Monday, August 20, 2007
Here I Sit Broken Hearted
I was in striking distance. I had the oil and washer fluid topped off. My log book was done and legal. Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed. As I have said in the past, my truck was having some sort of battery trouble. Seems that the battery was fine. It was the starter, which stopped working for me at 0730 this morning. I called breakdown and they are sending a gentleman to help me out within the hour. I had been keeping the truck running because of the problem but she shut off on her own for me and wouldn't turn over. Broke down in Belgrade, MT. At least I am here in the Flying Jacko where I can play on the computer and go to the bathroom and the coffee is hot. I have been broke down on US 50 in Northern Nevada and that was a 6 hour debacle, waiting in the heat with no air conditioning wondering whether I would get rear ended or not. That is certainly no picnic. I would call myself fortunate at this point. I just can't bring myself to relax knowing that this load is really hot and time is something I don't have.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
The Girl In The Van In The Trees
Yesterday while driving on I 94 in Wisconsin near Tomah, Wisconsin, specifically. I was driving along in the rain and was making a mental note to slow down to myself. It was raining really hard and the water was puddling up pretty good on the lane ruts. Enough so that I was having to take an active role in keeping control of the truck. That of course mean't that I had to put down my bowel of cereal. I just hate when that happens.
Anyway, I was approaching the overpass at mile marker 48 and hit another good sized puddle and backed her down from 55 to about 50. I was thinking in my mind that I hope this heavy rain stuff doesn't get the idea to stick with me all the way to Washington. I was also getting peeved at the fact that these cars were flying by me with no lights on. They were all but disappearing in the rain wash that clouded up behind their speeding cars. I was, as I said just coming under the mm 48 overpass and I noticed a dark green Oldsmobile Silhouette moving fast coming onto the freeway to merge ahead of me. Just as quick as the van appeared, the van hit a large puddle under hard throttle and the rear kicked out to the left. The driver hit the brakes hard and steered hard and the van left the road sideways and flipped as soon as it hit the grass. I couldn't believe how high the van flew. Then the van hit a low branch hanging out from a large oak tree and wedged there, about eight feet up. I whipped the wheel and slowed down fast, got out and approached the van through the chest high grass. Just as I called out, there was a loud crack and the van landed on its passenger side with the front grille smiling at me sideways with the lights still on. I walked up and called out again. A red head popped out from the passenger side window. My first thought was, there is a 14 year old out for a joy ride. She really looked shaken up but appeared unhurt. She was rather short and needed help to get out of the van. I approached the roof and grabbed her by her armpits. She was light and was out in a second. Once her feet hit the ground she started shaking and crying and she hugged me saying thank you for stopping. Then she looked at the van. It was all sinking in for her at that moment. I told her that I was glad to see that she was all right and the van...well the van wasn't important. She told me that she was 17 years old and asked me go get her purse. I went to hop up on the van to reach in and realized that the van was very near to tipping over. I was just lifting her out and never noticed.
I have driven a lot of miles and have witnessed quite a few accidents. I have had a pickup with 4 guys in back with beers drive by me and the guys waved at me at 5:45 on a Sunday morning only to see those same 4 guys with blankets soaked in blood covering their bodies after a roll over an hour later. I have driven by a mother and her 3 children in Clines Corner, NM after their Ford Explorer crossed the median on I-40 and hit a Mayflower truck head on. I came upon the scene mere minutes after the accident happened and the police weren't there yet. I could see the bodies burning inside the truck completely engulfed in flame. Evidently, she had been late for a dental appointment when a tire blew out at 75 mph. Both of those things did bother me and I am not trying to gross you out with my war stories. I am just saying.
I guess my point is, I was really bothered by this accident even though no one got hurt. Sometimes, when a car cuts me off, it is easy to lose the idea that there is a living, breathing, human being in that car. There are children, elderly folks, people that do not feel good, Someone that is having trouble in their life...you just never know. Try to think about the fact that there are people that matter to someone in that car ahead or behind you. It might just change the way you drive. Dedication.
Anyway, I was approaching the overpass at mile marker 48 and hit another good sized puddle and backed her down from 55 to about 50. I was thinking in my mind that I hope this heavy rain stuff doesn't get the idea to stick with me all the way to Washington. I was also getting peeved at the fact that these cars were flying by me with no lights on. They were all but disappearing in the rain wash that clouded up behind their speeding cars. I was, as I said just coming under the mm 48 overpass and I noticed a dark green Oldsmobile Silhouette moving fast coming onto the freeway to merge ahead of me. Just as quick as the van appeared, the van hit a large puddle under hard throttle and the rear kicked out to the left. The driver hit the brakes hard and steered hard and the van left the road sideways and flipped as soon as it hit the grass. I couldn't believe how high the van flew. Then the van hit a low branch hanging out from a large oak tree and wedged there, about eight feet up. I whipped the wheel and slowed down fast, got out and approached the van through the chest high grass. Just as I called out, there was a loud crack and the van landed on its passenger side with the front grille smiling at me sideways with the lights still on. I walked up and called out again. A red head popped out from the passenger side window. My first thought was, there is a 14 year old out for a joy ride. She really looked shaken up but appeared unhurt. She was rather short and needed help to get out of the van. I approached the roof and grabbed her by her armpits. She was light and was out in a second. Once her feet hit the ground she started shaking and crying and she hugged me saying thank you for stopping. Then she looked at the van. It was all sinking in for her at that moment. I told her that I was glad to see that she was all right and the van...well the van wasn't important. She told me that she was 17 years old and asked me go get her purse. I went to hop up on the van to reach in and realized that the van was very near to tipping over. I was just lifting her out and never noticed.
I have driven a lot of miles and have witnessed quite a few accidents. I have had a pickup with 4 guys in back with beers drive by me and the guys waved at me at 5:45 on a Sunday morning only to see those same 4 guys with blankets soaked in blood covering their bodies after a roll over an hour later. I have driven by a mother and her 3 children in Clines Corner, NM after their Ford Explorer crossed the median on I-40 and hit a Mayflower truck head on. I came upon the scene mere minutes after the accident happened and the police weren't there yet. I could see the bodies burning inside the truck completely engulfed in flame. Evidently, she had been late for a dental appointment when a tire blew out at 75 mph. Both of those things did bother me and I am not trying to gross you out with my war stories. I am just saying.
I guess my point is, I was really bothered by this accident even though no one got hurt. Sometimes, when a car cuts me off, it is easy to lose the idea that there is a living, breathing, human being in that car. There are children, elderly folks, people that do not feel good, Someone that is having trouble in their life...you just never know. Try to think about the fact that there are people that matter to someone in that car ahead or behind you. It might just change the way you drive. Dedication.
Spend Ten Bucks To Save A Nickel
I have been running rather hard lately. Freight has been quite good and there has been little time to stop and actually take a breath. Right now I am losing sleep in order to at least get some words into this pile of expression. I had a fun load that went from Virginia to Indiana. There was where I last found the time to type. I delivered that load to Indy and was sent to Manteno, IL and had to pick up off the drop lot, a load that some prima donna that didn't want to go into Melrose Park left for someone else.
I don't love driving Chicagoland. I do however drive a truck and as a truck driver, I feel that the least I could do is drive the stupid truck where the truck needs to go to make money. The world is quite full of sissies that are always whining and crying to get out of having to do their job, but, I am getting away from the main thrust here.
I then was informed that I had a load but customer service would want me to pull a couple shags first. I was not very happy because generally, customer service people are inbred stupid morons that throw a wrench into the routine of a driver. This was no exception. I arrived late in the afternoon on the 17th to find out that my load of 2204 short HHG miles must have the first drop on the 21st at 0500 in the morning. I call and state that there really isn't too much time on this load considering that my truck does not do 85 mph and that any spare time that this load had will be eaten up by his stupid favor to customer service. I just love it when you present a moron with the facts and they act as if you said absolutely nothing at all. So, I decided that I was in the mood to make some money and decided to pull the shags and drive like hell towards Missoula, MT. Jim Palmer Trucking terminal in all its glory. Today I sent in a message stating that I had a maintenance issue (batteries, Starter) and that the load was tight and any time spent in the Peterbuilt dealership will be time that I literally will end up late. He replied that I should get with my driver manager, Brett in the am. And that he would note it on my screen. I just love it when people do as little as they can to get a paycheck. I figure that I could make it but it would be so close. Washington is no state to mess with when it comes to log falsification or any other monkey business. I have had a good relationship with the WA DOT and I want to keep it that way.
Where do you ask is the spend 10 bucks to save a nickel? That would be where I notified them 4 days ago that there was a bad battery problem and needed to get the truck in the shop before I ended up stranded. They would rather run me (and yes I would rather run) than set the truck to be repaired. This diversion tomorrow to Missoula will not make anyone at JPT happy. It is to be sure for their own good. Sometimes, you gotta hit someone with a 2x4 to get them to do the right thing.
I don't love driving Chicagoland. I do however drive a truck and as a truck driver, I feel that the least I could do is drive the stupid truck where the truck needs to go to make money. The world is quite full of sissies that are always whining and crying to get out of having to do their job, but, I am getting away from the main thrust here.
I then was informed that I had a load but customer service would want me to pull a couple shags first. I was not very happy because generally, customer service people are inbred stupid morons that throw a wrench into the routine of a driver. This was no exception. I arrived late in the afternoon on the 17th to find out that my load of 2204 short HHG miles must have the first drop on the 21st at 0500 in the morning. I call and state that there really isn't too much time on this load considering that my truck does not do 85 mph and that any spare time that this load had will be eaten up by his stupid favor to customer service. I just love it when you present a moron with the facts and they act as if you said absolutely nothing at all. So, I decided that I was in the mood to make some money and decided to pull the shags and drive like hell towards Missoula, MT. Jim Palmer Trucking terminal in all its glory. Today I sent in a message stating that I had a maintenance issue (batteries, Starter) and that the load was tight and any time spent in the Peterbuilt dealership will be time that I literally will end up late. He replied that I should get with my driver manager, Brett in the am. And that he would note it on my screen. I just love it when people do as little as they can to get a paycheck. I figure that I could make it but it would be so close. Washington is no state to mess with when it comes to log falsification or any other monkey business. I have had a good relationship with the WA DOT and I want to keep it that way.
Where do you ask is the spend 10 bucks to save a nickel? That would be where I notified them 4 days ago that there was a bad battery problem and needed to get the truck in the shop before I ended up stranded. They would rather run me (and yes I would rather run) than set the truck to be repaired. This diversion tomorrow to Missoula will not make anyone at JPT happy. It is to be sure for their own good. Sometimes, you gotta hit someone with a 2x4 to get them to do the right thing.
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