After Nebraska I took a load to Knoxville, TN and then one over into South Carolina, then back to Jackson, TN, and then one out of Memphis to Houston to get me home for hometime.
Spent some time trying to get Pat's computer working. Since Windows7 jammed things up, I tried formatting the drive and reinstalling Win7 to free up some space, still froze up on scans. Even after cleaning Norton antivirus out of it. Then reformatted the drive and reinstalled Vista back on the machine. Thought might be the Win7 program, but not the problem either. Still freezing up now and then. It picks its own time to do it.
Will probably try to get a new hard drive for the thing next time in. One in it is 2 years old, and I'm beginning to believe that is the life expectancy of HD's. One in my laptop is little under 3 years and it is getting blue screen couple times now over 2 weeks. Last time it did that, hard drive finally gave it up a month or two later.
Rebuilt some fence around back yard by moving the gate off a couple of untreated posts that had rotted out at the ground. Still suffering after using those post hole diggers. There was a time that I used them things all day long. Still suffered, but got 10 times as many holes dug. Only dug 3 holes this time. Although the first hole could count as 3 since I broke one blade hitting a root and didn't know it. Dug for 5 minutes and wasn't getting very deep with it until I looked at the end of the digger. It was split up the middle and one side curled under. Dry as the ground was, it was like chipping at concrete with a plastic spoon, except the diggers were about 10 or 15 lbs. The second set I started using were a lot better except they were about 20 lbs because they were the ones dad had welded steel handles in to to keep from breaking the handles. Just need a gorilla to use them.
I left back out this past Saturday and had to go up to Ashdown, AR to pick up a load of pulp going to a paper company in Canton, NC. Was a long way to go to pick up a load, right at 200 miles. Not even a high dollar load. Low on loads where I was I guess. Sitting near Asheville, NC and will deliver at 6 pm tonight.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Nebraska
Sitting in Lincoln today. Bringing some toilet paper to the Sooners...
I have the best intentions of doing this every day but has become a weekly output, and catching some down time. I don't deliver this load until 14 hours from now and have 2 drops. One at Sam's Club here in Lincoln at 11 pm tonight, and another in Grand Island at 3:30 am.
From Findlay, OH, I went up the road to pick up a short load over to Joliet, IL which I dropped on Tuesday morning. Then got a load that was supposed to be picked up on Monday going to Temple, TX for a delivery on Wednesday at Walmart. I had to hustle on that one. Ended up driving 7 hours straight without stopping in order to get down to St. Robert, MO by 5 pm Tuesday after picking up the load. That was when my 14 hours ran out. From St. Robert I figured I could just make it to Temple to deliver the load on Wednesday in my alloted 11 hours driving time. If I hadn't gotten that far on Tuesday, I would not have been close enough and would have been unable to deliver to Walmart on the scheduled day. That would have been a service failure and a no no. Problem was, since the load was not picked up on Monday and they gave it to me on Tuesday morning, it was left on my shoulders to figure out how to get it there legally. Only way I could make it work was to drive 7 hours straight after picking up the load and not stop for any reason. I made it to St. Robert at 5:05 pm.
What put it all in doubt was the fact that the preloaded trailer I picked up at General Mills had a broken pin on the slider for the tandems. Another company driver who was there at the mill, had to set under the trailer and hold the pin out while I inched the trailer back in order to get it legal. That cost me a hour of time doing all of that and resulted in the 7 hour push to make it work.
Delivered the load next day OK, then was given a load to pick up in Waxahachie the next morning going to Olive Branch, MS outside of Memphis. I picked the load up at 5 am and the preloaded trailer I picked up had the exact same problem as the one I had picked up in Illinois. This time I drove up to our shop outside Dallas and let them fix it. Took about 2 hours and I was gone on to Memphis for a Friday morning delivery. On I-30 east of Dallas I watched a CRST truck going west bound take an exit too fast. Looks like he left the road tried to over correct and he flipped the entire tractor trailer 180 degrees and on to its side. He ended up facing the way he came. Not sure whether he was taking the exit too fast or just left the road at a high rate of speed.
