Amarillo,TX

What an adventure we have had since we left Paul's Valley. After getting unloaded we left and headed down to Elk City,OK to pick up our next load. Unfortunately when we got there, they didn't have all of the product for us so we had to wait 3-4 hours for it to get there before they could get us loaded. By the time we got loaded it was time for me to drive so I got up and headed out.

There was a bad storm headed into Amarillo so I wanted to get there before it got too bad. As I headed out of Elk City towards Amarillo, the weather was fine for a while, but I didn't make it very far before it started snowing and the roads started getting icy. I headed out around 0330 and made it into Amarillo around 0730. It was slow going. Talk on the CB was that I-40 was already shut down at the TX/NM state line at that point.

When we got into Amarillo, I headed straight to Freightliner to get in line for an appointment. They said they would try to get to it that morning but it would probably be that afternoon. Finally around 1300 they come and get me and have me pull into a bay. After doing some diagnostic work on it, they determine that the code we were getting was indeed indicating a bad turbo. Not the news that I was wanting to hear, but the good news was that they had a turbo in stock and they could get working on it right away and it would only be about a 3.5 hour job.

After moving the truck to another bay to where they mechanic was going to do the work, J and I headed into the drivers lounge to kill time. While all of this was happening, they had switched our load with another driver. He got there and we switched trailers and as soon as we got that done, another Prime driver came in to get the load we had just switched for. The second load they gave us was a pharmaceutical load and someone needed to stay hooked up to it at all times. Since our truck was in the shop, that wasn't going to be possible. So that is where the second Prine driver came in. He gave us his empty trailer and he took the second load they gave us so that someone would be with it at all times. At this point, we didn't have a load and were babysitting an empty trailer.

By now it was close to 1800 hours. J went and talked to the mechanic working on the truck and they were having problems getting the new turbo talk to our ECM in the truck. At this point, they weren't sure if the new turbo was a lemon or if we also had a bad ECM. The mechanic didn't want to pass off the work to night shift since he was in the middle of it and knew where he was and what he had already checked. That is when J decided to call a hotel, and have them send the shuttle. And they accepted pets. So we were going to spend the night in a hotel.

This all happened on Friday. The storm started blowing in early in the morning hours and it was hitting full force all day Friday. Earlier in the day, while waiting for them to get to us, we were waiting out in the truck. The snow was coming down in horizontal sheets and the wind was blowing with gusts up to 50 mph, according to the radio and television. Visibility was not very good either and it was just down right cold. The wind just cut into you when you went outside. You should have seen me when I had to bundle up to take Smokey outside. I was really wishing that I had a coat for him since he has short hair. He was quick about his business though. Did what he had to do and was ready to head back to the truck.

Now it is Saturday. This morning I talked to our FM and let him know what was going on. At little later I finally got a call from Freightliner. I was happy when I saw the phone call thinking that they were calling to tell me that the truck was ready. Nope, that wasn't the case. They were having a problem last night getting the turbo to communicate with the ECM. They got that worked out but what they were able to figure out is that the new turbo has a bad actuator or actuater or something like that. I have no idea what that is. But I do know that they have to order one and won't be able to get in here until Tuesday. And like I said earlier, today is just Saturday.

I called our FM back and he was able to send another team to pick up our empty trailer and I let him know we were going to be out of commission for a few days. Luckily my mom lives in Lubbock which is only about 120 miles away and she is off tomorrow. So I gave her a call and she is going to come up here tomorrow morning and pick us up and we are going to go spend a few days in Lubbock. It worked out that this happened close to family. It will be a lot better to stay with my mom and not have to pay for a hotel for the next few days. Then, when the truck is fixed, either she can bring us back up, or if she is working, we will see if my dad can bring us back up here.

You know, it is amazing how the weather is. Yesterday it was a complete blizzard here. This morning we wake up to the sun shining but the roads are still slick. By about 1600 hours, the roads are dry and the snow is melted except for some of the drifts. I can't believe in all of this that we completely forgot to get pictures. I guess things were just crazy and I didn't even think about it!

I will keep yall updated on our progress and let you know how we are enjoying our few unexpected days off.