Preacher
Expert Expediter
Well, I got back yesterday from my first hotshot load. Went to New Rockford, ND. It's an hour and a half west, and an hour north of Fargo. I left on Monday headed to Oklahoma City from Tulsa to pick up what was supposed to be a 5000lb load consisting of a 22ft long meat packing machine and two heavy vacuum pumps w/motors. When I got there they added 3 more pallets and 4560 more pounds! Needless to say, I was ticked-off! I told them we only agreed to 5000lbs and 3 items. I got them to add $200 to the price, making the load $1.70 per mile. When I scaled at the CAT scale I was 25960lbs! That is only 40lbs under my weight classification!
Along the way to Fargo I was scheduled to meet my boss at the Oklahoma/Kansas border. I stopped there to get some fuel and discovered that I lost my debit card, probably back at the CAT scale in OKC. I had to call my wife at 7:30pm and have her cancel the card at the bank which, thank God, closes at 8:00pm. I paid cash for my fuel and followed my boss into Kansas where he was nice enough to go to an ATM and get some cash for me out of his bank. We deposited it back into his account the next day.
While traveling north through the Dakotas I encountered a 40mph head wind coming out of the north which caused me to use alot of fuel. I got into Fargo on Tuesday evening around 9:30pm and the temp dropped to 12 degrees below zero! The next day I went to deliver the load and had to stand outside in 5 degree weather for 3 hours while they unloaded the equipment. (Thank God for insulated coveralls!)
I stayed in Fargo till Friday morning and then drove south on I-29 through a small blizzard in South Dakota and with head winds coming out of the south, this time at around 40-45mph! As I got into Missouri just north of St. Joseph the snow started coming down really hard. It stayed that way all the way into KC. The Highways were covered and I saw ALOT of accidents including a Fedex double that had the rear trailer peeled open like a sardine can. I got into KC around midnight on Friday.
My boss said that my first load was a trial by fire! He also said that if I could make it through that load, I could make it through any load.... I believe him!
Missed you all! Below is some pics of my truck and trailer with its first load.
Along the way to Fargo I was scheduled to meet my boss at the Oklahoma/Kansas border. I stopped there to get some fuel and discovered that I lost my debit card, probably back at the CAT scale in OKC. I had to call my wife at 7:30pm and have her cancel the card at the bank which, thank God, closes at 8:00pm. I paid cash for my fuel and followed my boss into Kansas where he was nice enough to go to an ATM and get some cash for me out of his bank. We deposited it back into his account the next day.
While traveling north through the Dakotas I encountered a 40mph head wind coming out of the north which caused me to use alot of fuel. I got into Fargo on Tuesday evening around 9:30pm and the temp dropped to 12 degrees below zero! The next day I went to deliver the load and had to stand outside in 5 degree weather for 3 hours while they unloaded the equipment. (Thank God for insulated coveralls!)
I stayed in Fargo till Friday morning and then drove south on I-29 through a small blizzard in South Dakota and with head winds coming out of the south, this time at around 40-45mph! As I got into Missouri just north of St. Joseph the snow started coming down really hard. It stayed that way all the way into KC. The Highways were covered and I saw ALOT of accidents including a Fedex double that had the rear trailer peeled open like a sardine can. I got into KC around midnight on Friday.
My boss said that my first load was a trial by fire! He also said that if I could make it through that load, I could make it through any load.... I believe him!
Missed you all! Below is some pics of my truck and trailer with its first load.
