Scott Zane
4/5
Not a bad experience, overall, but it could have been better. My load info said nothing about a cash only lumper fee, so I came here unprepared for that when i could have otherwise gotten the needed cash while still at the last truck stop before coming here. Lumper fee came out to $85.
Why was it not so bad? The receiver told me I could drop my trailer on their dock when they were ready for me, then bobtail over to the store to get the required cash. My dispatch told me not to drop the trailer though. So, I went down the street to Sam's Club and parked there, walked over to the Valero station and got cash from their ATM, then stopped at Whataburger for breakfast on my way back to my truck. I was only back in my truck a few minutes before the receiver called and said they were ready for me to dock in. Back to the customer I go.
My receiver was "Bespoke" on my load assignment and BOL, but the building itself says "CR Express Forwarding" on it. I came here expecting to have to blindside into some docks on the south end of the building, but it turns out you actually dock in sight side on the north end of the building,, where you see Freight Lane on the map. It's just a wide open dock that you can hit anywhere you desire. They transferred my load straight to the Mexican driver's trailer. The dock was easy to hit. Personally, I parked facing south at the northwest corner of their lot so I could setup without blocking any traffic there might be on Modern Ln. From there, I just did a backward 180 that wasn't even difficult to hit the dock.
Unloading time was only as long as it took for them to forklift the dock plate in place, transfer all of my load to the Mexican driver's trailer, then remove the plate - which was probably no more than 15 minutes. Shortly after, they came up to my door, gave me my signed bills and lumper receipt and I was quickly on my way.
I'm sure some will eventually give this place bad reviews because of possible wait times, but that really wouldn't be this customer's fault so much as it would be the fault of a Mexican driver who probably isn't there when they're supposed to be - which is beyond the customer's control. So, just be forewarned that you'll eventually see bad reviews like that which won't be warranted.
Streetside parking is available. A couple of trucks were also backed up to the east end of Freight Ln and facing west toward Modern Ln when I got there. Caution though: When I originally got there, I was facing south on Modern Ln, just south of Freight Ln. When I left to go to Sam's Club, I wanted to turn left onto Markley Ln to get me back to Santa Maria Ave. I was iffy on even attempting to go that way though, because I could tell from the intersection that the RR crossing down the street looked questionable as to whether my landing gear would clear it. I went ahead and gave it a try though - slowly. My landing gear barely made it. If your tandems aren't all the way forward and your landing gear doesn't go as far up as possible...you WILL get stuck. In my case, my sandshoes just barely scraped the ground going over, which was bad enough. Once I got to Santa Maria Ave, I noticed a "No Trucks" sign at the corner, suggesting that trucks are not allowed on Markley Ln (for good reason). So, if you are in a similar situation when parked there, you're better off turning right onto Markley and circling around, or backing yourself onto the east end of Freight Ln, then going back up to Calton Rd.
All things considered, I'll have no complaints about coming back if the time from arrival to departure is similar to what it was for me today.
