Week 7 - The Midwest Problem ? ?

Week Ending 9/30/06

Loads Delivered: 2

Total Miles: 1659
* Loaded: 1442
* Empty: 217

Gross Pay: $607.70
* Mileage Pay: $497.70
* Accessorial: $110.00

Hours Logged: 42.75
* Driving: 36
* On-Duty: 6.75

$/Hour $14.22

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

All Hours: 42.75

Actual $/Hour: $14.22
___________________________
Load 1:

Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Thursday, September 21, 2006
Consignee: Indianapolis, IN Sunday, September 24, 2006
Commodity: Glass

Uneventful trip - again short wait in LRBG
___________________________
Load 2:

Deadhead: Indianapolis, IN Monday, September 25, 2006
Shipper: Ottawa, IL Monday, September 25, 2006
Consignee: Westville, NJ Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Commodity: Glass

From Westville, instructed to DH to LRBG. This was the first long wait I had in LRBG since moving to Shirley’s board. She couldn’t find any loads to the Midwest, but kept the macros coming so I knew what was happening. I arrived home after midnight on Friday with 52.75 hours logged.

Arrive LRBG: Wednesday, September 27, 2006, 9:00 PM
Leave LRBG: Thursday, September 28, 2006, 2:15 PM
Hours LRBG: 17.25

Arrive Home: Friday, September 28, 2006, 12:15 AM
Leave Home: Sunday, October 01, 2006, 9:00 AM
Hours Home: 56.75
Days Home: 2.36

Week 6 - The Best So Far

Week Ending 9/23/06

Loads Delivered: 2

Total Miles: 1824
* Loaded: 878
* Empty: 946

Gross Pay: $657.20
* Mileage Pay: $547.20
* Accessorial: $110.00

Hours Logged: 52.25
* Driving: 39.75
* On-Duty: 12.5

$/Hour $12.58

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 5.5
* @ Customer:
* In Laurinburg: 3.5
* Waiting Assignment: 2

All Hours: 57.75

Actual $/Hour: $11.38
____________________________
Load 1:

Deadhead: Goldsboro, NC Friday, September 15, 2006
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Friday, September 15, 2006
Consignee: Louisville, KY Monday, September 18, 2006
Commodity: Glass
Trip went very smoothly.
____________________________
Load 2:

Deadhead: Louisville, KY Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Shipper: Ottawa, IL Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Consignee: Laurinburg, NC Thursday, September 21, 2006
Commodity: Glass
Again a very smooth trip.

This was the best week to-date. Even though the miles were not as high as other weeks, it was nice to have a week with no problems. And, again, Shirley was able to arrange a short wait in Laurinburg, and get me home at a decent time on Friday.

Arrive LRBG: Thursday, September 21, 2006, 7:30 PM
Leave LRBG: Friday, September 22, 2006, 5:30 AM
Hours LRBG: 10 (only sleeper time)

Arrive Home: Friday, September 22, 2006, 3:30 PM
Leave Home: Sunday, September 24, 2006, 12:00 PM
Hours Home: 45.50
Days Home: 1.90

Week 5 - The 2nd DM

Week Ending 9/16/06

Loads Delivered: 3

Total Miles: 2423
* Loaded: 1860
* Empty: 563

Gross Pay: $831.90
* Mileage Pay: $726.90
* Accessorial: $105.00

Hours Logged: 63.5
* Driving: 47.75
* On-Duty: 15.75

$/Hour $13.10

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 10.75
* @ Customer: 1
* In Laurinburg: 6.25 (over and above 10 hours in sleeper)
* Waiting Assignment: 3.5

All Hours: 74.25

Actual $/Hour: $11.20
______________________________
Load 1:

Deadhead: Sumter, SC Thursday, September 07, 2006
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Thursday, September 07, 2006
Consignee: Indianapolis, IN Monday, September 11, 2006
Commodity: glass

This load was uneventful, other than 18 hour wait in LRBG.
______________________________
Loads 2-4:

Deadhead: Indianapolis, IN Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Multi-stop Indianapolis, IN: Pickup trailer for relay to St. Louis
Consignee: Relay - St. Louis, MO Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Shipper: Granite City, IL
Commodity: Glass

This was first assignment with new DM, Shirley. There were 3 load changes this day, as Shirley was trying to arrange a relay for a Driver who needed to get home for a family emergency. I immediately liked that about her, and was willing to do whatever it took to help her out. Final change put me in St. Louis, where I relayed and picked up an empty trailer. I was to take the empty trailer to Granite City for load.

