My day.....
 

I think that I am just gonna write my updates in the same post, so I don't clutter up the board with all my writing everyday(at least the days I have a wifi signal).

Anyway, started my day early this morning, nothing got stolen, so that is a good sign, lol. Uh, lets see, Washington D.C. what can I say, .......... it has the most awful drivers I believe I have ever seen. Whoever said the stretch of 95 between D.C. and Baltimore had the worst drivers was right, for the first time in a long time I was nervous on the interstate. Traffic will go from a flow of 80mph to 30mph several times with no warnings, thankfully, keeping a safe distance from the person in front of me is a pet peeve of mine. That comes from one time when I was driving for the nursery, I was pulling an empty in the rain, and tried to stop at a red light at the bottom of a hill, and it almost wouldn't stop, since then I have been careful about whats in front of me and when I should start braking.

Anyway, I get lost somehow while going through D.C. and wound up on presidential blvd, or something like that. It wasn't a major catastrophe or anything, just nerve racking not knowing where I was. I got through it and Baltimore ok, made a drop for part of my lumber load, and made it to the drop yard in Bensalem. I dropped the trailer I had and tried to find someone in the yard that I could get some equipment off of, but there wasn't anyone there, and I waited for half an hour or so catching up on paperwork and such, and no other driver arrived, so I decided to go on. I picked up a empty trailer and headed for a place about 80 miles away to pick up a load of shingles.

Got the shingles and headed for the consignee about 50 miles away, no problem, found it and actually got unloaded with no problem, and that is rare for me, lol. So I am at the consignee, and send in my qualcom stuff letting them know that I am ready for a new load, and was preparing to wait my normal hour or so before I get any information, but much to my surprise, just a few minutes later, "beep" I am expecting to get the usual, "we hope to have a load for you in the next 60 min" but instead it was a preplan for a trip picking up lumber about 30 miles away heading to Nashville Tn.

Only 70 miles from where I live, whoo hoo, once again Roehl has come through and got me home for the weekend as promised, plus if that's not good enough, I broke the 2k mile mark this week, just barely, but much better than the 1300 I usually get, and I thought this was the slow time of the year! Of course I know that most of you would be angry at ONLY getting 2k but it makes me happy!

Anyway, I got my load tarped and ready to go, but since I was out of hours, I just shut down for the night here in Carlisle PA. and will head home taking 81 all the way into Knoxville, and then 40 all the way home. I just love the days that I can spend the whole day behind the wheel seeing this great nation of ours, man I love this job!

Re: My day.....
 

I was delivering some mattresses into Colorado Springs one time. I followed the instructions exactly street everything. I ended up right in front of an Air-force base with no where to turn around. Luckily those good men that protect our country helped me move some center road separators to get it turned around.

I have just been enjoying home time and haven't had time to write until now, but the trip home got off to a bad start. My last night, I noticed that the blower on the heat wasn't working when I got ready to go to bed, but it wasn't that cold(upper 30's) and I was tired, so I figured I would wait till morning to check it out thinking that it was something simple like a fuse or breaker.

I got up the next morning bright and early since I was eager to get home, and went to start the truck so it could warm up in the cab while I was getting dressed and so on. But when I turned the key, nothing, not even the solenoid was clicking, the batteries were dead.

I thought about the blowers not working and that it may have had something to do with it, but the truck was starting even when the blowers weren't working, I just figured if there was enough juice to start the motor, surely it would have enough to turn on a little blower motor.

Anyway, I qualcom in a message letting them know that something was wrong with the truck and that someone needed to get out there and get it fixed. They said they would get someone out there as quickly as possible, but it was going to be a long while, and asked me a bunch of questions about things I should check(which I already had done them all, and more).

Well, I waited an hour, and then 2 and since I was eager to get home, I figured that I would just get a boost and see what happens, depending on how it acts I would be able to figure out the problem better and hopefully speed up the process of getting it fixed.

So I got on the trusty cb and asked if someone could boost me off, and I in just a minute a truck was next to me ready to help(most truckers will help you out when they can, and that's a good feeling,). So we got the batteries connected, and she fired right up. I thanked the driver and got back in the truck to make sure it stayed running since the icon wants to shut it off, and the truck doesn't run good when it's cold anyway.

I manage not to let it die, and let it run for about 15 minutes to see if the alt. would charge the batts. or not. I was watching my voltmeter, and it was charging really good, around 14.4-14.8. So I shut it off and let it sit a minute while I took a multimeter to see if there was a draw on the batteries. I couldn't find anything wrong, so I got back in the truck and it started right up like nothing was wrong.

It really acts like I left the lights on or something and let the battery drain, but I didn't. I checked all the connections at the alt. and batt. and everything was in good shape, then, got back in to watch the voltmeter some more. I wanted to make sure it wasn't over charging and frying my batts.

After a few it was back down to where it usually stays, and didn't fall any further, so I just headed out, and it never acted up again. I haven't tried to start it today, but I will tomorrow, that should tell if it was a mistake on my part or not.

I did nothing different than I normally do, only thing running was the inverter, and that didn't have a load on it, cause the only thing that was plugged in was my cell phone charger and that stays plugged in all the time.

