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Nomad_ · Joined: 07 Mar 2006 Posts: 416 Location: Central Maine

Well, I nearly had scrambled eggs. First solo outing was a Murphy's law day.

- 8 AM Pretrip revealed no rear left directional (broken, fuse??)
- I make 6 lefts and one right during my run.
- Rainy day
- Travel from point A to Point B (empty) 25 miles -- no problem.
- Arrive and partially loaded -- Reefer does not start. Tried about 6 other times througout the day as the tank is only 1/4 full. We had an earlier episode of the tank running low (during training).
- Shuttle approx 10 pallets of eggs to and fro local plant sites with no reefer. Nobody at Warehouse when I deliver. Need to have them sign the BOL later. Luckily I know my way around their warehouse, and I have a power jack handy.
- Decided to take a full load back to the main warehouse without reefer.
Supposedly there is a 2 hour window of shelf life safety and the run is only 30 minutes. Yes, I tried to call for instructions. This is a Sunday, so I have no luck. Plus my trainer is on vacation (this is a small operation).

- Speed kills, I hurry more than usual and catch some adverse camber on the country roads -- LET THE SWAY BEGIN. I had a feeling I would pay for the action later. I DID. When I unload at the main warehouse, my pride takes a beating. 1/4 of the load is tilted (one way or the other) off its pallets. Manual labor is NOW invoved to repallet several pallets. ROOKIE WRITTEN ALL OVER ME. Plus having my zipper down probably half the day did not help...lol..

Anyway, after several odd looks and cursing, we sort things out. Of course the pallets (with eggs) that were still somewhat vertical had a hard time fitting in the rows of others that were PERFECT.

-- I now leave for round #2 and of course one of the foreman starts up the reefer unit like there was never a problem.

- I load with precision (like last time), but I also SLOW DOWN and drive with precision. Feeling good about recovering the day, I daydream and miss my rural exit off of my already rural road. I now have no idea where I will be able to turn around. I see an opportunity. It is dark, but I see a multi-family (apartments?) setting, where I can barely -- but safely make a left hand turn. Then swing around the wet and dirt parking lot.
I will need to avoid some thick bushes on my left and not run up on the grass on the right and miss the parked cars at the end of the U sweep.
The offtracking is tight but doable. This might be my only opportunity, so I go for it. Well half way through the turn, I find there is in fact a telephone pole hidden in the tall Bush, and I am 3 inches from being up against it (luckily I caught the pole in my mirror). I try backing up a few feet and realize that is not enough to make any affect (correction) going forward again.

- I GOAL, and I see I have a clear opportunity to back out and try again.
I stayed on the road. Good thing because there is a drop off on the passenger side. I pull up as far as I can, and I ride the lawn about 5 feet in. The lights all come on in the windows, and people are looking to claim some insurance $$$$$ here. I gain the necessary clearance on the pole (3 inches after passing), avoid the cars and do little scraping against the bush on the drivers side.

PFEW, I make it back to the Main Warehouse, and I hope like hell I have an even load. I do. It's now been a 12 hour day, and the foreman said, "it will be a 2 hour wait". There is no room in the warehouse.

I said, "If we can unload now, I will stay and help". If not, I have an hours ride home, so I am out of here. I did the latter.

Bottom Line: I have always prided myself in not making the same mistake twice. I doubt that I can achieve that in trucking, but I can try.
I did learn to DRIVE SLOW, you will only pay on the other end (UNDER ANY CONDITIONS).

I also learned that I can think and manuver in tight situations. All of the backing up I do on the job paid off. If I was a rookie that only drove forward 95% of the time, I would not have had the confidence nor ability to recover.

I doubt that I could have had a worse solo rookie day, but it strengthened me for the upcoming journeys.

Plus it gives me further appreciation for what some of you REAL TRUCKERS have to put up with on a daily basis and long periods of time -- AND YOU ARE NOT JUST ONE HOUR FROM HOME.

Have a SAFE Travel.

Nomad

golfhobo · Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 12:57 pm Post subject:

Nomad: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Thanks for the belly laugh! Not AT you.... but WITH you! :lol:

I TOLD you to steal a book from inside the reefer door! Do you know about the manual start switch under the bottom of the "hood?" That's probably how the other guy got it started!

Tilting loads? Even with a powered pallet jack, you should be able to "run them in" against the wall to straighten them up.

Tight turns? Remember that you can slide your tandems up toward the cab to give yourself a tighter turning radius, then back again before you have to cross a scale. (Probably no scales on your routes anyways.)

