T is for Tarp

Friday morning we loaded some steel components for wind towers in Erie, Pennsylvania. We will deliver these in South Carolina on Monday morning.

Unfortunately the load needs to be tarped. Literally the dirtiest word in the world of flat bed trucking. Fortunately, especially since it is raining and cold, we are able to tarp this load inside.

This load is a challenge to tarp, as its 2 very oddly shaped pieces, which, naturally, have several very sharp points at the tops.

You know those Dummies books? We need one called Tarping For Dummies. It seems that no matter what we do, we can not get these tarps to fold just right over these weird pieces. No nicely crated, perfectly square loads for us. Usually when we load at places like this, the workers there are really great and help us put the tarps up over the loads with an overhead crane or fork lifts but these guys weren't very helpful in that respect. Each tarp weighs about 70 pounds and they are 20 feet long by 26 feet wide. We probably used at least 80 bungees to hold them down.

We do get paid a little extra to tarp, but whatever it is, it is never enough. These loads usually turn into the biggest nightmares. Hopefully we will get this delivered without too many new holes in our tarps.
Our truck stop review for today:

Jane Lew Truck Plaza, Jane Lew, WV

(Roady’s affiliation, or should I say affliction)

Gee, it looks just like any other truck stop on the outside…………

This stop might be every (male) truckers dream, it’s more of a combination truck stop and X rated adult novelty shop. I’m really not sure how they get away with that. The first thing that I noticed was the rack of adult magazines. After entering the store, I walked past the dildos on the wall without even reacting, I was so totally not expecting to see anything in that vein that it didn’t even register at first. On my way to the ladies room, I happened to pass the adult video case, there were also several different, shall we say, male genital novelty items on the counter.
(No, dont ask me to go into any more detail than that)

The thing that truly did amaze me though was the hallway I followed after passing under the “restrooms” sign. Maybe it was just my supposition that is said “restrooms” and not, in actuality, “restroom”. There was one room with a sign on it that said “Office” then a door that wasn’t marked, and then a door marked “Mens”, and then the shower rooms. Hmmmmm. Behind door number 2, the unmarked one, I found a broom closet, nope, no ladies room here. Sigh. After showering there, I guess I was a little glad I didn’t find the ladies room.

The restaurant and gift shop was located across the street. The waitress got both our orders correct without writing down anything and the food was pretty good except for the home fries were deep fried. Joe had a ham and cheese omelet with toast and I had scrambled egg beaters and some very tasty whole wheat toast. The only other complaint I had was my plate had some kind of sticky unknown purplish substance smeared on it.

I will give them a rating of 3 instead of a 2, only for having egg beaters and just for being there, as it was the only one in that area.

Why is it that you pass a bunch of really good looking truck stops when you aren’t ready to stop, but when you are ready to stop, the only one for miles is a usually one that you wish you could just drive right on by?

Cheeseburger in Paradise

When I started this blog my goal was to become a sort of Jimmy Buffett of trucking. You know what I mean. That warm fuzzy fun feeling you have after listening to Margaritaville. I want people to read this and have that happy go lucky, worry-free Island feeling (hey, we can all have dreams……errrr, delusions)

Anyway, I figured we needed a name similar to Jimmy's parrotheads. My good friend T came up with a great one for me………Diesel drinkers……..haha……….now all we need is a good idea for a hat…..no shark fins for us….hmmm, I’ll keep you posted on that one. Maybe a decal we can all get to put in our windows showing membership in our own secret club….after all it takes a special kind of person to be a trucker. Although I must say that a truck stop doesn’t have the same type of a appeal a white sand beach does for me……not by a LONG shot!!

At least we all still have our dreams, don't we? No matter how delusional they may be.

Morning rant

Soapbox rant………..Pharmaceutical companies

If you suffer the ravages of Fibromyalgia, maybe you have recently seen all the press regarding some “new” medications that have been approved by our lovely FDA for the so called “treatment” of Fibro/CFS?ME.

Now that I am done choking on my tea, I’ll share my feelings about these drugs. They are no more than a marketing ploy by Big Brother Drugs to line their pockets with false promises of yet another miracle drug that in the majority of cases, do more harm than good. These drugs are antidepressants, no more, no less.
The drug companies think that spending money researching and marketing new forms of the drugs we’ve already tried and have proved detrimental to these conditions. Why not spend those dollars on more research so we can once and for all find a marker to diagnosis and then finally treat, these conditions?

