Start of week 4

I woke up at 0456 this morning. Not because of my alarm though. It was purely me being a dumb ass.

Last night when I went to bed it was about 34 degrees out. I could have let the truck idle all night, but it was toasty enough. Hell, I have a good sleeping bag so I will be fine. Well that was bull shit. Apparently throughout the night I managed to unzip it and ended up more out of it than in it. So, at about 0200 I woke up freezing my ass off. I jumped up, hopped in the driver's seat, and fired the truck up.

Now maybe it was because I was so cold, but I cranked the heat and properly crawled back into my sleeping bag. Pretty sure I don't have to tell ya what happened next, but I'm gonna. Remember me saying I woke up at 0456?? Sweatin like a whore in church. BTW, who the hell came up with that saying anyway??

Anyway, since my alarm was set for 0500 I just stayed up. After I turned the temp all the way to cool.

I got everything done and headed out for Park City at 0700. Let me just say that Chicago traffic wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

When we got to our destination we walked in and both our jaws hit the ground. There was no way for them to get the generator off the trailer and the guy we gave the paperwork to just looked at us and said he had to get his supervisor. About 10 min later this lady walks around the corner and said we could pick our jaws up off the ground as she made arrangements to have us unloaded across the street.

I don't think the guys she had arranged to unload it knew it was 8300 lbs though because they looked pretty nervous and didn't have a fork lift big enough to take it off. I asked if they had two fork lifts and he said yes. I said well I will just back in and you guys can get a fork lift on each side, lift it up just enough to get it off the trailer, and I will drive out from underneath it. They looked worried, but Donald reassured them.

So we get unloaded and waited for about 30 min after we sent our unloaded call n nothing came through so we headed back to Gary.

We sat there until around 1330 before we got a pre-plan. It's a load of two coils. One is 49K and the other is 14K. The pre-plan said to pick it up at the terminal, but all the flat beds were empty. We went in to check on what was going on and this was a load that was being dropped off because the guy who was picking it up today didn't have enough hours to complete the run.

Well his slow ass didn't get to the terminal till 1830. Since I started my day at 0630, I only had two hours left to work. Had plenty of hours left on my 11, but only two on mt 14.

So, donald is driving now and I will be legal to drive at 1015 tonight, but since I was up all day Donald wants me ready to roll at 0300.

Not sure where we will be by that time, but I am hoping we haven't hit Black Mountain by than. Donald said it is the worst mountain in NC and has a 7% grade. He said if it was just him he would take a different route. Since I am on the truck though, we are going over it because he wants me to experience it.

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We arrived at our location to pick-up and discovered they weren't even ready. Granted we were an hour early, but were told yesterday it would be ready.

When we arrived, they were just starting to disconnect the generator from the building. Apparently they were leasing this one and the buyout was to much so they are returning it.

Once they got it disconnected, I brought the truck around for the crane to place it on the trailer. First time I ever directed a crane operator, but it's not rocket science I guess.

We got it chained down, only needed two chains and than I was asked to move the truck as they had to place the other generator they got. That meant we had to wait to tarp the load as they had to put all the side panels on it first.

Basically we arrived at 0915 EST and didn't pull out and send our loaded call until noon.

All-in-all the day went well. Can't say I am a fan of Baltimore/DC traffic. Not to mention most of the roads in that area are narrow as hell and Beltsville is full of hair pin turns. Donald said he was impressed with my turns though, so that was good. Honestly, I impressed myself on a couple of them. The rest of my drive was good, except I can't figure PA out. Your going 65 for 10 miles, than it changes to 55 for like five miles, than goes back up to 65. It's really frustrating. The coolest part of the drive through PA was going through the Allegheny Mountain tunnel. I'm such a little kid sometimes. You know I had to roll down the window to hear the echo of the big ass Cumins Diesel under the hood. Not only did I do that, but I also tapped the brake to shut off the cruise so the jake would kick in. Ahhhhh. Donald just looked over at me and shook his head. Than he admitted he did the same damn thing driving through a tunnel his first time.

I put in 549 miles today in 8 1/2 hours. Donald is driving the rest of the way to Gary. We will be staying at the terminal until Monday as the place we are delivering to isn't open on weekends.




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Chillin at the TA

The ol alarm went off at 0400 and in Ty fashion, I hit snooze till 0500. It was all good though. When we finally did get up Donald said he got up at 0300 when his wife called and couldn't see 20 feet in front of the truck due to fog.
We rolled out around 0600 and going through the Appalachians, there was patchy fog that slowed us down to 35-40 mph at times.

I was still on my 10 hour break, so I didn't drive at all today. We were unloaded around 0930 and before we got all the chains put away and the tarp rolled up, we both got text messages saying we had a pre-plan.

Picking up 8,500 lbs of generator parts from CH Robinson in Beltsville, Maryland headed to Park City, Illinois.

Well we looked at the trusty ol map and Beltsville is halfway between Baltimore and DC. The only truck stop between there is in Jessup, Maryland so that is where we headed. Our load wasn't ready so we couldn't pick it up today.

So, we've been chillin at the TA all day. Took a little nap this afternoon, got a shower in, and did some training. Honestly, I have been pretty bored. Good thing I got my BlackBerry. ;)

Sitting at a truck stop all day is a lot like sitting at the airport, waiting on a flight, and people watching. As people were backing into spots, Donald would ask me what they were doing wrong, when they should start getting the tractor in front of the trailer, etc.. Ya know, it is so easy to back one of these things up when you aren't behind the wheel. Lol

The other entertainment of the day was just listening to the CB. It's like a Jerry Springer episode. I think some of these guys just lay in their sleeper and stir shit up.

So that was my day in a nutshell. Hell, it was so uneventful, I don't even have any funny stories.

I guess I will close with that. Gotta go get a Dew and than hop up in the bunk and watch movies until my baby calls!




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Finally got a load

Got the text message around 1145 or so to head to the truck to check our pre-plan. 1 steel coil weighing in at 24,440 lbs from East Chicago to Baltimore.

I fired up the Kenworth and headed over to flatbed row to get our trailer. Once hooked up I did the pre-inspection on the trailer and discovered we had two lights out. I let Donald know and he said ok, I'll be right back. About 10 minutes later he came back with his pockets full of lights. I just started laughing and he smiled and said, well ya can never have enough spares. Come to find out, he grabbed enough lights to replace everyone on the trailer. We just replaced the two that we out though and headed over to East Chicago.

We pulled up to the security guard and he directed us to the back of the building and told us what door to go to. I pulled around back, went in and filled out the load paperwork and the guy said pick a door and back in. So Donald opened the door for me and I went to swing the truck around. It was another blind side backing and I am happy to report I backed into that bay like a pro. Ok, maybe not like a pro, but I didn't have to pull up at all to re-adjust. I could have been a little more centered in the bay, but like Donald told me; your in and getting loaded, that's all that matters.

