Search results

In this case, the dispatcher did not tell me the broker screwed up. She told me there was a problem with the paperwork that could not be resolved until the broker returned to work the next morning. She did not tell us to turn around and drive about an hour to return to the shipper to get...

When we go to a campground with our truck it is to rest and get ready to run again. We'll use the showers, do laundry, use the dump station, refill the water tanks, read, write and get lots of sleep. Depending on the spot and schedule, we might also cook out or take a hike. Friendly chats...

That option makes sense to us. As to the ashes, scattering them in a meaningful place is one idea. Another is having them made into a diamond (see this). Don't know if we'd actually go for it but it is something to think about. More info

Well, Lawrence, it's been over 48 hours and you got only one reply. Maybe you should check the Pappa John's lot to see if they left the show early and broke into the hooch.

The threat of such a suspension would get a carrier's attention to be sure, but I have no way of knowing if our carrier is anywhere close to reaching the threshold that would trigger such an action.

It is a molded plastic chair without arms in the harshly lit waiting room of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office; one of several prison-like chairs that do not have legs but are mounted on frames that are fixed to the floor to keep people from moving or throwing the chairs around. I...

Can you tell us what kind of truck you are talking about and who the manufacturer of your air dryer may be? A quick Google search of "truck air dryer" yields a lot of information about the various kinds of air dryers and how they work.

Cool pics! That scale was probably common in its day but special now because it is unique. Interesting to see how such an object evokes warm feelings where a modern day digital scale is nothing special at all.

It must vary more than you realize depending on the carriers and shippers and freight. It is not unheard of for us to sit 2, 3, even 6 hours at a shipper waiting to pick up. In those cases, the loads are either very complex in themselves or part of a larger, coordinated project. The thought...

You don't have to be an owner-operator to write a book about trucking any more than you need to lose your virginity to write a book about sex. All that is required to write a good book on any topic is the ability to gather good information and present it in a reader-valued way. You don't need to...

With our carrier, D-time is not specifically addressed in the lease agreement that contractors sign. The policy is stated by dispatchers and contractor coordinators when we ask, but it is inconsistent. Sometimes we get paid D-time and sometimes we do not. For example, we got paid for a delay a...

In another thread, the question came up about what the different carriers pay for detention time and under what circumstances. That being a topic in itself, I started a new thread for it here. For expedier wannabees and newbies reading this, detention time (D-time) is not the bad thing you...

I can't speak for our carrier about why they don't pay. That is an inside policy decision that I am not privy to. I can say that our contract does not specifically address detention time. When a circumstance develops where a truck is delayed and a driver might reasonably expect D-time pay, we...

pjjjjj, the word that weaves your responses together is "should." No one will disagree with you that things "should" be a certain way. The problem is that they are not. In fact, there are brokers that do close up shop overnight. In fact, there are shippers that go home for dinner and don't...

Is there really only one way how it really works? The problems we run into are different from time to time. Some of our loads are simple freight. One literally drew a crowd of officers at the customs office because the paperwork was so unique (not improper, unique). Sometimes additional...

The steps, checks and double checks you list are the kind that are in the driver's control. We do the same things. The problems we have encountered at the border are not due to driver paperwork errors. Our paperwork is perfect. The problems sourced from other people. And that's the problem...

It depends on the load. They go bad in various ways. We seldom know what is really going on behind the scenes. There are steps drivers take on international loads and double checks we can make to do everything in our power to make sure things go right. Nevetheless, that is sometimes not enough...

That is not an option for us. Exercising that one would likely free us from hanging around as a contractor with our carrier.

Perhaps, but that does not mean that is the way it has to be. It seems to me far too easy for a broker to blow it. While we sit and rot at the border the broker seems to bear no consequence at all (though I must admit I know little of what goes on behind the scenes). I am not pleased with the...

I thought that might have something to do with it. Knowing very little about automotive freight, I presume it frequently crosses the border, has no out of the ordinary security or regulatory issues attached, and is handled regularly by the same brokers. Some of the stuff we get into is more...