Calex Express....My New Home!

I hit some of that 2 days ago on 86 in NY right by the PA line. Some brutal rain for a few miles and then suddeny it stopped and out of no where hail the size of tennis balls just like you described.

lol yep that was me.....i saw you pass the red light in my mirror and was about to holler on the radio but saw that you caught it at the last second.....and dont feel bad i passed the first shipping entrance as well and had to back all the way up down that road. With the massive size of that building youd think they can put a sign or thier address # right there. But yea that was a brutal load to bring back home which is where i am now. Was about 44,000 lbs of flour in a reefer trailer and i was lugging it all the way back. Did you have a long wait there? As i was leaving alot of trucks were starting to line up. I got lucky when i arrived and no one else was waiting. They loaded me at the far end of the building and i was outta there in about 45 min.

 

I live in Schuylkill County and we've had three confirmed tornados this past week, which is also extremely rare, especially in the coal region of PA. The one we had with the second storm Thursday night was on the ground for nearly 18 miles from Schuylkill Haven all the way over here to just south of Tamaqua. It did quite a bit of damage along it's route, including forcing my daughter to change venues for her son's birthday party as the park it was supposed to be at was devastated.

Here is a pic of one of the pavilions that didn't survive the twister.

 

i was done in about an hour didnt get home until this morning ran out of time getting off of the exit in binghamton.. sucks i was only 32 miles from home but i split logged it at my delivery so only had to sit for 8 and headed home...

 

Just about empty in Milton Pa. Will post my adventure later when I get to the Petro in Avoca. And it will be a good one, trust me!

 

prob see you at the yard tomorrow i have to deliver in north bergen at 3 am and billy told me to head back this way.. have to take this trailer to the yard has some problems that need attention... hopefully i will catch you there...

 

I'll be there right at 7am to get my truck serviced and some write-ups taken care of.

 

My reset was finished Wednesday at 9:45 pm Pittston time. I do all my driving and calculating based on my home terminal time. I woke up early Wednesday morning and had to drive down to the Volvo dealer in La Mirada to get my headlight wiring harness replaced. $292 later I was finished. I guess the days of replacing a headlight are long gone, at least in Volvo's design department. I headed back to Vernon to finish my reset. I was going to go back to the wonderful Vernon Truck Wash but decided to go up the street to the McDonald's that has truck parking at the intersection of Bandini and Soto St. I found a spot and went inside to get a quick bite. I had 7 hours left and figured I would stay there. Louie had called and told me what load he was putting me on. It was a one pick up load of strawberries loading in Salinas. He told me it was to load that night. I told him my reset was up at 9:45 and that I had a 5 hour drive on a good night coming out of L.A. and more than likely closer to 6 hours. He said to just head up there and call him in the morning.

I ate then went back to my truck to take a nap. About 2 hours later I get woke up by a loud knock. I get up and sit in my seat to open the window and I start getting yelled at by some little Mexican about a 1 hour parking limit and that he was authorized to tow my truck. I told him that as long as I am sitting in this vehicle he can't hook up to my truck without a cop present. He kept on screaming and I told him that if he doesn't call the police I will, and to trust me that if he continued to scream at me while standing on my running board that before the cops came, one of us was going to the hospital and the other was going to jail. Then I told him the problem with that was I wasn't sure who was going where. I had to give him credit though, he kept on going. I then called the Vernon Police and within 5 minutes the cavalry shows up. I explained my position, showed them my receipt for McDonald's and told them what happened. There was a Stevens truck next to me that was a witness to this whole scene and corroborated my side of it. The Police told the little man driving the big tow truck to get in his truck and leave. I was told that I had an hour to stay then I had to leave and that they would be back to make sure. Before leaving I whistled to the tow truck driver, got his attention, then flipped him off in front of the cops. They laughed and told me that last week he got his little arse beat for doing the same thing. I now had about 3 hours left on my reset so I went back down the street to get my truck and trailer washed.

