I need a hat, a chain for my wallet & a can of snuff.

hmmm wonder if they pay detention pay.
They do. In our company is called demerge. I get paid for waiting but my company gets paid a large sum for this truck being off the road waiting to unload.

I don't mind staying here until Saturday if need be. I just want to get to a place to shower and have a decent meal. I slept good last night so I'm good for today, whatever it ends up being.
 
How does it happen that they have you deliver a tanker that the customer can't receive for 3 days?
I've got to wonder that myself. I left on the scheduled day of delivery at 3am with the load scheduled to be delivered between noon and 4pm. You'd think someone on the receiving end would look at their scheduled deliveries and say...., 'You know what Bob? We've got 6000 gallons of UKiILLZIT-666 scheduled for delivery in two days. We aren't going to be ready for that load until next Saturday. How bout we call and postpone that order until then?'

Oh well watcha gonna do?

I think today's Law and Order Day in ion so I'm good.
 
Truck stuff...

So, I've got this ongoing issue with this truck..... Water in the fuel. This truck sat awhile between the guy that drove it before me and me getting in the seat. Not sure if all of that idle time had something to do with it or what. Anyhow there's a drain on the fuel filter where I can drain that water off and all's good again. Today will be about the 5th time I've had to do this.

For you truckers out there. Is this a common thing or will I eventually get it all out of there?
 
I've never had a problem with water in the fuel. I have heard of guys getting a bad load of fuel but it isn't common. Most of those have had clogged filters from knocking algae loose running bio fuel.
 
I've never had a problem with water in the fuel. I have heard of guys getting a bad load of fuel but it isn't common. Most of those have had clogged filters from knocking algae loose running bio fuel.
This. See it alot in RV's especially.

I have seen people get a bad diesel tank that was contaminated with water though.

Assume you have a water/fuel separator and that's what you're draining?
 
So..... They ended up sending me to NJ with that full tanker. Someone else will deliver it. I picked up an empty and I'm heading back home. Currently on the back end of my 30 minute break, watching my clock, waiting to drive. 214 miles to go.
 
I don't know your setup, but I always liked to message or call night dispatch and ask them about detention when I got hung up..just so none of them happened to conveniently forget and drop the ball between shifts.
 
That's probably it. It looks like a filter.
On our duramax, the separator is part of the fuel filter housing. If the float switch is activated, it turns a dash light on and allows the water to drain out from under the fuel into a catch can. Remember diesel is an oil, oil floats over water. So the water sinks to the bottom of the housing.
 
I don't know your setup, but I always liked to message or call night dispatch and ask them about detention when I got hung up..just so none of them happened to conveniently forget and drop the ball between shifts.
No worries there. One shift, one dispatcher for me to report to. A redundant paper trail along with me signing off on my work week cover my a$$.
 
On our duramax, the separator is part of the fuel filter housing. If the float switch is activated, it turns a dash light on and allows the water to drain out from under the fuel into a catch can. Remember diesel is an oil, oil floats over water. So the water sinks to the bottom of the housing.
What you describe mirrors what I am talking about. If I think of it, I'll take a pic sometime during a pre-trip.
 
Today's list includes a preload of antifreeze. Some lucky driver gets to haul it to Georgia. I've only hauled this once before but I know it kicks like a jackass on steroids. I've only got to haul it 45 miles or so but half of that on twisty/hilly two lane. There will be a lot of pissed off drivers behind me on that stretch.

If I get back in time I've got a load of waste water to take to the treatment facility.. Today's all hourly as it's all local. Hopefully I can get in this 2nd run today. If so, I will have traveled 2000+ miles 4 days system driving and 1 day hourly. That will be a good money week. My wife will be happy which makes me happy.
 
Some truck stuff while I wait to be loaded....

Still working on getting my television mounted properly. I had to get an adapter kit to convert the bolt pattern to a different style mount. I initially mounted the plate 90 degrees off of the correct position. I also stripped one of the four screws. I'm going to have to drill that screw out to mount the plate properly.

