Hurry Up & Wait

One of the most frustrating things for me about my job is something that is largely out of my control. Waiting. I don't like sitting and doing nothing, but it happens far too often. Waiting to arrive at a shipper because I can't be too early. Waiting to be loaded or unloaded. Waiting for snowy mountain passes to open. Waiting for my piece of s#!t truck to be fixed.

As I sit here typing, my truck is waiting to go to the shop, to repair some critical emissions issues. It's an old truck, and I suppose that some breakdowns are inevitable, but it seems that lately, it's spent more time in the shop than on the road.

Last week, I broke down just north of Parowan, such an exciting town along I-15 in Southern Utah. Stopped me for about six hours. That really sucked, because the weather got worse while I was shut down, making driving that much more difficult once I actually got back on the road. Hopefully, the problems will get resolved and I can get rolling again soon.

A friend of mine asked me, not too long ago, how I stave off boredom on the road. As anyone who's driven across the West knows, towns are few & far between, and there's not much going on. And it seems that I can't get out of the West for quite some time now. So, I've found some things that have saved my sanity.

My iPod: Probably my most valuable possession at this point. Some may say that an mp3 player is an mp3 player, and for them that may be true. But in my case, that couldn't be further from the truth. I have an iPod Touch, and it can do much that other players can't. It handles audiobooks very well. I've downloaded several, and have "read" many books that I otherwise wouldn't have the time to read.

Obviously, it handles music extremely well. I do like having all my collection in one place, easy to access. Much easier, and safer, than fumbling for a CD every 45 minutes.

The feature that makes everything more bearable is the apps available. I find that while I'm sitting and waiting, I can surf the net, watch YouTube videos, or play games. I end up playing Monopoly more than I thought I would, and killing Nazi zombies is always fun.

Satellite Radio: Picked this up when I was still in training. I'd thought I could make it without, but while I was driving from Phoenix to Dallas, I realized that I needed it. There is no radio on that stretch of interstate, and I quickly went out of my mind. Aside from that, I have radio feeds of college and pro football, so while I usually can't watch my teams play, I can at least listen to the game. Worth every penny.

iTunes: I'm surprised at how much I use this program. There are some TV shows that I really don't want to miss, and short of satellite TV on the truck, I needed another option to view them. I'm a big The Walking Dead fan, and consider it valuable research for when the inevitable zombie apocalypse comes. I will be a survivor. So, I end up downloading the show on iTunes, and it's available on my iPod, anytime I want. Sitting in a terminal or truck stop, doing laundry, waiting for my truck to get fixed, doesn't matter. That makes life so much more bearable.

The problem with this is getting the data. I can download the show on my mobile hotspot, but I can run through my monthly allotment quite rapidly that way. Fortunately, most big truck stops have WiFi available for a nominal fee, so I can link up with that without too much problem, most of the time.

Also, I do have a portable TV on board, so if I'm within a TV area, I can watch football or whatever else might be on. And I have some of my favorite movies on DVD, and I can always watch one of those if the mood hits.

Fortunately, this makes life on the road much more bearable. Sometimes I feel completely isolated and outside of the normal living world, disconnected and detached from so much, but I can find a little bit of normalcy once in a while.

More stereotypes

Recently, I talked about stereotypes I had about various states I had never visited. Now, I will discuss stereotypes of states I have visited.

Wyoming Blows. Very true. Every time I've been there, the wind is howling. It both sucks and blows at the same time. It may not seem possible, but it happens. I've been there in the summer and the winter. The wintertime is much, much worse. Of all the times I've thought I should chain up, they've all been in Wyoming. Sorry to my friends who live in this state, but Wyoming is like Kansas. I just don't get why anyone lives there. Wyoming has no redeeming qualities. If anyone can prove me wrong, please do so.

It's always raining in Seattle. Maybe. Personally, I've been up there several times, and it's always been sunny and nice. I think the locals try to say that to keep the tourists away, so they can have the city to themselves. I don't blame them.

Sunny Southern California. Having been there much of my life, I can't say I had preconceived notions about the area. Most of the time, this has been true. I'll be honest. I love the area. I was there less than a week ago, and it was beautiful. Very warm, orange groves, nothing to complain about. I'll take SoCal over NewJersey anyday.

Utah Drivers Suck. They do. They can't merge. They can't pass. They have no clue how to signal. They're generally idiots. That being said, it's always nice to make it to my home state.

I guess my point is this: there are idiots in every state. Some more than others. But if I could pass some wisdom on to you, it would be this: give truckers room. We weigh much more than you do, and will take much longer than you will to stop. We want you to be safe, but we also want to be safe. We have many more challenges on the road than you do. Please, give us room.