I checked my lights right off the bat, no problem, all connections, condition of the wires(have seen corrosion inside the wires sheathing with no evidence on the outside) and there just wasn't anything wrong. I checked the wiring on the trailer to see if it was the culprit, and couldn't find anything wrong with it either.

The only thing I can think of, and it's a long shot, is that since the truck has been hard to start when cold, maybe the icon kept cranking on the the truck trying to get it to start while I was asleep. I might not have noticed it since I am used to the truck starting with the icon now, and everyone knows how hard the cab rocks when the motor starts, so it just turning over would be tame in contrast.

Maybe it was a fluke, or maybe I did leave my lights on or something, but I checked everything I could think of and couldn't find anything wrong. So I am trying to get them to route me through a terminal to see what gives, and hopefully they will fix the cold starting problem as well.

Oh, and just one more thing, no breakers were flipped and it has no fuses, but after the boost I got, the blowers on the heater started working fine, and I didn't do anything to it to make them work, so I don't know.....

Novacane.............there is nothing better than getting up at 5:00 AM and reading "The Adventures of Novacane"...............your writing skills are quite good, and I certainly enjoy reading your contribution to CAD........stay safe out there........Josh

ditto, I like your updates too... Always read them... Keep us updated with your life on the road. Hopefully your truck does not act up on the next run!

Novacane, it sounds to me as though at least one of your batteries is weak or perhaps a dead cell. That would account for the quick drawdown of current and slow starts. You will usually find out if you have a bad or weak battery with the first cold spell. Heat can also work on a battery. Most big trucks have 3 batteries. I have 4 in mine. I just like the extra backup. A single battery can start the truck but may take some effort. I believe that if you check them you may find the problem. 8)

I'd check as GMan said. I don't have electricty supplied by grid. I make my own so to speak and have a battery bank. If one battery is bad, going bad it "lugs" the others down with it. I can check my bat's with a volt meter and I check the fluid levels. A bad cell does a number on the battery in short time when it is cold.

73's

Thanks for all the encouraging words people, means the world to me. I don't know about my writing skills being "quite good" but thanks anyway, I just write down what I would say to someone if they asked me how my day was going, lol.

Anyway, I went ahead and spent the night at home since my consignee was only a hour or so away, bad idea, that California king bed is just too comfy compared to the truck, and I overslept about an hour. So I jump up and dash to get everything ready(thankfully I had packed the night before and loaded the truck) do a quick pti, and pray that my electrical gremlin didn't come back and drain my batt. again causing me to call in for a jump at my home, when I should have been on the road already.

Everything goes perfect, man it has been a wonderful day, it was nice sunny and warm, just couldn't have got better. Then I get in the truck, and it starts like a champ, there wasn't anything wrong, cool. I head to the truck stop to hook to my trailer, and it's almost empty, plenty of room, and not a lot of "lookey Lou's" watching, cool.

I usually have problems with the kingpin lock, but today it pretty much falls off in my hands, cool. Give the trailer a once over, and everything is good, cool. Get on the interstate, gauges are good, trucks running good, trailer is tracking true, hardly any traffic, good music on the xm, and the sun isn't in my eyes, cool.

Make it to the consignee, and what do you know, they don't even open till 8 a.m. and don't accept deliveries till 9:30 a.m. and guess what time it was when I arrived..........9:30 on the dot! But there were trucks that arrived earlier that morning ahead of me, so this was the first thing that didn't go perfect so far. There was no place to park, so I circled the block until the trucks moved up in line. Few minutes later and I have a parking spot, and these guys are getting trucks unloaded like nobodies business, I don't know if they are always like this, or if my good luck this morning was rubbing off on everyone, but in less than a hour, the three trucks in front of me, and myself were unloaded and ready to go.

I send in a empty message, and wait about a half hour(which is short compared to normal) and get a preplan. Now you aren't' gonna believe this, but my morning was going perfect (even though I overslept which was a blessing in disguise, since I would have been sitting waiting to get unloaded burning my 14 hour day up, for 3 hours or more) and it just gets better, I got another ONE THOUSAND MILE TRIP!!! I get to go from here in TN to Lubbock Texas........TEXAS!!

I have always wanted to go to Texas, I went there as a kid and can't remember much, but I have always wanted to go back. When I was thinking about becoming a truck driver, hauling loads to Texas, and going through the desert is what I pictured, I don't know why, that's just what I see in my mind.

So here I am at ameristeel waiting to get a load heading to a place I have wanted to go for a while, AND getting paid really good for it, PLUS it's been a perfect day so far, AND I already have 600 miles under my belt(the trip from PA to home) with a thousand mile trip ahead of me, and it's MONDAY! After this run I will have more miles under my belt by Wednesday than I usually do for the whole week, COOL.

Plus, since I will be that far from home, that means that I will have to come back, so I could potentially get 2600 miles this week, OMG! Of course since I am braggin about it, the load will get relayed or something so I am not getting my hopes up at this point.

I don't know what's going on, but it has to be one of 4 things, 1. I am finally getting a little respect and "seniority" 2. The "slow" season is over 3. It is just a fluke 4. I am just on a good luck streak that will eventually lead me to griping about how much bad luck I am having in the next couple weeks.

