WSE - from my point of view

I hope getting a truck doesn't result in a 3-7 wait but I guess it certainly could.

Secondly, my trainer said when it gets bad enough for chains to be required...he finds safe haven and shuts down til the storm passes. We'll see...we did have a session in orientation regarding chaining. There are also several YouTube videos demonstrating chaining up that are very informative and helpful.

As always...thanks for the advice. I'll take all you are willing to share.

 

that is who I worked with. I found him very helpful and truthful.

 

Trunch, I wish I was sunning it in FL. Actually, Northern CA was pretty nice yesterday.

I'll try to put up an update today, but for now, we are in Sacramento at the 49er having come through Donner just ahead of the snow yesterday. Whew!! Of course with computers, aircards, iPhones, and weather phone numbers, we were well aware of the impending weather and decided a couple of days ago to team it across NE, WY, UT, NV and CA to Sacramento. After seeing the weather report this morning and looking at some web cams here http://www.magnifeye.com/, we absolutely made the right choice.

Downside....our load doesn't deliver until Thurs but we are working on getting that changed too. We are hoping that several previously scheduled loads have had to be re-scheduled due to the weather.

 

Last time I think we were unloading at Wally World in Gordonsville, VA. After 3-4 hours, we were MT and headed for Stuarts Draft to grab more delicious chocolate from Willy Wonka (Hershey) and run it up to PA.

It was a short run but it completed my need to get to the northeast to fulfill WSE's training requirement. That is why they gave it to us. It was drop and hook on both ends, so it wasn't too bad. We were a little over gross, but were able to manage that with our fuel load.

Once we were done in PA, we headed west to Edwardsville IL dropped there and grabbed an MT and headed over to Robinson, a short 150 or so miles. There we were grabbing yet another load of candy and heading west. That load was bound for Ogden.

We still needed to get to CA or WA/OR for training purposes and thus, an owner/operator had a load that was bound for Sacramento that he needed to have relayed. Since we needed to go to CA, they asked us to do it. We were headed that way anyway so we met him around Granite City NE.

We were delayed a bit around Kansas City as our reefer was acting up. If it had been a load of ice cream, we'd have been just fine. But you just can't freeze chocolate that is supposed to be kept at 55 degrees (it gets a white hazy look). The TK shop there was pretty useless, of course it was late on a Friday and those guys only had one thing on their minds. It is so strange out here how the days of the week don't matter. Heck, I have to stop sometimes and really think of what day it is.

So, the O/O finally made it to the relay point at about 10:30 on Saturday. We had been watching the weather in the west and we knew that they were calling for a major winter storm right in the area that we were headed. So, as soon as we hooked the trailer, we were hell bent to get over the Donner Pass before the snow began. So, we teamed this load.

Rawlins WY was our fuel stop and it's where we switched out. I don't think I have ever been colder in a shorter amount of time as I was while fueling that truck. Dang!!! it was so cold!!!

Anyway, I climbed in the bunk and went to sleep immediately. I am surprised at how well I slept while he drove. He motored through the night across WY and UT and I climbed back in at mile marker 266 in NV. He, evidently, drove through some pretty bad snow but made it there just fine. I had no idea...I was comatose.

I motored west to Sparks NV for our final fuel stop before Donner. Skies were sunny and clear but we knew the mountains could change that pretty quickly. So we still didn't waste any time and motored west.

Frankly, with it high and dry, Donner was simply beautiful. I didn't find it as nerve-racking as I-64 through WV. At the summit though, it didn't disappoint. At the summit, the snow, mixed with ice, began almost as though someone had turned on a snow making machine. Fortunately, it only lasted for a couple of miles and then the road was dry and clear again.

We motored on into Sacramento without incident and parked at the Sacramento 49er...I guess it's the only truck stop in all of Sacramento. Anyway, this is where we are for another day and a half.

I realize that I am not giving very much info with regard to the company, WSE. It's been great but I am sort of wondering if that has to do with the fact that I am on a training truck and my trainer has been with the company for 5+ years and has a great relationship with his fleet manager. I guess we'll see if I can get up to OR/WA and back to the southeast when I get my truck and start running solo. More to follow......

Thanks for reading.