Life before and after the fire
Another day another surprise. JIT has been revolutionizing logistics, manufacturing, retail and the planet in general for awhile now. The basic idea is that each level in the supply chain gets just as much as it needs at the right time to do the task at hand. So if you sell 42 widgets in your [...]
I had hoped to be writing these posts using a regular keyboard attached to a real computer, a Mac Mini that is. I built a stand to hold the small flat panel TV/DVD player we have and tested all the bits and pieces at home and things were OK. The screen is a little small [...]
We did not spend the last 10 days in Salt Lake City but we were there five. The rest of that saga involved “new” trucks. First we were given a Volvo 780 which is a spacious truck that actually has a table that converts to a bed like in an RV. Above that is a [...]
We were feeling good when we finally got rolling from Marysville and we made the T-call (relay) in Gary. Although when we went to New Boston, MI to fuel the fuel pumps were only putting fuel out at one gallon every five seconds. We had to put nearly 200 gallons in and it was freezing [...]
The load from Marysville was a go. The only problem is we only had to take it as far as Gary, IN as the consignee is closed on the weekends. It us nice that they didn’t tie us up for the weekend. We got yet another preplan. This one to take 40,000 lbs of empty [...]
We got to the location in Detroit and were told the empty had been taken an hour before we got there. We then sat there for several hours. We lost the trip to Cheyenne but we got a new preplan. Obviously we still needed an empty. That caused another flurry of messages. Finally we were [...]
Here we sit in Monroe, MI at a Home Depot transit facility where we were supposed to pick up an empty trailer. This is a little game all the companies play. Since we lost our trailer because of the truck problems we need s new one before we go to the next shipper. Last night [...]
Here we sit at exit 71 of the Ohio turnpike in a truckstop waiting for someone to pick up the trailer so we can go to Freightliner of Toledo to get the tractor looked at. It is cold as hell and has been very windy. Some vehicles were even banned from the turnpike for awhile [...]
After we finished with Coors we indicated we needed a 12 hour break to catch up on sleep. I pointed out that because of the crappy suspension in this truck neither of us could sleep while it was rolling. We got told to take it to the terminal in Richmond, VA to get it looked [...]
The people at Coors were wonderful but the process stinks. As in all businesses there are a wide range of competencies. The larger companies generally being better than the smaller ones. A Hobby Lobby, Target or Walmart distribution center is pretty much a machine. Target not only told us exactly what slot to put the [...]
I am 53 years old, married, with three grown kids. Two of them have families of their own and one still lives at home. That in fact works out well because it allowed the truck driving part of this new adventure to happen as he was be able to take care of the pets while we were gone. I have five beautiful grandchildren four of which live close by and the other is half way across the world in Guam.
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December 31, 2009
SmokeTX
