Delivered hay to SW Hay Exchange in Boyd, Texas. The weather was stormy, and we had found a load going out of Ennis, Texas that didn't pick up until the next day, so we dropped the trailer in the barn, and spent a stormy night at the Loves in Rhome.
Then we drove to Betafence in Ennis, Texas to pick up a three drop load of specialized fencing bound for Las Cruces, New Mexico, then Norwalk and Costa Mesa in California.
The first drop didn't deliver until Monday, so we spent the weekend in a nice Best Western in Weatherford, Texas. This after checking into possibly the worst room ever at a little place near the truck stop called the Sleep Go Motel. This place was so bad... the bed was worn out, the walls filthy, smelled like cigarettes, and worst of all our boots stuck to the carpet. Not to mention the tiny old shower.
Shiver. Needless to say we got our money back.
We delivered the first drop to Las Cruces High School in Las Cruces, New Mexico. This is a giant new school going up that has been under construction for over a year. Then we drove on to deliver drop two the next morning in Norwalk, California before going on to Costa Mesa, California.
As we worked our way through the deliveries, we came up with a load out of Chino bound for Lake Oswego, Oregon, which would get us home for Christmas.
We also managed to get a local load of steel sheets going from Riverside to Fontana that helped out, since we managed to forget to deliver a small box that belonged to the stop in Costa Mesa, and we had to go all the way back to get it to them.
Then drove out heading for home. We sat in LA traffic for a long time, since it was rush hour when we left.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Steel, Sand & Steeds
Delivered steel beams and misc steel parts to Charles Colton Middle School in New Orleans, Louisiana. The job site is a renovation near the French Quarter, in an historic neighborhood. Very narrow streets with cars parked on both sides, and no truck traffic allowed. However, there is no other place to unload, so we got to be the latest in a long line of trucks pissing off the neighbors. What else can we do?
Got a load out from US Minerals in Harvey, LA, south of New Orleans, and delivered to Corpus Christie, Texas. Then got a reload from Sintex in Rosenberg, Texas, some sinterlite bound for Wyoming. We drove the 180+ miles to get loaded, tarped, then found out the load may have been canceled.
Turns out the customer in Casper, Wyoming decided to cancel, but we were able to deliver to a company in Denver, which gets us close enough to our reload in Lovell, Wyoming. We were a little worried about snow, but didn't end up running into any.
We drove to CetCo/American Colloid, in Lovell, Wyoming to pick up some 'drilling product' or drilling mud, bound for Lake Harbor, Florida. Had a bit of a scenic tour when Samantha (our GPS) sent us the long way around, across the desert. Got some pretty pictures, but it was a little aggravating.
Then on the way out, Samantha kept wanting to send us up to I-90 via a road that was closed for the winter, and in trying to plot our own way back, I sent us 25 miles out of route before we realized it. : (
Turns out the customer in Casper, Wyoming decided to cancel, but we were able to deliver to a company in Denver, which gets us close enough to our reload in Lovell, Wyoming. We were a little worried about snow, but didn't end up running into any.
We drove to CetCo/American Colloid, in Lovell, Wyoming to pick up some 'drilling product' or drilling mud, bound for Lake Harbor, Florida. Had a bit of a scenic tour when Samantha (our GPS) sent us the long way around, across the desert. Got some pretty pictures, but it was a little aggravating.
Drove through the Wind River Gorge, got some great pictures of it and Boysen Reservoir at sunset. Very cold. Will enjoy getting back into some heat in the south.
Had some time to kill, so we stopped in Kissimmee, Florida and watched the Medieval Times show. Good fun. Spent a lot of money - if we go again, we probably wouldn't buy the photos they took of us, but I would do the royalty upgrade, as that put us nice and close to the action. The knights were very fit and put on an impressive show.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Grinding Days
Picked up hay in Yuma, Arizona, bound for Boyd, Texas. Heard a bad grinding sound going through El Paso so we stopped, and the next morning had a Volvo dealership look at it. Turned out to be the leveler valve had gone out, and so the drive train was not angled properly. Luckily we stopped before major damage could happen to the transmission. They didn't get to us until after 3:00 pm local time, so we spent all day there, but at least we were back on the road same day.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Hay Trouble
Delivered steel plates to Van Dam Metal Works in Wyoming, Michigan, just outside Grand Rapids. Then we thought we had a load out of Mid-West Pipe Coating in Schererville, IN, only to be told we didn't have it. But instead we got a load of hydraulic door parts from R Batke & Assoc, out of Benton Harbor, MI - which was much closer. While we were waiting for them to load, we went to Point Blank Shooting Range across the street, and I shot a 9mm pistol for the first time. I did quite good.
The door parts were for four drops; one in Iowa, and three in Nebraska. We got three of them off in one day, then the fourth the next morning. The people we delivered to in Nebraska were all farmers, and very nice. We delivered the first stop to Leland McCormick in Pleasantville, IA. He sold irrigation materials, and had built a giant new pole building that needed a door or six. Then we delivered to the farmers: Dan Winkleman in North Bend, Nebraska; Roger Klone in York, Nebraska; then Jeff Huffman in Maxwell, Nebraska.
Maxwell, Nebraska
We set up a load of hay out of Gothenburg, Nebraska, just 30 some miles away from Maxwell, going to Garden City, Kansas, but the hay didn't work out. First we were told we could load right away, then it turned out not to be until after 3pm. Which then turned into 4pm, and then it wasn't until about 4:30 before we actually met up with the guy. Then we had to find a scale to get a light weight, since the co-op was backed up with corn trucks and couldn't be bothered with a hay truck. We ended up going to some random scale out in the country, which thankfully was only about 4 miles away.
