High Value gets old.

Posted on March 18, 2012 by Anne Leonard

We have had two back to back high value loads. Okay we are onto our third. UGH. I don’t mine them once in awhile but they are just a pain. One of you has to stay with the truck at all times. You have to let them know where you stop and how long you will be there and if you forget. You definitely will get a message. The part I don’t like is you can’t both go into a restaurant at the same time or leave the truck unattended.

Oh well I can’t complain about running since we haven’t stopped since coming out of hometime. Always a nice way to get back on the road. Also I am over being a brat which Craig loves. Now he is being the brat. Just kidding. We are back in the groove so to speak. We haven’t been able to stock the truck up since we’ve had high value loads but hopefully when we land in Calif we will have some time.

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Max and Chocolate

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Anne Leonard

And the chocolate won. Max is my Min Pin who is the love of my life. He is six years old and the only reason I am driving a truck is that he could come with us. While in Snohomish on hometime this weekend. Max found a bag of Hershey Nuggets. He decided that the saying about dogs and chocolate didn’t apply to him. He was wrong. He ate somewhere between 10-14 nuggets. Couldn’t figure out what the heck was wrong with him until I found the wrappers on the bed. He even unwrapped them. So considerate of him.

I called the vet and we administered hydrogen peroxide per their request. Up came the chocolate and more chocolate and more chocolate. Phew figured we were over the worst. Wrong. As I was cuddling Max on the bed he started shaking. Off to the vet. They were awesome at the vet.  His heart rate was elevated and the administered charcoal and fluids and the sent us home. Thank you Colleen for your help and hope you are reading the blog.

Hometime was awesome. I can now tell we went for Craig’s Dads 80th Surprise bday party and it turned out to be a total success. Family and friends from far and wide came and he was so tickled. It was a joy to watch and he is an amazing human being who we adore.

Then we had to come out on the road again. UGH was what I was feeling. Just in a bad mood and seriously disliking my choice of profession. Started out driving and then got a great night sleep and woke up a little happier. Then ended up stopping and having lunch with my mom and I realize it is one of the reasons I love our job. Got to take the good with the bad and there is so much good. So when those bad days come around and luckily they don’t come around too often. I just have to remember all the good days we have and the things we get to do and the people we get to meet.

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Where the heck did Anne go?

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Anne Leonard

I can’t believe I haven’t made a post in awhile. I hate that. I have the best of intentions and then the next thing I know I am driving or I am sleeping. One of the two and I think next stop I am going to write a post. But I don’t. So now I will.

We have been busy. We love the reefer board and love our FM and love USX. I hate all the bashing I see on Facebook and the forums. I realize we are so lucky to not be in that lot but it just gets old hearing all the BS. Pull up your panties and get on with life. Life is way too short to worry about crap. I’m not saying it isn’t frustrating or annoying but do something constructive to make it better and not just bitch. I have no problem being the cheerleader when it is something I believe in!!!

Ok that is all my rant over that. Remember the part about Life is too short. It’s amazing when you see the things that are happening around the world, around the country and just around you. Enjoy yourself. Smile, laugh, enjoy everyday or at least find something to be happy about everyday.

I feel blessed in my life. I am not saying it is perfect. But wait… it sort of is. At least for me it is. I have an amazing husband that I adore and adores me. Our kids are all doing great and are happy. We get to travel and be with each other everyday. Okay that part can sometimes get old but to be truthful. Not very often. We get to see amazing sites everyday. Meet the most unusual characters on a daily basis. Some that make you smile and some that just make you cringe. In case you don’t know. There are a lot of wacked people in this world. But even the wacked bring a smile so it is all good. We get to meet up with our fellow trucking friends. Who honestly a lot of them are just like us. At that fork in the road and they chose the same path we did. Everyday is an adventure. Some adventures are more fun than others. There are those days that I don’t want to drive or walk the dog or live in a truck. But then something will happen or I will see something that makes me grateful for the life we lead.  A couple weeks ago we were able to stop in LA and I was able to visit with two of my best friends. It is funny how much my life has changed and how all three of our lives have changed but all for the better. That is what is so important. To be the best you can be and I realize I sound like an army ad. But God Bless them too. I am grateful to be where I am in my life, with amazing family I love, Friends that I adore and my husband who I thank God for bringing into my life. (Don’t let him know I wrote that or he will be impossible to live with in the truck) Remember I only have 63 square feet.

