While driving on I 35 just south of Dallas there was the sign that is also the title of this blurb. It was a sign for a place that sells concrete figurines and birdbaths. I liked it.
I am once again in Wichita Falls resting up for the Sunday run like hell towards Denver 500. I deliver on Monday and decided that I would pool my energy today and get some needed rest. I have been rather down with a cold lately and felt that being lazy would somehow help. So far, so good. Gotta go for now. Dedication....
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Monday, December 10, 2007
Just Catching Up At Long Last
I have had several opportunities to launch another missive towards this growing pile of words. It is just that I have either had to get going already or I just did not have the energy to fire the computer up and dedicate some heartfelt time in the name of endless drivel. I have no idea whether that is spelled right. So, for the sake of the uneducated...I mean crap.
I was being harassed by snow at last visit as I was trying to get my ass home for the family get together on the first of December. That turned out to be a nice outing and I was off until the 5th or so.
Then I had to get going to Jamestown and get a load of Potato Sticks and head out to Louisville, KY. My reefer broke down and I ended up losing a whole day on the deal. Jim Palmer paid nothing for this delay to me. Then I got rooked into the Schwan's load out of Walton KY going to Arlington, Texas. This load was kind of slow as I was late to my Louisville, KY drop due to the ice storm I was trying to cross in Illinois. I pulled over until it was safe and ended up 5 and 1/2 hours late to the Louisville show. I always err on the side of pulling over because simply, I do not want to know what it feels like to slide into a deep ditch at speed. All the losers at Jim Palmer are concerned with is the fact that if their load is late, they get docked. Well, I am not going to say all the losers because the safety guy is always saying on the quaalcomm to pull over and be safe. Funny though since every time I have a delay, that delay is followed by two or three very slow and non profitable loads. In fact, the drivers at Jim Palmer call it "getting spanked". Tell a driver manager that he is an asshole, get spanked. Refuse a load, definitely get spanked. Call and swear into the phone at someone, Spanky, spanka, spank, spank.
Back to safety. It seems that safety is really for the people at trucking companies to beat the driver over the head with when something goes wrong. It is also a good "cover your butt" measure when you are sending drivers with profit generating freight into harms way. The driver is the company source of income and at the same time the driver can be the biggest drain. In the form of lawsuits. It is really funny though, how quickly a driver gets thrown under the bus when something goes wrong. You can be the driver of the year and have 25 years at Jim Palmer Trucking. Just as soon as you slam into the side of a minivan full of people due to running a red light, they cast you into the fire. There is something terribly wrong with that. I mean, the driver does his job and the trucking company makes money the whole time for the most part. The fact is, that there are dispatchers, managers and all other employees making mistakes all the time that cost their companiy money. I don't even want to hear about the price of fuel going up and all that. You are preaching to the choir. It just seems that there could be a bit more loyalty on the part of a trucking company towards the driver. All this advertizing on the part of company owners and spokesmen, talking about how their respective company is so much better because they have been there, they pay more, they treat you like family, they want you to succeed in your "career" etc, etc.
Fact is, you are a number. You are a number that performs a task and provides your company with a positive number for their corporate equation. The more you perform that task, the more money they make. When you hit the icy road, they tell you to be safe and pull over. If you wreck, then there is a negative number that effects their business outlooks and forcasts. Pulling over is not what they want to tell the driver to do, but the truth in their hearts is too sick and disgusting to say out loud. There is an unwritten rule at trucking companies. That rule is, make the most money you can while shelling out the least amount of cash. There is also the rule that no one is to say this out loud much less utter the truth spoken above a whisper. There is no room for loyalty in that business equation. Frankly, I would rather be a porno shop attendent than to be one of the kiss ass losers that aspire to run trucking companies. Scumbags, one and all.
Think I am wrong? Try this on for size. My truck broke down in Washington, causing me to need a room for 2 nights while the truck was repaired. I call the dispatch and they say to find out if the hotel will take com check. Turns out, that this hotel does not. They tell me to pay for the room and they will reimburse me for it. This room was the last one the hotel had available and was not in a cheap neighborhood. I will say this...it cost $210.00 for 2 days total. The next week, the refund was $120.00. This is on top of the fact that I did not receive one dime for the time off. I could see if I let the truck go completely to hell and it broke. This was an issue with the motor I had addressed at the shop in Missoula not ten days before I broke down. I wanted to cool down before calling up these assholes to find out what fine print or needle headed policy was responsible for me being ripped off. I will let you know when I find out. dedication
I was being harassed by snow at last visit as I was trying to get my ass home for the family get together on the first of December. That turned out to be a nice outing and I was off until the 5th or so.
