Easy Day

Shut down about an hour from my delivery in northern Minneapolis, MN. Biggest headache has been traffic and fog.

Good Start

A good load to start the week, load in Ashdown, AR going to MN by monday!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! I had my dinner with another deBoer driver named Hecktor here at the Flying J.

Sitting Still Again

This load is becoming a real pain in my ass! If I can get on a computer tomorrow I will tell more about it.

Not Quite Right

Got out of the shop and givin a load with tight time line, only for my turbo to crap out 100 miles down the road!

Hurry Up and Wait

Got my truck repaired, and now just waiting on a new load assignment.

Repairs

Made my delivery, but wasnt able to meet up with Randy like I had hoped. I am at the terminal to get some repairs made.

Todays Run

Todays agenda, waiting to be loaded in Massillon, OH going to Menomonie, WI.

Construction

Made my delivery just in time due to construction. My trailer running lights went out, got them fixed and no charge!

Keeping Track Of Time.

Time is a very precious thing to a truck driver, and something as simple as a error in math can be dangerous, costly, or even devastating. This is the situation I almost found myself in yesterday. While using the old calculator to determine how many hours I had left to run I screwed up. I thought I had 15.5 hours to run when in reality I only had 5.5!! That is pretty serious. Luckily, I have enough time on this run to get a 34 hour restart in and still make my delivery on time, but it could have been much worse.

A few days ago in Louisiana I had another big scare, I drove past a scale house that I thought the sign said was closed, when in reality it was open!! I got lucky again, and the DOT didn't come after me. But I was shitting bricks when I heard on the CB that the scales were open.

I can't seem to shake the bad weather, seems to follow me everywhere I go, so I will have to start watching my load assignments carefully to make sure I have extra time to allow for the weather.

Hard Run Done

Made my deliverier in Baton Rouge and just outside New Orleans. Picked up new load going to Ohio.

Finally There

Yesterday was a hard day of running that I finished this morning but I pushed my logbook to the limit.

Mother Nature

Forced to shut down early due to 50 mph winds, tornadoes, and golphball size hail in Iowa. Still very windy today.

Early Ended Day

I have stopped a little earlier than I had planned after only 400 miles, but it is not wise to push tired.

New Load

My new load is a good one. I am loading in Mechanicsville, VA going back to WI a little over 1000 miles.

Repair Day 3

Got the truck fixed finally but no loads available till tomorrow. This weeks check is going to suck! Way it goes.

Repairs Day 2

I spent the night in a motel as I had to wait on parts for my broken windshield wiper arm to come. But today my parts still did not arrive much to my disappointment. To compound things further, I had to wait 3 fucking hours for the dealership to send someone to pick me up from the motel!!! After 5 calls to them they finally got the hint that I was pissed off, and a mechanic came and got me. So tonight I am going to stay with my truck to keep my foot up their asses tomorrow to get my truck fixed. 2 full days of downtime does not sit well with me, it is going to really hurt my first check even though my first run was 966 miles. I really wanted a solid 2500-3500 mile first week solo, but that is not going to happen now.

I am using an internet kiosk at a TA truckstop as I type, $.20 a min, not too bad.

Lastnight Stephanie and I had a great conversation, what I hope will be the first of many more like it.

Things were a bit crazy with my first solo run. I didn't even have qualcom directions to my customer! The run went pretty good, but had to deal with some very high winds, that turned out to be the result of the tornado that hit Indiana! I went in to my customer late the night before, easier to maneuver without psycho 4-wheels running everywhere. And while the docking space I had to work with was very tight, I did very well getting into the tight docks and was very pleased with my performance. The credit goes to Fox Valley Tech's training, and the training from Randy my deBoer trainer. I really feel lucky to have gotten such a good, patient trainer as I did. I think it really made a difference.

Well I need to get back to the repair shop, see you tomorrow!

Repairs I Hope!

Getting unloaded as I type then it is off to an International dealer for my broken wiper arm, I hope!

First Run Done!

Arrived at the customer through tornadoes, driving rain, and mountains. What a first run! Will detail later.

Got up graded to my

Got up graded to my own truck! Yea! Currently on my first solo run. Green Bay to Richmon, VA.