Goodbye Mom

Time: It always amazes me how we always feel like we have more time, we put things off to the last minute then rush when were out of time. But sometimes things in life catch us off guard. They happen suddenly and without much warning, and before you know it, the moment is gone forever.

My mom died on Saturday April 28th, 2006 at the age of 61. I wasn't able to get a load and get home in time. Once again I was a day late and a dollar short. While I am sure my mom knew that I did everything reasonable to get home in time, I find I am deeply troubled by my inability to do so, more than I would like to admit.

My Dad and my Sister are taking her death much better than I am, but I suppose that is because they were with her from the very start, while I was breaking every rule in trucking over 1,500 miles away trying to get to her side. Because of this, I think they were able to make their peace and come to terms with the fact that she would die, where I really didn't.

I was schuleded to deliver my load tomorrow, however the company was able to find a driver to deliver it for me. I am very thankfully for this, as I haven't had more than 4 hrs of sleep a night for the last 4 days, and I am really not in the proper state of mind to be driving.

Normally I am the strong one in these type of matters, the rock that everyone else turns to for support. It has been this way for as long as I can remember, but now I find myself on the other side of the fence.

I will write more later.

Time

I am still trying to get home, my mom has taken a serious turn for worse, and the company cant find a load going to Cali.

Time Is Ticking

My run to VA was a long one, especially after sitting on I-81 for 5hours after a tanker truck rolled. The part that really pissed me off is the VA state police told us (about 300 trucks) to pull over on the side of the interstate and get some sleep for about 3 hrs, as it would take at least that long to clear the wreak. No problem, with one exception, and hour into my 3 hr nap, a VA State trooper comes beating on my door screaming about how I can't park here and orders me to move it. The did this to all 300+ trucks that did the same as I. Then to top it all off, they decided to route us arround the accident onto a VERY narrow 2 lane access road, then blocked off the on-ramp so we couldn't get back on the interstate, after sitting there for over an hour, they cleared the wreak and re-opened the interstate with us still stuck on the access road! Talk about pissed off.

However I finally made it to my customer grabbed about 4 hrs of sleep and made my delivery in Roanoke, then ran over to Lynchburg and delived my final. A quick run up north to Georgia Pacific I picked up a load going to Alabama for friday.

In other news, I talked to my mom today, god she is really going down hill fast. She was barely able to have a conversation as she constantly forgot what she was saying. I don't think she will make it longer than 6 months at this rate. I scheulded myself to take 4 days off over Mothers Day weekend to spend some time with her, might be the time time I get to.

Nothing But Time

I delivered my load an hour early in hopes I could get my reload and get done, as I am taking the weekend off as it is my friends daughtes 5th b-day. Great idea if my dispatcher had me a load pre-planned, stuff like this annoys me. I talked to Stephanie last night and spent about 2 hours helping her write her resume.

Run, Run, Run

Currently at my first of 2 stops in Mississippi, after this I have to get a load in AR going to IL.

Little R&R

I basicly had the whole weekend off as i cant deliver before monday, so i played video games.

Things Are Getting Twisted

Something that I have sorta avoided posting about for a while was about my mother. I wanted to wait till I had the full news before posting. My mother was diagnosed with Empheasema (spelling) and had a minor heart attack. She spent a week in the hospital and is home now but the out look is not too good. The doctors say she only has about 6 months to a year. It is going to be hard for me to spend much time with my mom being a long haul truck driver, but I will just have to do my best to spend what little time I have with her while I can.

As far as Stephanie and I...... were talking, and are being civil. At this point I really just have to time play it'self out and see where it goes from there.

Back To Work

I am well on my way back back to Wisconsin, my total casino winnings was $106! Not bad.

Mo Money

Delivered my load in Oregon yesterday and today. Won $60 at the casino, might try again tonight.

