Rambling On

So here we sit in Othello, Washinton, waiting to pick up a load when we are supposed to be at home. Our hometime was supposed to start today. But we're trying to look on the bright side. We could be out of a job. Thousands of truckers are finding themselves out of work across the country as one trucking company after another closes its doors. Our company has even started cutting costs by cutting out its training program among other things. We're keeping our fingers crossed that SRT will make it through these hard times and we'll still be driving when the economy turns around.
Less buying means less product is being shipped which means fewer loads for us. Mike and I have been pretty lucky so far. We are a strong team with a reputation for saving late loads and doing things right, so we've been getting plenty of miles, but even so we've still been sitting still a little more than we are used to. Some of our major accounts, like Firestone and Pilgrims Pride have shut down plants or cut back production, which means our company is having to stretch to find freight.
So we aren't complaining too much about being late for our hometime. At least we have a job.
We gave up going home over Christmas to stay out and take advantage of the Christmas freight. We were running loads of steak out of Omaha, Nebraska, and dealing with -7 degree temperatures - not fun. But the past couple of weeks, until today anyway, we've been down south - Atlanta, Dallas, Nogales, Phoenix, LA. That was a nice break from the cold. We rescued a late load from a solo driver and delivered in Portland, OR this morning.
We've also recovered two trucks that were abandoned by quitting drivers. The lack of freight, and the way the company is cutting back on things, is maming a lot of drivers go looking for other work. When we recover a truck it means that Mike and I have to split and drive solo for a day or two. He delivers the load we are on, I get the recovered truck back to the yard in Texarkana, then he gets back to the yard to pick me up. It's weird driving without him in the truck. Every time I made a potty stop I keep expecting him to pop his head out of the sleeper wanting to know where we are and why I'm stopping. It's too quiet in the truck without him. And he says he doesn't like not having anyone to talk to. But it's extra money in our pockets.
I'll try not to go so long between updates, but no promises.

Lots of excitement this past month or so. We were out in LA during the big fires. We could see the smoke from the Yorba Linda fire for miles before we got into town, and as we got closer we could see the hellish ruddy glow from the flames reflected from the billowing clouds. We had to hurry to get our load delivered before the fire shut down the highways we needed to take. When we got to Long Beach to drop our trailer, there was ash drifting down on us. It made me think of the volcano disaster movies I've seen. We never got close enough to see the actual fires, but the smoke covered almost all of LA, and breathing was difficult. By the time we got out of town and up into the mountains on I-15 my eyes were burning and I felt like I had a hangover or a case of the flu. Mike laughed at me for tying a wet bandana over my mouth and nose. He said I looked like a bandit, but it really did help.

Over Thanksgiving, we had a load going to Long Island, NY. It had two stops on it, and we had rescued it from a solo driver who was out of hours and way out of route. We never did get the story on how he ended up so far from where he should have been, but the load was late and we didn't make our first stop in Pennsylvania on time. They had to squeeze us in, and it was the day before Thanksgiving and they all wanted to get finished and go home. Needless to say, no one was happy, and it only got worse for us. Because it took so long to get unloaded at our first stop, it became impossible to make it to our second stop. The deliveries had been scheduled rediculously close together to start with. The reciver for our second stop was closing at 1:00 in the afternoon. We had 200 miles, and the George Washington Bridge to cross before we could get to them. We called them to see if they would stay open long enough to deliver, because this was an important account we were hauling for and it needed to be delivered. (It was chicken, and it turned out it was for the Catholic Archdioses in New York.) They wouldn't stay open, but our dispatcher kept telling us we HAD to deliver it. That would mean sitting at a closed, deserted warehouse until Monday. Not fun. After several phonecalls, we were told to just take it anyway, so we started heading that way. We got to within 3 miles of the GW Bridge before our dispatcher told us to turn around and take it back to a drop yard in Pennsylvania. Whew, that was too close. The GW is like a suspended perpetual traffic jam, and New York City is no place for a big truck.

