What a Week

The last time I wrote, I was headed to the house for a couple of days before delivering in Iowa on the 22nd...

I ended up at the Freightliner dealer in Dubuque, IA after I unloaded. Same issue as before with the check engine light. There were bad main wires going into the ECM. Got those replaced and was good to go.

The 23rd I headed to Gary, IN to get my B-Service done.

I got a pre-plan on the 24th to pick-up a coil in New Carlisle, IN. I delivered to Georgetown, KY at 0030 on the 25th and was lucky enough to find a parking spot at the Pilot just down the road.

The next morning (25th) I got a pre-plan to pick-up a coil in Middletown, OH. I delivered that one to Spartanburg, SC yesterday. On my way to Spartanburg I was sent my next load.

As soon as I unloaded I headed to Huger, SC for yet another coil. This is the biggest one I have had. 45,300lbs. I am delivering this one to Baltimore on the 29th, than heading straight back to Huger, SC empty.

Needless to say since the 22nd I traveled 2,200 miles. I think I am starting to feel it too.

Every time I load or unload, it has to be 800 degrees outside. So, you can imagine by the time I am done it looks like I just got out of a pool. It's all good though. Still beats slammin doors.

Angie filled out and faxed in the rider packet Friday and was approved by Risk Management. She took leave the next two weeks and is hopefully gonna be on the truck for one of those. My DM, Tonn, said she is going to do everything she can to get me something through St Louis after this load so I can pick her up. Than I have home time scheduled for July 10th and 11th.

Since I don't have to deliver until 1500 in Baltimore on Monday, I stopped in Chester, VA. It was my fuel stop, plus it gave me another shower on my Pilot card. So, I am hanging here until Monday. There are two truck stops in Maryland, but the charge to park.

I will knock out a 34hr restart here though and than leave at 0300 Monday morning and arrive at my delivery location at 0600 (well 0700 their time). My delivery window is 0700-1500. However, I will miss all that traffic getting there. Hell, I may leave at 0200 now that I think about it. Either way, I will have to fight DC traffic on the way back, but at least I won't have 45K lbs on the trailer.

I don't have a TV in the truck yet, so I think I will knock out some laundry tomorrow. Than if it's not to hot out I may detail the truck up a bit. I got it washed in Gary while I was there and than picked up some chrome polish. I got all the crap off the stack heat guards and did the front wheels too. It was to damn hot to tackle the drive wheels. 3 hrs of polishing chrome was enough for one day. As usual when I was a vehicle, it's rained every day since than. It doesn't look to bad though, just needs a little sprucing up.

Sent from my Sprint® BlackBerry®

It's confirmed yet again...I'm a dumbass

I got up at 0145 this morning and headed 90 miles out of my way to Greer, SC to look for an available skateboard. I was able to find one and was back on the road headed to Huger, SC in 30 min.

So glad I decided to do that too as when I got to Huger to load I found out I was getting 50ft beams. If I still had the step-deck, I would have been sent packing.

I figured out where I could make it to before my 14 was up, which was exit 59 on I-26W just inside NC. Keep in mind I got up at 0145. Not to mention just finished climbing a 5 mile hill at 25mph. I just wanted to stop for the night.

When I came off the exit, I read the sign wrong and it was hard to see any civilization due to the trees. I took a right when I should have taken a left.

Guess what? Wrong move jackass!!! 15 miles or better of a winding hilly road. Oh, and it was raining. NO WHERE to turn around either. I am taking it slow and easy since the road is so narrow and in parts, I am taking up the whole road.

I found a spot that looked like I could back into, when a lady coming in the opposite direction stopped and said I could turn around in her driveway and gave me directions. I get moving again and she said it was at the top of a hill. Well, she didn't say there was a hard tight right hander just before the hill. Dummy me was in the wrong gear and bogged the engine, and than lost the pulling power. At this point I am stopped halfway up the hill. I put it in low and end up killing it twice. Remember, I am just shy of 77K lbs.

How did I get out of the situation? Glad you asked.. Luckily there was no one behind me so I rolled back down the hill and around the corner. Yeah, it was tricky. I get up the hill, almost over heat the engine, and notice there is not enough room to turn around.

