Attitude is everything.

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Anne Leonard

This morning I went with Craig to drop our load. We had a 7:30 appointment. The receiver was one of those people you just shake your head at. She was so unfriendly and just plain disagreeable. Did she wake up on the wrong side of the bed or does she just hate her life. As a driver you deal with all different types of people. You have the control freaks, the power hungry and the miserable. You also meet some of the coolest and nicest people ever. It all depends on their attitude and yours.
It also makes you decide how to react. When you are dealing with a difficult shipper/receiver it can put you in a bad mood. But then you are letting them control your mood. Your attitude matters. This morning I was a little irked. Mostly because of the early hour but also her rudeness. Craig’s comment was “I’m not going to let her negativity affect me.” It made me think for a second. Because honestly what did her mood matter in our life. We try to stay positive. Always looking for the good in everything and when things do go wrong. Know it will always work out in the end.
Last night I was talking with a new driver, Diane Hess, who follows our blog (Thanks Diane) She and her husband have been out for two weeks. My advice first was just take a deep breath and second was attitude. It reminded me of when Craig and I first started how stressed we were. We seemed to argue way more than normal and the first month or so was really rough. We were lucky that we had great people to talk with about what we were going through. Attitude is a big part of that. Learning all the things you need to do on a daily basis. Learning how to budget your time, take a shower, eat and drive a full shift. It’s not easy and there are days that it can be overwhelming. That is when you need to take a deep breath and remember it should be enjoyable. Once you get the hang of all the above then it gets a little easier and the fun begins. But honestly the first 6 months can be rough. That is where your attitude can make all the difference in the world. You can be miserable or you can laugh it off and move on. I’m glad we choose to laugh! It’s all about the attitude!

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Game Changing Truck

Posted on June 20, 2014 by Craig

OK, how freaking cool is this?  About time this happened.  I have said many times that I really miss my recliner on the road.  Problem solved.

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The Trucking MBA

Posted on June 20, 2014 by Craig

If you are looking into trucking as a career choice, let me give you a huge head start by recommending another blog.  The Trucking MBA was created by Bill Hood who is the President of Farm2Fleet, the company we are leased on to.  A lot of the info will not be necessary for a company driver but if you are anything like me you are always looking to grow.  Just an amazing amount of great info and a pretty dang good guy.

I am linking to the start of the blog, not the last post.

The Trucking MBA

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It’s kind of sick.

Posted on June 19, 2014 by Anne Leonard

Craig and I have been driving for 3 1/2 years. We are a team so we are together a lot. 24/7 is the norm for us. On occasion Craig will finish up a run on his own or pick up a load and then get me. The past few days he went out solo. But this isn’t about him. It’s about how much I miss him. It’s kind of sick that we are together 24/7 and I wouldn’t want it any other way. Now I am NOT saying its always a bed of roses or anything. Those of you that know us know we love to discuss. And we can discuss loudly on occasion. Some even call it bickering. But its not personal. We love each other and know the strength of our relationship. When you are together constantly you can get irked with the other person. The greatest thing that we have is we can say we are sorry when we are being a jerk. That goes both ways. I am not always the sweet docile lady you all know and love. Craig is not Mr. Perfect either. But being by myself the past two days makes me realize how lucky we are. That we have a job we love and we get to spend everyday with each other. I think we are truly blessed to have the life we have. It has its up and downs but I love every minute of it. The life on road is what you make of it. We always try to look at the positive and I am just happy that it works so well for us.
It’s a great day to be Anne and Craig.

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A woman of leisure.

Posted on June 19, 2014 by Anne Leonard

I wish that was the case.(I should be sitting by the pool eating bons bons) LOL, Craig is on his own for a couple of days. He is going out solo while I stay home and finish up a couple projects. We had agreed to stay home through Wednesday but Craig gets antsy after a couple days. He chose to get a load up to Ohio and I chose to stay home. Feels a little weird I must say. Shelby isn’t home from work yet and the house is super quiet. I am looking forward to finishing up some of the projects I wanted to get done. When you are home for a few days here and there. Projects tend to be pushed aside.
This week we did get our patio garden planted. We bought plants that help with mosquitoes. If there is a mosquito anywhere around me it finds me and gorges. Our car is back and we are waiting for the new roof to be delivered. Hope to get that on this weekend so when it rains it keeps the water out of the car. It has been a blast driving a convertible but I will admit it was too hot yesterday so looking forward to the new top. Spending time with the grand kids this week. They came over and we all went swimming. Definitely a highlight of being home anytime.

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Looking for more Owner/Operators

Posted on June 12, 2014 by Craig

So, the good news is Farm2Fleet is growing.  We are extremely happy here and if anyone with experience is interested, let me know and I will put you in touch with the right people.

Learn More

  • Set your own home time

  • Drivers work with brokers directly

  • Base plate programs available

  • Fuel cards and discounts provided

  • Dedicated lane opportunities and more!

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Photo bomb of our truck

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Anne Leonard

Okay this made me laugh hysterically. Craig and I made it home. Parked our truck at our complex and went to the house. All of a sudden this picture pops up on facebook.

