We made it to Calexico about noon local for our 2:30 deadline. We requested some time before we got there to have the afternoon to do some laundry. Our fleet manager got a load heading out at 4am Thurs morning to allow us some time. Well, we did have some time in Calexico to do some laundry, then had to deadhead into Los Angeles for our early morning pick up that goes to Seattle area. This is at a Con-Way terminal and the load is what a Con-way relay. These are hard runs with not much extra time built in. They are also dispatched a little faster (50mph vs 47mph) than normal for some reason. If we were out in the midwest somewhere, it would not be such an issue for this run, however, in Cali and Oregon, the speed limit for trucks is 55. That coupled with the mountains in northern cal and Oregon will make this a close one. We are due by 3am local tomorrow. At least getting thru LA at 5am local was somewhat easier than it could have been later, and we will get into the Seattle area late tonite/early tomorrow morn.
Kim had some experience with the mountains coming out of the LA area thu Tejon pass. This had some pretty steep climbs holding us down to about 30mph, and had a 6% downhill grade for 5 miles that had a 35mph speed limit for trucks. Just using the engine retarder (jake brake) and 6th gear she was able to come down with no problem with snub braking (braking from 35mph to 30, then letting the truck slowly work back up to 35, keeping brakes cool by not using them all the time.)
Thats about it for now, gotta sleep. This run doesn't have time to allow us to stop at all.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
There and Back
We made it to a truckstop about 30 mi from our drop on Sunday nite about 6pm local, went in, had dinner at the resturant, then went back out to the truck and watched half of the super bowl.
Next day started out good, went over to the customers early, got in at 6:30 instead of 7:30, and got unloaded. There was one other CFI truck and us, so we had plenty of room.
After our unload, we headed out of the customers area, and sent in our empty call. It didn't take long for our next assignment,,,,,back to Calexico! We were to deadhead over to Bryson city, SC,,about 200mi west, and load. No problem. Interstate to Waynesville and refuel, then a US hiway down to Bryson City. We got there about 12:30 for a 2pm load time. Good shape. Waited our turn, then put 'er in the hole (the dock). I kept watching the air suspension gauge while they were loading us, and noticed it didn't move much, meaning the load was really light. When they finished, I went to get the paperwork. About 13,000lbs of steel frames with plastic dashes for the new Kenworth trucks. If we keep this up, we'll be able to say they built some entire trucks thanks to us!!!
Now for the fun, heading out of Bryson City. It had cut us down from I-40 so were were headed southwest toward I-20. Only thing there is no good way to get there. We were headed the way our "suggested routing" sent to us had us going. All of a sudden Kim said we neded to pull over and look at the map. Sure enough, they had us headed for a restricted route on US 64 in a National Park between N. Carolina and Chattanooga. OOPS. So we detoured south on what we hoped was a good road, and kept winding our way down to I-20. Man, that entire road trip between Bryson City and I-20 south of Rome, Ga was a challenge. Would have been great on the bikes. Sure was some gorgeous countryside. Th Blue Ridge area of the Smokey Mountains lived up to its name. Bluish mountains in the distance, and low laying clouds and fog around, giving that smokey appearance. And when it wasn't winding around the countryside, they decided we should have to bypass Rome, only the entire bypass was under construction. FUN nite!
Today we are currently on the way to our teminal at Lancaster (Dallas), and will refuel and shower there. Then we'll see how far we can get tonite. Should be able to shut down again for 3-4hrs sleep while parked tonite like last nite, and still be on schedule.
Oh, schedule,,,,our original dispatch had us arriving in Calexico by 7:30 Wed morn, which was something like a 54mph ave dispatch on a 24hr/day schedule. We are supposed to get dispated at 47mph ave for no more than 22hrs/day. We each can drive a MAX of 11hrs/day. We sent in a request that they take a look at the dispatch, and oh by the way, the suggested routing tried to sent us on a restricted route! We got a change in our delivery time, so all is better now. That was just another frustration point in the day yesterday.
Weather is really warm down here in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tx. Temp was about 68 all nite, and is now 75 at 10am about 80mi from Dallas. I feel for the drivers up north right now. I am sure we'll have our turn again, and they will be down here.
Till next time, keep it safe out there!
Next day started out good, went over to the customers early, got in at 6:30 instead of 7:30, and got unloaded. There was one other CFI truck and us, so we had plenty of room.