There were two other Swift drives getting loaded after us and it was their first solo run. I actually felt sorry for them as they looked clueless. But Donald took the time to answer all the questions and even showed them how to set up the rack properly. I felt pretty good as well as I even answered a couple of their questions.

Once we got the coil chained down, tarped, and strapped we sent our loaded call and updated our ETA at the destination.

We needed to fill up, so that is where we headed next. As I was driving Donald looked over and said, "You must have got all your grinding out when you were at home.". I was concentrating and didn't hear him exactly. So I asked what he said. He said well, you haven't ground a gear yet so you must have got all your grinding out when you were at home. This is when the light bulb turned on and I got it. ;). Now, you know I must have really been concentrating to miss a perverted analogy because that shit just doesn't happen.

We took on 180 gallons of fuel at the TA outside Gary and headed east.

I finished my day in Oakmont, PA. Another 440 safe miles driven. Donald is driving now. He said he was gonna get a couple hours sleep and than get up and drive, but I am guessing he wants to get within a couple hours of our destination, stop, get some sleep, and than have me finish up in the morning. We have a delivery window of 3/27 @ 0700 to 3/30 @ 1500. I believe we are doing just fine on time considering we only had to go 617 miles.

Ohhhh.... Stoppin for the night... Donald is tired... YAY for sleeeeeeep!!!!

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Unexpected home time is awesome

Sorry for not posting yesterday, but you will understand why as this continues.

Yesterday started with me waking up at 0656 and having no clue where we were. Donald was on the top bunk, and we were stopped at a rest area somewhere. Donald had to be really tired to stop at a rest area, because he just doesn't do that.

I grabbed my bag to go brush my teeth and that's when I found out we were at the Silver Lake Rest Area in between St Louis and Effingham. I get back to the truck and Donald is up now and he looks at me and says I overslept. He said I should have been on the road at 0630. I guess I failed to hear that before I crashed for the night. So, he said it's not a huge thing as I can still make it. He told me to set the cruise between 60 and 65, keep my eyes peeled, and to listen to the CB. The speed limit for trucks in Illinois is 55. That CB, even though there is a ton of BS that comes across, is worth it's weight in gold. Not just for cop sightings, but for safety issues as well.

I made it to Lafayette with an hour to spare. We checked in with security to get our pass and get directions for where we were to go. I had to go through the scale again and we weighed in at 70,980 lbs. I than made my way to the scrap building and pulled in as directed. It took about 30 minutes to un-tarp and un-strap the load, than we had to wait as someone was borrowing the forklift the guy needed to unload us. Once unloaded, I had to back out of the building and head back to the scale. Our empty weight was 30,880 lbs. Once we got the weight ticket we could than head back to security to be cleared to leave.

Now as we were waiting to be unloaded, I took the opportunity to call Angie. As I was on the phone, Donald looked over and told me to ask her if it would be OK if I came home for a couple of days. :) We didn't have a pre-plan yet and he said since everyone was already gone for the weekend it would be Monday before we got anything. He said there was no reason for me to stay in a hotel in Gary since my car was there. He went on to explain that if I didn't take it home now, he didn't know when I would get it home because once I am done with him, I will have my own truck waiting on me. So, he is going to get loaded Monday and than pick me up after he's loaded. We are going to take a steel coil down to Laredo.

Needless to say, yesterday was pretty long. I started off outside of St Louis, stopped in Indiana, went to the terminal in Gary, and than drove back to St Louis.

When we were on our way to Gary I had passed another truck and I hear "C'mon over skateboard". I'm still checking my mirror to make sure I am clear and Donald looks over at me and said, "he's talking to you." Ahhhhhhhh I get it now... Skateboard is trucker talk for a flat bed. So I grabbed the CB and said thank ya sir! :) At that point I realised it was a helluva lot easier in the daytime to grab the CB and let those that pass me know they were clear to come back over.

I will close for now as I can't remember everything I wanted to put in here. I guess it wasn't that important. LOL

Next update will probably be Tuesday night sometime.

I put to much pressure on myself

I woke up at 0700 and was on the road by 0830. If you remember for the last blog about mpg, I set out the day determined to get as close to Donald's as I could. As I pulled out of the parking lot, I only ground one gear. 1 outta 8 isn't to shabby considering I floated all of 'em.

Well when all was said and done and I stopped for the day in Tulsa, I only managed 6.7 mpg. Thru out the trip it only got worse as I was trying to hard. I knew it too, and just went back to using the clutch.

Overall, it was a good day. Donald told me to quit putting so much pressure on myself and to quit thinking about it so much. He said I know what to do, and everything will become smooth in time. Just let it happen.

The other things I need to work on are easy fixes. The first thing I need to do is slow down sooner and anticipate sharp curves, off ramps, and turns. I'm not doing bad, just need to be more aware of it. Don asked me if I knew why I was making that mistake. I said because I am thinking to much about down shifting. He smiled and said, well at least you know. The second thing I need to work on is keeping my 8 seconds following distance and not hesitating changing lanes. I tend to roll up on a car if there are cars in the left lane. I am trying to be nice and signaling to give those in the left lane a chance to go by me. Donald said the average person isn't even paying attention, so sometimes you just have to get over and force them to slow down. Basically, I just need to handle my business. He said you have to drive every car around you and anticipate what they are going to do.

For those of you that take the extra 30 to a minute to let us over and pass, THANK YOU, and I will flash my light accordingly. For those, that think they are the only ones on the road and we are just a nuisance....quit being an ass and if it wasn't for people like you, traffic would move a helluva lot smoother!

As I stated earlier, I stopped in Tulsa. 10 and a half hours and 579 miles from where I started. Donald is driving now and told me I need to get some good rest because I need to get us to Lafayette, IN by 1400 tomorrow. I'm not sure where he is stopping for the night. We just went through Joplin, MO. He said something about Effingham, IL. I guess I won't know for sure until he wakes me up and tells me to move to the top bunk. :). We have to be there by 1400 tomorrow because they close at 1500. If we don't get unloaded tomorrow we will be sitting in Lafayette till Monday.

It sounds like our next load will be a coil out of one of the mills in Gary, IN to Laredo, TX. More to follow on that.

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I'm doing a helluva job!

That was what Donald told me tonight. TWICE! At the end of everyday he asks me how I did. He wants to make sure I know what I screwed up on. Well, I am my worst critic. So I tell him all the things that I think I screwed up on and he tells me that everything I mentioned will come with experience. I was getting 7.3 mpg today and he gets behind the wheel and gets 10.6....up and down hills.

