You probably all are wondering why I'm a rebel, and more importantly, did I finally break down and pay for internet while on the road? Well, all of your questions will be answered in this blog post, so read on:
To explain why I am a rebel I need to do some explaining about how the system works. See, on our Qualcomms (which is our on board messaging system which runs off satellites, and acts more or less like instant messaging) we get a Preplan, which is a load, and on this preplan it tells us where we are picking up and when, also where it is going and when it needs to be there. We then have to accept the plan or reject it (you generally aren't supposed to reject them unless you have a good reason). Well come Friday afternoon I got a preplan for a load from southern Idaho (near Boise) to Irvine California. So when I was done with my current load I was waiting for my dispatch (which is when the load is actually assigned to you, and you get all the details you need) I was looking at a map and trying to figure out how they would send me. I eventually got the dispatch with a fuel route (which tells you which highways and freeways to take, also where to fuel up). The fuel route was completely different than what I expected. I took out my atlas and followed it along, and discovered that the computer that comes up with the fuel route (it's kind of like mapquest designed for trucks) must hate me. The fuel route basically had me going through every major city north of San Diego in California. I looked at my route that I came up with and it took me through Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, other than that it was open roads. I then sat down and figured the mileage for both routes. In short I basically threw the fuel route to the wind and took my own route. The one kink in my plan was that I was assigned a fill up in Reno Nevada, and my route took me no where near that, so I ended up stopping in Las Vegas and sending in a request for emergency fuel. Not the first time I've had to do that, but the first time when I was so far off route. So far either no one has noticed, or no one cares. I guess I'll find out tomorrow when the regular staff comes in. There shouldn't be a problem, so long as I get the load there on time, but this is the first time I've gone off route, so I'm not sure. Oh, I should mention the reason I did this was mainly because I didn't think I could get the load there on time given the hours I could drive, and the terrain and traffic conditions on the given route.
As for me having internet. This one will be a little shorter. I'm currently in Southern California, and while driving here it was around 90 degrees. Now my truck has a great electric heater, but no electric air conditioner. Which means that I would have to idle the truck so that I wouldn't cook in the cab while sitting. Unfortunately the state of California has a law against idling trucks, so that doesn't work very well. So I ended up paying for a service called Idleair with is this thing which hooks to the window and provides cold/hot air with a thermostat, power, internet, TV, basically all the comforts of home. So I kind of am paying for internet, but it's just a package deal. Also, I'm going to be here like 15 hours, so I figured it was worth it.
That's about it for now. For those of you on the West side of Washington, I should be there this Fridayish, so I'm looking forward to seeing all of you.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Finally a Real Truck Driver
Well, I'm a real truck driver now. I've been out for two weeks on my own, and if that wasn't enough, I have a CB radio too. This first outing took me to two new three new states, Utah, Nebraska, and Colorado. I also passed through Nevada, Wyoming, and Iowa. Iowa was cool, not because of the state so much (the roads were rather bumpy and hilly), but I got to my destination a day early, a destination close by Dubuque, and thus was able to spend most of a day with Ellery, Anna, and the kids.
Apart from the new states I visited, this two week outing also had some other firsts. I had my first load where I couldn't actually fill up my gas tank because I would be over weight (over 80,000 pounds), so that was exciting. Also, in Denver (which was my destination in Colorado) I blocked two intersections and had to back up in order to not take out a light pole. No one honked, but I doubt they were very happy about it either. But I haven't hit anyone yet (although I did hit my fair share of curbs, again in Denver....I don't think Denver, at least the parts I was in, was meant for trucks), so I still have a good driving record.
After such a short period I already know my least favorite part of the job, finding the darn places. It's not so bad when they are large mills or something, but my last two loads I had multiple deliveries to stores, so not only did I have to try to find more places, but the places where hard to get into and out of, and was all together unpleasant. So I'm pretty sure I'm going to get an iPhone sometime soon, mainly for its mapping ability. I'm hopping it will make my least favorite aspect of the job more pleasant.