Playing Catch Up

Well the past few days have been full of events. As I stated in my last post I have gotten a different truck that I hope will be more reliable than my old '99 International. While my "new" truck has almost as many miles on it as my old truck, it seems to be in much better shape. I love it. I just wish I didn't have to fight as hard as I did to get a better, but overall no that great of a truck. But, better this than nothing. I actually had to play the safety issue card to get this truck. Not to downplay the seriousness off things, but I nearly lost my old truck when the wheel bearings blowout. Had it been the right wheel and not the left I would have gone into the ditch and rolled the truck at 70 mph, with a 45,000lb load. I guess that is why they list Professional Truck Drivers at #4 or #6 (cant remember offhand) in the list of most dangerous jobs (ie: greatest likelihood of being killed).

In other news, the 24th was my birthday, and I am now enjoying the ripe old age of 30. I went out bar hopping with some friends and had a pretty good time. I even found a restaurant that has some great food on the caliber of what I was used to getting in California. I miss spending my birthday with Stephanie, but she did remember and sent me a happy b-day text message.

My good friend and old trainer Randy, was in an accident the other day on his motorcycle. From what I hear he is ok, but pretty banged up. A few broken ribs and some serious road rash, is going to take him off the road for a while. I hope to be able to call him tonight to see how he is making out.

Heather, my friend I stay with sometimes when I take time off the road in Wisconsin had to goto the hospital yesterday as well. She somehow hurt her neck, and has had to take time off of school, as the muscle relaxers and pain pills make her sleepy. I have extended my time off by 2 days to help her out, but no matter what I need to be back on the road by Wednesday.

Well my time here on the library computer is almost up and I still have to check my email. Talk to you all later.

I Finaly Got A Different Truck!

For better or worse I was able to talk myself into a 2000 Volvo. Now I just have to go get my stuff out of my old truck that is still at the repair shop in Missouri tonight. Truck needs alot of cleaning and a drivers side arm rest but other than that, I think I will be in good shape. It is even a double sleeper!

From Bad To Worse

The one thing I didnt want to happen has of course happened. Instead of just sitting my breakdown out 2 extra days I now have to jump through hoops, and I am preaty pissed off about it. Now I have to wait on another driver to show up, ride with him to St. Louis, pick up an abandoned truck, pick up a load somewhere deliver it, at some point drop the truck at a terminal and then at sometime get back to get my truck. What a bunch of bullshit!

Repairs Day 2

Well it looks like I am going to be down till monday. My parts are being delivered by another deboer driver as the International Dealership doesnt have my parts at all anywhere in the united states! My company is pulling the parts off another truck just to fix mine! So I am going to lose a week of running.

Breakdown

I blew a front steer wheel berring, and am sitting on the side of the road waiting for a wreaker.

Bad Roads

Got my reload, but after spending 4 hours stuck on a closed interstate i couldnt pick it up. Will try tomorrow.

Lets Play In The Snow

I was able to crawl into the customer early this morning but mother nature is not being friendly making driving hazardous. I have gotten unloaded and am now waiting for my next load. Wherever I go next it will be slow going.

Burning Daylight

The past few days have been a bit of a blur. I delivered my load in Dallas, TX, although the trip there was ...... Interesting. The weather in Oklahoma was a bit rough, but provided one of the most spectacular lighting shows I have seen in years. After I delivered in Dallas, I picked up a load in Ft. Worth and took that to Baton Rouge, LA. I reloaded in LA and am now in route to MN by Monday morning.

Next Load

My next load is from Illinois to Dallas, TX by the 9th. It fits my hours but I cant load till 5pm.

Just A Matter Of Time

I wasnt able to get a new load yesterday as I didnt have enough hours left to really get anywhere. So I used the time to catch up on some paperwork and sleep.

Run, Run, Run

I completed my deliveries, and re-loaded in San Antonio, TX going to Chicago, IL where I am at n ow waiting to get unloaded. I already have a pre-load at our drop yard here in Chicago. That load is going to Plymouth, IN and has to be there tonight. That will easy. Yesterday was my sisters birthday so I called her.

By The Hair On My Chin.

Made it to my first stop with a whole 1minute and 30 seconds to spare, but fuck am I tired!

Keep On Trucking

Sorry for no posts lately, but when your busy, your busy. I mad my deliveries in Florida, and picked up another load in Georgia, took that load to Kentucky and swapped loads with another driver. Mine was going to Wisconsin and his was going to Texas. Why swap? More miles for me! After I delivered in Texas I picked up a load in Arkansaw and brought it up to Menominee, WI. I delivered that this morning, but I am out of hours till midnight.