Christmas on the road, Stereotypes

Such is the life of a trucker. I decided (willingly) to be on the road for Christmas. I did so in order to allow other drivers with spouses and kids to be home for that day, and so hopefully, I could have New Year's off to spend with my brother.

Alas, I'm stuck on the Kansas side of Kansas City, as my truck broke down. Ultimately, it's a simple fix, but one for which they didn't have the part necessary to repair. Which means I'm stuck here, until the part comes in. I'm hoping I can hit the road tomorrow, and possibly still make it home for the holiday.

As I've gotten older, Christmas has lost much of it's meaning for me. It felt like just another day to me, with the exception of less traffic on the road and an easier time to find parking at truck stops. It did also allow the chance for me to have a more-or-less proper Christmas dinner, which consisted of ham, turkey, roast beef, and all the trimmings, served from a buffet. Not bad, all things considered, since it was all-you-can-eat, and I can eat a large amount of ham & mashed potatoes.

Of course, this meant that I had no idea where I'd wake up on Christmas morning. I found myself in West Virginia, of all places. In my mind, I expected to see a nativity set up, with the three "wise men" (Bill O'Reilly, George "Dubya" Bush, and Dale Earnhart) surrounding the baby Jesus. But I saw none.

This made me think of some of the pre-conceived notions I had about other states going into this job. Not having traveled much outside of the western U.S. prior to taking this job, I didn't really know what to expect. Here are some of my thoughts:

West Virginia Full of backwoods hillbillies. Didn't really turn out to be true. However, I was surprised to find that they had TV there now. But I wasn't too surprised to find that they only have two channels: Fox News and wrasslin'.

Kansas Flat & boring as hell This one turned out to be true. Honestly, I don't understand why anyone would live here. The place sucks. The only thing the state has going for it is "The Wizard of Oz," and that was released nearly a century ago. I don't get why Dorothy wanted to get back here so bad; if I were surrounded by midgets and flying monkeys, I'd have a hard time leaving.

But I do now understand why Wyatt Earp left Dodge City for Tombstone. He was bored out of his mind.

Texas Everything's bigger in Texas More or less true. I saw some football scoreboards at high schools that were massive. The Big Texan Challenge offers a free 72oz steak. But the one thing I don't get is "The Lone Star State." I've seen the stars at night (big and bright), deep in the heart of Texas, and one thing's for sure: that claim is B.S. There's way more than one star in the sky.

Wyoming Well, as anyone who's driven I-80 across Wyoming knows, it's a barren wasteland. So is I-80 through Nevada, for that matter.

For now, that's enough...I suppose. I have more but will save them for a later time. My laundry's done, and I just bought the new "True Grit" on DVD and am looking forward to watching it, during a rare down time for me.

Wish I would've stayed in bed

Ever have one of those days, where nothing goes right? I've had several in a row. It all started when I got dispatched to Denver. As I was crossing I-80, it started to snow. East of Laramie, WY, the roads got icy. Really icy, and windy. That sent my stress levels up.

I finally shut down for the night in Cheyenne, when the snow started hitting hard, and was falling sideways. I was glad to be off the road, but I knew I still had to get to Denver the next morning, and I was secretly hoping the freeway would shut down so I could sleep in.

Sadly, it did not. I got up around 3am, did my pre-trip, and hit the road. What would normally take me 1 1/2 hours to drive took 3. The roads were a mess, and it seemed that every time I looked up, there was another car slid off the road, up against the median barrier. Honestly, Denver drivers are terrible. I thought Utah drivers were bad, but Denver drivers are crazy.

After I delivered, I went to a truck stop, and informed dispatch that I wasn't hitting the road until the snow cleared. Fortunately, they didn't fight me. Later that day, after the snow stopped, I got another load, this one headed to Jackson's Hole, WY, and Nampa, ID.

I made it as far as Johnstown, CO that night, and I stayed at a truck stop there. On a side note, if you're ever in the area, I highly recommend you stop for dinner. The restaurant there is really quite good. Anyway, got up the next day and headed to Rock Springs. This was probably the best day I've had in a while. Short drive, weather was good, listened to books on CD.

I had the hours to go past Rock Springs, but there's nowhere to park a truck between there and Idaho Falls, so I was stuck for the night. This meant a very early morning for me, and I got up at just after 1am. This is when things really started to suck.