Then I had to get going to Jamestown and get a load of Potato Sticks and head out to Louisville, KY. My reefer broke down and I ended up losing a whole day on the deal. Jim Palmer paid nothing for this delay to me. Then I got rooked into the Schwan's load out of Walton KY going to Arlington, Texas. This load was kind of slow as I was late to my Louisville, KY drop due to the ice storm I was trying to cross in Illinois. I pulled over until it was safe and ended up 5 and 1/2 hours late to the Louisville show. I always err on the side of pulling over because simply, I do not want to know what it feels like to slide into a deep ditch at speed. All the losers at Jim Palmer are concerned with is the fact that if their load is late, they get docked. Well, I am not going to say all the losers because the safety guy is always saying on the quaalcomm to pull over and be safe. Funny though since every time I have a delay, that delay is followed by two or three very slow and non profitable loads. In fact, the drivers at Jim Palmer call it "getting spanked". Tell a driver manager that he is an asshole, get spanked. Refuse a load, definitely get spanked. Call and swear into the phone at someone, Spanky, spanka, spank, spank.
Back to safety. It seems that safety is really for the people at trucking companies to beat the driver over the head with when something goes wrong. It is also a good "cover your butt" measure when you are sending drivers with profit generating freight into harms way. The driver is the company source of income and at the same time the driver can be the biggest drain. In the form of lawsuits. It is really funny though, how quickly a driver gets thrown under the bus when something goes wrong. You can be the driver of the year and have 25 years at Jim Palmer Trucking. Just as soon as you slam into the side of a minivan full of people due to running a red light, they cast you into the fire. There is something terribly wrong with that. I mean, the driver does his job and the trucking company makes money the whole time for the most part. The fact is, that there are dispatchers, managers and all other employees making mistakes all the time that cost their companiy money. I don't even want to hear about the price of fuel going up and all that. You are preaching to the choir. It just seems that there could be a bit more loyalty on the part of a trucking company towards the driver. All this advertizing on the part of company owners and spokesmen, talking about how their respective company is so much better because they have been there, they pay more, they treat you like family, they want you to succeed in your "career" etc, etc.
Fact is, you are a number. You are a number that performs a task and provides your company with a positive number for their corporate equation. The more you perform that task, the more money they make. When you hit the icy road, they tell you to be safe and pull over. If you wreck, then there is a negative number that effects their business outlooks and forcasts. Pulling over is not what they want to tell the driver to do, but the truth in their hearts is too sick and disgusting to say out loud. There is an unwritten rule at trucking companies. That rule is, make the most money you can while shelling out the least amount of cash. There is also the rule that no one is to say this out loud much less utter the truth spoken above a whisper. There is no room for loyalty in that business equation. Frankly, I would rather be a porno shop attendent than to be one of the kiss ass losers that aspire to run trucking companies. Scumbags, one and all.
Think I am wrong? Try this on for size. My truck broke down in Washington, causing me to need a room for 2 nights while the truck was repaired. I call the dispatch and they say to find out if the hotel will take com check. Turns out, that this hotel does not. They tell me to pay for the room and they will reimburse me for it. This room was the last one the hotel had available and was not in a cheap neighborhood. I will say this...it cost $210.00 for 2 days total. The next week, the refund was $120.00. This is on top of the fact that I did not receive one dime for the time off. I could see if I let the truck go completely to hell and it broke. This was an issue with the motor I had addressed at the shop in Missoula not ten days before I broke down. I wanted to cool down before calling up these assholes to find out what fine print or needle headed policy was responsible for me being ripped off. I will let you know when I find out. dedication
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Off Into The Snow
Of course, it always works out that the repair schedule does not meet the weather schedule on the dot. I could have gotten out of here last night but there was not any loads available when the truck was done yesterday evening. I chose to head out today...Snow has hit the snowqualmie pass requiring chains. I am empty and probably will be routed to Wenatchee. That seems to be the common routing out of Seattle. We shall see how many times I will have to chain up.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Down With A Loud Thump, Thump, Thump
I-5 North in Washington. Driving along about noon on Sunday and tuning the radio. Happy, in the fact that I was, in spite of all the shopping traffic, on schedule. I had just turned the XM to the Led Zeppelin channel to escape all the talk radio which at that point, was really going nowhere. Comes a point after all when at least it seems like it has all been said. At any rate, I was climbing this slow hill doing about 55 MPH when the sun got in behind me and gave me a great shadow of both the tractor and the stacks. That was when I noticed the smoke. I looked in the mirror and the smoke was going back a hundred yards. I was lowering the power and looking to find a place to pull over when the engine started thumping loudly and shaking the entire tractor. I just made it off the freeway with enough power and put on the brakes. It was kind of surreal. The engine wasn't leaking, smoking, or for that matter, not showing any outward signs of anything being wrong. The temperature was 195, oil pressure was 50 but rpm's were down as I was lugging down in 9th gear. I really couldn't find a thing wrong except that the oil was down 1.25 gallons. I had filled it 2 days prior. I hope Caterpillar can find out what the heck is wrong and quickly.
