life of a truck driver

Here I was just motoring down the interstate in the great state of Missouri heading for the bustling metropolis of Houston, TX when I received a qual-comm message. Aha says I they have sent me my reload after I get unloaded. I grabbed my qual-comm and scrolled down to find out they wanted me to load in San Antonio with a load of cabinets and guess where they wanted me to take them? Nah, you won't guess.

The first stop is on the southwest side of New Orleans, the second stop is on the southcentral part of New Orleans and the third stop is in Gulfport, MS. To say I was stunned is an understatement. I called them up and they said we will have customer service check this out, this doesn't overly thrill me. Our customer service is several young women that have never driven a truck, probably haven't been out of Indianapolis but very little and don't know about what we go through.

I get a message back saying that customer service had called and said they would be ready to receive Thursday. Now I am wondering about this so I got one of the phone numbers and called the store. I let the phone ring 20 times on three separate calls and voila no one answers. Now who did they call and get an answer so quickly? They probably called the corporate offices in Atlanta that had another group of young ladies that probably haven't ever been out of Atlanta in their lives. These two groups of young women decided that whatever I wanted to do that I needed to drive over flooded highways, through fallen trees, over bridges crossing the Mississippi twice to get these cabinets delivered.

If I were a betting man, I would bet that the people these cabinets are going to are not thinking of cabinets right now. I am sure they have other priorities at this time. Needless to say my temperature rose rather rapidly and I was muttering bad things and incantations to myself. A couple of times I kind of got a little loud here in the cab. I picked up the phone and got my DM on the line boy did he get an earful. Finally he said calm down. He explained that what they wanted to do was get the load out of Texas and if I couldn't deliver them we would drop them someplace so that I could pick up another load. All this after I told them that I didn't want to go to the Gulf Coast right now.

Humph, I am still grumbling and fussing to mayself and anyone that will sit still long enough to hear me. You can't put the word "fair" anywhere around this situation. I told them that if they would pay me a hazardous duty premium I would think about it and that premium would start at $2000 depending on the situation. That's over and above what the regular load pay would be. They didn't seem to think highly of that suggestion as if I really care.

Still grumbling I will say vaya con Dios, mis amigos. Hasta luego.

Category: General

A friend just sent me an e-mail. I had to laugh when I read it, her comment that we should have been born rich rather than good-looking. If we had of been we could spend our time in Tahiti rather than having to work for a living. As attractive as that sounds I think that I would rather talk to and be around the friends that I have made over the years rather than be rich. I would constantly worry about who was going to get in my pockets next if I had a lot of money.

Friends are a very rare commodity today. We all know a lot of people but if you think about it how many can you count that will be there when you need help? If you are like most of us at most all you have to use is two hands and you will probably have several fingers uncounted. Just think of it you don't even have to use your toes to count and that is a blessing. When I get the numbers higher than I can count on two hands then I get thoroughly confused. That assuredly doesn't help matters as I get confused easily enough as it is.

Money is great but it cannot buy all the things you really want. I feel that I am a lucky man because I have a wonderful wife and a house that I can go to when things get out of hand. We make enough to live comfortably and don't have to worry about too much. On the other hand my wife is a born worrier and pessimist about things like this. That's o.k. because most of the time I am a pie in the sky optimist and she keeps my two feet planted on terra firma without her I would be nothing.

She and I don't have a lot of friends but the ones we have we cherish and hold dear to out heart. There's an old saying that many of the people probably don't know but it fits when you think about it. My wife and I do not "suffer fools and idiots gladly". Think about it before you ask me what it means it is self-explanatory. Truckerdoc, I count you among those few friends that may not impress you but you have impressed me and Warren you have impressed me with your determination, keep it up you will go far.

vaya con dios, mis amigos. Hasta luego.

Category: General

Here I am "on the road again". As the famous saying goes "Bah, humbug". I got to spend 5 lovely days with my wife and I totally enjoyed it, but all good things must come to an end. Even the truck didn't want to leave the house this morning because it really didn't want to crank.

They called me bright and early this morning with a dispatch as the wife and I had sat down to breakfast. What surprised my DM was that my wife had answered the phone, it caught him totally by surprise.

I am not staying out another 3 months like that before I go home. That I will leave to you super drivers since I am just a slowpoke and I don't get my work done like you super drivers you really can't call me one. I am an ordinary guy without the fancy trappings or the need to honk my own horn about all the fancy things that I can and this suits me just fine.

