We made it in last night and are now about to enjoy a well deserved day off. :)
When we picked up the load we delivered last night we were worried about the weather across Arizona and New Mexico and it turns out we were worried for no reason. Yesterday as I drove across the western part of New Mexico and all of Arizona it was a beautiful day. I did run into some fog in western New Mexico and the road signs said "WINTER DRIVING CONDITIONS AHEAD. DRIVE WITH CAUTION." It turns out the roads were 100% clear. I think they forgot to change the signs from the last stor. that rolled through.
We were worried about making it on time so I kept on going and used all but 30 minutes of my allotted time yesterday to get as far as I could. When we stopped, J only had 230 miles left to go to the receiver so I knew that we would make it on time. We actually got there a few hours early. This receiver was supposed to have three of our empty trailers so that we could drop and hook. I don't know what happened, but they didn't have any empty trailers so we had to wait for a door. Once we did get a door though, they must have had another Prime trailer emptied out in the mean time because I felt J unhook the trailer and hook up to another one. Sitting in the drivers seat typing this, I just looked in the mirror and sure enough, the trailer we are attached to is a different one than we delivered in. At least we didn't have to wait around to be unloaded once they had a place to park our trailer.
After that was done, J headed back over to the TA here in Ontario,CA where we will spend the next 24 hours or so. Actually 34 but we have already been here for a while. We were both really low on hours so we decided to do a restart here and get our 70 hours back. This place was packed when J got here. At first he just parked anywhere he could find a space and security ended up having us move a total of three times. This place is just a mad house right now. I have never seen this many trucks before. When I got up this morning though, there were finally trucks heading out to make their morning deliveries so there were actual spaces open. After some maneuvering, I finally got into a space. Anyone that has ever parked here will tell you that the rows are extremely close together and backing in can be very difficult. But hey, I AM a professional truck driver, so I managed to get backed in. :)
Oh, that reminds me. When we delivered up in Danvers,MA before we picked this load up, it was an EXTREMELY tight back. J got out of the truck to guide me in. While he was doing that, there was a car waiting to get by but I had the road blocked. This was one of those days where I was on my game and I have to admit, it was a beautiful backing job. As I got backed in, the car went past me and gave me a "thumbs up" and them parked in front of the truck that I had just backed into. Turns out that was his truck and he must run locally for that company. He was old enough to be my father, or a little older, and he came over and told J that he had an excellent chauffeur. LOL Meaning that I did a great job backing in there. It is kind of funny, because I can almost guarantee that if I was a guy driving, he wouldn't have said a thing. It is nice getting compliments from guys like that because he looked like one of the old timers that had been driving for decades. Most of them, not all, but most think this is a mans profession and that a woman has no business doing a mans job. He was very sweet though and it is nice to get complimented like that.
Anyway, we are just chilling out here in Ontario and will be available again for a load at 0600 tomorrow. I guess today I should do the domestic stuff like laundry and cleaning out the truck. *sign* If I must.......
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Marengo,OH
Good afternoon folks! Today was a LONG day for me. I didn't get to bed until around 2200 last night after all the messing around we had to do in Boston and I really didn't want to get up this morning. But with the help of a 5-Hour I made it awake and hit the road.
I started off at a service plaza up on I-90 in New York around Danube I think. The weather was really nice today other than being overcast the majority of the day. The sun came out for a while but luckily while it was overcast there was no moisture. I was thankful that when I hit the Buffalo,NY to Cleveland,OH area that there wasn't any lake effect snow. The way the sky was looking I thought I would hit some snow, but turns out it was just cloudy.
We are really pressed for time on this load and I don't think we are going to make our appointment time. We are going to try though. If we don't run into any delays then we should be fine, but I am still worried about road conditions over in Flagstaff. I just looked at one of their traffic cameras and it looks like it is still snowing. Hopefully by the time we hit that area around 0300 on Monday that storm will have blown on out and the roads will be clear. I am also wondering about our hours. It is going to be cutting it close for us on hours also. I think if we can make it that we will have to do a restart on our hours once we make this delivery.
