Heading back to.....Laredo!

Thankfully we are finally getting some steady miles. We completed the load from Laredo to Ohio. Then drove to Michigan and picked up and delivered that to Georgia. During that drive we received multiple load offers and accepted the longest one which was picking up in South Carolina and delivering in Laredo. We picked up on Saturday and deliver on Monday so we have an extra day on the load and we can get rested up while making some money. Once we get down to Laredo we are also going to need to get a pm (preventive maintenance) done on the truck. We almost exclusively use Speedco for that. They are fast and pretty good although John watches over them like a hawk to make sure they are doing their job properly. A simple oil change when done  improperly can really cause major damage to a motor.

Our very first experience getting a pm done in the first truck we drove was a good example. We went to a TA and they twisted off the oil plug. It was a Mercedes motor and from what I understand, the metal used on those is not as strong as most others. This was the second time that had happened on that particular oil pan and since it had already been tapped out, it wasn't possible to do it again. As an intermediate fix, they put a knob thing on it, looked like a water spigot. That held until we could get it to a shop to have a new oil pan installed which cost about $1600. Overpriced because it was a Mercedes motor. Of course the Ta blamed the prior company that did the oil change and that place said no, they didn't do it, it must have been the Ta. So the owner ended up having to pay out of pocket for the damage. That's the main reason we stick with one company to get the oil changes done. This way, if someone screws up, they can't point the finger at anyone else.

It's really sad how repair shops take advantage of truck drivers. It's one thing to need to get work done on your truck. It's another to know that you are depending on that shop to treat you fairly and to do the job properly. Our sons recently had a problem with their truck. Their check engine light kept going off and on. They took it to an International shop in South Carolina. That shop took all week to work on it and their diagnosis was a faulty fuel sensor. They changed it and I forget the exact amount of the charge but it was more than I thought it should be. They left the shop, took the next load offer and the check engine came on. They ended up taking it to the International shop in Ocala, Fl which is the one we seem to have the best luck with. That shop diagnosed it as a faulty oil temperature sensor. I believe it was around $400 this time for the repair. The good news is that they actually fixed the problem.

From what I have seen, when you take your truck in with a problem, the "mechanic" will hook it up to the computer and if that computer doesn't tell them what the problem is, they start guessing and you may end up paying out a lot of money on parts that weren't really bad. Sometimes if you get a young mechanic and he can't find the problem, he'll go and get an older more experienced mechanic and they usually know immediately what the problem is. Too bad there isn't more of the older ones available.

Off to Alabama..or not

We delivered in Ohio this morning and had our next load within an hour. Nice load picking up in Ohio and going almost 700 miles to Alabama. The pickup was almost deadly for John. The docks were so close together the truck next to us almost ran over him when he was lowering our dolly legs. The other driver said he never saw him. Broad daylight and John wearing a bright yellow shirt. Very scary!

Luckily it turned out okay and I headed out to Alabama. Truck was running great I had the cruise on and was doing about 60 mph. 165 miles into the trip the cruise kicked off, the truck slowed down and finally died, engine light came on. I managed to get onto the shoulder and tried restarting. No luck. Called our carrier. They were going to send a tow truck to take us to the International shop 25 miles away.

 I tried starting it again and this time it started and we made it to the shop. Repair only took half an hour but we had to give our load up since we werent sure how long it would take. Turned out to be an ecm idb fuse harness shorting out. New one and $200 we were good to go but now our sleep schedule is messed up so we are not accepting any loads till in the morning. Time for some gooood sleep!

Our first Ferry Ride

Waiting in line for the ferry 

We left our comfy hotel room on Monday and made a pickup in Maple Grove, Mn. We delivered that load to Lebanon, Ohio and immediately made another pickup in Cleves, Ohio with a delivery in Athens, Tn.

From there, we next picked up in Anniston, Alabama and delivered in Colchester, Vermont. This was not the most pleasant of drives as it involved a LOT of small two lane twisting winding highways. Some drivers prefer those kind of roads for the scenic view, but I'm not one of them. I prefer to stay on interstates and large highways.

