Out With The Old...

What can I say... Last week was pretty typical, I suppose. My route took me through Kentucky, Indiana, and Michigan. Having checked the weather (because it is THAT time of year) I knew that I really should not have any weather related worries. However, on Tuesday, each and every customer began to advise me that I might want to get the hell out of dodge. Old Man Winter was strutting his stuff and I was directly in his path.

I surprised myself by finishing on Tuesday. But then again, (AA) always tells me that I underestimate my own skills. My response to that.."If you plan for the worst, then you will always be delighted when things turn out normal, or even exceed your expectations." But I am a glass is half full kind of girl.

I make it into Kentucky that evening after battling monsoon winds and torrential downpours. I swear at times it felt like I only had 9 wheels on the ground. Not a pleasant feeling, and truthfully, I think rough weather is one of the hardest things I trucker has to deal with.

Earlier in the day, I had noticed I was having mechanical issues. I had actually noticed hints of them the week before, but this time I was parked in a dock. A dock that is inside of a building. And I was jutting out of the doorway, so that it could not be closed. And my truck did not want to start. It took almost 5 minutes to get Frankentruck to submit to my endeavors. So when I arrived in Kentucky for the night, I knew I may be down for the count. I opted to stop at truck stop with a service shop, just in case.

The next morning, with even more effort, I coerced Frankentruck into cooperating. By now I had decided no more runs until this issue was resolved, but I was already on the board for a Florida run just as soon as I could get in.

Time to make an executive decision. I had alerted the Stooges and the newest member of our in house dispatch team to my troubles. They were going to get me another truck, and line up the repairs for this one. I did not want to play along, as I do not play well with others. So, I decided to manipulate this situation just a wee bit, for my own sake.

I headed down into Chattanooga and made a beeline for the local shop there. I knew if I showed my poor little truck to the mechanic there, he would pretty much shut me down. He is such a wonderful fella, really! As soon as he inspected my rig, he was on the phone to our Headquarters and got the okay to put me out of my misery. He then called Volvo and had them awaiting my arrival. Next, he loaded me and my gear in the company pick-up and took me to a nicer side of town for room and board. During all of this, our new dispatcher was frantically trying to figure out a way to get me back to Atlanta and in another truck that just did not exist at the moment. He rang my phone just before checking into the room. I convinced him that it would just be better if I stayed and waited on my truck, rather than borrow a daycab. My truck was in a bay within 2 minutes of my arrival and after the initial once over, it was supposed to be repaired and rolling by noon the next day. If I took the daycab, what was I going to drive to Miami? hmmmm?? And then I would have to bring the daycab back to the Nugget (Chattanugget) to retrieve my truck. Only to have just enough time to grab my next trailer and head out on next weeks load...Ugh..No thankyou! Last time I pulled that one, I kind of exceeded my hours just a tiny little bit and forgot about it. Only to be reminded of it later that week.

So while I did convince the new dispatcher to cut me some slack, I know he was fit to be tied..But, this is exactly the results I had intended when I first woke that morning. Sneaky, huh??

Now why would I do this, you may ask yourself. Because in order to pull off his plan of action, I would have had to swap trucks no less than 4 times last week...That would bring my total up to 37 .... Yes, I have jumped trucks 33 times since we got these big beautiful fully ripened LEMONS just over 2 years ago. And I just don't wanna do it no more!!

But, my friends, I do have some exciting news to conclude with. Volvo has decided to reward us for our substantial failure in making lemonade, by giving us 5 NEW ENGINES!! Yep, that's right...I will let you know how that pans out.. Until then.....Truck Em Up!!

For those of you who may be new to my blog. My scheming was not a result of not wanting the extra work. It is because I knew if I took my truck back home, the Stooges would send it to South Atlanta, and it would have been out of commission for at least a week. Also....The Stooges are my mechanics, and aptly named for all of the ridiculous repairs they have made, and the ones they cant seem to figure out.

End of The Line

I find it to be quite humorous.. My moods....

Last week, when nothing seemed to go according to plan, I got frustrated trying to get home for the Holidays. Most weeks, when I am at least a half a day ahead of schedule, I get frustrated... Knowing I am almost home, after a thousand mile ride, I enter South Carolina and get frustrated...(Hmmmm, 1000 empty miles after 2-3 days of unloading, that is)

Now, my frustrations are not lingering. They are more like short bursts of fury that vanish before I can properly express them. Well, except in SC.