So, it looks like they are fixing to get me to pull in, so I will end this little novel I started, and get back with you to see if I made it all the way to Texas or not.

And life was good :D

novacane, hopefully your luck continues on to texas and then onto another 1000 mile trip... that would be nice. Let us know how everything goes!

aaf is right>>>>great posts and fun to read************ :D

Novacane best of luck to you!

Your energy is contagious!

Well, let me start everything off with I love Texas, roads so far are great and clearly marked, all states should be like this. Plus it's just nice in general, the people are pretty cool so far though I have only talked with a handful, and there isn't many hills, so driving is cake, just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Well, considering that I am about 50 miles west of Abilene, I think that everyone has figured out that I didn't get relayed which is cool. I have put about 630 miles under my belt today, I didn't get as far as I thought I would, I was hoping to make it all the way and spend the night at the consignee, but hours were beginning to get low, and I have to take highway 84 the rest of the way, and talk over the CB says that the road is eat up with dot and there aren't any good places to park. So since the area is new to me, and Lubbock is about 3 hours away, I decided to shut down and get a early start. I hate starting the day with a 3 hour drive to get to where I am supposed to be, since it will pretty much kill my day tomorrow, I thought it was the right thing to do, plus I was getting tired anyway.

It was a good day, started out this morning and after an hour or so I noticed a tarp waving around, so I stopped and fixed the problem, I had a bungee snap(not hard to do considering they are nothing more than inner tubes with metal hooks on the ends) so it was no big deal. I was getting really low on fuel, and most of the time they want me to run it almost out before I get to my fuel stop, seems like they always give me stops that are out of my driving range, so I sometimes have to stop and get 50 gallons somewhere to make it to where they want me to fill up.

Maybe it's just me, but I hate the gauge getting below an 8th of a tank, and yes I realize that is still a significant amount, but it still makes me uneasy. I have told my dispatcher about it many times, but it doesn't seem to do any good. So today they did the same thing, I told them this morning I will need a fuel stop, and they put me off getting fuel for what I thought was too far.

But, I went ahead and pushed on watching the gauge reach the e mark and even under it, now I am really nervous, but I am only about 15 miles from my fuel stop so I go on. Well, I now know that the needle can get down really low before I run out of fuel, so I know I can run it that low if I have to, but I hope to never see it that low ever again.

So I get my fuel, and decide to go ahead and use my free shower since it was early in the day and it wouldn't eat into my driving time. It had it's good and bad points though, on one hand it felt good to get good and clean(and shave my legs, ladies you know what I mean) but on the other hand it drained my energy, don't get me wrong, it was nothing major, but I think that I will save the showers for shut down time from now on, but the main reason was that all my free showers seem to expire before I can use them, and I didn't know where I would be spending the night.

The only other thing that happened was my laptop crashed, don't know why, but I had to unplug it and even take the battery out to shut it off, but it started right back up and didn't miss a beat. It did have a message saying that the system suffered a major problem and that I should report it, other than that it is ok. Whether it's hurt or not, since I rent I will just take it back when I get home and get a brand new one again. I know everyone is freaking out about the cost of renting, and now that I know I will get good use of one, i think I might go out and just buy one and save some money, I just hope I can take better care of it then I have these rented ones(I drop things, lol).

I just hope the rest of my trip goes as smooth as today, it was really nice, even coming through Dallas wasn't bad, don't know if it's like that all the time or not, maybe I just got lucky, I don't know. But I do like Texas, not quite what I pictured in my mind(thinking of old westerns, lmao) no skulls on the side of the road or cactus, or even a single darn tumbleweed, lol. But it's pretty cool, and I told dispatch anytime they wanted to send me here not to hesitate, but was informed that they have drivers that live in Texas, and they get most of the loads since they can route in hometime for them, so that kinda sucks, but at least I got to go once.

I am anxious to find out what they have planned for me after I deliver this load. I am thinking that they will either have me do some short runs down here with a final load at the end of the day to start heading east, or maybe get me a load straight off heading east. I wouldn't mind hanging out down here and seeing some more of the state, maybe head even further south. But if they are gonna get me home(this is the first time I wondered if they would be able to get me home for the weekend, which I don't care since I am getting good miles) they will have to start getting me toward the east, I didn't realize just how far it was over here. But I hope they give me at least one more load that I can turn in by Friday since I have a good start on miles, but most likely it will be another long run that is split between 2 weeks, but that's cool too, I ain't complaining.

So I am rambling and need to quit, so take it easy everyone, wish me luck in the lone star!

fuel
 

Hey congratulations on Roehl working out so well for you. Or at least truck driving in general.

I'm not sure how long you have been driving or if you have considered this - but if you look at your fuel tanks - they usually say on the tank what the capacity is. Lets say you can hold 300 gallons total and your guage is reading empty when you pull into your fuel stop - check the amount of fuel you had to pump after completely topping off - it might be like 280 gallons. So if you get 5 miles per gallon you could have gone another 100 miles before running completely out.

I do this a few times with a truck to figure out how much I REALLY have left when looking at the guage.

Just wanted to help you from being nervous for many miles about running out - but then running out is not fun and is kinda hard to tell your boss about - so maybe being nervous is a good thing?

Well have fun at Roehl - I really liked working for them when I was there. They are a good company which is a rarity nowadays.