Thank you for putting up with my ramblings. I am so blessed to be where we are and it wasn’t so long ago that life was a little different. Ok majorly different. But trucking has been an amazing journey for this family and can’t wait to see what the future brings. As I have said before. If anyone had every told me I would be a truck driver. I would have thought they were crazy but it has really brought a lot to my life. In ways I would have never even know about before. I guess it’s all about growth and gratitude!!!

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Update

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Craig

We did get out of Freightliner, finally.  Had a great sushi dinner with our friends Meaghan and Sean, I got a little sleep then we headed to Whittier for a 2 am FedEx pickup to Portland. We also have a preplan to pick up in White City Oregon (near Medford) heading to  Smyrna TN.  So good to be back in the truck and rolling.

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Plans??? What Plans???.

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Craig
  1. So here we sit still at Freightliner.  It is now Tuesday morning and the truck is still not done.  They have lied to us again and again.  We came by Monday morning to drop off our laundry and most of our stuff.  When we were here we asked about the truck.  They told us eerything was done exept for the BPM (oil change and periodic maintenance) and the truck would be totally done by noon.  We got the rental car returned and picked the rest of our stuff up at the hotel and got dropped off at Freightliner at 1:30.  Was the truck done?     HA!  Not only not done they told us there was no order for the BPM…..Uhhh, no, I mean USX had not authorized it yet…….uhhhh, no, I mean, (USX had just told me they had sent the  authorization on Sat) they JUST received approval by USX.  Then they finally pulled the truck in at 7:30 last night and an hour later told us they did not have the filters  in stock.  They still don’t have the fuel filter but they are done with everything else and we are getting out of here as soon as the paperwork is done.  Other drivers are telling us the paperwork can take hours.  Getus out of here please
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Whoops, that hissing sound cannot be good

