*need help* out of fuel!!!
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purgoose10
Veteran Expediter
Let me know how it works out for you.
From the Good Sam Platinum Member Benefit Brochure:
(Member Benefits Brochures)
Vehicles NOT COVERED by the Good Sam Platinum+
pro gram include but are not limited to :
• Stolen, vandalized, or impounded vehicles.
• Animal trailers and vehicles used to transport show
animals (horse trailers, sled dogs trailers, etc.).
• Vehicles located outside the United States, Canada,
Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and Mexico.
• Vehicles in a repair facility, off-road area*, sand beach
area, or any unattended, unlicensed, or abandoned
vehicles.
• Commercial/business vehicles and trailers (including but
not limited to limousines), vehicles specifically designed for commercial
or business purposes. Any vehicle used in any way or
at any time for business purposes.
• Non-commercial/business vehicles which are not
exclusively designed for non-commercial or business purposes.
Dave, our 2 headed partner is a member of American Towing Alliance. I guess that would be AA with a "T" stuck between the two "A"s.
No bargains there.
You may not realize what they go through on a daily basis, but I'm sure cargo van drivers feel fortunate EO is here, regardless of the"jibber".
They probably find EO a harmless way of passing time during those long days and nights of waiting for that next .70/mile load.
I'd be happy to encapsulate it for you, Coupe de.
Essentially, the bulk of the posters seem to want any expediter to drop everything and rush to the aid of their competitor(s) when prompted by cries for help after the cryer has done something foolish resulting in sitting by the side of the road while loaded.
Of course, I'm sure most of these "humanitarians" are vanners and need a great deal of help - living at the bottom of the expediting food chain, as it is, and needing all the help they can get.
That pretty well sums it up.
So here's some useful jibber: pick up a copy of "The Next Exit" [$15 at truckstop or bookstore], it's well worth it. A list of everything [food, motels, fuel, & 'other' [stores, mostly] at every exit on every interstate in the lower 48. Includes rest areas [by mile marker] and weigh stations, with RV [also truck] friendly places in red for quick reference.
Mine is tattered, but I hate replacing it, cause I add notes in the margins [like a great laundromat], and I use it every day, cause I can't ever remember anything, lol.
You've obviously never been a "newbie" and have obviously never made a stupid mistake that cost you. Congratulations!!!!
Now, get ready, it's gonna happen. Karma can be a bear robbed of her cubs when she's crossed.
FWIW: In all probability, nobody was in a position to help the OP at the time. Her plea for help was a shot in the dark, just in case anybody was nearby and could/would help. The odds of that happening in that location were between slim and none but it had to be tried. The best the rest of us can do now is give the kind of information that will keep that from happening again.
I'm not even sure-- until I look things up-- if enough gas can be carried in portable containers to do any good in that location. Some parts of the country become terrible "fuel deserts" at night, I can easily imagine having to travel a hundred miles to find the next station that's open when it's 2:00 in the morning. You're not getting there on a couple of gallons of emergency gas in any vehicle that can do this job. I'm going to second Cheri's advice for just that reason. Get "The Next Exit" and use it for trip planning. Fill up before you think you need to, in some areas getting down to half a tank can get scary at night so don't be afraid to fill up "early".
One gallon would have done it. Bismark, AR is about 10 miles off I-30 at the Caddo Valley exit (78), where there are at least 4 gas stations that are 24/7.
In that case, I'd be inclined to go two gallons. Personally, I don't like pushing things that close. Even though my van gets about 14 mpg average, I've seen it get less than that so one gallon might be cutting it a bit too fine. More than two is asking for trouble the other way--- read that post about the guy that ran out of fuel twice in four hours, that only happens by not thinking. I wonder if the fuel gauge on that truck worked, given the dipstick story we heard earlier concerning another truck in that fleet. For the reason that the fuel gauge might not be reliable I pay attention to the odometer too. When it gets near 300 miles since the last fill-up, it's time for gas. 250 miles if I'm in or near a fuel desert.
It's disheartening to see some in our industry are so close to financial failure that they are dependent on the misfortune of others for their own survival. I see where death has taken two E.O. members and expediters off the Big Board this past week. This should improve the odds of Wolvurine getting a load today or tomorrow.
"No man is an island, entire of himself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."
John Donne
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emlm
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Well some have made fun of 'good samaritan' advice and some have made fun of 'simple advice' and some I'm just not certain but it boils down to a win all the same. If you start looking for your next fuel stop after 3 hours and make your next fuel stop by 4 hours you're never going to have an out of fuel problem. You're also going to potentially have slightly better health with less danger of clotting. It's also easier on the fuel pump if the tank is kept a third or more full all the time since the fuel is the coolant for the pump.
What is trolling?
Oh, I've made plenty of stupid mistakes, Fourty, especially early on and in the steepest part of the expedite learning curve. But I can't ever remember asking anyone to bail me out...I would have been too embarrassed.
Please tell me what FWIW means.
Are you serious about carrying gas in "portable containers"? This sounds like a sure recipe for disaster. What happens in the event of an accident serious enough to rupture one? Can you say "immolation"??
Pleading ignorance will not help. There are plenty of examples of the definition of internet trolling to be found through a Google search, as well as in the EO Code of Conduct itself. I'm just giving you a little headsup warning. Do with it whatever you like.
Why should that be disheartening, Mr. Moot? If my business had gone belly-up yesterday, you might have gotten a nice reefer load today. That's referred to as 'opportunity', and I suspect you wouldn't have shed a lot of tears.
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