Hey Clint....That was a green T600, sweetie....not an FLD :cry: I would have rather HAD the bigger FLD....but I am getting used to the cramped space of the T600 again. 8)

On your way through MT at the 2 hundred something MM after Billings is a wheat place....cant think of the name of the place but there are billboard signs for it and also a truck stop there....Anyway they make their own bread out of the wheat they grow and it is a GREAT place to get a sandwich. :wink:

tootie

Holy spinnaker batman....that's a lot of dead presidents that need to be acquired to get that boat underneath you. Nice lookin lady tho.

Tootie and Bo...here's a sailing forun you might be interested in. Some interesting perspectives. I expect CAD won't mind me posting this as about the only time these two overlap is when one is hauling the other... ...or on Clint's thread...:)

http://www.livingaboard.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi

Ok, ok. I got the green part right anyway :P Interesting that I didn't recognized it as a T-6. I guess my thinking was elsewhere when I figgered it was you two. Alas, an aging brain.....

Yes. Wheat Montana. Just what the doctor ordered for my elevated blood sugar levels. I love Wheat Montana. I used to hit 'em all the time when I ran for W/S out of Missoula. Talk about some industrial-strength cinnamon rolls. Ooo, baby. Mmmm. Just a few more injections of Byetta and I'll be fine, Doc. Really I will...... :twisted:

One can only hope, Geo..... If I keep banking the cash, I may get there. And like I said, it's the "perfect world" acquisition. There are plenty of alternatives to be had for far less.

No_Sleep_Til_Broo <err> Missoula.... Ahh yes. Muralt's. Home to much fine fodder and fare. Too dark out to see my old haunt, W/S. But the air smells nice. I-25 north and hung a left into Montana today. What a ride. I forgot how beautiful it is. New to me was the ride north from Cheyenne. Also beautiful.

Wyoming, in a measure of extremely good taste, placed metal sculptures of people on horses on some of the bluffs which overlook the highway. Remarkable the emotions that these testiments to western culture stir....

I bagged a bunch of miles today. The idea was to hit Spokane and still be able to clear my deck in Yakima by the end of tomorrow. It was slow going in the beginning of the trip, but I didn't want the delays to hold up my original ETA's. I hate that...

Lots of rowing on Betty's box while going up and down the hills. Nothing lower than 8th, however. Stiil, she needed some coaxing on the steeper climbs. More to come on the way to Spokane.

OK. A little accountancy of time and miles to date.

I went solo for Swift on Feb. 16th loaded with a coil going to Pendergrass, GA. I pulled it down there with a very nasty trade-in. I was then treated to my current ride. Me and Betty rolled 15k today.

So it looks like this:
37 days out to date.
Three days off in Laredo, TX on a re-start.
Three days off in Decatur, GA on break-down.
31 days running.
Average daily miles: 483
# of times waiting on dispatch: 2
Once in Pendergrass, GA on first trip. Total wait time: 2 hours.
Once in Ada, OK (just at the start of this trip) 4 hours.

As I have said before: I don't know much about the van division except what I hear from the various levels of drivers I speak with. The most common replies with regards to average weekly miles appears to be in the 2k to 2300 mile range.

On the flatbed side, I smoke them, consistantly. It would appear that Swift has more flatbed frieght than they can handle. Which would explain my recent 560 mile deadhead to pick up my current load. I head one flatbedder tell tale of a recent deadhead from PHX to Gaffney, SC (1700 miles) just to run a load of Sprinters somewhere.

All I can really say is "thank you" to the recruiter at Melton, who suggested I go run for Swift for a little while, so I could accumulate current OTR time. And guess what? I ain't goin' no where. Nope. Not.

Is the equipment as cool as TMC's or Melton's? No, not quite. Maverick is out by virtue of the fact of their fleet. (Ugh). Do I care? Nope. Nothing beats a Volvo for quiet. Not as sexy to me as a T-600, but I am EXTREMELY happy.

