Truck moved.....but not with me in it!

It was a long day at the terminal!  I arrived at 9 AM for a hot breakfast, turned in my paper logs, and made an appointment for the snow chain rack.  Chain rack can't be installed until tomorrow at 5 PM so I requested to take the truck to the motel to load it up.  Everything was working just fine until I tried to shift!  The shift stick was hitting the chair and I had to raise my elbow shoulder high and push the stick back behind my seat in order to change to certain gears......now this is not right!  It was like the stick was installed backwards!  Not only that......the heating wasn't working properly.

None the less, I loaded the truck with everything but an overnight bag and the cooler:

Storage area one!

My bedding waiting for my bed!

Storage 2......and that is it!

I got it all in.......amazing!

Once loaded, I headed back to the terminal and the shop.  And guess what, the truck is getting returned to Freightliner as the stick shift and the heater has to be repaired!  Augh!!!  I ran to "leasing" to see if there was another truck out there for me.  The first truck had 250,000 miles on it.....nope, don't want it.  There was a truck parked behind it that looked doable and "leasing" gave me the keys to check it out.  It has 70,000 miles (perfect as it has been broken it) and it has...........an APU!  I grabbed it!  I got to spend the afternoon moving again, from my first truck to my second truck.  It still needs a chain rack so we will take care of that tomorrow.  The only downside, the APU takes up more than half of the storage space under the bunk......augh!

I was so tired that I didn't even finish my inspection (have the engine to inspect tomorrow) but there are some minor repairs that will be done tonight.  If all goes well tomorrow, we will spend the night at the terminal in hopes of having our first load early Monday morning.  Tomorrow is seeking training on reefers from the shop, final shopping at Walmart and the end of my unpaid vacation. 

Now my virtual truck drivers, you need to pack light or I will put you in the reefer!

I am officially a company driver!

Although, I am have not moved my truck yet!  It was a very long and sometimes VERY boring day of many classes that either went over my head or in one ear and out the other......and gads, wake me up when he is done!

I sold my flat screen TV as I don't have room for it but it did not cover the $1132 I spent between the TWIC card and the pet deposit.  I expect to spend at least another $500 tomorrow between chains/locks/tools.  I could have had the company pay for everything and take it out of my checks but I want to see what I earn, not what I owe.......did that enough with the last company.

I did check in on my mini truck and it was not road ready.  I am still waiting for the passenger seat to be removed, a chain rack to be installed, a tail light needing repaired and there was an engine fault error.  I hope to pick up the mini tomorrow around lunch, get it loaded, read up on all the new gadgets and hope to have a load first thing Sunday morning.

Now, here is all my stuff..........

I will take pictures before and after I load the mini.......and see how well I did!

This was not my idea of a vacation but a break none the less.  Enjoy it!  We can sleep in until 6 AM! 

From a frying pan to a tea cup.........

OMG!  You have to see these mini trucks!  I went from RV heaven to a traveling closet......augh!  There is NO way I can get everything I have into one of these mini's and I just don't know what to do.  The passenger seat has to be removed as there is no room for Gonja and my suitcase or cooler on the floor.  There is no pull out table, there is no side closets, there is only 2 small shelves above the twin bed.  There is some storage under the bed but I would have to fill the floor with the items on my bed in order get into that storage areas..........and of course, I will be sleeping in a ball as I will have no foot room.  I just don't know what to think at this moment.

My previous company just got a new shipment in of these mini's and I knew I would be faced with one but I would have been home at least once to get rid of some stuff.  I know that I have more food than I need but since I never know if I am going to be out for 3 weeks or 5 (especially in the winter), it is better to have more than not enough.  I know I can cut my clothing in half but I need to get my stuff home instead of giving it or throwing it away.  Or, I could take a decrease of 5 cents per mile and return to the luxury of space that I have gotten use to until I don't have a choice.  I will talk to leasing tomorrow for options.

At least I have a job........AUGH

Day 2 of Orientation

And it is going to be a long day!  Yesterday wasn't so bad as Gonja and I were able to get a 4 mile walk in to the bank for money orders.  The walk made possible after the scales lied about some 5 pounds that attached to my hips when I wasn't looking!  Augh!

Not much time for a walk today as we have Hazmat, Sexual Harassment (I haven't been sued yet ;), Heath Insurance, Security, Road Assistance, Electronic Logs, Safety, Truck Assignment (I have been worrying about this one) and TWIC enrollment.  And if we are lucky, a walk to Walmart for milk........

Oh, a group of us went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner last night!  You know, a year ago, most of the new student drivers had construction background (such as me).  The three gentlemen I dined with last night were all IT, two from the banking industry and one from ole Microsoft.  The recession is slowly climbing the corporate ladder...and creating a new class of Commercial Drivers.  And as far as I am concerned, a needed change!

As for new pictures.....spring is just around the corner :)

I passed today's test!

And we have 5 hours to kill before our next class.  Gonja and I will be walking to the bank here shortly to get some checks so I can pay for the TWIT card and the pet deposit.  Both of these items can be deducted from your paycheck but I HATE any type of garnishment on my wages.  And with some of these new drivers who don't have passports, etc.., those fees can add up very quickly!  The markup on the TWIT card is not out of line but if I went direct, I could save $32.  That reminds me, I better move some money around to cover the cost of the $$$$ pet deposit!

Oh!  I met a recent student from Checkride today!  Michael just graduated and is here as a new student driver.  We were talking while in line and realized we were from the same area, graduated from the same school.........and I was the BLOGGER that Donna at Checkride always talks about (hugs Donna).  I might make him my next "in the street" interview.....I haven't done that in ages!

Check in later!

Looking a little deeper can be disturbing!

Laughing, gotta love that title!  I just finished the compound breakfast of premixed scrambled eggs, hash browns and sausage.  It tasted like heaven after attempting to eat a hamburger patty that was this indescribable processed meat from some road carcass in Montana!  Then while slowly sliding into a hot bath, I got a glimpse of the side of the toilet most don't see and it appears that the last occupant enjoyed his/her time here just a tad too much.  So my dear truckers, just because the surface looks shiny, don't assume everything else is going to be. No job is perfect!

On that note, my first day of orientation begins in 30 minutes.  Heck, I don't even know if there is compensation for classes for the next three days.........I should find out soon enough.  Yehaw!

Wake up.....time to get organized!

Time to start our day with a hot shower and coffee.......and then organizing all my crap!  We need to go to Petsmart for a dog tent (Gonja has to be crated while I am in orientation) and then off to Walmart for storage containers.  I am going through all my gear and if I haven't touched it since I started driving, it is getting thrown out.  But before we do that, I need to return the rental car before 11 AM so I am only charged for one day, instead of two.

This afternoon will be time for paperwork and a SIM test (?).  Wednesday through Friday is orientation and if all goes well, we will be in our reefer unit Saturday morning. 

As for this compound, it is BIG, CLEAN, and ORGANIZED.  Something I am not use too ;)

I quit, quit, quit and dang nab it…QUIT!

I am one tired trucker, arriving at my NEW company compound in Springfield, Missouri, at 10 PM this evening.  Talk about a “bite the bullet and just DO IT” day!  I talked to the new recruiter this morning and he stated that I was only 450 miles away from my new job…….DEAL!  I drove the tractor to the Pilot next door, called a cab, rented a car at the airport, return to the Pilot, loaded the car, returned the tractor and…..QUIT! 

This new adventure was not cheap between the rental car and taxi.  We will soon see how jumping from one hot skillet to the next might be better…depending on the seasoning of course.  Considering I loaded a FULL car FULL of my life, it better taste GREAT!  Ready for a new ride my virtual truckers?

Testing starts tomorrow……so much for a week vacation!

Good morning from the Dallas Compound………..

It is 6 AM and I am washing a load of laundry because……my truck got red tagged for recalls!  The load that I was to take to El Paso was taken away while I sat and waited for Freightliner to arrive to change out a part or two.  Could it be that I pissed off the weekend dispatcher last night as there was no mention of a recall when I arrived yesterday morning?  If I was told of the recall yesterday, the shop would have given me a voucher for a room! 

My year of nice loads has come to an end…….as I have previously discussed with family members, it is as if the company is purposely making my stay here as frustrating as possible as there are students (20 students here) waiting to start their year of starvation and abuse.   I talked to the shop mechanic this morning; there have been over 18 accidents in the past month that were driver error.  Not only that, there are over 300 brand new trucks here at this facility waiting to be assigned and these trucks, are small!  I assumed that they were for solo drivers but found out that they are for teams as well.  They have half the sleeper room as my truck which means half the storage and of course, a lot lighter…..so they can haul more of course.   And, they are all white, not the standard company blue.

On a good note, at least my computer works (can’t say much about the company WiFi); I have stocked my cooler and now have clean laundry.  Great way to start the week!

Good evening from outside the Dallas Compound..........

Talk about a wasted day.....another half day of driving!  I arrived at the terminal for my 11 AM drop to only find out that my next load would not be here until 6:15 tonight.  And.....my clock is up at 7!

Not only that, since the terminal is "no idle", I requested a voucher for a room (the terminal has a motel) and I was denied as the dispatcher did not have permission to do so!  He told me to go to a truck stop and idle as needed!  Not only that, he found out my trailer had arrived at 5:30 and told me to take it to the closest truck stop.   HUH??????  By the time I hooked up, did my paperwork and headed out of the terminal, I would have only 30 minutes before I needed to park.

I notifed planning via the qualcom that the trailer would be picked up at 5 AM and be delivered a day late as it is 10 hours to the drop and I have only 7.5 hours on my 70 tomorrow.

Yuma has never seemed so far away!