-- Sent from my Palm Pre
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Beautiful Utah
Lunch in WY
I made it up to Laramie, WY from Childress, TX last night. About a 670 mile drive. Stopping for lunch in Rawlins, WY. I hope to make it close to Boise today.
Got a shower in Laramie so I feel alright but I'm still sniffling and coughing. At this point I'm going to stop updating my health until I am fully healthy. Just assume I'm sick till then.
Got a shower in Laramie so I feel alright but I'm still sniffling and coughing. At this point I'm going to stop updating my health until I am fully healthy. Just assume I'm sick till then.
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Headed to BFN...
Well then, an interesting few days I must say. The trip down to San Antonio was lovely except for the whole getting sideswiped on I-35 S by another semi truck. I was rolling along in the right lane when the truck in the lane to my left swerved over and clipped my driver side mirror with his trailer. Marvelous. Then he proceeded to act like nothing happened despite me yelling at him on the radio, honking my air horn, and flashing my lights on and off right next to him. Even better.
Thankfully the damage really wasn't that bad. I managed to write down his USDOT # his Trailer # and his trailer license #. His company was N&W Transportation out of Grand Rapids, MI. And here I thought people from the midwest were nice. I pulled over to a closed weigh station to inspect my truck. My mirror is mounted on a swing arm so I was able to move the mirror back to it's correct position. Unfortunately the flat pane mirror was damaged and permanently tilted upward so I had a nice look at the sky and the motor inside the mirror housing that allows me to move the mirror around wasn't working. It could have been a lot worse. We were in construction and a concrete was directly to my right. I'm rather proud of myself that I didn't swerve into it. I spent over an hour inspecting the truck, filing a police report, and calling my company's accident reporting line.
After that I needed a drink. I made it down to my customer in San Antonio and had two beers at a local bar and some delicious enchiladas that gave me the shits the next morning. Made my delivery, drove to the KW dealer in San Antonio to get my mirror fixed, and drove up to Dallas to get my next load.
I am now in Amarillo, TX and about to hop on US-287 towards Denver and eventually Seattle area. I've never taken this stretch of road before. Should be a nice lonley drive, my favorite kind...
Thankfully the damage really wasn't that bad. I managed to write down his USDOT # his Trailer # and his trailer license #. His company was N&W Transportation out of Grand Rapids, MI. And here I thought people from the midwest were nice. I pulled over to a closed weigh station to inspect my truck. My mirror is mounted on a swing arm so I was able to move the mirror back to it's correct position. Unfortunately the flat pane mirror was damaged and permanently tilted upward so I had a nice look at the sky and the motor inside the mirror housing that allows me to move the mirror around wasn't working. It could have been a lot worse. We were in construction and a concrete was directly to my right. I'm rather proud of myself that I didn't swerve into it. I spent over an hour inspecting the truck, filing a police report, and calling my company's accident reporting line.
After that I needed a drink. I made it down to my customer in San Antonio and had two beers at a local bar and some delicious enchiladas that gave me the shits the next morning. Made my delivery, drove to the KW dealer in San Antonio to get my mirror fixed, and drove up to Dallas to get my next load.
I am now in Amarillo, TX and about to hop on US-287 towards Denver and eventually Seattle area. I've never taken this stretch of road before. Should be a nice lonley drive, my favorite kind...
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Home and back out...
After my delivery near Atlanta dispatch ended up sending me home. Yay! But I'm back out on the road again. I don't really mind it to be honest. I don't really feel like being around people recently and I snapped at my parents a few times. I just want to spend some time driving around the country without a care in the world.
Dispatch had another driver pick up a load near Atlanta and swap trailers with me at the Petro on I-285. The load was headed up to our warehouse in Columbus. I drove up to Knoxville, TN Friday night after grabbing my new trailer. I could have made it home early evening on Sat night and gone out with some friends, but I was still sick and just felt like sleeping in Sat morn.
