Neverending Saga of Home Time

Shhh....it's the wife sneaking in a post again....

One of the recurring themes in our house and on our cell phones is "Home Time." There are many things to consider when planning home time.

What days do I have off?
What big events are happening?
What events would hubby enjoy being home for?

We generally schedule home time for every 4-6 weeks. If we really need him home then he'll come home earlier than that, but it's hard. He needs several days at home so that he can rest, unwind, restock and hit the road. So, 4-6 weeks out with 5-7 days home works for us.

We've had lots of "events" to work around lately... Josh's graduation, Eagle Court of Honor, Doctor's appointments... so we just had to schedule around one event at a time.

Well now, here come the holidays. Thanksgiving is so late this year that if he comes home for Thanksgiving, it will be hard to come home for Christmas. We talked it over and decided to suck it up and schedule him home for Christmas. It means he'll be out closer to 8 weeks and 8 weeks is REALLY hard. We both seem to struggle and be tired of the whole thing around 6 weeks.

I won't bore you with the details but we had this discussion about Thanksgiving and Christmas many times!! The silver lining to waiting until Christmas is that he might actually be home when I'm off work. (The year that I had a ton of time off and he got home the day before I went back to work because of a snow storm....wasn't soooo happy!)

So here was the plan... Request home time for the 24th and hope that it really happens and he's home for Christmas. If he's late, he'll still be home while I'm off. (I go back to work on the 5th).

WE DISCUSSED THIS.... and DISCUSSED this.... and I thought we had a plan....

and then.... hubby called me yesterday and said....

"I called my dispatcher and left her a message so I could find out how much the bonus is this year if we work on Christmas so I could decide whether it was worth it or not."

to which I responded

"Work on Christmas on purpose and you can come home long enough to fill out the divorce papers."

Was I too harsh?

Don't worry, he knew I was joking, but seriously.... I think the man gets bored in his truck and has nothing better to do than re-think about things over and over again just so he has something to do.

I think I made it pretty clear that I don't really care what the Christmas bonus is... It's a bigger bonus to be home. Besides, knowing his track record, he'll be a couple of days late, get the bonus and still be home for my vacation... and he'll still be married.... well maybe that's not such a bonus to him. ;-)

I'm Still Here

Four and a half months since the last post... What can I say? Writers block???
I just haven't been feelin' it lately... But, I do enjoy going back in the archives so to speak and seeing where I was, what I was doing, what I was hauling a few weeks, months or even a year or so ago. So... I thought I should start doing this ole' blog thing again.

On that note. I'm on my way from Georgia to Wisconsin hauling pool chemicals. It's a hazmat load and the wife just loves it when I'm hazmat boy. Or is it just the extra money she loves... Hmmmm.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention... I finally got to take Vermont off the list of states I've never been to. It's down to two. Maine and South Dakota. This run ends In Wisconsin rather near the I-90, which just happens to go right through the middle of South Dakota. Keep your fingers crossed for a run going west.


Until next time...

killing Time

I had a little time on my hands for once so, I thought I'd catch up the ole blog a little.

For those of you that read the previous post and wondered... Yes. I sat all weekend in New Jersey. Oh they were open but, the only contact number we had went to someone who was on vacation so, everyone assumed since the delivery instructions said to deliver Monday through Friday and no one was answering the phone, they must be closed. I hate when that happens.

I made it home for my son's birthday and graduation celebrations but, just barely. I actually made it home on my son's birthday. Good thing I requested to be home four days earlier.

But all good things must end and I'm back at the old grind again. I was on my way to Pennsylvania when my dispatcher contacted me today and told me I needed to swap with another driver.

Now if you've been reading this blog for a while you know how I loathe swaps. I always seem to be the one who gets the short straw in these exchanges. Seldom if ever does a swap benefit me.

So instead of Going to Pennsylvania I'm now heading to Florida. And the real reason for the swap reveals it's self. It's 800 miles from here and four days until it delivers. Looks like I'll be babysitting another one.

I don't know. Maybe I'll hurry down there and ride my bike around a little, Florida is nice and flat. Or we have a drop yard about 60 to 70 miles away from the receiver. Maybe they'll let me drop it off there and I could get one of those cruise ship loads that go from coast to coast, corner to corner. That would be nice!

This May Be A Looooooong Weekend

As the title implies this may be a long weekend. Hours of service restrictions and heavier than usual holiday weekend traffic caused me to not make it all the way to the receiver by the appointed time. A call to dispatch to find a swap was unsuccessful as was a call to the receiver. They had already closed for the day.

Details in the dispatch info on this run state that receiving hours for this particular receiver are Monday through Friday 6a.m. to 2p.m. only. Tomorrow being Saturday I'm not very optimistic at this point that there will be someone there over the holiday weekend.

This happened to me once before and is was a long weekend in a truck stop.

Only time will tell.

Been a while

Wow, I just looked back to see when the last time I posted was and whew. It's been a while.
Well, I could list a thousand excuses, I've been running like a mad man, I've been sick from the never ending cold, yada yada yada... Truth is I killed the Blogger bug! Yep, killed him deader than dead.

But the wife nagging me to just post something is far worse than the bite of that stupid little bug. I've never really been a writer but, if it makes people happy, who am I to deny them that. So I'll try to post a little more often. Try, but no guarantee.

I've been out since April 1st and too, too much has happened to go back and write it all now so, let's just pick it up here.

I delivered pureed strawberries and flavoring extracts to a company that makes it into yogurt for a rather large name brand who then slaps a label on and just lets you think they did all the work themselves. Rather interesting the things I learn about what goes into getting a product from farm or factory to it's eventual end user.

Having completely exhausted my 70 hours in only five days I limped over to a nearby truck stop to camp out for the next day and a half in order to get a fresh 70. Getting from receiver to truck stop was a bit tricky though.

I'm in the northeast and in the northeast they have expressways and parkways. Trucks can go on expressways but, are prohibited on parkways. So, while at the receiver I plot a route that I thought avoided any and all parkways. I was wrong.

I got on a little state route that virtually parallels the Interstate where the truck stop I want to end up at is located. The two roads eventually come together like a V several miles south of the truck stop. Only problem. I'm at the top of one leg of this V and the truck stop is at the top of the other leg. I noticed a state highway that cut across that V right through the middle thus eliminating several miles of unnecessary travel and time .

I checked the maps to see if there were any truck restrictions and couldn't find any so off I go.
I exited the highway and made a left under the overpass. So far so good. No signs saying trucks prohibited. I want to go straight so I get into the only lane that goes straight and pull up to a red light. It's then that while patiently (yeah right) waiting for the light to change I glance across the intersection and notice a sign about the size of a postage stamp. You know the one with a truck silhouette inside a red circle with a slash through it.

About the only thing I could do is really really tic off every one behind me and wait for the six million cars in the left turn lane to clear out and make a left back onto the highway I was just on, only now going in the opposite direction of the one I want to go. But no sooner than I start to roll the light changes and the opposing traffic starts coming straight at me. I don't know if you've ever driven in the northeast but, pretty much everybody has the "not in front of me" attitude I'm half way into their lane and they have to swing wide to go around me. Not one car stopped and let me finish my turn. Not one! A lot of them waved, quite a few honked and a couple wanted to know where I got my license. I'm always amazed how friendly they are up here.

