Frozen to the Bone

Wow that was some nasty weather yesterday! I had to change clothes 3 times. I un-tarped, then I tarped...then I un-tarped and tarped again. All in freezing rain and sleet. Each time I finished thoroughly soaked. Even my big water proof Columbia couldn't stand up to the freezing rain and it too was soaked all the way through. As soon as I got my last load I found the nearest truck stop. I DEFINITELY took a hot shower last night...I had to counter the ice that had settled on my bones. I woke up this morning feeling like I'd been hit by a Mack truck. That cold just took every ounce of my energy and zapped it. I even slept through my alarm this morning from pure exhaustion. 

I am most definitely glad that today was much better. I got to untarp before that rain came in to Cleveland. And then when I went to pick up my next load I was fortunate enough to be at a place that the loading and strapping takes place inside! So indeed today was so much better than yesterday! Probably the worst thing I came across today was the traffic coming out of Cleveland. I often wonder...how does it get backed up like that when there isn't an accident? You get down the road and it finally opens up. But why was it slowed down like that to begin with?

Today is my baby boy's 17th birthday. Hard to believe my youngest is almost an adult! Where have the years gone? My babies aren't babies anymore. A few more days and I get to go see him! Yay! I can't help but to think back to when I met my late husband. Zack was 7 years old. It's hard to imagine that it's been 10 years already. So now I have a son who's a father x 3. A daughter who will be going to college next school year and a son who's just stepping a foot into adulthood.

So as I contemplate the passing years I'll leave you with this little tidbit -

"In a dream you are never eighty. " ~Anne Sexton

Big Wheel Keep On Turning

Yep...that was the state of one of my tires this week. Boss man says I'm driving the tires right off of it. Well I DO put a lot of miles under me even with the time spent tarping and strapping my loads. I blame the horrible roads in Michigan and Indiana for taking off some of the tread on my tire. Those are some rough roads! But this weekend the tire got replaced and the old girl got an oil change and lubed. 

There was some really nasty weather in the mid-west this last week. It worried me as they were calling for it to be pretty bad where I was (near Chicago). Fortunately it didn't hit the area as bad as expected. I did cancel my trip to upstate NY to see my baby boy though just in case. So now the plan is to go next weekend. My baby boy turns 17 this week!

And so tomorrow another work week begins. I head for the very tippy top of WV. 

So let me leave you with these words taken from this last weeks CSI: NY
"Today is life. 
The only life you're sure of. 
Make the most of today."
And indeed...it is. Today...is the first page of your book. It's up to you to fill the pages (yes...taken from the song "Unwritten"). 

So be good to each other. Love one another. And make the most of each day you have. 

Can't You See Me?

Not a whole lot of excitement this week...which I'd say is actually a good thing. Means things are going well and I'm not making any mistakes. The only thing of any real consideration this week was today. I was turning in an intersection and of course the turn light turned red as I was making my turn. So what does the idiot in the lane across from me do? Tries to take off while I'm right in front of him. Then of course his cousin idiot #2 next to him tried to do the same thing right after he did. Uh...HELLO?!? There is a big blue semi about 10 feet in front of you...did you manage to overlook that? The level of idiocy of some people on the roads still manage to amaze me. 

"Let me hurry up and pass this semi so I can make a turn to the left 1/4 mile up the road."

"Oh hey...let's slam on my brakes to turn at the last second with no turn signal...I'm sure that fully loaded semi behind me can stop that fast."

"Oh shit...I'm gonna miss my exit...let me do a quick dash across three lanes and 3 feet in front of that semi so I can get to it!"

"Damn the traffic is heavy! I'm on this on ramp and there's a semi right next to my SUV with traffic on the other side of it so it can't move over. I'll just force it out of my way."

So to finish up the night here's a funny: 

TGIF

Another week done and time to relax! I got my first paycheck today and I'm very pleased with it! It makes the hard work worth it. 

Was so very happy to head home. It was a rough week and was ready to sit back and chill out. The ride home got very interesting. Started out as a sunny day and drove right into a snow storm. I came close to pulling it off the road and calling it a day...it was coming down very heavy. But I just kept it slow and steady and made it home safe. Hard to see in the picture below but there is a car on the median that is upside down. Saw another that was way off the road on the other side of the ditch. But let's face it...there are a lot of foolish drivers out there who don't understand that slowing down can mean be safer.


So my friends...I'll leave it at that! Enjoy your weekend...I'll certainly enjoy mine!

Army Green

Today was a MUCH better day than yesterday. I didn't get stuck anywhere. I slept in for a change...I needed it after yesterday. And it felt damned good! LOL!

My goodness what a beautiful day it was today! And today's load that I picked up in Liberty, SC turned out to be an interesting one. I am carrying five military kitchen containers (or whatever you want to call them). Definitely not something I could crawl on top of to fix straps. I had to get the guy who loaded them to throw them over because my toss just didn't have enough oomph behind it! But he was really cool about it. He told me not to feel bad...he's had plenty of guy truckers who couldn't get them over either. And I got the straps so tight I might even have trouble undoing them. But hey...that's a good thing!

So I'm about two hours from the receiver. I had enough hours left to make it up there, but I decided to stop early so I'd actually be able to find a parking spot (as they start filling up around 6 pm). And I also didn't want to try parking in PA (where I'm going) since you aren't allowed to run your truck to keep warm when you're parked there. So I'll just get up early, fuel up and head on up. I waited to fuel in the morning because I wanted to hurry up and get a parking spot. And I got lucky again...another one that I could pretty much straight back in to. My favorite parking spots! Getting the hang of swinging these split axles is still a work in progress. Not to say I haven't gotten into parking spots that I couldn't straight back in to...it's just it takes me a little longer and few more tries to get it in (which can be frustrating for me and for other truckers that I'm holding up while I try to get in the spot). Having help from other truckers to get parked the other night was a very rare thing. Usually they all sit around watching you for their own amusement. Can't say I haven't been amused at the antics of other truckers before. Especially when it's a Swift truck (they get picked on all the time but there's a reason for that).

So I bid you adieu for tonight my friends. Stay safe and enjoy the beautiful weather! 

The Little Truck that Could (but almost didn't)

It's been an interesting (and at times downright frightening) day. I really wish I had pictures so you could see the road I was on, but I was too busy trying to stay alive. See the "A" marked on the map? That was the receiver...a water treatment plant (SMALL treatment plant).

View Larger Map

So if you start the journey on 106 then to 64 and then to Hickory Hills Rd. Then, because there was NO place to turn around...I had to continue down Hickory Hill Rd on back down to 64 again. Now mind you...this map does not accurately reflect the twists and turns of the road. Lots of 90 degree turns...some of them even worse than that. I really wish on this map you could see the turns and steep hills.

Anyway, I slowly made my way up 106 and 64 doing about 14 mph all the way up due to the steep climb to get there. One of the guys who worked at the plant met me at a gas station to guide me up to the plant on Hickory Hill Rd. He told me it was going to be tight, but holy shit I had no idea! We get to the plant and I have to park in the road (pretty much blocking it) so they could unload me. They called the local police department to help escort me. Now they've escorted trucks to back down the mountainous rode before...but they weren't split axles. After much discussion it was decided to try to keep going forward on the road to get out of there. We didn't make it a 1/4 mile up the road before I came to a road block. While making a tight curve, there just so happened to be this lovely rock in the corner that I could not get around. No matter how I tried to swing it...there was no getting the trailer past it. More discussion and head scratching. I finally suggested that if we could find a tow truck that could come up there...they could use their cable to scoot the rear of my trailer over about 3 or 4 feet and then I could get around it. I knew it could be done because the tow truck that got me out of the snow had done that as well. There were no big truck tow trucks in the area, but they had one car tow truck guy who they called to come out and take a look to see if he could do what I suggested. Dude came out, pulled out his tow cable and some chains. Him and his friend, who came to help him, hooked chains around a tree and hooked the cable to those. And then, using the tow cable winch, moved the rear of the trailer over! 

From that point, I had an officer in front and back of my truck helping me out of there. The tow truck guy had his friend drive the truck and then tow guy walked down in front of my truck (I kept it in granny gear for this) and helped guide me to keep me out of any ditches. The officer in front stopped traffic when necessary. But finally we got OUT OF THERE! And all in one piece. Nothing broken on the truck, no flattened mailboxes or gouged electric poles. I'm sure everyone in that little town has heard of it by now. Small town...word spreads fast. So I'm probably famous in the Highlands, NC right now. LOL

The job was supposed to be for a 40' trailer and day cab. Go figure. But you know...while it scared the living crap out of me...I'm extremely proud of myself for keeping my head and getting through it. But I will NEVER go to Highlands, NC again.

I made it to the closest possible truck stop...and of course all the parking spaces were filled. So I'm parked in a "no parking" zone at the side of their lot and I really don't care. I'm way too tired and out of driving hours so I'm stuck here. And I have no intention of getting up super early to get to the shipper. I'm going to get some much deserved rest!

So I bid you good night...and stay out of sticky situations better than I seem to do!

Carolina in My Mind

Can you guess where I'm heading? I bet you can! Right now I'm sitting in a Flying J in Wytheville, VA (tried a TA up the road but it was tight and most spots required blind side backing...and you do NOT want to see me trying to blind side). Tomorrow...North Carolina! Town named Highlands. It's exciting to me. I spent a good portion of my life in North Carolina and sometimes I miss it (okay...I really just miss Wiener Works - found only in Fayetteville - and BOJANGLES!) Can't find anything like them up in Ohio. There are Popeye's but they just aren't the same as Bojangles. If you've never eaten at a Bojangles then you just don't know what you're missing. Maybe I'll be able to find one I can get to tomorrow. We'll just have to see. 

