From the schoolbus to Transland

Cool I am glad I am not typing this for nobody LOL. The KC part was the worst of it. My intuition told me to get out as fast as I could. Tornadoes, Floods and rush hour would not have been a good mix.

Good part is that I am learning the way around kc. We do a lot of work around there. And I made a note that if I pick up at this drop and hook place again I can drop the trailer and bobtail to the shipping office which is about a half mile away. I also know my truck better so I am not scaling all the time. I have a sweet spot on the tandems if the trailer is loaded correctly that works 99 percent of the time.

I have some free time so here comes week two.

 

The first time I went through Minneapolis wasn't too bad. I was forewarned about the confusing I35E and I35W. BUT when I went through the opposite way I thought that 35 w was the way I should go. To make a long story short I found myself in a weight restricted area where I was getting funny looks and I wasn't seeing anything bigger than a minibus. I pulled to the shoulder, grabbed my atlas and got the the hell out of there. Now I know and the last time I went through Minneapolis I just went around the dang place via 635.

 

Week 2
Week 2 started with a trip to Odessa, TX. It was a Family Dollar distribution center. I hooked to the trailer on the yard and see that it's a newer trailer that had like 20 side marker running lights which is rare for our trailers. Not a big deal except that half of them weren't working not to mention a brake and tail light as well. I bring it in the shop and they started to work on it. Apparently it wasn't a bulb issue but a wiring issue. They had half my dash torn apart only to find out a fuse had blown. That little fuse cost me a couple of hours but I have been allowing my self plenty of BS time as I call it so I am not late. This was a pretty good run that took me more west than I have been since my family moved here from Phoenix. The run was uneventful until I got on the state highways. They were smooth but some construction detours made me more confused than I wanted to be. I made to Abilene, TX where I spent the night at the west to go truckstop. This place was cool. It was clean and the staff friendly. The gift shop reminded me of what truckstops used to be to me when I was a kid. The next morning I started driving and only had a hundred miles or so to go and my appointment was at 10pm. So I went to a Pilot just a couple of miles from the drop site and took advantage of one of my free shower credits. After my shower I slept in the bunk until a couple of hours before my appointment. I head down there and go through the process that Family Dollar puts you through. They were quicker than the Duncan, OK crew but the process was exactly the same. After I was empty I knew the Pilot would be full so I stayed across the street at The Warfield truckstop. HUGE parking lot with some potholes that give this truckstop it's name. It wasn't the cleanest but it looks like they are doing some renovationg.


The next morning my qualcomm beeps and I get an assignment to pick up in Seminole, TX. Again there was no local directions so I called the phone number and it was a New Mexico number. Hmm. Something is not right so I just go for it and head out. First obstacle was Odessa traffic. This is where I learned that I needed to take a loop that went around Odessa. It was a lot easier when I went back through the loop. I get into Seminole and pull over at a gas staion and get directions. It turns out these diections would be extremely accurate. They told me that as soon as you see the sign on the right you had to turn left right there. They even told me the exact miles that sign would be. It turns out the New Mexico number was accurate due to this place being 20miles or so from NM border. This place was way out in the boonies but the roads were very truck friendly. I was picking up bulk cotton to take to Horn Lake, MS. Load in was interesting. I pulled into a big wherehouse forwards. This place was like an airplane hangar. I back into one of those portable ramp things and they max me out weight wise.


Horn Lake is basically a suburb of Memphis. I drive out the rest of my hours and slept at the West to go truckstop again. My fuel stop was a pilot in Benton, AR. I fueled there and decided I was gonna go a little further. My dilema was that I didn't know If I could sleep at the consignee's lot and I know from research that I didn't want to be at a Memphis truckstop so I went to a Little Rock Pilot instead. What a show that was. I basically ate dinner watching the traffic and hearing all the chatter and mischeif going on. Plus I watched other trucks attempt to park and thought it would be a good idea to keep an eye on my surroundings seeing as I had an empty spot next to me. I went in to use the restroom I noticed another Transland truck trying to park and I told him he should park next to me. He did and we chatted for awhile. The next morning I was on my way when I realized that I was going into Memphis just in time for rush hour. Great. I make it through ok and I find my destination without incident. Horn Lake had roads called Pain Ave and Hurt Rd. I wondered just why this place was called Horn Lake. Anyways I unloaded and made note that I could have slept here.