Finally Their light changed and I just went. I'm sure my light was red but, I was so far into the intersection I could no longer see it. I got turned around and start heading in the right direction when I see a sign for another state highway with number rather than a name. The numbered ones are usually truck friendly so I take a chance and again exit. I turn the corner and glaring back at me is a huge sign mounted on one of those pipes that spans from one side of the road to the other "NO COMMERCIAL VEHICLES"

O.K. so I'm not the sharpest knife in the utensil drawer but, even I can take a hint. I again head north when I really, really want to be heading east but, they just won't let me. I got off at the same dreaded intersection I just had so much fun at. Ah deja vu. I turned back around and took the long way. They say the third time is a charm but, I just didn't have it in me to try again.
What should have taken 20 minutes took over an hour and the cookie crumb trail on my GPS looked like a pretzel but, I eventually made to my desired destination.

I thought the fun was over but, nay nay. It was just beginning. It's the middle of the day and usually the shower wait is brief if any. So I gather up all my shower gear and some clean clothes and head inside.

This particular truck stop chain is the last of the last to convert their showers to an automated system with a keypad entry lock rather than the "motel room" key system where you would have to wait in the hour long line at the register counter with all the people making purchases or picking up a fuel receipt to get your key.

The new system has a computer kiosk where you swipe your preferred driver card and it spits out a receipt with a "driver number" and a pin number. There is a monitor near the showers that will display your driver number next to your assigned shower and it also pages on the overhead PA system when one becomes available.

If one becomes available. Like the perfect storm, various elements all came together at the right time to keep that from happening any time soon.
1. The system was just installed and still had a few bugs
2. Half of the showers were being renovated
3. Frustrated drivers were leaving.
4. No one thought to put a time out timer on the system so that when a frustrated driver left or simply wasn't paying attention when their number was called for over an hour it would kick 'em to the curb and reassign their shower to the next person on the wait list.

When the maintenance person that cleans the showers has nothing to do and is in the lobby chit-chatting with the waiting drivers someone finally noticed that driver 121 had been up there for over an hour. a quick check of the showers revealed that all five were empty and waiting but that computer was going to keep calling driver 121 till the cows come home.

An hour and forty five minutes later I finally get to take my shower. This is why I take my showers at the end of the day. I may lose a little sleep but I'll stay on schedule. A delay like this could push an on time delivery into the next day if you arrive at your receiver after everyone has gone home.

Last but not least. I returned to my truck after my three hour shower just in time to witness a parking lot accident happen right across from me. Kinda sucks to see that happen because of a poor parking lot design but it made me think. Maybe my day wasn't so bad after all.

Stealing Pictures Again...

Ok, so hubby is still lagging on the old blogging, so I'm trying to help him out.

Here are a few random updates about life on the road....

1) He has a cold. I could share the list of reasons/possibilities he shared as to how he could have contracted said cold, but well... they were gross. Let's just say that some days he gets pretty disgusted with some of the less hygienic truckers he crosses paths with.

2) Cool thing is that he was pretty much out of hours when he dropped off his load yesterday and he was able to sleep and recuperate. That RARELY happens, so it's worth noting.

3) He encountered a grumpy person at his pick-up today that just had to complain about everything. You know what? It's not the trucker's fault that someone gives him the wrong load number or po number or whatever number he needs today. He's just the sorry sap that gets to be treated like crap by you....when you're annoyed about it.

Loving the Web Cam!!!

Hubby and son have been experimenting with the web cam we bought for Christmas and I am loving it. It is so fun to see where he is. I keep telling the reluctant blogger that his people would love to see a picture a day with a little description. He doesn't even have to tell a story.

And sooo... until he picks up the slack and starts posting more. I'll just pick a picture or two to share. (I stole them right off his webcam page....he doesn't even know I'm doing this...shhh....)

Hopefully he'll share the webcam page once he gets all the bugs work out.

~The Wife

Delivery Delays

The past few days have been a regular old swap fest. What's a swap fest you ask? Out of the past five loads I've had I didn't take one from shipper to receiver. The way it usually works. Instead I would pick up a load, get a message that another driver was running low on hours, and they needed me to rendezvous with the other driver.

Swapping or re-powering a load every once and a while is problematic enough but, five in a row makes it real hard to manage the log book.

When I receive a load it has a pickup date and time and a delivery date and time with approximate miles from shipper to receiver. I calculate how many miles I need to run each day to arrive at the receiver a few hours before the scheduled appointment time. I plan where I'm going to stop for the night, where I'll fuel, etc. etc.

When I receive a request to swap (usually from the other driver's dispatcher) I'm expected to do most if not all if the driving to the swap point (because the other driver is out of hours) and then, somehow, still make that delivery time on time. Making all that meticulous planning worthless.

The best one was they send me over 200 miles out of route to meet another driver to do yet another swap. I drove four hours longer than I intended to that day in order to get to the swap point at the predetermined time. I arrive there around midnight unable to locate the other driver. When I inquire where he is, they send a message that the swap was canceled. The other driver wasn't going to have enough hours to make delivery on time. Well now thanks to this little sideways jaunt out of my route, I won't have enough hours either.

I eventually made to the destination. Late, but I made it. I rather dislike walking in to check in at the receiver late. They don't know all the behind the scenes stuff that caused you to be late. All they know is you're late. They've heard all the excuses too so, I don't offer any. I simply apologize and wait my turn to get worked into the rotation. Fortunately this receiver was a 24 hour facility and I didn't have to wait too long... This time.

I finally got to take one all the way. It was tight getting there on time because all the swapping had my log book just about shot. Well I thought I arrived on time.

From time to time we'll receive a dispatch with an open ended appointment time. They'll put an appointment time of 08:01 which generally means one of two things: My company could not confirm an appointment time because the receiver's office staff had left for the day ( in this case the weekend ) or they operate on a first come first served basis.

I was gambling on the latter. I arrived last night, went to check in only to find out, no appointment, no unload. I notified my dispatch this morning that I needed an appointment time.
They called the receiver and set up a time . Noon tomorrow.

Kind of disappointing to have to wait that long after I hauled butt to make it there on time but, the up side is, I'll get a 34 hour restart and have plenty of hours available when I head home for home time later this week.

Oh by the way for those of you that always want to know what I'm hauling and where I'm going...
This load is Birdseye frozen vegetables from Macon, Ga to Fort Worth, Tx

World's Largest Truck Stop

I'm spending the night at the world's largest truck stop. I'm not quite sure if that is based on the number of parking spaces or just the sheer size of the place. I always make it a point to stop here whenever I come this way.

They have this huge show room with almost anything and everything you could ever want for your truck. I'm like a kid in a candy store. A broke kid in a candy store, but it's still fun to look.

I Was on a run from Ohio to Southern California and normally wouldn't have been routed this way but, another driver was running low on hours and they sent me up here to swap loads with him. My load has more time on it than necessary and he won't have to run so hard to make it on time. Whereas the load I'm getting from him is going to require a small miracle to get it there on time. I love a challenge.

The only downsides; I'll be heading back to the congested east coast and I'm giving up a sweet hazmat run that would have put me within spitting distance of home.

Will That Be Plastic Or More Plastic

I seem to have gotten stuck on running nights lately. Never fun but, has to be expected from time to time. The past three days straight I've had to run all night long to make the delivery appointment time. I'm not a big fan of running at night so I try to avoid it as much as possible. But, some times it just cannot be avoided.

A couple of months ago I hauled empty pill bottles from a plant in Ohio to a phamacutical company in Texas. Todays run...




Haul little plastic pellets used to make pill bottles from Texas to that same plant in Ohio.

The Blog Is Back!

Well, It has been a while. As you know the laptop was out of commission for a few months. I broke it two days out from home time so, seven weeks on the road before I could get home to drop it off to have the necessary repairs made, then another six or seven weeks out on the road without it. Then when I finally did get it back...

