Solo For Two Weeks

Final drive test with Knight completed on Nov.8, went from Olive Branch to Gulfport on the 9th. Got two days of home time over the weekend. Monday morning Nov 11 went over to the terminal to get assigned my 1st truck. A 2009 Volvo with 405,000 miles and a red tag on the door, waiting for a part.

Part arrives late that afternoon and a mechanic has even agreed to stay late and get it taken care of. Great! Get 1st load assignment, 45,000 pound load of paper from Zachary, LA to Phoenix. Preloaded trailer which can be picked up by 1400 tomorrow bring empty trailer. Find the only empty trailer on the terminal yard to take to the plant, do my inspection and it has a flat and the shop is now closed until morning. Great first day: mileage = 1 lap around the terminal yard, to fuel island and back, hoping that it just needed to be pumped up but found the leak instead. Oh joy, first night sleeping in the yard until shop opens.

Things smooth out on Tuesday, drop empty, hook to load and deliver to Phoenix Friday morning. Get unloaded, deadhead down to Casa Grande, drop empty and next trailer not loaded yet. It's a full trailer but only 12,000 pounds. Sun chips are just not very heavy. It is now noon, my 14 hours is up at 1800, the trailer won't be loaded until then and my smartphone alarms with high wind and dust storm warnings, travel not advised.

Time for some damage control. Log myself into the sleeper at 1200, when the shipping department calls with trailer loaded, I go get the paper work and seals then get permission to stay parked until after midnight to let the storm blow over. He's an ex-driver, so has no problem with that and even suggests to stay longer to make sure I get my 10 hour off duty, told him that I already had that started.

Trailer hooked, sealed and inspected and it's off to Denver. I guess since they legalized pot smoking in Colorado they need more munchies.

Drop loaded chip trailer in Denver on Sunday, hook empty and take it to the K-mart distribution center in Brighton. Drop it and hook loaded trailer for Minot, ND. Get paper work and seals done at guard shack with 20 minutes left on 14 hour so have to hightail it to the nearby Love's with a CAT scale. Load 32,000 pounds and it's balanced on first weigh.

Monday morning and we're off. Fuel stop in Cheyenne and the wind decides to pickup. Signs say possible gusts to 50 north bound on I-25. Fortunately, the gusty wind doesn't arrive and only have to deal with a strong but steady crosswind. Just a sliver of trailer in the driver's mirror but can almost read the side of the trailer in the right mirror. Get off the interstate and head for the bombing megalopolis of Lusk, WY. My trainer had told me about the WY-DOT scale there so I knew I was ready. Weight was well under and all the permits were not expired. I get across the scale and go in with my permit book, they just want to see the cab card, no problem, right? It doesn't expire for 3 months. But, the license plate number listed does not match the plate on the truck!

How could someone have been driving the truck for 9 months and not have the right cab card? More importantly, I guess I should have checked that along with the expirations when I got the truck, I'll know better next time. Fortunately, no ticket, just call and have the correct cab card faxed to them. So call to my driver manager , he calls main office and in 45 minutes they get the faxed cab card with the correct license plate number that expires SIX MONTHS AGO. Another call to DM , he calls corporate and 45 minutes later we finally get faxed the correct cab card and I get to leave.

Leaving Lusk I get stuck behind a wide load that is going 40 mph and is taking up both lanes! They have two pilot cars out front, flagging oncoming traffic onto the shoulder of the road so they can pass. Ten miles and they finally get to a wide shoulder area and let the stacked up traffic behind them go by. Cross into South Dakota on I-90 and there are temporary signs up directing all CMV's into the rest area for inspection. Just checking log books, send in the macro to get current log and I think the inspector only looked at the line that said driving hours remaining, mine showed 3:45.

Make it into ND for the night. Takes awhile, but finally figure out how to get the bunk heater to work. Runs great, keeps the sleeper nice and warm and I don't have to idle, highly discouraged and as an incentive, if you keep idle time below the required percentage you are rewarded by having your speed governor raised from 60 to 65 mph. Get to the Minot K-mart and have to do the trailer shuffle. Drop loaded trailer in parking lot, pull empty trailer out of dock, move loaded trailer into dock and finally, rehook empty trailer. Next stop, Carrington, ND to get trailer loaded with pasta at 0800 tomorrow morning.

Page two:

This trip is to be loaded Tuesday morning and delivered Friday by 1630 in Sarasota Springs, NY, 1540 miles. When I was pre-planned for this trip, I informed my DM that I was working on regen hours on my 70 hour clock and didn't think I would be able to deliver on time. I had figured I a only 30 minutes of extra time.

Best use of clock, get to Carrington tonight, park next to shipper , don't start tomorrows clock until loaded as I only have 6 hours drive time tomorrow. Get to Carrington in the dark, headlights not the greatest on the old Volvo and GPS says turn left on 11th street to go to the shipper. I had checked the satellite images and it sounded correct, so I turn left and there in front is a sign that said railroad crossing closed. Fortunately it's farm country. Pull into nice sized driveway on left, back acrossed street into small road and am able to complete the turn around in relatively short order and find my way around to the shipper. Bunk heater is really nice up here in ND.