I paid $20 to park there the night before and $65 to get my truck and trailer washed so they let me stay there for the last 2 hours. I can't wait to wake up to the news one morning to find out the shoreline is now just outside of Las Vegas. It's not a question of if, but when, I just hope I'm still here when it happens and that the first people in the big ocean drive tow trucks. While getting my truck washed I noticed my top window on the driver side was missing. I called into the shop and was told that all 5 windows in my sleeper are on recall and need to be changed. They told me it would be done when I get back to Pittston. Great, what about the rain I might hit? Melanie said to get a piece of duct tape and cardboard to tape on the inside of the opening to keep the elements out. I did and was laughing that between the headlight and the windows falling out the truck is going across the country held together with tape, I could just imagine how cool that will look. I kept putting it off, even while going through Wyoming in the snow and Iowa/Illinois/Indiana in the rain. Thank God the wind was blowing from the other side and no water got in my bunk, until I went to bed last night and quickly realized my other window started leaking and my bed sheets, blanket and some clothes I had on the bunk were soaked, plus I went through some huge thunderstorms in Iowa and debris was flying through the air and guess what? I now also need a new passenger side mirror. I got hit with a piece of tree limb and thank God the mirror was a blocker for my window. I spent about 2 hours last night trying to dry my bedding off my APU so I could sleep in dry conditions instead of sleeping in what felt like a lake.

Getting back to the load, I called the shipper before I left L.A. and was told I needed to be checked in by 10pm or they wouldn't load me till 8am the next morning. I verified my p/u # and was told the load is ready. I also told them I wouldn't be able to get there until midnight the earliest. They told me it wouldn't be until the morning then. I left L.A. right after my reset was up and headed up to Salinas. I had absolutely clear sailing up and over the Grapevine and stopped for fuel in Wheeler Ridge. I had to start my clock and now I was looking at all night driving the whole way back. On top of this Louie said I needed to be in Milton between 5 and 8 on Monday as they were having a crew in just for the produce to be unloaded. Not looking good. I got up to Salinas about 4am and went to bed. Louie called me right at 9am and wanted to know where I was. I told him in the truck staging area waiting for the shipper to open. He said good, that the buyer had called checking on the trucks to see where they were. I found out it was so they could get there scheduling set up for Monday. At 8am I checked in and was given a door assignment. I was loaded right at 11am local time then drove around the block to the Pilot to scale out and finish my 10 hours. I showered and went back to bed. I woke up right at 6pm Pittston time and headed out. I felt good and figured I would drive all night and try and make it for 5am Monday. I had myself convinced of this plan, until I went through Sacramento, climbed over Donner and made it to Sparks for fuel at 1am Pittston time. I said nope, not going to happen and went to bed for my 10 hours. I got up Friday morning, had breakfast and left at 11am Pittston time.

This is where communication plays a big part in what we do. I immediately called Louie as I was leaving to let him know I wouldn't be able to legally be there Monday at 5am. I heard a few choice words, not directed toward me but at the situation. I asked him if he had a team coming west that I could swap with and the answer was no. Then I told him I was going to be about 375 miles short. I said I could be there Tuesday with no problem. He said he would call me back that he needed to call the buyer. While I was waiting for him to call back I did some calculating and realized I could be there at 2pm Monday the earliest. He called me back about 15 minutes later to tell me the customer needed these strawberries asap and what would be the earliest I could get there. I told him 2pm and he put me on hold. He came back to let me know they will keep an unload crew there waiting for me. I give Louie a lot of credit, he knows what can and can't be done and he new from where I was to where I needed to be, when I would arrive. I got there this afternoon and was in the dock at 12:15 pm. I was empty at 1pm and on my way back to Pittston. I decided to go right to the Petro and get up early in the morning to go to the terminal, I just didn't have it in me to check in, fuel truck and trailer then drop the trailer and bobtail up here. Tomorrow is another day.

Here's how my weekend played out. I left Salinas Thursday and drove the 325 miles to Sparks. I then left Sparks Friday morning and drove 724 miles to Rock Springs Wy. I left Rock Springs Wy Saturday and made it the 715 miles to Gretna Ne. I left Gretna Sunday morning and drove the 699 miles to the service plaza just before Toledo OH. I woke up and was rolling at 4:30 this morning to drive the last 405 miles to Milton PA to unload. Not rocket science, keep the left door closed and rock on! I posted a few pictures for your viewing enjoyment.

#1 Clean truck minus upper bunk window sitting in downtown L.A.
#2 Wonderful Wyoming, with the snow on May 28th.
#3 36 and snowing.
#4 Right lane closed with 3 feet of standing water in Illinois.
#5 Same section with more water.
#6 Same street scene in L.A. but with truck and trailer.

 

Oh wow!!!! I can't wait to read the rest of the story.

 

It is now finished. You gonna be at the yard in the morning?

 

I don't know. Louie told me on Friday to call him, but I'm ready to roll, so perhaps I should try to get up there early. We'll see.