When we got to the field, however, we started realizing what round bales would look like on our trailer, and it didn't look good. We were told it was 'a legal load, no tarp'. Then we find out it is going to hang over the sides about a foot on each side. We got a couple loaded, and one side was hanging out even farther than that, and we realize we are going to need to treat this as an oversize load with all the signs and flags, etc. And we realize we wouldn't be able to see back traffic out our mirrors. So we call the broker with our concerns that this wasn't a legal load. She said they do it all the time, you just need to dodge scales, and not drive at night.
Suddenly something was going south, and it wasn't the hay load. If we couldn't drive at night, there was no way we were going to get to our reload before they cut off at 2:00pm. After a bunch of hemming and hawing, we decided not to take the load, and asked for a 'truck ordered, not used' fee of $250 to cover our time and trouble since the load was not what we were led to expect. Needless to say, we haven't yet been called back on that count. Just because 'they' do it all the time, doesn't make it legal and doesn't mean we could get away with it.
So we drove to Elm Creek and spent the night at a Bosselman truck stop there, on our way to Salinas, Kansas where our Friday load was picking up. It was going to be 250 miles dead head, uncompensated, but better than taking an illegal load and winding up with fines and marks against us on our CSA score.
In the morning we got up and drove to Salina Galvanizing in Salina, Kansas and picked up a pile of pipe bound for San Diego, California. They pipe had already been stacked and staged, and they had three forklifts pick the whole thing up, and we backed under it, they set it down, we strapped it, and off we went. Quick and dirty. The load doesn't deliver until Monday, so we have a leisurely trip ahead of us.
(20 yards on the right, 25 yards on the left)
The door parts were for four drops; one in Iowa, and three in Nebraska. We got three of them off in one day, then the fourth the next morning. The people we delivered to in Nebraska were all farmers, and very nice. We delivered the first stop to Leland McCormick in Pleasantville, IA. He sold irrigation materials, and had built a giant new pole building that needed a door or six. Then we delivered to the farmers: Dan Winkleman in North Bend, Nebraska; Roger Klone in York, Nebraska; then Jeff Huffman in Maxwell, Nebraska.
Maxwell, Nebraska
When we got to the field, however, we started realizing what round bales would look like on our trailer, and it didn't look good. We were told it was 'a legal load, no tarp'. Then we find out it is going to hang over the sides about a foot on each side. We got a couple loaded, and one side was hanging out even farther than that, and we realize we are going to need to treat this as an oversize load with all the signs and flags, etc. And we realize we wouldn't be able to see back traffic out our mirrors. So we call the broker with our concerns that this wasn't a legal load. She said they do it all the time, you just need to dodge scales, and not drive at night.
Suddenly something was going south, and it wasn't the hay load. If we couldn't drive at night, there was no way we were going to get to our reload before they cut off at 2:00pm. After a bunch of hemming and hawing, we decided not to take the load, and asked for a 'truck ordered, not used' fee of $250 to cover our time and trouble since the load was not what we were led to expect. Needless to say, we haven't yet been called back on that count. Just because 'they' do it all the time, doesn't make it legal and doesn't mean we could get away with it.
So we drove to Elm Creek and spent the night at a Bosselman truck stop there, on our way to Salinas, Kansas where our Friday load was picking up. It was going to be 250 miles dead head, uncompensated, but better than taking an illegal load and winding up with fines and marks against us on our CSA score.
In the morning we got up and drove to Salina Galvanizing in Salina, Kansas and picked up a pile of pipe bound for San Diego, California. They pipe had already been stacked and staged, and they had three forklifts pick the whole thing up, and we backed under it, they set it down, we strapped it, and off we went. Quick and dirty. The load doesn't deliver until Monday, so we have a leisurely trip ahead of us.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Cattle Panels & Crumb Rubber
Delivered cattle Panels to Western Rebar Services in Pleasant View, Utah. This company uses them in concrete as they function a lot like Rebar in forms. Another driver told me they also use them in mines to help stabilize walls. They put them up on the natural wall, then spray concrete over them.
After this delivery, we drove to Liberty Tire Recycling in Salt Lake City to pick up some 'crumb rubber' bound for a baseball field in Waupun, Wisconsin.
This is a new ball park complex going in across the street from the school. One of the bags tore, and I could see that the crumb rubber was very fine, old tires ground up to a consistency of Graham cracker crumbs.
Then we drove to Verona MI to a job site for Epic Systems,where we picked up some pallets of small steel plates - looked like weights for something, bound for Wyoming, MI. We contemplated taking the ferry across, but besides it being cars only, it looks like it is horribly expensive.
Check out the Epic Systems website photos of the place we picked up. The campus was huge, and looked like a casino/resort, with its own arena for, oh, concerts or something. Pretty wild place...
http://www.th-photo.net/Epic-Systems/
After this delivery, we drove to Liberty Tire Recycling in Salt Lake City to pick up some 'crumb rubber' bound for a baseball field in Waupun, Wisconsin.
Then we drove to Verona MI to a job site for Epic Systems,where we picked up some pallets of small steel plates - looked like weights for something, bound for Wyoming, MI. We contemplated taking the ferry across, but besides it being cars only, it looks like it is horribly expensive.
Check out the Epic Systems website photos of the place we picked up. The campus was huge, and looked like a casino/resort, with its own arena for, oh, concerts or something. Pretty wild place...
http://www.th-photo.net/Epic-Systems/
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Boys from North Dakota
Delivered pipe to Alexander Pipe Yard, then drove to Williston, ND to pick up a pumping unit gear box, bound for Shafter, CA.
The gear box was heavy and awkward to strap down. Took some doing, but we put five chains and four straps on it, and that did the trick. It did walk a little to the side, due to the road construction in Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah.
Delivered pumping station gear box to Lufkin in Shafter, CA this morning, at 6:00am, after a wild ride down from North Dakota. With the roads in such bad shape, especially the construction through Salt Lake City to Provo, Utah, I was worried that the load would walk right off the edge of the trailer, or the trailer would break in half.
We tried to find a load out for Saturday, but we didn't have any luck, so we checked into a Motel 6 in the big town of Buttonwillow for two nights.
