Ok,I have done this before and have documented a round trip but its been a while so as this trip to Waterloo Iowa is pretty standard its time to do it again.
"OW" defines Other Work. This is stuff that is done for free but has to be entered on the logbook.
Monday 17th Nov
Received notice that load was ready for collection at 10.15am so ran to the yard, picked up an empty trailer and pretripped it (OW), put it through the wash which took 45mins (OW)then ran to High River. Dropped the trailer, collected and checked the documents for the load then picked up the new trailer, pretripped and scaled it (all OW).
Ran to Lethbridge and collected the Ace (electronic manifest) then ran to the border. Joined the queue waiting to get into the states, cleared my paperwork and set off for meat inspection.Total time for the above was 1.5hrs (OW)
Cleared meat inspection and ran to Havre Montana where I called it a day.
Started the day at 10.15am and worked until 9pm. During the day I took 15 mins off, drove for 550km. "Other work" accounted for over 3hrs of the day.
Tuesday 18th Nov.
Started the day at 0730 and spent 15mins pretripping the truck (OW) then left Havre. Drove 6hrs straight to Beach North Dakota where I fuelled the truck and trailer (OW) and had a break of 2.5hrs. Drove a further 2.75hrs and ended the day at Bismark.
Worked from 0730 until 1930, drove 810kms and other work accounted for 30mins of the day.
Presently parked at Fargo North Dakota having some lunch. Have 453 miles to go to reach Waterloo Iowa so in theory I will be there tonight.
Bye for now...
5 comments:
HI Phil
I will start by saying, I dont normally agree with what you write on your blog. Anyone who follows you advise could never support a family the way you drive and the soft miles you cover. That said I spent my 1st few months on the road with no home base and it did my head in. So hats off to all you drivers that live in your trucks year round. Im on my 3rd and LAST truck with H&R, I have done my bit for PEOPLE PRIDE PERFORMANCE. Any job we do is always 1st about the money and H&R time and again dont come through on their side of the partnership. Between speedlimter, layovers, Bonus and withholding wages for missing paperwork they use every trick in the book. I for one will answer this insult to our hard work, skill and experience with my feet. However those drivers how choose to stay or need to stay (PNP)etc, grit your teeth, Chin up and dont let the bastards drag you down. There is light at the end of the tunnel and its not Big and Red!!
Hi Snow, good to hear from you and to read your supportive comments.
I have to disagree with the soft miles comments though. I cover on average 3000miles a week which not only gets me my safety bonus but also puts around $1000 in my pocket.
Good luck for the future and if we dont speak before, have a great Xmas !!
Cheers,phil
H&R seem to be getting a bit of a reputation. They seem to be causing a lot of bad feeling with their drivers. Is this because of the credit crunch and they are trying to save money, or is it just a sign of the times?
I spoke to a driver yesterday who works for a smallish firm based in Dover. They do fridge work, UK and European. He told me he has been there for 17 years. He said his boss is fantastic. No one gets weekended, "I have a family, and I expect my drivers to spend weekends with theirs" I was told is the bosses attitude. Apparently he is drowning in work and is just about to get 9 brand new Scania Topline R500 V8's and 9 Volvo FH16 660's. This drivers Scania Topline was a 55 plate and he said his boss is getting rid of it as it's "too old".
One driver lives in Belgium and another in Germany. He lets you take the rigs home. Christmas box is a weeks pay and loads of other stuff, Christmas party you are put up in a hotel and all food and drink is free.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Is this too good to be true? Who knows? Money isn't great (about £480 take home, not sure if this includes night out money)
Point is, working for a boss who looks after his blokes is worth a LOT. It also makes you work harder and go the extra mile.
Hi Andy. I have worked for good bosses, granted the companies were no where near the scale of H&R but then again does size really matter (chuckle).If you are very happy in your work then that is a priceless asset to an employer.
I do enjoy working at H&R but at the minute it seems as if the drivers are taking a hammering. Maybe if they installed a system in the office where there productivity was scrutinised it would be a different story.
Keeping my chin up ...Phil
Hello Phil,
Hopefully this is just a 'blip' that H&R are going through and things will improve for you soon.
Andy, any chance of letting me know (via Phil, discreetly would be good) who the company in Dover are? I have vague idea but would appreciate confirmation.
Thanks guys,
M.
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