The adventures of 'Team Klingon'

Well sort of... but more of that in a few...

This story all takes place yesterday - which is still a bit fuzzy for me due to lack of sleep - so bear with me... Woke up early after getting only about 5 hrs of sleep (visited w/friends from TRR Forum - waving Hi!!) and had mentioned to our DM how I would love to get paid for the time Gary was in 're-orientation' - something everyone HAS to do after training - so she found me a 'short run' to do while Gary was in class. Dummy me I accepted it - LOL! Now I'm totally freaking out... I do the trip planning and its going to take me a while... I'm to take an empty to Layton (only 40 miles away) and pick up a loaded trailer and take it to Twin Falls Idaho... about 3 hours away. Doesn't sound too bad. Then take the trailer once it's unloaded to a drop yard in Burley Idaho (which I pass on the way to my delivery) and bobtail back to the yard to pick up Gary. In theroy not a bad day run. I'm still worried about time though - the delivery isn't until 2000 - then the drive back and drop - that is really late and Gary would be out of class by that time just sitting at the yard... not fun nor comfortable...

So what we did (since I wouldn't be leaving the yard until 1330) is he completed everything he needed to do for the class except a safety meeting (which we will catch later) and he came with me (my security blanket - if you read my FB statuses - LOL) but basically l did the run on my own. I hooked up the trailer - did the trip planning and drove it. However - he did spot me on my backing - and help me find things in the dark.. like the drop yard!!

Of course while I'm doing this run - I'm imagining what it would be like to BE a solo driver - and HAVING to do this without my security blanket in the sleeper... My hat is off to you guys! I am NOT a solo type of person.... Yeah - I think I could do it in a pinch - but I'm SO GLAD I don't have to. I must admit I have leaned on my co-drivers. First w/my trainer - (but that is what he was there for - to teach me and answer my questions and be there if I needed help) and now my husband (who is doing the same things - plus a few more - wink wink - LOL).

So I'm really glad Gary got out of class early - not only for the company - but the extra set of eyes and brain cells. I did fine with the trip planning - the hooking up of the trailer - driving (even in the snow bobtailing). I did have to lay down for an hour though on the way back... I don't drive tired!! So by the time I got back to the yard and would have been picking Gary up - it was 0315!! That's a LONG time to be waiting. However the spotting on my backing was really nice - and finding that darn drop yard!! It was a dirt lot - in the middle of nowhere... but we found it - LOL! However doing it alone - would NOT have been fun - and I would have run out of time. Running out of time would have made it where I would have been parked for 10 hours until I could move again... and Gary would have been waiting that whole time!!

Well I have gotten 5 hours of sleep since getting in the yard - we are now traveling east to IL again - I-80... I'm trying to get our DM to send us south - I would like to get out of this snow/cold - LOL!

 

The 8/3 is working out pretty good - gets a bit nerve wracking because we do bump up against our 14, but it shortens our drive time - well at least in one sitting - LOL!

Like right now - Gary is driving 8 hrs... I'm in the sleeper - then we switch - putting him in the sleeper for 8 - then he puts me in the sleeper for 3 - then he goes in the sleeper for 3... the 8 hrs in the sleeper + the 3 gives us the required 'sleeper time' - and the 8 + 3 is the 11 drive time - the 8 + 3 + 3 is the 14 hour clock... I had to have it drawn out for me to visuallize it

I hope you do follow through with the CDL - it is quite an adventure!!

 

We did a tree run once - they were in a refer to keep from freezing - not to keep them cold - LOL - but then that was in March

 

Ah... a full nights sleep in a non moving truck Its a rare occurance thank goodness - but a nice change. We spent the night in the Everglades! Wow - this coming from a California girl - LOL! The stop though reminds me of the movie 'Cars'... a stop that has seen much better days. All I can say for the shower is that it had hot water (after you wait for the water to get there)... yeah - I think the 'reservation' is spending their money elsewhere now, but it looks like it use to be a nice place to stop - and could be again IF some effort/$$ was put into it. We are heading to Miami for the imfamous 'fish load'... yeah - its going to be a challenge, but I'm loving the miles on it... so we will see how it goes.

I sure wish I had more time to get on-line and catch up with everyone here... but I do have to choose my priorities. Driving and moving is number one (needless to say).and bookkeeping is my second, so sparetime is at a minimum right now.

 

Whew - now I know why those fish loads are 'infamous'. Oh and I will state it here publicly - Gary was right!! Now for the rest of the story...

We spent the night in the Everglades because our DM 'highly' suggested not to spend the night in Miami - as in not the best neighborhood. Not a problem and now I get to say I spent the night in the Everglades So we make it to Miami and get the trailer wash done. That was fun, he didn't speak english and we don't speak spanish - sigh. Then we find out the fish missed the plane so the 1700 has been bumped to 2300... fine, we break out the BBQ and lawn chairs and relax for a little bit... we were told not to get there early, because there isn't much room - so we were good little company drivers and arrived the prescribed one hour before our appt. time. They have 2 doors that are being used (the third had a dumpster infront of it) and we check in and wait... and wait... and wait... finally at 0200 we go back in and make ourselves visable again and ask, so how much longer?? They say take the next door - nice! Now as we are waiting - another truck just slips his way in there!! We were good little drivers and read the sign that said check into the office before backing into a door.. no wonder these other guys were getting loaded before us - they didn't wait, they just went in! Anyway I digeress... we finally get backed up to the dock... now this one is a bit confussing... we get basically 2 loads - 1 to drop in Isola and in CA, but we will need to then go to Indianola to pick up more that will then be dropped in Tempe, AZ and CA.. or something along those lines. Gary (thankfully) dealt with the details - I was a log book for this run. So anyway we were doing the 8/3 split driving the last run and the first part of this run - trying to maximize our time and miles... its a pain to keep track of - and needless to say, we are NOT doing it anymore. Its just not worth the stress!! Now as to why Gary was right... on this load they wanted almost continuious updates on our eta to the next stop... well besides the fish missing the plane - our qualcomm took a dump for 'that' night (kept rebooting anytime ANY info was being transmitted) and the fuel stop they first directed us to was a card lock with NO READER!! So the next fuel stop (with us at 1/8 tank) was a 'treat' to find and ate up another 1.5 hours!! So when asked what our eta was going to be - I looked at the GPS and it said <____> hours... and I told the night DM in SLC <____> straight drive time. I was thinking that she would realise that the time I told her did NOT include time for 1) refueling 2) going to the bathroom!! It was strictly driving!! That was the time they set for our next appt!! GARY IS RIGHT!! You have to add your own time in and stick to that number!! So that was the beginning of our run... the rest is a bit of a blurrrrr... they dropped one stop - then changed another in route, only to change it back - LOL! Yeah the miles might be good - but I'm not sure if its worth the headaches...

So now we are in Fontana getting a new wiring harness for the Qualcomm (it was broken at the satillite hook up) and having them check the batteries too - although our refidgerator took a dump, so right now our batteries are doing ok - so will they find anything wrong?? Who knows...

Wow I wrote a book on this one - LOL! Gary is able to use his little notebook during his 'sleeper' time to get on line - mine is a normal size lap top so its a bit harder (and I'm sticking to that story) for me ... so off to read and catch up a bit!!