Funny story and other crap

What a week... Made a wrong turn, check engine light came on again, and who the hell knows what else as my brain is mush. However I will do my best to get you updated.

I T-called the Wal-Mart load in Columbus, got two dashboard light replaced and performed a regen on the DPF.. At 2330 that night, I believe it was the 26th, I get a message to go look for trailer SC0006. Never seen a number like that, but away I went. I found a 006n but it was weird. It was a Roll Tite. Basically, a soft sided van trailer that the sides slid open. Pretty cool actually once I figured it out. So, I went back to the bobtail parking and completed my nightly routine.

The next morning at 0730 I got a pre-plan to go to Cedar Works in West Union, OH. Sounds like a big fancy place right? WRONG! It was a tiny little building in the middle of Amish country where the road was just big enough for me to drive right down the middle of it. The roads were like a bad friggin roller coaster I couldn't get off of. I am surprised I have any seat cushion left as my ass was gripping it pretty hard.

I get loaded with 364 cedar mailbox post headed for the Lowe's Flatbed Distribution Center in Brownsville, TN. Which, BTW, is who supplies the trash truck for the Lowe's I used to work at. Anywho, I digress... I strapped the bundles down and than slide the sides of the trailer. Easiest damn tarp job ever!! When I left the place I got mixed up with the directions the Amish dude gave me. Instead of going out the way I cam and than taking a right, I took a right out of Cedar Works..

Ok, if you have a beverage near you, take a drink now. Do not, I repeat, do not take a drink during reading this next part... You've been warned.

So I take a right out of Cedar Works, and immediately know I made a bad decision. This road was even narrower and had sharp ass turns. To make it even better, the road had a forest on either side. Don't get me wrong, very beautiful drive, just not in a truck with a 53 ft trailer. About 5 miles down the road I get to this little intersection (4 way stop). I decide to take a left to get me back to the main road. Bad decision number two.. I get about a mile down the road and see this sign that says COVERED bridge ahead. Are you friggin kidding me?? So I am praying there is a place to turn off. Oh hell no, and by now I have little Amish kids running along side the truck like dogs chasing a car. See, they knew exactly what was about to happen and wanted to see the show. Sure enough, I come around a turn and there it is.. The covered WOODEN bridge that is 11ft 1in high. SONOFABITCH you dumbass.. Yeah I said that out loud.

Here I am in the middle of the road figuring out what the hell to do now. There are houses on both sides of the road and a long driveway to one. Ok, I will just back into it and I will be good. Bullshit.. The road is to narrow and I almost took out the one guys mailboxes twice. By this time I have about 10 people watching the show. Hell, they even got outta their cars to watch. An older gentleman came out of his house and said son, pull back up to the bridge, and back up hugging my yard. Than pull forward and swing it into that driveway. Once you do that, back into my gravel parking area here and that will give you enough room to turn around. I looked at him and said, I'm not the first idiot to do this am I? He smiled and said nope, happens bout twice a week and you happen to be the first this week.

The first attempt didn't work out as planned. Took out a stop sign and damn near left them without electricity, but I saw it in time and stopped. Attempt number two went as planned. After I got turned around I thanked everyone and asked if they wanted me to report the stop sign. The guy laughed and said nope, it's kinda designed to break away like that for this very reason.

Ok, take some time to catch your breath and take a drink....

I delivered that load yesterday the 28th. I just had to drop the trailer. I was than sent to the Memphis terminal to find a skateboard. I get there and find a trailer, but the landing gear handle is broke. To make a long story short, I fixed it myself. Just like I told my DM.. You really don't need to know how I fixed it, just know it's fixed and legal. I'm no dummy.. See, I went over to one of the red tagged trailers and took the handle off it to fix my trailer. Well, it needs to go to the shop anyway, so now they can fix the handle too, and I have an operational trailer.

I immediately got a pre-plan to head to Rockford, IN to AK Steel. I headed out and went as far as I could and parked for the night. I arrived at AK Steel around 1145 this morning, scaled, got loaded, secured the load, and tarped it. I scaled out and hit the road at 1430. I have a 23K lb steel coil.

Right now I am in Steele, MO for the night. This load is headed to Mexico, which means I am going as far as the Laredo terminal and T-calling it. I've got 28 hrs left on my 70, so I will have to do a 34hr restart once I get there. It's all good as I need to have my truck looked at again. I have it narrowed down to the DPF filter. It's either that or a bad injector. However, engine performance is fine. But I did a regen again this afternoon and it took almost 40 minutes to complete. Once it was done and I got back on the interstate, the check engine light went off and has been off since than.

Well, my fingers hurt and I am cranky and tired. Next update will be from Laredo!

Sent from my Sprint® BlackBerry®

New Endorsement

Before I get to the new endorsement, let me update ya'll on the Anheuser Busch load;

I left the house around 2000 to go pick the load up from our secure yard in East St Louis and got to the delivery address at 2130. I check in and the guy tells me what bay to back up to. I take the paperwork in, and the guy inside tells me as of last week, they no longer unload bottle caps there and I needed to go downstairs to unload. Huh? So he gives me half-ass directions and I end up at another security guard shack, which was the wrong one so I had to turn around. At least he was nice enough to give me decent directions to where I had to go.