I delivered that load early and then spent the rest of the day making a double pick up around Memphis going to Big Lots DC in Oklahoma. The load didn't deliver until Monday night so they let me drop it on the Memphis drop lot and I picked up a load from Kellogg's early the next morning. The preloaded trailer was missing a lug nut on the right front wheel. I had to swing by truck stop in West Memphis to get one put on. It took them 2 minutes to put the $0.79 lug nut on the wheel, and then 1 hour to figure out how to bill my company $37.95.
I delivered the Kellogg's load in Minooka, IL outside of Chicago at 1 pm on Sunday, and then drove over to Elwood, IL to get a preloaded trailer going to Nebraska. No problems with this trailer. Yet...
I have the best intentions of doing this every day but has become a weekly output, and catching some down time. I don't deliver this load until 14 hours from now and have 2 drops. One at Sam's Club here in Lincoln at 11 pm tonight, and another in Grand Island at 3:30 am.
From Findlay, OH, I went up the road to pick up a short load over to Joliet, IL which I dropped on Tuesday morning. Then got a load that was supposed to be picked up on Monday going to Temple, TX for a delivery on Wednesday at Walmart. I had to hustle on that one. Ended up driving 7 hours straight without stopping in order to get down to St. Robert, MO by 5 pm Tuesday after picking up the load. That was when my 14 hours ran out. From St. Robert I figured I could just make it to Temple to deliver the load on Wednesday in my alloted 11 hours driving time. If I hadn't gotten that far on Tuesday, I would not have been close enough and would have been unable to deliver to Walmart on the scheduled day. That would have been a service failure and a no no. Problem was, since the load was not picked up on Monday and they gave it to me on Tuesday morning, it was left on my shoulders to figure out how to get it there legally. Only way I could make it work was to drive 7 hours straight after picking up the load and not stop for any reason. I made it to St. Robert at 5:05 pm.
What put it all in doubt was the fact that the preloaded trailer I picked up at General Mills had a broken pin on the slider for the tandems. Another company driver who was there at the mill, had to set under the trailer and hold the pin out while I inched the trailer back in order to get it legal. That cost me a hour of time doing all of that and resulted in the 7 hour push to make it work.
Delivered the load next day OK, then was given a load to pick up in Waxahachie the next morning going to Olive Branch, MS outside of Memphis. I picked the load up at 5 am and the preloaded trailer I picked up had the exact same problem as the one I had picked up in Illinois. This time I drove up to our shop outside Dallas and let them fix it. Took about 2 hours and I was gone on to Memphis for a Friday morning delivery. On I-30 east of Dallas I watched a CRST truck going west bound take an exit too fast. Looks like he left the road tried to over correct and he flipped the entire tractor trailer 180 degrees and on to its side. He ended up facing the way he came. Not sure whether he was taking the exit too fast or just left the road at a high rate of speed.
I delivered that load early and then spent the rest of the day making a double pick up around Memphis going to Big Lots DC in Oklahoma. The load didn't deliver until Monday night so they let me drop it on the Memphis drop lot and I picked up a load from Kellogg's early the next morning. The preloaded trailer was missing a lug nut on the right front wheel. I had to swing by truck stop in West Memphis to get one put on. It took them 2 minutes to put the $0.79 lug nut on the wheel, and then 1 hour to figure out how to bill my company $37.95.
I delivered the Kellogg's load in Minooka, IL outside of Chicago at 1 pm on Sunday, and then drove over to Elwood, IL to get a preloaded trailer going to Nebraska. No problems with this trailer. Yet...
Saturday, September 18, 2010
My, my...
How time flies...
Another week gone through and a hard one. I got into KC terminal and picked up meds, so that worked out. Went on over to Trenton, OH to deliver my load on Monday morning at 3 am. On Sunday I found a trailer tire going down and it had a nail in it. Tried to get it fixed at a TA truck stop, but the nail was too close to the sidewall and they couldn't. We always carry a spare on the back of the cab in a tire rack so that the company doesn't have to buy one on the road. I had just picked this one up at the Dallas terminal 4 days before since I had used the last one just before going home. I had made a special trip by the terminal just to get a new spare and it paid off.
