Swift - Starting the New Year training with Swift 1/7/13 - A long read...

I'm back here at the Travellodge in Auburn, WA, a few miles down the road from the terminal and my mobile "International" home.

To summarize my most recent OTR adventures, I left off my hometime here in WA last time heading east on I-90 over the Cascades in Washington. As is typical, the weather was rainy and the roads were wet as I headed up hill and east. WAshington, despite being exhausted of the rain here this past year (for the first time since living here), seems to redeem itself in its natural beauty. Heading down Hwy. 18, connecting I-5 to I-90 I was chugging up some steeper hills and in front of me through the wet smeared on my windshielf was green trees shrouded in top with fog. It was wonderful, beautiful and mysterious. Mysterious in a Scooby Doo meets foggy England kind of way. After getting over the Cascades it was warmer and dry. The sun was out and I was happy again to be on the road and on my way to somewhere else. I was on my way to drop in Phoenix so this gave me something to look forward to.

My favorite runs are those that take a few days. Those runs whereby I know I won't be docking that night, won't be dealing with shippers or unhooking trailers, dealing with the administrative side of driving. I knew that it would be a couple of days until I got there and it made me feel warm and fuzzy knowing that I would be choosing where I would reside for the night and that my days would be filled with driving and sightseeing.

The dry of Eastern WAshington didn't last long as I slogged into wet and snow in northeastern Oregon. I fueled just over the border near Hermiston, OR and for the first time since starting this new career I was hung up at the fuel pumps. Unlike any other fueling location, this overly questioning fuel pump was asking for answers I could not provide. I needed some special, super secret code to make the pump dispense fuel and I didn't have it. For some reason this made me irate and I stomped into the Pilot to get a clue. Apparently, this secret pumping code was my license plate number (at least for Swift) since Oregon (other than Jersey) is the only state where we are deemed too irresponsible to pump our own fuel. This secret code allows us to pump our own gas. I pumped and was back in business.

Since got an earlier start this day, I was just waiting around to get a load. Since my wake up time was way earlier in the day I figured I wouldn't over do it driving today. I was already tired and I was barely out of Oregon. There was snow cutting through Oregon and at one point it was sticking to the roadway. No big deal but it slowed things down and required a higher level of concentration. I stopped for the night at a truckstop in Boise.

The next day I cut down heading south from Twin Falls, Idaho on Hwy 93. Passing through the tiny town of Jackpot, NV it was sunny and the only cop in town (I'm guessing) was sitting at the south end of Hwy 93 as it cut through the center of casino town. I always assume that when the speed limit drops as you head into a smaller town that it is safe to assume that this would be a prime area to get nailed for speeding. Not that I usually speed in a truck governed at 62 m.p.h. but still. I'm extra careful and this time it paid off once again.
I continued heading south as the sunset to my right side and twilight came. Before this job I never knew Nevada was so mountainous. Mountains with snow. I always pictured Nevada as pretty much flat desert but it is not so. My driving hours or my 14 were starting to run out and I made it to something like Exit 54 in Las Vegas. I went to a large TA directly across the street from the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. As it is always the case, when it is this late at night I won't find a parking spot. And so it was. It was probably about 3 AM and I drove around the lot navigating around trucks that made their own parking places and my time was out in 12 minutes. I exited the TA and saw a truck parked up on the dirt on the left side up on the shoulder. There was plenty of room so I made my own space there for the night behind him.

Oddly, at least to me, the wind was blowing like what I had seen in some Nor'easters or possibly hurricanes. It was unbelievable. It was pretty warm but the wind was blowing so violently that my truck was shaking from side to side. It was odd and sand was blowing like a desert rainstorm. I popped open my sleeper windows and kept the front windows down about an inch and a half, listening to the wind blow and the relative quiet otherwise. It was pretty cool and a good experience. I slept soundly and woke up with 3 or 4 additional trucks around me on the shoulder. One thing I've been learning is that parking a truck late at night has to be somewhat creative. When I pushed back the front curtains I awoke to seeing exotic cars racing around one side of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It was pretty cool and reminded me that I want to return and drop and ungodly sum of money to run an exotic around the track. Later.

I drove that day all the way to the Phoenix terminal. I ate at the Jake Break (sic) cafe and bought a Swift polo that was overpriced but on my mind for some time. $32 + tax. It looks a little more professional and is that self-wicking material. The Swift overstock store didn't have anything good. This store, the only one of its type within Swift terminals, has a random stock of merchandise that has apparently fallen off a truck somewhere and gathered up off the road by some Swift underlings or hired lumpers. I've heard of very large flat screen tv's being sold for a couple of hundred but these past two times, my only visits, the merchandise has been limited to stuff I don't need or want. Maybe next time.

