Attention:

I FUCKING HATE ICE!!!!


That is all.

Live (Dead?) Unload in Portland, Oregon

So here I am in Portland, 30 minutes past an appointment time that I arrived 2 hours early for.  No big deal, except that they just started unloading trucks, one at a time.  Smells like some detention is coming my way, but it's still a pain in the ass.

One of my PrimeDrivers.net friends asked why I chose to take the very northern route of I94 across instead of I80.  Here is why:

Billings, Montana

This place is just as exciting as you'd expect, minus any excitement.  I did get a few pictures in North Dakota and Montana, though.  Nice country, just not much population.  Of course, knowing how cold it gets up here in the winter certainly keeps me away, too.

 

This is a duck lagoon in North Dakota next to a rest area.  Supposedly some waterfowl habitat paid for by "duck stamps".  Hey!  The posted signs said it, not me!


My truck parked at said rest area.


View from the Rosebud rest area in Montana, westbound I94.

A Stupid Route To Take...

...but it was on purpose.   You see, I was driving from Wilmington, DE to Shelbyville, IN and wanted to avoid the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  Qualcomm says to take I68 across Maryland to US40, up through southern Pennsylvania to I70 and then across.

In the past, I always assumed that the Qualcomm routing is on crack because US40 looks on the map like a little 2 lane highway going through some pain in the ass Pennsylvania mountains and would just proceed on to I79 and go up to I70 from there.

This day, I had a little time to spare and was feeling adventurous and decided to see what US40 was all about.

In reality, US40 is a little 2 lane highway going through some pain in the ass Pennsylvania mountains.  In short, my reasons for avoiding the route were well-founded.  Now, to be fair, US40 is a far cry from the worst roads I've driven on, but it is still a time waster.  The terrain dictates slow speed through a lot of it.

Here are some photographic highlights of the route:

9% downgrades are always fun!




Woohoo!  "Dangerous Mountain"!  Could they have been just a little less specific?

10mph truck speed on this downhill.  Yes, it was steep and curvy.

If your driving day didn't end in one of these, then your day didn't go so badly after all!

A Rookie Mistake...

Last week I had an opportunity to be pissed off at myself.  I did something incredibly stupid.  Unbelievably stupid. 

I decided to heed the Qualcomm's routing advice and take I895 through the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel.  Not really a problem except that only trucks 96" or less in width are allowed there.  My truck measures 102".  Somehow, some way, I missed the sign announcing the width restriction and I just don't miss signs and get pissed off at people who do.

So, the Maryland Transport Authority police were kind enough to pull me aside AFTER getting my $8 EZPass toll deduction.  The officer scolded me a little bit and proceeded to give me a level 3 (paperwork) DOT inspection.  Nothing else being wrong, I left with a only a warning.

Seriously, I can't believe I did something that damned stupid.  Ugh.

A New Camera

Not really much interesting happening, except that I finally got the hell out of the northeast for a bit.  I bought a new camera at a Meijer in Lima, OH and have been trying it out.  Too bad there's not a lot worth photographing out in this area of the country.

 

Battling An Old Enemy...

On August 22nd last year (click here for a refresher), I mentioned a rather painful run through Ohio on two-lane highways.  The other day, I got to re-experience that in daylight, without the fog and deer.  Man, that made it a lot easier, and even more so because I was empty and didn't have to keep downshifting to make those hills.

Even better, I have some photos of OH-93:








Not nearly as fearsome as I remembered it, but the 55mph speed limit still seemed awfully optimistic.  The frequent 25mph curves kept me down to about 45 max.  Very pretty country, though.

A Couple of Good Days

Monday and Tuesday were good days.

On Monday, I made my delivery in Milton, PA and just as I was getting back onto I80 to head back to the Petro, a TriState straight truck passed me that looked suspiciously like some photos I've seen on Pumpkindriver.com.  I made a phone call, and sure enough, it was Wolfeman, who I'd been hoping to meet for a while now.  Had a good breakfast and good conversation with him.

Tuesday was even better.  I got a load assignment that delivers in Fredericksburg, VA this morning.  Greg, a friend of mine from high school lives in Ruther Glen, about 20 miles south.  Haven't seen him since around New Year's 1995.  Even better, he invited ANOTHER friend of ours (Scott) so I got to chill with TWO relics of my high school days for an evening of pasta, beer, attempts at trombone playing, and other old fuddy-duddy debauchery.  Lots of reminiscing, and Scott brought along some artifacts from Frankfurt American High School that he swiped when the school closed in 1995. 

The shame of it all was that I left my camera in the truck.  We had almost half of the 1993-1994 Frankfurt American High School advanced band trombone section reunited (missing Jason, Alaine, Raymond, Doug, and Joe) and I couldn't even get a picture.  Oh well.  A good time was still had by all.

And who says truck drivers don't get good benefits?

The Pennsylvania Trap or Dr. Zebra is a Produce Bitch

Something about Pennsylvania this week.  I can't stay out of here.  In fact, this weekend, I can't GET out of here.