From Trenton they sent me up the road to Richmond, IN to pick up a load of fish food going to Emporia, KS. On the way over I made a special trip back by the KC terminal to pick up another spare. They didn't have any. The tire man came a hour later that usually drops off new tires and picks up the bad ones. I checked with them again and for some reason they still didn't have any. Said to myself right then that was going to be costly. It was the first time in 6 years I ever went by a terminal and couldn't get a spare.
Dropped the load in Emporia on Tuesday and went up to Topeka to pick up a load of cat food going to Nashville, TN. Dropped that load Wednesday and then they gave me a hot load out of Springfield, TN that was already late and needed to be in Atlanta at 7 pm at a Kroger grocery warehouse. I told them I could not make that appointment and they told me to do best I could. I drove up and got the load, took a hour to get there going back up through Nashville. Load of Ole Yeller dog food. They wanted to know when I could be there and I told them 8:30 pm. It was out on the southeast side of Atlanta and I had it figured too close, but I was going to run out of hours at 9 pm and had to get there or not get there at all. I had to stop and scale out the load and got held up 20 minutes because of a line at the fuel desk at the truck stop was lined out the door. Of all times...
I got there at the customer at 8:50 pm. That 20 minutes....even though I was late they got me in the gate in about 15 minutes. I guess they needed that dog food. Whole country is out of work, but the dogs, cats and fishes are eatin'.
Got lucky and found a spot out on the street to park after unloading to sleep. I had to go over east of Atlanta in the morning and pick up a load from General Mills going to another grocery warehouse in Elloree, SC that delivered that afternoon. Found a tire on my tractor that had a leak in it. I couldn't find a nail or anything but it was low for some reason. I got the load picked up by the appointment time and since I had some extra time I stopped at a TA truck stop to get the tire repaired. Well....it was not fixable...and no spare. They had to buy a tire and they weren't happy. Guy in breakdown had the gall to tell the man at the TA shop to go out and check my tractor and make sure I did not have a spare. That statement right there tells you how much respect a truck driver gets. Like I didn't know I didn't have a spare or not. I'm still a little hot about that one. I was standing next to the guy at the counter when he read the email from our breakdown department out loud.
I still don't have a spare and not making any extra trips out of the way to get one any time soon...
I needed a shower but by the time they got the ok on the tire and got it on the truck I had to go on to make delivery. The load had so many different types of canned goods on it that it took them 8 hours to unload, sort and count in the load. It was midnight by the time I was done, they let me sleep on the yard. I had told dispatch I had to get some sleep since I had been at the customer 8 hours and only needed 10 hours sitting to be actually legal to work another 14 hours, they wanted me to take another load right then. I had not slept good the last night so I said I had to get some sleep first and I could go at 6 am. Two hours after I laid down, they beeped me with a load offer that didn't pick up until noon that day and here it was 2 am. Dummy...
Was a load of, GUESS WHAT...dog food...going to Walmart in Cullman, AL. That was delivered at 5 am this morning and then picked up a load of plumbing supplies going to Lowes DC in Findlay, OH. Got until 8 am Monday to get there, so I'm sitting outside Louisville, KY until about 3:30 am Monday and then will drive on up there. It's not dog food though, them loads are heavy.
Another week gone through and a hard one. I got into KC terminal and picked up meds, so that worked out. Went on over to Trenton, OH to deliver my load on Monday morning at 3 am. On Sunday I found a trailer tire going down and it had a nail in it. Tried to get it fixed at a TA truck stop, but the nail was too close to the sidewall and they couldn't. We always carry a spare on the back of the cab in a tire rack so that the company doesn't have to buy one on the road. I had just picked this one up at the Dallas terminal 4 days before since I had used the last one just before going home. I had made a special trip by the terminal just to get a new spare and it paid off.
From Trenton they sent me up the road to Richmond, IN to pick up a load of fish food going to Emporia, KS. On the way over I made a special trip back by the KC terminal to pick up another spare. They didn't have any. The tire man came a hour later that usually drops off new tires and picks up the bad ones. I checked with them again and for some reason they still didn't have any. Said to myself right then that was going to be costly. It was the first time in 6 years I ever went by a terminal and couldn't get a spare.
