Back to Feb

I bobtailed to the OC in Dallas, and got the keys to my new tractor.  Actually, not a new one, but a newer one than I had.  The old one was a 2001, the new one is a 2004.  Anyways, it took over six hours to make the move, and I didn't put everything away.  I could sort through the boxes, and put things away while I am stopped for the night over the next few days.

After the move, I ate a late lunch, and took a shower.  I still had some time left for the day, so I notified operations that I was ready for a load.  I got orders to get an empty at the OC in Dallas, and take it to shipper in Paris, where I had dropped the previous load yesterday.  The drive was about 108 miles.  I left Dallas during rush hour, but I was on the outskirts.  The new tractor's shifting pattern is loose, and closer spaced.  As a result, I was missing shifts quite a bit. Also, the shifting times for the lower gears were sooner.

I got the load, and drove to the same little truck stop I had been at the day before.  I still had 45 minute left on my fourteen, but I didn't know where I would be able to stop down the road.

Once I got going, I drove U.S. highways across TX, OK, and into CO.  The roads weren't bad, usually light of traffic, sometimes divided, and had a 65 MPH speed limit, but with occasional towns.  It was during the drive that I noticed that the speedometer on this tractor said I was going 66 MPH most of the time.  After nine hours of driving, I knew that I was farther than I had expected to go

 It looked like I was going to get quite a ways into CO before I would have to stop.  But, that was before I got the flat tire.  I was about half way across the panhandle of OK went I noticed that bits of rubber were being kicked up from a trailer tire.  If it had been on the right, I might not have noticed it.  When some other trucks drove up along side of me, and waved their CB mike at me, I knew I had a flat.  I stopped and checked it.  I was only five miles from a small town that was at an intersection of two U.S. highways, so I drove there slowly.  There, I called for tire help, and told them that I could see a tire store down the street a few blocks.  They checked, and told me to go there.

An hour later, I was on my way.  I drove another 2.5 hours.  I only had a half hour left on my fourteen, and didn't know where I could park beyond this point.

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I arrived at the delivery in about an hour and a half.  I thought about how if I had driven as long as I could each day, and not had the flat tire, I could have arrived last night when the load was really due, but should have been able to make, given the distance.  This new tractor is fast.

I dropped the load, and picked up another at the same location.  I headed out for the west.  As I drove west from Salt Lake City the sun was out, and the roads were dry.  It was like this for the rest of the day.  Near the slat flat is this strange artwork.  I don't know what it is supposed to be.  I stopped at a Flying J in Winnemucca NV.  I had stopped at this same place two weeks ago.

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It was light out, and the sun was out, but there were some clouds.  I drove two hours, and stopped in Fernley NV to shower.  Along the drive, there was a thermal electric generation plant.  The hot springs caused steam to escape from the ground.  As I continued, I kept checking the sky for signs of snow.  I got into CA, and the signs looked good.  The signs that warn about chains were all turned sideways.  As I climbed up to the summit the road was dryer than it had been the other two times I went up this hill.  And, there was no snow in the air.  However, it had snowed.

At Sacramento, I turned north.  It started to rain.  The farther north I went, the more it rained.  Everywhere I looked, the fields were flooded, and creeks were flowing fast.  I dropped the load, picked up an empty, drove to get fuel, and parked for the night at a Flying J.  There I got caught up on the blog and posted the text.

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I was loaded quickly, and was on my way by 1030 PST.  I only had nine hours to work with this day, but the load was only going about 320 miles, and had a delivery time tomorrow.  I drove to within thirty miles of the delivery point, about a five hour drive, and stopped for the night at a TA.  I had fueled up at a TA last night, so I had a shower coupon that I would use in the morning.

The drive south went through Stockton CA.  Before I got to Stockton, there is a dairy farm alongside of the road.  Well, farm isn't the right term.  It's a cow pen or feed lot.  CA is noted for these as the mild weather means that barns aren't needed to house the cows in the winter.  As a result, there are hundreds of cows in these pens, or feed lots.  Now, in WI, CA has been running ads on TV about happy cows in CA, and that WI cows aren't happy because they are up to their utters in snow.  Here are happy cows in CA.  I don't know if you can see that they are up to their utters in something other than snow.

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When I got there, I wasn't sure how to get in.  All the gates I saw were closed.  I was right in front of the place.  It was a fairgrounds.  I called the number I had, and the guy told me he wasn't expecting me for two hours, but that he would be right over.  He also told me that there was an open gate just a little ways up.  I drove onto the grounds, and went right down the midway.