All things considered, you did a good job! Remember that 50% of trucking is knowing how to think on your feet! And understanding Geometry!

Sounds like you've had the "load from Hell" that most of us get on our first day, or early on! :lol:

Don't worry.... from here on out, it's all down hill! Hmm.... No... that's not right! It's all UP hill! Hmmm.... No.... that's not fun either! Okay.... it's all smooth sailing!! :lol:

Point is.... you've met the beast and slayed him! The rest of your career should be a piece of cake! But remember, you can't make a cake without breaking some eggs! :lol:

You know, there probably ARE jobs in your area for "local" drivers - weekends only - to deliver loads brought over from Canada to receivers in the Northeast. Overnight runs only. Take a load from a DC in Maine to somewhere around Baltimore(?) and back home again! You'd be driving on paved roads with only ONE unload, and maybe a "backhaul." Or maybe some "seafood" from the coast and bringing back some badly needed toilet paper or something!

As for the Rosetta Stone? Didn't know that was what they called it.... but that's what I got at the Defense Language Institute at the Presidio of Monterrey, CA. If you want to change your mind and get out of trucking.... I suggest learning Arabic! [Wish I HAD!]

All in all, though, I think learning Spanish is a good idea! In a few years, it will be mandatory for getting a job here in the "good ole" United States of Amexico!

Keep posting! I need the comic relief! :lol:

Hobo

Nomad_ · Joined: 07 Mar 2006 Posts: 416 Location: Central Maine

Hobo,

I am glad you enjoyed my little saga. Let me reply to your observations and comments below >>>>>>>>>>>>

Thanks for the belly laugh! Not AT you.... but WITH you!

>>>>>>:wink: No probs, I am a humble guy.

I TOLD you to steal a book from inside the reefer door! Do you know about the manual start switch under the bottom of the "hood?" That's probably how the other guy got it started!

>>>> Wish I was there to see. Actually he said he held down the preheat toggle for 4 seconds and WALAH (fired up).

I must have tried 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 seconds -- damn the bad luck :?

Tilting loads? Even with a powered pallet jack, you should be able to "run them in" against the wall to straighten them up.

>>>>>>>>SHHHHH, I did that when they weren't looking. Some were REALLY BAD or floating on other pallets waiting to fall.

Tight turns? Remember that you can slide your tandems up toward the cab to give yourself a tighter turning radius, then back again before you have to cross a scale. (Probably no scales on your routes anyways.)

>>>>> IF I decide to drive that fast again, I will remember that (doubtful) 8)

All things considered, you did a good job! Remember that 50% of trucking is knowing how to think on your feet! And understanding Geometry!

>>>> I survived and learned (I hope).

Sounds like you've had the "load from Hell" that most of us get on our first day, or early on!

Don't worry.... from here on out, it's all down hill! Hmm.... No... that's not right! It's all UP hill! Hmmm.... No.... that's not fun either! Okay.... it's all smooth sailing!!

Point is.... you've met the beast and slayed him! The rest of your career should be a piece of cake! But remember, you can't make a cake without breaking some eggs!

>>>> Winter is coming, I am sure I will have more chances. :shock:

You know, there probably ARE jobs in your area for "local" drivers - weekends only - to deliver loads brought over from Canada to receivers in the Northeast. Overnight runs only. Take a load from a DC in Maine to somewhere around Baltimore(?) and back home again! You'd be driving on paved roads with only ONE unload, and maybe a "backhaul." Or maybe some "seafood" from the coast and bringing back some badly needed toilet paper or something!

>>>> Yeah, I will be due for a change after a year I think. One thing that I like about this job is the backing up. I get a lot of practice and a lot of them are in tough terrain and tight situations. This winter will either make me or break me.

As for the Rosetta Stone? Didn't know that was what they called it.... but that's what I got at the Defense Language Institute at the Presidio of Monterrey, CA. If you want to change your mind and get out of trucking.... I suggest learning Arabic! [Wish I HAD!]

>>> I heard Arabic is in high demand (wonder why). It is low on my list for languages to learn since I have no interest in traveling to that part of the world, but I may pick it up at some point. So I hear that Presidio is a great school. Cost of living is high. My brother was an Air Force recruiter in Monterey, and I sent many folks there TDY to learn different languages/etc... How did you enjoy your stay?

All in all, though, I think learning Spanish is a good idea! In a few years, it will be mandatory for getting a job here in the "good ole" United States of Amexico!

