Currently we are sitting at the hotel here in Springfield. Got the truck in last night and got the APU installed. Then this morning J got up and went over and picked it up and took it over to Freightliner so they could look at the fuel tank. He left them our phone number so they should give us a call when it is ready. J is the sweetest and let me sleep in this morning while he went and took care of that stuff. Not that I got much sleep because Smokey heard everything outside the hall and was a big boy and barked and protected me. It was really cute so it was hard to get mad at him. He was just doing his job.
When J got back we went across to Bob Evans and grabbed us some breakfast. Now we are back at the hotel chillin out and watching tv. Actually I think we are going to take a nap. It is a lazy day and I don't feel like doing too much.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
Vandalia,IL
Well, only 280 more miles to Springfield and it is raining cats and dogs outside. Pulled over at a little truck stop here to let it pass. Checked the weather on my Blackberry and it looked nasty. Got stopped and fired up the computer to double check on a larger screen and yep, sure enough, it is nasty. Heavy rain, hail and strong winds. I guess I will just stay put for the moment and let it pass. Unfortunately, this is going to put us in even later than I had planned.
Yesterday we dropped the load that we had brought from Portland up in Cincinnati and Sidney,OH. While at our last drop in Sidney we got the next load which was going to bring us back to Springfield to get the truck worked on. We ran into issues at both drops because the load was short on product. Luckily the truck was Shipper Load Count so we didn't have to worry about it. However, it took them FOREVER to count and determine what was missing. We finally get finished at our last stop at 1630. Our next load is a live load at 1800 and it is 225 miles away. HELLO?? Anyone see a problem with this? Now, I am guessing that our FM thought we would be in sooner than we were and that we wouldn't have any problems with our drops and that this wouldn't be a problem when he pre-planned it. But here is my deal. We had plenty of time on the first load, so we stop and get a little non moving sleep at night. It would have been nice if he would have sent us a message early on letting us know when the live load was scheduled. We could have planned accordingly and not stopped that last night so we could get in first thing in the morning. All we knew is that we had to deliver by 1600 and that is what we did. Because of this, we had to drive the 225 miles and then park over night because they were closed when we got there and we couldn't get loaded until this morning. I am getting a little frustrated with our FM on some things. I realize that they don't hold your hand at this company, but a little more communication would be nice. I hate when I send in a question and get a one word answer. That really irritates me. But I guess that is a whole other topic.
So, it is roughly 2100 hours and I still have almost 300 miles to go. AND we are supposed to have the ACEII class in the morning. Well, I have a feeling we aren't going to make that. I'm not even going to make it in until close to 0300. Then we have to drop the trailer and get to the hotel. I can't function on just a few hours sleep. Maybe we can get it on Monday or something, or even Sunday if they happen to do it on that day. Probably be better anyway because we will have a few more weeks under our belts and more numbers to look at. Just a pain to get back through here. I guess we just let them know and they will get us back through when we need to.
So I guess I will close for now and check the weather again and see about getting on the road. Stay safe out there tonight!
Yesterday we dropped the load that we had brought from Portland up in Cincinnati and Sidney,OH. While at our last drop in Sidney we got the next load which was going to bring us back to Springfield to get the truck worked on. We ran into issues at both drops because the load was short on product. Luckily the truck was Shipper Load Count so we didn't have to worry about it. However, it took them FOREVER to count and determine what was missing. We finally get finished at our last stop at 1630. Our next load is a live load at 1800 and it is 225 miles away. HELLO?? Anyone see a problem with this? Now, I am guessing that our FM thought we would be in sooner than we were and that we wouldn't have any problems with our drops and that this wouldn't be a problem when he pre-planned it. But here is my deal. We had plenty of time on the first load, so we stop and get a little non moving sleep at night. It would have been nice if he would have sent us a message early on letting us know when the live load was scheduled. We could have planned accordingly and not stopped that last night so we could get in first thing in the morning. All we knew is that we had to deliver by 1600 and that is what we did. Because of this, we had to drive the 225 miles and then park over night because they were closed when we got there and we couldn't get loaded until this morning. I am getting a little frustrated with our FM on some things. I realize that they don't hold your hand at this company, but a little more communication would be nice. I hate when I send in a question and get a one word answer. That really irritates me. But I guess that is a whole other topic.
