Go East, then come back

After our delivery to campbell's (V8 juices), we were sent to Lima Oh to pick up at Proctor and Gamble. Got a load of downey dryer sheets (44500lbs worth) headed to South Carolina. Kim has been sent to Atlanta. Today we were both in Virginia, about 175mi apart.
After this delivery in Lugoff, SC, we have been preplanned to go to Greenville SC for a load to Wentzville, Mo. They are finally heading us back toward Joplin to get our truck. Kim's dispatcher told her trainer they need to get them some more miles cause her husband was way ahead of her. DUH!
Looks like we deliver in Wentzville on Monday, then will probably get dispatched a load for Joplin on Tues or so.
Today has been kinda nice. Nice country, Jim and I split the driving so I got to see some of it. This is the heart of Nascar country. Bristol, Charlotte, etc. Many of the drivers also iive in this region, Mooreshed, NC, Kanapolis, NC, Charlotte, etc.

It's Official

We made our delivery last nite, and got dispatched this morning to Reading Pa. Picking up at a packaging place headed to Campbell's soup in Napoleon, Oh. Kim has already made a drop at this place. I passed my 7500mi mark on the deadhead from NY over here to Reading, so guess it's official now. Kinda wondering if truck might be at the Taylor, Mi terminal, as we will only be about 100 mi from there, it in Detroit area.
We are just sitting at the dock here waiting to get loaded now. Hopefully not as long as Kim had yesterday, about 5hrs for them to get loaded in Fla. Load of water headed to N.Carolina. That will be a heavy load. She is sitting around 5500mi.
I have heard from a few prople that have read the blog, both by comments and on phone. Glad we can share our story, and others enjoy it. Sounds like everyone from friends and family, to students, to other drivers, and hopefuls. Kinda neat, and we enjoy sharing it. We will try to get some more pictures as well, esp when Kim and I get together.
Cheers

THERE

Made it to Chester NY this afternoon. We will be able to deliver around 7pm tonite. Then we'll see when and where the next dispatch comes. Only problem with a nite delivery is finding another parking place. They are really crowded up here. The TA where we are now had no problem at noon, but now they are starting to fill up.
Its a good feeling to be finishing up my training, but kinda scary at the same time. Can't pull in somewhere, and say "whatcha think?" or get that little extra guidance around a corner, or a little prompt to send a reply on qualcomm, or a helpful "hint" on how to keep most hours available for good dispatches. But we'll learn.

Looong trip part duex

Made it to West Memphis Arkansas last nite around 5:30. Jim drove the first 230mi of the day, the rest was mine. Logged about 860 miles, so we got a good start on the trip. The next couple of days will be a little easier, but still 600mi days. We fueled up first at Lancaster, Tx, on the south side of Dallas. We have a terminal there, so I got to see where it was. West Memphis is also a terminal for us. When we got there, I backed the trailer into a spot, and unhooked the trailer. We bobtailed ove to a Petro truck stop and I ate at the buffet. Jim stayed in the truck and ate his dinner, he says he needs to stay away from resturants for awhile. I still want a meal at the end of the day.
Kim was still in North Carolina, and was set to deliver this morning. Then she makes a run down to Fla, another 400mi or so.
We got up at 2am and hit the road at 3am this morning. Made it thru Memphis and Nashville before 8. Otherside of Nashville, I couldn't get my second wind it got light, so Jim took over driving for awhile. The last couple of nites with little sleep caught up with me. I took a short nap on the bunk, and now here I sit watching the scenery. Trees a a little past fall prime colors, but still really pretty around here. We are just short of Knoxville, Tn. It is really foggy and raining and misting this morning, and the fog sitting on top of the trees and in the valleys is kinda neat. Some gorgeous farm homes and acreages around here. Kinda nice to just ride and look for a change.
Jim has pretty much stopped training and is just letting me do everything. He says I am well past where he started and is very happy with my progress. Ready to kick the baby bird outta of the nest. Once we get a dispatch Wednesday after out delivery, I will complete my training period.
Kim will be about 4800mi when she gets to Fla, and needs a couple of good runs to finisher hers. She is also ready to move on and get back together to start our adventures together.

Got a loong run!

We got our load about 3pm today. We were given several choices of places to go, so we picked the longest, 2017mi to Chester, New York. When we get there I will be 115mi short of my 7500mi required for the training period. When we get a load out of that area, I'll be done. 7500mi in 15 days isn't to bad! We will have to get a load back somewhere, and get to a terminal to get a truck for us. That could be West Memphis, Taylor, Michigan (Detroit area), Lancaster, Tx (Dallas area), back here to Laredo, or Joplin. Either way, I will need to get it to Joplin to get our stuff and have an inverter put in it by maintenance so we will have power for microwave, etc.That will take a day or 2.
We decided to wait here until 3am before leaving. Drivers are allowed to drive 11hrs per day up to 70hrs in any 8 day period. Each day kicks off the oldest day in that 8 day window. If you drive alot, you run out of hours towards the end of the week and next week if you keep going. If you stay down for 34hrs, you can reset the clock back to zero, and start all over on the 70hrs, so thats what we will do. Our 34hrs here is up at 3am, so thats when we will leave. If we go as planned, we'll arrive in NY on Tues afternoon, and our load is required to be delivered at 7am Wed morn. Maybe they will take it early if we're there.
Kim is also down for the weekend in Leland, NC. Her trainer got her a hotel room for the weekend, and he stays in the truck at nite. I think they deliver their load Monday morning, then to Yulee, Florida.
I ran into a couple of guys from our class at Crowder here at the terminal today. Kinda nice to see a familiar face, and compare notes.
Weather down here in S Texas is surprisingly cold and wet. I thought we were headed south for warm weather, it was warmer when we were up in Seattle!!!
An interesting sidenote to our load; it's 30,000lbs of rubber balloons!!!

Thanksgiving,,,,kinda

Well, we got our load of trees to Calexico, Ca so alot of kids in Mexico can have a Christmas tree now. We got notified in the middle of the nite a load was ready for Laredo Tx for us for pick-up as soon as our 10hrs down time was up (0600 CST/ 0400PST). So we got up at 3am local to find the trailer in the large parking area CFI uses there. After we hooked up, checked in the office on the way out, we were on our way. We headed down the road about 55mi to Yuma, and waited to 7am to call my parents. Jim, my trainer, gave me a couple of hours to visit with them. It was good to see them and their new place. Got a shower, some of Dad's french toast, and headed back to the truck. Showed my new home (the truck) to them, then off toward Laredo, Tx. We made it to El Paso for the nite and stayed at a Petro. There is a Iron Skillet resturaunt in the Petro's and this nite was a Thanksgiving Buffet. I got to have my turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, yams, and pumkin pie. It was really pretty good. Kim was also at a Petro in Virginia, but said her buffet wasn't that good. Sorry Bud!
This morning we left about 7:30 and drove to Laredo. Got here about 5:30. This is a CFI terminal. Lots of truck, trailers, maintenance, and a driver area. We are on the board for a new load and started at #33 on the waiting list, so you can tell its a busy area. There is alot of freight up from Mexico, to be delivered all over. Should get out tomorrow. In the break area I also ran into on of the guys that was in our class at Crowder. He had been east and said it was a pain. Told him thats where Kim has ended up.
We'll see where tomorrow sends us. Whave moved up to #26 in about 3 hours.

more pics