I am currently on my way to Colorado for an early delivery Monday morning. I have two drops, but they are only 4 miles apart. Once unloaded, I will more than likely be heading to the meat patch. We call it meat patch because we pick up either in Holcomb, Dodge City, or Liberal, KS and it’s at a meat packing facility. There is a lot of meat going out of there daily!!! They are usually heavy loads as well.
I did end up getting the load from Salinas, CA going to Cleburne, TX. Was a nice run and, believe it or not, I actually had to turn on my heater to knock off the chill when I got up in Salinas! It was 50-52 degrees with a west wind. Was rather nice, because when I delivered load in TX, it was 102! Once I got unloaded, that is when the “fun” began. I got unloaded, received paperwork back from customer, cleared gate guard, and was sitting outside their facility waiting for my next load assignment. I got a message from our OS&D (Overage, Shortage, and Damage) department, telling me to take the refused product to another location in Fort Worth. I thought they had the wrong truck, so I called them and told them I was empty and had already checked out and sent in my empty call. That I was currently waiting for my next load assignment. They said they got an email from customer stating they were going to refuse 165 cases because of the “sell by date”. That I was going to have to go back in and get loaded back and deliver them to another location. Needless to say, I was not happy as I was “done” with that particular trip. They sent me a message stating that everything was taking care of and that I was released for next load. I get a load assignment and head out to next shipper. I get to Fort Worth and OS&D sent another message stating that corporate emailed and said we had to pick up the refused product and take to another location. I had to turn around, pick up product, and deliver it the next morning. I was able to keep my next load, which is the one I am on. It was a very frustrating day and was glad when I was able to shut down and relax.
Onto a lighter note. People watching can be rather interesting. I was in Moriarty, NM at the TA Truck Stop doing laundry. I usually play games or check up on Facebook on my phone during this time. However, this day, it was more fun watching people. When you come into the TA from truck parking area, there is a sign hanging from ceiling pointing to laundry room (left) and showers, bathroom (right). If you were coming from the store side it would be just the opposite. Now, when you look down the hall, you see showers and where the hallway opens up at the end indicating more of the hallway. People were coming down and when they turned to go down hallway, they would stop and look around. Walk back out and look up at sign and look back down hallway. Some would continue down and find bathroom, while others would simply walk back to store. I guess they were asking for directions or figured, I really don’t have to go that bad. I watched this for over an hour and found it rather amusing how easily people either got confused, didn’t understand arrow, or didn’t have the confidence to find the bathroom. Maybe the TA should have a person there to hold their hand and lead them to the bathroom. Better yet, print a map!
Until next time
God Bless and Safe Travels
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Got paper towels?
Well, I am back. Now that I am able to connect via laptop, it is much easier to update the blog. So, I do apologize for the absence and look forward to posting more in the near future. However, Mikey has done a pretty good job holding the fort down.
There is a funny story for the title and I will use it to get back into the swing of things. Last night (7/22/11) I stopped in Deming, NM for the night. After my meal, I went into the convenient store portion of the truck stop/travel plaza. After looking on their shelves for paper towels and find none, I processed to the cashier. I asked him if they possibly had any paper towels. He asked back, “which bathroom was out?” I informed him that I was looking for the paper towels that come on a cardboard roll, white, and wrapped in plastic that I can buy, I ran out earlier that day. He stated he didn’t know and that I should ask the maintenance guy. I’m thinking, maintenance guy? Whatever, so I found the maintenance guy and when he turned around, I knew I was not going to get anywhere. But, I had to ask. I asked him the same question, and believe it or not, got the same answer about which bathroom. Do they run out a lot or something!? I describe what I was looking for once and he then tells me the kitchen may have that. THE KITCHEN! What in the world is the kitchen doing selling paper towels!!?? I looked on menu earlier and didn’t see any paper towels. I just told both of them not to worry about it, I will check at my next stop. I am now wondering if there is another name for paper towels.
My current travels are taking me to Stockton, CA for a Monday morning delivery. I am currently pre-planned on a load picking up in Salinas, CA heading to Cleburne, TX and I hope they don’t pull it off of me. It should be a good trip.
Please send any feedback on these blogs. It helps to know that real people are actually reading them and gives us an idea of which way to go with it. Look forward to hearing from you.
Until next time,
God Bless and Safe Travels
John
There is a funny story for the title and I will use it to get back into the swing of things. Last night (7/22/11) I stopped in Deming, NM for the night. After my meal, I went into the convenient store portion of the truck stop/travel plaza. After looking on their shelves for paper towels and find none, I processed to the cashier. I asked him if they possibly had any paper towels. He asked back, “which bathroom was out?” I informed him that I was looking for the paper towels that come on a cardboard roll, white, and wrapped in plastic that I can buy, I ran out earlier that day. He stated he didn’t know and that I should ask the maintenance guy. I’m thinking, maintenance guy? Whatever, so I found the maintenance guy and when he turned around, I knew I was not going to get anywhere. But, I had to ask. I asked him the same question, and believe it or not, got the same answer about which bathroom. Do they run out a lot or something!? I describe what I was looking for once and he then tells me the kitchen may have that. THE KITCHEN! What in the world is the kitchen doing selling paper towels!!?? I looked on menu earlier and didn’t see any paper towels. I just told both of them not to worry about it, I will check at my next stop. I am now wondering if there is another name for paper towels.
My current travels are taking me to Stockton, CA for a Monday morning delivery. I am currently pre-planned on a load picking up in Salinas, CA heading to Cleburne, TX and I hope they don’t pull it off of me. It should be a good trip.
Please send any feedback on these blogs. It helps to know that real people are actually reading them and gives us an idea of which way to go with it. Look forward to hearing from you.
Until next time,
God Bless and Safe Travels
John
Monday, July 11, 2011
Back on the Left Coast
When I got to the shipper in Illinois to pick up this load I found out that it in fact didn't load until 4:00 in the afternoon rather than at 5am so I had to sit all day waiting for it to get ready. That messed up my entire trip plan and I ended up having to run as hard as I could to get it there on time but it all worked out and I made my delivery. Running that hard was definitely tiring and alot of my driving was done at night which gets especially hard around 4am!
I made my delivery in the wee hours of the morning and they didn't have any empty trailers so I am sitting waiting for them to empty some out and then its off to Bakersfield, CA to pick up going to Iowa.
One of the things I like about taking time off is that when I go back out on the road I usually get to take some pretty good eats with me. This time I got to take some pork chops from Mom's and had those for dinner for a couple nights with some rice pilaf or long grain rice. They are long since gone and I am back to that wonderful microwave cuisine that I am so fond of!
I got my new phone while off and the jury is still out on whether I like it or not. I got the new Thunderbolt from HTC and it is 4G capable but that market is pretty slim right now. The screen is extremely touchy unlike my Blackberry Storm that you had to actually push on the screen for it to do what you wanted. That push on the screen thing isn't such a bad thing when you are driving down the road and your finger is bouncing while trying to push a button on the phone! I'm having a couple issues with this new phone that I am trying to get resolved. The phone restarts without notice and the bluetooth won't stay connected. Verizon gave me a couple things to try and if they don't work they will replace the phone for me. I tried one of the things and it didn't work so I am doing the second one now and we will see.
The trip out here was pretty uneventful, partly because most of it was at night but it was extremely hot in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona topping 100 in all 3 places and had some pretty strong t-storms in Arizona but no haboob to watch cover the city of Phoenix. As a matter of fact, as I drove thru Phoenix I was not able to see any evidence of that dust storm then hit there just a few days ago! I was surprised.
John is going home this coming week and plans on bringing his laptop out with him on this next trip. He is still complaining about writing in the blog using his phone. Something about sore thumbs! Maybe once he has his laptop out here we will be treated to some of his wonderful insights into the world of trucking. Until next time...