Our pretty red truck

Our pretty red truck

The Farm2Fleet gang was outside. Ryan and Lili have just moved here from California and are looking for a place to live. How funny is that. Another funny thing is that when we were in LA last week. One of their family members saw our truck in the valley. It is a small world.

I love that we are a part of a company that is more like family!

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Osana

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Craig

Things that REALLY matter! From my daughter in Albania

aclionheart's avatarAdventures of a Future Immigrant

I’ve been wracking my brain trying to find a way to say this without sounding like one of those charity infomercials. I’m just going to start by saying that I am not trying to evoke any specific emotion or action with this. All that I want from you is for you to listen, or read as it will be. That being said, this is probably going to get deep.

Last week, one of my preschoolers stopped coming to class. This morning I mentioned her absence. She went to Kosovo.

Now, she went to Kosovo isn’t the same as she moved to Kosovo. I’ve mentioned to a few people that trafficking is a really big problem in this community. A four year old girl was smuggled across the border by her parents to beg on the street.

And now I’m sounding preachy. I just hate this. I knew this happened in…

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It’s all in the planning.

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Anne Leonard

What a month it has been. We had an amazing time in Key West. We then headed up to Maine. We arrived at 5pm and we couldn’t deliver until 8am. What to do. Look on yelp and find a good restaurant. We walked the few blocks and had a fabulous lobster dinner. Met a few locals and walked down the block for dessert. We were parked right on the water and I will say it was one of the prettiest places we have delivered.

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Unloading in Rockland Maine

Unloading in Rockland Maine

We then headed to Denver where we saw CJ for Mothers Day and went out to dinner. We arrived during a snow storm which was fun but not much accumulation on the ground!!

Winter Storm

Winter Storm

Craig still in shorts.

Craig still in shorts.

We then spent the weekend in Chattanooga while we had some work done on the truck and then headed west. We made a delivery in Lovell Wyoming. Definitely the most beautiful drive we have ever done. (video is attached.)

Onward to Vegas for our final delivery and then we were heading to LA. After a screw up at the receiver we ended up driving empty to LA. The biggest perk for me about this job is seeing friends and family. I hadn’t seen my son since Christmas and that was the only place I wanted to go. We had a wonderful visit with our friends the Mitchells, Samantha, Eric and Jordan, and Wendy. Drove to the beach and had some wonderful food and great conversation. Luckily the Cajun Festival was in town and we enjoyed great food, music and beverages. Best part was spending time with Tyler and catching up.

Neptunes Net

Neptunes Net

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Cajun Festival

Cajun Festival

Talking as usual

Talking as usual

Good friends

Good friends

We ended up taking load up to Seattle and dropped our trailer to be loaded. Drove to Craig’s parents house and spent a couple nights.
The reason we are able to do a lot of the things we do is planning. Most places aren’t open on the weekends so if you plan it right. You get paid to go where you want and don’t lose out on the money. The load we are on now out of Seattle is perfect example. We dropped our trailer on Thursday. We could have headed out but then we would have to sit somewhere on the road. So we decided to stay at his parents a couple nights and still be able to make our delivery without sitting somewhere in the truck enroute. Another perk of this trip was going to see the Mariners game with his parents and 4 nephews/wives/fiancees. I now have a fedora!

Fedora's

Fedora’s

Aaron, Anne and Sarah

Aaron, Anne and Sarah

Leonard clan

Leonard clan

Anne Photo bombed the picture

Anne Photo bombed the picture

Our beautiful niece Sarah

Our beautiful niece Sarah


Back to planning. Sometimes things happen on a whim. Last night while driving through St. Louis we called our friends Sandi and Bandit (our Key West accomplices) They happened to be visiting St Louis and we met up for dinner. We parked in Walmart and they came and picked us up.

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This is why I love what we do. I love seeing family every few months. I love spending time with friends all over the country. I love spending time with my favorite partner in crime. The reason I drive a truck is so I can play wherever we go. Not many jobs that enable you to have as much fun as we have. But it does take work and it isn’t always a bowl of cherries. But I do love it.

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The Struggle is Real

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Craig

My awesome daughter Aleena is volunteering at school in Albania for the summer. Her blog is pretty awesome.

aclionheart's avatarAdventures of a Future Immigrant

Take heed, this post will be silly and unnecessary, although most likely entertaining. You have been warned.

Last week, I was talking to a friend back home. This particular friend is one of the few people I am completely unguarded with and he is the lucky recipient of every single weird thought and unflattering story that happens to pop into my head while we are talking. We were about an hour and a half into a particularly vibrant discussion when he suddenly said to me, “Aleena, your struggle is real”.

That comment lead to a conversation that will comprise today’s post. This is an elaborated list of some little things here that, while not incredibly detrimental or life-changing, are varying degrees of annoying.

1. I had fried eggs for breakfast every single day last week. Luckily Raisma gives me bread and usually some jam or something, so I can disguise…

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