I'm done 4 chickens got out. I got 2 back. I've been chasing them forb1/2 hours. You guys are responsible for them from now on. 2 of them have sores on then from fighting in the house.

Morning thoughts

Where are we this morning?  Just waking up.  We should be on I-10 east.  Hopefully we made it out of Ca. Will drop and hook a load today in Nogales Az to Wi. 

 Just got a restart on my hrs of service. 

I suggested to Gayla yesterday that we go ahead and get our 20k Mls in for march and then take the rest of the month off in Mountain City.  She agreed. We are looking forward to seeing the kids.  Would have liked to go see dad in New Braunfels but I had to get up to see the kids first.  Maybe next time.  Need to spend time with Dad. 

Celedons Takeover (the next morning)

They put is in a hotel last night.  Heard it was a two day orientation.  Still pretty upset.

We were let go when we arrived at Celadon this morning.  So we are unemployed right now.

The Celadon Takeover

We got a message that Celadon is taking over the company we work for.  Told to take our truck to their Indy yard.  More details to come.

Trucks in da shop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgbB4EUBkIQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Making up time.

After having the weekend off we had to bust ass to get our load dropped in ca.  Then grab another back to Pa. before sat.  We will have over 5k for the week if all goes well. 

Got the truck washed at the blue beacon in kinsman Az.  They did a crappy job. 

On line Christmas Shopping

We are on our way back yet again from SLC to Camp Hill, Pa.  Christmas is creeping up on us so we must get our shopping done on line this year.  Last year we had to rush around like crazy to do all our shopping on top of preparing for all the family to be there at our house.  We had to go pick out a tree, decorate, buy food, just endless running around.  NOT FUN.  So this year we are cutting out the present buying and doing it on line.  Hope it all works out.  LOL..  

Ted Nugent Rocks!

Watch "TED NUGENT MAKES HIS POINT VERY CLEARLY" on YouTube

Roadside Inspection

Watch "Commercial Vehicle Roadside Inspection" on YouTube

Back in Carlisle

A state trooper pulled us over yesterday in Kansas for no other reason than to do a level two inspection on the truck.  I sure wish I would have had that tail light fixed on the tractor back I Salt Lake.  Gayla is pretty mad at me about it because "she" was driving.   Oh well we got a fix it ticket.  Could have been worse.

We had to put the truck in the shop anyway because the engine fan wont kick off.  The thing is, is that the shop goes home at 3pm and they wont have time to get to our truck until tomorrow (Sunday).  But it really doesn't matter anyway because there isn't any freight until Monday. 

Since our truck is in the shop, the company will put us in a hotel.  So I will drop this load in Camp Hill, bobtail to drop off Gayla at the hotel, then go on over and put the truck in the shop.

Even though I certainly ain't hating that we get the rest of the weekend off, it puts us behind on our miles for next week.  There's nothing I can do about it so might as well let it go and try to enjoy our time off.

East Bound and Down.

We delivered our load yesterday in SLC..  Then we had to run to Tooele to get a PM done on the truck.  After that we had to run back to SLC to pick up a pre loaded trailer back to Camp Hill Pa.

At this point we have 47k miles for the week.  That's not acceptable.  Our pay week ends on Sat. at midnight eastern time.  There was only two hrs of Thursday left when we picked up the load.  So no screwin around.  We got time for a shower and that's it.  This load will make 67k miles for the week.  Can't complain about them miles. 

I guess my daughter isn't coming up for Christmas.  She was my sons ride up too.  Im really sad about that.

First Winter Storm 2011

Yesterday was boring.  Pretty much just holding the steering wheel all day.  Worked on our new app. available now for free in the Android Market.  Need to make one for Iphone.

Took over in Sidney Ne. this morning. The driver in front of me at check out was headed east.  He promised lots of fun in the snow going west.  Some kind of winter storm or something.  There's a walmart across the street so I go in and grab some extra food just in case we get shut down somewhere.

Sidney to the Wy. line was fine.  It started snowing about then.  The roads got progressively worse until I couldn't see but part of the road and was down to 35mph. 

It was dark and my headlights were half covered in ice.  I stopped three times to knock the ice off the wipers so they could kinda sorta do their job.

By the time we hit Rawlins the road cleared up.  65mph.   The thing is I had this kick butt video planned on our first winter storm.  By the time it was daylight it was over.  Lol.  Maybe next time. 

 

TruckingBiker

TruckingBiker Download our app on the market place.

Spinning our wheels

Called dispatch after we got unloaded yesterday.   The head of the shop said we could get our P.M done at Speedco and they had a Salt Lake sitting on the yard waiting for us.   So after saying a short prayer while driving back by the birthplace of our motorcycles, we headed to Carlisle.

It was lunch time when we went by the exit for the Petro.  We had to come back and drive right buy there after we did a quick drop and hook just a few more miles down the road.  So we decided to wait and eat then.

We get to the yard, I hurry and drop my empty trailer and bobtail over to dispatch for the paperwork to the Salt Lake load.  The guy in line in front of me takes way longer than normal.  Then when he finally gets out of my way I get my paperwork and see that the load weighs 36,193.  Then I look for the scale ticket to see that my tandems are ok on the weight.  There isn't one. 

Company policy is that "every" load dropped on the yard is scaled and a copy of the ticket left with the paperwork.   I don't worry about it unless the load is over 30k.  Then its possible that I could be over weight on a axle.  Now before we can leave for Salt Lake we have to scale the load.