It worked out for the best having broke it so early on after I headed out from home time. It gave my genius son just enough time to research what we needed, order the new screen, have it shipped and there waiting for me by the time I got back home.

Well, almost. I have a Dell computer and for some odd reason, Dell does not sell replacement screens. They'll install a new one for you if you ship the computer to them along with an arm and a leg. A bit too pricey for my blood. So my son had done his homework and found out Dell uses Toshiba or Samsung screens which can be ordered from just about any place computers are sold.

Well he tried all the usual places like Best Buy, Fry's, Circuit City and so on and found out they all charged about the same for a replacement screen... TOO MUCH! So a little poking around on the Internet and he found one for about half what all the name brand stores were charging. He ordered the screen and called me with the good news. About two weeks and my new screen will be shipped right to my door. I scheduled home time so I would arrive a day or two after the screen.

Two weeks goes by and no screen. I'm going to be home in a little more than 24 hours and no screen. My son sent an email to the shipper asking where the little bugger was at and no reply. Another and another email and finally they reply with "We no longer carry that model. A full refund has been returned to your credit card" Well that's just dandy! would have been nice if you had told us that when we placed the order!

All is not lost. He had a list of sites that sold my screen so, having learned a valuable lesson, we sent inquiries out to a couple to make sure they had one in stock before we tried that again.

The screen was just a bit more expensive at the other site so, I couldn't really justify paying for the overnight shipping. Yep, you guessed it. another five to six weeks without a computer. I left the computer at home so it would be there when the screen arrived and my son could do the repairs. Wouldn't you know it, the new screen made it from Pennsylvania to San Diego in record time. It arrived less than 48 hours after I pulled out.

I'm happy to report the new screen works perfectly. I've actually had it for some time now but, I kinda fell off the blogging wagon so to speak, I'm going to try to give it another go.

I purchased a laptop stand for the truck so hopefully we won't be doing this again anytime soon.

Low Sulpher Blues

Hubby is in Illinois. He dropped off the Hawaiian Bread load at the Walmart distribution center and then returned a few hours later to pick up his next load. I think he said he's delivering in PA and TX.

Meanwhile he's running low on fuel and he's in the Midwest. For some reason those two things are not a good combination. The fuel stop the company sent him to didn't have ultra low sulpher fuel. Neither did a couple of other places he tried. So once again he's been on the phone trying to locate someplace to buy fuel. Apparently there's a place about 80 miles away, hopefully he'll make it before he runs out.

Broken Laptop

Hubby is not happy right now! He cracked the screen on his laptop so there will be no postings from him for a while. It will probably be a while before we can get it fixed. We don't really have any money set aside for it and at this point we have to wait until the next time he gets home....

So we're back to me spreading the news. I'll see if I can interview him and pass along the fun.

Today he delivered in Illinois. He was pretty happy that he made it right to the delivery because he couldn't use his mapping software on his laptop....grrr....

On a good note, he got a fuel bonus last week and is hoping to get his safety bonus soon. Maybe we'll be able to set some of it aside for the "laptop repair fund."

All's Well

Hubby was supposed to be home October 10th, but he was late. He was really bummed. He had planned to take our son to the Miramar Air Show, but he didn't make it home in time. If either of us had posted back then, we wouldn't have been too happy. Now we are grateful.

Hubby was home when the fires broke out and currently he's still home. While the fire is only a few miles away, the winds have died down and it looks like we are out of danger. SRT was really good about letting him stay home a couple of extra days... of course I'm not sure that he could've left on Monday, even if he wanted to. Hwy 8 was closed to high profile vehicles, Hwy 15 was closed because of the fire and the fire was working it's way towards I-5, not to mention that we are on the edge of the evacuation zone.

It can be extremely frustrating when you try to plan something and try to get your husband home on time to be there with the family, but over and over again we find hidden blessings when he gets home late. After how bad the Cedar Fire was in this area, I know he would have been a basket case if had been out on the road worrying about us. It was very comforting to have him here at home.

Hopefully things will settle down here soon and he'll be back on the road enjoying his adventures.

- The Wife

And just like that, things change... hubby just walked up to tell me he is heading out. He is picking up in Torrance and heading out to Illinois. I know he has to go, but it's still hard to say goodbye.

Headin' Home (I Hope)

Since Dallas, I've run up to Kentucky and Ohio, and am currently in Arkansas awaiting my delivery appointment tomorrow morning. I don't have a pre-plan for the next load yet, which is rare. Ususally I know when and where my next load is a day or two before I deliver the current one. But, since I have home time scheduled, it limits the available loads down to the few that just happen to be going in the same direction as the one I would like to be going in.

The fact I don't have a load plan for tomorrow yet makes me just a bit nervous. This has happened a time or two before. There just aren't any loads going the way you want to go, so you sit there for three or four days. Meanwhile, all the plans you have made to be certain places at certain times just pass by and there's nothing you can do about it. Frustrating to say the least.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I'll wake up tomorrow and find that perfect run that will head me home. I've been out seven weeks and I really don't want to make it eight. Not this time anyway.

It's Like I Never Left

I've been all over the lower half of the east coast, except Florida, and back to the terminal about three times. But, My luck finally ran out and I'm Back in Texas. Given the proximity of our terminal, it's a 50/50 shot that you'll be going into texas.

Ironically I started and ended up at the same place this past week. Last time I was in the yard, I picked up a load from Firestone Roofing Products, that went to South Carolina. Two days ago I picked up a load out of Virginia that went right back to Firestone.

I picked up from a place that turns coal into coal dust. There was a small black dog there who I'm not sure if he was already black, or if he got that way from all the coal dust in the air sticking to his fur.

I got out of my truck to make sure I was centered in the loading dock and just about fell over him so, being the softie that I am, of course I had to play with him. Not the brightest dog though. I picked up a scrap piece of wood and I could just tell he wanted me to throw it. Ok. I throw it and the dog goes and brings it back right? Not!
No he would go and get it all right but, then he would take off with it. Where he went I don't know but, after about an hour of this I couldn't find anymore wood to throw. I told him I would be happy to keep on playing our little game if he would simply go and get one of the pieces he had stashed and put it back into play.

I went and sat down to wait out the remainder of the loading process and he comes over and wants to be pet now. So, I start to pet him and ew! He's sticky! I look down at my hands and they too are now covered in this black, sticky goo. Glad I keep handy wipes on the truck.

I didn't notice this till the next day but the backside of the shorts I was wearing that night were now black too.

Since they didn't have anything planned for me after dropping of the dreaded black goo I headed to our terminal only about 40 miles away for a nice relaxing evening. Only once I got there They had other plans. Turns out another driver had run out of hours and couldn't finish his run into Dallas.

So here I am in Dallas again... It's like I never left!

Texas Again?

I know it's been a while since I had time to write. I've been on one tight run after another. I just don't have enough left in me at the end of the day to write, so I apologize to my regular readers for not updating very often.

The wife always says to just write where I'm at and where I'm going. What I'm hauling and stuff like that. But, I have a hard time not writing everything.

Well here goes everything. Since the last post I've taken a run up to Idaho. Dropped off there and immediately picked up another going to Florida. Didn't quite make it though. Ran out of hours 300 miles away from the receiver. Another driver took it the rest of the way.

So there I was in Georgia, out of hours and just about exhausted. When one of the load planners contacted me and asked how soon I could be at a shipper about 80 miles away. So much for getting some rest. As soon as the required 10 hour off duty period expired I was off (at two a.m.) to pick up the next one.

