Husband/Wife Team to start with Covenant

I wanted to note, we did find a resolution to the odd deduction for Toll Advance.
It was applied to our Comdata card in error. Someone else needed a Toll Advance and
to make a long story short, an advance was placed on Ron's card, but it should have been
placed onto another person's. The extra charge will be reimbursed and we had a Comdata check cut.
So all is good. Mystery solved.

 

Our GPS day from Hades! THE OTHER Citation...
So here it is....probably the worst day we have had since we started OTR...
Once again, in the lovely state of OREGON, we received a load going from Clackamas to Toledo.
So we set the NaviGo GPS and we started out with our trusty empty in tow.

Along the way, our NaviGo GPS crashed, so we called the appropriate numbers at Covenant to report our dilema. We were directed to call technical support at the Qualcomm headquarters. Which we did.
Upon speaking with the QC tech, we were told there were satellite issues and that our GPS would be down for quite awhile.
So, we decided to continue onward with our old fashioned mapped out route.
BUT as GREEN new drivers, we were not knowledgeable about all the LOW bridge locations.
AND, you guessed it, we came upon a low bridge. With NO PLACE TO TURN AROUND!
So once again, we called the appropriate numbers at Covenant to report our dilema.
And we were directed to call the local law enforcement. Which we did.

It was a rather small town, but the traffic started to back up and back up.
More and more cars in both directions were backing up until an officer finally arrived.
Thank goodness, he was a mild manored Quick thinker! Completely understanding about the situation,
he began directing the traffic from 3 different directions as Ron straight backed about 1/4 of a mile.
Once backed up to the intersection, he was able to turn back to a main road.
We thanked the officer who was most gracious. And OFF we went.... back on track to Toledo.

OH, but the GPS gremlins were not finished with us yet.
As we were approaching our destination that evening, it was dark and foggy. VERY low visual.
Our COMPANY GPS now back to full working order, it directed him to turn down a road called Arcadia.
Upon turning onto the road, I immediately said...
"This road does not look like a road ANY 18 wheeler should be traveling!"
It was a VERY narrow, tight winding residential road that was precarious to navigate.
I held my breath as Ron carefully made each and every curve and watched as he cleared the picket fences
and the children at play signs.

Breathing a sigh of relief as we pulled into the gate of our destination to pick up our load,
on came the Big Blue Flashing lights. Yes, Mr. Toledo law officer was sitting at the end of the road
and followed us right in to the gate of the Vendor's facility.
He proceded to write Ron a ticket for traveling down a No Truck Route.
The officer stated that he was surprized that Ron was able to navigate the road without causing ANY damage. It was just a few days before when another driver from JB Hunt was routed down the road by his GPS and he took out a tree!

Once the ticket ordeal was complete, Ron went up to the guard gate of the vendor's facility to inquire about our load.
The guard commented that this was a pretty common occurance and prompty handed Ron a
map on the proper way to leave the facility, so he wouldn't get a ticket as he left.

Oh I forgot...the load!! Wouldn't you know it... NO LOAD!
It had been cancelled that morning, before we left.

OK, all in all... Not such a good day.
The moral of the story... Strive to READ ALL YOUR SIGNS!
The GPS is a TOOL. ALL signs supersede any GPS directions.
Use your gut instincts and common sense regarding any road that does not appear safe for an 18 wheeler to travel.

In the famous words of our trainer, Dennis... "The Signs will Set You Free!"
until next time...

 

Thanks Rocks! It really hurts that she passed while I was gone. Wish I could have been there for her.
As for our friend, it was unexpected and sudden, but we were happy to have gotten to be there for the memorial.

Well we hope by sharing our ordeal that other drivers might learn from our experience. At the time, we did not have internet on the truck (We do now!!) AND at the time, I did call the customer. Even asked for specifics on how to get there. No warning at all.
I still think about those families on that street. It is awful they have to deal with this constant danger every day. And I am sure most of those drivers routed down that street are new and still learning. (saw mostly Swift, JBHunt, all from the big outfits) If they miss the sign, well OUCH! Hopefully they got out with just a fine and points!
I have since used the google maps, Satellite view. YES, it is great! We also tried another gps after this lovely adventure (the Rand McNally Intelliroute TND 710 Truck GPS). Waste of money! Bad routes, longer routes and malfunctioned/unusable within 2 months.
We now utilize ALL our tools.
But most of all, we watch the signs like hawks. Horrible day...Great learning experience.

 

What a wonderful day! Had a 34 near Sequoia National Park. If you ever get the opportunity to see these majestic trees, it is a must for your bucket list. Of all days, this one will go down as wonderful in my life diary. This is one of those days when we truly enjoy this job.

 

We are really going to miss our dispatch manager. Kim was excellent at her job. She was straight forward, to the point, get the job done, no dilly dally kind of gal. Ron and I really appreciated working with her. She was promoted to another area and we will miss her. So we now have a new dispatch manager, Ryan. So far, he seems to be on top of things. I like the way he communicates. Looking forward to good things.