This profession generally pays by miles dispatched. This is different than miles driven (of course not in a good way) although a few companies do pay by those "hub miles". When I get a load assignment I get notified of the empty and loaded miles paid. The catch is that these miles are calculated on a zip code to zip code basis. The system figures the miles from the outside edge of the shippers zip and then calculates the shortest possible route (not always the route you have to take) to the edge of the consignee zip. In reality this ends up being 85-90% of the actual miles driven. Shorter trips get heavily taxed by this system, in addition to the fact that since only miles are paid, all non driving time (getting loaded / offloaded, inspections, fueling, paperwork, load scaling, etc...) is unpaid. There are few exceptions such as multiple drops on one load and load / offload times exceeding 2 hours (personal record 8.5 hours to get unloaded) but otherwise the only way to make the money is to get out on that road and move.
Moving has been quite the elusive activity lately. In a perfect world I will have my next load destination before I deliver my current one. I have a fantastic driver manager that usually keeps me rolling, but without freight this becomes difficult. The really frustrating part is that you don't know if you're going to get your next assignment in 30 minutes, 30 hours, or 3 days. These assignments come on the all holy Qualcomm computer in the truck, which is unfortunately always in the truck. With the advancements in technology today it would really be great to be able to get my Qualcomm data sent to a PDA or Cell.
As a comparison, let's say Bob goes to the office Monday morning. He sits down at his desk and immediately gets a phone call. He is told that there is nothing for him to do so he won't be getting paid today. When work is available he will get a call at his desk. So Bob sits unpaid and unproductive at his desk all day, and even stays late in anticipation of work. Finally he gets up to go home, and wouldn't you know it, the phone rings. There is a project that will take 10 hours to complete but it can't be started until midnight. Bob best get in a power nap , at his desk of course. And if Bob wants to pay his bills he had better get used to never leaving that desk for very long.
By now I am well accustomed to the driving schedule (or lack thereof). The order of precedence (in order) are, exhaustion, delivery schedule, traffic avoidance, and personal preference. I outright refuse to drive tired, I'm not going to kill myself or anyone else so Wal-Mart can get their Hawaiian Punch on time. The most complicated part of this job is the chess game of working my sleep schedule around the delivery times while factoring in traffic, construction, weather, etc. I can say I haven't had a late pickup or delivery yet and have kept my down time to a minimum (preferably in someplace that doesn't suck [i.e. New Jersey]).
I owe it all to 5 hour energy, sub lingual B vitamins, and Harding's Wild Ginseng (from the rocky hills of the Upper Youghiogheny Gorge). On the other hand when you really need to knock yourself out without residual effect (or anything that will cause false positives on a DOT drug test) I am a big fan of homeopathic Quietude, Bachs Rescue Sleep, diffused lavender oil, and good ol' Chamomile tea.
When I last posted I was in Palm Springs on a nice cool evening. I went for a bike ride around the area the next morning. Palm Springs is populated by roving gangs of golf codgers. Not unlike a Meth addict these coots roam, putter in hand looking to score their next chip shot. There is a constant struggle by the local population to keep the golf punks in line.
There is a stark contrast between the desert and the manufactured landscape of the golf course. This was very noticeable when I took a ride up into the foothills south of town. The chunk of lush green surrounded by brown looks very unreal from above. The foothills were very... umm.. hilly and not the best place for a singlespeed. I kept the off road ride short and wandered around town more, giving a wide berth to anyone carrying a golf club.
While I had the time and freedom I decided to catch a movie. I had wanted to see the new Kevin Smith film, Zach and Miri Make A Porno. It dawned on me that 3 of the last 4 movies I have seen on the big screen were Smith's. This is partially due to the fact that I rarely see movies anymore and largely due to the fact I like his films. Previous to Zach and Miri Make a Porno (I feel the need to use the whole title since no theater will) my last movie experience was the DVD release for Clerks 2. Not bad considering I got my picture with Kevin, and one of my brother with Randall (Jeff Anderson).
Palm Springs has some great bike paths. Unfortunately they are not made for commuting. A well maintained path will dead end leaving you on a less than bike friendly road. In general I found the drivers there very impatient and aggressive. Maybe I was keeping them from their next round of golf. Several times I considered getting off the road and riding on the side but the loose sand made that virtually impossible. Even after years of commuting in Pittsburgh and getting hit by a car, it was Palm Springs that really had me concerned about another rendezvous with a fender.