Which finds me here in Texas again. Like a moth to a flame. I seem to be drawn to Texas.

I hauled some pulverized clay material that's used to make paint to a paint factory in Temple Texas. So light and fine, a five gallon bucket of the stuff doesn't even weigh one pound. But, somehow they managed to cram 44,000 pounds of the stuff in my trailer.

The plant where they process the big chunks into this fine powder was an interesting place. everything was covered in this yellow dust. Including the workers. I wonder what the inside of their cars look like?

I delivered this morning without being pre-planned for the next load. That's the first time in a long time that has happened. So I don't know where or when I'm going next.

For the first time in weeks, I don't have another load waiting for me as soon as I'm done. That's ok with me. I could use a little time to recharge the batteries. They tend to get run down a little when you're running seven days a week for weeks at a time.

The New Daisy May

I delivered my load to Carrollton (Dallas), Tx the other day and was instructed to come to the yard to pick up a new load. Oh and while your here, go ahead and pick up your new truck. Your brand spankin' new truck. Woohoo

I loved the old Daisy May but, she was getting tired. Things were breaking or would just stop working on a pretty regular basis. It was getting to the point where I was spending more time in the shop than on the road.


In memory of a family friend who recently passed away, I decided to name the new truck Daisy May also. He kept rats as pets and named every single one Henry. When one would go off to rat heaven he would simply go out and acquire a new "Henry".

While I was transferring all my stuff from the old truck into the new truck dispatch called me and asked if I could take one of the new hires out to pick up an abandoned truck rather near one of my drops in Casa Grande, Az. I reluctantly said yes. I wasn't real sure if I wanted someone else driving my new baby or not.

I could of said no but, that would just make life difficult for dispatch. I could of said ok but, he's not driving. That would just make the trip take longer meaning I would have to have a passenger longer and I drive solo for reason. I like my space.

It turned out he had a lot of experience and knew what he was doing. We pretty much ran as a team so we weren't in each other's way a lot but, it is a pain trying to be quiet when you stop. Trying not to shut the door too hard, or take corners too hard. You can't play the radio too loud. You want the other driver to be well rested when it's his turn to drive. If he falls asleep because you kept him up all night long, he's wrecking your new truck. Not his.

We dropped off stop one of two last night and then headed over to find his truck.
The former driver wasn't exactly a clean freak or very concerned with basic maintenance. The truck wouldn't start because it had been sitting for a while and all the fuel drained out of the fuel filter and it had lost it's prime. Fortunatly I had all the proper tools to remedy this and we had it going in no time.

He headed off to the nearest truck stop with a shop to have at least three tires replaced and I'm off to deliver the other stop, SOLO. Just the way I like it. Then a quick jaunt over to Mesa, Az. to pick up a run going to Idaho.

What A Weekend

That was one long boring weekend. I had to spend the holiday weekend camped out in a truck stop because the business I was delivering to was closed for the whole three day holiday.

This all started the other day when I was dispatched out of Waterford, N.Y. The load I was sent to pick up was a hazmat load. Hazmat loads require at least two load lock bars and I had none. I lost all I had when I dropped a trailer in Orlando Fl. the week before. The trailer I picked up, of course, had none inside.

As I mentioned before I had been staying in a little Mom & Pop stop and their store was severely lacking in basic truck supplies. So, off to the nearest name brand truck stop over 40 miles away.

Well this little jaunt eventually led to my demise. The two hours I spent running in circles to pick up the load locks caused me to run out of hours before I could reach my destination just outside of Atlanta, Ga.

I called my dispatch to let them know I wasn't going to make it and to see if they could find another driver in the area who had a few more hours available than I did. After about two hours they sent a message back saying they couldn't find anyone so just get it there when I can. Little did I know that was going to be Tuesday.

Normally we get the phone numbers of both shipper and receiver in the dispatch info but, this receiver had just moved into a new building, and shipper did not have the receiver's new number when they booked the load with SRT.

I guess when the receiver ordered the product from the shipper, nobody thought to get to get their number. You know, in case there's a problem with their order or something like that.

Don't ask how I knew but, when I saw the Hollywood phone number (555-55...) in the dispatch, I just knew it was going to hurt me.

The next morning (Saturday) I drove the remaining two hours to the receiver only to find the place locked up tighter than a drum. Not one single car in the lot. Not one single light on in the building. I tried all the doors anyway. Yep. They remembered to lock every single one.

An overwhelming dread came over me. If they're not open on Saturday, they'll probably not be open on Sunday. If they're not open Saturday or Sunday, than they're probably the type of company that gives all their employees Labor Day off too.

So the Truck is really, really clean now. I finally got to deliver Tuesday morning, and off to pick up the next one.

I'll be heading to Dallas, Tx. as soon as the repair shop in this truck stop can take care of a sticky tandem pin. All trailers that have sliding axles have four locking pins that extend through two rails (one on either side) on the bottom of the trailer. If one pin is missing it puts too much stress on the other pin on that side and could cause it to sheer off leaving that side free floating. when one side is firmly locked in place and the other side is not, the free side can slide back and cause the trailer to start going side ways when you're still trying to go straight.
Never a good thing!

Don't Panic

It's been a while since I've posted here. Hubby keeps it updated a bit better now that he has consistent internet service and we've kind of settled into a routine at home....but.... I have something to share today.

Hubby and I tend to check in with each other a few times a day. I'll usually call him when I'm on my way to work and he usually calls me when I get off work. Most nights he'll call me before he goes to bed. I think the latter is just self-preservation. He's always in different time zones so I might call at 8pm here and wake him up at 11pm there. We also call each other randomly when the thought crosses our minds.

One day (ok maybe more than one day) I didn't call in the morning. I didn't call at lunch. When we finally connected hubby said I was in "trouble" because I didn't check in so he jokingly made up a new rule. I must call on my way to work. I must call at lunch and I must call when I get off work. I know it was a joke, but since I'm a smart @ss, I do it.

"Hi honey, just doing my mandatory check-in."

Well on Monday we talked around 10:30am.

At lunch I called for my "check-in." - No answer

After work I called for my "check-in" - No answer

Hmmmm... he's on a 34 hour restart, maybe he's sleeping.

After I got done working for my old boss a couple of hours later I called again - Lazy bum is still sleeping.

Next morning I called again - No answer

Ok, so now I'm worried. Not even Rick can sleep that long.

I called. And called. And called. We called from different numbers so the phone would ring differently. We left voicemails. We sent text messages. - No answer.

The phone was ringing so I knew it was getting service. Usually it will go straight to voicemail if he's out of service or if the phone is dead.

Finally I called dispatch and left a message with his dispatcher to ask him to call home.

1 hour later - no response.

I called dispatch again and left another message - no response.

Ok, so now I am beyond panicked!

What if he had a stroke or a heart-attack and he's laying in his truck. He's on a 34 hour restart so the company isn't going to be worried that he's not moving....hmmmm...

Finally I call dispatch again and this time I didn't ask for his dispatcher. I just relayed my sordid tale.

"Hi I'm Rick ____'s wife in truck number _____. I'm sorry to bother you, but I haven't been able to reach my husband. It's been almost 24 hours and he usually calls several times a day. Has he done his check call today?"

"Yes Ma'am. He checked in about an hour ago."

"Oh good, thank you for the peace of mind. Can you send him a message to call me, something must be wrong with his phone."

One minute later the phone rang and I burst into tears.

Something is wrong with his cell phone battery. Looks like a trip to the Sprint store is in our future. In the meantime, hubby better start following his own rules. My heart can't take it.