He explained it to me and it makes total sense. Basically the way I was taught to shift in school was wrong. The way I need to shift is the way I was doing it at the beginning of my road training. I would shift according to the sound of the engine. Well, my road instructor saw that I never watched the tach and blasted the stereo so loud he had to yell to talk. He was trying to prove the point that it will be noisy in the truck when I am on my own and I need to watch the tach so I know when to shift. So, tomorrow Donald wants me to shift the way I want. I can even float the gears if I want and only use the clutch to stop and start. Donald is so awesome!!!

He also said that when we get done with this load, the next load is all me. I will be in charge of everything. That includes the route, fuel stops, and nightly stops. He wants to see how close I will come to how he would plan it.

His philosophy is that he doesn't know what we will do down the road, so he teaches everyone to be an O/O. Even if we don't want to do that, we can still apply everything to being a company driver.

Today was all me. We got up and had some breakfast at the Jake Break, and than it was off to hook up the trailer. I nailed it on the first try, so I was pretty pleased with that. The only thing I messed up on was the tug test to make sure the jaws locked around the king pin. I tugged a little to hard and pulled the trailer forward about a foot. That made it a real bitch to roll up the landing gear. Mental note...don't tug to hard. :)

I drove from Phoenix to about 60 miles outside Roswell and Donald took over. He was going to take over in Alamogordo, but wanted me to experience the hills at night.

We were going to stop in Amarillo, but Donald had been up all day and started yawning. So he did the smart thing and stopped. No need in pushing it. That's unsafe and we are all about arriving alive.

So, I will wake up at 7 and hit the road by 0830. We will have to stop for fuel in Oklahoma City, but I am not sure if that is where my day will end or not. Unlike Donald, I don't know the distances between places without looking.... Gimme a couple of months and I will though. ;)

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Swift Headquarters

The day started at 0500 AZ time. We got to the customer at 0530 and were the first ones there. I am so glad Donald was with me as I would probably still be there trying to back up.

When you pull into the place you pull onto a scale. They get your weight and than they tell you to pull forward to the dead end, take a right and park between the yellow lines. He said make sure you have the trailer in the box marked trailer and the tractor in the one marked tractor. Well guess what. You get back there and you have to turn around in order to do that. However, there is barely enough room to turn around a pick-up with a boat or camper. That is why I would have been there awhile. Hell, it took Donald about 15 min to do it.

We get unloaded and than they tell us to pull back up to the scale so they can get the empty weight. Well that means you have to back all the way up again to get loaded. There is shit on both sides and hardly any room to maneuver, but Donald made it look fairly easy. The Foreman comes out and tells us that they are going to put 26 pallets of aluminum scrap on with 17K lbs of aluminum blocks on the back. Now the boxes range from 1K lbs to 2K lbs. A quick math check by Donald said there is no way in hell you are doing that because that will put us over weight. The guy tried to argue with him but lost. He said you guys may do that with company trucks, but this is my truck and you can either listen to me or I am gone. Lol. So, they changed the load. Basically cut the number of pallets, so we have 41K lbs on the trailer now.

We strap everything down and than have to weigh on the way out. The guy at the scale tells us we need to go to shipping to get the paperwork. We drive over there, get in the gate and some dude comes out and said your tarping that right? Donald said yes, and asked if we could go to the truck stop to do it. The dude says no problem, I am off to a meeting, but your paperwork will be ready when you get back.

So, we go tarp in and get back to shipping and some jack ass calls Swift HQ and said we didn't tarp the load on their property and are going to refuse to let us leave. Now we have HQ calling wondering what is going on and it's just a big mess. Donald doesn't play those games though. When all was said and done the guy that told us we could tarp it at the truck stop finally told his boss he said we could. When all was said and done we spent just over 5 hrs at this place. Come to find out we are supposed to tarp it on their property, but you can't get on the trailer without going to some station and wearing a harness. That is why Donald wanted to do it at the truck stop.

Anyway, as we are leaving we get a message over the Qualcomm that says to head to the Phoenix terminal and see the Flatbed division (for all of Swift) manager.

In order to get in this place you have to go through the fuel isle. we needed fuel anyway, so no biggie. Since this is HQ though, they actually do a safety check to. In fact they have a gate that won't open until safety clears you. Well, the brakes are bad on the trailer and the right rear outer tire is flat. So, they red lined it and it's in the shop now. The tire wasn't flat either. It had 80 psi in it. It's supposed to have 110. I told the guy just to put air in it than and he gave us some line o shit that if it's below 90 it is considered flat.

Bottom line is our day is shot. We have the hours to work and drive still, but it makes no sense to go 120 miles and stop. We will get a good nights rest and head out at the ass crack of dawn to beat the morning traffic out of here. Since we are so far north I think we are just going to go up through Flagstaff and then cut over.

Oh, almost forgot the best part of the day. This morning before we left Love's we went in to brush the teeth and get some coffee. It sounded good, even though I had Dew in the truck. Well I grab me one of those 32 oz refill able jobbers. Now at this point Donald is giving the lady that works there a hard time because she is short and can barely reach the top of the coffee pots. We get our coffee and head over to get in line to pay. No one was there, but guess who showed up? The short lady. So Donald starts in again. She helps the two in front of us, than looks at us and says, "would you guys just leave and quit giving me shit." I pleaded my case and reminded her that I didn't say anything. I was told I was guilty by association. Than she said now you guys have a good day. I looked at her and held up my cup and she said don't worry about it! HA! She thought it was a refill. Now Donald has been giving me hell all day. He even said he was going to call Angie and tell her that I am a theif.

This just in.... Donald just got back from the shop and we are cleared for take off.

I just wish I would have packed some shorts because it's 83 here, not a cloud in the sky, and a nice little breeze. I could be tanning. Getting paid to do it too since I am still in training and on salary. :)
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Donald woke up at the ass crack of dawn this morning to start driving. I stayed up for about an hour. I asked if he needed anything and he said he was good, so I grabbed my sleeping bag, moved it to the bottom bunk and I was out!

I woke up around 10 in Alamogordo, NM (I think gordo is Spanish for shit hole). The funny thing is Donald stopped twice before that, one of those for breakfast, and I had no damn clue.
So I do my morning thing, get a couple of Dews, and do my pre trip. At 1115 I was headed west on US-70. The first thing I pass is Holloman AFB. Thank God I was never stationed there. There isn't a damn thing for miles around that base. Than I see this sign that tells me we are entering White Sands Missile Range. Now that was pretty cool. When I come through this way solo, I will have to stop and check out the museum. May be a good pit stop when I have Angie on the truck with me. Plus I will have to have lunch or something with Todd since he is at Holloman (not sure who he pissed off).

