Trucking Funks

Testing again

2012-02-13T21:07:00.001-06:00

Still doing a little testing here...

Happy Super Bowl Day

2012-02-05T12:58:00.003-06:00

I have not even looked at this for 2 years now, but I'm making plans for a new adventure and want to see if this is the platform I want to use. I'm pretty sure Facebook is going to be it... but I wanted to see if this would work.

Look in these locations.

2010-09-02T05:38:00.002-06:00

Finally an update, but not here. Teresa and I have actually stepped up a bit and got a Sprint EVO phone, really cool. We're taking pictures and updating to Teresa's facebook page and trying to sync them to Twitter/TruckingFunks. Might be a little messy till we get it right.

Keep in touch.

2009-10-03T17:57:00.003-06:00

You may not have noticed, but I haven't updated our blog in a LONG time.

With a few computer issues, network issues and just downright lazyness I have put it off.

I did want to post some pictures of Scott and Jennie's wedding from last Sunday. It was beautiful and we had a wonderful time.

Here's Jennie arriving and carrying baby Sophie.

This is Scott surrounded by Teresa and myself and Debra and Bill.

Debra is my ex-wife and Bill is her husband. We had a wonderful time.

Scott and Jennie prior to the nuptials.

Plus Hunter and Sophie. Sophies dress was the same color as
Jennies. Very pretty.

THE WEDDING

Charlotte, NC

2009-09-07T16:36:00.004-06:00

We went to bed Friday night with expectation of waiting for a relay load to arrive in Edwardsville on Sunday morning, ohhh that hurts.

Saturday morning that load got canceled and our next w/a had us going across the street to Proctor and Gamble with a delivery today in Salisbury, NC. That's 742 miles and about three days to do it. That would give us time to stop in at Hartford, TN where they do the river rafting. Hooray, maybe. We got there Sunday and Saturday was the end of the season... Drat.

Anyway we had a nice evening there and delivered at noon today. We're at the Charlotte OC. Our next w/a has us picking up a load of rolled paper in Catawba, SC and delivering tomorrow night at 2100 in Danville, KY, 372 miles. We seem to be getting a lot of short loads, can't say that I like it.

While we in Edwardsville we watched these fellas piggyback 12 old Schneider trucks, 4 to a string. These old Schneider trucks are headed for Mexico.

For the record... tomorrow (8th) is my birthday - big 55.

16 days till TAH - headed to Boise for Scott and Jennie's wedding.

Not much else to report - see you in the funny pages, page 1.

Back in the Saddle

2009-09-03T16:16:00.003-06:00

So, I made it home last week albeit a day late. Thursday instead of Wednesday. I had still opted to head back out on Monday taking 4 days off instead of 5. Low and behold, Schneider called on Friday and asked if I could pick up a load on Sunday that had to be in Lawrence, KS Monday morning. Although I told my DBL that I would prefer not, if there were no other options we would. And we did, and now we're back at it.

Back to my TAH for a minute. Saturday we went to the 133rd Annual Ponca Tribe Pow Wow.

Very interesting. Every event has a queen, just like me... this is Dana Clark.

Their costumes are very elaborate and colorful.

This little guy won the Fancy Dancer competition for kids.

After the Pow Wow we went country dancing at the Rocking Horse Saloon. Another couple saw us struggling (to put it mildly) so they each grabbed one of us and gave us a lesson. We learned three dances that night. Doesn't mean we remember them today but we had a great time.

Sunday we headed back to the truck and up into Kansas. Delivered Monday morning, right on time. Then on to Independence, MO for a pickup and delivery in Chicago Tuesday with a pickup in Chicago also on Tuesday. Then on over to an AutoZone DC in Zanesville, OH.

Yesterday after delivery we picked up at a KMart DC and dropped here at a Sears DC in Manteno, IL.

We delivered at 1300 and our next load is supposed to be ready at 1900 but my we're waiting out my 10 hour break and will pick it up at about 2300 tonight with 2 deliveries at Sears stores around St. Louis, MO at 0600 and 0900 tomorrow.

I'm not real fond of the overnight loads, since I don't sleep much during the day. After delivery tomorrow morning I'm going to make us unavailable until Saturday morning at 0700 so we gat back on a day time schedule. They (Schneider) may not like it. Oh well.

Anyway, we're back together and back at it. Since we're not independently wealthy and have to work, what more fun could you have...

My Queen likes it too.

Gary OC

2009-08-23T14:42:00.002-06:00

Sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you. You know how it is. Right now the bear is getting me. I spent last night at the Indianapolis OC and left this morning for University Park, IL, on I57 just south of I80. My delivery was a drop at 1500. I got there at 0900 - had to wait somewhere. Instead of a drop, which is quick and easy, it was a live unload, which is not. Five hours. Now I'm at the Gary OC for the night.

I dropped the empty and picked up the loaded one. Delivers tomorrow 0730 in Waukegan, which is just north of Chicago. I'll leave here between 0530 and 0600 to make sure I miss traffic. Probably closer to 0530.

Today I covered 210 miles and so far tomorrow is 68. More dog bites in the butt, and not headed home yet.

We'll see what comes up after I arrive in Waukegan...

Ashville, KY

2009-08-21T17:45:00.002-06:00

I know, lagging again, I'm blaming it on the Funny Lady for not being here to keep me in line !!!

I've been from Syracuse, NY to Pittsburgh, VA to West Virginia over to Winchester, VA thru the Washington beltway and down to the southern most part of Virginia and now in Ashville, KY.
Took 2 hours to travel 30 miles last night down I95 from D.C. I hear on Friday's it's even worse.

The load I have now was a 3 stop picker upper and it delivers in Evansville, IN tomorrow. I figure about noon.

I am pretty sure I have been over 2 of the hardest routes in my year and a half on the road, and they are both in Virginia. One is WV-55 over to VA-55. I took the other today VA-58 from Martinsville, VA to I-81. Ten percent grades and not quite hairpin turns, could hardly keep my tandems in my own lane around the sharp corners.

AND SLOW... I've had enough of the hills in VA, ready for some relatively flat land of the midwest.

This load is headed for TJ Maxx. I've got Ralph Lauren Polo stuff, roasted red peppers and artichokes and Nautica stuff.

In a perfect world I should be home some time Tuesday for TAH, looking forward to it.

Next TAH we're headed for Boise for Scott and Jennie's wedding.

Not much else to report.

Binghamtom, NY

2009-08-16T17:56:00.002-06:00

I was trying to talk myself out of updating our blog this evening. Obviously I lost that one.

The w/a I had to be in NJ by 0900 tomorrow was canceled, the driver doing the pickup didn't make it. How does that happen ? I haven't figured it out either.

By the time I got to Warren, OH I was really pooped and hungry, not that many miles (521) but some of it was Sunday afternoon traffic and construction. Most of all the route from Canton to Youngstown was horrific. I couldn't keep track of how many 1 light towns I went through, some at 25 mph.

After delivering I was headed to a Pilot I knew of in Youngstown on I80. Didn't make it. I passed an outdoor mall with a Cici's Pizza and a Border's bookstore. Teresa doesn't particularly like Cici's, but for $5.71 I figure you can't go wrong, so I took advantage of the opportunity and then wandered around the bookstore for an hour. The parking lot was empty so I got a good quiet night of sleep.

While I was eating my next w/a came in; pick up a relay at the Seville OC and deliver in Norwich, NY between 0700 and 1000 tomorrow. So I've stopped in Binghamton for the night. Let me tell you it won't be a quiet nights rest...

Funny thing, last week Joe was giving me a geography lesson related to the location of the Watkins Glen racetrack. Guess what ? I had not yet been through the Finger Lakes region. Now I have. Drove right through on I86, beautiful country. I have also discovered the worst interstate in the country, also I86.

Tomorrow after delivering I am to deadhead to Canada. I don't have the w/a yet, just instructions to get to the shippers location.

I almost ran myself out of hours the past 7 days. I have 7 1/2 hours left for tomorrow. Will be enough to get to Ontario, but not very far after. Guess I need my navigator and watchdog...

By the way, my bruised dog bit butt has healed.

I just talked to Teresa she's just leaving Bartlesville, OK, should be home within the hour. Sounds like she had a wonderful week with Andrea and Tracie, she's a lucky lady.

Friday in Charlotte

2009-08-14T19:12:00.002-06:00

Looks like I lost my update from yesterday.

Anyway I stopped Thursday night at the Atlanta OC. Showered and DID MY OWN LAUNDRY!!!! Yes I can do it.

This morning I left at 0430 headed for Orangeburg, SC. Only got misdirected twice. I say misdirected as I knew I wasn't where I was supposed to be but I also knew where I was supposed to be. I just couldn't find the correct roads to get there. NO ROAD SIGNS.

As I was trying to get to the Husqvarna plant my next w/a came in. From Orangeburg I went down to Savannah, GA and picked up a load and 4 hours later went right back through Orangeburg enroute to the Charlotte OC. I made it using all of my 11 and 14 hours available for the day. Hopefully I can lighten up or I'll be forced to do a reset for the first time in a year.

This load is headed for a Kmart distribution center in Warren (north of Youngstown) Ohio.

I already have my next w/a. Pick up an empty trailer there at Kmart and deadhead over to the Seville OC (also Ohio) and pick up a relay load 450 miles headed to Somerset, NJ with a 0900 AT delivery on Tuesday.

Busy Bobby...

Teresa and the girls are back in Champaign, IL. Party is over tomorrow their going to move Andrea and Josh into their new apartment.

Teresa just called and she and Tracie are relaxing in the hot tub at the Hilton Garden Hotel. Andrea got them an employee discount.

And here I work my butt off so they can soak. Something is wrong with this picture, don't you think ? NAH.

Lonely Trucker, Again

2009-08-12T18:41:00.002-06:00

While I'm out driving my tail off, Teresa is out playing with the girls. They checked into the Sheraton in downtown Chicago right on Lake Michigan. Rough life, huh ?

Monday I deadheaded east from OKC to Siloam Springs, AR and picked up a load of pet food from a chicken processing plant. The south side of the plant is for picking up chicken and the north side is for picking up pet food. What we don't get, our pets do.

Delivered this morning at Dollar General in Alachua, FL and within 30 minutes got my next w/a. Go across the street and pick up a load (can't tell what it is) but it's headed for a Sysco center in Calera, AL. I covered 480 miles today and am 23 miles south of my delivery point in Clanton, AL. I already have my next w/a; deadhead to Russellville, Al and get loaded and then to Orange(something), SC. That load delivers Friday. Looks like I'm having a pretty busy week.

It's all good. Good morning, Grandma Joannie... she reads this at about 0400. Better than sleeping she says.

Sadly, back to work tomorrow

2009-08-09T15:27:00.004-06:00

Sadly, time to head back to the truck tomorrow. I may have mentioned that Teresa is not going out with me this trip. We scheduled it to be short, only 17 days. She's going to drop me at the truck in OKC by about 0800 then head up to Chicago to spend the week with Andrea and Tracie.

Guess you know I'll miss her, but like I said 17 days, I'll be working and she'll be having fun. What a life, huh ?

We enjoyed our TAH... Rodeo for two nights, baseball in Wichita, KS; the National Baseball Conference World Series. Watched two games.

Every Rodeo has a queen, here are a couple of the entrants.

Hard to get a shot at night, but I guess it shows action...

Here's my queen and her Dad, I guess I can share her with him.

Me and my queen...

Many Firsts !!!

2009-08-02T18:55:00.003-06:00

Final note on the WindCreek Casino. Very nice, just opened July 4th. The pool and surrounding area are also very nice. We thoroughly enjoyed our morning there.

Delivered in the basement at the Kimberly Clark toilet papermill. We delivered some sort of "starch" there. So you ask what would a what in the world do they use starch for. They use it to make a glue to seal the end of each roll of toilet paper. You know, the end you hate to have to fool with when you really need it.

Our next w/a had us run up to Pennington, AL for a pickup at 2100. We typically have good luck and are able to pick up early. NOT THIS ONE... We arrived about 1500 and sat there till after the 2100 p/u time. Then went to bed. I got up at 0500 and hooked up and hit the road. This was a Georgia Pacific plant - a load of toilet paper. Of course I love those loads- 15,000 pounds !!! Headed for Stuarts Draft, VA. No problem we delivered at 1100 on Saturday.

Our next w/a had us all set up to get home from VA; Down to Danville, VA for a pickup then relay in Indianapolis on Monday, then pick up a different relay there and head for Emporia, KS for a Tuesday morning delivery.

When we got down to Danville (140) miles turns out they close at 1200 on Saturday. We arrived at 1500. Schneider dispatch thought they were open 24/7. Schneider took both loads off of us, darn.

About an hour later we got a new w/a. Head up to Covington, VA to pick up a load of cardboard headed for Tuscaloosa, AL. By 1900 we were out of gas - physically. We overnighted in Roanoke, VA. Ran up to Covington than on through Beckley and down through Knoxville and Chatanooga. We're about 30 south of Chatanooga in Rising Fawn, GA on I59.

Beautiful countryside. We took a nice long walk through the country. We were almost back to the truck stop when a couple of big dogs came out to greet us. They "seemed" friendly, I figured the best thing might be to ignore them. Wrong idea ! The big one sort of circle around us and as we continued past he bit me in the BUTT. Not just a nibble, actually broke the skin without even going through my shorts. I've got a fang scrape about 5 inches long on my left butt cheek. Teresa wants a picture... so far I've been able to avoid it.

And yes I had a tetanus shot a few years back after the motorcycle accident. Think I'm OK.

Tomorrow we deliver at 1200, then we're hoping to head more westerly. Got to get to the Rodeo on Thursday...

Time Flys When You're Having Fun

2009-07-29T20:27:00.005-06:00

I can hardly recall the last three days, but I'll give it a go.

Sunday folks at the Atlanta OC DID fix the a/c. I'm not sure they know what exactly, but they replaced a few parts and voila, it's working fine. We left out of the OC about 1530 heading for close to our delivery point - AutoZone in Lavonia, GA. About 50 miles outside of Atlanta we had a blow out on a trailer tire. That's three this summer. We limped into a Pilot truck stop and called Schneider Emergency Maintenance. They got someone from the TA about 20 miles away to come fix it. Took about an hour and a half.

We made our delivery at 0800 and were out of there by 0930 and on our way to our next w/a. But whoa... the delivery is in Indianapolis on Wed at 0300. I sent them a message to change it to either after 1400 on Tuesday or after 0700 on Wednesday. I did not want to ruin a whole nights sleep. We pulled into the Atlanta OC and discovered they had removed that load and given us another. We headed out and picked up 45,000 pounds of rolled paper stock in Coosa, GA and headed for Nashville. Surely by now you know we enjoy the mile walk over to Broadway and the honkey tonks. The Stage seems to always have the best bands. The brick building is the Ryman Theater, the location for the original Grand Ole Opry. And that's the Funny Lady in the fountain in front of the court house. No we did not end up in jail for vagrancy... But we had fun as always.

Tuesday we headed up to Indianapolis and unloaded the paper and then got out next w/a; about 10 miles away pick up a load of "starch" to deliver in Mobile, AL. We headed back down I65 and decided to stop just north of Louisville, KY as it was 1700 and who needs commuter traffic.

This morning we left at 0615 to avoid the commuter traffic and made it 585 miles to the WindCreek casino. Good buffet. Looks like they have a nice pool and hot tub so we're planning on taking advantage in the morning. To stuffed to swim tonight. We deliver at 1300 about 60 miles away so we've got some time to "fool around" in the morning. HAH.

Still Hot in Atlanta, GA

2009-07-26T11:16:00.003-06:00

Thursday we had a light day. Dropped out trailer in Harker Heights, TX west of Temple and then picked up an empty at WalMart in Temple and deadheaded up to the Dallas OC. I tried to get them to look at the a/c. Appears to be getting more sporadic. Still runs great when we're driving but at night sometimes it works and sometimes not.

They advised me to come back after our pick up at 1930 about 15 miles away, another 44,000 load of water headed for Hammond, LA. The service writer assured me by then they would be looking for work. HAH !!! Stopped back in at 2030 and got they " oh, no, we couldn't look at it until tomorrow morning." Sounds like they really didn't want to take my work, doesn't it ? We delivered our water Friday night at about 1900 then headed for a place to bed down.

Saturday we picked up a load of Castol motor oil headed for an Auto Zone distribution center in Lavonia, GA with delivery at 0800 on Monday morning. Since we were coming through the Atlanta OC I figured why not try again. At least the a/c tech was interested. I indicated we need to be on our way by about 1600 to be close to our delivery location in the morning.

We headed right through Mobile, AL - though about Dan D on the way through. Took them 4 hours to load us so we were headed right on through. I honked or farted, can't recall which, as we passed through - did you hear us Dan ?

Just went out to get lunch stuff, and they still haven't touched it but at least I've been placated for awhile.

Nine days till TAH - Rodeo time.

Temple, TX

2009-07-22T19:36:00.003-06:00

We finally got out of Laredo and the heat that goes along with it, but not too far.

We picked up a load of empty Coke cans there at the OC and dropped them in Lufkin, TX. Our next w/a was to pick up a load of water. Of course by now you know I hate the water loads, 45,333 pounds of it. We picked it up at 0900 this morning which was 107 miles away and are to deliver at Sam's Club in Temple, TX at 0200 tomorrow.

We arrived about 1600 and there's another Schneider truck here with a load of... you guessed it, water.

The temperature this afternoon was 97 so we walked over to the mall to hang out in their a/c.

Oh, another first. The a/c in the truck works just wonderful when we're driving but last night when we went to bed it pooped. It wasn't that hot, not sure exactly but with both fans on we did alright. I tried several times today to let the truck idle hoping it would poop out again so we could drop into the Dallas OC on our way down here to Temple. But you know how those gremlins are. They show up when they want, not when you want.

It seems the temp has dropped a bit this evening and we're not supposed to idle here at Sam's while parked. So we'll have to take a wait-and-see approach. Update on that tomorrow.

Sunday and Monday in Laredo

2009-07-20T17:42:00.002-06:00

We're boiling in Laredo... not too bad though. We spent the afternoon at the movies a hamburger at Fuddruckers, picked up some MATCHING western shirts at Mike's Western Wear and generally had a great day. But it's still hotter than heck, the official city website shows it as being 107 degrees. Top that if you can.

Anyway we obviously did not get a load out of here yet. See what tomorrow holds. I already know we're headed for Krispy Kreme in the morning.

Had another first today; after unloading us the forklift driver asked if we had a cold soda in the truck. Sure I said and gave hime one of Teresa's WCDP - Wild Cherry Diet Pepsi.

Looks like there are still 30 - 40 drivers here waiting for loads so we're not holding our breath.