Finally, I should explain why I haven't updated in a while. Well, most of the truck stops have internet, but most of them make you pay for it, something I've been reluctant to do since I still don't have much money. I should start to have more money soon, but the way the paying works, I've only had small paychecks to date due to when I got my paper work in on my loads. Thus, I didn't want to spend the money to get online. Hope no one was too disappointed by my lack of communication.
Apart from the new states I visited, this two week outing also had some other firsts. I had my first load where I couldn't actually fill up my gas tank because I would be over weight (over 80,000 pounds), so that was exciting. Also, in Denver (which was my destination in Colorado) I blocked two intersections and had to back up in order to not take out a light pole. No one honked, but I doubt they were very happy about it either. But I haven't hit anyone yet (although I did hit my fair share of curbs, again in Denver....I don't think Denver, at least the parts I was in, was meant for trucks), so I still have a good driving record.
After such a short period I already know my least favorite part of the job, finding the darn places. It's not so bad when they are large mills or something, but my last two loads I had multiple deliveries to stores, so not only did I have to try to find more places, but the places where hard to get into and out of, and was all together unpleasant. So I'm pretty sure I'm going to get an iPhone sometime soon, mainly for its mapping ability. I'm hopping it will make my least favorite aspect of the job more pleasant.
Finally, I should explain why I haven't updated in a while. Well, most of the truck stops have internet, but most of them make you pay for it, something I've been reluctant to do since I still don't have much money. I should start to have more money soon, but the way the paying works, I've only had small paychecks to date due to when I got my paper work in on my loads. Thus, I didn't want to spend the money to get online. Hope no one was too disappointed by my lack of communication.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
300671
Well, I have a new truck. Well, not new exactly, but new to me. It is a 2007 Volvo with about 200k miles on it. Now I know what you're thinking, 200k is a lot of miles, but remember most drivers do well over 100k in a year, and these things have warranties for 1 million miles, so 200k really isn't that many miles. In some ways it's better than getting a brand new truck because new trucks take about 80k miles to really break in, or so I've heard, and also new trucks tend to have a fair amount of problems with them, so it takes a while to get all the bugs worked out, so I'm happy with my truck. It is clean(well, on the inside at least), no dents or other apparent damage, and it is mine (well sort of...technically Swift still owns it, but I'll still consider it mine).
I've also completed my first solo load. See, they didn't have a truck for me in Lewiston at my terminal, but they found a truck in need of a new owner, the only problem was that it was in Great Fall, MT. So, they bussed me up there (with a 17 hour layover in Butte), and then I got a load going from there down to Usk, WA, which is just North of Spokane. My first load weighed about 45,000 pounds, bringing my grand weight that my truck hauled up to 78,000 pounds (the max legal weight I can haul is 80,000, so I was just about maxed out). I was hauling used Newspaper from a recycling plant to a pulp factory where I guess they actually recycle the newspaper. After that I bobtailed home (which means that I drove just the tractor with no trailer). I got home Friday and will be leaving again Monday morning to go...well, to go wherever the wind blows me.
P.S. The number in the title is my truck number, so if you see a Swift volvo with that number (located on the fender), then you'll know it's me, and you'll probably want to get away quickly, I am a new driver still.
I've also completed my first solo load. See, they didn't have a truck for me in Lewiston at my terminal, but they found a truck in need of a new owner, the only problem was that it was in Great Fall, MT. So, they bussed me up there (with a 17 hour layover in Butte), and then I got a load going from there down to Usk, WA, which is just North of Spokane. My first load weighed about 45,000 pounds, bringing my grand weight that my truck hauled up to 78,000 pounds (the max legal weight I can haul is 80,000, so I was just about maxed out). I was hauling used Newspaper from a recycling plant to a pulp factory where I guess they actually recycle the newspaper. After that I bobtailed home (which means that I drove just the tractor with no trailer). I got home Friday and will be leaving again Monday morning to go...well, to go wherever the wind blows me.
