Getting Ready for Winter

Rain, snow, sleet or hail, who will carry the mail? Well, everyone expects to have their supplies even in bad weather, so the trucks continue to move, whether they have to use snow chains or not, goods are continually delivered.

I went out and bought a pair of coveralls yesterday. I think it is the first pair I have ever owned. I slid those things on and they fit like a glove. Just the few moments I was walking around the store looking for my Wife to let her see them before I bought them, I was burning up.

I have some long johns, a military ear muff hat, scarf, and a pair of Mukluks if I need them. Hopefully I will never have to don the Mukluks, but they will be there in case I do.

What's for Dinner?

One of the things I learned early on was to carry an ample supply of food in the truck in case I was not able to get to a place to eat. Not to mention that it is much cheaper to have your own food to eat from than to "eat out" all the time. I purchased a 12 volt Coleman cooler that keeps refrigerated items chilled so they will not spoil. I load it up with lunchmeat, milk, cheese, left overs from home, and candy bars. I have to have my chocolate. I plan on buying one of the vegetable trays to break down into plastic bags to take with me the next time I head out.

I also keep boxes of cereal, canned meat, soups, crackers, chips, beef jerky, mixed nuts, bread, pop(soda) and water on hand. A lot of these things were normal for us to take camping with us all the time, so we had a lot of it on hand already from our camper when I started driving. It does not take much to resupply it when my supply runs down.

When it comes around to breakfast time, I usually have boiled eggs that we cooked at home that I put into the 12 VDC fridge, cereal, banana nut bread, and/or donuts.

Sometimes I get so wrapped up on my schedule and meeting my delivery times that I forget to eat. Then at times I will just grab some crackers, jerky, chips, or something else to munch on along the way.

I have lost 30 pounds since I have started driving. Not bad considering I was getting pretty heavy. My clothes fit better and I feel much more comfortable now.

Take Time Off !!

The biggest demand that comes with driving a semi-truck is time. While I am enjoying the job, it takes a lot of my personal time away that I had with my family when working other jobs. Not only does it take personal time away from my family, but it takes my own personal time away as well.

I get five days off every four weeks. So I end up out on the road about two weeks at a time before I get time at home. While I can ask for specific days off, they are not guaranteed, except for a couple of times a year. When days off are not guaranteed, you can have a load to deliver on the day you were supposed to be off. When this happens you have to be sure to point it out so you can get your days off rescheduled. Normally they will reschedule them immediately after the days off you had originally requested. I did ask for guaranteed time at home for my wedding anniversary so my Wife and I can spend our anniversary together.

I get a ten hour Department Of Transportation (DOT) guaranteed break after I have worked for fourteen hours and/or driven eleven. Now you try to eat dinner, take a shower, sleep for at least 6 hours, and then get up and eat breakfast before the ten hours is up. There is not much time to read a book, get onto a laptop connected to the internet, watch any TV, or do much else that one would like to do with their personal time.

Once the ten hours is up, the cycle starts all over again. Pretrip the tractor and trailer and back on the road again.

When I come home for my time at home, I normally have a "Honey-Do List". I have to say the list is much smaller now since I complained about having to work the entire time I am at home and not being able to enjoy myself. Normally the things on the list are things that she cannot do herself and/or she is not sure of how to do. She is getting much better at not giving me so many things to do, especially since I indicated the time at home was meant more for she and I to spend "Quality Time" together.

I have to admit the my Wife has adapted pretty well to the situation and has been doing a lot of the things that I used to do around the house. I am proud of her for handling the home front as well as she has. I would also like to take a moment to thank both her Mom and Sister for being there to help her out and support her when needed.

Right now, it is Halloween night, begger's night, and my Wife, her Mother, and Sister are handing out candy while I am working on this blog. It is rainy here in Ohio tonight, so I am not sure how many ghouls and goblins will show up.

Exact Change Please

I recently had the opportunity to drive across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel. My routing was taking me through Maryland into Delaware and then on into Pennsylvania. I was to drop a load at Smyrna, Delaware and then pick up another at Chester, Pennsylvania.

I pulled up to the toll booth noticing that cars had to pay $12 to cross the bridge/tunnel. I figured I had sufficient cash to pay the toll for the semi-truck I was driving, but I wish I had know how much the fee was going to be before hand. The toll booth cashier said "$35 Please". I thought for a moment, realizing that I only had $30 in my wallet at the time, and then I said, "Do you take credit cards?", and his reply was an emphatic, "NO!". So I handed him the last $30 I had on me and asked him to hang on a moment when I grabbed my change bag. Thank God I had been dumping my change into a bag for a time like this. I pulled out $5 in quarters and handed them to him, asking him to make sure there was $5 there (like he wouldn't count it and let me know). He gave me my receipt and I proceeded onto the bridge/tunnel.