But, there is no rest for the weary. At midnight I have to head out and pick up a "RED" load in Appleton, WI that has 2 stops in Texas. It is a "RED" load because my first stop is Thursday morning! That is about 1200+ miles in about 20 hours, with my final stop at about the 1500 mile mark but the final is in Laredo, TX Friday morning. This load will push my log book to the breaking point but the miles are too good to pass up.

Rolling Again

Got my load on Tuesday, Green Bay to Florida with 3 stops. First one is off, burning a little time for second.

Trying To Get Back To Work, Big news Update

One would think that after 4 days the shop could complete some basic repairs to my truck, A fuel leak in left tank (should take about 5 hours to fix), drivers side door latch (likes to lock me out of the truck), and a problem-matic transmission that on wednesday last week refused to go into 4th or 9th gear to the point I had to manually skip shift to limp back to the terminal. Ok, the last item is not so simple I agree, so you would think that the shop knowing that these repairs could be extensive would get the truck in as soon as possible. Not our shop, they didn't even touch it till early this morning. So I don't have my truck, and won't till at least tomorrow.

Some other news, both of my driver friends (Randy my trainer, and Charlie a trainer that I meet in school) have both quit after too much BS from Deboer. After talking with Charlie last night I have put in a application with Gordon Trucking as they sound like a good outfit with better pay and better equipment. Not sure if I would even be accepted with my 2 incidents or not but I can at least see what they say. That still doesn't mean that I would quit Deboer, even if I got pre-approved, but I can keep my options open.

I have gotten quite a few emails from you folks asking what is up with me and Stephanie. I wish I could say that no news is good news, but in this case it doesn't appear to be. Apparently, as I understand things, she has decided that she doesn't want to settle down with just one person. She wants the freedom to fuck anything that moves, if she so desires, answer to and be loyal to, no one but herself, and that does not conform with the whole marriage, house, family pardeim that I desire. Personally I think she might be going through a mid-life crisis, and hers has started mine about 10 years early. So really there is nothing I can do. I have said all that I can say, and it doesn't even matter to her, the last 12 years doesn't matter to her, and she has no plans for any kind of future even for herself. But like I said there is nothing more I can do. As usual, I will give her what she wants, and if that is life without me, well..... It sucks, you can lead a dying horse to water, but you can't make them drink.

To top all this off, she got herself fired from her job. This sort of puts me in a self-imposed quandary, as my first instinct is to re-figure my budget to pay off the very large pile of debt she has accrued with her foot-loose and fancy-free life style over the last 6 months, and then to find ways to support the household entirely on my income. Not an easy task, but manageable. However, I have to keep reminding myself (and Stephanie does also) that I have no responsibility to do any of this. It was her choice to leave, her choice to be reckless with her job, and her choice is live beyond her means. And while this my seem all nice, clear-cut and dried, it is very hard for me to do.

In other news, I finally broke down and bought a TV for my truck. Now that I have my PS2 from storage I will have some in-truck entertainment. This is actually more of a cost reduction step more than anything. This way I won't feel the desire to play overpriced video games at truck stops. The other cost reduction test, is instead of making up a bunch of sandwiches and packing them into my little cooler (it only hold about 12 sandwiches), I am going to try just packing ziplock bags of lunch meat and a loaf of bread and make them as I go. I hope to be able to cut my food expenses by 75% per week (about $100). That would be substantial.

Keep the Sunny Side!

Time Off

Time off, I have gotten my taxes done, but today I came down with severe abdominal cramps. I dont want to see a doc.

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day to all my loyal readers.

Still Sitting

Well I am still waiting for my load to be ready and while normally a 2 day layover would have me bent out of shape, but I havent been feeling too good the past couple of days so the extra time to rest has been nice. On top of that I just won $25.50 in the casino on $2. Sweet!

Just Waiting

I made it to my delivery yesterday but my appointment number was wrong and the reciver wouldnt accept the load without the correct number. Dispatch gave me a new number for today but that one is not right either. This load will have to wait till monday to get fixed so I am dropping it at a drop yard and waiting on my next load to be ready. This new load will take me back to WI.