I just installed an old Bose Radio. I bought it for my dad, who has since passed, about a dozen or so years ago when they were popular. They are very compact and sound great. It was manufactured pre Bluetooth so I currently have it wired to my phone. I'm going to get a Bluetooth adapter and do it there right way soon. I gotta tell you, it sounds freaking awesome. I love music of all kinds. This setup is going to work well.
 
Some truck stuff while I wait to be loaded....

Still working on getting my television mounted properly. I had to get an adapter kit to convert the bolt pattern to a different style mount. I initially mounted the plate 90 degrees off of the correct position. I also stripped one of the four screws. I'm going to have to drill that screw out to mount the plate properly.

I just installed an old Bose Radio. I bought it for my dad, who has since passed, about a dozen or so years ago when they were popular. They are very compact and sound great. It was manufactured pre Bluetooth so I currently have it wired to my phone. I'm going to get a Bluetooth adapter and do it there right way soon. I gotta tell you, it sounds freaking awesome. I love music of all kinds. This setup is going to work well.

VESA mounts are standard on 75x75, 100x100, 200x200, and 400x400 mm bolt patterns. Most of the small TV/computer monitor mounts are dual 75/100 plates and big TV ones are dual 200/400 plates.

75x75: M4 x 10mm
100x100: M4 x 10mm
200x200: M6 x 10mm
400x400: M8 x 15mm
 
Sitting here doing my pre-trip planning this morning..... Google maps satellite view is a great tool. Sure, many of the views are dated but normally they're spot on. Parking is so limited these days. Being able to see exits, truck stops, parking lot configurations is a huge plus for me. I'm not nearly as experienced at parking these things in these tight spaces as most of the truckers out there. My comfort level will rise with time but right now that's the only part of my new job that I dislike. Looking for a place to stay overnight can be stressful if unprepared. A few minutes on Google maps can cut down on that stress at the end of the day.
 
Sitting here doing my pre-trip planning this morning..... Google maps satellite view is a great tool. Sure, many of the views are dated but normally they're spot on. Parking is so limited these days. Being able to see exits, truck stops, parking lot configurations is a huge plus for me. I'm not nearly as experienced at parking these things in these tight spaces as most of the truckers out there. My comfort level will rise with time but right now that's the only part of my new job that I dislike. Looking for a place to stay overnight can be stressful if unprepared. A few minutes on Google maps can cut down on that stress at the end of the day.
I use it when planning our vacation trips also. I find out a great deal more about the routes we want to take, the parks that we want stay at and the places that we want to visit. I'm using it now planning next years adventure.
 
Settled for the night here in Cincinnati. My delivery isn't until Wednesday in Wisconsin. Heading out in the morning to a truck stop at my delivery exit. Will be a lot of sting around tomorrow.
 
Made it to today's destination. 18 hours until I deliver and I'm about 7 miles away. Waaaay too much time. If only the load would have been available first thing yesterday, this would only need be a two day haul/delivery.
 
Had to post a couple pics of this rig that just pulled into this truck stop.

And to think that I worry about hitting something when I back up.....

That things huge!

76f71587767b058963a399b475825b41.jpg
327e5a7ebe35d4d291b2b08c44e29a00.jpg
 
Made it to today's destination. 18 hours until I deliver and I'm about 7 miles away. Waaaay too much time. If only the load would have been available first thing yesterday, this would only need be a two day haul/delivery.
I don't know how your deal works, I would have the phone number on my load assignment. I would call the consignee to see if they could take it early if I had the time on my clock to do it. Doesn't hurt to check anyway to see if they have parking in house or on the street nearby. Some places are firm on times, some will take me just about any time I could get it there.
 
