Trans Am Still

The swap in Gary went well. Poor Chris dropped it in the RESERVED section in front of the fuel island. It did mess up my sleep as the noise from the trucks leaving the fuel island kept me from going back to sleep. This load was destined to be late as I could not leave until 0430 and drive 450 miles to Hopkins and have it there by NOON? Two fuel stops, early morning rush, and construction through to Rockford sealed this doom. The other driver would have been there four hours after me had they not swapped. Arrived just after 2pm got a door and got unloaded lickety split and no lumper fee. 39016 pounds of Campbell Soup. Headed to the J in Northfield MN. APU is acting up again. Runs a few min then shuts down. After six times of this shiznet, it finally has stayed running. Sent a note to breakdown, wait until morning was the response -get dispatch to get you a room if necessary. Nah.

I will say this, I had no issues at the TA in Gary as I stayed in the truck except to lock up the trailer and pretrip walkabout. They had security patrolling there all night so that was good. I have not had any issues in West Memphis or Nashville or anywhere else. I have been lucky but I like to think I have a good sense of what is safe and what is not. No preplan or nothing for today. Maybe a trip to Thermo King to service after a shower. They have the Big Steer Steakhouse at this J. The smell of steaks cooking just wafted out the doors. Had to have it and I am a sucker for a good salad bar. $20 included tip and I always drink water at a sitdown. Deuces. Back to sleep. Just made myself hungry again.

 

About 10:30 tonight in St. Louis another 18 year old black teenager was shot by a police officer. I have read several reports. None of it sounds very good. The police officer was off duty and on his way to a security job. He decided to do a pedestrian check of 3 young black men......they ran. The officer gave chase because he said one of the kids looked like maybe he had a gun in his pants. He says the kid had a gun and shot at him. The others say they ran because they were scared and that the kid had a sandwich in his hand. The teenager was shot 16 times.....according to some reports after he had been tazed. There are protests going on once again, no looting at this time.....but the situation in St. Louis is once again becoming very volatile. There were already protests scheduled for this weekend in Ferguson and St. Louis.

I am sure there will be other differing reports tomorrow ....there always is.

 

Ok ....one more little bit of nagging....for today. Here's the link for the contest, just in case you have forgot about it And I am not nagging you, Pete, I'll leave that to Patty.....for now. Besides you don't do Facebook cause you don't want to talk to Betty Lou, cause you didn't like her in 1972 and you don't think you'd like her now .....or whatever it was that you said before!

https://www.facebook.com/HealthyTru...2149103274818/382654335224292/?type=1&fref=nf

 

Just curious about the bad truck stops. Gary , West Memphis etc.....

What makes these so bad ? I am sure there are a lot of different things but are they really that bad.

Would I want to avoid if I had my wife with me.

Seems like they would have cameras all around and security overload if these places are that bad.

Why do they let beggars , homeless , scam artist etc... Hang around ? Can't they just run off the riff raff.

 

I am one of those fourtunate people who do not have a Facebook page as well Pete so you are not alone in that. And sorry for not being able to help HB.

 

I agree with what the Cranky one said, I would add, the truck stops in Gary, West Memphis, Atlanta, Flying J in Dallas are just adjacent to bad urban areas. An extension of what is already going on in those cities. Police, security, etc. have no answer for any of it. Truck stops have truckers who are working, earning a paycheck, have money in their pocket. The bad element is drawn.

It usually starts with someone approaching you with the phrase "Let me axe you a question". Plenty of new drivers from all walks of life are good natured and when someone approaches them, they feel they need to address that person and deal fairly with them. Wrong answer. I usually just kept my head down, keep walking and reply "I am not your guy" and I am left alone.

In Korea as in most other countries you don't have any real civil rights. You can be searched and questioned without cause. If police have only a mere suspicion that you are causing trouble, you can be hauled away. Korean society accepts this. Cuts down on a lot of riff raff hanging around.

Don't let discussion on this topic throw you. Once you get away from the identified bad areas, people are generally very nice. After living overseas and coming back to the USA, I am generally very proud of the state of America and the general behavior of people.

 

So its a matter of watching your surroundings if you do have to stop in those places and ensure anytime you walk away from your truck make sure its locked and trailer secured in those places then.

Its kinda like the threat assesment training you problebly received from the USAF when you first went to Korea about the safe areas and bad areas of Korea and to ensure you watch your surrroundings Dennis.

 

When someone comes up to me in a truck stop I always say " I have no money, not even a dime" that usually deters them. To me Gary, In is one I try to avoid and any place in inner Chicago. I had a friend whose truck got broken into in Dallas but he left it for a weekend, not the brightest idea, that was in the J. When I first started in this business Gary was the highest tractor trailer theft area but I see that has changed to everywhere in Fl. but haven't really had a problem at any truck stop. I remember the TAs in Ontario, Ca was crawling with lot lizards on one side but other side was just fine. Just remember the bad guys know we don't know their area so they try to take advantage of any driver who looks like a deer in headlights. So just look a little grumpy in truck stops and you will do fine. Cranky has no problem there

 

I would not let the bad places turn me away from trucking but would try to avoid them if possible since my wife is with me.
Here in Korea for 9 years now and have never felt unsafe. Even in all parts of Seoul. Sometimes the drunks get a little out of hand but mostly just being mouthy.

Not much of a Ghetto here but there are some older houses and apartments that are pretty run down.

I have walked around Bogota , Colombia by myself and felt safer than being in places in Indianapolis , so I guess it is what it is and you always got to keep an eye out.

Contract is up here in Korea at the end of the year but I am hearing we will get the contract again.
No one knows for sure. Don't really matter much to me , if we lose it the other company will probably keep us all on.

Right now the job , perks and money is good and it is hard to give it up but really would like to start driving a truck just for something different for a few years. I will be 61 in December.

Going to need to make a choice soon , lol