You don't want to come to Cali. I dropped my load in Pomona and ran to Ontario TA's. Both were packed at 5pm. I bounced between the two trying to get lucky and find something but never did. I drove over to Valley and tried the parking lots there same thing. I drove back to TA's and parked in the red zone out on the curb waiting for traffic to die down in hopes of drivers just trying to avoid the rush hour. 2.5 hours later, still no parking. I ended up driving back to the house 45miles away at 8pm.

I didn't get a load yesterday and was offered one to from Los Angeles to Portland for today. I told them I can't go north with water in tanks/lines and air dryer not working for the past 6months. I took the time and went to a few loadboards to see what was going on. I checked Landstars and it only had 3 loads back to AZ.
Just got a text, have a load....

 

Well no worries there as I tend to avoid Cali like the plague........LOL

 

still waiting on this darn crane to get set up......

and no load home.......GRRRRR

hey if LS is in such great financial standings, what do you think the possibilities are of them giving us a few percentage points back...you know....to help out the truckers who are surrounded with CHEAP FREIGHT?

 

I'd say the possibility is ZERO.

 

And knowing LS like I do they are more than likely looking for more ways to get a bigger cut.

 

I think I am officially on an agents :toilet: list............I booked a load from San Antonio, TX to Austin, TX and a 2nd load from Houston, TX to Wasco, OR for Friday 1/30. I was told to be at the San Antonio shipper by 7am and in Houston anytime between 12-2pm. This should have been real easy as Austin is only like 80 miles from San Antonio and Houston is about 160 miles from Austin. I show up at the San Antonio shipper at 6:45am and to make a long story short, I did not roll out of there until 11:30am :hellno:. I kept in touch with the agent on the Houston load as well as the Houston shipper. The Houston shipper said that as long as I was there by 5pm all was good as the crane was scheduled from 12-5pm.

Well it wasn't until 4pm before I was empty in Austin and all though I explained to the agent and Houston shipper what was going on, the agent was extremely pissed.......rightfully so. When she called me at 3pm she said the load was canceled and hung up on me before I could respond. I can fully understand her anger but did not care for the fact that she just hung up on me. If I would have done that to her I am sure she would have reported it to LS and I would have been in hot water. I did however, notify LS of what happened at both the shipper and consignee and the fact that this agent just got pissed at me (like it was my fault) and hung up the phone on me. I am sure nothing will happen of it. So I am guessing I am now on her "do not do bussiness with" list......oh well, crap happens right?

Anyways, as I was heading home, I get a call from another agent that seen my truck was in Austin and offered me a decent paying load going from Austin, TX to Knoxville, AR. I accepted it and stopped at the TA in New Braunfels, TX and will turn around to load in the morning. Sure would have been nice to get the call on that load BEFORE I left Austin, but again I guess that's the way it goes sometimes right?

 

DD, See your inbox. I just PM'd you. Agents suck.

Oh and that load that I was dispatched on the other day.... Yea I was told don't ask about the pay. I took 6500 pounds of Lowes plastic 12ft deck boards (137pc's) from the Distribution Center here in Beaumont to the Port of Stockton, CA. Lowes has a DC there.

it paid 98.00 with 30.00 tarp. wow..... talk about friggen cheap. but I do have a job, so far....

I then bounced to Hayward, CA. and picked up a load that weighed 44k and drove it to Yuma, AZ. This morning. That load is suppose to pay 198.00 plus 30.00 tarp.

 

Just replied to your PM's........Beaumont where? Don't tell me Texas......no offense, but I wouldn't even tarp a load for $128 much less haul it anywhere.

 

WOW.....I had an eye opening reminder of how risky and dangerous flatbedding can be.

I picked up a load of concrete forms in Austin, TX on Saturday January 31st heading to Knoxville, AR. I get to the job site and the first thing the guys asks me is if I can carry 50k. I said no way but I can take 47k give or take a few. So they load me with 10 stacks of these forms weighing in at just over 47k. I get them all strapped down and hit the road.

Everything is going smoothly until about the last 20 miles from the customer when I notice in my mirrors that the 3 straps on the front part of the load are loose and flapping in the wind. As I am slowing down, I notice in the passenger mirror that the load has shifted! :eek2: My first concern is that the load does not come off the trailer and harm the public. I ease over to the shoulder of the road and get stopped safely. When I get out to investigate, I can see that the bottom rack holding the forms has collapsed causing the weight of the top stack to not only crush down, but slide to the front and right.

There isn't much I can do on the shoulder of I-40 with all the traffic going by so I tighten up the straps and ease down the road about 4 miles where there was a truck stop. When I get there I take a closer look and decide that a few chains will hold everything together. Luckily I am only 10 miles from the consignee.

I tried calling the consignee (knowing that no one would be in the office on a Sunday but thought I had better try just in case) with no luck. I then call the LS safety departments after hours number and reported to them as to what just occurred. I then get in touch with the agent and let her know what happened.

Monday morning I ease down the road to the consignee and gratefully for me they said not to worry about any load claims as it was evident that it was not my fault and was the result of the rack failing. I noted all this along with the guys name on my BOL and called LS to let them know.

As stated at the beginning of this post, it was a very real and scary reminder of how risky this job can be. Thank goodness the load stayed on the trailer and no one got hurt.

The first couple of pics (top 2) show what the load & racks looked like in it's "good" state from the side and back. The ones below that show where the rack collapsed and how the load shifted.

 

scary stuff DD

ive had a load shift before and i know how much fun its not