Driving OTR with US Xpress

Hello There.


Well I have plenty of time to write on this snowy day here in Warrenton, MO.


Yep, snowing like it's the last one. I have a 40 hour margin on this run, and originally planned on dropping this load, but when I woke up this morning, there was 3 inches of snow on the ground and it shows no sign of easing off.


So......want do you want first.......Trips and Stats or the play-by-play here at the J?


Let's knock out the boring stuff.


Came off of home time on the 29th with a beverage run that picked up in Perry, GA and delivered in Windsor, CO. One of the few western runs I get each year. Paid miles: 1,648. Weather was never an issue. Had A haul back from Fort Collins, CO to Lawrence, KS. Paid miles: 603. That one had plenty of room, time-wise, so I dropped at our Kansas City, MO yard and picked up a Clorox load headed for Marion, IN, which is the run I'm on now. Paid miles: 602.

Of course the snow is preventing me from finishing the run early. Not that I can't drive in the snow, but because of.............well............in a minute.


I know I said I was interested in comparing training dollars vs. driving dollars. Bottom line: with the miles I can run, and do run, it's a trade off.

While training, the truck will run less miles. The trainer is compensated for that. So the choice boils down to run less miles and listen to yourself talk, or run more miles and pretty much have your evenings off.


I guess my mood will decide. I'm sure I'll take on more students.



News Brief:


I jack knifed my truck on ice but saved it..............well..........it wasn't really a jack knife.........more like a very lazy "V". This happened in the Ozark mountains in AR. Ground speed: 5 mph...........*chuckles to himself*. US 62 between Berryvile and Mountain Home turned into a sheet of ice. I was crawling along looking for a place to pull over and wait for the sanding crews. I had a JB Hunt on my tail with the same thought.........PARK!!!!!!!!

We come to a down grade that tilted left, we both stopped and watched a SUV struggle to make it up the hill. Once he cleared out I started my attempt. I was idling down in 5th just creeping along. Went to make a slight correction to my right, and the weight of the empty box just started to push the drives to the left. Once that started there was no stopping it..........only saving it.


So while I was demonstrating my version of a Joey Chitwood Stunt Spectacular..............saw him at the Big E in Springfield MA..........great show.................sorry, I was just reminiscing.

Anyway a pick-up was coming up the hill at me. He sees me coming down the hill in my graceful death slide, makes a U-turn, and takes back off in the direction from whence he came. Kinda reminded me of those little rolling droids that turned around and scurried away at the sight of Darth Vader approaching..............great movie..............................What?

So, trailer tail in the right lane, drives in the left, steers in the center, me somewhere in the middle, the whole rig approaching the bank on the left, there was only one fix..............clutch pedal in and ride it out. Couldn't hit the brakes. The low gear I was in acted like the jake was on. I was close to the bottom of the grade. With the clutch in and free wheeling, and the drives not acting like some sort of anchor, I regained some steering control. The rumble strips on the left side of the road actually helped the recovery. I got the rig straightened out and pulled over a short way ahead. The JB Hunt driver tried to cut the corner and ended up stuck in the snow. Took about 15 minutes to get him dug out.

Traffic was stopped and the road was shut down for about 45 minutes while the crews sanded the road.


So that was my excitement.



Now. Here I am at the Flying J. Snow is coming down like beat the band. There's a Quest driver who is stuck, or claims to be stuck, right smack in the middle of the parking lot, blocking about 6 trucks from exiting their parking space ( I am one of those), while causing a navigational hazard to every truck trying to come in or leave.


Now I try not to tell people what they should do, but every truck in this place is capable of moving through the snow.............except him.


He has made no attempt to get out of the truck, and clear the snow away from around his tires (he's been in the same position for about 6 hours).



I talked to him and he said the reason he's stuck here in the parking lot is because he broke a drive chain on the highway.


Huh?



Am I missing something?


They plowed all around his truck, and him, his old lady, and their dog are just sitting waiting for a tow truck to come dig him out.




So in the hope that he just happens to be reading this post..................... Quest driver, do us all a favor..............turn in your keys.





And when it comes time for me to leave, I can assure you....................that truck is moving.





Thanks for reading.
-Wedge