>>>>>I know enough Spanish to be dangerous, now I will get legit.

Keep posting! I need the comic relief!

>>>>YES SIR! :P

Hobo

geomon · Joined: 13 Jul 2005 Posts: 653 Location: Sacramento, CA

Quite an entertaining read Nomad, thanks. How 'bout posting some pics from your travels up in that neck of the woods. Sounds like a beautiful part of the country.

Nomad_ · Joined: 07 Mar 2006 Posts: 416 Location: Central Maine

geomon wrote: Quite an entertaining read Nomad, thanks. How 'bout posting some pics from your travels up in that neck of the woods. Sounds like a beautiful part of the country.

Thanks, I have been meaning to take my digital camera to do just that..
We are starting to get the changing of the leaves, I will see if I can get some snaps in in Sept! and post.

geomon · Joined: 13 Jul 2005 Posts: 653 Location: Sacramento, CA

Hah...leaves starting to change already in Maine and it was 97 degrees today here in the inland valley of NorCal. Our leaves won't change until mid Nov.

yoopr · Joined: 01 Dec 2004 Posts: 12865

Mine are starting too :x

Nomad_ · Joined: 07 Mar 2006 Posts: 416 Location: Central Maine

It means the NFL regular season is just around the corner! :rock:

Nomad_ · Joined: 07 Mar 2006 Posts: 416 Location: Central Maine

Just dropping a note. The egg job is getting a little boring, but finding another one day gig is hard to find. I will start probing the local market as there is not much more that I can learn from this job.

-No drop and hooks
- No log keeping
- No scaling
- No long distance driving
- No highway driving

I seem to do more backing up than I do moving forward.
I think I mentioned that it is really a glorified lumping position with 70 percent lumping and 30 percent driving. In case it is hard to find that next one day a week gig, I will offer to stay on call (work in emergency/vacation replacement situations), so my driving employment history will not have a gap.

peace!

Nomad_ · Joined: 07 Mar 2006 Posts: 416 Location: Central Maine

Keeping the journal going (I don't deserve a BLOG) 8) .....

I accepted a job with a multi-faceted trucking firm today. Actually half way through the interview, they wanted (still want to) to offer me another "IT" management job. They said I could still do trucking PT :o
I have built a very reliable staff/team at my current job. I don't think I have the patience/luck to go through that arduous process again.

Anyway, I passed my DOT physical.

After visiting the doc today and seeing my blood pressure at 133 over 86, I might want to reconsider...lol. Actually it was only 108 over 78 two months ago. I have been stretching myself pretty thin lately with working full time, trucking part time, going to school and chasing my kids around.

You should have seen this guy (doctor) 6'4 with a floating eye. He reminded me of the John Coffey in the Green Mile.

He told me to lose 40 pound before my 50th birthday too (6 months away). I have had 3 DOT physicals in the last 6 months because of trucking school or employment. Let's just say I was treated like a rag doll, and I am no shrimp. At least the guy had a sense of humor.

Anyway, the new gig involves plenty of highway driving delivering (85% no touch) parts to 6 papermills throughout Maine. There might be the occasional night load too. But is mostly a weekend gig.

The rigs are Freightliner Daycabs (from what I saw at the customer's site). I start training next week. Oh, the Pay is 5-6 bucks an hour more than my last gig... 8). It will be a change from the 450 HP Volvo that I was driving. I did keep the door open with the Egg firm. Basically I will be a spare driver for both companies with loyalty and priority going to my new firm. I made that clear.

I am still trying to buck the system and go against the normal rookie grain..... so far so good. But the lessons will become harder. BRING IT ON!

:P

Nomad_ · Joined: 07 Mar 2006 Posts: 416 Location: Central Maine

Well I am getting the itch to get the new gig started. I do my LAST day of shuttling 100,000 pounds of eggs this Sunday. I found a neat website with hundreds of truck pictures. The following is potentially one of the trucks I will be driving. It is the same company delivering to one of the paper mills (Millinocket Maine).

It looks like the photographer did some part-time trucking himself as many of the pictures originate in Maine and Texas.

See: http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/andy_bruchey.htm

You might just see yourself... :wink:

Anyway, I will be driving all day Thursday of next week (part of orientation). It will be good to get back on the highway again!

