Maverick .... from a wife's perspective

Second time to post. The first one got wiped out. ARGH!

Hi Dryver. What part of Britain are you from?

Update on my mom for those of you kind enough to ask about her. She is doing as well as can be expected in dealing with stage 4 cancer. Initially the doctors wanted to use bone cement to repair the fracture in her back but decided that would be problematic down the road as the cancer grows back. So they are putting her in a back brace. They think she might get to come home this weekend if they can manage to dial her pain down a couple notches.

Latest update.

Redcoat made his way from Ghent, KY to Houston, TX. He had two drops to make, one on the south side of town and one on the west side. He reset in Louisiana over the weekend to be nearer the con on Monday morning.

Does Maverick pay for more than one delivery on a load? And someone mentioned "short haul pay." How does that work?

After Redcoat made his deliveries, he hung out at a truck stop with four other Mav drivers waiting on a dispatch. They sent him to pick up a load of shingles headed to the Lowes in Purvis, MS. Redcoat calls these "desperation loads" that Maverick gives them to get the drivers back on the steel routes.

After making that delivery, RC was dispatched down to Mobile, AL to pick up a load from the docks headed to Rogers, AR. This was Wednesday and the load is scheduled for delivery 1500 today (Thursday). Redcoat still does not have his TWIC card so his FM coordinated with another Mav driver to do a trailer swap.

I remember the last time Redcoat was supposed to go down to Mobile we had trouble figuring out exactly where he was supposed to go. But on the way down they canceled his dispatch so we ended up not having to worry about it. This time I was struggling to figure out where they wanted him to go because the address wasn't recognized by any of the mapping programs.

So I had Redcoat QC for local directions and that was a total waste of time. WHY do drivers not give street names????? Instead you gets something along the lines of: Take exit 49 and turn left, go down 4 lights, turn right, go a half mile and get in the left lane. Turn left at the Subway and place is 2 miles down on the right.

When I'm looking at a map, these kind of directions tell me nothing. I NEED STREET NAMES PEOPLE!!!

Redcoat was coming into Mobile from the west on Hwy 98 and we were trying to decide whether to go straight through Mobile on that road to the docks or to go up I-65 to I-165 and then back down. Not trusting that Hwy 98 would allow trucks in town, we elected to go north up the 65 and then back south down the 165. Then Redcoat made a wrong turn and ended up heading west back into town instead of east to the docks. He saw a sign that said No Trucks in Tunnel or something along those lines and so turned the wrong way because he didn't want to get stuck heading toward the tunnel.

Once you're in unfamiliar territory, you can't be wandering about looking for a place to turn around to get back. He ended up continuing on down Broad St. down to the I-10, made a loop-de-loop to get up on 10 East and headed back to the docks from that area. From that point it was a tad easier because the local directions did at least make mention of Congress St., which I found, and once on that road, Redcoat found an empty lot to park in to wait for the other driver.

So that was finally sorted out. The other driver didn't arrive until 1500 so that gave Redcoat 24-hours to get from Mobile, AL to Rogers, AR. They made the trailer swap and Redcoat headed back up Hwy 98. He wanted to make it up to the Pilot in Jackson before his hours were up and just barely made it in time. He was not happy because his truck was a muddy mess.

Initially, he had intended on going on up I-55 to Memphis and then heading across the I-40 but since he was pressed for time he asked me if there looked to be any kind of shorter route. So I had a look and decided that Hwy 65 looked promising since it cut straight from I-20 on the west side of the river straight up to Little Rock and he could pick up the I-40 from there.

So that's what he did. He was in a foul mood this morning because he didn't get much sleep last night. He was dead asleep in his bunk when at 0130 there was this pounding on his door -- not knocking mind you, but pounding. He thought there was trouble outside so he jumped out of bed, swiped the curtains open and looked outside to see this woman standing there...