Got some things accomplished in Columbus and Akron. I needed to move some stuff out of a storage unit and get it up to Akron. Up in Akron I got my taxes done and got the oil changed on my car. I tried to get completely well too but that failed. Yes, still slightly sick. I can't really describe how angry it makes me. It would require WAAY too many naughty words.
Got back to the truck yesterday and picked up a load in Bowling Green, KY bound for San Antonio. It's supposed to be 80 degrees down there. I'm excited and glad I had my boss fix the A/C while the truck was in Columbus. Toodles.
Dispatch had another driver pick up a load near Atlanta and swap trailers with me at the Petro on I-285. The load was headed up to our warehouse in Columbus. I drove up to Knoxville, TN Friday night after grabbing my new trailer. I could have made it home early evening on Sat night and gone out with some friends, but I was still sick and just felt like sleeping in Sat morn.
Got some things accomplished in Columbus and Akron. I needed to move some stuff out of a storage unit and get it up to Akron. Up in Akron I got my taxes done and got the oil changed on my car. I tried to get completely well too but that failed. Yes, still slightly sick. I can't really describe how angry it makes me. It would require WAAY too many naughty words.
Got back to the truck yesterday and picked up a load in Bowling Green, KY bound for San Antonio. It's supposed to be 80 degrees down there. I'm excited and glad I had my boss fix the A/C while the truck was in Columbus. Toodles.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Not dying...
Still sick though. Tues and Wed morn were both awful. I got myself on a nasty drive schedule. For 3 days in a row I would arrive at a customer at around 2 or 3am and someone would bang on my door around 7 or 8am to wake me up for delivery. After that I might get a couple more hours rest before I had to drive 500 miles again.
After Columbus went up to Shelby, OH to make a pickup. Over to Baltimore, MD to make a delivery. Up to Newark, NJ to get a loaded trailer.
Today was good though. Got a good nights sleep and a shower just north of Richmond, VA. I am definitely not well but I'm improving. I'm north of Atlanta and spending the night at a J. Delivery will be tomorrow afternoon then dispatch will hopefully find me something for the weekend.
Sleep...
After Columbus went up to Shelby, OH to make a pickup. Over to Baltimore, MD to make a delivery. Up to Newark, NJ to get a loaded trailer.
Today was good though. Got a good nights sleep and a shower just north of Richmond, VA. I am definitely not well but I'm improving. I'm north of Atlanta and spending the night at a J. Delivery will be tomorrow afternoon then dispatch will hopefully find me something for the weekend.
Sleep...
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
Monday, March 15, 2010
I'm dying
Made it to Cbus. Holy Jesus I feel terrible. Typing on my Pre with one eye open. I did about 270 miles no stops. Sickness worse, feel like I have plague. Had to hustle to get here so I can unload and make it to Shelby close to 1pm tomorrow or today or whatever. Kill me.....
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
Sunny North Carolina...and I'm sick...
So yeah, had a wonderful breakfast with Katie on Friday, then I started feeling sick later that day. DAMN YOU KATIE! Ok, not really. Was probably my own damn fault. I didn't get much sleep Wed night. Time out, food is here.
Eating at a J in Haw River, NC...
Luckily I didn't have to drive that hard to make it down to Mt. Olive, NC. Even if I had wanted to drive hard I didn't have the hours of service to do so. So I spent the weekend eating tons of food and getting lots of sleep. I still feel ill now but I'm on the mend.
The pickup at Waconia, MN went fine but I was a little worried about one pallet with three machinery pieces on it. I let the other driver there do most of the strapping down of my freight because he had more experience with this kind of freight than me. After driving a little over halfway I stopped in Walton, KY for the night and checked my load. The pallet had vibrated to the side during transit but worse than that, one of the machine pieces that was attached to the pallet had come loose. That sort of thing isn't my responsibility thankfully. It's up to the customer to make sure that their freight is securely attached to the pallet, but I still didn't want to show up at the customer with a unsecured piece of freight, particularly when the load is insured for $380,000.
The piece was too heavy for me to move but I wrapped a bunch of straps it and secured them to the wall. I also contacted dispatch to get the number of the other driver. I gave him a call and warned him about the tendency of the pallet to vibrate around. Sure enough, when he checked his pallet had moved as well.
