Too soon to change companies?

You know what? It is a good company. It really is. I just talked to Tim again and he got on the road today around 7pm, he's headed to FL to make his delivery at 5:30am. While talking to him I told him that we need to forget about the unfortunate start with the trailer issues and concentrate on the good things now. I truly believe that if we keep positive and be thankful for the good things, that more good things will come along soon. So we talked and listed every good thing we could think of and there were plenty to list!

• The most important good thing is that the truck has not broken down one time and it's been 5 days and the a/c still works too! BIG difference from the last company. HUGE! 5 days without a truck breakdown is a record.
• He has a nice dispatcher who helps him with things and has been trying hard to get him home. And he's met the guy in person! Wow.
• The company allows you to CALL them on the phone! In fact, they prefer that you call, they say it's so much easier to talk than all that typing! OMG! That's what we said all along while at the other place, that was one of our main complaints, that we could not speak to anyone. So this is also HUGE!
• They give you turn-by-turn directions to places you need to go to! It's not just a bunch of garbled abbreviations that need to be deciphered on qualcomm messages, like the other place.
• They tell you where you can go to get wash-outs, they know where the truck stops are, they will help you with whatever you need, just call them. On the phone. What a concept.
• They send you real text messages from a real person on the Qualcomm rather than only canned generalized responses that make no sense at all.
• They want you to call them at the end of your day and let them know where you are spending the night, that shows they really care ... unlike the company that puts that slogan at the end of every canned message they send. (who were they trying to convince anyway, us or them?)

To add to the "good" list, he got approval to park his truck at the place that I found. And he's coming home as soon as he can legally drive again tomorrow. I should see him late tomorrow night I think.

He had to buy a blanket at the truck stop a couple nights ago, it got cold up north where he was. I told him to take the plastic off the mattress, for crying out loud ... but he doesn't want to get it dirty so he's sleeping on plastic and he said he puts on a lot of clothes before he goes to sleep, a couple more long sleeve shirts. Hey, I know about that stuff. When I was with him up in Canada it got really, really cold at night and we had no heat so I was sleeping in a sweatshirt with the hood over my head, wrapped in blankets. It's camping, you just have to think of it like that. And laugh about it while drinking a hot cup of coffee in the morning. It's fun.

Everything will get better, it's already started. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

OK, it's Wednesday almost 5pm. He's on his way home. He finally got to make a delivery today for the first time! That was pretty exciting. He spent the night in the receiver's lot, they allow the trucks to spend the night, cool. Today he couldn't go on duty again until around noon. He had to go wash out the trailer and leave it somewhere that the company designated and now he's bobtailing home. He should be home in about an hour or so. And today I was able to get a closer secured parking space for him, only 3 miles from home! What luck! I was on my way to the one 30 miles away to give the lady a payment before they left for the day, was driving past a UHaul place on the road to I-75 and stopped in, on a whim. They had ONE space that had just become available and he remembered me from last fall, we took our two UHaul trucks to him after our move to FL from KY. He said we could have the space! I showed him pictures of the truck on my iPad (don't leave home without it) and he commented that it sure had nice decals on it! So I got a closer space, which will save us a lot of gas money for both trucks because I would be driving him back and forth to the big truck each time. So things are looking up! And he's bringing home chicken?! Apparently he had a few crushed boxes that were not accepted so he had to dispose of them. Guess we're eating chicken tomorrow. Wow, that's pretty decent, didn't expect that! We never got to take home any of that toilet paper or one of those nice riding lawn mowers that we delivered ... LOL. Guess it's easier to damage a chicken box.

Terry, thanks for talking to him the other day, much appreciated.

Lady K ... thanks! I will be going along soon and we need to figure out how to make the food situation get better. I checked out that link, the picture on the top makes me hungry.

 

OK, I checked out the link, the food looks delicious. OMG, it's freaking me out though! I don't even cook like that at home anymore! I used to cook from scratch when the kids were still living at home, a big Thanksgiving meal every night of the week except for Saturday nights when the family went out to eat (usually pizza, that's what the kids wanted after eating healthy meals all week).