After our delivery we found a so called truck stop and headed there to wait for the next load. We went inside to eat and they had some brochures near where we were sitting that happened to catch my eye. I picked up a couple and they were ferry schedules. I took them back to the truck with me and studied them. For some reason, they were interesting to me.

The ferry pulling into the dock

As luck would have it, our next load was picking up in Liverpool, NY. I studied the map and saw that there was a big lake between where we were and where we wanted to go. We could either take the highway down, around and back up the lake, or......we could take the ferry across!

I was pretty excited about it. John was not thrilled at all! He did not like the thought of taking the truck onto a ferry. This was a new experience for both of us. I had read about other drivers having to take their trucks on ferrys to get where they needed to be so I wasn't too worried about it. I had to convince John of the safety though.

Our view out the windshield while on the ferry

I got my brochures back out and figured out which ferry we wanted and took off. John said since it was my idea, I could do the driving. Fine with me! I found the ferry with no problem and we got in line. As luck would have it, we were first in line which meant that we got loaded onto the ferry first. They motioned me forward until I swear I thought we were going to go right off into the water, but we didn't. We now had front row seats to enjoy the view across the lake!

We made it to the other side!

Luckily it was a pretty calm day and there weren't a lot of waves. After John's nerves calmed down, he actually was able to enjoy it also. The ferry took us across to the other side and we drove off and continued on to our next destination. Simple!

Working Hard

Nothing much to really write about. The truck has kept running and thankfully we are building our savings back up.

After the 4th of July that we got to spend at home with friends, we went back into service and immediately got a load. We kept busy the rest of the week. The loads went like this:

Mayport, Fl to Anniston, Al
Rome, Ga to Wapakoneta, Oh
Dayton, Oh to Lansing, Mi
Lake Station, Il to Avon, Mn

Because it is so hot out and our truck isnt equipped with a generator, we decided to get a hotel room for the weekend. We found a nice Red Roof Inn. They allow pets for no additional charge. It really is a nice place. It almost seems like a campground atmosphere here. Some of the guests have grills outside and we were invited to join in with them, but we declined. Sometimes, we are just not very sociable.

Labor Day

We made our delivery in Kitchener and headed to a nearby truckstop. We initially thought we might get some time off being in that area, but as usual we were wrong. We had a pick up the next day in Belleville, Ontario. This one went to Plymouth, Michigan. That's all right. We like to get paid extra crossing the border with a load on.

We next had a pickup in Chesterfield, Mi with a delivery in Princeton, In. Back in the Hoosier State! Seems like anytime we get in Indiana we can expect a load offer out of Crane. We were right. Next up was Crane, Indiana going to Norfolk, Va. Wow, that is an awesome navy base in Norfolk. We were shocked at the size of those ships. I don't know the proper names for them so I won't even try, but they are huge!

We next picked up in Richmond, Va and delivered in Grand Rapids, Mi followed up with a pickup in Grand Rapids, Mi. This one delivered in Wayne, Mi and had a pickup in Kenton, Ohio. Lots of little loads, but all picking up and delivering direct so we agreed to them. The Kenton load delivered in Kansas City, Kansas on Saturday.

Labor Day is Monday so we figure another long layover over the holiday.

Ran out of Juice

After another weekend off, it was back to work on Monday. We picked up in Pryor, Ok and delivered next day to Goshen, In. Then a pickup in Lima, Oh and a delivery in Green Bay, Wi. The only thing I think about when I hear Green Bay is Brett Favre. Yes, I am a fan!

After that it was a pickup in Green Bay, Wi with a delivery to Somersworth, Nh. Unfortunately, back to the northeast. Only thing worse would be a trip to Canada.