Just a couple of pictures of splattered bugs set against the backdrop of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

So after delivering the HazMat goop in Winchester, VA, I pull some dead chickens overnight to Vineland, NJ.  Thinking I was clever and positioning myself better to get to my next load, I drove out to Carney's Point and awaited my next dispatch.  "Get Thine Ass Back To Vineland," sez the Qualcomm.

It's a load of produce bound for Bedford, PA and Washington Court House, OH.  Made those deliveries and got ANOTHER produce load from Springfield, OH to Pottsville, PA and delivered it this morning.  That load paid $2.48/mile.  Great!

The problem is that this IS Pennsylvania, and it IS Saturday.  Nobody ships on the weekends in the northeast, and even more so since Prime is in negotiations with shippers working on getting better rates.

Got my next load assignment, and it appears that I wont' be leaving the state for a while yet.  Joy!

Meeting New Friends, or Fun With HazMat

Yesterday was a fun day.  I delivered the last of my tomatoes in Taunton, Massachusetts and get caught up on a little sleep.  "BZZZZZ!" goes the noisy Qualcomm, several times over as my next assignment comes in.

Pick up a load in Nashua, New Hampshire.  Ok.  Pick up the rest of the load in Wilmington, Massachusetts, a whopping 26 miles away.  Ok.  Deliver it to Winchester, Virginia.  Ok.  It's HazMat.  Uh, ok.  I guess that's why it paid $1.48/mile to the truck even though it originated in an area notorious for crappy freight rates.

I accomplish the pickups with little fanfare (though the locals there sure do swear a lot.  not because they're mad at me, but because it's punctuation to them) and zip off to the great unknown.

After I get onto the Mass Pike, I start feeling insanely hungry.  No problem, I've got a fuel stop in Sturbridge, I'll just eat there.  At that moment, I see the Westborough Service Plaza ahead and they have a d'Angelo's, and a Philly cheese steak is sounding mighty good.

I pull off and park (who is the dumb shit that designed the truck parking here??  do they have any clue as to what size a truck actually is?) , run inside, and get my grub.  While going back to my truck, I notice another Prime truck parked out front that looked like I should know it somehow.  So I sneak up on it and grab the number (69035) and note that it is REALLY familiar and I have a hunch as to who it belongs to.

I go back to my truck, fire up the ol' laptop and aircard and confirm my suspicions.  It belongs to TNet and DrJoe, newly annointed Prime drivers from the Pumpkin world.  I forget my food, run over to their truck lest they drive away and squandor this historic moment, and start banging on their door.  Hmmm... the only answer is this dog inside barking and generally trying (failing) to be threatening.  I decide to wait it out.

Sure enough, a guy comes out of the plaza with the "What the hell are you doing around my truck" demeanor and I stop him dead in his tracks asking if he is Joe.  I introduce myself and it's just a party from there on.

Very, very nice people.  And it was fun to be a stalker, if only for a little while.

Oh, and I delivered the nasty HazMat this morning, too.

A Post Without A Point...

Why yes, folks, that is really a picture of the George Washington Bridge going into New York City, taken by me today.  Amazingly enough, NYC was easy to get through.  You see a little backup in the picture because the Port Authority Fire Department was doing something that required the right hand lane to be blocked off.  What it was, I have no idea.  It looked like they were just standing around talking to me.

The good news is that I didn't actually deliver in New York City.  In fact, I never deliver there.  And I never will.  Not my cup of tea.  But I had to endure the drive through to get to Massachusetts for the last two stops of this load.

There was actually going to be a point to this post, but I'm too tired to remember it and can't be bothered to care.  So here's a picture of a Wyoming sunrise that I took a couple of months ago:

The Respect That Truckers "Deserve"

It's another day and another time for me to rip the trucking world a new asshole.  Well, I guess that's what I'm doing.  I don't think I am, but that's how everyone is going to take it, so who the hell am I to argue?

"Respect" is a word that is increasingly bandied about by truckers.  Mostly when they bitch about not getting any of it.  I guess everyone's a Rodney Dangerfield these days.  It's really getting irritating because nobody seems to understand what it actually means, or why they should or shouldn't be getting it.

My question to you, my select group of truckers who don't get no respect, is this: what are you doing to earn respect?  Do you think you deserve respect just because you're a trucker or even just because you're alive?  La-de-fucking-da, guys.  I'm a trucker too, and I'm also alive.  But I don't whine about not getting respect.  I don't demand that everyone kisses my ass simply because I haul consumer commodities. 

I get respect because I give respect.  I don't go screaming at the poor clerks in the shipping or receiving office because the loaders/unloaders aren't working according to my schedule.  I take the time to understand that the world is larger than my and my piddling little needs.  I don't regard customers as enemies.  I do my damnedest not to inconvenience or endanger people.  I bathe regularly.  I don't get mouthy on the CB.

You want respect?  Then tell me this: what are you doing to help make the lives of the people you interact with today a little easier?