Still Truckin

Tonight I am spending the night at a rest area about 40 miles west of Des Moines, IA.

Getting Back To Work

Well my time off has already come and gone, and tomorrow I have to get back to it. I got my reload, Red Bluff, CA to Medford, WI. After that I am sure it will be straight to the terminal for my ass chewing and/or termination resulting from my accident. So I have that to worry about for the next 5 days.

I feel like I just got here and already it is time to go. I wish I could say that I got allot accomplished, but aside from laundy, a haircut, and very small amount of R&R, I don't feel like I have.

Here is something I found funny as hell

Go Forward Young Man,.......Fuck!

They say bad things always happen in 3's, well I hope so at this point. Early yesterday morning, I was backing out of a parking stall at a truckstop, I could see that I wasn't going to be able to backup far enough with the trucks that were packed alongside the fuel island. Just as I leaned forward to put my truck back in drive, my damn foot slipped off the clutch. Even with the brakes applied, my truck lurched backwards about a foot, which just so happens to have been about 4 inches more than I had room between the back of my trailer and the frontend of one of the parked trucks. This accident didn't do any damage to my trailer, but did a fair amount of cosmetic damage to the hood and bumper of the truck I hit.

So far I have had a total of 3 incidents. 1)I avoided a truck that would have hit me head on, and got stuck in mud. 2)Knocked down a mailbox trying to maneuver in dense fog. 3)A backing accident.

While everyone tells me these things happen, and that these are freak events, I am not very pleased with myself. Now I have to wonder if I will still have a job in a few weeks. I am not sure how the company handles an accident. With some companies, your first is your last, no matter how large or small. I will be talking with my dispatcher in few mins., so I hopefully can find out just how screwed I am.

Hello Cali I Am Back!

While I have had to fight mother nature nearly the whole way out here, I have arrived. As much as I love Cali, as truck driver it is maddening. There so little parking, 55 mph speed limit, and heavy traffic it wears you out quick. I have stopped in Lodi where I will catch a nap and head the remaining 3 hours to my first of 3 stops for tomorrow. After all my deliveries I will spend some time with my folks.

Windy!

Shut down just across the Nebraska state lind last night. Hope there is less wind today, yesterday was bad.

More BS!

Got a load going to CA where I will be taking 2 or 3 days off. Truck is still screwed up and company refuses to fix it.

Screwed

So much for getting my truck replaced, dispatchers boss had a bad day so he cant do his job, means no replacement truck

Damn Murphy!

With only 200 miles to go to make my delivery, this truck blows oil everywhere. I am getting it fixed and cleaned.

If Only Everyday Was As Good As Yesterday!

Yesterday was a great day! I was able to make both my deliveries on time and was able to have dinner with Stephanie. Wish I could do that every night. On that subject a reader emailed asking if anything has improved between Stephanie and I. To be honest I am not sure. I think the more we talk the better we understand each other, and I hope she sees how comitted I am. Will it change anything? I dont know, but I hope it does. Today I transfered trucks, and picked up a load in Vancouver, WA going to St. Paul, MN. After that I will head to the WI terminal where I get my truck and get a load going to CA where I will take 2 or 3 days off visiting my parents and sister.

What Is Important?

I am currntly in Gillette, WY where I have run out of hours till midnight. I am on my way to Washington to deliver with 2 stops. I am also delivering this truck to a regional driver and bringing his old truck back. I am getting my truck replaced with a '03 Freightliner. Maybe this truck will spend less time in the shop and more time making me money. However this deal has brought to light something that may make me leave deBoer after I get a year in. When I signed up I was told I would be able to get a double bunk sleeper so I could take a ridder out with me after 3 months. This was a flat out lie apparently as I was informed today that I would NEVER get a double sleeper unless I was a trainer. So I will have to think about this upsetting development and decide how important it is to me.

Awe Fuck!

Had a bad day in louisiana, got lost in the fogand hit a mailbox trying to turn arround.

The Wheels On My Truck Go Round And Round...