So, I get all backed up to the dock and I'm all proud as it didn't take me forever and I am lined up perfectly. I take the paperwork in and the guy standing there is smiling and says he will be happy to unload me, but there is a problem... Guess what this dumb ass didn't do? Yeah, it would help to open the friggin trailer doors before backing up to the dock.. We had a good laugh out of it though and the guy said hey, don't feel bad. I have seen far worse than that. At least this is funny and nothing got damaged.... True that!!!

This morning I woke up when Angie did, tried to go back to sleep for a bit but that didn't work. I decided to get up and shave my melon and than I got this idea to go to the DMV. See, the past two weeks there has been a message come over the Qualcomm looking for anyone with a tanker endorsement that would be willing to do a round trip from Chicago to Atlanta. Well, up until this morning all I could do is view the message so the Qualcomm would shut-up. I braved the mass cluster at the DMV this morning though. I got there before they opened so I was like 20th in line. Not to shabby. My number was called, paid my 5 bucks, took my test, and 30 min later I was out the door. :)

Since I didn't get home till midnight, the earliest I can legally drive is 1000. I will be heading back to the East St Louis drop yard to get my next load. It's supposed to deliver to a Wal-Mart distribution center in NY state on 1 June, but I am only taking it as far as the Columbus, OH Terminal. They call that a T-Call. So, I will be T-Calling the load in Columbus. All I know about this load is it's a high-value load. I will obviously know more when I get the paperwork, but it is one of those loads that you never leave unattended, has to be locked, seals verified at every stop, etc.. It's probably a load of TVs or something.

I want to take the time to thank Angie for an AWESOME 5 days! Well, I guess 4 technically, but whatever. It sure is hard to leave today, but if I don't there will be no money. Of course there wasn't any money this week due to my Illinois fine, but that won't happen again. Anyway, I digress... Seriously, thank you Angie for an awesome weekend and being so strong and patient. I know this shit isn't easy, but you are an inspiration to everyone. I love you Angie, and I hope you never forget that! You're my best friend, my rock, my soul mate, and I couldn't be more blessed! :*

My PTA was set for 0800 this morning and my phone hadn't went off all day. At 1700 I looked at Angie and said, well, not going anywhere today... It wasn't 5 minutes after I said that and my I got a text message. Before I could even check it, it went off again. Than the phone rings.. WTF??

The guy on the other end is a planner at the Edwardsville, KS terminal. He was calling because he needed my help. There is a load of beer that needs to be delivered to Anheuser Busch @ 2300 tonight. I guess the guy that has the load now called and asked if it could be delivered early and someone told him it could. He gets to AB and the security guard won't let him in. Instead of saying ok and calling Phoenix or someone he proceeds to get into a verbal altercation with the security guard. DUMBASS... So now he is banned from their property.

Well, I just happen to be sitting 18 miles from St Louis so they call me and ask if I will deliver the load. There are no miles on it, so I am really just helping them out. However, they gave me a load that is sitting at the East St Louis drop yard right now that delivers in NY State on 1 June. But, I just have to take it to the Columbus Terminal (400+ miles).

When I went out to the truck to accept the pre-plan, I noticed that the beer load delivers TOMORROW at 2300, not tonight. So I called the guy back and he apologized as he read it wrong. I said I would still do it though and gave him the following plan of action:

I am going to pick up the beer load tomorrow night around 2100 and deliver it. Take the empty trailer to the East St Louis drop yard and come back home. Than I will leave tomorrow when Angie leaves for work to pick up the load I am taking to the Columbus Terminal. I asked the guy if that was ok, and he said it was cool with him.

I don't mind that the beer load doesn't have any miles as it got me back into the system, plus I have 2 more nights at home with my baby!!!! :)

The planner kept asking me if I mined doing it, and I said well, do you have anything else for me tomorrow? He said no, I don't. Well, there ya have it than. I don't mind at all.

Now if the rain delay would end in Charlotte, things would be super. I better get off this computer though. Supper is ready!!!!

Ahh... 3 days off!!!

I realize I am a couple days behind, so lemme try and catch ya'll up.

I delivered in St James, MO on Wednesday morning and received a pre-plan to head to Jackson, MO. That trip was to pick-up an empty trailer and take it to the yard in St Louis. Apparently it wasn't cleaned out, so I was swapping a clean trailer for a dirty one. As soon as I accepted that plan, I received another one that wanted me to pick up a load that was sitting at the East St Louis yard and deliver it to Kraft Foods in Champaign, IL on Thursday.

Well, I get to Jackson, MO and find out that the trailer I am supposed to pick-up is checked out. LOVELY!!!! I messaged my DM and an hour later they sent me another trailer to pick-up. The only issue was that my hours of service were going to run out once I got to St Louis and I would be late for the delivery in Champaign now. My DM told me to do what I could as she already tried to have that load taken off of me since I would be dropping that trailer from Jackson 18 miles from home. She even told me not to accept anything unless it took me home or close to it.