______________________________
Load 5:

Deadhead: Granite City, IL Tuesday, September 12, 2006
MultiLoad: DeWitt, IA Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Shipper: Sterling, IL Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Consignee: Goldsboro, NC Friday, September 15, 2006
Commodity: Radiator

I arrived in Granite City to find this was a “NO LOAD”. Extended instructed me to go to Sterling, IL for load to Goldsboro, NC. On way to Sterling, I was told I needed a different trailer for the load, so was told to go to DeWitt, IA and swap trailers. I had to backtrack 50 miles to accomplish this. There had already been several changes through the day that left me low on fuel, with no Loves or Pilots close. A request for fuel and routing had been sent at 13:42 that was never answered.

At 10:00 PM, I called Extended to request assistance. At first they refused fuel, and instructed me to go 50 miles out of my way, with a load that was already running on a tight delivery schedule. I finally purchased 20 gallons with my own money at a Flying J. Extended sent first a PO to approve, and finally a ComData check. Both came after I had already paid for the fuel. A note here is that when I purchased fuel at an approved Pilot the next day, it was 10 cents a gallon more than what I had purchased the night before at the Flying J.

It wasn't until I received my next paycheck that I found out the repercussions of the ComData check. It was deducted from my paycheck, as an advance - on money I never received. Shirley was very helpful in getting straightened out.

Months later I received a call from the Safety Department about my logs. One of the problems was this evening, when fuel receipts showed a time stamp, but my log showed I was in Sleeper Berth. This was not accurate, as the fuel stamp was derived from the time Extended issued the PO, which was after I had already fueled and gone to sleeper berth.

From Goldsboro, I was assigned a load to pick-up in Laurinburg. I arrived late Friday afternoon, and waited only 5 hours for load. With no hours left on 14, I waited until Saturday to drive home. Arrived home Saturday at 12:30 with 63.5 hours logged.

Arrive LRBG: Friday, September 15, 2006, 5:00 PM
Leave LRBG: Friday, September 15, 2006, 10:00 PM
Hours LRBG: 5

Arrive Home: Saturday, September 16, 2006, 12:30 PM
Leave Home: Monday, September 18, 2006, 1:30 PM
Hours Home: 50.00
Days Home: 2.08

Week 4 - The Extended Experience

Week Ending 9/9/06

Loads Delivered: 2

Total Miles: 2096
* Loaded: 1179
* Empty: 917

Gross Pay: $718.80
* Mileage Pay: $628.80
* Accessorial: $90.00

Hours Logged: 62.75
* Driving: 48.75
* On-Duty: 14

$/Hour $11.45

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

All Hours: 64.5

Actual $/Hour: $11.14
___________________________
Load 1:

Deadhead: Etobicoke, ON Friday, September 01, 2006
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Monday, September 04, 2006
Consignee: Butler, PA Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Commodity: Glass

After picking up load in LRBG, I had an airline break during a rainstorm in the Virginia Mountains. I sent macro to Extended Shift at 10:30 pm. I did not hear back until 7:45 the next morning. By that time, I had taken care of myself, by disconnecting trailer, leaving on shoulder and driving tractor 30 miles to truck stop, buying airline, driving back and repairing myself. During this time, I was warned by a highway patrolman that the trailer could only be left at shoulder for an hour before they would have it towed. Since the closest truck stop was 30 miles away, I was able to convince him to give me more time to make repairs.
___________________________
Load 2:

Deadhead: Butler, PA Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Shipper: Lorain, OH Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Consignee: Sumter, SC Thursday, September 07, 2006
Commodity: Steel Bars

When I received the work assignment for this load, I sent a macro back that there would not be enough time to make on-time delivery without an earlier pickup at shipper. I never heard back, but when I sent ETA on leaving shipper Extended Shift wanted to know why I couldn't make scheduled delivery. I had to refer them back to the macro I had sent earlier advising that there were not enough hours allotted between load and scheduled delivery.