In other news...last week one of my chain hooks had fallen on my left index finger. And of course what happens when you have an injured finger or toe? You keep hitting and knocking it on everything which I am doing quite successfully. Jammed it today and of course it's all swollen again. Hurt's like hell...has been since it happened. Makes tarping and strapping interesting. Which today's load of course had to be tarped (with BOTH tarps this time). I am rather proud of the tarping I did on this load. I'm getting much better at it. Can't say I'm getting any faster...but the actual tarping itself is looking really good! Nothing has ended up flapping in the wind at all this time so that is a huge improvement.

Not really anything exciting to speak of today. I invested in a good headset for my phone. Not cheap by any means but definitely not the most expensive either. Next investment will probably been a truck antenna and window mount  for my Sirius radio. Won't be long before I'll need to get a new GPS too...the one I have now is trying to die on me. She just needs to last a little while longer. Truck GPS is NOT cheap. A good one will cost a minimum $299. But it's worth buying the truckers version as it gives info regular GPS systems don't have and is pretty good at keeping you on truck routes (although occasionally it'll still try to route you onto a road where they aren't allowed...hence my ticket in Lisbon, OH).

So that's it for today's update. Sleep well and stay safe on the roads my friends!

Gone With the Wind

What a crazy day! The wind was a bitch to deal with. Gusts of up to 50 mph (and I seemed to find each gust). Unloaded in Michigan this morning and the wind was already crazy by then. And of course it was a tarped load so after unloading I had to fight the tarp. After about 2 hours of fighting with it another trucker finally gave me some assistance to get it at least half-assed folded...enough for me to put it away anyway.

Then on to the next shipper which was no more than 20 minutes away. THANKFULLY they used drive-in bays (meaning I could pull the whole truck in to get loaded and tarp). That was a relief. I was not looking forward to tarping in the wind. Got it done (and bought 4 boxes of Thin Mints from the lady in the shipping office) and got underway. Now I got to fight the wind on the I-75. I was all over the lane the whole way. Slowed down to keep it a little more manageable. I had to stop several times to fix the tarp because the wind was doing a number on it. And of course due to slower speeds and having to stop several times...I ran out of hours before I could get to the receiver.

Next challenge...truck stop parking. The Pilot I found does not have a very large parking area with pretty limited spaces and narrow drives between them.  It was an absolute cluster-fuck. I wish I'd taken a picture so you could see the position I found myself in. It took about 45 minutes before I could even start backing into a spot. I am so very grateful to the three men who stepped up to help me get into my spot (and they did the same for several others as well so it had nothing to do with helping a female in distress). It's really not something you see everyday and it really means a lot to me to see these men out there in the windy cold helping direct fellow truckers into parking spots. It's a shame not more truckers are as helpful (like when I was trying to park in these docks that are platforms on each side of the trailer...with only inches to spare and not one trucker would step up to say "hey...let me help you with that").

I'm exhausted from fighting the wind all day. I'm sure Sugarcreek will be disappointed I didn't get the load to the receiver tonight...but it is what it is. I take my safety seriously and I don't care if it means the receiver has to wait one more day for their load.

So it's goodnight my friends (and mom). Really hoping the wind will be so much better behaved tomorrow morning.

Happy Dance

I'm very happy to report that nothing of any great significance occurred today.

I DID get my replacement phone in today so I'm doing a happy dance to have my phone back! The little prepaid I bought was perfect for an emergency phone so now I can just put it away should I ever need it again.

Dropped my load this morning with no problem. Went to the yard and picked up another load they had sitting there already. Heavy! and kinda tall. But I made it up here to Michigan in one piece. LOL

Now I'm at the end of the day. Had my shower. Listening to music. And of course one just had to come on that makes me think of my sweet late husband. I remember him having this song one of his mix cd's. And of course, it's just one of several that can bring me to tears. I miss you Teddy Bear!

Smooth Move Exlax

So in contrast to yesterdays really uneventful day...I made up for it today.

This morning started out fine. Took my load of sand to a construction site on a university campus. Getting in was easy...getting out not so much. But I did manage without knocking over any stop signs (although I came REALLY close to one).

Next stop...pick up some skidded coils. Here's where it gets interesting. I drove through the road once and didn't spot the place at all (GPS was not dead on the address this time). Got turned around and went back through the road...THERE IT IS! SHIT! I miss the entrance! Oh look...there's another place that trucks go in and out of. I should be able to turn around in there. Crap...no place to just swing around...I'll have to back up into one of the drives for their bays. OMFG! Tires went off the side of the drive...oh no...it's sliding...the more I try to get out...the more it's sliding. Ah crap...I'm stuck! Yes...I got my truck stuck in the snow almost blocking their entire road. I said almost...the incoming trucks were still able to get in to the bays. From what I've heard the plant owner was throwing a major fit though. Can't say I blame him.

