3…..2……1 CONGRATULATIONS! Student hours are completed!

Laughter is heard as eager hands reach high to catch dropping balloons from the sky, clinking of glasses and popping of champagne corks are drowned out by the cheers of celebration and applause of a job well done!  What a joyous day!

 “Ouch!” I think as I feel a sharp pinch to my arm.  WAKE UP!  You are dreaming!  “Dang nab it” I swear under my breath as my eyes open to see a sleeper around me.  Well, that “pinch me, I must be dreaming” is a real buzz kill!

Back to reality!  As I mentioned yesterday about Jorge just deserting me at the terminal, I had in the meantime contacted my SDM about my remaining hours and she asked why I wasn’t on the road and as usual, I stated I was waiting on Jorge.   She noted that our load had been waiting for two hours and she proceeded to make a few telephone calls.  She also informed Planning that I could not drive all night as I was awake all day at the terminal.  Within minutes of talking to her, I had a telephone call from Jorge stating he was there and WAITING on me!

And he was pissed!  He told me that he has told me before that what happens in the truck stays in the truck.  I told him I never told anyone where he was at or what he was doing, only……that I was waiting!  What was perceived by others while I have been seen sitting all day in his truck at the terminal for all to see and no Jorge in sight; people are going to talk.  One driver did and called him on it and then there was the phone call from my SDM.  I just shrugged my shoulders, heck I am just trying to do my job J

 And I knew exactly what he was going to do when we arrived at the truck stop to change seats; he logged himself onto line 2 Sleeper!  I drove last night from 5 PM until 4 this morning, he drove three hour and went home.  He returns at 5 PM to drive only 1 hour and then expects me to drive all night while he enjoys 10 hours resting the night away and getting paid for it.  The man does work hard, hard at working on not working!  Now don’t judge him harshly as he is doing nothing illegal, is following the log book rules and is quite the pleasant person.  He just has learned how to make the system work for you instead of you working for the system!  He is still heaven sent compared to Cancer!

Well, since he was in the sleeper and I wanted to make sure that I got at least 5.5 hours of driving in, I set my cruise control on to 61.9 miles per hour and just enjoyed the ride.  I even took at 40 minute break to walk and grab a bite to eat, arriving at the Houston drop yard at midnight and my needed hours as a student, DONE!  I dropped the trailer, woke Jorge to let him know that I was going to bed.  I logged onto line 2 and had a great night sleep!

We were 3 hours late for our drop and because Jorge had to sleep past his 10 hours, we are again running nearly 5 hours behind but that is ok as this load has no rush (I am assuming as there is no rush in Jorge), which means; we can take the weekend off once we arrive to the terminal as it will be too late to get another load and be able to take Sunday off.  I know how his brain works!

We will enjoy our last weekend getting paid $50 per day before we are tested out Monday as a student, become official drivers, and are shipped off to where our truck will be waiting.  I am a little nervous as I had a conversation with Brian and he was not paid the correct fee per mile as promised by our recruiter.  We will make sure to firm those numbers down before we hit the road.  Then we will get a load that will get us home……one way or another!

My future dress attire!

My vision of my time on the road.............

And why most female drivers are single!

4.75 hours of student hours left and NO LOAD!

Oh why, oh why, oh why is my luck still in Seattle!?  It is 11:30 AM, I am still on line 2 (sleeper) until 2 PM and here I sit in the Laredo terminal waiting on our next load.  Even Jorge went home to wait in comfort outside the tin can.  The hazards of your terminal being a major run line for Mexico, when Mexico is on holiday, you are on holiday.  They have celebrated Good Friday, Easter, Mother's Day, Child Day and now, Cinco de Mayo; all within the last three weeks!

Keep your fingers crossed that I will get a load and get my hours in and get a good night rest in the sleeper as it is Jorge's turn to pull late nighter and I have no desire to drive beyond my required hours.  Let's see if I get my way........50/50 odds!

Now who wouldn't love to call this truck home?!

