Frustrating Day

I should be about 100 miles outside Chicago right now, but I am still in Covington, VA.

The load I have is paper rolls for Westvaco. Total weight is 45K lbs. I didn't think anything of it when I accepted the pre-plan.

I quickly learned though that I was screwed. I scaled 4 times and was still overweight on the drives and trailer. Not by just a little either. 2K on each. My gross is 79,980. About as close to the allotted 80K I am allowed.

So, I messaged Tonn and two hrs later she got a reply from the CSR telling me to go back to the shipper to have the load re-worked. Since this is just a trailer yard, they sent me 5 miles down the road.

The guys there assured me they would position the rolls to make me legal. 20 min later I was back at the scale. Another 10 bucks and a free re-weigh and I am still 900lbs over on the drives n trailer.

At this point I am really pissed. I messaged Tonn again and she got with the CSR and planner again. Final verdict is the shipper has to re-do the load and take a roll off. Each roll is 3,750lbs, so that should work. However, I am out of hrs for the day so this will happen bright and early in the morning. I don't have to be in Chicago till the 29th though. So, I have plenty of time, just frustrating.

$30 in scale tickets today is still cheaper than an overweight ticket. :)

The lesson I learned today was that I don't accept van loads that are over 42,500 lbs. Tonn said she was partly to blame though as she should have caught that before I accepted it.

Since I am in the mountains of VA, I don't get TV reception. I do have the first two seasons of NCIS though and have two episodes left on the first season.

Other than that, things are going good. This load will give me over 2,500 miles for the week again, so I can't complain at all.


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I have a Marine with me now

I have to take a load of Sunny-D to a Sams Club distribution center this morning. The way the fuel lanes are here at the New Boston Terminal, you have to leave the gate and do a u-turn to come back thru the fuel island. GAY, I know.

However, this morning as I was fueling I did my normal walk around. I see this round thing on the ground next to the curb. Curiosity got the best of me as it was a perfect circle, so I ran my foot across it to maybe get a better idea of what it was. I realized it was a rubber bracelet. My curiosity is still curious at this point so I picked it up to see what message it had on it. This is where my heart sank a bit.

The bracelet is a desert camo pattern and has this embossed on it; " LCpl Troy D Nealey 10-29-06"

I instantly got pissed. Here is a young man that gave his life for this country and someone didn't have the common courtesy to keep track of the bracelet or to take care of it.

So, as I am still fueling I take a look to the sky, say a little prayer, and get a bottle of water out of the truck to clean it off.

After I cleaned it off, I realized that this young man was in Iraq the same time I was.

If you want to get even more weirded out, my brother was a Marine and his name is Troy...

Needless to say, the bracelet is proudly displayed on my wrist.

May you rest in peace LCpl Troy D Nealey! I didn't know you, but you will not be forgotten! Semper Fi Marine!!!

Ok, gotta go. Getting all choked up now. To the two young men that gave their life on Jan 5th, 2006 on the convoy to Taji. Even though I never knew your names, I want you to know I will never forget about you either!

God Bless each and every one of you and God Bless America!!!!




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Been Awhile

I realize I haven't updated in awhile, but there are two reasons for that. First they have been keeping my ass busy (which is good) and second, I am usually whooped when I stop for the night.

I unloaded this morning in Brownsville, TX and have been sitting all day. I just got a pre-plan at 1800, but my 14 ended at 1815 which means I can't do anything till I take my 10hr break. So, I will get up at 0400 or 0415, do my pre-trip at 0430 and be rollin at 0500.

I have to go to the Laredo terminal and pick-up a van load. I guess flat bed freight is low out of there right now. But, it is bound for Concord, Ontario. However, I am t-calling it at the New Boston, MI terminal and someone else will take it across the border. Yeah, it's a van load but it will be over 1700 miles! :). I don't have to be in New Boston until the 18th, so I am going to see where Swift routes me than go through St Louis anyway. That is my plan anyway and my fingers are crossed it works.

The only thing I am worried about at this particular moment is there is no weight in the pre-plan. My fingers are crossed it's not to heavy and that I can scale out.

Other than that, I finally got me a TV so the down time isn't as bad as it was. Only had it a couple of days, but every night I have stopped I am able to get about 20 digital channels. They come in crystal clear too. A lot better than the way the old analog broadcast would come in. It has a built in DVD player as well so I picked up the first season of NCIS. Love that show!!!

Oh, I don't think I updated on Angie's experience. I think she was bored most of the time, but really enjoyed it. She even got her hands dirty!! Yup, she just jumped right in one day and started helping me put away my gear. Although, when we were done, I believe she said she would never make it doing this and now knows why I love it. She did awesome though. Even tightened down a couple of straps. Well, as much as she could. :) Anyway, it was really awesome to have her on the truck and I believe she was overwhelmed at times with everything I have to do.

I think the best was when we got a pre-plan to go to Davenport, IA for a load. She asked where we were going, grabbed the map, asked how many hours I had left, and figured out the route and where we were stopping for the night.

The second best was her doubting the number of chains I had on the front end loader we picked up. That was a quick discussion though as I started throwing weight ratings and numbers at her. The glazed look crossed her eyes and I realized that math in public is not her strong suit. I eventually broke it down for her though and she felt better. However, I don't think she appreciated me hitting every whole in the dirt parking lot on the way out. She starred in the mirror the whole time and asked if that was really necessary, or something like that. I said yes ma'am, and you just keep watching. Once we got to level ground I asked if she saw the loader move or the chains flex. She said no. Well, we are good-to-go than. However, she was still a little nervous but managed to crack a smile.

Bottom line is it was an awesome week with her on the truck and can't wait till we can do it again!

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Chillin in Cedar Rapids

We have about 3 hrs to drive tomorrow to Forest City. I say WE because Angie is with me for a few days. I have home time scheduled for the 10th so should be home than. Her leave ends on the 12th.

I had to laugh this afternoon after we picked up the trailer from the East St Louis drop yard. We went across the street to get some sodas and snacks. Well, instead of parking I just pulled through the fuel isle. Angie wasn't even out of the truck fully and you could hear the jaws dropping and hitting the pavement. I just happened to look over to the fuel isle and I think every dude stopped what they were doing to stare.

Angie looked at me and said that some of the guys give her the creeps. I told her she better get used to it because that's what it's like at a truck stop.

I think she is having a good time though. Well, she says she is anyway, but she did look pretty bored at times. Hell, I think she did 25 word finds today. LOL

I told her we were getting up at 6 and rollin by 7. She said well, I will get up to pee and than I am going back to bed. The only reason I am getting up to do that is so I don't wake up when we are in the middle of nowhere and have to go. LOL

She only got scared a couple of times today. I can't remember what the first one was over, but the second one was when I backed into the parking spot when we parked for the night. She was watching out the mirror and when she couldn't see the truck on her side she got nervous. :)

That's about all for now. I know I haven't updated in awhile, but I have been runnin my ass off. Which is good, so I'm not complaining at all!!!


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