I caught a break though. Once I got the empty in Jackson, I stopped at a little truck stop in town to take a leak and refresh my Mt. Dew. I get back into the truck and have a message saying that the Champaign load was removed. I sent a message back asking if this meant I was to go home. The next message changed my PTA to Sunday at 0800, and than I got the confirmation to go home after I dropped the empty. WOOOOHOOOO

Yesterday the UPS guy arrived with my Sirius radio as well.. So, you know what i did yesterday afternoon. :) I even rearranged where I had my TomTom as well. I had it on the windshield, but didn't like it there as it was to far to reach. So, I have that mounted to the dash now next to the Sirius. I than took the dash apart to hide all the wires.

This morning Angie and I ran to the Pilot across from Gateway International so I could look for something to put the antenna on. See, the kit I got is for a car, so it has the magnetic antenna. Well, I was able to find a CB antenna mount for a Freightliner for 10 bucks that worked perfectly. It's aluminum so the antenna doesn't stick, but it fits right in the middle of the four mounting bolts. Once I tightened the mounting bolts, they turned a bit and locked the antenna in even more. So, it looks like I won't need to buy the 60 dollar antenna. This one is working perfectly right now and the signal strength is maxed out. I am really glad it is to as I barely have enough to pay attention right now, much less buy another antenna.

Anywho, as I stated earlier I should get a pre-plan sometime Sunday morning to head out again. Tomorrow is Heath's birthday, so we are headed over to their place tonight. I foresee some beer drinking and dart throwing in my future.. I told him that if he wanted to drink some beers with me, it would have to be tonight as this kid isn't having anything tomorrow. No way in hell I am taking a chance.

An Expensive Day, but I am home for the night!!!

I left at 0530 and headed for Elwood, IL. Once I got there, I realized it was the same place that Donald and I had picked up before. Once I got the location where to drop my empty, i went to do that and than walked to the shipping office to get my paperwork and location of the full trailer. That took about 15 minutes to find, but one found, I hooked up and checked all the lights.

When I did my loaded call, I noticed that it was only 30K and some change I was carrying. So, since I knew that was just fine I decided not to go spend the 9 bucks to scale it.

Everything was going great until I hit the ONLY weigh station on I 55 in the state of Illinois. I got the read light from the prepass and when I rolled over the pre-scale I got the red arrow to go to the right... DAMINT... So, I stop and slowly roll onto the scale. I get positioned and hear a voice over the speaker telling me to shut off the truck and to come inside. OH SHIT!!! NOT GOOD.

When I got inside, I found out that I had 36,224 on the trailer. The officer proceeded to tell me that I was over their 2K lb variance and that 224 lbs got me a ticket for the minimum charge of $240. The officer than tells me to go out and get my registration, insurance and logbook. When I walked back out to the truck, I looked at the tandems and I will be damned if they weren't slid all the way forward. Are you shittin me? Not to mention I was one hole away from just a warning.

Lesson learned is that no matter what the weight of the cargo, I am paying the 9 bucks to scale it. Not to mention with every damn van load i get from now on I am checking the position of the tandems. Had I done that when I picked it up, I would have know that wasn't going to be legal, and would have slid them before I left the warehouse.

I kicked myself in the ass all the way to Troy where I filled up, and than being so close to home kicked in and it left my brain... I can never learn anything the easy way. Never have, so why start now right?

Anyway, that was pretty much my day. The highlight was seeing Angie pull up to Lowe's and pick me up. She had a field trip with Josh at lunch for his daycare, so he was with her as too. He ran to the driver door of the truck and immediately tried to climb in. I lifted him in and he hopped in the driver seat and acted like he was driving. He even put the seat belt on and wanted me to tilt the wheel down too. Every now and than he would reach over and touch the shifter. Pretty smart for a 3 yr old. :)

So to reiterate: PAY THE 9 BUCKS TY!!! You get reimbursed for it anyway and it's a helluva lot cheaper!!!

That is all for this evening.. I have a hot little number on the couch waiting to snuggle. Crap, gotta fold my laundry first, but I will get there.

Headed through St. Louis

I decided to leave the terminal at 1300 today and head to Northlake to deliver. Due to construction and Chicago traffic, it took me an hour and a half to get there. I checked in about 2 hours early, but they assigned me a bay to back into and told me what to do. So I did all that jazz and they started unloading me at 1600. Now, they won't unload us if we are sitting in the truck so we have to sit in a little waiting area. They called my bay number at about 1715, signed the paperwork, and headed back to the truck.

When I got to the truck I had a pre-plan waiting on me. Picking up in Elwood, IL at a Wal-Mart distribution center and delivering to Saint James, MO. Which just happens to be about 2 hours west of the house!!!!!! Oh and it gets better. My fuel stop is exit 18 on I-55, which is 20 miles from the house.

That means I am going to leave Gary at 0500 and head to Elwood to pick up. I have to be there by 0830 and it's only 46 miles away. Anywho, I am stopping at the house for my 10hr break, than getting up in the morning when Angie goes to work and head to Saint James. Once unloaded, I have been told that I will be sent to the house for my home time that's due. :)

Ahhhhhh finally!!! Again, I am pulling a van, but don't give a shit because it's getting me home!!!!


Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Back in Gary

I called Proctor n Gamble this morning when I got up to see if I could pick up before 2300. The guy that answered the phone said my trailer would be loaded at 1 or 1:30. I paused a second and said in the morning? He said no, this afternoon. SWEET

So I left the Columbus terminal at noon. It took me 30 minutes to get through security, sign the paperwork at the shipping office, drop my empty, and pick up the full.

This place makes you slide your tandems all the way back when you drop your empty, so when I picked up the full one I checked the tandems. Good thing I did too as the pins weren't locked. I got 'em locked though and headed out. When I pulled out, I was talking to Angie on the phone and told her I should really scale this. I no more than said that and see a CAT certified scale sign.

I pulled in and scaled. Good thing I did too as I was over on the drives 660 lbs. I only had 31K on the trailer, so that meant I needed to slide them forward. So, I slide them forward two notches and it moved 500lbs exactly off of the drives and onto the trailer. SHIT, one more notch. I had to fight with the lever this time to get the pins unlocked, but once I got 'em unlocked, another hole forward I slid. I didn't bother to scale it a third time as each hole the first time was 250lbs, so I knew I was good.

Anyway, I have 41K lbs of Iams dog food. 32 pallets or 1510 bags.. That's allota damn dog food..

Once I scaled out, I headed for Gary and rolled in here about 1945. That means my 10hrs is up at 0545. After Angie calls on her way to work I will call the customer to see if I can deliver early. It's a distribution center, so I don't believe it will be an issue.

Now, the best thing that happened today was when I got to Gary, I ordered a pizza. When I was waiting for the pizza I called SIRIUS to cancel my subscription. The lady asked why and I said well, I don't really want to cancel it but I see my car once a month and can't afford to buy the equipment for my truck right now. She said she was sorry to hear that and transferred me to the cancellation dept.

This is where it gets good.. So, Rob picks up and asks how he can help me and I said I needed to cancel my service. He asked if he could ask why, so I explained everything to him. He said well I can see you have been with us for the last 5yrs and I hate to see you go. I said well I will be back as soon as I can afford the equipment for my truck. He than asked what I would say if he sent me a free radio. WHAT? I said man, if you could do that I will jump through this phone and hug you..in a heterosexual kinda way of course.. He busted out laughing and said yeah, I can send you a free radio. Than I asked if that included the FM modulater to cut out interference and he said he would throw that in too. All I had to pay was shipping which came to $7.45. WOOOHOOO

This is the kit that plays through an FM station. Donald had one in his truck and it worked great. The only thing I am not sure about is the antenna. This kit comes with that small sticky square one, but I see truckers with them stuck to their mirror. I will give it a try at least before I but the big antenna to mount to the mirror bracket.

Anyway, I thought that was awesome!! Not to mention when I activate it, it will only be 6 bucks a month since I already have an account. So, I will get SIRIUS in the truck, never miss a race again, never have to change stations every 100 miles, and Angie will still get to listen to it whenever she drives my car.

I LOVE MY SIRIUS RADIO!!!!

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Gonna be a door slammer tomorrow

I got a pre-plan around noon today. I am picking up at Proctor n Gamble in Leipsic, OH and delivering to Dominick's Fine Foods in Northlake, IL. Northlake is about 3 miles south of Chicago/O'Hare.

As the subject states, this is a van load. I'm not really slamming doors as this isn't a live unload from what it said, but we call the van drivers door slammers because that is the most work they do.

It got a little hairy today though as about an hour after I accepted the pre-plan, they unplanned it. I was sent a new one that delivered to a Macys in Denver. WTF??? I just about came unglued when they unplanned that and re planned me on the first one. WHEW.... I was about to get pissed..

According to the pre-plan, my pick-up time is between 2300 tomorrow night and 0500 on the 18th. My delivery appt is 1700 on the 18th. So, I as soon as I get the load assignment I am calling the shipper to see if the load will be ready before 2300.

Once I get the load I will head to Gary, IN and take my 10hr. Break at the terminal. If I plan it right, my break should be up around 1300 or 1400. That will give me plenty of time to make the 1700 delivery. However, I will call the customer as well to see if I can deliver early. If I can, this guy is drivin straight through. It's 111 miles empty and 242 loaded. Not to shabby, and I can do that easily without coming close to running out of hours for the day.

Now, my fingers are crossed that since I am so close to my home terminal, they will either just send me home. I am pretty sure they will have me pick something up in Gary that is headed south though. Than just have me stop at home for my two days. But, I honestly have no friggin clue how it will work. All I know is that if I am not headed to the house sometime next week, someone is going to hear about it Gary.