So, I returned back to my truck empty handed. I've been wanting to wash my truck since picking it up in DEtroit weeks ago. The truck wash was open so I figured I would give it a go. I made one pass through pretty successfully however the truck was still somewhat dirty on the lower sides albeit very wet. So, I figured, hey it's free, make another pass. I probably should have stopped after the first time. I exited the wash and went back around for another pass. I figured the only way to properly clean this truck will be to go through slower this time, barely making forward progress, intentionally letting the brushes molest the sides of my dirty truck. Mistake. The truckwash is similar to being stuck in a serious, tropical hurricane complete with limited to no visibility. As I made it about half way through the wash, brush things and sprayers in full force I was blinded completely despite my windshield wipers on "high". I noticed that, despite me letting out the clutch in first, I was not making any forward progress and that the sprayers and blindness were not going away. Windshield wipers were useless and I deduced that I was somehow hung up against the side guide rails with my tire. I noticed that my side view mirror was almost kissing one of the sprayer supports on my driver side. Somehow along the way of the bath I had managed to push myself against the guide rail. It took me an embarassing couple of seconds to free myself and start moving forward. All I could think about was the potential phone conversation with someone inside one of the nearby corporate buildings explaining how I was stuck inside the truck wash. Newbie. I laughed and excused myself from the wash and left the Phoenix terminal heading towards Rialto, California. My load had been dropped in Phoenix and the trailer I picked up from the receiver was damaged according to the Qualcomm. So I left this empty at the Phoenix terminal and was instructed to bobtail to Rialto California. I picked up the load and went to the Mira Loma terminal.

I made it that night to the Mira Loma, California Swift terminal. This is now my most hated of all Swift terminals. First I could not find any parking in their very limited parking area for trucks with trailers. I drove around for an hour trying a few of the open spots. They were open for a reason as there was a cleverly placed fire hydrant or something with poles around it strategically placed in the middle of the parking area making it impossible to park in one of the open spots. I will admit something: when I am tired after driving all day trying to find parking somewhere where there maybe should be parking makes me cranky if it takes me more than 1/2 hour to park. I was getting very, very pissed to say the least. I drove out of the terminal thinking I would find a close by truckstop but my Qualcomm GPS was not behaving. I was exhausted at this point and drove around the block returning to the terminal. I found a place somewhere near the mechanics shop where I figured I wasn't supposed to park but it wasn't blocking anyone in and there was another truck nearby so I took my chances. "It's easier to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission" was the night's motto. I awoke and gathered my dirty laundry and shower supplies and walked over to the lounge. Upon asking about where the laundry facilities were I was told that we sold that building to Wal Mart since they shared this property with Swift apparently. Great. Showers? Yeah there is ONE upstairs. It was being cleaned at the time and my Irish temperature was rising quickly. It finally opened up and it was a single, somewhat private shower. I enjoyed it for what it was worth but realized that this terminal sucks. Parking, laundry and shower facilities in addition to a depressing lounge made this terminal fall to the bottom of my list. I will say that the mechanics and staff were cool and friendly but the facilities themselves suck.

I finally almost lost my cool one night in Weed, California at the truckstop. I stopped in just to go to the bathroom and grab something to eat. The pumps were pretty busy when I pulled up. As it is sometimes at the fuel pumps later at night, there is an ebb and flow. At the time I pulled up it seems every trucker this late night wanted to stop here. I pulled into an island and there was a truck parked ahead at the line with his lights off. Now, as we all know, picking the right fuel lane is an art and a gamble. I thought that since this truck pulled forward had already fueled and pulled forward and his lights were all off, he would be leaving soon. I was reluctant to leave my truck at the fuel island in front of the pumps to go use the bathroom and get something to eat. I would wait until the guy in front of me moved up. I never saw anyone get out of the truck so I assumed they were inside handling their business and would be out soon. I washed my windshield. Twice. I gathered my garbage from the truck and threw it out. I organized the truck. Still no one came out to move the truck in front of me. I went inside, used the bathroom, got the 2 slices for $5 at this Pilot and asked the clerk to page the driver if I went outside and they still hadn't moved. A half hour had passed and as I went back outside I saw a guy carrying a shower bag (I assumed) entering the truck. I lost it. I yelled in my most annoying Jersey accent "Hey!" and walked up to the truck. An Indian or Pakastani younger guy poked his head out and I asked if he had just came back from the shower. He sheepishly said "yes". I lost it. I was tired. I was hungry and this just didn't fly. Maybe it was a culmination of other things that had annoyed me recently but I went off on this guy telling him to move his f'n truck. I told him how he shoudn't have gone in to shower when others were waiting at the pumps behind him. A half hour I told him I had been waiting. He stated he was waiting for his partner to come out and move the truck. I stomped inside and found a guy that I thought looked like his partner. I asked him if he was the Pacific Express driver and this guy said "yes". He had his shower bag and was heading from the fast food place inside towards the showers. I went off on him and told him how rude it was to make others wait.
He apologized genuinely and I believe the other guy in the truck was genuine as well. I felt a little bad about it afterwards being so extreme and it reminded me of my cabby days back east. I cleared my head driving up the road and felt somewhat more at peace having gotten some stress out of my system. Wrong or right, I lost it a little that night.