So, it is roughly 2100 hours and I still have almost 300 miles to go. AND we are supposed to have the ACEII class in the morning. Well, I have a feeling we aren't going to make that. I'm not even going to make it in until close to 0300. Then we have to drop the trailer and get to the hotel. I can't function on just a few hours sleep. Maybe we can get it on Monday or something, or even Sunday if they happen to do it on that day. Probably be better anyway because we will have a few more weeks under our belts and more numbers to look at. Just a pain to get back through here. I guess we just let them know and they will get us back through when we need to.
So I guess I will close for now and check the weather again and see about getting on the road. Stay safe out there tonight!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Peoria,Illinois
Well, from the title it appears we have covered some ground since I posted last. I was going to post yesterday, but there was nothing to post when I got up because, well, all I had done since I posted before that was sleep. :) Then I drove and was worn out when I parked for the night outside of Rawlins,WY and my worn out ass didn't get up until 1445 today to start driving at 1500. Yeah, I was pretty tired. I can't remember the last time I basically slept ALL of J's shift.
Anyway, so J got me to just west of Lincoln,NE today and that is where I took over. Finished up the shift with 520 miles and stopped at a rest area just east of Peoria,Il. Looks like J will only have about 320 miles to go to our first drop tomorrow in Cincinnati,OH and then it is on 90 miles to our final drop after that. So it should be an easy shift for him. Although he does have to tailgatge both of the drops, but a little physical labor never hurt anyone. :)
When I took over driving today it was really windy outside. I mean, I had to keep both hands on the wheel to keep it on the road. I hate when it is windy. Suprisingly, there was no wind at all coming across WY last night. And if you have kept up with my blog, you will know that I consider that the HELL state because of the wind and snow. But, since we were in Portland heading to Cincinnati, that was the best route to take so I just sucked it up and drove. I was extremely happy that it was a smooth drive across there. Maybe I will have to reevaluate my opinion of that state. Nah, I will keep that opinion for the winter months. I will just have a different opinion for the summer months. Yeah, because I am a woman and we are entitled to have differing opinions on subjects. I am pretty sure it is written down in some book somewhere. Like Woman Law.
Not that this is very interesting, but I had a PB&J sandwich for lunch and it was delish. Picked up some milk at the Pilot in Des Moines and it was ice cold. Perfect combination of PB&J with milk. Then for dinner I cooked some ramen. Chicken flavor. I really like having the microwave in the truck and being able to eat out of here and not having to eat truck stop food all the time. I can't wait until we get the APU installed so we can get an actual fridge in here. Then we will be set!
So here is the schedule for the next few days. Drop at two places tomorrow and be finished with this load. Then our FM is supposed to have us a load going back to Springfield. Since it is only about 550 miles from our last drop to Springfield, we should be in to Springfield sometime Friday, depending on when we can pick the load up. So I figure we will get in on Friday, try to get into the ACEII class on Saturday morning, check after that on getting the Smith System class, then the appt for the APU to be installed at 1700 on Saturday and on Sunday morning at 0800 we have an appointment at Freightliner to get the fuel tank problem taken care of. Also have plans on Saturday night to have dinner with a friend and her husband. When we were there last she mentioned a good cheap mexican food place they like to go to that has great margaritas. So that is what we will be doing Saturday night. Then TruckingTiger is supposed to be at the yard over the weekend, so we are hoping we can meet up with him.
That is my fun and exciting schedule for the next few days. I will keep ya updated on how things go. Crap, I forgot to download those pics of Smokey. I promise I will get that done. It may be over the weekend but I will get them posted.
Take care till then.....