After our unload, we headed out of the customers area, and sent in our empty call. It didn't take long for our next assignment,,,,,back to Calexico! We were to deadhead over to Bryson city, SC,,about 200mi west, and load. No problem. Interstate to Waynesville and refuel, then a US hiway down to Bryson City. We got there about 12:30 for a 2pm load time. Good shape. Waited our turn, then put 'er in the hole (the dock). I kept watching the air suspension gauge while they were loading us, and noticed it didn't move much, meaning the load was really light. When they finished, I went to get the paperwork. About 13,000lbs of steel frames with plastic dashes for the new Kenworth trucks. If we keep this up, we'll be able to say they built some entire trucks thanks to us!!!
Now for the fun, heading out of Bryson City. It had cut us down from I-40 so were were headed southwest toward I-20. Only thing there is no good way to get there. We were headed the way our "suggested routing" sent to us had us going. All of a sudden Kim said we neded to pull over and look at the map. Sure enough, they had us headed for a restricted route on US 64 in a National Park between N. Carolina and Chattanooga. OOPS. So we detoured south on what we hoped was a good road, and kept winding our way down to I-20. Man, that entire road trip between Bryson City and I-20 south of Rome, Ga was a challenge. Would have been great on the bikes. Sure was some gorgeous countryside. Th Blue Ridge area of the Smokey Mountains lived up to its name. Bluish mountains in the distance, and low laying clouds and fog around, giving that smokey appearance. And when it wasn't winding around the countryside, they decided we should have to bypass Rome, only the entire bypass was under construction. FUN nite!
Today we are currently on the way to our teminal at Lancaster (Dallas), and will refuel and shower there. Then we'll see how far we can get tonite. Should be able to shut down again for 3-4hrs sleep while parked tonite like last nite, and still be on schedule.
Oh, schedule,,,,our original dispatch had us arriving in Calexico by 7:30 Wed morn, which was something like a 54mph ave dispatch on a 24hr/day schedule. We are supposed to get dispated at 47mph ave for no more than 22hrs/day. We each can drive a MAX of 11hrs/day. We sent in a request that they take a look at the dispatch, and oh by the way, the suggested routing tried to sent us on a restricted route! We got a change in our delivery time, so all is better now. That was just another frustration point in the day yesterday.
Weather is really warm down here in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tx. Temp was about 68 all nite, and is now 75 at 10am about 80mi from Dallas. I feel for the drivers up north right now. I am sure we'll have our turn again, and they will be down here.
Till next time, keep it safe out there!
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Ground hog day
We made it to my aunt's Thursday afternoon, and had a great dinner with her, her husband, and cousins from my mom's side. They have an RV in the park next to my aunt's, and oh by the way, he used to be a trucker and now delivers RV's for a large RV dealership with my Dad.
It's really surprising how many people we talk to that have a family member who trucks, or a close friend. There are alot of us out here!
We made it over to Calexico and dropped the trailer that night and went o the board,,,or at least that was what we were told on the Qualcom. We decided to just go to bed and get some sleep until the Qualcom chirped with an assignment msg. Well, we got to sleep all nite. got upabout 6am and I called in to check status on the board. I was told we weren't on the board. Hmmm,,so I replied on the qualcom using the msg that said we were on the board from last nite. Told them we called in and was not listed. It didn't take long for them to remedy that situation. :)
We were something like #14 on the list and #4 for teams, so we bobtailed into town to the Walmart to stock up. 6:30 should be a good time to hit a Walmart,,,,,right?
I could tell we were in trouble as soon as I could see the parking lot. There were about 10 busses that are used to transport migrant farm workers that work all the fields in the area. I guess they gather there, then leave for the fields later. They were all over the store and all the stockers were out filling the isles. NOT a good time, but we made it. I don't think we heard one announcement on the store's PA system in english the entire time we were there. Maybe we crossed the border and didn't realize it????
Anyway, we took our new stock of food back to the drop yard and sat and waited. Not much on TV, so we watched a movie, then I tinkered around on the truck, added oil, cleaned, checked, etc. An in depth "preflight".
We finally got a dispatch about 1:30 and made it out of there about 2pm. We are now headed to Winston-Salem North Carolina. This is a 2366mi run. I had commented to Kim I would like a cross country run to Florida. Well, it almost came true!
It was my time of day to drive, so I drove till midnight, making it to our dropyard in El Paso, Tx. Kim got a couple of hrs sleep enroute, then we shut down till about 5am this morning. We needed fuel at El Paso which is just up the road from the drop yard, so I got us there and fueled,(what a good teammate, huh?) then Kim took the reins and I went back to sleep for awhile.