I grabbed a 44,000 lb. load and went up through L.A. along I-5 staying the night mid Oregon. The next day I made it to my drop in Renton, WA (last night or this morning, depending on how you look at it). I was at Ikea and after a 3 hour live load I made it back to my home terminal with less than an hour left on my 14 hour clock. Success!

Let me give a quick product review here. The "Mad Dawg" dash cam is garbage. It is sold for $99 at Loves (where I bought it) and now at Pilots. I purchased my FIRST one in Quartzville, AZ. By the next day, within 12 hours, it refused to continue recording and would freeze up. I would have to remove the battery to get it to resuscitate. Loves has an electronics policy whereby if something goes wrong with your product within 30 days they will replace it with the same product. Pilot, under the same circumstances, will give you a store credit. Yea, for Pilot, boo for Loves. But I agreed to Love's restrictive return policy and bought the dashcam keeping my fingers crossed. The thing died and I returned it somewhere east of L.A. The exchange was charged while I slept and when I woke up the screen was wonky and looked like bootleg cable tv. I went to the next Loves up I-5 in Northern California and this one fresh out of the box did the same thing as the second. My next night in Oregon I went to return the item again. Not it's the 4th time at Loves within 48 hours, give or take, and I called their corporate to complain. I understand the policy but there has to be some discretion when it comes to these things. I explained that I normally stop at Loves to fill up twice a week. Given that it costs somewhere near $600 to fill up each time at twice a week that is $1200 a week at Loves in fuel, $4800 a month and $57000+ a year. My feul routes are electronicly given and I have some leeway in choosing where I fuel. If they will not entertain me on this return giving me a store credit (not even asking for a refund) then I will bring my fueling business elsewhere as well as try to influence my Swift driving buddies to do the same (at least threaten to). Additionally I would contact the Better Business Bureau, I would explain and take my chances with a formal complaint. I returned into Loves there in Oregon three times that morning as the person on the phone explained I should go in and get a store credit while the store manager accused me of breaking the screen and would not honor returning the item. Back and forth, in and out I went. Three times from the truck back inside and back out again. Finally, after the corporate department got in touch with the district manager, the DM spoke to the store manager and they exchanged my busted dashcam for my XM radio I now have installed. Never again will I buy electronics from Loves. This much headache over a $99 dashcam is just not worth it.

I ran out of weekly hours last night so I'm now here in WAshington on my 34. I'm enjoying this time away from the truck in front of my computer with a Jim Carey movie on in the background, catching up on here and catching up on some emails. No hot dates this time around and slowly those few people I have been corresponding with have been going AWOL without notice or any reason. I'm guessing another date sight person has swept them off their feet. That's find with me for now as I have my truck, my freedom and quiet, sweet solitude as I look forward to some real "home" time back in Williamsburg with my parents, sis's family and my nieces within the next week or so...

 

Another product recommendation I would make...

Last week I bought a little 12v cooler. I found one at the Pilot for $50 and it was a cooler/warmer. It fit about a 6 pack of sodas inside or 3 soda bottles of the 20oz. variety. I went about 3-4 hours up the road and my 3 bottles barely got cool. The thing was tiny and I'm not sure why I even bought this one to begin with. I wanted something to put some cold cuts, maybe a bag of spinach or some frozen breakfast sandwiches in to keep down the truckstop food costs. Not sure what I was thinking buying this one but the larger one they had at the Pilot on sale for $100 after the $20 rebate was a little more costly. So I returned this little cooler a few hours down the road.

Fast forward to the next day or so and I went to Wal-Mart looking for a 12v cooler. I shopped around the other coolers, the ones you put ice into, and couldn't find anything until I came across a side stack in the middle of the aisle. It had Coleman 12v coolers for $88. I bought it and it is one of the best truck investments I have made. It keeps everything cold. Not cool, cold. You can stand it up like a small refrigerator using the shelf inside to partition your goods or you can do like I currently do and sit it down on its bottom like a regular cooler. It has a fan built into the side that works great and it is completely 12v. Everything stays cold regardless of the surrounding temperatures.