I noticed a car behind me, so I pulled the brakes and asked them about a turn around. They were amazed I had made it that far and said about 3-5 more miles the road ends and to take a right at the stop sign. That would get me back to I-26.

Well, I continue down the road nice and easy. Had more hills like the first, but nailed them perfectly and didn't over heat. There were also two tight ass "S" turns that I negotiated successfully.

When I got to the end of the road and to the stop sign, there was a line of cars behind me. I got out and asked the lady behind me if I had the directions right to get back to the interstate and she said I did. Than she asked if I came from the top. I asked what she meant and than said I got off at exit 59 and obviously took a wrong turn. She was amazed that I made it through that and said that the last three trucks that made my same mistake all jack-knifed or fell off the side of the road.

I got back to the interstate and guess where it put me? At the bottom of that same hill I was telling you about earlier.

I took the correct turn off the exit this time and after I re-tightened my chains on the load, I went in to get some dew. The lady asked how I was doing and I said awesome now that I made it here. She's an older lady, probably in her 60's. She looks at me and asked where I was coming from and I told her about the wrong turn. Her eyes got all big and she said "COVE ROAD"? I guess that's what it's called.

She went on to say that I am on helluva driver to have made it through there. I said well there were parts that were hairy, but I just took my time. She said no, you are really a helluva driver young man. Than told me that she lives down there and in the past 10 years or something like that she has never seen a truck make it through there.

So, at the end of the day I guess I am pretty proud of myself! :)

Oh and Tonn called me today. She's my DM if I have never said her name. Anyway, she asked if my route was taking me by the house. I said no, but it can. She told me that Ed, the flat bed division manager, didn't have a problem with me taking the load to the house. So she told me to go home and would send me the new delivery date and time to my BlackBerry. Sweet!!! My new delivery date and time is the 22nd before noon.

I am 609 miles from the house where I sit. That is every bit of 11 hours at an average speed of 55. Which is probably what I will average because I have to take I-40W and that means "the gorge" again. The best part of that stretch is the two tunnels. I blow the air horn every time, which than causes all the other big rigs to follow suit. :) If I am in front anyway. If not, someone else usually starts it.

Sent from my Sprint® BlackBerry®

Been sittin all day, but have a pre-plan

I unloaded right when they opened this morning. Ran past the Pilot to scan the BOL so I get paid and than came back to the same truck stop I was at last night. Pilot was still packed.

My DM sent me a message around 4 asking what I was willing to do. She had been bugging the planner to get me home all day, but she didn't get a reply back. She went on to say she wants me to get near Gary so she can send me home!!

I replied and said I am willing to do whatever you need me to, and than I get a pre-plan.

I am picking up steel beams in Huger, SC and delivering to Dubuque, IA. Two problems though. 1) I have a step deck and if the beams are what I think they are, it won't work. I will have to much overhang. 2) I need 8 pieces of dunnage.

Problem #2 is an easy fix. My DM put $50 on my COMDATA card to go buy some. I'll hit a Lowe's on the way.

Problem #1 is a more of a PITA. I am going to go 89 miles out of my way and swing past the terminal in Greer, SC. That is another flat bed terminal. Hopefully they have an empty skateboard I can snag. Plus while I am there, I will see if there is any dunnage laying around.

So, in order to make all of this happen and make my PU appointment on time I have to leave Charlotte at 0230, which is 0330 here.

**Not sure if I ever explained the time thing or not, so here it goes. Since I am based out of Gary, IN (Central Time), that is what I log. My clock in the truck never changes. I just need to keep in mind where I am or where I am going to in order to make it on time. **

One other thing that has me a little nervous is according to the load assignment, I am picking up 46,800 lbs. On the plus side I will have between 1/2 and 3/4 in fuel. I should be able to pull that though as a skateboard is almost 3K lbs less than a step deck. They have a scale house at this shipper as well, but not sure if they do axle weight or not. Guess I will find out though.

