Anne & Craigs Great Adventure

So, last week kinda sucked but as I told Anne, we are still healthy, we have food in the truck and we are warm and dry.  Life could be a lot worse.  Specifically, we could be clueless and unemployed, protesting……something kinda vague….. on Wall Street.  🙂  If last week is our worst week driving a truck we will be very lucky.

So we had a wonderful weekend with My Son, Daughter-In-Law and the amazing Grand Kids.  We are back on Johnathan’s board and now sitting at our Terminal in Irving TX after a quick overnight run from Dalton GA.  While at Tunnel Hill, our friend Katie came up from Atlanta and she and Anne went shopping and we met the kids in Chattanooga for lunch at my favorite mexican restaurant.

We are trying to decide were to take Thanksgiving and Christmas which, other than the kids being scattered, is a great problem to have since we can go anywhere and they will will pay us to go there.  It looks like Thanksgiving with my family in Seattle and Christmas Day with Anne’s family in Los Angeles.  We will then try to get a load to Seattle for New Years.

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What sort of stuff do you want to know. I usually just write what comes to mind but if there are things in particular you want to know….just ask and we will answer if we can. Hope everyone is having an awesome day!! We are heading to Pa from Dallas and it hasn’t stopped raining yet!

It’s funny that this post has been bothering me. I hate having something negative hanging out there so time to put it behind us. After a rough day we finally pulled into to Tunnel Hill at 7:30 am. I drove till 4 something and I usually don’t drive that late. We are at our Son and daughter in laws. Craig is watching football and I am curled up in bed. I am absolutely exhausted and even after taking a nap today I am heading to bed. Tomorrow we go see our youngest son play some football. Looking forward to seeing him play and pass off some chili we have been saving for him since Seattle.

I have realized that this business can really take it’s toll on you. I am blessed that I get to do this with my best friend. Even with all the BS we still try to find things to laugh about. Not that there was much laughing yesterday but this experience has been eye opening. You really are at the mercy of your FM. Even when you want to pull your hair out and kill someone, you have to take a deep breath and decide who controls the mood of your truck. It is WAY EASY to get caught up in all the drama and difficult to avoid it but it makes all the difference in the world what your attitude is going to be. I have been accused of having a Pollyanna outlook and I am grateful for that. I like having things go my way and find that they usually do. Another thing I am finding out is we all have the same experiences.  I have made some great  friends on this adventure who I really enjoy and I have learned a lot from all and pass on the advice I think helped me the most. The first was you decide the mood of your truck. It is so true and if you think about it, that can make all the difference in the world. Second thing is if you are teaming. You WILL want to kill the other person at some point. You will get in some doozie of some fights and it is the most stressful experience.  Six months is what it takes. If you can make it through six months you should be able to make it all the way. The things that set you off are ridiculous and living in small quarters doesn’t help. Craig and I laugh everyday but not everyday is perfect. It is still a learning experience for us but remember you are not alone. We have all been there or will be there. It is an amazing job though. I still think USX is one of the best companies out there and I’m glad to be a part of it. Like any family…. there are good times and bad. I am confident the bad times are over!!!

Anyway my advice for the day for new team drivers is: There will be good days and bad. Some of it does depend on your attitude so take a deep breath and remember to smile. It honestly can change the way you are feeling and also for others too!!!

I must say this is the first time that I am going to RANT. I am beyond ticked off and frustrated. We were offered a new dedicated run from Canada, Texas and California. We decided to try it out since we have wanted to drive to Canada. The bad side was we had to change fleet managers but were given the assurance that we could come back. They switched us to the new manager and were told that the plans we had in effect would NOT be affected. HA HA HA HA We have had to babysit every time we had to be somewhere. We needed one day in California (which happened after a bunch of issues) and this weekend is CJ’s football game and the only game we will be able to see. We are suppose to be in Tunnel Hill as of 6:00 pm and where are we?? We are sitting in Springfield Terminal with out an empty. Craig kept reminding our new FM that we had to be in Ga this weekend. He assured us that he was on top of it.No worries, No problem NO WAY

We have no interest now in running this route. If we can’t get home the first week what is going to happen. The second thing is I will get down on bended knee and Thank God for our first fleet manager. I had no idea how bad things could be out here if you don’t have someone in your corner. FRUSTRATING is putting it mildly.It definitely is not as much fun when you have to deal with this BS.