It's Coleman. It's $88 and it's worth it. Just my $.02...

 

Yes, not just clean but also you have to make sure you don't overstuff it. You have to allow the air to circulate away from the motor. After overstuffing mine it started making a weird clicking noise. I was so disappointed as I love this thing so much. When I slid the little motor cover off on the inside of the cooler, the motor was all iced up. I let it defrost and the noise went away.

I love Coke Zeros. That has been my new crack since they came out. Crack is no good.

 

I'm on my first hometime away from my home terminal. I'm visiting the parental units here in Williamsburg and my International is parked at the Richmond terminal getting a "B service" done. I will be back on the truck this Friday afternoon.

Recently I have been smelling a bad burnt diesel smell inside the cabin and it has been giving me a headache. My regen has also been coming on a lot and causing a lot of exhaust fumes to chase me down the highway. Reminds me of these old mosquito killing trucks that used to come down my grandmother's street when I was young dispensing the mosquito-killing formula in a cloud of noxious fumes. We would either run inside or cover our faces. It smelled funny, not something I could describe. As I much as I hate mosquitos, it probably wasn't good for us but, hey, this was Jersey and we were probably already inhaling, consuming and absorbing some more toxic chemicals anyway.

So, a bit of bad news. I got my first violation. The background...
I picked up a bunch of pallets of some fancy wood from Bremerton, Washington going to the Gibson Guitar factory in Nashville. Great trip, 2400 miles of driving bliss. I was excited.

I met the owner in WA at their plant/factory. He was very involved in his business, as he should be, but is often lacking. Good for him for taking ownership of his success. A woman working admin first pointed him out while I sat in my truck getting loaded, the truck shaking from the weight. She pointed him out and stated that was the hardest working person out there. He was stacking some lumber. She stated he was the owner and he was diligent. After being loaded the owner excorted me down to the local gravel pit with the scales, me following him in his personal vehicle. I scaled up. It was official. All was well on all axles and I got the official printout stating all was good in my hood. I was on my way to Nashville and it was still raining in Washington, one of the last days of dreary Washington rain before they got a good stretch of sun. I wouldn't see it as I started to head east over Snoqualmie Pass. No chains required.

At some point in Montana, I was slowing down to make a left into a truckstop and I heard a loud thump. At the time I didn't think much about it so I did what I had to do at the fuel stop and was on my way. A couple of hours down the road I went across a rolling scale in Montana and as I passed over, rolling slowly, I saw that my rear axle was reading a little high over 34,000. My stomach dropped but I didn't get the signal that I needed to pull in. Weird. I considered it lucky, figured the scale master was sleeping, giving me a break or just wasn't paying attention and chalked it up to luck. My first thoughts on being overweight on my tandems was that the thump I heard earlier was the freight in the back shifting causing the weight to be over on the tandems. That, by itself, would be strange being as it was heavy on the tamdems yet when I heard the thump while I was slowing down which would indicate that the freight shifted forward. Either way, I wanted to do the right thing so I pulled in a parking spot near the scales and moved my tandems back a little. I continued down the road.
I crossed into S. Dakota heading east on I-90 and the first scale I hit in S. Dakota required you to stop each axle on the scale and get weighed. I was over on my tandems. I was called in, brought all my paperwork, trailer paperwork, etc. and spoke to the gentleman inside. He stated the obvious and I told him what had happened with moving the tandems back. That, in good faith and in trying to do the right thing, I had moved the tandems back after the rolling scale reading and hearing the thump. He stated that unfortunately whatever weight I was at crossing this S. Dakota scale was official, more or less, and that I would be fined. It wouldn't go on my CSA score, it was merely a financial penalty. $182 later and once I moved my tandems back and had it checked to make sure the weight was evenly distributed I was on my way. Apparently this is not on my CSA but it goes on my Swift record. That sucks because I really wanted to elevate my status from the "bronze" range. It may have to wait. I just submitted the fine paperwork last night here at the Richmond terminal. I'm unclear how this is going to affect my Swift record. When I voiced my concerns to my D.M. about not being able to earn a higher status she stated that she doesn't know if it will. It may just be acciddents, H.O.S. violations, etc. that affect it. I guess I will find out. So, basically if I had left my tandems alone to begin with everything would have been fine in S. Dakota. Lesson learned. The S. Dakota individual stated to me "never go by the weights on the moving scales". I had not known this but now I know.

Now, what should I have done? AFter the Montana scale (that was incorrect or at least not accurate) I should have went and got the truck scaled at a CAT scale to double check instead of just moving my tandems back. My mistake and now I pay for it.