P.S. The number in the title is my truck number, so if you see a Swift volvo with that number (located on the fender), then you'll know it's me, and you'll probably want to get away quickly, I am a new driver still.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Irrelevant Observations
I know, I didn't update last week. I hope I didn't ruin the week for anyone.
There hasn't been much to report over the past couple of weeks. I only have one week left, so next time I post here I should have my very own truck, so that is quite exciting.
So I figured I would wrap up my observations for the past 6 weeks, observations that I haven't made yet. Over the past 6 weeks I have seen several beautiful sunrises, a few stunning sunsets (I'm usually asleep by the time the sun is setting, so I mainly see the sunrises). I've seen buffalo. I say a bald eagle up close in South Dakota. He was on the shoulder of the free way (alive) and as I approached he took off and so he was parallel with the cab of the truck for a few moments before I passed him.
In my first couple of posts I mentioned how I learned things about the people of the states I passed through simply by staying on the freeway, well I learned something about Illinois recently. Well, the clues were there, but it just recently dawned on me. The people of Illinois are obviously heartless jerks. I say this because up and down all of their freeways they have signs informing us “Hit a worker $10,000 fine 14 years in jail” so I have to assume before those signs went up the people of Illinois would be driving along going 65 MPH, sees a worker in the road up ahead and figures that he can't be bothered to slow down or move over, so he just hits him and moves on. Thus the state figured it had to put up those signs to give the people a reason to slow down or move over, since obviously the idea of hitting a guy going 65 MPH wasn't deterrent enough. Also, for some reason the people of Illinois seem to really like paying tolls, since most of the roads you have to pay to get on, and then after a while you have to pay again for the privilege of staying on the road, then a few miles more you once again have to pay for the privilege.
One last observation I've made is that compared to most other states (well, at least the ones I've been to) Washington state rest areas suck, every state but Montana has considerably nicer rest areas than we do. On the other hand, or interstates seem to be in much better shape than most of those other states, so I guess it's a fair trade off.
There hasn't been much to report over the past couple of weeks. I only have one week left, so next time I post here I should have my very own truck, so that is quite exciting.
So I figured I would wrap up my observations for the past 6 weeks, observations that I haven't made yet. Over the past 6 weeks I have seen several beautiful sunrises, a few stunning sunsets (I'm usually asleep by the time the sun is setting, so I mainly see the sunrises). I've seen buffalo. I say a bald eagle up close in South Dakota. He was on the shoulder of the free way (alive) and as I approached he took off and so he was parallel with the cab of the truck for a few moments before I passed him.
In my first couple of posts I mentioned how I learned things about the people of the states I passed through simply by staying on the freeway, well I learned something about Illinois recently. Well, the clues were there, but it just recently dawned on me. The people of Illinois are obviously heartless jerks. I say this because up and down all of their freeways they have signs informing us “Hit a worker $10,000 fine 14 years in jail” so I have to assume before those signs went up the people of Illinois would be driving along going 65 MPH, sees a worker in the road up ahead and figures that he can't be bothered to slow down or move over, so he just hits him and moves on. Thus the state figured it had to put up those signs to give the people a reason to slow down or move over, since obviously the idea of hitting a guy going 65 MPH wasn't deterrent enough. Also, for some reason the people of Illinois seem to really like paying tolls, since most of the roads you have to pay to get on, and then after a while you have to pay again for the privilege of staying on the road, then a few miles more you once again have to pay for the privilege.
One last observation I've made is that compared to most other states (well, at least the ones I've been to) Washington state rest areas suck, every state but Montana has considerably nicer rest areas than we do. On the other hand, or interstates seem to be in much better shape than most of those other states, so I guess it's a fair trade off.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Never-ending Winter
This past week almost made me think that winter was over. Almost the entire trip was relatively warm (it was mostly in the 'teens to mid 30's) and we didn't get any snow or ice....until we hit Montana coming home on Saturday. Oh well, maybe winter is almost over then.
The week was fairly uneventful, although I did break my old record for miles driven in a day. Last week I topped off at 616, but this past week I did 619 miles. May not seem like much of an increase, but at least I did a little better.