The gear box was heavy and awkward to strap down. Took some doing, but we put five chains and four straps on it, and that did the trick. It did walk a little to the side, due to the road construction in Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah.
We tried to find a load out for Saturday, but we didn't have any luck, so we checked into a Motel 6 in the big town of Buttonwillow for two nights.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
47 Out Of 48
Delivered steel cable coils to Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo, Michigan. This marks state 47 out of 48 since we started out together last October.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Onions and Englishmen
Delivered steel coils to Spokane Culvert in Airway Heights, WA, then spent some time searching for loads, and found one from Progresso Farms in Othello, WA - onions bound for Maryland.
Very slow loading process, it took better than two hours. Tarping was problematic, since you are supposed to let the air flow over the onions, but yet keep them dry, and we knew we were going to run into rain on the long trip. We secured the sides pretty well, stretched the back flap over the long straps to make a kind of tail, and left the front rolled up and opened out. We didn't have to button it up until Indiana.
We delivered the onions to AAA Foods in Jessup, Maryland, three days later, and then drove to McLean, Virginia to spend the night in the Best Western. We walked to a nearby Sprint store and I bought a new phone and tablet. Got a Samsung Epic 4G android phone, and a Samsung Galaxy Tab.
We also Met John, an Army Engineer from Great Britain, and had a nice conversation with him. He was thrilled to meet real truck drivers, as he enjoys looking at our big rigs. He was lamenting the lack of sidewalks on the east coast, and how nobody seems to walk anywhere in Eastern America. We assured him that things were better in the west, and suggested he make his way out here when he can.
Very slow loading process, it took better than two hours. Tarping was problematic, since you are supposed to let the air flow over the onions, but yet keep them dry, and we knew we were going to run into rain on the long trip. We secured the sides pretty well, stretched the back flap over the long straps to make a kind of tail, and left the front rolled up and opened out. We didn't have to button it up until Indiana.
We delivered the onions to AAA Foods in Jessup, Maryland, three days later, and then drove to McLean, Virginia to spend the night in the Best Western. We walked to a nearby Sprint store and I bought a new phone and tablet. Got a Samsung Epic 4G android phone, and a Samsung Galaxy Tab.
We also Met John, an Army Engineer from Great Britain, and had a nice conversation with him. He was thrilled to meet real truck drivers, as he enjoys looking at our big rigs. He was lamenting the lack of sidewalks on the east coast, and how nobody seems to walk anywhere in Eastern America. We assured him that things were better in the west, and suggested he make his way out here when he can.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Fire Detour, Thunderstorm & Wobbly Tires
Got a load of telecommunications poles out of CHM, in Saginaw, TX, bound for Eugene, OR. Decided to take it, and get our home business done earlier than the end of the month. It was a hot day, 'only' 106 degrees, by the time we were loaded. The paperwork said to tarp, but the shipper said they didn't really need it, as they were going to be outside when they were installed, and they were empty poles, no electronic guts, yet.
Driving through drought stricken NW Texas, we got diverted around a wildfire that had Hwy 287 blocked off. It was a pretty hairy detour for big rigs, as it was narrow, and there were a LOT of trucks going both directions. It wasn't nearly as far as our flood detour earlier in the year, though; only about 10-15 extra miles.
We stopped in Jolly, Texas, to have the guys there install a couple "Centramatic" wheel balancers on the steer tires, since we had heard about them and the reviews were pretty good. They use what looks like buckshot in a fluid to balance the wheels as they roll. Good idea in theory. Problem was, they didn't get installed right. The guys were supposed to take the old weights off the tires, and they didn't. So all night the front end developed a pretty shimmy that got worse as the night wore on.
In the meantime, I'm driving on into the Texas panhandle, into a fantastic electrical storm. At the height of it, I swear there were a good five lightning strikes a minute; they sky was lit up almost non-stop, and I was in the middle of it all. I was praying for rain to accompany all that lightning, because the last thing Texas needed was dry lightning. And rain it did, fairly hard. It must have been enough, since I didn't hear any news about more fires.
By the time Collin took over in Amarillo, the shimmy in the front end was shaking the steering wheel pretty good, and when I took over again in Laramie in the morning, it wasn't long before the front end had periodic wild wobble sessions, enough to slow me down a few miles per hour. We had plans to meet Collin's brother Sheldon and his wife Tammy in Little America, and by the time we stopped there Collin decided to have the shop there remove the balancers until we could figure out what to do. When Collin brought the truck around to the shop, he noticed that the steer tire on the driver's side had steel belts showing through. This had happened overnight, as the guys in the shop at Jolly would surely have said something if they had seen that kind of damage. So we had to get another steer tire put on. Sheesh.
Brunch with Sheldon and Tammy was nice. We ate at the restaurant there in Little America and got some nice chatting and catching up done. It was nice to have finally caught up with them out on the road.
Driving through drought stricken NW Texas, we got diverted around a wildfire that had Hwy 287 blocked off. It was a pretty hairy detour for big rigs, as it was narrow, and there were a LOT of trucks going both directions. It wasn't nearly as far as our flood detour earlier in the year, though; only about 10-15 extra miles.
We stopped in Jolly, Texas, to have the guys there install a couple "Centramatic" wheel balancers on the steer tires, since we had heard about them and the reviews were pretty good. They use what looks like buckshot in a fluid to balance the wheels as they roll. Good idea in theory. Problem was, they didn't get installed right. The guys were supposed to take the old weights off the tires, and they didn't. So all night the front end developed a pretty shimmy that got worse as the night wore on.
In the meantime, I'm driving on into the Texas panhandle, into a fantastic electrical storm. At the height of it, I swear there were a good five lightning strikes a minute; they sky was lit up almost non-stop, and I was in the middle of it all. I was praying for rain to accompany all that lightning, because the last thing Texas needed was dry lightning. And rain it did, fairly hard. It must have been enough, since I didn't hear any news about more fires.