Traveling through New Mexico is about as fun as stubbing your toe. The biggest excitement of that part of the trip was the whit sand on the missile range, and this deceiving hill that lasted for what seemed ever. The damn thing doesn't look that bad until you start heading up it with 78K lbs. The engine starts pulling and the speedo drops to 55. So I down shift to 7th and that lasted about a half mile, and I went to 6th. By the time I got to the top, I was in 5th gear doing a blistering 35 mph. Now, whomever put that road in, is a complete dumb ass. The friggin truck lane didn't start until you were three quarters of the way up. Not to mention they don't have it posted as to what the grade is. I have been on 7% grade in Texas and that was nothing compared to this.

Whatever goes up, must come down right? This was the fun part. All those cars that passed me going up the hill, saw a beige blur go by them on the way down. I had it in 7th and was doing good at keeping it at 60. I didn't want to get too crazy. Hardly touched the brakes. I let the 'ol Jake Brake do the work for me and let me tell ya, that baby sounds awesome. So I am cruisin along and Donald looked over and told me to put it in 8th and enjoy the ride. Next thing I now I am going 75, but that was the speed limit, so it's all good.

I gotta tell ya, if you have never been to Arizona, ya gotta go. The scenery is awesome. Even though there is nadda in spots, but the scenery n mountains make up for it. I absolutely love it.

We pulled into Chandler at 7 and headed into Love's to take a shower. The place we have to deliver to tomorrow is right across the street.

Donald wanted to go to the casino down the road though, so that is where we are now. I put 2 bucks in the slots, lost it all, and that was good for me. The buffet was alright, but not worth 15.99. I really have no idea why they call it the Gila River Casino. I think it should be called the Chandler Senior Citizen Center. Either that or tonight was field trip night, not really sure.

I guess I better hit the hay. Gettin up at 7, well 5 AZ time to head over to unload. We pick up our next load at the same place and are supposed to deliver it in Indiana on the 17th... Yeah, we aren't making that. Hell we couldn't make it even if both of us drove our 11 hrs straight.

Today's stats were 439 miles in 7 hrs and 45 min, with a single quick pit stop.

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Like a sponge

We woke up around 0800. I went and brushed my teeth, got some Dew and headed back to the truck. Donald wasn't back yet, so I did my pre trip inspection. Just as I was finishing up, he called to let me know he was in the restaurant (the bigger Petro truck stops have an Iron Skillet). I decided to go in and grab a bite to eat. Had me a couple of scrambled eggs with cheese, burnt bacon and coffee. I don't normally drink coffee, but it sounded good. Now for some reason coffee has a laxative effect on me, so it was a good thing we didn't go anywhere for awhile, if ya know what I mean.

We rolled out of Joplin at 0945 and within the first 50 feet I fell in love with this truck. Shifting in this truck is effortless compared to the others I have been in. You barely have to touch the clutch. In fact, it is more of a tap. The seats have 9 different air adjustment on them too. The most comfortable seats I have ever driven in. Once we got on the interstate, Don looked over at me and asked how it rode. All I could do was smile. This baby just glides over crap. There is hardly any rattling inside at all. I'm just gonna come right out and say it; This truck kicks ass!!!!

Our first stop was at a Love's in Oklahoma City, OK so Don could scan in his logs. That also allowed me to get a Love's rewards card. Now all I need is a TA and I will have them all except Flying J. But they are going out of business anyway. Not to mention they don't take our CommData cards, so we never stop there to begin with. Oh, new term... CommData is our fuel card Swift gives us that we purchase all of our fuel with.

We hit the road again and about 20 miles east of Elk City, OK the fuel light came on. I let Don know and he said we would stop in Elk City as the remaining 60 gallons wouldn't get us to Amarillo. So, I pull into the Love's and get out of the truck and Don asked if I had my card. I said sure, but it won't work will it? He said it should because you're assigned to an O/O truck. See, he fuels with the CommData card and Swift just deducts it from his monthly settlement or whatever.

Back to fueling. So I swipe my card and it asks if I am fueling a tractor or trailer? So I hit tractor. Than it asks me for the truck number. I enter that, and than it asks me for my driver's license number. DAMN, just to buy fuel? Anyway, I enter that and then it wants to know the state. Holy shit, I am thinking it is gonna need underwear size too at this point. Goody for me, that was the last thing to enter. Apparently I answered correctly as it came back approved and said begin fueling.

Now for those that haven't actually seen a truck fueling, there is a pump on both sides since there is a tank on both sides. The master control is on the driver's side. 10 minutes later the tanks were full. It took 172 gallons and cost $309 dollars. DAMN!!!! Each tank he has is 120 gallons. But when ya think about it, I averaged 6.2 mpg today with the cruise set at 64. That's pulling 48K lbs. So, we can go 1488 miles between fill-ups. However, Don uses a flat 5 mpg to ensure he never runs out with nowhere to fuel.

I ended the day in Amarillo, TX. I thought we were just gonna make a pit stop, and head on to Clovis, NM. Don wanted to take a nap for a couple of hours though. Than he is going to drive. We don't have to deliver until Tuesday, but he is going to call them on the road and see if they will let us unload early. If so, we are heading all the way to Chandler. If they won't take us early, we are going to stop at a big ass Love's outside of Chandler and just be the first truck in line Tuesday morning.

At the end of the day I drove 459 miles in 8 hrs and 15 min. Don looked at me and said that was a perfect day. He said I understand you could have driven more, but there is no point. Why wear yourself out if you don't have to.

We finished the day with a self critique. I thought I did ok, but ground the gears a couple of times and missed a down shift turning into a truck stop. He looked at me and said I am doing good. He added that I can walk the line of trucks and ask any driver if they grind gears. If they say no, they are a damn liar. He said everyone grinds a gear every now and than, it's no big deal. Than he explained the down shifting to me and how, if I miss a gear all I need to do is look at my speed to know where to go. Anything under 15 mph and the splitter needs to be down. Above 15 mph it needs to be up. I could get more into it, but I know some of you are confused as hell already. It makes sense when you are sittin behind the wheel though. :)

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Donald picked me up at the Lowe's I used to work at today. We ended up not being able to move for about 45 min as he wanted to make sure I got paid. For that to happen I have to be assigned to his truck. After 5 different phone calls, someone was able to take care of it.

As we were sitting there he went over everything again with me. Even though he pays for the truck, etc., I am to treat it as though it is mine. I am responsible for everything that has to do with the Qualcomm from this point forward. He is also only going to drive about 200 miles a day. I will be driving 500 a day, maybe 600 if I am up to it. He plans his trips at 500 miles a day though. He told me if I stick to that schedule, I will never run out of hours and I will never be late for a delivery.

I am taking mental notes like you wouldn't believe. Hell, I never took notes like this in high school. Which probably explains some of the grades I brought home. Anywho, he has been driving truck for 30 years this Sept and the last 17 has been with Swift.

One of the first things he did was asked to see my log. As I suspected I am illegal as hell. I knew from the first day with Greg that something wasn't right the way he had me doing things. However, I couldn't do much as mine had to coincide with his. Donald told me today that Greg and him are cool personally, but he doesn't think Greg is mentor material. So, since I have already scanned those logs in, Donald is going to wait for me to get the message that I have log violations and than help me fix them. He totally understood it wasn't my fault and I was just doing as I was told.