Really, all that mattered yesterday evidently was not what I did or was able to do. What mattered was what I had no control over. The dispatcher was all concerned about the delivery and how he was going to get another truck to pick up the load and rescue it. I was concerned about where I was going to stay and how to get there. My wife was concerned about whether I was going to make it home for our Thanksgiving get together for the family. The shop foreman at Cat was concerned about this truck being added to an already overloaded work roster. No matter where you are at in a situation, there are concerns and all of them will be different and will intersect at points. I think I will read a book. Dedication %\-
Really, all that mattered yesterday evidently was not what I did or was able to do. What mattered was what I had no control over. The dispatcher was all concerned about the delivery and how he was going to get another truck to pick up the load and rescue it. I was concerned about where I was going to stay and how to get there. My wife was concerned about whether I was going to make it home for our Thanksgiving get together for the family. The shop foreman at Cat was concerned about this truck being added to an already overloaded work roster. No matter where you are at in a situation, there are concerns and all of them will be different and will intersect at points. I think I will read a book. Dedication %\-
Friday, November 23, 2007
Watching Frazier
There isn't very much here in Frazier Park, CA. At least from this truck stop and all the concrete insulation from the outside world. I went to a small grocery store and saw some of the locals and they seem to look like us. You know, normal? Really, I get into this idea of mine that we as truck drivers are, by nature of the job, removed from a large part of society. Sure, everyone sees the almighty truck roaring down the road. Everywhere we roam, there are neighborhoods of life just going on with out us. I know, this sort of sounds stupid and I am just doing a poor job of putting what I am thinking on paper. But here goes. Here is an example.
Sad. I was at a signal the other day, when I looked left and there was an old car with a woman in the passenger side. She was crying. I had no idea who was driving as the angle from my tall cab would not allow such intimacy, but, when they pulled ahead of me there were five children of young age in the back seat. It could be there was a death in the family. Or she could be perfectly happy and just hates the hell out of her hemorroid surgery.
Angry. There were two people in front of a church in Wyoming a while back. As I drove by, the guy hauled off and hit the woman right in the face. Makes for an interesting dose of faith while sitting in those pews. I have faith in the fact that that woman is going to buy a Lodge frying pan and bash the hell out of her worse half.
Alone. On US-20, it started a few years ago. First time I drove by, There was a fresh chunk of bark missing from a large pine tree and signs of a recent accident. I drove by again two weeks later and there was painted on the trunk in large orange letters..."MOM". Another two months, there were beer cans at the foot of the tree. I can't imagine losing someone I care for and feeling such loss that I would visit the site where they died. However, it has not happened to me, either. Perhaps, when I have that fiery crash, maybe someone will have a beer on my behalf and put one of those crosses up. It could happen.
Happy. Driving through any town on a nice, not so hot, summer day. Well, it is just heaven. People mowing their lawns and children playing and enjoying the summer. With that being said, I would like to point out that much like appreciation of angry grizzly bears, bees, black widows and cyanide...it is better we observe and not get too close. You never know what will happen. We might just live a little. It beats the heck out of just doing what ever you do and waiting for all those Red-dyed M&M's to catch up with you.
Do other people notice these things? Seems that when you listen to two truck drivers talking, all you hear is some version of that stupid dispatcher and what he did this time. Well, I am here to tell you that even if I were a dog, and only had one squeeze toy, I wouldn't want to play with it all day. Seems to me that I think of myself as a bit odd. When my friends would all be observing the hot looking woman in the front yard and I would be just thinking to myself...you can't put a darn western looking front porch on a cape cod? Well, can you? Dedication">
Sad. I was at a signal the other day, when I looked left and there was an old car with a woman in the passenger side. She was crying. I had no idea who was driving as the angle from my tall cab would not allow such intimacy, but, when they pulled ahead of me there were five children of young age in the back seat. It could be there was a death in the family. Or she could be perfectly happy and just hates the hell out of her hemorroid surgery.