This was another one of those weeks, when not everything went according to plan, as is expected in the trucking industry. Monday's deliveries were scattered out enough that I had only hoped to get 3 off. Duncan, South Carolina, and two Charlotte, NC's..The fourth stop was almost 300 miles away, but because I am so awesome, I made the fourth and fifth deliveries on Monday as well. That put me in Richmond, Virginia for the final that day. I will not bore you with all the obstacles I faced in getting there, but just know it was a hard fought battle to get the last two off, both within minutes of their daily closing times.

The next delivery was to be at a job-site in Norfolk, Virginia. I had made the necessary phone calls to ensure the time and location of expected delivery. My paperwork stated "Do Not Drive Past Parking Garage !!!" The fellow on the phone said it was necessary to follow the road until it ended... Hmmm , what to do?

When I arrived the following morning, I discovered that it did not matter about the " DO NOT" instructions, because I was already screwed before I got to the parking garage. So I followed the road to the end. Found that there was indeed NO WAY to turn around, pull forward, or even unload... I spent almost an hour with one of the contractors who eventually received word that the crew I was looking for had walked off the job the previous week and never returned. Oh Joy!!

Nothing left to do, except head for the next customer. First, I head to get out of there....With only one way in and no way for me and my 53' to turn around, I had to back out almost a mile to get situated...Dodging construction workers all the while. But I love a good challenge, and this was not challenging in the least. Just the obvious, I just wasted half a day..and could have been empty in Philly, had it not been for this little miscommunication. Oh well...

My point is this. The only time I got frustrated this week was......

Driving home through South Carolina...lol!!

Murphy's Law

When I chose my route this week, I already knew I was at a disadvantage with it being a Holiday week. I was secretly hoping some of the customers would be closed and that would help me shorten my route. It has happened before, in fact, I am suppose to also make a pick up of damaged goods, but that customer is closed all week.

It is in my nature to reassess my route as soon as I pick up the trailer, to make necessary adjustments for a more efficient delivery schedule. The pencil pushers at the plant never seem to grasp that there could actually be a better way. And I have proved it time and time again. I could just go with the flow and follow the route, but that is cutting into my personal home time. So, I thrive on the frenzied melee that ensues as I completely reroute myself several times throughout the journey. The end result is that I regularly arrive home at least a half of a day ahead of schedule.

I made the initial 950 mile trek to my first customer with only one slight delay. It seems aliens had crash landed in the median..or at least that was the story told by another truck driver. I was feeling pretty good about the week. I figured if I unloaded stop 1, then stop 2, 4, 3, 5, 6 and 7, I would be at 9 the next morning and finishing up with stop #8 by lunch time. These changes were necessary due to hours of business. With a strategy in place, I snuggled in for the night.

So here is a quick timeline of how my Monday went.

• 7:00 AM unload stop # 1
• 7:17 AM miss turn for the Jersey Turnpike, rerouted myself to 287
• 7:58 AM Interstate shut down for offloading of cattle
• 8:19 AM Delays for merging (3 left lanes closed on a 4 lane hwy, construction)
• 8:40 AM Arrive at stop # 2 (61 miles in 1.75 hours)
• 9:06 AM Depart #2
• 9:23 AM Delays for accident on George Washington Bridge
• 10:02 AM Reroute myself to Queens, to avoid further delays
• 10:23 AM Arrive at stop #4 (24 miles in 1.25 hours)
• 10:41 AM Depart stop#4 after purchasing unidentifiable lunch item from Roach Coach
• 
  
• Reroute myself to avoid fore casted delays on BQE
• 
  
• 10:53 AM Delays due to lane closures on Bruckner Expressway
• 11:13 AM Delays due to worker falling from Throgsneck Bridge
• 11:14 AM Place call to stop#5 to notify of rescheduling
• 12:02 PM Delays due to idiots not knowing how to merge
• 12:41 PM Arrive at stop#3 (52 miles in 2 hours)
• 12:57 PM Depart stop #3
• 3:12 PM Place call to stop#6, begging for mercy. They agree to wait for me.
• 3:36 PM Arrive at stop#6 (143 miles in 2.5 hours) not bad for Connecticut
• 4:04PM Depart stop#6
• 4:08PM Place call to stop#7, They refused to wait Grrrrrrrr!!
• 
  
• More delays for evening rush hour in Hartford, CT and Springfield, MA
• 
  
• 6:21PM Purchase FIRST cup of coffee for the day
• 7:17 PM Arrive at stop#9 (104 miles in 3.25 hours)

Settle in for the night.....