We are starting to get the hang of this I think. We are managing to get 3-4hrs sleep on the road, then shut down for 4-5hrs and sleep with the truck parked. The dispatches are allowing us todo this with time, or we are just managing better. This load is due in at 7:30 Monday morning, and as of right now, the GPS gives us an arrival time of 9:12am tomorrow (Sunday), so you can see, we have some time we can use enroute.
Weather has been great down here, 60's during day, 30's at nite. Have just been reading about all the weather in Chicago and the Illinois area, and the storm in the Northwest. Boy, have we been lucky so far this year year. (knock the wooded head). We have had some weather to deal with, but not too bad. We heard about a fellow team we know that got blown over in Rawlins, Wy earlier this week. She was driving, and the roads were bad with blowing snow. They had slowed to about 30mph, then the tractor got blown over, leaving the trailer upright. From his story, they went air born, and came to rest next to a cliff. If they had been going any faster, they would probably have been over the cliff. Someone was watching over them.
For all the truckers out there that might be reading this for whatever reason, please keep it safe out there, especially this time of year! For all you "4 wheelers", that goes out to you as well, we all share the road! :)
Till next time, Keep it safe out there
It's really surprising how many people we talk to that have a family member who trucks, or a close friend. There are alot of us out here!
We made it over to Calexico and dropped the trailer that night and went o the board,,,or at least that was what we were told on the Qualcom. We decided to just go to bed and get some sleep until the Qualcom chirped with an assignment msg. Well, we got to sleep all nite. got upabout 6am and I called in to check status on the board. I was told we weren't on the board. Hmmm,,so I replied on the qualcom using the msg that said we were on the board from last nite. Told them we called in and was not listed. It didn't take long for them to remedy that situation. :)
We were something like #14 on the list and #4 for teams, so we bobtailed into town to the Walmart to stock up. 6:30 should be a good time to hit a Walmart,,,,,right?
I could tell we were in trouble as soon as I could see the parking lot. There were about 10 busses that are used to transport migrant farm workers that work all the fields in the area. I guess they gather there, then leave for the fields later. They were all over the store and all the stockers were out filling the isles. NOT a good time, but we made it. I don't think we heard one announcement on the store's PA system in english the entire time we were there. Maybe we crossed the border and didn't realize it????
Anyway, we took our new stock of food back to the drop yard and sat and waited. Not much on TV, so we watched a movie, then I tinkered around on the truck, added oil, cleaned, checked, etc. An in depth "preflight".
We finally got a dispatch about 1:30 and made it out of there about 2pm. We are now headed to Winston-Salem North Carolina. This is a 2366mi run. I had commented to Kim I would like a cross country run to Florida. Well, it almost came true!
It was my time of day to drive, so I drove till midnight, making it to our dropyard in El Paso, Tx. Kim got a couple of hrs sleep enroute, then we shut down till about 5am this morning. We needed fuel at El Paso which is just up the road from the drop yard, so I got us there and fueled,(what a good teammate, huh?) then Kim took the reins and I went back to sleep for awhile.
We are starting to get the hang of this I think. We are managing to get 3-4hrs sleep on the road, then shut down for 4-5hrs and sleep with the truck parked. The dispatches are allowing us todo this with time, or we are just managing better. This load is due in at 7:30 Monday morning, and as of right now, the GPS gives us an arrival time of 9:12am tomorrow (Sunday), so you can see, we have some time we can use enroute.
Weather has been great down here, 60's during day, 30's at nite. Have just been reading about all the weather in Chicago and the Illinois area, and the storm in the Northwest. Boy, have we been lucky so far this year year. (knock the wooded head). We have had some weather to deal with, but not too bad. We heard about a fellow team we know that got blown over in Rawlins, Wy earlier this week. She was driving, and the roads were bad with blowing snow. They had slowed to about 30mph, then the tractor got blown over, leaving the trailer upright. From his story, they went air born, and came to rest next to a cliff. If they had been going any faster, they would probably have been over the cliff. Someone was watching over them.
For all the truckers out there that might be reading this for whatever reason, please keep it safe out there, especially this time of year! For all you "4 wheelers", that goes out to you as well, we all share the road! :)
Till next time, Keep it safe out there
Thursday, January 31, 2008
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?? :)
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?? :)
Monday, January 28, 2008
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!
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!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
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?? :)
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?? :)
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