Angie has been helping me plan my route since she got off work. I probably frustrate the hell out of her sometimes, but she is so awesome!! I believe she even has MapQuest as one of her tabs now. :)

Well, I guess I should go get some food. I need to see if this place cashes COMCHECKS too. If not I will just have to stop at a Pilot on the way. Could stop at a Love's or TA too, but Pilot's hot dogs are better. :)

Sent from my Sprint® BlackBerry®

Yet Another Lesson Learned

I loaded at AK Steel in Rockport on Monday. The last time I was there I picked up one coil on a skateboard. This time I picked up 3 coils on a step-deck.

On a regular skateboard there is a mark on the deck where your center point is. Or if that is worn off you just count 13 stake pockets from the back to find your center point. So, let's say I picked up the load I have now and had a skateboard. Each coil weighs just under 14K. The difference between them was only 80lbs so, they basically weighed the same. So, ya put one in the middle, put one between the front of the trailer and the middles one, and the third one half way between the middle and the back. Make sense? Basically dividing the trailer into thirds.

On a step deck it is different. On the beams underneath the deck it has a sticker that says "Place center of single coil here". Well, what about 3?? Well, I treated it like a skateboard in a way. Basically, all three coils were centered on the whole trailer if you take the step into account.

I was all f'in happy with myself. Got them chained down and tarped nicely. Than I went back to Owensboro, KY to scale. They scale us at AK steel, but just give us gross weight. They don't give axle weight. I even asked.

I scaled and had 41,480 on the trailer. SHIT! 1,480 over. Went back to AK steel, and there were about 35 to 40 trucks in line waiting to check in. I parked and went to the scale house and told them of my dilemma. Well, they told me once we leave the yard it's our responsibility and they don't re position the loads. Just friggin great!!!

My division manager told me to send a breakdown message for a wrecker. So, I went back to the truck stop to do that. There was way more room, plus I didn't feel like being stared at when a wrecker showed up at AK Steel.

As I was waiting on the wrecker I figured I could get legal by just moving the front coil as far forward as possible while still catching the anchor points I needed.

The wrecker showed up and I told him what I needed to do. They lifted it just high enough for me to back up about 3 feet and than set it down. The dude asked about putting it on the step. I said not no, but hell no. I have never seen a coil on the step of a step-deck. Not to mention AK steel made me load all three suicide. **Suicide means the eye of the coil faces the rails of the trailer. Thus having 3 14K lb rolling pins. It is called suicide because if you have to slam on the breaks and the chains break, that coil is still moving at what ever speed you were going and rolls right through the cab.** Suicide isn't that bad on a step-deck though as you have the step there to stop it.

Sorry, where was I? Just wanted to explain that as I know some were saying WTF is that?

Oh yeah, so the coil is re positioned and I told the wrecker guys that I was gonna just throw two chains on it and go re-weigh. SCORE!!! After re-weighing the trailer now weighed 40K even!!! Perfect, as long as a bird didn't land on it while going over a scale.

I am happy to report that I got the green light on all the pre-pass scales, and the ones that don't have pre-pass, I rolled right through.

The shitty part of the whole deal was the little mistake cost me time. My delivery time was for 0800 this morning. Last night I sent a late call and said I could make it by noon. So, I got rollin at 0430 this morning and halfway to Charlotte I get a pre-plan. Couple of minutes later the Qualcomm goes off again, than again, and again. DAMNIT!! So I pull over at the next rest are to read the messages.

The pre-plan had me picking up in South Carolina and delivering to Elk Grove Village, IL, which is in Chicago! I'm all excited until I read the next message. "They won't unload you today, unload in the am". SONOFABITCH!!! The next two messages were just the updated load assignment changing the delivery date to tomorrow between 0600 and 0900. My ass will be there at 0530 waiting on them though.

Basically, I lost the load to Chicago. Unless they were able to move the pick-up and delivery back a day. Won't know until tomorrow though.

So, I have been sitting at a hole-in-the-wall truck stop in Charlotte off I-75. About 10 miles away from my delivery point. Parking is a premium in Charlotte too. Both Pilots were packed at 3 in the afternoon, but luckily I found this place, which is now packed.

