miles

We made it to Columbus with a couple hours to spare, then sat, and sat, and sat. Got there at 2pm, for a 4pm sched delivery. Oh yea, they sent us a preload assignment that we were to pick up at 3pm. Hmm, guess they think we are REAL good, being able to get a 2nd load before our first unloads!
Well, we waited until about 5:30 before being called to the dock, then it was around 8pm before we finally got out of there. Our new load was loaded at the same place and dock for us. It is a load of fiberglass front ends for the new Kenworth T-660's. It is a really light load. They are in steel racks and theycould only fit about 5 or so in the trailer, plus some other smaller stuff. Total weight this time is only 9400lbs. The relay we took to Columbus was a load of empty steel racks they use as shipping fixtures. That load was 23000lbs.
We are now headed to Calexico, Ca, JUST over the Az/Ca border. We have had some time on this run as well. We stopped in Indiana Tues nite. That was the nite there was very strong winds and blowing snow. Just safer to shut down for awhile. From there we went to Tulsa and had lunch with my Dad. He sure is missing my Mom. Was good to see him again. He needs to get out on the road as well. He delivers motorhomes around the country for a couple of places, and enjoys driving as his "get-a-way".
We made it to Santa Rosa, New Mexico last nite and shut down for some sleep while stopped. When we woke up at 3am, there was SNOW around. It only lasted a few miles out of Santa Rosa then the roads cleared up. By the way,,,,did I mention COLD!!??? We hit -10 this morning. I thought this was the warm southwest!!! :)
We should be in Yuma, Az this afternoon, and plan on dinner with my aunt there (mom's sis). We are all having a hard time missing Mom, but dealing with it,,,,good to be together some.
Out load is due in to our drop yard in Calexico by midnite, so will take it over this evening some time. It is only about 50mi from Yuma.
Will be interesting to see what we get out of there. If we can get a decent dispatch, we should hit 5000mi this week. This puts us somewhere around 3600.
Keep it safe out there. By the way,,,did I mention it is COLD here?? :)

Back on the Road

We spent most of yesterday waiting in Tulsa for our next adventure. About 4pm we were dispatched to deadhead west to Amarillo,Tx for a relay, then back east to Colubus Ohio. We were due in Amarillo before 0300, and the inbound truck was due by 0400. We got there about 10pm and requested status on the other one. We were told he showed there. We searched all around the Pilot we were at, but no luck. Figured he was at another truck stop or rest area. Our relay was scheduled for 4am (0400), so we decided to get some sleep untill after 2am since we were supposed to be there by 3am. Again we looked but no joy. We requested the location of the other truck, and was told he wasn't due in till 4am, and was 89mi out. Hmmmmm,,,oh by the way, the earlier report on his location we sent you was wrong. DUH. We went back to bed for a little while and got up just before 4am, and there he was!
Made the relay, swapped trailers, and headed out. Kim's turn to drive the new rig. It has a little different feel to the transmission than the old truck, and rides smoother. We made it to Okla, but she was fighting a headache, and we have plenty of time on this load. Parked in the Oklahoma welcome rest area for a couple hours of sleep. We are not scheduled in Columbus Oh till 4pm Tues afternoon. The GPS said if we kept going from Amarillo, we would arrive around 11pm tonite,(Mon) so we have quite a buffer on this.
We have a tire out of balance on the right drives I think, so we will plan on refueling in Joplin, and having them take a look at it.
Keep it safe out there!

new truck

While we were in Joplin, we got our new truck. It is a 2007 Kenworth T2000. The last one was a 2006 Kenworth T600. The T2000 has a wider cab and you can stand up in it. Here are a couple of pics. One is of the T2000 by itself, and the other is our old t600 with the new one behind it. It was a good truck for us, hope the new one does as well.

Tulsa and the Memorial service

We got to Tulsa Thurs morning, and parked the truck for the weekend. Mom's memorial service Friday went good. Many family and friends, past and present, were there. Its good to see people you haven't seen in years, but sure wish it were under better circumstances. Mom was truley loved by many.
Sat was a down day for us. We went to the cemetary to see the plot, then hung out around Dad's motorhome and my brothers house.
Sunday morning now, and we are back on the board, life goes on, and time for us to get going. Many have told us, and I have to agree, this is our therapy, driving and traveling.
We are #1 on the board, but it is Sunday, so not much telling how long we will sit around waiting today. That is one of the drawbacks to the system, especially for solo drivers. You may wait around all day for a load, basically off duty,but when the call comes, you're expected to be ready to go. Teams can deal with it, because one "could have been resting" while the other is waiting, tho that is not real world.
The fun starts again,,,,where to next?? :)