It's been 4 weeks that I have been out now, and in that time I have learned lots of things and gained a lot of confidence in driving these things. I have of course learned better how to drive the thing, but my favorite things I have learned are new phrases from other truck drivers. My two favorite are “Uglier than a one-eyed opossum”, used to refer to someone who is extremely ugly. The other phrase is “Slicker than greased owl shit”, used to describe road conditions that were slippery.
One other thing that I have learned is how to drive in a car around semi-trucks, and I feel it is my duty to pass on this information along to you. First of all I want to dispel a myth. If you are on either side of a truck, we can see you. I know you are told that we have blind spots along the sides, but we don't. We tell you that because we don't want you next to us, and so that when we turn on our turn signals you panic and give us space because you think we can't see you. Which is my first piece of advice, don't hang out on the side of a truck if at all possible. I know if there is heavy traffic it can't be helped, but most other times it can be. This is for you safety, because it can sometimes be difficult to keep that trailer exactly in our lane, especially in wind (even if it is wind that you don't feel in your car). As for the turn signal, if you see it on, please give us room, either move ahead of us (quickly) or back off. Trucks are generally not swerving in and out of traffic, so if we have our turn signal on it is usually for a good reason, so help us out. Also, to help us out, if you see one of us merging on the freeway, and you are able to, kindly move over to the next lane, or if appropriate speed up. We need a lot of room to merge, and it will take us a while to get up to speed, so give us some space. While I am mentioning speed, when it is off the freeway, driving in towns and such, just keep in mind, we are slow. We speed up slow (I have to go up 5 gears just to get to 25 MPH) and we stop slow, so just be patient. If you are stuck behind a truck and he takes off from a light slowly, he's not doing it to piss you off, he's doing it because of gravity, so just chill out. I could go on, but I think you probably get the idea.
Love you all, and only 3 weeks left until I'm on my own!
The week was fairly uneventful, although I did break my old record for miles driven in a day. Last week I topped off at 616, but this past week I did 619 miles. May not seem like much of an increase, but at least I did a little better.
It's been 4 weeks that I have been out now, and in that time I have learned lots of things and gained a lot of confidence in driving these things. I have of course learned better how to drive the thing, but my favorite things I have learned are new phrases from other truck drivers. My two favorite are “Uglier than a one-eyed opossum”, used to refer to someone who is extremely ugly. The other phrase is “Slicker than greased owl shit”, used to describe road conditions that were slippery.
One other thing that I have learned is how to drive in a car around semi-trucks, and I feel it is my duty to pass on this information along to you. First of all I want to dispel a myth. If you are on either side of a truck, we can see you. I know you are told that we have blind spots along the sides, but we don't. We tell you that because we don't want you next to us, and so that when we turn on our turn signals you panic and give us space because you think we can't see you. Which is my first piece of advice, don't hang out on the side of a truck if at all possible. I know if there is heavy traffic it can't be helped, but most other times it can be. This is for you safety, because it can sometimes be difficult to keep that trailer exactly in our lane, especially in wind (even if it is wind that you don't feel in your car). As for the turn signal, if you see it on, please give us room, either move ahead of us (quickly) or back off. Trucks are generally not swerving in and out of traffic, so if we have our turn signal on it is usually for a good reason, so help us out. Also, to help us out, if you see one of us merging on the freeway, and you are able to, kindly move over to the next lane, or if appropriate speed up. We need a lot of room to merge, and it will take us a while to get up to speed, so give us some space. While I am mentioning speed, when it is off the freeway, driving in towns and such, just keep in mind, we are slow. We speed up slow (I have to go up 5 gears just to get to 25 MPH) and we stop slow, so just be patient. If you are stuck behind a truck and he takes off from a light slowly, he's not doing it to piss you off, he's doing it because of gravity, so just chill out. I could go on, but I think you probably get the idea.
Love you all, and only 3 weeks left until I'm on my own!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
5,500 Safe Miles
In my three weeks out I have driven 5500 miles already, all of them without accidents. I suppose that doesn't sound all that impressive, but it's better than nothing.
