Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Miami, Florida
We are getting ready to head out to Miami, Florida. We slept late this morning. We had coffee and donuts at the terminal. They have furnished breakfast the last two mornings at the terminal. We eat at Popeye’s for lunch.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Mexico
Mexico
Monday, July 28, 2008
Mexico
We have been in Laredo for a couple of days. We started as 81 on the board. We couldn’t deliver the load because the broker had no room for more trailers. I guess that the hurricane caused delays in getting freight to and from Mexico.
We went to the KenWorth dealer today and got the air bag fixed. We were there for about 3 hours.
Yesterday we went into Mexico. We had dinner and shopped a little. It was a very hot day.
Mexico
We have been in Laredo for a couple of days. We started as 81 on the board. We couldn’t deliver the load because the broker had no room for more trailers. I guess that the hurricane caused delays in getting freight to and from Mexico.
We went to the KenWorth dealer today and got the air bag fixed. We were there for about 3 hours.
Yesterday we went into Mexico. We had dinner and shopped a little. It was a very hot day.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Back to Laredo
Sweet Pea Backing into a parking space at truck stop
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Back to Laredo
We dead headed from the terminal at Taylor Michigan 198 miles to South Bend, Indiana for a relay headed to Topton, Pennsylvania 650 mile. There they unloaded and reloaded for a trip to Laredo, Texas 1886 miles. This was all one trip with load with batteries. They are 41,000 lb and require Hazmat placards. We are going to finish the week with 3300 miles, plus hazmat, northeast, and a $35.00 extra stop pay. We also go within 10 miles of home so we get one night in our own bed. I have been letting Sweet Pea team when we are in traffic jams so I go to the sleeper and log sleeper time for the delays. He also backs into the parking spots in the truck stops. I don’t let him drive any other time because he has to use the throttle brake but that works okay when going slow.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Taylor, Michigan
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Taylor, Michigan
We are at the terminal in Taylor waiting for a load. We delivered to Farmington Hills in Michigan. We got there early and made the delivery and then were sent to the terminal and we were number 12 on the board. We have made it to number 4 so I hope we get something soon but it might be for a morning pickup. This has started out a slow week.
We stopped at a service area on the Ohio Turnpike I-80/90, showered and did laundry. We met a juggling truck drive there that was pretty cool. He was good and likes to entertain kids and their mothers when he stops. He was fun and we enjoyed our evening with him. You meet a lot of interesting people out here.
Taylor, Michigan
We are at the terminal in Taylor waiting for a load. We delivered to Farmington Hills in Michigan. We got there early and made the delivery and then were sent to the terminal and we were number 12 on the board. We have made it to number 4 so I hope we get something soon but it might be for a morning pickup. This has started out a slow week.
We stopped at a service area on the Ohio Turnpike I-80/90, showered and did laundry. We met a juggling truck drive there that was pretty cool. He was good and likes to entertain kids and their mothers when he stops. He was fun and we enjoyed our evening with him. You meet a lot of interesting people out here.
The Bridge Laws
The Bridge Laws
Does anyone understand them? We had received a memo for the company on some of the changes in the way that different states are measuring and they also stated that it is an area that is misunderstood and that we need to make sure that we are complying. What they didn’t tell us is how you physically measure the tandem position to assure that you are complying. I have been to two schools and still don’t understand it. Lets take for example if you have a state that is measuring from the king pin to the center of the rear wheel and require a distance of 41 ft. I have a 53 ft trailer and the king pin measure about 3 ft from the front of the trailer. That leaves 50 ft to the rear so 41 ft would place it at 9 ft from the rear of the trailer to the center of the wheel. My questions are: Can this measurement be measured accurately enough to satisfy the state? Second is: If I need to adjust the tandem to bring in my weight within limits, is this the maximum distance back that I can go? We covered the bridge laws in both schools but I believe that few people really understand it.
I would like to hear form someone on how you go about measuring it. Our trailers don’t have the California mark on them. They are going to start adding them but that could be awhile before it happens.
Does anyone understand them? We had received a memo for the company on some of the changes in the way that different states are measuring and they also stated that it is an area that is misunderstood and that we need to make sure that we are complying. What they didn’t tell us is how you physically measure the tandem position to assure that you are complying. I have been to two schools and still don’t understand it. Lets take for example if you have a state that is measuring from the king pin to the center of the rear wheel and require a distance of 41 ft. I have a 53 ft trailer and the king pin measure about 3 ft from the front of the trailer. That leaves 50 ft to the rear so 41 ft would place it at 9 ft from the rear of the trailer to the center of the wheel. My questions are: Can this measurement be measured accurately enough to satisfy the state? Second is: If I need to adjust the tandem to bring in my weight within limits, is this the maximum distance back that I can go? We covered the bridge laws in both schools but I believe that few people really understand it.
