Life and times at swift...the good the bad and everything in between

Hey guys,
After I finished posting my update last night, I got a call from my boy "C". We went to orientation together, he's spanking new to trucking, and had a bit of a rough time with his mentor. Nothing serious though, just personality differences. When he got his own truck, I told him to call me at anytime if he had any questions. The force is strong within this one.
Me: Hey dude, what's good?
C: Hey man, I'm over here in P&G, in PA...This place is a nightmare, I ran out of hours looking for my loaded, everybody here is out out of hours, there's like 20 trucks. It took me an hour to park my empty, cuz there's no lines, all the trailers are crooked.
Me: P&G?...whats the address.
C: Blah
Me: Oh! that's where i'm going tommorrow. I pick up there and deliver in Phillipsburg, NJ, at shop rite.
C: Don't use the navigation, it wont find the address.
Me: Word?, alright, thanks buddy. Talk to you later. click
I make a mental note to wake up earlier, just in case. I can't mess this up, I got just enough hours to pickup, deliver, and get home. Gotta keep it military with these elogs.
I wake up this morning having had a nightmare with the walking dead. I dreamed I opened the curtains, and they were standing all around the truck trying to get in, creepy. I peek out just to make sure it really was a dream. No walking dead...good.
Get out, do the preliminaries. I'm inspecting the trailer lights when I catch movement out the corner of my eye. It's pitch black. I freeze. I see a shadow moving. It move to the light. I tense up. I realize it's a person, another driver actually.
Driver: Hey, sorry to bother you. You wouldn't happen to have any jumper cables would you?
Me: You scared the hell out of me, nah dog sorry.
Driver: My truck wont start, and my company says they can't get anyone out here right now.
Me: I feel for you brother, knock on some trucks, somebody has to have some.
Driver: I'll just have to wait i guess, I don't want to wake anybody up.
He looks frustrated, I feel bad for him. I pull out, get the truck straight, and stop. Sent mac 23 ( tweety advise: Use mac 23 when the navigation acts up, usually the directions are easy to follow and dead on...usually). Double checked my map, took off. Mac 23 said 5 lights and make a left, so i start counting after I pass the city. 1.....2 lights..............................................................................................4 lights, no wait 3?, dam i lost count. I have to many numbers in my head already ( trailer, truck, driver code, etc, etc) I pull over, put my flashers on. The shoulder is just wide enough for the truck, so i move a little more to the right, my right side is on the grass a little. I think I'm good there. I call C to see if he can guide me in. He doesn't answer. I guess i'm on my own. Please God, no dead end roads today. I wait for the traffic to clear, put the truck in gear, and turn the steering wheel to the left. It's not moving, I think i'm stuck on the grass. Maaaaannnnnn, I stop. put the dif lock on, and try again. Nothing. I start sweating bullets, just when I'm about to go home. I'm not giving up. I straighten the steering wheel. Boom, I'm moving, I sigh,never again will I park on the side of the road. Further up the road I find the place. The navigation was leading me straight to it. I proceed to check in and drop my MT. Now the hunt begins for the loaded. The lady at the window said lot E. I went up and down that row 5 times with no success. I LOOKED EVERY WHERE FOR 40 MINUTES, TRAILER BY BLOODY TRAILER. I finally found it parked against the loading docks, not docked, just parked against the wall. I hook, and off we go. The roads up here were wet, and it's still raining. I know i'm gonna be late. I call the terminal and explain the situation. The DM (not mine) makes a notation on the screen, and tells me "your good MRTWEETY". I say thank you and hang up. I get to the shopright. The guy says to back it in and drop it. Drop it? My load info says LIVE UNLOAD. I double check with my DM. He says it's fine, and bobtail home. He set my PTA for the 27th 08:00. Now I'm happy. I make a right out of the shopright and get lost for 20minutes. I ended up in easton, PA for some reason (see bluebonn, even I get lost here...and I live here lol). Get to the Pilot on exit 7 and scan my paperwork. Get to where I park my truck, and gather my stuff, while I wait for my uncle to come pick me up. Lost my car last year when I became unemployed, before I went to driving school. A month later we found out we were pregnant with my daughter. No gifts under the christmas tree either....well there was one...my beautiful daughter. I'm doing the books while I wait. I made $1002.63 for the paycheck on the 29th. MY first thousand dollar check in my trucking career, the first one in my life. It took me 6 months to achieve this. It was the first goal I set for myself when I started driving. And since this is thanksgiving I'd like to give my fellow drivers a quote from my favorite book.

"The moments that define you are not those when you're living the good life. but rather those times when you are on your knees, broken, and you want to give up.That is when you decide. -9 ball-

Happy thanksgiving everybody,
MRTWEETY

 

@denali.. thank you for the compliment. I'm not as weird in person. Just my righting style reflects what goes on in my head. You a swifty?

 

$1000 income...check
300 mile preplan to NH...check
1700 mile preplan to TX ....check
spend cherished moments with loved ones....check
find marker light broken on trailer during pickup @ NJ yard ...DAM
4 hours through GW bridge traffic... DOuble dam
realizing i gotta do a split break to deliver and pickup on time...when it rains it pours

 

hey guys,
I'm gonna make this kinda short today. I'm crazy sleepy, from doing that split logging. I'll say this much though, it is really helpful to know how to do it. After reading a thread that you guys wrote back in april like 50 times,i decided to experiment with it on this trip. Fixed my marker light, and delivered this morning on time. When I got dispatched on the second preplan I noticed the load required 2 straps, I only had load locks. So,i went to the TA got a company advance, and drove to the shipper. While I'm getting loaded, they tell me they can't use straps on my trailer, cuz there are no hinges to hook to. The trailer starts with " T". Are ALL the trailers that start with this letter like this? I also got a message saying that swift company policy does not permit the use of hand held OR HANDS FREE PHONES while driving. Whats you guys opinion on the hands free part? Anyway, ran out of hours by CT, I'm gonna try to get through GW bridge, and out of jerzey before 08:00. Lol, thats funny,i live in jerzey, and I'm trying to get as far away as possible.
Good night guys,
MRTWEETY

 

I feel like I'm talking to myself. Either my thread is dead or every one is on the grind. Drove ten hours straight with 2 30 minute breaks in between. 596 miles. Tommorrow is gonna be the same thing.