Yes ,medications to treat these conditions ARE needed. But, please, don’t waste our time, our physicians time, and our money on band aids that just dope us up and make your bank accounts larger.


Here is an article from Time Magazine:

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1876532,00.html


About one-third of U.S. children take vitamins or supplements, according to the study, which was part of the government's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted between 1999 and 2004. Vitamin takers were more likely to be white; eat a low-cholesterol, high-fiber diet; come from a higher-income family; get plenty of exercise; and have better access to health care and health insurance. Which means that the bulk of these youngsters really didn't need supplements at all.

While some children got unnecessary supplementation, the study found, those who might have reaped true benefit from vitamins didn't get them at all: kids from lower-income families who had less reliable, if any, access to health care, who relied on food stamps and were often forced to skip meals were less likely to take vitamins and minerals. "Children who face poverty, food insecurity and lack regular balanced meals have a high likelihood of benefiting from supplements," says Shaikh, but they typically don't have access to them because of cost.


WTF??

How much did this survey cost?? Slapping myself in the forehead. What part of this so called study surprises anyone. Low income children do not get proper nutrition because they CANT AFFORD TO!
C’mon Washington, wake up and smell your designer coffee!!!

This is one of those rare occasions that I am simply going to let this article speak for itself.

Shower question

Unfortunately we are held up here in NY for the week. We are hoping to get a load out of New Holland PA on Saturday.

Meanwhile, my cousin Dina has emailed me a question asking how much the showers cost.

Usually we do not pay for the showers, we have cards similar to your customer perk cards at your local grocery store from each of the major fuel stops. Usually you get free showers added to your card when you fuel up. They have automated machines in the truck stops where you swipe your card and it assigns you a shower number and a code to punch in to open the shower door and it usually gives an estimated wait time, if there is one.

We also get points on these cards by how many gallons you purchase, and these can be used towards food purchases, etc.

If we do end up showering someplace that we need to pay, it can be anywhere from $8-$10 dollars.

Some places make you leave a towel deposit too, but, you do get that back when you return the towels.

Thanks for your question, cuz!!!

Throw me some beads!!!!

HAPPY MARDI GRAS EVERYONE!!! NOW THROW ME SOME BEADS!!

As you probably know, Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday in French. The tradition of celebrating Mardi Gras started in the US in 1703, in, of course, Louisiana. The celebration was literally a feast before the fasting began for Lent.

I’m hoping that none of our drivers get stuck in any Mardi Gras traffic this week, unless, of course, you want to catch some beads too!

Some good news...

On Feb 18, 2009, Missouri truck driver, Cliff Stockton, spotted a vehicle fitting the description involved in an amber alert and notified police. The three year old child was found asleep in the back of the van and reunited with her parents. Great job, Cliff!

The Swift Fiasco

There are a lot of perks with being an over the road driver. What other job would enable us to spend 24/7 together? We can’t afford to live, but we do get to drive each other crazy, and have fun.

Soapbox Alert!

Last week I read a news story on OOIDA's Landline magazine regarding last years fiasco at the Swift training center in Memphis Tennessee. Last January, officers from about 6 different law enforcement agencies, including The Secret Service, ATF, Immigration, US Marshalls, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Tennessee department of Safety, raided a CDL training facility run by Swift transportation. Hints were made that there were immigration violations and illegal issuances of CDL licenses.

The link to the entire story is here: http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2009/Feb09/020909/021309-02.htm

------ they are finally confirming it was the Swift transportation facility that was involved. Ok, this is almost a year later. Now they are saying that CDL’s (commercial drivers licenses) were issued to drivers that were enrolled in Swifts drivers training program. 5000 CDL’s are considered at question here and will no longer be valid. Drivers are contacted by their individual state are being told that they need to have the skills part of the test retaken or their CDL’s will be void.

So my take on this is, individuals wearing Swift instructor uniforms were testing drivers and issuing CDL’s, something that is normally (and legally) done by the state of Tennessee. Which raises several questions:
What knowledge did the state of TN have of this? How could they accept CDL’s from an organization not run by their state and issue actual licenses under these conditions??