From Sumter I received instructions to DH to LRBG, where I waited 18 hours for a work assignment. I arrived home at midnight with 60.25 hours logged.

Arrive LRBG: Thursday, September 07, 2006, 9:45 PM
Leave LRBG: Friday, September 08, 2006, 4:00 PM
Hours LRBG: 18.25

Arrive Home: Friday, September 08, 2006, Midnight
Leave Home: Monday, September 11, 2006, 10:30 AM
Hours Home: 59.50
Days Home: 2.48

Week 3 - The Lie

Week Ending 9/2/06

Loads Delivered: 3

Total Miles: 2146
* Loaded: 1403
* Empty: 743

Gross Pay: $788.80
* Mileage Pay: $643.80
* Accessorial: $145.00

Hours Logged: 70.5
* Driving: 53
* On-Duty: 17.5

$/Hour $11.47

Off-Duty - Not Logged: 8.5
* @ Customer: 0.75
* In Laurinburg: 2.5 (over 10-hour sleeper)
* Waiting Assignment: 5.25

All Hours: 79

Actual $/Hour: $10.24
_____________________________
Load 1:

Deadhead: Ravencliff, WV Thursday, August 24, 2006
Shipper: Laurinburg, NC Thursday, August 24, 2006
Consignee: Indianapolis, IN Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Commodity: Glass

No problems other than previously mentioned wait in LRBG.
_____________________________
Load 2:

Deadhead: Indianapolis, IN Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Shipper: Ottawa, IL Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Consignee: Antwerp, OH Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Commodity: Glass
This was a short trip and went smoothly.
_____________________________
Load 3:

Deadhead: Antwerp, OH Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Shipper: Ottawa, IL Thursday, August 31, 2006
Consignee: Etobicoke, ON Friday, September 01, 2006
Commodity: Glass


I received the Work Assignment for this load at 21:16, with a scheduled time at shipper, (230 miles away) of 18:30 the same day. Pay miles for this load were 772, but actual (using a mapping program) were 844. I was only given 17 hours to load, drive 844 miles and deal with Canada border crossing. In addition, I had to stop at the Gary yard for repairs to coolant system. Even though the border crossing went relatively smoothly, I was still 3 hours late for delivery.

When delivery was complete, I waited 5 hours in Etobicoke before finally receiving work assignment. It was right at 5:00 EST, and I was instructed to DH to Laurinburg. I advised Dave that I only had 15.5 hours left on 70, and LRBG was a 17 hour drive. He told me to get out of Canada and take 34-reset.

This was Labor Day weekend. Home was a 15 hour drive, so I requested to DH home to take 34. Extended (Drew) told me that he had checked with Dave who would not approve. Ollie’s Gal checked into the possibility of meeting me in Wytheville - a 3 hour drive for her, and roughly 12 hours from Etobicoke, but that weekend the area was hosting an annual event, the worlds largest flea market, and hotels had been booked up for close to a year. She made calls to Little Rock, and was finally routed to Tom in Green Bay, who looked at all of the macros and information and granted permission for me to be go home for the weekend.

Later, when I confronted Dave about his refusal to allow me to go home, he denied that he had given Extended those instructions. Either Extended Shift lied, or Dave did. Either way, I now felt the need to keep documentation. That is when Ollie’s Gal added a field for Notes to the program that allows me to track macros, as well.

This incident prompted me to send an email to Steve (VP Logistics), requesting removal from Dave’s board. He forwarded to Dave C., Director of Operations for the Specialized Division, and I was removed from Dave’s board a week later.

I had 69 hours logged when I arrived home for reset.

Arrive Home: Saturday, September 02, 2006
Leave Home: Monday, September 04, 2006
Hours Home: 35.75
Days Home: 1.49