I see that you are still just runnin' hard and fast. It seems that you are haviin too much fun. I turned in like 10 applications to the school one of which was Roehl. I hope to hear back from them soon. Have fun, get some sleep, then roll on. :D

My Day
 

I love them too. I'm an office worker, but a want to me trucker.

Now don't Y'll laugh...but I cut and pasted these into a word doc, and took it to the reading room....makes the time "go" better.

But now I'm caught up from the first post......

Been a long day today, and I am glad to have shut down, I was so tired I almost didn't even feel like posting tonight, but after a couple hours of r and r I am in the mood to write a little.

I got a early start this morning since I still had a 3 hour drive ahead of me before I got to the consignee. I got there on time and didn't get unloaded for another 2 hours, but the people there were so nice, I think I could definitely live down here, I really like this state.

Shortly after getting unloaded I got my next load...........a 1400 mile trip back to south Carolina, whoo hoo! Three loads in a row over a thousand miles. But as good as the news was, the delivery date is Monday morning, so I won't have a whopping check next week, but I will start the week off again with as many miles as I am used to getting in a entire week, I am sure that the long loads will end then, I hope not, but I am expecting it, oh well you never know maybe my luck will keep going.

Speaking of luck, had a little incident today, I feel like an idiot, but I have to post it. I stopped at a truck stop to get some lunch on my way back to Fort Worth to pick up my next load(350 miles dead head). After I parked I noticed that there were some cactus growing wild on the property. Now my mother has a thing with cactus, she loves them, and I thought it would be cool to grab her a piece of one as a memento of my trip, and to remind her of home(she grew up in Texas and has always wanted to return).

So I go trotting off to get a piece of it and since I was trying to be careful it took me a while. All of a sudden, I hear a thundering voice, "Ma'am, excuse me what are you doing?" I turn around to see a DOT officer standing there. :shock:

Turns out he was there eating lunch as well, and saw me over getting some of the cactus. Well..........it's against the law to mess with the cactus here, didn't know that, but he was mad, and no matter how much I tried to explain or lighten the mood, he wasn't impressed, and for a brief moment I thought I was in trouble. I was pretty much done by the time he showed up, so he eventually cut me some slack, and told me to go ahead and take it, but not to try it again, that the plant was protected, he was very stern, and I listened to every word.

Now, either my streak of good luck saved me or it was just a fluke(might have been the tight little tank top I was wearing) but I got off with just a warning, and even though I thought he would ask to see my books, he never did, whew!

Well, I got my lunch, and soon was on my way to Cleburn(just outside of Ft. Worth) to pick up a load of "building supplies". I find the place with no problem thanks to the roads being clearly marked. But much to my horror, there were 11 trucks in front of me, 11 :shock:

So now I am running out of hours, I have been up since early morning, and it's going on 4pm. I sit and sit and nothing is happening, so I head to the bunk, lay down and start watching some movies on the laptop waiting to here something. After about 2 hours the cb starts up with the highest pitched voice you have ever heard, it was almost annoying, you would just have to hear it, but it was a woman who was calling in the trucks to be loaded. There were 2 trucks finished, so 2 of the 11 pulled in, and then she started talking to other drivers, telling them that the load they were there to pick up wasn't due to load until the 20th! Then she tells another he can't load till 6am the next morning, and he was the 3rd truck in line(the 2 before him just got called in) so I am pretty sure he had been there a long time. He got mad and took off to park somewhere, I assume anyway.

Well, there were 3 drivers there that she kept telling them that they weren't due to load till the 20th, and all of them told her they would call to see what was going on. Turns out they had UNTIL the 20th to pick up the load, not that it was due to load then, so they had it out and eventually the drivers won, but in the process of them trying to figure it out, I got called in to load. I don't know what the stuff is I am hauling, but the factory smelled, well, how can I put this, really bad. The closest thing that comes to mind is beer vomit, lol.(not that I know that smell or nothing!) but the material looked like something similar to sheetrock.

I got tarped in record time, only 45 minutes(that's quick for me) since I was too close to running out of hours, but I made it, although it took me the full 14 hours to get the day done, that's why I am so pooped, but I feel good, and I am looking forward to heading home so tomorrow should be gravy, at least I hope so. I will miss Texas, and hope I get to come back more often though I doubt I will.

One question I have to the more experienced drivers, I saw a lot of drivers today using a tarp that you could see through, almost like the screen on a screen door. What in the world could this be used for, I can't see it keeping out moisture, and it definitely wouldn't stop anything from poking through, or having anything to do for securement. The thing is that they were hauling the same thing as me, I don't get it, I had to use a heavy lumber tarp to get the job done.

Very good read Novacane, :D

souns like them ole' owner operator tarps, lightweight, useless and only for looks. :roll:

Really enjoy reading your posts Novacane. Keep em commming. I got yelled at for digging up a cactus in AZ a few years back. Fortunately it was just a local resident and not a dot officer cause I don't look to good in a tight tanktop :D

Next time anyone wants to get a cactus, while you are in the great state of texas or any cactus town, just go to whatever home improvement store or plant nursery you happen to pass, pick up one there for the people you know. Maybe walmart will have em too.
Few bugs or disease problems, no broken laws, and since cactus are native to them, probably dang cheap too.