Contacting the customer was fun as well. I gave them a call on Friday early afternoon and got the wonderful automatic recording. None of the options sounding particularly promising except for "press 8 for directions to our facility". Sure enough I couldn't get in touch with a human being the first try. Then I couldn't get in touch with a human the second try. Does anyone work here? Third try security answered and he transferred me to a phone that just kept ringing. Fourth try security connected me to a guy who said he was transferring me to someone else, then the phone went dead. Fifth try I got back to the guy who had hung up on me because I heard the security guard mumble his extension when I was getting connected. He claimed the line had went dead. We talked for a bit. I learned nothing during the conversation. Then he said he was transferring me again and the call stayed connected for about ten more minutes...but I never did talk to anyone else.
In case you were wondering, I tried option 8 later on in the weekend when I started getting close, and the machine hung up on me.
The address was tricky too. The navigation program in my phone said that road didn't exist. So I used google maps to get close then just figured it out when I got there. It was after 2:30am when I rolled into Mt. Olive last night, so I didn't have to contend with any traffic. Unfortunately, I did have to get up before 8am for my delivery. I did get in a few naps while they were unloading me, but I am still sick so currently I feel sleep deprived and terrible.
I'm headed back up to Shelby, OH to get a load due in MD Wed morn. I stopped outside Raleigh to pick up a load headed to Columbus, OH so I do have something in my trailer.
Oh the life of a trucker.
Eating at a J in Haw River, NC...
Luckily I didn't have to drive that hard to make it down to Mt. Olive, NC. Even if I had wanted to drive hard I didn't have the hours of service to do so. So I spent the weekend eating tons of food and getting lots of sleep. I still feel ill now but I'm on the mend.
The pickup at Waconia, MN went fine but I was a little worried about one pallet with three machinery pieces on it. I let the other driver there do most of the strapping down of my freight because he had more experience with this kind of freight than me. After driving a little over halfway I stopped in Walton, KY for the night and checked my load. The pallet had vibrated to the side during transit but worse than that, one of the machine pieces that was attached to the pallet had come loose. That sort of thing isn't my responsibility thankfully. It's up to the customer to make sure that their freight is securely attached to the pallet, but I still didn't want to show up at the customer with a unsecured piece of freight, particularly when the load is insured for $380,000.
The piece was too heavy for me to move but I wrapped a bunch of straps it and secured them to the wall. I also contacted dispatch to get the number of the other driver. I gave him a call and warned him about the tendency of the pallet to vibrate around. Sure enough, when he checked his pallet had moved as well.
Contacting the customer was fun as well. I gave them a call on Friday early afternoon and got the wonderful automatic recording. None of the options sounding particularly promising except for "press 8 for directions to our facility". Sure enough I couldn't get in touch with a human being the first try. Then I couldn't get in touch with a human the second try. Does anyone work here? Third try security answered and he transferred me to a phone that just kept ringing. Fourth try security connected me to a guy who said he was transferring me to someone else, then the phone went dead. Fifth try I got back to the guy who had hung up on me because I heard the security guard mumble his extension when I was getting connected. He claimed the line had went dead. We talked for a bit. I learned nothing during the conversation. Then he said he was transferring me again and the call stayed connected for about ten more minutes...but I never did talk to anyone else.
In case you were wondering, I tried option 8 later on in the weekend when I started getting close, and the machine hung up on me.
The address was tricky too. The navigation program in my phone said that road didn't exist. So I used google maps to get close then just figured it out when I got there. It was after 2:30am when I rolled into Mt. Olive last night, so I didn't have to contend with any traffic. Unfortunately, I did have to get up before 8am for my delivery. I did get in a few naps while they were unloading me, but I am still sick so currently I feel sleep deprived and terrible.
I'm headed back up to Shelby, OH to get a load due in MD Wed morn. I stopped outside Raleigh to pick up a load headed to Columbus, OH so I do have something in my trailer.
Oh the life of a trucker.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Rollin...