The article goes on to state that NO CHARGES HAVE BEEN FILED AGAINST ANYONE IN THIS MATTER…………..huh??????? Obviously some wrong doing went on somewhere if 5000 CDL’s are not valid!!! If no laws were broken , and no “wrong doing” occurred, then why are these drivers being informed that their licenses are no longer valid??

So yet again, big corporation and big brother are giving the screw to …. You guessed it………the american truck driver. I guess its not enough that these big corporations like Swift are driving the freight rates down into the toilets, they need a hobby in their spare time too.

Well, we made it.........sort of!

We hammered down all day and kept a steady pace. Luckily the traffic and the weather finally cooperated. We arrived at Gettysburg college around 4:15, about an hour to spare before sunset.

It was a tight fit getting through the narrow streets to the college, we even had to take out a removable stop sign at the college to make the turn to deliver this to the actual construction site (thank goodness someone thought to put a removable stop sign there!).

They had us unhook all our chains and leave the trailer there with the load. The other driver that had arrived before us had also left his trailer earlier. We have another driver arriving on Monday with the third part to this unit and he will have the crane stack the two trailers on top of his trailer, once they are both empty and away he will go.

Which leaves us with a slight dilemma. Fortunately all our paperwork is now signed and we can scan them and get paid for this load on this coming paycheck, but now we are left without a trailer. About 70 miles from Gettysburg is a town called New Holland, where they manufacture New Holland tractors. We've loaded out of there before and they always have a supply of our empty trailers so on to New Holland we headed for the night. I like going there, its near Lancaster and I love seeing all the Amish buggies on the road.

We had an opportunity to drive through some of the older parts of Gettysburg, I am assuming these buildings date back to the z800's, if not older. It was just getting dark, and the street and shop lights were just coming on. It reminded of something from a Christmas movie, the shops were all restored and pristine and we both wished we could walk up and down and see all the boutiques and specialty shops. It was really one of the nicest places we have been. It had the old history similar to what you see in New England, but without the "shabby chic". We were both captivated by how clean and, yes, charming is the word to describe it. Coming back for a few days to explore is something to add to my "to-do" list.

Now its Saturday morning and Joe is transferring our tarps and our case from the back of the tractor over the new step deck trailer we are going to take with us. Then we are heading about 180 miles to New York for a couple of very much needed days off, some visits with family and friends, and doctor appointments for each of us on Monday. Its always a challenge to coordinate doctor visits when you live on the road.

I've got some rants written up in my word processing program, I'll try to get some of them posted during our down time.

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend!!

We aren't going to make it....

Well, things are looking mighty grim today folks.
We had to wait until 9am to leave the truck stop this morning in Ohio due to curfews for any loads wider than 12 feet wide. We still have about 65 miles to go in Ohio and then another 360 in Pennsylvania the way our journey is routed.

Yesterday we had to shut down twice due to inclement weather and then we had that curfew in Ohio. We finally were able to speak to someone at the job site and they want to be paid an additional $1000 for the crane to unload us on Saturday. That isn't going to happen. We are waiting again for another call back from him.

We both have doctor appointments in NY on Monday that we can't miss. We will have to see how the rest of the day plays out for now.

There is another driver from our company with another part of this unit waiting there in Gettysburg. They will not unload him until they unload our unit first. He left Wisconsin after we did, but he was under 12 foot wide and did not have the restrictions and the curfews that we were forced to follow. It sure makes a big difference when you have to stop running as soon as you run out of daylight, especially during the short winter days.

Our driver manager is keeping in touch with us. They know it isn't our fault and we did everything possible to get this load to our destination as quickly, but more importantly as safely and as legally as we possibly could.

Its pretty quiet in the truck today.............

A truck stop with class....its a TA??!

A classy truck stop?? A TA?? A double contradiction in terms! Its located at exit 112 off I-80 in Morris, IL

Yes, you read it here folks. The crow I'm eating over my TA remarks were quite tasty....actually they were grilled chicken smothered in grilled mushrooms and onions with melted provolone cheese.....yummy.

But to give myself credit, this could not have been a TA for very long, our little handy-dandy pocket truck stop guide for 2007 still lists this as Rominese Truck Plaza. Thank goodness the old fashioned charm and the restaurant are still intact.

The first thing I noticed when we walked in was a big display case completely decorated for Mardi Gras (I've always LOVED Mardi Gras!!!!)