Meeting with Safety........for those dying to know!

12.5 hours left before I am my own boss and in my own truck…..at least I can pretend ;)

Good morning my fellow virtual truckers from MM#587 on Hwy 10 West on our way back to the Laredo Terminal.  I drove another all nighter, outdoing my previous record of 6 AM by an hour and a half!  The beginning hours of rush hour traffic in the early light of downtown Houston assisted greatly as I did not wish to make anyone late for work.  And I can’t wait for this week to be over!  NO MORE ALL NIGHT RUNS except for those VERY occasional priority loads.  I will need to be diligent in my trip planning so I can make as much use as possible for these precious daytime hours.  I want to see the country, not the stars!

We have a meeting with the terminal manager at 2 PM today.  As I don’t have a clue as to what to expect, I am taking my computer with me!  This blog has been my journal of nearly all my daily activities and as we know, a strong paper trail with dates is hard to dispute.   I can imagine the raised eyebrows if I am asked any specific questions for a specific date and time and I just state “Let me open my online journal and see if I can answer that question.”  I am thinking the worse scenario of course. 

Time to get a couple of more hours of sleep in, dreaming of the roads I can see while driving down the open freeway.  See you in Laredo!

Well, it appears that the hold on my ID has to do with my SDM contacting the Omaha Team about my situation and that individual wanted to know if I wanted to write a formal complaint.  I told Safety here that it wasn’t necessary as I walked away from that situation.  Since Omaha put the hold on my ID, they have to release it and that individual is on vacation.  We will touch base on it again on Monday.  I hate corporate politics and since this was not a safety/sexual issue, I will not pursue it.

Now we all know……and I am waiting on Jorge so we can get out of here!

Has Cancer come back to haunt me?

Good morning from Port Allen, LA, at 3:17 AM.  We could have been here hours ago but Jorge did not arrive until 1:00 and then when we tried to leave the terminal, I was flagged by Security and not allowed to leave until I talked to someone in Safety.  It was only fitting that Jorge would now have to wait for me!

I was brought to the office of the terminal manager.  He wanted to know how he could assist me and I stated I didn’t know why I was even sitting across from him.  It appears it might have something to do with Cancer as he asked about my previous trainer and all I could say was that I never filed a formal complaint.  He was waiting for a phone conference with someone else in management who wanted to ask me a few questions but it took too long and our load was now two hours behind.  I was permitted to leave and will need to contact the terminal manager when I know I will be arriving back to the terminal during operating business hours.

So…..you will know as soon as I know!

It was a long night.  Jorge must have had a rough weekend as he hit the bunk after only 1.5 hours of driving so I did the complete run from Laredo to Houston to Port Allen (hit another  lighting/thunder storm as soon as I hit Louisiana that rained buckets).  It was more than I wanted to work as I only need 39 hours in the next 5 days to test out and I don’t want to drive more then I need to.  So I will slowly cut my drive hours back as I reach Friday and completion.  I will just use the “tired” card!   I have been working too hard and too long to reach my goal, I have no plans of going over it!

Time to crawl in the sleeper as we are spending the night here……Jorge is getting a ton of sleep and getting paid for it as he only drove 57 miles while I drove 408!

5/3/11

Greetings from some paper mill outside Shreveport, LA.  After a long rest (17 hrs), Jorge is behind the wheel and let’s see how far he will make it today before he hands the truck back to me.  The plant is huge and the lots are terrible, rutted with deep holes and mud.  I need to add rubber boots to my “need” list.  We are dropping an empty and picking up a loaded to shag somewhere, I haven’t looked at the paperwork.  I am just sitting in the sleeper with the heat on as Jorge feels the need for a deep chill up front.

Catch up later!  I think I will take a nap ;)

5/4/11

I drove until 6:15 AM!  It has been a very long time since I have watched the sun come up.  It took a little probing to keep Jorge up after his 10 hours of bunk time to finish the delivery.  I wish I could get at least 6 sound hours of sleep.  I sent a picture of myself to Rhonda and she stated that she could only see half and that half looked tired!  She was right. 