After our deliver we went to a truckstop to rest up, eat and shower. Our truck has an apu on it so when we park we run the apu for heat and air and to keep the batteries charged. It has a voltage monitor that will make it start automatically if the batteries get down to a certain level. We have now learned that if your batteries are bad, they will drop voltage faster than the apu can react and it will not be able to start in time to charge up the batteries. We learned this the hard way by having them go dead and leaving us with no way to start the truck or the apu.

We contacted the owner who wanted us to see if we could find a truck driver in the area who would be willing to jumpstart us. We didn't have any luck with that so we had to call mobile repair service to come out and jump us. The owner looked around for a place nearby to get the batteries changed out. She said she didn't see any so we just have to keep the apu running until we can get the batteries replaced.

Jessie's Graduation

We are on such a good roll! I am still loving the fact that we got to visit Graceland last week! And now this week has turned out to be special as well.

After deliving the load in Evansville, In we next picked up in Murfreesboro, Tn. That load took us to San Antonio, Texas which was followed by a pickup in Laredo, Tx which had a delivery in Memphis, Tn. Then came the really good part. Our next pickup was in Southhaven, Ms when a delivery in Sidney, Ohio.

However, the Southhaven load picked up on Friday and didn't deliver until Monday and with just a few miles added on, took us right by my parents house in Indiana. It just so happened that my niece was having a graduation party this weekend and this load gave us the opportunity to attend the party.

Topping all that greatness off, our son, Johnny who is driving solo for Conway right now, happened to be in the same area as we were on our way up from Mississippi and we met up at a truckstop in Tennessee and spent the night there while he took his required 10 hour DOT break. He was on a load that was delivering to the same town that my parents live in and his load didn't deliver until Monday either. What are the odds of that? We convoyed up to Mom's house and parked the trucks and had a fantastic weekend visiting a lot of relatives that we wouldn't normally have gotten to see, but because of the graduation party, they were there.

I have to say it again, I LOVE the opportunities that this job is giving us!

One of Our Busiest Weeks

After the last Canadian debacle, we had a nice peaceful Mother's Day off. Time to rest up and get ready for the next adventure.  We didn't have to wait too long. Next up was a pickup in Syracuse, NY. And, true to form, a delivery in Ontario. This time in Ottawa. The capital of Ontario. It was quite a drive, but nothing too exciting. 

After that load was completed, we turned around and went right back to Syracuse for the next pickup but this time we were spared the return trip to Canada and instead we headed for St. Paul, Minnesota. The scenery along the drive was beautiful.

It was a busy week with no breaks. We delivered and immediately went to Eagan, MN for the next pickup to be delivered in Hartland, Wi. This was followed by another immediate pickup in Elkhorn, Wi with a delivery in Fredericktown, Ohio. From there we went to Groveport, Ohio and that one delivered direct to Asheboro, North Carolina. 

What a week! We actually felt like real truck drivers this week with all the nonstop action.  Now that it's Saturday, we'll see if there's any freight for the weekend or if we manage to get a couple of days off.

Our First Lot Lizard Visit

What a lovely first this is! We've all heard the stories about the truckers getting unexpected visits from the "ladies". Well now we can add our own story. After we left Canada we deadheaded back down to Toledo, Ohio to wait on our next load. We went to the Pilot and parked, had dinner and then were lounging in the sleeper using the computers and surfing the web. I'm not sure what time it was, but it was dark outside, when we heard someone start pounding on the passenger door. We looked at each other like what the heck is that all about? We just sat there without moving and next thing you know, there's pounding on the drivers side door.

At that point we decided John better check it out in case it was a cop or something going on that we really needed to know about. John went up into the cab of the truck and pulled back the curtains just in time to see a "lady" walking away. Guess she got the hint and decided to move on.

Our boys drove a semi for two years and didn't have a single visit from a lot lizard. We are so fortunate to get one after two loads. Lucky us!

The next morning we got up and started to head inside to get something to eat and on the ground between our truck and the one next to us, there laid a nasty used condom. Disgusting! Guess someone must have taken the lady up on her offer.

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.