Swift Orientation, Memphis, TN

We arrived at the recipient at about 4am. They open at 7. Snooze time for Carlos! (I'm still on sleeper bunk duty.) When people start showing up, Carlos asks where receiving is. "It's at the back. Go up that alley." So Carlos takes the truck up a long, very narrow alley to the back. Then a tight right turn, and then an alley dock that requires a 90° blind dock. Carlos sweats the trailer right up to the dock, and gets back to see about unloading. An important person comes over and points to a building across the street (with a dock open right off the street!). "This shipment goes to that building. OK, pull out, back up to the right place, get unloaded.

Then we deadhead to a Walmart DC nearby. Get the load and head to another DC in Opalousas, LA. Exchange the loaded trailer for an empty, and head back to West Monroe.

Since we're running as a team, our work is almost non-stop. Back in West Monroe, we get a trailer loaded for Fort Worth. This is due at 0700, and driving over night we arrive in plenty of time. Our instructions here are so straightforward: drop our delivery in space 74, then get the empty out of space 134. This is pretty much how "drop and hook" works, I guess.

We get the empty, and our next stop is not far away I'm Mesquite, TX. Only it's Dallas morning rush hour. We thread our way through construction and traffic to get a Walmart load with my first split delivery: first to Alexandria, LA, then back to Monroe.

It's mid-day when we get this load. On the way to Alexandria we stop at a truck stop to grab a bite and let me take over. I do the pre-trip as usual. Same old same-ol'. Just like all the other pre-trips. But wait! What's that new oil spot under the engine? An oil drip is dripping from the motor! Drip-drip-dripping! It's enough that we may have to go to the shop soon. Isn't this why we do the pre-trip at least every day - so we can catch problems when they're drips, before they become equipment failures?

Carlos knows this store will not receive any delivery before 10 pm. It's 1:00 pm now and a for hour drive. Lessee ... One o'clock now, plus four hours to get there means we arrive 5pm and can only wait 5 more hours till receiving opens!

This dock has a tight work area to set up the docking. Pull parallel to the dock, a sharp right away, the S-turn to get the tandems then the drive wheels lined up with the dock hole, without running over the curbs. Finally straight back.

Even though we're first in line to unload, this WM is short staffed. We don't get out till 1 am. And we still need to get to Monroe for the final delivery. At least my 14 hour clock ran out and I can relax till this afternoon.

Over the last few days we discovered an oil leak of some sort (I found it during a pre-trip) and the a/c wasn't cooling. Enough problems took request a Friday trip to Memphis to put our truck in the shop. Granted.

By Friday afternoon we were not far from Baton Rouge, LA, and ready for our next assignment (hoping to get to Memphis). Sure! From B.R., deadhead to West Monroe, take a trailer load to Crossett, AR, (60 miles), then head for Memphis (220 miles, staying around 8:30 pm.) My turn!

Took a 30-minute break in Stuttgart, AR at 11 pm, got to Memphis around 2am, them took the weekend off.

Monday was probably the first I'd call a Marathon for all these short trips. Start in memphis around 6:30 am, go to Searcy, AR (100 miles), pick up a trailer of used cardboard in bales, drive to Monticello, MS (350 miles). Got to Monticello around 7pm. Took about an hour to check in (computer problems) then unloaded. My 14 hours ran out at the dock. Carlos took over.

Carlos picked up a trailer headed to Waxahatchie, TX (460 miles). I took a siesta in the back room of Hotel Freightliner and woke up to a Texas sunrise.

Now that we are running "team", we should be more or less moving non-stop, switching driver duties when our drive (10/11 hour) or duty (14 hour) clocks run out.

Except when we need to wait for a shipper or receiver to get to us. This morning we arrived at the receiver's address at 8am, as scheduled. We had six other trucks ahead of us, all waiting to unload. We waited our turn. Sometimes we could move up in line, and behind us the line of waiting trucks went out into the street. Finally we could back up to the dock at 11:30, that's 3-1/2 hours after we got there.

Remember drivers get paid by the miles they roll, and there's no mileage to move 150 yards in 3-1/2 hours. Some companies will pay "detention pay" for the time you wait like this. But Carlos has a dedicated account, and his pay structure doesn't include detention pay.

Unloaded and rolling out to our next pick up by 12:30, we head for Roanoke, TX. There, we are truck number 3 to check in with the security gate guard. I don't know what, but it took 45 minutes for the first truck in line to get in the gate. The truck just ahead of us was a bit faster. There is one gate guard responsible for admitting and releasing the trucks. Carlos' time ran out here, so I took the wheel.

At this facility, all the trailers are lined up across the alley from the docks. We are given two numbers, one the location to drop our empty, and the second the location of our full trailer to take out.

Backing in the empty should be a simple 45° alley dock. Not quite: I wish the alley was 5-10 feet wider. I eventually got it into the assigned slot. By the time I was finished, I had an audience of two drivers and a yard dog* watching and waiting for me to get finished.

Finally loaded up, I pointed the truck to Searcy, AR, and settled in for the six hour drive. By 11pm, I had delivered the goods in Searcy, and had a new load headed for Monticello, MS. My time ran out at the truck stop/refueling in North Little Rock, so Carlos took over and I hit the sack. We had spent about four hours today simply waiting. Well, that's life!