OH almost forgot!!! So my route had me taking I-40 across Tennessee into North Carolina. Anyone wana take a stab at what is on that route? The Gorge... 21 miles of curves, grades, and 2 tunnels. Trucks are banned from the left lane and guess who's ass was leading the parade headed East today. I gotta tell ya though, the guys behind me were patient and nice as hell. When we got out of it, I thanked them for their patience and not heckling me. I went on to tell them that was my first time through there solo. There were about 6 trucks behind me and I head 4 different voices come back saying not a problem, we all started somewhere, and that I did just fine. Than one guy said if I ever go through there again and someone starts shit, just turn the damn CB off and handle your business. Than they all waved as they passed me. LOL. It sucks being governed at 62 sometimes. :)

Sent from my Sprint® BlackBerry®

Seriously Dude?!?

I am at the TA in Denmark, TN. It's about an hour east of Memphis. I am here until Sunday and than head to Rockport, IN again to get loaded Monday morning. I am staying here till Sunday for two reasons; 1) There isn't a major truck stop in Rockport and 2) I will have a 34hr restart by leaving Sunday. That way I don't have to do it in Laredo. I was given a dead head trip # to head to Rockport, and was told I will get lay over pay for Sat and Sun. Hey, works for me!

Now to make the subject of this make sense;

I went in and got some hot dogs earlier this afternoon. When I was walking across the parking lot I had this feeling someone was following me. Instead of turning around I used the big ass chrome bumper on the truck in front of me as a mirror. I thought to my self great, some jackass walking the parking lot asking for money.

So, I get in the truck and put my dogs on the table. I reached up to start the truck because it was hot as balls here today. Than it happened.. A knock on the door. I looked out the window and shook my head. He motioned just a second. I roll down my window and say, "What!?!"

He proceeds to give some story of how him and his wife ran out of gas at the exit and he needs gas money. He went on to say that he would polish two wheels for 5 bucks, and that he had some good polish. Not only that, but if I didn't like the job I didn't have to pay. Seriously dude?!? You ran out of gas but conveniently have a backpack with supplies to polish wheels. I said no thanks.

At that point he had the option to leave but didn't. That means I now have the option to be an ass, and I was. He said well do you have any change? I looked at him and said NO, I don't carry cash on me, can I eat my food now?

He said damn man, ya don't have to be so rude. Yeah, and your ass probably has more money than I do and don't need to be begging. I didn't say that, but I should have. However, I like having all my tires inflated when I wake up.

Just a few minutes ago I had just got done talking to Ang and was getting ready for bed. I was pulling my shades when there is a knock at the door. WTF? Some big 'ol black dude.

I roll down the window and before I could even say anything he goes into his speal.. He and his family ran out of gas on the interstate and need to get back to Oklahoma. He added that his wife and kids are still in the vehicle sitting on the side of the road. He too wanted to know if I could spare a few bucks.

I looked at him and actually chuckled. Seriously Dude?!? You ran out of gas and need to get back to Oklahoma? Seems to me like you didn't plan your trip very well. He started to justify, and I cut him off.

Dude, I don't have any cash on me. Than this jackass asked the same thing... Do you have any change? At this point, i'm frustrated. I looked at him and said what did you not just understand? I don't have ANY cash. Thus, I have no change.

He just turned around and walked over to a truck where the dude was just backing in. He stood there and waited until he was parked. The guy no more than pulls the brakes and this guy is at his door. Holy hell, it's a good thing that wasn't me.

The last thing I want is some asshole begging for money after a day of driving.

Some will read this and think I'm a jerk, an asshole, a prick, an insensitive bastard, etc... You would be correct!! But guess what? I have been called worse and didn't even lose any sleep.

If they were legitimately broken down and needed help or something, well that's a different story. But don't come up to my truck feeding me a line of shit. That is nothing different than someone ringing your doorbell and feeding you the same line of crap. Besides, your piss poor travel planning is your problem, not mine.

We were warned about this crap in orientation though, so I am not surprised. People have this pre-conceived notion that truckers have a lot o cash..

