forgot about the time change going into Indiana.... shoot, Expecting to arrive an hr early, put me arriving 20 min early. but early is anytime before the sched Deliver so Im still safe. pheeeww..

Nothing really major went on to day, Before I left the Flying J, I decided to get a scale out on this load as I have a hard time trusting shipper's scales. CAT scale is at least certified. Unilever told me my wieghts where

Steers - 11880 Drives - 34120 Tandems - 34940

My Cat scale is

Difference in weights

Steers - 80lbs Drives - 20lbs Tandems - 20lbs

Thats not much of a difference. Looks like I can trust Unilever's scale. Now I did run into 2 scale houses on my way to Indianapolis. One halfway to the boarder of Indiana and one right in Indiana, both OPEN and both gave me the green light to by pass. So even being slightly overwieght on the drives still gave me the green. If your wondering what I mean by green light to bypass..

has 3 lights on it, 2 of which are used. A red light, which will mean you have to go in to the scale house to be weighed, or a green light that allows you to by pass the scale while everyone else goes through the scale. It also works on tolls such as the Illinois toll roads in Chicago, Indiana and Ohio turn pikes or anywhere that EZPass is accepted. Its a great tool an saves money and hassle.

I ended up leaving Pontoon beach at 0930 after scaling and do my pre-trip, (0930 was CST, which ment it was 1030 in Indiana.) Still having 250Miles to travel, put me at 4hrs tell del, which 1030+4=1430. I also had to stop for fuel, which I skipped. I gave my DM a call, told him of the rookie mistake I made over the time zones and told him I had enough fuel to complete trip but if I stop I may be late, he gave me the okay to by pass. Had I stopped, I probably would have still arrived with 5min to spare, but I don't like that. To close to my comfort zone.

I arrived at 1436 and its now 1507, still waiting to be finished with the unload. I did recieve my next pre-plan, though, I can't pick up tell morning as its a "freeze" sensitive load. Means I have to get it from shipper to final ASAP.

Message from my DM "David, You have a protect from freezing load, please call for verbal on load- Can not leave shipper till 2morrow afternoon when it can be delivered stragit through" In other words, they don't want it to sit over night in a truck stop. I called in about it, DM said to get it tomorrow around 0700-1000 and he'll get me paid for layover as I have to wait all night with no other load and 7hrs left on my 11 to run.

Load @ Indianapolis Service Inc in Indianapolis, IN Pick up 12/31 @ 2200

Deliver to Target DC in Cedar Falls, IA Deliver 01/02 @ 0001

Loaded Mi: 447 Empty Mi: 05 Total trip 452

Its a good run, however If I picked up at 2200, I'd be forced to shutdown by 2300 and wouldn't be able to drive straight to my final and risk load freezing. So I'll pick up tomorrow at 0700 tomorrow and run it. As soon as I get unloaded, I'll head over to our terminal here in Indianapolis and kick back, get some grub and shower. Short day, but good. Get a nice long walk in and maybe play some games. =D

What a great topic/thread! So detailed and informative. Going to school in the spring and TT is such a great resource to help get prepared for life on the road. Can't wait to read more from you and the others who are detailing their experiences for our benefit. Drive safely and thanks for all the information. It's amazing to see how much we don't know and how much there is to learn.

1/1/15

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!

Well today was a pretty easy day filled with driving. There wasn't much that happened.

I woke up at 8 got my coffee and was ready to roll to my Pick Up by about 9, just as I was leaving though, I got pre-planned for my next load. Daniel's said it a few times, If you take what they give you and don't complain, you'll get hooked up with something good, well I indured 5 days of 300-400 mile runs and then got a 1288.. WOOO!

Relay Load Load @ Procter & Gamble in Green Bay, WI by 01/01 @ 00:01-23:59 Deliver @ Procter & Gamble in Ogden, UT by 01/04 @ 00:01 - 23:59 Loaded Mi 1200 Empty Mi 88

Now it says relay because another Driving is picking it up from green bay and dropping it off close my current final. Since the final is in Cedar Falls, IA our Heartland Express yard would be the best bet which is in Cedar Rapids/North Liberty, IA. So I'll actually pick up there instead of Green Bay. Works for me as it's still a good run.

So after I got that, it was about 9:30 so I headed over to my shipper in Indy for my current load. Got it, set my trailer tandems to the 10th hole went to scale out and was perfectly weighed out.