Sunday in Dallas

2009-07-19T05:28:00.002-06:00

Thursday morning was nice in PA. Light rain in the early morning hours, cleared everything up. Boy they've got some hills in that part of the country. Not long necessarily but steep, some over 8 degrees. Doesn't sound like much but try pulling 43,000 pounds over it. On one hill I slowed so fast I missed a downshift and then the next and before I knew it I had to stop completely and actually use 1st gear to get started. Really unusual and unnerving. As I have said plenty of times in this space, the directions are most times very good, but occasionally they're not. Well, I missed one turn; I was looking for an address on RR 837 but I was supposed to turn on Hwy 837, knew it as I passed it but what can you do ?

I called the shipper and talked to the receptionist she gave me clear directions, indicating NOT to take the turn as it came upon us rather to go on down the road and take the jug handle to make a U turn. She was very clear, our truck wouldn't be able to make the turn. I was privately thinking I could probably give it a go. As I arrived at the turn the sign indicated "No Trucks Over 40 feet Long" I could definately see where both sides had been beaten up heavily. Needless to say we took the jug handle.

Our w/a had given us an estimate of 3 hours for load time. Took them about 30 minutes. We skipped on down to Louisville, KY Thursday then into the OC in W. Memphis on Friday arriving at about 1500. I had called on Thursday for an appointment for the 50,000 mile PM. Got 10 new tires, front end alignment and all the other regular stuff. Since this PM usually takes several hours we checked into a hotel for the evening. Nice dinner at Ameca and a swim in the pool. Life is good.

We made it on down to the Dallas OC yesterday and will be heading out for Laredo this morning, with a delivery at 0800 tomorrow. We can only hope to get a quick w/a out of there after delivering. The weather forecast indicates 104 for today and 106 for tomorrow. Guess we'll be "idling" tomorrow night.

Turns out all of our diligence paid off for last quarter; we were notified that we met the bonus criteria. The bonus is 2 cents per mile for each mile ran during the quarter. On average we covered about 2,200 miles a week. If you're a mind to you can extrapolate the bonus, I'm just trying to convey that we worked hard and suffered a bit and got it. Not sure that will hold for the summer months since idling is a big piece and at 106 you've got to stay comfortable some way.

As I get my update in the Funny Lady is getting her beauty sleep. We've only got about 420 miles to Laredo today, so she can sleep as long as she wants this morning.

2009-07-15T15:33:00.006-06:00

Wednesday and we're hanging out in Smithton, PA.

Monday was a tough day. We started out in Franksville, WI just south of Milwaukee. We planned correctly and left there at 0830.

We delivered in Romeoville, then headed into Chicago to pick up a load of scrap paper headed back to Neenah, WI. They're converting it into tissues.

Just for the record here's the building where I worked before "junking" it all to be a truck driver, Northbrook, IL. So far, no regrets for either of us.

We deliverd at 1800 in Neenah. Then at 1930, still on Monday, we picked up a load of "wedding paper" and stopped back in Franksville at 2215. Almost a 14 hour day.

Yesterday we ran all they way here to PA, 570 miles, and delivered this morning. National Envelope prints all things for weddings, plus. Looked like they were doing a booming business and looking to hire, too.

Last night we found a nice quiet truck stop. That's the way it seemed at 1830. At about 2100 a truck pulls right next to us and and tied his Beagle up, outside. If you know anything about Beagles you know they are barkers. Talk about discourteous. Anyway we moved.

Tomorrow we're picking up a load in W. Elizabeth, PA and headed for Laredo, TX. We've been pretty lucky with the temperatures so far this summer. Looks like we're headed for the hot stuff now.

Chilling in Milwaukee

2009-07-12T05:30:00.002-06:00

We had a very restful 5 days off in Ponca City. When we arrived in OKC on Friday it was 103 degrees. Man that's hot. We swapped our stuff to the Bug and headed out and watched the temp climb to 105, and man that's hotter still. Fortunately the next day a cool front came through and dropped the temps into the high 80s and low 90s for the next 5 days. Thanks Mother Nature. Of course that brought in some much needed rain to the area. Disrupted one of my planned golf days but for the relief it brought I'll take it.

Lots of good eats, most notably I fixed a brisket (sp) that I thought was pretty good. I cooked it Quincy Jones style. I used to regularly ruin ribs on the grill but years ago I picked up the Quincy Jones Ribs recipe off of Oprah's web site. Oprah raves over the these ribs and I have to tell you, they're really good. Anyway I picked up a 7 lb brisket and some green and red peppers and a Vidalia onion. I rubbed the brisket down with Uncle Joe's mix and cut the peppers up and put the fat side of the brisket up, on top of the peppers, wrapped it all in foil and "aged" it overnight. The real secret is to cook the whole thing at about 300 degrees for 8 hours. Then I lowered the temp to 170 till dinner time. Real tender and juicy.

We got back to the truck Thursday morning at 0800 to find dead batteries, not a great start. I called Schneider's emergency maintenance (SEM) and the guy was there in about an hour.

Our first w/a was to pick up a trailer in OKC and head over to Pryor, OK to pick up a load of paper headed for Indianola, MS. We spent the night in Little Rock, AR and dropped at Dollar General on Friday morning. Our next w/a was to pick up a load of recliners in Houston, MS and deliver to Wauwatosa, WI Saturday. We dropped that trailer last night at a JC Penny distribution center. When I got up this morning it was about 60 degrees, real nice.

We were headed up I57 right through Champaign so we called the girls for a lunch date. Teresa was uncontainable.

Our upcoming load is to head north to Neenah and pick up a load of consumer goods headed for Romeoville, IL with a delivery some time tomorrow. Right now I'm planning to sit here till 1800 tonight which will be 24 hours after delivering yesterday. The 24 hour sit time means Schneider will owe us $65 for layover pay. We'll pick up tonight and head back through Milwaukee without traffic and stop north of Chicago and wait out the morning traffic till about 0900 then head for our delivery, which we should be able to make by 1100.

I think our TAH counter is 23, after 3 days already on the road. We're headed home for rodeo.

We're planning a trip to CA to see Adam and Claire in September and a Mediterranean cruise for next spring.

Life is one big trip for us, whether in the truck or not.

Pooped out and home

2009-07-04T05:50:00.003-06:00

Since the load from Knoxville to Muskogee was going to be our last we figured the quicker we got there the quicker we would get home. On Thursday we covered 585 miles, ALL the width of Tennessee and most of Arkansas. Then wrapped up the delivery by 1100 and headed for OKC. The geography of Tennessee is one of the pretties of all the states we've been to, for sure. Lots of tall trees and water. Right up there with the Carolinas.

So we're home now. Course you know we have no home, we rely on the "home is where the heart is" axiom.

Jennie and Scott sent this picture of Hunter and Sophie. Pretty cute, huh ?
We really enjoyed them, of course Scott and Jennie, too, in Las Vegas.

We're TAH (time at home) for 5 days. Ready for some rest and relaxation. Between cooking, golfing, wave runnering and so on, I'm sure I'll get some.

Happy 4th of July to ALL.

Bob

Alive, Frustrated but headed home

2009-07-01T16:01:00.002-06:00

Monday turned out to be a disaster, not really just time wise. We arrived at the CN (consignee) about 1130 est, backed into the dock rather quickly and could tell they were working on it. There were 34 pallets that had to be separated into 64. This is one of those places where you have to hire a lumper. They won't let a driver use an powered jack. So if you want to do it yourself (and get paid for it) it's a lot of work. So you don't. With approval from Schneider I paid $80 for the lumper to unload and separate the load. Everything seemed to be going fine until the lumper left without letting anyone know she had not finished the paperwork. I heard other drivers complaining to the receiving department about how long it was taking and I didn't want to go there. You know, make the chef mad and you never know what they're going to do with your food. So we waited. While there we got our next w/a; head up to Eden, NC to the Miller plant and pick up a load of beer headed for Knoxville, TN. The w/a indicated the load would be ready by 2200, but I didn't have that much time on my 14 hour clock. I think we got out of there about 1800. I thought if we headed right out and didn't stop we could grab the load and be ready to head for Knoxville the next morning.

We were at the CN for about 6 1/2 hours. That's rough.

We made it to the Miller plant 15 minutes before my 14 hour clock ran out. Nope the load wasn't ready. No big deal really, we figured we could pick it up in the morning and still be headed west.
Not to be... every hour or so I check with the guard shack to see if it was ready till about 2000 last night. Finally we decided to pack it in and relax and make our plan for the next day. I had indicated we would deliver at in Knoxville at 1530 Wednesday. We THOUGHT; hmm if I get rolling at 0500 and pick up the load, head for Knoxville. We could stop at the same place we were at on Sunday and take a raft trip at 1100, be done by 1300 and still deliver by 1530. Nope, enroute we got a message that they needed the beer by 1300. Well, that blew our raft trip. We were wondering, what would they have done if we hadn't planned to hit the road at 0500.

Anyway we arrived at 1230 and were out of there by 1330. We got our next w/a after delivering; pick up a load of scrap paper about 7 miles away and take it to Muskogee, OK on Friday. Hoooray, we're headed home, right on schedule.

Some things work and some things don't, you've got to go with the flow !!!

We dropped the trailer at the shipper hoping to pick up the load this afternoon, but it won't be ready till the am. No problem, we'll probably run about 550 miles tomorrow which will leave about 180 miles. We'll finish in the am on Friday then head for OKC and pick up the bug and head for Ponca City.

Sewing, golfing and wave runners are on the schedule so far.

Hartford, TN

2009-06-29T11:13:00.004-06:00

One of the early Schneider truck and a just as old driver !!!

We stopped last night (Sunday) on I40 exit 447. The place is beautiful and peaceful. The welcome sign says Hartford, TN. It's on the Pigeon River, right in the middle of the Great Smokey Mountains, just beautiful. We spent the afternoon hiking around and enjoying the scenery.

Course my water baby had to play in the water. Next time through I'm sure we'll have to take a raft trip. It's about 2 hours round trip. Teresa HAS to do it.

While we were there they let some water out of the dam and the rock that the Funny Lady is on was soon covered up.

If you look closely you can see the trout in the middle. It's about 2 1/2 feet long. There was another actually bigger.

We're being unloaded in Salisbury, NC and not sure where we're headed next, except that TAH starts on Saturday so I imagine we'll be headed west. Don't bank on that it's only my imagination.

Headed to Salisbury, NC

2009-06-27T10:19:00.003-06:00

Thusday we got the truck back and decided to hang there in Green Bay where it was fairly cool.

We made our plan for Friday; head for the IdleAire in E. St. Louis and then head out at 0430 for Neely's Landing. We got to where we could see the Arch and my navigator (Teresa) decided that she would prefer not to have to get up that early, se we headed all the way to Neely's Landing - 580 miles. We stopped at a nice roadhouse and had catfish and bbq pork sandwich then parked a mile away. Delivered this morning at 0600. Last night we got our w/a for this morning so we planned one out. We deadheaded back to St. Louis and picked up a load right across the street from the Edwardsville OC then came over and showered. The load is headed for Salisbury, NC. We HAD figured to stop off in Nashville. Seems like another driver wants to take it as it's headed his direction. Whoa, he's decided not to take it.

We're letting the heat pass in Nashville expecting to arrive there about 1900. We figured if we hung out at the OC for a couple of hours we would get to Nashville about 1900 then hit the honkey tonks.

Not much else going on ready to hit the road... Nope, Teresa's going to surf a bit then we're out of here.

A new first - I know Craig and Diane have had it a few times, but it's a first for us...

While we were in the OC one of the guys said to watch out for P&G loads, they can be poorly loaded. Since we only had 39,000 lbs I figured to put the tandems in the 9th hole and head for the hills. Since he made that comment I thought I had better run by the scale, just to check. Good thing. The steers were at 12,000 which is the max, the drive tires were at 37,080 and the tandems were at 29,000. I moved the tandems all the way up and got it to 35080. Now what ?

Back to the shipper to remove and reload. Turns out it wasn't loaded according to the load plan.
When they got done I was still over 80 pounds (9th hole) so I moved it the tandems up 4 holes and hit it.

Since we hung out for two hours and THEN scaled and then spent 2 hours unloading and reloading I didn't have enough time on my 14 hour clock to make it to Nashville. So we're hanging out at the IdleAire in Mt. Vernon, IL. Which means we'll have to cover some good ground tomorrow, at least 500 miles. Which will leave 200 left to arrive in Salisbury by 1215 on Monday. Seems like a good plan, we'll see.

Back Where it All Began

2009-06-25T16:52:00.002-06:00

We arrived in Belgium, WI about 2130, still hotter than I was expecting but not too bad. Left at 1030 and stopped at the Green Bay OC. More showers and a WalMart run. Left for delivery at 1400 and then on to our next w/a; pick up at P&G in Green Bay for delivery on 6/27 in Neely's Landing, MO. I noticed that the front bumper was hanging a little loose and funny. We have hit some hellacious bumps in the last couple of days. They say the heat is causing the roads to buckle.

One bump even knocked both of our glasses out of the cup holders, that's really rough.

We didn't want to get on the road and have a problem develop so we've stopped in at the G/B OC to have them look at it. They are working on it now. I guess we'll stay here where it's a little cooler then head for the IdleAire in E. St Louis in the am - about 490 miles.

Got to run to the shop.

Hot as heck in the south

2009-06-24T07:33:00.003-06:00

Monday we trekked on up to the Edwardsville, IL OC. We stopped in for a shower, seems like when it's so hot and you're out dropping and hooking trailers it gets really stinky after awhile.

Our next w/a was supposed to be a quicky; pick up a trailer there at the OC and deliver at 0500 on Tuesday in St. Louis. We grabbed the trailer and headed to the IdleAire in E. St. Louis, IL. Teresa threatened to pull out the mattress pad and sleep in the OC if we didn't have cool air overnight. Not really, but sort of.

Headed out at 0400 for 25 miles. Followed all of the instructions and ended up going through old residential areas. Finally after arriving at the destination at 0500 I was pretty sure it was wrong. Called the consignee and got real directions. Arrived at 0600. Not sure if that constitutes a late delivery or not, since the directions were all fouled up.

Enroute we got a flat tire on the trailer. By the time I got stopped to check it out most of the rubber had already thrown off so I figured to go ahead and deliver.

Whilst unloading we got our next w/a; pick up a load of scrap paper to deliver in Owensboro, KY. I was in a bit of a quandry; a) go back to the OC to get the flat fixed, or b) go ahead and pick up the 40,000 pounds of scrap paper. I called support and they told me they would be unpaid miles, so that made the decision pretty quickly. Each tire can handle 7000 pounds so we're good.

Picked up the scrap paper, headed to the OC and got two tires replaced. The flat one and one with a nail in it. And another shower.

Owensboro was only 210 miles away so we headed out straight away and delivered at 1500.

Sometime in the morning I mentioned the unpaid miles issue to my DBL and she said she would have taken care of it. Problem was she comes in at 0630 and this was at 0600 and I was dealing with the overnite folks in Green Bay. Not very helpful. I also mentioned that I could deal with a w/a to north country to get out of the heat.

After delivering the scrap paper we picked up a load of paper at the same place and this one is headed to Green Bay.

After dropping and hooking the next load it was 1600 and I was pooped and hot. We checked into a Motel 6 had ANOTHER shower , dinner and a swim.

Our delivery is 6/25 in the afternoon so we're hanging out in the motel room for the morning. I figure if we leave hear around noon, we'll get to Chicago around 1900 and through without much traffic. Hopefully through Milwaukee and stop for the night in Belgium, WI, real close to the cool waters of Lake Michigan.

OK, I'll get a few pictures today. We missed a good one Monday. We were behind a very old jalopy being passed by a Rolls-Royce Bentley. Quite a juxtaposition.

ANOTHER shower this morning and then hit the road.

Ha - Staying on top

2009-06-21T15:41:00.002-06:00

Going back a couple of weeks, we were on our way down I95 through North Carolina on our way to Florida. We started seeing signs for "South of the Border" advertising Mexican food. Since we both enjoy Mexican food and love "On the Border" I ( note I here, not we) thought we should stop in and have lunch. Boy what a cheesey place. The food was horrible and over priced. If you happen to be in the area, don't stop.

Makes for a couple of good pictures, though.

On our way through Alabama on I59 yesterday we stopped at this rest area that had an old rocket on display.

We're at the Memphis OC showering and doing laundry. Waiting for the car to go over to WalMart . It's right a 100 degrees out at this time, hotter than heck!!!

This is a picture of the Charlotte OC. Can you tell which truck is ours ??

Lots Of Catching Up To Do

2009-06-20T20:08:00.004-06:00

Have you ever procrastinated on something and then it got worse and worse ? Me too ! Once I missed a day or so, which I'll explain, I kept putting off updating the blog, and it got worse and worse. I've got some time now and there is no excuse except that I'm pooped.

Here we go... We had a great weekend slumming out at the Four Points hotel. We delivered in Chicago on Monday and headed over to the Hinsdale Oasis on I294 to wait it out. Had a Gyro and turkey leg. They were both excellent, wouldn't quite expect it at the oasis, but it was. We waited a bit more. Then my DBL sent us over to the Gary OC to wait some more. About 1300 we got our next w/a; pick up an empty trailer in Sauk Village and take it over to Toys R Us for a 1900 pickup with a delivery 370 miles away in Lexington, KY at 0600 the next morning(Tues). Yep an all nighter. Of course I new it and tried to snooze, to no avail.

We stopped at the border of Indiana and Kentucky and took an hour nap about 0200. Helped a lot. We made the delivery at the Toys R Us store with 2 hours left on our 14 hour clock. While unloading we got our next w/a. I figured we were going to have to sit until Wednesday. Nope they had us run 35 miles south to Lancaster, KY and pick up 44,000 pounds of scrap paper to deliver in Loudon, TN. On paper we were done at 0700(CST) for the day so we could not start back up until 1700, which we did. We hung out in the little town of Lancaster to run out our 10 hour break. Of course not much sleeping in the daylight.

This trip was 173 miles and we finished real close to 2100. Somewhere in there we got our next w/a to pick up a load of toilet paper from the same place we dropped the scrap paper. So, have you figured it out yet ? We're essentially using shredded documents that has been refined into toilet paper.

Friday we delivered the t/p in Cincinnati and ran over to the Smuckers plant close by and picked up a load of jam headed for WalMart in Robert, LA. We had another great evening in Nashville, wandering through the honkey tonks and watching Teresa play in the fountains, with the OTHER little kids.

We were planning on delivering the jam this afternoon after a long day but got a flat tire and had to wait 4 hours for a guy to come out on I59 in Mississippi to fix it.

We're in Slidell, LA, just outside of New Orleans tonight and will be in Robert by 0800, and we already have our next w/a; pick up an empty trailer there at WalMart and run up to Brookhaven, MS to get a load of pallets headed to St. Louis, MO. With an AT deliver of 1500 we should be done by 1630 on Monday.

It does seem like freight has gotten a bit busier the last week, but it could be just a mirage.

14 days till TAH.

I'm up-to-date now, no more procrastinating.

Final Stats from Las Vegas

2009-06-14T18:44:00.008-06:00

Final report - nobody beat the house in Las Vegas.

Tracie, Teresa and Grandma, three generations.

My Mom and Baby Sophie, four generations.

Quite a gathering we had.

Tracie, Andrea, Josh and Sophie.

I left my remaining funds with Grandma and Grandpa to deposit in our bank. Surprise, surprise Grandma added a significant amount to my deposit to help pay for the airplane tickets. Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa !!!

After delivering Friday morning in Little Rock we got what could be considered to be a lousy load. Pick up in Little Rock and deliver in Chicago on Monday - 600 miles - three days.

We overnighted at the W. Memphis OC on Friday and then hustled up to Cicero. We were in the middle of the storm that went through there - we didn't see a tornado but we heard there was one and the sirens were going off.

We're staying Saturday and Sunday nights at a Four Points (Sheraton) just south of Midway.

This morning we headed to Teresa's favorite breakfast place; Walker Brother's Pancake House.

One shuttle, two trains with 30 stops all the way to Wilmette, then a one mile walk. But it was worth it. We got there and walked right in, when leaving the line was out the door. They have five locations, all excellent.

Then we headed over Millenium Park and the famous "Bean" and then to the Chicago Blues Festival in Grant park. Very busy day.

Quick trip across the street to Costco for some staples and we're ready to deliver in the morning.

Little Rock, AR

2009-06-11T17:48:00.002-06:00

We had a GREAT TAH in Las Vegas. Andrea's boyfriend was the only one beating the casino as of the time we left on Wednesday. Grandpa paid his dues, had fun and never got lost...

I think I took 4 pictures in 5 days, we're really bad at it. Will have to post later, forgot cam in the truck.

I spent much of my time being the shuttle driver, at least it kept me from the tables.

Teresa and Grandma thought the Donny and Marie show at the Flamingo Hilton was fabulous. Grandma did have to ask the guy next to here to quit singing !!! She figured she paid to hear Donny and Marie sing not the other guy. Seemed to work, but he she thinks he held a bit of a grudge.

We left Tracie, Andrea, Josh, Scott, Jennie, Hunter and baby Sophie to spend out the rest of the timeshare week. The Hilton Vacation Club was new and very nice.

We were headed back to OKC yesterday and planning to go up to Ponca City for the evening and drive back this morning. My DBL called yesterday while we were at the airport and inquired ast to how early we could make it back on Thursday. She said another driver was on a high-value load and had a family emergency. I told her I would have Teresa drop me there Wed night instead of Thurs morning so the other driver could head home. When we got to the drop lot the driver told me his daughter had fallen off a horse and was in the hospital with a lacerated kidney. We were glad to help.

Teresa zipped up to PC to exchange our vacation bags for our work bags and got back about 2130. She was pooped out when she got back.

Now we're in Little Rock, AR at a McDonald's, cooling off. Deliver at 0800 tomorrow. Teresa will get to sleep in till 0700.

Back at it...

Tech Assist

2009-06-05T14:33:00.001-06:00

For those not quite so tech savvy, click on the baby pictures and it will bring up the whole picture. Do it, they're very good.

Bob

Slow Blogger

2009-06-03T16:55:00.002-06:00

Ok, so occasionally I am a recalcitrant blogger. Had a bunch of stuff going on this week with kids.
I hope that will let me off the hook a little, we've all been there.

Last night we were in Nashville, TN. Parked at the TA across from the Tennessee Titans stadium, like last year. No football game though, instead we got Taylor Swift. Not really, just her tour trucks. Looked like she had a concert there the night before.

We wandered over to Broadway where all the honky tonks are and wandered through all the places listening to the bands. We really liked the one called "Greg Campbell" appearing at the Stage. The others were so so.

This morning we motored on to St. Louis and dropped our trailer at the OC, then picked up an empty and headed out for another load. We're in Springfield, MO headed for Muskogee tomorrow. Not sure what happens after that but we're hoping they'll send us on home so we can get ready for Las Vegas.

It's misting and cold here in Springfield. Doesn't seem at all like June 3rd in MO. While I'm blogging at the McDonald's Teresa is watching Bride Wars. They have a Red Box here at the Macs, so Teresa's happy, and I don't have to watch Bride Wars....

I am surprised no one has commented on my beautiful first grand daughter. Come on get with it !!

Probably the last blog until Sunday and things start happening in LV. Take care.

Baby Sopie Pics

2009-05-30T17:24:00.005-06:00

Here's baby Sophie pictures. Congratulations to Scott, Jennie and Hunter !!! Isn't she beautiful !!! Mom and baby are doing fine.

Nuff said for today...

Way Behind...

2009-05-28T16:51:00.003-06:00

I know I'm way behind, it's Thursday evening and I'll try to catch up. We had a great brunch with Andrea and Tracie in Champaign and then continued on to Ohio. Monday we stopped at Tamarack, WV for Teresa to get her eye candie. Lovin' every minute of it. Then it started raining and raining and raining. We were headed for North Carolina and it rained the whole way. I figured if we weren't going to be able to get out of the truck so we used some of our timeshare points and stayed st the Sheraton in Greensboro, NC. Nice room on the 26th floor.

You think our truck was lonely ?

Since it was the end of the holiday weekend the place was empty. We had the run of it. Pool and hot tub. All alone - ooh la la. We had a very nice evening and free breakfast then headed for Browns Summit 20 miles away. Dropped our trailer and picked up an empty and headed to Eden, NC to pick up a load of Miller beer headed to Camp Hill, PA. I noticed that the delivery was for 5/28 and we would be there by 5/27 so I coerced Cathie, my DBL, to let us drop the beer at the OC in Carlisle and give us another load.

We stopped at a rest area on I81 in WV 5/26 and about 0400 5/27 the next w/a came in. It was a relay in Carlisle, good so far. The deliver was for 0630 in New Jersey. Oh, I forgot, during the day on 5/26 they asked, potentially, when we could deliver and I had said 5/27 1400.

Obviously there's a conflict there. Del for 0630 and I say 1400. I figured they had worked all of the kinks out. Nope. We got there at 1300 and they said no way, Jose. So we had to sit on it until this 0730 this morning.

Oh well, we got our walks in, found a Belgian Waffle maker ( for Grandma, not for her to use, for me to use and makes waffle for her!!!). We had a great Lasagna and Con Pollo pizza for dinner at a quaint Italian place Stephano's in Piscataway, NJ. We don't suffer much.

We did suffer this morning after delivering in Somerset, NJ. Our next w/a was to pick up at the Jersey City docks at 1001 this morning. I missed the turn twice and had to hit the I78 tollway twice, and had to back out of the toll plaza (it wasn't EZPass) But we made it at 0958.

We're enroute to Alachua, FL. Got through NJ, DE, MD and we're just north of Richmond, VA now. Showered and Blizzarded. Is that a word ? The Pilot has a DQ in it. That's a first, and it has chocolate ice cream.

By the way, except for a brief period yesterday afternoon it has been raining/misting since Monday. Still was when we stopped, but it looks like the sun is trying to break through now.

I'm caught up now and 8 days left on the road till Las Vegas.

Headed for Browns Summit, NC

2009-05-24T04:56:00.002-06:00

Our live load in La Porte, TX was Red Bull. As drivers we're not supposed to talk about our loads much especially when they are high value. On this load I had to participate in a conference call to learn that we HAD to be able to make the PU and DEL on time and that we would be able to drive on from the PU for 150 miles without stopping. They really value their Red Bull.

After delivering in Aubrey we headed over to Grapevine and picked up a loaded trailer for Target and dropped it at the Dallas, OC and then jumped under a load of filter cartridges headed for West Branch, IA. We spent the night at the Downstream casino. That's the one on the borders of OK, MO and KS. Played a little Texas Hold'em. Lost a hand of trip 7s and lost a flush hand. I did win a few though, could have been better.

We dropped the load in West Branch yesterday afternoon and picked up another at the same place and are headed to Browns Summit, NC. This will take us east on I74 through Champaign this morning so we'll have lunch with Tracie and Andrea, maybe Josh too, but he works on Sundays so we'll see.

Nice to be out of the Texas heat, but the nats are crazy up here.

12 days till Vegas.

Scott and Jennie were scheduled to deliver Sophie on Friday. Turned out they were out of beds so they told them to wait. Then noon came and the doctor wanted to wait till after the weekend. Course that's OK with him, he's not carrying the baby!!! So they waited and waited. Deborah, Scott's mom, flew out from Monterye so she could be there and was planning to leave on Monday maybe Tuesday. Looked like she might miss Sophie. Sophie decided to come yesterday. Congratulations to Scott and Jennie. Now, the big question is; will they all feel good enough to come show her off in Las Vegas in two weeks? Soon as I get a picture, I'll post it.

Hot in Texas

2009-05-21T14:40:00.002-06:00

We enjoyed our morning in Sulphur Springs, TX. Pleasant weather long walk. No TV signal. Can you believe it. Teresa watched the entire season of DWTS and saw the final dancing on Monday night, then with no signal in Sulphur Springs she didn't get to see the final episode Tuesday night. Of course she read all about it Wednesday morning, but that's not quite the same. She even went into the Pilot to see if she could watch it there but they did not get ABC,
Oh well, she's still with me, take more than that to knock Mrs. Boss off the truck. Thank goodness for me.

We left about 1000 with what I figured was plenty of time to travel 60 miles to Hawkins to pick up our load of water. Well, I got lost. No, not a little lost, real lost. Not like in downtown Chicago where you might be off a block or two, but like twenty miles. Don't give me any crap, I even stopped and asked for directions TWICE. They didn't help a lot as there were no places to turn the big orange thing around.

Of course in the meantime I'm getting anxious about potentially missing my 2000 delivery in Houston. Sometime enroute to Houston we got our next w/a, which I'll cover in a minute. We made it to Houston and were about 2 miles away and the railroad crossing we had to go through was messing up. No trains but the lights were going off and the bars were down. Drivers were going through and under. But if you're a truck driver that can be a real career ending move, even if it doesn't look like there are any trains. Needless to say we did not mess with it, rather wormed our way around and arrived at 1930 and were unloaded by 2030.

Back to our next w/a, it was a live load in La Porte, TX. We were on the NW edge of Houston and La Porte is on the SE edge of Houston actually about 35 miles away. We were supposed to be there at 0800 and I needed fuel. Since we arrived at 1930 and stayed on their property we were able to leave at 0530 this morning and get across town and get fuel and arrive by 0730. Technically, I'm not sure how they would have calculated that pickup for us since only by creative logging could we have made it. But we did.

We're at the Dallas OC for the evening and will head out at 0600 to cross Dallas and deliver in Aubrey, TX

Got a text from Scott yesterday that "Friday is baby day."

On the road again

2009-05-20T06:06:00.002-06:00

We had a great TAH for four days. Had some rain, some great spring weather, got some golfing in, and of course more than a little sewing. Got a few naps in, some yard chores and really enjoyed Grandma and Grandpa. Very enjoyable days off.

Joe and Beth came home from Branson Monday afternoon so we were able to spend some time with them too. Now we're back on the road for 17 days then off to Las Vegas for 5 days. Seems like a pretty good schedule to Teresa and myself.

Still no baby from Scott and Jennie. Jennie's having a baby girl and already she's proving out her character - she will arrive when she's darn ready.

We're back at it. Yesterday we picked up an empty trailer in OKC and dropped it in Tulsa at the Whirlpool factory and picked up a load of appliances. We dropped it at the Lowes D/C in Mt. Vernon, TX. When we arrived we had to wait for 30 minutes. Their computers had gone down. Can you believe it, computers crashing ???

We treked on over to the Pilot in Sulphur Springs, TX to fuel up and shower. Our next w/a has us picking up a load of water in Hawkins, TX and delivering in Houston tonight at 2000. We'll leave here around 1000 and head for the shipper. That gives us ample time to enjoy our morning.

We Made it Home

2009-05-15T04:34:00.002-06:00

Wednesday we delivered about 1030 and waited for our get-us-home work assignment. Then we waited some more. Then we took a walk for 30 minutes. We were sitting about 340 miles from our home base. That's a bit too far to deadhead or bobtail and no loads were going west out of Little Rock. We were getting ready to go eat lunch and then our next w/a came. It always happens that way; try to take a nap or plan to do something else and the w/a will arrive.

We headed east 140 miles to W. Memphis to pick up a relay load headed to Dollar General in Ardmore, OK 450 miles west. We delivered Thursday at 1145, 30 minutes early and bobtailed back to the drop lot in OKC.

We got to Grandma's yesterday about 1500 and chatted and opened mail. Grandpa took us out to Enrique's for dinner. He sure likes to spoil us when we're home. Mrs. Boss has breakfasts and dinners planned for the next four days, Belgian waffles for breakfast today and grilled salmon for dinner tonight.

I guess I'll have to fit my golfing in between cooking sessions. Remember the buxom Kissing Bandit ? I have this idea; we pass enumerable golf courses in our travels and I'm thinking to bring 3 clubs and a putter and play one hole at as many courses as I can. Of course I'll have to safely park and "jump the fence" then play one hole and get back to the truck. Anyway if I get the courage to actually do it I'll be the Golfing Bandit. Seems like fun in my head, we'll see how it works in practice.

Not much else to report, just planning on resting up and recharging. We'll be back on the road Tuesday morning. Teresa got her appointments rescheduled for today (Friday) and Monday so it all worked out.

We're not giving up yet...

2009-05-13T04:29:00.004-06:00

HEY, look at the bottom of the posts - the comments link is now green. I tried white but that obliterated something else.... that didn't take too long now did it ?

It's Wednesday morning and we're a long way from home. I'm pissed but Mrs. Boss is hanging in there.

We delivered our load in Burlington, WI and Teresa had the appearances of coming down with the flu, oh shoot!!! I pulled away headed for a drug store to get some Tylenol and our next w/a came in. Not quite what I was looking for. We're to head up north to Neenah, WI and pick up a load of printed cardboard to deliver around Little Rock, AR. Not real bad but after delivery we'll still be 300 miles from OKC.

Throughout the morning Teresa still felt pretty rough. No vomiting but fever and headache. A few more Tylenol. Tuesday morning she woke without the headache and fever. She's a trooper I tell ya.

We got a good start Tuesday from Bloomington, IL and stopped in at the Edwardsville OC for a couple of maintenance issues; leaking coolant and short in the lights. Got the short fixed and made sure my extra bottles of coolant were filled. While there I contacted my DBL to let her know we were in Edwardsville (suburb of St. Louis) in case there was a load we could swap with another driver and head closer to OKC. After a little rumination she decide there might be. Three hours later she realized they had had a communication snafu and that, no, it wasn't going to work. We wasted three hours waiting for them.

We're now in Neelyville, MO on the AR/MO border. The sun is coming up and we're still about 180 miles from our delivery and 300 miles from OKC. Yesterday my DBL had indicated that there were no loads out of Little Rock headed west, which was why I had tried for the swap in Edwardsville. Now we're not sure what's going to transpire today.

But I'm still pissed, over three weeks on the road and we're ready to head for the barn. Teresa has made some appointments for tomorrow so we're anxious to make it, but it doesn't look good at this point. I figue to be done by 1130 this morning. Best case is they bobtail us to OKC, that's what I'm shooting for, but you can't tell what they're shooting for.

Minesooota is soooo cold

2009-05-10T17:35:00.002-06:00

We dropped our trailer in Sartell, MN yesterday about 1500 and inquired as to whether our load for the next day was ready. Security couldn't figure it out for sure so we left. Went to the mall in St. Cloud and wandered around, the place was packed. There must be something in the water there, seemed like everyone was carrying babies.

We rented "Australia" at the Red Box - $1 each. Very good movie. Think I'll start calling the Funny Lady - Mrs. Boss from now on.

Boy it was cold out last night, got down to 35 degrees. Had to add blankets and turn on the heater. I think we prefer the 100 degrees of Laredo.

The ride on down to Madison, WI was lush and beautiful, almost caught another deer.

We're spending the night in Janesville, WI which is about 50 miles from our consignee. We'll be on the road by 0700 and empty by 0900 and hopefully on our way enroute to OKC. With 3 days left we ought to be headed that way. I hope so, Mrs. Boss has made three appointments for Thursday.

Grand Rapids, MN

2009-05-08T15:35:00.002-06:00

It's Friday afternoon and we're in Grand Rapids, MN. These are the headwaters of the great Mississippi river. Amazing to see the difference up here in Minnesooota, and what it looks like down in Missouri.

Wednesday we finished up in Kansas City, MO. Then dropped our trailer at another customer, picked up another trailer at a Schneider lot and headed south to Harrisonville, MO to pick up laundry products destined for Menard's in Eau Claire, WI. We dropped the trailer and our next w/a was coming through.

Another driver got stuck behind an accident in Chicago and couldn't finish his w/a. He dropped his trailer in Eau Claire and we picked it up. The load was to deliver to 3 Sears catalog stores in Minnesoooota. The first drop was for 0800 and in Virginia, MN, 230 miles away from Eau Claire. Had to leave at 0400 this morning in order to make it. We made all the deliveries on time and were finished by 1300 in Grand Rapids, MN. I had indicated that when we were finished we had only 1 hour left to run. Didn't really want to keep going.

There aren't any truck stops in the area so we checked into the Itascan hotel and walked into town. We took the Mississippi river pictures and wandered through downtown GR.

The Old Central School built in the 1890's was the site for the Welcome Anglers party. Tomorrow is the opening of the fishing season and the city is packed with fisher people and their boats.

There's the Funny Lady in front of the Blandin Foundation. It's an old philantropic organization providing grants, scholarships and community support in rural Minnesoooota.

We're done for Friday and 4 days left till TAH, we'll see what comes up tomorrow.

E. St. Louis, IL

2009-05-05T18:17:00.003-06:00

Our truck likes the beach, too.

That's my Funny Lady walking along the beach.

She was able to throw some bread for the seagulls, they catch it in mid air.

We arrived in Atlanta about 0830. At this consignee you can only arrive one hour early for your appointed time. So we hit WalMart to get caught up on groceries. Teresa got a haircut. We're set now !!!

Dropped our trailer and waited for our next w/a. Nuttin honey. About an hour later we got it. The trailer should arrive in the early afternoon at the Atlanta OC so we headed over there. And waited and waited some more. The load has to be in Kansas City by 1000 on Thursday. We waited some more. Finally at 1700 it arrives. If you have ever seen traffic in Atlanta you will know we DID NOT go out at 1700. One other obstacle was - "where are we going to be so Teresa can see DWTS ? " So we stayed at the OC with the agreement that I could head out at 0500 both days. We covered 584 of 794 today, leaving 210 for tomorrow. Should be easy money for our AT appt of 1000. Still going to leave between 0500 and 0600 so as to miss traffic.

We're off to KC in the morning 7 days till TAH.

You were thinking Laredo ?

2009-05-04T04:25:00.004-06:00

I'll bet you were thinking we're still in Laredo, TX, right ? Nope. We made it on time to the CN and got unloaded pretty quickly. We headed over to the OC there. Somewhere along the way I had lost a mud flap on the truck so I wanted it fixed. Teresa went in to start laundry while I went to the shop. I noticed the thermometer INSIDE the shop indicated 100 degrees. They replaced the flap and replaced 1 tire pretty quickly. We showered and ate a Hormel Roast Pork and vegetables dinner. Very good.

While at the shop our next w/a came in... pick up a trailer there at the OC and drop in Atlanta, GA Monday at 1100.

Since it was so hot we bobtailed up to the Pilot with IdleAire and ran their A/C for a couple of hours till it cooled down outside, which it seems to do pretty quickly. Must be the desert air.

Friday night we saw a border patrol capturing a "runner" coming over the fence along I35. Saturday we saw a hawk swoop down and grab what looked like a 6 foot long snake. Since we were in rattlesnake country we're assuming it was one.

Saturday we bobtailed back and picked up the trailer load of appliances and headed out. The route was the reverse of our route down to Laredo. Made it Lake Charles, LA.

Sunday we had to make tracks as we planned to spend some time on the beach in Biloxi/Gulfport, MS, very nice, not too hot yet. Got some pictures, but I forgot the camera this morning. I'll catch up. We covered 600 miles. Teresa got to watch "Amazing Race." Next week is the finals.

We didn't get any rain, little mist here and there. Apparently there had been some big storms ahead of us. When we got to LaGrange, GA we were planning on eating and showering but all the power was out. Cereal for dinner and no shower !!!

We'll make it to Atlanta by 1000 this morning. After dropping we'll only have 6 driving ours left for the day so. Not sure how that will effect our next w/a.

10 days left to TAH. Turns out Joe and Beth will be in Branson that week so we won't see them, hope they'll still let us stay at their place.

Orange, Texas

2009-04-30T18:40:00.002-06:00

After updating our blog I went out to the truck. Ms. Teresa wasn't really complaining but it was getting pretty noisy out there. When you pull in at 1700 you might figure things were settled for awhile and you can get a feel for your daily neighbors. Sometimes that's true and sometimes not. NOT Tuesday. When we backed in noone was running. When I came back everyone had left to be replaced by runners.

I walked around and found a McDonald's that has truck parking. Sign says "no extended or overnight parking." There was one truck there and I walked over and asked him about it. He said he stops in occasionally and is never hassled. Whoopee, I do my best power walk back to the truck and head out. We were set...

Headed out Wednesday morning a bit early to make our 1000 delivery in SC. I HAD figured the used tires were going to be used for some other process. Turns out the Canadian tread laws are much stricter because of snow and other weather than in SC so they resell them to the open market. The don't even check for tire tread there. They only profit about $5 per tire, but we hauled 1,800 down there and they were doing a brisk business as we left.

While unloading we got our next w/a. I can tell right off this is going to be a tough one. We're to head up to Spartanburg to pick up a trailer, then back up to Asheville to be loaded. Looks like the insides of diapers. The load is to be unloaded in Laredo, TX by 1500 on Friday.

We were loaded by 1300 and had already spent 7 hours of our 14. I figured if we covered 300 yesterday and 600 today and 400 tomorrow we will be there by the delivery deadline.

Yesterday we only got 250 down - big hills in NC 8% grades, and Atlanta afternoon commute traffic. We made it to the Georgia/Alabama border. Today we scratched out 606 miles.

I figure if we leave by 0600 and are lucky getting through Houston we should be there by 1400 - 1430.

If I use my best manly persuasion - we might leave closer to 0500. The proof is in the pudding. We'll see.

I called the consignee and they are closed for the weekend, so if we miss our delivery we're stuck with the load for the weekend. On the other hand loads are often slow to come in Laredo, so we could be there for the weekend any way. Either way, I'm planning for a hotel in Laredo for tomorrow night. I figure we've both earned it.

Showered and got our walk in. Pooped out again.

Back to Tennessee

2009-04-28T17:49:00.005-06:00

I forgot to add these pictures the other day on the way to SC. The car carrier was headed south, we were headed north. It still took us an hour to get past. I read later that the entire southbound was closed for over two hours.

This is the entrance to the Peace Bridge Sunday evening on our way in to Canada.

This is the Ambassador Bridge and Buffalo, NY on our way out yesterday.

Sorry about all the bugs on the windshield, but they are really busy this time of year.

We covered 525 today arriving in Dandridge, TN to fuel, shower and have salad for dinner. Got our walk in now Teresa's catching up on TV and me our blog.

While in Detroit we heard John Rich's song "Shuttin' Down Detroit" a few times. Good lyrics and music. Here's a bit of the song - if you want I can sing it later...

John Rich
Shuttin' Detroit Down
Written By: John Rich, John D. Anderson
My daddy taught me that in this country everyone’s the same
You work hard for your dollar and you never pass the blame
When it don’t go your way
Now I see all these big shots whinin’ on my evening news
About how they’re losin’ billions and how it’s up to me and you
To come running to the rescue
Well pardon me if I don’t shed a tear ‘cause they’re selling make believe
And we don’t buy that here

Cause in the real world there shutting Detroit down
While the boss man takes his bonus pay and jets out of town/
And DC’s bailing out the bankers as the farmers auction ground,
Yeah while they’re living it up on Wall Street in that New York City town,
Here in the real world there shuttin’ Detroit down.
They’re shuttin’ Detroit down.”

Give it a listen... you can watch the video on YouTube

- www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI1TPJ4xURI

No longer an alien

2009-04-27T16:22:00.002-06:00

Sunday seemed like it was going to be a relaxing day. After updating our blog and then fetching m'lady's tea we headed for WalMart. Got everything we needed.

We went in to the OC and were reading, etc. I was seriously thinking a nap was in order. But I thought, nope, better check the QC. There it was! Not sure why it took 3 hours to get assigned as the trailer had already been relayed there. I read the QC and the w/a is to Delhi, Ontario, Canada. Only 400 miles, but still, Canada !!!

We spent 30 minutes (maybe a little exageration) prepping paperwork for the PARS crossing. None of the phone numbers supplied we either valid or working on Saturday. Two calls back for more numbers and finally got one and subsequently got a fax number.

We were hauling 40,000 of Scotts Fertilizer plastic bags to be filled in Delhi. The route to Buffalo and over to Ontario was the hardest I have traveled in the time I've been driving. The hills were straight up and down.

US219 even has some places that the truck speed limit is 20 MPH. That will surely blow your average. It really is hard to hold 40,000 pounds back on the down hill, had to go into 5th gear to do it comfortably. Then lots of small towns. Eight hours to cover 300 miles.

We entered Canada at Ft. Erie then headed west on QE 3 to Delhi. While unloading we got our next w/a; go east on QE 3 12 miles and pick up a load of recycle tires to drop in Greenville, SC.

We made it across both directions of the border crossings so we are no longer aliens and are showering and resting up in Detroit for the evening. Then on down I75 to Tennessee and then east to SC.

Tonight I am pooped again. Either I am getting older or it's getting tougher, let me know when you figure it out.

Day from Hell

2009-04-26T04:10:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was THE DAY FROM HELL, but let me catch up to yesterday first.

We dropped our load of Michelin tires in Laurens, SC on time Thursday. It looked like a recycling plant. Tires going in and rolled roofing going out. We could not see any processing but that's what we could see on the outside. Pretty interesting if you think about it - lots of oil in both products.

During the day I had contacted Cathie, my DBL and let her know how things were going and that if she could get us to Charlotte which was about 80 miles away I would be able to get spring training out of the way. After dropping she bobtailed us there. Enroute I called Ron and asked him if he was up-to-date on reading the blog. He had to confess he was not - bad move Ron. In it was a heads up that we might be coming through and he missed it. Anyway he met us at the OC and we had dinner and he helped us out by running us on a few errands. Thanks, Ron. We really like Ron, really enjoyable to chat with.

Friday morning I got the spring training out of the way. Nothing really new mostly on-the-job safety, which they cover every year. It's mostly to cover Schneider's butt. If someone doesn't follow procedures and gets hurt, at least they were given the instructions even if they didn't follow them. One of the things they also do is review your logs. The OSR ( the S is safety, I can't remember the other part of the acronym right now) comes over acting like he just stopped a nuclear bomb and says "Buddy, you're going to remedial training." There are no errors on any log but he had calculated hours driving and miles traveled to come up with MPH and he gets several days in excess of 65 MPH. He says "it can't be done in a 60 mph truck." I tried to explain my process, but he was so satisfied with himself he did not want to listen. Cathie will schedule ANOTHER class for me somewhere that will be a pain to get to.

The class was at 0700 est - keep that in mind as it's 0600 cst for us. Finished by 0900 CST. I stopped by the maintenance shop and for a small repair and then fueled and washed the truck. Now it's about 1130 est and I've been on the clock for 5 1/2 hours. Our next w/a came while we were remaking the bed. Teresa got laundry done while I was in training.

The w/a was to pick up a trailer there at the OC and go to Gastonia, NC 27 miles away and get loaded. No problem so far. The delivery was to Kutztown, PA 555 miles and deliver by 1000 est on Saturday. After quickly thinking it through I called the dispatchers and informed them it could not be done as assigned. After a little "negotiating" they relented and agreed to 1300 est Saturday. We have a deal.

Friday was fine, but quite long. We figured if we could get 350 miles out of the way by 2000 then we could get on the road by 0600 and arrive by 1230, giving a little room for error. We got our part done, and stopped at a rest area around Staunton, VA.

Saturday started fresh in the Shenandoah Valley. Really pretty and green. Around Harrisburg, MD we got a shower and some ice for the road, we're doing pretty good we think we're going to OK. Then the proverbial "shit hit the fan."

We're on I81 in PA headed north and blow a tire on the trailer. I pull over and check it out. Skinny shoulder. I contacted SEM, emergency maintenance and we agree I can hobble on upt the the Carlisle OC, about 30 miles. We're carrying 39,000 pounds. Each tire can carry 7,000 and there are 7 left, so we're good. Without too much delay they got us taken care of. I contacted the consignee (where we're delivering) to let them know I was going to be about an hour late. Being patient, they agreed. So we headed out.

We now have about 80 miles to go. 65 miles later the coolant alarm goes off. So I pull over again, at least this time I can get well off the road. Yep, blown water hose.

I contact SEM again. After an hour I get a message that they have contacted someone to come get us back in order. Then the guy calls and he doesn't think he has the part. By that time I have a Mcgyver repair in order and have put almost a case of our drinking water in. I had no idea how much it held or how much I water had been lost.

The guy arrives two hours later and likes my Mcgyver repair then adds 3 more gallons of antifreeze. How naive was I to think a case of drinking water was going to work ? Teresa got a good laugh about that.

We sat on the freeway for 3 full hours and were 12 miles from our delivery. Now it's 1615 and I call them again. Remember it's Saturday. They were about to shut down but said a couple of guys would wait and unload me. They did and I really appreciated it.

I contacted SEM one more time and told them it was jerry rigged and I needed to get back to the Carlisle OC for a permanent repair. We got back last night at 2000 and it was fixed by 2100.

Many thanks to my navigator/team domestic for her patience throughout the day.

You want to know the repair? I took the guts out of a bic pen and shoved it between the two pieces of hose and clamped it. Wasn't pretty but it held for 100 miles and that's all I needed.

Now you can call me Mcgyver Bob, if you want !!!

It's Sunday. No w/a yet, and that's fine. We're out of dinners, salad stuff, cereal and milk. So a trip to WalMart is on our list this morning.

Back in the Saddle

2009-04-22T19:18:00.002-06:00

Had a great TAH. Somebody remind me why we have to always go back to work!!!

Yesterday was tougher than the regular tough first day back at it. As per usual we hit the road at 0600 and thankfully did not forget anything. Checked in at the truck at 0805 and yep there's the first w/a. The little ones are a pain, basically no miles. We bobtailed up to Edmond and picked up a trailer - have to wonder why when there were empties in the lot. Then back to Waste Management to pick up paper to be recycled then back to the drop lot for someone else to take to Alabama. Don't ask me, as I can't figure it.

Then we picked up an empty there at the drop lot ( the drop lot is where we park the truck during our TAH ). Then we headed to Ardmore and dropped the trailer and picked up a loaded one full of tires headed for Laurens, SC. Since we were passing pretty close to Dallas I figured to pull in and give another try at getting the PM done.

We pulled in at 1815 and by 2115 they were done. Three hours and I'm pretty sure the tires are all aired up properly. Anything else I can't tell. But at least it's done for the next 20,000 miles.

We left Dallas this morning at 0700 and had breakfast on the road in Texas, lunch somewhere in Louisianna and skipped right on through Mississippi and had dinner at the Alabama welcome center. Real nice place. Then we pushed forward to Tuscaloosa to stop for the night - 597 miles. We'll drop the trailer by 1300. I am hoping to get to Charlotte tomorrow. If it works out maybe we'll get to say hi to Ron and family. Then spring training at 0700 on Friday.

We're good and pooped and ready for TV and bed. Good night, everyone !!!

Home at Last

2009-04-19T05:41:00.004-06:00

We cheated on the last load. Instead of stopping in Wichita we got all the way to OKC, dropped the trailer and back to Ponca City by 2000. We're home...

Got a bit of golfing in on Friday, and a nap. Yesterday Teresa, Grandpa and myself we went to Stillwater and watched the OSU Cowboys baseball team beat the Baylor Bears. We enjoyed the game.

It was forecast to have 100% rain on Friday, 60% on Saturday and clear on Sunday. Well, it never rained on Friday, misted on Saturday and is pouring today. Those meteorologists, how do they keep their jobs with that kind of record ?

For dinner I made Pepper Jack Chicken pita pockets. Pretty good.

The big annual event here in Ponca City is the Prom Walk. The prom attendees all walk around t

the old Marland Mansion.

Somehow I talked myself out of attending, but Teresa went. The kids are very handsome.

This morning is Biscuits and Gravy and then check out Grandma's computer. Surely a nap for this afternoon.

Glad to be home and not moving all the time.

Still Still in Council Bluffs

2009-04-16T04:52:00.003-06:00

We're still in Council Bluffs and I'm even snippier. We're at the end though. We have a w/a to pick up in Omaha this morning at 0900 then to deliver in Ft. Worth tomorrow. The snippier side came out yesterday afternoon when we finally got a w/a. After calculating our times I figured we could not reasonably deliver in Ft. Worth and still make it back up to OKC by end-of-day on Friday so I indicated to dispatch that we were going to drop the load in OKC on our way down. I figure we'll stop tonight around Wichita, KS and be in OKC by about 1000 tomorrow and then someone else can take it on down to Ft. Worth.

We've will have been out 26 days and we're ready to get out of the truck for a few days.

Yesterday we picked up groceries to cover us for the next couple of days and a Red Box movie; "Seven Pounds." Very good movie. Teresa didn't cry, but almost. I really like Will Smith.

Craig and Diane; I agree with Craig, "adapt and overcome" but that doesn't mean it isn't any less frustrating. I had the same feelings the last two days.

We're on the last leg and headed for the barn. We're betting we can put the top down on the VW bug when we head home tomorrow. Yippee.

Still in Council Bluffs

2009-04-15T08:15:00.003-06:00

Don't mind me if I'm a little snippy, I get that way when I've been sitting too long, and we've been sitting since yesterday at 0745. We got unloaded pretty fast yesterday and came back to the Pilot in Council Bluffs yesterday. We got here by 0830 and have been w/a-less since.

I called this morning and they say we're first on the list, but for the moment there are no loads. So I'm frustrated as heck, hence the snippy part.

Historically, I should mention that years ago, 1984, my middle child, Adam was born here in Omaha when we lived here.

On the bright side I got a replacement speaker for the "blown" one at the Freightliner shop close by and Teresa got a pedicure so things aren't as bad a they could be. We'll probably take a spin over to the WalMart close by and pick up a movie and some fruit a bit later.

In the meantime, I'm going to stay snippy till we get moving. Since we've been out a long time we really are ready to head home.

TAH - 2 days, if we can get there.

Council Bluffs, IA

2009-04-13T17:56:00.004-06:00

As of writing Thursday night we were assignmentless. About 0430 Friday morning we heard beeping on the QC. That's a new one. Usually after the ignition is off for 15 minutes the QC goes to sleep and doesn't do anything until we turn the ignition back on. We heard the first beep and kind of sleepily passed it off, then another, then another. It takes about 6 messages to get the whole work assignment. I got up to check'er out. Our next work assignment is to pick up the trailer that we brought in from Saginaw last night and were told could not be late. Needless to say even leaving Dallas by 0500 there was no way we were going to make it by 0700. We got in just before 1000, which what I had estimated on Thursday before it was taken away.

While delivering in Houston we got our next w/a; deadhead back to Dallas and on Saturday morning pick up a load of Frito Lay chip and take them to Denver. Initially I had assumed we would be heading right back up I35 to Salina, KS and then west on I70 to Denver. I was confused why the work assignment indicated 777 miles, and our plan was about 880. Hmmmm, something's wrong with this picture. I re-requested the mapping and yep, it was different. Pretty much all the way up US287 from Ft. Worth to Limon, Co, and right through Dumas, TX.

Then I remembered I have people in Dumas. We stopped there Saturday night, dropped the trailer and picked up some pizza and visited with my great-aunt Winnie. We chatted for a couple hours then. She's 86, lives alone and still walks almost a mile every day. She played the piano at my request.

Was a great evening. Boy have we been lucky to see lots of family this week.

Somewhere along the way in Texas we spotted this Serengeti, filled with camels.

I asked for samples when we picked up the Fritos, but they didn't have any broken boxes at that time.

After dropping in Denver we picked up a relay load of HEAVY paper destined for Omaha with an 0600 deliver tomorrow. So we're holed up in Council Bluffs, IA for the evening.

TAH on Friday... wonder what the rest of the week holds for us ? You too ?

Dallas OC

2009-04-09T18:54:00.003-06:00

I suppose it's about time for an update... been a busy week. We delivered fine at Sears in SLC and got our next w/a. We were to dead head to Green River, WY and pick up a load of Arm and Hammer products bound for Ottawa, KS. Exciting stuff.