Thinking back on the first dude, I should have made him a deal on all 6 wheels for 10 bucks and if I don't like the job I'm not paying. Anyone that knows me knows I would have found something wrong with the job as anal as I am. Probably better I didn't though. I am only an hour away from Memphis and I don't need his posse showin up.

Sent from my Sprint® BlackBerry®

I Won a Contest!!!!!

Sure is a good thing I decided to check my Hotmail from my computer to clean out the Junk folder. For some reason I actually glanced through them before just selecting all and deleting.

Well, one of the emails was this:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ty,

Thank you for entering our Photo Contest on Bed In A Box truckers site. We are happy to tell you that you are one of the winners of our Coolmax Memory Foam mattress for the month of May. Please contact me by email with your mattress size and the shipping address.

We would also like to ask you to take a picture of you and your truck, or you with the mattress in your truck to put on our NEW website, aptly named http://www.sleepdogmattress.com/.

Also, after you have slept on it for a week or so it would be great if you would submit a testimonial for us to put on this site.

Please email all information to me at Lisa@Sleepdogmattress.com

Look forward to hearing from you. Thank you again and Congratulations!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When I was home for those 4 days I was just seeing how much a better mattress would be than saw the link on their site that said enter to win. I clicked on it, registered, and submitted 3 random photos from Iraq. :)

So, I will be the proud owner of a $400 memory foam mattress (that's the price of the size I need).

In Texarkana for the night

The truck won't be done until tomorrow. They are replacing all the injectors, which they had to order. I am also getting a new DOC and DPF which are key components to the Aftertreatment System (ATS). I think said ATF earlier. Ooops

Here is a link to understand it all more. www.detroitdiesel.com/emissions/epa2007/aftertreatment.aspx

The mechanic had a feeling the Detroit would recommend the above, but they still wanted him to do a bunch of tests. So, I am more confident this will fix the issue now.

The good news is that at 2000 tonight, I will have a 34hr reset so I won't have to do it in Laredo now. Hopefully I will get down there and be able to turn-n-burn. :)

Sent from my Sprint® BlackBerry®

Shop update

It seems I have a competent mechanic this time. Just talked to him and he sent the logs to Detroit for review. He said the ATF system is messed up as the temp is only reaching 600 degrees when it should be 1,000 to 1200 during the regen process.

Detroit wants him to do a few more tests, but he is sure that either I have a bad injector, the turbo is oiling, or there is a hole in the ATF system. He said either one of those will cause smoke.

He said they have a corny saying.. If it smokes it's broke..

Anyway, he is running the other tests now. The good news I guess is that he said if it's any of the things he thinks it is, they are easy fixes.

Sent from my Sprint® BlackBerry®

Another day, another Freightliner dealer

Before I get into the whole dealer thing, I need to toot my own horn for a bit. I normally don't like doing that, but to me, this was awesome.

I was headed south on 55 and I heard a couple of guys talking on the CB. The one was talking about how he had been driving for 26 years and the company he is with sucks.

Anyway, I knew they were behind me. The first guy eventually passes me, and than the second. I hear on the CB, "Hey Swift, this is the gordon truck that just passed ya, ya got it on?". So I answered him and he asked if my trailer was pre-loaded. I said nope, it was empty and I told them where to put the coils, chained them, and tarped the load.

He came back and said well that is a damn fine job young man. As I was passing you I was thinking this has to be an old veteran with that tarp job, and than I see it's just a kid. You should be proud of that and you have some damn fine work ethic. Keep it up and hopefully those listening will take a look when they see you and change how they are. We need more guys out here like you!

Of course I was just cheesin, but thanked him and said that part of it was my 16yrs in the military. Than he said, well I am glad you made it back safely and again, damn fine job young man. I said thank ya sir, you have a safe trip.

Now for the truck. I left the Freightliner dealer in Troy, IL yesterday. They said some plug was screwed up, so they replaced it. Well, I get 159 miles down the road and the check engine light comes on. At 350 miles the DPF light comes on, and 450 miles it started blinking.