By the time Collin took over in Amarillo, the shimmy in the front end was shaking the steering wheel pretty good, and when I took over again in Laramie in the morning, it wasn't long before the front end had periodic wild wobble sessions, enough to slow me down a few miles per hour. We had plans to meet Collin's brother Sheldon and his wife Tammy in Little America, and by the time we stopped there Collin decided to have the shop there remove the balancers until we could figure out what to do. When Collin brought the truck around to the shop, he noticed that the steer tire on the driver's side had steel belts showing through. This had happened overnight, as the guys in the shop at Jolly would surely have said something if they had seen that kind of damage. So we had to get another steer tire put on. Sheesh.
Brunch with Sheldon and Tammy was nice. We ate at the restaurant there in Little America and got some nice chatting and catching up done. It was nice to have finally caught up with them out on the road.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Micro-managers & Stress Cracks
Delivered container of auto parts to Mobis CC in Opelika, AL, then took the empty container to the CSX Rail Terminal in Fairburn, GA. This particular broker is the biggest bunch of micro managers, wanting a phone call the morning of the pickup, even though our appointment wasn't until 1pm, and again when we were loaded, then two calls the next day, and a call when we got to the first delivery site, then again when the container was empty, and another when we got to the rail yard, and another when we got the container off, then we were supposed to IMMEDIATELY fax the POD to them, and Cathy was hounded until I got it sent. Bother.
We damaged the strap rail sometime overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday. We figure the strap holding the rolled tarps came loose and got run over, and pulled the rail away from the trailer. We happened to find a trailer repair shop not 1/4 mile from our delivery site. As we had time before our next pick, we had the rail repaired, and some stress cracks welded. Mark from Trailer Specialists is a good guy. I would reccomend him to anyone in the Atlanta area who needs work done.
We damaged the strap rail sometime overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday. We figure the strap holding the rolled tarps came loose and got run over, and pulled the rail away from the trailer. We happened to find a trailer repair shop not 1/4 mile from our delivery site. As we had time before our next pick, we had the rail repaired, and some stress cracks welded. Mark from Trailer Specialists is a good guy. I would reccomend him to anyone in the Atlanta area who needs work done.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
New England Wind Farm & Tractors from Burlington, Iowa
Delivered lumber to Claremont, NH, on Monday, then parked at a restaurant in nearby Vermont to look for a load out. Cathy finally found us one through Landstar loading outside of Sheffield, VT the next morning, so we drove most of the way, then parked for the night in the tiny town of Sheffield, and drove in to the RMT staging yard in the morning.
We went up to the Wind Farm site in a convoy of three trucks, following a pickup who was turning aside downhill traffic for us, as the road up to the wind farm was narrow and gravel. It was so bumpy that I'm convinced that is why we didn't feel the earthquake (yes, an east coast earthquake) that happened later that day. There was a total of four trucks getting loaded with containers bound for Cedar Rapids, IA. We got to talking with one of the other drivers about the way out of there - Sheffield is pretty close to the Canadian border - and he, a native New Englander, offered to let us follow him out by the route he had chosen. The route was hilly and wound through it's way down to New York, and the I-90 Thruway, but we saved 100 miles over the other two trucks who took the I-91 down to the I-80 and went across that way. Of course, we had to pay tolls on the 90 as well as the 80.
We were wishing it had been a little further into Fall, so we could have seen the much-hyped New England Fall Foliage season.
We left our New Englander guide and drove straight through and delivered our container to Clipper Wind in Cedar Rapids about 1:00 in the afternoon. Cathy got us a load out of Burlington, IA but we had to get there before 2:30 if we wanted to get loaded out same day. We were 1/2 hour late, and had to wait until morning.
In the meantime, since it was 100+ degrees and only 3:00 pm, we decided to get a hotel room. We ended up staying at the Pzazz Inn & Resort, which included several restaurants and a casino. We gambled a bit, and drank - though the drinks we not free for gamblers - and I made my first call for room service. But what did we order? Pizza. May as well have called Dominoes. : (
In the morning we picked up two tractors from Case New Holland, brokered through Landstar via Cathy, bound for two drops in Texas.
Since there wasn't any interstates going the way we neeeded them to go, we took some back roads, most of which were in quite good repair. Hwy 27 from the IA/MO border down to Hanibal was under construction a lot, but it was mostly 4 lane divided, and Hwy 54 going between Mexico, MO, past Lake of the Ozarks, and down to I-40 was really nice. Hwy 75 started out rough, but when it merged with Hwy 16 it was really nice.
We went up to the Wind Farm site in a convoy of three trucks, following a pickup who was turning aside downhill traffic for us, as the road up to the wind farm was narrow and gravel. It was so bumpy that I'm convinced that is why we didn't feel the earthquake (yes, an east coast earthquake) that happened later that day. There was a total of four trucks getting loaded with containers bound for Cedar Rapids, IA. We got to talking with one of the other drivers about the way out of there - Sheffield is pretty close to the Canadian border - and he, a native New Englander, offered to let us follow him out by the route he had chosen. The route was hilly and wound through it's way down to New York, and the I-90 Thruway, but we saved 100 miles over the other two trucks who took the I-91 down to the I-80 and went across that way. Of course, we had to pay tolls on the 90 as well as the 80.
We were wishing it had been a little further into Fall, so we could have seen the much-hyped New England Fall Foliage season.
We left our New Englander guide and drove straight through and delivered our container to Clipper Wind in Cedar Rapids about 1:00 in the afternoon. Cathy got us a load out of Burlington, IA but we had to get there before 2:30 if we wanted to get loaded out same day. We were 1/2 hour late, and had to wait until morning.
In the meantime, since it was 100+ degrees and only 3:00 pm, we decided to get a hotel room. We ended up staying at the Pzazz Inn & Resort, which included several restaurants and a casino. We gambled a bit, and drank - though the drinks we not free for gamblers - and I made my first call for room service. But what did we order? Pizza. May as well have called Dominoes. : (
In the morning we picked up two tractors from Case New Holland, brokered through Landstar via Cathy, bound for two drops in Texas.