While I am back at Gary though, I need to see about getting a new headache rack. The one I have is missing the box on top for the tarps and had nothing on the back to attach a strap to. So, I have my tarps on my catwalk with a strap around them pulling them towards the headache rack. It's pretty much some serious ass pain. I fight with my gear every load I have and it shouldn't be that way. I fought with it when I first got the truck too, but figured I am new. I will give it a try and see how it goes. Well, I gave it a try and it sucks!! It's not efficient and it just pisses me off. Bless Angie's heart because she hears about it everyday. I am sure she will be happy as hell if I get a different rack as well. :)

In all honesty, I hate pulling vans. However, I will pull any damn thing they want me to if it means I am getting my home time. Ya smell what i'm steppin in?

Ok, off ta bed. Gotta get up and get an empty assigned to me in the morning so I can get the load assignment sent as well as the directions. They wouldn't let me sit on an empty tonight for some reason, even though there are about 100 of 'em out here. But, that's this terminals policy, so gotta deal with it.

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Sittin in Columbus

The mechanic fixing the trailer yesterday decided to do a comprehensive inspection on the trailer. The only reason he let me leave was because it was loaded. Let's just say it is a D.O.T. Officer's dream.

I knew it was a piece of shit when I checked it out, but there aren't any empty flatbeds here to trans load it to.

Needless to say, I didn't get out of the shop till 1800. I decided to stay here and take a shower and just leave in the morning.

I got up at 0345 and was rollin at 0415.. I was told it was 156 miles, so that's three hours and I have to be there at 0900 (EST). So, I have plenty of time.. Not so fast sparky.. It was more like 196 miles and I got there at 0859.

Wanna take a stab at what time I left?? Would you believe 1300??? Yup! As they unloaded it, the cardboard boxes were wet and when they oipened them, there was condensation on the aluminum. That isn't good. So the dude puts it back on the trailer and said he had to find out what to do.

Come to find out, this load was delivered once and they refused it because they said they cancelled the order from Alcoa. The last guy was there for 4 hrs and when Swift told them they were going to have to pay detention pay, they got in a huge fight. Needless to say this load has been sitting in Columbus for 2 weeks. Even with it being tarped, it is going to get wet when it just sits.

After the gut got an attitude with me and said they didn't need the product, I messaged my DM. She got management involved and the next thing ya know I got three pissed off dudes unloading me. I asked if they were taking it and the one guy said the owner told us to unload it. He than said they had to wipe down every piece with a towel. 100 aluminum rods they had to wipe down. Oh well, I got my papers signed and that's all that matters.

Once that debacle was over, Ed, my flatbed division manager, told me to head back to Columbus to drop the trailer. When I get here, the trailer shop is closed and I am told the earliest someone can look at it is 0800 on Monday.. WTF???

I messaged Ed and he said that the work order was already done on it, so it was fine to just drop it in their red tag lot.

Anywho, that was my day.. I'm exhausted and am really hoping they get my ass outta here tomorrow. I don't give a damn if it's a horse buggy they want me to pull. If it gets me outta here and headed for home, I will pull it.

On the bright side of things; The Shaker is purrin like a little kitten. She definitely liked whatever the dealer did. In fact it seems like she even has a little more hitch in her giddy up.

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Could I catch a break please???

I was told to bobtail back to Columbus to pick up a load to be delivered to Columbiana, OH at 1630 today.

Thank God they changed the appt time for tomorrow morning. It's only about an hour or so away, but 5 marker lights were out on the trailer.

So, I strap down the load and get it tarped. When I went to get in the truck, I noticed my front drive axle outside tire has a gap between the side wall and rim. Are you friggin kidding me??? No idea if the bead just broke or I ran over something, but the bitch is flat.

Anyone wanna take a stab where I am right now? No, I am not on the beach with my beautiful Angie. I am in the Columbus Terminal shop watching them try to figure out why 5 lights are out on the trailer. Than they are gonna fix the tire.

I asked Tonn if they were trying to get me home after this and all I got back was that the planners know I am owed home time.. Boy, that is reassuring.

Well gonna go smoke. I really need to quit, but how the hell can ya at a time like this, ya know?


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Got her back

I was reunited with my "other girl" about an hour ago and just waiting to find out what they want me to do from here.

Apparently the throttle intake valve or flap was sticking. Whatever the hell that means, but at least it's fixed and I don't have a check engine light on right now.

Sooooooo.. My fingers are crossed that the 'ol Freight shaker and I can have a lasting relationship now.


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Stuck in Dayton, OH

I picked up in Baltimore yesterday and headed for Indy. Just as I crossed into West Virginia, the check engine light started coming on again.

I stopped for the night at the Ohio Welcome Center and when I took off this morning, everything was fine.

I stopped at the terminal in Columbus to fill-up and continued west.

About 10 miles outside Dayton, the check engine light came on again and I lost engine power. Same symptoms as last week. I got pulled over and shut her off and fired her back up again. She didn't want to idle smoothly so I went to give her some gas and nothing. She broke out of her choppiness and idled smoothly, but still nothing when I hit the throttle.

2hrs after I stopped, the wrecker showed up to tow me to the Freightliner dealer. That is where she sits now. No clue what the diagnosis is yet as they weren't going to be able to get in the shop until later tonight. I will know more in the morning.

