Profile For Dave (formerly known as KnowItAll)

Watch the wind in Kansas. 30 to 40 mph gust!

Thanks for the heads up Raptor. I can't updated yet. Im in Nebraska today and it isn't looking much better. We got approval to run south out of here into Kansas and then across the 40 to california. Adds 120 miles but may save a day of shutdown waiting.

Hope that wind dies down tonight cause I need to that way tomorrow.

Mouse, Im.in Laramie Petro right now!! The wind gusts are 63mph...my truck is governed at 62. if the wind goes faster than my truck....im parking

Sounds like New York and New Jersey are going todo the same thing. Thankfully I'm over on the west side of the Rockies heading for Tulsa.

Was in Cali on I-5 just south of Sacramento doing about 58 an had some goober sail past me doing 70+. Needless to say, state trooper had him on the shoulder a few miles down the road. I chuckled as a motored by.

Spent my D-Seat (Permit driving period) in a manual and took my test in a 10 speed manual. Spent the next 30k miles in an 10 speed auto shift. Now I'm back in a 10 speed manual shift wishing I was in an auto shift...

Be mindful of the self imposed pressure to get miles and make money. With Jim Palmer I've never been pressured to roll in bad weather. If anything, I've been encouraged to shut down if I don't feel safe. Company policy is if you need to put chains on it's time to park. Chains are to be used to get out of a spot like an icy dock.

Also, kudos to Prime for sending out fleet messages to the advanced fleet about weather and road closures!

Icy conditions? Not even once! Never ever use the jake break on ice! Slow and smooth is the key to running on ice. Super smooth shifts and the same goes for breaking.

Was a wreck on the wb lanes of I80 this morning near Lovelock NV. One truck in the center laying on it's side and one one left with the side of it's trailer ripped open.

Be careful out there!

WOOT! Awesome! Congratulations!!!

100% correct call! You are the "Pilot in Command." You are the best to judge your abilities. If you don't feel safe, park and stay put. In the past few months I've shut down early on many occasions. Every time I've messaged dispatch about bad conditions I get a message back telling saying 10-4 thanks, be safe and stay warm.

That stinks! My pete went into the shop in Springfield for a broken clutch break last Friday. Let's just say that's not all that was wrong. Blower motor, the flapper that mixes the hot and outside air, some actuators and a exhaust manifold leak plus a few others that I don't recall. Didn't get it back until Wednesday morning. Also got NEW WIPER BLADES!!! YAY! At least I was able to get out of there before the storm hit that area.

Map data on my Rand McNally takes a while to update also. Something I've learned to do the hard way is to scout out locations with Google maps. Make sure you do a macro 19 then double check the GPS and Google maps to make sure you have a safe route. Also, some locations are so new there aren't valid addresses in the GPS. You may need to use the nearest good address. Case in point, the address for prime1 isn't a valid address on my Rand McNally. Had to use the intersection of E Kearney Rd and N Packer Rd.

Hope that helps.

I did the factory reset. Then it said there were no detailed maps on the device and it needed it. So I am sitting here running an update on it, but it is slow as molasses.

I'm basing my opinion on limited experience. One SAM's Club and 15 or so DCs. All have been a positive experience.

"If" Wilson Logistics where to offer me the opportunity to work on a dedicated Walmart account I'd jump on it. Walmart stores and DCs are easy to deal with compaired to grocery distributors and cold storage facilities.

Have you ever delivered to a Walmart store? Multiple Walmart stores...? For consecutive days...?

I’d go with “different” but definitely not “easy”. It’s a different set of challenges, that unless you’ve experienced it first-hand for more than a few days, you won’t realize the reality of running Walmart Dedicated.

That said...I would not trade Walmart Dedicated for anything. It suits me...love it.

I do have a question for Rainy, I think you said you haul refers? Anyway, this last one we picked up is the loudest we've had and it runs and then shuts down then in a little while starts up again. Is this normal?

Woot! A question I can answer! Every reefer has a quirk. Some are quiet, start easily and run smooth as other are super loud, start rough and vibrate like an earthquake.

The frequency of starts and stops along with its running duration have several variables involved. Ambient temperature is one. Temperature setting and the variance is the other. An example, if the temp is set at -10 with a variance of 10 and the ambient temp is -5 the reefer will run very little. Change the variance to 3 and the ambient to 60 or higher it'll run a lot and frequently.

Hope that helps.

"If" Wilson Logistics where to offer me the opportunity to work on a dedicated Walmart account I'd jump on it. Walmart stores and DCs are easy to deal with compaired to grocery distributors and cold storage facilities.

Not sure about the Garmin GPS but with most you can do a factory reset. You may need to resetup some things like routing preferences. The IT guy I used to be would ask, "did you try turning it off and back on? "

Holy smokes! Congratulations Turtle!

Glad to hear your student keep his cool!

Started my day in Butte and did a whopping 220 miles before I90 turned into a sheet of ice around Laurel MT. After seeing that a fellow driver had decided to park in the meridian at some weird angle next to an over pass I decided it was time to park.

From what the traffic cameras showing Billings to Buffalo is snow pack and ice.

Well, I passed up an opportunity to chain up to get across Snoqualmai. Passing the TA @ exit 34 on I-90 I thought to myself, really should just stop and check conditions. I didn't listen to that little inner voice. Get a little closer and the electronic billboard says traction tires advised. Get even a little closer and they change it to chains required. I stop in the chain up area and check the WSDOT app and cameras. Look at the pass info a second time then bring up Google maps. Disaster averted, there is an exit (47) that I can do a two point u-turn and head back to the TA.

Get there and luck out, there's parking! Send a message to the night FM telling him what's up then go get me some Popeye's.

Note: This in NOT directed at any one person!

The one thing that baffles me about L/O & O/O folks is that they're always quoting their gross numbers. You never here anyone say, "grossed $9000 last week but only took home $850." You don't here them talk about the 30 day, 90 day, 1 year or any other average operating cost per mile for a given time period.

Crack open the books and let's have a look. What's the truck payment? Is there a reserve built up to cover the payment if you have a bad week, month or 6 months? What's the balance of your maintenance fund? Have enough to cover something major like replacing a turbo? How much are you budgeting for maintenance? What's insurance costing? What are your fuel mileage numbers? 30/60/90/1 year averages? How about consumables? Oil, antifreeze and windshield washer fluid?

Don't give me the fluffy numbers! $9000 gross or $0.55/mile sounds all good but it doesn't give a clear picture.

/rant