TRUCKING-WHEW! WE MADE IT!

We made it through the first leg of the first dispatch yesterday. Mike landed in Keller, Texas with his delivery at around 8:30 pm. They were to call him for docking somewhere between 9 pm and 12 am.

He had to fill out paperwork for paying lumper fees — in basic layman’s terms, these are the people who unload the trailers. I am sure I am probably over-simplifying this explanation, but hey, I’m a super newbie. The lumpers get paid as soon as they are done unloading. ELI is a no-touch-freight company, which means that the drivers do not touch the freight at all. As far as I’m concerned, that’s a huge plus in my book!

We have learned a bunch in a very short amount of time, and there is a lot more to this trucking business than simply hooking up, driving, and delivering. A LOT more. While I have long admired the sacrifices that truckers make to do their jobs, I had no idea how very involved every single aspect of this journey would be. We are only a week into this right now. My head is spinning!

The night before, I was trying to figure out where he was on the route, what amount of time he had left on his clock for driving (they have to shut down after a certain number of hours driving), what truck stops were on his route and could be driven to before his clock ran out, which ones of those he could use his fuel card at, etc., etc. There is also the fact that just because there is a truck stop that you can get to, it doesn’t mean you can actually park there for the night. All the parking spaces could very well be taken. Some truck stops will let you reserve a parking space Some will not.

I was bouncing back and forth between the Trucker Path app, Google maps, and various truck stop apps. I needed about 4 screens to look at!

There is a lot of pre-planning, planning, and post-planning that goes into all this … in other words, logistics. Logistics and paperwork and logging. The logistics of getting this all done on time and in a safe manner are absolutely mind blowing.

I’m not sure why I am so surprised, because I started seeing how involved this industry is when Mike was in CDL school. It is mind blowing to me what these truckers have to know and remember in order to pass and actually get their CDL license. But when you think about it, their jobs carry with them a tremendous amount of responsibility, and safety has to be the number one priority.

Mike is currently hauling corn in a reefer unit. I was just doing a little research about reefer units and the temperatures they need to be at for different perishable items. I had no idea there was so much to know about the responsibilities of hauling perishables in a reefer unit, but there is a lot to know.

Here he was before leaving Bainbridge, Georgia.

And this shows the temp on the reefer trailer.

Once he landed for the night, I could relax! Mike is safely parked in the holding lot to get some rest before beginning the next leg of this dispatch.