A little complaint here, you ask someone to explain something to you so that you can understand it better and they just blow you off. I can understand how the new drivers feel, they don't just blow the new drivers off they blow everybody off because they have superior knowledge about everything and really want to let everyone else know it. Of course when you don't explain something to someone else that usually means you don't know anything about it either and don't want to show your ignorance. A little common courtesy goes a long way because you aren't the ultimate authority on anything.

Sorry about that little tirade but I had to let it out. Oh, well here I am again because they let me escape. I think I have my craziness under control again but you never know. They sent me to Belen, NM to load going to Cincinnati, OH for a Monday morning delivery. Now this is a broker load and they are normally right to the limit on weight. Imagine my surprise when I found out that the load only weighed 12,000 with a full trailer. It sure makes the fuel go further when you have a light load. Right now I am sitting in Amarillo, TX trying to take my break but my biological clock is running different after being home and I am having to adjust again. That is the only problem that I really have when I go home, I have to adjust to the schedule at home (which takes me a couple of days) then I have to readjust to the schedule on the road (again a couple of days to adjust)

enough for the night. Adios, mis amigos vaya con Dios. Hasta luego.

Category: General

Finally a miracle happened and I got home at 1800 this afternoon.

I don't think my heart is going to be able to take this. I had a prayer answered in the last couple of weeks and now a miracle has happened. What more can a truck driver ask for? A cold beer you say? Well I got that too. The first thing was a big hug and a kiss from my wife, then I petted the dogs, and then I grabbed a cold beer. Hey, you have to keep your priorities straight.

After all that the best thing was that I could get out of the driver's seat and not have to get back in it immediately. The only thing I am going to do is clean up the inside of the truck and I am going to take a couple of days to get that done.

Thanks to all of you that kept me sane the last 3 months. If it had not been for all of you I would have gone as crazy as my last name. As it is, I began to notice conversations between me, myself and I. It gets kind of crazy when you have a 3 way conversation in your head. See, I told you that I was going crazy and Truckdoc will testify to that.

Well, folks I am going to sign off and spend some time with my lovely spouse and kick the dogs behinds.

Vaya con Dios, mis amigos. Hasta luego.

Category: General

Whadaya know? A miracle happened yesterday and it is unbelieveable. I got to Rocklin, CA at about 0230 local time and at 0700 they backed me into the yard. After 2 1/2 hours we pushed the final piece off the truck. When I got back to the truck there was a qual-comm message waiting for me. When I read it I almost fell out of the truck in shock.

I had to drive about 85 miles down to Modesto, CA and pick up a 2 drop load. The first drop is in Farmington, NM and the second drop is in Albuquerque, NM. Now considering that I live in Las Cruces, NM 225 miles south of Albuquerque this is great. Talk about a blind hog finding an acorn. I will deadhead home from Albuquerque even though the fuel and everything else will come directly out of my pocket.

So right now, I am feeling pretty good so there. I will be home around 1700 tomorrow afternoon and if my wife welcomes me home I will stay there for at least 5 days maybe a week or better. If she doesn't welcome me home I may stay 2 weeks just to be ornery.

So everyone be thankful for you will get rid of me for a few days. See, prayer does do you some good and I am talking about you and your prayers. Now sit down and say "Thank God, finally he will shut up for a while".

Vaya con Dios, mis amigos, hasta luego

Category: General

Looks like truckerwarren and I are going through some of the same frustrations. Both of us wanting to go home and our DM's sending both of us to northern California. But, gentlefolk, I am going to have the last laugh. It will be an expensive one but maybe they will get the ideal.

This load is supposed to deliver in Rocklin, CA Tuesday morning but methinks that might not happen. They planned this load very tightly. O.K., I threw the rubber off a trailer tire as I was passing another truck and yes I had the hammer down and this old steed of mine was galloping. When the rubber came off it tore his driver side mirror up, luckily not coming anywhere near him. As we were standing at the front of my truck exchanging info we both looked down and there was coolant pouring out of the water pump. This being Sunday in Cheyenne, Wy there is no place to get this replaced.

I have to wait until Monday to get the work done and guess what I haven't figured out how to do that kind of mileage, legally, in a day. Yes, I do run a legal log book. So, it looks like California might not see this truck Tuesday.