So, it seems, when I normally am able to reconfigure my route on a weekly basis, the reward is getting home earlier than expected. During the one week when I want to get home, Murphy's Law takes affect. There is no way I can recover from the delays today.Tomorrow's goal, unload stops 9, 8, and 7. I will not be able to finish out until Wednesday morning at 4:00 am...That makes for one long ride filled with Holiday congestion...Guesstimated home arrival...2 hours after the Holiday dishes have been washed and put away. I hope somebody saves me a Turkey Leg.

Really, it is not so bad. Just for clarification purposes, I will not miss all the festivities as my Father throws his annual bash on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, so I will still be fed and able to see the whole gang.

Welcome Home

As is with every week, I just cannot wait to make that 20 mile trek through the last construction zone of my week. Normally it isn't too bad. But then again, I do not consider rush hour on the South Side of Atlanta to be bad either... Or New York? nope! I guess it is all of what you are accustomed too. Progressing at 20 mph in New York is considered to be good. 45mph is flying. But this construction zone, minutes from my plant, usually flows at or above the mandated 50 mph.

This week they had it shut down to one lane, and anywhere near Atlanta, one lane is never enough. There was an 8 mile back up which grew in proportion as rush hour loomed near. Thankfully I got through it before the evening stampede, but it still took me over an hour to get past the 1/4 mile closure.

Regardless of the fact that I may be an aggressive driver in other locales, such as NYC, I always abide by construction zone limits. I think I may be the only one doing 50 mph in Coweta County. I also will merge into the appropriate lane as soon as I know which lane is open. This usually means it takes longer to get through the zone, but it irritates me when folks run to the head of the line and cut into traffic at the last minute, especially Stupor Truckers !!

and the best part.... those Stupor Truckers....are usually the ones with slow trucks riding in the middle lane on open interstate. They will not respond to any radio chatter, acting oblivious, and usually claiming they had no idea that lane was closed. Regardless of the large orange signs that were posted for the previous 3 miles indicating such a closure...Once the zone opens up, they are back to impeding traffic in the middle lane. Hey, shouldn't literacy be mandatory for truckers?

but I digress.....

So where was I? Oh yeah.. Eight mile back-up, one hour delay, and a little trucking female who can do no wrong *smirk*.

I was already in the right lane (unobstructed) at the end of the line. Traffic was piling up, and I watched truck after truck jump to the left, to race to the head of the line. After about 20 minutes, guess what I did.... I jumped left, too. So out of characteristic for me, but then again, I had been following this guy for almost half an hour and I was starting to feel disoriented.

I have heard that once your body has been poisoned by exhaust fumes, it is highly susceptible to future reactions with only minimal exposure. I have been poisoned twice! Seriously exposed, and I do not mean just a raging headache. The first time, nearly ended with loss of life. The second time only resulted in severe disorientation. I was not about to chance it. So I dived left and proceeded to clear the offending six-wheeler. Rest assured, I merged back to the right almost immediately, thanks to another trucker understanding my predicament. And no one yelled at me :)

Take It To The Limit

Took these a few weeks ago when I was running around Michigan. I have no idea why, but I am always impressed by the site of the local trucks of Michigan. Heavy Duty, indeed.

and how is this for the American version of a road train. Wish I could have gotten a picture of the guys hauling double 48'ers. Since I do not get to see these too often, and never on the East Coast, I thought I would capture a few to share with you.

Rubbernecking

Yes, I am guilty. But what else are you going to do when you have been sitting for an hour.

That must have been one hard hit!

Up Close and Personal

I thought I would give you a breather, as I have noticed my rants have been very long winded lately. And this would be a good time to clean out the memory on my camera.

Here are a few shots I took while heading into Ringtown, Pennsylvania last week. It is a beautiful drive over a scenic ridge and the valley below could be the back drop for one of those Hidden Valley Dressing commercials.

