Busy busy. On the road again!

We ended up getting a load out of Los Indios TX delivering in Michigan. We were a little worried about driving even further south into Texas since we had no confidence in the repair work that was done to the truck. We did some Googling and found that there is an International shop in Pharr TX so we figured in worst case scenario we could go there if the truck gave us problems again. Fortunately the trip went smoothly and we had a nice drive to Michigan. It felt so good to get out of that ridiculous heat. In Michigan we could sleep with the windows open. No need for AC.

After we delivered we got another load right away picking up in Howell Michigan delivering in North Charleston South Carolina. We delivered and got a load picking up about a mile away delivering in Vance Alabama. On the way there we got another load picking up in Toone TN delivering in Bensenville Il. After that we took the day off to get some rest. We were pretty wore out. We did laundry and took showers. Caught up the paperwork. We watched Lebron and the Miami Heat finally win the championship.
Woke up this morning and right away got a load picking up in Goshen In delivering in Aurora Nebraska on Monday. Pays very nicely and we can take our time on it. Now we just need two more good loads to finish out next week and then time off for the holiday!

When life gives you lemons...grrrrr!!

Yeah, yeah, make lemonade. Right. Easier said than done sometimes. We took the load to Laredo and got there on Sunday night. We didn't deliver until 11 AM on Monday, so we parked at the TA, had a good meal and a good nights sleep. We got up the next morning and I drove the mile to the consignee. This place, like most all places on the Mexican border has extremely tight docks. The first dock they told us to back into was too narrow to even get into. I ended up having to move over two slots to get one wide enough to squeeze in. And a tight squeeze it was! While I was working on backing in, the truck at one point acted like it was going to die. It was just a quick thing that was over as fast as it started. After we made the delivery and were driving to the Speedco to get the oil change, I mentioned it to John. We didn't really think too much about it because the truck had been and still seemed to be running perfectly fine.

We got over to the Speedco, got the oil changed, thought about getting a truck wash, but with the way the wind was blowing the sand around, we decided against it. We headed back to the truckstop, this time the Flying J hoping to get a better internet signal (didn't happen). We had put ourselves available on a 34 hour restart coming back into service the next day at 4 PM. We were getting low on hours and figured that Laredo would be a good spot to do a restart in. We had a good meal and got back to the truck. Dispatch called and wanted us to do a load that was picking up that night at midnight in Eagle Pass, about 130 miles to the north of Laredo. We told them we were doing a restart, but they really needed us to do the load because it was hazmat. We were number 7 on the board, so apparently none of the six trucks ahead of us had their hazmat endorsements. It was just a load of air bag modules, but they are classified as hazmat. After going back and forth with dispatch, we agreed to take the load which delivered in Smyrna, Tennessee. My thinking was that it would be nice to get out of Laredo where the heat was about 102 degrees and the wind was blowing the sand around which is nasty. We would do our restart in Tn. They set everything up and around 8 PM John headed out to Eagle Pass.

To get to Eagle Pass, you have to take highways. It was a nasty drive because it started storming and the wind was really blowing the dirt around. It rained, but not enough to help. It just made things worse. We got to the shipper an hour early. John pulled the truck up in front of the docks and set the brakes. He ran inside to see if they were ready for us or if they wanted us to park out of the way somewhere. Right before he came back to the truck, the truck died. I got such a bad feeling and immediately thought about the incident that morning at the consignee when the truck almost died. John came to the truck and said, good news, they're ready for us. I said, bad news, the truck died! We tried to restart it, but it wouldn't do anything. Didn't crank or anything. The check electric system light came on the dash. Our first thought was that if we sat there a little bit and let it cool off, maybe it would start. Nope, not happening. John pulled the battery cover off and looked at the connections and the new fuse harness that we just had put on two weeks ago. No sign of any problems.

I went into the sleeper to turn on the apu to get some ac running and that's when I noticed that the apu wasn't getting any power. We decided we better call our carrier and let them know that we probably weren't going to be able to take the load. They started calling around trying to find road service to come out and look at the truck and had no luck. There was not one single place that would answer their phone. There were no name brand shops within 120 miles. Nothing. This was such a bad feeling. Finally, one of the guys who worked at the shipper came over to check on us and we told him what was going on. He knew a couple of people who did road service. We called them and none of them were willing to work with an electrical problem. We realized that we weren't going to get any help until in the morning. The shipper then informed us that they were closing and that we would have to leave and go to a motel. The worker that checked on us said he would drive us to a motel. By now, it was about 3 AM. We packed a bag  and he drove us to a La Quinta Inn, which was the only place in town that would accept pets. We have a small Maltese dog that rides with us. I was exhausted, hot and frustrated!