(A big thank you to SRT dispatch. They were very kind and helpful! By the way, his dispatcher wasn't ignoring me....we think she had the day off or something... Hubby was on someone else's board for the day.)

No Vermont This Time

I'm off on another run. Not to Vermont though. Instead I'll be heading south to Tennessee and then on to Georgia.

Due to the extreme distance of my last load and the relatively short time I had to get it there I used up all of my hours and had to sit it out for the last day and a half. No worries. I used the time productively. Did a little maintenance on the truck, a little cleaning and went for a lot of walks. Got to keep up with the wife you know.

There are no name brand truck stops for at least 40 miles in any direction, so I've been staying at this little Mom & Pop stop not too far from where I delivered the other day, which coincidentally is the same spot I'm picking up from tonight. I wonder if I'll be picking up some of the same product I just delivered?

The place I've been staying at the last couple of days didn't have a lot to choose from in the food and beverage categories but, what it lacked in basic amenities, it made up for in character.

I don't know when it was built, and neither does anyone who works here, but I'm guessing it was in the early 1900's. Judging by the floor to ceiling glass walls that encircle the building. It's hard to imagine it in this day and age but, there was a time when the only light you had to work by is what was coming in through the window.





........................Sunset shining through building....................

There was also a nice park right next to the truck stop I discovered on one of my many walks.


....................The Hudson River along side park.......................


.........View from pier towards park. Truckstop is to the left..........

Coast To Coast

Well I'm back at the old grind. Pulled out of SD a few days ago on my way to Waterford NY. Just north of Albany. Not a bad run to start with!

They routed me along my favorite route. I-70 through the canyons and mountains of Utah and Colorado. It's a bit hillier than I'd like but, you cant beat the views.

The wife has asked me a few times which state I like driving through the most and it's always a toss up between Utah and Colorado. It doesn't matter how many time I go through there, I'm always amazed. (sorry no pic's... Blogger refusing to upload them)

I Deliver early Monday morning and I'll be a stones throw away from Vermont. One of the four states I've yet to visit. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed they'll have a pick up in Vermont waiting for me when I'm empty.

Cruise Control

I finally made it off the east coast and am currently sitting in our Long Beach drop yard awaiting delivery early tomorrow morning.

The load I have delivers to a cruise ship on the San Pedro, Ca docks extremely early in the morning and then I'll be heading home for a couple of weeks of much needed rest.

Oh. And I can't forget the honey do's... Come to think of it... I may actually get more rest when I'm working.

See you in a couple weeks.

A Week In Review

This Past week started out well but, went a little south after that. And I don't mean south as in direction. I've had only two loads this week and not for lack of freight, but rather, a slight tear in the inside wall of the trailer caused what should have been a two day run turn into a four day run.

The first load went off without a hitch. Pick up at shipper. Deliver to receiver. No problem. The second load however. I arrive at shipper, back into assigned dock and sit for three hours. The whole time wondering what is taking so long. I felt the dock plate go into the trailer only a few minutes after I got in the dock but, no forklift.

I was going over all the possible scenarios in my head: Did I arrive at break time, are they just drastically understaffed... Unbeknownst to me, The shipper had rejected my trailer and was on the phone with my company trying to figure out what to do next. Would have been nice if somebody had let me in on this little secret.

The trailer was rejected because an earlier forklift impact had bowed the side wall of the trailer out so far it caused the kick plate to separate and bend inward toward where the freight would be.

With my trailer being just wide enough to accommodate two pallets side by side, this particular shipper was not willing to risk their product being damaged during loading or shipment.

It's Friday. 4:30 in the afternoon. The chance of finding an open trailer repair shop... Nil. But I call my company shop anyway. Their advise. Take it to a Truckstop over 90 miles away and see if they can get it patched up enough to get by for now and they'll fix it proper next time it comes by the terminal. I told them this would probably just be a huge waste of time. This was bigger than truckstop shop damage but, they tell me to go anyway.

I drive up to the truckstop, find a mechanic and tell him what my problem is. Sight unseen, they're not sure if they can fix it or not, so two of them follow me out to my trailer. I open the back and they peered in. Instantly they both start laughing. I don't know if it was at me or that the damage was just so funny looking. They said it wasn't anything they could fix and I would have to go to a specialty trailer shop to get that kind of damage repaired.

This is the part I love. The part where I get to call my shop and say told ya so. Well past 6:30 at night nothing in the way of trailer shops is still open so they tell me to find a spot for the night and we'll try this again tomorrow.

I awoke the next morning to my cellphone ringing. It was my shop saying they had found a place that could fix the trailer. This could have waited til after 7:00 couldn't it?

A short drive and I was at the shop. The mechanic immediately climbed in and went to work. But after more than two hours, he came to the conclusion that this was bigger than he thought and he wasn't able to fix this kind of damage. He just didn't have the proper tools and such.



He presented me with two options. there was a shop a short distance away that could probably do the job, or... there is this guy he knows (there's always a guy) that does really good work and he could come there and do the work in their yard. Well I'm not the decision maker here so I passed this information along to my shop, sat back and waited for them to tell me what they wanted to do.

About an hour later I hear all this banging coming from my trailer. I go back to see what all the ruckus is. Apparently my shop decided to go with the mobile mechanic. Thanks for never calling me back. What is this keep the driver in the dark week?

Mobile Mechanic (background) and helper

Well apparently "this guy" had all the right tools. In no time they had the wall straightened, the gap closed, all the rough edges ground down and they even sealed the joint with a nice layer of caulk.

In fact they did such a nice job that if you didn't know where to look, you wouldn't be able to tell there ever was any damage.

The next day I drove the 90 miles back to the same shipper and this this time, thankfuly, passed inspection.

Mobile mechanic's truck backed up to mine for easy access to their tools

Planes, Trains and Automobiles... err Trucks

Mechanical woes almost caused me to be late today. I received this load the other day but, because i used up all my available hours on the two previous runs I had to sit on it for a day and a half before I could move. No problem. My company contacted the shipper and receiver and a new appointment was set. One that I could easily make.

That is until I went to start my truck yesterday and nothing happened. Don't know why but, this is the third time in the past two months that this has happened. The mechanics can't figure it out either. Must be one of those intermittent problems that comes and goes and just never seems to happen when they're poking around with all their electrical testers and such.

It took five hours to get the problem resolved. And now what was an easy run just turned into a pain in the backside run.

I made it but, just barely. I had use the split sleeper berth option to make it on time but, I made it. My 96% on time rate is safe.

I headed off to the nearest mom and pop truck stop about two miles away to complete the rest of the required sleeper berth time and 15 minutes after I served out the remaining time, I received another run. No rest for the weary...

Out Of Hours & Daisy May Gets A Bruise

Wow! It's been a while since I had a Chance to write. I was home for a few days and ever since I came back out I've been running 13 - 14 hours a day. It's all I can do to get out of the hot seat and fall into the bunk at the end of the day. Not that I'm complaining. I rather like when they keep me moving like that. Makes for a good payday. But too many of those days in a row gets to be a bit much at times. I'm not the spring chicken I used to be.

I ran from California to Georgia in only three and a half days, then up to Indiana, over to Illinois and finally back to Indiana. Which is where I'll be for a couple of days. I've already used up all my available hours and have to sit until they reset on Friday morning.

Kinda boring to have to sit around all day but, I'll finally get that much needed rest that has been eluding me for the past few days.






The other day Daisy May got backed into and she is not at all happy about it. Just some minor damage but, she's still upset. We were sitting in a rest area just a few miles into Arizona when pickup truck towing a U-haul trailer tried and failed at backing up.