My flatbed manager said he has a truck waiting in Columbus if it is going to take a couple of days to fix mine. It's a newer truck too. But like I told him, I like mine and would prefer not to switch. Trying to get to the new truck, going back to the dealer, and grabbing all my gear and personal shit is way more ass pain than I feel like dealing with right now. However, if it will take a day or two for my truck to get done, than I have no choice.

So I am chillin in a hotel again. The plus side is I get another good hot shower, and the second is I can get caught up on some sleep. Sleeping at a rest area sucks. Sleeping at an on ramp to a rest area sucks even more, and that's where I was as it was full. That is one reason I hate driving past 8pm... You can never find a place to park.

I just hope whatever it is the Freightliner dealer can get it fixed tomorrow. They are also installing my CB for me. Well, the truck is already wired for it, but the power plug in there won't work with my Cobra.

Anyway, that's all for now. Once again I get paid for the miles I ran, so I will get 700 or so for this 800 mile run. But as with the other load, they are sending a driver to re power the load.

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Still stuck in Richmond

I woke up this morning and called the terminal to check on my truck. Well, the shop said they probably wouldn't have time to get to it today so here I am in the hotel again. The good thing is they immediately faxed over another authorization so by the time I got to the front desk, things were good.

I will have to call my DM tomorrow to make sure I get paid for the 500 miles of the trip I drove as well as breakdown pay.

I am also going to take that opportunity to ask for something towards the house. I talked with one of the weekend planners this morning and she said it shows a negative 2 days for home time in the system, so they know I am owed time home.

The part that really sucks is I have a roommate. To top it off, I think he's retarded. Seriously, the dude is weird. I have no damn clue how he got his CDL.. He talks to him self and stares at the ceiling for no apparent reason. Not to mention he did laundry today and ironed all his clothes only to literally throw them in a bag. Plus he washed the room towels because he doesn't like mixing his darks and whites and he only had a couple pairs of socks to wash...

I think I hurt his feelings though because when he told me about washing the towels I told him that was pretty retarded to use your money when they give us clean ones.. Needless to say he finished throwing his clothes in his bag and I haven't seen him since. :) Good thing he's a van driver as he wouldn't make in flatbed.

Oh and it took him literally 30 minutes to update his log book.. Than he asked where mine was and when I told him it was in the truck he looked all confused. I said dude, I'm off duty and have been since 1500 yesterday. It's not that hard to draw a line across the page. But, he is still with his mentor so I cut him a little slack.

He probably thinks I'm a real asshole, but I don't believe I will be losing any sleep over it.

I just don't have patience with certain people and he is one of them.

Well, my pizza has arrived. Time to eat and they gave me an order of free wings for some reason. The main thing is they aren't on my receipt and I didn't pay for them. :)

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Breakdown Update

The other driver showed up around 1430 to swap trailers. We just swapped gear instead of me undoing everything and him re-doing it.

I sent a message with my new trailer number and took off for Richmond. I just merged onto 64E and I lost all power again. I got over to the shoulder and shut her down. I fired her bag up and she idled fine, but as soon as I gave her gas nadda damn thing happened. It's like she was possessed.

So here I go again setting out my triangles. Good thing I did too because as I was walking back to the truck guess who shows up?? If you guessed a Virginia State Trooper, you win!!! He was wondering what was wrong and if I needed anything. I was on the phone with On Road at the time. The lady in Phoenix came back on and said they were going to send a wrecker out to tow me to the terminal.

Another hour goes by sitting on the side of the interstate before the wrecker finally showed up. Oh course he has to give me shit, but was really cool. I helped him get everything hooked up as well as disconnecting the drive line. I guess he has to do that for safety reasons as well as it reduces wear and tear on the transmission.

We got to the terminal and we dropped the trailer, and than took the tractor to the shop. I asked about re-connecting the drive line and he said nope, I told ya you would be in a hotel.

So I went into the terminal and those guys were awesome. Told me what I needed to do for them to authorize me a room, so I did that. Once that was taken care of, one of the guys drove me over to the hotel.

It's a mixed blessing really... I would rather be pulling my load, but nothing I can do when it's a mechanical failure. So, I got a nice hot shower, doing my laundry, and watching the race.

I have to call the terminal tomorrow morning before check-out time to see if the have an estimated time of completion. If it is going to take longer than tomorrow, they are keeping me in the hotel.

Now, buckle up for my rant.. If you are driving down the interstate and see a vehicle on the side of the road, SLOW THE FUCK DOWN and MOVE OVER!!! Especially if there are safety triangles out. Truckers were the ONLY ones to move over and the ones that didn't couldn't because a 4 wheeler wouldn't let them over. I wish people would pay attention to what the hell they are doing. It's called common courtesy people!! But than again, it's the same type of people that enter a construction zone and think they are allowed to stay in the lane that is closing till the last minute before slamming on the brakes and moving over, thus totally screwing up the traffic flow. Yes, that was a huge run-on sentence, but I don't care.

Thanks for listening and I hope that if any of you are pulled over on the side of the road, you don't go through what I did today.