You would think with a team you could run all the time and not run out of hours. But that isn't the case. And we have run hard this past week. We left out of Springfield last Friday morning and delivered in San Bernardino. Then we headed over to Brawley,CA and picked up a load that we delivered in Shelbyville,IN. Then we picked up in Paris,KY and delivered in Danvers,MA and then we picked up in Haverhill,MA and now we are heading back to Carson,CA. That is 8089 miles since last Friday evening, January 15th. And that isn't counting the excess miles we have driven trying to find trailer washes. No wonder we are tired!
On that note, I am hitting the bed. Now that I have seen exactly how much we have done, I am pooped!
I started off at a service plaza up on I-90 in New York around Danube I think. The weather was really nice today other than being overcast the majority of the day. The sun came out for a while but luckily while it was overcast there was no moisture. I was thankful that when I hit the Buffalo,NY to Cleveland,OH area that there wasn't any lake effect snow. The way the sky was looking I thought I would hit some snow, but turns out it was just cloudy.
We are really pressed for time on this load and I don't think we are going to make our appointment time. We are going to try though. If we don't run into any delays then we should be fine, but I am still worried about road conditions over in Flagstaff. I just looked at one of their traffic cameras and it looks like it is still snowing. Hopefully by the time we hit that area around 0300 on Monday that storm will have blown on out and the roads will be clear. I am also wondering about our hours. It is going to be cutting it close for us on hours also. I think if we can make it that we will have to do a restart on our hours once we make this delivery.
You would think with a team you could run all the time and not run out of hours. But that isn't the case. And we have run hard this past week. We left out of Springfield last Friday morning and delivered in San Bernardino. Then we headed over to Brawley,CA and picked up a load that we delivered in Shelbyville,IN. Then we picked up in Paris,KY and delivered in Danvers,MA and then we picked up in Haverhill,MA and now we are heading back to Carson,CA. That is 8089 miles since last Friday evening, January 15th. And that isn't counting the excess miles we have driven trying to find trailer washes. No wonder we are tired!
On that note, I am hitting the bed. Now that I have seen exactly how much we have done, I am pooped!
Friday, January 22, 2010
Boston,MA
Well, when it rains it pours! Things have been so hecktic for us lately. Too much to go into to catch you up so I will give you the very abbreviated version.
After coming out of Lubbock for our late Christmas/New Year's vacation we have had nothing but problems with the truck. We got a PM done, had an alignment done, two new steer tires were put on, the drive axle seal was replaced where it was leaking, our temperature sensor was replaced, the drivers side road lamp was re-wired and the assembly replaced from corrosion and som other wiring underneath was replaced due to corrosion. It seems like we have been sitting more than we have been moving. We spent two days in Laredo waiting on a load and having work done and them another two days in Springfield getting more work done. My momma always said that if I didn't have anything nice to say to not say anything at all. I suppose that goes with blogging!
But I am back and I am hoping things are starting to turn around. Luckily today we got paid, although a VERY small amount, but after being in the shop it was nice not to be in the hole. This next week is shaping up to be MUCH better. We are currently up in Boston after we delivered in Danvers a few hours ago. It was a hazmat load, so now we are having to drive about 50 miles the wrong direction to get a trailer washout and then driving back about 80 miles up to Haverhill to pick up our next load. Decent paying one considering we are hauling out of this area.
The one thing I am worried about though is the weather. I-40 is currently shut down in Arizona and with all the rain in California, I am sure that means more snow. I am going to look at the map and see how far out of route it would be to drop down to I-10 to get into Carson,CA with the load we are picking up. I drove through some snow a few days ago in Arizona on the trip out here and I figure driving in it once in a 7 day period is enough! haha
But that is where things stand with us. To the people that e-mailed me checking up on me, I would like to say "Thank You". I sometimes forget that people out there that I don't even know in person read this and that they are concerned when I go MIA for a while. So again, thank you for worrying about me. It is really nice to have you wonderful people out there watching over me!
After coming out of Lubbock for our late Christmas/New Year's vacation we have had nothing but problems with the truck. We got a PM done, had an alignment done, two new steer tires were put on, the drive axle seal was replaced where it was leaking, our temperature sensor was replaced, the drivers side road lamp was re-wired and the assembly replaced from corrosion and som other wiring underneath was replaced due to corrosion. It seems like we have been sitting more than we have been moving. We spent two days in Laredo waiting on a load and having work done and them another two days in Springfield getting more work done. My momma always said that if I didn't have anything nice to say to not say anything at all. I suppose that goes with blogging!
