Long jobs at the Avondale terminal
Avondale is where the shipyard slips were, and the site handles cargo now, which means contractor compounds that stay put for months at a stretch. An Avondale order of that shape is a bank of units plus a handwashing stand at the trailer, billed monthly and serviced on a fixed day. We ask the Avondale site manager for one contact and one gate.
Badging is the slow part of any first week at Avondale. Once an Avondale driver is cleared he keeps that route, and nobody stands waiting at the guard shack while a shift starts without him.
Fenced compounds and Avondale gate rules
Every Avondale compound we serve has a gate list, a posted speed limit and somewhere a truck is not allowed to turn around. We walk the Avondale route once with the safety lead and after that it runs itself. Hard hats stay on across the Avondale yard the whole time. Avondale terminal work also means crane picks and rail moves, so an Avondale unit gets placed clear of the swing radius and off the track side.
River Road ground and Avondale weather
River Road at Avondale sits on the levee side with soft fill behind it, and heavy trucks have already rutted most of the Avondale shoulder. We set on shell, mats or slab rather than trusting a stretch of Avondale ground that only dried out yesterday.
Summer service goes up here. Barge loading and rail switching keep Avondale gangs outside for full shifts with almost no shade anywhere on the terminal. Heat and humidity on the Avondale waterfront mean twice weekly pumping for anything with a real headcount, and we add that before the crew has to ask.