[Doghouse]

--------Warning--------Warning------long post



First a bit about myself, and why I got back into trucking.
I drove for Stevens Transport back in 1999 and stayed with them for about 9 months. I quickly got tired of being a truck driver making 22cpm, and barely getting 1,500 miles a week. I spent a lot of time sitting at truck stops and waiting to be loaded/unloaded at grocery warehouses. I started driving a T-600 with 800,000 miles on it and while it ran well,..It was trashed body wise. You could not see through he windshield if the sun was in front of you, or at night on a two lane road when oncoming cars headlights would obscure my view to the point of being dangerous.
My next truck was a T-2000 that was very nice looking, super clean,...but was so loud that I had to drive all the time (especially climbing hills) with those little expanding foam ear plugs. I put up with it, and stuck to it until they cut my miles back down to around 1,000 per week.
I was forced to stay out for 8 to 10 weeks at a time before they would route me home. Then they would only give me 3 days at home instead of the 8 to 10 days that I earned (one day per week out).
I cleaned out my truck, and drove it back to Dallas (on my own dime) parked it in their garage to be repaired, called a cab, got on a plane and came home,..swearing off trucking forever.

I then got into real estate in Florida,..bought 4 houses and spent the last 7 years renovating and selling them. The real estate market in Florida treated me well,..I live in a modest 3 bed 2 bath block home with a 30' by 30' block garage. Its been real nice not punching a time clock for the last 7 years, but with real estate getting weak, and my desire to not be a general contractor,...I fall back to my first love,...being on the road alone.
My girl and I have been together for 15 years and she expressed an interest in getting back to her painting (she is a very talented artist).
We have 30 animals and she likes to stay home,...as you can see this is a recipe for going back on the road.
I bought a used (very used) truck and a used trailer. I paid cash for both and put $60,000 into my business as an Owner Operator. I have my truck set up with a full kitchen sink/stove /microwave/refrigerator and bathroom-w-shower, an oil re-refiner, and a solar power system so I can sit and enjoy my time alone. I like to read, watch TV, exercise, and hike.
I spent a brief period of time doing research for adventure magazines. A few that I did before were:
1.21 day trip in the Grand Canyon (without coming out for resupply) testing equipment and dehydrated foods.
2.21 day kayak trip from Green River, Utah to Phantom Ranch, Grand Canyon
3.1 week in Goblin Valley, Utah



I have gotten a lot of info from this website and the people here,...my hats off to Gman,Steve,Rank,Rev,Merrick,Pepe,Heavyhauler,tooti e, and many others that I can't remember right now. Your advice has been like gold and I hope to be able to help out others like you have for me (and all my questions over the last year).I am very much looking forward to getting back on the road and doing it with my newly rebuilt truck. I did everything on this truck myself, what I didn't know,..I did research and asked questions to figure out.


Now that was what I put together a while back. I actually went out on the road last week, but had to go back home because my genny seized, my inverter had a software conflict with the control panel, and my solar charge controller was malfunctioning. Now all has been repaired except the genny. I have to go to Glendale and have A-Trans swap the engine out for me. I knew this genny was junk the day I received it,...so even thought A-Trans is honoring their 1 year warranty,.....I don't expect the process to go very well.
I managed to get my blood pressure down 20 points from 136 over 93 to 116 over 75,...that has me pleased.
My truck cruises nicely at 62mph @1,550rpm,...it hates to go down to anything below 1,200rpm,....sounds like a thrasher at that rpm under a load.
I am leaving again in the morning, from there I go to:
St. Louis to pick up my straps and tarps-n-stuff
then to Tipton,Iowa to pick up my aluminum bulkhead for the trailer,
then to Stanley,Wisconsin to hook up to my trailer.
I have spent the entire week fixing these systems,..good thing is that I thought the truck was going to weigh in at 22,500 dry,..but its ends up at 21,900lbs fully loaded.
I use a lot of aluminum and light weight woods to try and keep the weight down,..but I had a hard time estimating the weight while I was installing all the stuff.
My girl is putting together the photo album with descriptions of all the photos,..that should take her till Sunday,..so sit tight for the pic's there are about 30 of them.
Thanks again everyone, and hope to see you out on the road.

Doghouse

[Orangetxguy]

GAD ZOOK'S[/b]

[merrick4]

I must admit I don't understand half of what you write. I don't know what a Genny is and don't understand how solar can power anything on a truck and I don't think I have ever used the word aluminium in a real sentence in my life but I did get abuse at Stevens, Florida real estate, kayaking in Utah and finally you are getting out here.

So in that note I wish you all the best and look forward to reading about your perspective on the business and your experiences out here (in plain English [non technical] as I have a hard enough time following Allan.)

Good luck Doghouse!

Originally Posted by merrick4

I must admit I don't understand half of what you write.

Genny is his girlfriend and she had a major breakdown and that's why he wants to get on the road. He owns all those houses to keep the animals in. His truck is broke so he has to hike and take a Kayak to every place he needs to go. He thought his girl friend weighed 22,500 but she came in at 21,900. I personally think that's why she had a seizure. He took 30 pictures of her and will post them on Youtube later.

Anything more you need translated, just ask me.

[Scottt]

Originally Posted by SteveBooth

Genny is his girlfriend and she had a major breakdown and that's why he wants to get on the road. He owns all those houses to keep the animals in. His truck is broke so he has to hike and take a Kayak to every place he needs to go. He thought his girl friend weighed 22,500 but she came in at 21,900. I personally think that's why she had a seizure. He took 30 pictures of her and will post them on Youtube later.

Anything more you need translated, just ask me.

Hey Steve can I borrow a bottle of Windex? My monitor just took a mouthful of Pepsi LOL

[Sonny Pruitt]

now you finally make sense
I once asked a driver how his wife lets him on the road for weeks at a time
His answer "I bought her a horse
as long as the horse bills are paid......she's happy"
Good job Doghouse

[Doghouse]

Genny= diesel generator
solar=batteries charged when I decide to sit for days without running my truck engine,....which will come in handy since my genny is busted. In all reality the solar is a total experiment,..I'll let you know how it works for me. I can tell you this,..if I don't use the A/C unit, and only run my refrigerator,TV/DVD,fax,computer,led lights,waterpump,and the microwave,...I never have to run my engine to charge my batteries. The 3 solar panel keep my batteries in a constant 12.8volt -13.6volt window,..which put into non-tech terms,...I will never have dead batteries,..ever,...unless the planet stops spinning.

Now,...if the planet stops spinning,..well I'll just send Genny (my 21,900lb girl) to chase down Steve O,...that should send the planet back into rotation,..thus keeping my batteries charged.

Its been quite a task getting ready to head out,...and your right sonny,..keep the woman happy,..thats all that matters.
I think she was actually happy to see me go,..gives her a chance to fool around with her other guy :lol:
I worry about my animals more than anything, but she's capable so all should be well.
I'm heading out the door in and hour,...does anyone know if I have to stop at weigh station while bob-tail??

[GMAN]

You have to stop at weigh stations whether you are bobtailing or have a trailer.

[Fredog]

Originally Posted by GMAN

You have to stop at weigh stations whether you are bobtailing or have a trailer.

I know from experience that in Minnesota , if you bypass a weigh station while bob tailing, they will chase you down and bring you back and do a full inspection, if you are nice about it and apologize, they may decide not to give you a ticket (at least in my case) luckily all my ducks were in a row and everything was fine, but it cost me an hour and a half

[Doghouse]

Thanks,
In that case I'll stop, I'm at a rest area about 30 miles before the I-75 Wildwood station.