Wrong-Tarps she's talking about are used for Scrap paper-wood chips-etc and are used to prevent them from flying off of the Trailer.

Novacane...

If you come to Houston way....let me know... I'll buy your lunch...dinner or what ever time you get here.....

I'm a want a be in an office........

Thanks for the offer Nivek, but I am almost back in Little Rock, I just stopped to have a bite to eat, of course I won't be picking any wild plants here to take home, lol. The next time I come down(if I ever get a chance that is) I will take you up on it.

Yoopr, why would they put the "screen tarp" on the same load as what I have? I mean, why even take the time since it will provide no protection, just seems like a waste of their time to use them. But there was either scrap wood or paper around there, I am pretty sure that is what they used to make whatever the product is I am carrying, but I am not 100%.
Only thing I can think of is they were required to tarp the load, and they knew that it wasn't going to rain by the time they delivered it so they just skimped and tarped it the easy way.

Hello all, been enjoying my home time so that's why I didn't post yet.
I tried to make it home Thursday night but I got stuck less than 3 hours from the house due to being caught in traffic along the journey home. I almost said screw it and drove illegal to get home, but figured better to be safe than sorry, I haven't messed with the logs yet so why start now, it was just terrible being so close to my home and having to sit there waiting to drive even though I still felt good and could have easily made it.

As soon as the 10 was over I was on the road, and made it home Friday morning. The only thing that didn't go perfect besides not making it home Thursday was that they wouldn't give me a closer fuel stop again, I tried to make it to where they wanted me to fuel, but there was no way, so I stopped and pumped 50 gallons and BARELY made it to the place they assigned, so without the extra fuel I would have been on the side of the road waiting for fuel.(just so you know, I had about 18 gallons of fuel when I finally stopped, that was after getting 50 gallons earlier)

Anyway, I made it home Friday, and Saturday morning I get a call from my dispatcher and he said that I needed to relay my current load so another driver could get some hometime(my route went by his house) and that he would be there sometime today. The new load was going to MO and was around 30 miles shorter, so it was no big deal, besides it meant that I didn't have to travel through the "gorge" on I-40(although it's no big deal, but straight interstate is easier yanno?)

Now it has been seasonably warmer here in tn this year, but Friday night we got around 6 inches here where I live(it was in the 50's today, figure that one out) and he shows up Saturday morning, and since we have to do a inventory of everything on the trailer, and since I thought nothing about having to do that, here I am in a dress in the freezing cold hanging out in the back of a truck stop parking lot, can anyone guess what happens?

I am literally freezing and a truck stop employee comes out and tells me to leave or he is calling the cops, he thinks I am a LOT LIZARD! :evil:

Since I drove my car there, and I was dressed nothing like a truck driver I decided to let the poor guy live, but I told him very quickly what the truth was and that he should have at least talked with me first before accusing me of this. And you know this isn't the first time someone has mistaken me as something besides a driver, I mean, can't I dress nice and do this job? It's called overalls people, you can have nice clothes on under them and they don't get stained or dirty, shippers and loaders just can't seem to grasp the fact that wear dresses and have nice jewelry, OF COURSE I am dressed for the job when I am doing some work loading or unloading, but who says I can't look good while I am just driving or waiting? I just don't get it.

So all the snow is gone, and it has been a wonderful day, and I am back to doing the best job I think there is, so it's cool. Funny thing is that when I went to hook up to my trailer today, the same guy was there emptying the trash cans in the parking lot, and we looked at each other, again I was in a dress, but this time he only offered to throw his hand up in a friendly gesture. I made sure to let him see me driving by to ease any doubts he had, it was awesome.

Now I am anxious to see what kind of loads I get this week, although again I am getting the week off to a good start, and I actually got a decent paycheck last week, almost $500 and this week should be about the same so I am happy any way it goes.

Sounds like things are going better for you lately and you're getting a little bit more miles. :D I wasn't sure if you were aware of this but it sounds like you only needed to take 8 hours off and since you only had 3 more hours to drive you wouldn't have to worry about taking the other 2 hours off since you're going home and will be off duty for a couple days anyways. You could have been home 2 hours sooner! :P :P I always try and get home asap so if I can get home a couple hours sooner I will. Anyways, enjoy your hometime. :D :D

Not if she had used all of her 11 hours driving (or 14 on-duty.) You can't just take the 8 hour sleeper and reset your clock while "promising" to take the other 2 later. The clock doesn't reset at the "post 8 hr point" until AFTER the other 2 hrs are taken.

That is true but it sounds like she likes to take her time off in 10 hour increments and not screw with the 2 hour deal. Anyways, I was just pointing out another option she may have had since she was headed home. :D :D

That type of tarp is just used to prevent Fly away debris if you saw what I'm thinking it was. we used them alot for wood chip hauling and things like that.
PS-be aware of Signs in Arizona about Picking Cacti-Stiff offense if caught-It's a Greenie thing out there :P

So I start my day off early in the a.m. and after doing a PTI I decide to call the consignee to get detailed directions since I was having a problem finding the address I was given in the pre-plan.

