My Day By Day Experience At Eastern Freightways Flatbed Division

Day 5

"alternate route ahead" I'm not falling for that one anymore!

--insert multiple LOLs here--

Day 5

"alternate route ahead" I'm not falling for that one anymore!

--insert multiple LOLs here--

HaHa LOL Exactly

Day 6

Had a great weekend. Finalized a majority of our final wedding details. 12 days to go. This will be my 2nd and her 1st. I'm never doing it again though I tell ya that!

Headed out close to 5:00 for Auburn, ME. I needed to get fuel so I told myself after pre-tripping to fill up. Old age, distractions or just the thoughts of the day I completely forgot. Deep into Maine I was like (hand to the forehead) I was low but not scary low yet. We have a terminal in Scarborough so I figured I'd grab it on the way back through. Got to my first stop which was Home Depot in Auburn, got checked in, unstrapped & untarped their portion of the load. They got me unloaded pretty quick. Another great guy to chat with. I think I could write a book with some of these stories I hear from receivers. Re-tarp the back of the remaining load and head to Waterville, ME. Another hour north. Same deal with them Quick and easy just not as talkative.

I notice that I am getting to the scary level on fuel now. Hmmm I park and do some calculations after I get my pre-plan. Going south to Casco, ME... Hmmm empty there, then loaded to Scarborough. I decided against chancing it and being the Idiot that calls dispatch and says he ran out of fuel. I had to take my 30 pretty soon anyway soooo. I fuel up. Make some lunch and notice that this place is a ghost town until I drive around the other side. It's a big terminal. Head up to Casco get checked in and the guy was ready with the first batch of lumber before I even started backing in. Man I love flatbed after hearing some horror stories of Dry van , Refers waiting hours.

Live load, strap and tarp. It's about 80* at this point and here I am wearing my jeans, boots and polo shirt. It was definitely warm. I start my trip plan at this point because it really depended on how long it took me. 3 hours and change left. Well the Montgomery terminal is out. Meriden terminal? Nope going to be rush hour and to much traffic, Worcester truck stop? I'd have maybe 10 minutes to spare if all went well... Home terminal and then go home for the night. Had the time but it really din't advance the load. N. Reading, MA it is. Nice easy ride down here with minimal traffic. Parked, post tripped, had dinner and now I'm finishing this up. Should be on the road by 4:00 I still have about a 5 3/4 hour ride to get to the receiver. It's starting out to be a good money week... Keep the miles coming!

Day 7

It was a nice quiet night until 3:00 when my alarm started going off. Made some coffee and finally got up. Did a pre-trip and the #### passenger directional light was out on the truck. No mechanics at 3:30 in Albany. I did find a spare in the truck that the last driver must have left. I replace it and nothing. Checked the bulb and it's not blown. Ehhh. Well I'll just stop in Montgomery on my way to PA. Well that didn't happen. Cruising down 84 and a message pops up. PSC or PCR performance issue truck will derate in 60 minutes.... Ummm what? I look it up and it had something to do with the regen. Well Meriden here I come again. Hooked the computer up and did a manual regen. The light that was out had some bad wiring. An hour later back on the road. I've got to say Meriden mechanics have been good to me.

Get into PA and it's pouring! Traffic was going really slow. Made it to my stop after figuring out that the road i thought i should go down was not the one! Way to narrow. Finally found the right way. Un-straped, un tarped and started folding tarp 1. Well all that rain decided to turn an 80lb tarp into a 300lb monster. I finally got it but ####. Cant wait till winter.. HaHa (Not)

I figured I was heading to Danville, PA for some sheetrock. Yup there it is. Danville, PA back to where this all started on Day 1. Attleboro, MA. A nice run and I've been there before and actually know the correct road to take. I only had 2 hours left and there wasn't much sense in going to far as the truck stops headed north already looked pretty full. So parked it at the Loves 80, took a shower and making some double cheeseburgers for dinner. Hoping to head out around 2:00 to MA

Day 8

Finally an uneventful day. haha. Up at 1:00. Coffee and head down the road 6 miles to get my loaded trailer. Hit the road headed to Attleboro. It was a light rain and fog and at times it was tough to see. Does anyone have any tricks for seeing better at night? I get to the receiver around 7:45 and a Western Express driver was getting unloaded so I jumped at the chance to get my straps & tarps off and roll them up after all we don't get paid to sit there in line and wait. The quicker I can unload the better.

Get unloaded and head to Newington, NH to do a drop and (fix) They tarp and strap for us but we usually have to fix it to our specs. The drive Clock is ticking faster than my 14 today which was nice. So I had some extra time to narrow down my plan for a place to park. Sturbridge, MA Pilot is the spot. Slow traffic had me playing minute for minute HOS. vs. GPS. I got here with no time to spare. Fueled and parked. Crazy line at the pumps at 15:00!