...Sometimes! I picked up a new in Fort Worth, TX going to Louisania. I made a quick stop at a TA truck stop to scale my 42,400 lb load and was 180 lbs over on my trailer tandums. Got that sorted and headed out. About 1 minute after getting back on I-20 east a driver for Dart yelled to me on the CB that my trailer was smoking and on fire! I quickly pulled over as did the Dart driver, we both grabbed our fire extingushers and put out the fire. The cause, a wheel bering on my right rear tandum failed and the brake shoes were dragging as the whole wheel was coming off the axle. A big thank you to that Dart driver for his assistance! Now I am sitting at our Cedar Hill terminal where I have to wait till morning to get repairs.

Repairs

Had to pull into a TA for a temporary repair, durring my pretrip inspection the whole oil dipstick asembley broke off!

Crap!

Spent the day with with my folks and sister which was nice. Today started bad, got my truck stuck and had to get towed out.

R & R If I Want It Or Not

I got to Lodi, CA about 4pm today and had to fight for a parking spot. To my dismay the earliest delivery appointment I could get was for the 5th at 8am. So with all this time on my hands I called my folks who only live 30 mins away. They came out to the truck stop, we had a nice dinner. They gave me an early birthday present too, an electric cooler that can also heat things as well upto 130 degrees! It is a little on the small side but with the limited amount of room in my truck it will work out great. Now I will be able to make some sandwitches to take on the road with me instead of spending so much money on the road for dinners. I hope I will be able to cut my food expenses by as much as 1/3rd (about $66 a week)!

This run was a little trying as I played hop-scotch with the mountain passes and the snowy weather, but I made decent time. I decided to go spend the night at my parents house tonight and will go back to my truck tomorrow afternoon. Even though I have only been out a little over a week, it is always nice to get away from the truck even if only for a night. My sister has the day off of work tomorrow as well so it will be nice to spend some time with her, as we rarely get a chance to.

Things with Stephanie and I really haven't changed much, unfortunately. Contact is pretty much nill with the exception of a quick text message here and there, but she told me she fried the battery on her phone. I don't no anymore, I think about her all the time, and I still miss her dearly. A simple text message from her makes me all goofy like a school kid with a bad crush. But as hard as I try, I seem unable to stop it. So as the saying goes, if you can't change it, roll with it and hope for the best.

A Day Too Soon

After playing duck and dodge with snow I made it to CA. But I cant deliver till Thursday.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from Omaha, Nebraska!!

Slow Start To Get A Good Load

My week started out slow as I had to wait 2 extra days at "home" to get my windshield replaced, and even after that I couldnt get a load so I drove 150 miles to be a stand-by driver. For the last 2 days my loads were short 150 mile runs till today. I got a good load that picks up tomorrow morning at 7am going to California. I have more time than I need to make the run so I will try to deliver early.

Rollin

I hope you all had a good x-mas, mine was ok even though I couldnt spend it with who I wanted, but now it is back to work.

Last Run Before X-Mas!

Well I delivered my load in Cincinnati, OH early this morning at 5am. It took the lumpers 4 hours to get me unloaded. This is usual with grocery wharehouses and one of the reasons I hate loads like those. I reloaded 20 miles away headed for Appleton, WI. Then I will head to the terminal so I can have some repairs made durring my time off.

Finally There

1999 miles later I am at my delivery point in La Crosse, WI being unloaded.

Road Debris

The other night while driving down I-10W in LA a dump truck lost pat of his load on the freeway dumping several basketball sized rocks on the freeway. While I was able to avoid nearly all of them, there was one I couldn't avoid without taking out a car. It hit the underside of my truck and a quick check it didn't appear that it did any damage. However, during my post trip inspection I was able to get a good and through look at things. The large rock and severely dented the bottom backside of my left fuel tank, but that was all the damage. Yesterday morning during my pretrip I noticed that the pavement was wet under the tank and that I had a fuel leak.

It took about 5 hours at a repair shop to get a patch welded on the tank. I then delivered my load and picked up my next load going to La Crosse, WI. Right now I am in Las Vegas, NV. I am very tight on hours for today and tomorrow and can't really do much till Sunday when I get some decent hours back.