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The bad luck continues

My check engine light came on a couple of times coming through DC yesterday. Well, I checked and the engine was still there, so all seemed fine to me. When I stopped for the night, I checked everything over, all my fluid levels, etc and everything was good.

So I pull out this morning and get 2 miles down 95 and I lost all engine power. I get pulled over, set out my triangles and send in my breakdown message.

On Road called me right away and asked if I could make it 6 miles to the TA. I started the truck and it fired right up.. A ton o black smoke rolled outta the stacks and she purred like a kitten. Drove 60mph all the way here and things were ok.

Now the wait begins. I am next in line to pull into the bay to have them read the codes and find out what is wrong. Guess it's a good thing I don't deliver till monday. The shitty part is, sittin here is eating up my 14. Hopefully it doesn't take to long and I can at least get 300 miles in today.


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SONOFA....

Well, what I thought was the obvious route isn't..

Why must they route me through DC every damn time?!?! Pretty sure the East side of the city isn't any better than the west was. But I have to go that way now as they have my fuel stop at a Pilot in Richmond, VA.. They basically have me taking back roads through DE and MD going through Annapolis.

The load assignment says 1 piece at 40Klbs.. Dupont Chemicals.. But in the Comment/Special Instructions it says live load machinery. No Tarp, and must scale across the road from shipper. So, it will be interesting to see what I am haulin.

I got excited when I got the directions because where I am delivering too it said open for weekend delivery.. I hit the down button one more time to read... Flatbed loads only unloaded M-F 0800-1600.

It's a good thing I don't have an endless amount of money as my ass would be stopping in Darlington, SC for the race Saturday night. I will drive right past it. :(


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Won't be home this weekend

I just got a pre-plan to pick-up from Pliant Corp in Harrington, DE tomorrow morning. I deliver to Pliant Corp in Washington, GA on Monday.

It really sucks, but the good thing is I will have a trip under my belt for next weeks pay period.

I just got a message saying that this is our first flatbed load with this customer with more promised. They asked that I do Swift proud and make a good impression. Obviously they don't know me that well yet, but I am kinda humbled that they are giving this to a rookie driver. Kinda says something about what they think of me and my abilities.

I was looking at the route I will more than likely be given and I will be hitting the PA turnpike (476) outta Scranton and taking that all the way to 95 in Phillie. Than take 495 around Wilmington, DE and catch US-13 down to Harrington. Once loaded I will get back on 13 S where I get to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. I will than catch I264 through Chesapeake, VA which turns into US58/460W and take that to 95S. I'll take that all the way to I20W in SC, and finally in GA I will hop on US78N right into Washington.

I haven't got the Swift directions yet, but that seems like the most logical route to me.

I really hate that I won't be home when I requested, but Angie and I both know that they TRY to get me home on those dates. Pretty sure they will send me home after this load though. I really couldn't be blessed with a better woman. This is hard, but she is so understanding and just rolls with the days. So, THANK YOU Angie for sticking by my side through all of this.

Like I said before though, at least this will give me a load on this pay period. If they would have sent me home today, I would probably not had anything that I could pick-up on the 11th and deliver by midnight on the 13th. So, at least I will have 900 miles.

I am 200 miles away from Harrington, so I am not leaving until the ass crack of dawn. Prolly right around 0400 my time which is 0500 local. I have to pick up by 1300, so even if there are traffic delays I should be good. Plus at 2030 tonight I will have a 34hr restart and a fresh 70 hrs. As it stands right now, I only have 24.5 hrs available. I could leave now, but there isn't a damn place to stop in DE. Plus it doesn't make sense to bust my 34 now. Granted I can get another reset before I deliver on Monday. Really, I just don't feel like leaving right now. Doing nothing all day is flippin exhausting.

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Chillin in PA

I believe the last time I wrote, I was heading to Roxboro, NC to pick up a load of lumber.

It sure is a good thing I don't have issues navigating. The Qualcomm directions were wrong, yet again. However, when I called the place, I was about a half mile away. Call it luck, or call it skill, either way my ass was there on time.

I don't have a CB yet so I had to go to the scale house and check in. The dude was pretty much an ass, but whatever. So he told me what to do. Well, I get turned around and ready to back in to get loaded and the guy tells me that I have to go back to the scale house because the dude didn't get my empty weight. Apparently he was picking his nose for the 15 min I was sitting on the scale.

So I eventually get loaded, tarp the load, and than throw my 8 straps. I had 14 lifts of OSB. They loaded me in a 4-3-3-4 layout. If I do this load again, I will have them spread it out as it's a bitch to tarp that way. But hey, ya learn from your mistakes right?

I get my paperwork and head back to the scale house. I weighed in at 78K lbs. Good thing I only had half a tank of fuel as I hit every damn weigh station between NC and PA. Apparently our pre-pass doesn't work in those states, or they turned it off as every truck was going in.

Anyway, I am headed for PA and guess when my dumb ass hits DC?? You guessed it, 5 o'clock. So, needless to say, I was illegal by the time I got to my fuel stop. However, I knew I would be good since it took me so long to get through DC. Basically I arrived in Harrisburg, PA at 2000, but my log book says I got there at 1900 (which is when my 14 was up).