Life changes 2nd edition

This blog update is one of the hardest things I have done. I have tried 3 times to get it done also and kept loosing signal. So here it is edited,,,,I hope.
We got to Yuma Sunday on the 6th and saw Mom. We were able to stay until Tues afternoon, then took our load up to Las Vegas and made it back Wed afternoon.
We spent the nite with Mom and Thurs had a good visit with her, got to show her pics of our son and his new fiance'. Fri things took a turn for the worse. She was not coming around for the few times a day. My middle brother came out Friday nite, and Saturday we were told her organs were shutting down. WOW, what a thing to deal with.
My younger brother and his wife was called and made it Sunday, so the entire immediate family was there.
Monday she was sent to a hospice/nursing home, due to no more treatment at the hospital, they did all they could. We took shifts and stayed with her 24/7.
On Wed, Jan 16, my Mom passed away at 5:30pm.
Heaven has an angel back, she truely was an angel on earth, and will be soooo very missed by us.
With all the family there to make arrangements to get her back to Okla, everyone told us to get back on the board and drive, that would be some of our therapy. We were deadheaded to Nogales, Az for a load and took it to our terminal in Taylor, Mi. (Detroit area). a good 2000+mi run. From there we were sent to Chicago area for a load headed to our drop yard at KC, MO. This was a relay, meaning it was picked up and continued by another team.
We pick up a trailer there the next morning after a well needed nite of sleep and took it to Davenport, Ia. This had some time on it, so we were able to stop in Des Moines and visit with our daughter and her boyfriend. Kinda nice to be able to visit the family and friends spread out all over the country. I just wish it were under better circumstances.
From Davenport we went to Fort Madison, Ia for a load that was to relay in Joplin. We are finally getting our truck.
We are now in Joplin moving into the new truck, and will be making arrangements to go to Tulsa for my Mom's memorial service on Friday.
Give your loved ones an extra hug, life can change so quickly.
Till next time, keep it safe out there

Life changes

This blog update is one of the hardest things I have done.
We got to Yuma Sunday the 6th and saw Mom. We were able to stay until Tues afternoon, then took our load up to Las Vegas and made it back Wed afternoon. Mom Nogales, Az, and taking it now to our terminal in Taylor, Mi. (Detroit area).
We are hilighted to Joplin for a new truck, and will be making arrangements to go to Tulsa for my Mom's memorial service.
Give your loved ones an extra hug, life can change so quickly.
Till next time, keep it safe out there

Changes

WHEW, there has been some changes wince last post. We were hilited to get to Joplin for the new truck. However, Friday I was told my Mom was not doing very well. She has been in hosp since the 1st of Jan with circulatory and heart problems. We called the nite Fleet manager (FM) friday nite and told him of the situation. I also told him I understood we were too soon to hilite since our Christmas time off. You need 10 days out before you can request time off and hilite to go somewhere. He said no problem, noticed we were hilited to Joplin for the new truck, but acknowledged that family emergency took precedence. He told me they woul work on it, and to call in the morning (saturday) after we dropped our current load in Eagle Pass. When we called Saturday morning and updated them, they told us to hang on, and they would call us back with our load. 15 min later Kim's cell rang and we were told to bobtail back to Laredo, and there was a load for Las Vegas but din't have a delivery till Wed. She commented if thats all there is, we'll take it, thinking we would ave to kill a couple of days enroute, then head to Yuma after the Wed drop. He kept reminding her it didn't have a delivery till Wed. After she hung up and we talked about it, it dawned on us,,we can head to Yuma from Laredo for the extra days enroute! We got to Laredo and picked up our load. CFI really took care of us! We bypassed the waiting list in laredo, picked up our trailer, and hi-tailed it outta there for Yuma.
We got there Sunday afternoon, and have been able to help out my Dad releiving him at the hosp. We got back to the truck Tuesday afternoon to head to Las Vegas. Just as we got in, the Qualcomm chirped and we had a pre-dispatch to deadhead to Yuma from Las Vegas. CFI is paying us mileage to drive back to Yuma, as well as the fuel, etc. We could't be more pleased with the way they have taken care of a couple of newbies. We have only been with the company 2 months now.
So we are now sitting in Las Vegas getting unloaded. Oh yea, top secret load again,,,,43,000lbs of Tequila!!!
After our time off in Yuma, we should be headed to Joplin for our new truck. We'll update as we know what we do next!!
Till next time, keep it safe out there,,,,and pray for my Mom!

