Calex Express....My New Home!

Well I have an extra few minutes so here's an update of my trip so far. I woke up at the truck stop early Thursday morning to go to the yard and get my trailer assignment. Louie didn't get the trailer list until 9am so I had time to get a grease job and find out what the problem was with my stereo that kept flashing "Code Required". It seemed when the truck was at the dealer they disconnected the computer and it wasn't recognizing the stereo without re-entering the code, which was on a computer in the shop. They looked up the code number for my truck and I entered it in the stereo and was able to listen to Howard 100 with much joy from me.

I got my trailer assignment and in the pouring rain, and let me tell you it was raining like a South Florida hurricane, I hooked up to it, then went and topped off my truck fuel and trailer fuel. By the time I got finished, I had to change my clothes right there in my truck at the fuel island. The trailer I was given has those side skirts on it down each side, which is a newer reefer. Both Gary and I each left the terminal the same time, I went to Bethlehem to load and he went to Lancaster to load. I got there in the pouring rain right at 11am for my appointment and was loaded in 25 minutes. Gary on the other hand got to Lancaster and had to sit for 5 hours due to a lack of electricity at the shipper. We spoke and decided to meet up at Brookville and leave in the morning together.

On my way to Brookville it was raining so hard that it took me 6 hours to go the 255 miles. I saw a ton of cars in the ditch, which I totally understand as to how they ended up there, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out how a Pride Transport going UP Snowshoe jack knifed and got completely turned around while knocking his cab off the frame. All this as the only vehicle involved in the accident. Oh well, at least the driver walked away from it unscratched, minus a damaged ego.

We woke up early Friday morning, showered, had breakfast and decided to take the northern route out of Chicago. The only problem was we hit Friday afternoon rush hour traffic in Chicago, not fun, but we were able to make it to Portage Wisconsin and called it a night. Our designated fuel stops don't exist going this way so we had to use our secondary fuel card off network, which was cool as we could fuel anywhere we want. We got split up yesterday because Gary needed to take a nap somewhere in Northern Minnesota and I kept going to Mandan North Dakota where I fueled and went to bed. Gary got there 2 hours after I did so he couldn't leave with me at 6am this morning. So now he's 2 hours behind me the rest of the trip. That's not a problem for him as he can deliver anytime he gets there on Monday. I need to get to my consignee before 3pm to get unloaded.

Right now I'm taking my 10 here in Missoula Montana, and have 470 miles to go. I'll leave here 4am local time and be in Kent around 1pm tomorrow to unload. I love putting a plan like this together, let's just hope it works!

I spoke to Louie Friday late to let him know I would be empty Monday and ready to go after midnight Tuesday, he said fine and that he would note it in the computer for Jason to take care of, you see he's on vacation again this coming week. He said something about Negril in Jamaica, I was in the process of hanging up on him while he was telling me where he was going. Have a good time Louie, you deserve it.

One other thing, we found out that Pat's last day was going to be Friday. He's going to another company as their safety and compliance manager. Good luck Pat, I really enjoyed working with you these last 14 months.

Stay tuned, more to follow!

 

Well after a very long day, I'm empty. I left Missoula MT right when my 10 was up at 5:45 am Pittston time. I made it over Lookout Pass in the dark, rain and fog and made it to the Petro outside of Spokane for fuel. After a cup of coffee I left and boogied across Washington and made it to the consignee at exactly 12:30pm local time. They quickly gave me a door and had me unloaded in an hour. I left and headed to North Bend to finish my reset. I'll be good to go at midnight tomorrow night. I spoke to Gary and he was due to unload around 6pm local time. I'll see him in the morning. I called into dispatch and was told they have my reload set up for Wednesday and to call tomorrow for my load info.

Let me tell you about my door assignment at this place I delivered at. It had to be the hardest spot to back into for me in the last year. At least I thought my door was hard. The one to my left when it opened up was given to this Swift driver and the only way to back in was on the blindside. And boy did she do everything right. Even the part where they tell you to G.O.A.L. She got out and looked about ten times. I asked her if she wanted another set of eye's and she said the only thing she was worried about was my driver side fender. I told her that was exactly what I was worried about also. I must say, she did it, and my fender is still in the same spot it was yesterday. Good job Swift!

 

Physicals/Drug screens and road tests are set up by safety after all checks are done and verified. They will make arrangements with a national company for the DOT physical, and then they will make arrangements with a driver that will be in your area for the road test.

 

Well my reset will be over in a few hours but I have no load info yet. Gary and I had breakfast early this morning then decided to go into the bustling metropolis of North Bend WA. and do laundry and some grocery shopping. All I can say is North Bend has an over abundance of very good looking women. We got back to the truck stop and went to our prospective trucks. I decided to fix a few little issues I developed on my way out. I routed my coaxial for my CB through the headliner to hide it. Then I fixed the handle to my clothes closet that came loose and made me use a screwdriver every time I needed to get clothes out. In the morning is clean day on the inside, it's amazing how much dust is generated in these trucks in just a week.

I called into dispatch and spoke to Jason who is filling in for Louie while he's on vacation. I didn't like his answer. So due to the fact that the company was in a bind and I was asked to do a turn around, and was told by Louie that we have plenty of freight here, I'm expecting to load tomorrow, if not I will be on the phone with someone hire up than Jason to get my reload info. The way I work is if you need me to do you a favor I expect the same thing in return. I didn't come out here to do my laundry and grocery shop.

 

Good luck! Look for me the beginning of next week. I should be in the terminal Monday sometime. This truck stop hasn't changed at all in the last 25 years that I first stopped here. Now it's gone the way of T/A. What's this country coming to?