Nomad_ · Joined: 07 Mar 2006 Posts: 416 Location: Central Maine

Well I got my taste of real trucking today. Started out at 5 AM and did several firsts:

1) Hooked up to a trailer (outside school)
2) Slid tandems
3) Fueled

Note: Rawlco, I fueled in your back yard (Newport, at the Irvin Station).
Funny story: When I retired from the military 7ish years ago, and we moved to Maine (or my family did--I was stuck in Danbury CT for the first 1.5 years), I used to visit this same Irvin station. I bought a Dodge Ram from a local dealer, and my then 9 year old daughter and I used to eat breakfast at the truck stop while we waited on the D-Ram to be serviced (tires, oil change/etc..). She used to look at all of the big trucks in awe, and I confessed how I would like to drive one of those some day. She just smiled as we continued with our breakfast and listening to the truckers talking about their day. We never took a booth. We alway sat on the swivel chairs.

Anyway, I came home and spoke with my daughter yesterday saying--"guess where I fueled today for the first time", I answered, and she smiled--only this time with more meaning and size :D

4) Working with an actual log book. This one counts..lol
5) Drop and Hooked a few times.
6) Drove hillish roads for 260 Miles (To and Fro a papermill in Woodland Maine-- near Calais/Eastport).
7) Getting stuck behind a stalled truck climbing a hill, therefore causing me to stall and start from scratch on a steep incline.
Oh, I blew another hill ALL BY MYSELF. :roll:

I BETTER GET THIS HILL CLIMBING AND SHIFTING DOWN PAT BEFORE WINTER!!

8) 8 ) Hauling a 53' box vs 48'

My trainer told me I did well, and I surprised him twice during tight and complex backing routine at the mill. Backing is still the funnest part of trucking for me...lol.. I seem to get a rush from it.

My biggest challenge remains THE HILLS. but, I am doing less grinding while downshifting going from 10th, 9th, 8th...I need to look at the TAC vs relying on the Sound/RPM's. The clutch on this truck (Mercedes engine/2002 Freightliner) was very tight. Luckily we were only hauling 11 tons of Core (tightly bound Tubes for HUGE Paper rolls).

I got better as the day went on, but I was still making repetitive mistakes.
I asked the trainer for an overall assessment. He said there is not doubt that I can drive. I need more coaching vs training, as I was basically self taught at the simple shuttling job that I used to do with the eggs. Therefore I have some bad habits to break. I go out again Sat and Sunday...can't wait. This will give me a lot to think about while I am sitting at my desk doing my "IT" job tomorrow bored to death.

:shock:

Nomad_ · Joined: 07 Mar 2006 Posts: 416 Location: Central Maine

Well I did my first Solo Run on Sunday after hitting 3 mills on Saturday. We drove about 275 miles on Saturday, and I got plenty of Drop and Hook and Tandem sliding under my belt, so I did a SOLO Sunday Morning run to JAY Maine. I wanted get there well before the scheduled appointment, so I Pretripped and hooked early. I got to see a nice sunrise gleaming off of the Androscoggin river heading over the bridge to the mill.

The Mill is in the back of this picture.

It was a peaceful ride, and I got a chance to reflect on what I am trying to achieve and the enjoyment that I am getting out of trucking.

Normally, I would still be in bed sleeping my life away. :wink:

Here I sit at my desk -- waiting for the weekend. There is a chance of a JAY week night run?

Nomad_ · Joined: 07 Mar 2006 Posts: 416 Location: Central Maine

I think I will change my middle name to JAY. I am now going to the Jay Mill at least 3 times a week. I head there tonight and Saturday. I have my own truck now. It is an older 2001 Freightliner (Detroit 430 HP) sleeper Cab. It is our backup truck for this dedicated account. As I am the only part-timer, I am also the Guinnea Pig. The Bossman wants me to assess the the truck, so we can ID any faults or concerns before Winter kicks in. Beats split seating the daycab, as I can get used to the torque, gearing, turning, mirrors.......of this beast. Luckily I remembered to pick up fifth wheel Pin Pull at a PILOT last night since I do mostly drop and hook work. I did pre-trip it and bobtailed it around the yard last Sunday. I also drove the other Sleeper truck for 300+ miles last weekend to lose that DAYCAB experience.

Still lovin it! (truckin) 8)

PS: I am getting used to doing the Daily Logs too (HOS). Thanks to some previous posts on HOS 70/8 rules... (especially Rawlco's and Crackaces))I think I have things figured out. I had to correct my dispatcher on NOT sending me out too long this Saturday, as I will only have 7.5 hours left for tomorrow (Saturday). He had me doing approx 11 hours of work/driving. It was a good catch. Had I been totally green/oblivious, I could have put myself in a pickle.