There are no pictures to provide you since it was raining when I went across the bridge and through the tunnel, but I am sure I will be through there again. Maybe the next time it will be sunny and I can get some good pictures to post.

All I have to say about that bridge and tunnel is that it is very long and narrow. I have never been on a bridge that spanned a water way for that length of time, nor have I been in a tunnel as long as those were. Thinking of driving a big truck under the water in a tunnel was also a first time experience for me. When I arrived on the other side of the bay, I was so glad to see land again. I had felt like I had just taken a journey of a life time.

Words cannot describe the experience nor the way I felt.

Ambassador Bridge - Detroit

Recently I had the opportunity to drive around Lake Ontario on my way towards Toronto to pick up a relay load from our operations center at Guelph, Ontario. I entered into Canada via Buffalo and Nigara Falls area and came back into the US via the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit. I went across this bridge in the dark. I am not sure how I would have handled it during the day because it was already freaky enough in the dark. All trucks had to stay in the right hand lane and they placed pylons on the road inside the lines of the right hand lane. Well, not to mention that lane was narrow and the edge of the bridge where there was deep water, was too close for comfort. Not to mention that I have this big truck that I had to keep inside these pylons and the edge of the bridge. It was nerve racking and very scarey, but I made it across the bridge safely. One day I am sure I will have to cross it in the day time. It will be interesting to see how high it really is, and having crossed it in the dark, I should be able to cross it in the daylight.

Here's your SIGN!!!

Here are a couple of stories that will make you want to hand out one of those "Jeff Foxworthy" signs to the people in the stories I am sharing with you now about what I see while driving down the road.

Off to the right side of the road. At one location a four wheeler (trucker's term for cars) decides to pull off the road onto the berm and throw his door open, oblivious to the fact there is a semi truck that I am driving coming down the road in the lane that he just pulled out of. Fortunately the lane next to me was clear and I was able to move over to the left in order to miss his door.

Near a rest area, before the off ramp, two cars were pulled over and about 30 people were huddling around these two cars, not paying attention to the amount/type of traffic going down the freeway only about five feet from where they were huddling.

A car was disabled in the median, just off the express lane, the back of the car barely off the road. Two men were walking about in the median, however the woman that was with them was wandering around in the express lane on a busy freeway.

An elderly lady and gentleman were driving in the lane next to me for quite some time on the interstate when all of a sudden I notice the care starting over to my lane. We were side by side, so how the lady driving could not see me, I have no idea. I proceeded to pull my air horn while taking evasive action, manuevering into the birm in order to keep from hitting them. They kept coming over into my lane. Why couldn't they hear my air horn nor see me? Luck have it, by some small miracle, she finally realized that she was on a collision course with a much larger vehicle and decided to pull back into her lane.

Safe Track

I was on my way into my home operations center to get my truck worked on and was advised that they wanted to do a "Safe Track" check on me. Well, I had no idea what this "Safe Track" thing was about. My mind was more on getting my truck fixed. It had so many things wrong with it.

I went through the "Safe Track" check which was a basic review of the processes/procedures that was taught during the original training program to make sure that I was still doing the things the way I was taught to do them. I did fine on everything except for the coupling/uncoupling of the trailer. While I did everything I was supposed to do, I did not do them in the sequence that they wanted me to do them in. So I had to go back and do the coupling/uncoupling procedure a few days later in order for me to be cleared and signed off by an official.

Once I was evaluated I was told that I would be passed on to another Service Team Leader (STL). I asked my current STL if that was the case and he indicated it was true. My STL indicated that I have been doing everything the way it was supposed to be done and therefore could be passed on from the 90 day evaluation period and his team to a new STL.

I met my new STL on my birthday and was also issued an orange truck since my white one was going to be in repair for a while. They may or may not be able to fix the white one, but the white one is history for me now. I am now driving a Freighliner and will miss the Kenworth. I was just getting used to it. Now I have to get used to a different truck. I spent all day just moving my personal belongings from one truck to the other. I still have things to put back into the truck in the morning from my hotel room.

I was put into "Breakdown Pay" since my truck was in repair and I did not have one to drive. I turned my white truck in just before midnight on Friday and was stuck into a hotel room where I stayed until Wednesday morning. I will be reimbursed for the hotel room and get $80 per day for the breakdown period.

It is back on the road again starting at 8 AM on Wednesday.

Stay tuned for more.