I was looking forward to another hot shower tonight so I reserved one with the app. as I was 3rd in line. By the time I got my stuff together and got down there I had to wait about 10 minutes, Not bad. Planning on heading out around 2:30 tomorrow morning to get an early delivery in NJ.

Side note: I received my settlement for my 1st solo week via E-mail. 1st week rookie and I grossed $1202. I'll take that for being a newbie. I busted my hump for that one. This week is looking better than last at this point.

Day 9

Up at 2:00 coffee and pre-trip. Headed for Jersey around 2:30 another nice morning with no to little traffic. Quick and easy unload then on to Danville, PA. Fixed the tarping job and got headed as far as I could to ME. I had a little over 3 hours left on my clock so I headed for Montgomery, NY to spend my 10. On the way I started smelling grease when I applied the breaks. I pulled over and checked it out. Wheel seal blew. #### it this truck just had them all replaced.

Message in and get the go ahead to drive the last 20 miles. Get to the shop at 15:00, drop the load and come to find out only 3 of the 4 were replaced previously. Really? why not just do the 4th the 1st time?

The night mechanic will be working on it and he comes in at 17:00 and was told it should (should) be done by 21:00 as long as nothing else pops up. OK so what to do until then? I remembered that either Kevin (the GM) or (Ray) the head of safety had said when they visited during orientation that they will take care of the drivers and will get them a hotel every now and then. I call dispatch and mass confusion. "hmm I've never heard of that" Long story short I was looking for a place to sleep and get another 2:00 start on my way to ME.

Sleep in my truck in the shop while its getting worked on or sleep in another OOS truck with who knows what is in there. I opted for option 3. Paid $86 for my own room down the road and will most likely be walking the mile back to the terminal at 2:00 to start my day. (EFW discount would have been $56 for the night)

I'll avoid adding the several things that I'd like to. But a great week so far (545 miles today with 1 1/2 hours left on my clock) and not impressed with this particular situation.

I must say I am really enjoying reading this thread. I truly hope you keep the updates coming. Do you guys happen to load at the Nucor in Wallingford Ct? I could of swore when I was flatbed here at Prime I loaded there with a couple of drivers from your company. Really helpful people also it was coming a blizzard and we all helped each other tarp and get out of there.

I must say I am really enjoying reading this thread. I truly hope you keep the updates coming. Do you guys happen to load at the Nucor in Wallingford Ct? I could of swore when I was flatbed here at Prime I loaded there with a couple of drivers from your company. Really helpful people also it was coming a blizzard and we all helped each other tarp and get out of there.

Thank You IceCold24K. I plan to. It helps pass some time, keeps a diary of my day for my kids, future grandkids etc. Hopefully helps some other newbies get a feel for the life and struggles out there. Yes we do a fair amount of Slinkies at Nucor. I have found that most of our drivers are pretty cool and helpful. Yea I'm not looking forward to the future blizzards.. HaHa You still with Prime?

I must say I am really enjoying reading this thread. I truly hope you keep the updates coming. Do you guys happen to load at the Nucor in Wallingford Ct? I could of swore when I was flatbed here at Prime I loaded there with a couple of drivers from your company. Really helpful people also it was coming a blizzard and we all helped each other tarp and get out of there.

Thank You IceCold24K. I plan to. It helps pass some time, keeps a diary of my day for my kids, future grandkids etc. Hopefully helps some other newbies get a feel for the life and struggles out there. Yes we do a fair amount of Slinkies at Nucor. I have found that most of our drivers are pretty cool and helpful. Yea I'm not looking forward to the future blizzards.. HaHa You still with Prime?

Yes sir they were very helpful to me. I did appreciate it.. I am still with Prime however I am in the tanker division now hauling food grade liquid products.

I must say I am really enjoying reading this thread. I truly hope you keep the updates coming. Do you guys happen to load at the Nucor in Wallingford Ct? I could of swore when I was flatbed here at Prime I loaded there with a couple of drivers from your company. Really helpful people also it was coming a blizzard and we all helped each other tarp and get out of there.

Thank You IceCold24K. I plan to. It helps pass some time, keeps a diary of my day for my kids, future grandkids etc. Hopefully helps some other newbies get a feel for the life and struggles out there. Yes we do a fair amount of Slinkies at Nucor. I have found that most of our drivers are pretty cool and helpful. Yea I'm not looking forward to the future blizzards.. HaHa You still with Prime?

Yes sir they were very helpful to me. I did appreciate it.. I am still with Prime however I am in the tanker division now hauling food grade liquid products.

Awesome. Hows the Tanker life treating you?