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| Date |
Activities in
December 2004 |
| 13 |
After driving to the Operating Center (OC)
on Sunday, I was ready to take my Skills Qualification Test (SQT). I
did well on the tractor and trailer inspection, but made an error on
coupling. I forgot to check to make sure the tandem
slider pins were locked in place, to check that the brakes were
applied, and to check behind the trailer for obstacles.
During the drive I had problems with button hook turns.
Because of these errors, I did not pass.
In the afternoon, I went out with an instructor to practice button
hook turns. |
| 14 |
In the morning, I went out for another
SQT. There were a couple of small problems, but I passed.
In the afternoon, I took my CDL test. For the most part, I did
okay. My grade was eleven negative points, where
twenty-five or higher is a failure. I was told that the average
is fifteen. Most of the points I lost were for things like not
using my four-way flashers for backing up, parking at the side of
the road, and simulating a drive up a mountain road.
I drove home at the end of the day. |
| 15-19 |
Called my Team Leader (TL) on
the 15th, and he told me to gather up what I needed for the road,
and to report to a drop lot near my house, on Monday, then call him. |
| 20
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It's Monday. I reported to the
drop lot, and called my TL. He told me to find a
driver that was going to where my tractor was located. There
was one driver there, and as luck would have it, he was going to
where I needed to go.
First he had to deliver a load of cotton seed to a feed mill. Did
you know that cows will eat just about anything. The cotton
seed looked like a load of pussy-willow buds, but was quite heavy.
I helped the driver sweep out the trailer after the majority of the
load had been removed with a front-end loader.
At the OC, I received the keys to my tractor, and I transferred my
gear to my tractor. When I tried to start it, nothing.
It was cold and snowing. I found out that my tractor had a heater for
use when stopped. It worked. I found someone to jump me, but there was a
bigger problem. I wrote up a repair order, and was told to go
to a motel.
I checked in with my TL who explained how to keep the system that
assigns loads informed of movements while transporting loads.
By keeping the system up to date, I would then be assigned loads as
I became available and ready for another load. |
| 21
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First some instruction on safety.
My TL is checking to make sure I know the safety procedures, and what
I should never do, U-turns and backing up on a highway.
I went out to my tractor, and it started. Apparently a loose wire on
the starter. I unpacked my gear and made my bed. I did a
little cleaning.
I decided to check out the tractor for defects. Right off, I
notice the side skirt on the driver side near the back is
hanging. I don't remember it being like this while attempting
the jump-start yesterday. A closer inspection of this defect showed that
a strap that holds the skirt in place was broken. A further
inspection showed badly gouged brake drums. I had a mechanic
look at these defects, and he agreed that they needed repair. The
brake drums would require a longer time, so I wrote up a repair
order, and checked back into a motel. |
| 22-24
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Finally got going on my first
tour, with my first load,
paper products going to a K-Mart distribution center in Warren
OH. The trip started out okay, but when I got to the OH
border, it started to snow. I was going to drive another hour,
but decided to stop early when I got to this wayside with room to
park. I didn't know what it would be like farther up.
This was the first night sleeping in the truck. It was great.
In the morning, I woke up to find a
lot of snow on the ground. It wasn't snowing anymore, and
I saw trucks moving east, so I decided to go. An hour down the
road proved that despite the fact it wasn't snowing, drifting was a
problem. The road was closed at Beaver Dam, OH because of
accidents and drifting snow. The
backup was quite long. After an hour or two, I was able to
go north a ways, and catch a US highway going east. This road
started out okay, but got worse, so when I got to a dinner with
parking, I pulled off, had lunch, and took a nap, while I waited for
the road to get better.