On the personal front, I still have not heard anything from Stephanie but I did catch her mom at the old house and found out that she had talked to her earlier that day. So at least I know she is ok. I get worried as she is alone and her nearest neighbor is nearly 1mile away, and it is unlike her to not reply in any form or fashion. However, over the past few months I am not sure what that means anymore as nearly everything she has been doing and acting is totally out of character. I just hope her recent abrupt change in behavior and attitude is because of me and that she is not back doing drugs again. I knew that I may have to accept the fact that we were never going to work things out and I knew the more time that went by the chance of that was less and less. However, I never considered the fact that we wouldn't remain friends, and stay in touch. I guess that is just one more thing I have to add to the list, and it is very sad.

Good But Not Great

I am currently in Barstow, CA about 3 hours away from my customer that I will deliver to in the morning. But my next load is not heading north like I had hoped, but it is a good load. I will load in LA and take that load to La Cross, WI a 1900+ mile run.

As some of you have noticed, I have turned on the comment feature again, using bloggers new moderate tool to prevent the unfortunate event that lead me to turn it off in the first place. You might not see your comment right away as I have to approve them when I can access the internet. But if you leave a comment, please put your name. Someone left a comment as anonymous but didn't put a name so I had to reject it. There was nothing wrong with the comment and I would have posted it and replied to it if there was a name to go with it.

Catching Up

The past week has been a bit hectic, and it all started on Friday. Friday night I had a run from Milwaukee, WI to Minneapolis, MN that was just pure hell. It was grocery store run, that started bad, went like crap, and I was thankful was over. After that on Saturday I got the load I am currently under, Neenha, WI to Belmont, AZ that I will be delivering in the morning. I am already pre-planned for my load tomorrow, where I will load the same place I deliver to and take that load to La Puente, CA. Depending on where I go from there I might be able to pop in and see my folks.

Things between Stephanie and I seem to be going steadily down hill. It currently appears that she is no longer speaking to me, I have sent her an email asking her if that is the new status of things. It wouldn't surprise me, I am sure her "friends" have convinced her that it is a bad idea to have ANYTHING to do with me. But it is out of my hands, I am just going with the flow where ever it leads and I am not going to fight it anymore. The opinion of her "friend" (read ex-that she was with in Reno) has far more meaning than the person she spent the last 12 years with, so that tells where I stand in the grand scheme of things. I have a pretty good idea of where this is all going, but I will keep the conjecture to myself, I have been known to be incorrect once or twice, but rarely am I ever wrong. Who knows, will just have to wait and see.

Back To Work

First load is for Roundys foods with 3 stops in MN. Have been waiting for my load for about 2 hours.

Christmas Is Coming

I used a little of my time off to do a little X-mas shopping. My next break from work won't be until the 23rd of December so I am trying to get a slight jump on things now. Yesterday my friend and I went and got a X-Mas tree and will decorate it tonight. That will be nice. I am heading back on the road tomorrow morning, don't have a pre-load yet but I am sure one will be coming soon.

Short Break

I am taking 2 days off and gearing up to head back out on friday. I needed to do laundry, cheaper here at my friends.

Off Road Fury!

Had a interesting day. After delivering my load in LA, I had to pickup another load in Baton Rouge. When I left the customer I was following the signs to get on I-10 East when I ran into a weight restricted road of 7.5 tons while I was weighing in at about 38 ton and an impossible left hand turn!! WTF!! No warning, no signs, nothing. The only way to go was to back up about 1 mile on a busy 2 lane road, not an option. So I called the Louisiana State police for help, there answer (as this is a common problem according to them) was to drive over the median going behind the stop and go light pole, and continue on. So that is just what I did, gave the people sitting on their front porch a good show. Quite an adventure. Right now I am at a TA truck stop in Bloomington, IL. My load is going to Appleton, WI about 5 hours away, but it doesn't have to be there till Tuesday late afternoon. Depending on how things go, I might make a visit to Fox Valley and say HI if I have time.