At the shipping office as it opens and get dock assignment. Back in and get loaded, paper work in hand (42,000 load of pasta)sealed and around to their grain truck scale and Get front axle, tractor and gross weight. Some quick math and figure I should be set to get to the nearest CAT scale. With my short driving time, I make it into St. Cloud, MN. Northern MN is not any warmer than ND and for some reason I cannot get that darn bunk heater to come on. No problem, I have a 400hp back up heater to run and keep me warm. Hopefully it won't be enough to lose that speed increase next quarter. It's of to the sleeper for a needed ten as I have 10:30 drive time back tomorrow.

Get up at 3:00 and make it around the Twin Cities before traffic gets started. Stop for a quick break and hear something unexpected. The bunk heater has decided to start working on its own accord. Get to Black River Falls, WI and hit some dense fog, and with the dim headlights and only about an hour to daylight, decide to stop, cover the 30 break, take a quick nap, get breakfast. Set alarm for 30 minute nap and 15 minutes later the Qualcomm beeps, "really need to keep moving with this load". Replied with weather report and plan and get "good plan". Back on road, stop for quick pause in Madison and as my usual routine, check lights and thump tire before I jump in cab. Well on tire didn't sound quite right so get pressure gage and sure enough trailer down down to 50 PSI. Call tire breakdown and since I happened to have stopped at a TA, they are happy and call to set up the repair, I call my DM and let him know about delay and he starts working on a relay to get the load delivered on time.

Check in with shop manager and the office had set up the repair already. Then comes the twist. They are adding on to the shop and doing the blacktopping around the shop today. I need to pull through one of the fuel islands, they will get all the trucks cleared past the pumps. When it's open, pull through the fuel island, turn hard right, then back in front of all the pumps and into the exit of the lube bay, over the open pit, until the trailer has cleared the far end of the lube bay so they can get a jack under the axle.

To make a long story short, nothing to it. With an audience of ten fuel islands I got it done with only one pull up.

Tire repaired, called DM and relay set up for the Joliet, IL terminal. Get there with 10 minutes left on my day. Friday morning and I get the truck into the shop and get the high beam headlight and turn signal repaired. Hook an empty trailer to take to shipping yard in Kankakee. Then over 10 blocks to another warehouse to pick up a short relay to Morris, IL. Following directions and 1/2 block from shipper and here is a 12'2" railroad bridge between us. Work my way around to come in from the other direction and meet the same warning sign before I can see the entrance to the shipper. So I slowly pull past the warning sign, a couple of people in 4 wheelers started honking and pointing at the low clearance sign. I'm going slow, down the incline toward the low overpass and finally see the driveway and we are there. The correct trailer is sitting backed up to the dock so I check in with the shipping office and, sorry, it won't be loaded and ready until Monday.

Called DM and told to sit tight until they can find an empty trailer. This "short" run was supposed to result with the short relay complet, me with an empty trailer for a live load at a shipper back in Chicago that afternoon for a load to PA.

Wait for page three.

Sandman, your post is really great. You must be blessed with patience. I can just visualize that little devil "Murphy" following you around and sticking you with his tiny pitch fork trying to make you upset.

You have sure illustrated how a driver has GOT to be flexible and there is so much more to it than holding a steering wheel! Keep 'em coming. This is so interesting. Were any of your classes in school or OJT called "Conflict Resolution for Truck Drivers?"

Thanks for the updates. It really gives you insight into what to expect out there.

Page three:

Get an empty trailer call, all the way back to Bolingbrook, bobtail. Check the maps for quickest and shortest route and away we go. It's now 1230 and need to be at shipper with empty trailer by 1600. Get to I-55 N and it is stop and go for 5 miles! Get to empty, inspect and everything ok, beat feet to shipper and get there at 1645 and told they are done loading trailers for the day, come back tomorrow at 0600.

Pull around to a gravel lot at end of warehouse and curl up for the night. And, my bunk heater is still working, yea. Up and back at shipping office at 6, get dock assignment. In the dock and loaded, doors closed, seals on, pre-trip inspection complete and we are on the road at 08:45. Ain't gonna make the delivery today as scheduled! Sent in new eta of 14:00 tomorrow due to day late loading. Checked the weather and the are winter storm warnings with heavy lake effect snow for the route.

It's down to I-80 and we are leaving IL. Then the snow starts and the back ups begin. Spent 15 miles between 5 and 30 mph with the lake effect snow off of Lake Michigan. Cold and blowing good so the snow is not sticking to the road. Next slow down in South Bend for traffic, must be Notre Dame home game. Next up Ohio and the lake effect snow engine rally gets churning. Sun goes down, blowing snow now building up on the road, can't see well with these #%^+* Volvo headlights so call it a night early and pull into an Ohio Turnpike oasis. Good choice. Have not been on the Ohio turnpike before and these oasis are a lot better than IN. Huge parking lot, truckers lounge, laundry room available and free showers! Take advantage of the stop, being a Saturday night, not many trucks in the lot either.