I was just getting out of the driver's seat to head into the back for the night when the force of the impact knocked me off ballance, and back into the seat I went. I heard a loud crunching noise and thought to myself, well that can't be good.

The other driver pulled up so I could climb out and inspect the damage. We did the obliglatory exchange of insurance info and all that fun stuff, then, all the fun being over, I finally got to go to bed.

I've been running so hard this past week I haven't had time to get the step replaced. So I'll just have to be careful climbing in and out until I can.

New York, New York?

Hubby should be on his way to the receiver this morning. I just popped in to say New York? Hubby is preplanned on a trip to New York. There's no way that San Diego is on his way to the big apple and the big apple is DEFINATELY not on his way to San Diego.

Any other day and I'd say "cha ching," that's a great run....

Today, I'd like to hear that he has a little hop, skip and a jump down to say...Long Beach or Otay Mesa. I'm not picky. It just needs to head south.

Stay tuned... I'm sure there's an explanation....

Edited to add:
He's on his way to Long Beach!

Down In Flames

Up two hours before the sun this morning. Not a bad drive into the receiver. I was practically the only thing on the road for a while. I got more and more company as I got closer to Sacramento, but never really hit any traffic which was my main concern when I went to bed last night.

Unloading was a little brutal. Had to unload myself and it was hot! Usually we never touch the product. My company is of the belief that paying lumpers is less costly than paying worker's comp claims. Plus the loss of a driver for an undetermined amount of time. Unfortunately lumpers were unavailable at this stop.

In 13 months of driving, this is only the second time I've had to unload my trailer and the first time was by choice. Rather than wait nine hours til the lumpers started for the day, I unloaded my own trailer and got out of there in two.

After a real good work out I headed over to stop two. It doesn't deliver til tomorrow, but you never know Sometimes they'll take you a day early.

I could of stayed up in Sacramento and easily covered the distance to San Jose in the morning, but I want to go home, and if there's a twinkle of a chance they'll unload me today, I had to at least try.

I checked in at receiving only to be told what I already knew. It doesn't deliver until tomorrow. But... the person who has the appointment for today isn't here yet.
OK. I'm listening. They said they would wait two hours and if he wasn't here by then, they would take me instead.

Wouldn't you know it... 15 minutes before I get to back into the dock and start the unloading process, guess who shows up. Grrr.

I was already putting my seatbelt on when the guy from receiving came out to give me the bad news. Sorry, but you'll have to come back tomorrow. Shot down in flames...

Well at least it won't be too hard to find tomorrow. But it does now rule out the possibility of gettin home tomorrow. Maybe Saturday.

Homeward Bound

I rolled into California this morning. I could smell home. Not really smell home, but the sage brush and ocotillo plants. That familiar smell of southern California. Different parts of the country have their own smells. For instance, the northwest has a piney, ceder smell, the east smells like industry and Texas has a sulphur smell from all the oil wells and refineries.

It's funny. Arizona has the same basic plant and shrub make up as California. Especially western Arizona, but I didn't smell the sage brush until I crossed that state line. I guess the temperature reached that magic degree where the plants start to sweat out their oils at just the same time I crossed over the Colorado river.

I drop the first half of this two drop load tomorrow in Sacramento. Then San Jose on Friday. Maybe then the wife can stop singing to me everytime I call. Or at least change the words to "Do you know the way to San Diego?"

Hopefully my dispatcher has found something heading south from there so I can go home after stop two. Nothing more frustrating than being so close, but out of range to just deadhead home.

Well it's off to bed for me. I have to get up at o-dark-thirty to complete the remaining miles and deliver on time tomorrow. Goodnight.

Do you know the way to San Jose?

All hubby had to do was tell me that one of his drops is near San Jose and I can't keep that song out of my head. Do you know the way to San Jose?....(I'm sure there are more words, but since the song is probably almost as old as I am, those are the only words I know.) Of course since it's stuck in my head, I feel compelled to sing it to him everytime he calls home. I'm surprised he's still calls me.

I rarely log on to the SRT website to see where he is. I usually just ask him when he calls. But when he's on his way home, I check it quite frequently. Usually it goes something like this...

Texas
Texas
Texas (dang is he ever going to leave Texas?)
New Mexico, Arizona, California - boom, boom, boom.
Of course once he hits California then it's
California
California
California...

He might be in the Golden State, but he's still far from home.

Speaking of home... Hubby doesn't really complain TOO much about little delays on the road. For the most part he knows that it's just the way the industry works. There's a lot of hurry up and wait. But he has little to no patience when he's on his way home! I think it just drives him crazy to be so close to home and then have to deal with California traffic, delays at receivers and the waiting for the magic beep that means he can head home.

Knowing that, I'm kind of feeling guilty. I goofed. I forgot Josh was leaving for camp on Monday when hubby and I were going over the calendar and scheduling home time. Best case scenario, hubby will be home on Saturday. That doesn't give them much time together. And I don't even want to think about worst case scenario! I'm not thinking they would particularly enjoy waving at each other as one heads south on I-5 and the other one heads north.

Weather Woes

I didn't get very far today before the weather shut me down. A large thunderstorm was brewing over New Mexico and I was getting blown all over the road. Rather than tempt fate I decided to throw in the towel.

I pulled into a truckstop in Albuquerque only to find every other truck on the road had exactly the same idea. As I drove up and down the rows slowly working my way back and forth I was beginning to lose hope of finding a space. When there on the very back row, the very last last space, I found my spot. It was a bugger to get into, but I made look like I knew what I was doing.

Part of the reason for the severe lack of parking at this particular truckstop is they're installing IdleAire and several spaces are blocked off to accommodate the construction crews and all their equipment.

IdleAire is a unit that mounts in the passenger window of the truck much like an air conditioner mounts in a window of a house, and eliminates the need for drivers to idle their trucks to keep cool or warm. It also has Internet access, satellite t.v. and radio among other features.

I like to use it when I can find it, but with only slightly over 100 truckstops having it installed and running, it's pretty few and far between locations. And right now it exists mostly in the southern and eastern states. So if you're up north or out west you're pretty much out of luck.

More and more locations are popping up all the time, but it's a slow process. Most truckstop owners are reluctant to install it because of the loss of business during construction, the loss of about 10% of their parking spaces and the general overall lack of trust that this isn't just a passing technology that will be outdated before it ever gets off the ground. With more and more trucking companies installing APU's (Auxiliary Power Unit) on their fleets, the need for Idleaire just wont be there in a few years.

Well No sooner than I pull over and start typing the weather breaks. I'm staying put though. It will be dark soon and if I thought I had a hard time finding a parking space the first time, it's even worse when that sun goes down. Besides parking in the dark is a pain. Trucks or rather the trailers dont have back up lights on them and truckstop lighting isn't always the greatest.

Here's some links if you want to know more about APU's or IdleAire

Everything Is Bigger In Texas & #19

I pulled out of the terminal on Monday night thinking I wouldn't have to go through Texas any time soon. I was heading east to South Carolina anticipating where I would go from there. Up to the northeast? Down to Florida? I dropped off my load of roofing rubber, the kind they use for flat top commercial buildings, on Wednesday and already had a load going back to Little Rock, Arkansas on my Qual Comm before I finished unloading. This made me worried. I was going back into the Bermuda Triangle again.

I wasn't too worried though. They fixed everything didn't they? Still I had that nagging doubt. Would I get sucked in again and be stuck for three or four more days?

I drove up to Greer, SC to pick up my load and started making my way toward Little Rock.