I don't know how your deal works, I would have the phone number on my load assignment. I would call the consignee to see if they could take it early if I had the time on my clock to do it. Doesn't hurt to check anyway to see if they have parking in house or on the street nearby. Some places are firm on times, some will take me just about any time I could get it there.
I have to go off of the schedule provided as their usage of the chemicals we provide are very consistent.

Some of our clients allow for overnight parking. This one doesn't. Not a big deal though. I'm only a few miles from my delivery point.
 
So..... It's been a long afternoon/evening/morning sitting here waiting to go unload. I'll be leaving here in about an hour to finally get a new day started. Having never been to this clients location, I don't know how this is to be offloaded. Them or me? Air or pump? Their air or onboard air? I really hope they do all the work this morning while I sit in the truck. It's going to be a hot one out there today.
 
So..... It's been a long afternoon/evening/morning sitting here waiting to go unload. I'll be leaving here in about an hour to finally get a new day started. Having never been to this clients location, I don't know how this is to be offloaded. Them or me? Air or pump? Their air or onboard air? I really hope they do all the work this morning while I sit in the truck. It's going to be a hot one out there today.
Hurry up and wait. Just like the Marines and cargo Ships.
 
So..... I got there a few minutes early and they took me a few minutes early. They're doing all the work so I'm sitting outside in the shade. It's still freaking hot though.

Right after I arrived, I got the message to head back to our Chicago terminal with the empty. I don't know what I'll be assigned once I get there. I'd love to see something in the 4 digit mile range. Maybe out west?
 
So..... The unloading went smoothly. Quickly as well.

I was then dispatched to the Chicago area to drop off the empty. Then the next assignment popped up. A run to a local Quala Wash to pick up a clean tanker. Staying in the South Chicago area tonight in a fenced in facility. Up early tomorrow to load locally and then on to Cincinnati where I'll offload on Friday. Tomorrow afternoon is going to be another long layover in Cincinnati waiting for Friday to come.
 
Lesson learned this morning.....

Apparently the Quala Wash does not replace rubber gaskets. Granted, this is something that I should have checked for but it caused delay in my loading this morning. The good thing is that I was in close proximity to the terminal.

Here's how it went down.....

I picked up my empty tanker last night so I'd be ready for this morning. While I looked inside the tanker from on top to check for dryness, I didn't check to see if the seal was intact. My bad. I simply closed the lid and proceeded to my parking location for the evening. This morning I arrived 15 minutes early at my load point. Nobody was available until my load time. I scaled in and proceeded to the rack to get loaded. Upon inspection I was told that there was no seal. I had to hurry back to our local terminal to get one quick and then back to the load point. Rescaled and pulled back to the load rack. Being loaded now. Because of the delay a guy that pulled in after I got back is having to wait for mine to get done. I can only guess that he's pissed. Oh well, it'll happen to me at some point too. I believe in karma and it's a bitch.

Lesson learned..... Seals added to the checklist.
 
Finished driving for the day. Bookends of torrential rains. A tighter group on the wheel as well. The good thing is my windshield is spotless.

Only 15 minutes away from tomorrow's scheduled delivery. It's an open window between 8-noon. I plan on being there @ 730 just in case they can take delivery a little early.

Not sure at this point what the plan is after I offload. If like to head home from there but we'll see where they send me.
 
Headed home for the weekend! It's going to be a weekend pool party for my wife and I. My wife tells me the beer is already on ice. Yeah baby! Only 197 miles to go after I'm done watching my mandatory 30 minute break clock run down to 0.
 
Headed home for the weekend! It's going to be a weekend pool party for my wife and I. My wife tells me the beer is already on ice. Yeah baby! Only 197 miles to go after I'm done watching my mandatory 30 minute break clock run down to 0.
Enjoy it bud, you earned it.
 
Headed to New Jersey today. Offload tomorrow. Reserved a parking spot at a truck stop just over the border. Last stop before my destination. $13 for the night. Will be reimbursed by my company. Someday, I'm guessing they'll make all of the truck stop spots only available for a fee.
 
Back
Top Bottom