I've covered many miles of highway since my last post. After OK city I drove about 690 miles up to Paducah, KY. My Aunt and Uncle live there but I knew I wouldn't have time to see them so I didn't bother calling. The next day, I got a run in, made my delivery in KY and made it up to Detroit area for my second stop on that load. 650 some miles of driving.
I also managed to have breakfast with my good friend Kristin who goes to Uni of M (fuck Michigan). Was really nice to see a friendly face, particularly a friendly female face. Ladies at truck stops are less than lovely.
Got assigned a new load too. I'm already up in the Twin cities area from Detroit. I was going to try and have dinner with my friend Katie but she said she was sick and seemed less than enthused about trying to go out. So I slept in at the truckstop outside Chicago figuring it was a lost cause. Turns out Katie did feel well enough to have dinner and I screwed it up with my laziness. All seems to be well though. We're going to shoot for breakfast after I get loaded tomorrow.
Speaking of my load, it's an interesting one. I'm hauling a pickle processing machine, you read that right, down to NC.
The time changes this weekend! Yay, summer is coming! Need to take advantage of the longer days and start working out more. Should have lifted today but I just felt very apathetic. My mood still comes and goes. Bleh.
I also managed to have breakfast with my good friend Kristin who goes to Uni of M (fuck Michigan). Was really nice to see a friendly face, particularly a friendly female face. Ladies at truck stops are less than lovely.
Got assigned a new load too. I'm already up in the Twin cities area from Detroit. I was going to try and have dinner with my friend Katie but she said she was sick and seemed less than enthused about trying to go out. So I slept in at the truckstop outside Chicago figuring it was a lost cause. Turns out Katie did feel well enough to have dinner and I screwed it up with my laziness. All seems to be well though. We're going to shoot for breakfast after I get loaded tomorrow.
Speaking of my load, it's an interesting one. I'm hauling a pickle processing machine, you read that right, down to NC.
The time changes this weekend! Yay, summer is coming! Need to take advantage of the longer days and start working out more. Should have lifted today but I just felt very apathetic. My mood still comes and goes. Bleh.
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Pretty
Damn that weight lifting makes a body sore. No running for me today. Waiting to get my oil changed at a TA in rainy OK City.
I wish I could say something exciting about my 670 mile drive across parts of AZ, NM, TX, and OK yesterday but the reality is that I've done the drive far too many times to care. The mountains around Albuquerque are pretty and I still enjoy them, but I can't bring myself to write about them.
Time for some breakfast.
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Workout
Pathetic weight lifting session. What I get for taking 2 months off...
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
Where am I?
So yeah, last detailed update had me making two pickups in the Bay Area then heading to Dallas and New Orleans. Not so much now.
I did make the pickups in the Bay Area and made a mess of the situation. When you make a pickup for a show you need a light weight ticket and after the pickup you need a heavy weight ticket. The folks that unload trailers at conventions are called drayage companies and they charge their customers based on how much the freight weighs.
Well I was an idiot and forgot my light tick, so I had to go running around up to Oakland to find a truckstop with a scale fighting heavy traffic the whole time. It was almost 4pm by the time I got loaded so I had to fight rush hour traffic to get back to the scale. By the time I got to my last pickup it was too late for them to load me immediately. I had to wait until after 8pm.
I also discovered during the day that I needed to head down to LA for more freight before I could head for Dallas. Goody. Saying I'm not fond of LA is like saying Hitler wasn't fond of Jews.
It was after 9pm when I finally got loaded so I went to bed outside the warehouse in San Jose. I left for LA the next morn and got down to the city just in time to catch their afternoon rush hour. Got loaded and made it about 100 miles outside the city on my way to Dallas when...the air ride on my truck went out. Shit. Called my boss and he told me to sit tight until the next morning.
I ended up sitting most of Friday waiting for road service to come fix my truck. Dispatch pulled my load and had someone come get my trailer. No New Orleans fun for me. Dispatch then sent me BACK into LA for a load headed to MI. Talk about adding insult to injury.