So now I don't get home when I want to and I am going to have to pay out a lot of money, aren't I lucky? I keep telling myself "hey, you are alive and well so just get over it" but self says pessimistically " so what? everything is going wrong". I have a two way argument going on inside my head and neither side looks like it is winning, my body is just a spectator and not rooting for myself or self.

God, please give me the strength to accept what I cannot change.

Vaya con Dios, mis amigos. I know your day will go much better.

Category: General

I do believe that warman hit on this subject the other day. Now I am going to put in my version of the same subject.

You know that I have said that I have been out since May 15th. Well, I unloaded in Joplin, MO this past Friday expecting to get a load toward the house. The planners had other ideas. To qoute the planners "All we have is a load going to California or you can wait for a broker load". To myself I said "oh, oh. It's BOHICA time again". No, I will not say what that means in an open forum. Email me and I will tell if you don't know already.

Now, I had told everyone that I wanted to be at home the week of August 15th. I will unload Tuesday then they said that we will put you on the priority list to get a load to Texas from California. Uh-huh, I will have to deliver the load by Friday this week then maybe just maybe they will be able to get me a load home. Note that I said that I wanted to be home this week. If I am lucky I might get to spend Saturday evening of this week at home. True to what I wanted they will get me home this week, I guess I just didn't specify how much time I wanted to spend at home THIS WEEK.
Big mistake and will not be repeated.

That danged wall that warman talked about is hard, folks, I mean hard. Now, I am as hard-headed as they come but that wall stopped me dead in my tracks and I swear I got a concussion from that collision. So, warman, you and I both have collided with it and brother that ain't any fun.

I do want to say hi to my grandchildren and tell them thanks for reading this nonsense. I know a lot of this is beyond your understanding but what the heck enjoy it and if you don't understand something ask me. If it is clean I will tell you if it isn't then ask someone else, please. I know you aren't little children and you might know some of it, but I don't want anyone blaming me for you knowing.

May God go with you this weekend, may the winds be at your back whichever direction you travel, and all roads are downhill.

Life is good

Vaya con Dios, mis amigos. Hasta Luego.

Category: General

Well, what do ya know? Finally I am going to go home and give the wife heck. It's about time as she calls me and gives it to me and I can't return the favor readily. Now, let's see how it works face to face. I unload Friday in Joplin and then they are going to load me going to the house. Actually, I told them with or without a load this beast and I are going to head for the barn but who makes distinctions on something like that?

I got to stop in Amarillo today and have the privilege of getting my A/C worked on. Privilege, did I say? more like a necessity. Anyway I thought it was just the freon, ha! After checking his pressure guages it seems that he had to replace the expansion valve and the drier plus blow out the condenser then replace the filter. After everything was said and done what I thought was going to be a cost of about $150 turned out to be $444, isn't owning a truck fun?
There isn't anything cheap on these monsters but a friend of mine had to get his A/C worked on in Atlanta. Before he got out of the shop it cost him $1500, by the way never go to McNally's International in Atlanta because they have a slight tendency to overcharge.

Everyone tells me that I am making money hand over fist by owning my own truck. Little do they know. The only people really making money out here is the garages, the truck stops and anyone that provides service for the transportation industry. These people don't want anything to happen to the O/O because we are their own, sacred cash cow. I feel like the fatted calf ready for slaughter, no wonder I stay away from home so long.

I won't elaborate, but something wonderful happened to me this week and I am very happy right now. I hope this continues to be true. I found out that prayer actually does work after praying about this particular thing for so very long, I was beginning to doubt the power of prayer. Ken, you are right God does love us and this incident proves it.

I am sitting at the flying hook in Sayre, OK trying to let my log book catch up to me. I think I left it somewhere in AZ and it's hurrying to get here so I have to wait at least a day because it's little legs are pumping as fast as they can go.

As we say in the sunny state of New Mexico, Vaya con Dios mis amigos. Hasta luego.

Category: General

I got into CA the 4th and I have just now gotten my load out of here. I can't tell how very happy I am to get out of here (sorry, warman). I like northern CA but southern is another story altogether. Did you know that there are too many people out here? Yep, about 2 or 3 too many million and that is just in one suburb of Los Angeles, we aren't going to talk about the other suburbs or Los Angeles itself.