As you walk in the door by the fuel island and look to your left, you will see a Quiznos and the travel store. Straight ahead is the restaurant R-Place, which showcased there many freshly made bakery selections right there in all their glory! The entire restaurant, floor to ceiling, was decorated for Mardi Gras!!!

But alas, those pleasures must wait for now. Joe swipes his TA card so we can get in line for showers. Wait time: 30 minutes....sigh. However the attendant comes right over to us and pleasantly says the wait will be about 15, if we want to go to the drivers lounge, he will come and get us when its ready True to his word, we head for our shower, where the attendant already had extra towels all set for us.

Now, I am easily amused by strange things, but this took the cake. (there I go using food references again, I wonder why that is) The attendant had folded the towels in such a way that floored me........Queen Martha eat your heart out. He folded the washcloth on a diagonal so it made a triangle. Then he took the towel and folded it in half lengthwise and took the washcloth and lined the long side of the triangle up with the edge of the towel. Next he rolled the whole shebang up into a cylinder. Then he tucked one of the ends of the towel back into the middle of itself so it formed a nice little perfect little bundle....and wha-laa, there you have it!!

It's this wonderful totally unexpected experiences like these that keep you sane out here.
(ummm, OK, maybe I haven't had enough of these experiences then.....LOL)

The showers were spotless, and I got a big kick out of the 1950 style star shaped separate hot and cold water faucets......too retro.

And reto really describes the whole place, from the stamped tin ceiling in the c-store, to the advertising posters from the 1930's and 1940's. One of the best parts is the hallway leading to the restaurant. On both sides are glass cases with just a totally amazing collection of antique toys and items like lunch boxes, what a blast back to the past. There is also a big glass case filled with a marionette band, which will play for you if you feed it a quarter!.

Now on to the restaurant......it seems they are having a special Mardi Gras celebration that night, complete with an additional menu with all cajun favorites. The napkins are all Mardi Gras colors, and like I mentioned earlier, it seems every inch is swathed in purple, yellow and green decorations of some kind. The hostess gave us a couple sets of Mardi Gras beads! The food was fantastic and the service was great. Under all the Mardi Gras finery, you could see the usual Victorian style brass and cabbage rose decor......just beautiful in its own right. There is also another very large glass case in the dining room filled with antique toys.

We were both too full to get desert, but we each got a slice of cake to go for later.

This is one TA I definately would like to come back to!!

Our Progress

We made it as far as Morris, IL last evening. We still have at least 850 miles to go, but some of the routes we received involve traveling secondary roads and the speed limit in Indiana for OD is 45 mph. We sat last night with our IL permit and a map, trying to determine if the area they described for curfew applied to our route. We decided we would not have to stop for the curfew in Chicago, which was a great relief, if not we would have needed to wait until after 9:30 to get through that part of the state.

Its bitterly cold here, only 12 degrees, but it feels much colder than that. At least the sky is clear and there isnt any threat of snow today.

We both know we have to keep a steady pace today, every minute of daylight counts. We fueled this morning before we left and we should be could to go until we have to stop at sunset today.

We are both a little anxious about our first scale, or weigh station in IL. We made it through the scales in WI without having to stop, so we lucked out there. We get to the sign for the weigh station.........the light is lit up "CLOSED'. We both breathe a sigh of relief. We're both sure we are following the permit as its written, we just know better than to tempt fate.

Our Illinois permit has routed us across secondary roads and through towns where we seem to be a red traffic light magnet today, its been very slow going indeed, and not going to change any time soon. We just made it through a weigh station with no problem.

We will lose an hour in Indiana by crossing over into Eastern time, so that is going to hurt us a little too.

But we've got a beautiful sunrise, a nice clear day and we're making our way east as best we can!

A race against time

We just loaded an over sized or over dimensional (OD) load here in La Crosse, WI. We have a crane appointment in Gettysburg, PA for 10 am Friday morning. A route of about 1200 miles.Its looking like our chances of making that appointment are slim to none, so keep checking the site to follow our progress.

We need to have permits from each state in order to get a route (issued by that particular state) in order to travel with an OD load. We arrived here last night and got up early this morning to get an early start securing the load down with chains. It's snowing lightly, not enough for them to shut us down, but enough to make things sloppy and to shorten our daylight hours. With an OD load we can basically only run during daylight (with a few exceptions) and we usually have curfews we have to adhere to going through metro areas.