Bleh. I'm tired of typing. I am now sitting in NM about 20 miles east of Gallup about to start driving for the day. Hopefully I lift weights in about an hour. We'll see.
I did make the pickups in the Bay Area and made a mess of the situation. When you make a pickup for a show you need a light weight ticket and after the pickup you need a heavy weight ticket. The folks that unload trailers at conventions are called drayage companies and they charge their customers based on how much the freight weighs.
Well I was an idiot and forgot my light tick, so I had to go running around up to Oakland to find a truckstop with a scale fighting heavy traffic the whole time. It was almost 4pm by the time I got loaded so I had to fight rush hour traffic to get back to the scale. By the time I got to my last pickup it was too late for them to load me immediately. I had to wait until after 8pm.
I also discovered during the day that I needed to head down to LA for more freight before I could head for Dallas. Goody. Saying I'm not fond of LA is like saying Hitler wasn't fond of Jews.
It was after 9pm when I finally got loaded so I went to bed outside the warehouse in San Jose. I left for LA the next morn and got down to the city just in time to catch their afternoon rush hour. Got loaded and made it about 100 miles outside the city on my way to Dallas when...the air ride on my truck went out. Shit. Called my boss and he told me to sit tight until the next morning.
I ended up sitting most of Friday waiting for road service to come fix my truck. Dispatch pulled my load and had someone come get my trailer. No New Orleans fun for me. Dispatch then sent me BACK into LA for a load headed to MI. Talk about adding insult to injury.
Bleh. I'm tired of typing. I am now sitting in NM about 20 miles east of Gallup about to start driving for the day. Hopefully I lift weights in about an hour. We'll see.
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Wait, what?
My life is a whirlwind with this job sometimes. Update eventually when my brain works.
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Bleh
I'm currently suffering from blank mind due to food coma. I actually have my laptop open in front of me with its wondrous full keyboard instead of the cramped little Pre keyboard and I can't think of anything substantial to write.
The food coma is from the massive meal I just ate. I made it about 400 miles down into Northern Cali south of Redding. I am parked at the J in Corning, CA. Apparently the olive capital of the USA or the world. Probably just the USA; the world is big.
Ah yes, where I am I going! In my last post of any length I wasn't sure where the hell I was headed. Dispatch did get back to me in a couple hours to let me know that I had a pickup in the San Fran Bay area, Union City to be precise. It is show freight that is headed out to New Orleans. I also have another pickup out of our warehouse in San Jose that is headed for our warehouse in Dallas. I'll be showing up at the customer around 1pm tomorrow. I'm hoping I can get to New Orleans fairly early on Sunday so I can enjoy the live music on Bourbon Street. It's been a while since I've gotten to visit that place.
Bleh, my mind is disjointed and useless. I need to take a shower and do some laundry. We'll see if I get both done.
The food coma is from the massive meal I just ate. I made it about 400 miles down into Northern Cali south of Redding. I am parked at the J in Corning, CA. Apparently the olive capital of the USA or the world. Probably just the USA; the world is big.
Ah yes, where I am I going! In my last post of any length I wasn't sure where the hell I was headed. Dispatch did get back to me in a couple hours to let me know that I had a pickup in the San Fran Bay area, Union City to be precise. It is show freight that is headed out to New Orleans. I also have another pickup out of our warehouse in San Jose that is headed for our warehouse in Dallas. I'll be showing up at the customer around 1pm tomorrow. I'm hoping I can get to New Orleans fairly early on Sunday so I can enjoy the live music on Bourbon Street. It's been a while since I've gotten to visit that place.
Bleh, my mind is disjointed and useless. I need to take a shower and do some laundry. We'll see if I get both done.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Food is my weakness...
The meal in the pic is wood-fired salmon and veggies. This one wasn't too bad, about 14. On the up side spending more money on food means I eat rather well rather than fast food all the time. I'm proud of my girlish figure and never want to look like a stereotypical trucker.
My deliveries this morn went fine but dispatch can't seem to find any freight for me. Not a big deal right now as I only have 3 hours left to drive today but I hope they have something for me tomorrow.
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
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