Happy Trails
Mike
I made my delivery in the wee hours of the morning and they didn't have any empty trailers so I am sitting waiting for them to empty some out and then its off to Bakersfield, CA to pick up going to Iowa.
One of the things I like about taking time off is that when I go back out on the road I usually get to take some pretty good eats with me. This time I got to take some pork chops from Mom's and had those for dinner for a couple nights with some rice pilaf or long grain rice. They are long since gone and I am back to that wonderful microwave cuisine that I am so fond of!
I got my new phone while off and the jury is still out on whether I like it or not. I got the new Thunderbolt from HTC and it is 4G capable but that market is pretty slim right now. The screen is extremely touchy unlike my Blackberry Storm that you had to actually push on the screen for it to do what you wanted. That push on the screen thing isn't such a bad thing when you are driving down the road and your finger is bouncing while trying to push a button on the phone! I'm having a couple issues with this new phone that I am trying to get resolved. The phone restarts without notice and the bluetooth won't stay connected. Verizon gave me a couple things to try and if they don't work they will replace the phone for me. I tried one of the things and it didn't work so I am doing the second one now and we will see.
The trip out here was pretty uneventful, partly because most of it was at night but it was extremely hot in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona topping 100 in all 3 places and had some pretty strong t-storms in Arizona but no haboob to watch cover the city of Phoenix. As a matter of fact, as I drove thru Phoenix I was not able to see any evidence of that dust storm then hit there just a few days ago! I was surprised.
John is going home this coming week and plans on bringing his laptop out with him on this next trip. He is still complaining about writing in the blog using his phone. Something about sore thumbs! Maybe once he has his laptop out here we will be treated to some of his wonderful insights into the world of trucking. Until next time...
Happy Trails
Mike
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Busy, Busy, Busy
It has been about a month since I last wrote on here and it has been a very busy month. I decided to see if I could make a difference in the amount of miles I was getting as well as how much I was sitting between loads by developing relationships with the planners at work and contacting them directly for my loads. It has worked out quite well and I was able to keep my miles at a consistent level. There are a few areas of this new strategy that I need to tweak to make it work even better yet but in time I will have it down to a science.
Last week I had my lovely wife ride with me for the week. This was her first time riding in a truck for any length of time and when it was over, she was very sore but said she enjoyed it. We ran pretty hard when she was with me so we didn't get to have much free time to see sights or do extra things while out there on the road. I had planned on stopping at a couple places up thru Oklahoma and Missouri but those plans went out the window when our loads didn't take us anywhere near those areas. We ended our trip in Elkhart, IN at my mothers house where we had a 4th of July party with my sisters and their families. It was a great time and we spent a bunch of money on fireworks and put on a pretty good show for the whole neighborhood. We had our party on July 3rd cuz my daughter Jenn and her boyfriend had to leave on the 4th to drive back to Florida. We did go to Richard and Pam's house on the 4th for their party and had a great time and enjoyed another fireworks show there. I think I've had my share of fireworks for this year!!
My mother and I drove to Chicago yesterday to take Lisa to the airport so she could fly back to Florida and on the way back stopped at White Castle and bought 50 Sliders to eat for dinner (some were for my sisters too) and we devoured those when we got back to mom's house.
I expected to leave today but when I called in for my load I found that the freight in this area was running light so I had to wait. I got a call early this afternoon letting me know they had a load for me but it doesn't pick up until 0500 tomorrow. I will be heading to California for a Monday delivery.
I will update from out on the road but for now I need to get ready to take off so until then.
Happy Trails
Mike
Last week I had my lovely wife ride with me for the week. This was her first time riding in a truck for any length of time and when it was over, she was very sore but said she enjoyed it. We ran pretty hard when she was with me so we didn't get to have much free time to see sights or do extra things while out there on the road. I had planned on stopping at a couple places up thru Oklahoma and Missouri but those plans went out the window when our loads didn't take us anywhere near those areas. We ended our trip in Elkhart, IN at my mothers house where we had a 4th of July party with my sisters and their families. It was a great time and we spent a bunch of money on fireworks and put on a pretty good show for the whole neighborhood. We had our party on July 3rd cuz my daughter Jenn and her boyfriend had to leave on the 4th to drive back to Florida. We did go to Richard and Pam's house on the 4th for their party and had a great time and enjoyed another fireworks show there. I think I've had my share of fireworks for this year!!
My mother and I drove to Chicago yesterday to take Lisa to the airport so she could fly back to Florida and on the way back stopped at White Castle and bought 50 Sliders to eat for dinner (some were for my sisters too) and we devoured those when we got back to mom's house.
I expected to leave today but when I called in for my load I found that the freight in this area was running light so I had to wait. I got a call early this afternoon letting me know they had a load for me but it doesn't pick up until 0500 tomorrow. I will be heading to California for a Monday delivery.
I will update from out on the road but for now I need to get ready to take off so until then.
Happy Trails
Mike
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Leaving the East Coast!
Well that was a long enough visit to the east coast for me!!! I made it out to Mass and delivered my first stop and then called my second which was supposed to be for the following day. I only had 1 pallet of product for my second stop so they were nice enough to unload me a day early. I called in to get my next load but it didn't pick up till the following morning up in New Hampshire. My final stop on that last load left me about 50 miles south of Boston so I figured since it was only the middle of the day, I could ease up thru Boston instead of going all the way around and shouldn't have too much issue with traffic. BOY WAS I WRONG!!! I spent the better part of the afternoon just trying to reach 10mph! I'm glad it wasn't rush hour!!! Eventually I got to the other side and things started moving again.
Once a year, the DOT (Department of Transportation) conducts a 3 day safety sweep across the entire country in an effort to insure truck drivers and equipment are following the rules and are up to safety standards (I was proof reading this before posting and realized I had forgotten to put the word truck before drivers so I corrected that knowing that the DOT would never actually check the drivers of cars were following the rules and their vehicles were up to safety standards!). Last year I was fortunate to not get pulled into one of these and inspected (I got pulled in but they just waved me through). My luck did not hold this year. Thursday was the third and final day of their sweep and I only had one more weigh station to pass. I was not to be as lucky this year as last year. I thought I had made it through because the gave me the arrow for the bypass lane so I was on my way out and when I looked in the mirror......blue lights. I was fortunate in the fact that they didn't do a full inspection on me, they just wanted to see all of my paperwork and UNfortunatly, I was a little behind on my log. The nice officer only gave me a warning though.
Anyway back on the road and heading to New Hampshire for pickup in the morning. I have not been to NH since starting with this company so I got to cross that state off the list. Only 3 more to go! Got to Bristol, NH in the morning and picked up my load. Strange load...I picked up there and am going to Indiana and delivering part of what I picked up and they are adding more to my load at that stop and from there I go to Houston to 2 different stops there which at this point I have nothing on my truck for any stops in Houston. Then after Houston, I go to Laredo, TX and deliver everything to a forwarding company that takes it to Mexico!
Right now I am in Ohio waiting to roll to the Indiana stop in the morning. A cold front has passed by and the high today is 70. Nice to have these temps after the blistering heat of the last couple weeks. I spoke to John about continuing to write in the blog but he whined about having to type on his phone cuz he doesn't have is laptop on the truck right now. We may have to wait a little longer to enjoy the few tidbits of wisdom that John will have for us so he doesn't wear out his thumbs typing!!
I almost forgot about yesterday being 'strange roadkill day'! Normally I see an abundance of deer that have fallen victim to 'collision with high speed vehicle syndrome' and my trip across Pennsylvania yesterday was littered with that 'normal' phenomena. As is the case with most trips across the great state of PA, there was enough venison to feed a small army laying on the roadside. I was privvy to the rare glimpse of roadkill porcupine twice yesterday and ever so rare viewing of roadkill black bear!!! (It is always great to see that we are taking such great care of our natural wildlife. Maybe our government can come up with yet another useless program that they can add more taxes to us for, which will eliminate this senseless slaughter along our nations highways.) The last part, (in parenthesis) is sarcasm, in case you were wondering!! I know as well as you do that our government would never impliment a program that would create more of a tax burden on the american citizen.
