My mistake. I posted that before you cleared up the question of your longevity. Like many others, I've enjoyed YOUR posts, as well, and somehow got the impression you had something like 4 years to your credit. Sorry.

You should take that as a compliment.

 

You bet I did, I think I said it somewhere, maybe I was replying to Novacane....definately a compliment though.

 

Hmm, it's funny how you paint a mental picture of someone when you read what they have wrote, I was way off, I really thought you had been driving between 10 and 15 years.

I started my day at exit 6 in Ky, just before the Tn state line, and the only thing on my mind was getting the rest of my permits, it really is a hassle to get papers like this, but being able to haul machinery, at a great pay rate, is totally worth it.

I was on the south side of Tn. by 8am, but had to stop since I didn't have my route and permits. I grab an exit and hit a truckstop so I can use the fax. I call dispatch and let them know that I have gone as far as I can, and they need to fax more for me to continue. I wait and wait, c'mon people, I am burning daylight here!

I finally get the papers at 10:30am, and am glad to see that they are complete this time all the way to the consignee, so no more fax's at truckstops. I was also ticked off because they charged me $3 per PAGE of the fax, and even though the company will reimburse me, I just think that is wrong, plus they kept a copy of the paperwork, even though I don't think they could do anything with them, I can't imagine them having copies being a good thing, aren't they considered private property or something?

Anyway, I get back out to the truck to look over the route, wtf? Again, I don't care how far out of the way they send me, but they have me routed through Montgomery Al! Grab a highway(80) and cut across over to Macon Georgia, then I can hook up with I-16 and ride it all the way to the Statesboro exit.

After looking it over, I decided that Macon looked like a good place to shoot for. So I write down the directions on the windshield, and head for my fuel stop, it was at exit 6(ain't that where I started from, lol?). I get there, and the fuel islands are packed full, oh man, this is gonna be another delay. I should have printed off the "pull your truck up on the fuel island" thread and taped it to most of the trucks, cause the cb was going nuts with people yelling to move on.

I finally get fueled and am on the road again, but the delay for paperwork, combined with the fuel island routine has got me off schedule, and I am wondering if I will have time to make it across the stretch of 80 since there will probably be no where to park until I get back out on the interstate. But I don't want to stop 3 hours early either, so I just go for it, thinking that if I start losing light, I will find a place to park, there will have to be a wal-mart along the way, heck they are everywhere else, lol.

Anyway, I cut it close, but still had about a half hour of light remaining, plus I found out that there is a half hour window that I am able to drive, 30 mins before sunrise, and 30 minutes after dusk. By the way, I stayed at exit 6 there in Macon, and that would be an even 666 for the day, and I thought I was a little angel! lmao.

I got up this morning to a message letting me know they reset my delivery time yet again since they delayed me a couple hours yesterday, it was moved from 7 to noon. I don't think they know me to well or something, cause my plan is to get there, and have my paperwork scanned by noon so I can be paid for this trip on the next paycheck. So I deliver this morning at 7am! I dropped my load with no problems, and sent a empty message, they tell me to bobtail to Ellenwood to pick up a load, but I still don't know where it's going.

 

It would bother me, too...but if it comes across their fax machines, I suppose they have a right to keep a copy.

I never thought of that! I need to get a couple dry erase markers for the vehicles I drive at work! I used to write phone number whiles driving on my rearview mirror in my car (if i'm on the cell and I have to copy down a number) but putting exit numbers and stuff on the bottom of the windsheild is a great idea.

 

i only made 1100 this week at roehl. bad week only 2800 miles.

 

Awesome day today, of course any day I get to come home usually is! I bob tailed to Ellenwood, and just South of Atlanta there was a bad wreck involving a tanker, and it had traffic backed up from 285 west in Atlanta, to exit 290 on 75 south. Needless to say it slowed me down, but was no big deal, shoot I felt like I was driving my pov, easy as pie!

I get to Ellenwood thinking I was going to pick up a load to head home, but nope, I had to bobtail home!! 8) Matter of fact, I have to bobtail from Statesboro to Pikeville Ky, just over 450 miles, I couldn't believe it, most of the time bobtailing is kept to a minimum, so this is a rare occasion.