Well I call, and what do you know, they are closed today since it's MLK day. But I talked to the security guard and he told me that even though there wasn't anyone there to unload me that I could come and drop it off and grab a empty trailer Roehl had sitting in the lot. I asked the guard to get me the trailer numbers and both of them started with a 4, and that is good news cause the trailers that start with 4 are new ones, and the one I had was old, and only had portable winches which is a pain to deal with, plus the rails were bent up and it was hard to get straps on, so I was more than happy to get rid of this piece of junk and get a new one, plus I figured it would be a drop and hook and I wouldn't even have to un-tarp anything, cool. 8)

I was getting bummed since I figured I would be sitting all day waiting to get unloaded but after the talk to the security guard, I was happy, drop and hooks rule! So I call dispatch and let them know whats going on, and they tell me to go ahead and drop off my trailer and pick up a empty and even gave me a pre-plan for............da, da, duhhhhhhh......TEXAS baby!

So I head to the consignee that was closed, and since it was less than a mile from where I stayed was there in just a minute. But when I checked in with security, he informed me that I would have to un-tarp and un-strap the load, and pull it under a shelter, oh well, so much for my drop and hook, but no big deal. I got done and went back to ask where to look for the empty trailers at, get the information and head out to look over the parking lot.

I look and look, but I can't find it, so I go back and tell the guard it isn't where he said it was, there were only 3 trailers from Roehl there, and one of them was mine, and the other 2 were fully loaded. So I spend the next hour searching and decide to give up, they obviously aren't there, so I call dispatch from the guard shack to cut down on my cell minutes, and plus the guard can tell dispatch personally that the trailers aren't there.

They tell me to bobtail back to the truck stop and wait, so I do. Come to find out, that 2 other drivers delivered loads this past Saturday, and they picked up the 2 empty trailers, and since it was weekend dispatch nobody knew anything about it. I'm telling you that weekend and night dispatch are virtually worthless, the only thing they know to do is tell you to wait for day dispatch to get there, lol.

So since it was Roehl's screw up, I get paid for sitting here(or at least I am supposed to, we will see) and have to go to the same place tomorrow to pick up a loaded trailer to take to Texas. Now here it gets even more messed up. They tell me my destination city is Atascocita which is a smaller town outside Houston, or Humble Texas, and that the consignee is a school that is under construction there.

Now that's not weird or anything, BUT they are paying me over 200 miles extra, they say it is around 708 from where I am at, but it is only around 530 miles. So that made me start looking closer, and the directions they gave me is to a town called Atascosa, but I can't find that city name, just a county named that. And that place is around San Antonio which is another 200 miles down the road. And that is where their directions send me.

So now I am confused as to what to do, so I get on the internet, and sure enough there is a school under construction in Atascocita, plus when I call the number they gave me for the consignee, the guy on the other end tells me that he is in Humble Texas. So they gave me the right city name, and phone number, but the wrong directions to get there. Part of me says to just keep my mouth shut and see if they actually pay me extra or see if they catch it out their own, but the other part of me says hey they have been pretty good to you, so don't try to screw them out of money(even though they screw me by not paying city miles). But I have to admit, I will probably call and tell them that they messed up so I don't get into trouble.

So now the plan is to pick up another trailer in the morning and head out to Texas again, and will have decent miles again this week, cool. 8)

Novacane,
Your posts are great! I really enjoy reading them daily, or when you do post! Have you thought of starting a blog or podcast? You could still post the links here for your new posts. Again, thanks for letting us enjoy your trips along with you.
American By Birth
Texan By The Grace Of God!
Ken

I'm with Ken, you need a blog. I'm glad you are coming my way again to S Texas. It sure would have suxed if you drove to San Antonio....and then had to drive back.

blogs rule, definately would be a great way for you to keep an online journal for all your writing. plus you could add photos and such and make it quite fun for the visitor.

keep up the good work Novacane.
i look forward to reading more of your adventures.

This is not advertisement, but a pure question......?

What would everybodys thoughts on the idea of having a website just for truckers blogs?
Would be curious? I know there are a lot of free-be ones, but how about one with email and on a professional server? say like 5 or 10 a month, unlimited blog, photo use with there own Email that can be checked and send at any wifi connection with there outlook express and not web mail?

Nova, you should keep notes and when you decide to get out from behind the wheel go write a book about all these adventures. Call it your retirement fund.

Thanks for all the positive replies everyone, but to be honest, I don't even know what a blog is, as far as writing a book goes, I wouldn't even know where to start! But thanks, it makes me feel good that people enjoy what I have to say.

Well today wasn't all that good, while doing a pti I noticed that I had a small coolant leak, couldn't tell where it was coming from, but something small can turn into something big really quick so I have been keeping my eye on it.

I start my day a little later than normal since I am bobtailing and only a minute away from my shipper, plus yesterday while talking to the guard was informed that they didn't start loading or unloading till after 7am. So I got there about 15 after. But it made no difference considering that another 8 trailers arrived after I left yesterday bringing the total to be unloaded to 11(what is it with waiting for 11 here lately?).

I could tell it was going to be a while, and since I was bored and was already on the clock, I thought I would stay busy to make the time go by faster. So after cleaning the truck with a fine tooth comb, and looking for the pesky coolant leak, I decided to go out and help other drivers fold tarps and such. I finally get loaded around 12:30 and just when I get done with wrestling with lumber tarps, and walking on soft ceiling tiles stacked as tall as they can be, what happens............