Happy Trails,
Mike
Once a year, the DOT (Department of Transportation) conducts a 3 day safety sweep across the entire country in an effort to insure truck drivers and equipment are following the rules and are up to safety standards (I was proof reading this before posting and realized I had forgotten to put the word truck before drivers so I corrected that knowing that the DOT would never actually check the drivers of cars were following the rules and their vehicles were up to safety standards!). Last year I was fortunate to not get pulled into one of these and inspected (I got pulled in but they just waved me through). My luck did not hold this year. Thursday was the third and final day of their sweep and I only had one more weigh station to pass. I was not to be as lucky this year as last year. I thought I had made it through because the gave me the arrow for the bypass lane so I was on my way out and when I looked in the mirror......blue lights. I was fortunate in the fact that they didn't do a full inspection on me, they just wanted to see all of my paperwork and UNfortunatly, I was a little behind on my log. The nice officer only gave me a warning though.
Anyway back on the road and heading to New Hampshire for pickup in the morning. I have not been to NH since starting with this company so I got to cross that state off the list. Only 3 more to go! Got to Bristol, NH in the morning and picked up my load. Strange load...I picked up there and am going to Indiana and delivering part of what I picked up and they are adding more to my load at that stop and from there I go to Houston to 2 different stops there which at this point I have nothing on my truck for any stops in Houston. Then after Houston, I go to Laredo, TX and deliver everything to a forwarding company that takes it to Mexico!
Right now I am in Ohio waiting to roll to the Indiana stop in the morning. A cold front has passed by and the high today is 70. Nice to have these temps after the blistering heat of the last couple weeks. I spoke to John about continuing to write in the blog but he whined about having to type on his phone cuz he doesn't have is laptop on the truck right now. We may have to wait a little longer to enjoy the few tidbits of wisdom that John will have for us so he doesn't wear out his thumbs typing!!
I almost forgot about yesterday being 'strange roadkill day'! Normally I see an abundance of deer that have fallen victim to 'collision with high speed vehicle syndrome' and my trip across Pennsylvania yesterday was littered with that 'normal' phenomena. As is the case with most trips across the great state of PA, there was enough venison to feed a small army laying on the roadside. I was privvy to the rare glimpse of roadkill porcupine twice yesterday and ever so rare viewing of roadkill black bear!!! (It is always great to see that we are taking such great care of our natural wildlife. Maybe our government can come up with yet another useless program that they can add more taxes to us for, which will eliminate this senseless slaughter along our nations highways.) The last part, (in parenthesis) is sarcasm, in case you were wondering!! I know as well as you do that our government would never impliment a program that would create more of a tax burden on the american citizen.
Happy Trails,
Mike
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Back on night shift
I didn't write yesterday because I spent most of the day just sitting around waiting for my next load to be ready. Doesn't make for real interesting reading. I finally got out of there in the late afternoon so I ended up driving into the night last night. I am trying to work it so I can get back to days primarily because of the heat that makes it difficult to sleep during the days even with the A/C on. I am heading to Massachussets. I'll be delivering both Thursday and Friday out there and since I won't be able to go any further east after that, I imagine that my next load will bring me back west somewhere. Hows that for a profound statement!
John is finally back on the road after being home for graduation and all of the family that came to town for that. Truth be told. I think he missed being out here. I could hear the exictement in his voice!! He is in Arkansas today delivering and maybe if we all ask him real nicely we can get him to start posting on here again too!
I forgot to mention the other day after I had travelled thru Alabama to write about what I saw from the tornado damage there. Back when all of those tornadoes tore thru Alabama, I was on a load coming from Arkansas going home to Florida. My route took me right thru the heart of Alabama and right thru the area that was having all of the severe storms. One thing I take very seriously while out here is the weather and spend a great deal of time watching and planning around it so I knew what had been happening with these storms and was watching them to see if it would be safe to go that way. Well we all know the result of those storms and I made the executive decision to go south to Jackson, MS and then east to avoid the storms. This turned out to be a very wise decision on my part because I got to see the result of what those tornadoes did on the north side of Birmingham. As I drove west on US78 the other day coming out of Birmingham, I noticed that cars were slowing down up ahead and turning off to the side of the road. I didn't realize where I was at the time and then I started to see why alot of people were stopping. On the right side of the road there was a parking lot for what used to be a gas station and that is where everyone was pulling into. What was left of the gas station looked like just a couple of pieces of twisted, burnt metal and by pulling into that parking lot it was giving people a birdseye view of the area that the tornado had gone thru because the ground sloped away giving a clear view. As you have heard everyong on the news say...'words cannot describe' the total destruction that I saw. The part that bothered me the most was that the destruction was on both sides of the road....the road I was supposed to be driving down that night! God Bless those people!!
Happy Trials
Mike
John is finally back on the road after being home for graduation and all of the family that came to town for that. Truth be told. I think he missed being out here. I could hear the exictement in his voice!! He is in Arkansas today delivering and maybe if we all ask him real nicely we can get him to start posting on here again too!
I forgot to mention the other day after I had travelled thru Alabama to write about what I saw from the tornado damage there. Back when all of those tornadoes tore thru Alabama, I was on a load coming from Arkansas going home to Florida. My route took me right thru the heart of Alabama and right thru the area that was having all of the severe storms. One thing I take very seriously while out here is the weather and spend a great deal of time watching and planning around it so I knew what had been happening with these storms and was watching them to see if it would be safe to go that way. Well we all know the result of those storms and I made the executive decision to go south to Jackson, MS and then east to avoid the storms. This turned out to be a very wise decision on my part because I got to see the result of what those tornadoes did on the north side of Birmingham. As I drove west on US78 the other day coming out of Birmingham, I noticed that cars were slowing down up ahead and turning off to the side of the road. I didn't realize where I was at the time and then I started to see why alot of people were stopping. On the right side of the road there was a parking lot for what used to be a gas station and that is where everyone was pulling into. What was left of the gas station looked like just a couple of pieces of twisted, burnt metal and by pulling into that parking lot it was giving people a birdseye view of the area that the tornado had gone thru because the ground sloped away giving a clear view. As you have heard everyong on the news say...'words cannot describe' the total destruction that I saw. The part that bothered me the most was that the destruction was on both sides of the road....the road I was supposed to be driving down that night! God Bless those people!!
Happy Trials
Mike
Sunday, June 5, 2011
The HEAT rolls on!
I saw a sign this morning in front of a church that said "You Think It's Hot Here?" I actually enjoyed some cooler weather today....it only got up to 96 where I drove today!
I left Memphis this morning and had a pretty uneventful day of driving. Traffic was pretty heavy again and I got to see an unlicensed driver pulling doubles. For those that don't know, I'll explain. Drivers of commercial vehicles have to go through extensive training to be licensed to drive big rigs up and down the highways and there are special endorsements that we have to get to be able to do certain things like, haul hazardous materials, pull a tanker, pull doubles(2 trailers), or pull triples(3 trailers). Unfortunately there is a double standard when it comes to other people pulling doubles and triples. Joe Vacationer can hook up a trailer on his motor home to pull his car and have a trailer attached to his car that is pulling his boat and can do all of that with a regular operators license!!! You tell me. Who would you rather have pulling that many things behind his vehicle? Joe Vacationer....or a licensed commercial driver? Like I said, there is a double standard and I for one don't think that these people should be allowed to travel like that. There is too much that can happen that they are not trained for! I got up the St Joseph, MO which is where I am delivering tomorrow. I was watching the news while I ate dinner and see that the Missouri river flooding is just north of here in Iowa where they had to evacuate like 600 people. Glad I'm leaving here tomorrow!