Anyway, not having a load really speeds things up, no more going up hill at 25 mph. It's almost a weird feeling, being so used to pulling so much, and then running empty for a good distance, makes the truck feel like a hot rod or something, lol.

Nothing really to report on, but I did take some pictures, most won't care for them, but some might find them interesting.


This is a reminder to be as careful as possible at all times, I look at it every time I am through the Marshfield terminal, I heard the driver walked away, of course I don't know for sure, but that's what I heard, I hope it's the truth.



Now, this one is really exciting, a parking lot, oooh! May not be exciting, but when it's in the middle of the night, and you are tired from driving all day long, and want nothing more than to crawl into bed, this is a wonderful sight, plenty of easy parking.



Anybody need a truck? Kinda scary picture really, just reminds you of how huge of a company Roehl is, and this is at ONE terminal.



Just to show that these aren't just 1 truck deep, that whole line is many trucks wide(notice the neato step deck in the mirror I got to pull)



This is where I write from, you will notice I have all the essentials for a woman, puzzle book, women's magazine, something to drink(in this case Hawaiian punch) clean wipes, cotton balls, lotion, powder, something to pull my hair back with, and finally duct tape(hey I am a truck driver too!)

 

Lady North I also thought you have been driving for yrs and yrs. Love your stores Novacane

 

Since you are on your way home, do they not pay you for those miles?

 

Novacane-I really enjoy your posts. Some very good info. I have been contiplating a career switch for years. Been wanting to drive a truck since I was a kid. My older brother now drives as well. He left a welding job to drive. I am in the airline business where nothing is guaranteed tomorrow currently making 30K/year. Keep up the great attitude and hard work. It looks like its turning around for you.

 

I didn't have a internet connection last night, down in the hollows("hollers" if you are from the south like me, lol) with mountains on both sides. I had to go and pick up a trailer that had been wrecked and towed to a little mom and pop type wrecker service(it was nothing more than a house and a yard, really!) It was an interesting ride getting there though, it was my own personal roller coaster ride, up, down, left, right, well, you know.

Thankfully, there was a wal-mart(imagine that!) where I could spend the night, since I hadn't seen a truckstop in the past couple hours getting there. I got up early, because I couldn't find the place I was supposed to go to the day before. Usually I can call the consignee, but this time the number I was given was a pager, it would ring, and say please enter a numeric message after the tone, and even though I left my number many times, I didn't get a call back.

So I looked the number up on google, but since it was a pager, google couldn't find anything on it either. I looked at all my map programs, I looked at the atlas, but I couldn't find the address, or even the road! I did know the general area it should be in, and since I am bob tailing, I figure to go and look for it, since the pager still wasn't getting back with me.

I am looking for Kevin's wrecker service, and head down the road it should have been on. I stop at a small store to ask the locals where it was, and they didn't know either, so now I am wondering if I have messed up really bad and am in a totally other place. I go ahead and drive further down the road, and finally out of the corner of my eye, I see the trailer sitting in a yard. But this isn't Kevin's wrecker, it's a place called, well I won't say the name, but it was close to Kevin's.

I ease down into the place scoping it out and making a game plan on how to get the thing out from where it was sitting. I get the truck turned around and back up the trailer, then park and get out to look it over and make sure it's ok to move, and safe to pull all the way to Marshfield.

I want to go over it with a fine toothed comb since I heard that it was flipped over, although it doesn't look all that bad, a decent amount of damage at the front pass. top corner. Didn't look like it was rolled, but I wanted to be safe, so I checked out everything I could think of, and it was in pretty decent shape, the doors wouldn't shut, so I had to tie them shut, even though they would only come open a couple of inches.

I am running out of things to check, and I am taking my time, but the guy still isn't there, and I don't know if I need to get or give some papers or information. It would be my luck to get pulled over in a couple of hours for pulling a stolen trailer, lol.