I called on-road when the check engine light came on and I spoke with the same lady that I did the day before. She wanted to get me to a Detroit Diesel dealer, but one wasn't close. I told her I was stopping in Texarkana for the night, so she told me just to take it to the dealer there. Than she proceeded to tell me that they have had issues with the doser valve on the 08s. After some reading last night, I discovered that the doser valve let's fuel into the dpf filter in order to burn off the soot/ash. Well if the doser valve isn't working properly, the regen process isn't doing what it is supposed to. Made complete sense to me and would explain why it needs to be regened so much.

Long story short, I told the dealer here all of that. The lights are still on as well. If they don't get it fixed, the lady I spoke with at on-road said she is going to get the Detroit Diesel rep from Phoenix involved because she said there is no reason I should be having this many problems..

On the plus side, they have some comfortable ass recliners here in the driver's lounge and sodas are 50 cents. :)

I just hope they can get me outta here sometime today. I need to be in Laredo by Wednesday at midnight in order for this load to go on this pay period. I was supposed to be there at 0800 this morning.

Stand by for further..

Sent from my Sprint® BlackBerry®

Planners piss me off

So that load going to Chicago right, well the planner knew I was not going to make it there for the original delivery time of 1000 on the 4th. I told him I would be there by noon on the 5th. Which I would have been had i not had to regen my truck twice which took two hours both times. I send in my late macro like I am supposed to and this jackass sends a message back telling me to arrive by noon. Well, I send one back and say unless you can make this truck do 80mph, it's not gonna happen. Than I called my DM to let her know and asked if she could call the dude to get him off my ass.

I changed the time to 1500 and was there and unloaded by 1445. I get a message from that jackass riding my ass saying GOOD JOB!!!.. WTF ever is what I was thinking.

Anyway, I no more than send my empty call and I get another pre-plan going back to Laredo!! SCORE!!!! Two Laredo runs in the same pay period!!! Before I get to that though, I need to tell you about the Iraq flashback I had on the trip from Laredo to Chicago.

I can't remember where it was exactly, but this other truck passes me. Well, I let him know he is clear to come over. He's about 75 yrds ahead of me at this point and pulling away obviously. As he starts to move over, I see this puff of smoke, hear this loud boom, and see debris fly. He blew both rear tires on the passenger side of his trailer. Anyone wanna take a stab at what I thought it was at first? My heart sank and skipped a couple of beats and I had this sick feeling. It looked and sounded exactly like the two roadside bombs I encountered on my convoys in Iraq. Once I realized it was just his tires, I was good, but it was that initial "holy shit" that got me. That's the first time that has happened since I've been back and I am glad it only lasted a few moments. Than I started thinking about those guys that died that day we didn't make it to Taji. I said a little prayer for their families and than Angie called to see if I was OK since I had messaged her to let her know.

Anyway, back to the here and now... I had to load in Sawyer MI, which was 75 miles from where I unloaded. I put the address in Mater (that's my TomTom's name) and away I went. I arrived around 1730 and by the time I stopped screwing with my tarp it was 2100. I hate being a perfectionist sometimes. That meant I was out of hours and would have to stay in Sawyer. Lucky for me, there was a TA a block away. I headed over there and they had a ton of parking open spots, but I scaled first. I really wouldn't have had to, but I wanted to make sure I had them load the trailer right. The coils are 21K a piece and they have to be separated at least 12 inches. So, I set one 12 inches ahead of center and the other 12 inches behind center. I knew I wouldn't be over on the trailer as I can have 40K on a spread axle. I mainly just wanted to check to make sure my steers and drives were good as I was full of fuel. I am happy to report that I did good. I am 11,040 on the drives, 29,620 on the drives, and 32,560 on the trailer. Total weight is 73,220. Now that I have gone down the road a bit, I could have really moved them both forward a ways. Although it's not pulling to bad and just floats over the bumps now, so it's all good.