The guy showed up a half hour later with a forklift.  He was alone.  I helped him unload the trailer.  There was no dock, so I tied a strap onto the pallets, he used the forklift to pull the pallet to the edge of the trailer, then lifted the pallet off.  After awhile he was able to get a pallet jack from the fairgrounds, and I moved the pallets to the edge, and he took them off.  We unloaded the trailer in about two hours.

Now, I was told that I would get a load out of Bakersfield, where I was, that would take me home.  Wrong, I had to go about 150 miles to Santa Ana.  And, because the trailer we had unloaded was junky and wet inside, I had to swap trailers in LA.  The lot was very near downtown Los Angeles.

I got the trailer, and went to the shipper.  I was fifteen minutes late.  There was also another driver ahead of me.  It was almost five hours before I was loaded.  All my driving time was spent unloading and loading.  Had I gotten a load in Bakersfield, I would have done four eight hour days to get to the delivery.  Now I had to drive three ten and a half to eleven hour days.

I finished the day driving an hour to the Fontana OC.  I went to bed early.  I noisy Kenworth truck made for a bad nights sleep.

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The sun was out, and it was an easy drive across CA.  There were up hills, which because of the light load, were easy to climb.  The route took I15 to Las Vegas.  A retired friend spends the winter there, so I called him. and we hooked up.  We went across the road to a casino to take advantage of their buffet, but it was being renovated, so we went to their grill restaurant for lunch.   After lunch, we did a little gambling.  I'm cheap, so I put a five dollar bill into a quarter slot machine.  After about a dozen plays, with a few small wins, I quit, having turned my five dollar bill into a twenty.

After two hours, I got back on the road.  I think I15 was a new road for me because I don't think it had been built back in 1970, the last time I had driven from LA to Vegas, and then north.  The route cuts across AZ's northwest corner.  The road goes though a narrow canyon with high mountains all around.  Farther north I took I70 east to Denver.  There were hills to climb, and down hills to coast down.  There was some light snow.  It got dark, and I couldn't see what the terrain was like.  I did almost seven hours of straight driving since Vegas.  I made the stop I was heading for within the eleven hours available to drive.

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My biggest concern was snow.  I was heading for mountains that are a lot higher than Donners pass.  As I left, the sky looked okay.  I was listening to the weather on XM radio, but it didn't give me a clear idea of what to expect.  I did run into some light snow, but it cleared up.  Then I ran into some more light snow, as I climbed to a high elevation, but it cleared as I went down the other side.  Then I climbed a long steep mountain, and it snowed, but nothing to get excited about.  The biggest problem was that I had no power.

I had noticed ever since I got this truck that it sometimes had problems with hills.  Now I was really crawling.  The road wasn't that steep, but I was down to 25 MPH.  I crested the mountain, and as I started going down the other side, the check engine light can on.  I stopped in a scenic view area, and called maintenance.  I told them the problem, which I thought might be a clogged fuel filter, having had one before.  They were going to send someone to help, but I told them I had a filter with me.  They said change it, and if I still had problems, to call back.  I changed the filter, got the truck running okay, and took off.  This was a lot better.  With time, I even noticed that I was getting better fuel mileage.

I continued on, and was shortly climbing up the hill to the Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel at Loveland pass.  After the tunnel, it was pretty much downhill to Denver.  There I headed up I76 to NE.  I made my 600 miles and stopped for the night in North Platte.

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I drove about six hours to the Des Moines OC.  There I fueled up, ate lunch, and showered.  I left, and drove another three hours, and stopped in Davenport.  It was only 1700.

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I drove about three hours to the delivery.  I was suppose to pick up an empty trailer, but there were none there.  There was an empty that had a hole in it's roof.  I called support to get an okay to take the bad trailer off the lot, and to a company lot.  The trailer had been there over a month.  I was told to take the trailer to my home lot.  This meant being paid for driving to my home lot.  If I had bobtailed home, I would not have been paid for the drive.  Two hours later, I was at the home lot.

End of tour 28

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When I got to the testing place, I didn't have to go, so I drank water, and waited.  An hour later, I was able to fill the cup.  It was after 1100 by time I got going.  I drove to northwestern Milwaukee to get an empty trailer.  The trailer I was told to pick up was there.  I picked it up, and took it to a drop lot in Neenah WI.  I bobtailed to the shipper, a couple of miles away.  The load was ready to go, even though the orders said that it wouldn't be ready for about four more hours.

The load was going to VA, about a thousand miles away.  However, the delivery time was two days away.  That meant the rest of today and the next two days to delivery the load, or about 30 hours available to do 17 hours of driving.  I could do there short days, or two long days, and deliver early, if the customer will take it.  I drove enough to allow me to make it there tomorrow, if I wanted.

I stopped in Indianapolis, ate a light dinner, and went to sleep right away.