I might add here that I am also extremely proud of my work. I love hauling flatbed frieght. I meet the coolest people, I see a chunk of American industry which most people don't even know exists, Swift has run me into parts of the country I never even knew I wanted to see, and everyone is happy to see me. They either want it shipped or are waiting for the stuff to be delivered. Very different from hauling a dry van.

The flatbed division is very small, but it is encompassed by a giant organization. 38 terminals in which to get service, fuel, goodies, showers, name it. And dedicated flatbed dispatchers. I have worked with several of them in different regions. All of them are excellent people. All of them have been polite and refreshingly enthusiastic in their dealings with me. And the word spreads quickly throughout the flatbed network. Good work gets recognized and acknowledged very quickly. It is easy to be *seen* here.

The really, really nice part is that I feel I am being treated based on my performance and not for my time in the industry. This is key for me. While I am a rank beginner in terms of seat time, my work history, if however scant, speaks differently. And Swift routinely entrusts me with valuable loads and challenging delivery schedules. And I do my absolute best to meet these challenges and surpass them.

Forgive my redundancy, but I friggin' love this job.

And we continue….

I made my drop in Spokane today around 11:00 am. The guys were doing their best to get the two hay bailers unloaded as quickly as possible. We got it all done in short order and I was good to go by 13:00.

It was nice to have breakfast at Murolt’s in Missoula. My two favorite waitresses still work there. Both asked me where I had been for so long. That, and the good food set the tone for a very nice day.

I forgot how beautiful the ride is over Lookout Pass heading into Idaho. Too, I forgot how beautiful lake Couer d’ Alene is. Indeed, it was a real treat to see it in the bright sun. Still, there was lots of fresh snow at the higher elevations to make it all the more gorgeous.

OK. So the farm implement store in Yakima, WA closes at 17:00 (PST). That means I have four hours to get there. I called ahead to see if they thought I could make it. The manager didn’t think so. I told him that I would make a run for it just the same. My GPS had me in at ten minutes to closing time. Hmm. This will be fun. Guess I am going to need every bit of my extra 3 mph over 63 on cruise.

Damn if I didn’t keep my foot in it the whole way down there. I had never seen the Columbia river basin before. Didn’t get much of a chance to look at it either.

Betty sure got her pipes cleaned on this run. There were several major hill climbs on the way in to Yakima. I mean some really big ones!

Heart a’pounding, we made the drop site @ 16:48 on the nose. The manager was none too pleased as this meant he would have to hang around for a bit, just until we could un-deck the bailer. Oh, pity…..

The Quaaly went off on my last short leg into Yakima, but there was no time to look at it. I didn’t even want to see what it was. I knew, in speaking with Barb (my DM on this trip) that there was something cooking for me once I hit Sumner, WA. I’ll check it, like, later.

By the time I got out of the drop site and secured the last bailer, I was cooked. I hit the local Shoney’s for some grub and nearly collapsed. Dinner was absorbed in very short order.

Ok, Clint-o. It’s 158 miles to the Sumner terminal. You can make your last bailer drop, also in Sumner, when you wake up (you mean; if I wake up). Bound and determined to get a shower and a shave, I had an easy cruise into town. I made the terminal with ease.

After getting all cleaned up, I wandered slowly back to the truck. I took a deep breath as I pushed the “read next” key on the QC. Low and behold. A 2950 mile, six-stop run with a final in Alabama. Didn’t I just come through Alabama???

Looks like I am heading that way again.
:roll:

Glad things are going well for you , I miss those 2000+ mile runs...

Indeed. Thank you, Smooth. That makes two of us. Funny how you can find the "jewel" in the most unexpected of places. I still can't believe that I work for Swift. I just never would have imagined.....

Really interesting, low-impact day. And boy, did we need a simple one.

Spent a bunch of time on the phone with my DM’s regarding the current multi-stop run. Then we got into the logs for the past month. While not bad, Mr. Perfect did manage to make a couple of errors. Oh, the pain… I did see where I went wrong on a couple of days though. And the conversation went very, hmmm, smoothly ? As I seem to run pretty close to the edge, it just means that there is little tolerance for error. So; I watch things a bit more carefully and everything should be OK. Nothing wrong with a little reality-check now and then. Peachy.