They qualcom me and inform me that the load is being relayed, now why couldn't they have got in touch with me an hour earlier? So I lost my "long" load of 700 miles, and got a load just over 300 due in Oakwood Ga just outside of Atlanta. And since I was going right by a terminal, I decided to stop and see if I could get the truck looked at and spend the night at the yard where I could get a shower and have free internet access.

Dispatch promised me he would back this up with a 700 mile trip that I can complete in time to turn in by Friday so I will get a really good paycheck. That also means that I won't be starting the week with a big amount of miles though, so it's a give and take kind of deal, who knows, maybe I can finally break the 2000 mile in one week mark(have been in the 1900's so far) and have another milestone to feel good about.

But since I didn't get a work order for my truck, the guys won't look at it tonight, and I got suckered into a safety meeting in the morning. So I guess I will try to deliver this load(which isn't far) and get back to the terminal to have someone look at it after I do the proper steps and get the work order number. Just when you think you got a good grasp of everything you need to know, I forget basic things. It just never dawned on me that I would have to get all my ducks in a row to have a mechanic look at my truck, what happened to just pulling up and telling them you have a problem? Especially when there are no other trucks ahead of you, and the mechanics are leaving early cause they are free for the night. I just don't get it, but oh well, maybe tomorrow will be a better day, I can only hope.

Don't get me wrong, it hasn't' been a horrible day or anything, it just seems like I have been going all day long, and have a whopping 300 miles under my belt. One good thing that did happen is when I met the person to relay the load to, he had to be in his 70's, and he was just a great guy, pleasure to talk with, and knew more about computers than anyone I know, it was just awesome chatting with someone who has been driving longer than I have been alive, he was so cool. 8)

Started off the day with a safety meeting, it was exciting :roll:
Finally got done with that torture, and went to make a delivery about an hour away. Again, I am at a 1/8th of a tank and request a fuel stop, but they say I don't need one, okay, they are probably gonna let me fuel at the terminal when I finish this short load, so I go on, no big deal.

I make the delivery and although they are slow to get me unloaded, they are really nice and I could tell they were trying to hurry for me. Finally get done there and start to head back toward Atlanta to do some inventory on the truck cause I had way too much equipment. So I spend a couple hours getting everything in order(it's a pain to have too much equipment cause you only have so much storage, so you have to shuffle things back and forth and that adds to tarping time).

I get rid of 28 chains(yes, 28 extra chains, I kept 14) 2 extra lumber tarps, 34 binders, and 3 ratchet binders. All this stuff had to equal out to around half a ton or so. I also had a mechanic to check out my coolant leak, but was informed it wasn't bad enough to mess with, and that I should just keep topping it off until it gets worse, so that was nice. Then just when I am about ready to leave to pick up a load in Rome GA. I get my monthly reminder that I am a woman, I really hope dispatch doesn't try anything stupid for the next couple of days, they won't like it, lol.

So I make it to Rome, still no fuel stop, now I am right at a 1/16th of a tank, but not quite. I get loaded with steel I-beams for a building that pepsico owns in grand prairie TX.(just outside of Dallas). Cool, they did make up for the relay load, the only thing is that I am due for delivery on Friday morning, so I guess I won't be home for the weekend for the first time, but that is no big deal as long as the miles are there, and I hopefully don't have to do a reset while out on the road(I have until Sunday before I run out of time).

There were 2 other Roehl drivers there and they were taking loads to the same place as me, so we decided to run together all the way there, so it's nice to be able and chat on the cb about how the company is treating us, and small talk in general, helps the miles pass by quickly. After I sent in my loaded code, I finally got a fuel stop, but it was 250 miles away in meridian Mississippi! Now I have been getting pretty good mileage around 7.1-7.4 but there is no way I can make it that far, so I say screw it again, stop and fill up, I am sick of this. I had 23 gallons left in the tanks, no way I would have even come close to making it, and the sad part is that I will probably get in trouble for it. But other drivers have told me that if I let it run out of fuel, I might have to pay for them to bring some fuel to me and whatever else would have to be done to get it running again, since it's ultimately my responsibility, so I am darned if I do, and darned if I don't.

We got into Alabama and decided to shut down for the night, since we were both getting low on hours(lost one driver back at my fuel stop). But I was so tired I decided to lay down and rest before I wrote anything on the boards, so since I had to go to the bathroom I thought that I would take the time to update you all on my day. One other thing, people keep pm'ing me asking about what my weekly pay is, so I will start posting what I bring home, so please no more pm's asking, I usually only have a limited time to be online anyhow and since I update, I will just post it here, my check this week was $399. :oops: (don't laugh)

So I am heading back to Texas, and if I can get my paperwork sent in in time, I might finally get a decent paycheck next week. I was disappointed this week, I will have to wait and get home to see my check "stub" to see why it was so low. I should have had almost 2k miles last week, but maybe I am wrong, we will see. Wish me luck in the lone star, talk again tomorrow!