Now this whole time, I am calling the pager, and leaving my number, and I still haven't got a call, and it's going on 9 am, and since I started at 6, it won't be long till I am eating my driving hours away, and that just won't do. I call Roehl, and talk with them, and see if they have another number, but of course they don't, so I ask if there is anything I need to do paperwork wise before I leave, because I need to get on the road. They say they will check, and give me a call.

Well, the trailer tandems were buried in mud, so I thought I would go ahead and pull it up out of the bad spot, so if there is a problem, I can be working on it while I am waiting. I really thought I would have a hard time getting it out, but with a small scoot from the tires, my baby pulled it out like it was nothing. I went ahead and started cleaning off the tandems so no big chunks of mud would interfere with anything, or come off while traveling.

I get done with everything I can do, and am less than a half hour from being out of "work" hours for the day. Dispatch calls me back, and says I can go, that the bill and everything has been taken care of, and they need no papers, cool 8)

But the story doesn't end just yet, you see the big wrecker is parked just where it's in my way, telephone pole on one side, wrecker on the other, hmm, and the road isn't wide enough to swing out, what to do. Oh well, just go for it and get r done, I get these things through tight area's all the time, so this is no big deal................of course the big ditch told me otherwise!

It was a lot deeper than it looked, and it wouldn't have been a good idea, or a safe idea to try and go for it. So I look a little more, and think I might be able to make it if I use all the available space there is, I may have to pull forward and back several times, but just maybe. I try and try, but there simply isn't enough room, it just can't be done.

While I am trying this, I see another driver coming, and he says over the cb, "c'mon out there Roehl!" but I tell him I can't, and as he goes by, he looks, and says there is no way, but he thinks that the owner lives down the road three houses down. I thank him, park the truck and start walking. It was a short distance, and I was there, knocking on the door. No answer, knock harder, nothing. Knock harder, no answer, beat the hell out of the door, and finally a 13 year old looking kid comes and answers.

"Is that your wrecker parked over here?" I said, "um, no, it's my dads, and he isn't home". So I asked if he had the keys, shoot it wouldn't bother me to straight back it up about 15 feet! Of course he says he can't do that, but says he will come over and try it. He didn't have a clue, so he decided to call daddy.

20 mins later, and almost an hour into my drive time, the owner finally shows up(he was still in the sack) and I ask him to move the wrecker so I can leave. He starts in with me saying "you sure you can get that trailer out of here little lady?" I said, "well, if you can put it in here, I assure you I can pull it out!" And that is exactly what I did.

I finally got on the road, and eventually to an interstate, whew, I am glad that's over with, but my torment for the day wasn't over yet! For the next 6 hours I have to tell every driver there is on the road the story behind why I was pulling a wrecked trailer, now don't get me wrong, I could have just turned off the radio, but it was a lot of fun really. You don't know how many people I got by telling them a driver pissed me off, so I ran him off the road, some of the reactions were priceless!

Now as you are reading this, you might think I had a bad day, but it was pretty good actually. Yeah, I had to wait, and go through all that with the wrecker service, but there was perfect weather, nice and sunny, but not hot, just enjoyable to be out in, and the people, even though they were slow starting, and couldn't believe a woman can drive, were really nice. Then messing with all the other drivers on the way up was great fun too.

I made it to Gary, and decided to shut down, take advantage of going through Chicago on my own time schedule, and have free internet, shower, tv, well you know. As I pulled into the terminal, some people saw me and started saying they couldn't believe I swapped over to the van division, I had to assure them that I hadn't, but it's nice that they know me well enough to remember what I do, doesn't sound like much, but it was cool. 8)

After talking with people up here, I found out that the trailer I have was the one being pulled by the truck whose picture I posted above, and I found out that the driver did walk away from that truck, :shock: amazing stuff, such a small world it seems sometimes, lol. Anyway, I got pictures of the trailer, and where it was, but don't have my card reader with me, so I will have to wait till I get home to post them, that is if anyone wants me to.(I don't know about whether posting a lot of pictures is a no no on this board, others get mad about using the extra bandwidth, or something, can someone let me know for sure if it's ok or not?)