This past week we pretty much had all good roads, except for a little bit in Illinois and Indiana, thus I was able to set a new record for miles driven in a day; 616. I averaged a little over 59 miles per hour, and my mentor was quite impressed with that. The most, at least according to Swift, I could do in an 11 hour period is 684, since Swift says you shouldn't be averaging better than 62 miles per hour. Now this may seem odd since we are governed at 65 miles per hour, but you have to remember that just about every hill we have to slow down, also it takes us a while to get up to speed when getting on the freeway, as well as it takes a while to get off the free way. The reason they enforce an average at all is that a lot of drivers will drive by the odometer rather than hours. See, we are limited to driving 11 hours, then we have to take 10 consecutive hours off, but some drivers will drive 600 miles, say it took them 10 hours on their log book (thus averaging 60 MPH) even if it actually took them 12 hours. So the 62 MPH average at least limits how much Swift drivers can cheat on their logs.
While the roads were mostly good this week, it was bloody cold outside. It dropped to zero again in North Dakota, but in Minasota and Wisconsin it dropped to around -17 degrees. Now while these temperatures makes it miserable to leave the truck to go to the bath room or get something to eat, it also makes it a little bit more dangerous too. Apparently Desiel engines don't really like extreme colds like that, and in fact Desiel fuel will actually begin to gel at around -20 degress (which means that the fuel turns into more of a gel than a liquid). To try to prevent this we did add some anti-gelling compound to the fuel tanks, but even then the engines can have lots of problems in such extremem colds. We didn't end up having any, but apparently just this past year my mentor has had his truck break twice in such extreme cold.
Just one last semi-exciting thing that happened. I was driving along at night, the road was kind of windy, I was going along a little slower than the speed limit due to the windy roads when all of a sudden, when I was coming out of a curve there was a deer! Luckily for him he was on the shoulder, but even still it was hard to resist the eurge to swerve the truck to the left to avoid him. Luckily I was able to avoid that. (In case you're wondering, trucks really aren't made for swerving, and at those speeds very likely could have turned the truck over....these things aren't made to do anything quickly, including turning).
Well, that's about it for this week. The route is already starting to get a little boring, really looking forward to getting out on my own and driving other roads. Only 4 weeks left!
This past week we pretty much had all good roads, except for a little bit in Illinois and Indiana, thus I was able to set a new record for miles driven in a day; 616. I averaged a little over 59 miles per hour, and my mentor was quite impressed with that. The most, at least according to Swift, I could do in an 11 hour period is 684, since Swift says you shouldn't be averaging better than 62 miles per hour. Now this may seem odd since we are governed at 65 miles per hour, but you have to remember that just about every hill we have to slow down, also it takes us a while to get up to speed when getting on the freeway, as well as it takes a while to get off the free way. The reason they enforce an average at all is that a lot of drivers will drive by the odometer rather than hours. See, we are limited to driving 11 hours, then we have to take 10 consecutive hours off, but some drivers will drive 600 miles, say it took them 10 hours on their log book (thus averaging 60 MPH) even if it actually took them 12 hours. So the 62 MPH average at least limits how much Swift drivers can cheat on their logs.
While the roads were mostly good this week, it was bloody cold outside. It dropped to zero again in North Dakota, but in Minasota and Wisconsin it dropped to around -17 degrees. Now while these temperatures makes it miserable to leave the truck to go to the bath room or get something to eat, it also makes it a little bit more dangerous too. Apparently Desiel engines don't really like extreme colds like that, and in fact Desiel fuel will actually begin to gel at around -20 degress (which means that the fuel turns into more of a gel than a liquid). To try to prevent this we did add some anti-gelling compound to the fuel tanks, but even then the engines can have lots of problems in such extremem colds. We didn't end up having any, but apparently just this past year my mentor has had his truck break twice in such extreme cold.