Angry. There were two people in front of a church in Wyoming a while back. As I drove by, the guy hauled off and hit the woman right in the face. Makes for an interesting dose of faith while sitting in those pews. I have faith in the fact that that woman is going to buy a Lodge frying pan and bash the hell out of her worse half.
Alone. On US-20, it started a few years ago. First time I drove by, There was a fresh chunk of bark missing from a large pine tree and signs of a recent accident. I drove by again two weeks later and there was painted on the trunk in large orange letters..."MOM". Another two months, there were beer cans at the foot of the tree. I can't imagine losing someone I care for and feeling such loss that I would visit the site where they died. However, it has not happened to me, either. Perhaps, when I have that fiery crash, maybe someone will have a beer on my behalf and put one of those crosses up. It could happen.
Happy. Driving through any town on a nice, not so hot, summer day. Well, it is just heaven. People mowing their lawns and children playing and enjoying the summer. With that being said, I would like to point out that much like appreciation of angry grizzly bears, bees, black widows and cyanide...it is better we observe and not get too close. You never know what will happen. We might just live a little. It beats the heck out of just doing what ever you do and waiting for all those Red-dyed M&M's to catch up with you.
Do other people notice these things? Seems that when you listen to two truck drivers talking, all you hear is some version of that stupid dispatcher and what he did this time. Well, I am here to tell you that even if I were a dog, and only had one squeeze toy, I wouldn't want to play with it all day. Seems to me that I think of myself as a bit odd. When my friends would all be observing the hot looking woman in the front yard and I would be just thinking to myself...you can't put a darn western looking front porch on a cape cod? Well, can you? Dedication">
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Ok, I Sorta Like This Hardin Place
Hardin, Montana...parked across from the super 8 and resting for my delivery at supervalu tomorrow at Billings. Piece of cake for the most part. I am notified by my fearless leader that I will deliver this mess of animal flesh tomorrow and proceed with haste to Missoula's magic truck magnet at the terminal to get my hands on a more profitable load. We will see...
I have to feel like a jerk right now. I pulled into my spot and my reefer is running like hell and I am surrounded by quiet, non-running trucks at rest. I am sure that will change as I have my bunk heater running. More to cure the RTV that is gluing my xm radio and phone mounts to my dash. Yes, I know, I have had the truck for a couple weeks now but I am lazy and need to use my time much more efficiently. At least they are in. Well, I must go to escape the fumes...good night now! Dedication<(}C
I have to feel like a jerk right now. I pulled into my spot and my reefer is running like hell and I am surrounded by quiet, non-running trucks at rest. I am sure that will change as I have my bunk heater running. More to cure the RTV that is gluing my xm radio and phone mounts to my dash. Yes, I know, I have had the truck for a couple weeks now but I am lazy and need to use my time much more efficiently. At least they are in. Well, I must go to escape the fumes...good night now! Dedication<(}C
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Windy South Dakota
Actually, I am thankful. I was driving south on I-29 north of Watertown and getting the hell pounded out of me by the relentless high winds. I had lowered the speed from 65 to 55 and was wondering how long it would be driving to Worthlesstown, MN to pick up this load. I was mindful of the South Dakota Highway Patrol car that had circled and came back south and was behind me a bit. I crossed a bridge and it seemed that the truck had gotten a dope slap and had leaned over. I was not really aware of the trailer other than the fact that I had a real nice view of the left side. No big deal as I had a good view of that with the wind all day. A Cornhusker driver behind me and behind the cop got on the radio to inform me that there was daylight showing under the right tandem with that last gust. Marvelous. I was just deciding to find a safe haven or drop the speed some more when ole full grown bear decided to put on the lights. I took the cue and pulled off on an off ramp. He just came up and said that I had gotten some air and that I should stop at the truck stop up ahead and not to exceed 45 mph. I did that and now I am here. At least there is some computer access. Not every lemon makes lemonade to be sure but at least I am safe. The winds are supposed to die down by this evening and we will see what happens then.
I watched a Country Hearth Bread truck fuel and head out...fifteen minutes and he is back. Even loaded, a bread truck has a hard row to plow in heavy winds like this. It is weird being parked and seeing the inside of the truck rocking just like it is going down the road. Well, it is going to be a late night and I must at least give it a good try when I get this load finally under me. Shut eye is in order. Dedication :]-
I watched a Country Hearth Bread truck fuel and head out...fifteen minutes and he is back. Even loaded, a bread truck has a hard row to plow in heavy winds like this. It is weird being parked and seeing the inside of the truck rocking just like it is going down the road. Well, it is going to be a late night and I must at least give it a good try when I get this load finally under me. Shut eye is in order. Dedication :]-
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