But I am back and I am hoping things are starting to turn around. Luckily today we got paid, although a VERY small amount, but after being in the shop it was nice not to be in the hole. This next week is shaping up to be MUCH better. We are currently up in Boston after we delivered in Danvers a few hours ago. It was a hazmat load, so now we are having to drive about 50 miles the wrong direction to get a trailer washout and then driving back about 80 miles up to Haverhill to pick up our next load. Decent paying one considering we are hauling out of this area.
The one thing I am worried about though is the weather. I-40 is currently shut down in Arizona and with all the rain in California, I am sure that means more snow. I am going to look at the map and see how far out of route it would be to drop down to I-10 to get into Carson,CA with the load we are picking up. I drove through some snow a few days ago in Arizona on the trip out here and I figure driving in it once in a 7 day period is enough! haha
But that is where things stand with us. To the people that e-mailed me checking up on me, I would like to say "Thank You". I sometimes forget that people out there that I don't even know in person read this and that they are concerned when I go MIA for a while. So again, thank you for worrying about me. It is really nice to have you wonderful people out there watching over me!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Lubbock,TX Still...
Today is our last day here in Lubbock. We are set to head out tomorrow depending on when we get a load. Today we have spent the day doing laundry and just getting ready.
My mom is looking for a new place to live so we are waiting for a guy to call us back about a house we saw for rent yesterday. We went and looked at it and it coud be fixed up real cute. It is a small 2/1 with a nice big back yard for Bandit. Right now we are just waiting on him to give us a call back so we can go look at it again. When we went yesterday it was just mom and I and J didn't go. So we would like for him to go over today and have a look at it and see what he thinks. They guy renting it seems very accomodating and even asked if there was anything that we didn't like that he could change that would make us like it more. We mentioned the tile in the bathroom and he said he could fix that without a problem. So I think if we look at it one more time with J that Mom will probably go ahead and rent it if he hasn't rented it by the time we can get ahold of him.
I am not sure where we will be heading next. I am guessing that they will probably send us up to Plainview,TX or to Amarillo,TX to pick up a load, just not sure where we will be taking it to. I am anxious for us to get off to a good start to this new year. We have a lot of things planned this year. We want to get our boat finished and moved to Texas. We will finish our lease on the truck this year, probably around July or August and we are deciding whether we want to sign another lease or whether we want to come off the road and find a local driving job. We have been talking about a lot of options. It has been great fun out on the road and it has been a wonderful adventure that we have shared together, but we have seen all 48 of the lower states and been places we never thought we would go. It is turning into more of a job than the adventure that it was the first few years. Plus, we really miss sleeping in the same bed at the same time. LOL We have worked different shifts now for three years. We don't really know for sure what we are going to do, but we are mulling things over. You can guarantee whatever we do decide will be something fun!
My mom is looking for a new place to live so we are waiting for a guy to call us back about a house we saw for rent yesterday. We went and looked at it and it coud be fixed up real cute. It is a small 2/1 with a nice big back yard for Bandit. Right now we are just waiting on him to give us a call back so we can go look at it again. When we went yesterday it was just mom and I and J didn't go. So we would like for him to go over today and have a look at it and see what he thinks. They guy renting it seems very accomodating and even asked if there was anything that we didn't like that he could change that would make us like it more. We mentioned the tile in the bathroom and he said he could fix that without a problem. So I think if we look at it one more time with J that Mom will probably go ahead and rent it if he hasn't rented it by the time we can get ahold of him.
I am not sure where we will be heading next. I am guessing that they will probably send us up to Plainview,TX or to Amarillo,TX to pick up a load, just not sure where we will be taking it to. I am anxious for us to get off to a good start to this new year. We have a lot of things planned this year. We want to get our boat finished and moved to Texas. We will finish our lease on the truck this year, probably around July or August and we are deciding whether we want to sign another lease or whether we want to come off the road and find a local driving job. We have been talking about a lot of options. It has been great fun out on the road and it has been a wonderful adventure that we have shared together, but we have seen all 48 of the lower states and been places we never thought we would go. It is turning into more of a job than the adventure that it was the first few years. Plus, we really miss sleeping in the same bed at the same time. LOL We have worked different shifts now for three years. We don't really know for sure what we are going to do, but we are mulling things over. You can guarantee whatever we do decide will be something fun!
