This morning I arrived back at the warehouse in Milwaukee, WI.
On route, I witnessed a great sunrise--a hazy orange ball that you could actually look at without going blind. I decided to get fuel later in the day since I figured I'd have a run to Chicago, IL and there was a fuel stop near-by and on the way there. More about that in a moment.
At the warehouse, I headed for home after learning I'd be taking a trailer to Minnesota in the afternoon for 3-stops tomorrow morning.
At home I had a good chat on the phone with Mr. R who is in charge of another dedicated account in the Milwaukee area for the company. It's a great opportunity for the right individual. After hearing more information I mentioned to Mr. R that I'm definitely interested in driving for that account. Mr. R will inform his manager of my desires and my name will go on the waiting list (currently Mr. R said that there was no one else on the waiting list!). In addition, drivers from this account have the option when things slow down a bit to drive for the other accounts in the area--accounts that I'm already familiar with (like the one I'm currently on). That's a huge incentive for the company to green light this transfer request (if it happens) in that they don't have to train me on those accounts since I already know them. The huge downside for this account is that they do not hire until February or March for the year. In any event, I like keeping my options open--especially since I really don't believe the company will be able to make up the weekly miles promised to me on my current account when I first started with the company. Stay tuned....
The Minnesota trailer was supposed to have been loaded by 11:00 AM but Mr. T (when I was leaving to go home) mentioned that the warehouse was a bit behind today in getting trailers finished on time. He said it would be after 11:00 until I would be able to pick up the trailer. Arriving back at the warehouse shortly before noon, I discovered that the trailer was loaded but the bills weren't ready. In other words, I couldn't even hook up to the trailer without first having the bills.
So, Mr. T asked me if I wanted to take a truck over to the maintenance shop and bring another one back while I waited. I agreed. On the way over there, another driver from my company flagged me down and stopped smack-dab in the middle of the street. I slowed and put my hazard lights on. He leaned out the window and asked me if I was going over to the repair shop. I said "yes." He then handed me a key to another truck and asked me to take that back to the warehouse (evidently, he wasn't going back to the warehouse, or at least the warehouse office). At the truck shop, the truck I was supposed to pick-up had a flat on the driver's side front axle (seems every time I'm here, something goofy like this happens).
I ended up taking the truck whose key I was given by the other driver. Go figure! (And that truck I drove back to the warehouse wasn't there for any repairs or maintenance, it was just parked at the shop. I'm still trying to figure that one out).
I arrived back at the warehouse just as my bills were being put together. I grabbed the trailer and off I went on my 7-hour journey towards south-central Minnesota.
Now that I was going to Minnesota (and not Chicago), I hoped I would make my first fuel stop on the way there. I did--I fueled up just before I ran out of fuel. Actually, I still had around 40-gallons in the tanks (total capacity = 200 gallons) but the fuel gauge read that I was running on fumes. Needless to say I was thankful that I didn't run out of fuel! Especially in this truck since this Mercedes Benz engine doesn't like running out of fuel--what I am told that it costs $$ to get the engine working again--it simply isn't a matter of putting more fuel in the tanks and then turning the key. I did some calculations and I'm getting around 6.61 MPG since my previous fill-up. Not bad. However, the loads I'm hauling aren't that heavy and the trailer sometimes is close-to-empty for the return trip.
Well tomorrow will start early enough. Time to get some sleep!
miles driven = 502
11:06:59 AM
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