On the personal side of things, dealings with Stephanie are not going very well. Apparently her little friends have convinced her that I am a psycho and that she should under no circumstances ever be alone with me, for her own safety of course. This new revelation just blows my fucking mind!! I have never raised a hand to any woman, and rarely even raised my voice to Stephanie in the 12 years we were together, but now I guess I am some kind of card carring member of the Wife Beaters Club. So now I am kinda pissed, I never got my membership card or the monthly newsletter!

Long Day

709 miles today, long day but at customer for tomorrow, and already have my next load, San Antonio, TX to Louisiana.

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.

What A Day!

Today was a real pain in the ass. During my pre-trip this morning I noticed that my right turn signals were not working, so after playing with it for a bit I called RoadRepair as was told to goto our terminal in Texarkana just a few miles down the road. Of course I looked like a total retard when the mechanic fooled around with the electrical connection and everything started working just fine. Grrrrr.

Once on my way back up Hwy 71 north some jackass truck driver from Bean Transportation decided I wasn't going fast enough for his liking, and passed me with on coming traffic, narrowly avoiding a head on, and then proceeded to perform the same maneuver to pass a 4 wheeler, again almost causing a head on. It is truck drivers like that guy that give the trucking industry a bad name. If I could have gotten the assholes truck number I would have called his safety department and reported him. I thought about calling the police, but I did feel it was right without the truck number to make sure the right person got what he had coming.

All and all it was a rough day for me, I found traveling on 71 with 78,000 lb trailer stressful, and only managed 334 miles. I am tired and stopped for the night in Joplin, MO for the night. Tomorrow I will have to put down about 500 miles to make my delivery Monday morning.

One thing I am going to miss is having a laptop when I leave my trainer on Tuesday. I like being able to make these good posts.

Good Day, Hard Run

Today was a better day, yet a little bit sad. I Left Joplin, MO this morning and delivered a load in Springdale, AR, then deadheaded down to Ashdown, AR near Texarkana, AR to pick up a new load going to Minnesota. In route there was a head on crash with what looked to be 2 fatalities. Sad to see things like that. This new load is pretty heavy, tipping the scales at 78000 lbs total. I have decided to go a little out of route down to a Flying J truck stop in Texarkana, AR for the night. The route I need to take is a narrow, winding and hilly road that demands full attention during the day time, much less at night with a heavy load. I didn't feel it was safe to try to run it at night so here I am, where I will leave out in the morning.

I am going to be heading back to the terminal within the week, and my training is going to try to get me upgraded to my own truck at that time. I would only have 3 days left of the 30 days training anyway. So I will have to wait to see what the company decides to do, either way I will be ready! I am looking forward to a little time off.

On the personal side of things, Stephanie seems to like her new place in Washington. Her and her mom bought 3 horses, yes I said horses, and is having allot of fun with that. While I am happy for her, I still miss her dearly. She doesn't realise it but she is doing all the things I was working on doing before all this started. I sorta feel cheated, my suprise stolen. I guess I should be used to that by now, but it still feels like a kick in the groin.

Some site news, I have been working to get rid of some of the pop-us that Bravenet uses, if my aggravation with them was any indication, I am sorry I have put my views through it. So, things should be pop-up free for the most part, if not send me an email and I will work some more on it. Sorry for that folks!

Uhg! Broken

Yesterday got the truck 90% fixed but next load trailer had no lights, had to get that fixed. On my way to Arkansaw.

Repairs, yea!

Picked up a load and dropped it at the yard. Tomorrow my truck will get repaired i hope.

Truck Needs Work

Picked up a new load in Indiana going to WI. Our cold water leak is getting much worse. Had to bypass the sensor after the truck shutdown on me on the interstate. Hopefully when I drop this load tomorrow afternoon we can get routed to the terminal for some repairs. For now I going to bed just north of Chicago.

On the personal side of things, not much has really changed. Stephanie and her mom have found a new place somewhere in Washington. Beyond that, no progress to working things out and only the ticking of time walking things slowly in reverse.

Well for now, goodnight.

R & R

Picked up a new load from a drop yard and delivered it in Ohio. Wont leave out till monday, so I get a little R&R time.

Another Load Down, And Another Waiting

This past week has been a rough one. I have been pushing my log book to it's limits everyday to keep up. So much so that it has been hard to get anything other than sleep and driving done. Right now I am at a Flying J just outside Nashville, TN where I just finished dropping a load. I can't pick up my next load here in TN till 11:00pm and will be taking it to a drop yard in WI.