Anyway, so J got me to just west of Lincoln,NE today and that is where I took over. Finished up the shift with 520 miles and stopped at a rest area just east of Peoria,Il. Looks like J will only have about 320 miles to go to our first drop tomorrow in Cincinnati,OH and then it is on 90 miles to our final drop after that. So it should be an easy shift for him. Although he does have to tailgatge both of the drops, but a little physical labor never hurt anyone. :)
When I took over driving today it was really windy outside. I mean, I had to keep both hands on the wheel to keep it on the road. I hate when it is windy. Suprisingly, there was no wind at all coming across WY last night. And if you have kept up with my blog, you will know that I consider that the HELL state because of the wind and snow. But, since we were in Portland heading to Cincinnati, that was the best route to take so I just sucked it up and drove. I was extremely happy that it was a smooth drive across there. Maybe I will have to reevaluate my opinion of that state. Nah, I will keep that opinion for the winter months. I will just have a different opinion for the summer months. Yeah, because I am a woman and we are entitled to have differing opinions on subjects. I am pretty sure it is written down in some book somewhere. Like Woman Law.
Not that this is very interesting, but I had a PB&J sandwich for lunch and it was delish. Picked up some milk at the Pilot in Des Moines and it was ice cold. Perfect combination of PB&J with milk. Then for dinner I cooked some ramen. Chicken flavor. I really like having the microwave in the truck and being able to eat out of here and not having to eat truck stop food all the time. I can't wait until we get the APU installed so we can get an actual fridge in here. Then we will be set!
So here is the schedule for the next few days. Drop at two places tomorrow and be finished with this load. Then our FM is supposed to have us a load going back to Springfield. Since it is only about 550 miles from our last drop to Springfield, we should be in to Springfield sometime Friday, depending on when we can pick the load up. So I figure we will get in on Friday, try to get into the ACEII class on Saturday morning, check after that on getting the Smith System class, then the appt for the APU to be installed at 1700 on Saturday and on Sunday morning at 0800 we have an appointment at Freightliner to get the fuel tank problem taken care of. Also have plans on Saturday night to have dinner with a friend and her husband. When we were there last she mentioned a good cheap mexican food place they like to go to that has great margaritas. So that is what we will be doing Saturday night. Then TruckingTiger is supposed to be at the yard over the weekend, so we are hoping we can meet up with him.
That is my fun and exciting schedule for the next few days. I will keep ya updated on how things go. Crap, I forgot to download those pics of Smokey. I promise I will get that done. It may be over the weekend but I will get them posted.
Take care till then.....
Monday, April 21, 2008
Portland,OR
Made it into Portland early this morning for our 0430 appt. Last night was treacherous. Coming across I-84 through eastern Oregon it started snowing. Then I hit road construction. Then the truck lost traction coming around a turn where the road was going down to one lane and I was headed up hill. SHIT! Well, I had no choice but to bring it to a stop. And of course we don't have any chains with us. I know, I know, but hell, it is almost freaking May people!! By the grace of God, and after basically screaming at J to wake up because I was freaked out, I was able to get rolling again. Of course the people behind me weren't happy because, like I said, I was just coming around a turn, so when I started out again, anyone coming around that turn was on my ass, but there was nothing I could do about it. Made it up to the top of the hill and pulled over. That seriously freaked me out. J drove us the rest of the way through the snow and down to Pendleton,OR which was about 30 miles. Then I was fine to take over again. I have done really well in the snow and ice, but losing traction like that, and it being dark, really messed me up. But I am all good now. :)
So, now that I have told you about that, I will tell you about our other problem we are having. For some reason, the passenger side fuel tank is not working. The tanks are set up to where you use fuel from each tank simultaneously and they drain at an equal rate. For whatever reason, the passenger side one is not draining. Something must be clogged or something. So we can go about 250 miles and it shows we are down to 1/4 tank because it is only reading the drivers side tank. Makes for a pain in the ass when you have to stop so often to get fuel. We were going to take it to a dealership here in Portland but we have to be in Springfield to have the APU installed on Saturday so we are just going to deal with the one tank for the rest of the week and then have them fix it while they are installing the APU. Smarter to be down one time instead of twice in a week.