I am typing this from a little gas station in Pontiac, IL and I am tapped into the Holiday Inn Express wireless connection. :) My regen light started flashing again, which means the Diesel Particulate Filter is full. So, I am once again doing that. However, I called On Road and let them know that I am stopping in East St. Louis for the night. I went on to tell them what my issue was and asked if I could take it to the Freightliner dealer in Troy, IL to get it fixed. Sooooooo, they gave me a reference number and were going to call the dealer to let them know I would be coming in tonight!!! Not only will my truck get fixed, and i use that term loosely, but I will get to spend the time at home instead of a hotel. :) Pretty crafty of me huh? Yup, even this dumbass has a good one every now and than.

If things with this regen go like they have the past two days, I got about 45 minutes left and I will be on the road again. I have 193 miles to East St Louis, but really only about 183 since I am stopping Troy. The Illinois troopers are not out like they usually are today, so I have been running good. 60 in a 55, but still getting passed by trucks. I just keep the CB turned up and my eyes peeled. ;)

Anyway, I guess I better wrap this novel up. Gonna take advantage of the Internet connection and update the TomTom.

I had a trip and now I don't...

As soon as my truck came out of the shop I got a pre-plan. Taking a load from here to Mitsubishi Electric in Chicago! SCORE!!!!!! However, it had a delivery date of the 4th at 1000. Even if I left when I got the plan I wouldn't have made it. So, I talked with the guys here and I have to talk to Enrique tomorrow when he comes in. He's the flatbed dude here. In the meantime, they took the load off of me, but it's still here and not going anywhere overnight.

I am hoping tomorrow that they will just move the delivery date to the 5th and I will be off to Chicago.. with a stop by the hizzy for a 10 hr break..

Now, for the truck. I got in it and the check engine light is still on. So, I go back to the service desk and let the guy know that they didn't clear it and he tells me that's because it's not fixed. They don't have the part here, so they are letting me ride like that until I can get to another terminal. WTF?? I asked what was wrong with it and he tells me that the mechanic didn't really say, but he is on break right now and will find out later. SERIOUSLY??? After some polite bitching, he went and found the mechanic and it's the mass air flow sensor. Nothing that poses a safety risk, so I am pressing on.

I think I may conveniently break down near a Freightliner dealer when I have time to spare if I don't get to a competent terminal before that. :)

Anywho, just doing some laundry now and making sure I am ready to go first thing in the morning. Enrique gets in at 0800 so I will be waiting about 0730 for him to show. Fingers are crossed that I will be headed north shortly after that. I would love to stay in this freight lane. Not only because I can do my 10 hr break at the hizzy, but because it's 1300 miles a trip. :)

Still sittin in Laredo

Not because of freight though. Because of the slow ass Mexican mechanics here. Yeah, I said it... SLOW ASS MEXICANS!!! I was told the afternoon I got here that my truck would be in at 0900 on Monday. Guess what? It still isn't in and all they need to do is hook up the damn laptop to it and check the code that is causing the check engine light. Than they need to keep it connected and check what the speed limiter is at because my GPS is only showing 61 mph. I got passed by two Swift company trucks on the way down here and that shit shouldn't happen. I asked them and they said they were showing 63 and 62.

The good news is that I have discovered there is wireless Internet in the driver's lounge. Never knew that and didn't even think about it yesterday. But, I needed to charge my laptop so I figured I would hang out in here awhile to get outta the truck. Once the laptop started up it discovered a network. I had to go get a password to get on, but other than that no issues.

Anyway, I have no clue when my truck is gonna get in. I was 10th in line last night and this morning I was 8th. So, the night shift got a whole two trucks in the bay. Probably because they stood around with their thumbs up their ass most of the night. Ok, actually they stood around talking all night and it took 4 of them to fix the engine on a refer. It almost looked like the state highway dept. One dude working and three standing around pointing and looking important.

I also started reading a book yesterday. By Order of the President by W.E.B. Griffin. It's an awesome book and I actually read it before, but reading it again because he has two other books out in this series. It's the first in a series of military novels set against the backdrop of the modern war against terror.

Well, I guess I will go check on the truck or at least see what number I am now. Hell, if they would give me the laptop I would do it myself. I already changed out the air lines that attached to the trailer yesterday because I was bored. LOL