I have an awesome dispatcher who is always looking two or three moves ahead, and while I was still two days out from my destination, she sent me a load going from Arkansas to Tennessee. The opposite direction of the Bermuda triangle.

I've been playing catch up all week. Since my truck was in the shop so long, it put me about 10 hours behind on all my pick ups and deliveries this week. Try as I may, I just wasn't able to gain any ground. There are so many variables you have no control over; weather, traffic, accidents, shippers and receivers not being ready when you arrive. I had them all and them some.

Unfortunately I wasn't going to be able to take this one. The pick up time was scheduled for two hours before the delivery time of the run I was currently on. Normally this wouldn't be a problem. Having a two day advance warning I would just speed things up a little and see if the receiver would take their load early. Usually they do. Most places I deliver don't care of you're too early, as long as your not late.

I sent my dispatcher a note to inform her that I was still playing catch up and wouldn't be able to make the pick up until the morning after the scheduled appointment time. If the shipper was ok with that, I would gladly accept the run.

She contacted the shipper and they were not at all ok with that. Moving the pick up time back inadvertently moves the delivery time back as well, and the promises they made to the receiver to have the product there by a certain time are broken.
So another driver was put on the run and there I am again sailing straight into the Triangle of Uncertainty with nothing waiting for me when I get there.

Driving like some crazed maniac, I arrived at my receiver for my 9:00 am appointment at 4:30 in the afternoon (I told you I was running behind) and just about out of hours. I really didn't want to run out of hours before getting there, so I skipped the usual breaks and drove straight through. Darn good thing I did too. They close at 4:30! Since I was there, they decided to unload me even though it was quittin' time. You could tell they wanted to go home though. They attacked my trailer with three forklifts and unloaded me in under five minutes. This has to be some kind of new record.

By the time we counted the load and had all the paperwork taken care of, it was past five and, you guessed it - the load planners have left the building. No load planners, no load and almost no hope until Monday. Unless you have something preplanned, which I did, then I didn't, getting booked on a load over the weekend is rare.

I limped over to the nearest truck stop and was pleasantly surprised to find a boat load of parking still available. I sent a message to night dispatch to let them know when I would be getting back some hours just to see if they knew I was out here. Sometimes when you complete a run right at the shift change between day and night dispatch, you fall through the cracks and can sit there until Monday, so I always like to make sure they know I'm out here, without a load, wishing I had one.

Their reply; Sorry. Nothing on the board for now. Check back after 8:00 in the morning. In other words... after they get off. So it was starting to look like a long weekend sitting in a truckstop.

The next morning came and went, and no load. As before I sent a little reminder that I'm out here. The squeaky wheel gets the grease you know. Beep! Oh look a load! That was supposed to pick up yesterday. Hmmm. I wonder why night dispatch couldn't find this last night. Oh well at least I'm not going to sit here all weekend long.

So I'm off. Off to California that is. Just in time for my scheduled home time too. Well almost. I deliver the same day I'm scheduled to be home but, I'll be over 600 miles away so, doesn't look like I'll actually make it home that day.

Well it's time to put Texas and some miles behind me today. As they say, everything is bigger in Texas, including the roads.

Oh and bird number 19 committed suicide today. Guess he couldn't read!

Terminal Time

I don't know where to begin. It's been a long and boring weekend. I awoke Friday morning to the familiar beep of the QualComm summoning my attention. It's kinda like Christmas. You hope it's something you wanted; something thoughtful, something you didn't even know you needed until you open that package. And not a tie or underwear. So what was waiting for me inside that little message box? a nice long hazmat run? Something to one of the four states I've yet to visit? Nope! Underwear...

The message said to take my empty reefer to one of our drop yards on the other side of Dallas and then head to the terminal. No explanation, just head to the terminal. Now they say curiosity killed the cat, but I had to hear this one. I fire off the (they had to be expecting this one) return message consisting of only one word, three little letters. WHY?

I could almost hear the gears grinding from 200 miles away, as if I through a wrench in the machine, it stutters, sputters and grinds to a halt.

Over an hour later they finally manage to get it going again and send a response. Your truck needs to have a pm (preventative maintenance) done. What!?!
I just had a pm done in May. What, did they forget something?

I never really enjoy going to the terminal for maintenance, especially on weekends. They only have two mechanics on duty and the wait can get pretty long. And this weekend was exceptionally long.

SRT acquired a new service manager and apparently he found quite a large maintenance backlog the former service manager was not attending to. Just like a jet aircraft, commercial trucks have to undergo routine inspections every so many thousand miles. Lucky me. My truck had just passed that magic mileage marker.

So to make this backlog go away, the new service manager put out an executive order. Any truck within 500 miles of the terminal, without a load, is to be brought in to have have all necessary work done. Only we (the drivers) are not aware of this, so like the hapless sailor we enter the Bermuda Triangle only to be sucked in and never seen again.

Three days in line before my truck even sees the inside of the shop. When I arrived Friday afternoon, I thought they were kidding when they said It would be Sunday before they would get to my truck. They weren't! It was actually Monday before it got in. Normally it wouldn't take this long, but with nearly a quarter of the fleet in the terminal, the line got to be quite long.

I don't mind spending a day or two in the terminal. They went all out building a place with the drivers in mind. We have free laundry, showers, a TV room with a huge big screen tv and a quiet room with recliners and a table or two if you want to read or surf the web. There is even a kitchen where you can wash dishes from the truck and some vending machines.

I can manage a day or two, but when that day or two rolls into three or four. I start getting restless. I don't know what it is. You can only wash your clothes, dishes, yourself and your truck so many times.

My truck was finally parolled around 9:oo Monday night and by 10:00 I was outta there! I was so excited to have wheels under my butt, I didn't even care where I was going. Now normally I don't like driving at night for so many reasons, but today, I was willing to make an exception. Besides I only had to go about 30 miles to one of our regular shippers and I could spend the night on their dirty, dusty, muddy dirt lot before heading out in the morning. As long as I'm out and about. I'm happy

Waiting On A Load

It wasn't hazmat but, it was miles. The kind I like too. Not too long and just enough time to make it from point a to point b. None of that three days to go 500 miles stuff I had been getting lately.

I arrived in Dallas late last night and spent the night outside my receiver. The Unloading process went off without a hitch this morning and again, off to the nearest T/A to have yet another tire replaced. I seem to been having a run of bad luck with trailer tires lately.

When I received this trailer from a swap earlier in the week it had a nail in one of the tires and I just didn't have enough time to get the needed repairs done due to the limited time on this run. So each morning and at least two more times throughout the day I had to air the tire back up to keep it going until I could get to a shop to have the work done.

As usual, the line was over four hours long. By the time I got in and work was completed, there were no loads to be found. All of our load planners go home at five except for one. Just in case that desperate shipper calls in the middle of the night. So it looks like I'll be spending the night in Denton.

Oh well. Guess I'll have a nice quiet evening. Maybe that hazmat load will come tomorrow...

Ok I'm Ready For Some Work Now

It's been kinda nice taking it slow and easy the past few days. But slow and easy doesn't pay the bills. I'm ready for some work now! A good and long hazmat run would be nice. Hazmat is a pain but, it pays more to compensate for all the hassle you have to go through. And that extra pay adds up quick.

I made it to my delivery two hours early and fully expected to have to wait until my appointment time to even be let in. Much to my surprise they took me right in, assigned me to a dock and started unloading me within 15 minutes of my arrival. I could get used to this.

I sat around all day so I would have enough hours left on my log book to get unloaded and still have enough hours available to go to a truck stop or rest area near by before I turn back into a pumpkin.