Despite there being snow on the Wasatch Mountains ringing SLC it was pretty warm in town. We passed through Park City, UT and over the mountains to Green River and it was still shirt weather. We headed east on I80 to Rawlins, WY and it turned cold. Teresa got to see DWTS.

Wy is long and empty. Not much to see but Antelope and snow. We made it through Denver and on to Colby, KS on Tuesday and delivered in Ottawa on Wednesday. Our next w/a was to pick up a loaded trailer and take it to Sealy, TX, warmth at last.

We realized that our w/a was going to take as down I35 to Dallas so we called Teresa's Mom and Dad to meet us in Blackwell, OK for dinner. Nice to see them, course we'll be back next weekend for TAH. Seems they still like to see us and we them.

This morning we left Blackwell at 0530 planning to get to Dallas and for me to attend a spring training class and get the PM done on the truck. Then finish tomorrow.

All was going fine until they sent a computer message to relay our load and to a "load save" on another load. A "load save" is when they have committed to pick it up and for some reason the assigned driver can't make it.

So I pull in and drop the trailer and sweep/clean/hook up another trailer and head out. We're going through traffic to Saginaw, TX to pick up a load of flour that HAS to be in Houston Friday by 0900. A little tough, but so are we. When we got there we learned that the health inspector had not been there to inspect the trailer or the product. He was supposed to have been there by 0900 today. He never came. So they sent us to another flour mill a block away to pick up a different load also to Houston. I guess the load did not need to be saved all along.

In the meantime they assigned us our next w/a after unloading in Houston we were going to pick up load of potato chips destined for Maryland.

So now it 1530 and we're working the second load of flour. I get there and am informed the trailer needs to be washed out. Oh heck, we jump back in Dallas/Ft. Worth traffic and get it washed out and back to the shipper to drop the washed trailer and pick up the load.

When they assigned us the second flour load it was supposed to be in Houston by 0700 on Friday and they said "no problem" if it's a little late. Through all the mess I had calculated our arrival to be between 0900 and 1000 and entered it in the QC. Whoa Nelly, we get a message that the load can't be late and we're to drop it at the Dallas OC for someone who has hours left to run available to pick it up and deliver on time.

So that means we're not going to Houston and subsequently not going to Maryland, drat !!!

As of now, we have dropped the trailer and have no idea where we're going tomorrow. All I know is we're showered and the laundry is getting done.

As you can see, today was a mess and time consuming and very little pay for our efforts.

But we're tough.

Salt Lake City, UT

2009-04-06T05:50:00.005-06:00

We've had a great trip to SLC, UT. The Funny Lady HAD to stop at an orange grove and pick her own orange. Can't get any fresher she thought until I told her it was probably part of last years' crop and wouldn't be any good. Was fun for her anyway.

It really is a beautiful ride through Utah.

We had a great afternoon yesterday with Aunt Charlene and Uncle Jim.

Lunch at the Macaroni Grill was a first for us, very good. We had the whole afternoon to chat and Jim drove us around SLC and showed us the sights. Thanks, Cha and Jim.

This is the Mormon Temple, quite lavish.

Haven't figured out why yet, but there were protesters there. Go figure.

We've had a great trip, now I'm getting antsy to put a few miles on. We'll see what happens after delivering this morning.

Headed North

2009-04-04T17:36:00.003-06:00

After updating the blog yesterday I went out to the truck and checked for our next w/a. Started the truck to get it warming up and waited. After very little delay our next w/a came in. Go back to the Sears distribution center and pick up a load to deliver at a Sears store in Salt Lake City, UT - 730 miles to deliver on Monday at 0800. Not a great paying trip 730 miles and three days. But it has its advantages.

We pulled into Las Vegas at 1530 pst and found the next bus headed downtown was leaving in 5 minutes. We changed out of our shorts and into long pants (no we didn't forget them in our haste, just the camera) and grabbed jackets and ran for the bus. LV has a great system. You can get almost anywhere in the city. You can get an all day pass for $4, which we did. Of course any and everyone that can't afford a car rides the bus, you see all kinds. And that's the adventure of it. We headed to the Sahara casino for their buffett. Good but not great.
Checked out the location of where we're staying in June and headed back.

We never get lost because we always ask those around for directions and help and they are always eager to assist. One lady we asked directions from was a recent ex-Swift truck driver. She and her husband were going to be teaming but in the end he had something on his driving record that precluded him from getting hired. She tried it for a few months on her own but decided there were too many obstacles for a single lady out on the road.

On the way back to the truck stop we stopped off at the Fremont Experience - that's the old strip downtown. They were setting up for a live band so we hung around to see who it was. Teresa was sooooo excited - Julianne Hough one of the dancers for DWTS. She did great. She has good stage presence and can really sing. The said she's touring this summer with George Strait. That would be a great concert.

We headed out this morning and are in Payson, UT. Beautiful ride and some snow. We walked up to get an ice cream. I don't know why, it was lightly flurrying and the mountains all around are covered in snow and we're eating an ice cream. Go figure.

Tomorrow we're going to my Aunt Charlene's place in Salt Lake. Haven't seen her for several years. Looking forward to it. She was my babysitter when my Mom worked as a single mom long ago. Obviously we were close.

Teresa picked up a couple of movies and she's getting anxious to go watch one so I've got to sign off for now.

Delano, CA

2009-04-03T06:30:00.006-06:00

First an update on the New-Skin repair to the truck speaker. So far I would call it 90% effective. At the same time the results were a vast improvement. When a speaker is "blown" usually, from over powering it, there is a tear somewhere on it. This speaker had a tear about 3 inches long around the perimeter where it joins the frame. The intent of using the New-Skin was to keep it from vibrating. Most of it worked, except one small piece of the speaker warped a bit from the wetness, but it does not vibrate against the frame so it doesn't seem to be effecting the sound. I previously had to adjust all of the bass out of the sound to make it tolerable. It is much better now. Though I will probably just stop by a Freightliner shop some day and buy a new one.

Of course Wednesday we changed our plans once again. Since we were carrying a "high-value" load of shop vacs for Sears we were reluctant to leave the truck sitting while we would be moteling. We stopped in Tonopah, AZ for the night.

We enjoyed the sunset and sunrise in the desert and the stars out there were like a blanket on top, so close it seemed you could touch them. With very little light polution there were really immense.

While fueling in Quartzsite, CA. A fellow named Scott came over and introduced himself. You never know who you're going to run into... He runs a little shop across from the Pilot there and wanted to personally invite us for breakfast. He and his wife run a place called the Desert Rat Cafe. After fueling and getting coffee I stopped in and had a chat and got a burrito for the road, Chorizo and egg. Pretty good.

We passed the plane bone yard north of Tucson.

And passed Picacho Peak. At this point we could choose to go I8 west and around Phoenix or continue on I10 through. Since it was about 1400 there I wanted to go through.

Across the way from the truck stop was what looked like a little abandoned place. We walked over to investigate. It was Eldorado Hot Springs. The brochure said "like bathing in silk." They even had a nude section for a maximum of 16 people, and a family section - not together. We passed but enjoyed the walk.

Thursday we headed on. There were thousands of wind turbines in the Twenty-nine Palms area, and let me tell you they have wind...

We made it pretty easily over the I5 Grapevine - we only had 15,000 pounds on. But you could see the trucks loaded with 44,000 pounds of bananas were having a rough go of it.

We delivered at the Sears distribution center at 2:3o in Delano and headed into town and found a quaint motel, the Coachman, seemed to fit us and stayed. We were looking forward to pool and jacuzzi. Of course they didn't tell neither were ready for visitors until after we were in our suits ready to dip in. No worries.

Dinner at Kong's and a nice big bed and we're ready for our next w/a.

Got to be fluid

2009-03-31T19:31:00.002-06:00

Boy was it hot in Laredo last night. Not sure of the temp but we saw nineties on the road. Made it with 15 minutes to spare for DWTS. Lucky me.

Went to bed with a fan on, and went to sleep pretty well as we were both pooped. About 2330 we both awakened feeling suffocating. I closed everything up and turned on the engine to run the A/C. I'm not a good sleeper with the engine running, but I finally got back to sleep. Let me tell you the A/C works good. About 0330 I woke back up and turned the engine off and opened back up. Luckily got back to sleep again. Unusual for me though.

This morning we picked our fuel stop at Van Horn, TX to stop for the night. Some time during the day I decided we should push on to El Paso and we're here - 580 miles. Tomorrow we're going to go about 440 miles and stop somewhere around Phoenix and get a Motel 6. We should be there by 1300 - 1400 and so we'll have a good opportunity to enjoy the pool and relax. Then Thursday we'll head on to Delano, CA.

Now we have a new plan, but as you know plans are made to be changed. You never know, and we like to be fluid and enjoy everything we can.

We just finished a walk-about and Teresa's ready for DWTS elimination.

One of the speakers is "blown" on my side of the truck. After we got here I put some "Nu-skin" on it. You know that paint on band-aid stuff. I'm going to let it dry good then see if it works. It works on me so who can tell.

Go West Folks

2009-03-30T18:53:00.003-06:00

We delivered our load at 0830 this morning in Laredo. Had a bit of anxiety passing long lines of trucks waiting to do the same thing we were. Thankfully we were the only one at our forwarder.
We were in and out in less than 30 minutes. While I was dropping the trailer we got the first blip on the QC of our next w/a. A little squeel from Teresa and I figured it was good.

We went further south in Texas and picked up another load coming north across the border and we're headed to Delano, CA - 1662 miles loaded. We covered 350 today going south and coming back. We're back in Laredo at the Pilot watching DWTS. Our delivery is by Friday but I figure with three back to back 500 mile days we can be done on Thursday and be ready for another one on Friday.

We love our Sirius radio but you can only sing so much to the radio. I also catch CNBC in the morning and some FOX and CNN. Pretty sure I catch most of President Obama's speeches. Caught today's on the auto bailout. I mostly agreed with him, but figured that stand should have been taken before the previous $17 billion was paid out.

My issue is where do the rest of the overpriced occupations come in ? Should it really cost $75 - $85 per hour for a plumber or $100 for a mechanic. I realize they are not being bailed out but the inconsistency baffles me. That's my political comment for the day.

18 days till TAH - I think we're planning on taking Teresa's dad to the OSU Cowboys baseball games.

Good stuff at Jalepeno Tree

2009-03-29T05:47:00.003-06:00

You may recall our recounting of eating at The Jalepeno Tree in Marshal, TX awhile back. Naive, we might be, but we did not know at that time that it was a chain, but we're happy that it is.

Thursday night thinking about how to execute our 1408 mile trip to Laredo, TX with a 1000 live load I had figured; leave CN about noon and then cover about 350 miles, then 450 Sat and 450 Sun and about 150 on Monday and we could deliver at about 1000 on Monday and be ready for our next load.

As usual we got there early, about 0830 and were loaded by 0900. Headed back to the Pilot to scale the 43,690 lb load. Before driving onto the scale I set the tandems in the 10th hole. When I got the scale receipt it was dead on. So by 0915 we were on the way. Now we can't just stop at 350 miles can we ? Nope, we covered 450 and got to Charleston, MO. Took our walk with weights and then walked about 1/2 miles to a Dairy Queen. See how that works; calories out - calories in.

As we headed out yesterday Teresa was checking for another Jalepeno Tree. Yep, there's one in Mesquite, TX, right on I635 where we were headed in Dallas. So we pushed it 579 miles and got there for dinner. Yummm, they get our hearty recommendation. We then finished up 10 miles later at the Dallas OC. Now we have only 420 left for today to Laredo and we'll make it to the OC early this afternoon and deliver early tomorrow morning.

One more comment on the digital to analog converter; seems to work very well in many locales.
We got great signal in Charleston and here in Dallas. I'm guessing that all of the stations have turned on their digital signals but have not turned off their analog signals and will not until the official June 12th cutoff.

Time to call my Mom and hit the road. If you're in Texas - hit the Jalepeno Tree !!!

Looping around Indiana

2009-03-27T04:45:00.003-06:00

Wednesday night on our way to Elkhart we passed through South Bend. Last night we ended back up in South Bend. After unloading in Elkhart we waited, then waited, then waited more. It really wasn't that long, about 2 hours. The morning was fruitful though. Seemed in Elkhart we could not get any TV signals. While we were on TAH I had picked up the new Digital to Analog converter. While waiting I hooked it up and voila, there they were. All of the TV stations there have already switched. We got all the stations great - cost $9 plus tax after the rebate. Not bad, we may even be able to dump the satellite dish.

Cathie, my DBL, had called and said she had 3 loads, all short and which would I like. Nice of her to inquire. In the end, she decided to wait and see if something better came up. While waiting I sent her a QC note just to give us anything, to get moving.

So she gives us this little w/a to deadhead over to Albion - 45 miles and pick up 1 pallet and take it to Ft. Wayne - 45 miles. Not too much in that. Apologetically, she says the load was given to someone else that couldn't get there in time. This load was time critical for p/u - all GM loads are. Anyway she says she find us a good mileage one after. En route to Albion it comes through. After Ft. Wayne we are to head for a pickup at 100o in South Bend and take it to Laredo, TX - 1408 miles. Now that's a good one. Hence the reason back in South Bend. So this morning we'll fuel and shower and maybe "something" else. Then we'll head for Texas, which is great timing since that snow storm is headed this way fast.

Indiana is an interesting amalgam of farming, industry and people. We passed through the Nippersink area of Amish which is always exciting to see.

Thinking ahead we figure to get 300 miles in today, then 550 on Sat and Sun and be in Laredo Sunday evening, in time for Teresa to see The Amazing Race. Typically it's not quick to get a load out of Laredo, which works well so she can also see Dancing Monday night. Although the last time we were in Laredo we got a fast one out. You never really know. Anyway we have our plan, we'll see how it works out.

You may recall that about a month ago I wrote that Schneider had stopped all pay raises for 2009. Turns out I got mine. For enquiring minds I'll let you know. Now we get .37 cents a mile which means a 550 mile day earns us $203.50 which takes about 9 hours. That's about $22 per hour of driving, about 1/4 of what we used to make. That works out fine since we have no house payment, car payment, utilities and so on. We still put 20 percent away in my 401k. I'm not sure why since we lost over $200,000 the last year in our old ones. It's still the right thing to do though and I'm REASONABLY sure in the next 10 years most of it will return, so we're not getting out.

And what other job can you have that you spend 24/7 together like we do ? We really do like it, and each other !!!

Back at the grind

2009-03-25T18:42:00.002-06:00

Well, we're back at it. Yesterday, actually. The first day is always the toughest. First we add an extra 2 1/2 hours to get from Ponca City down to Oklahoma City. Of course that's if you don't forget anything important. Which I did. We were about 18 miles from Joe and Beth's place and I realized I had left my phone on the bed after we assembled it. So add another 40 minutes to our original 2 1/2 and it can be a long day.

Our first w/a came immediately after signing in - pick up a trailer there at the drop lot and dead head up to Winfield, KS, 143 miles, deliver in Elkhart, IN on Friday at 0800 est. The w/a indicated there would be a trailer preloaded for us. No such luck. The guy there said Schneider always tells their drivers that is the case and it never is. The loaded us up with tote-and-store rollie carts that they make there. We got as far as Springfield, MO for the night.

Since the Funny Lady hates early morning departures I wanted to get as close as possible to Elkhart tonight so we could get up at 0700 est and make it there early. We jammed into Gary, IN at 1615 and showered at the OC then skipped on over to Elkhart, 580 miles for the day. We are on I80 toll way 2 miles from the exit for the consignee. We should be there by 0730 and unloaded by 1000.

I have to make this catch up post quick. I couldn't find any plugins at the service plaza and the laptop is running on fumes.

We're good and have 23 days until our next TAH. Seems like a long time without a day off, but we're still enjoying it. Spring is springing everywhere and we get to see it all over the country.

Bob

On our way out

2009-03-19T05:24:00.002-06:00

We delivered in Ft. Worth and scooted on over to the Dallas OC. We got our next w/a that evening, it was a pisser. We were to pick up a relay trailer there at the OC and deliver at another location in Dallas at 1400. At least it gave Teresa a chance to catch up on all her morning programs; The View, Regis and Kelly and the like. As always I'm hopeful that we can deliver early so we hit the place about 1230. That didn't work. They didn't start unloading till after 1430 and finished at about 1630. Since it was also in Dallas the miles was zero. Seems we get a whopping $25 for a short load. Hurray, a whole day and $25. I think we might get an extra $15 or $25 for detention pay since they took over 2 hours to unload. Then we had a pick up another 20 miles away. But since it's still in Dallas it's zero miles again. So I've driven about 35 miles so far and get no miles recorded I'm OOR (out of route) by 35 miles. Then they, Scheider, wonders why the drivers are OOR. Go figure.

The next p/u was at 1900, but again got there early. This time it helped by about 20 minutes. We got out of there at 2015 and headed for a place to rest. We made it to the Love's truck stop north of town and have about 180 miles left to OKC today. That was supposed to be our start of TAH but we got a message that they may need us to pick up another load around OKC and also drop it at our drop lot in OKC. No details yet. Needless to say we're ready to be done for this 3 weeks on the road.

"Some days you get the bear, and some days the bear gets you" I think yesterday the bear got us!!!

All for Naught

2009-03-16T18:40:00.002-06:00

Saturday we got our next w/a; pick up a trailer there at the Edwardsville OC and take it to Laredo, TX. Cool. Only problem is the trailer doesn't arrive until 0230 Sunday morning. It's a HOT load, needs to be there on Monday. Not too bad 1087 miles - two days.

Got up about 5:30 and started looking for the trailer... nope nowhere. I called the support folks and was told the previous driver had put the wrong trailer number in on the Qualcomm. So I started looking again. Yep, there it is. Might have been there awhile, who knows.

Anyway got hooked up while Teresa slept and hit the road. Made it all the way to Durant, OK 565 miles. Not a bad day. This morning I got up a bit too early - 0400. Got in a bit of trouble for that one. Anyway we got to the freight forwarder (it's actually headed across the border into Mexico ) at 1600 and they were locked up tight. They left early for a Mexican holiday.

Tomorrow we'll head back and deliver at 0700 then there is a load at the Laredo OC that HAS to be back in Ft. Worth, TX tomorrow. The w/a say 427 miles. Should not be a problem, depending on traffic.

We're hanging out at an IdleAire at the Pilot in Laredo. Teresa's so excited watching "DWTS."

After waking her up at 0400 this morning, it's the least I can do.

Here's a sunrise from OK, I took the morning of my Mom's birthday. It's a little blurry but the colors are good.

