Week 50: The Way it Should Be

Week Ending 7/28/07

Loads Delivered: 2

Total Miles: 2864
* Loaded: 2485
* Empty: 379

Gross Pay: $1,189.24
* Mileage Pay: $1,174.24
* Accessorial: $15.00

Hours Logged: 70.5
* Driving: 56.25
* On-Duty: 14.25

$/Hour $16.87

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 2.75
* @ Customer: 2.75
* In Laurinburg:
* Waiting Assignment:

All Hours: 73.25

Actual $/Hour: $16.24

This was a great week: mostly driving, very little wait time, and lots of miles. After two weeks back-to-back like this, I almost started to believe things were improving.
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Load 1:

Deadhead: Owatonna, MN Thursday, July 19, 2007
Shipper: Cold Spring, MN Thursday, July 19, 2007
MultiLoad: Dallas, TX Monday, July 23, 2007
Consignee: Marble Falls, TX Monday, July 23, 2007
Commodity: Granite

Hauling Granite was a new adventure, and one I really enjoyed.

The Street level directions for Cold Spring, MN were difficult to follow. OG was able to help guide me in over phone.

Instructions for multi-load were confusing, as it appeared I should deliver to Marble Falls first, when in fact, Dallas should come first. Street level directions to plant in Marble Falls were incorrect, sending me 7 miles out of way. Sent correct directions to Tina, but they came back still confused and would have sent a Driver 2 miles out of way. Corrected a second time, and came back better. Otherwise, load was uneventful and went smoothly.

Since I couldn’t make delivery to Dallas until Monday, I took Reset in Denton, TX with only 40.25 hours logged.
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Load 2:

Deadhead: Marble Falls, TX Monday, July 23, 2007
Shipper: Laredo, TX Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Consignee: Owatonna, MN Thursday, July 26, 2007
Commodity: glass

In Laredo talked with 2 people. Told them it was my first time there. Asked if there was anything else I needed to do. Was told nothing more. Later the same day I received this macro from Tina:" Good day Lyman, in the future if you drop a trailer in the Laredo yard. You need to make sure you drop in the glass mode. And complete an inventory check. You will need to advise if inventory is missing. The guards should have a sheet for you to fill out to provide this information."

I have seen other macros that have instructions like this written right into the work assignment. Since this is a regular customer, why not make these instructions part of each and every work assignment at this plant?

This was the trailer left in Laredo:

Landing Gear Handle



Rusted back end of trailer and tail light





Repair to deck – note already cracking







Note: August 13th, received a phone call from Tim (Safety - Knoxville) wanting to know if I had left this trailer in the glass-haul position. I told him I had not, since I wasn’t aware of the requirement until after I had left. He told me this trailer had been sent to a carrier in Mexico that has use of their glass trailers, and they were unable to get it into the glass position because the actuators failed.

This was the trailer picked up in Laredo:

A-Wing Ladder step has been cut out. Typically this happens when a mechanic removes it to repair actuator.



Loose bolts on actuator brace. Will eventually cause failure and bending of actuator arm.



Landing Gear Handle



Cracks and poor repair at wing upright bracing





Other cracks





The following were sent to Brett on 7/29



















This final photo sent to Brett is part of the system that failed causing my back injury in January.

Week 49 – The Almost Perfect Week

Week Ending 7/21/07

Loads Delivered: 2

Total Miles: 2398
* Loaded: 1927
* Empty: 471

Gross Pay: $983.18
* Mileage Pay: $983.18
* Accessorial:

Hours Logged: 62.75
* Driving: 52.75
* On-Duty: 10

$/Hour $15.67

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 0
* @ Customer: 0
* In Laurinburg:
* Waiting Assignment:

All Hours: 62.75

Actual $/Hour: $15.67

This was the best week I have had with Maverick. There were no long waits. I even got into and out of Laurinburg with no waiting. But as stated in the Recap, the long waits only seem to be Fridays, for a load through home. I have had higher miles, but these were good, and it was great to spend most of my time driving.
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Load #1

Deadhead: Owatonna, MN Thursday, July 12, 2007
Relay: Ottawa, IL Friday, July 13, 2007
Consignee: Greensboro, NC Monday, July 16, 2007
Commodity: decking

Trailer had 1 marker light out when picked up. Since allowed one, took as was. Another light went out while en route. Tried 2 locations to get it fixed, one was too busy. The other needed me to call Fleetnet. Cell phone had no signal. Went ahead and took into LRBG, where I reported both taillights and broken cross braces on A-frames.

A-frame with broken cross-brace

Tail light repair



The following were sent to Brett on 7/15.










Took reset at home, with 61.25 hours logged

Arrive Home: Saturday, July 14, 2007, 10:30 AM
Leave Home: Monday, July 16, 2007, 5:30 AM
Hours Home: 43.00
Days Home: 1.79

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Load #2

Deadhead: Greensboro, NC Monday, July 16, 2007
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Monday, July 16, 2007
Consignee: Owatonna, MN Thursday, July 19, 2007
Commodity: glass

Headboard on trailer rusted so bad it folded inward. Rust on rear of trailer bad as well.





Sent the following photos to Brett on 7/29.

Notice hole in tarp.