As I headed north towards Jackson's Hole, the weather started getting pretty bad. Snow covered roads, wind, actually just what I expected in Wyoming this time of year. A 2 1/2 hour drive turned into six. I was driving less than 20mph at some spots. About halfway there, I just about hit a bear that was wandering along the road. It was a fairly large bear, and probably would've done some serious damage to my rig. Missed it by inches.

When I finally got to Jackson, I looked at the temperature on my phone. -14. Damn, that sucks. Spent three hours there, waiting to get unloaded, then finally headed out.

As I approached Twin Falls, ID, my truck started losing electrical power. Not good. I was able to nurse it into a Freightliner dealership, and fortunately they were able to fix the problem in no time. However, I had to disconnect from my trailer to put the truck in the shop, which meant setting the trailer brakes. That's a very bad idea this time of year, but I had no choice.

While I was there, I called my aunt who lives in town, and asked if I could drop by. She was very glad to hear from me, and sent my uncle to pick me up. I spent a wonderful evening with their family, and I really enjoyed myself.

Remember how I said setting the trailer brakes was bad? That's because they can freeze up, locking the axles. When I returned to the truck the next morning to get to my destination, that's exactly what happened. One of the axles was locked, which I didn't realize until about half a block later. By that point, two of the tires were shredded. So, I had to get those replaced before I could leave town.

Fast forward to today. Early this morning I got a message on my Qualcomm from my boss, yelling at me for not being at my delivery by 10am. I had an open delivery time up until 8pm, and wasn't even close to late. I responded that I wasn't in danger of being late, but I don't think she was very happy, for whatever reason. Then, dispatch sent me two trips they wanted me to run, neither of which I could've done as I am low on hours.

To top all that off, I'm in Oregon. Oregon has the speed limit set for trucks at 55 mph. As I normally can go 62 on the interstate, this slows me down at least 7 mph, which essentially means I have to take a $2/hour pay cut to drive here. Thanks Oregon!

I guess when it rains, it pours. Often in this job, things are rather uneventful. You wake up, hit the road for 10 hours and shut down. No big deal. Sometimes it feels like the world is out to screw you, and that's been the case over the last few days for me. Such is life. Of course, this isn't limited to the trucking industry; this happens to everyone.

But one thing I've learned is that you have to have a good sense of humor about things, and try to laugh it all off. Especially in this job, if you can't do that, you'll burn out in no time. As I write this, I'm sitting at a rest stop just west of The Dalles, OR, headed to Spokane. Got another early day tomorrow, and who knows where I'll end up after that? To be fair, that's one thing I really like about this job. When I wake up in the morning, I never know where I'll end up at the end of the day.

Desolation

Desolation...that's the best way to describe I-15 through Montana. Drove across it last night. Very little traffic (other than deer) and very few people. But it gives me time to think about things, if I'm not listening to talk radio. But at night, with no moon, it can get a little intense. The upside is, though, that it keeps you awake and on your toes. And when you're on the road for 11 hours straight, it's good to stay alert.

Really makes me wonder why people would live in such isolated areas. I never stop there, and I'm sure few people do. I think it would drive me crazy. As much as I enjoy the isolation (I could totally become a hermit if I let myself), but I like to be in areas where there are other people. Just so there's something to do. But I see some houses that are surrounded by miles and miles of nothing. I just don't see what is so appealing about it.

Delivered in Helena, MT this morning. Made it on time, which is always a plus, but there's very little freight heading out of the area, and I kinda figured I'd be there a while. And I was. After several hours waiting, dispatch told me to take my empty trailer to Idaho. Dunno why, but that's where they want it. Whatever. As long as I get paid for it, I'll head that direction.

But at this time of year, that creates a bit of a challenge. That means I have to cross 4th of July Pass in Northern Idaho. It can be pretty treacherous in the winter, as it's one of the passes that can get very dangerous in the snow. Think Donner's, but not quite as long. As I'm going over the pass, it starts raining and just a little snow. Then, I realize that while I have tire chains on-board, I don't have the tool to tighten them up, so my chains are essentially useless. Damn. I might have to fix that problem soon, since I'm sure that I'll have to chain up sooner rather than later.

All things considered, I really like driving up here. The geography reminds me of my time spent in British Columbia, which I loved. I wouldn't mind getting back to Canada soon. Might look into that.

Which brings up my next thought. Wonder if northern-dwellers up here ever worry about Canada invading? They'd be right on the front lines, fighting to keep the Canucks from covering everything in gravy. When I placed my order at Carl's Jr. tonight, I asked the girl behind the counter what her thoughts on this topic were. She looked at me strangely, cocked her head to the side a bit, and said, "Uh, you want an oreo ice cream sandwich with that?" Sadly, she didn't get my sense of humor. So few people do.

