Saturday, September 8, 2007

Starting with Sam Kholi Enterprises

We took our drive tests with Jim, and passed!

Our first load was assigned to us by Jim, on Monday 9/3/07, Labor Day.
Actually, Sam Kholi Enterprises has recently contracted with Schneider National to do some of their "over flow" jobs. So this load is for Schneider.

We are taking a load of general department store stuff from City of Industry, CA (COI) to Casa Grande, AZ (south of Phoenix) to a brand new Target store, ...... and what is nice... we have a lot of time to get there (unlike when we worked for JIT).
We have to pick up the load by 8am on Tuesday, 9/4/07 in COI, and deliver it in Casa Grande at 9am on Thursday 9/6/07. No Problem!

Sam (Kholi) is buying several "new" trucks (2006 Kenworths - nice) and several new trailers (that will be stenciled with "Jesus Christ is Lord -- Not a Swear Word"), but they haven't arrived from Texas yet.... so we will be taking the "training" truck (that we took on the drive test) and an unmarked trailer. It's still OK.... A 2000 Freightliner is still better than anything we drove at TLC. And the A/C works. Yeah!!!

We got a ComData card for fueling, took the truck and trailer home to load all of our stuff into it, then headed up to COI the night before. We stayed at the TA (Travel Centers of America) in Ontario, CA (about 16 miles from where we need to be for the pickup). This was very good for logistics, but we didn't sleep very well.

So we get up on Tuesday, 9/4/7, and get to the pick up point early.... 7:30am for an 8am appointment time.

We get all loaded, and head back to the TA to get some sleep.

We also get Idle-Aire. See yellow tube going into the truck?

Side Note:
Idle-Aire is very cost effective. With Idle-Aire you get...
A/C, 110v outlets (x 4),
TV channels free - if you have a TV, or they will loan you a TV,
Pay-Per-View channels (optional extra),
ethernet connection to the Internet, and several other things.

Idle-Aire costs about $2/hour.
To idle the truck uses about 2 gallons per hour, and fuel costs about $3/gallon.
You do the Math.

Also... Jim said that Sam Kholi Enterprises (SKE) will reimburse us for the Idle-Aire. Yeah!

We sleep all day Tuesday, 9/4/07.

We get up and leave Ontario, CA at Midnight Wednesday, 9/5. Leroy is driving.
We arrive in Casa Grande, AZ on Wednesday, 9/5/07 at 9am, and try to get permission to deliver a day early, but they say No. They only have crews available on assigned days and times to unload the trucks.

So... we find a truck stop about 5 miles away and wait all day. We get showers, do laundry, rest, etc....

On our paperwork is says to be to the delivery point the night before, and we found out that there will be 4 other trucks needing to be unloaded beside us. So.. we decide to go to the construction site (the new Target) and sleep there. We arrive there about 8pm. We are hoping for a "first come-first served" unloading order....
By 7am, it is RAINING due to high humidity and heat. We get soaked checking in.

At 8am, the Target crew arrive and show us on our paperwork there are numbers as to who will be unloaded first... we are number 4.
They have two docks and start unloading the first two trucks right away.

Oh... I forgot to mention... on the way to this delivery we are assigned another load by the Schneider dispatcher, Wendy.
Pick up in Phoenix (about 45 mins away) at 11:30am on Thursday, 9/6/07.
Now there is a time pressure to get unloaded on time.

God Bless 'Em... they unloaded us pretty quick. We were all done by 10:00am.
Now we head up to Phoenix..... Laurie is driving now. :)

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good start to some wonderful stories, wish you all the best!! Also I just wanted to comment on the fuel consumption stated as 2gal/hr...in reality it's more like 1gal/hr, possibly less with today's more efficient engines...this really being here nor there, especially if the carrier is picking up the tab, eh? ;-) But one good way to reduce costs/help save fuel, so more power to ya! Stay safe and God Bless! :-)

Anonymous said...

We are both born again Christians(my husband and I). Tonight was the first time we saw the Sam Kholi trucks with the "Jesus is Lord" I have to say "What a wonderful blessing it was to both of us to see such an open display!!!!!! We were both so overjoyed to see it!!!!!!

Unknown said...

As someone who thinks religion is a personal issue and that people need to keep religion to themselves and stop shoving it down everybody elses throats, I have a problem with trucks being sprayed with religious messages that have nothing to do with what the truck is doing. I don't need to see that crap when I'm driving down the road. Just because you believe in something doesn't mean you should subject everybody on the highway to your beliefs. Keep that crap to yourself thank you very much and save it for when your in private or in your place of worship. But I know as a truck driver your just trying to make ends meat and have to put up with that nonsense so good luck to you.

Anonymous said...

i drove for sam kholi and people think that the driver put "jesus"etc on the trailer. it is a little overkill, but i didn't mind. have fun. the bonecrusher.

Anonymous said...

We were traveling to Las Vegas when
we spotted one of your trucks. Printed on it was something like this: "Jesus Christ is Lord, not a swear word". Kudos to you and your business. We gave a thumbs up to the driver as we passed; he honked and waived. How refreshing!!

Anonymous said...

I am a Christian truck driver and not ashamed of it. I would like to know how to contact this company and apply for employment.

Anonymous said...

Amen! Amen! Was all I could think and say when I say one of Sam's trucks for the first time. It was parked at a WalMart and I drove up and looked around it. I wished I had the guts to stand up for Jesus this way. I'm encouraged. It doesn't matter if there are scorners who abhor our Great King, He is coming soon, and those who mock and want nothing to do with Him, will be like those in the time of Noah and the great flood, going about their business until the waters started to rise.
God bless you and Sam!

Anonymous said...

Amen!