Steers - 11920
Drives - 32820
Tandems - 29320
Gross - 74060

Now remember, this load is a freezable load, which could be bad if it happens. If I stop, I have to make sure its short and quick, otherwise it could freeze and the company would be out $$..

Around 10:30 I was officially ready to roll, drove 254Mi (roughly 4.25 hrs) and stopped at a rest area for my 30 min break and made a sandwich and had a banana with it. Tip: If you ever have leg cramps after driving, eat a banana, the potassium in a banana will help you, also drink 32 oz of water. It'll help big time. Your muscles cramp do to low potassium. I try and have a banana every day.

After I ate, I checked my mileage for the remainder of the trip, 209mi.. Still about 3 hrs to go, have 6 hrs left after my break and still had to go anther 80 back to Cedar Rapids/North Liberty, IA for next load. Total of 4hrs and some change. Easy money. It was 13:30 by the time I left the rest area, now if your thinking, how is it 1330 if you left at 1030, shouldn't it be 1430? well yes but I changed time zones out of Indiana, which means I dropped an hr back. Love time changes going west. =D

I drove the remainder of the way up to Cedar Falls, IA got checked in with guard, and dropped my trailer and grabbed my new trailer. It was about 1730 when I left and I arrived at the Heartland Yard by 1900. Got hooked to my next loaded trailer, sent in my loaded macro on my QC and shut down for the night. I decided at that point to give my self a little extra time in the morning.

It was 1930 when I shut down, so if I wanted, I could roll by 530, but since Im only going 1200 miles, I can do this in 20hrs pending weather, and since I'll be rolling the 80 through IA, Nebraska, Wyoming and UT, Im looking at some bad areas for weather. If I play it safe and take my time, I'll have no trouble delivering on Sunday (1/4).

Happy New years, safe travles, WELCOME TO 2015!!

1/2

Nothing to report today, was a long day of driving. did 500+ miles 9.5 hrs. Went from North Liberty, IA this morning at 10am and made it to North Platte, NE at 19:30. Was a good long day. I'll leave you with a few photos...

I will add, I-80 through Nebraska is just about as boring as I-80 through Nevada Desert.. I actually get bored driving through either state. Though it was nice seeing a bit of white along the way..

1/3

Today was an adventure. I got up around 8, had breakfast, check the weather and was watching it. i80 through Sidney to Cheyenne didnt look pretty, roads still open I thought about waiting an hr to see if it cleared up any more, but decided against it as weather in Wyoming changes very quickly, so I decided it was time to go. I was ready to roll by 10. the first 2 hours wasn't bad. Beautiful sunny skys, and then when I hit Sidney, NE everything went grey and white...

And it only got worse.

It didn't get any better tell Rawlins, WY. Between the two places, its 248mi. on a normal day it would be 4hrs to drive, it took me 5.5hrs to get through to the end. I was stuck at 35-45MPH. I drove all the way through and then took my 30min break with 30min left on my 8hr clock. (Drove non stop 7.5hrs) After my break I did another 45miles to my fuel stop, at which point I had 2:43min left on my 70. It was time to decided if I should continue on to the Wyoming/Utah border, or stop for night and continue tomorrow. The next truck stop was 110 miles away, (roughly 2hrs which would have left me 45 min to get somewhere else if the truck stop was full.

I Decided to stop as it was dark and I have no idea how the roads are going forward and I didnt want to fight looking for a spot. So I'll get up in the morning, once light comes out and I can see the road, I'll start again. Since Im running on recap hours now, (recaps are hours you gain after your 8th day. The hours you run the first day drop off your logs and add back to your 70. ) At midnight tonight, I gain 7hrs 55min and by stoping, I get the 2:45 i have left giving me 10hrs.. Overall I did 8:30 hrs today, still have 4hrs left to go into final and I feel better knowing I'll be able to see the roads in the morning.

Wyoming DOT ended up shutting down I-80 outside Cheyenne 5 mins after I went through. Talk about luck, had Ieft later from North Platte, NE as I had intended, I'd probably would have been stuck there. Off to bed for me.

Keep on trucking. Loving the pictures. I've been keeping up with your thread. Stay safe out there.

Good stuff, yeah there's a bad storm going through that area. I love Wyoming.

Thanks for taking time to do this this thread David! This stuff is invaluable and much appreciated!

Glad you guys are enjoying it... Be an update here soon for 1/4.. finishing up my dinner and talking with family.

Nice thread David!!!! Stay Safe out there my friend!!!! Keepm coming, I had to go back and catchup,,, very interesting stuff!!!