Made my final drop in Sumner at the local Deere dealer. Piece of cake. Get out of there, go back to the yard, drop my step-deck, clip to a skate, and away we go up to Redmond. It’s raining. Gee, in Washington? Imagine… Remembering all to well how easy it is to jack knife these things, I leave plenty of following room.

The pick-up at Genie (the scissor-lift folks) was hilarious. I get to the drop yard, which is also the pre-loaded trailer yard. I’m looking over the load, which has a few of one type of lift and three others. It took a while for me to see how to chain these things down. But that’s one of the things I really enjoy; the figuring out part.

So I’m chaining away, minding my own business, and who should back his trailer right next to mine so I didn’t have enough room to work? Some freakin’ Arrow driver. Never even thought about what he did and how it might affect me. So he gets out of his truck and I’m thinking “don’t piss this guy off”. He looks like Tony Montana. Big sunglasses, scruff beard, you get the picture. We start talking and he seems reasonable enough.

But then it gets better. I told him that I used to pull for Arrow, but wasn’t getting enough mileage. He said it was hard for him in the beginning as well, but with three months under his wing, he was now running really well. Then a Melton driver went past us. I told him about wanting to run for them, etc., etc. and that they would hire me once I had more current OTR experience.

He said “Yeah, they wouldn’t hire me either. When I asked him why, he told me the following: I was with another company, mang. I was loading out of Brownsville and got busted for possession of one and a half tons of weed on my truck. I ‘splained that I didn’t know it was on there, but Melton wouldn’t believe me. But Arrow did! So I went with them”.

Oh, excuse me sir. I’ll just be moving across the yard now…. Yikes.

It was fun though. I helped a few other drivers get their securement plans figured out. Kinda nice to be able to lend a hand.

Back down to Sumner and on the Swift yard. Laundry is happening, stuff is getting done, and yours truly is loving a few extra hours of down-time. I told my DM that I would pick up the load today, but wouldn’t begin the run until tomorrow. No problem, says he. Have a good night. And oh, I sure am.

BTW: If you find yourself at the Pilot in Columbus, MT along I-90, there is a cool little café across the street called the Apple Village Café. Sick of Subway? This is an excellent alternative. Nice folks, good food and lots of little chachkas in the gift shop. Lois is the proprietor and Brenda is the waitress.

The map of the USA reveals a lengthy line between Sumner, WA, Fort Worth and my first drop. Better get some good rest.

‘Til next.

Thanks.....off to dream of the future :wink:

tootie

Really, I think that we would all look good at the helm of our matching J44's. Maybe Geomon will get one too. Then we can all get our captain's licenses and start a sailing vacation business for road-weary trucker friends. Now wouldn't that be something?!?!?!?! 8) :lol: 8) :lol: 8) :lol:

I got lots of new photos to finish up for my next blog update. The best-i-est of the best are shots from the conclusion of a high speed po'lice chase on I-84 east, in the Columbia River Gorge today.

I'm on a rather sluggish wireless connection this evening, so it will take a while. But I will post the link once they've all been uploaded. Oh, it was, like, Sooo bitchin'..... :P

Crash Test Dumbo
 

The chatter on the CB was that the guy driving the Mustang had robbed a bank in Troutdale, OR and was trying to get away.

As to whether or not this was true, remains a mystery. Anyway, here's the link to some pics of it. Or the tail end of it, anyway:
http://web.mac.com/samael9/iWeb/SwiftBetty/032807.html

Nice ride out of Sumner! My route solution had me heading north to Seattle and out I-82, then down through Yakima to I-84 east. I didn't want to run Snoqualmie pass with 38,000 on my tail. And then run all the climbs through to Yak.

So I decided to run I-5 south and pick up I-84 east and run the Gorge instead. Might have been a few extra miles, but I saved a bunch on fuel. It was non-stop gawk all the way through. Made Baker City and called it quits for today.

Enjoy the photos :roll: