Getting Ready to Hit the Road with Magnum

Sorry for taking so long to get back online with a “quality update”, but things have been happening rather quickly and definitely for the better. The bottom line is it is all good. So, with that being said, here’s what’s going on.

I left out of Minneapolis on Friday the 13th. Yeah, talk about starting out on a good note, huh? I met Kurt (the trainer) and he got me familiar with the truck. He then drove out to Gaylord, MN and we drop-n-hooked, scaled, and headed to NY. As soon as we scaled, he put me in the driver’s seat and off we went.

A few snowy and rainy roads, Chicago rush hour on a Friday night (raining), Cleveland, Buffalo, and finally a town just outside of Auburn, NY. The nice part was we were able to take our time because out delivery was Monday morning. So there was no rush getting there, and Kurt was able to spend time talking, explaining and training.

Now, you’ve probably heard this a thousand times, but I am gonna say it too… the REAL TRAINING starts in the truck, not the school. And I can’t tell you how obvious that became within minutes, then hours, then days. But I will say, when you are told “forget everything you learned in school”…. DON’T! There was a lot of information learned in school which made it easier to understand once I got in the truck.

So we made deliveries in Auburn, Clymer, and Buffalo NY. Got our next load within two hours, both locations picking up in Buffalo, then one delivery in West Illinois, then the other going to Joplin, MO. Now comes the cool part…. Being a fan of CMT’s Trick My Truck, I was able to see the place where the Chrome Shop Mafia “does their thing”. Located right across from the Pilot truck stop, I was half tempted to go over to the place, but we had to get going. We had already received our next loadout in Jefferson City, MO coming back to Fargo.

On the way back, my trainer and the Fleet Administrator got together on the phone. Then Kurt climbs back into the front of the truck (I was driving), and said, “Sorry, but when we get back to Fargo, I am going to be dropping you off at your own truck.” Needless to say, there was a VERY LOUD “WooHoo” let loose in the truck. I think it actually startled Kurt. He should have known it was coming.

Saturday afternoon we arrived in Fargo and there she was, covered in snow and ice, smiling at me. We got my stuff moved over into the new truck (2005 Pete) and both of us eventually ended up at the truck stop to have dinner and do laundry. By the end of the night I was exhausted.

The next day I got up and started setting up the truck. After a couple trips to Wal-Mart, I was able to get everything put in place and ready to go. Then I spent Sunday night at the truckstop, watching TV (no wifi there) and “adjusting”. But had two good nights of sleep.

Tuesday morning is here and I am back at HQ getting ready to head to Oklahoma. Once I unload, I already have my reload (about an hour away) which is going to NC. Really looking forward to making it back to NC. Should get a few days off, then I will hit the road again.

So that is the “latest and greatest”. Not sure how much time I will have on the way down there to get online, but I will pop on whenever possible.

See ya soon!