Had a short lived scare at home. I got a call this morning from Lisa saying she had no water!!! Fortunately Justin and Melanie were there and Justin found that the contacts had corroded and he was able to clean them and get the pump going again so Lisa had water again. Ahhhhhh, the joys of being on a well.
I got my next load preplanned on me today and I have to go a total of 1 mile to pick up my next load which is going to Assonet, MA. That is if they leave that load assigned to me. Maybe I'll get lucky and get to see my nephew Adam while I'm out there!
If you like what you read in these post when we write them then please become a follower of our blog. The more followers we have, the more followers we will gain and that will just promote a more interesting interaction between us and our followers!
Happy Trails,
Mike
I left Memphis this morning and had a pretty uneventful day of driving. Traffic was pretty heavy again and I got to see an unlicensed driver pulling doubles. For those that don't know, I'll explain. Drivers of commercial vehicles have to go through extensive training to be licensed to drive big rigs up and down the highways and there are special endorsements that we have to get to be able to do certain things like, haul hazardous materials, pull a tanker, pull doubles(2 trailers), or pull triples(3 trailers). Unfortunately there is a double standard when it comes to other people pulling doubles and triples. Joe Vacationer can hook up a trailer on his motor home to pull his car and have a trailer attached to his car that is pulling his boat and can do all of that with a regular operators license!!! You tell me. Who would you rather have pulling that many things behind his vehicle? Joe Vacationer....or a licensed commercial driver? Like I said, there is a double standard and I for one don't think that these people should be allowed to travel like that. There is too much that can happen that they are not trained for! I got up the St Joseph, MO which is where I am delivering tomorrow. I was watching the news while I ate dinner and see that the Missouri river flooding is just north of here in Iowa where they had to evacuate like 600 people. Glad I'm leaving here tomorrow!
Had a short lived scare at home. I got a call this morning from Lisa saying she had no water!!! Fortunately Justin and Melanie were there and Justin found that the contacts had corroded and he was able to clean them and get the pump going again so Lisa had water again. Ahhhhhh, the joys of being on a well.
I got my next load preplanned on me today and I have to go a total of 1 mile to pick up my next load which is going to Assonet, MA. That is if they leave that load assigned to me. Maybe I'll get lucky and get to see my nephew Adam while I'm out there!
If you like what you read in these post when we write them then please become a follower of our blog. The more followers we have, the more followers we will gain and that will just promote a more interesting interaction between us and our followers!
Happy Trails,
Mike
Saturday, June 4, 2011
BBQ isn't all that's cookin' in Alabama!
It must me turtle migrating season. I'll leave it at that. I also think that school got out this week and everyone decided to start their summer family vacations this weekend. It has been a long time since I've seen that much traffic on a Saturday and I think it was more than what I've seen on Memorial Day weekend too. I took a picture of my dash today and posted it on Facebook showing the outside temperature at 112. It was ungodly hot today. I told my lovely wife yesterday, when I had the priveledge of talking to her, that when I was driving yesterday it was nice and cool inside the truck and I put my arm on the window ledge on the drivers door and my arm rested against the glass and the glass was HOT! The sun wasn't even beating on it at all.
I unloaded at Wally World at 3:30 this morning with my load of little piggy parts and that went well. As soon as I sent in my empty message, I got my next load assignment which was the chicken load I mentioned yesterday. The load wasn't scheduled to pick up until 6:30pm in a town only 1 hour away so I drove down there and had breakfast (gotta eat....John can verify the "I Like To Eat" factor). After breakfast I called the shipper and a miracle occurred.....my load was ready!!! It wan't even 10am yet! Went and picked up my chickens and found that they are bound for the pet food plant so off I went.
Other than the extremely large volume of traffic, it was a pretty uneventful day. I made it to Memphis this evening and have parked for the night. Had my first knock on my door already but it was only a guy wanting to shine the wheels on my truck. After that I put up my curtain and will thankfully be left alone.
Plans are starting to come together for our 4th of July get together up in Indiana. Unfortunately my step daughter Melanie and her husband Justin can't make the trip but my daughter Jennifer and her boyfriend Jay are coming and Lisa (my wonderful wife for those that don't know) is planning on riding with me for about a week prior to our arrival up there. For those that are prayers out there, please keep our plans in your prayers that they will come together and all traveling will be safe.
Thats it for tonight. I think this just about qualifies my for the book of records having posted 3 consecutive posts on here!!
Happy Trails
Mike
I unloaded at Wally World at 3:30 this morning with my load of little piggy parts and that went well. As soon as I sent in my empty message, I got my next load assignment which was the chicken load I mentioned yesterday. The load wasn't scheduled to pick up until 6:30pm in a town only 1 hour away so I drove down there and had breakfast (gotta eat....John can verify the "I Like To Eat" factor). After breakfast I called the shipper and a miracle occurred.....my load was ready!!! It wan't even 10am yet! Went and picked up my chickens and found that they are bound for the pet food plant so off I went.
Other than the extremely large volume of traffic, it was a pretty uneventful day. I made it to Memphis this evening and have parked for the night. Had my first knock on my door already but it was only a guy wanting to shine the wheels on my truck. After that I put up my curtain and will thankfully be left alone.
Plans are starting to come together for our 4th of July get together up in Indiana. Unfortunately my step daughter Melanie and her husband Justin can't make the trip but my daughter Jennifer and her boyfriend Jay are coming and Lisa (my wonderful wife for those that don't know) is planning on riding with me for about a week prior to our arrival up there. For those that are prayers out there, please keep our plans in your prayers that they will come together and all traveling will be safe.
Thats it for tonight. I think this just about qualifies my for the book of records having posted 3 consecutive posts on here!!
Happy Trails
Mike
Friday, June 3, 2011
The load with too much time
Getting a load with too much time is a common occurrence in this business but it is usually only an extra day or two on the load....not six!!! This morning I am still waiting to get the disposition on this load so I can get my next one and move on.
Last night I had to park in a Hardee's parking lot cuz there are no truck stops around here and I thought that since I was where I was, I wouldn't be bothered. But NOOOOOOO.....around 10pm last night there is a knock on my door. I almost got up to answer it but thought better of doing that. I figured if it was the police needing me to move, they would be pretty persistent and eventually a tow truck would show up and other than the police, there was nobody that I wanted to talk to in a Hardee's parking lot at 10:00 at night. So I just stayed in bed and they went away. After that I slept like a baby!
Around lunch the company finally informed me of where they wanted me to drop the load but first I had to find a place to buy a padlock so I could lock the back of the trailer. I had to walk about a mile down the road to find a place to buy one but I did and then drove about 25 miles to where I was to drop the trailer. After that I sat at a little convienence store just around the corner from where I dropped the trailer until they sent me my next load. I wonder if there are alot of people in the south that have heart attacks. I went into this little convienence store to see what they had to eat and there was a little food area and I started looking at what little they had in there and everything was sitting in grease! I asked the lady if she could just make me a hamburger and she said yes and started to reach for what I guess where hamburger patty's sitting in this liquid stuff that I wasn't real sure about so I just told here to forget it. Yuck!
After a couple hours I got my load assignment and headed off to the Smithfield Packaging Company to pick up my load of dead pigs in the form of pork chops and other assorted cuts of pork. Them little piggies used to go wee, wee, wee but not any more! I spent the night at the plant and when I got up this morning my load was ready so I drove pretty much all day and got here to Brundidge, AL where I deliver this coming morning. Then it's off to the local chicken plant to pick up a load of chicken something going to Missouri.
That's it for tonight. I'm tired from driving all day and I have to get up in a few hours to make my delivery.
