On a Good Roll for a Change

After we delivered in Ft. Campbell Ky, we drove to Richmond, Ky to pick up our next load. We didn't have to pick up till the next day so we got a good nights rest. Went there the next morning and got loaded. This load had a lot of extra time on it so we just stayed at the shipper to kill off several hours before heading out to Charleston, Sc. This would be our first delivery to Charleston AFB.

 I always hate going to a military base for the first time because you never know what you are going to run into. Some of them have multiple gates and depending on what you are hauling, there may be a specific gate that you have to enter through. Of course, nobody lets us know in advance. We have to find out the hard way. We got there and found what we thought was the correct gate. Wrong. The guard wouldn't let us in and directed us to a different gate. It was about a 10 mile drive to the next gate in bumper to bumper traffic. We got there and the guard let us in and told us how to get to the building our paperwork showed as our delivery point. We drove to it, went in to check in and were informed that we were not supposed to be allowed in that area with the freight that we were hauling. That guard called someone and informed them that the guard at the gate had mistakenly let us in and now we needed a police escort to get us to where we needed to be. I pointed out to him that our paperwork showed this building that we were at as where we were supposed to be and suggested that whoever sets these loads up should be informed to use a different address or include specific directions on where they want the drivers to go. I guess they think we're psychic or something. The police came along and escorted us across the flight line to where we were to get unloaded. About an hour and a half later we were out of there. Now in the future we will know where to go. Unless they change the rules before our return.

At this point, we were out of legal hours to work so we headed to a truck stop to spend a couple of days and get some much needed rest. We ate, showered, and I think I slept for about 15 hours straight. I slept most of the next day too. I didn't know how tired I was until I got there. I guess your mind knows when you need to keep going and when you can rest and you don't even realize it. We met a nice couple at the truck stop who was asking questions about the company we are leased on with. These people had just gotten back into driving after 2 and a half years away from driving. The husband had fallen off the flat bed he drove while tarping a load and got some serious injuries. They ended up losing their truck, their house, pretty much everything. I hate to see things like that happen to people who are just trying to work and make a living. Their goal is to save up enough to buy their own truck again. I hope they make it and I think they will.

After our break was over, we got a load picking up in Weaverville, NC delivering in Livonia, Mi. Non government, no special requirements. The only difficult thing about this one was driving through the freaking mountains. We can't seem to get away from them. We delivered that load, went to Meijers and stocked up the truck and drove to the truck stop. We were fueling up when our phone started ringing off the hook. Our qc started going crazy with messages also. Load offers from about 3 or 4 different dispatchers at the same time. The one we ended up taking was picking up in Jackson, Mi in a couple of hours and driving straight through to Maxton, Nc. Yep, back the way we came, more mountains!!

  On the trip down, John noticed one of our steer tires had a cut on the outside edge. We knew we could complete the delivery, but after that, we were going to need to get it changed. We delivered the load, drove about a hundred miles up to Kenly, NC and got a new set of steer tires and an alignment done. While changing the steers, they noticed that one of our tie rod ends was bad, so we had them change both of those while they were at it. The next day we went to the Speedco and had the maintenance done and then went to the Blue Beacon for a truck wash. Now she's riding smooth and looking mighty shiny!

Dispatch called us the next morning before we were even out of bed with a load offer picking up on Friday delivering on Monday. It's a whopping 15 pounds. So we are hauling our 15 pounder 2300 miles across the country.  We are on that load now, having to take our time on it because we can't deliver till Monday, but that's okay. We don't mind not having to push it. We will end up in the Northwest so we will see what happens from there. We have decided to stay out on the road instead of going home right now. We are enjoying the weather, the freight seems to be running strong right now, so we are hoping to get the bank account built up and take off later in the year. We will see how long we can stay out here!

A visit with our son

We did have a few days wait for the next load after the holiday. But it was a pretty good wait. Our son, Johnny who drives for Conway happened to be coming through the area we were in. He had some extra time on his load so he stopped in at the Petro in Oak Grove, Mo where we were and we all went over to the Waffle House and had a meal together. It was so nice to see him. I wish I could see both my boys more often!

He didn't get to stay too long but it was a good visit. He was showing us his new phone. He got a Droid X. He's been trying to talk me into getting a smartphone but I never felt it was worth the extra $30 a month for the data plan. After seeing what all his new phone can do, I am convinced. Me and John are both going to get new phones as soon as we get home again.

Dispatch called while we were there and offered us a load picking up in Richmond, Ky. I said, do you realize we are in Oak Grove, Mo? Thats a ridiculous amount of deadhead. They knew and they were prepared to pay us to drive the deadhead to get the load. We reached an agreement on the load amount and headed out to Richmond.

We got that load picked up and delivered it in Alexandria, Virginia. I was nervous as a cat. We were hauling explosives and that area over in Alexandria gets really hectic with traffic and I didn't want to get caught up in traffic and forced off on a route I wasn't allowed to be on. But, I made it. Just a little stressed.

Our next pickup was in Newton, Pa and takes us home to Florida. The load delivers in Clearwater which is about 90 miles from home.

Time to relax!

1st 2 Dod loads

We sat the weekend of the July 4th holiday. Not unexpected with this job. We managed to find someone to come out and replace our windshield.

We also got a call from dispatch with our very first government load offer. We accepted it even though I was a nervous wreck. I just knew that I would screw something up. Fortunately, it all worked out and things went fine.

The load picked up in Graham, Ky and we took it to East Camden, Ar. I won't say a lot about the load for obvious reasons, but I will say it wasn't what I expected.

The next load was also a military load. This time picking up in Mcalestor, Ok and delivering in Richmond, Ky. There is a truckstop down the road from the base in Mcalestor. There is also a casino next door to the truckstop. We didn't go in but we might in the future if we get back there.