Sunday morning, up with the sun, Starbucks coffee in hand and do pre-trip. Everything great except broke the drivers wiper cleaning off the ice and the washers are froze. Installed new blade that I had to buy and will get reimbursed for (note to self, remember to get a spare at shop to have in the truck) then start working on the washer. Figure out that the nozzles on the arms are froze. So go inside and fill thermos cup with hot water and come back out and pour over the nozzle. Does the trick, one more trip for the passenger side and we are back on the road.

Then comes PA. The winter storm and lake effect snow continue. They are getting enough salt on the roads that everything is staying slushy and not freezing. So just slowed down and took my time. About the Williamsport area and the snow has stopped and roads are clear again. Get to receiver at 14:00, 2 hours later than I had anticipated but that was no matter, it's a 24 facility. They don't live unload and load on weekends so dropped the trailer. My next load is from this same warehouse back to Indy. Qualcomm message has everything I need except a pick up number!

So, after 2 hours of calls to weekend dispatch and talking with the security/gate people, its off to the Walmart parking lot for another night camping out. Sure glad the bunk heater is still working as it is getting down to 15 tonight.

I wrote page one and two last night before going to sleep and this pages is being written while I am calling dispatch and dealing with the main shipping office at the warehouse trying to figure out my next move. Hopefully somebody will figure something out soon.

Wow ...is about all I can say .

You are really taking a beating out there Sandman .

~S~

Man, those are just awesome updates Sandman! That really illustrates for people that the hard part of trucking isn't shifting, backing, & steering. The hard part of trucking is dealing with weekend dispatch, breakdowns, wrong directions, terrible traffic, terrible weather, erratic sleep patterns, and the myriad of variables which affect every moment of your life out there.

It's no joke when I say that a successful day in trucking is one where you park the truck at the end of the day without any scratches on it and you still have a job. Anything else that happens throughout the day you just forget about it and get a good night's sleep because tomorrow will be the same way all over again.

Trucking is a grueling lifestyle, but there is nothing more rewarding than the feeling of pulling into a customer on time knowing everything it took to make that happen. It's a thankless job that almost nobody appreciates so you really have to be self-motivated and enjoy the challenge and the lifestyle. If people knew what it took to be safe and reliable out there year after year they'd throw parades for drivers every time they pulled into a customer safely and on time. But they don't. So you just have to love what you do, enjoy the fact that you know you're a critical piece of the puzzle in keeping the American quality of life at a high level, and try your best to enjoy what you do.

Awesome updates Sandman and great job out there keeping on top of things and moving forward in spite of the constant setbacks. That's what it takes to make it out there, no question about it!

What Brett said! You are doing great. Keep us up to date on your adventures.

Monday morning, up and back to the shipper for 07:00. No luck with security at the guard shack so told to go to shipping office in the terminal. No luck there either in tracking down the load. Start calling my DM and leaving messages along with Qualcomm messages. He finally answers, cannot provide any help on pickup numbers either so his solution is to find an empty trailer on the lot and hook it. Not sure what that will accomplish, but walk around the rows of trailers and find one empty tha tbelongs to our company.

Go back and get the truck, hook up and do an inspection, sitting in the cab sending in macros and my DM calls to see how it's going. At the same time security and the yard tractor arrive saying I cannot take the trailer as they have a load going on it and the DM telling me not to unhook. So time for command decision, hang up on my DM, unhook the trailer and get out of the way.

DM calls back wondering what's going on. It's now around 10:00, I haven't eaten or had any coffee yet so told DM I was heading back into town, let me know when you get the information that I need to connect with the the load, and my 14 hour duty clock is ticking.

Finally at 13:30 get Qualcomm message with the needed pickup number and a trailer number. Head back to shipper, sign back in with the gate to get the location of the trailer, in to shipping office to get the BOL and seal, hook trailer and do inspection, check out with gate security and finally on the road with 5:35 left on my duty day.

Hit I-80 east bound and trip directions has me getting fuel about 40 miles away, which is good because I'm down to 1/8. Turns out to be small Pilot with very poor traffic flow. Get through the fuel island, over to scale, find place to park, run in get weight slip and a Subway sandwich and get back to the truck. I had another front turn signal light blow when I hit the four way flashers when I needed to back to get into parking so grab a spare out of my kit and swap it out. It's bad too, so back into truck stop and pick up another package of bulbs and get it changed. Jump back into the cab and there is a Qualcomm message waiting from my DM, "really need to keep the load moving".

REALLY, after you wasted over eight hous of my duty day, the load distance is 650 miles, and the delivery is scheduled for drop anytime tomorrow from midnight to midnight.

Just about threw the Qualcomm out the window, but sent a very short and direct reply and hit the road. Life is so much easier when your driving and not having to deal with . . .

Hit Ohio, and pulled into first exit with a truck stop for the night with 23 min remaining. Completed 298 miles.

Sandman , Your last update seems like a prime example showing that a DM does not think about a drivers HOS , or the drivers ability to arrive at a destination or not unless the driver him/herself is completely clear about the current factors he/she has to deal with . I can see where the frustration comes in when the only thing on the DM's plate is get it there .

With all the annoyances you have posted about lately surely you have had a couple good days...maybe...hopefully ? 8)

~S~