Our load is all secure but we are still waiting for our WI permit in order to leave. The permits get emailed to me and then I print them out here in the truck.

Fortunately we checked our book and we do not need an escort in any state for this load. We measured out to 12 feet 3 inches wide, in Indiana you need any escort for any loads 12'4" wide and over...........see, an inch DOES make a difference!!

Just a note, because you would be surprised at how many "4 wheeler" drivers ignore this....those yellow flashing warning lights are just that...........warning lights. We don't have them on the truck because we like the way they look blinking.

stay tuned.................

C'mon A-Rod

In a press conference yesterday, Alex Rodriguez admitted that during 2001-2003, his cousin injected him with an "unknown substance" from the Dominican Republic. That's his story, and he's sticking to it....he is also sticking it to all major league baseball fans. Give us a break. Yeah, A-Rod has a lot of accomplishments in this sport, and will probably continue to break records, but everything he does now will be tainted with a "yeah, but........." rolling eyes in my head. Glad to see why these ball players make the big bucks that they do.

Our first truck stop review

I think its only fitting that I start my truck stop reviews with the largest truck stop, Iowa 80 in Walcott (where else) Iowa. I will state here that this is affliated with Travel Centers of America, otherwise known in my future ramblings as the “TA” and not my favorite place if you happened to read yesterdays blog.



This is by far THE best TA. Although coming here is one of my favorite past times, there are some truck stops I do like better. Ones with Jacuzzis (Johnson's Corner travel plaza in Loveland, CO) Little America in Flagstaff, AZ (garden tubs and free bubble bath) and the Bosselman's chain, more on those on their own blog.

What do I like the best about Iowa 80? I’d have to say it’s the yellow Pete revolving on the showroom floor. The blue Kenworth is fantastic too, I just have a soft spot in my heart for yellow Peterbilts !!

The chrome shop there is easily voted the one most likely to max out every truckers credit cards. If its made for a semi, you will find it there, including some things you didn't think of, (but absolutely just HAVE to have.)

The gift shop rivals any of those found in your local mall. Everything from toys to Minnetonka moccasins, greeting cards and every kind of sculpture, collectible and memorable item you could every want.

Other than that, I’d have to give a blue ribbon to their laundry room, only because they have 12 washing machines plus one of those super commercial ones, and at least 16 dryers, We always do laundry when we are there only because we have never had to wait for a machine, and no broken washers a win-win situation in my book. Its amazing what becomes a priority when you live Over the Road!

I’m sure most of you reading this are familiar with this stop, it’s a legend and I think most drivers make a point to visit it at least once. If you havent had the honor, try and make a point to stop in and see it just for the experience. I will keep my description brief along with a quick review on the restaurant.

We’ve eaten in the restaurant here several times. They do have egg substitutes……yay!! They were great with hash browns and English muffins. Joe got their Belgian waffle and the sausage patties which were awesome, not as good as Waffle House he said but there's no accounting for taste. (the merits of the Waffle House is one of our biggest difference of opinions) I did have the grilled chicken sandwhich one which wasn't bad, however they were out of breaded mushrooms but on the whole a good experience. A notch up from your usual truck stop cusine.

The service is always friendly and top notch, the dining room clean. One of the best things about Iowa 80 are the vintage trucks scattered around, real as well as photos and the dining room is no exception. Add that to the stone fireplace and its a good time.

The showers are always clean, the shower attendants are always pleasant. There is a barber shop and a dentist as well as several other services available. On the whole I give a big 5 to this truck stop.

They did open a trucking museum on the grounds a few months ago. We have both been anxious to check it out, but we have to admit, we both felt too cold to venture across the parking lot and take in the sights. For those of you that havent been there........its a BIG parking lot!!

Better late than never

Congratulations to Matt Kenseth on winning his first Daytona 500 Sunday!!
whoo hoo!!

New Pepsi Logo

Has anyone seen the new Pepsi logo yet?
What were they thinking????
What do you think about it?
Change isn't always a good thing :-)

A couple rants to pass the time

My Truck Stop Rant:

Before I get started I want to mention that this rant in no way reflects the work done by those employed as shower attendants at these truck stops. The majority of them work hard and I am not undermining the work they do.