He dropped us at the motel, we checked in and in my opinion got overcharged for a room. $119 for the night and we were only going to be there for a few hours! What are you going to do? We got in the room, turned on the ac, and nothing happened. I called the front desk and told them the ac wasn't working. She had us come back to the desk, and switched us to a different room. She apologized for the inconvenience, but we told her that was just the way our day was going. We got into the new room and thankfully, the ac worked! John fell asleep right away, but of course, I laid there awake until about 7 AM when I got up, took a shower, then gave the dog a bath. John got up, took a shower, and I called a taxi to take us back to the truck. We got to the truck and I thought maybe we would get lucky and the truck would start. Again, nope. I started going through the list of truck repair places and had no luck. I finally called the International dealer in San Antonio and they said it would be sometime next week before they could even look at it. Seriously?! He told me the only other International dealer would be in Laredo. Great! Back where we started. I called them and they said they could probably look at it the next day and they gave me the name of a towing company that would tow us there. I knew the tow bill was going to be outrageous. They charge you for the miles to you and the miles that you actually get towed. It ended up being $1055.

On the bright side, our tow truck driver was a really nice guy named Jesse. He was great at his job, and his ac worked in his tow truck. What more can you ask for? Maybe one thing, 2 seats for passengers? Unfortunately, his truck didn't have a sleeper and only one passenger seat. He had a 5 gallon bucket between the seats so I got two pillows out of the truck and sat on one and put one behind my back. 130 miles on a bucket. Actually it wasn't as bad of a ride as I had feared. But it's not one I want to do again. Jesse was a great tour guide on the drive back to Laredo. He pointed out the new oil wells that are being drilled. These natural gas deposits were recently found and are a booming business in this area. The pipeline workers are from other areas and are living in RV parks that are springing up in the area to accomodate the workers because there aren't any other places for them to live. Also on the drive, we drove through swarms of butterflys. Jesse said every year at this time they come out of the fields. Not sure how long that will last, but they were incredible. Makes a terrible mess to the windshield and front of the truck though. Jesse also pointed out George Strait's (country singer) ranch. We drove right past it, and if someone didn't point it out to you, you would never even notice it. It sits back pretty far off the road and you can mostly just see the roof from the road. Jesse is retiring on Friday. We congratulated him and wished him well. He got us and our truck safe and sound to the International shop in Laredo.

Once at the shop, we checked in, and were told that they would likely get to our truck the next day. We called a taxi and were taken to the Motel 6 North. We have a pool here. There is a Golden Corral next door. We walked about a mile yesterday down to the Walmart and got a few things. We spent about an hour at the pool and did our laundry. We are getting caught up on sleep and unfortunately, International did not look at our truck yesterday and when I called today, I was told that it would probably be around 2 today before they got to it. I still haven't heard from them, and won't be surprised if I don't hear anything until tomorrow. Our carrier has a nice load that they would like for us to that picks up on Friday afternoon, but of course we can't accept it not knowing how long our truck is going to be out of commission.
I had such high hopes for this year, but it isn't going at all like I had hoped. Thank goodness we only have two more truck payments and then the truck is paid for and is ours. We have most of the work done on it that we wanted to get done. We have one more big job to do, which is having the frame sanded and painted with undercoating. If we can just survive these bad times we've been going through lately, we'll be in good shape.

Oh yeah, one other silver lining to this mess. Our truck is broke down during the annual safety blitz. There is a 72 hour period each year that commercial trucks and buses are inspected by dot and other officials at a much higher rate than normal. During our ride in the tow truck, we witnessed several inspection sites in full swing. They were pulling in every single truck. Of course that was on a highway, so they could get every truck. On the interstates, it's hit and miss. I've heard some crazy stories about how many trucks are being put out of service for violations. The craziest story I read about is that in New Jersey, they are actually diverting trucks into a football stadium for inspection and there was up to a 6 hour delay for drivers. This seems to me like it should be illegal for our government to do such a thing, but what do I know? I'm just a lowly truck driver...

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!

Trying to stay South

After spending a cold weekend in dreary Michigan we got a load picking up on Monday in Hamtramack, Mi. This one took us to our favorite state, Tallahassee, Florida! More sunshine and palm trees. We were hoping to get to stay a day or so, but freight is busy right now and we immediately got a load picking up in Byron, Ga.

From Georgia, we headed to Marion, Il. Cold, dreary and gray skies. Winter is so depressing in the north. Thankfully we didn't wait there long. We picked up in Clarksville, Tn and headed back to the warm south. All the way to Laredo, Texas. Laredo is a fascinating place. I wouldn't want to live there, but going there for our job is not bad.

