Running With Watkins & Shepard

Poobah, First I want to thank you for a great post and some of the best advice I've received yet about how to "live" out here with limited resources.

Now, to the highlighted points above... Chase me away? LOL...not a chance! Although shaken (not stirred), I thrive on challenge but I must admit, I was so concerned about just getting all the logistics this company requires (a lot of paperwork, trip packs, logging etc.) right, that the added twist of just getting the truck legal and drivable was a bit of a mind freak for sure....LOL

Your second point is what concerns me most. Since I'll be living in this puppy for long stretches at a time, I NEED to know she's as ready to roll as I am everyday. There are still a couple small hic-ups to deal with but after two runs now, I feel better about her reliability. Well....a "little" better anyway....

 

Hey buddy, I have to admit I'm pretty overwhelmed by the following my humble little life seems to gather here. Just goes to show you that good people do indeed attract GOOD people. The folks that have taught me so much and follow up to see how I'm doing truly warms my heart.

LOL...yeah, I don't have a deceptive bone in my body. If I did, I probably wouldn't even be here. My passion for, and ability to do top quality woodwork provided me MANY opportunities that, if I could have "taken advantage" of others, I'd be filthy rich and retired sipping some sweet drink on some tropical island now...LOL

But now that the "Real Americans" are waking up and taking a stand against what's being forced down our throats, perhaps an "honest" candidate would actually stand a chance? Ummm...yeah right...LOL

 

You know me so well SWEETIE!!

My folks and I had a simply wonderful meal and a lot of fun talking about my first war stories as a new driver. When we got home I thought about jumping back on-line and posting them but honestly, there's a fair amount to write and yep, after all the cleaning and loading of my truck which isn't "completely" done yet, I was really beat. Might have had something to do with the 3 Absolute Screwdrivers I had at dinner too.....LOL

Besides, I'm thinking about writing suspense novels. How am I doing so far??

Anyway, my "green dot" is on now and my next post is under way..............

 

OK, so I left you all hanging with my last post from the hotel in Myrtle MS getting ready to go get my truck from the shop. Bare with me here as I'm waiting for my first Cup-O-Jo to kick in....LOL

I got my truck back Tuesday morning around 10:00. Kenny took me over to the shop to get it. The oil leak was the valve cover gasket. Upon arrival the mechanic showed me a piece of steel (looked like a nail) sticking in the right rear axle outside drive tire. He marked it but didn't pull it as they don't do tires there. But he did go around and air them up. While doing so, we discovered the left rear axle inner tire was flat! LOL They replaced the blower motor, put new wiper blades on, fixed the left wiper washer and installed a new temp sensor in the rear drive axle but I still get no data from it.

So after he aired up all the tires I bobtailed over to the terminal. They called the tire guy in and he put two new tires on it. The one with the "nail" was fine. But the flat one was split in the tread. Being that it was also rather thin on tread, he had to put two new ones on the left rear to match the tread depths. At this point it's now 15:00.

SO, I asked dispatch if they had a load to get me to Jersey. Lisa said she could get me to Conover and they might be able to get me there. So she hooked me up with a nice D&H load of furniture going right to the Conover terminal. I was rolling with it at 15:30. I ran it straight through with one fuel stop and just two 5 minute "get out and walk around the truck" stops. Along the way I noticed the right bug-eye mirror was flapping around in the wind. I was in a place where there just no place to stop. Not even along the side of the road. I knew I had to stop soon and tighten it up. I finally found a little TS in Pomora TN and swung in there. The entrance road was a mine field of serious holes and s soon as I turned into the TS, YEP, it fell off and I saw it hit the ground but it was still in tact. SO I find a slot to park in, backed it in and RAN to go get it. I'm about 20 feet from it when I see another truck coming in and I'm waiving my arms like a mad man (that must of raised a few eyebrows) but YEP, he rolled right over it...LOL So with my last few bucks, I bought another one and a small adjustable wrench to install it. (my tools where with Vern in Sayreville if y'all remember that story). So, on the road again. Did a fuel stop and break in Dandridge TN.

I arrived in Conover at 02:45, bumped the dock and dropped it. I got a couple hours shut eye but got up to talk with some of the folks there. Good thing I did because apparently, even though I've now spoken to like 6 people about the paperwork and stickers for the truck and "thought" folks where working behind the scenes to get it all straightened out, they weren't. So I spent the morning and afternoon making more calls and getting it all set up. I called Emmy in MT and had her check the truck file in the shop there. Sure enough, ALL the paperwork and stickers where there. After confirming my next load was headed to Jersey, I had her FedEx everything to the Sayreville terminal. I had Blue Ridge come out to the Conover terminal to inspect the truck so I'd have a current, valid inspection report. So I hook up to my load and I'm ready to roll at 14:00 right? Well, not quite. Most of the marker lights on the trailer were out so I called Blue ridge again to have them fixed since I knew I'd now be running at night again. I left at 15:30...LOL

This run was again furniture bound for Briggstown NJ to Raymour & Flanagan. A live unload. The appointment was for 04:30 so I got there in plenty of time to catch another couple hours shut eye. When they came out to wake me up and tell me what dock, I must have been REALLY tired because this site was large and had plenty of room but I had a really tough time backing it in. I truly embarrassed myself but did get it docked on time. I must have fallen asleep again because the next thing I know, it's like 05:45 and I see the green dock light blinking and nobody around. So I went in and got the paperwork but they didn't have the the trip pack envelope it came in and that had all the info to that point on it. I made them look for it and they did find it...LOL

