10 years--Gettin' back on the horse!

LOL... I hardly even have time to catch up on Snazzy's thread anymore, much less post my own exploits. I'm drivin' now ya know.

This last five days was a killer too... let's just say I went way above and beyond the call of duty.

As soon as I get a phone with an air card, I'll probably be a little more active on here. As for now, I paid $24 for a month of Flying J service (and it sucks by the way) because it's where we fuel. Most of the time though, I dart in, get fuel, a shower and leave. No time for the net, lol.

The paychecks from Pierce are quite a bit more substantial than what I used to make at Wally World... by far! I make more in one week than Wally World paid me for a whole month. I bust my butt for that cash though—just shy of a grand last week. Shouldn't be too long before my bills are caught up and I can switch my phones over to Alltel complete with high speed internet anywhere I go.

As far as being back behind the wheel, I like this company. They are right on the ball with the loads—I never sit waiting. I rarely deadhead more than 50 miles... even though paid and loaded are the same. I go home on the weekend (where I am now). Let's see... what else? The trucks aren't shiny new, that's for sure. But shiny trucks aren't everything.

I guess the part I like best, is not having a fridge plastered with shutoff notices. That's the bottom line.

At any rate, I've had a few interesting experiences that I'll have to share in the near future.

 

Tuesday April 15, 2008

Well, the week started out good, and then fell flat on it's face.

I picked up a loaded trailer in the yard Monday morning, going to Lafayette, AL for 07:00 delivery. I had to trade my shiny new trailer, that I've been pulling around for the last month, for an 8 year old Trailmobile that looks like it's been in a demolition derby for big trucks'it's beat!

So I get to the receiver and get unloaded by about 08:30. Just before the last few pallets go off, I send the message that I'm ready for reload. And just as quick, I receive my load info'pick up at Cascade Sonoco in Birmingham at... 16:00... and next day delivery in VA. WTF? This is unusual for sure. Still doable as long as they load me pretty quick.

Fast forward, its now 22:30 and they've just now got me loaded. I showed up at 15:00, hoping that they might load me a little early. No such luck... the guy that loaded just before me had been there since noon, and I think he left about 20:00 or so. Not a good sign. They were pulling product off the line and loading it directly on the trailer. I hate that!

After pulling away from the dock, I look to see what it is and how it's loaded'rolls of paper, 43,000 lbs loaded back to about 50 feet... great. Gonna have to slide the axle a bit.

Now this trailer, being as old as it is, doesn't have any fancy air operated slide release. It's got a big old mechanical handle to release the pins and, thankfully, it's not frozen up. The slide rails themselves are another story... 30 minutes and one can of PTFE grease later, I finally get it to slide back. Looks like my good 700 mile load just turned into two 350 mile slacker days. The receiver quits at 13:00 and I'm certainly not going to make it there by then. Ahh well... can't win all the time, eh?

So now I sit at the Flying J in Haw River, NC, playing on the net. There must be something unlucky about this particular place. It seems that any time I have to sit for a while, it's here in Haw River'like a big truck black hole that sucks you in and lays you over for a day, LOL.

 

Saturday April 19, 2008

Got home early last night for a change. I loaded in Atlanta yesterday afternoon, destined for Houston on Monday morning.

My wife called me yesterday all concerned and asking when I was gonna get home this weekend... apparently she's been having an electrical issue in the old piece of crap trailer we call home. I told her to leave the breaker off and I'd fix it when I got there—so I guess I got my work cut out for me today.

Today is also a cause for celebration—I set a new record for gross pay for 5 days work since I've been with this company—$1107.24... that's dang near what I used to make at GM. And even though the hours are longer, I'd say the work is easier. Kathy was excited as hell when she read me the grand total from the pay statement. I knew it was gonna be good.

Here's hoping next week goes as well.

 

Saturday April 19, 2008

After a bit of investigation, I located the problem in the wiring in our old trailer. The photos below should explain it all:





As you can see from the second photo, the wood is charred and the wire has melted—this could have been BAD! These old trailers will burn to the ground in a matter of minutes. I'm sure the investigation wouldn't have turned up much other than, "possible electrical fire".

I had my wife turn on the breaker while I watched for smoke, sparks etc. My son heard the pop of the arc in the kitchen... so I listened. Yep, right behind the paneling above the back door, you could hear it sizzle and arc. This was a close call!

