Running With Watkins & Shepard

I must have been the laugh of the lot last night and this morning.....

When I first got here I had to park all the way across the lot about as far from the building as you can get and the Internet signal was weak and kept kicking me off. It took like 4 hours to get those couple posts in last night.

So every time I saw a slot a little closer to the building open up, I moved to it. I must have moved this truck 6 times last night (good backing practice) and STILL couldn't stay connected....LOL

So this morning I walked in to do some laundry and saw a slot right next to the building open up. I RAN to the truck, jumped in and moved over here. So Now I have a pretty solid connection until I leave around 11:00 for my next load.

I can only imagine what any other trucker(s) who saw me doing this must have thought......

 

Well today was quite the day. I'm dedicating this post to all the Newbie, Wannabe drivers out there who have the idea that trucking is a glamorous way of life.

It has that side for sure. I've seen beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Gorgeous rivers and lakes and simply breathtaking scenery in my travels around this wonderful country we call home. I've tapped the wheel to the beat of my favorite tunes while enjoying both crisp cool mornings and warm dry days with the windows open just having the time of my life.

And now...as my favorite Paul Harvey would say.....is the rest of the story.....

Now I can't say if this is typical in trucking as I've simply not been doing it long enough to know. BUT, this is what did, and CAN happen out there. So first a little recap for those who haven't read a few pages back. My Ole Betsy hasn't been feeling good the past few days. She won't idle very well and now she won't start either so keeping it running at all times is pretty important as the last time she died, it took about 45 minutes of cranking, letting the starter cool, cranking, letting it cool...you get it, until she finally caught and started.


For those who don't know, the Volvo has this really NEAT........feature. It has an idle cut off which, after 5 minutes (give or take...no I mean it varies...lol), it shuts down the engine UNLESS you happen to catch the "visual" warning on the dash and tap the fuel or break to override the shut down. In the beginning this was annoying because I'm not the type to sit around. So I'd start the truck and start doing logs, or trip packs or Qualcomm and miss the darn thing all the time and yep, she'd shut down. Those five minutes seemed to go by SO FAST...LOL

Well when you have to stare at the dash to catch it, it seems like FOREVER.

OK, so I get this dispatch yesterday for a short little jaunt of about 295 miles. Not a great mile-maker but hey, they can't all be right? Now the timing was rather poor as well as my pickup window was 08:00 to 15:00 on 9/22 but my delivery was 22:00 on 9/23. OK, a LONG time to go 295 miles but hey, that's cool right? I have "all kinds of time" to do other stuff like..... LIFE....LOL

I got up at 06:00 (this is all EST by the way) and had a nice cup of coffee, took a nice shower, did laundry and shot the breeze with some other truckers. I posted here and it was great to have "all this time". So I shuffled off at 11:45 to my pickup. I choose that time to avoid the worst of the 285 Atlanta traffic. It worked well and was a nice ride without too much craziness. Now keep in mind I've never been to any of these places. Just like all the rest of you newbies will face.....LOL

Keep in mind, with each stop (each time in and out of the truck after moving it) I have to wait that FOREVER five minutes to avoid the idle cut off because if she dies, she might not start again.

So I arrive at the shipper and I'm in luck, my load is ready. I have no clue where to park, or what door to go in as it's a pretty big place. No big deal, I ask a trucker there and he tells me where to go inside and sign in. it happens to be all the way across the complex from where I parked but hey, I don't mind the walk and I have "all kinds of time". I walk in, sign in BUT, I don't have the correct PO #. So I walk back (yep, didn't bring my phone), call and get it, and walk back. OK, now we're cooking! he tells me what dock to bump my empty to and then hands me a paper with directions on it........I'm like, what's this??? LOL he says that's where you go to get the load trailer. Ummmm...OK. So I walk back to the truck, find the dock to bump my empty to, do so and drop it. So now I have to leave this place, go back out on the highway and follow these "directions" to the loaded trailer. about 6 miles of lefts and rights and I find the place.

I have to go in through one motorized gate, sign in with security in a little trailer, go right back out another motorized gate on the other side of that trailer only to do an immediate left U turn into yet another gate right next door.... Ummm...this is a bit weird but...OK...LOL

So I find my trailer and yep, it's parked SO tight to another, I can't crank the landing gear (Dolly wheel) handle. I had to raise the landing gear by turning the handle half a turn, fold it down, another half turn...ok, you get the idea. So I'm now hooked up only a mere TWO AND A HALF hours after dropping my empty. But hey, that's cool, I have "all kinds of time".