Before I continue, I gotta tell you about the truck. It's a Kenworth T2000, with an 11 speed Eaton transmission. Luckily it's the same gear pattern as I am used to. This baby is LOADED too. Leather seats, TV, refrigerator w/ freezer, and a kick ass stereo.

Speaking of stereo, he said when he is driving the truck he listens to what he wants. When I am driving the truck, I listen to what I want. HELL YEAH!!! Lucky for him he doesn't have satellite radio as I would 80's him to death. :)

Another huge piece of advice he gave me is about my home time. He told me that ANYTIME I get a load that goes within 50 miles of home, I better plan accordingly. He went on to say that he only requests home time if it is something big. All the other times, he plans it to where his 10 hour break is at home. For example if I make a run from Gary to Laredo and back, I would be home once a week. Granted it's only for 10 hours, but is better than being out two to three weeks and only home 2 days. He looked me straight in the eye n said I don't care how much that cute little thing that dropped you off loves you, if you drive through town n tell her you don't have time to stop, you aren't going to doing this long. HOLY SHIT!!! If I learn nothing else during my time with him, that little nugget of info is worth it's weight in gold.

Than he talked about when I get released to solo, I need to get Angie on the truck as soon as possible. That way she can experience everything that goes into this. He said that his wife, high school sweetheart, rides with him every chance she gets. In fact, they plan things around it and have Swift pay for the transportation. They go to shows, casinos, sight seeing, etc. He said the reason he is able to do that is because he plans his trips and stops accordingly.

I asked him about being an O/O too. He said right now, he wouldn't recommend it unless I have a substantial savings. Basically, the way the economy and freight is right now I would be making just enough to pay for the truck and keep it running. Once it picks up though, he said it is something to consider. He said last year was a slow year and he made 189 grand. I asked if that was take home and he said he took home just over 100 grand! HOLY SAMOLIANS BATMAN!!

We stopped at the Petro in Joplin, MO for the night. Not sure what time we are awaking in the morning, put I will be doing the pre trip inspection, sending in our hours for today, and than driving 5-600 miles. his truck isn't governed, but he expects me to keep it between 63 and 65. FINE BY ME!! Hell, going 70 down a hill makes me hold the seat tight....and my hands are still on the steering wheel. That is also where he gets the best mpg. About 7 to 7.5 with 46K lbs on the back.

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First Impression of My New Mentor

Donald called me this afternoon to let me know he was headed to pick up the load. He also wanted an address to a Wal-Mart or somewhere he could pick me up. So, I just gave him the address to Lowe's where I used to work. Instead of parking there for the night he said he would just stop at a truck stop and meet me there at 0700 tomorrow.

He than went over the rules of the truck. He said even though he pays the note and the insurance, when I am on that truck I am to operate it like it 's mine. If I need to stop to stretch my legs, use the bathroom, or whatever, I just do it. If I ask him to pull over he will say no. LOL

I was also surprised to find out that I will be doing most, if not all, of the driving. He said he doesn't operate his truck as a team truck, because he is all about teaching me and getting me ready for going solo. He also told me there is no such thing as a dumb question. I said well, you don't know me that well. I am pretty sure after a week with me you will change your view on that.

As for where we are headed, I believe he said Glendale, AZ. Not completely positive though. I do know it is somewhere in AZ and we will be picking up our next load at the same location we drop this one off.

My first impression is that I am going to like Donald even more than I did Greg. Not to mention I am still flabberghasted that someone would pay money out of their own pocket to train me. I just hope I can live up to it and not waste his time.

With that, I will close. I need to go make supper and spend as much time with my baby as I can.

Update on the Greyhound experience

For some reason the bus showed up in Dallas on time, but we didn't leave until 0630 or so. Apparently the driver didn't show up and they had to call someone else in. However, this wasn't told to us until we got to Tulsa to switch busses. The lay over here in Tulsa was supposed to be 30 min. Due to us leaving out of Dallas late though, we missed our connection and the next bus isn't until 1900 tonight. That means I don't get to St Louis until 0200 now.

I called Donald to give him the update and he said he was good with leaving Saturday so I could have some time with my wife. :). Not married yet, but it still put a big ass smile on my face.

So, I have tried to use the time productively and studied some more. I also believe that I suffer from a severe case of waffle ass too. The benches in the terminal are a wire mesh and not the most comfortable.

This will be my last update until at least Saturday night when I get on Donalds truck. Not even sure where we are headed, but I am assuming Laredo. He said he doesn't do runs out west.


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Not A Happy Camper

DISCLAIMER: No one was hurt or injured during the writing of this, but I may punch a bum in the throat if he asks me for more money. Than I am going to go smack the crap out of some lady who can't control her screaming kid. I probably shouldn't even be writing this right now, but I feel the raw, unedited version is the best. That is why I never re-read anything before I post it.

Greg decided to leave Houston and head for Silsbee at the ass crack 'o dawn (0445 to be exact). In fact we arrived so early, we had to wait an hour for daylight. So, while we had time I decided to do another check of everything to make sure it was ok. Well, it wasn't. Somehow the service airline connection on the trailer broke off. Not a huge issue as there is still the emergency line. However, when you add a load, you can't ask the tractor to stop it all (see the service line provides air to the trailer, so when you hit the brake pedal, it applies the trailer brakes as well). Greg called roadside service to come out and fix it while we were being loaded. After about 5 min of Greg trying to explain to the mechanic what was wrong, he handed me the phone and told me to explain it. The guy asked me what was wrong and I said the service glad handle snapped off the trailer. That is fine, but you will need to bring the brass nut that attaches to the trailer, as well as the 1/4 in to 1/2 inch brass adapter as that is the part that snapped in half. He says ok, I'll be there in about 30 min.

We had about half the load on when the guy showed up. After I set all the straps for the load where they needed to be I went to show the mechanic what was wrong. He had this puzzled look on his face and said he may not be able to fix it there. He said he needed the brass nut that attaches to the trailer. Well no shit? Pretty sure I told you that. So guess what? The dude jerry rigs it with a bungee cord to get us the 50 miles or so to the truck stop in Beaumont, TX. Needless to say when it was all said and done, they charged Swift 325 dollars for about 15 dollars worth of parts. They charged a 200 dollar roadside call fee? WTF?? Seriously?? I apparently am in the wrong business. So guess what Ty is gonna carry with him when he gets his own truck? If you guess everything it takes to replace the air line connections you are right.. If you guessed something else, just stop reading now as your not paying attention and are wasting my time.