Dropped the load in Emporia on Tuesday and went up to Topeka to pick up a load of cat food going to Nashville, TN. Dropped that load Wednesday and then they gave me a hot load out of Springfield, TN that was already late and needed to be in Atlanta at 7 pm at a Kroger grocery warehouse. I told them I could not make that appointment and they told me to do best I could. I drove up and got the load, took a hour to get there going back up through Nashville. Load of Ole Yeller dog food. They wanted to know when I could be there and I told them 8:30 pm. It was out on the southeast side of Atlanta and I had it figured too close, but I was going to run out of hours at 9 pm and had to get there or not get there at all. I had to stop and scale out the load and got held up 20 minutes because of a line at the fuel desk at the truck stop was lined out the door. Of all times...
I got there at the customer at 8:50 pm. That 20 minutes....even though I was late they got me in the gate in about 15 minutes. I guess they needed that dog food. Whole country is out of work, but the dogs, cats and fishes are eatin'.
Got lucky and found a spot out on the street to park after unloading to sleep. I had to go over east of Atlanta in the morning and pick up a load from General Mills going to another grocery warehouse in Elloree, SC that delivered that afternoon. Found a tire on my tractor that had a leak in it. I couldn't find a nail or anything but it was low for some reason. I got the load picked up by the appointment time and since I had some extra time I stopped at a TA truck stop to get the tire repaired. Well....it was not fixable...and no spare. They had to buy a tire and they weren't happy. Guy in breakdown had the gall to tell the man at the TA shop to go out and check my tractor and make sure I did not have a spare. That statement right there tells you how much respect a truck driver gets. Like I didn't know I didn't have a spare or not. I'm still a little hot about that one. I was standing next to the guy at the counter when he read the email from our breakdown department out loud.
I still don't have a spare and not making any extra trips out of the way to get one any time soon...
I needed a shower but by the time they got the ok on the tire and got it on the truck I had to go on to make delivery. The load had so many different types of canned goods on it that it took them 8 hours to unload, sort and count in the load. It was midnight by the time I was done, they let me sleep on the yard. I had told dispatch I had to get some sleep since I had been at the customer 8 hours and only needed 10 hours sitting to be actually legal to work another 14 hours, they wanted me to take another load right then. I had not slept good the last night so I said I had to get some sleep first and I could go at 6 am. Two hours after I laid down, they beeped me with a load offer that didn't pick up until noon that day and here it was 2 am. Dummy...
Was a load of, GUESS WHAT...dog food...going to Walmart in Cullman, AL. That was delivered at 5 am this morning and then picked up a load of plumbing supplies going to Lowes DC in Findlay, OH. Got until 8 am Monday to get there, so I'm sitting outside Louisville, KY until about 3:30 am Monday and then will drive on up there. It's not dog food though, them loads are heavy.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Land of OZ
Feel a little like Dorthy with the truck shaking and rattling, and hopefully not rolling, around. Heavy thunderstorm passing through. Up in the morning and back on the yellow brick road in Topeka, Kansas. Coming out of Denver where I had 3 drops on Thursday of air conditioners. All these things that Eric and Jamie are missing and loving in Saudia Arabia. Loving a/c's and missing the rain.
I had to wait until this morning to pick up my load in Golden, CO. I have a load of packaging from there going to Miller/Coors Brewing in Ohio. Got to package that stuff up after you brew and bottle it. Wasn't aware that Miller and Coors were attached, missed something somewhere. Or just forgot maybe.
The being sick as a dog, feel sorry for the dog that was that sick, it threw me out of routine getting ready to leave home. Found out the day after I had left that I had left my bag with my medications sitting in the kitchen. Bummer. I had to wait until I got dispatched in Denver to see which direction I was headed so I could get Pat to over night it for me. A risky move since I have had loads cancel on me before, and I had to wait overnight to pick up the load the next day. Seems to be working out though, she over nighted the meds to the Kansas City terminal and they are in there on Saturday morning from 8am to noon. I should get in there around 8am in the morning and get them picked up. Was a hard $52 to give up, but eating at Cotton Patch, well I ought to bill them for it.
