Swift - Starting the New Year training with Swift 1/7/13 - A long read...

Yes exactly that. And I think it wasn't due in Alabama for a few days.

A lot of times the T-call is set up when the delivery time is further in the future and they don't want a driver sitting on it waiting to deliver. But, like you said, there are numerous reasons for a t-call. I remember in training, with my original mentor, we t-called that first load out of Washington in Gary because he didn't want to get "stuck" out in NY. Not sure if that is a valid reason for t-calling but that is what he did.

Ms Jamie, that is right. I parked bobtail right there across from the shipping office. No one bothered me all night. But, yeah, technically you are not supposed to park on property. I knew about the police escort thing and I was willing to tell them that I would need either a police escort out of there or Swift would have to tow me. Either way, they probably wouldn't have wanted that to happen.

I looked into going to the truckstop that was 15 miles away or so but it was risky. If I went that time of night and there was no parking I would have been screwed (although I probably could have found parking bobtailed). But I was cranky so I was planning on staying at the shipper anyway. Their mistake, I can park there. That's the way I saw it. Plus I didn't want to have to drive all the way back there in the morning.

 

On "home time" in Williamsburg, VA.

That load that was overweight at Church & Dwight was reduced to a little over 44000 lbs. net. Nice. I scaled it once and it was over on the drives. Moved the tandems forward 6 holes and I had it right. Scaled at the shipper.

There was a female Swift driver that was taking a load in front of me. I saw her checking out at the security booth at Church & Dwight. Sometime down the road, after I was I-95 south I blew past her to her left and gave her a wave. She had a CB. Nice because a lot of Swifties don't seem to want to get CB's or at least turn them on. We chatted a little and it was the same driver that left C&D in front of me. We were both going to fuel and CAT scale in Arlington, VA so we decided to meet up there. Sure enough, despite my truck seeming to have about a 3 mph advantage over her's, she was right behind me at the scale at the T/A in Arlington. I waved as she pulled on the scale behind me. I fueled, found a parking spot, and went inside to grab a bit to eat. I haven't eaten on the road at a restaurant in months. If it's not a "mom and pop" place, I usually don't bother. I'm sick of the Dennys (although probably one of my favorites as far as truck stop chains go) and other chain restaurants.

The T/A has Country Pride. You may disagree but I consistently hate the food here. In the past they have screwed up hamburgers for me. This time it was a breakfast sandwich on something like toast. How do you screw up something so simple?!?! I honestly hate Country Pride and it bothers me even more that they have the word "country" in their name. I like southern cooking, despite my NJ roots. I've found decent "country" or "soul food" in various places and I love it. There's even a decent hole-in-the-wall southern cooking place in Tacoma, WA. But Country Kitchen, no. But I went in to get an order to go and the Swift driver came in. We recognized each other and she sat at my table and we began to talk. I decided to get my order to stay, despite the fact that I really needed to get to Richmond to t-call, and more importantly, clean my truck out. But it was nice to converse for a while. Before long, another Swiftie came in from her terminal, Jonestown. We all sat and chatted. It was nice to have some face to face conversation with these drivers.

I won't lie, I was attracted to her. She was probably 10 years my senior but she was fun to talk to. She is technically from Mississippi, up by Olive Branch. At least per her driver's license. But her home terminal is in Jonestown. Maybe it's too much time on the road but if it led somewhere outside of driving that night I would have been all for it. She walked me out to my truck and she wanted so see my LED lighting I have installed inside. We chatted for a little while more and then agreed to meet again 25 miles down the road in Richmond. We did after we both t-called our loads. We talked again outside the driver's lounge and then said goodbyes. She was cool and maybe sometime down the road I'll bump into her again. I think her name was Angie.