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The next load required me to drive to a Sears distribution center and get an empty trailer.  Of course, it was the opposite direction of where the load was.  I got the trailer, but after I was hooked up, and at the exit gate, and was closing the doors, I noticed that the trailer was wet inside.  I didn't notice this when I first checked the trailer.  I called my TL and told him of the leaky trailer.  I was told to take the trailer to the OC, and see if I could find a trailer there.  I did find a trailer, and headed for the shipper.  I was about an hour late.  The shipper was okay with this.

About two hours later, I was loaded, and on my way.  I drove about  an hour and a half to the Seville OC.  I fueled up again, as instructed.  Now, I could have driven some more.  I had only used about seven hours.  But, it was getting dark, and I was tired.  I took the truck to the maintenance shop to have a few things looked at.  I stayed there that night.

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The truck stop I stayed at was a TA, Travel America.  I had chosen it because it was on the Flying J brochure of Flying J WiFi hotspots.  I updated this blog page, and posted it to the Internet.

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I dropped the load, picked up an empty trailer, headed back the way  I had come, and a little farther to get the next load.  Except for a seven mile in and out of a town to get the load, this load is retracing the route back to Columbus  After that it would continue on into KY

After picking up the load, I drove another four and a half hours to a Flying J in the middle of PA.  It was early, so I went into the building to watch some TV, and read the Time magazine.  Back in the truck, I ate dinner, and watch TiVo.  I didn't feel like working on the Blog, or cruising the Internet.  I was sleepy at 2100, so I went to sleep.

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I had planned to drive to a Pilot station twenty-eight miles east of Louisville KY.  It turns out that that truck stop has a Flying J WiFi access.  This stop would have resulted in a nine hours drive for the day.  I was about two hours away from the stop when orders for my next load came in.  I would pick up the load at the same place I was delivering the current load.  It was going a to a destination about 1060 miles away, and I had to be there at 0530 on the 21st.  I didn't want to drive early on the 21st, so I started thinking about getting ten hours earlier on the 20th.  The first thing was to go as far as I could go today.

I continued past the Pilot station for an hour and a half.  I was heading for a truck stop about 50 miles from my destination.  When I got there, I discovered that the truck stop was out of business, but the lot was still accessible.  There were a couple of other trucks there, so I parked.  Occasional other trucks drove into or through the lot, but for the most part, it was a very quite night.

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When I was unloaded, I called my TL to explain that I hadn't touched any product, and I want to make sure that it was okay not to log any work, even though the instructions for the load said I was suppose to unload the trailer.  I didn't, so I had six hours to drive.  I sent a note that I was available.  It took a while to get a load.

I drove one hour to get the load.  I was just south of Boston.  I got there at there lunch time, so I had to wait awhile to get loaded.  That was okay because it get me time to eat, and check the route I was going to take.  I could make it just into PA before I had to stop.  This would put me within range of the OC outside Detroit tomorrow.

The route I took after getting loaded took me south on I95.  I have been on this road before, but it has been a while.  The road went through RI.  This is the first time I got to RI since I started driving truck.  South of RI is CT.  I95 goes by New London.  The first nuclear submarine, Nautilus, and a submarine museum is located there, as well as a navy submarine base.

Farther south I enter NY.  I95 crosses into NJ using the George Washington bridge.  I could see Manhattan from the bridge.  I could also see the Empire State Building.  It was dark, so I could get any decent pictures.  When I stopped, I checked to see exactly where I had been.  I95 goes through the Bronx, crosses the Harlem river, crosses the northern most part of Manhattan Island, and crosses the Hudson river into NJ.

I stopped for the night just inside PA

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The problem I noticed right away was that the load had to be delivered at 0900 tomorrow, 570 miles away,  By the time I had the load, I only had six and a quarter hours left to drive that day.  That would only get me about two thirds there today.  Plus, I would have to get up tomorrow at 0430 to get going by 0500, and drive the last four hours.  This also meant I would have to stop by 1830, in order to take a ten hour break.

So, let's do the math.  I get the load, and am ready to go at 1015.  If I have to stop by 1830, the difference is 8.25 hours.  Now subtract 6.25 hours to drive, and that leaves two hours to fuel, scale, eat, and go to the rest room.  There went my easy day.

I drove a little ways, and scaled.  I snacked on pretzels and cold cuts while I drove.  I fueled and went to the rest room, and drove the rest of the distance.  I stopped just before 1800.

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Now, the delivery on this load is 0900.  Initially, I thought that this time was tomorrow morning because the delivery point is near my home, and I am suppose to get home tomorrow.  But, the timing meant I would have to drive at night.  In order to deliver at 0900, then two hours unloading, and a half hour to get to the home lot at 1130, I would have to pick the load up close to midnight.  And, I would have to take my ten hour break during the day.  This would have been a disaster looking for a place to happen.  Not much sleep, if any, during the day, and then drive from midnight on, with about two three hour break when I got sleepy.

