Central Oregon Truck Co...the fun begins

That probably was my truck sitting out front, they said it was done around Monday/Tuesday. Really had to hustle Friday to stay ahead of the snow moving in. Didn't really wanna have to chain up to get over Hood so I hustled into Bend by 1515 and was out of there by 1545. Went up to the yard and switched my stuff back into my truck and came back to 8 new drives, very excited to have those headed into winter. Looked at a T680 that they had at the yard as a possible quad truck as they wanted our opinions on the truck, it would be the midroof not the condo, but I would be able to standup in one which would be nice.

Made it over Hood with little trouble, it didn't help that I was empty, but still wasn't too bad. Of course there were still those who managed to slide off the road, but it's expected. Roads were starting to pile up as I went over, so it looks like i got over while the getting was good.

It appears that I'll be close to home all week since I need to be home on Wednesday. I'll be up dark and early to pick up a load of shingles in Portland going up to Tacoma. I'm hoping to rack up some short haul pay this week to make up for the short week.

 

Now you'll have to look for a quad with a tarp job haha. Picking up some sheetrock in Tacoma headed up to Delta and then back stateside. Might be doing another one of these tomorrow. We shall see.

 

I appreciate the kind words, and yes, I believe we have a sharp looking fleet. It would be nice if they went a little faster.

Sitting on the north side of Seattle waiting on my next dispatch. First time this has happened but only because I have to be home by tomorrow afternoon. I'm either going back up to Delta or playing it safe and going to Tualatin. Either way works for me.

Edit: Ended up getting a load out of Tacoma going to Portland for tomorrow. Dispatcher wanted to know if I could pick up a load in Albany to deliver next week. I said I could but asked if she wanted it to sit for that long. She then decided against it. Short week next as well for next week with Turkey Day.

 

Parked until Monday morning, headed down to SoCal tonight for a friend's wedding. Glad I am because it was -11 in Edmonton this morning and -17 in Meadow Lake. I have a feeling it is going to be a long winter.

Delivered this morning in Portland and then slid over to Gresham to pick up my next load so that I'm ready to roll when I get back. It has a stop in Edmonton, AB and Mundare, AB. It will nice to get some miles before Turkey Day.

This weeks miles were lower due to the fact that I needed to be home. Ended up with 2244 miles, 2 tarps, and a Canada crossing.

 

Well, it has been a while. Despite having time off, it was hardly that. The wedding was awesome and had a Turkey Day dinner with my girlfriend's family and friends in LBC. Sure beat being up in Edmonton last week when it was -20, but it looks like I'll be getting my share of winter this week.

This past week was a pain in the butt. I do my 8 hour break Monday night up in Canada to get my clock back, seeing as I wasn't going to be crossing back that day. Well my ELOGS have been giving me heck about doing it, saying i need a full 10, even though I'm on Canadian Regs. The last time this happened, I just switched back and forth between regs and that made the correct available work time show up. Not this time, however. I called into the driver coaches to explain the situation and they said that the computers there showed my correct available hours, 13 hours drive and 14 hours on duty. They decided to put me on paper for the day, which stunk, as I had to continue doing my ELOG work as well as record in my paper logs. Had to do this instead of sitting out the extra 2 hours because I would have missed delivery and pick up.

Uneventful drive up to Edmonton, once I got there, fit hit the shan. Pull on to the side street where I have to deliver and there is a truck with broken airlines right in front of my driveway. This was at 1230 local time. So I untarped and put those away while the driver waited for a guy to come fix it. Needless to say, that took a while and I still had a drop in Mundare, 50 miles east of my current location and I need to be back in Edmonton by 1600 for pick up. Called dispatch to make them aware of the situation and they made some phone calls. If I didn't make pickup, I would have been home late Thanksgiving night. No bueno.

The repair guy eventually showed and couldn't repair driveway blocker's truck so he dragged the trailer out of the way on the snow covered road, something I'm not sure why he didn't due in the first place. At this point, it's about 1445 and I know I can't get out to Mundare and back on time. Minutes later, the receiver comes up to me and says they are going to be taking it all off there. That was a huge weight off of my shoulders. All i had to do now was drive 10 minutes east on the Yellowhead for pickup. They even Google mapped it there in the office for me to look at, something I greatly appreciated.

I left there about 1515 and headed over for pickup. I get a half mile away and there is a freight train sitting right in the middle of the road. Not moving. The train eventually moved and I checked in at 1600. They sent me out back to get loaded with 64,900 lb of steel I-Beams going to Seattle. It took a couple of tries to get the weight right on my trailers. Canada allows us 23,995 kg on our trailers and my trailer gauge needs to read 76 to be legal. Got it to that point, chained it down and got my paperwork and was out of there by 1845. Went over to the J in Sherwood Park to fuel up and scale. Ended up being 23990 on my trailers, good enough for me to go. Made it to Aldersyde, AB for the night as my 16 hour clock ran out. It was a long, long day.

Could only make it to the Boardman rest area on Wednesday and finished up on Turkey Day, getting home at 1000. Will be dealing with this winter storm all the way out to Cody, WY this week. After I deliver this load of steel in Seattle, I'll head a half mile south to pick up a load of drywall which I will have to tarp outdoors in this mess. I'll then follow snow all the way to subzero temperatures, where I'm sure my tarps will not give me any problems. Welcome to December.

Be safe out there this week guys, especially with all the Holiday travelers. I think we're in for a long winter anyway.