I would like to hear form someone on how you go about measuring it. Our trailers don’t have the California mark on them. They are going to start adding them but that could be awhile before it happens.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Hazleton, Pennsylvania
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Hazleton, Pennsylvania
After delivering in Fredericktown, Missouri we picked up a load in Jackson, Missouri to deliver to Hazleton, Pennsylvania to a Michaels Distribution Center. We had 1005 mile to do from pickup 1:00 central Thursday and deliver 7:00 eastern Saturday morning. We did 350 miles Thursday using up all my 14 hours and 650 miles Friday. We got up at 4:00 to get to Michaels by 5:00 (6:00 Eastern). They had not given me the correct delivery number so I call Dispatch to get it and they didn’t have it either. I call several times trying to get it resolved and followed it up with Qualcomm messages with no results. Michaels would not take the load without the number. Dispatch had promised to send me the information by Qualcomm when they got it. After being persistent with calls I found that they had the information but had failed to inform me. Also each time I called I talked to a different dispatcher that didn’t know what was going on. Customer service that had resolved the problem failed to inform dispatch. Around noon I was able to drop the trailer and pick up an empty and go on the board.
It appears that I will again be sitting in Pennsylvania waiting for a load. I was here last weekend (Pennsylvania). The bright side of this is that I ran 2617 miles this week with a portion of it being Northeastern pay. I had hoped to drop early this morning and get a weekend load that would go on this weeks pay. It seems that if I unload on Saturday or late Friday that I won’t pickup till Monday. It would be good to run over the weekend but that hasn’t been my luck recently.
I went on the computer to find the local Wal-Mart and we went and did some shopping. We paid bills and mailed letter. The Wal-Mart had a mail box outside that we used. It was also a truck friendly Wal-Mart. Some are easy to get into and some are not. Also some just don’t want you there and have there no aliens allowed signs for their parking lots.
Wal-Mart Locations: http://www.priceviewer.com/walmart_locations/
Hazleton, Pennsylvania
After delivering in Fredericktown, Missouri we picked up a load in Jackson, Missouri to deliver to Hazleton, Pennsylvania to a Michaels Distribution Center. We had 1005 mile to do from pickup 1:00 central Thursday and deliver 7:00 eastern Saturday morning. We did 350 miles Thursday using up all my 14 hours and 650 miles Friday. We got up at 4:00 to get to Michaels by 5:00 (6:00 Eastern). They had not given me the correct delivery number so I call Dispatch to get it and they didn’t have it either. I call several times trying to get it resolved and followed it up with Qualcomm messages with no results. Michaels would not take the load without the number. Dispatch had promised to send me the information by Qualcomm when they got it. After being persistent with calls I found that they had the information but had failed to inform me. Also each time I called I talked to a different dispatcher that didn’t know what was going on. Customer service that had resolved the problem failed to inform dispatch. Around noon I was able to drop the trailer and pick up an empty and go on the board.
It appears that I will again be sitting in Pennsylvania waiting for a load. I was here last weekend (Pennsylvania). The bright side of this is that I ran 2617 miles this week with a portion of it being Northeastern pay. I had hoped to drop early this morning and get a weekend load that would go on this weeks pay. It seems that if I unload on Saturday or late Friday that I won’t pickup till Monday. It would be good to run over the weekend but that hasn’t been my luck recently.
I went on the computer to find the local Wal-Mart and we went and did some shopping. We paid bills and mailed letter. The Wal-Mart had a mail box outside that we used. It was also a truck friendly Wal-Mart. Some are easy to get into and some are not. Also some just don’t want you there and have there no aliens allowed signs for their parking lots.
Wal-Mart Locations: http://www.priceviewer.com/walmart_locations/
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
This is not a picture that you should be taking from a big rig.
13'6" does clear these bridges if you are loaded heavy and aim for the high portion of the bridge. You can also let the air out of the air bags to help.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Garmin
It’s Tuesday and we are waiting in Pennsylvania waiting to unload. It was a very hard day yesterday. We had gone to North Carolina to delivery a load from Laredo, Texas and we waited at a Wal-Mart with 3 other CFI trucks. On Sunday we got a load to pick up Monday morning at Campbell’s Soup and take to PA. It turned out to be the trip from hell. I didn’t do my trip planning instead relied on my Garmin that has been pretty good to get me there. It routed me through Washington D.C. on a non-truck route down town. Needless to say I was the only truck. I knew that I was in for a bad day. Then I got to underpasses that gave a 13’6” clearance that stated NO TRUCKS in big yellow signs. Did I fail to mention this was during rush hour? (We did see the Washington Monument and the Capital Building from an 18 wheeler.) I took the lane under the low clearance bridges that had the most clearance, slowed already slow traffic changing lanes. Then I got on the expressway (NO TRUCKS ALLOWED) and made it to I-95 north to Baltimore, MD to enjoy rush hour in Baltimore. Things didn’t improve. A flat bed hit a low underpass and closed the interstate. We were stopped for hours. Of course it could have been us pissing off a whole lot of people in DC rush hour but we lucked out big time. We got rerouted through a small town that was hilly with difficult turns. Some guy took it upon himself to take it out on me. I was stopped on a steep hill blocking the drive to a store that he wanted in so he gets out of his truck and tells me to move so that he can get in. I won’t repeat what I told him but he got on his cell phone to call the police. I am sure that didn’t go well for him. They were all busy trying to get thousand of cars and trucks through their town. The turns reminded me of the drive we did in CFI boot camp down town but we had all the traffic from a busy interstate and on steep hills thrown in for good measure. Of course no truck stops parking spaces were available anywhere. The rest area was so crowded that they had an accident in it also. We found a place to park for the night in a vacant parking lot in York, PA. We made our delivery and now we are headed to Missouri. We saw a truck on it’s side but it was on the other side backing them up for a change.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