We ended up taking the load to a drop yard, and we got dispatched to Vermont to pick up a load on Friday morning. That meant we got to spend Thanksgiving day leaisurely making our way upstate through some of the prettiest mountain country on the East Cost - the Adriondaks. Unfortunately, there are very few truckstops up there, and what few there are were mostly closed, so Thanksgicing dinner ended up being turkey sandwiches, cranberry juice, and a slice of pumpkin bread from a convienience store.

We ran as usual for the next week or so, and had planned to take some time off in mid December. Then we got the offer we couldn't refuse. Non-stop, run them hard, drop them and deadhead back as-fast-as-you-can-get-there loads until Christmas. We put off our hometime, and we're running them now.

Today, for the first time since I started driving, we got called into a scale and pulled around back for a random inspection. I was driving, and I was nervous. But it all went ok. The DOT officer checked our truck and trailer, and looked at our paperwork. The only thing he found wrong was an id light on the trailer that was out, and I swear it was working when I pre-tripped this morning. And it was wroking when I got to the TA down the road, too. But we still had to take it to the shop because a mechanic had to sign off that it was fixed. It was working fine when the mechanic signed off on it. Either there was a loose connection in it, or the DOT officer was trying too hard to find something wrong.

Right now, I should be sleeping, but I can't so I thought I'd write. Mike is driving, and we are just East of Nashville, TN on I-24 driving through the first very thick snow we've run into this year. We're inching along in thick traffic, moving about 25 MPH. Its very pretty, but i hope we get out of it soon. I've already seen three cars in the ditch, and visibility is pretty bad.

Ok, so this is turning into more of a once a month thing, but I'm trying. I like quiet stillness when I'm writing, and life on the road is anything but quiet and still.
Mike and I got home for a few days at the beginning of November. We missed out on trick-or-treating with the grandkids, but I did get to sit up with Lillian on November fourth and watch the election results come in. Lilly fell asleep before the news broke, but I'm glad I got to sit up and watch a little history in the making. I just hope Obama can live up to his promises.

We got moving again on the 6th, headed out to Denver and delivered a load, then picked up a load of bread going to Satsuma, Florida. Heading back east on I-70 we ran into a heck of a wind storm. Bread is pretty light, and we were blown around pretty bad. We eased across the Plains, having to detour off an exit and back on around a big truck that had been blown over in it's side, and a second truck that had been blown off into the median, but was still upright. Emergency services were already there, and the drivers were ok. As light as we were, we were pretty nervous about the same happening to us.

Not long after we crossed back into Kansas, we made a stop at one of our favorite truck stops. It's a favorite because it's one of the few truck stops with a Starbuck's (Venti Rasberry Mocha Latte with whipped cream - Yum!). We didn't really get to enjoy our treats, though. We took our caffinated goodies back out to the truck, and when Mike pressed down the clutch we heard an ominous *Sproing!* sound. We looked at one another and said, in unison, "That can't be good." It wasn't - it was the clutch spring. There was a repair shop at that truck stop, but this repair was beyond them, so our breakdown department asked us to nurse the truck 200 miles to Salina, KS to a Freightliner dealer to get it fixed. It is possible to shift without using the clutch, the technique is called "floating". I can float the higher gears, but I'm not so good at floating the lower ones (our truck has 10). Luckily, Mike's very good at the trick, and we were able to get to Salina - though it was a little hairy when we had to stop at intersections. Once the truck came to a stop, it had to be turned off, put in a low gear, and started while in gear... as soon as it was started it was surging forward.

We were laid over for two days waiting for the parts to come in, but there was plenty of time on the load, so we eventually made it to Satsuma, and got the load delivered on time. And the company put us up in a hotel while the truck was in the shop. If we hadn't just come back from home time, it would have been a nice break, but, since we were already well rested, we were chomping at the bit to get back on the road.

I love delivering in Florida, though. Especially in the winter time. But then, I've always had a thing for the tropics. Folks up north can keep their snow, give me a tropical breeze and a white sand beach any day. The traffic sucks though, bumper to bumper all day long on I-95 or I-4 if you get too close to Orlando or Miami.

***Editor's Note*** Oops, looks like I left this one sitting in my draft box and forgot to click "publish". Sorry, ya'll.