Happy Trails
Mike
Last night I had to park in a Hardee's parking lot cuz there are no truck stops around here and I thought that since I was where I was, I wouldn't be bothered. But NOOOOOOO.....around 10pm last night there is a knock on my door. I almost got up to answer it but thought better of doing that. I figured if it was the police needing me to move, they would be pretty persistent and eventually a tow truck would show up and other than the police, there was nobody that I wanted to talk to in a Hardee's parking lot at 10:00 at night. So I just stayed in bed and they went away. After that I slept like a baby!
Around lunch the company finally informed me of where they wanted me to drop the load but first I had to find a place to buy a padlock so I could lock the back of the trailer. I had to walk about a mile down the road to find a place to buy one but I did and then drove about 25 miles to where I was to drop the trailer. After that I sat at a little convienence store just around the corner from where I dropped the trailer until they sent me my next load. I wonder if there are alot of people in the south that have heart attacks. I went into this little convienence store to see what they had to eat and there was a little food area and I started looking at what little they had in there and everything was sitting in grease! I asked the lady if she could just make me a hamburger and she said yes and started to reach for what I guess where hamburger patty's sitting in this liquid stuff that I wasn't real sure about so I just told here to forget it. Yuck!
After a couple hours I got my load assignment and headed off to the Smithfield Packaging Company to pick up my load of dead pigs in the form of pork chops and other assorted cuts of pork. Them little piggies used to go wee, wee, wee but not any more! I spent the night at the plant and when I got up this morning my load was ready so I drove pretty much all day and got here to Brundidge, AL where I deliver this coming morning. Then it's off to the local chicken plant to pick up a load of chicken something going to Missouri.
That's it for tonight. I'm tired from driving all day and I have to get up in a few hours to make my delivery.
Happy Trails
Mike
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Been a while
I almost forgot that I had this blog!!! It has been almost 6 months since I wrote anything and one thing that I noticed while reading thru my old posts is that I did alot of complaining about different services and people out here on the road. I am going to change that about my posts and try to offer more compelling insight into what life is really like out here on the road. Yes, that will include some complaints but I hope to offer more variety by including alot of what actually occurs on a daily basis in my life out here.
Today started out bright and early in Winchester, VA picking up a Kraft Foods load. The load was just a short trip down to North Carolina but it kept me moving. My pickup appointment was at 0130 so I arrived at 0030 and checked in and they told me to park at the end of the lot and they would come and get me when they had a dock available to load me. I backed into the dock at 0240 and finally got out of there at 0630. I had planned on making it thru Richmond before the morning rush hour but that kinda went out the window as I watched 0430 go by. Anyway, I had been waiting for the company to let me know when my delivery appointment was and it got to the point where I was only an hour from my final destination and the company hadn't called yet so I called the receiver and found out the appointment wasn't for 6 days! NOT GOOD! I called the company and let them know and they tried to get the appointment changed but had no luck doing that either. They had me come to the town where the load is supposed to deliver and they are in the process of finding a place for me to leave the trailer and then they will assign me a different load. That probably won't happen until tomorrow since it is pretty late in the day here.
It was extremely hot in both VA and NC today and at one point the temp reading on my dash said 106. My little A/C unit was really struggling to keep up and for a little while it was getting uncomfortable in the truck.
My phone keeps letting me know that the weather channel tweets are saying there are tornadoes and severe storms in and around Springfield, MA. I have a nephew that lives near there and my sister has been trying to reach him on the phone but has not had any luck with that yet so I pray he is ok up there.
For the last several days I have had to drive at night and sleep during the day because of the load I was on but I am finally able to switch back to driving during the day. With the heat being so hot lately it has made it very uncomfortable to try and sleep during the day. I had a very close call with a deer the other night while driving....I was driving in some light fog and saw a car on the other side of the highway that was creeping to a stop on the shoulder of the road and it appeared that the front of the car was damaged. I remember thinking to myself that it looked like they had hit a deer when out of the corner of my left eye, I see a deer start to take off from the median coming across in front of my truck. I practically stood up on the brake pedal and kept watching my truck still gaining on the 'trying to accelerate' deer. It made it across the front of my truck until I could no longer see it as it passed in front of my right headlight. I didn't hear or feel any kind of a hit but I thought for sure there would be fur on the bumper of my truck when I stopped but I must have barely missed him cuz there wasn't any fur or any other sign of him on the front of my truck when I stopped. That was a close call that almost scared the crap out of me!!
Thats all for now. I'll keep this up to date hopefully on a daily basis with what happens out here each day.
Happy Trails
Mike
Today started out bright and early in Winchester, VA picking up a Kraft Foods load. The load was just a short trip down to North Carolina but it kept me moving. My pickup appointment was at 0130 so I arrived at 0030 and checked in and they told me to park at the end of the lot and they would come and get me when they had a dock available to load me. I backed into the dock at 0240 and finally got out of there at 0630. I had planned on making it thru Richmond before the morning rush hour but that kinda went out the window as I watched 0430 go by. Anyway, I had been waiting for the company to let me know when my delivery appointment was and it got to the point where I was only an hour from my final destination and the company hadn't called yet so I called the receiver and found out the appointment wasn't for 6 days! NOT GOOD! I called the company and let them know and they tried to get the appointment changed but had no luck doing that either. They had me come to the town where the load is supposed to deliver and they are in the process of finding a place for me to leave the trailer and then they will assign me a different load. That probably won't happen until tomorrow since it is pretty late in the day here.
It was extremely hot in both VA and NC today and at one point the temp reading on my dash said 106. My little A/C unit was really struggling to keep up and for a little while it was getting uncomfortable in the truck.
My phone keeps letting me know that the weather channel tweets are saying there are tornadoes and severe storms in and around Springfield, MA. I have a nephew that lives near there and my sister has been trying to reach him on the phone but has not had any luck with that yet so I pray he is ok up there.
For the last several days I have had to drive at night and sleep during the day because of the load I was on but I am finally able to switch back to driving during the day. With the heat being so hot lately it has made it very uncomfortable to try and sleep during the day. I had a very close call with a deer the other night while driving....I was driving in some light fog and saw a car on the other side of the highway that was creeping to a stop on the shoulder of the road and it appeared that the front of the car was damaged. I remember thinking to myself that it looked like they had hit a deer when out of the corner of my left eye, I see a deer start to take off from the median coming across in front of my truck. I practically stood up on the brake pedal and kept watching my truck still gaining on the 'trying to accelerate' deer. It made it across the front of my truck until I could no longer see it as it passed in front of my right headlight. I didn't hear or feel any kind of a hit but I thought for sure there would be fur on the bumper of my truck when I stopped but I must have barely missed him cuz there wasn't any fur or any other sign of him on the front of my truck when I stopped. That was a close call that almost scared the crap out of me!!
Thats all for now. I'll keep this up to date hopefully on a daily basis with what happens out here each day.
Happy Trails
Mike
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Home for the Holidays
It has been a very long time since I updated this blog with whats been happening so instead of trying to remember everything and trying to play catch up.
Because I live in Florida, it is extremely difficult to get in and out of this state with freight so I sometimes run into problems with gettting home or leaving home once I am here. Christmas was one of those times. Both getting home and leaving were complicated by the fact that this company has well over 300 drivers that live in Florida and the majority of that number wanted to come home for Christmas. The company ran out of loads coming into the state when trying to get everyone home and I, like many others had to take loads into Georgia and then deadhead home from there. For me it was a 500 mile deadhead. For some it was more, others less. Unfortunately, they waited until the last possible moment to get me a load going to Georgia which made it nearly impossible to get home in time to open presents. Getting out of Florida has been a treat also. Originally I told the company that I would come back on Monday the 27th but because I didn't get home in a timely manner I decided to stay here until Tuesday. Boy was that a mistake!!! 90 loads spread over 300 drivers does not make for a smooth departure out of the state for a large number of drivers. Yes, I was one of those and it is now Thursday and I am finally getting out of the state. I think next year i'll take Thanksgiving off instead of Christmas!!