I used to always cringe whenever we stopped at a TA (Travel Centers of America) to shower. I used to always prefer the Petro (yes, I know one bought the other one out) However, after going to a few, shall we say, below par, Petro’s , I was soon cured of that. Truck stops are not like Wal-marts, you don’t get the same thing at different chain locations…far from it. One Petro can be as different to another as night and day, not a good thing at all. Its always a crap shoot as to whether you are even going to have a towel capable of drying your butt or ..gasp……hot water.

Oh and for the Pilot in AZ, you know that red side of the shower control.?? It has the word “hot“ on it? that’s a clue……..and its not the same as cold, that’s the blue side ………..got that???? I have nothing good to say about Pilots so I wont even discuss them any further.

Except for the Bosselmans, I’ve found all the chains to be the same, unless you’ve been there before, be prepared. We have been to a brand new TA in Laredo, TX that was fantastic, yeah, you had to pay to park there if you didn’t spend $20, but really,, who spends less than $20, I mean its not like you can run across the street to your nearest Target. I’ve been to a TA that was so disgustingly filthy I refused to shower there.

For the most part, we find the Flying J’s to be the best of the “big 5”. We usually look for them, because they almost always have an RV dump station. I liked that they had the chinese food too, although they must have discontinued that since they filed bankruptcy, as I cant seem to find one with the Magic Dragon in it anymore.

There are exceptions to every rule and like I noted before, we’ve been to some great TA’s and Loves and some really shitty Petro’s and J’s.

But love ‘em or hate ‘em, we need ‘em.

I think my worst shower experience was a little mom and pop place in the middle of Colorado somewhere.
I think the big wads of some unknown individuals hair in the shower drain was a “pretty “good indication that no one ever cleaned that shower.

And what’s with those dumb little paper shower mats they give you that stick to your feet? OK, I think they are better than those blue plastic woven things in the TA…..every time I look at those, my anal side sees these cartoon mucilex-type bugs crawling all over them (hope you aren’t eating now) Oh, and Bosselmans? They give you these nice shiny clean rubber shower mats, with the suction cups on the bottom, just like at home….no paper crap for them.

We hit three Flying J’s in a row once which had electrical outlets that didn’t work in the bathroom so I couldn’t dry my hair. Bosselmans not only has outlets that work, they give you a working hairdryer in every shower. (yes, I admit it, I am partial to Bosselmans, I‘m sure you didn’t notice.) The only complaint I have about them is they don’t have any bath tubs.

Oh, I see I forgot to mention the Hershey’s Kisses the attendants leave for you in the showers at Bosselmans….chocolate + love…..’nuf said.

And that’s just a critique of the showers……I haven’t even touched on the food yet! Ha.

But really, my biggest truck stop complaint, and I am sure that every trucker agrees with me, is not that there just aren’t enough good ones……its that there just aren’t enough OF them.

WE NEED MORE PLACES TO PARK!!

Which reminds me of yet another rant:

State of Virginia Rant:

On February 2nd OOIDA’s Landline magazine printed an article about the state of Virginia’s enforcing their two hour parking limit at all rest areas. A spokeswoman for the state addressed the issue by saying that drivers need to be better planners, or for them to “get a room”

Here is the link to the article: http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2009/Feb09/020209/020209-02.htm

I kid you not.

Not only are drivers subject to the abuse of their time by a shipper or receiver, the state of Virginia refuses to let drivers comply with federally regulated hours of service

(translation: Virginia needs revenue so lets stick it to the trucker and make up exceedingly impossible laws so we have freedom to issue bull shit fines whenever we want). Eyes rolling up in my head here.

The abuse of drivers time………….its not unusual to have an 8 am appointment at a shipper or receiver and then be made to wait until 4 or 5 pm that day to get loaded/unloaded. We had a load once to delver in Laredo, we had a scheduled appointment for 9am. When we got there we told the crane would be late and we had to wait. The crane arrived at about 3:30. We wasted a whole day waiting on this crane.

It seems like one of the mottos of trucking is “Hurry up and wait………and wait………and wait”

Now, if the freight rates were paying what they should be paying and not the measly amount they actually are, that wouldn’t be such an issue. However you take a load that ends up netting you $500 and then have to divide that into another day that you just wasted waiting for a crane, that really cuts a very deep swath in your profit for that load. (profit, oh are we supposed to be making a profit here??? …… We ARE?????)