After we talked I pulled the car up to the gate, as close as possible and pulled my truck up to the loading platform. I started taking everything out of my truck, mattress first, as it was the biggest. Then the Coleman cooler, my subwoofers and my clothing shelved things. It took hours and I didn't get rolling down to Williamsburg until after 0200 AM. I hit Williamsburg just before 0300, head bent to the side as the mattress was in the way. I completely filled up my parents mini SUV thing with all my crap. I left behind my canned goods and my DVDs/blurays. I'll get them when I go back up this week to turn in my leave of absence form. One thing I realized is that I have way too much crap in my truck. It was organized and neat but I still had way too much. It shouldn't take that long for me to get everything out of there. And I must have had something like 40 or 50 t-shirts alone in there. It's ridiculous. When I'm on the road and I hit Walmarts around the country I have a tendency to buy the local college's t-shirts. I don't have one from every state but I have a lot of them. And slowly over time they have accumulated. I was annoyed at myself for having so much junk. I have two cabinets that I can hang things in the Prostar. Everything had it's place I just didn't realize it was that bad. Almost like hoarders, just neater. Next time I'm in a truck I'm going to keep things simple.

So my plan is this: I'm currently on a home time. Within in a couple of days I'll go back up there, get the rest of my stuff out of the truck, clean it completely, and turn in the keys. I'll turn in my Leave of Absence form for taking a leave of 28 days. During that time I will get my final checks and make sure everything is kosher. I don't want any funny business by Swift. I don't expect any but I need to protect myself. In about 20 days or so I will see if I can extend my Leave of Absence. If they do, then fine. I'll be back. If they don't and say I need to terminate myself while I'm in Mexico or Guatemala, then I will have to do it from there somehow. I want to make sure I get all my checks and mileage coming to me. I also want to make sure I have insurance this week to get my new DOT physical updated and also to get any remaining vaccinations.

I unloaded the car today of my junk and moved it upstairs. I set up a base of operations in half of the garage for my stuff for my trip. I have it all layed out like I'm going around the world. But I need to know what I got so I don't forget anything.

Tomorrow I'm going to try and see if I can get a CPAP printout for my DOT physical. Not sure if that's going to be possible so I may just find a place that does the DOT physical and not say anything. Maybe they won't ask for it. I have to go to this local vaccination place and see about getting the remainder of my vaccinations and getting something for what we call "TD" - let's just say a bad upset stomach from drinking bad water down in Mexico. I have to hit the bank also and pick up my foreign currency and let them know the rough draft of my travelers plans. Wednesday I have to meet up with this guy in Petersburg, VA. He has traveled to 47 countries on the same bike I have and is considered a guru on overland motorcycle travel. Looking forward to meeting with him.

Thursday is tying up whatever else remains. And packing the bike. Friday I leave.

I'm tentatively scheduled to meet up with a girl I have talked to for a while from that dating sight. She has been around for a long time, kind of in the shadows and very slowly over time we have started to message each other every day. She is cool. She is in N. Carolina (not Miss N. Carolina whom I haven't heard from - screw her) just south of my sister's house in Norfolk. I forget N. Carolina is so close to that part of Virginia. We are supposed to meet on Friday night or maybe Saturday (or both?) and have a drink while I'm on my way south to Mexico.

Next Wednesday I am scheduled to meet up with this guy south of San Antonio to get my tires installed and an oil change. I'm going to ship him my tires tomorrow. l tried my original idea of strapping them onto the back of my bike and it doesn't seem comfortable. I'm going to just go ahead and pay the $R40 and ship them down to him so they are there when I arrive next week.

Got my traveler's medical insurance today as well. It was about $163 for 2 months. Kind of steep but if I die they repatriate my body for free. That is good. Kind of crazy reading the activities this adventure traveler's insurance covers. Unfortunately it states it does not cover shark cage diving. That's ok.

 

Yeah she was cool. I could have talked to her a lot longer.

 

A crimp in my plans and one day left...

Man, today was a disappointing day.

I went to this Concentra facility near the Richmond terminal and got my physical. Everything else was great. BP was 120 over 70, everything else check out great. But when it came to the CPAP thing, it all went downhill.

I didn't have my CPAP usage printout with me. When asked by the doc about my sleep I told him everything was ok - because it is. I said I was rested and never sleepy. True. But he said based on my neck circumference and my BMI that I would need a sleep study. I let him in on the fact that I actively use a CPAP. He wasn't happy that I didn't disclose this fact right off the bat but I answered his questions honestly. I just didn't have a printout and I hate being tied to that machine. I want to use it because it makes me rested and happy, not because the government says I must use it. So I didn't disclose this fact right away.