I unloaded in Sacramento the 4th then deadheaded to City of Industry to pick up a load going to Hillsboro, OR. On the 6th I dropped my load in Hillsboro, picked up a trailer with equipment in it because they didn't have a load for me. We had a hard bargaining session to see how much they were going to pay me for hauling their equipment around. After all this they wanted me to stop in Grants Pass, OR and get all of the equipment out of the trailers and take it all back to City of Industry.

When I got there I started looking through the trailers and wasn't finding any equipment. Then I opened the doors on the last two trailers and had to jump out of the way both of them were loaded front to back halfway up the trailers. I said to myself "self you ain't going to do this and transfer all of this equipment", it was 91 degrees out there and can you imagine how hot it was in the trailers. This old, fat boy just wasn't going to do that for any amount of money. I pulled my trusty cell phone out and called the weekend dispatcher. After some discussion we both decided that it wouldn't be easy to put two and a half trailers of equipment in one trailer. So, I picked out the trailer with the most equipment and hooked onto to it. Then I put the trusty steed in gear, kicked it in the tail pipe and headed south.

I got to Lost Hills, CA and pulled over for the night. The next morning my dispatcher was calling me early. He told me that I had to be in Los Angeles by 0800 to get loaded. Now I am 3 hours out and this is 0645 local time, hmmm. I had 1 and 1/4 hours for a trip that takes 3 hours. Now, people, I can do the impossible real quick but it takes a little while for a miracle. The next problem is I didn't have a phone number to call to get, guess what?, directions. In case you haven't been to Los Angeles lately it is a mighty big place and you really need to know how to get where you are going before you get there not while you are getting there.

I made it by 0930 thereby breaking one of my own rules about driving in CA.. I never drive over 60 mph in CA especially during rush hour. Well, I did get loaded after sitting there most of the day, lucky me. I hit the morning rush hour and I also had to drive through the evening rush hour. How lucky can a person be?

The one thing that really shocked me was the cost of fuel out here. Talk about sticker shock. It ranged from 2.899 to 3.499 and brother that is something else. I really don't think I will be coming back out here any time soon. We get a fuel surcharge but it doesn't come anywhere near covering that. For the life of me I cannot see how they can justify that kind of pricing. When the lifeline of a state or area depends so much on trucking this is impossible to imagine. California definitely has a love-hate relationship with trucks. They love to get the items that trucks bring but other than that they don't want the dirty, nasty, space hogging pieces of junk around them. Why, they can't even get in the lane they want because a stupid truck is daring to take up some of their highway space. You don't want to even think about what they think of us, the truck drivers.

enough for the day, vaya con dios mis amigos

Category: General

I just read a blog by fathergary and it got me to thinking of the many people that I have met over the years and have never seen again. Many of these people I have talked to for quite a while and never knew their names. How many people do each of us meet in our lives and we never know what happens to them?

One of the best friends I have ever had was also a truck driver and he dearly loved the profession. He would run the wheels off of a truck and ask for more. Trucks were a passion for him not just a job. He was one of the very few people that could run with me step for step and without modesty I will say that I will run until I drop. I come out here to make money not to sit in truck stops and flirt with the waitresses, the only woman I will really flirt with is the one I love so dearly. I am out here to make a living for her and to buy her everything she wants or needs. As I was saying he was much the same.

One lonely morning in East Texas he was running with the hammer down trying to make a delivery on time. He went to sleep behind the wheel and ran off a bridge killing himself instantly and I wasn't there for him. This has haunted me for years. His wife and my wife were also close friends and a couple of years later she died of a heart attack without anyone around. My wife and I miss our friends but we know they are finally at peace and he is probably driving that old Peterbilt cabover at full speed in heaven.

I don't mean to get so maudlin but I was just reflecting on the many things that have happened over the years, there are many things that I would like to change about my life. There are some things that I wish I could go back and do over. At times there has been so much friction between me and others and it was totally unnecessary. Funny about people they always think that they themselves can never be wrong about anything, that their version is always the only true version. No one ever really looks beyond and see that maybe, just maybe they could be wrong about a particular situation. As a matter of proven fact, a person is never 100% right about anything. Situations are always seen only through the eyes of you and every one else is wrong no matter what happened. Some people (just a few) are able to adapt when proven wrong and admit they are wrong and accept the true situation but not many.

May God watch over each of us and give us the strength to accept the truth and go on with life as it should be. Vaya con Dios, mis amigos and please forgive me my melancholy tonight.

Category: General