Winter Training

I went through winter training at Gary, Indiana a couple of weeks ago. It consisted of information related to driving slower and more cautiously during the winter months. They also covered how to put snow chains on, cleaning the ice off the wheels, how to keep your brakes from freezing and how to unfreeze your brakes if they do freeze, and how to keep your tires from getting frozen in the ice after stopping for a rest break after driving for several hours.

After the training I was given a ticket to get a free meal at one of the operating centers and a voucher to get another pair of work boots. I picked up my work boots while I was in Charlotte, North Carolina. So now I have two pair of company issued work boots.

Halloween Strikes!!!

Well, it was inevitable. They finally put me into an orange truck! My white one had too many things wrong with it to keep it on the road. So I got an orange truck on my birthday, just in time for Halloween. I will post a picture once I get one taken and post it out here on the blog for all to see.

Fall Foliage

From the mountains of Virginia I bring the following photo to you. Enjoy!

One year old Antique

This Tuesday I become a one year old antique. Yea, it has been a year since I have turned 50 and a lot has happened over this past year. I have lost my job that I was planning on retiring from and have started a new career, driving a truck. A job that takes me away from my loving family for days at at time.

I don't know who wrote the rules of life, but some times I think they could have taken a lesson in life them self before scripting life to turn out the way it does. Even though I understand we will have trials and tribulations to go through, I don't always understand why we must go through them.

Since I have started driving a truck, a lot of my friends have turned their back to me and have disowned me, but you know, I guess that speaks to their real character and means they really were never friends at all.

For those who decide I was not worth their time any longer, it is their loss, not mine. I still wish them all the best in their future endeavors. I will be making new friends and standing beside those who are willing to stand next to me as I venture off into this new career.

"We are who we are, base on where we were when." I did not come up with that, but it is a quote from somebody that I have been exposed to in my life time. I like it.

All I want to say is that if you take the time to be yourself with me, I will definitely take the time to be myself with you.

Just Fix It, Please?

I have my truck in for maintenance, yet again. The problem is, no drive, means no pay. I only get paid when I drive. They may be putting me up in a hotel and paying for it, but my emotions are paying for it, overall.

I will not get paid for a rental car to go home, just the hotel room until my truck is fixed. I am told that they will not be able to even start working on it until Sunday evening, maybe, and most likely will not start working on it until Monday.

Who knows how long it will take them to fix it once they actually start working on it?

I had to take a stand and tell them the heater has to be fixed before winter sets in. I also wrote up the leaking windshield that leaks like a sifter. The water streams into the instrument panel when it rains. A couple of other minor things needed fixed, like lack of power to a 12 V socket, and a dim light not working in the sleeper.

In the meantime, at our personal expense, we decided to rent a car so I could go home to see my wife. While the company will pay to keep me in a hotel room, they will not pay for a rental car, even though the tractor will not be repaired until some time Monday or Tuesday. I would almost bet it will be more like Wednesday before I get it back.

Directions Please

One of the aggravating things I am coping with is bad trip directions. The company used MapTuit and some of the directions are just off when it comes to letting you know the exact location of customers. The customers may be on the other side of the road than indicated in the instructions, or a block or two away. Which is not really a big deal if you are familiar with the area, but when you are unfamiliar with the area it is like walking into a dark room with a flashlight that has batteries about to die on you.

A perfect example recently was when I was sent into Madison, Georgia and was told to exit off Exit 113, go to a customer site to pick up a load. When I left, the instructions indicated that I was to go back to the interstate and exit off Exit 114. So I played along with the directions to make sure that I would not get lost. I drove all the way back to the interstate, the exact same way I got to the customer for the pick up. I proceeded to the next exit, got off, followed the directions, and what do you know, I was right back in front of the very same location I made the pick up from. As I passed by the pick up location I wondered why the directions didn't just say to turn left from the customer's site? Sure would have saved me about half an hour in time and about 10 or 15 miles of travel.

It reminded me of the time when I always enjoyed taking visitors around the traffic circle in Charleston, South Carolina just to see how many times I could get around the traffic circle before they would say, I think we just saw that house, didn't we? Are we going in circles? Then I would laugh and say, "Just wanted to see how many times we could get around the traffic circle before you realized we were going in a circle. Too funny.

Rest Areas/Rest Rooms Please

I could hold back personal embarassing information but feel it is important to let those who are considering driving a truck for a living to know what they are in for. Rest areas and rest rooms are few and far between when you consider that you have to find a place where you can park that big rig safely before you can even consider getting out to go to the restroom.

One really bad area is US 78, which will become the new I-20, between Memphis, Tennessee and Birmingham, Alabama. There was not one rest area going east bound on this road.

I know that you have most likely heard about "Piss Bombs", where truckers fill up bottles with piss in them and then toss them out the window. Some states are considering a hefty fine for this. I could never think of using a bottle and then tossing it out the window.