"Did I snore?'

No.

"Was I rested?"

Yes.

So when he found out why, that I used a CPAP, he demanded that I get a printout. Not the easiest thing to get. I would have gotten one in WA, where I usually get it, but the last time I was out there was a while back - over a month. The printout has to be recent so I haven't gotten a printout of my usage. Last one I had was for my last DOT physical last year.

I was frustrated. The girls up front gave me info for a local place that would print a 90 day usage record out. I drove over quickly and got the printout. I returned to the DOT testing place and gave them my printout.

The problem was that the printout shows I only used the CPAP cumulatively over the past 90 days for a total of 4 hours. What?!?!?!? It shows that the machine is on for at least 4 hours each night (the requirement) but that it's not actually recording my breathing. The average time it was showing my breathing was for 2 minutes and some odd seconds each night. Impossible!

I use that thing every night, not just when I drive. Out of 90 days (the length of the printout) it shows that I used it for 87 days. That sounds correct because I know I didn't use that thing for 2 night over the course of my brother's wedding when I had Miss Virginia with me. I was embarrassed at that time to use it in front of her and we were otherwise occupied. That part I understand and by itself, wasn't an issue.

So what it comes down to is some kind of internal malfunction within the machine. It's not showing that I actually have the mask on while the machine is on. I explained to the doctors that I don't use the machine to be compliant, that I actually use it to feel rested each day. That is true. I really only do use the machine because I feel great every day rested when I use it. When I don't, those 3 days out of the past 90, I am miserable and tired.

But the doctor's couldn't sign off on my DOT card. I seriously was so frustrated and angry that I felt like I was going to cry, and I'm not that type to do that. This job and this profession means everything to me and to deny me my medical card is to like basically cutting off my legs when I'm ready to run, if running were my passion and money maker.

So now I'm left with what to do. My current card is only good for another month or a little less. They won't give me an updated card because I'm not in compliance.

Here's the problem: I drive OTR. I'm rarely in the same place more than a day or two. Last time I had a printout, last year, everything was fine with the machine. I'm not in the habit of having the machine checked to see if it's recording properly. You kind of take that for granted. If I even knew there could be a malfunction then I would have had the machine checked a long time ago. As it was, I didn't think there would be a problem. I use the machine every night for at least 5.5 hours and sometimes up to 10 hours.

I'm freakin screwed. I left the office very upset. I actually wouldn't even leave until 2 different doctors came in to explain why they couldn't sign off on my DOT card. Man, what a let down.

I don't know what to do at this point. I explained to them that I'm leaving on this trip Friday and that I will be out of country. I called about getting the machine checked and the only way to do that is to send it off to the manufacturer. There aren't even local places that do maintenance or repairs on it. And, even if they did, I still wouldn't have the 90 days of compliant usage to get me my DOT card.

I'm not sure what to do at this point. I'm thinking maybe after my trip or maybe on the way down, finding a regular non-Swift approved but certified DOT doctor and hope he just passes me on my physical so I can start with another company when I return. I don't know. It's not like I am trying to get over on anyone. I use the thing every night just as I will tonight but the thing isn't recording properly or something.

I'm screwed for the moment...

 

I guess on a positive note, after I cleaned out my truck and turned in my leave of absence form and key to Swift, I rode down to see this guy. He talked about his travels around the world on his motorcycle, sold me a couple of things I need and gave me some things I didn't realize I needed. He told me his stories of travel.
Such a cool guy and a retired army guy from the Pentagon. He was awesome and a stand up guy.
He let me borrow a SPOT tracker that will ping my location as I travel (with a subscription) to give my family a sense of ease. He is going to follow along as well. That meetup was the only highlite of an otherwise miserable day. Gotta look on the positive side of things.

Tomorrow I pack, tie up some loose ends and I'll be on the road Friday morning. I'll keep things updated here as I get internet access.