I woke up at 0500, did my pre-trip, fueled, and was on 81N at 0600. PA is a beautiful state, but it really friggin sucks when the fog is so thick you can't see a truck length in front of you. Plus I am not a fan of being that heavy and going up and down all the mts. Good thing there weren't any weigh stations open this morning because now that I think about it, I was probably overweight will full tanks. Matter of fact, I know I was. Oh well, dodged another bullet.

I get to Carbondale and call Holt Lumber to make sure my directions were correct. There are all kinds of signs on US-6 telling truckers what roads they can and can't use, so I wanted to make sure I was good.

Now Carbondale has to be as old as the 13 colonies. The streets in that town are barely wide enough for two cars. Needless to say, my skills were put to the test. But I was trained well, didn't freak out and took my time. Had to block traffic a couple of times as people wouldn't back up to let me turn, but sometimes ya just have to do that. The lumber company was just off of main street and even getting into there was a challenge.

Once unloaded I headed back to the Pilot in Scranton, and that's where I am now. Just before my DM left for the night she said they would get me rollin in the am. I am ok with that too as I only had 29 hrs available when I started this morning. I am supposed to be home the 9th and 10th. It's a two day trip back, which means I wouldn't make it without stopping somewhere and taking a 34hr restart. So, I am hoping they have me head to the house n pick something up along the way. The main thing is I keep my DM flooded with info and I know they are working it.

Sitting here was good though. I got a 3hr nap in, and re-rolled my lumber tarps. I didn't like how I did it this morning and my OCD kicked in after my nap. For those that know me, I am pretty anal when it comes to having shit put away neatly and orderly. Plus, I know I form opinions about drivers when I notice there gear just tossed any ol place. It's laziness the way I see it, and if they are lazy putting their gear away, whose to say they aren't lazy when they secure it.

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Wooohooo

The big man is on my side today!!! Just got another pre-plan!!!

Picking up at Louisiana Pacific in Roxboro, NC (doesn't have to be picked up till tomorrow) and delivering to Holt Lumber Company in Carbondale, PA

Ahhh, now to scratch all my trip planning from earlier and head back to the drawing board. ;)


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Well, the mechanic just showed up to fix the trailer and said it would take at least an hour to fix.

I called CH Robinson (the broker we are pulling this load for) and they are pulling the load from us. They have to have it out of Mocksville tonight and tomorrow is not an option.

I updated my DM and she is letting the planner and CSR know....

So, here I sit waiting.. This is a lot like the military. Hurry your ass up.... AND WAIT. LOL. Not much ya can do when equipment fails though.


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What a ride...

I left Laredo the morning of the 2nd with a load of frame rails for Freightliner. Everything went perfect until last night when I pulled into a Pilot for the night.

This has to the most poorly designed truck stop I have seen. There is one way in and one way out. You are actually supposed to go through the fuel isle to park, but nothing tells you that.

Well, I look for a spot and there is nothing and than realize I can't get out. There is enough room for me to turn around though, so I button-hook to the right and start left. I was doing good until I hear this loud ass pop. I look out the window and everyone has stopped what they were doing and starred at me. SONOFABITCH!!! I finish my turn and discovered a tire blew on my first axle of the trailer. For those that haven't heard a truck tire blow, have someone stand next to you and fire off a shotgun.. That's pretty much it.

What still confuses me is it was the inside tire, but on the outside of the turn, so there wasn't hardly any stress on it. Plus I know on a spread axle, you can't just u-turn that baby, you have to almost make a square turn.

So I send in the breakdown macro on the qualcomm and get a call about 15 min later telling me they are sending a guy out to fix it. The good news is while I was waiting, a truck had left and I was able to get out of everyones way.

The tire gets fixed and I roll out for Gaffney, SC this morning to make my delivery. Once I dropped the trailer and stowed all my gear I asked if I should get an empty trailer or not. I was told not to get one and to just hold my position.

Perfect opportunitu for a NAP!!! 2hrs later I get a pre-plan to pick up in Mocksville, NC. However, the next message said call my DM about a trailer. Before I could call, they send me a message that I am to bob tail to Salisbury, NC and get a trailer from another driver.

I hit the road and get here in about an hour and 45 min. Guess what??? This trailer has two blown air bags and the mechanic had to go to Charlotte to get new ones.

I was supposed to load an hour and a half ago, but the place is open till 1900 EST. Hopefully the mechanic gets his ass back here, so I can get loaded n rollin north before I run out of hrs.

I am delivering in Grand Ledge, MI at Lowe's #1431. My plan says 44,800lbs of cabinets. Kinda odd as when I worked at Lowe's all of our cabinets came in a box trailer.

Anywho, so here I sit waiting on the mechanic to get back.

Oh, this just game across the qualcomm:

Ty D. Everson
Thank you for your efforts to lower engine idle time. During the past week you were one of our drivers with the lowest engine idle time. We appreciate your efforts to help Swift be Best in Class!

That's really cool, but they could toss some extra coin my way for saving them money in fuel cost. Know what I mean? LOL

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