Next load assignment was DH to Little Rock and bring a load of water back to Springfield. It was easy but brought me through the dreaded hills of US65 again with a heavy load. After I pick up I wait out rush hour and then head to Springfield. I get a phonecall that Springfield was getting nailed with tornado warnings. It turns out the furniture store that was hit was just a couple of miles from my house. Yikes and it was across the highway of where I was delivering which was AG. I get there and drop and hook during some dangerous lightning and sleep in my own bed.


My next run was my first Hazmat load. It was a trailer full of fireworks going to an Indian Reservation in South Dakota. This run took me through states that I have never been to and the scenery was nice. The mosquitos were thick!! Even more than the Bayous of Louisianna. I stopped at a rest area in Nebraska for the night. The next day would be a day of extremes. The run through Nebraska was beautiful. I had to brake for at least three dear. The sand hills in the area are as far as the eye could see. I felt like I was in one of those desolate movies. But when a car did drive by they would wave. Everyone seemed friendly. As soon as I got into the indian reservation it seemed a different story. I won't go into detail but there is a lot of misery in this particular res. I get the qualcomm directions. I get to the place and all I see looks like abandoned property. I start going down the two lane highway when I see that there won't be a place to turn around for thirty miles so I stop, put my hazzards on and make a phonecall. Guy on phone: "See where all the torn up trailers are at?" "Yes" I say. "That's it." Ok. I safely back up about thirty feet where I see a driveway that I can make Uturn in. Barely squeezed that one in. Whew. Going into the driveway of the customer I nearly put my tandems in the ditch but luckily I was able to get room to straighten things out. Come to find out I was an hour early because I didn't realize that I changed time zones. The guy had a crew of about 10 guys coming to had unload this truck, but I would be waiting awhile. Sure enough about ten guys some of them kids came out to help. In just two hours I was outa there.


Next assignment DH all the way to Kansas City Thats a dead head of over 600 miles. That's how serious Transland is about keeping one busy. I haven't sat for more than an hour not knowing what my next run is going to be.
I sleep in Nebraska and this finishes week two with over 3000 miles.

 

They told me I would get home every other weekend on average. My home time was this weekend and the weekend after my first week out solo. I got home last saturday but it was for just 12 hours or so. We have a lot of loads that come to Springfield which is what helps. Now if I lived in an area where there was no freight that might be a different story.

 

Week 3
After I left Nebraska I DH to Lee's Summit, MO to pick up another firework load to Rockwall, TX. I do my trip planning and then go pick up the load. I am informed that a stop was added to this which according to shipper was nine miles away. Maybe for a bird but not an eighteen wheeler. I make it to a Pilot just down the road from my now second stop. Stop for the night and find out where I am going to first. Now I have to go fro I20 to I30 now to get to my first stop. Now in the trucker's atlas there is a huge mess that is hard to sort out around Texas. I knew this coming into this trip so I had the sense to grab a Texas map from the rest area which helped tremendously. There was some confusion on the I20 part but I found out thanks to some helpful types at a truckstop. Most frustrating part was when I had to go back through a certain way I found out that I drove five miles out of the way where I could have gone straight. Oh well. I blame my inexperience and some messed up sign locations on this one. It turns out this stop would test my backing skills. It was a fireworks stand along a state highway. A field that wasn't meant for large trucks. Getting in was not a problem but getting out required the stand owners to stop traffic out in the highway while I did a blindside out into the road with deep ditches on each side. The customer didn't seem too thrilled with having to help me but I convinced them that they could help or I can do one of two things. 1. Get my truck stuck where their buying public wouldn't be able to get in and shop. or 2. cause a major accident in front of their stand creating the same results. They were quick to help at that point. the second stop was easy in and out but took four hours to unload me and killed my whole day.