Happy Trails
Mike
Because I live in Florida, it is extremely difficult to get in and out of this state with freight so I sometimes run into problems with gettting home or leaving home once I am here. Christmas was one of those times. Both getting home and leaving were complicated by the fact that this company has well over 300 drivers that live in Florida and the majority of that number wanted to come home for Christmas. The company ran out of loads coming into the state when trying to get everyone home and I, like many others had to take loads into Georgia and then deadhead home from there. For me it was a 500 mile deadhead. For some it was more, others less. Unfortunately, they waited until the last possible moment to get me a load going to Georgia which made it nearly impossible to get home in time to open presents. Getting out of Florida has been a treat also. Originally I told the company that I would come back on Monday the 27th but because I didn't get home in a timely manner I decided to stay here until Tuesday. Boy was that a mistake!!! 90 loads spread over 300 drivers does not make for a smooth departure out of the state for a large number of drivers. Yes, I was one of those and it is now Thursday and I am finally getting out of the state. I think next year i'll take Thanksgiving off instead of Christmas!!
Happy Trails
Mike
Friday, December 3, 2010
Back Roads, Wildlife, & Plan Comes Together
11/30/10
One of the benefits, I think, of driving is taking the back roads across this country. Meaning US highways and some State routes. To pick up my load in Stuttgart, AR, I did just that. It took me through several small towns, like Homer, LA population 499. At least that is what the sign said. Town had the old wooden houses painted white and in need of painting. Several white fences, also needing a good coat of paint. While driving through towns like this I often wonder where they go for jobs and shopping. Granted I only go through on one route, but usually one gas station/convenient store and maybe a general store.
One of the benefits, I think, of driving is taking the back roads across this country. Meaning US highways and some State routes. To pick up my load in Stuttgart, AR, I did just that. It took me through several small towns, like Homer, LA population 499. At least that is what the sign said. Town had the old wooden houses painted white and in need of painting. Several white fences, also needing a good coat of paint. While driving through towns like this I often wonder where they go for jobs and shopping. Granted I only go through on one route, but usually one gas station/convenient store and maybe a general store.
Usually there are a few "old timers" sitting either on porch or front yard. They seem to always wave as the world goes by. I wave back and wonder how much history have they seen.
On US 167 just outside Fordyce, AR, I came upon "hollowed highway". A section of this road was dedicated to Paul "Bear" Bryant.
12/1/10
As I cross the mighty Mississippi River on I-57 entering into Illinois, the sun was going down. Just as fast, the temperature was going down as well. During this time of gray lightning, the wildlife tend to either start moving for the night or get ready to pack it in for the night. Kinda like there is a day shift and a night shift. The wind was starting to die down and off to my left there was a good size coyote trotting across a field. Didn't appear to be chasing anything, just cruising. A few miles further north there were two "V" formations of geese heading south. Looked really pretty with the red sky behind them. And finally before it got too dark, I had seen 10 deer. Even got to get a glimpse of a buck in rut chasing a doe. What is the most amazing part of all this? Many drivers didn't see any of it! They are too worried about were the "bears" (cops) are and think they are in a hurry. They miss so much.
12/2-3/10
I got to my destination a little over an hour early. Figure I check in and chill out in sleeper to watch Santa Clause Coming to Town. Just get comfortable when there is a knock on sleeper! No, it wasn't Santa, they already have a door for me and will take about forty-five minutes to unload me. That doesn't happen very often. So I called night dispatch to see if they had a load assigned to me or will have to wait till morning. They had a "drop & hook" load out of Morris, IL. About 77 miles from where I was. Man, a plan finally coming together!
I get unloaded and book down to Morris. Drop my empty trailer and grab the loaded trailer. Pull out to a side street they have for truckers to sleep and/or take their break. After a good night sleep I head south towards Texas. I was able to get out of area before the snow hit. They were expecting 3-6" of the white stuff!
To be continued .......
Merry Christmas and safe travels
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Home Time & Ups - Downs
Well, I hope everyone had a safe and belly filling Thanksgiving. I was able to get some time off in Tennessee with my wife and family. Had a wonderful time and time was well spent. I even was able to go to Ben's cabin he is building on some mountain property that my in-laws own. Got some work done, but when time to put tar paper on roof, had to wait for Curtis to get home and time. Because big boy here and heights don't get along! If you know what I mean.
I had planned on returning back to driving with five days remaining on "scan week" so I could get decent mileage. As turns out, I got about half the miles I was hoping for. Kind of frustrating, but I do realize there were numerous drivers returning with the same "plan". I am hoping I can recover the mileage next few weeks. I had a "pre-plan" that was right inline with my plans, but they either canceled it or gave it to another driver. Then they send me a new load assignment. Here is the kicker; same stinking load assignment as the one I had prior. Only it picks up and delivers 24 hours later than the original plan. Things that make you go hmmm!
I was talking with Mike yesterday and he was dealing with freezing temps and snow. Once I got parked and was watching weather, as there were storm lines moving in, a tornado warning issued! It was south of my location, thank goodness. But that is the scope of weather we deal with this time of year. Definitely watch radar and wind speed regularly.
Funny signs: this one I have only seen in New Mexico so far. It's a billboard as well. As I was driving to it, all I could make out is a huge white billboard with something sticking out from it. As I got closer I realized the sticking out part was made to look like a human waist and legs! There is a small printed line at the bottom. You almost have to be right on it to read it. It said "wear a seat belt"!
Safe Travels
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Weather is becoming more of a factor
To continue the story from the last post, I finally received my new load assignment but it did not pick up until the next day so I ended up doing another 34 hr reset anyway. Got the load picked up and made it to the Iowa/Nebraska line and shut it down for the night. Today I made it all the way to Cheyenne, WY which is where the load was going. The load was not due to deliver until tomorrow morning but it was a drop and hook so I was able to take it in to the receiver and drop it off and pick up an empty trailer. As soon as I sent in my notification that I was empty I received a message to head to Nebraska for my next load.
When I got just about to Cheyenne with my last load, I ran into a pretty significant snowfall. I had been watching a storm that was coming across from the west coast for a couple days and was hoping I could beat it to Cheyenne. I almost made it there before the storm but not quite. I was going to spend the night in Cheyenne but with the storm coming in and a report about a strong wind storm forming over Nebraska, I thought it would be in my best interest to get the deadhead miles out of the way before the weather got real nasty.
Not sure where I will go next but I am sitting in central Nebraska waiting to be assigned my next load. It should come in tomorrow but then I don't know if I will leave right away. Loads from this area can sometimes leave right away and sometimes we have to sit for a day or so. I will update again soon.
Happy Trails
Mike
When I got just about to Cheyenne with my last load, I ran into a pretty significant snowfall. I had been watching a storm that was coming across from the west coast for a couple days and was hoping I could beat it to Cheyenne. I almost made it there before the storm but not quite. I was going to spend the night in Cheyenne but with the storm coming in and a report about a strong wind storm forming over Nebraska, I thought it would be in my best interest to get the deadhead miles out of the way before the weather got real nasty.
Not sure where I will go next but I am sitting in central Nebraska waiting to be assigned my next load. It should come in tomorrow but then I don't know if I will leave right away. Loads from this area can sometimes leave right away and sometimes we have to sit for a day or so. I will update again soon.