Right now it is Monday night and we are stopped in Biggs,OR and are parked at the Pilot. Because of last night and the snow and the fuel tank situation, J didn't get much sleep at all. Actuall neither did I today. So we stopped and got a shower and decided to call it a night. We have about 2200 miles to go from here so that is an easy 500 miles each day the next two days for each of us and then J will only have about 200 miles to get us the rest of the way in on Thursday. We don't have an appt time yet, but we will be good to go. From there or FM has us a load waiting to come to Springfield so we should be in sometime Friday evening and that will work to get the truck in the shop for the fuel tank before the appt for the APU which is at 1700 on Saturday.
Smokey is doing really well in the truck now that he isn't traumatized anymore. He loves to sit in your lap on the passenger side and watch out the window. He also LOVES to cuddle on the bed and is a complete bed hog. He has done really good at peeing outside, but he has only pooped once. I am keeping an eye on him for that because I don't know if he just doesn't need to go, or if he is holding it for some reason. I take that back, he has pooped twice. Once in the truck :( but he is a puppy so that is going to happen. Did a little laundry today because of that....
Got some pictures of him today at a rest area and I think they are really cute. I will try to get the downloaded tomorrow. I am pooped and I an going to hit the sack.
So, now that I have told you about that, I will tell you about our other problem we are having. For some reason, the passenger side fuel tank is not working. The tanks are set up to where you use fuel from each tank simultaneously and they drain at an equal rate. For whatever reason, the passenger side one is not draining. Something must be clogged or something. So we can go about 250 miles and it shows we are down to 1/4 tank because it is only reading the drivers side tank. Makes for a pain in the ass when you have to stop so often to get fuel. We were going to take it to a dealership here in Portland but we have to be in Springfield to have the APU installed on Saturday so we are just going to deal with the one tank for the rest of the week and then have them fix it while they are installing the APU. Smarter to be down one time instead of twice in a week.
Right now it is Monday night and we are stopped in Biggs,OR and are parked at the Pilot. Because of last night and the snow and the fuel tank situation, J didn't get much sleep at all. Actuall neither did I today. So we stopped and got a shower and decided to call it a night. We have about 2200 miles to go from here so that is an easy 500 miles each day the next two days for each of us and then J will only have about 200 miles to get us the rest of the way in on Thursday. We don't have an appt time yet, but we will be good to go. From there or FM has us a load waiting to come to Springfield so we should be in sometime Friday evening and that will work to get the truck in the shop for the fuel tank before the appt for the APU which is at 1700 on Saturday.
Smokey is doing really well in the truck now that he isn't traumatized anymore. He loves to sit in your lap on the passenger side and watch out the window. He also LOVES to cuddle on the bed and is a complete bed hog. He has done really good at peeing outside, but he has only pooped once. I am keeping an eye on him for that because I don't know if he just doesn't need to go, or if he is holding it for some reason. I take that back, he has pooped twice. Once in the truck :( but he is a puppy so that is going to happen. Did a little laundry today because of that....
Got some pictures of him today at a rest area and I think they are really cute. I will try to get the downloaded tomorrow. I am pooped and I an going to hit the sack.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Heading to Portland
Finally got a good nights sleep last night. Thank goodness! I feel like a new person now. We got into Amarillo around 2030 to our pick-up after stopping to fill up the reefer. Got in there, got the trailer washed out and dropped it with their empty trailers, picked up our loaded one, got our paperwork and we were off. From there we headed into Amarillo to the T/A which was only about 6 miles away and hit the scales. We were over on our drives, which we had a feeling we were because it was a heavy load, but we decided to park and call it a night and deal with it in the morning. From there we went inside, used the facilities and then hit the sack. We parked in Idleaire because we had this bright idea that we wouldn't idle and just use the Idleaire. Well, you can't use Idleaire with these mirrors they have installed on these trucks on the passenger window. So, looks like we will have to never use Idleaire or have the mirror removed. I am thinking we are going to have the mirror removed. I'm not even sure what it's exact purpose is. Hopefully someone can tell me.
