When is it gonna stop..

[21willys]

Well crap... Just talked to Bobehead and he said I70 is closed due to the snow. So I planned on heading east on I80 till I saw this.



I just came through on 80 this morning and it was getting nasty then.

 

[Torchie]

Safe Travels.

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

Who's Bobehead? [S

.

 

[21willys]

I think he's Boneheads brother!
Gotta love auto correct!

 

[IronRat]

We set a new record here in No. Illinois for this day, I had 11" fall last night. I finished shoveling @ 11:30pm. I understand a little more today.

On the plus side, I don't have to rake leaves now.

 

[21willys]

We set a new record here in No. Illinois for this day, I had 11" fall last night. I finished shoveling @ 11:30pm. I understand a little more today.

On the plus side, I don't have to rake leaves now.

That's just awesome, I'm suppose to head to northern Iowa when I get out of Colorado. Starting to think dispatch is gonna have to find a different driver.


I70 is now open but is restricted to vehicles with either snow tires, 4x4, or vehicles with tire chains. It looks like I'll be buying some tire chains.

 

[IronRat]

Eric - 24 hrs later, we got this. Roads & Hwys clear. We do know how to deal with snow on the road here.

 

[21willys]

All except for Vail pass the roads have been clear. That hasn't stopped all the idiots from wrecking tho. I've saw over 30 vehicles in the ditch this trip, most of them on their lids.

I picked up my haul in Cresco IA this morning at the featherlite trailer factory with out any problems.

Heading to Clover VA with it.

 

[Old Iron]

Do you have a return haul or will you bobtail back?

 

[21willys]

According to my dispatch this is a back haul. This trip started out with a travel trailer to Des Moines. I then went north to Cresco IA and grabbed a different livestock trailer that went to Utah. I went from Utah to Iowa empty but since this trailer takes me past home they call it a back haul and pay me .10 less a mile. As of now I don't have a return haul from Virginia but 90% of the time I won't know until I make my drop and call dispatch.

After the holidays I will be having a conversation with dispatch about their back haul rates on the livestock trailers.

 

[21willys]

These livestock trailers pay awesome. They weigh half as much as a travel trailer and pay just a few cents less a mile. The one that I took to Utah I averaged about 16mpg.

 

[Bamamav]

There is no such thing as a back haul. It costs the same to move freight no matter which way it goes and no matter who is doing the moving. The term back haul is just a sneaky way for a company to pay a cheaper rate.

If the criteria is that if it goes by your home, then it is a back haul, almost everything I do would be considered a back haul because I go by the house every day. Sounds as though the company has an honesty problem, either dispatch or the whole company.

I've been in the industry over 30 years, so I've seen it before. Sometimes it's just one greedy individual who thinks stealing a few cents per mile from the drivers makes themselves look better to management. No matter who champions it, it's still not right.

End of rant.

Hope ya get home safe for Thanksgiving Eric! [cl

 

[21willys]

Agreed Bama! And thank you. I'm home for the night but have to go to Virginia with this trailer before thanksgiving.

And like I said, I will certainly be having a talk with them about the back haul pay. Typically we haul new rvs and they pay decent for a pick up truck load. 90% of the rv haulers go back to northern IN empty. This leads to guys being eager to take any pay to get a load back towards another rv haul. So the rv transport company's take advantage of this and call it a back haul rate instead of a standard load rate. But these new live stock trailers pay the same rate to my dispatch wether I'm heading east or west so it's not fair for dispatch to take advantage of me heading home.

 

[21willys]

Well the wind in the west is making it hard to make money again. I'm stuck in Big Timber MT for a while till the winds stops for awhile. 75mph cross wind gust when pulling a 30' parachute sucks.. Or blows.. How ever ya want to look at it.

 

[Old Iron]

Man, you just can't get a break.

 

[21willys]

Part of the game man. I'm not mad.

 

[Bamamav]

Man, you just can't get a break.

He's taking one right now.[ddd

 

[21willys]

Yep lol, the wind let up some and I snuck out of town on the two lane highways so I could run slower. The speed limit is 80 in Montana and I'm usually running barely over 60. So between the winds and getting passed constantly the two lane highways are way more pleasant and safer to drive on.

 

[soltz]

What no snow and ice [S
Drive Safe

 

[Willowbilly3]

Hey, you should have went over to Shiloh while you were in Big Timber. Makers of the best and most sought after modern Sharps rifle. I wanted one for years, settled for a Petersoli for 1/4th the price.
A lot of those stock trailers come through here, most regular transporters pull 2 at a time. Wouldn't want to be on the road with one in 75 mph gusts.