We'll be starting work on our new house pretty soon hopefully... and it'll be fire-proof, bomb-proof, tornado-proof, and anything-else-proof, lol. Anyhow, I'm off to the store to get electrical supplies.

 

Sunday April 20, 2008

Glad to hear no one got hurt in your house fire TrooperRat. Mine doesn't have aluminum wiring in it, but it does have something that I consider just as bad—outlets with push-in wire connectors. I've already replaced a bunch of them... and should probably do the rest as well. And I'm thinking I might put a knife switch out on the pole so we can kill the power to the house at night and when no one is home—I just don't trust the wiring in that place.

I had to replace the service panel before we even moved in... my god, I'm surprised the place didn't burn up before we bought it. They had the whole trailer running off TWO 20 amp breakers... that's right... TWO! Multiple wires were shoved into one breaker—a friggin electrician's nightmare I'll tell ya.

I'm going to build our new house out of concrete—thick enough to withstand an F5 tornado. And all the wiring will be run in steel conduit with nothing nearby that is even remotely flammable. The way I see it, If you're gonna build it (especially in hurricane territory), you might as well build it for worst-case scenario.

I shake my head every time I go through New Orleans and see them rebuilding stick-frame houses that were destroyed when Katrina rolled through.

At any rate, I'm on my way to Houston, better get off of here and get rolling. Can't make any money sitting at the Flying J.

 

Thursday April 24, 2008

It's been an interesting last couple of days—lots of things that I was going to write about here... and lots of things that I forgot what the hell I was gonna write about...

Starting with the most recent...

My Top Ten Reasons to Turn on Your CB:

10) The wheel on your trailer is loose.
09) The wheel on your trailer is loose.
08) The wheel on your trailer is loose.
07) The wheel on your trailer is loose.
06) The wheel on your trailer is loose.
05) The wheel on your trailer is loose.
04) The wheel on your trailer is loose.
03) The wheel on your trailer is loose.
02) The wheel on your trailer is loose.

And the number one reason is:
The friggin wheel is about to fly off your trailer! Get off your cell phone and turn your dang CB on so somebody might be able to inform you of this fact. And while you're at it, you might do a pretrip every once in a while... especially after having a wheel removed and replaced.

I followed a driver going eastbound on I-20 in Alabama for almost 30 miles trying to get his attention to tell him his wheel was loose. When he came by me, I had my cruise set on 62. After not being able to get him on the radio, I put the pedal to the metal and tried to catch up to him... nope... all I could get was 72, and that's how fast he was going. Finally a big 'ol yellow Peterbuilt pulling a lowboy snuck up on me doing... uh... faster than the law allows—he caught him and got him to turn on his radio.

Schneider Starts up Fire Division

I think it was Monday and I was just coming out of Mobile when I saw a fire truck get on the highway ahead of me with its light flashing. Once again, I'm just easing along at a leisurely 62 mph... and I'm gaining on the fire truck... really fast it seems.

I slowed down a little bit and followed them for a ways. They didn't seem to be in too much of a hurry so I figured maybe they just left the lights on and forgot—I hit the resume on the cruise and proceed to pass them. That's when I notice they have the siren on... and the truck is full of firemen, complete with little fire hats and jackets and everything—rocking back and forth in their seats as if to make the truck go faster. I've never seen anything so #### funny in my life. A pumpkin truck would have been able to pass them like they were standing still.

And to top it all off, they had a bag of kitchen garbage laying on the back step of the truck—as if maybe they were tidying up around the place when the call came in. Maybe they were gonna take it to the fire and burn it... like the rest of us Alabama rednecks do with our garbage.

And last but not least...

Walmart's Cream of the Crop

I always thought Walmart's trucking division hired only the best of the best—apparently a Swift driver slipped through the cracks.

A few days ago, I pull into a little truckstop somewhere in Texas. As I pull around to the back of the lot, there is a Walmart truck backing into a spot—a very tight spot. Back and forth and back and forth he goes... down in the hole between a bucket truck and another big truck.

BAM, BAM, BAM... goes his trailer into the bucket truck. I can't believe my eyes! He's shoving the bucket truck backwards—his trailer pushing on the big square frame in the front. I get on the radio to tell him he's crushing the truck... but no use... he doesn't have it on.

The big metal frame that supports the bucket assembly was the only thing that saved the front end of what appeared to be a brand spanking new bucket truck (there were about 6 of them all parked in a row). Maybe he didn't see it because the framing was painted black... I dunno.

When Walmart fires him, maybe he can get a job at Swift.