We finally got our trailer/load about 8:30pm Wed nite and headed out to Battle Creek, MI. Getting back on basically an opposing 12hr shift schedule is kinda hard. I drove till about 1am, then Kim took it till about 4 when she gave out. We parked and got a couple of hrs sleep, then hit the road a little more fresh. We decided to try a noon to midnite type schedule since we were already kinda set up on that. Kim drove till noon, then I took back over till (shhhh) well,,,I got us to Battle Creek about 1am. We did have some breaks in there so I wasn't really over my 11hrs,,thats my story and I am sticking to it!
The delivery went very easy. There were 2 of us that arrived at the same time. The first guys got a dock to back up to, we were told to just back it up against the building, lots of room, no slots to put it in,,,,NICE for a tired pup! This load was only about 4600lbs of rubbr hoses and air conditioner parts. Just about like hauling an empty trailer all the way. We were given another trailer to hook up to with a load going right back to Eagle Pass Tx, to the same broker we just left. We had to get the paperwork out of the trailer and close it up. Man, the trailer is packed with skids, looks like a heavvy load.
We go to pull out and I notice the air bag pressure gauge is showing a VERY light load. This gives an indication of how much pressure the air bags over the drive wheels are getting. With a little experience, you can tell when you are over weight there and need to move the rear tandems to adjust. Kinda neat little gauge. Anyway, this is not showing much more than an empty trailer shows. We check the bill of lading and it says 52 skids of EMPTY boxes headed back to Mex. Damm,,,another really light load. Our fuel mileage for this pay period should look pretty good between the super light loads and the computer keeping our speed reduced to 65mph max.
It's about 11am now, Kim has been driving since we left and I tried to get some sleep, It is still kinda hard to sleep while moving. One ear is always open for any problems. The husband/protector in me has a hard time letting go. I sleep about 2hrs at a time then up for awhile to help/visit/eat, etc. We hve some extra time built into this load, so we are planning on parking for a little while at the Lancaster, Tx (Dallas area) terminal, getting showers, and maybe a couple hrs sleep before heading on to Eagle Pass.
Good news! I called to check status on our larger team truck yesterday and was told there had been one there last month for us, but Ops didn't know and get us to Joplin for it. We have one waiting now, and I made sure Ops knows it. LOL. They have us hilighted to get back to Joplin now for our new truck. Will be nice to have some extra room. The seats in the T-600 we are in now are pretty close together making it a little bit of a nusance when one moves back and forth. On the flip side, we won't be able to hold hands as easily when driving!:)
Till next time, keep it safe out there!
Cheers

pics 2

Here is the pic of the fuel island on the way out of the Laredo terminal and yard. These were taken Jan 2. We figured it would be pretty busy with everyone coming back after the holidays, but it wasn't really. We delivered a load about 5 mi from the terminal. Spent the night, and waited for a load today. Laredo is truck heaven. It is one of the few places I have seen where I think trucks outnumber cars. It seems like every trucking company has a yard or terminal here. Alot of loads come up from Mexico, and vise versa. Mexican drivers move them back and forth across the border, we either bring loads here or deliver them all over the U.S. from places like this and Calexico, Ca.
The load we are assigned now has us at Eagle Pass,Tx (about 120mi NW of Laredo) waiting at a warehouse for a load from Mexico, headed to Battle Creek, Mi. We were supposed to relay with it at 4pm, its now almost 6pm. Just waiting!
We ran into a classmate from the Crowder class at Laredo today. Mac is doing good, and still runnig hard. Also heard from my finisher, Jim (Fist 0f Five), and he stopped in while we were there. Kinda nice to run into people you know when you're out here.
Hope to meet more of you and see ya out here. Give a shout when you see Roadie and Wingz!
Cheers

pics

I promised some more pics so here are a few. These were taken at the Laredo Tx terminal.

Pics of Roadie and Wingz mobile, Kim being goofy, trailer row, and some of the bob tails parked (drivers waiting on loads), and one of the fuel island on the way out.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all of our family and friends. We hope the new year will be safe and prosporous for everyone. We also hope you are able to make some of those dreams come true this year!
We had a nice holiday. We got our load from Syracuse Ny to Superior Wi, then deadhead to Ironwood Mi to spend Christmas with Kim's Mom and stepdad. I think the name of the town should be changed to WHITEwood or something. Toooo much snow and cold for me! There were piles in the parking lot where we parked the tractor and trailer as high as the trailer!
When we were scheduled to hit the road again, we got to the truck and sent in our status and waited for our next load. After about an hour, the Qualcomm chirped and we got our marching orders. Cudahy, Wi and Champain,Il for loads then to Laredo,Tx. Hey wait, look at those dates! This was Sat, the 29th, and we didn't have to be in Cudahy until Monday at noon. HMMMMM,,,Kim's Dad and step Mom are in Sheboygan, which is right on the way to Milwaukee, and Cudahy. Soooo,,,,we got to spend a day and half visiting them.
Monday morning we headed down to Cudahy, which is near the airport in Milwaukee, and got all of 2100lbs there. Still feels like an empty trailer. From there, we head the 233mi to Champain,getting there about 3pm for our 5pm appt. This place has NO activity in the shipping area,,,,,so I go up to the door, and ring the buzzer,,and again,,,,no reply. We call the contact numbers given to us and it goes straight to voicemail. Hmmm,,this place is closed today! We call our dispatch, they make a few calls, and eventually tell us to head on to Laredo. Wow, a load of 2100lbs of elec contactors in the nose of the trailer. Should get good fuel mileage for this trip!
We made it to just outside of Springfield,Mo and shut down for the night. CFI recommended we shut down between 10pm and 6am if possible due to the accident prone time of New Years eve parties. We had quite abit of extra time built into this dispatch due to the holiday. We are due in Laredo by 9am Wed morn.
We are now headed down the turnpike between Joplin and Tulsa. Nice to get out of all the white stuff up north, and some warmer temps.....well hopefully later it will. I just looked over and the readout says 21 degrees now.
Well,,as we make our way SOUTH, :) here's wishing all of you a great New Year to come!
Cheers