Old Friends...

On Tuesday, I had a great opportunity.  I passed through Charlotte, NC on my way to Pennsylvania and had a lot of time on the load.  That meant that I could stop and see an old friend from college that I hadn't seen in 13 years.  Holy crap, that is a long damned time.

Got to hang out for a couple of hours and shoot the breeze, catch up on events passed.  Tommy, if you ever read this, it was good seein' ya!  Hope we can do it again sometime.

Now to dig up some other friends I haven't seen lately.

Oh, Jessica, if you read this, don't get offended because I came through North Carolina and didn't see you,  sis.  I just saw you a couple of months ago.  Get over yourself.  (My family is such a loving bunch)

Another Departure, Another Fustercluck

Seems like every time I leave the house, I get saddled with some crap that another driver couldn't be bothered to get fixed.  I was dispatched to pick up some dead cows today, which is a nice and easy drop and hook at the dead cow factory.

I inspect the loaded trailer.  Hey, not one, but TWO flat tires.  Whee!   And the only shop in the area is 20 miles in the wrong direction.  Seriously, one of the tires didn't even have the bead seated.  What the hell is wrong with people?

Home again!

I deadheaded home from Ogden, UT on Saturday.  After taking a brief detour to ditch my trailer in Greeley, it ended up being just over 500 miles.

Normally I don't like deadheading home, but I have stuff that I have to get done here this week and my options for getting here were limited due to a weekend delivery.  I could have taken a load from Salt Lake City to Sparks, NV for a Monday morning delivery, but that wasn't acceptable.  I also could have waited until Monday for a load heading home, but again, I needed to be home.

Such is the fun of being a trucker, and more so being an independent contractor.  I'll end up being $300 or so in the hole this week.  Oh well.

Once a reefer driver, always a reefer driver

Oh hell.  I forgot to update my situation in my last post.  I guess I got too excited in my rant or something.

I'm back in the saddle as a reefer driver, with a brand new 2008 Freightshaker Century.  The flatbed gig was ok, but through the training I just had a horrible feeling that I would regret it if I did it.  Whenever I go against my gut feelings, I lose. 

Here's a picture of the new truck:

A Trucking Strike?

Seems that some people are calling for a trucker's strike to protest high fuel prices and/or pressure government to intervene in the hopes of providing relief.

I'm going to be blunt. These people are morons.

"Wait, wait, wait", you say, "that's not really fair to say. These people are just trying to earn a living!"

I repeat. These people are morons. The reason that any driver or company is going under in these economic times is the unwillingness to adapt to the current marketplace. See, we have a free market economy here, and as such, it's a consumer driven economy. That means that if your business is going into the shitter, THEN YOUR BUSINESS IS NOT IN DEMAND.

As a business owner, your function in life is to satisfy your customers in a profitable manner. You do not render services to customers for less than cost, and you do not keep offering services that are not in demand. You're trying to make money here.

"But what about the unscrupulous brokers? If I don't take their crap freight with no fuel surcharge, someone else will!"

So what? Let that someone else haul that freight and lose money on it.

For that matter, owner/operators and independent contractors need to learn to cut their expenditures, especially in fuel. Slow your ass down and quit idling so much. At $4.00/gallon at 1 gallon/hour of idle time for 10 hours, you're spending $40/night to idle that truck. How much pain are you willing to endure before you learn that lesson? Driving slower is even more of an impact. Saving 8 cents per mile over the course of 120,000 miles (about 1 year of driving) gives you an instant $10,000/year pay raise, with zero increase in revenue!!

Strike, my ass! How about I just come out and slap the stupid out of you? Or even better, keep putting forward that myth that speed = money, run yourself the fuck out of business, and leave more freight for the smart and business savvy drivers to haul.

You're not entitled to a profit in this country, and if you won't effectively manage your business, you don't deserve to earn a profit. Quit asking the government to reward your shortcomings as a businessperson.

Pop Quiz for Oklahoma City Residents

You're on an onramp merging into another onramp that will merge onto an interstate highway.  At the end of your ramp, there is a "yield" sign.  There is no traffic coming up that will interfere with your merge.  Do you:

1. Come to a complete stop at the end of the ramp
2. Double check for traffic, maybe only slowing a little as you do so, and then GET YOUR ASS MOVING

Oklahoma City drivers kept choosing option 1 and failing the test this afternoon, at rush hour.  Let me explain this once.  A yield sign means to let traffic already on the road go ahead of you.  But if there IS no traffic, you keep going.  You'd think that this is a simple concept, but I guess not...

Still Truckin'!

I'm still around, folks.  It's been busy, busy, busy.  There are some developments since my last installment.

• Another driver and I founded Primedrivers.net, a forum for Prime drivers and possible future Prime drivers.  Trolls and exclusive naysayers need not bother registering.
• MY LEASE IS ALMOST DONE!!
• After my lease is up, I'm going to try my hand at flatbedding.
• I'm a Trucker Buddy

Heartwarming, ain't it?