Rumble in Gary, IN

Yesterday was just a WEIRD day. The truck has gone wonky. The headlight socket was fried & melted. Got that fixed. It stopped working again and I can't look at it because the mechanic at the TA put it in so tight I can't get it out. The A/C (which was fixed just a couple of weeks ago) is acting up again. Daytime I get cool, not cold, air out of it. But the bunk A/C still works good. But let me not forget to mention...twice I was driving down the road and the A/C just turned off completely for a moment...then came back on. This truck has gotten a mind of her own it seems.

Anyway, I got the headlight (temp) fix at the T/A. While the truck was in the bay being fixed I watched the incoming storm rolling in and the view was amazing. I managed to take some really amazing pics of it with my cell phone.

 

(^this one is my favorite)

What an awesome sight it was! And then the rain poured! But not for long! After they finished with the "repair" I drove back over to the J where I could could get a shower with my points there. Got a dandy parking spot and got myself together to go take a shower and get some food. As I was walking in I had the living crap scared out of me when there was a lightening strike very close by! I probably jumped 3 feet and my heart skipped a beat. It caused the electricity in the J to flick off for a moment and all their electronics were going crazy. Their cc network was down, fuel pumps were offline and the cash registers were slow coming back up. I did finally manage to get a shower slip pretty quick though. Then I kept hoping the whole time I was in it that there wasn't another power loss while I was all soaped up....which there wasn't thank goodness. Apparently that one strike was it. 

Tomorrow morning I'll go get rid of this load and head for the yard so they can figure out why this old girl is giving me so much attitude.

Stay safe!

I am now on week 7 of driving with Don Hummer Trucking. So far it's been pretty okay. I got lucky enough to have a driver manager who was once a driver himself (pretty rare bird there). I hate having to contact after hours on-call though. Always grouchy and if I'm lucky who ever is manning the communications will actually get back to me within 2 hours...again...if I'm lucky. I had to wait all night for an answer once. But over all I really don't have anything to complain about. If I tell them there's a problem then they try to get it fixed...they don't ignore it. Although I did drive for almost a month with a coolant leak that no one could find. The truck finally decided she'd had enough and gave some smoke signals to point them in the right direction. They've also been excellent and getting me home when I request to be home (which is a big plus there knowing how so many other companies are not so good at that).

I've definitely gotten to drive some areas I never did last year. I was in Connecticut yesterday morning, then on to Jersey and now I'm on my way to Minnesota. I can't remember the last time I was ever in Minnesota. Tonight I'm in Fremont, IN...about half way to my receiver. I do like nice long runs. A day with no dealing with shippers/receivers and just driving is nice for a change.

Not to end on a sad note...but I will miss the great Robin Williams. I was at home when the news came in and it just stopped me in my tracks. Such a shock to find out he had ended his own life. Who can imagine that someone that brought so much laughter and joy to so many people could hide their pain so well? He had so much weight on his shoulders that very few even knew about. Battling alcohol, drugs and depression for so many years. And then to find out he was in the early stages of Parkinson's. I can only hope that he has gone on to find some peace in his soul that he couldn't find here with us. So let's end with this short clip of Robin Wiliams joking about truck drivers. The audio sucks so make sure you're in a very quiet place when you try to watch it.

Humming Along

Started my first trip with Don Hummer Trucking yesterday.  They got me a trip heading to PA so I could stop into home. Gotta get the rest of my stuff to put in my truck! 

Getting going again

All I'm going to say right now is it looks like I'll be hauling again soon!
Yay!

Ouch! That hurt!

Okay...I've been a little lax on the postings here recently. Sorry about that. Been a lot going on in my mind that wasn't truck related. 

Weekend before last my youngest son was home for the weekend to visit. I had informed my dispatcher of this and he was only going to be there for two days...Saturday & Sunday. So what does the dispatcher do? He puts me on a run on Saturday. I was upset and only got more and more pissed as Friday night went on. I picked up the load I was scheduled to carry to Lordstown, OH the next morning and I kinda blew my top. I drove that load right down to Sidney and sent in a Qualcomm message that I was resigning. Night dispatcher pulled a good one and got me switched around to carry and empty down to Cincinnati and back to get my ass home. See that little period at the end of my sentences? That's how close I was to leaving the job. Never get between me and one of my kids. And that's what he had done. I'm not gonna play that game. Anyway...of course I thought we had it all resolved...I wasn't quitting. And that following week was my paid vacation but I was only taking part of it off. But guess what? They were quick to notify the departments that I had tendered a resignation but forgot to tell them that I had rescinded that. So when I came back in to my truck on Thursday it had been completely cleaned out. Logs didn't know that I was staying. So apparently only a few people really knew. ::sigh::

Oh yes...and when I was home that weekend...I had a letter waiting for me from the company giving me a first and only notice that if I used more than 10 gallons a fuel idling that I would be charged for every gallon over that 10 (whatever the going rate for fuel per gallon is). So really...who cares if I sit in a truck with the temps registering 104 deg. heat index outside and not allowed to idle to keep cool. Who cares that it's hard as hell to sleep when you're pouring sweat and soaking your mattress.

beeeeep....beeeep....beeeep...We interrupt this blog post to bring you this breaking news.
Tonight at the Flying J in Washington Courthouse, OH we have just witnessed a truck stop parking lot accident. Crete driver in truck number 85144 just backed into a flatbedder who was taking his 10 hours break...twice. Yes folks...he did it TWICE! He backed into him once...pulled up and did it again. According to witness on the other side of the Crete driver he also took out the corner & headlight of the other truck he was pulling in next to.