Edwardsville, IL

2009-03-14T05:37:00.002-06:00

After looking at our timeline I could tell that we were not going to make it to St. Louis by 0900 on Friday. The load had been scheduled out at 0800 on Wednesday. We didn't get it till 1230. By the time we were loaded and through Houston traffic headed back north on US59 it was 1700 and we had been on the road for 11 hours, not all driving but on-the-road none the less. By then we had only covered 60 miles of the estimated trip of 787. With really only one full day of driving and a bit on Friday morning, no way.

I put in a change to deliver at 1300. I figure, no problem, we don't have any blood or organs so who would care. Nope, they moved the delivery to Monday. As a result Friday at 1230 we dropped the trailer at the Edwardsville, IL OC and Teresa went in to start laundry. Since I still had some hours available they sent me over to New World Pasta to pick up a load and bring it back to the OC. The pasta is headed for Green Bay, not sure who is going to get it, but for now we're loadless.

I'm letting Teresa get the last of her beauty sleep and then head out to see if there is any assignment for us.

Alls good for us. TAH next Friday. No big plans for that 4 days yet. Rest, golf and sewing I imagine.

Still in Texas

2009-03-11T17:11:00.003-06:00

Called and sang "Happy Birthday" to my Mom on Monday. Then we had a great breakfast with Teresa's Mom and Dad. They are as excited about going to Las Vegas as we are.

Teresa had the, ummm, audacity to ask our waitress her age. Funny thing she had Teresa's same birthday, except 32 years earlier. She was 82. Cute and efficient. I'll bet she could do some training. Grandma said she's been there for as long as she has been coming, and that's a LONG time.

We delivered our beer in Perry and took a walk. We're back to using our weights again. When we got back we had a smallish work assignment. We went over to Tulsa and picked up a relay load of flour from Houston and took it to Vinita, OK for delivery Tuesday morning.

Then we headed back to Tulsa, Jenks, actually and picked up a load of Scott paper towels and took them down to Houston. We delivered this morning. I didn't figure we would get another load soon so we headed over to the Houston OC. Fairly quickly we did get another w/a. We were 13th on the list. But this is a HAZMAT load and not all drivers have that endorsement. Anyway, I do. We ran into the OC and showered. Which was very badly needed. Since we were on a lot of state highways there weren't any Pilots to fuel and shower at. I even had to buy $100 of diesel to get going on Tuesday. Course they reimburse, eventually.

We headed over to Chem One and picked up Zinc Sulphur - I have no idea what it's used for, except we get to haul it to St. Louis.

We've stopped for the night at a little truck stop north of Cleveland, TX, owned by eastern Indians. The guy gave me my scale receipt, then ran over and made pizza. Multi-faceted and multi-tasking.

Must be Beer-thirty

2009-03-09T05:46:00.003-06:00

Saturday morning I was checking with Motel 6 and Super 8 for room availability and rates and decided on Motel 6 - they had the best rate and had truck parking nearby. About 1100 I made a last check on the QC. Whoops, there it is.

We dead headed down to Ft. Collins, CO to an Bud plant and picked up 44,600 pounds of beer. It was still fairly early so we headed down to Denver where I knew the temperatures would not freeze the beer. Beer is an FP (freeze protect) load and you have to be aware of the temps and if it's below freezing you have to run the truck all night. It was snowing in Cheyenne, WY and Ft. Collins but Denver was very nice.

We saw more wildlife on this trip than any other, I think. No, the Funny Lady is not out there with the buffalo. We also saw pheasant and a couple of Eagles. Try to get a picture of either of those some day, HAH.

Yesterday we left Denver and made it all the way to Wichita, KS and it's still warm. Glory, I think winter is on the wane. We're meeting Grandma and Grandpa for breakfast at 0900 in Blackwell, OK then we'll head to Perry, OK to deliver our beer at a Anheuser Busch distributor, about an hour from Blackwell.

We need to stay in OK today so I can get the satellite set up - you should know that "Dancing With The Stars" starts tonight. That means every Monday and Tuesday for the next whatever weeks we have to be able to get a good ABC signal, or the satellite in local, or a motel or something. Small concessions to keep the Funny Lady along.

We've made our arrangements to Las Vegas. Got to love cellular phones and wireless. Traveling across South Dakota we made 5 airplane reservations and secured our timeshare on the LV strip. We talked to all the kids to put the bugs in their ears about coming. Grandma and Grandpa Purvis are coming, my Mom is coming, and I'm hopeful most of the 5 kids and their families will be able to come, too. Those from Monterey have 500 miles and Scott from Boise has 600 miles. I'm thinking they can drive to LV pretty easily. Course I'm a little jaded, I drive that many miles every single day. The girls will have to fly from Chicago, that's next on the arrangement agenda.

Time to get the Funny Lady out of the sack.

Gillette, Wy

2009-03-07T05:19:00.007-06:00

Ok, last time you have to hear about our aborted trip to Cancun. Grandma took this picture that Sunday we were headed to the airport. Think we were in the spirit ? You betcha.

Beautiful trip across Wisconsin, Minnesooota, South Dakota and into Wyoming. Not even too cold during the day.

As mentioned earlier, Teresa had a place in mind to have dinner in Sioux Falls, SD, Minerva's. I could tell it was a little more upscale than Golden Corral or the like. Evidenced by the white table cloths and napkins on the tables. Minerva's was very nice, food was great. I had a nice steak and salad bar Teresa had a lamb steak with risotto. She even had some left over for lunch yesterday. The tab wasn't as bad as I thought for as good as the food was, $58, including tip.

Enroute we took some time to wander around the famous Wall Drug, in Wall, SD. Cute, interesting and huge. Just about anything a visitor or tourist would like to buy, including multiple restaurants. Was fun and got out of there without spending any money and a free bathroom. Can you imagine having to pay for a bathroom on an airplane ? Well they're free at Wall Drug, like everywhere else!!! I do remember a time when there were some places that had a quarter slot on the door to open it, but I haven't seen any of those for a LONG time.

Made it to Gillette at 1400 MST then I got a look at the load. All of the bathroom and kitchen cabinets needed for 24 apartments. None on skids. They pulled a crew together, they had done this a lot of times before. They pulled up a forklift with a platform and nailed on some 2 x 12's to make a slide. Then I got to pull them down and carry them to the tail gate and someone else loaded them onto the slide and three other guys carried them into the storage area. When I got about half way through another guy appeared in the truck and I continued to pull them down and he slid them back to the tail gate. Two hours and down to a t-shirt and it was snowing lightly outside.

I was getting sore by half-way through. When we were all done I grabbed some Motrin, not too bad today.

No new w/a yet. If we don't get one this morning we'll go check into a hotel, probably for both Sat and Sun nights.

Across the field from the apartments there was a herd of antelope. One of the guys said there were more antelope in Wyoming than people. From what I had seen on the way, I believe it.

Back in Gary

2009-03-04T20:41:00.003-06:00

We made it back into Gary this evening at 1900 and dropped the trailer headed to Canada. Our new w/a is to pick up a loaded trailer here and take it to Gillette, WY, 1015 miles and deliver by 1300 on Friday. I'm going to try to change that to 1500, it's a little more reasonable. Cabinets; don't know what kind, but it's supposed to be 15,000 lbs. LOVE THOSE...

We're going to leave here about 0530 and make it to Sioux Falls, SD for the night. Teresa used to live there and has a place picked out for dinner tomorrow - Minerva's.

Not much to report traveling I80 west then east for two days. I think tomorrow we're headed up I90 and west. Cows and harvested corn and lots of it.

I'm guessing after unloading Friday we're going to be laying over, we'll see.

I promise to start taking a few pictures... course you know the Funny Lady will be in most of them.

Got an email that Craig and Diane put in a comment - but I haven't seen it yet.

Want to post a comment

2009-03-03T20:01:00.002-06:00

I have had a couple of emails wondering why I don't allow comments. Well turns out I do.

If you move the cursor to the right of my name at the bottom of each post you will see the hand come up. It will open a comment box. It's invisible. Try it a couple of times it will work.

Sioux City

2009-03-03T19:48:00.004-06:00

We high tailed it out of Gary at 0515 this morning. Just in time to grab a cup of coffee and hit the road. Course the Funny Lady was still in the sack till 0700. We made it to Aurelia at 1430 and we unloaded by 1500. We updated the Qualcomm with a no load message and waited. About 20 minutes later I figured to head east to a truck stop for the night. Enroute we got our next w/a. Head to Sioux City and pick up a load of pet food tomorrow morning. So we made a few rights and a left to get turned back around headed east.

This load is headed for Canada. Oh, heck, no passport. Turns out we're supposed to drop the trailer in Gary for a Canadian driver to take home for TAH.

We made it on into Sioux City so we're here for the night and a quick jaunt in the morning to the consignee. Today was 590 miles. If things go well we'll make it 450 miles tomorrow back to Gary.

There's an Aussie truck driver here says he can get me a driving job in Australia. Wouldn't that be a kick. I'm not packing my bags just yet.

Long day today, Teresa's watching House while I blog. Read for bad, I meant bed.

Three Days in Indiana

2009-03-02T18:51:00.002-06:00

We arrived in Champaign about 1630 Friday night. Looks like Pilot has bought Road Ranger. A couple of miles north of Champaign is an old Road Ranger moving into Pilot life. We dropped our trailer there and headed into Champaign. We had a nice dinner with Tracie at Chevy's and then Teresa and Tracie walked the mall looking for a formal dress for a sorority function Tracie was planning to attend. I figured "oh, no" I'm gonna get hit big for this one. Nope, $10. Everyone was happy, including me.

Saturday we trekked on up to Gary and got here by 1015. We left this morning for our delivery. So either we had a nice restful Sat and Sun in Gary or a pretty boring weekend, right ?

Well not too bad. We used the company car a couple of times. Trips to Costco and out to dinner. And a shower every day. Almost heaven.

This morning we left at 0515 headed for Elkhart, IN a little over two hours away for an 0800 delivery. Turns out we were late - I forgot the 1 hour time zone difference.

After a quick delivery we got our next w/a. Deadhead down to Bluffton, IN and pick plastic bins headed for Aurelia, IA. Tonight we made it back to Gary and another shower. Tomorrow we have to leave about 0500 to make it 450 miles to Aurelia by 1500.

We're doing fine though and our next TAH is scheduled for 3/21 - 3/24 so we have something to look forward to.

Ron, I figured I would get a chewing out from you for leaving Teresa at the rest area last week, are you sleeping ?

One to Laugh About

2009-02-27T06:08:00.003-06:00

This one is a laugher, at least the Funny Lady is.

I innocently forgot this yesterday and Teresa reminded me of it again... so here goes.

On our bobtailing ride down to Dallas from OKC we were about an hour and a half enroute and Teresa was getting ready for a snooze so I pulled into a rest area for a potty break, with my book of course. Well, I was a couple of minutes and then hopped into the truck. Without looking in the back a said "so you're all snuggled in" and got no reply so I figured she was sleeping already. I then took a few minutes to get my log book updated. Again, without actually looking in the back I headed out. I picked up my phone to call my Mom as I do every morning. A couple of minutes later I got a call on my phone and since I was already on it I ignored it. A minute later Teresa's phone starts going off so I say to the back "Babe." Nothing, so I say "BABE" louder. By then I know I've got a problem.

In the meantime Teresa has been wandering around the rest area and comes back to where the truck was and sees that it's gone... hard to miss those big orange trucks. She borrowed a phone from one of the other rest area attendees.

So, I call the phone that had just called me and of course it's busy cause she's on it still trying to call me...

You get the picture. I spun around about as fast as a bobtailing truck can do so on the freeway and headed back, then she caught me on the phone. So I got to cover that 6 miles three times that morning. Honestly I had thoughts of heading on but could imagine the grief I would get so I headed back and got grief anyway, just joking. I couldn't go anywhere without her and I didn't get grief, just laughs.

That was the first time in the year we've been out that something like that has happened, don't figure to repeat that one any time soon!!!

At it Again

2009-02-26T06:37:00.003-06:00

Well, we're at it again. After two days to golf in Ponca City and plenty of sewing we're over not making our trip to Mexico. I contacted my DBL at Schneider Monday morning and asked if we could come back on Wed instead of Fri. No problemo.

We got to the drop lot in OKC Wed morn just befor 0800 and about 15 minutes later we got a note to bobtail down to Dallas to pick up a little load. After making sure they were paid miles we headed to Walmart to pick up our staples for the week and headed south. The load was a shorty, pick up at the OC and take it over to Ft. Worth to deliver at 1900. The short loads don't pay to bad; $1 per mile and $25 ( or $15, I don't remember exactly) for the extra stop. Anyway it's about 40 miles and we delivered at the designated time. We headed out early to miss traffic and to watch "Nights at Rodanthe." With a walk in the nice weather and a movie, not bad.

Today our next w/a is to pick up a load in Dallas and head for Elkhart, IN. Doesn't deliver until Monday morning at 0800 so we've got about 3 1/2 days to travel 1,000 miles. Of course it's back to cold country so I'll have to put my shorts away on Saturday. Looks like we'll head up to I44 and over to St. Louis. Since we've got some extra time I think we'll take I57 out of St. Louis instead of I55 and drop into Champaign and see the girls, probably Friday night and then on to Gary Saturday. We'll have a quiet day for most of Sunday and either leave for Elkhart Sunday evening or early Monday morning. Of course my girl doesn't like early mornings too much so we'll probably leave Gary in the afternoon and settle into Elkhart early so she can watch Amazing Race and Brothers and Sisters.

As everyone is tightening their belts, so is Schneider. They announced Monday no pay increases for "anyone." I was due for my 1 year increase this coming Sunday. Nice timing for me...
Oh well, at least we're running, pretty well. Can you believe it, one year already ?

We're in good health and have each other so who could ask for anything more ?

Drats Foiled by the Passport

2009-02-22T18:07:00.002-06:00

We made are delivery in Williamsburg, IA on Wednesday and got our next w/a to pick up in Oskaloosa, IA and deliver in Springfield, MO. Success. Thursday we delivered to Kraft there. Our next w/a was to run to a Kingsford Charcoal in Belle north of Rolla, MO and take it to the drop lot in OKC. We finished that 550 mile run about 1800. Enroute Teresa checked to see if there were any flights out that night to Atlanta (Friday) she "thought", yes, 2130. We headed over to the airport and tried to get on. The airport looked pretty empty, we hung around until an agent came by. Nope, no flights. They pretty much shut down by then.

Cool, we headed to Ponca City and checked in with the family and spent Saturday resting, chatting and getting ready. Of course Teresa had to get to the store and pick up some stuff to make a baby quilt for Scott's (our oldest) expected baby.

This morning we got up and had breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa and headed for the airport to head out on our long awaited and much deserved vacation. When we checked in we were unexpectedly turned away. Teresa's passport had expired on her birthday two weeks ago. Can you believe it. Nothing we could do, no exceptions to take advantage of. So we're back in Ponca City.

I'll call Schneider tomorrow and see if we can get back on the road Wednesday morning instead of our previously scheduled Friday.

Oh well, what can you do ? Who thinks about a passport that expires every 10 years. Obviously we did not.

If you were expecting pics of sleep, sun, sand and skin you'll have to wait for us to get to Vegas.

Wed in Missouri

2009-02-18T04:51:00.002-06:00

Sunday night we finally got our next w/a - someone from the yard there in Reserve, LA was going over to the shipper and picking up the load Monday morning and bringing it back to the OC. We were then to run it up to Williamsburg, IA. Hooooray, back at it !!! Don't ask me why we weren't to do the pickup. The OC is on 19th street and the shipper was on 10th street. Anyway the other driver gave us the thumbs up as he headed out then pulled right up next to us to hand the trailer over. 45,000 pounds of abrasives - I think that means it some sort of sandblasting product.

I think we got out of there about 1030 and headed to W. Memphis, AR - 380 miles. Shower and laundry. We even get towels there at the W. Memphis OC, though I do have to plead for an extra for my "authorized rider." We were quite surprised to learn that at the Reserve OC you have to bring your own towel. Oh, the indignities we suffer.

Yesterday we covered 450 miles and made it to Wayland, MO, all the way to the top of Missouri and about 120 miles left to the consignee. We figure to be there by about 0930 and with an estimated 2:30 to unload be ready to head out at noon. We dined in Hannibal, MO, home of Mark Twain. By the time we got there at about 1700, I was famished. We had the buffet at KFC, that was a first for us, pretty good.

We're scheduled for GTAH ( guaranteed time at home) starting Sunday to head to Cancun. Drivers are allowed to request 6 GTAHs per year. Looks like we're about 650 miles from OKC so we'll only need a day and a half to make it. Our plane leaves about 1330 from OKC, we can make it there even by leaving IA by sometime Saturday, I think we're good to go.

We're no longer in the warm country but so far it's not that bad.

Truck update - as you know we had our "old" truck for almost a year. The trucks have this module called a LVD (low voltage disable, not sure about the D). Anyway when the output of the batteries drop to 12.2 volts it turns off all of the inside power. The Wabasto heater will continue to run, everything else is caput. Our "new" truck has been reaching the LVD threshold about 0300 every morning. This means our little refer, and everything else, are without power. So about that time I wake up and start the motor to let it run and try to go back to sleep. That doesn't usually work for me. So that means my new wake up time is around 0300, annoying Teresa a bit, of course me too. I took it to the shop yesterday morning in W. Memphis but they couldn't find anything wrong. They advised me to unplug the refer overnight. Like we're going to want warm milk in the morning for our cereal !!!

Well I'm trying not to get too hung up on it this week, just get through and get onto our vacation. Sand, sun, sleep, skin, maybe I'm thinking too far ahead, we'll see.

Lemonade - Lemonade - Lemonade

2009-02-15T18:34:00.009-06:00

Lemonade - Lemonade - Lemonade

After updating our blog this morning I got an idea... wonder if there's a bus from here to New Orleans. Turns out there's one that travels from Baton Rouge to New Orleans several times a day and back. Five bucks each, each way. That was at 0600. Yup, got an idea. I headed out and who did I run into at 0600 - the Not-so Funny Lady. For a couple of reasons she had a lousy nights sleep. Looked a little groggy and cranky. So I hopped a little leprechaun-ish two step and got her going. We headed out to the Pilot where the bus arrived and showered and ate our cereal for breakfast.

The bus was nice and new and also pretty well full. Seems like it's working for them. Anyway we caught the 0730 and by 0805 we were in New Orleans. That's the better Funny Lady having her Chai Frapaccino inside the Sheraton on Canal Street while I head off to Harrah's for a bit.

Here she comes to get me... much better humor now, can you tell.