I went back to my truck for a pre LA nap but was unable to sleep much. I had a midnight delivery followed by a 2 AM pickup in Carson. Carson is dangerously close to Compton, so there couldn't be any wrong turns getting to my pickup. I figure if the police avoid the place so will I. By 3 AM I was loaded and Straight Outta' Carson headed for Maryland. It was nice to be in and out of LA in the middle of the night and for once I didn't have to deal with traffic. I downed a bottle of 5 Hour Energy cause the next stop was my favorite layover stop in the country, Flagstaff AZ.
I got to Flagstaff by 10Am and although I hadn't slept in over 24 hours I decided to get a bike ride in. I had found a great Indian / Tibetan restaurant online and had a great lunch at the Himalayan Grill. I followed with a ride around town and a visit to the Lowell Observatory.
The Lowell Observatory tour was nice, although little is done at the site anymore due to light pollution from the city. The observatory started by Percival Lowell is where Giovanni Schiaparelli discovered Pluto in 1930. You can also get a nice view of Flagstaff from the driveway. More info about the observatory at http://www.lowell.edu/
Flagstaff is quite the opposite of Palm Springs when it comes to Biking. I have learned defensive riding as I have already found that cars weigh 100 times as much as a bike and tend to hurt. I was unaccustomed to people actually giving me the right of way. On more than one street I was not ready to proceed even though a car was letting me go. Sorry folks, I'm just not used to drivers being polite. In most places people just don't realize that a bicycle IS a legal vehicle (except on highways or where posted) and entitled to the rights of the road. Just a most cyclists don't understand that those rights come with the obligations of following all traffic laws. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU4nKKq02BU
I stopped by the New Frontiers market on my way back to the truck. This is a great natural foods store less than a mile from the Little America Truckstop. They have good produce and prepared foods, and I picked up some of their Southwest pumpkin soup I later decided I should have bought more of that fantastic soup. I took a much needed shower at the Little America, and got some even more needed sleep.
The Flagstaff Little America is by far the current leader in the best shower contest. Normally I'm just hoping for a clean, or at least clean looking place with hot and cold water. This place has a spacious room of white marble with a shower and a tub. I'll probably never use the tub, but it's a nice option. There is more than enough room to set down your stuff and they provide 2 towels. Kudos to LA for the nice amenities.
It was an uneventful trip with long days behind the wheel to get back east. I did get to spend a night with a Hooker (Hooker Oklahoma that is). There are 13 towns in the country called Hooker, the best being Hooker Hole LA, but the one in OK is the only one that can say it's underneath a liberal (Liberal KS).
I did get to stop home and have a mini FOO outing. Somehow whenever we go out to a restaurant together the service is lacking. We don't necessarily have a large or difficult group, maybe it's just bad luck, but right now we're 0 for 3. After some other visiting I headed off to MD.
The next week was mostly wandering around in the east with a stop in Chicago (you know bad roads, blah blah blah) and the bustling metropolis of Topeka. I also got to drive on the first black ice of the season in Detroit, unfortunately I was empty and it was windy. I hadn't planned on being in the area, but I was able to go home for Thanksgiving.
The following week was quite bad for freight. I went to Detroit again and got stuck for 2 days, then fought crappy weather over to Bethlehem Pa with a load for the soon to be bankrupt Circuit City. A quick stop in the beautiful garden state got me a load to South Carolina... where I got stuck for another 3 days. I had a nice scenic ride through the Smoky Mountains (hauling 22 tons of dirt, yes dirt) and ended up getting stuck in Indianapolis for another 2 days.
I had no trailer in Indy for the weekend and decided to get my holiday shopping done. The tractor by itself still takes up 4 parking spaces and mall security wasn't too keen on me parking in their lot. This despite the fact I was at the very end of the lot and there wasn't a car within 200 yards of me. I found alternative parking and nearly got killed trying to cross the road outside the mall on foot. Holiday traffic can suck my ass. God forbid you don't get to that sale at The Yankee Candle Company on time.
I also had my first visit to the exclusive bistro "White Castle". Put up a sign saying sweet potato fries and I'm there. I found out that one of the truths of my childhood was no longer accurate. And for all those years I believed it when the Beastie Boys told me "White Castle fries only come in one size". Oh well, it has been over 20 years since then. I must add that the woman that took my order was one of the most surly service workers I have encountered in a long time.
I worked my way west after a pickup in Ohio. I got to drive (empty again) from Ochelata OK to Denver. The snow and wind was quite bad in OK and I had a lot of small 2 lane roads to cover. If you feel that conditions warrant you to drive less than 25% of the posted speed with your 4-way lights on you really should pull off the road at the next reasonable opportunity. There were an abundance of those "rolling hazards" on the road that night and the conditions weren't really that bad. I reiterate that I'm not willing to die for this job and will drive according to conditions, but 15 mph on wet (not icy) roads, get a clue and park that thing.