Anyway, I'm in northern Idaho tonight. Shut down because I ran out of hours. Gotta keep the DOT happy. Then I'll head a couple hours south in the morning, drop my trailer off, then wait to see where they send me next. I'd like to head back to Arkansas. I was looking for a restaurant down there that served possum, but I only saw a bunch of Denny's. My quest continues...

More about my last trip to Pennsylvania

In my last post, I mentioned that I had a delivery to Harrisburg, PA. I picked it up in Tooele, UT, not far from my brother's house. What I didn't mention is that I was late getting to the delivery, as I had to spend five hours waiting to get my truck repaired.

After I arrived at the shipper, I tore my air lines, the lines that go from the cab of the truck to the trailer. They supply air to the brakes, and without air the trailer isn't going anywhere. I could blame this problem on a lot of things, but ultimately the fault was mine. I forgot to unhook them when I pulled away from the trailer. Whoopsie.

That required a trip back to the terminal to get the air lines replaced. This is always a pain, as the mechanics work at a painfully slow rate. It was a 15-minute fix that took several hours to do. I already didn't have any spare time on the trip, and this slowed me down even further.

As a result, I ended up at the final destination late. Fortunately, they didn't hold this against me, and actually rescheduled the delivery for me. Sweet.

I rather enjoy long cross-country trips. Just me and the road. But I hate going to Pennsylvania. It seems like every freeway is under construction, and parking is a real bitch to find. The few truck stops that are there are always packed, at all times of the day. Once I had to circle a truck stop for 45 minutes before I could find a place to park. That was the end of a pretty bad day.

That trip, I hauled Coors from Golden, CO out to Harrisburg. Made it to the final early, which I always try to do. However, they were in no hurry to get me unloaded, and I spent 14 hours waiting.

When I finally opened the trailer and prepared to back to the dock, I had to remove my load locks, which keep the freight from moving. However, one of the locks refused to unlock, and I had to attack it with my hammer to get it out. Several of my swings missed, and punctured beer cans, spraying warm beer all over me. (It was summertime and quite hot). So, I had to find a place to park, frustrated and covered in beer. Good thing I didn't get pulled over, as I imagine I'd have had a hard time explaining that I hadn't been drinking.

When I pulled into the truck stop, my check engine light came on, and I was out of commission for the better part of a week. No bueno, as I don't get to make money when the wheels aren't rolling. Fortunately, my company put me up in a hotel, which kept me out of the blistering Pennsylvania summer heat. But the whole trip sucked. Perhaps that's why I don't like going there so much.

On the road again, soon...

So, several of my friends and family have suggested I do a blog, chronicling my travels. Seems to make sense. I finally got a computer, and a mobile hotspot, so I can post on the road. I don't know how much I'll be able to update this, but I'll do my best.

Time is at a premium for a professional driver. I can drive up to 11 hours a day before taking a mandatory 10 hour break. 10 hours may sound like a fair break, but in reality, it's not. I gotta get my sleep in, eat, shower, do laundry, all within that 10 hour break. Granted, sometimes my schedule allows me more time than that, but often not.

Just a few weeks ago, I had a load going from Salt Lake City to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, around 2000 miles, and I only had 3 1/2 days to do it. Those are long days, and they don't give me time to do much else other than drive and sleep. I do get to listen to the radio (satellite radio is a wonderful thing, and it keeps me sane), but that's about it. To make matters worse, my truck is governed to 62mph. Yeah, I can get it going faster than that downhill, but generally speaking, 62 is it. That makes for a slow and boring drive across country.

Honestly, though, I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing. I'm no longer sitting at a cubicle, listening to customers yell at me all day. I have the freedom to set my own schedule, provided I deliver on time. I get to see some amazing areas of the country, and some I'd rather forget (Kansas, I'm looking at you. You suck. Also, central Nevada sucks too).

For now, I'm at my mom's house, and not on the road. I was able to make it home for Thanksgiving, which really was no small feat. One week ago, I was bouncing around the South, Memphis area mainly, and I had serious doubts that I'd be able to make it cross-country in time for the holiday. Made a few side trips on the way home from Memphis, like Wichita, Oklahoma City, Kansas City, Cheyenne Wyoming, and Denver. I rarely get to go straight home from wherever I'm at.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to get back on the road again. I won't find out where I'm headed until just a few minutes before I go. My company doesn't seem to like to plan me ahead, but that's one thing that keeps things interesting. I never know where I'm going to end up at the end of the day.