Hey Steve, after ya get the souped up radio in.....let me know how life is on Mars....you should be able to communicate with THEM. :wink:

tootie

 

I talk to those little green bastards every day now, what are you talking about?

 

Well, a good Connex should work fine for ya. You aughta be able to talk to China.

 

Dont let radio ray see this. :lol:

 

Lots of power is nice but get a good antenna.
I ran 2 watts into a 7 ele quad and had a good signal in alaska from so cal
I also ran 1000 watts into same antenna and had 20 over in europe.

Anyway I am soon to be trucking I hope. I passed my DOT yesterday and suppose to start school Nov 26th W/S in Montana

I have a big all band rig I used for ham last and it is open for 10 so maybe take that with me and have 100 watts.

Thanks for all your posts I have really enjoyed following your trips on the road.

Arkie
KB6IE

 

A lot of guys do that. I ran a modified Icom 706mkIIg for a while when I was on the road.

And the cops can be good company. I chatted with a Nevada Highway Patrol officer for about a 100 mile stretch a few years ago as we were traveling through the boonies together. I saw some sort of car closing in behind me as I was pulling up a hill and blinked the marker lights and hit the 4 ways to let him know I was a slowpoke and he didn't have to wait for me. Immediately I hear on the radio, "Its ok driver, I'm not in a real big hurry." We were talking for like 10 minutes before he let on that he was a cop. I had another radio scanning the highway patrol feqs (and the uhf links) so I knew that there was on very close because I had just heard a unit announce to the dispatcher that he was changing channels and would be on the repeater nearest to me. Anyway, the officer and I chatted about everything under the sun, from family to the company Christmas party I was going to the next day. He even turned out to be an officer in the commercial vehicle unit, and answered a few questions I had about HOS, and Hazmat regs. When we turned off of 93 on got onto I-80 He got a call and had to take off. He was a real nice guy though.

 

I was trying to read back on how you got hooked up with USX and saw this and got a good laugh. Hell I'm dying here in Mass. My friend had a space heater in the shop. I heard of those but I never new what they were. I stood so close to that thing they kept telling me I was going to burn my leg. I think you could heat up the Astro Dome with that thing.

I think I should get one for the house.

 

Are you talking about one of those kerosene jet engine heaters? Those things work great for heating a large area but you need good ventilation and will give you a headache from the smell.

Well, I shut down around noon yesterday at the Flying J in Odgen UT. I was so pissed at the world. Nothing in particular, just pissed. I made a list while driving what I was going to do when I shut down and the order to do it in.

Checked my oil and still full? Strange it's not using oil. It's gone down maybe 1/4 of a quart but that's it and the dipstick looks fine, only oil. Took a LONG shower and got all the dirt off my fingers. I think I actually took 4 showers back to back. Had the water so hot I came out looking like a grape.

Got something to eat, did my laundry, washed the sheets and cleaned the truck. Then the broker called and I'm like, blah blah blah, running illegal, over weight, blah blah, this stuf will get there when it gets there.

Don't like this running for someone else at all and won't do this any more. I realize looking back that she does not care about my internal schedule or the hours of operation. She also doesn't care about taking a whole day to load up because of a customer screw up. Ya, I'll check into getting you more money for your detention. Never hear back and she just totally ignores it.

I think the straw that broke the camels back was that she wants me to take 2 or 3 days off at home then shes going to get me a load back out to Oregon to haul those 20' Christmas trees that she has a contract for. She told me before that it was going to be for $2.00 per mile. When I talked to her last I said if I was going to do it I have some contacts that you people gave me and I can get at least $2.50 per mile. She then said she could beat that. Well, that said to me that she's not being fair and only looking out for her interests and the companies. I sort of though she was going to be fair with me but now I know that's not the case. So, that was it. Some people have called me One Shot Steve in the past and I guess it's true. You had your chance beeotch.

Those people at ICCI are still calling me asking if my truck is available even after I filed a complaint about them. Bone heads.

Now that I have this APU I keep forgetting to warm up my truck before heading out. I sit here having coffee and reading this forum and then all of a sudden I realize my engine is stone cold and I should have started it a while ago.

 

Gosh Steve, I think you have turned into a "real" truck driver. In just one day you are mad at the world, running overweight, and getting a kik azz radio. :shock: :shock: :shock:

 

Yes Steve, the thing looked just like a jet engine. I loved it I didn't move from there.

You know when you mentioned checking your oil it made me think that I never have to add oil. I read in the handbook that came with the truck that oil loss is normal in a diesel engine. I always checked the oil when I got fuel but I read that's not a good time as all the oil is not back in the case or something like that. And actually it looked like I was going to have to add oil but I checked again when it was cold and I didn't need any.

I thought you don't have to warm the engine up before you take off, more that you should just let it cool down before shutting it off. Of course what do I know?

Really with the dispatcher I guess you lose in income as you gain with less stress to find loads. I suppose that's how life is anyway. Like a balloon, you squeeze the air out of one spot and it just bulges in another.

To me if I had the constant freight and found someone like you to run, I wouldn't be greedy. It's better to make less to gain more over a long term then to try and get it all fast and burn a bridge. I guess know you know now what a company driver feels like. It's hard to enjoy yourself when you feel like you are being taken advantage of. That's why I have decided that I would rather sit for a few days or deadhead out then take a load I am not comfortable with.