Want to know why I've never backed into anyone? Because I'm PARANOID! Paranoid about hitting someone. There is a VERY good reason why G.O.A.L. (Get Out And Look) is drilled into our heads in truck driving school. Tonight is a perfect example of that.

Willy Waver

You often hear the guy truck drivers talk about that pretty girl who passed in the convertible and sometimes even about the girl who flashed her boobs at them. Well I guess I got my equivalent yesterday. There was this little red piece-of-shit SUV (I mean it looked like shit) who started to pass me then all of a sudden slowed down and stayed right next to my cab. I didn't look down at first. We were going through construction and I was concentrating more on staying off the concrete barriers to my right. I was getting irritated that this guy was hanging right there back and forth...apparently trying to get my attention. When I did finally look down all I could see was his lap and what he was waving at me. I acted like I was ignoring him and he took off and went on his merry way. Of course as soon as he was way up ahead and laughed my fool head off. Now granted...he actually had something there to be proud of, but it's never a good idea to distract a truck driver like that. But I still laugh when I think about it. So I got my very first Willy Wave. I doubt I'll see one again as it's much less common than a girl showing what she's proud of. But it did make me laugh on a day that I was not the happiest for me.


There's been a helluva lot of rain coming across Northern/Central Ohio lately. As I came across today I saw some of the damage from last nights storms. Broken trees and limbs all over. Small rivers turned into torrents. A golf course who's sand trap was

now a water traps and ditches that now become rivers themselves. I did read that there were 4 confirmed tornado's yesterday. Thankfully I have not heard anything about any deaths resulting from it. But I did worry about my daughter and furbabies at home as four nights in a row I got text message alerts of flash flood warnings in our town. 

So that's it for today...unless I remember something later. Let me leave you with this pic I took earlier today that I found breathtaking at the time. It was as I was leaving today's receiver. Stay safe out there!

Philosophical Questions Of Trucking

A few things that I often wonder:

Four Wheelers 

(that would be any vehicle with 4 tires on it for you non-truckers)

~When a truck is doing the truck speed of 55 mph while the car speed is 65...why there always that four-wheeler  who would prefer to tailgate you thinking he can force you to faster?

Sorry...that only works on other vehicles of equal size. 

~When getting into a lane for a toll booth on a very busy highway...after you have already allowed 5 cars to jump in front of you...why is the guy in the tiny sports car that will pitch a fit if you don't let him in (even though there were other lines available that NO trucks were in)?

Yes...I blocked the little fucker from jumping in front of me by staying 4 feet from the car in front of me. So what does he do? He actually pulls up 5 inches next to my steers and thinks he's going to force me to move if he made me think I was going to run him over. Sorry...didn't work bub! Big truck ALWAYS wins over tiny sports car!

~Why do the four wheelers have to tie up traffic for miles back so they can slow down to 25 mph on a 70 mph interstate so they can get a good look at that accident on the other side of the highway?

I know, I know...they are hoping to see some carnage. Unfortunately they tend to cause more carnage by their actions.

~If you're driving in the express lanes through the city...why would you decide to do 10 mph UNDER the speed limit? How is that a speed worthy of using the express lanes?

Maybe I'm missing something here about what an express lane is?

Other Semi's

~Speaking of tailgating...why does another semi think by tailgating you that you are going to move faster? Do they plan on pushing you if you slow down? Why not just pull over to the next lane and fucking pass me?

Sorry driver...some of us actually drive the speed limit. Of course I've done 10 over the limit and STILL had some asshole trying to hook up to my idiot bar in the back.

Parking

~Why do some of the biggest and busiest shippers/receivers always seem to have the smallest parking areas for docking?

Really...who cares that you come close to backing into another truck or docked trailer while trying to get docked yourself. Or that it raises my anxiety levels sky high!

~Why do truck stops located in some of the busiest areas only accommodate 10 - 20 trucks?

Tried to get into one tonight in Cleveland...5 pm and it was full.

Driving Rules

~Why do all these little towns prohibit jake brakes...ESPECIALLY ones with steep hills.

Those with steep hills should APPRECIATE those jake brakes...they help keep that truck slowed down enough that they don't slam into your car or house at the bottom of the hill.

~Why would you put a stop light/sign on a 55 mph main road?

Good lord...lower the speed limit if you're gonna have stop lights/signs! Especially if that light/sign is just after a curve!

Okay...that's all the philosophical questions for now. :-)