Friday, January 1, 2010
Lubbock,TX
Happy New Year everyone!! We FINALLY made it to Lubbock for a late Christmas celebration and to ring in the new year.
We ended up being stuck up in Elm Creek,NE for three days while we waited out that bilzzard that hit the midwest. Once we were finally able to get on the road on this past Sunday morning, with I-80 opened back up, the roads were fine up until we had to get off an hit US30. I think that road on US30 was by far the worst ice covered road that I have ever driven on. My trailer got away from me a few times and the lady following me got a little sideways also. Her trailer swung far enough around her that I could see the Prime logo on the side. The road was extremely greasy to say the least. I really think they should have kept that road closed because the conditions were really too bad for them to have it open.
I persevered though and made it to our pick-up in Schuyler,NE and then took off towards Springfield,MO where we were dropping this trailer. I stopped just north of Kansas City where J took over and got us into Springfield,MO. As soon as he dropped the trailer there he was given a load to Terrell,TX and he took off. Since we were trying to get to Lubbock, this paid for us to get about half way there. I got us into Terrell on Monday afternoon and then we just had to worry about getting to Lubbock.
We lucked out and were able to get a load out of the Sam's Club in Dallas to deliver in Lubbock but first we had to run by the Saginaw drop lot and do a local delivery at 2100 that night. We were running behind since our drop in Terrell took forever to unload. But we got it all done and J got us almost all the way to Lubbock on Tuesday morning. I took over around 0800 and got us the rest of the way in. Unfortunately they wouldn't let us deliver until 2100 on Tuesday night so we just parked at the Sam's Club and had my mom come get us and J went back that evening to make the delivery.
We had a great Christmas with my mom, our daughter Jessica and my brother and his family. We surprised my mother with a laptop which she is super excited about. I am really happy that we were able to pull that off. She is in the process of moving to a different apartment so now all we have to do is to find an apartent with wi-fi and she will be all set.
Last night for New Year's Eve we went right down the road from my Mom's house to a little neighborhood bar that we used to always go to when we lived here. It was just J and I and we were really surprised to see a familiar face there. Actually 3 of them. They were all people that we worked with at the police department when we were living here. So we had a really nice time ringing in the New Year with old friends.
We ended up being stuck up in Elm Creek,NE for three days while we waited out that bilzzard that hit the midwest. Once we were finally able to get on the road on this past Sunday morning, with I-80 opened back up, the roads were fine up until we had to get off an hit US30. I think that road on US30 was by far the worst ice covered road that I have ever driven on. My trailer got away from me a few times and the lady following me got a little sideways also. Her trailer swung far enough around her that I could see the Prime logo on the side. The road was extremely greasy to say the least. I really think they should have kept that road closed because the conditions were really too bad for them to have it open.
I persevered though and made it to our pick-up in Schuyler,NE and then took off towards Springfield,MO where we were dropping this trailer. I stopped just north of Kansas City where J took over and got us into Springfield,MO. As soon as he dropped the trailer there he was given a load to Terrell,TX and he took off. Since we were trying to get to Lubbock, this paid for us to get about half way there. I got us into Terrell on Monday afternoon and then we just had to worry about getting to Lubbock.
We lucked out and were able to get a load out of the Sam's Club in Dallas to deliver in Lubbock but first we had to run by the Saginaw drop lot and do a local delivery at 2100 that night. We were running behind since our drop in Terrell took forever to unload. But we got it all done and J got us almost all the way to Lubbock on Tuesday morning. I took over around 0800 and got us the rest of the way in. Unfortunately they wouldn't let us deliver until 2100 on Tuesday night so we just parked at the Sam's Club and had my mom come get us and J went back that evening to make the delivery.
We had a great Christmas with my mom, our daughter Jessica and my brother and his family. We surprised my mother with a laptop which she is super excited about. I am really happy that we were able to pull that off. She is in the process of moving to a different apartment so now all we have to do is to find an apartent with wi-fi and she will be all set.
Last night for New Year's Eve we went right down the road from my Mom's house to a little neighborhood bar that we used to always go to when we lived here. It was just J and I and we were really surprised to see a familiar face there. Actually 3 of them. They were all people that we worked with at the police department when we were living here. So we had a really nice time ringing in the New Year with old friends.
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