I had to wait until this morning to pick up my load in Golden, CO. I have a load of packaging from there going to Miller/Coors Brewing in Ohio. Got to package that stuff up after you brew and bottle it. Wasn't aware that Miller and Coors were attached, missed something somewhere. Or just forgot maybe.
The being sick as a dog, feel sorry for the dog that was that sick, it threw me out of routine getting ready to leave home. Found out the day after I had left that I had left my bag with my medications sitting in the kitchen. Bummer. I had to wait until I got dispatched in Denver to see which direction I was headed so I could get Pat to over night it for me. A risky move since I have had loads cancel on me before, and I had to wait overnight to pick up the load the next day. Seems to be working out though, she over nighted the meds to the Kansas City terminal and they are in there on Saturday morning from 8am to noon. I should get in there around 8am in the morning and get them picked up. Was a hard $52 to give up, but eating at Cotton Patch, well I ought to bill them for it.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Still....
...among the living!!!
Been a little remiss, I reckon I'm keeping everyone guessing if anyone actually still reading it.
Had to get into our Dallas terminal this past week to renew my physical. I had wanted to go home on Monday so I would be back on the road by this past weekend. Don't care to be home on the holiday much since I can't get anything done. They didn't get me to the terminal until Wednesday, so I got my truck serviced while I was getting my physical done. I liked this doctor, he believed in the cattle chute method of physicals. Waited for over a hour to get in the office and wasn't in there 5 minutes.
I delivered the load I was under at 2 am Thursday morning and thought I would go home, but dispatch had other plans. They needed me to pick up a load that had been dropped on the yard and deliver in Houston late that night. That wasn't bad enough, but had a flat on the trailer had to fix before heading home and I didn't get there until 3 am Friday morning.
After about 5 hours sleep I got up and tried to straighten out the home computer. Come to find out the Norton anti virus had not done a full scan since it was installed after I left a month ago. Every time it tried to scan it would get up to a certain point and freeze the computer. Somewhere at the point where it was scanning for viruses. Got on chat with Norton and it ended up taking 14 hours. It was 3 am Saturday morning before I went to bed and it was still messed up. I had gone through 5 different techs, then a supervisor and lastly an engineer. They were all bald by the time I got off. Then engineer finally told me he would call me back in 24 to 48 hours. Well 72 hours came and went and so did I, had to go back to work, but not after getting back on chat and giving some poor tech what for. They can't speak English, they don't know what a time zone is, and they repeat the same play book every time you chat with one. "Rest assured we will solve your problem". Well they ain't done it yet. Today I got 2 different emails from a supervisor and I had told them to call Pat after 3 pm because she had a doctor appointment this morning, they called at 10 am.
Sunday I came down with a virus or food poisoning. I blew out the toilets in Kmart, Sam's Club and Walmart before made it back home to work on ours. I hadn't been that sick in years. Managed to go back out today with only half the things I normally take with me since cut my grocery shopping real short Sunday. Spent rest of day Sunday and most of Labor Day in bed.
Been a little remiss, I reckon I'm keeping everyone guessing if anyone actually still reading it.
Had to get into our Dallas terminal this past week to renew my physical. I had wanted to go home on Monday so I would be back on the road by this past weekend. Don't care to be home on the holiday much since I can't get anything done. They didn't get me to the terminal until Wednesday, so I got my truck serviced while I was getting my physical done. I liked this doctor, he believed in the cattle chute method of physicals. Waited for over a hour to get in the office and wasn't in there 5 minutes.
I delivered the load I was under at 2 am Thursday morning and thought I would go home, but dispatch had other plans. They needed me to pick up a load that had been dropped on the yard and deliver in Houston late that night. That wasn't bad enough, but had a flat on the trailer had to fix before heading home and I didn't get there until 3 am Friday morning.