Since there wasn't any interstates going the way we neeeded them to go, we took some back roads, most of which were in quite good repair. Hwy 27 from the IA/MO border down to Hanibal was under construction a lot, but it was mostly 4 lane divided, and Hwy 54 going between Mexico, MO, past Lake of the Ozarks, and down to I-40 was really nice. Hwy 75 started out rough, but when it merged with Hwy 16 it was really nice.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Pittsburg is the Pitts
Got a load out of US Steel in Pittsburgh, PA, so we drove the 200 miles from Williamsport empty to get there. The load was steel coils going to Brownsville, Texas - about as far south as you can go in the continental USA.
Pittsburgh, by the way, is the pits. More hills than even San Francisco, and just as steep. The steel mill we were loading at is buried in the suburb of Allegheny, and there is absolutely NO direct route in or out. Every road is a windy, twisty, under construction mess through neighborhoods, business districts, tunnels, school zones, airports, you name it. Then we overshot the entrance to the place and had to turn around on an almost blind corner.
Once we got to the mill, we ran into our next set of challenges: getting in.
We are used to having to wear PPE (personal protective equipment) like hardhats, vests, safety glasses and boots, so that wasn't a problem, but this outfit has a computerized check in screen, where one scans one's drivers license, then enters a pickup number. Hiccup number one: our pickup number wasn't in the system. Gotta go back out and call the dispatcher. He sets up 'another' appointment, and we wait for about 45 minutes. This time, we got past the appointment stage, then we have the "Safety Test", where they ask 3 safety questions, and if you get any of them wrong, you get 'banned' from the mill for 24 hours. Guess what? Collin was overstimulated at this point, and got confused on a question, and he answered it wrong. Now what? Luckily, we had me. We were able to scan my license instead and go through the whole process again, and this time we passed.
Inside the mill, we pulled up and got loaded by these cranes that reminded me of the big flying things from Tron - you know, the ones that looked like squared off arches and flew along and blasted people and ships and such. Of course, these didn't fly, but roared along on tracks overhead. The noise was very distracting, but we had to tarp the load before we could leave.
Needless the say, our nerves were on edge after the drive in, and then the worry we wouldn't get in and get loaded, and THEN all the noise inside. Alas, we still had to get out of town, which looked to be even more of a challenge. We appeared to be at the center of a tangled web of roads, with no apparent straight shot out. To top it off, it was Friday after work, and everyone seemed to be on the roads. We spent about 45 minutes arguing about routes and dodging cars, when we found ourselves faced with a choice of using the Hwy 43 tollway, or staying on Hwy 51 - both of which seemed to be the 'best' ways to get to I-70. We chose the tollway, since it dropped us farther west on the I-70. Lo and behold, the tollway was virtually empty. It cost us $5.70 to go 18 miles, and we had the place almost to ourselves. I think we had about 7 cars pass us in those 18 miles. Ah! Sweet relief. I guess Pittsburghers are cheap when it comes to using tollways.
We went just a short way down I-70 before stopping for the night. Since we are heading through south Texas, we wanted to make sure the truck was in top shape, no problems, since Texas is known for roadside inspections, and their DOT trucks actually go out onto the highway and pull trucks in for inspections.
Pittsburgh, by the way, is the pits. More hills than even San Francisco, and just as steep. The steel mill we were loading at is buried in the suburb of Allegheny, and there is absolutely NO direct route in or out. Every road is a windy, twisty, under construction mess through neighborhoods, business districts, tunnels, school zones, airports, you name it. Then we overshot the entrance to the place and had to turn around on an almost blind corner.
Once we got to the mill, we ran into our next set of challenges: getting in.
We are used to having to wear PPE (personal protective equipment) like hardhats, vests, safety glasses and boots, so that wasn't a problem, but this outfit has a computerized check in screen, where one scans one's drivers license, then enters a pickup number. Hiccup number one: our pickup number wasn't in the system. Gotta go back out and call the dispatcher. He sets up 'another' appointment, and we wait for about 45 minutes. This time, we got past the appointment stage, then we have the "Safety Test", where they ask 3 safety questions, and if you get any of them wrong, you get 'banned' from the mill for 24 hours. Guess what? Collin was overstimulated at this point, and got confused on a question, and he answered it wrong. Now what? Luckily, we had me. We were able to scan my license instead and go through the whole process again, and this time we passed.
Inside the mill, we pulled up and got loaded by these cranes that reminded me of the big flying things from Tron - you know, the ones that looked like squared off arches and flew along and blasted people and ships and such. Of course, these didn't fly, but roared along on tracks overhead. The noise was very distracting, but we had to tarp the load before we could leave.
Needless the say, our nerves were on edge after the drive in, and then the worry we wouldn't get in and get loaded, and THEN all the noise inside. Alas, we still had to get out of town, which looked to be even more of a challenge. We appeared to be at the center of a tangled web of roads, with no apparent straight shot out. To top it off, it was Friday after work, and everyone seemed to be on the roads. We spent about 45 minutes arguing about routes and dodging cars, when we found ourselves faced with a choice of using the Hwy 43 tollway, or staying on Hwy 51 - both of which seemed to be the 'best' ways to get to I-70. We chose the tollway, since it dropped us farther west on the I-70. Lo and behold, the tollway was virtually empty. It cost us $5.70 to go 18 miles, and we had the place almost to ourselves. I think we had about 7 cars pass us in those 18 miles. Ah! Sweet relief. I guess Pittsburghers are cheap when it comes to using tollways.
We went just a short way down I-70 before stopping for the night. Since we are heading through south Texas, we wanted to make sure the truck was in top shape, no problems, since Texas is known for roadside inspections, and their DOT trucks actually go out onto the highway and pull trucks in for inspections.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Playing Ring Around the Floodwater in Montana
So, driving through Montana on I-90 last week, we wondered if we were going to run into any problems with road closures. We had heard there was some issues with flooding, but were hedging that the interstate would be fine. We ran across signs that the flooding was very real, like the golf course whose fairways were all under water, leaving only little islands of the tee boxes and greens.
I had just taken over in Butte, and Collin had just gone back to go to sleep, when we passed Livingston, and I saw a reader board with a rather enigmatical message that said: "ROAD CLOSED AHEAD, EXIT NOW". I call it an enigma because I wondered what "road"? It didn't say INTERSTATE, just "ROAD".
I immediately noted that most drivers were ignoring the sign and continuing on down the interstate. There were no barricades, no emergency vehicles, no flares burning in the mostly sunny blue sky. So I too blew past the exit and kept going.
Before too long I saw a construction pickup rolling toward me in the fast lane, picking up traffic cones, so I figured whatever happened was finished.
But then I came upon police vehicles, flashing lights, cones, the works, guiding traffic off the interstate. I flip on the CB, which wakes up Collin, and we discovered that the interstate was indeed closed ahead, and the truckers in traffic ahead were discussing options. The drivers in the know said that this exit is for Hwy 89, and the officials are saying to go up to White Sulfur Springs and cut over on Hwy 12. After consulting the map, we decide we can take Hwy 12 over to I-94, and cut off a few miles, saving a trip back down to I-90. Then as we are wheeling in this big convoy, we see cars pulling up to park on the side of the road to make phone calls or consult their maps. Drivers are calling their dispatchers, and we are getting word that Hwy 12 is closed, too.
So on we drove into increasingly dodgy weather and fading confidence that the miles we added up would be worthwhile at all. We drove through a squall that buffetted us about, and spat rain and a bit of snow at us.
There is a stretch of Hwy 12, by the way, between White Sulfur Springs and Harlowton where the road is really rough and has NO shoulder - and since I was going the speed limit to help ensure I would stay on the road, I had to white knuckle it while a couple of semi trucks passed me. Yikes! Yet there were a couple drivers chatting it up on the CB for miles. I realized that those drivers were driving one handed while they keyed the CB mic, and I prayed neither of them were the ones passing me.
When we got to Harlowton, I led a train of trucks into the little Gas Station/Western Store. I needed to stop for a rest room break, but this is also where we ran up against the sign telling us that Hwy 12 was indeed closed, and so was Hwy 87, the road further north, which we might have taken to pick up I-94, too. We all invaded the store, to find that our only option at that point was to go down Hwy 191 back down to I-90. Hwy 12 had 500 yards of roadway with debris laden running water over it, and Hwy 87 had washed out completely. (I also found out that the driver of the FedEx truck behind me had been following me in the hopes that I knew where I was going.)
Collin and I took a short break, and I bought some slip on shoes. This from a store that I may never have visited if it hadn't been for this detour. Very nice shoes, thank you Ray's Western Wear.
Back on the road, we saw several houses up to their windows in floodwater, and my heart went out to the people whose lives had been turned inside out by nature.
Anyway, we headed on back to I-90. In the end, we drove 173 miles out of our way to cover what would have taken us 36 miles on the interstate, and worse, we burned about 4 hours of time. Grr.
We heard that what had happened is that a very full stream had brought debris down to clog a bridge until the water was flowing over the road. Even back on the interstate, we ran into one section that had about 100 yards of water about 2 inches deep across it. But after that, we had smooth sailing, er, driving all the way to Minnesota.
I had just taken over in Butte, and Collin had just gone back to go to sleep, when we passed Livingston, and I saw a reader board with a rather enigmatical message that said: "ROAD CLOSED AHEAD, EXIT NOW". I call it an enigma because I wondered what "road"? It didn't say INTERSTATE, just "ROAD".
I immediately noted that most drivers were ignoring the sign and continuing on down the interstate. There were no barricades, no emergency vehicles, no flares burning in the mostly sunny blue sky. So I too blew past the exit and kept going.
Before too long I saw a construction pickup rolling toward me in the fast lane, picking up traffic cones, so I figured whatever happened was finished.
But then I came upon police vehicles, flashing lights, cones, the works, guiding traffic off the interstate. I flip on the CB, which wakes up Collin, and we discovered that the interstate was indeed closed ahead, and the truckers in traffic ahead were discussing options. The drivers in the know said that this exit is for Hwy 89, and the officials are saying to go up to White Sulfur Springs and cut over on Hwy 12. After consulting the map, we decide we can take Hwy 12 over to I-94, and cut off a few miles, saving a trip back down to I-90. Then as we are wheeling in this big convoy, we see cars pulling up to park on the side of the road to make phone calls or consult their maps. Drivers are calling their dispatchers, and we are getting word that Hwy 12 is closed, too.
So on we drove into increasingly dodgy weather and fading confidence that the miles we added up would be worthwhile at all. We drove through a squall that buffetted us about, and spat rain and a bit of snow at us.
There is a stretch of Hwy 12, by the way, between White Sulfur Springs and Harlowton where the road is really rough and has NO shoulder - and since I was going the speed limit to help ensure I would stay on the road, I had to white knuckle it while a couple of semi trucks passed me. Yikes! Yet there were a couple drivers chatting it up on the CB for miles. I realized that those drivers were driving one handed while they keyed the CB mic, and I prayed neither of them were the ones passing me.
When we got to Harlowton, I led a train of trucks into the little Gas Station/Western Store. I needed to stop for a rest room break, but this is also where we ran up against the sign telling us that Hwy 12 was indeed closed, and so was Hwy 87, the road further north, which we might have taken to pick up I-94, too. We all invaded the store, to find that our only option at that point was to go down Hwy 191 back down to I-90. Hwy 12 had 500 yards of roadway with debris laden running water over it, and Hwy 87 had washed out completely. (I also found out that the driver of the FedEx truck behind me had been following me in the hopes that I knew where I was going.)