So I checked my GPS for the nearest place to park (a TA a few miles away) and went there to SLEEP and my 10 hour break! I'm now roughly 176 miles away from thee Sayreville terminal where I HAD to go and get my paperwork and stickers for the truck. Dispatch sent me another load assignment (Beer) to be picked up in PA and taken to NC. Well, as much as I hated to do it, I had to turn it down. First because I needed all the legal stuff and second, I'm now FLAT broke, dying of thirst and I already used my cash advance back in Myrtle to get that air hose (and some other things) to keep the tires pumped up enough for all the bobtailing around back there getting it fixed...LOL

I sent a message to dispatch and they were very understanding about my refusing the load so I set myself up as empty and UN-available. I head out for Sayreville and the FUN begins...LOL

So I leave the TS at 12:00 bound for Sayreville. Now don't ask me how but somehow I find myself crossing the river into Philly. It wasn't bad enough that I had no cash for the $30 toll but folks, let me tell ya, as a NEW driver, the LAST place you want to be is LOST in Philly mid day....LOL... Man, I was really tied up and I took that puppy through narrow streets and tight corners I'd not take my pickup truck through by choice....LOL after about 35 minutes of towing this box around, my GPS is having brain farts trying to keep up "recalculating". At one point it's telling me to make a left with a big red warning saying the road is either "restricted or not an advisable route". So at the red light I'm looking down to left and yep, I see a sign with a 12 foot bridge height. Okie Dokie, I ain't going left...LOL so I go straight through the light and by the grace of God, I soon see a sign for I-95. I knew that from there I's at least be able to stop and I could find my way.

So, with no money for more tolls, I decided to run north on the PA side because I was pretty sure I could cross the river further up with no tolls. Now, for ALL you new drivers out there, when you hear the experienced drivers tell you NOT TO BLINDLY FOLLOW A GPS? LISTEN TO THEM. I did and it took me up PA 309 headed for I 78 East. What I SHOULD have done was check my map, stay on I 95 (this section of it was no toll) and then take route 1 right into Sayreville. But Noooooo...I have this wonderful GPS and I BLINDLY followed it! BIG MISTAKE! First, 309 is a CRAP road with more lights than a Christmas tree that someone replaced every burnt out one with RED light!! LOL

But, I'm committed now. Need to get there, I'm tired and haven't showered in two days. So I continue on. 309 to I 78 East. When I hit 78 I said COOL!! now at least I can RUN and make up some time right? Well, not exactly. After about a nice 15 minuets of running, traffic comes too a stand still. I mean all lanes, stop & second gear idle, stop and second gear idle. THREE hours and THREE miles later they have thee road closed and diverted traffic off 78 completely! There was a really bad wreck involving 2 trucks and a car with 3 fatalities. (May God bless all those who now have to deal with this tragedy). Suddenly, my woes seem pretty unimportant now.

SO the "detour" takes us all on PA 378, to PA 412 to get back to 78. Well folks, this route was tight turns, little towns, lots of lights and a lot of steep hills with lights at the top. If you can imagine 3 lanes of traffic from 78, trucks and 4 wheelers alike, all being "squeezed" through this, well needles to say it wasn't pretty and took a couple more hours to get back to 78. At this point, my left leg feels like it's been beat with a baseball bat for a few hours and is burning bad....LOL

So after getting back on 78 it's clear sailing for about 50 miles or so. I cross into Jersey, hit 287 south and WHAM!! Another parking lot for about 45 minutes or so. I don't even know really because at this point, I just don't care....LOL I FINALLY get to the Sayreville terminal at...get this.... 19:00!! Yep!...SEVEN hours to go about 170 miles!!

I walk in, ask them where to drop my trip pack, do so and they ell me they have a shower, kitchen and a company car if I want to go out for something to eat. All I heard was SHOWER....LOL Now this is the first time I ever saw the Sayreville terminal and or met anyone there. I had heard it was a tight yard so I parked on the street to scope it out first. Tight?? Ummm...YEP, you could say that!! ... LOL So I asked them where they wanted this empty trailer. They said oh just find a spot and put it there. So I come around the corner of the building and I'm rolling along the empties and see ONE open slot.

I got lucky actually because the space between the trailers at the dock and the ones against the mountain isn't even a truck length. The open slot was directly across from a docked trailer so I pass the open slot, crank a HARD left knowing I'd "just" miss the docked trailer by inches with my bumper and then crank it hard right to get "almost straight. This left me a few feet too far left of the slot but with just 2 pull ups I got that puppy in there. It felt good to get in there nicely without having to work "too" hard to do so. So I drop it, park back on the street, go in and take a MUCH needed shower and contemplate heading home. I only have 48 gallons of fuel for a 160 mile round trip. Could I have made it? Probably but being a newbie, I wasn't sure if that small amount would cause the truck to be sucking air as it sloshed around. So I slept there for the night.

In the morning I spoke with Robin and she gave me a Sunoco card to get 50 gallons about 2 miles away. I did and headed home.

WHEW!! what a BLAST!!

Once again I have to give a GREAT BIG THANKS to Mike-NC. He's been such a GREAT help to me through all this and I keep bugging the poor guy on the phone.

Mike, we're becoming really good friends and I honestly don't have the words to properly thank you for walking me through much of the company procedures and teaching me about who to call about any given situation. I owe you BIG TIME BROTHER!! If they ever get me out West and we can meet up, it'll be my pleasure to shake your hand and buy the meal!!!

So I have another load waiting for me (FAK) at Sayreville this weekend bound for Stone Mountain GA. It has to be there Tuesday so I have a little time to keep working on my mobile home and see more of my family. My brother and his family are ccoming down today for a BBQ. I also have to call my really good friend Sally who I just met befoe going to Orientation. We went on one bike ride and would like to go again but I don't think I'll have time for it. I'll do my trip plan this morning and figure that out for sure. But after all those delays yesterday and knowing what "can" happen, I'm inclined to leave early, get there and wait.

That's the way I am. I'd rather get there and wait, than be late.