Ok kinda skipped ahead there. Let me back track a bit. We had to use 16 straps on the load. Well, we didn't have to, but it is best to over secure, than not have enough. We called the customer and confirmed that we didn't need to tarp it. Soooo happy about that.

I started driving after we got loaded and headed to Beaumont, which has already been discussed.
The drive was pretty good. It sprinkled most of the day, but nothing to serious.... Just yet anyway.

Good 'ol mother nature has to wait until we get about halfway there and decides to increase her perspiration. There we're times it was raining like a cow pissin on a flat rock. For those that can't comprehend that analogy, well think of turning your faucet on high. Get the picture now?

I was having a blast. It is amazing how stupid people become when it rains. It is like they lost their minds and totally forgot what the hell they were doing. It's even better to look over and see some physically squeeze the wheel harder when we pass.

Hey, after driving almost seven hours straight, it doesn't take much to amuse me. Come to think of it, it doesn't take much to amuse me at any time.

We arrived at the customer and it was still raining. That nice steady pour too. Just to make it better it was cold rain. Remember those 16 straps I was telling you about earlier? Oh it was a real treat. Froze my ass off and soaked to the bone, but loved every minute of it.

Now for the part where the day goes to shit. I will save the other part of this for the end to attempt to end on a good note.

If you haven't read the previous days blogs, STOP!!! Go read those first or you will be lost. Anywho...

I got a message over the Qualcomm and it said that I was being bussed from Dallas to St Louis, and my new mentor, Donald would be picking me up on Friday (that's the part I am ending on). So, this whole bus thing. Oh hell, I am going to keep this short because it has been eatin me up for the past 4 hours now, and my thumbs are getting sore. The earliest bus out of Dallas is 0600. Sweet!!! But the damn thing doesn't get to St Louis until 2100. Now I know why I have NEVER traveled on Greyhound.

And now for the rest of the story. My new mentor, Donald is the O/O I talked about yesterday. For the record he can't believe the fiasco with this whole thing, and why they just didn't put me on his truck the other day. So, we are chattin and he said you remember who I am right? I said yeah, the guy from San Antonio. He said yup! But wait, you said you were not taking anymore students because it is costing you money. He said, "I'm not doing this for Swift, I am doing this for Greg.". He went on to say that I didn't see it, but he went back to talk to Greg after talking to me. So I got to thinking about it. If it is costing him money to have students on his truck and he was not taking anymore, he is basically paying out of his own pocket to train me. That just floors me that someone would do that off a conversation.

With that I will close as I need a smoke, my thumbs hurt, and I really need to smack the shit out of the woman who can't seem to control her screaming kid. Wanna take bets they are going to St Louis???
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Flexibility!! Not only the key to Air Power, but to Trucking too

I took over driving in Van Horn, TX and mad e the 442 mile trek to San Antonio in 7 1/2 hrs. For those keeping track that is a 58.9 mph average speed. Which isn't to shabby considering I stopped once to water the tires and there were a few 7% grades on I-10, so I was doing a good amount of down shifting. The highlight of the trip was passing another Swift driver. He was a van driver, and he didn't look to happy to see a loaded flat bed passing him. Either he was loaded down pretty good, or just doesn't drive with it mashed to the floor like I do. Either way, it was priceless to see the look on his face.

Bright shiny thing.... See, there are like 15,000 van drivers and only 700 flat bed drivers. Well the flat bedders are a rare breed. Probably why I like it so much. We actually work, where the van drivers just pull a box around and slam the doors on the back. Needless to say flat bed drivers and van drivers don't get along all the time. Ok, back to the damn story...

Leave it to me to be a rookie driver and hit San Antonio at 8am traffic too. Yeah, didn't plan that out too well. It really wouldn't have been that bad but there was NO east bound traffic to keep me entertained, and only one radio station would come in. So it was just me, an ass load of deer, and a few rabbits.

I was so damn tired when we pulled into the Pilot off exit 583, that I took the easy way out and pulled into a parking spot instead of backing in. I really wasn't in the mood, plus a few trucks were leaving and they would have just got frustrated with me. Lol

When we got inside, Greg knew one of the guys in the bathroom. Come to find out he is an Owner/Operator and was a mentor as well. However, Swift cancelled the mileage incentive for mentors so he said he was done because it is costing him 5 cents a mile to have a student on the truck. See O/O are basically company drivers like I will be except they lease their truck from Swift and pay ALL of their own expenses. That includes maintenance and repairs. Anyway Greg is telling him about his suspension and how he hates to lose me because I am the best student he has ever had. I looked at him and reminded him that he didn't have to say that just because I was standing there.

Now, I tell you that because if your paying attention it will come into play later on in this reading.

Anyway, I digress... We hung out at the Pilot for about an hour and than Greg started getting anxious to get home and serve his suspension. So he called the customer and asked if we could deliver a day early. They said sure, and off we headed for Huston.

Once we unloaded and got back to the terminal, we still hadn't heard anything about a new load. Greg said if he didn't hear anything soon, he was just going to take a bus home. WTF would I do?? I called Grace, my driver manager for training, back in Gary and she said they were looking for a load for us.

The plan is to find a driver coming through Lancaster tomorrow that is headed to Gary and me catching a ride with them. I asked about a new mentor and she said she found one. His name is Donald and he's a flat bed driver. Than she said, as a matter of fact you guys talked to him today. WTF???.... OK, for the slow ones, remember the guy we talked to at the Pilot in San Antonio?? Has the light clicked yet??

At this point, I said well why didn't you just let us know that this morning when you called to check in? She said at the time it wasn't finalized. So, I am not sure what happened to have him change his mind about having students. Or, he may not even be who Grace is talking about. However, that is the only Swift driver we talked to today.

Sensing the frustration in my voice, Grace told me they had the terminal manager involved trying to find us a load and she would work on getting me a ride from Lancaster. I said well if you don't I will just sit at the nearest truck stop holding a sign that says Gary, IN or Bust. I really think she thought I was serious at first as there was this long pause and she said you will do no such thing. We will get you a ride.

About 10 min after that phone call guess what happens? Oh c'mon humor me and play along.... If you said we got a pre trip you would be correct. I will also accept; we got our next load assignment. Who would have knew these would be so darn entertaining to read?

Where was I? Oh yeah, our next load. We are headed to Silsbee, TX at 5 in the morning to pick up a load of lumber and take it to Saginaw, TX. For those that are geographically challenge, can't read a map, or otherwise just don't give a shit; Silsbee, TX is 100 miles NNE of Houston (I-10 N out of Houston, than take US-96 N). See, now you have directions in case ya ever need to go there. There is not only an entertainment value to this blog, but an educational one as well. :). Saginaw, TX is NNW of Ft. Worth (I-820, than BR-287).

The weird thing about this load is we were told we cannot tell the shipper where it is going and we can't tell the customer where it came from. Must be some secret squirrel lumber or something.