So I grab the paperwork and run back out to the truck to hunt down the trailer.  I find it,  back under, throw on my lights and flashers, connect my lines, raise the landing gear and do a quick walk around.  Great!  I've got a flat tire and the d.o.t sticker is expired to months ago.  The bead was broke on the tire so I know it was brought in that way.

After a quick call I find out that it was the ass hole in front of me in dispatch that left me this mess without a scale ticket.  And the shop is at lunch.

A half hr. later I'm in the shop sitting in my cab and decide to check my e-mail.  "Congradulations your new app (TruckingBiker) has been published in the Android Market.  Cool!  Something good today.  I'm still hungry though.  Haven't eaten all day and its pretty close to 2pm.

So we finally get out of there, head over to the Petro to scale, fuel and eat before Gayla takes off on her shift. 

She gets to the Travel Plaza in West Unity, Oh. before pulling in because the roads were getting to dangerous. 
Sometimes we get days like this.

Taking the short run.

Thanksgiving week was a slow week for us.  Turns out this week will too.

After dropping our trailer yesterday in West Jefferson we ran over to the TA truck stop for a couple hrs waiting on our next load.  Chillicothe, Oh to York, Pa.  56 deadhead miles,  458 loaded. 

Came just in time for rush hour traffic in Columbus.  270 south around the city was at a dead stop from the time we hit the on ramp.  After about a half hr we finally started moving.

Five minutes later we see a sign. "Hwy 23 South Closed"  "Find Alternate Route" That's the hwy we need.  Turns out someone had ripped a power line down.  So we go around the long way.  So did everyone else.  It took another hour and a half to actually get on 23.

When we finally get there they inform us they are running eleven hrs behind.  So I call dispatch and get ready for a long wait.  Four hours later im signing the paperwork and heading out of there.  Leaving all the other trucks that were there before me still sleeping comfy while waiting to be loaded.  Don't know why but I ain't complaining.

So now we sit at the receiver waiting to be unloaded.  Went by the birth place of our HD heritage softails on the way here.  We have to go up to Carlisle yard to get a P.M done before we can get rolling and making money.  Another short week when we are trying to save for R.O.A.L and buy Christmas. 

It will all work out.  Always does.

Rookie Mistake

Had so much going on Sat. morning when we parked at the Walmart in Sparta,IL.  to spend some time at my step-son Brandon and his finance's house,  that we or I forgot to unplug the cooler.  Now we are spending the first hour of the day jump starting the truck. 

Had a great time.  Making the best of not having any freight.  Went to this sushi bar last night that barely fed us and charged us  $115.00.  That wasn't the fun I was talking about.  

Ok maybe we can get back to work now and make some money to pay for that raw fish!

An Unexpected day off.

The boss sent a mesg yesterday informing us that we could take the load home and deliver it on the appointment time because we were going to be there more than a day early and he didn't have anything to give us until after our delivery.

So instead of going home we stopped by my stepsons and his fiancees house to see them since it was on the way anyway.  Even though we really needed to keep moving we appreciate that our company would inform us of the lack of freight and suggest we make the best of our time  in advance.

We will be leaving here and heading to Jefferson, Oh. later on this afternoon for delivery tomorrow at 1400.  But I think we can drop the load early on the day of delivery.

Sat. 11/26/11 0135

We are on I-44 east bound in Chandler, Ok.  We have about 900mls to do today before we get to our destination in West Jefferson, Oh. 
Gayla went to bed early so im taking it early.  We both have a restart because of the time off in Albuquerque.   Time to get back to work and make some money.

Our Thanksgiving in Albuquerque, Nm

Dead battery

Woke up this morning to a dead battery.  I might have tried to let it roll a little and drop the clutch since we are kind of on a hill but this stupid trailer has a slow air leak and my air pressure is to low, my brakes are set.  Then brake down doesn't show up to work until 0700.  So we have to wait on breakdown to show up before we can wait on a service truck to come give us a jump.

A Albuquerque Thanksgiving

We decided to stop in Albuquerque Nm. to celebrate Thanksgiving.  We called Golden Coral and they have truck parking.  Maybe we will see a movie later. 

We were going to go on a balloon ride but its $250.00 each.  Gotta think about ROAL and save for that.  Maybe next year. 

Thanksgiving Sunrise

Thurs. 11/24/11 Thanksgiving

We are on our way back east to West Jefferson,  Oh.  after delivering soy flour in Wasco, Ca yesterday.   We had a sixty mile deadhead to Visalia, Ca.  to pick up a load of party mix going back to Oh. 

It delivers on th 28th so we have plenty of time.  I don't know if we will get to drop it somewhere or if we will have to deliver it.

We will take this afternoon off somewhere to recognize Thanksgiving and to give thanks.  I tend to always want more than what I have but if I step back and look I see that I am truly blessed.

Im sitting in a rest area right now.  Just crossed over into Nm.  Gayla is asleep.  She has been driving all night. 

I have been thinking about creating a character for YouTube.  A super hero.  Might call him Super Trucker.  Maybe shoot some comedy skits.  What do you think?  Any comments?

Wed. 11/23/11 0130 est

West bound on I-40 about to cross over into Ca.  Wasco, Ca. by 0800 pst.  Then we run over to Visalia, Ca. to pick up a load to West Jefferson, OH..  It doesn't deliver until the 28th so we have plenty of time to stop somewhere and have a nice Thanksgiving meal somewhere.  No regrets on being out over Thanksgiving.  Christmas time will have a week off.  

 What are you doing over the Thanksgiving holiday?  Please leave a comment.

Best way to pack for the road

A neat little shower trick I picked up out in Wichita.  I also have the absolute best way to pack your clothes for a road trip.