Happy Trails
Mike
Friday, November 26, 2010
Flirting with Ice and Snow
As promised, I am updating from my destination in Illinois. I was fortunate that during my pickups all of the shippers apparently wanted to get done early for the day and get home to start their Thanksgiving holiday. I was able to get all three pickups done about 4 hours ahead of schedule. With getting an early start, I thought I could possibly make it to my destination with enough time to be able to go to my mothers house for a nice turkey dinner. Mother Nature had other plans!! I made it as far as Big Cabin, OK and ran into a line of storms that was producing tornados and the whole southeast corner of Oklahoma and southwest corner of Missouri were both under tornado warnings and watches. I checked the radar and it looked like the line would move out after a little while so I went into the truck stop and drank some coffee and had a little bit of conversation with the waitress. After killing some time I went and checked the radar again and found that although the line was moving, it was also redeveloping over the same areas and the conditions were not getting any better. Finally I got too tired to continue so I went to bed shaking my fist at the sky (that doesn't help by the way). Waking up the next day I found that the weather had cleared where I was at so I was able to continue. I made it through Springfield, MO and ran into the rain again but checking the radar it looked like just moderate rain so I kept going. I would periodically check the radar to see when I would be out of the rain but it kept moving with me and the freezing rain and snow was catching up behind me. Fortunately I made it to my destination before the ice caught me but just as I got here it started snowing.
It was a close chase, but I won the race. Unfortunately it delayed me enough that I couldn't get to moms house for turkey :-( I did stop at a Denny's to have my Turkey Day dinner and was very disappointed in what they offered and how it was prepared and served. But that is yet another disappointing Denny's story that I am not going to talk about at this time.
I unloaded this morning in Danville, IL and am still waiting on my next load assignment. As I said in my last post, freight has slowed down considerably and it is taking quite a while to get my load assigned. A little frustrating but again, I am trying to keep my stress level down so therefore am attempting to stay as calm as possible about it. I really don't want to do another 34 hour reset. I have already had 4 of those 34's in the past 3 weeks and I obviously cannot continue to have them if I expect to be able to make a living out here.
I will leave it at that and update when I know where I go next!
Happy Trails,
Mike
It was a close chase, but I won the race. Unfortunately it delayed me enough that I couldn't get to moms house for turkey :-( I did stop at a Denny's to have my Turkey Day dinner and was very disappointed in what they offered and how it was prepared and served. But that is yet another disappointing Denny's story that I am not going to talk about at this time.
I unloaded this morning in Danville, IL and am still waiting on my next load assignment. As I said in my last post, freight has slowed down considerably and it is taking quite a while to get my load assigned. A little frustrating but again, I am trying to keep my stress level down so therefore am attempting to stay as calm as possible about it. I really don't want to do another 34 hour reset. I have already had 4 of those 34's in the past 3 weeks and I obviously cannot continue to have them if I expect to be able to make a living out here.
I will leave it at that and update when I know where I go next!
Happy Trails,
Mike
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Holidays and Freight
Hello all! It has been a little while since I posted anything and that is mainly because I went home for a week and left the wonderful world of trucking behind. I took a total of 7 days off and enjoyed every last one of them. I got to visit with my daughter who was home from college and my step-daughter and her husband. I got to meet my daughters boyfriend and we all spent the day at a high school marching band competition. ( My daughter was drum major in the marching band while in high school so that has been a big part of our lives ) I enjoyed being in the family atmosphere and look forward to my next time off at Christmas time.
This is the time of year when freight really slows down. Most of the product for the holiday season has already been shipped to it's destination and manufacturers are reducing inventory for the end of the year so the result is less freight for the same amount of trucks. I have definately felt this slowdown myself in the last several loads that I have had. I have made some adjustments to the way I run to accomodate these changes and keep myself from sitting so much. Real simple solution! SLOW DOWN! Instead of pushing the load as hard as I can, I have found that if I run less miles per day on the load, I will end up not having to sit for so long at the end. It is obvious that I am not going to be able to get off of the loads early so I have to make due with what I am given. This has also reduced the amount of stress I feel just because I am not freaking out over not gettting put on another load.
I had another one of those wonderful trailers yesterday that another driver dropped with numerous problems. When I picked the trailer up, it had a flat tire and the refrigeration unit would not start because it had a dead battery and then when I got to the receiver and opened the doors I found the air chute which is supposed to be attached to the ceiling of the trailer to direct air to the back of the trailer was torn down from the ceiling in several locations and needed to be replaced. This is definately becoming more and more of a problem and it would be nice if the company would do something to the drivers that leave these trailers it this kind of shape. It makes for lost time for the driver that doesn't leave trailers like that....like me!
My load I am picking up is going to Illinois and I have been monitoring the weather up there. It shouldn't be too bad but there is the possibility of running into something cold, wet, and slippery. To top it off, I get to drive up there on the busyest travel weekend of the year and they are predicting that this will be heavier that previous years. I only have to go through one major city once I am out of Dallas so HOPEFULLY it won't be too bad. Keep me in your prayers throughout the holiday weekend and I will update once I get to my destination.
Happy Trails
Mike
This is the time of year when freight really slows down. Most of the product for the holiday season has already been shipped to it's destination and manufacturers are reducing inventory for the end of the year so the result is less freight for the same amount of trucks. I have definately felt this slowdown myself in the last several loads that I have had. I have made some adjustments to the way I run to accomodate these changes and keep myself from sitting so much. Real simple solution! SLOW DOWN! Instead of pushing the load as hard as I can, I have found that if I run less miles per day on the load, I will end up not having to sit for so long at the end. It is obvious that I am not going to be able to get off of the loads early so I have to make due with what I am given. This has also reduced the amount of stress I feel just because I am not freaking out over not gettting put on another load.
I had another one of those wonderful trailers yesterday that another driver dropped with numerous problems. When I picked the trailer up, it had a flat tire and the refrigeration unit would not start because it had a dead battery and then when I got to the receiver and opened the doors I found the air chute which is supposed to be attached to the ceiling of the trailer to direct air to the back of the trailer was torn down from the ceiling in several locations and needed to be replaced. This is definately becoming more and more of a problem and it would be nice if the company would do something to the drivers that leave these trailers it this kind of shape. It makes for lost time for the driver that doesn't leave trailers like that....like me!
My load I am picking up is going to Illinois and I have been monitoring the weather up there. It shouldn't be too bad but there is the possibility of running into something cold, wet, and slippery. To top it off, I get to drive up there on the busyest travel weekend of the year and they are predicting that this will be heavier that previous years. I only have to go through one major city once I am out of Dallas so HOPEFULLY it won't be too bad. Keep me in your prayers throughout the holiday weekend and I will update once I get to my destination.
Happy Trails
Mike
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Seasons changes more frequently when you drive!
I have been in three different seasons in one week! Started in Illinois with temps in the mid 50's and sunny. Very nice weather, even drove with windows down for a bit. Then get load assignment taking me to California. I was on I-80 for about 75-85% of the trip so far.
In Omaha, NE, I hit my first snow storm. What started off as rain and temps hovering around 40-45 quickly turned to snow and temps around the freezing mark! This happened about 20 miles outside of Omaha. Once in town they already had at least 1-1/2" on the ground and still coming down. Pretty good size flakes, if not for driving in it, it would have been pretty. However, I was driving. I could see the water mist coming off my tires so I knew roads weren't froze over yet. I reduced my speed and continued on. Of the traffic and road conditions, the one thing that gave me the most problems was these "forearms" on my windshield! Snow was gathering up on my wipers and at one point looked like forearms! They were huge and NOT doing there job properly. Need to invent heated wipers. The have heated everything else!
Made it through Omaha and heading for Cheyenne, WY. Now, it wasn't as bad as Omaha, but I had to deal with snow showers off and on until around the Laramie area. Temps now in the low 20's. Had to get fuel in Laramie and the wind was blowing pretty good. Needless to say, didn't take long to fuel up! Snow finally stopped, but the wind continued until I got to Utah.
Woke up Sunday morning to a windy, cloudy, and cold 28 degree day. As I finally left Wyoming and started south on I-15 the wind started to decrease and by the time I got to Arizona, the clouds gave way to sunshine! Finally! Just in time too. There is a stretch of interstate that goes through Virgin River Gorge and is a really pretty drive. I stopped one mile from California state line and it was sunny and 69 degrees. So from Illinois to California, I went from mild fall weather to winter, then hit nice spring weather. I'll take the spring!