We have 14 hours once we start and have to complete all our driving / work within that time. Leave too early, and the clock runs out while you're still being unloaded. Then you're stranded there. Leave too late and miss your appointment. Usually having to wait a whole day or more to get a new one. Been there, done that. (see "The Load That Would Not Die")

Well I'm off to find a place to park for the night. Chances are slim I'll find anything this late but, who knows, I might get lucky.

Deja Vu And Fireflies

I spent today traveling down the exact same freeway I traveled down yesterday, only in the opposite direction. So, I experienced a lot of deja vu today. Kept having that eerie feeling I've been here before.

I couldn't ask for an easier day today. The load I received in yesterday's swap doesn't deliver until Tuesday morning and I only had 675 miles on this run to begin with. That could be done in one day, let alone two and a half. So I'm driving slow and limiting how many hours I use in case I get one of those "pick up tomorrow and has to be there yesterday" runs. Alway a good idea to have a couple of extra hours on the ole log book just in case.

One of the things I like about my job is all the things I get to see, but a little variety wouldn't hurt. I did see a rather nice sun set and moon tonight though. Something I missed being locked up in the windowless radiology department of a hospital.



I'm stopped in a rest area and while walking back from the restrooms, I noticed all these little flourescent green glowing balls of light hovering around the tree line at the edge of the parking area.


Fireflies! I don't know why these little guys facinate me, but they do. So I'm always excited when they come out and let me watch them play. I had a hard time getting them to pose for the photo, so I had to use a timed exposure to actually catch one of them in the act. Click on the pic for a better / bigger view.

Plans Change

I started my day in Marshall, Illinois and fully intended to make it to my destination of Carrollton, Texas by the day's end but, before I could even get started this morning my dispatch contacted me with new plans. Instead of taking the load to Texas, I was instructed to go to Kansas City, Missouri and swap out with a team that had been trying to get home to Dallas. Usually I dread swaps because, I always seem to get there first and slowly watch all of my available hours tick away while I sit and wait for the other half of the swap to arrive. Today it actually worked in my favor for once. The team I was swapping with arrived about three hours before me so, when I arrived the transition went quickly and I turned around and started heading right back where I just came from. Plenty of time on this one too. I wonder what happened. For several weeks now it always seems there is too little time on the run and you really have to hustle to make your appointment. But the past three loads I've been on have had an extra day or two more than what is really needed. Kinda nice to be able to stop and smell the roses for a change.



I saw this cool little bridge in the rest area where I spent the night. When I arrived it was dark and I wondered what the purpose of this bridge was. The ground was sloped enough that water would never build up here and even if it did, I just couldn't see why anyone would put a bridge there. The next morning I climbed out of my truck for a closer inspection and discovered that the Illinois Department of Transportation had relocated it from it's previous location where no one would see it and moved it to the rest area for travelers to enjoy.


Click on photo for larger view

Under A Load

In the previous post I mentioned how my company does not like to have us drive around without a trailer firmly attatched to the tractor. So I was a bit surprised yesterday morning when they told me to drive over 160 miles to pick up an empty trailer. Either that or sit around for a day or more until something closer comes along. Oh no, I'll take it. Besides bobtailing is fun.

You get so used to driving with a trailer, you feel like you're in a race car when you don't have one. You can actually Get up to freeway speed before you get on the freeway!

I'm also not allowed to drive when I go home. My son makes fun of how wide I take turns and how slow I crawl up to red lights and stop signs. My wife makes fun of how I alwas put my hand on the gear selector and step on the imaginary clutch. (our car is an automatic) What can I say? You spend all day every day driving one vehicle, you get accustomed to it. It's hard to turn that off when you drive something different for one day every five or six weeks.

I'm currently working my way from Ohio to Texas where this load delivers. Today I had to have another tire repaired or I should say replaced. There was no repairing this one. Someone had locked up the brakes long enough to grind away the tread until the threads were showing through. Weird though, the other tires on that same axle were just fine. I'll probably spend the rest of my life wondering how they did that...

Aberdeen Will Have To Wait

The load I was under had a tentative appointment for Thursday morning. Tentative because the shipper promised delivery by Thursday but, a firm appointment had not been set at the receiver yet. I was taking my sweet time getting from point a to point b because of all the extra time on this run when my company was finally able to book an appointment with the receiver. Next Tuesday! That's the best you can come up with? Well rather than sit around for an entire week baby sitting a load they directed me to one of our drop yards about 120 miles away. Unfortunately there was nothing available at the drop yard either, so off to the nearest truck stop I go.

I thought I was going to be stranded at the drop yard and wasn't really thrilled with that thought. There were no loads availabe and therfore no trailers. No trailers means you don't go anywhere. Nothing to eat or drink but vending machine food and me with only 20's.

Trucks handle differently without a trailer and are much harder to stop in an emergency. It also costs the company more money to insure because of this. So usually when you drop a trailer and don't have another to pick up, there you sit until you do.

I was quite happy when I put in a request to go over to a truck stop about 20 miles away they actually said yes. I had to send another message just to be sure they didn't read my last message the wrong way and again they said yes. Not wanting to tempt fate, off I went before they realized they made a mistake and changed their minds.

And The Judge Rules In Mom's Favor

One of the more interesting phone calls I receive from the wife or the son is where they're having a disagreement on something and they'll call me to settle it.

Just as in a real courtroom, each one presents their case, and then I make my ruling. And the judge's ruling is always final.

Today's case: Whether or not the front of the car is considered a "side"

Synopses: Wife and son go to the grocery store. While standing at the rear of the vehicle placing the purchases in the back, wife asks son where the cart rack is. Son replies it's on the other side. Wife checks both sides and doesn't see said cart rack and asks for clarification. Son says if we're on the back side of the car the "other" side would be the front.

Son goes first. His argument is the vehicle is basically a rectangle and if you were standing on the narrow side of said rectangle the "other side" would be the other narrow side.

Hmmm... Good opening argument. Lets here from the other side.

Wife's turn. True a car is basically a rectangle but, two of those four sides have commonly accepted names of front and back or rear. Leaving the remaining sides of this rectangle to be called the sides. Also a good argument.

I'll be in my chambers while I make my decision.

Judges ruling: If you were talking with some one about a car accident and they said the whole "side" of the car was crushed in you would not picture the side with the headlights, grille and bumper, you would picture the door.

Ruling in favor of Mom
Case dismissed....

Oversize Load

Gigantic Load

Late last night I pulled into this tiny little truck stop. Well it wasn't really a truck stop. Rather a motel with a large lot out back for truck parking. Which apparently every heavy hauler knows about because, the truck pictured above was one of seven rather large loads parked there. They all stop here so their pilot car drivers have somewhere to sleep. While the truck driver can always just sleep in his truck, not so comfy for the pilot car driver to do the same in their vehicle, so they have all the motels / hotels with a large enough parking area mapped out along their entire route.

When I pulled in last night I was hoping they would still be there in the morning so I could get a picture. Darkness and all the other trucks that were there made taking the picture impossible when I arrived. I couldn't have gotten far enough away to get the whole rig in frame and you wouldn't be able to see much anyway. I had to stand about a football field length away to actually get the whole thing in frame and I don't think the flash would go that far anyway.

To give you an idea how big this thing is, my truck (tractor and trailer) is 65 feet from end to end, and I could have parked next to it twice and still have ten feet left over.

I wish I could of stayed to see them pull out. I would have loved to see that thing turn the corner out of the lot on to the road.

My day went pretty well today. I made decent miles toward my destination and didn't encounter any problems along the way. Wow! I made it through a whole day without having to have anything repaired...