With that another day comes to a close. Just chillin at the Pilot in Houston for the night. BTW if you ever get a chance, stop at a Pilot sometime. They have tons of bright shiny things that can keep you distracted for hours. I think I could make 10 years worth of Christmas lists in there. Lol.

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East Bound N Down

The morning started with my mentor being suspended for 30 days due to the backing accident. Than out of the blue we get a pre plan for a load. Apparently they are looking for a new mentor for me and I have no clue what is going to happen, so I am just going to act as though nothing is changing.

We picked up the load in Green Valley, AZ at the copper mine. When we got there we had to contact Security on the CB to check in. Since I had never been there before I had to watch a safety video on mine operations. Let me tell ya, that is 8 minutes of my life I will never get back. Once I got my safety card the guy at the security desk took my name down and told me to drive onto the scale. Didn't know why, so I pull on and get on the CB to let him know I am there. He gives me my weight and tells me to proceed into the mine. I pulled up to get loaded and went to check-in with the loaders. that was when I found out we were getting 10 bags of Roasted Molybdenum Concentrate. I have no clue what it is, but it's a fine powdery substance.

After the guy loaded us we had to tarp the load n strap it down. Once that was complete I went back in and signed for the load and found out the weight was 40,092 lbs. That is when the light came on and I thought to myself I bet we have to scale out too. Sure enough, the guy hands me my copies and tells me to head back to the scale. See, they want to make sure you aren't stealing anything. :). It's cool though because when I called security to let them know I was ready to scale out he asked if I wanted total or axle. I had each axle weighed and that saved a trip to a truck stop scale, which saves me 9 bucks. :)

We grossed at 77 thousand and something. I can't remember, but I have it written down. It's just not back here in the sleeper and I am to lazy to get up and look.

So, Greg is driving now and our next stop is El Paso for fuel and we are also going to take advantage of the free showers at the terminal. Greg will still have about 3 hours available to drive after that, so not sure if I am taking over there or not yet.

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Still No Freight

Another day passed and no load assignment. The good thing is since I am in training status I am on salary so I get paid as long as I am on the truck. However, my mentor doesn't. If the wheels ain't turnin, he ain't earnin.

That being said, we got bored hangin at the Pilot so Greg, my mentor, wanted to go to Wal-Mart in Nogales to restock his cooler. I hung out in the truck for about an hour or so and talked to Angie.

When we left Wal-Mart, the only way to get out was to go behind the building to turn around since we have a trailer now. When we got to the back Greg saw the dock and two trailers at the dock as well as an open spot. So, he told me to put the trailer in the empty slot. Now I had a good amount of room, but the side we came in on caused it to be a blind side backing. Well I got the trailer lined up behind me and started cutting the trailer. I lost the other trailers in my right mirror, so as I am backing I reached down and adjusted the mirror so I could see. I cut it a little to much so I pulled up about 5 feet and put that bad boy right between the lines. Greg looked at me and said, "You will be just fine." He went on to explain that I was the first student he hasn't had to tell to adjust the mirror. I smiled and said thank you sir!

Greg wanted to go see another movie so I took him up there and called Angie again. What can I say, we absolutely love talking to one another. While there, Troy, Cindy, and the kids headed down from Tucson to take me out to dinner. They arrived just as Greg's movie got over, so he told me just to meet him back at the pilot. (More on that in a jiffy)

We ate at a hibachi joint! The food was awesome and it was really good to see everyone again. Plus it was my niece's 13th birthday so that was cool that I got to hang with her for a bit. She even brought Greg and I birthday cake!! :)

So we finish eating and they drop me off at the pilot and Greg is in the driver seat talking to some guy. As soon as I get in the truck Greg looks at me and says you ain't going to believe this shit. I just looked at him and he went on to say that he hit the truck next to us. WHAT??? Apparently he when he was backing he was doing what he was supposed to and getting out to look to make sure he had enough room. He said he did this about 4 times and than some guy walks up and said he would spot him back. Well the guy spotted him back into a Conway truck. The Conway driver felt the tap and pulls open his shade, looks, and gets out. At this point the guy spotting took off. It wasn't a bad hit, just a minor ding and scrape. However, the Conway guy wants to report it to his company so now Greg has to do all the paperwork for Swift. As he gets done telling me the story he said, I should have just waited until you got back and had you do it. LOL. We both had a good laugh, which he needs right now. He's still pissed at the guy who was spotting for bailing, but he is more pissed at himself because he knows.. YOU NEVER TRUST A SPOTTER!!! Unless they are your co-driver.

We have our fingers crossed that we will get a load assignment tomorrow. But if we don't I will just do some more studying and knock out a couple more backings. I have to have 28 by the time my 42 days is up.

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So There I Was

We unloaded yesterday and were given a pre-trip just as we were pulling up to our drop-off. While we were taking the chains off the coil, they took us off the trip as there was already another truck in Phoenix. Due to the economy there just isn't any freight coming out of Nogales right now.

So, we spent the night in Nogales. Hit the Wal-Mart and than my mentor wanted to see Watchmen. Lucky for him the theater was right behind Wal-Mart so I drove over there and hung out in the truck and talked to my girl. :). Much better than a movie in my opinion. After the movie was over I drove back to the Wal-Mart parking lot and that's where we crashed for the night.

We got up about 10 this morning and went back to the yard where we dropped our load to pick up a trailer just in case we get a pre-plan. We found a good trailer right when we pulled in, and my mentor looked at me and said, "It's all yours, show me how it's done." I didn't due to bad considering it was the first time I have ever coupled a trailer. Only had to pull up twice to make sure I was lined up correctly.

Once I was hooked up we decided to head back North on I-19 to the Pilot in Rio Rico. So I pull in and my mentor looks at me and tells me what spot he wants me to park in. Now, I am thinking to myself that their are other spots open and easier to get to. However, he wanted to see if I could bend this flat bed 90 degrees and put it dead center between two trucks already parked.

Now someone must have hit some silent alarm or something as about 5 different guys get out of their trucks to watch. That didn't last long though. I think they got bored watching me. Lol. Let me just say that backing up a 48 ft flat bed with an 8 ft spread is different than backing up a 53 ft van with tandems. The pivot points on the wheels are different. You will be happy to know I got it in without hitting anything. :). Only took me 4 pull-ups and 3 GOALs (Get Out And Looks). Oh and just to give you an idea of how much room I had to work with; if I roll my window down and the guy next to me does the same, we can high-5 one another. Basically that's about 3 feet on either side.

Right now I am deciding if I want to spend 10 bucks to take a shower or not. I am thinking it's a good investment though so I may do that. The rest of the day has been spent studying my driver manual that I have to take 5 tests on when my 42 days is up. Plus I have 2 test on the flat bed as well.

Other than that I am just chillin and watchin all of the other professional drivers whip in and out of spots like it's nothing. It's actually pretty impressive to watch I think.