At the bottom of Canal St. on the riverwalk that takes people, bikes and cars across to Algier Island. It's FREE. That's me pulling the ferry up to the dock. What a strongman, huh ?

We wandered the riverwalk and the French Quarter for a couple of hours and had a Muffelleta and Shrimp Po-boy at Franks and chatted with these folks attending a convention here from South Dakota. They were enjoying the warmth and sunshine as much as we were.
Then we headed back down to Canal St. to watch one of the many Mardi Gras parades.

We're back at the OC and tomorrow we have a load headed to Williamsburg, IA. So we'll be busy for a couple of days...

But we had a great day today.

Sunday in N'awlens

2009-02-15T05:19:00.002-06:00

Friday was moving day, got'er done. Everything moved, bed made, good stuff. About noon while waiting for a w/a I noticed that the inside lights didn't come on when I opened the door and the CB wouldn't come on and the heater wouldn't turn off. So the truck spent the afternoon, evening and night in the shop and we checked into the Quality Inn in Reserve, LA which is about 20 miles form New Orleans. New alternator, a few fixed wires, good to go. We got back about 0900 and everything seems to be OK. The batteries don't seem to hold as good a charge as our "old" truck but OK. Maybe once we get it out on the road for a couple of hours it will start to get a good charge.

The hotel included a hot breakfast so we were good for the day. About 3:30 we headed out for lunch/dinner. Pier 51 - very good. We had fried soft shell crabs - a first and good, fried okra, fried calamari, chicken and andouille gumbo, crawfish and corn chowder. Great spread. I know that's a lot of fried stuff, but "when in Rome." We don't eat like that often but after all it was Valentine's day so we had to.

There's an interesting anomaly here in Louisiana; they have daiquiri places all over, with drive thrus. You pull in get your daiquiri and go home. As long as the little hole for the straw is intact you're legal. They guys tell me they carry extra lids so if they get stopped they can put a fresh lid on and they'll be OK.

We're fine and maybe a little bored and next Sunday we'll head for Cancun. I'm pretty much guessing that by Wednesday/Thursday we'll be somewhere in Texas and Schneider will head us north and send us home. That will be fine for us, we'll see the folks in Ponca City and if the weather holds get some golfing in. I checked some of the courses in Cancun and they want $90 to $180 for a round of golf. I like to golf, but not that much.

You probably are aware that Mardi Gras has started they've got parades everywhere - it's literally a month long party here.

Got a couple of secrets brewing I can hopefully let out of the bag when we get back from Cancun, and no we're not pregnant.

On a Downer

2009-02-13T05:44:00.002-06:00

Doesn't happen very often, actually rarely, but I'm on a bit of downer right now.

We delivered Wednesday morning. Finished at 1000 am, then sat all the rest of the day. About 2100 we get our next w/a for Thursday. Another short run to Opeluesas, LA, 230 miles. Can't pay the bills with 230 miles in two days. After we delivered and I waited 19 minutes on the phone to determine whether I should pick up a trailer to take out, they said yep.

Went over to a closeby truck stop and started steaming. I called Cathy, my DBL and started in. The crux of the issue is; when I started Schneider had an obligation to make sure each driver got 2,500 miles per week. Now with slow freight and what looks to me like too many drivers. So far this week we're at about 800 miles. Now to be fair the three days we were in layover status last weekend we got paid $80 per day. That compares to a fairly normal day of 400 miles that at .33 cents per mile is 133. So $80 is better than a kick in the head but not good enough.

So I said to Cathy "I need to get the 2,500 miles or Schneider needs to lay me off." Schneider's position is they aren't laying off drivers. If I quit, no unemployment. If I stay, insufficient income and lots of sitting. I haven't quite figured out why they won't lay of drivers but I'm guessing it's so that they cannot collect unemployment benefits. I don't know where this is headed.

On top of that Cathy instructed me to head to New Orleans, they were ready to trade in my truck. It's a 2003 with 630,000 miles. I figure no problem, the next truck will have to be better. I'm not sure of the year but it already has 513,000 miles on it, no passenger seat, no working radio, and who knows what else. You know the feeling; take your wife to look at a new place, and it's a dump. Teresa was pissed. How can you make someone move into a dump ? I'm not sure. But so far I haven't moved any thing into it. It's not like I have much choice, but I guess I'll have to get it up-to-snuff before I move anything. So that means we're stuck here for the day probably.

Anyway, with the lack of miles and the truck change scenario, I'm on a little of a downer.

The good news is that I'm showered and it's warm out and we have each other, so like they say "make lemonade from lemons" we're pretty good at that. Let you know how it works out.

Still in the warm country

2009-02-10T20:26:00.005-06:00

Friday without running was good. Checking into the Motel 6 on Saturday was great, but by Sunday I was fit to be tied. I won the battle regarding washing the truck. Finally I said "it's my job and it's a reflection on me." That clinched the deal. Wash we did and it looks real good.

Remember, I'm the guy that has empathy for my automobiles when it's time for an oil change and I'm the one that gets anxious when I'm running low on fuel. So I guess it's OK for me to feel like the truck also wants to look running around the country.

Monday started off pretty poorly. By noon we had not received a new w/a. In some places we probably wouldn't have minded much. But the two truck stops we were at I wouldn't wash my dog in, so you can see how we might feel. Also around noon I indicated we were checking back into the Motel 6, which got a tepid OK. By then we're feeling we deserve it again. I sent a note on the Qualcomm - "load or hotel, you make the call." So about 1300 we're getting ready to head over and low and behold a w/a. At this point I wasn't sure whether to be elated or disappointed. And to top it off it's a relatively short run. But it's activity so we're off.

We ran 90 miles to Palestine, TX to pick up a load at a WalMart d/c to take to San Antonio and deliver in the morning. We stopped for the night in Rockdale, TX.

This morning at 0500 I went into WalMart and picked up these flowers for my Funny Lady; today is her birthday, the BIG 50.

They're her color - she's a purple person.

That's my water jug I used as a vase to present to her. I got hugs and kisses and laughs all before 530 in the morning. What a day !

We delivered in San Antonio and then picked up another load in San Antonio to deliver in Houston. We're now at the Houston OC and I am, doing laundry. Teresa's watching her favorite show - Scrubs. Well I guess it is her birthday, it's the least I can do.

Ten days till Cancun...

60 and warming

2009-02-08T09:51:00.002-06:00

We arrived and were unloaded by 1100 Friday and have had nothing since. Do I sound annoyed ? That's a yes and no. We hung out in WalMart lot Friday afternoon until I was pretty sure nothing was going to be forthcoming. I read for awhile and took a nap while Teresa walked over to the going-out-of-business Goody's store. She got a few things at 60% off. Then we grabbed a couple of movies from the Red Box there and headed for a truck stop.

By noon yesterday nothing still happening. They say we're #3 on the list but no loads moving. We drove over to Marshall, TX and checked into a Motel 6. We headed out to return our Red Box movies and have lunch. We ate at the Jalapeno Tree in Marshall. Fajitas and Chili Relleno. I can swear that the skirt steak with the fajitas was the tenderest I've EVER had.

We enjoyed our accomodations, and had what Jason refers to as "a hot night."

We'll check-out today about noon. I'm planning to wash the truck; it's covered in salt and grime and Teresa's planning to talk me out of it. Let you know who won later.

It's beautiful out - sunny 60 and warming. We'll head out and hike around town this afternoon.

Man, I couldn't do this alone, but with Teresa along, it's pretty good.

Effingham, IL

2009-02-05T05:50:00.002-06:00

After making our two stops in Chicago we paused at the South Holland Oasis thinking a little nap and a Panda lunch would be good then maybe head over to the Gary OC. Nope !!!

We pulled in and used the facilities and went back to the truck to catch up on my log paperwork.

The trick here is "a watched pot never boils." Since we were planning for a nap we got a new w/a, happens every time.

We treked into downtown Chicago and picked up our next load. We're headed for Longview, TX. I have checked the weather in route and it's going to get better, but so far it's really cold.

We waved at the girls in Champaign on the way down I57 and stopped for the night in Effingham, IL. Who names a place "Effing" anyway. Here's the answer:

Effingham is named for Effingham County, which was named after Edward Effingham, who resigned his commission as general in the British army in 1775, refusing to serve in the war against the Colonies. The name is Anglo-Saxon for "Effa's house".

Enquiring minds want to know.

We're 16 days to Cancun. As I am wont to do, I made our plane reservations about 6 months ago hedging against the rising airline costs. Sometimes that works in your favor and sometimes not. In this case prices have actually gone down about 35% in the last six months. Fortunately for us in the meantime Frontier has made a couple minor changes to the schedule. Viola, yesterday we used that excuse to cancel those reservations without a cancelation fee and made new reservations. We actually got a better schedule and reduced our airfare from 1050 to 698. We're flying Delta now. Who new ?!

Now, for our next adventure we're working on a trip to Las Vegas. There are a few reasons for this location - both Moms can come fairly easily, Scott and Jennie can hop down, Claire and Ledo and Adam can drive over from Monterey without too much difficulty. But the real reason is that Donnie and Marie Osmond have a show at the Flamingo. Teresa still has a thing for Donnie, I guess those old infatuations never go away. Teresa's Mom, too. We have asked the management team there to extend their tour, which currently ends in April. We'll see. If they do, we'll begin making some solid arrangements. I know LV in June - whoa hot ! But sitting here in Effingham at 8 degrees, it sounds pretty good.

Time to go get the Funny Lady up and hit the road. She still is my Funny Lady, I guess those old infatuations really never do go away, do they ? I hope not.

Back in the cold

2009-02-04T04:00:00.002-06:00

We spent a glorious day in Virginia enjoying the 60 plus degree weather. Monday morning we headed to Winchester, VA to pick up a trailer and then through the hills to Baltimore, MD for our next w/a. We picked up a 43,400 pound load of miscellaneous cables to deliver in Chicago.

Have to tell you that was pretty much the toughest load we've had so far. Those hills of MD and WV were really tough with that much weight. It wasn't that bad going east with 30,000 but going west with the 43,000 plus was a real bear. Up at 25 miles per hour and down at 35, over and over and over again. Took 6 hours to cover 200 miles. The one consolation was that I passed two trucks who were obviously going slower than me at 25 mph. I guess they had a real long day.

Once we got through that and on into Ohio we had clear sailing until we got to Valpariso, IN. SNOW and lots of it. We went through numerous accidents. Another 30 miles at 25 mph - white outs all around.

We pushed through, carefully, to I65 where it was clear and on into Gary, 13 hour day. Long but pretty much legal.

We have two deliveries this morning - Hazel Crest and Alsip and then who knows. Maybe a break for the afternoon. They continue to say freight is slow but so far we haven't really seen it.

The weather folks say it's supposed to get down to 1 degree overnight. So far I think it's about 10.

Congratulations to Jason for completing the year-end 1099 process, on time.

Front Royal, VA - 66 Degrees

2009-02-01T18:03:00.006-06:00

Makes your mind wander, doesn't it. I had forgotten this one. It's from the bridge outside of Pasadena, TX just east and a little south of Houston.

You want to know what -2 degrees looks like ? I'll tell you that literally ALL of Iowa looks like this and yes it was that cold. And that's a prison in Hutchinson, KS.

Yesterday we had breakfast in Champaign, IL with the girls. Andrea's beau Josh came along, he's the tall one. We then made it on to Indianapolis where Teresa did the laundry and I napped and we showered and hit the road again. Made it all the way to Lafayette, OH and spent the night. About 1400 CST we made it to Front Royal, VA and dropped out trailer of cookies and oatmeal for Family Dollar.

Had our salad and Marie Callender's chicken pot pie. Pretty good stuff. Now we're with our new found friends at the Love's Truck Stop at MM291 on I81 watching the super bowl. Can you spot the Funny Lady ?

Tomorrow we pick up a trailer in Winchester, VA and head into Baltimore to get loaded, not sure of what yet. Then we head back to Chicago.

It's all good.

Bob and Teresa

Back in Cold Country

2009-01-30T04:25:00.002-06:00

We're back in cold country again - Des Moines, IA and headed for Mason City.

We had a nice TAH, though because of the ice storm that went through OK and AR we were shut in most of Monday and Tuesday. We stayed and Grandma and Grandpa's both days. Teresa got a lot of sewing done and got us all ready to go to Cancun - 23 days.

I read a bit and napped a bit. Both Teresa and I have been reading Jeffery Deaver and Stephen White books. Each have written about 15/20 books and we have almost finished all of them. They are excellent writers. We tried to read them chronologically but didn't find them all in that sequence. I used to read John Grisham and Dan Brown, but these days they have been a little slow on the production end. Somebody talk to their editors about that, please.

I saw Mr. Grisham on the Today Show this week so I guess he's got a new one, I think it was "The Associate." I'll have to wait until it comes out in paperback and ends up at a half price store. We don't save the books we've read. Can you see it - we each read about 2 a week... how many shelves would it take to hold them all. We read and then leave them at the next OC we visit. Sometimes we even score a new book to read at the same time. In addition to being team domestic Teresa is also I our librarian. She makes me sign each book out as I read them. That way when I ask for my next book she's ready. Funny, I always wanted to make love to a librarian. Now I have one 24/7.

We sat for most of Wednesday waiting for our next w/a. About 1500 it came in. Up to Hutchinson, KS and pick up a load of salt and deliver it to Kraft Foods in Mason City. Yesterday we picked up and made it to Des Moines last night. Showered and headed out to the truck to watch CSI. We can do that now we have all the remotes and power cords. Don't want to leave those behind again!!!

Grandma watches the game shows and Grandpa watches all things western. Interesting that Tuesday night we watched "Wild Bill Hickock.". He spent a lot of time in Kansas and it seemed we passed through many of the areas that he was in. Seemed a bit of a historical ride for me. That's one of the ways I occupy my mind on those 500 mile days.

We're hoping for a w/a south after our delivery today. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

TAH - Ponca City

2009-01-25T14:02:00.002-06:00

We were pretty busy last week. Down to Houston, up to Athens over to Clarksville, AR and Morrilton. Then back to Tulsa to drop off the trailer and head home Friday night. I don't have my pumpkin pad with me to detail it all, but I know we were running pretty good. Freight might be slow, but we didn't feel it the last two weeks.

We sure enjoyed the warmer temperatures down there. Now that we're back in Ponca City it's been running a little chilly. Not Minnesooota chilly but chilly none the less.

We're sorting and packing our bags for our trip to Cancun next month. Enjoying family, resting and eating... What else do you do after running hard for over three weeks ?

Not much else to report, will begin to update ( more regularly ) once we're back on the road Wednesday. In the meantime, I think I'll take a nap.

We're Burning Up Here

2009-01-18T18:29:00.004-06:00

We're burning up here... we arrived in Dallas to 71 degree weather. That is basically a 94 degree temperature change from last week. Gotta love it. After delivery in Cedartown we dead headed over to a Penny's distribution center in Atlanta and dropped our salt covered trailer.

That's the hard working ol' girl there. No, not the Funny Lady...

While in Minnesooota we spotted this ice covered lake with a bunch of ice huts on it. Looked interesting. Teresa asks "so why do they like to do that?" If anyone knows, please tell us.

Saturday morning we went back to the Penny's lot and picked up a "hot" load headed for Dallas, and here we are.

Our TAH is scheduled for Saturday so I figure they're going to run is around Texas for awhile then send us home. We're starting our count down till we head for Cancun, 33 days. I'm preparing already.

Who wants a beard on the beach ? I was beginning to look pretty scruffy so I figured I should lose it all.

Pretty clean AND handsome - right ?

Teresa's doing laundry and then we're going to take a walk.

Pooped in Gary

2009-01-14T15:48:00.001-06:00

You want to know how cold it can get in Minnesooota ? Tuesday morning it was -12 degrees. Now that's cold. I'm pretty sure those folks living up there are hearty but... man I couldn't handle that all winter long.

We made our MUST delivery on Monday morning at 0800 and got our next w/a while dropping the trailer. Head out to Sleepy Eye, MN and pick up some Rid-Ice and take it to Mills Fleet and Farm in Germantown, WI - 42,000 pounds. We spent the night Monday in St. Charles, MN. Another cold night of -12. We delivered yesterday about noon and got another w/a to pick up a relay load in Sturtevant, WI and deliver it to an O'reilly's auto parts on the north side of Milwaukee. I figured it would be a distribution center. No such luck... We drove past it first. The parking lot was full of everything to outfit a store. Apparently it was being converted from a Checker Auto to an O'reilly's.

I called to confirm they were expecting me... yep, just pull in the lot, they do it all the time. An hour and a half to get in. Snow banks everywhere, cars everywhere. And they wanted the trailer dropped off. At one point the trailer looked like the trailer was going to roll over. Thanks to my Funny Lady for directing me and traffic. Could not have done it without her. Not sure I should have anyway, but it's there. I know, should have got some pictures, but we were both a little preocupado.

This morning we picked up a very light of paint supplies from Sheboygan, WI and are headed to Cedar, GA, thank goodness a little warmth for these old bones.

Today, from Sheboygan to Gary we saw at least 100 cars slid out - and ironically 1 salt truck overturned in downtown Milwaukee. We saw plenty in Minesooota, too, but most of them there were flipped. I could only reason that they must drive faster there.

Traffic was less than crawling on I80 going east, so we said enough! and came on into Gary to fuel the truck, fuel ourselves, shower and do laundry.

You may recall that we had misplaced our power brick and remotes for the tv and sat dish. Monday Joe called to tell us he had found them (where I put them) in his garage. The point is that since we haven't had a TV for two weeks, Teresa is glued to the one in the TV room here at the OC. I think she's getting laundry done, too. I'm pretty sure she'll be leaving with me in the morning. She's looking forward to getting out of the snow as much as I am.

It's snowing like crazy out there, next note from sunshine.

Baby it's REAL Cold Outside

2009-01-12T02:31:00.005-06:00

We arrived in Clear Lake, IA Sunday about 1730 at 18 degrees. Now it's 12. Surely you recall the event that occured here ? Eerie that while coming up I35 the Buddy Holly song "Peggy Sue Got Married" was playing on the Sirius radio. So what am I doing at here at 0300? Well I just haven't gotten the hang of sleeping while the engine is running. My body figures if the engine is running I'm supposed to be in the driver's seat... Not funny. When it's down below 15 you're supposed to keep the engine running, so it is and I am.

On Thursday we spent the evening at the Rosemont oasis headed north. Felt a bit like the Tom Hanks movie The Terminal, not the Hotel California version. We weren't alone for sure, many other folks were spending the evening there. We even observed other folks meeting there. I would recommend it to hole up for a bit.

