Comments By Little Syster (a.k.a. Sunshine)

Just a few of the loads I've been hauling during training :) Most of them we tarped before we snapped the picture but future pics (when I'm running solo) I'll try to get before my tarps go one.

Paper Rolls

Genie from Terex

Mixed Lumber

Aluminum

More aluminum

Also hauled some air coolers the other day that were pretty cool to secure. Kind of like sewing with chains :) Sorry if the pictures are enormous. Don't know how to resize on my phone.

Yes, Errol!!!! I was wiped and slept pretty well considering :)

I guess I didn't realize how insanely taxing it could be. I mean it was almost like my brain and body started shutting down. By the time I called it quits and went in to take a shower and put jammies on, my whole body was shaking. I thought music helped! Wrong...I almost couldn't find the truck after my shower and the only reason I knew where the heck I was, was because of the name of the town - Effingham, IL. By that point, I felt like an Effing-Ham because I couldn't get my body to do what I wanted it to. Hell, I fell asleep three times just trying to write the original post!

So a big thank you and big hugs to all of you for letting me know that I wasn't losing my friggin mind, for reminding me of all the progress I've made in the last month, and for the tips on how not to run myself into the ground. I've slept on and off for the last 11 hrs. I'm feeling much more human

Ps: Brett - you nailed the emotional part! I caught myself tearing up like 4 times for no reason, which only made me more angry, which probably drained the last little bit of energy I had.

It's amazing how many people forget basic hygiene techniques. My trainer and I ran into a guy a couple weeks ago while we were waiting for a steer tire to be changed out and I thought I was going to die from his smell. I tried to be as cordial as I could, but even as a smoker, my sense of smell is bloodhound level. So funk hits me harder than some people. I hope you aren't sitting for too long! And I hope you can get the smell out of the truck.

Today was a great day! Drove through Chicago and then headed back down to Texas. Had some of the best shifting I've ever done, good control of the vehicle, efx. Right around 240 miles and at 5a or so. I pooped out though. Can't run anymore. Feel bad because I'm good enough to run highway but not good enough to run city without my trainer sitting next to me. He's trying to make up for a crappy week last week so he's running hard, which I really do enjoy. Just feeling like I only half pulled my weight. Yesterday I knocked out almost 600 miles for the first time. Maybe that's why I'm so tired today? I don't know. We don't have to deliver until Friday morning and only have 860 miles to go. We should be fine, but he's tired and I'm super tired...hence this babbling post which I'm not going to proofread. An optimist is someone who recognizes that a step backwards after taking a step forward isn't a disaster - instead it's a cha-cha. But honestly, I feel like I stepped off the dance floor :(

Good advice and know that you're not alone. I've heard many of the other oil field drivers say the same thing - great money but it's a whole different world.

Slick tarp job! I actually like securement and tarping too. I'm really anal and OCD when it comes to that stuff. I have to have all my straps perfectly straight and evenly distributed, my tarps perfectly centered over the load, bungees all applied the same way and in a uniform fashion, etc. It's part of the reason why I love lumber loads and hate loads of irregular objects. Keep up the good work!

Haha! Thank you :) I'm becoming the same way, thanks to my very particular trainer. We've actually untarped and retarped T-loads because they looked crappy :)

Oh and floating gears is getting much easier :)

That's awesome, Lil Sys! Great tarp job! Do you mind if I show some tall guy this pic the next time I hear them whine about tarping?

Absolutely! I've definitely had to be creative when it comes to tarping, strapping, etc :)

My God, woman. How in the heck did you manage to tarp that load.

Heck, rolling the tarp on a grain hopper kicks my butt, from time to time.

Dave

Hehe :) Forklift help! And my trainer is a great trainer ;)