After about 5 hours sleep I got up and tried to straighten out the home computer. Come to find out the Norton anti virus had not done a full scan since it was installed after I left a month ago. Every time it tried to scan it would get up to a certain point and freeze the computer. Somewhere at the point where it was scanning for viruses. Got on chat with Norton and it ended up taking 14 hours. It was 3 am Saturday morning before I went to bed and it was still messed up. I had gone through 5 different techs, then a supervisor and lastly an engineer. They were all bald by the time I got off. Then engineer finally told me he would call me back in 24 to 48 hours. Well 72 hours came and went and so did I, had to go back to work, but not after getting back on chat and giving some poor tech what for. They can't speak English, they don't know what a time zone is, and they repeat the same play book every time you chat with one. "Rest assured we will solve your problem". Well they ain't done it yet. Today I got 2 different emails from a supervisor and I had told them to call Pat after 3 pm because she had a doctor appointment this morning, they called at 10 am.
Sunday I came down with a virus or food poisoning. I blew out the toilets in Kmart, Sam's Club and Walmart before made it back home to work on ours. I hadn't been that sick in years. Managed to go back out today with only half the things I normally take with me since cut my grocery shopping real short Sunday. Spent rest of day Sunday and most of Labor Day in bed.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Colorado
I got into St. George, UT Sunday afternoon and it was 105 degrees. Won't be cutting back on my idling time that day. I delivered the first of 4 drops in St. George on Monday morning. I was carrying vinyl siding. When I first started carrying these loads out of Ennis, TX they were all loaded on the floor and it would sometimes take up to 8 hours to get unloaded. Now about 50% of the loads are on long 10' pallets that can be pulled off pretty quickly.
After unloading I drove up near Orem, UT and spent the night and I had 3 drops beginning Tuesday morning. Orem, West Jordan and Ogden. I had all 3 drops off in 4 hours. I was then offered a load going to Riverside, CA, and they then took it back about 5 min later. I guess they realized that my truck was not a California truck. California keeps passing laws about clean idling trucks and APU's (auxiliary power units, a small generator that runs on diesel and cools and heats your cab. It only uses a fraction of the fuel that idling your truck does). No one can keep up with them. You buy a rig all outfitted out so it will be legal in California, and 2 years later they change the law and make what you just spent $120,000 on obsolete. My company went out and started putting the APU's on all their trucks back in 2007, and within a year California said they weren't good enough and started fining trucks that were using them for cooling their cabs in the 100+ deg heat. Now the newer trucks have a battery system, but those will go dead in 8 to 10 hours and you have to idle the truck 3 hrs to recharge the batteries. Can't win.
They gave me a load from Ogden going to a drop in Parker, CO and final drop in Colorado Springs, CO. Would hope to see David when get in there, but being a work day and I deliver at 8:45 am, I will most likely be unloaded and on way to pick up another load before noon. Same thing happened last week when I went in to Springfield, MO where Merna lives. No time to stop long. Do better if can visit when I am passing through a town than when I deliver to one. We don't wait for the next load to come along very often.
After unloading I drove up near Orem, UT and spent the night and I had 3 drops beginning Tuesday morning. Orem, West Jordan and Ogden. I had all 3 drops off in 4 hours. I was then offered a load going to Riverside, CA, and they then took it back about 5 min later. I guess they realized that my truck was not a California truck. California keeps passing laws about clean idling trucks and APU's (auxiliary power units, a small generator that runs on diesel and cools and heats your cab. It only uses a fraction of the fuel that idling your truck does). No one can keep up with them. You buy a rig all outfitted out so it will be legal in California, and 2 years later they change the law and make what you just spent $120,000 on obsolete. My company went out and started putting the APU's on all their trucks back in 2007, and within a year California said they weren't good enough and started fining trucks that were using them for cooling their cabs in the 100+ deg heat. Now the newer trucks have a battery system, but those will go dead in 8 to 10 hours and you have to idle the truck 3 hrs to recharge the batteries. Can't win.
They gave me a load from Ogden going to a drop in Parker, CO and final drop in Colorado Springs, CO. Would hope to see David when get in there, but being a work day and I deliver at 8:45 am, I will most likely be unloaded and on way to pick up another load before noon. Same thing happened last week when I went in to Springfield, MO where Merna lives. No time to stop long. Do better if can visit when I am passing through a town than when I deliver to one. We don't wait for the next load to come along very often.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
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