Right now we are headed into New Mexico. Because J drove us in last night, he couldn't even start driving until 0700 because of his DOT break. But we didn't even get up until 0730. Then we farted around and took Smokey for a wal, finished up some paperwork, went and showered, filled up, slid the tandems and re-weighed. So all that took a little time. But we are finally off. Our first stop will be Clines Corners,NM because I am craving one of their Green Chile Cheeseburgers. YUMMY!!!!
Smokey is doing a little better in the truck today. He actually moved from the floor in the bunk to the floor in front of the passenger seat WHILE the truck was moving. So that is an improvement. It is just going to take him a little while to get used to the movement. I am going to post a few pictures of him in a separate post after this. They aren't really good because he is just laying in the back, but I will get some of him outside standing up.
Right now we are headed into New Mexico. Because J drove us in last night, he couldn't even start driving until 0700 because of his DOT break. But we didn't even get up until 0730. Then we farted around and took Smokey for a wal, finished up some paperwork, went and showered, filled up, slid the tandems and re-weighed. So all that took a little time. But we are finally off. Our first stop will be Clines Corners,NM because I am craving one of their Green Chile Cheeseburgers. YUMMY!!!!
Smokey is doing a little better in the truck today. He actually moved from the floor in the bunk to the floor in front of the passenger seat WHILE the truck was moving. So that is an improvement. It is just going to take him a little while to get used to the movement. I am going to post a few pictures of him in a separate post after this. They aren't really good because he is just laying in the back, but I will get some of him outside standing up.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Amarillo By Morning.....
Well, by 2000 hrs and up from Lubbock, not San Antonio. But it sounded good in my head. We are sooo tired today. Got a load last night leaving out of Desoto,TX from Walmart heading to a Sam's Club in Lubbock,TX. That worked out perfectly since we were wanting to get to Lubbock. Now remember, yesterday, after stopping at Texarkana, I got maybe 6 hours sleep total. Ok, so after getting up at around 0630 yesterday we drop that load in Lewisville, take the trailer and drop it off to get repairs and bobtail to Walmart DC to pick up the load heading to Lubbock. Because of an accident and being stuck on the highway for over 2 hours, we make it to the Walmart DC at around 1600. Get the load, head to the Pilot for fuel and to scale, and head out. We are talking it is now 1800 hours. Sheesh. No nap for me and I take off driving. Get into Lubbock at around 0030 this am and we had a 0130 appt. Stop at the Flying J for some coffee and the restroom and get to the Sam's Club about 0110. We can't get ahold of anyone to answer the door. As I start to call into dispatch, J finally gets someone on his phone. They have us back up to a dock and wait. I waited for a while but around 0230 I just couldn't hang any more. I hit the sack and since J had slept all the way there he stayed up until we were unloaded. Finally he pulls away and parks in the Sam's parking lot at 0410 and hits the sack.
Bright and early at 0730 my alarm goes off. That wasn't near enough sleep I tell myself. But we don't have a choice because my mom is expecting us. I manage to wake myself up enough to call her and she is about 3 minutes away at the Home Depot getting some stuff. So she comes over and jumps in with us and we head over to ThermoKing. Now I know you are wondering why we did that. Well, Prime doesn't like it's trailers to be parked anywhere unattended, even if they are empty. So they set it up with ThermoKing for us to park at their lot which is fenced in. But we have to be back to pick it up around 1630 because they close at 1700. Drop the trailer off and head over to my mom's house. She just moved back to Lubbock and is staying with a friend of her's so we were helping her move some stuff around and get the house in some sort of order. Her friend is a complete pack rat and not a really good housekeeper. Of course this gives my mom a "project" which will keep her busy for a year trying to get the house straightened up. Anyway, my brother comes over also and between him and J they get a bunch of furniture moved out to the garage and get some other stuff done. It was stuff that was just too big for my mom to try to move. It is always nice having muscles around. I guess that is what sons, son-in-laws and husbands are for. :)
Around 1545 we leave because now we have to go pick up the trailer and we are meeting my dad over at the Flying J for some dinner. Had a decent dinner, but the company was better. :) I sure miss my parents and don't get to see them near as often as I wish I could. I think maybe now it will be easier to see them though since we are more in control of our lives since we are in business for ourselves and have a little more freedom in where we go.