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Craig

So we had a great time in Charlotte NC.  We dropped in Ashville and headed down to Charlotte where we basically had the day off as our FedEx pickup was not until 3:00 AM the next day.  We dropped our empty trailer at the Pilot and did some pretty serious shopping.  Got a lot done and then got a call telling us FedEx was out of empty trailers and could we take ours over there now.  We ran over and dropped it which was good as it was our load to San Bernardino CA that they did not have a trailer for.  Ran back to the Pilot and got lazy, watched TV and got some sleep.  Up at 2 AM and over the FedEx.  Load was ready so we got going.  I drove until about 1:00 PM and then Anne took over.  She woke me up in a rest area in Oklahoma and it was my turn to drive.  I got all set, made my coffee and pulled out onto I-40 Westbound…..for 10 whole minutes.  It was pitch black near Checotah Oklahoma (Carrie Underwoods hometown) when out of the dark I see a bunch of debris in the freeway.  I could not avoid it so we ran right over it.  Immediately I hear a loud hiss and I just know I punctured my left front steer tire.  I move over to the right shoulder and as I am slowing I notice my primary airtank is empty.  That is never supposed to happen.  I still have brakes because the secondary tank has air.  I am now assuming I ripped out an airline somewhere.  Get out and check all around the truck and trailer but all the airlines seem intact.  We call breakdown and the start working on getting a tow truck out to us.  Three and a half hours later the wrecker arrives and he climbs under the truck and has me start it.  He follows the hissing noise to the side of the air tank and where the overflow valve should be is a hole.  He says “I can fix this” and goes back to his truck.  This makes me pretty happy as that means we do not need a repower and can keep our load. He climbs under the truck and does something and then proudly says “There you go, that should work for a while”  I look and he has screwed a big bolt into the whole which mostly stops the leak.  It is not the right size of threads so I am sure we will now need to replace the tank.  A supposition that Freightliner later confirmed.  We were still leaking but my air compressor could keep up and we were good to go.  Only a four-hour delay.  The next night Anne is again driving and I wake up and open the curtain and we are in a blizzard in Arizona.  I mean it is snowing hard.  She is driving about 25 mph and not happy.  I ask where we are and she tells me we are somewhere between Flagstaff and Kingman and we just passed a sign that said “Freeway Closed” but there is nowhere to get off.  About 20 minutes later traffic ground to a complete stop and it was a huge backup with trucks stopped for as far as we could see forward and back.  The snow just continued to dump and we are now parked in the left lane of I-40.  I check the internet and I-40 is closed from mile marker 129 to mile marker 71.  We are at mm 99.  The Arizona DOT is not giving an estimate of when the road will reopen as they have a bunch of wrecks to clear.  So we go to bed in the middle of the freeway.  Four and a half hours later I hear on the CB that the road is reopening.  I jump in the driver’s seat and log on to the computer and we start slowly rolling.  We make it exactly one mile (just enough to put me into to driving status and out of “off duty” and we grind to a halt again.  Two inch thick layer of ice on the freeway and a bunch of vehicles way ahead of us have crashed again.  This now includes a hazmat truck hauling gunpowder.  We hear there are fatalities and the freeway is now closed until the sun melts the ice in the morning.  So we go back to bed.  I wake up about 6 AM and make coffee and I am sitting there eating my Lucky Charms (best cereal in the world and if you do not agree you are a communist)  It is almost all big rigs out here but I have two cars right next to me and I am sitting there thinking what a miserable night they must have had.  Sun is almost up so I climb out of the truck and knock on the window of the tiny little Mitsubishi Spider to ask if they are OK and to offer them some coffee.  It turns out it is these two great guys from Northern Ireland who had flown into LA to go to a Wedding Photographers convention in Las Vegas.  Since they had some extra time before the conference started they decided to take a day trip to Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon.  Could not see a thing at the Grand Canyon and a Park Ranger told them they ought to get heading out since a big storm was rolling in.  They said “Big Storm, Americans are soooo dramatic” and went to watch the IMAX movie.  That brings us up to me knocking on their window at 6 AM and finding out that they are freezing because they only had an 1/8th of a tank of gas so are only idling when the can’t feel anything anymore.  We spent the morning talking and had a very nice time considering.  Here is a link to their blogs if you ever want to get married in Northern Ireland.  Pretty impressive photographers.

http://donaldohertyblog.com/

http://blog.peterthomasphotography.com/news/one-seriously-crazy-day/

So after over 14 hours we finally got moving down the road.  We rolled in to FedEx about 15 hours late and dropped our load then headed over to Freightliner in Fontana to get the truck fixed.  We checked into the hotel and the next morning we rented a car and began to play.  Headed to Woodland Hills to visit our awesome friends Steve and Lupe Mitchell.  Happily, our friend Samantha and our son Tyler (OK, Anne’s Son but I am claiming him) showed up too.  A LOT of laughter, steak and more than a few bottles of wine later we called the evening a success.  The next morning (Saturday) we headed up to Yucca Valley to visit Anne’s Mom.  While there I received a call from my younger brother.  He had brought his family to Palm Springs for the weekend and my sister was coming up from Torrence to have dinner together.  Anne was not feeling well so I went solo and had a great time with them all.  Went up the hill and got Anne and we headed back to Ontario.  The next day we met up with Sandi & Bandit and since the weather was cloudy we headed up to Palm Springs again for and awesome brunch and some time spent wandering through an outdoor art festival.  So great to hang out with our primary bad influences 🙂

So we get to Monday, we took the rental car back and checked out of the hotel and we are now about five hours into waiting at the Freightliner dealer while the give us lie after lie as to why our truck is not done and when it will be done.  My lovely wife is doing her best to keep me from letting loose.  I think we will get out of here sometime tonight, just do not know when.  Can’t wait to get back in the truck and rolling.