I am so grateful that we have had such an easy time for the most part. We love this company and LOVE our fleet manager even more now. Can’t wait for Monday to be put back on his team.

Can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve added a post. The time just seems to go faster and faster. We are sitting in Markham Terminal waiting to get a BPM otherwise known as an oil change/tune up, for those of you that don’t know. We had an amazing time in Seattle and have been running hard since. I have lost track of where we have been and what we have been doing. My new goal is to try and post more often LOL

After our BPM we are hoping to make a quick run to California to see my son, mom and brother+sister in law. Then the end of the month we are going to Chattanooga to see the grandchildren and parents PLUS we get to see CJ play football. Today was spent doing laundry and still need to finish organizing the truck. It seems to be a never ending process. I love the set up of our truck but as you add things you need to reorder things. I hate having to move things to get to something else. Drives me crazy, Craig doesn’t seem to care LOL. Tomorrow we will have to make a run to Sam’s Club and Wal Mart.

Anyway way too tired to write but wanted to make a quick post. Will post more pics tomorrow.

We have had a great four days in Seattle!

We got a load from Laredo TX back to Portland OR and a short run from Portland to Auburn WA.  We dropped our trailer in the Kent drop yard and bobtailed up to my parents home in Snohomish Washington.  We got seven messages and 9 voice mails while we had dinner and I called and was told we needed to go back the next day and make the Auburn delivery as they had no hazmat qualified drivers in the area.  So I went down the next morning and made the delivery which was a live unload and took a while.  Since then it has been nothing but goofing off.  We went to one of my favorite places in town, Freds Rivertown Alehouse to meet my brother and his family fro dinner.  A great time.  Friday we went to Seattle to eat at the Crab Pot restaurant and shopping at the Pike Place Market.  Then we went to the football game at my high school alma mater, Bothell High where my oldest brother still coaches.  Saturday we went across the mountains to Leavenworth, an cute little bavarian village for Octoberfest with my parents.  What a great party and a lot of fun.  Sunday was pretty much cooking all day as I made my four meat chili with cornbread and also my (fairly) famous caramel for my father who was begging.  A bunch of my nephews came over for dinner and it was a blast.  Also got to watch my Seahawks as they got a great win.  Good day.

It is now Monday and we will be heading out sometime today.  Doing a bit of shopping and getting all the laundry done.  Going to miss my little girl, that is for sure.

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I cannot believe it has been three weeks since I wrote anything on
here. We are doing great. We are currently sitting at a truck stop in Laredo
Texas. The weather is perfect and it is about 75 degrees at 10:30 in the
evening. It is Sunday night so this normally crazy busy place is very quiet. A
very nice evening. So, since my last update……

We got a load from Jacksonville FL to Norfolk VA. Anne drove the
first part of the run and I took over just before the South Carolina – North
Carolina Line. This was Sunday night and the load was not scheduled to deliver
until Wednesday so I call our weekend night fleet manager who is honestly just
a pain in the ass. She always acts like we are an interruption in her busy
schedule. We do not like her and Anne refuses to even deal with her. I ask what
we are supposed to do and she says “you should have asked when you picked
it up” LOL. So I pulled into a rest area to wait for her to figure it out.
It takes an hour and she calls and tells me to take the load to our Lexington
NC terminal and drop it. We then spent a very frustrating day basically trying
to get an empty trailer. Total pain. Finally get one in the afternoon and head
to the Walmart Distribution Center in Concord NC and run to the Walmart DC in
Searcy Arkansas. We ran back empty to our terminal in Olive Branch MS with
plans to head out on the town in Memphis. We ended up getting lazy and ordering
chinese delivered to the terminal. Picked up at Fedex in the early AM and
headed to Hermiston Oregon then back to Nampa Idaho to pick up a load of bulk
sugar headed to Chambersburg PA. Then I got a call asking us to coordinate the
paperwork for a convoy of 13 USX trucks running loaded trailers for FEMA from
Lakehurst Naval Air Station back to the FEMA warehouse in Frederick MD. First
time we have hung out with a bunch of solo drivers and I have to say, I think
they are lonely. Nothing but yack, yack, yack on the CB. Kind of drove us
crazy.