Thursday,
I woke up to the voice of the other Roehl driver coming over the cb this morning, I got up and did a pti while he went inside to get some coffee. It wasn't long and we were on the road. About an hour into the trip, I saw that a bungee had broke, and was letting part of the tarp start to wave a little(you have to catch it quick cause tarps will get a hole in them fast) so luckily there was a safe place to pull over to fix it.

The other driver slowed down to let me catch up, and before long I do. Another hour or so goes by and another one breaks(I think I will go and buy some quality bungees myself, this is getting old). This time we were close to a truck stop so we pull in there to fix the bungee. Well, what do you know, the driver we lost last night was there eating some breakfast, turns out he decided to shut down where I fueled at last night, and didn't see us leave.

After going completely around the trailer, just to be sure, we all three got back on the road in our own little Roehl convoy, lol. The plan was to drive all day to get there tonight and un-tarp so we can be ready for unloading first thing in the a.m. and hopefully turn in the paperwork on time so I might actually get a decent paycheck.

6?? :wink: miles and 12 1/2 hours later, we are at the consignee, and totally bushed. The guard told us that if we untarped we would have to park in the street that he couldn't allow us to sit in the parking lot, so that was fine with me, I was dead tired anyway, so we just waited for morning. Since I was in the parking lot of the consignee, I didn't have an internet connection, hence the reason I didn't update last night.

Today

We decide to just "tag team" one truck at a time and help each other, needless to say that with 3 drivers and one truck, un-tarping and strapping was cake, makes me think about teaming(I never will though). So it takes about 3 hours before we all get unloaded, so we send in the qualcom and started saying our goodbye's.

Again, turns out we are all going to the same place to get loaded, and one of the drivers had been there before, so it was an easy drive. After we get loaded(I got the most miles of everyone, 940, one driver got 670 the other 430) we see that we will again be together until Meridian MS where we will then split up and go our separate ways.

But we had spent so many hours just getting to where we were, that we wound up shutting down in Dallas again, pretty much where I started, and less than 200 miles for the day. Granted we still had a couple hours, but I wanted a shower, and they both were tired, and since nobody has to deliver till Monday, we have plenty of time.

But now that I have been here a while, I wish I would have kept on going, for the first time I am nervous at a truck stop. There are about 15 men in the parking lot which the voices over the cb identify as "crackheads" now having never met one, I cant say if they are or not, but I know they are going to every truck asking for handouts. I let them know I am not interested by sliding the front curtains closed before they can get to me, I am nervous.

Thankfully one of the other drivers I have been running with is only 1 parking spot away, and both of them told me to just ask if I wanted to be "escorted" to the building if I need anything since I am as far away as you can get. This is the first time I have felt uneasy, but it's no big deal, I am sure I will get used to it, but it's still a bit scary.

I would like to say that it is great being part of the driving profession, drivers always are willing to help, and I am not just talking about the guys I have been running with, but most truckers in general, I must have been asked 10 times in the brief moments in the truck while fixing my bungee's "west bound flat bed, you ok over there? need some help?" it's just a good feeling knowing if you needed it, they would be there to help, and just another reason I love this job.

I do have one question though, I was talking with another driver today, his cb handle was "bionic chicken" lol. He was hauling chickens, and was from my home town, and told me about all kinds of driving jobs with livestock(not interested). I told him I was tired as I was nearing the end to my journey to Dallas(this was Thursday night) and he said I know what you mean, I have been driving 16 hours straight, and the way he made it sound was that drivers that haul livestock are exempt from the hos rules, does this sound correct? I could see them being different, but no rules at all, c'mon!

Anyway, I don't get hometime this weekend, dispatch said I would have extra time next weekend to make up for it, doesn't matter to me, as long as the miles are there. For those of you wondering about hometime, this is only the second time I didn't make it home on the weekend.

Thing that gets me is, I have a 3 part load, first stop in Birmingham, second in Murfreesboro Tn(less than 3 hours from home) and the third is in Clarksville Tn(again, less than 3 hours from home). I come within 60 miles of home at one point, and I don't deliver till Monday morning, I don't understand why they couldn't just let me deadhead home after the last load, but oh well, as long as the miles keep coming.

Nobody knows anything about the hos rules for livestock? I will try to find some information about it and post it for others whom are curious.
Nothing really to report, just been a easy couple of days, I am about 5 mins. from the consignee, so I will get an early start tomorrow, and hopefully all 3 places will let me deliver instead of 2 and getting the 3rd on Tuesday, who knows, maybe I can do all 3 and be on my way to Texas again, I can only hope.

It's funny that they told me that I most likely wouldn't be able to get loads to Texas when I started, but then they send me once, and I tell them I love it, and I have gone back twice since, that should say something about the company and how they try to keep their drivers happy, of course I have to admit that it might have been a fluke, but we will all find out in the coming weeks, as long as people don't get tired of me posting.

Sorry there isn't more to the story, but I have just been cruising the days away, really laid back, of course that doesn't get the miles, but I had to wait till Monday morning to deliver, I called and tried to deliver today, but they would have none of it, oh well. Only thing that I haven't liked about the past few days is talking with other drivers, and hearing their reactions to what I get paid, but that is for another post.

Livestock haulers are not exempt from the HOS provisions.

What don't you like that other drivers were saying about your pay?