Trans Am Still

I get by with a little help from my friends, I get high with a little help from friends, gonna try with a little help from my friends.........

 

So this is how you nap? With a little help from your friends?

 

Alright, first things first ......I need to scold George! I see that you are online instead of getting a power nap! You will most likely run into a few storms and wind across there tonight. You have two hours to get a nap in .....

Don't feel bad George .....you aren't the only one I have scolded today. We were in town today and as I was waiting to check out I overheard two men in their 70's talking about big trucks. So....of course I listened to what they were saying! They were tearing truck drivers up ....talking about too many trucks being on the interstate, how drivers made big money, and how they went over 80 mph. I am afraid that I went to school on the two old buzzards!.....they never saw it coming .....there were several other shoppers listening. I politely said "Excuse me gentlemen, but that is simply not true and you are spreading propaganda that hurts hard working Americans. As far as too many trucks being on the interstate, you two gentlemen are old enough to know that the interstate system was originally built for the purpose of transportation, commerce and to boost the economy .....perhaps the drivers that are using it for it's intended purpose feel that too many cars are on the interstate. My second point to convey to you is that truck drivers make half of what they made 30 years ago, sit in parking lots with no facilities waiting to be loaded or unloaded and not being paid for it. They work 70 hour work weeks with no overtime, are away from their homes and their families for weeks on end and certainly do not get paid anywhere near what it is worth. Now my third point in this conversation is a very important one because drivers have been the victims too many times of bad media coverage and people that still believe that Smokey and the Bandit are out there running the highways. ....Most of the trucks on the road today do not go 80+ miles per hour.Most company trucks go 62-65 mph with a few exceptions and none of the exceptions go 80+ mph that I am aware of!"
So then these old buzzards started sputtering that it was the owner operators that flew down the roads and caused all of the accidents. Well ....I straightened them out on that too! I gave them a few facts and statistics. They went slinking out of there refusing to make eye contact with anyone.......Sometimes the Queen is not a nice person!.......Of course, they probably thought the Queen was a demented blonde little person and were happy to make their escape.

 

Was laying around in the bunk room most of today and got a couple of short naps. Ready to hit the road, shortly. Besides, think of all the good info from Passport and CY I would have missed.

 

Yuo ARE a demented little person.... blond or not!!!!! lol

 

I'm glad someone recognizes my "specialness"!

The myths and propaganda that the general public believes about driving a truck just gets worse and worse. The hateful rhetoric increases every winter. I see it all too often on the news around here and the comments that are made on public forums. In the minds of the general public you are one step up from a fast food worker.....and that is only because they believe that you make more money. They believe that someone that works at a fast food restaurant is an uneducated unskilled burger flipper .....and a truck driver is nothing more than an overpaid unskilled, uneducated tire turner.

There are drivers that have no business being on the road but that is no different than any other profession. It's just time to step up and "spread a little truth" about all of the dedicated men and women out there working 14 hour days in the transportation industry.

 

George, as Passport said, don't run 70!! Not til chain law is lifted. Just have dispatch send you an updated fuel solution and if night dispatch plays stupid, remind them about chain law.

I'm in Gautier, MS for the night. Load delivers Wednesday at 8pm, but I am in a position to arrive at final tomorrow night. As soon as Julie comes in I will start working on seeing if she can find me a swap or have it rescheduled for Tuesday delivery.

My weenie little border collie apparently can't handle the cold. I woke up this morning and it was 45-50 degrees in the truck and Avett was laying on top of me shivering. Fortunately a friend donated a coat that had belonged to one of her dobes and it fits nicely so now Avett can stay warmer. Looks like I will be investing in some more coats and pajamas for the dog so she doesn't freeze to death this winter. T___T

Speaking of freezing to death, supposedly as of new software updates on the trucks, we will now be able to idle below 20 degrees! I guess TransAm didn't like having half the fleet gel up last year!!!

 

Tessa to the rescue..... my DM1 is back on the scene waving her magic wand. Think I will nickname her "Tinkerbell." Made it to the TA exit 140 (there are two) in OKC before I conked out. Tessa called me 90 minutes later and within minutes my swap arrived and now on my 10. She is working on a new preplan for me. Sure the miles were nice but this load was problematic from the go. Shipper loaded it nose heavy so the drives were at 33800 and the trailer at 29900 with tandems slammed to the front and only 1/4 tank of fuel though I did top off def and reefer fuel. I think they did backup the delivery date until Thursday so good for my swap partner. Didn't care too much for going to Commerce CA near east LA. Now back to napping.