Well, I always think the worst.  Closer inspection of the delivery, when I was writing it in my book, showed that the delivery date is the 27th.  Well, that was fine.  Except I'll be in the middle of a doctor's appointment at 0900 on the 27th.  And, my TL knew that.  However, my TL is out of the office, and the substitute may not have known about it.  I had reminded them three days ago that I would be driving on the 25th, and would go back on the road the 28th.  Someone even sent me a note to this effect.  Anyway, I sent a note to the TL, and asked to have a relay set up.

I drove to company lot near the pick up point, and waited for the pick up time.  A half hour before the time, I drove to the shipper.  When I got there, I was told that it would be a live load, and not a preloaded trailer.  Just great.  I got in a dock right away, but the loading didn't start for a while.  When the loading started, it seemed to go slow.  I was beginning to think that my fourteen hours would be up before I got off the lot.  I did get off the lot with just enough time to get to a truck stop.  Luckily, it was a Flying J, and I could update and post this page.

I had put in a fourteen hour day with only five hours of working, including the pre-trip inspection.  What a waste of a day, and I had to rush yesterday.  This is the kind of stuff that make me think of leaving this company, and going to one the knows how to treat their drivers.

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I still hadn't been told what to do with the load.  So, I sent a MAC29 saying that I would arrive at 1200.  I got a note back saying to park at the home lot, go home, and deliver the load on the 27th.  First problem with that was that I would have less than 48 hours at home.  Second problem was that I had the doctor's appointment.  I sent a note back that said, "How many people to I have to tell that I have a doctor's appointment on the 27th".  I sent a note that I would delivery on the 28th.  Finally, someone figured out that I couldn't deliver on the 27th, and told me to drop the trailer for relay, at the home lot.  I drove there, dropped the trailer, and went home.

End of tour

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Got to the lot, and was ready to go at 0815.  I had my orders, and left at that time.  I drove half way to the shipper to pick up an empty trailer.  At the shipper, I was live loaded in about an hour.

When I left the home lot, I was asked for my fuel level.  Most loaded start out this way.  The last load, last week, didn't list a fuel stop to get home.  So, I only had about a quarter tank of fuel.  The directions didn't include a fuel stop.  Sometimes the program can't figure one out.  Now I was getting low on fuel, but figured I could make it to Gary.  This truck is very close on the fuel use reported when I push the fuel button on the dash.  I had used `130 gallons of 200.  We are told not to go below 150 gallons.  When I got to Gary, the truck took 148 gallons.

The rest of the drive was putting on distance.  The trailer was only half loaded, and it was real light. It made the drive easy.

I wanted to get to the deliver location by end of the day tomorrow.  The load didn't have to get there until the 30th, but maybe I could get it done tomorrow.  In order to do this, I would have to go over 500 miles today.  At 2100, I had gone 540 miles.

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I arrive after 1600.  I was told that the unloading crew was gone.  I said it was okay as I didn't expect to get unloaded until tomorrow.  I was told I should back into a dock, and that I could stay there that night.  I was getting ready to watch TiVo when someone drove into the trailer with a lift truck.  I went back with the bill of lading, and talked to the driver.  He said that another truck hadn't come in, so he would unload me.  It was only a partial load, and it didn't take long.

Not only was the trailer only half loaded, but the load had two stops.  I drove to the second stop, where I dropped the trailer.  I had originally sent my availability as being tomorrow at noon.  I sent a new available time for tomorrow at 0600.  A short time later I received orders to pick up an empty trailer where I was at, and pick up a load tomorrow.  The problem with this is that the delivery was by 2300 on the 31st, 1250 total miles.  That would mean about 625 miles a day.  I had only done about eight hours so far today, so I drove about an hour and a quarter towards the shipper.  I stopped at a Pilot station, where I could shower in the morning.

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Three hours of driving got me back to where I had been yesterday, when I dropped the trailer at the second part of the delivery.  I ate lunch.  I was at the GA border.  The rest of the afternoon, I drove across GA, and almost three quarters of AL.  I kept calculating the time left to drive, and the miles driven.  I had a stop location in mind, but I was over 700 miles of the 1250, so I stopped 20 miles earlier.

Forward to Apr

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I delivered the load, then drove a couple of block down the road to a Wal-Mart lot to park for the night.  I had only driven about eight hours for the day, and I could have driven toward my next load, having received the orders, but the load wouldn't be ready until 1000 tomorrow, so I parked.  I was in Palestine, TX.