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Made it to Albuquerque

Actually I drove about 50 miles further on 25 South. All-in-all it was a good trip. I stopped twice to use the facilities for a total of 45 min. The rest was all driving. That makes it 10 hrs and 15 min I drove. I'm pretty impressed with myself for it being my second day actually traveling in a truck.

It was really smooth truckin until I left Oklahoma n crossed into New Mexico. The hills are a bitch. Just when ya get up to speed n rollin good, oh, another hill.. Down shift just to keep momentum up and up shift at the top.. Rinse and repeat for a couple hundred miles. :)

Now for the most frustrating point of the day. Do people just not know what the definition of MERGE is?? I always thought the whole concept was to get up to speed so you can fall-in with aka merge with traffic. I didn't really notice it much until today. I've got news for those that don't know how to merge. I will do my best to get over for you, but if I can't you better either shit or get off the pot because slowing 80K lbs, traveling 64 mph, doesn't happen instantly. Not to mention if it did, you would probably soon see a trailer coming at you because I locked the breaks n jack knifed. I got some real dirty looks today as well as a couple of other things. I just waved and smiled. I just don't get what is so hard about hitting the gas to speed up.. But than again that is common sense and it seems like that is fading commodity these days.

On that note I will step down from my soap box n head to bed. :)

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1st Day with my mentor

Yesterday was a hurry up and wait day. I had to be in Gary, IN at 8am. Greg (my mentor) had to wait to get unloaded in MI, so he didn't get to the terminal until 3pm. Once he got there we had to wait for the service guys to replace a fog light. Finally about 5pm we were on our way to get loaded for this trip. We had to be there by 6pm but the place was only a mile down the road.

We roll into the joint and than had to wait about 30 min as there was another guy getting loaded. That was actually good though as it gave us time to go over a few things as well as get our equipment ready. Greg had me set-up the coil rack and than I prepositioned all the chains and tarp.

When we instructed to pull in, that is when the fun began. :). Now I don't know how many of you have noticed or not but an empty flat bed has a bow in it. Well, to watch a 38K lb coil be set on it was quite a sight. That trailer flattened out like a piece of paper.

Than came the part where I broke a sweat; tying that bad boy down. Slinging six 25lb chains through the eye of the coil and making sure all the edge protection stayed in place was an experience. Once we got the chains secured we had to put the binders on them to tighten 'em. After than is when the sweat began to roll because I had to lift an 85 lb tarp and put it on top of the coil. Wasn't really that bad, just more awkward than anything. The coil was an odd size so the tarp didn't fit like it was supposed to, but Greg schooled me on the art of tarping. I just hope I can remember it all.

At this point we are ready to roll. Greg looks at me and says hop in and drive till your tired. All I could think was SWEET!! I drove to Farmington, IL and decided that was good. I figure 3 hours straight behind the wheel the first time wasn't to shabby. I do have to admit that I did kill the engine twice though. Once at the truck stop where we weighed right after getting loaded and the other was the truck stop we pulled into in Farmington. All through training we started out in second gear so that is what I was doing. Well dummy, during training the trucks weren't loaded so there was only the trailer weight behind me. I got it now though.. Start in FIRST gear when loaded.

All in all it was a good day. Driving was awesome! Oh n just for you dad because I know you will ask; I am driving a 2009 Freightliner Columbia (9 speed).

The company trucks with Swift are governed at 64 mph so we pretty much just get up to speed and leave the foot on the floor. :). So, don't get mad when you see a Swift truck and you think it's holding up traffic.. We just can't go any faster. The real fun part of driving is passing other trucks. Don't get me wrong, the first time will make your sphincter muscle pucker but you just have to stay in your lane, watch your tandems, n handle your business.

I guess I have rambled on long enough for today.. Oh shit.. Totally forgot to tell you where we are headed. Nogales, AZ is our final destination. It a T-Call load so we just drop the trailer. From there it heads in to Mexico. Right now we are on the OK Turnpike (44W) headed to OK city for our first fuel stop of the trip. Greg has been driving since 5am so I am guessing I will take over after we take on go-go juice.

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Just When I Thought Things Were Looking Up

DISCLAIMER: For those taking the time to read this you may be wondering why I am airing my business out there. One reason is that I have nothing to hide (you get what you see). I am just me, trying to do the best I can in life. The second reason is that it helps me in dealing with it to get it off my chest. That beign said;

I received a letter in the mail from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service today. For those that aren't affiliated with the military, those are the guys that pay us or in this case collect debts owed.

26 June 2007 was my 15 year mark in the Air Force. At that time I had a choice to make. I could retire under the current 50% at my 20 year mark or I could take a career status bonus and retire under a reduced plan at 20. The career status bonus is $30,000 and than you retire at 40% at 20. The one condition is that you sign a contract stating you will stay in until 20.

Well, I took the bonus because at that time I had just went through a divorce and needed that money to pay off some bills as well as find a place to live and buy everything I needed for that. Needless to say, I didn't plan on leaving the military before my 20 years was up.

Fast forward to today and I get this letter stating I owe the Department of Defense $23,000 and some change. This is apparently a prorated amount due to the remaining time I had until my 20 year mark. At this point I just wanted to curl up in the fetal position and cry, but crying doesn't work for me, so I went out to smoke and soak it all in. Not only do I have all the bills I am behind on now, but now I have this additional amount I have to pay. When the hell will things get better I ask myself?? Thank God I have an awesome woman that supports me and stands behind me. She is the only thing keeping me going right now because I can't let her down, not in my mind anyway.

There is a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel though. I called the number in the letter not only because it said I needed to, but because it said that they wanted to work with me to resolve the matter. I was a bit skeptical as I have tried this with credit card companies and those guys are just assholes. They could care less what is going on in your life. The kicker is, that none of the cards are open.. I closed them all and cut the cards up.

OK, back to the damn the story... The guy that answered the phone was extremely nice. He understood my problem and actually listened. In fact, as I was explaining my situation to him and he cut me off and said, "Sir, I can help." He said that it sounded like I was in a financial hardship (that's an understatement). The gentleman went on to say that he could defer the payments for one year. I would still accrue interest (3%), but no payment would be required in that year. If I am able to send something I can, but it's not required. Or, once money starts coming my way on a regular basis, I can call up at anytime to set-up a payment plan. FINALLY, someone understands. However, I think they do this for everyone because he did say they understand that it's a huge adjustment leaving the military and it's not that easy to find a job when you leave, no matter what the terms are.

Remember: What doesn't kill us makes us stronger. Just take one day at a time and do the best you can each and everyday. That is all anyone can ever ask of you. These are words I live by, so if you ever find yourself down and out, just think back to this posting.... Because the reality of it is that nothing in life is more important than you and those that love you! Everything else will be dealt with in time.