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Cool Convoy

Posted on February 18, 2012 by Craig

Cool Convoy

These guys passed us (a couple of times)  Anne ask on the cb if they were a racing team and they said yes but would not say who.  Awesome trucks.

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Max in a Panic

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Craig

Max in a Panic

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Third Time Is a Charm

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Craig

OK, I will not try to type up a blog post on my tablet ever again.  Two times now I have composed big long posts and since the tablet does not save drafts I have lost them when I lost internet coverage or gone from 4g to 3g.  So let me start over.

We had a great time at home. Got in late on Saturday night and had plans to leave late Wednesday.  We spent some great time with our two kids who still live in Colorado.   Since CJ will be playing football for the next 4 plus years, we will continue to have Fort Collins as our home base.  I am itching to have “home” look a lot more like a warm, sunny beach.  We went bowling with CJ and his awesome girlfriend Lizzy.  Maybe the only sport I have ever seen CJ suck at.  He bowled a 76 on his second game.  So he decided to bowl left handed the last game…..and bowled a 148!!!  His best score ever.   Pretty funny.  I also got a chance to check out CJ’s dorm room and see his football locker.  Pretty cool.

It was also  so nice to spend time with Shelby and her boyfriend Scott.  Love that girl and very therapeutic for Anne to hang out with her little girl.

So we were having lunch with Shelby and CJ at Jim’s Wings (our favorite) on Wednesday when my phone rang and it was our Fleet Manager.  Could we help her out and head to Albuquerque to repower a load for a reefer team that had broken down.  I told Phyllis yes but it would take a few hours for us to get back to the truck and put it back together.  We had totally emptied it out since we had decided we had about twice as much stuff, mostly clothes, than we needed or used.  Got loaded up, said goodbye to the kids and headed South.  The trailer was at the Freightliner dealer.  The load was 42,500 pounds which is absolute max for a reefer load.  We were about to learn a very valuable lesson.  California has a weird law they say is for bridges but they are the only State that has this requirement.  The Kingpin cannot be more than 40 feet from the center of the rear axle.  Without  getting technical that means you are very limited in how much adjustment you can make on the axle weights.  27 miles and two hours before from our delivery time Anne gets pulled into the last weigh station in Cajon pass between Barstow CA and Riverside CA as the last truck for the night before they close.  They call her inside and tell her to bring all our paperwork.  He says that the tandem is not at 40 feet and makes her adjust it, that puts us 1550 pounds overweight on the rear axle.  He writes her a warning but says we cannot move the truck until we have the cargo adjusted inside to box to make us legal.  He then says goodnight and leaves for the evening.  We call USX and ask them to send someone out to move cargo, they say they need permission from the shipper to cut the seal and open the doors and will get back to us.  It is now 9 PM and we know the shipper is closed.  We decide it is bedtime and hit the sack.  I wake up at 3:00 AM and it is dead quiet.  Being only 27 miles to our Colton terminal I decide “screw it” and start the truck and drive to the terminal.  I then call our Fleet Manager and ask them to get us a new delivery appointment.  We get an appointment for noon, make the delivery and then get our next load in Compton at 5:00 PM and head out for North Carolina.

So, we learned to refuse a load we cannot adjust and think will be illegal.  We also learned how important the 40 foot setting for California is and to set the tandems at 40 feet before we scale a load headed to California.

We are now in Tennessee almost to North Carolina where we will drop and then pick up a load and head back to San Bernardino CA.  Weather has been great and just missing the bad stuff.  A bit bummed last night as I wanted to stop at the Big Texan Restaurant in Amarillo (the place with the free 72 oz steak if you can eat it) hear the steaks are great.  Maybe on the way back.

I have a couple of fun videos I am going to post once youtube approves them.

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Not Fun

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Craig

So Anne just woke me up.  She was crying and shaking like a leaf;  In Western Nebraska in a bad storm and three trucks right in front of her just slid off the freeway.  It is the  ice and wind from the side.  She had to hit the brakes also and slid but did everything right and kept it straight.  We are about 80 miles from Cheyenne and I think we are going to limp into there and shut it down unless it gets better.

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