4th of July
Saturday, July 5, 2008
4th of July
We celebrated the 4th at Midway Community Center, listing to a pretty good band out of Nashville and had some home made ice cream. We had gone to Center Hill Lake earlier; got sun burned, and I cooked ribs on the grill. It was a very good day. We are going to the Fiddlers Jamboree this evening. It is in Smithville, Tennessee. It started in 1972 by Joe L Evins, the Tennessee congressman from Smithville. I was living in Smithville at the time, spending most of my time on the lake with friends. This is a very beautiful area and Smithville is a great place to live. A lot of people from the Nashville area have homes here on the lake. http://www.smithvilletn.com/jamboree/history.htm
We have a load assignment from Nashville to Laredo, Texas. We pick up Monday at 08:30 and delivery in Laredo at12:00 Wednesday. We have been home for a week. I am glad to get the assignment so that I know what to plan. It is a pain to wait not knowing when you are going to leave. Now I can enjoy the rest of the time I have home. I didn’t expect to picking up today. Who has anything that needs shipped the Saturday after the 4th of July? I have been home longer that I expected or wanted to be but I have enjoyed it.
4th of July
We celebrated the 4th at Midway Community Center, listing to a pretty good band out of Nashville and had some home made ice cream. We had gone to Center Hill Lake earlier; got sun burned, and I cooked ribs on the grill. It was a very good day. We are going to the Fiddlers Jamboree this evening. It is in Smithville, Tennessee. It started in 1972 by Joe L Evins, the Tennessee congressman from Smithville. I was living in Smithville at the time, spending most of my time on the lake with friends. This is a very beautiful area and Smithville is a great place to live. A lot of people from the Nashville area have homes here on the lake. http://www.smithvilletn.com/jamboree/history.htm
We have a load assignment from Nashville to Laredo, Texas. We pick up Monday at 08:30 and delivery in Laredo at12:00 Wednesday. We have been home for a week. I am glad to get the assignment so that I know what to plan. It is a pain to wait not knowing when you are going to leave. Now I can enjoy the rest of the time I have home. I didn’t expect to picking up today. Who has anything that needs shipped the Saturday after the 4th of July? I have been home longer that I expected or wanted to be but I have enjoyed it.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Alien World
Monday July 1, 2008
Alien World
Being back home for a few days and getting back into a normal life of a home with beds, your own bathroom without getting permission, real meals, going to restaurants without needing a 40 acre lot to park, I realized what a total alien life truck driving really is. Once you climb back into the cab and hit the road you enter a twilight zone; traveling through different worlds and making stops on different planets at weird hours. You are treated as a necessary entity, but an alien that they really don’t care to deal with but are willing to use to get their goods transported to a foreign port in a distance galaxy. As you make your journey you deal with the intergalactic cops, the local planetary cops, and the discrimination of the local residents. You fly like crazy trying to meet your appointments while making fueling stops, fighting for areas to stop for the required shut down times as required by the IGC Federation Laws. You deal with a lack of spaces to dock, no space ship docking allowed signs, use only right traveling lanes, and loading docks that weren’t build to accommodate a freighter your size. You deal with the extreme colds of planet Minszar to the extreme heat of planet Texmexzoid. Then you deal with meteorite showers, traffic jams, and skyjackers. Every few years you get home for a few days to pretend you are normal. But while out you visit the universe and see places that you would not normally see. You experience places in all seasons. An occasionally you meet some very nice people.
Alien World
Being back home for a few days and getting back into a normal life of a home with beds, your own bathroom without getting permission, real meals, going to restaurants without needing a 40 acre lot to park, I realized what a total alien life truck driving really is. Once you climb back into the cab and hit the road you enter a twilight zone; traveling through different worlds and making stops on different planets at weird hours. You are treated as a necessary entity, but an alien that they really don’t care to deal with but are willing to use to get their goods transported to a foreign port in a distance galaxy. As you make your journey you deal with the intergalactic cops, the local planetary cops, and the discrimination of the local residents. You fly like crazy trying to meet your appointments while making fueling stops, fighting for areas to stop for the required shut down times as required by the IGC Federation Laws. You deal with a lack of spaces to dock, no space ship docking allowed signs, use only right traveling lanes, and loading docks that weren’t build to accommodate a freighter your size. You deal with the extreme colds of planet Minszar to the extreme heat of planet Texmexzoid. Then you deal with meteorite showers, traffic jams, and skyjackers. Every few years you get home for a few days to pretend you are normal. But while out you visit the universe and see places that you would not normally see. You experience places in all seasons. An occasionally you meet some very nice people.
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