ATS/school

BDJR, good job! Best of luck with the local, i'm sure you will do fine.
Well today I unloaded at the Naval base in North Charleston,SC. It went very smooth. Actually had to get out of the truck, open EVERYTHING up, including the hood, to get "inspected". At least the appearance of an inspection. I didn't even get to use the RGN, they had a monster forklift that picked the whole trailer up like it was nothing. Well, I knew I was the only one delivering that morning, they had a BIG lot, probably 6 acres, and a monsster forklift. So, I asked if I could practice removing the goose neck, and get their help if I screwed it up. They couldn't have cared less, and were willing to help if needed. I didn't need it, help that is. Had a minor problem with the release pin, too much pressure on the thing. But that was good, I figured out the problem, moved the tractor to fix it, done. I know, I know, big deal! It really is very simple, just follow the instructions. Got the next load w/in about an hour, shot up to Laurinburg,NC. Dropped that trailer and picked up a pre-loaded one. I'm taking steel beams to Greenbay. There is a little confusion about wether I am to deliver Mon. or Tues., there's actually a holiday? I feel I've lost complete track of time out here. This load will get me pretty close to home, right on time. Not sure if I'll have another load from Greenbay back to home or not. Well, i'm going to catch some sleep and head out early. Think i'm catching something. Woiuldn't that be great! Fine the whole time i'm gone, sick when I get home! Shheeeeshh

 

Today I stopped for fuel at the J in Latta,SC. I just missed seeing an Ace Dornan(sp?) driver almost tear the cab off another truck! I'm serious, he #### near tore the whole cab off! He was parked next to the guy and SOMEHOW clipped it while pulling out. Now this wasn't a crowded place or spot at the time. I don't know how or why he kept going after he first hit it. I can't imagine him going that fast out of the hole! Anyway, the other truck was totaled! Felt bad for the guy, not a call I ever want to make. And yes, it made me even more paranoid about parking and backing! Now I'll never relax!LOL

 

Well this kind of sucks! I'm sitting here in Lebanon,IN at the J. Somehow one of my trailer tires got tired of being on the bead yesterday and decided it would be good to come off(the bead not the tire). I've called in to roadservice twice to see what they want me to do. Still no call back, think the blizzard in Wisc. has anything to do with it? Could just drive up to our terminal in Gary, but really don't want to if it can be avoided. The load/trailer looks to be sitting a little bit crooked. I have to deliver on Tues in Greenbay, was hoping to be waiting tom. in Manitowoc at our terminal there, not sure thats going to work out with the weather tho. Could be worse, we heard from WIDOT yesterday that all OD loads were shut down from midnight Sun to 6pm Mon., maybe they caught too much grief from the last storm were they left hundreds stranded on the roads?
Hey BDJR, congrats on both the test and the job! You are right, who knows, it might be a good home! And if not, at least your getting experiance!Well, time to get startedon that reset I guess! Talk to you all soon, tho I am supposed to have some hometime starting on Wed., my son has hockey playoffs and i'd like to see them since I missed the whole season!

 

Ok, i'm officially bored! After waiting for hours I finally got hold of a real person. They sent me 10 miles to the T/A, now was that so hard? I shouldn't complain, I have no idea why it took so long, there may be a good reason. Anyway, I decided that I would just go ahead and drive up to Gary after the tire got fixed, despite the threat of the weather. NO LUCK! The T/A lost power while they were working on my tire. It took them a looooong time to finally go get the road service trucks and use them for the required air etc.. I did get to have a nice long conversation with another driver who was also waiting for a couple tires to get replaced. It's always nice to talk to guys who have been around a while and get their perspective on things. That's what I love about this site! Well by the time everything was set to go, I decided to just come back and make a re-set work. Sounds like this storm will have blown over by then anyway. Oh yeah, the guy working on the tire wasn't having a good day, he couldn't find a hole in the tire so he went to put it back on, thats when the power went out. So he set the bead tool(that long handled thing) against the trailer. I'm sure that he thought it would only be a short time until power was back on. Problem was, he had set the tool UNDER the edge of the trailer. As the air bags settled down, you guessed it sports fans, bent the bar/handle about 6". Of course after he got the tire back on and aired it up, the hole appeared, so back off it came. By now I knew I wasn't getting any driving done today, but I felt for the guy.He was trying to get the handle back straight when I left. Combination of heat, bottle jack, and forklift. I hope it worked out for the guy! No offense, but today was a day I was glad NOT to be an owner. But I'm still going back to the truck paper after this, can't get it out of my head!

 

Ran my load up to Greenbay today and got lucky, they were actually working, despite the snow, and I got unloaded early. Got sent back to Manitowoc for some crane parts going to MN for Wed. delivery. Too much to hope for another early delivery? I hope so, i'm ready for some hometime. I guess I missed a pretty spectacular performance by my son in goal the other night(of course right?). They lost but I guess he played fantastic and made it look better than it really was. Hopoe to be home for the next game. Got a shower and did my laundry(one less thing to do at home) and got to talk to a couple other drivers. Both have been here for over 7 years. One was a lease purchase and the other was co.. I got to ask for advice on securing this load, which was really nice. Manitowoc is EXTREMELY picky about how things are done! And of course the load didn't line up with the trailer nice for chaining. Like I said, nice to be able to ask a couple of heavy haulers how they would do it. I actually only had a problem with the rear counterweight, the rub rail was cut away for permanent winches and that messed up the whole thing. I must say that so far every driver I have met has been very willing to answer questions and even help. I'm not saying that that is unusual, just been nice. Well I need to catch some sleep, heading out with another driver tom., stay safe everyone!