The journy begins

Just got a call from my mentor. I have to be in the Mira Loma yard at 0600. He asked me my age, if I've driven a stick outside of the academy and if I understood that this ain't a 9-5 job. Sounds like he had a bad experience with a young person who thought this was a cakewalk and he'd be home every night.

 

Finished the run with my mentor. Out for 2 weeks then home for 3 days and he had to get his teeth fixed and get new glass on the truck. Then back out for 3.5 weeks. Mostly uneventful. My mentor was exactly as one should be. Patient, didn't yell, knew how to teach me to back into things, errr I mean back up to crappy docks and holes that a yard goat would have issues with.

I came back and did the log class and met my DM. I immediately got tossed on the Wal Mart Blitz and started running to Phoenix and back to Mira Loma. Then that fell through because the Phoenix planners would yank us off the trailers and give them to Phoenix guys. So the DM I was under for that gave up and they are doing something else now. I ran my first "real" load out today after waiting over 22 hours for an MT in the Mira Loma yard.

Don't go to Fontana with no MT. You will be doing a 34 whether you want to or not. I was asked to take a guy to Phoenix as that was on the way to my drop and they bribed me with an MT. /someone else took the guy but they kept their word on the MT.
Chino CA to Gilbert AZ. 21 MT and 360 Loaded

The Gilbert West yard in Chino kicked my butt. The yard goats barely had enough room and I think they had a good laugh at me trying to cram my trailer in. It was about 3 inches of space on each side of the hole. No way I could do it. Couldn't get a sharp enough angle. The goat had to jacknife the trailer and had mere inches in front to cut back to stick it in. Ah well. I needed to burn time anyway for the 1/2 hour logged for a drop and hook.

Then off to AZ where the Cali drivers tried their dangest to see the underside of my trailer the hard way. Dropped in gilbert AZ and grabbed an MT to take back to the Phoneix yard as i was running lowish on drive hours and knew I wouldn't get a load as I am locked into short runs as I am a new driver.

So I pull in and have to lose the MT. Drat. I scan in my B/L and logs and head back to the truck. BOOM! 2 preplans. Phoenix to Yuma to drop an MT then Yuma to Santa Fe Springs CA, my old stomping grounds. The only thing is the SFS drop time is earlier than the Yuma one. Guess I need a jet engine on the truck. At least I got sort of a weekend load.

A good note is I have 2 DM's fighting over me as they both want me. My one that I was assigned to and the one that was doing the Blitz thing. I don't call screaming about plans changing at the drop of a hat. If you can't take a joke then don't drive for a living.