After delivery in Laredo we picked up the next day in the same area and headed back up to Vance, Alabama. This load delivers on Saturday so more than likely we will sit until Monday now. At least the weather isn't too bad here.

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.

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!

Visit to Graceland

After a couple of really busy weeks we have found that in our line of work, weeks with a holiday usually mean that things are going to slowdown if not actually stop. This is okay with us because it gives us an opportunity to do one of the things that attracted us to this job in the first place. Sightsee.

Last week we ended the week in Massachusetts. We got a nice long 4 day weekend and eventually got a load picking up in East Granby, Ct. That load took us to St. Peters Mo and while on our way there we received our next load which was picking up in Washington, Mo with a delivery in Laredo, Tx.

Gates to Graceland

I was happy for a couple of reasons. One was that it was keeping us out of Canada and the Northeast and another is that I like driving in Texas. Little did we know that it was going to lead to something even better to be excited about.

We received a load offer picking up in Laredo right away. It was picking up on Thursday and due to the Memorial Day holiday it wasn't delivering until Tuesday in Evansville, In. We were paid layover pay for the additional days that we would be stuck with the load. We were happy with the deal and after looking at the map to see what our route would be and trying to decide what to do with our extra time, we realized that we would be going thru Memphis.

Elvis' Pink Cadillac

John at Graceland

John and his Mom have always been Elvis fanatics and neither one of us had ever been to visit Graceland. We did some research and found out that they offered truck parking so we made a plan to stop in and take the tour. I wasn't expecting much. I figured it was just a house, what would be so great? But, I have to say, there is something really special about that place and the way they have preserved his memory. You get caught up in the atmosphere and you can easily imagine what it must have been like in his glory days. It was one of the best tourist experiences we have had and well worth the money.

We took a ton of pictures, took our time walking through the  house, the outbuildings, the planes were awesome, we ate at the restaurant and toured all of the cars. It is just really nice what they have done there.

One of Elvis' two planes

I am so happy we have a job that allows us this kind of opportunity!

Deja Vu

We got our load out of Ontario and this time went much smoother as we came through the border. I still found myself getting uptight and nervous as we got closer but I made sure that I had my drivers license ready ahead of time so I didn't have to relive that trauma!

That load delivered in Middleton, Tn. If you've never been there, you haven't missed anything. It was out in the boonies. After we delivered, we went out of service to do some laundry, eat, and most important, get some rest. 

I think we've done pretty well for newbies but we definitely do not have the stamina that a seasoned driver has. I think the biggest problem we have is trying to sleep while the other is driving. I never thought it would be that big of a problem, but it is. I don't know how to explain it, but imagine laying in bed and your bed is moving, sometimes shaking hard enough to cause discomfort, you can hear cars and trucks passing by, it's still daylight out, your bed moves and stops, moves and stops. Other drivers say that eventually you get used to it and some claim to sleep better in the truck than they do at home.

All I know is that for now, we aren't getting rested when we are on loads so we have to stop and rest when we need it. Safety comes first. This is another reason we decided to go with expediting rather than mainstream truck driving. Company drivers don't have the luxury of going out of service or turning down loads. They get a load sent to them, they have to do it. Period. 

After going back into service, we eventually received a load offer that was picking up in Huntsville, Alabama which was good because it's the same place we picked up at just a few days ago. We won't have the stress of trying to find it since we now know our way there.

The downside to the load is that it again is going back up into Canada. Specifically, Windsor, Ontario. More paid sight seeing for us!

Delivery and a Pick Up in Canada

After our visit from the working girl in Toldeo, we eventually got a load picking up in Dowagiac, Michigan heading back up into London, Ontario. The drive over to the shipper was pretty uneventful but it was snowing pretty good which kept us on our toes.

I can't believe we were already heading back up to Canada. One of the reasons we wanted to do this job was to travel and see places we wouldn't normally get to see, so I guess I shouldn't complain about going back to Canada. I'm getting what I wished for.

The delivery site was a little tricky to find due to some one way streets and some incorrect directions provided by our carrier but we finally found our way there and got unloaded. This time we decided to wait for a load in Canada and see what happened instead of deadheading back out.

It worked and we got a load picking up in Orangeville, Ontario. The shipper that we picked up from quite frankly looked like a junk yard. A small one at that. We had so much fun getting our truck in there and weaving around through the junk that was laying everywhere. John's biggest concern was that we would run over something that would damage one of the tires. We don't need those headaches. In the end, we got in there, got loaded and got out of there.

Before we went inside

After we came back out. Yuck!

Again, it was snowing, but it is still winter so I guess that's to be expected. Can't wait for spring!

We are headed to Middleton, Tennessee for delivery.

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.