We are on our way back to Laredo, still need to figure out what Omaha needs regarding Cancer and make sure I am getting credited for the hours I am driving.  As of midnight, it shows 27 when it should be near 23 per my records here.  Augh!  If someone adds one more day to this truck, I will shoot them!

Off to sleep or at least, try too.

And this is one of my quick posts......check for errors people!

39.25 HOURS LEFT TO GO!

Morning all from the Laredo terminal!  Are you all rested and ready to go?  Don't be!  We won't be leaving the terminal yet.  I arrived at 8:30 and unloaded my gear.  I turned on the dome light in order to see and the truck gave the warning signal for a low battery.  I turned the truck on to charge and five minutes later, the anti idle kicked on, shutting the truck down.  I tried to start it again and it wouldn’t turn over.  Dang nab it, I need enough battery juice to keep my cooler cool!  I left it plugged in....... ;)

I went to the shop and requested a battery charge and was informed it could be two hours.  In the mean time, I left Jorge a voicemail stating the situation.  He just called me letting me know that he is an hour away.  He thinks he knows what is wrong and wanted to me look at the manual.  Do I look like a mechanic?  I will let him work it out with the shop and then show me what needs to be done.  That is what trainers do!

We will hit the road today……….I promise!

This better be REAL GOOD!

Flooding in Mississippi

The 18 mile long bridge in Mississippi

Downtown Houston

Welcome to May at the border!

Good morning my fellow truckers!  Rise and shine, it is a beautiful day when your bed is not rocking at 65 miles per hour.  Unless of course, you are not alone, but then, who would be driving?! 

I had a great day yesterday…..let me share it with you.

We had a late night Friday and didn’t arrive to the terminal until 5 AM.  After check in, we drove to the drop off location and spent the few remaining hours of morning sleeping until the yard opened.  This is a drop off location for trailers going into Mexico and the line can get a quite long depending on the time of day, so it is best to arrive early.  Once the trailer was dropped, it was back to the terminal and I quickly called for the hotel shuttle!

Once SHOWERED, I was back in the hotel shuttle heading to the tattoo studio.  Two and half hours later I was on my way back to the hotel for lunch.  Now to change the subject quickly and NO, no picture of the new tattoo; let me tell you about my favorite “on the road” dish that cost .75 cents and is good for you.  Take one large potato and nuke it, add two slices of cheese and one packet of guacamole (premade individual portions in a package of six that can be purchased at Wal-Mart) and you have a healthy and very filling meal with less than 250 calories!

After lunch, it was back in the hotel shuttle and off to the Mexican border!

Once I arrived, I located a cart driver and we discussed his fee of $20 for a 30 minute ride and came to a fee of $13 for an hour ride including a taco and a Coke (I had a Corona).   I asked to be taken away from the main streets and was shown the residential streets of this little city.  It was and was not the same type of scenery I had visited when I was touring Merida in the Yucatan.  I think that was because there was less US influence.  Merida has no border, it has no walls.  It is deep in to Mexico and not a common location for tourists.  The lives in Merida work to earn the Mexican dollar to survive.  What I found lacking here is the strong Spanish culture which Merida lives and breathes.  But hey, I have only been here one hour so who am I to judge!  None the less, the cart driver was still a very good tour guide and he did enjoy that Coke!

Now it is Sunday, my belly full, my laundry washed and now, my blog updated.  I will be heading out shortly for supplies and spend the afternoon catching up on my favorite TV programs.  I better try and Skype with my sisters too as I can feel an evil glare from Lorene!  Enjoy that day off everyone!

Now this is a serious Pinata!

Pretending to protect our borders!

Now this is protecting the border!

The cart driver that caught my attention ;)

Time for tacos and Coronas!

Toro!  I thought his name Alto at first as the driver would say that every time we stopped.  Duh, Alto means STOP!