Running With Watkins & Shepard

LOL....The posts are just a flying huh?

Well, let's see here, I've just finished going back over them "ALL" biggrin_25521...LOL...and we've gone from everything to I'm beat..YEP...to I'm gleaming at my shiny key.... "He's probably had a full day with driving to Mississippi and checking out his assigned tractor".....to...."Go Bills!!!..".....LOL (sorry, I'm a Giants fan) as depressing as that can be at times.

OK. Let's see....one from each, shall we?

Right on all accounts buddy. I'm beat and things did move VERY fast. I went from setting up my laptop in the hotel in Conover yesterday morning to....PACK IT UP...WE GOTTA GO! Never did get to post...LOL

Oh Sammy...you know me SO well!! LOL

Right again and you will get that impression. Although as it was for me, it may not be "quite" what you expected.....

Oh how I wish I could.........OK enough quoting here.

Here's what's been going on. So yesterday morning around 8:30 we get the call...head over to the terminal, your ride to Myrtle is here and hooking up his trailer. So off we go at about 10:00 after getting all set. A 9 hour run later and we're pulling in to the Myrtle terminal.

I'm a bit bummed as I see my truck is a Volvo. I know, I know but I really wanted a Freight Shaker. Just familiarity really plus MORE ROOM to live! BUT, it is what it is and I'm grateful. So yep, The first thing I do is get all my stuff and throw it in there. The truck is a 2004 and really, pretty clean inside and in good shape inside and the body is nice. She's got just under half a mill on the clock.

The next thing I do is start looking at the paper work, Well....LOL it's ALL outdated by like 3 or more years! I run into some long term truckers there and they tell me it's been sitting for like 5 months. OK, no big deal but I can't drive an out of date truck. So I look at the plate, it's a bit bent up so I go to straighten it and it comes off in my hand...WHOOPS...LOL...it's also expired.

OK, I'm gonna beat all this and call the shop in Missoula right....yep, I did and Steve was very nice and helpful and I gave him the fax # to a Pilot about 4 or 5 miles away. OK, I'll bobtail over to get them. I do so now I have papers. Well this all took a couple hours to get done so nows it's late, dark and yep Wedge...I'M BEAT! So I sleep at the Pilot after some reading of the owners manual as I've never even seen a Volvo before. All the controls are foreign for sure....LOL

I have a 4 stop load waiting for me in the morning. COOL!!! I'm thinking as I'm dreaming about "sitting tall in that seat" Sammy........ Murray KY, Bolesville KY, Louisville KY and a last leg to the Indiana terminal. My back is crying but I don't care, I'll figure out how to do it someway. So morning comes and now I can really dig into my inspection. Ummmm...hmmm....Not terrible but this puppy needs some TLC.

Mechanically all looks good. The breaks, steering, suspension, frame, engine (and all it's parts) (a Cummings), the trans is a bit sloppy but hey, who wouldn't be after being rode that hard for that many miles?....LOL Tires are good on the steers, the drives? real nice on the right (except one has a leaking valve-stem and only 60 PSI in it, and the left are a bit thin but decent tread and usable. So I buy I a 50 foot length of hose with a glad hand on one end and the tire chuck on the other and pump it up! 32 bucks there but hey, I'm a DRIVER...right?...well...not yet...LOL

The truckers I talked with the night before told me the first stop won't take delivery on the weekend and I'd have to wait till Monday to start out. But I'm determined so I called them and they said, well...since it's only a couple pieces...sure bring it over. We're here until 5:00 today. So I have about and hour to spare to get it there. COOL!!! So I head back to the terminal, find and hook my paycheck and get ready to roll. But then I think...."Ya know?...I better check the papers on the trailer too".

They're good but theres no sticker on the trailer. Hmmmm....call my buddy Vern the safety director from NJ but got no answer. I say, OK, I have a truck with no tag and a trailer with no sticker but all the paperwork is in order. I'M GOING!!. So I send all my Qualcomms (right I hope..) and I'm off. I get about 20 miles down the road and I smell oil...Hmmmm....I run another 10 and now I'm seeing SMOKE!! OK, this ain't good so I find a spot to pull over and crack the bonnet. YEP! Oil all over the place from the head gasket on the right side. Dam!! .....Ummm...Cough....DARN IT!!

I call the shop in Missoula again (yep, they're gonna remember me.. me thinks) and tell them I better limp this sick dog back to Myrtle. He agrees and that's what I did. I drop the box, I send all my 61 messages letting dispatch know the whole deal. (They aren't going to have a good Monday me thinks). and I'm sitting in the hotel on W/S's dime AND insistence so I'm comfortable because nothing can be done before Monday morning now.

So I get a nice room, a shower...ummm...yep...need one and I get to write all this. Which by the way folks, once I get rolling, it WILL be some time in between posts as I don't have a card for my laptop and once I start making some money, I can buy a few minutes at the truck stops.

NOW, I have some REALLY GOOD NEWS after all this. I HEARD FROM ORG!!!!!!!!!!! He's fine! Driving his butt off for Swift (now has 50 hours at it...lucky dog!! LOL) and has just been so busy he hasn't had time to think about much else. He only left a message and wants to talk with me about "my adventure" so I'll try him tonight.

So I'll sit here getting broke down pay and enjoy some SLEEP!! LOL

So folks, Not exactly what I had in mind for my first pull but hey, this is trucking...right? Perhaps the good Lord is saving me from the back work and my next load will be a simple D&H or dock bump. Yep, always a silver linning... I think??

 

Oh Yeah, I have to say that W/S has been simply great to me through all this. I really felt bad that I couldn't get the load delivered. I have to say now, I honestly don't know who feels worse about it all. They have treated me with repsect and kindness that even knowing some of them a while now, I didn't expect.

So THREE CHEERS for a company that looks at you like PEOPLE!! Hmmm...what a concept...imagine that!

 

Thanks Crusier. I'm not upset but it was an interesting (although short) first experience....LOL

Don't know about the "other truck" thing. Vern had two up in NJ for me but I guess the Conover crew thought otherwise. This is a good thing really. My room mate really did keep me up for two days with his snoring so I can really use the sleep.

Don't know about the entouage but it's tight for just me. If I stay one, I'll have to rethink my whole setup I had planned for so long.

 

Ya know man? I couldn't get that thought out of my head since I got there last night.....

I was stumbling a bit as I really didn't expect all this. I was just focused on trying to do the "job" right. But I "think" I handled it all fairly well.