They have all been moved out since the mid 90s, which means I have not cooked like that since the mid 90s. When they all left the nest we ate out every night. Not talking McDonalds or fast food.

And when he's gone on a trip and I'm home alone I eat Stouffers frozen meals, they're pretty good and fast and easy! Frozen meals have really improved over the decades.

So to have to think about buying pans and bowls and crock pots, microwave ovens and other cooking utensils for use in the truck just boggles my mind. Having lived in the truck with him, I know how cramped it is in there without any cooking things, so I'm wondering where in the world would you put all that stuff? Space is so limited in a truck! And then you have to buy food to cook. Where do you find food, how do you find the time to stop and buy it ... if you can even find a place where your huge truck will fit in the parking lot so you can go in and shop? And then where do you keep the food? We have a little fridge that hardly stays cool, let alone cold, and it was a challenge to find a place to put the darn thing.

I'd love to at least have a microwave so I could heat up some Stouffers, BUT they're frozen, so that won't work, no freezer ... unless you can sneak some food back there in the reefer ... lol. Are they sealed? Probably, so we won't grab some chicken nuggets and eat them.

But there's the issue of time! If you can find food, if you can find a place to attach all the cooking appliances and get them all to work properly, then when do you even find time to do all this cooking? When we're on the road, we drive and drive and drive and drive ... stop to use the bathroom, drive some more and more and more, stop to use a bathroom, drive and drive and drive and drive and then when it gets close to the end of the legal driving time, we look for a truck stop, start calling them to see if there are any spaces left and then we end up reserving one, paying for it on the phone and driving to the place. Get there with a few minutes to spare before we're no longer legal to drive. And then we go inside to see if there's any good food, eat and crash for the night. I can't imagine having to start cooking after all that and then clean up afterward too.

We use both bunks, I sleep up top and he sleeps on the bottom. I can't imagine us trying to both sleep on that bottom bunk together, it's not that large. I'm assuming everyone gives up the extra bed for the space? I'd rather have my own bed and my own space up there. I also keep my clothes up there, so where would I put them if I turn it into a kitchen storage area?

I don't know, I will have to give this a lot of thought. It sounds like it works for a lot of people, but I just cannot imagine how it can save us money, the cost of all the appliances is pretty huge. Someone mentioned on that thread that something cost $900? Wow.

Yep, have to think really hard about that. But thanks I appreciate the help!

Do you cook in the truck? I assume so. I'd have to see a setup because I can't imagine ... lol

 

Lady K ... Ohhhh, big difference! I don't drive, I ride. So we need both bunks, can't use it for a storage area. He stores me up there! LOL

He got home after dark last night, I looked inside the truck, it's really nice. It has also been smoked in though, I can tell right off, I can smell it as soon as I open the door. He said they bombed it, whatever that means, but it didn't remove the smoke smell. You know, I don't want to get into an argument with any smokers out there, but seriously, this is not cool. The company requires that we pay 2 grand deposit for our dog, who doesn't chew up anything (never has), doesn't pee or poo anywhere but outside (never has either), has never had a flea in her little 6 yrs on the planet, doesn't shed and doesn't smell. And they don't make smokers pay a deposit for smelling up a truck and putting burn holes in the seats? Not fair. Just my opinion, but it's not fair. Maybe if smokers had to pay 2 grand to smoke in the truck, they would not smoke in the truck. It's fine if it's their own truck and they're going to keep it ... but not cool at all when the truck gets passed along to a non-smoker with smoke allergies. We'll have to try to do some scrubbing, although that smoke doesn't come out, it's pretty much permanent damage.

Aside from that, the truck is really nice. It's even larger in there than the Pro Star was, except the beds are smaller. I guess they made them smaller to make the cabinets larger, it looks that way in comparison. I see there is a place for a fridge, we'll have to see if ours fits in the space.