The road got better, but it was still a slow go in
places. I got back to the Interstate, and it was good going to
my destination. At the destination, I dropped the trailer and
picked up an empty. The parking lot was real icy, and I got
stuck. After an hour of trying to get out, breaking up the ice
with my crowbar, I call my TL, who got a tow truck to get me
out. By this time it was to late to get to my next load
pickup, so I stopped at a truck stop. Watching the news that
night, I learned that I had driven through a "historic
storm".
|
| 24
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|
Got to my second load pickup. No
fuss, no muss. Went by the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton
OH. For the most part, the trip was good, but several stretches
of US 30 were snow covered and icy. The load was taking me
home for Christmas. When I got to my home parking place, I was
told that because of the load, I had to drive it to Green Bay, to a
more secure lot. I didn't have enough hours to drive that
night, so stayed with the load. |
| 25
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Merry Christmas. Got up after my
ten hour break, and drove the load to Green Bay, then bobtailed back
to my home lot. Because I was passing my brother's house on
the way home, I just stopped there, and saved the time it would have
taken me to drive home, and then back. End of tour |
| 27 |
After two days off for the holidays, I
was ready for my first long tour. Took a load to
Bloomington MN, picked up an empty, and went to another location
near by. Checked in and parked the trailer in a dock. The
ready time was the next morning, and I was able to park here. |
| 28
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|
Woke up when they started loading the
trailer. They finished just as my required ten hour break was
ending. After a pre-trip inspection, and a call to my TL, I
was on my way. This was going to be a four day trip to
Phoenix, AZ. The trip went straight down I35. South of
Des Moines, the road is quite hilly. The down hills gave me a problem
with maintaining the safe speed. This was all highway that I
have traveled before. I made it to the south of Kansas City
KS. |
| 29
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|
This day is full of new
experiences. First, I35 south of KC is new highway for
me. I am sure the landscape was wonderful, but there was dense
fog. The temp was 48. At Wichita, I took US54
west. The fog cleared, and the temp reached 71, according to
my onboard thermometer, which reads a couple of degrees high.
But, still nothing to be upset about.
The terrain here is mostly flat. There are
fields, and grazing cattle. As I looked around I thought about
the Indians, cowboys, buffalo, cattle drives, and outlaws that
roamed these parts during the 1800s. To prove my point, one
town said it was the hiding place of the Dalton gang. Liberty
KS has the house of Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz..
After Kansas, I drove into the panhandle of Oklahoma. As I approached
Guymon, it spelled like an outhouse. I soon discovered that
there are some large stockyards NE of town. As I approached
Texas, I watch the sun slowly set. I stopped for the night at
Stratford TX, in the Texas panhandle. By the way, several
states have panhandles, can you named them.
Answer |
| 30
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Because I stopped early the night
before, I got an early start in the morning. I left Texas and
was down to I40 in New Mexico before the sun rose. I had to
show my permit at the Mexico border. Luckily, it was up to
date. Looking through the book, I noticed that some permits appeared
to be out of date. I called my TL, and was told that there is
someone at my destination, tomorrow, that can check it out.
Driving across New Mexico on I40 did not look
familiar, but believe I had driven it in 1970. The highway was
pretty rough in places, and some hills, up and down, are
steep. I had to down shift to 8th for one. If I had been
in 9th to begin with, I might have made it.
The terrain is beautiful. Lots of mesas,
mountains, arroyos, sage brush, and a couple of snowcaps. The
views are better in the west than the east, but all are good.
Note: the western part of the state on I40 is close to Monument
Valley, by the four corners. Can you name the states that make
up the four corners?
Answer
I stopped for the night at the Hopi Truck Plaza.
|
| 31
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|
It was a short hop to Flagstaff, where
I headed south to Phoenix. As I approached Flagstaff, I could
see a snowcapped Humphreys
Peak, which my truckers atlas says is Arizona's highest mountain
at 12,633 feet. Flagstaff is around 7,000 feet. I17 to
Phoenix drops to less than 2,000 feet. The downhill was
exciting, as I had to use lower gears and engine braking to keep
from going to fast. This is new highway for me.
I delivered my load, picked up an empty trailer,
and headed back to flagstaff to get another load. Uphill with
an empty trailer was easy. Compared to going uphill with a
load, I flew. When I parked the empty trailer at the shipper,
I nailed it on one backup, and it was not a straight backup. I
had a problem with the loaded trailer. The tandems were all the
way back, and I need to move them forward. The release bar was
bend, so I had to use my crowbar, vise grips, and 3lb hammer.
The load was going to Salt Lake City, where I was
to drop it for someone else to take to Canada. The route took
me north out of Flagstaff on US89. This was more up and down,
and it was dark. I was on this road once before, and it really
is pretty. I wish I could have seen it again. At one point
there is a scenic overview looking in the direction of the Grand
Canyon. I stopped for the night in Page, AZ. |
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