Good Night From II

could only put half tank of fuel due to heavy load. fun

 

In the sleeper en route from Phoenix to make two live unloads in the wee hours in Paramount and Glendale. My trainee is at the wheel, doing great, and will have his 200 hours after this shift. After making these drops we'll get a load to t-call in Jurupa Valley and my trainee will be getting off the truck.

Once I know my trainee is squared away I'll get a much deserved hand wash at the terminal and pick up some new load locks (they didn't have any decent load locks in Phoenix). Then it's off for a few days home time and then back on Wednesday or so to take on a new trainee.

It's gratifying to see the progress of a trainee. Last night he NAILED a blind side back into a tight hole at the Flagstaff Little America. When I offered to spot him he said, "I've got this!" Indeed he did.

A couple days ago he thanked me for my Zen Driving philosophy in heavy traffic together with the drills we did early on for checking the mirrors for situational awareness at all times. While I was in the sleeper berth he said he was driving in the right lane on the freeway through a construction zone, with a comfortable following distance behind a heavy tow truck. Approaching an exit he started his "sweep right" and "sweep left" drill, checking the mirrors on the right and left and observing who might want to be exiting and whether any cars were turning onto the onramp. From his sweeps he knew he was clear to make a lane change as needed.

Just then a car that was passing the tow truck in front of him decided he wanted to take the exit and attempted to zoom in front of the tow truck and swing across into the exit. He didn't make it, clipping the front left fender of the tow truck with his right rear fender. That spun the car around into a 720, t-boning the tow truck on the right side. My trainee had plenty of time to move over into the passing lane to get around the accident safely, considered stopping to lend assistance but they seemed unhurt and there was nowhere to pull off in the construction zone, cleared the wreck and got back over into the right lane comfortably after clearing the onramp.

I asked him whether he had any moment of fear or did his heart rate go up? "Not a bit! With all that space I created for myself and knowing what space I had around me I took it all in stride and kept going."

That's the Zen of driving. He'll make a great addition to the industry.

 

I pushed the extra 40 mile and went up the road to the Custer rest stop ...

Saw a billboard today ... apparently Montana has a testicle festival ... That's just nuts!

 

late night, ran to Fresno then up to Riverbank Modesto, I was pushing the speeds the whole day and shut down going over by 4min on my 11 hour but ended the day with over 600 miles. Heading to Vegas then Lake Havasu later today.

 

Goodyear hotel. Last night got a call from trailer security and they came and took my load because I was checked into the hotel and had a beer. now on Safety hold. Told me that on a high security load not allowed to be out of my truck accept eat and toilet. They said nothing when I was in Ozona Wednesday night where a hotel or Anthony on Thursday night. Was with a friend who is a DM here and he just said that it is weekend ECT and some punk looking to make a name for himself.

 

murdo sd at the pilot. had to stop in rapid city sd to get fuel. added a bit more than half tank since i'll drive some off before scalehouse. dodging all the bikers due to the sturgis rally week.

 

bisquek..was the load hi value load? if it was, yeah you have to stay in truck and park in a secure location. suprise they consider arizona as a high theft area. i know so cal, alanta, and florida are what they told me

 

btw.. had some driver who decided to make the slow lane his parking spot. was able to stop in time and i put on flashers. got on the radio and said for him to get in the emergency lane. he finally did. not sure if he had truck problems. he never came back on radio. did my 30 min break and went and got fuel. caught up to him few miles b4 i got here and he did it again though he didnt stop. was able to go around this time. wasnt fun the first time with all the bikes and cars going 70 by us.

 

In KY at a Love's.
I deliver a Dollar General load tomorrow morning then head to TN for a special 'important' load.
I'm to bobtail there and pick up a preloaded Dunlop trailer and drop it in PA on the 5th.
And I have to get the outside washed along the way.
I'm not used to getting trailers washed and I don't know exactly where to do it. I'm hoping they will send me to a certain truck wash along my route so I don't have to search for a place.

The pplan had me picking it up at 0830, 140 miles away when I'm delivering this load at 0900 and my PTA is set for 1000.
I need that special DeLorean with the flux capacitor...

It picks up on the 3rd and delivers at noon on the 5th, and it's about 700 miles.
So I did a Mac 22 for the load saying I would pick it up at 1300 with plenty of time for an on time delivery. 'They' replied, Thanks for the update.

I'm having a pretty good week. With this next load I'll have about 2,700 miles by Tuesday afternoon. I'm hoping for a quickie load that delivers on Wednesday that might add on another 5-600 miles. I could use a good paycheck for my home time that week.

 

I've also seen some strange things from truckers lately.
Mainly intentionally slowing down traffic in construction zones.
If it is 2 lanes there will be 2 trucks, side by side, just creeping along at 5 mph with no one in front of them. If a single lane it will be a single truck doing the same thing.
I've had it happen several times in the past week.