The dispatcher appreciated me catching and understanding HOS so early in the game (me = noob).

Thanks again to this site!

Nomad_ · Joined: 07 Mar 2006 Posts: 416 Location: Central Maine

Well, it's been about a month, so I will add a few more lines. There is nothing too exciting to report. I learned a new HOS rule....the "16-hour duty period" exception in Part � 395.1(o), .... I will explain later. Plus I pulled a few ROOKIE moves.

Rookie moves first! On my 2nd or 3rd solo run in my Sleeper Cab I was in one of the paper mill yards doing a drop and hook, and I got my 5th wheel stuck under the kingpin. After getting used to the truck, terrain of the yard, and the same ole trailers, I heard an unusual CLICK, and I seemed to be set back pretty far. Yep, I had lowered my suspension like always, only this time things were different. As my stomach hit my boots, I realized my fifth wheel passed under and was wedged against the kingpin. It could have been a lot worse, but I was able to track down a yard dog (trailer mover) to assist me. We inched our way right, forwards, right forwards......... until the 5th wheel was no longer held prisoner by the king pin, and I was slowly able to pull away. It did make me think about if I were stuck on the side of the road somewhere trying to get out of this mess without assistance. I guess I could have taken the next resort of letting air out of my tires to gain that extra 1/2 in or so of clearance. Then using my portable air hoses and attach them to the GLAD HAND and add the air back (I don't even want to go there). Luckily I rarely make the same mistake twice, so I now check for depth of the king pin as well as alignment when I nudge the 5th wheel under the trailer, and I take my flashlight to inspect (etched in brain). Not having enough fear of close calls, the next night I was pulling away from a trailer (I was crawling) something told me to stop (did not feel right). Just before I stopped, the Trailer came down on the Frame and Tires. Yep, same mill/yard. I got out to see how critical things were and if I did any damage (and here I thought my egg days were over. READ BACK [last job]). Nope, I was cleanly on the frame and tires, so I get a good "work out" raising the landing gear to gain a 1/4 inch clearance and pull away. Then I continued to raise the trailer for the next guy (yard dog). Actually, without notice he came by to move the trailer in the next 10 minutes.

Bottom Line: I am glad I pulled the bonehead moves early in my Rookie Stage -- got them out of the way early.

Now to the HOS rule. I have a pretty good understanding of the HOS and how to comply. I did overlook an aspect of the 14-hour continuous rule, and how it can be "extended". I was wrong, and only by chance was I able to work it out with safety. Meaning they found the ruling--not me!

Maybe because I said that I can't do anymore Friday nights, as I will be cutting the 14 hour rule too close. Especially if I get caught up in bad weather/traffic/etc.....The problem stems from the fact that I already work an 8 hour day from my full-time job before I go trucking (long story..)

Anyway, my out was that I am a local driver and my trips are within a 100 air mile radius. Also, I return to my home base. There is an allowance/exception for one to EXTEND their 14 hour continuous Workday to 16 hours. This is only allowed once per reset/week.. AND IT CAN�T BE A PLANNED SCENARIO!

See cut and paste details below from the reg:

********************CUT AND PASTE******************

C-7. May a "100 air-mile radius" driver utilize the "16-hour duty period" exception in Part � 395.1(o)?
Yes. A driver normally operating under the 100 air-mile radius exception in
� 395.1(e) may also meet the requirements in � 395.1(o) enabling the driver to have one period of 16 hours on-duty each week (or after a 34-hour restart). However, on the day in which the 16-hour exception is utilized, the driver would not meet the 12-hour duty-period requirement of the 100 air-mile radius exception and would therefore be required to make a RODS for that day.

********************END OF CUT AND PASTE*******************

This all happened 3 weeks ago, so I had some good lessons. Not that I am looking for drama, but the last 3 weeks have been uneventful

As a matter of fact, I am not even needed this weekend. I guess it is a good thing because we just got our first snowstorm --- COINCIDENCE? :P

The woes of being a spare driver I guess. I found myself last weekend finishing up a 2-hour gig wishing I did not have to pull into the yard. Instead I was yearning to head for Northern Maine --another paper mill-- another 8 hours. The trip was too short, and it was a bright sunny day.

Well that's all that I have to report, I guess I will be playing with my Rosetta Stone Software (Spanish) and hopefully kicking butt in my fantasy football leagues $$$$$$. I am in the playoffs in 3 out of 4 leagues.

CIAO!!

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