After having two military loads under our belt now, I feel much better about things. The stress level has gone down considerably.

Next up was a load picking up in Vonore, Tn and going to our favorite place. Brampton, Ontario. Yippee!

Happy 4th of July!

We took our time getting back to Fargo. Thank goodness there were no more Alberta loads waiting on us. We had the entire weekend off and didn't get our next load until Tuesday. It was a shortie picking up in Fargo and delivering in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Just one hospital bed. We got to the pickup site and found out that we really needed a liftgate because the place had no dock. The shipper found a piece of metal that they leaned up against the truck and used it as a ramp to wheel the bed up. Those beds are very heavy and have to be treated with kid gloves. If they get scratched, the hospitals won't accept them.

After that, we got a load picking up in Medford, Wi delivering in Milwaukee, Wi. Another shortie but working our way back into the freight zones.

Next, we picked up in Machesney Park, Il and delivered that one to Olive Branch, Ms. From there we picked up in Memphis, Tn and took that one to Morganfield, Ky. Along the way we received notice from our carrier that we finally received our DOD clearances so we are available for government loads now. I have mixed feelings about that. Yes, the money is better, but nervous about all the extra security protocols and communications that are involved with those loads. It's been a while since we had our training so I hope I can remember it all when the time comes.

On an earlier trip in New York, a rock flew up and hit our windshield. It didn't do a lot of damage at the time, but now that it's getting warmer out, the sun seems to be making the crack grow. We are going to have to have the windshield replaced.

After our delivery we went to a truckstop to spend the weekend and another couple in an expediter truck parked next to us. I saw them looking our truck over and made eye contact with the lady. She came over to the truck and I rolled the window down. It turned out that they were friends with the owner of the truck we drive. They recognized it by the decal on the back doors. We talked to them for awhile and it was sad to hear about all the fun they had together and how it all suddenly came to an end with the death of the owners husband. He was only 42 when he had a heart attack. Fortunately, they were at home when it happened. It could have been a lot worse. Especially if he had been driving.

Another Busy Week...Getting Tired

We thought we would at least get Sunday off, but the freight must be really running strong right now. We managed to get our truck maintenance squeezed in between loads and then it was off to Morganton, NC for a load bound for Louisville, Ky. Some car manufacturing plants are a real pain to deliver parts too. That's all I'm gonna say about that.

Next was a pickup in Cordon, In heading to Lake Orion, Mi followed by a load picking up in Manchester, Mi heading back up north of the border to Ayr, On. We get more and more irritated each time we take a load across the border. It gets old very quickly, all the questions and the being treated like a criminal just because you are doing your job and need to return to your own country. We are seriously reconsidering doing the Canada loads but we're just not sure how  busy we would stay without them. Other drivers say they think we would do better without Canada. We'll have to think it over.

After that, it was East Aurora, NY to Baltimore, Md. Yikes! Talk about traffic. You can't get anywhere fast up in the Northeast. I don't know how those people can stand to drive in that every single day. Then it was a pickup in Norwalk, Ct and a delivery in Weymouth, Ma.

Things died down after that one and we have received a couple of much needed days off. We still lack the stamina to drive miles like seasoned truck drivers do and I know it's because we still haven't learned to sleep in a moving truck. Hopefully soon a switch will flip and it will be easier for us to do.

Our First Load.....Let the Fun Begin

Maybe I missed something during orientation. We waited all Thursday night and nothing happened. Friday morning, nothing. Finally I called into driver relations and found out that our qualcomm wasnt activated. They walked me through it and we were officially on the board. I was a nervous wreck. I wanted a load but at the same time was scared to get one.

 It wasn't too much longer and we got our first qualcomm beep. I pounced on it and read the message. It was a load picking up about 20 miles away in Ohio going about 550 miles to Tennessee. I pushed the buttons hoping I was doing it right to accept the load and off we went. John and I discussed it and decided I would be the one to start out driving. I was terrified! I kept thinking, what in the world do we do when we get there?

 I found the shipper, pulled in and saw a sign that pointed the direction to shipping and receiving. Okay, that makes sense, I'll go there. Drove back there, saw the docks, parked the truck off to the side. Me and John got our paperwork, and went into the shipping office together, since neither of us had a clue what to do when we got in there. Walked in, announced who we were with and that we were there to pick up a load. We were told to back into the dock, they were ready for us. We headed back out, relieved that they didn't seem to think we had no clue what we were doing and with John's direction, got the truck backed into a dock. We went in and watched them load the truck, then John secured the freight with load bars. The shipper handed us the Bill of Lading, which we had never seen before, but about 99% of the time you will get with every load. We went back outside, pulled the truck up, John closed and locked the doors, I figured out what messages to send into the carrier and off I went.

I was on cloud nine driving that night. I made it to Shepherdsville, Ky and decided to stop for a break. This was my first experience finding out that if you pull into a truck stop late at night, good luck finding a parking spot. Truck stop was full, but there was a closed gas station across the road from it that our truck would fit in, so I drove over there and parked and took a couple hours nap. All the stress and excitement had worn me down.

I woke up, finished the drive and made it to the consignee. Again, what do we do now? We looked for the shipping and receiving signs, found them, went into the office and we were informed that no one would be there for about 3 hours to unload us. We were directed to a spot that we could park and wait. We parked the truck, set our alarm clock and both of us went to sleep. The alarm went off, we got up and I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the time. I had gotten confused about the time because the consignee was on central time and we were operating on eastern time, so we were an hour later than I had planned to be.

 We were so upset and scared to death that we were going to be terminated! We drove back over to the consignee's docks, checked in again, was told to back into the dock and got unloaded. No one mentioned anything about the time and we never heard anything from our carrier about it. What a relief and a lesson well learned! Just one of many to come I'm sure.