Funny signs: This one goes to the states that has rock training. You know what I am talking about, the sign that says "watch for falling rock". Now looking at some of these hills/cliffs, that takes extensive training to allow one rock to fall at a time. Is there a fine or corrective action if more than one falls?
Until next stop, safe travels
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Different issues of trucking
It has been several days since my last posting. Has been kind of up and down since that last posting. Some days you couldn't ask for a better job. Cruising down the interstate with sun shining, slight breeze, and good music playing on the satellite radio. Even other drivers (both truck and car) are enjoying the travel. You can see a difference in most drivers and the way they drive. It's very enjoyable.
Then you have the bad days, cloudy and/or raining, windy as all get out, and there is a difference in other drivers as well. With that, us drivers also has to deal with "sitting" around waiting on load assignments or waiting on receivers or waiting on shippers. Now the receivers and shippers are a given, BUT waiting on load assignment is very disturbing and uncalled for. Reason, when a driver is on his/her way to a receiver, there are at least two days of travel. That gives the planner two days to plan for a load to keep that driver moving. There may not be a load in that immediate area, but there is a load within a few hundred miles of that location. Many times the planners will finally get a load for you and when you get there, you find out they have either been waiting for you to bring trailer or load is already loaded since the day prior. And you have been just sitting there not making any money at all. You could have been there a day earlier and already heading to your destination.
Other issues to follow, now a little lighter side. While talking with Mike we got to talking about some funny road signs. One is the deer crossing signs. We didn't know deer cross the road from the right to the left. According to the signs anyway. Now Mike did finally see a deer crossing sign indicating deer crossing back from left to right. I think that was Indiana. So now we know we know how the deer get home. Sure is a long way! There are many out there. I am going to attempt to have a new one every so often to keep you thinking.
Until next stop, safe travels
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Night Time is the Right Time
I left Ontario, Oregon on Tuesday evening after getting loaded and started my trip to Atlanta, Georga. Because of how late I got loaded, I ended up driving through the night for the next 3 nights to arrive in Atlanta on Friday. I have always enjoyed running at night because of all of the obvious reasons but one thing that really bothers me about running at night is all of the animal activity and the possibility of hitting something big like a deer or elk or something else. One thing I do like about this truck I have is the fact that the headlights are very bright and light up the road in front of me quite well. I don't have LED headlights and wouldn't put them on my truck because they are way too bright and when another vehicle comes up behind me with those type of lights, it is blinding. With having good lights on my truck it gives me a little more confidence while running on the back roads that I sometimes find myself having to run. When I had my T2000, the headlights on that truck were so poor that it was sometimes scarey driving at night because you just could not see very well at all.
Another advantage to driving at night is that you can jam out to the tunes on the radio and nobody can see you making a fool of yourself inside the truck. I get the opportunity to practice my air guitar and air drums and don't have to worry about others seeing me doing it.
Traffic is obviously lighter and I can get better fuel mileage both on the interstate and on the back roads because of the lighter traffic. The cooler temperatures also help with improving my fuel mileage too. I get caught by alot less red lights running at night and it is alot easier to time the lights when rolling through a town when there is very little traffic from the side streets to trip the lights. That is something that some of these towns really need to work on. There are times when running through a town late at night and a light will change for no reason and will stay red for a long period of time. The only thing something like that accomplishes is to waste fuel by causing people to stop and then restart. You would think that with the emphasis that is being put on greenhouse gases and emissions that they would be looking for as many ways as possible to eliminate fuel waste and something like that would be extremely easy to fix and could possibly save thousands of gallons of fuel. Just a thought!
I am currently in Atlanta and will be unloading on Sunday. I don't know where I am going to next but am supposed to be going home next weekend after being out for close to 2 months. I am really looking forward to going home and spending time with my wife. I also get to spend time with my daughter that is in college because she was able to change her schedule to be able to come home at that time too.
Happy Trails
Mike
Another advantage to driving at night is that you can jam out to the tunes on the radio and nobody can see you making a fool of yourself inside the truck. I get the opportunity to practice my air guitar and air drums and don't have to worry about others seeing me doing it.
Traffic is obviously lighter and I can get better fuel mileage both on the interstate and on the back roads because of the lighter traffic. The cooler temperatures also help with improving my fuel mileage too. I get caught by alot less red lights running at night and it is alot easier to time the lights when rolling through a town when there is very little traffic from the side streets to trip the lights. That is something that some of these towns really need to work on. There are times when running through a town late at night and a light will change for no reason and will stay red for a long period of time. The only thing something like that accomplishes is to waste fuel by causing people to stop and then restart. You would think that with the emphasis that is being put on greenhouse gases and emissions that they would be looking for as many ways as possible to eliminate fuel waste and something like that would be extremely easy to fix and could possibly save thousands of gallons of fuel. Just a thought!
I am currently in Atlanta and will be unloading on Sunday. I don't know where I am going to next but am supposed to be going home next weekend after being out for close to 2 months. I am really looking forward to going home and spending time with my wife. I also get to spend time with my daughter that is in college because she was able to change her schedule to be able to come home at that time too.
Happy Trails
Mike
Monday, November 1, 2010
First Snow of the season
This time of the year and beyond we have to be careful in planning out our trips due to the possibility of some pretty nasty winter storms that can pop up while traveling in the mountains out here. I was fortunate and the only weather I ran into was rain so far but it looks like there were some that were not so fortunate last week as the hills had some snow left on them from last week and the mountain tops were pretty much covered. I did not have to go over any major mountains so did not have to deal with the snow that is on them now. I am still awe struck each and every time I come out here and drive through these mountains by some of the breathtaking views that I see. I wish my camera would do some of them justice but I just cannot zoom in as close as I need to in order for everyone to see it as my eyes see it.
I really wish all of our loads were like this last load I brought out here except for the whole bad fuel mileage thing. I was able to take a day and visit family and then drive three 11 hour days to get the load here and still arrived with time to spare. The sitting around and waiting on loads and driving only a few hundred miles on some days just drives me nuts. I for one like to keep moving. Right now I am doing some of that sitting that I despise. I unloaded this morning and am waiting on my next load assignment. I could possibly be loading out of the same place I delivered to but don't know for sure yet.
Happy Trails
Mike
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Family visit, shipper/receiver tension
One of the benefits of driving all over the country is I am near family and/or friends almost everyday. However, with time restraint on most loads, time for a "quality" visit is few and far between. That is what I was able to do on my last assignment.
I was able to spend time with my aunt, uncle, and "fav cuz". While talking over dinner, we were trying to figure out last time I had seen them. I think we came up with five and a half years. I really enjoyed time with them and hanging out with fav cuz. She has overcome so much and I am very proud of her.
The second part of assignment I was able to spend an afternoon with my brother. Even got to watch a Jr High football game. Although they lost, was nice to watch. Always nice to see my lil bro.
While driving during the trip I was listening to Road Dog Radio (radio station on satellite radio for professional drivers). They where discussing a major issue for us drivers. The relationship between drivers and the shippers/receivers. In many cases we are not allowed to enter their buildings. Not even for use of the bathroom. It was brought up for discussion because last week during the record setting "low" storm in the north, there were numerous tornado warnings.
While delivering at a Smuckers warehouse in Ohio, there was a tornado warning issued for their immediate area. There were 12 - 15 drivers at their docks. The guards locked the gate and told the drivers to stay in their trucks and they would let them know when it was over. Sorry, but that was just unprofessional and inhumane treatment of those drivers. A vehicle is not where you want to be during a tornado. My family and I will no longer buy their product.
Please feel free to leave your thoughts and comments about drivers being sent to their trucks during a tornado warning. Also, join us in not buying their product.
Until next stop, safe travels.
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