Collin and I took a short break, and I bought some slip on shoes. This from a store that I may never have visited if it hadn't been for this detour. Very nice shoes, thank you Ray's Western Wear.
Back on the road, we saw several houses up to their windows in floodwater, and my heart went out to the people whose lives had been turned inside out by nature.
Anyway, we headed on back to I-90. In the end, we drove 173 miles out of our way to cover what would have taken us 36 miles on the interstate, and worse, we burned about 4 hours of time. Grr.
We heard that what had happened is that a very full stream had brought debris down to clog a bridge until the water was flowing over the road. Even back on the interstate, we ran into one section that had about 100 yards of water about 2 inches deep across it. But after that, we had smooth sailing, er, driving all the way to Minnesota.
San Francisco Days
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| A rather narrow streetwe had to go up to get out of town... |
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| Crossing the Golden Gate |
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| Rainbow tunnel? In San Francisco? Nah... |
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| Me at the Crissy Field boardwalk |
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| Alcatraz - aka the Rock |
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| Golden Gate Bridge from beach at Crissy Field |
Friday, May 6, 2011
Bounce
Couldn't make delivery of the baffles by 12:00 noon in Rodeo, so we stopped in Reno and got Collin's cap installed in his mouth, then went up to Boomtown to play a little. Collin played various machines while I played the BlackJack tables. Might have come close to breaking even. Had a nice dinner in the Steakhouse and drank for free while we gambled. Nice evening.
Delivered baffles to ConocoPhillips in Rodeo, CA. Got there at 7:30, got sent to the wrong area of the refinery, and it took an hour to sort that out. Then they were unloading another truck and having a time getting the stuff off. Collin was able to help them get things figured out.
Then drove to All Weather in Vacaville, CA to pick up panels bound for Heber, UT.
After we delivered the panels to Miro Industries job site in Heber, Utah (near Salt Lake), we had the day to spend, waiting for midnight to pick up our load of salt out of North American Salt Co in Little Mountain, Utah, bound for Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, Indiana, so we did our audit of April's logbook pages while at a Denny's, then picked up some new tarps at Sharps Tarps, and I upgraded the air card to a MiFi hotspot.
Then we drove out to Little Mountain to see if we could get loaded early. We did, and we were loaded and gone by 10:00pm. Found out we could deliver these on Sunday, which frees us up to pick up a load from Chicago first thing Monday morning.
Delivered baffles to ConocoPhillips in Rodeo, CA. Got there at 7:30, got sent to the wrong area of the refinery, and it took an hour to sort that out. Then they were unloading another truck and having a time getting the stuff off. Collin was able to help them get things figured out.
Then drove to All Weather in Vacaville, CA to pick up panels bound for Heber, UT.
After we delivered the panels to Miro Industries job site in Heber, Utah (near Salt Lake), we had the day to spend, waiting for midnight to pick up our load of salt out of North American Salt Co in Little Mountain, Utah, bound for Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, Indiana, so we did our audit of April's logbook pages while at a Denny's, then picked up some new tarps at Sharps Tarps, and I upgraded the air card to a MiFi hotspot.
Then we drove out to Little Mountain to see if we could get loaded early. We did, and we were loaded and gone by 10:00pm. Found out we could deliver these on Sunday, which frees us up to pick up a load from Chicago first thing Monday morning.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Green Energy
Picked up a windmill generator in Pipestone, MN.
Picked up second generator in Fort Bridger, WY, then headed for Portland, OR.
We deliver the generators to Suzlon Wind in Portland. Got there about 6:00am. Very nice people, who were happy we made it there. As one of them said: " Look Ma, work!"
Seemed a little ironic that we drove all that way to deliver generators for environmentally friendly projects. Go figure.
Then we drove to Pacific Wood Preservers in Sheridan, OR to pick up lumber bound for United Pacific in Stockton, CA for American International Forest Products.
We had a little time to stop by the house and take showers and do a little laundry.
Picked up second generator in Fort Bridger, WY, then headed for Portland, OR.
We deliver the generators to Suzlon Wind in Portland. Got there about 6:00am. Very nice people, who were happy we made it there. As one of them said: " Look Ma, work!"
Seemed a little ironic that we drove all that way to deliver generators for environmentally friendly projects. Go figure.
Then we drove to Pacific Wood Preservers in Sheridan, OR to pick up lumber bound for United Pacific in Stockton, CA for American International Forest Products.
We had a little time to stop by the house and take showers and do a little laundry.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Maine
Got to Scott's Co in Medway, Maine at about 8am local time, and got in line to pick up a load of fertilizer bound for Syracuse, New York.
We were back in the snow, and got snowed on a little while strapping down the load. Once back on the road, we stopped at Dysart's Truck Stop, where the locals said there was a good restaurant. We were looking for a trailer shop to have them check out our trailer to make sure we don't have any damage from that heavy load that got put in the center of the trailer that had it wagging like a dog's butt. None of the shops had time for us, though, so we decided to have lunch. Collin had a fish chowder that he enjoyed, and I had a real shepherd's pie that was delicious.
Then we headed out, with a plan to avoid some of the toll roads by taking Hwy 2 out of the Boston area. Managed to catch a glimpse of the Atlantic while driving through Portsmouth.
We started out following the plan, but we were both very tired, and Hwy 2 is a very winding road, and it was getting dark. We ended up picking up the I-91 at Greenfield and taking that on down to the I-80, where we were promptly in the wrong lane in the toll ticket plaza, so we didn't get a ticket, and then we ended up going the wrong way on I-80 for about 6 miles before we could get turned around.
We debated taking the Hwy 20 between Albany and Syracuse, but decided against it in favor of the tollway, and the easier speed we could make. We made it to Schuyler NY before we stopped - about 56 miles from our destination in Syracuse.
