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.
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