Headed up to Scranton to pick up a load of CD’s heading to Chicago
and then ran over to E. Moline IL to pick up a Fedex load heading to Kent WA.
Drop in Kent and they have us run up to Seattle to get loaded and then take the
trailer to the Kent drop yard. (I hate those) Live load so I call the receiver
and they say I can park in their yard (it was 4 AM) for our 10 AM pick up. We
then drop the trailer, pick up an empty and head to Auburn to pick up a load of
Motorola Cable boxes headed to Mexico. So here we are in Laredo with a drop at
the forwarder in the morning. I am posting a bunch of pictures. This run to
Laredo was AWESOME. We were routed down through Southeast Utah which includes
Moab and right between Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. It
was so beautiful.

So that was the itinerary but what I really want to say is that we are having a freaking blast together.  This job would be miserable without my wife with me. We drive between 5000 and 6300 miles a week and although it would be nice to have a regular life sometimes, the life we have is pretty good.  One of the great perks is we get to go anywhere we want for time off and they pay us to go there.  We are heading to Seattle next weekend to spend time with my family.  It is going to be great.

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You always look forward to running into fellow trucker friends on the road. We have had the good fortune of meeting up with a bunch of friends all over the place. This is a story about the convenience of technology. A couple friends and I have the google tracker thing on our phones which enables us to see where they are and visa versa. We were driving through Ohio the other day and saw on my phone that Connie and Steve were just ahead of  us. We met Connie at orientation and have been friends since. We meet up anytime we can. So I call her and it goes to voice mail. I text her. No response. We decide to track them on the phone and pull into a parking lot and woo hoo. There they are. Steve sitting in the front seat and Connie bless her soul. Sound asleep. Needless to say we woke her up and got to ohhh and ahhh over their new truck. One of the cool things about this job but at the same time I was cracking up about stalking them. Usually it’s fun when we are heading the opposite way on the freeway and lets us stop and meet. Anyway I just thought it was a hoot. Do you think it’s a little creepy though??

This has been a rough weekend. Just a couple days of stupid loads and issues with weekend FM’s. Guess it will happen eventually and just a little frustrating. Now we are sitting in North Carolina at a trailer repair place since our loaded trailer from Walmart had no current inspections. Just kills me that someone dropped this without an inspection. Goody two shoes that I am, I get it fixed. I just don’t want to run the risk of getting pulled in for a DOT inspection knowing my trailer isn’t legal. It definitely tries your patience but then again I know there are drivers out there just like us that take care of these things. The funniest part of this is the trailer place has chickens running around everywhere. There are some pretty cool looking chickens and it is making me smile. Hello North Carolina. Got to find the funny in that. Luckily Craig went to sleep because he is not a happy camper. One aspect of this job that really annoys us. Please take care of the things you can. It makes it so much easier for all those that follow. If we all do our part it will make life so much easier. I hope everyone is having an awesome day and by the way. My Redskins are 2-0! Life is really good!!

Today is one of those days that I really love this job. Not that I don’t love it other days. Some days just more than others LOL. I had lunch with the daughter of one of my best friends. I’ve known this child since she was in Kindergarten and she is now a beautiful, talented, amazing 21 year old college student. The last four years she has been off at college and the last two I moved from LA so I haven’t had that many chances to see her. I usually get all the news via mom and sister and of course facebook. Today we were lucky enough to be able to have lunch at a great restaurant before we delivered our load. Then we find out we will have time to have dinner too!!!! I just love when good things happen. The last few times we have gone through has been in the middle of the night or when she’s been out of town.

This job really lets you keep in touch with family and friends. I wouldn’t have the chance to see all the people we are able to visit with and the places we get to stop at. Most of the time it is a truck stop but then you have those special times that you get away and visit with old friends and see beautiful sunsets on the beach. What other job enables you to do that. There are times that you are just running running running but then you get these gifts of down time.

Craig and I are truly blessed to have the most amazing family and friends and now we have an amazing job that lets us visit!!!

Pretty cool if I say so myself.