*Not a real dog, "yard dog" is a slang term for the shuttle tractors that move the trailer boxes around the yard.

Errol, doing an awesome job on this post - enjoy reading of your adventures, even though your limited by dedicated run. Would have been nice if you could have dropped the trailer out of the hole. The Dog could have moved it, while you were heading out the gate with your full trailer. Roll Safe!!!!

Errol, doing an awesome job on this post - enjoy reading of your adventures, even though your limited by dedicated run. Would have been nice if you could have dropped the trailer out of the hole. The Dog could have moved it, while you were heading out the gate with your full trailer. Roll Safe!!!!

Thanks MRC. As for backing, in my training I need to have 40 documented backs of various kinds. I have about 16 to go, on top of Swift's 200 driving hours requirement.

The yard dogs have their own work cut out for them. I didn't see the Valet Docking/Parking stand at this facility.

Running team/non-stop, things get to be a blur! At the end of our last episode, Carlos and I were headed to Monticello, MS. That we did.

I missed a turn (2 lane road to a 2 lane road I'd done a few times already.) This is a main highway, no way to back up, so I had to continue on the wrong road till I could find a place to turn around. My cell phone Google Maps showed no way to "drive around the block", so I just kept going. After about 3 miles, I found an intersection large enough to u-turn a 53' trailer - tightly. Got back on course and pulled into the plant.

After already making the 270° turn-then-back to the dock a few times, it's not so hard any more. Unloaded then swapped the empty for a loaded one going to West Monroe, LA. By now it was nearly noon, and we wanted to get to West Monroe before the receiving dock closed at 5pm. If we missed it, we'd have to spend the night, waiting for morning. Made it! We were the last truck for the day. Took the empty to the empties area. After already making the long-offset-with-a-jog a few times, it's not so hard any more.

The next load, right from this plant, went to Jackson, TN - a 6 hour drive. Problem was, we hooked the trailer at 6pm. Let's see ... 6pm + 6 more hours = midnight, and Jackson's receiving won't open till 7 the next morning.

A collective sigh, an agreement there's no rush, and away we went. Yes, arrived at 2am (no rush, remember?). Parked on the street out front, and took a nap. Woke up at 6 in a freezing cab - it was 34° outside -so I started the engine to warm up.

This was a live unload, so we took the trailer with us and headed for the Memphis terminal for a T-call pick up.

At the Memphis terminal , we dropped the empty from Jackson, TN, hooked the one bound for Indianola. We were going the other way of the usual morning Memphis traffic. Heading south on US 61, Carlos was driving (since leaving Jackson, actually). He saw the signs for Tunica (the local gambling/resort town) and said, "I do believe I need to have my 30 minute break, don't I?"

Casino buffets are pretty good. No, we didn't hit any jackpots. No we didn't take more than 34 minutes by the Qualcom clock.

The Indianola delivery was a live unload, and the warehouse uses lumpers. We had to wait our turn (ah, the trucker's life!). By the time the lumpers has the trailer unloaded, stated their service charge, got their Comcheck, we were able to take off into the sunset for Monticello.

Carlos had run out of time waiting at the Indianola stop, so I took the wheel. I got to the Monticello drop after 1am. On the way, Carlos had gotten into the sleeper berth. I asked he was asleep, so for the first time I handled ask the delivery details: paperwork, backing that 270° docking turn, sliding tandems , etc. Getting intro the cab to pull out, I saw Carlos had gotten into the passenger seat. "Good job!" he said.

I figured from that point onward I'd have to do all the dock work and Carlos would help by just watching.

I had less than 20 minutes on my 8 hour clock, so I headed to a nearby truck parking area. Took my own 30-minute, but no casinos were nearby.

Carlos took advantage of this break to point out an important fact: if my clock is running short, 1-2 hours here, maybe it's better to post a "late delivery" and not go in. (Depending on the particular facility, different times apply.)

If I was in this place and my clock ran out, I'd be stuck and not be able to do my work until whatever time was reset - 30 minutes, up to 10 hours in a worst case! Better to be out of this place which does not allow truck parking. Better yet I should manage my time so this question does not come up.

In a team it's not so bad because your partner cold take over. But solo drivers can call into that hole.

I did have the time to drive to a Petro in Jackson. There's where I called ita day (2am) and Carlos pointed us and our empty trailer to West Monroe.

Errol, Sir, thank you tons, for posting your journal! I learned a few things, one of which is being concerned that my age (52 in april) was gonna get in the way of me being hired by a reputable company. You're in your early 60's, that made me feel a bit better. :) I do have a few questions about the physicals, but I'll look around the forums before I bug anyone with my concerns. It seems that other than the backup skills (although I consider myself a damn good driver, even in reverse, I'd be sweatin' bullets on backin' up the trailer), that driver 'clock' is tedious. Tryin' to get your runs done while staying within the legal driving time limits is a juggling act.

Anyhow, just wished to share with you that I'm glad you started your journal as you were beginning school, you gave me a little insight there, as well.

Thanks and safe driving to you Sir!

SQ TierHog