Friday with 3 drops IN Chicago had it's challenges. We caught all but one bridge lower than 13' 6" before we were committed and had to make one challenging turn around - I didn't say u-turn. One of our addresses was 1360 Ashland. The instructions didn't say north or south but our fuel solution map took us to south. Guess what - there is nothing at south. Another turn around. When we finished at the north address we headed north on Ashland to the 90/94 freeway, but no can't do that, a low bridge. Should have got some pictures, but honestly I was a bit busy... For the record, you also cannot get to I94 north from I90 going east. There's a 13' bridge there, too. You have to go past to, like Addison, and cross over and go back west to go north. Would never have believed that. At least it's marked about a mile in advance.

We finished with the Kmarts at 3:30 and then had to go out to West Chicago in traffic for a pick-up. That was no treat - 2 hours for about 40 miles. That load was headed for Marietta, OK. Hurray, warm weather. On the way through Missouri the temps climbed to 67. Ok, time to bring out the shorts, right ? No way - by Saturday morning it was down into the twenties. We dropped the trailer there, which is just across the border from Dallas on I35, about 3:30 then ran up to Jenks, OK, that's a suburb of Tulsa and picked up a load of toilet paper. Yep, love those. Fully loaded trailer of 15,080 pounds.

This load MUST be delivered at 0800 in Minneapolis, MN this morning. We covered 557 miles to get here to Clear Lake, IA and am leaving at about 4:30 to get to the Target distribution center by 0800. Not particularly fond of this schedule. Hopefully we'll get a bit of a nap some time this morning after delivering, Teresa will make sure of that, don't worry. Not really sure why toilet paper has to be on such a tight schedule... Mostly I think it's service level agreements, regardless of what's in the load. But you would think you were delivering organs for transplant.

Back at it

2009-01-07T06:01:00.002-06:00

We're on the road again... had an uneventful 11 hour 700 mile trip back to Ponca City on Saturday. Sunday we booked on down to Dallas to pick up the truck. Guess what - of the 200 trucks sitting there ours was "loaned" out. Not really a big deal, just annoying. After all it is Schneiders truck, although it is also our house. Nothing much disturbed but we are "missing" a few things, most unimportant.

As we were setting our house back in order we realized we could not find the power cord for the tv or the remote for it and the Direct TV. We figured that we must have left it at home. Our next work assignment came in during the evening - to pick up a relay load there at the Dallas OC and take it to 3 Kmart stores in downtown Chicago. Instead of traveling the normal way I20 - I40 and up I57 we thought we would go I35 and get close to Ponca City. Joe and Grandpa came over to the Loves truck stop at mm211 on I35 and picked us up. Short story is we still can't find them but we had a great mexican dinner at Enrique's with Grandma and Grandpa, thanks. They hauled us back to the truck later that evening.

Yesterday we made it on up to Des Moines, IA. We haven't quite picked our spot for tonight yet. We have an AT delivery for 0900 at the first Kmart and you know Chicago traffic. We want to be close enough not to get hung up in it, but there aren't really any good and safe places to park downtown. Right now I'm thinking the oasis on I90 by the Allstate arena or the oasis on I290 by Rosemont. In either case we'll have the pleasure of listening to the airport - real close and not much else. At least they have a sitting area. I'm thinking maybe we can slip by a Best Buy and pickup the power cord. It's one of those that converts to 16v dc.

It's pretty cold here in Des Moines, a few flurries.

We're hopeful a load south is in our future after delivering tomorrow.

Bob

Happy New Years Everyone

2008-12-31T14:52:00.004-06:00

Happy New Years, Everyone. I think I made land speed record to DIA and back yesterday including a quick stop at McDonald's. Four and a half hours round trip. So the kids are gone and it's just the Funny Lady and myself.

Before they left we walked through Vail Village so they could get a few things to take home.

We have regularly taken our pictures at the covered bridge on the way in. Long ago I was taller than Tracie, now I have to stand on a foot of snow to be. The views at VV are beautiful. The river that runs through it is a championship trout stream, though when I have fished I didn't catch anything. That's Adam sitting with a bronze statue of Ben Franklin, looks presidential doesn't he ?!

This morning we toured the new Westin timeshare, it's a very nice facility. We took the tour to get the $100 gift card. No, we didn't buy anything. I thought we would take our gift card and go out to dinner tonight. Course the Funny Lady had a different idea. We wandered over to the exclusive (joking) and very busy Wal-Mart and get ourselves a salmon. How about that big guy, $7.52 for a pound and three quarters. So we'll have grilled salmon with asparagus and rice tonight and salmon patties with fried potatoes tomorrow. I think I talked her into eating out on Friday. There is a German restaurant in the village that looks pretty good.

We have a jucuzzi tub in our bedroom and we bought some fresh strawberries. That along with some chocolate fudge is going to ring in our New Year, but a lot earlier than midnight. Your imagination can take care of the rest.

Have a safe and Happy New Years

Bob and Teresa

Monday

2008-12-29T21:44:00.003-06:00

Adam and Tracie went out one more day - Here's Adam coming in f0r lunch. I know, for the younger set, going skiing is irresistible but even for the youngest of hearts by the end of the third day in a row mother nature and the snow gods win. Adam was whipped by 2:30 this afternoon. They went to Beaver Creek today. It's owned by the same Vail company but it's not quite as big. They vote Vail as better.

Was a nice day out. Before we headed out to meet the kids for lunch I put the top down and we cruised around town all afternoon that way. Lots of looks and lots of fun.

Tomorrow around noon I've got to take the jont back over the hill to take Adam and Tracie to the airport, we've sure enjoyed them.

We'll probably hang out here until Saturday then back to Ponca City and back to Dallas on Monday.

This evening at the t/s they had a reknowned story teller telling local historical stories around the firepit, and S'mores too.

Bob and Teresa

On the Move

2008-12-27T07:46:00.003-06:00

Today is Saturday, time to move. For the past week we've been at the Christie Lodge and today we're moving over to the Sheraton Mountain Vista till next Saturday. The Christie Lodge is nice, but it's, well, kind of like the Motel 6 of timeshares. Everything is here and most of it works. It's three bedroom and three baths so there is lots of room and that's the biggest advantage. It's the first t/s we bought back 8 years ago and we still like it.

Yesterday I took Andrea back to DIA to head back to Chicago. We watched for the weather, as good truckers do, and noted that we were going to have a pretty good snow overnight. As I am wont to do I woke up at 0410 and looked out. Yep, they were right. I decided we better hit the road. I woke up Teresa who then woke up Andrea and the bustle started.

Wednesday night we played a little Texas Hold'm, this is Andrea in here gamblers outfit... Note her hat. It's from the liguor store across the street; "Beaver Liquors" get it ?

It looked like the snow plows had spent the night up by the Eisenhower Tunnel because I could see them headed west, but our direction (east) looked pretty untouched and I would guess there was at least 5 inches on the road. You could hear the snow rubbing on the underside of the Bug. The trip usually takes about 2 hours, depending on stops and traffic, which there was very little of going east, and this one took a little over 3 hours. I dropped Andrea off and made the turn around back. Going west was a different story, lots of traffic, and this trip was closer to 3 1/2 hours. Successful anyway and no accidents for me. Did see a few unfortunate ones though and several brushings of the guard rail.

I forgot to mention I made the same trip on Christmas day to pick up Adam. On this trip the roads were clear and dry and each direction was closer to 2 hours. While I was waiting for his flight to come I took this picture of the front range from the waiting area at DIA.

In case you didn't know, there is a bridge here in Avon named after me.

Here's a picture of my wonderful and still Funny Lady in front of one of the many decorated trees in Avon.

I just got the call for "where's my tea" and it's time to make breakfast so I better get going.

The kids are skiing at Vail today.

Happy Holidays to all from Avon, Colorado.

Merry Christmas Everyone

2008-12-25T06:21:00.003-06:00

Merry Christmas Everyone !!!

The girls skiied yesterday...

Cute little ski bunnies aren't they ?

Adam flys in from Monterey this morning - another trip over the mountain.

We're having a great vaca here.

Merry Christmas.

Bob and Teresa

Avon or Bust

2008-12-23T13:35:00.009-06:00

Tuesday in Avon, Colorado. Got about 8 inches of snow overnight. Beautiful everywhere. I went out this morning at 0500 and nearly got stuck, I mean really close several times. Wby did I go out driving in 8 inches of snow you ask. Because I could, and I can't ENJOY getting stuck, etc. with Teresa. You know how ladies panic.

I walked to the bread shop this morning to get some ciabatta (sp) for making pannini sandwiches for dinner tonight. This mountain is the entrance to Beaver Creek ski resort and it goes straight up from there.

Last night we took the girls ice skating. They had a DJ and the magic globe. Snowed the whole time.

The girls may not like all my pictures here, but I can tell you they like my cooking... a little early don't you think ? They didn't even have a chance to get some funk on !

Got one for you... whassis ? Hint; I made it for the truck.

On the bench

2008-12-18T14:27:00.002-06:00

Monday morning came in real cold in Oklahoma and windy. With wind chill it was 1 degree. Delivered at Eaton in Shawnee and by 0830 we were empty and waiting for our next w/a. FINALLY, about 1000 we got a message that we were being released for vacation, now. We dropped the trailer at the drop lot in OKC and bobtailed down to Dallas to drop the tractor. You may recall that we had dropped the VW down there a couple of weeks ago.

I warned you guys, no freight, no work. We're home in Ponca City and will be until Saturday when we'll head for Vail for two weeks. Thank goodness Teresa's family is not tired of us yet. We breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa and dinner with Joe and Beth. Don't want you to think we're entirely mooches, I made Gumbo for dinner last night and will make scalloped potatoes tonight with the remaining ham.

Nothing much else to share. The girls fly into Denver on Monday, I'll be sure to get some pictures and update our blog with them and scenes from the Rockies.

We think we'll make it to Vail/Avon sometime Saturday evening, depending on the weather and roads.

Ironic isn't it that I had to fight for the two weeks off, then they forced an additional week on us.

Bob

Weather Bug Bob

2008-12-14T18:37:00.004-06:00

I guess becoming a weatherman is in my future, NOT ! But we're sure getting to see lots of variations.

Thursday night we delivered as expected and spent the night there on the lot. Recall we are in St. Johns, MI. Our next w/a was to go to Troy, MI and drop our empty trailer and pick up a pre-loaded trailer. Whoops, no trailer. They were ready to load us up but wait, I've still got air bags in the trailer. They make you take them away at Sav-a-lot.

Just like getting the air out of an air mattress, little bigger and little tougher.

I got them out and worked on deflating them while they loaded us.

The whole way east to Troy it flurried a bit. On our way to Battle Creek is started really coming down.

First snow of the season, and first snow for Teresa. Can you hear her now ?

We spent Friday night in Gary and got on down to Joplin yesterday. We deliver in Shawnee, OK tomorrow morning and that's where we are tonight. When we left Joplin at noon it was 77 degrees and as we hit Muskogee it turned to 60 and as we pulled into Shawnee at about 1600 it was 42 and now it's 36. I hear it's going down to about 25 tonight. Not what I expected...

Craig and Diane - surely you recognize this picture, lousy as it is !!!

When the odometer turned over 600,000 I tried to take a quick picture, like you guys did. Didn't look like yours.

We're happy as clams, little cool, but good.

Baby It's Cold Outside

2008-12-11T18:22:00.002-06:00

While I was napping on Tuesday (1230) Teresa went out and check the QC to see if there was any activity. One thing everyone know is that a "watched pot never boils." So what do you think, yep we get a work assignment; go back to WalMart and grab an empty trailer, then run over to Houston and drop it and pick up one loaded with 42,000 lbs. of ... RICE and take it to St. Johns, MI. Just above Lansing. My navigator read the assignment and the deliver looked like it was for 12/12 at 100. But it really was 12/12 AT 0100. I haven't quite figured out how you can do that legally and since our truck doesn't run much at night we had a tough run.

We left Houston and it was 80 degrees, we got to Tehena, TX and it was 60 degrees, we got to Mt. Vernon, IL and it was 36 degrees, and were here in St. Johns, MI and it's 26 degrees with snow everywhere. So tell me, how does one acclimate to that ?

Yesterday we ran 600 miles and today 518 and were on the consignee's lot so technically we are on private property and "off". We can deliver at 0100 and park and still get our 10 hour break in by morning. By tomorrow night we could be anywhere - just like Matt Lauer.

The long and short is that we're here and waiting. Teresa's got her satelitte dish up and running and I'm blogging and thinking of taking a nap.

Catch Up from Texas

2008-12-08T16:40:00.002-06:00

We dropped our valuable rice in KC Friday about 1600. We had been hearing so much about slow freight we figured we were stuck. I closed out my daily log and we went to eat. When we got back, about 1830 we got our next w/a. I figured, cool, we're set for tomorrow. But noooo, the load was one of those WalMart high value loads that had to be picked up within 12 hours of assignment. Not sure when Schneider got it but by the P/U time was by 0417 the next morning.

The problem was that we if we started our break at 1700 we would not be able to leave until 0500 and be there 0600 - LATE. The only other option was to leave immediately and pick it up by about 1945. That's what we did, but it put us past our 14 hour work day. Kept getting the computer generated messages that I was out of time, but no person made an issue out of it so I guess it worked out.

That load was headed for Sealy, TX, about 40 miles west of Houston. Saturday we made it on down to Dallas. Enroute Teresa picked up the VW in OKC and followed me on down to Dallas.
Our next TAH we have to leave the truck in Dallas - any TAH longer than 5 days and the truck has to be at an OC. They say "in case we need to loan it out." It's BS, but we're ready anyway.

We dropped the load yesterday about noon and scrabbled into town. WalMart of course and spent the night there. Today - Monday we're still waiting and I'm losing my patience. We've checked into a cheapo hotel for tonight and we'll see what jibes tomorrow.

Last week in Portland, ME we paid $58 for a Super 8 hotel. Here they want $79. Go figure.

We're staying in an old Roadway Inn for $55. Schneider says they will pay $40. So we're only out $20 (including tax). Not bad actually. But it still doesn't change the fact that no one is buying so there is nothing to haul. So, get out there and buy stuff !!!

11 days until TAH (2 weeks) in Colorado.

We're haggling again, Schneider and me. They "insist" that I give them 3 prospective weeks to take vacation next year. I tell them 12/19 - 12/26. They say I need to give them 2 other weeks so they can "assign" it to me. I tell them "when you pay for my vacations you can pick them, in the absence of that I'm taking Christmas." We have timeshares there we're using, whether they consent or not. We did exchange 1 week to go to Cancun in February, but the other 1 we plan to use.

Bob

We're Doing Fine

2008-12-03T18:19:00.004-06:00

They took the entire day to get the hose for the turbo and replace it. I don't get it. But at $87.50 I guess they don't have to move too fast now do they ? We got the truck back about 1600 and decided to spend the night again in Portland, ME. Maybe Schneider will reimburse, I'm pretty sure they will for Sunday night. Monday, maybe.

When we went out at 0700 on Tuesday our next w/a was to go to Raymond, NH pick up a trailer, got to Leominster and pick up a load of plastic things. They looked like the plastic flip top salad things. The whole truck was full and it weighed only 11,000 pounds. I love those. We did good and headed for our delivery which was today in Edison, NJ. We decided that about 1800 we would stop. On the New Jersey Turnpike there are I think 4 service plazas. We stopped at the Vince Lombardi one. I'm sure there were more than 500 trucks there.

This morning on the way to deliver we got our next w/a. Go to Brooklyn, NY. Can you imagine BROOKLYN. We got unloaded fairly quickly and headed over. The directions on the Qualcomm indicated to exit off of 278 at exit 33. Well darn, trucks over 12' 2" can't go past exit 27.

I slowly pulled off and thought OH, #$@%. Yep, that's what I thought. Where the heck are we going now ? I look up and walking towards me in the off ramp is the guy that looks like a sanitation guy. He jumps up on the truck and says "where you headed, exit 33 I'll bet" and I allowed that he was correct. He says, while still standing on the side of the truck holding onto the mirror, turn right here, and I do, and go straight and I do. Then I get the line. I'll show you all the way and I usually get $15 or $20 to save you truckers the headache. In about 10 minutes he had us back on the freeway at exit 30 and on our way. Takes him 18 minutes to walk back and do it again. Might have been a scam, but darn, it was worth it to me. The "official" truck route takes you about 10 miles out of the way.

Anyway we picked up 45,000 pounds of rice at Pong Chiens. Chinese rice and are taking it to Kansas City, MO. Don't ask me why, seems a little silly to me, but pays the same, so who am I to complain.

When you see this sign, you know you're headed for trouble. We saw going both east and west...

But we also saw some the great NYC skyline.

We're half way thru PA now. We felt pretty good getting to NJ by 0800 and over to Brooklyn at 1000 and loaded and back out to NJ by 1145. No accidents or breakdowns - I mean by us !!!

Last comment... in order to get to the dock, the Mr. Pong Chien and his brother had me ( I swear it's the only way to get a 53' trailer in ) Teresa had to stop the traffic coming off the bridge and I had to drive about 80 - 90 feet up (the wrong way) the street in order to back into their dock. Took three swings, horns a blaring. Looking at it later I still didn't see any other way and they said they do it all the time !!! Lucky me.

Glad to be out...

Bob

Maxim 1

2008-11-30T17:23:00.007-06:00

When life gives you lemons, make lemonaide.

I'm pretty sure there are bunch of folks at Schneider that are FOS. Last week we had the pleasure of driving across the country on Thanksgiving day so that we could deliver on Friday morning at 0900 and then sit for the rest of the day. I should clarify; we didn't mind driving on Thanksgiving but, to "need" to be available even though freight is slow and then have to sit on Friday just didn't seem like good planning to us.

Our delivery was in Plainfield, CT. After we hung around the mall in Lisbon for the day/night.

Saw the movie Four Christmases. Very good. Teresa got a new Vera Wang shawl. Isn't it wonderful !!!

Yesterday, Saturday, we got a w/a to go up, way up, to Bucksport, ME. We got there late in the afternoon. Had a nice dinner at the Seabreeze diner. Nice folks.

This is the Verso Paper mill and the town of Bucksport. That's not smoke but steam, it's was about 20 degrees this morning.

This morning we got loaded up and were well on our way to Maple Grove, MN, almost 1600 miles. Nice run. Except this morning the truck pooped... we were about 100 miles from Bucksport. Teresa was catching some morning snooze and pop - sounded like an M80 cherry bomb. Lost about 60% of the power. Pulling 44,900 pounds of the stuff I hate most, paper. Called Emergency Maintenance and they told me it sounded like the Turbo and to limp to the Freightliner shop in Portland, ME. Of course they are closed today so we're in a Super 8 down the road. I dropped the trailer and someone else is supposed to pick it up and take it to Minnesota.

We'll see what develops tomorrow.

Bob