My next assignment was a morning pickup in Dallas so I went up the road and found a TA where I parked for the night. Across the way I noticed a Best Buy so I decided to kill time there. To my surprise I find a microwave on clearance. $20 brand new!! Heck yeah so I bought it. Worst part was lugging it the half mile I had to walk. No more cold soup for me. I got a cooler last week and now I have a microwave. Next is a tv and I will be set. While I was there I looked at the GPS thingys that I have been thinking about getting one. I didn't have intstructions to my next assignment in Dallas the next morning so I typed the address in the store model and it gave me an exit number. Later on I would find out that it was wrong. Maybe I won't get one. The next morning some old fashioned cb radio talk had me going to the right place. (thanks Dallas locals!) This was a heavy load of brake rotors to Springfield, MO. The dock was empty and should have been an easy backing especially after yesterday but it took me awhile to bump dock. I was probably tired. After that I make it home long enough for a shower and a good night's sleep and show up at the yard for my next load.


Next load was for South Bend, IN. Sounds easy enough. Bzzz WRONG. This was a suburb of Chicago. Eww. I have never been through there but in my younger years My dad would tell me how much he hated the area due to all the construction. Apparently they are still working on things. A long stretch of road that was narrow lanes and 45 mph speed limits. When I tried to avoid a toll road I picked a highway that had a lot of stoplights and went through Chicago Heights. Another lesson learned. Anyways I thought I would be an hour early not realizing that just 20 miles from my stop time jumped an hour. I make it barely in time but had to wait for everyone to come back from lunch.


Next load was a DH to Indianapolis to take a load going to a battery place in Springfield where I would be just dropping in the yard. I fueled up and headed there early. My appointment was 11 pm and my log book wouldn’t make it that far so I hurried over there hoping I can get in early. I show up behind a line of trucks. I contact security via the cb. They say yes and let me in. First thing I noticed is I have to get on a scale which means I get maxed out. Yuck, but the worst part is the process for a newbie like me to go through. I get on the scale get weighed and then BACK off the scale in very tight quarters, turn the rig around and go all the way to one spot to where it was the only spot I could open the doors, and then back into a crooked dock down a hole. I managed to do this without hitting anything. The forklift guy with long sleeves and a gas mask on approaches me and says I was the first one of the night even though I had the last appointment. Cool. Then he tells me to NOT get out of the truck for any reason and puts an object in front of my truck to keep me from moving for safety. This is when when I noticed the air seemed toxic and I had no idea what I was getting loaded with that would require all the safety gear. It wasn’t a hazmat load but something was weird. I am loaded in 20 minutes. I go to close my doors and noticed just 20 or so bare metal blocks all centered in the middle of the trailer. They were no bigger than my cooler and they smelled funny. Next I get to do the whole scale routine again. These small blocks added up to 45000 lbs! While I was in the scalehouse I noticed even the scale worker was wearing rubber gloves. So I asked if this was plutonium and he lauged (although nervously it seemed) and told me it was lead. After wrestling with rush hour traffic in Indianapolis I high tail it to the yard and drop the trailer. I finish up my log and head for home. Another week in the books.

 

Week 4
June 29th - July 5th​

Sunday started with my first repeat consignee. It was a walmart load to Menomonee, WI. While I was hooking to my trailer a guy that was in my trucking school class pulls up so we start chatting and trading newbie stories. He shows me his new GPS and swears by it. Me I am still hesitant. Anyways by the time I hit the road I will be two hours behind my original schedule. No big deal this was a drop and hook that had an open window Monday. It just meant that I had to drive a little longer before dropping tomorrow. Half way through the trip I start feeling really good and start thinking I can do this in one night. I was wanting to push myself a little this week to help my stamina. I did the math and figured out that I could do it theoretically. Well at about just a little over 100 miles left I didn't think I was gonna make it. But it seems that parking was gonna be an issue so after some wasted minutes cruising three different truckstops and one rest area I realize I have to do this now. So I pull into a Pilot out of everyone's way but not an "official" parking spot and get some coffee and a much needed bathroom break. After a good fifteen minutes I felt better and finished the trip. I accidently take the wrong exit but I make it to the truckstop across from walmart center and hit the sack. My plan was to get 12 hours in the sleeper and I would be dropping the trailer at noon. This would give me a bunch of time to get some miles. I would later learn that this would all be in vain.