Anyway...contacted the company...they contacted tow trucks...got one out to pull me out of my mess. I'm scared to know how much that is going to cost me because I'm sure it'll come out of my pay. It is what it is though. Another lesson learned. Can I just add that I HATE THE FUCKING SNOW! ::sigh::

Once pulled out I finally got to where I was picking up and got my load. I should have been able to deliver today but thanks to my screw up...I didn't have enough hours left to do so. I had just enough to make it home with only 15 minutes to spare. Not disappointed though. I'm happy to be home for a night...doesn't happen nearly enough. I had thought I'd be home more often, but it's not working out that way. But it's a job right? Better than what I had before and I do like to drive truck. Just gotta get past this awkward "newbie once again" phase I guess.

I did get home at a very opportune time though...the snow started coming down heavy and as I was finishing pulling my stuff together in the truck I heard some conversation on the CB of guys saying they couldn't see anything and making it very difficult to drive.

So home for the night...got all the gloves in the washer because they are all NASTY! And about ready to hit the sack. I'll have to get up early and get head over to the receiver which thankfully really isn't that far away...maybe an hour to hour and a half.

So...sweet dreams...and stay safe my friends. And definitely before careful where the pavement ends and the grass begins when they are snow covered.

OMG!

OMG! Nothing eventful happened today! Definitely not a normal day for me. LOL! I can say that I saw some interesting location names. There's a Beaver, OH and a Economy, OH. Who knew? I kinda feel sorry for Economy...seeing as the state of our current economy. And then there was the Pee Pee River. Luckily, I had already taken care of that particular need before I got to it.

Anyway...tonight I'm in Indiana. Where will I be tomorrow? Who knows. I'm hoping to get close enough to home Wednesday though to get home and pick up my replacement phone. Oh yea...did I mention that my phone is screwed? The back light quite working. If you look really, really close and in just the right angle of light you can almost make out what is on the screen. So tonight I had to pay for internet service at the truck stop so I can check my email and tell you how uneventful today was. Probably have to do the same tomorrow. I'll be glad to have my phone back. I miss my hotspot. And of course to top it off...my mouse has decided to take a vacation and I absolutely HATE touchpads. Good thing I brought my laptop though. I usually use my phone as my alarm...so I have installed an alarm app for my laptop to wake me up  for now. I set it up to sound like a fire alarm...how could I sleep through that?

Anyway...I'll make it short and sweet tonight. Afterall...there's really nothing exciting about today. 

Peace y'all!

Can I See Your License and Insurance Card Please?

Yep...I got pulled over and ticketed today in Lisbon, OH. I made a stupid mistake. I followed my GPS onto a road (which did not have a "no trucks" sign on it) and it was not a state road therefore I was not supposed to be on it...and therefore I received a ticket for going through that one block. Dumbass move. I can say I was very upset. Probably because I've gone at least 15 years with no tickets or accidents and I managed to have one of each in the last couple of weeks. And I was having a pretty shitty day all together when you added in some things that were going on at home.

But then...when I got home and parked my truck I felt a little better when I saw someone having a much worse day than me. Another trucker had dumped her trailer. Yep...she did not have it in the fifth wheel securely and pulled away from it dropping the trailer and tearing out the air lines. That was a much worse thing than I did. And of course she had to pay for that tow truck out of her own pocket...$200 for it to come out and lift up the trailer so she could get the truck back underneath it.

This mornings receiver meant more mud and dirt. Seems to be a common theme this week. 

And I can say I got some amusement watching them remove the bundles of wood from the trailer. Especially when they managed to mangle one "bunch" of them. In the end...they just took the forklift and pushed them off the other side since they could not figure out a way to lift them with the forklift.

Then I got to see this huge truck (?) trying to make a right turn onto the road I was coming out of in this rinky dink little town of Salineville.  He finally had to back up and go on down the hill to find another way to get to where he as going. As I went into town and pulled over to get in touch with dispatch about where I was going next, I saw the truck in a gas station. Probably a little hard to see it in the photo...but let me tell you...it was a very long vehicle. 

Although it was a bad day, I can still appreciate that at the end of the day...I made home safe and sound and my truck all in one piece. And before I turned off I-71 to head down 30 just a little down the road from my house I got a beautiful sight from the sky and it lifted the dark clouds of my day a bit. Those little bits of sun rays breaking through the grey clouds. Every time I get a view like that it takes my breath away for a moment. And after the day I had...it was needed.