Okay, so the only thing I captured was the windmills, but I have seen so many of these being transported, it was the perfect opportunity to get up close and personal with the fully assembled version.

The Results Are In

I really never seem to be able to muster any enthusiasm when it is time to head back into work. But then, who does? However, this week, I was a bit anxious to find out whether any of the repairs had been made to Frankentruck. We normally have a 2 day wait period on ordered parts, and as far as I know, the Stooges had not properly diagnosed any problems to necessitate the need for placing that order. I did call in the previous Monday and issued a demand for certain items. I just figured they would have to assess the situation for themselves before following through. I did entertain the thought that something might possibly be done, because when I rolled in at the end of the week, I was able to place my repair request with the only mechanic who seems to be able to get things done correctly.

As I drove into the yard, late Saturday evening, my first reaction was a feeling of dismay. I am very over the idea of continuing to drive malfunctioning equipment, but it appeared as if my truck had not even been moved.

I grabbed my flashlight, and upon further inspection, my fears slowly subsided. First , I noticed the telltale signs that someone had been at least lingering about the frame of my truck. Then I spotted the new leveling valve. Ohhhhh, if only.... You see, this is the 4th valve installed on this particular vehicle. Maggie had at least another 4 placed on her. Why is it that NO ONE else has these problems?? I think perhaps the rough terrain of New York and New Jersey may play a role, that and the fact that I do not keep up with other driver's repairs. LOL

With mounting excitement, I quickly made a tour of the outside of the truck and noticed the shiny glint of new wheel hubs on my steer tires. This is not something I had previously written up, so I was shocked to see this repaired so efficiently . I had lost the rubber plug on one wheel the previous week, which almost seems suspicious. And the other one was apparently beginning to show signs of leakage. This is one of the requests I had made via phone call...

Next, I pulled back the hood and was even more pleasantly surprised to note that the air boot had been replaced.

I also noticed that the missing bolt was , well, still missing. After finishing my inspection, loading up my gear and warming up the engine, I decided to take him for a quick spin. Yep, my deductions had proved to be correct. The horrible air sucking screech was no longer present. Glad I made the judgement call and phoned in my repairs, otherwise they would have just replaced the bolt and I would be wearing ear plugs to work.

With renewed enthusiasm, I decided to test my suspension. It was a simple test actually. Simply hooking to the trailer. You see, for the past 3 months, whenever I pulled under the trailer, my bags would not inflate and I would have to work overtime trying to raise the dolly legs. So I pulled into place, watched my gauges for a moments and noticed there was virtually no change. I climbed out, hooked up the lines and raised the landing gear...still no change...

At this point, even with all the repairs having been made, I was completely deflated, as were my rear air bags. Anxiety set in. Should I call the Stooges and wait for a spare truck? This would take hours...My first stop was 16 hours away, and I did not have hours. But, I cant pull a load with deflated bags, and knowingly cause immense damage.Anxious and angered, I decided to make a few laps around the yard just to see if I could wiggle a response out of it.

It felt okay when moving. My gauge showed inflation. I stopped to check out the progress and my bags were responding appropriately. HUH? That is when I remember something minutely important to this scenario. Our trailer drop line has a few points that are significantly raised. Humps, if you will. I was parked with the rears perched atop one of the humps... Yeah, no wonder it was not responding. In order for a raised frame to appear to be level, the bags have to exhaust air. Okay, I feel like an idiot. But in my defense, it was 9pm and very dark out.

Anyways, in an extremely long nutshell, all my hopes and prayers had been miraculously answered. All repairs were made. As is with consistency, I also was aware that some new malfunction would occur within a short amount of time, and I should embrace the positiveness of my current situation, as it would not last long.

Lo and behold, my next dilemma appeared before I ever even made it out onto the asphalt. The faux toggle switches began to fall out of my dashboard. Well, two of them. I am thinking, if I do not actually tell anyone, then this could be my last malfunction. I gathered up the parts, which do not control anything, and tucked them away in a cubbyhole. Keeping my fingers crossed that this assures me some much needed relief from actually needing legitimate repairs. Besides, as long as I do not stare at it, I will not even notice the abysmal holes leading into a snakelike labyrinth of wiring....Right? Oh well, at this point I will settle for a good ride, rather than a good looking ride.