So off I go to...well...I'm not really sure as my delivery time is TOMORROW night at 22:00. So I decide I'll at least get to my fuel stop in SC and take it from there. As I leave I notice the truck feels strange. I look at the tandem tires as I'm rolling and they seem a bit squishy...LOL This is a heavy load at 46,580 so I figure I'd better get to a CAT scale and weigh it. So I hit the first one I come to (Good thing I did as the first DOT was not 5 miles beyond it). A tight little pilot with NO parking and not enough room to pull off the scale and not block the fuel traffic. (wait that five minutes first) and Yep, 12k on the steers, 29,620 drives and 36,520 tandoms........LOL

No big deal, slide them puppys 3-3/4 feet and reweigh right? Sure, except when I went around again, everything was blocked and I had to actually exit the TS to turn around. So....7 miles down the road I find a place to turn around...LOL. Back to the scale I go and I'm good at steers 12,200, Drives 32,620 (still had to fuel down the road) and 33,300 tandems. COOL!! Oh yea, that five minutes again for that weigh too. You get that five minutes by now right? EVERY time I move and have to get out, that's the deal.

So at this point 'm thinking, well, I can't idle this puppy because...well...she won't very well and I REALLY need to get it to a shop. But, My delivery is SO long off??? I decide to call the receiver and tell them I have to drop this load there NOW as I may not be able to if this truck dies and won't start. They tell me no problem, bring it in. COOL!!!

Now I can drop this and skate up to the Conover terminal with my poor sick Ole Betsy. Well, not quite. First, I miss the entrance to this place and it's of course, a two lane ONE WAY street so 9 miles down the road I find a place to turn around. (It's really amazing how small a place you can spin a 70 foot truck around in....LOL) So back I go but this is also a two lane ONE WAY street so as I cruise past the entrance AGAIN for another 5 miles I'm just shaking my head....LOL

OK, I GET there and what do I find, I have to park the truck in the lower "outside carrier" parking lot and WALK the papers to the guard shack. Yep, five more minutes to keep her running. So I get in, dock it, yep 5 more, go inside with the paper work and FINALLY begin to get unloaded. Cut the lumper's a T-Check and I'm empty and off to Conover. I get there, drop the trailer and hop over to the Days Inn where I'm writing this from.

So, this short little 295 mile trip I had "all kinds of time for" took me from 11:45 to 01:30, leaves me with a broken truck, hanging in a motel with my thumb up my...Ummm...cough...in the air! ..... ....LOL

What a day! Mama said there'd be days like this!

Good night everyone.....................

 

Good Morning Everyone!

Well I just got off the phone with Blue Ridge (a shop here in Conover that W/S works with) and they told me to bring Ole Betsy in after lunch. I told them that was strictly up to her......

She's been pretty tough to get moving in the morning but then, I have been keeping her up late and moving all the time. (A bad habit of mine)...

I hope she'll cooperate though. This hotel life is nice but I'd like to get rolling today if possible.

Thanks Chompi. I'm doing my best to keep up with it all. It's nice to know an experienced driver thinks I'm doing OK. That really does help!!

I'm not complaining about all that's gone on though. This is trucking and to be expected. But I'd be lying if I didn't say I'd just like a month or two of running without worrying about my truck! LOL When you're cruising through the desert, you have to fight off the constant thought of breaking down out there. NOT a nice feeling to be sure! The funny part is, if I had just stayed for that cup of coffee with Wedge, I'd probably have missed that whole run....LOL

Hey Sweetie! Yep! It's not just a job....it's an adventure! I have to admit that having a room you can walk around in, a bathroom and shower to yourself and a TABLE to type these posts on is NICE. But I don't want to get too comfortable here. God willing, this will turn out to be a .....Quick Fix?.... LOL..... (He kneels and prays). We'll see.

But this will give me time to update my GPS (with a solid Internet connection), call some of the wolves at my door and sooth them a bit and most importantly, talk with my folks. I haven't for several days now and I'd really like to. I can finish up my trip packs and swing by the terminal to submit them on my way to the shop. Betsy willing that is.... LOL

So all in all, I think once again God has plans I can't see right up front. But he's been taking good care of me so far.

 

Well it seems they're going to stick me in another truck to do some more running. So, I gotta get moving here and pack things up. I sure hope this doesn't turn into a long stay in another home.

I just HATE moving all my things. I've done that far too much in my life it seems....LOL