One thing that I have decided however, is that if states cannot provide sufficient rest areas where trucks can park to relieve themselves, is that I will pull off at one of the exits and then park on one of the "ON" ramps in order to take care of mother nature. Given a choice of letting go in my pants or letting it out, I can guarantee you that my choice is to let it out some place.

Don't get me wrong, I do use rest areas and truck stops when available. I just have to say that mother nature carries the law in that department, and when mother nature speaks, I listen.

Truck Stops Please

One of the things I have learned since I have been driving a truck is you cannot depend on having a truck stop when you need it. While driving in Florida I found very few truck stops available. I did find one that just had to be the place to park for the night. It was called Trucker's Paradise. Now by the name, that just had to be the place to spend the night. After driving through construction blockades and congested traffic in Orlando, Florida for a while, I finally set my eyes on the place. What, was this it? Hesitantly, I pulled into the run down pump islands and walked into the fuel desk to verify this was the "Truckers Paradise" referred to in the pocket sized truck stop book that I have. Sure enough, the cashier admitted that it was, what used to be the "Truckers Paradise", but it was bought out by a new owner and was renamed.

After verifying this was the place, I asked where the parking was available at, since the place appeared to be full. He assured me there was parking available and advised me that it would cost me $8.50 to park there for the night. Well, this surely surprised me, because I have not had to pay to park the truck at any truck stop since I have been driving. Then I started to realize that Florida does not have many truck stops and the ones they do have, just might charge. I would get reimbursed for the fee anyway, since it was an expense related to delivering the load I was hauling. I paid the $8.50 and the cashier proceed to write out a sign on a 8.5 by 11 piece of paper which included my truck/trailer number and the date the parking was paid for. I was advised that I would have to tape that sign to my windshield in order to prevent being towed away while I was sleeping.

I jumped back up into the truck and proceeded to hunt for a parking spot. All of the spots in the front of the parking area were full so I proceeded through an opening into the back lot to search for a parking spot. What, I have to cross a moat before passing into the back lot? Well, there was a huge water pond across the opening that I had to pass through in order to get from the front to the back lot. Now, realizing that I was in a big truck meant that I could most likely handle anything except a hole big enough to swallow one of my drive axles. After looking about at all of the other trucks who had successfully passed through the "pond", and accepting the peril I may be about to encounter, I proceeded through the water, very slowly.

After successfully navigating through the "pond" I made a sharp turn around while looking for a place to park. I spotted a trucker sitting in his truck watching TV and smoking a cigarette. I got out of my truck and went over to chat with him (information gathering). I found out that if I parked there over night that I would be lucky to get to/from the restroom without getting mugged and that the area was not really one of the safest areas to be parked in. He parked there due to the lack of places to park since Florida could care less about providing truck stops for truckers. The driver did tell me that it was ok to park in the travel center areas on the toll roads.

After weighing my current surroundings in this truck stop that I had just paid for, I decided to jump back up onto the toll expressway and park in one of the travel centers for the night. It would be much safer and the restrooms were much cleaner than the ones here at the "Truckers Paradise".

Truck Stop Happenings

There are some amazing things that go on at truck stops. The most recent of these was when I pulled into a truck stop before I got to Lakeland, Florida. There was a lady advertising no the CB truckers channel for cleaning your truck. I did not hear the advertisement before I actually saw her in action working her tail off cleaning windows and wheels for another trucker who was parked in the truck stop. My first thought was that she was a lady trucker just cleaning her truck. Boy was she going at it. Keep in mind that this is the season for love bugs on the gulf coast, so she had her work cut out for her.

Later, I heard her advertise on the CB truckers channel. The guy parked next to me took her up on the offer and she cleaned his windshield. He paid her, but was not satisfied with her inability to remove all of the love bug residue from his windshield.

Later that day, straight across from me in another parking spot, I saw a sight that I had never seen before. A tanker trucker had parked there. There were about a half dozen black people sitting on top of his truck, hanging on the side of his truck, and working from the ground, cleaning his truck, along with the lady who was advertising to clean trucks. I did hear the lady call the tanker driver on the CB when he was arriving at the truck stop. Apparently she had cleaned his truck before and wanted to know if he wanted it cleaned again this time. Little did I know that I was going to get a show out of it. It was hilarious, watching all of these people cleaning his truck, drinking beer while cleaning, and just the general body language and communications that was going on.

I have never ran across any lot lizards, but have heard about them. I keep my eyes open to make sure I never become a victim of a robbery and/or any lot lizards. One trucker told me that lot lizards is mostly talk. He had been in the business for years and has never been approached by a lot lizard. I will be sure to share, if I ever do run across one.