Just one last semi-exciting thing that happened. I was driving along at night, the road was kind of windy, I was going along a little slower than the speed limit due to the windy roads when all of a sudden, when I was coming out of a curve there was a deer! Luckily for him he was on the shoulder, but even still it was hard to resist the eurge to swerve the truck to the left to avoid him. Luckily I was able to avoid that. (In case you're wondering, trucks really aren't made for swerving, and at those speeds very likely could have turned the truck over....these things aren't made to do anything quickly, including turning).
Well, that's about it for this week. The route is already starting to get a little boring, really looking forward to getting out on my own and driving other roads. Only 4 weeks left!
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
2 Weeks Down, 5 to Go
This past week we did the route we will be doing now for the next five weeks, it is about 4,000 miles total. We take a load from Lewiston, ID to Chicago, IL (well, actually Elwood, but it is close to Chicago). Then we pick up an empty trailer and take it to two different places in Indiana, passing through Indianapolis. We then return to Lewiston, ID (well, actually, he drops me off in Spokane, then he goes to Lewiston). So this past week I added four more states to my list of states I've now been too. Wisconsin, Indiana, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
The weather this week was about the same as last week, some good spots, some bad spots. I half jokingly asked my mentor if there was any extreme weather I haven't experienced yet, other than tornadoes and hurricanes of course. He thought about it for a moment then said, “No, you've pretty much have had it all”. I then added that about the only weather I haven't had yet is a nice sunny warm day, and it's the truth. The one day that it was kind of warm (high 30's mainly) there was quite a bit of wind, so I was having to fight to keep it in my lane the entire time, and at parts there was also heavy rain. Hopefully spring will come one day, although I won't know what to do on a warm sunny day and am liable to drive the truck into a ditch or something.
I know in my last post I mentioned that North Dakota was basically empty outside of the two cities they have. Well I obviously didn't know what I was talking about because South Dakota is even more deserted, and they don't even have any cities of any notable size. It was an incredibly boring drive. The only thing that entertained me through it was reading all the advertisements for attractions there. Some of the more notable ones are the World's only Corn Palace, the World's largest bull's head, Cosmos the mystery spot, where drivers were encouraged to “See it. Feel it. Survive it.” There was also something called Wall Drug. Despite the 150 miles of ads I saw for it, I never could figure out exactly what it is. Judging from the signs they have a dinosaur, cowboys, cowboys on rocket ships, coffee for 5 cents, and “Something for everyone”. Oh, and they also have Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota too.
Well, I'm off to my third week out. Here's hoping it's warmer than last week (the coldest was 0 degrees with a wind chill of about -20, the average high was in the 20's).
The weather this week was about the same as last week, some good spots, some bad spots. I half jokingly asked my mentor if there was any extreme weather I haven't experienced yet, other than tornadoes and hurricanes of course. He thought about it for a moment then said, “No, you've pretty much have had it all”. I then added that about the only weather I haven't had yet is a nice sunny warm day, and it's the truth. The one day that it was kind of warm (high 30's mainly) there was quite a bit of wind, so I was having to fight to keep it in my lane the entire time, and at parts there was also heavy rain. Hopefully spring will come one day, although I won't know what to do on a warm sunny day and am liable to drive the truck into a ditch or something.
I know in my last post I mentioned that North Dakota was basically empty outside of the two cities they have. Well I obviously didn't know what I was talking about because South Dakota is even more deserted, and they don't even have any cities of any notable size. It was an incredibly boring drive. The only thing that entertained me through it was reading all the advertisements for attractions there. Some of the more notable ones are the World's only Corn Palace, the World's largest bull's head, Cosmos the mystery spot, where drivers were encouraged to “See it. Feel it. Survive it.” There was also something called Wall Drug. Despite the 150 miles of ads I saw for it, I never could figure out exactly what it is. Judging from the signs they have a dinosaur, cowboys, cowboys on rocket ships, coffee for 5 cents, and “Something for everyone”. Oh, and they also have Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota too.
Well, I'm off to my third week out. Here's hoping it's warmer than last week (the coldest was 0 degrees with a wind chill of about -20, the average high was in the 20's).
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