"I don't want any money but my car ran out of gas down the road. Can I use your CB?"
"The antenna doesn't work," he lied. There was no way he was going to let this creature into his truck.
"Then can I just come inside to get warm? Its cold out here."
"There's a warm truck stop just there! Go in there to get warm! Why are you waking me up at bloody 1:30 in the morning?!" Redcoat had totally lost his patience.

As she plodded off, he closed the curtains, got back into bed ... and sleep wouldn't come. He hears her pounding on some other poor guy's door. Anyway he lays awake for hours so he decided to just go ahead and get up early to head on out. Can't sleep so he may as well get a head start.

I told him he should have called the cops and had her arrested. A night in jail would have warmed her up.

Redcoat was making good time until he got to Conway, AR and traffic on I-40 came to a dead halt. Redcoat has heard rumors that it might be a Maverick truck in trouble. I sure hope not. He saw the helicopter and a huge tow truck just went by him on the shoulder. Hate to see any trucker in trouble but you really hate it if it's one of your co-workers and somebody you might know.

Stay tuned.

 

Dryver, will give Redcoat your message. RC is from Halifax and knows Manchester well.

Update on the accident on I-40 this afternoon. Redcoat was delayed an hour and a half in traffic. By the time he reached the accident site, they had it all cleaned up except for one truck and that was indeed an IC Maverick truck. Redcoat pulled over to see if the man needed anything but he said no, that he was OK. Apparently another truck lost a sheet of plywood and the wind caught it. The wood hit the windshield of the Mav driver and shattered the glass. Redcoat said it was a good thing it was a Freightliner that has the metal down the center of the glass or else the man probably wouldn't be standing there. When the wood hit him, it caused him to go into the ditch. He said he was fine. Just a bit shook up. Redcoat said he was probably still in shock over what had happened. Redcoat said the man's tractor was all banged up but the load and trailer appeared fine. After making sure there wasn't anything he could do for the other guy, Redcoat pressed on to Rogers. He arrived at 1510 and was still able to get unloaded so that was a relief. He is now headed down to Ft. Smith to pick up a load going to Georgetown, KY.

Stay tuned.

 

Hey Sarge good to hear from you. My mom is hanging in there but the doctors still don't have a handle on her pain meds. They last for about 3 hours and then the 4th hour she's in agony until they can give her some more. Her niece is staying with her until I can get there next week and told the doc he's got to do something about her pain. So they've changed the script and I'm hoping that will help.

Latest update. Redcoat reset over the weekend at the Pilot in Georgetown less than a quarter mile from where he was to deliver. He wasn't scheduled to deliver until Tuesday but he went ahead on down there this morning to see if he could get lucky and they went ahead and unloaded him. Then he got a dispatch to go 6 miles down the road to International Crankshaft to pick up reject bars. When he got there, the man said they only had one reject. RC made the call to his FM to make sure they still wanted him to haul just the one bar and his FM told him to go on and take it.

So now Redcoat is heading west back to Ft. Smith with his 20-foot-long, 800-pound load of one bar strapped to the deck. He set a record for chaining a load -- took him all of 5 minutes. Said he's almost embarrassed to pull into the yard at Ft. Smith with such a puny load but he reckons somebody has to do it.

For the FIRST time, a Monday has gone right. No unload delays, no load delays, no blown tires, no getting lost, no nothing.

Stay tuned.

 

Latest update.

I think I did jinx Redcoat. It took him all day to get loaded up at Ft. Smith today. He sat for an hour on the scales while they messed around with his paperwork. Didn't get out of there until 1500 this afternoon so he fueled up on the way to Little Rock and is spending the night at the yard since he's out of hours.

He's headed to some town I can't remember the name of but I know it's between Cincy and Columbus somewhere. He put in a request to reset here in North Carolina this weekend and will help me get the rig ready for the trip to MS.

My mom is not doing well at all and the doctors are going to send her to the hospice house probably some time next week. I think those people will be able to manage her pain a lot better than they are at the hospital. I will stay in MS with her until the end so hopefully Redcoat will get some good runs as we will be living off his check for a while.

I appreciate everyone who is praying for her.

Stay tuned.