And heaven forbid we EVER EVER make a crane wait for us!!!!!!! Heads will roll.

My introduction

I hope you will decide to ride along with us on our journey across the United States,(and Canada too! )My fiancee, Joe and I own a tractor trailer, a red Peterbilt with a big sleeper on it. We lease our truck to a company out of St Cloud MN and deliver loads for them basically from sea to shining sea. Every day is an adventure and there is always a challenge of some sort to deal with. I’ve been out in the truck for about 10 months now, we have been to all 48 lower states, and several provinces in Canada.

On top of the challenges we face in sharing a small space pretty much 24/7 along with the nail biting stress of being a trucker (thankfully, no, I do not share in the driving duties) I have the additional joys of dealing with Fibromyalgia, IBS and a host of other physical ailments. Oh, and I’m hearing impaired, I have about ¼ of my hearing left and wear 2 hearing aids) Let the games begin…………

A couple weeks ago, we were in a very rural area of Kansas, surrounded by farms and ranches. Most of them are older, weathered buildings, the towns are small, one street towns with your standard Sonics and Dairy Queens. It’s a sunny day, already 52 at 8:30 in the morning, much warmer than most parts of the country in this first week of February. Everywhere you look is a shade of beige….from the fields to the newly, or not yet plowed farmland to the bare trees, interspersed with silver silos and black spots of cattle. I’m enjoying it while I can, I have no desire to be in the cities and feel much more at peace here away from the metro areas and their urban sprawl.

We are headed up towards Kansas City to pick up some sort of load of tractors to take to a port in Wilmington, CA, outside of Long Beach. We had not wanted to take this load and stay more east, as we both have doctor appointments in NY in a little over a week, I will have to reschedule them. Freight is extremely slow lately, more so than usual this time of the year, and we don’t have the luxury of picking and choosing our loads right now.

The slowdown in the economy and the dropping of freight rates is of great concern to us, its something we have no control over. It doesn’t matter how hard you work anymore, we just plug along and try to get by the best we can and hope the situation improves sooner rather than later.

We are coming to another town that seems more profitable, the homes are newer, larger, the farm equipment state of the art, the silos gleaming in the morning sun.

We have been through the town here in Kansas that was completely eradicated by a tornado a couple years ago. It is so devastating to see the destruction, yet uplifting to see the hope in all the rebuilding. The vagaries of mother nature are never more apparent than out here on the road. Not only do we see the evidence of her fury, but we are exposed to her whim every day.

You might be wondering what I actually DO all day……besides bang my head against the dash and chant my manta, “why me??” Seriously though…..

I’ve mastered the intricacies of Spider Solitaire, a game that I could never before get past the first deal, guess that qualifies me for rocket scientist status. I read and send email when I’m not writing my blog. Some days I am a picture taking fool, depending on where we are and how I feel. (Everything depends on how I feel) Before I came out in the truck, I was a voracious reader, usually reading a novel every 2 days, but now I get a creative outlet more in writing this blog. On my brain fog bad fibro days I will just be able to manage a few games of Solitaire and the rest will be spent just watching the miles roll by. Oh yes, I do navigate and look for truck stops and rest areas!!

I’m an obsessive compulsive when it comes to many things which gives Joe no end of material to tease me with. I pretty much NEED to research a lot of the things we see each day (Thank you Wikipedia) I learn
so much history and geography and other interesting facts every day, but my recall is about 15 minutes. Hey look on the bright side, I will be constantly amused learning new factoids…..again and again, I’m so easily amused!!

When we stop to load or unload, the bungees are my domain….lol. I never met a bungee I didn’t hate. I’ll get out the straps we need, spray the old WD-40 on our winches and drag chains around from one end to the other. If we have an oversized or OD, load, I will get the extra lights, flags and banners ready. In addition I basically try to make a general pain in the ass of myself to keep Joe amused. We have a DVD and a flat screen 20” TV so we watch movies, but its not cheap when you don’t have an address to use anymore so that we can take advantage of Netflix. (isn’t that just the best thing since sliced bread?) I definitely would be thoroughly miserable without my laptop.

Every day, while it may not be fascinating, is one of new memories, new experiences (many I never want to repeat) and new thoughts. I hope that you will join me in sharing those.