The start of my first year with Swift.

Since I'm new I might be wrong on this but here goes.

Basically if you have a load and you are going to deliver it early, you can get permission to drop it at a yard. They will transfer the load to another driver to make the final delivery. I'm sure there are better explanations, but that's the only time I've been involved with using it.

 

The end of another day and I'm in Jackson, MS. What a rain storm. I only had 45 minutes left on the clock and I didn't know if there was anything better down the road, so I pulled into the Flying J. I'm kind of glad I did. People were getting a bit nuts trying to get home.

Driving in East Texas this morning and it was obvious they don't get much ice. Saw a few crashes and lots of evidence of many others. Just because you can still see the pavement doesn't mean there is no ice.

Had a guy come up and ask me for money at the Flying J tonight. I was still letting the engine cool down. He was on me that fast. He probably was down on his luck and being MS he probably couldn't find a job. I guess I should get a bunch of Swift recruitment flyers and start handing them out.

Nothing more going on. I hope to deliver tomorrow and then find a load back to the Northwest.

One thing I was going to mention. When you get on your own, go to a TS and purchase a lunch box cooker. You can use heavy duty aluminum foil in it and make just about anything. It's pretty darn quick as well. Do not plug it into a 12v outlet with a splitter. I did and it melted the end of the splitter. I also picked up a 12v fan. I was melting in CA and Las Vegas last week. Of course it's in the 30's now.

I'll have the shopping list a little more refined next time I re-fit. There are things, such as bread, or rolls, that I really haven't eaten much of. I eat mostly cheese, crackers, salami, oatmeal, top raman, and soup. I throw brown rise in with the soup to add some bulk. I'm not gaining weight out here and I'm not losing it yet either.

 

The end of another day and a load delivered. Man I never thought it would get done.

My morning started by sleeping in an hour longer than I wanted. I didn't get the alarm on the Qualcomm set right. I'm going back to my cell phone. I know how to run that...a little bit.

I got to my fuel stop in Meridian, MS. I waited in line for about 45 minutes. When I finally got to the pumps the card reader told me to see the cashier. Now I find out that none of the card readers are working. Everything has to be run from the cash register AND their main communications were down. There were using dial up internet to connect to comdata. After the guy tried my card three times, I asked if there was another station close by. He said Love's was about 20 miles down the road. When got there the trucks were backed out into the road. I contacted dispatch and told them the deal. They let me get 50 gals and told me to stop again when I needed more. They just need the comdata number for the location I want to get fuel.

Down the road I go. I drive until I have a quarter of a tank and pull into the last Pilot I can find before I have to deliver. I call ahead and get the store number. Not the right information. I found that out while I was sitting at the pumps. I asked to have fuel released so I can be on my merry way. Dispatch now try to send me to FL for fuel. I'm in AL. I finally call and get it worked out, but, I can only get another 50 gals.

Lesson here. Have a plan in case your fuel stop isn't working. Find out the Comdata number of the next available fuel stop and call it in way ahead of getting there. Hope the let you fill up.

It wasn't a big deal really, just frustrating is all. Now I'm in GA where I know it has to be 100 degrees with 100 percent humidity. I'm dying here. A/C doesn't work in the truck at all. Glad I got the fan last week.

This is a great way to see the US. I didn't think East TX was bad. I don't care for AL or LA. I'm pretty sure I saw two deal alligator's beside the road in LA. I'm also very sure that God does not like mobile homes. You would think the folks in AL would figure that out. GA is pretty nice. I like all the agriculture and they were harvesting cotton. Pretty cool for an old farm boy to watch.

As for the lunch box cooker. So far I've only used it to heat stuff up and make rice. I see a lot of potential as a slow cooker. Maybe a small roast, potato's, and some other stuff. I think you could make a cassarole in it as well. My next trip home I'm going to get a few more things to try. Since this is my first set out on my own I eat mostly chili, soup and rice, tuna and crackers. I mix a lot of it up and heat it. My stomach doesn't care what it looks like.

I'm down for the night. I don't have another load and my PTA is set for 0600. I hope I don't have to reset here.

 

So now I'm going to add something for the new guys mainly. I'm sure the old guys already know it.

Don't pull up to the fuel island and leave your truck blocking the lane and get out. Today I saw this a couple of times. Trucks pulled up to the pumps, guys not even attempting to get fuel, just going into the store and coming back with food. If you don't need fuel, park your truck someplace else and go in. Let the folks that need fuel get it so they can be on their way.

Just sayin