10/17/07
Waiting, waiting, and more waiting. That was the order for the day and when it was all said and done, still no load.

This is the first time I have had to wait so long for a load assignment. Although this is how the business works sometimes, it is the first time I am experiencing it. With winter right around the corner, I suppose I should get used to it.

Anyways, hopefully tomorrow morning they will find me something.

 

:rock: Congratulations on getting a new truck! Now if you can get your trailer changed out things will be really going smooth! At least for your coffee!

I hope you get a load out soon. What number are you now on the list?

Goin Fer It's Wife

 

Thanks, and I agree if I could get an air ride trailer all would be good in my world :wink: I am #2 on the board and am crossing my fingers that I get rolling today.

 

Does this mean your staying with Davis?

 

Thanks devildice for all your postings. I will be at orientation this Monday at Davis.

 

Well it has been a couple weeks since I last posted here in DD'd space. I have been busy and I don't have a wireless account at the TA or IdleAire yet. I think I am going to go that route rather than get an aircard and data account with ATT(My cell phone network).

I started with my trainer Oct 5th and in the last 2 weeks we have been under 5 loads and covered more than 7500 miles. The driving skills are coming back, and I am learning how much the industry has changed(eg. truck stops are bigger and busier, EZPass/PrePass/NorPass is great, don't miss my Orange COE, etc.). Tarping has been a bear, but with a little more exercise and practice I will have the basic skills to be a flatbedding(I was a dry van driver in the 90's).

Taking a day off in Spokane then heading to Billings tomorrow for a Monday morning delivery. Training is going fast and maybe I will have some good news soon.

I have been making a list of things I will need for when I get my own truck. I did find at Walmart in Cheyenne a Digital Voice Recorder. I was going to get a micro cassette recorder for logging my trip mileage, but for $2 more this little device has more features(eg. 4 separate recording files), 26 hours of recording(it a 64MB memory device), and it comes with a USB cable that plugs into my laptop. Everything a computer engineer ... ah geek .... like me could want. :-D

DD, I am sorry to hear about your issues. I know that the east coast traffic is very crazy. I have family back there, so I plan to use my travels to my advantage when I can. For you, I wish you the best, but I hope you stay with Davis. Until we meet, take care and be safe.

 

JVND,

Welcome aboard! Maybe we will meet in Missoula next week. I plan to be there on Tuesday.

 

for now.

 

Congrats!!!!!!!!!

 

10/18-21/07
I haven’t updated my journal over the past few days just out of pure laziness. So to bring everyone up to date, here is what I’ve been doing.

I called in Thursday morning and was told that they were working on a load picking up in San Diego and to call back in a couple of hours. When I called back, they said that I and another driver were to head down to the San Diego Convention center to pick and a load heading to Montesano, WA which is just west of Tacoma.

The other driver and I met up Thursday afternoon and introduced ourselves over a bite to eat. At 3am Early Friday morning we hit the road. By leaving so early we missed all the rush hour traffic between L.A. and San Diego.

We get to the Convention center and check in. What a freaking mad house. Apparently there was some sort of water convention and it ended on Thursday. There must have been at least, and I am not kidding, 500+ trucks there picking up goods from all sorts of vendors. It was chaotic to say the least.

They call me in first and I had to back into a covered loading/unloading area with what seemed like a million other trucks, people, golf type carts, fork lifts, etc all moving around. I get to where they want me and wait for about 30 minutes before they start brining out the freight. There are about 4 crates of all different sizes and shapes and they ask me what I want on first and where. I ask is that all of it and they say no, there are 24 total for the 2 trucks. I ask if they have any idea how much each crate weighs. He says no and again asks what I want on first. I try to explain to him that I need to see all of what they have in order to figure out how we are to load both trucks. Not knowing exactly what they have or the weight makes it a little difficult to tell them how I want my truck loaded. Once I am loaded, they want me to pull out so other trucks, including my fellow Davis truck to pull in. I tell the guy I will move as soon as I get it strapped down. He gets all pissed off and tells me no way am I strapping it there, he has too many trucks to load and he will not wait for me to secure my load. I tell him politely that I am sorry, but this truck does not move until the load is secured. He starts telling me how other trucks just pull out and then strap the loads and I need to do the same. I explain to him again that I can not and will not move the truck until the load is safe to move and if he prefers, he can unload me and I will call my company and let them know what has happened.

To make a long story short, I strap my load right there and then pulled out. When it was all said and done, we managed to get 12 crates on my truck and the other 12 on the other truck. Once both of us were loaded and strapped we moved down the road where we helped one another tarp. What a pain in the rear end that was because of the odd shaped loads.

We rolled out of there just in time to miss the San Diego traffic but not in L.A. We only made it to Wheeler Ridge, CA before shutting down. From there on out, the trip has been pretty much uneventful.

Saturday we slept in a little and hit the road getting to Medford, OR before shutting down. And then Sunday we ran as far as Chehalis, WA which is about 50 miles from our customer. We did not run all the way to the customer because we could not get a hold of them on Friday to find out if there was a place to park on or near their property. According to the truck stop guide there are no truck stops anywhere on Hwy 12 and the atlas does not show and rest areas. So tomorrow we will hit the road about 6am and make our final run.