We did decide to drop Bandit off with my mom. I think that is for the best for her. Mom loves Bandit and this way Bandit can be more active. We brought Smokey with us and he isn't really sure of the truck. We got him in the truck, but once you set him down, he won't move from there. I guess it is all just new and he doesn't like the movement of the truck. But he is still a puppy so he will grow into it. I figure we just need to give him a few days to adjust to it. He has grown quite a bit since we found him in the house. He is filling out really nice and looks like he is going to be a good medium sized dog. The older he gets the more Pit we see in him. That doesn't bother us though. It is all in how a dog is brought up. We have had two Rottweillers in the past. Both of them over 160 lbs, and yes, you read that correctly. They were huge and from excellent bloodlines. They have a bad rap also, but they were both the sweetest dogs. Protective, yes. But vicious for no reason, no. But we will get some more pictures of both dogs as soon as we can and post them on here.
Right now we are headed to Amarillo and have about 50 miles to go or so. The run up to Portland is only about 1600 miles and our appointment is at 0430 on Monday morning, so we have extra time. Once we pick up this load, we are going to go scale it, take a shower, and call it a day. Then we will head out in the morning. about 12-16 hours sleep in the last three days just isn't cutting it for me.
Bright and early at 0730 my alarm goes off. That wasn't near enough sleep I tell myself. But we don't have a choice because my mom is expecting us. I manage to wake myself up enough to call her and she is about 3 minutes away at the Home Depot getting some stuff. So she comes over and jumps in with us and we head over to ThermoKing. Now I know you are wondering why we did that. Well, Prime doesn't like it's trailers to be parked anywhere unattended, even if they are empty. So they set it up with ThermoKing for us to park at their lot which is fenced in. But we have to be back to pick it up around 1630 because they close at 1700. Drop the trailer off and head over to my mom's house. She just moved back to Lubbock and is staying with a friend of her's so we were helping her move some stuff around and get the house in some sort of order. Her friend is a complete pack rat and not a really good housekeeper. Of course this gives my mom a "project" which will keep her busy for a year trying to get the house straightened up. Anyway, my brother comes over also and between him and J they get a bunch of furniture moved out to the garage and get some other stuff done. It was stuff that was just too big for my mom to try to move. It is always nice having muscles around. I guess that is what sons, son-in-laws and husbands are for. :)
Around 1545 we leave because now we have to go pick up the trailer and we are meeting my dad over at the Flying J for some dinner. Had a decent dinner, but the company was better. :) I sure miss my parents and don't get to see them near as often as I wish I could. I think maybe now it will be easier to see them though since we are more in control of our lives since we are in business for ourselves and have a little more freedom in where we go.
We did decide to drop Bandit off with my mom. I think that is for the best for her. Mom loves Bandit and this way Bandit can be more active. We brought Smokey with us and he isn't really sure of the truck. We got him in the truck, but once you set him down, he won't move from there. I guess it is all just new and he doesn't like the movement of the truck. But he is still a puppy so he will grow into it. I figure we just need to give him a few days to adjust to it. He has grown quite a bit since we found him in the house. He is filling out really nice and looks like he is going to be a good medium sized dog. The older he gets the more Pit we see in him. That doesn't bother us though. It is all in how a dog is brought up. We have had two Rottweillers in the past. Both of them over 160 lbs, and yes, you read that correctly. They were huge and from excellent bloodlines. They have a bad rap also, but they were both the sweetest dogs. Protective, yes. But vicious for no reason, no. But we will get some more pictures of both dogs as soon as we can and post them on here.
Right now we are headed to Amarillo and have about 50 miles to go or so. The run up to Portland is only about 1600 miles and our appointment is at 0430 on Monday morning, so we have extra time. Once we pick up this load, we are going to go scale it, take a shower, and call it a day. Then we will head out in the morning. about 12-16 hours sleep in the last three days just isn't cutting it for me.
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