So far things are going good. 2 weeks down and 2 weeks to go before I upgrade to my own truck. My trainer says he would upgrade me right now if the company would let him, so that is point of good news.

Well I need to get me something to eat, a shower, and route plan my next load.

Hard Running

Ran hard all night, 875 miles, to make my appointments in IL now just waiting for a new load.

Tires

Made my deliverys in Alabama, and reloaded with 2 stops for IL due wednesday, but first have to get a trailer tire fixed.

Multi-stop load

I put down 607 miles today. I am now parked at the customer in Montgomery, AL for my 8:00 am delivery.

Going To Be A Long Day Today

It is going to be a long day today, I have been informed by my dispatcher that I need to make my delivery tonight!!, so I can pick up another load in Neenha, WI going to Alabama. This will be a multi-stop load with 3 drops on Monday. Whew. Gotta get some hard miles tonight. I have already put down 437, and will need to put in another 280 more to "Gett'er Done"! I have been doing so much of the driving that I have almost burned myself out of hours for the week. As of this morning I only had 17.5 hrs left of my 70!!! Good running, but tough. This weekend I will let my trainer do all the driving and take a 34 hr restart to some my hours back.

Right now I am in Fargo, North Dakota to grab some dinner, and fuel. Have to make Menominee, WI tonight so not much time to sit around. See you later, the road calls for me once again!

Still Trucking

Well today I covered about 500 miles and have shut down for the night about 100 miles sooner than I wanted to but finding a truck stop with showers and parking wasn't easy tonight so that forced me to stop early for the night. I was wanting to get to North Dakota tonight but... Tomorrow I will get up early, grab a shower and some fuel and hit the road. The load I have does't have to be delivered till Sunday in Menomine, WI so there is no big rush. I have been able to stay ahead of the wet weather the past few days for the most part.

On the personal front things seem to be going saddly the way I figuared they would, Stephanie and I are drifting further and further apart the more time that passes. I had hoped it wouldn't but I can feel it happing everyday and I am powerless to stop it. I would give anything to prevent it but what more can I do than tell her everyday that I love her and I miss her?

Footsteps

Shuting down for the night just inside Idaho. Scaled my rig and i am running at 74000 lbs. Well goodnight.

First Delivery Done!

Made my first delivery in Richland, WA. Picked up new load in B.F.E. Oregon. Heavy load 47000 lbs.

Run 1 Almost Done

My first run is almost complete. Only Drove 370 miles today as most of it was mountains. We stopped at the Iowa/Washington state line for the night as it is the last decent truck stop between here and out delivery point and that is only about 100 miles away. So time to grab a shower and a bite to eat and get some sleep.

Good Running

Shuting down in Bossman Montana. Drove 473 miles today. Trying to keep ahead of the snow. Goodnight.

Keep On Truckin'

Day 2 of my OTR training, still in route to make my first delivery with my trainer in Washington. We are shutting down for the night about 80 miles from Wyoming. I went across my first real scale house today! Yea! We have a fairly light load, about 29,000 lbs so no worries with weight. I have been doing allot of the driving so far and I think I am doing well so far. All and all I am having fun, learning allot, and looking forward to what tomorrow might bring.

But atlas, I am exhausted and desperately need sleep. So Goodnight all!

1st Run!

My first run is to Richland WA, 1648 miles with lots of time to get there! Shutdown for the night at a rest area. Night!

DeBoer Day 4

Got assigned my trainer today, will leave on friday as truck needs servicing.

DeBoer Day 3

Today was roadtest day. What joke! A few very basic turns, and a simple alley dock backing and that was it! Sheesh!

DeBoer Day 2

Pretty much a wasted day, watched safety videos and got intro training on qualcom. Tomorrow is my driving test.

Day 1 DeBoer

Day 1, paperwok and drug test. Bunkhouse is no holiday inn, but will make due. Hope tomorrow is not as slow!

Got It?

Did a little shoping today and feel i have most things covered. Will do laundry and i should be set to start work monday.