Week 48 – The Question of HOS

Week Ending 7/14/07

Loads Delivered: 2

Total Miles: 2017
* Loaded: 2017
* Empty: 0

Gross Pay: $826.97
* Mileage Pay: $826.97
* Accessorial:

Hours Logged: 52.25
* Driving: 41.5
* On-Duty: 10.75

$/Hour $15.83

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 7.5
* @ Customer:
* In Laurinburg:
* Waiting Assignment: 7.5

All Hours: 59.75

Actual $/Hour: $13.84

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Load #1

Shipper: Ottawa, IL Friday, July 06, 2007
Consignee: Laurinburg, NC Monday, July 09, 2007
Commodity: glass

Waited in Ottawa 3 hours for a work assignment. When finally received (15:24) they couldn't find paperwork, and was told to come back at 7pm, and check with jockey. Waited until 6pm, when I saw jockey bring in another trailer. I asked him if he knew when the load would be ready, and was told it had been ready since 4pm. I still couldn't find paperwork, so had to go back to Shipper, where they finally found it. Lost 6 hours waiting in Ottawa.

I received this load on Friday with an open window for delivery to Laurinburg, but there was also an ETA for 7:00 AM Monday morning. The only way I could make that ETA would be to go straight to Laurinburg from Ottawa, and take Reset on Monday. But, if the ETA was changed to 2:00, I would be able to go through home, take Reset Sunday, and not waste a weekday on the Reset. When I called to talk with Tina about changing the ETA, Shirley answered her phone.

When Tina called back she accused me of burning up too many On-Duty hours, and questioned how I could have a 13 hour day, with only 6.5 hours and 361 miles driving. I explained there were 2 loads (one unload and one load), had to break down trailer with impacted bolts on the frame, had to purchase 4x4 lumber as instructed in macro, secure in a rainstorm, and deal with headboard that was missing two bolts. She was still unsure if I should be including that in on-duty time, and said she would have to talk with OSR, so to plan to bring my logs to LRBG Monday to go over.

She finally realized that I was talking about 2:00 Monday, (Shirley had passed on the message as 2:00 Tuesday). When she realized it was Monday, she approved the change of ETA to 2:00. But before she reached that realization, she told me that I could DRIVE up to 70 hours in an 8 day period. She did not believe me that ALL On-Duty hours were counted in the 70, and said she would have to check with an OSR.

By Monday, she had back peddled. No OSR was present for the meeting, and she said that she just wasn't used to seeing 13 hour days. That tells me that she didn’t really look at the daily HOS update, as I averaged 12 hours/day on a regular basis. And, if you think about it: If a Driver has the opportunity to drive the full 11 hours, there should also be an additional hour for the truck - load checks, fuel, etc. So, anyone driving the full 11 hour day should be showing at least 12 hours on-duty.

Took Reset at home with 60.25 hours logged.

Arrive Home: Saturday, July 07, 2007, 5:30 PM
Leave Home: Monday, July 09, 2007, 5:30 AM
Hours Home: 36.00
Days Home: 1.50

Trailer had wrong landing gear handle. Did not fit into support, and rubbed against frame (watch out knuckles).



Securement box hinge not attached



Rusted rim


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Load #2

Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Monday, July 09, 2007
Consignee: Owatonna, MN Thursday, July 12, 2007
Commodity: glass

Trailer rusted on side and headboard. Tarp had holes. In Ottawa, left note in electric line plug-in about both. The following photos were sent to Brett on 7/15/07

Headboard rusted through:





Rusted Headboard - Also depicts cracked weld:




Stress Cracks:

Week 47 – The Comedy (or is it Tragedy) Called Extended Ops

Week Ending 7/7/07

Loads Delivered: 3

Total Miles: 1722
* Loaded: 1115
* Empty: 607

Gross Pay: $726.02
* Mileage Pay: $706.02
* Accessorial: $20.00

Hours Logged: 49.5

* Driving: 37.25
* On-Duty: 12.25

$/Hour $14.67

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 2.25
* @ Customer: 0.5
* In Laurinburg: 1.75
* Waiting Assignment:

All Hours: 51.75

Actual $/Hour: $14.03
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Load #1:

Deadhead: Church Hill, TN Friday, June 29, 2007
Relay: Laurinburg, NC Monday, July 02, 2007
Consignee: Selma, NC Monday, July 02, 2007
Commodity: Hay

I arrived at truck at 6:30 am on Monday to prepare for week, and found macro waiting with load assignment. The macro came in at 11:00 Sunday morning. The assignment was for a relay to be picked up in Laurinburg (7 hours away), and be delivered at 7:00 AM Monday – just 1/2 hour away. There are two problems here. If you will look back to Week 46, you will see that Extended told me the macro was undeliverable because the truck was turned off. The truck was in the very same location, as that reset, and obviously turned off. So, how is it that the macro was there this time.

Second problem, of course, is that Extended sent that macro just one hour after I had talked with them, and explained I was not with the truck, so to call me with any assignment that came in. Just what part of that didn't they understand.

When I picked up relay in LRBG found trailer (loaded) had lighting problems - left turn signal not working. Had to wait 1.5 hours for repairs

Rusted headboard. Holes where A-frame tie-downs have popped out.



Holes, rotting and poorly done repairs (tripping hazards) to deck.







Numerous Cracks















Securement box door missing



ABS system light missing



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Load #2

Deadhead: Selma, NC Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Consignee: Payne, OH Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Commodity: glass

Uneventful trip, except breaking down A-frame. I think the bolts were put in with an impact wrench. Thought I was going to have to call FleetNet, but finally managed to loosen.

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Load #3

Deadhead: Payne, OH Thursday, July 05, 2007
Shipper: Cavton, OH Thursday, July 05, 2007
Relay: Ottawa, IL Friday, July 06, 2007
Commodity: steel bars

The delivery date for this load was 7/9 - 4 days to go 400 miles. Sent macro questioning delivery date, and found that it was correct. After bringing to Tina’s attention, she arranged instead to have me relay the load to Ottawa.

Bolts attaching headboard to bed were broken or missing and caused headbord to list rearward and A-frames to work loose. Sent macro to Tina and called FleetNet to repair once I was in Ottawa.