A Bad Impression

I have decided that I cannot let you think that I am always this wonderful person, full of sunshine. So, I have decided that I should probably share one of my Not So Shining Moments, and because it happened this week, and that makes it very convenient.

One of my particular pet peeves, is that I absolutely cannot stand to listen to someone whine. While I am very aware that we all have our moments, myself included, it just absolutely infuriates me to listen to someone complain, just for the sake of complaining. Sure, if you have an issue and need a shoulder for a moment, I am there. If you are struggling with situations in your life that you cannot change fast enough, I will listen. But to mutter nonstop about how EVERYTHING in life is horrible and unjust, I would just as soon shoot you as to listen to another word.

Tuesday evening, as I was leaving New Hampshire, I ended up cruising along behind one such fellow. Everything he commented on was derogatory. His truck, his trailer, his load, his paycheck, his boss, the traffic, roads, cities, food, truckstops...Grrr. He had an opinion on everything, and they were all negative.

After the first few minutes, I simply turned off the CB so as not to have to endure his rant. But due to traffic delay, I turned it back on and he was still just a fussing. At one point he told how he needed new wiper blades. He works for a small mom and pop company, and his boss did not have time to get any for him. So the boss handed him $20 and a handful of tools and told him to replace it himself the next time he got to a truckstop. The fellow then came unglued and supposedly told his boss that he was a DRIVER, not a MECHANIC and under no circumstance whatsoever, would he ever be making any repairs to his equipment (This is one of the things that is wrong with the new breed of driver, in my opinion) and he still has bad blades. He then commenced to griping about having to use his driver reward points to purchase showers, and cleaning supplies and foodstuff. He thought his boss should provide everything for him. EVERYTHING, because it is too expensive to live on the road.

Well after about 50 minutes of picking up his conversation periodically, I just about had my fill. Another driver had now joined in and was encouraging his negative speak. Just as I was about to turn the radio off again, he finally pushed my button. The next thing I heard over the airwaves was " I do not think I am cut out to drive for this company... "

The rest of what he said was silenced in my mind as my hand reached for the microphone.

Normally, I do not interject my opinions onto other people. I will simply tune them out, if I disagree. I never butt into a conversation that does not apply to me, but when I have had enough, I cannot be held accountable :)

In an instant, the mic was in my hand, and after he finished his next statement, I quickly spoke up.

" I would have to agree with you driver, I do not think that you are cut out to be a truckdriver period. After listening to you complain for almost an hour, you make me want to open the door and fling myself out on the asphalt. I have heard you complain about everything under the sun. Life is not that hard out here. You can buy a cooler and fill it with food, you can purchase fuel and claim your free shower. If your boss is so terrible, you could search for another job. It takes all of two minutes to attach new wiper blades, be thankful he handed you the tools and money If you really want my opinion, I think you should use your driver reward points to purchase a bigger pacifier, because honestly, you need to find some contentment, or get out of the industry."

He never said another word, at least until I was out of range.

A Picture IS Worth A Thousand Words...

And when it comes to getting repairs made on my little truck, well, I have wasted thousands upon thousands of words...

In the past, I have tried several different methods in order to get work done. There was the eyelash batting method (only works at other shops). There was also the direct approach, the indirect approach and finally, my latest method, the IN YOUR FACE approach.

The Direct Method. Simply put, I would tell the Stooges exactly what the problem was, and which parts needed to be repaired or replaced. How much more simple could it be, but yet, this method failed.

Thinking it was a matter of masculine pride, I then altered my approach to be indirect. By playing the role of the uninformed female, I decided to let the Stooges figure it out for themselves. My requests would be simple. "There is a funny noise" or "My truck is broken". Surprisingly, the big tuff guy mechanics still did not get it.

My newest method will be fool proof. I think.

A few weeks ago (no surprise there) I requested an exhaust leak repair. It is still not repaired...(no surprise there, either) The head stooge did inform me that he thinks it might be missing bolts on the intake of the motor, as our little Volvos are constantly losing these. He Thinks.... Okay, so why not look and see.

Well, I did look. In fact, I have looked several times to make sure the damage is not getting worse. So far, so good. And even though I would like to have the missing bolt replaced, me thinks that if THIS

is replaced, then maybe my screeching exhaust leak might disappear too. Hmmmm, maybe??

I figure if I actually leave a picture with the request repair, they might just get a clue.