Monday I was fast asleep when the high pitch beep of my qualcomm woke me. It was a text message. My Dispatcher checked his board and saw I had driven all night and was worried that I killed my clock. I texted a reply my intentions and he was relieved. I go back to sleep. Several hours later my alarm goes off and I drop and hook to an empty no problem. Right when I sent in my mt call my next load assignment was put through. Go north to Siren. It was a 90 mile deadhead and I had a little over two hours to do it. No problem except there is only a zigzag route to Siren. The roads were fine except the small towns that one had to pass through that required you to slow to 25mph. On top of that the dead head was actually 120 miles or so and I ended up being a little late. As soon as I pulled into the lot I put in my check call showing me just eight minutes late. I grap my notepad and head for the office. I walk in. "You're late" said a grumpy man, "I apologize sir. I dropped at 12:15 and hurried down here as fast as I could SAFELY." Grumpy man says, "Well your appointment was at 2pm. It takes an hour and a half to load your truck and we get off work at 3:30." So you will have to wait until the morning to be loaded." Now he seemed to take great pleasure in telling me this. I was close to telling him that me not killing anyone in the small towns in which I had to slow down for was far more important than whatever crap they wanted to put in my trailer. But I gritted teeth and walked out to tell my dispatcher. Dispatch was on my side but said that there were no other loads in the area and to just stay there. So I tell recieving and they said I could stay there and were at least nice about telling me what was in town. Sure enough about 3:20 everyone was hauling butt to get out of there. I learned that Siren is not used to the big trucks so after a little bit of scouting I go back to the shipper and politely ask the second shift guy if I could drop my trailer in the dock and he said it was alright. So I bobtailed to a convenience store ate my dinner, brushed teeth etc. and headed back to my trailer. Parked in front of it that way I could go back to the convenience store first thing in the morning. Before I parked for the night I wondered why there was three shifts at this factory but only one did the shipping. Oh well.
Tuesday morning I woke up hitched to my trailer and get loaded. Guess how long it took? One hour and fifteen minutes. They could have loaded me last night afterall. Sigh. Another lesson learned. This was to go to Lee's Summit Toys R US distro and went off without any problems. The nice security lady told me where to drop and where the empties were. After circling the area she told me to I started to leave and told her I couldn't find any empty trailers. It wasn't a big deal since we have a drop yard in KC. As I was leaving I see an entire section she didn't tell me about with five of our empties. I hit reverse and asked the nice lady about them. She apologized for forgetting about telling of that section. I hook and check tires and lights and make to Peculiar Flying J for the night.
Wednesday morning I woke up wondering what was in store for me. My trainer called to see how I was doing and told me they try to get most drivers home for the Fourth of July. My qualcomm beeps and it's a strange request. Go to the KC drop yard and pick up trailer #### and drop it at Toys R US in Lee's Summit. Easy enough. I get out to do my pretrip and discover a flat tire on the trailer. Now I can be a Butthead and drop this trailer and not say a thing afterall I won't be using this trailer. OR I can do the right thing and get it fixed. Well I don't want to make it harder for someone else so with a sigh I called dispatch and the shop. The shop foreman nearly had an aneyurism when I told him it was a trailer i was dropping. There was a tire shop just one exit from our drop yard. Well the directions he gave me weren't clear so I winged it and again thanks to my CB and a local I got to where I needed. How anyone gets along without a cb is beyond me. Two hours later I was on my way. I dropped the trailer and hooked to the new one. While backing into the spot I almost get my self stuck between obstacles. I have a tendency when I set up to not allow myself enough space on my right side of the cab. I am thinking trailer not truck and it gets me in trouble. Well I hook to the new trailer and find the bills. It turns out this trailer has been sitting here a month!!?? I double check the qualcomm to see if they matched and sure enough they did. So I get back to TRU and they reject the load saying the appoinment time was old. So I call dispatch and a new number was given. So I try again with the new number. This number is good but it was a live unload that was due NEXT Monday at 3:45. So I tell dispatch and a qualcomm message says' Sorry for confusion. Take back to dropyard in kc grab an ampty and here is your next assignment." So back to the yard I go and the only empty was the one I dropped. So if I had been a Butthead I would have screwed myself.


Next load assigned had me taking it to the yard in Springfield and I was given the holiday off and didn't have to work until Sunday morning so my truck went into the shop for an A service and to get the cruise fixed. On the flat tire I got major brownie points. Both the shop and my dispatcher both went out of their way to call and thank me for doing that. I told them that I was new and that I needed some positive points for when I do screw up.

This was a short week in miles but I will make it up next week and I had a holiday off that was important to my family. So far so good.