There is something about my truck lately that is saying, Hey Trooper, please pull me over! Commercial drivers can be pulled over for inspection at any time, which can be a nice source of profit for the municipality. I got pulled over in OH for a level 2 (logbook, permits, registrations, and basic truck inspection) on 11/28. On 12/10 a KS trooper heading in the opposite direction crossed the median in the grass to pull me over for another level 2. Later the same day I got stopped at a weigh station in CO for a level 3 (logbook permits and registration only). All of the inspections found no violations but if there had been any problems it could have cost a couple hundred and gone on my record. The most annoying part is that if you're on a tight schedule you don't have the 45 minutes to blow. Certain companies like the one I work for are targeted for inspections as we have a high turnover rate. New drivers tend to make more of the expensive errors that the Motor Carrier Enforcement folks love.
I got to spend a day in Boulder with my friend Kate, and as an added bonus Jess (formerly Dready Jess) was in town. I hadn't seen Jess since Tahoe back in 2004 when she still had the dreadlocks. Boulder is home to a lot of the products I use (Pangea Organics, Peaceful Mountain, Crocs), as well as being a cool (albeit pricey) and friendly town. We went out for Sushi (and sushi bunnies) and wandered around the pedestrian mall for a while. I finally found a place that carries the eyeglass frames I wear that also takes my insurance (yay!). It's the little things like that that can be a real bitch to take care of when you have to park the big truck.
I headed south into New Mexico with a stop in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. I got to spend another fine night in a blizzard on my way west into Arizona. For about 100 miles I was subjected to near white out snow and wind gusts up to 45 MPH. Normally I would have pulled over for the night but I was trying to get to Flagstaff for a 34 hour reset. I wasn't too keen on sitting in the middle of nowhere in Arizona for 34 hours, not with Flagstaff that close. So we all got in line for the 25 MPH westbound parade. For some reason a car decided to park in the right lane around milepost 220 but otherwise it was a thankfully uneventful drive.
I hit the usual stops in Flagstaff by truck due to the less than ideal weather. Little America is one of the nice places that will let you drop your trailer. This allowed me to get around a bit easier and guaranteed my parking spot for the night. After my reset I headed down to Phoenix where I am currently waiting to work my way back home for the holidays. Hopefully there will be freight heading that way.
As for the year in review... Pretty good I must say.
This post's dose of church is actually a church.
There can only be one nexus point for art and culture in North America. Who could possibly deny that this hallowed place is none other than Branson Missouri. There is a wonderful little chapel not too far away near Carthage which should certainly be a pilgrimage for all the faithful.
There can only be one nexus point for art and culture in North America. Who could possibly deny that this hallowed place is none other than Branson Missouri. There is a wonderful little chapel not too far away near Carthage which should certainly be a pilgrimage for all the faithful.
At the Precious Moments Park and Chapel (inspired by the Sistine Chapel) http://www.preciousmoments.com/content.cfm/park_chapel
you can view 5000 square feet of murals depicting your favorite biblical scenes. Wait, it gets better.. all the scenes feature the vomit inducing cuteness of the precious moments figurines. Those would be the sweet little doe eyed scamps as seen below.
Admission is free, you'll need your cash for the gift shop of course. And I'm betting they have a special edition, chapel only, limited time chunk of overpriced crap just for you!
Looks like I'm back to having those funky reformatting problems when I post. I have gone back 5 times now and separated everything that seems determined to compress itself together when I hit the preview button. I just don't understand what happens, I separate everything, resave the post, then watch as it automatically goes right back to the compressed chunk like before. At least this time it's legible, I'm officially done giving a shit and sick of computers for the night.
FUCK! Looks like I spoke too soon. Before I could hit the publish post button Internet Explorer decided to crash. And wouldn't you know it, after the reboot all the compression reversed itself to expansion. I reopened my draft to find huge gaps between each paprgraph. Does anyone know what the deal is? I think there is a problem when I add images. I'll usually write all my text and then upload the images. For some reason that is when the expansion crap starts. The 2 spaces between paragraphs turns into 20, and I go through, place the images where they need to be and remove the excess space. Hitting the preview button either compresses everything together or reverts back to the expansion. I'm thinking there is either a delay on updating when I compose text, or it just doesn't show everything properly in the preview. Or then again it could just be that computers are evil and hate me. If the latter is true (you know it is) they can get in line behind the holiday traffic for an appointment to suck my ass. I will now hit the post blog button and walk away with what little sanity I have left.