We were back in the snow, and got snowed on a little while strapping down the load. Once back on the road, we stopped at Dysart's Truck Stop, where the locals said there was a good restaurant. We were looking for a trailer shop to have them check out our trailer to make sure we don't have any damage from that heavy load that got put in the center of the trailer that had it wagging like a dog's butt. None of the shops had time for us, though, so we decided to have lunch. Collin had a fish chowder that he enjoyed, and I had a real shepherd's pie that was delicious.
Then we headed out, with a plan to avoid some of the toll roads by taking Hwy 2 out of the Boston area. Managed to catch a glimpse of the Atlantic while driving through Portsmouth.
We started out following the plan, but we were both very tired, and Hwy 2 is a very winding road, and it was getting dark. We ended up picking up the I-91 at Greenfield and taking that on down to the I-80, where we were promptly in the wrong lane in the toll ticket plaza, so we didn't get a ticket, and then we ended up going the wrong way on I-80 for about 6 miles before we could get turned around.
We debated taking the Hwy 20 between Albany and Syracuse, but decided against it in favor of the tollway, and the easier speed we could make. We made it to Schuyler NY before we stopped - about 56 miles from our destination in Syracuse.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Long and Winding Road
Delivered "Line Tamer" equipment to Q3 Contracting in Des Moines, IA. Thankfully Q3 has lots of heavy equipment, and they were able to use a couple bucket loaders to lift it, and I drove the trailer out from under it. What a pain.
Collin spent the better part of the day searching for loads out; finally got a load out from ColorBiotics in Ames, Iowa. We had Cathy call, and she got us a better rate. Load of dye going to Maine.
This place ships dye all over the country, and we got set up as a direct carrier - no broker - so we will probably haul for them again if we get stuck in Iowa.
Ran our asses off all night to try to deliver the load next day, at Oldcastle Lawn & Garden in Poland Springs, Maine. We got out of Ames around 3:30pm, and were told the receiver may unload us as late as 9:00pm, so we gave it our best go. We were pretty heavy, though, and that made for slow going in the mountains - and we were going across the Appalachians. Our ETA kept getting later and later, and when we called again, we were told that it was possible to get unloaded as late as 11:00pm, because of what we were hauling. So we kept coming.
We finally arrived at 10:30 local time, and did indeed get unloaded.
Collin spent the better part of the day searching for loads out; finally got a load out from ColorBiotics in Ames, Iowa. We had Cathy call, and she got us a better rate. Load of dye going to Maine.
This place ships dye all over the country, and we got set up as a direct carrier - no broker - so we will probably haul for them again if we get stuck in Iowa.
Ran our asses off all night to try to deliver the load next day, at Oldcastle Lawn & Garden in Poland Springs, Maine. We got out of Ames around 3:30pm, and were told the receiver may unload us as late as 9:00pm, so we gave it our best go. We were pretty heavy, though, and that made for slow going in the mountains - and we were going across the Appalachians. Our ETA kept getting later and later, and when we called again, we were told that it was possible to get unloaded as late as 11:00pm, because of what we were hauling. So we kept coming.
We finally arrived at 10:30 local time, and did indeed get unloaded.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Okie Antics
Got four new tires on front axle of trailer at Les Schwab, then hit the road bound for Tulsa. Didn't get out as early as I would have liked. I also was having trouble sleeping on the truck. Don't know if it was watching Third Watch that got me riled up, or I was just too well rested after being home so much. We didn't get as far as I would have liked before Collin stopped for a rest, and I wasn't rested enough to feel good about driving, yet.
I started driving at 5:00am, and we drove all day and night, with bare minimum of stops. Uneventful day.
Delivered pipe to Inserve (Integrated Services) in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Then searched for a load. Collin found a Landstar load going from Emerald Falls Golf Course in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma to Des Moines, Iowa.
It was supposed to be an easy, short, quick load, taking a trailer 400 miles.
The catch? There was no way to load the trailer - a piece of equipment called a Line Tamer - onto our trailer. Collin thought he would be able to come up with a plan to load it, though, so we took the job.
The equipment was basically a metal framework on wheels, with rollers and some kind of motorized thing, that apparently helped the golf course lay irrigation lines, or something. It had flat tires, and was weighted heavier on one side so it was lopsided when lifted.
We spent 2 hours assessing the location, looking for something to use as a makeshift loading dock, then driving around to neighboring businesses trying to find a place we could go to load it, but we struck out. The dispatcher then decided to call a tow truck to the scene to pull it onto his flatbed, and then we could push it onto our trailer from there, having disconnected from the truck, and 'kneeling' our trailer by lowering the landing gear as far as possible.
It started out okay, until during the process of moving it from the tow truck to our trailer, it started to roll, and almost fell off the side of the trailer - only it's axles kept it from tipping all the way.
It then took an hour or more to get it back up on the flatbed, using the tow truck to push it from the side, then pulling it from the other side. Then we had to move it back toward the center of the trailer in increments, trying to prevent another incident of it rolling and falling.
All in all, we were at the site for about 6 hours. So much for easy and quick. We also found out that they had had another truck there the week before, but couldn't find a way to load it. The tow truck driver said he had come out then, too, but the driver wouldn't have anything to do with it. That driver was there from 9 in the morning until 3pm, and was pitching a fit at missing out of loads from all the time he was burning.
We got it on 'well enough', chained and strapped the snot out of it, and headed out, keeping our fingers crossed that the delivery site would have a way to unload it.
Neither of us got much sleep that day - we were glad it was a relatively short (8 hour) trip.
I started driving at 5:00am, and we drove all day and night, with bare minimum of stops. Uneventful day.
Delivered pipe to Inserve (Integrated Services) in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Then searched for a load. Collin found a Landstar load going from Emerald Falls Golf Course in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma to Des Moines, Iowa.
It was supposed to be an easy, short, quick load, taking a trailer 400 miles.
The catch? There was no way to load the trailer - a piece of equipment called a Line Tamer - onto our trailer. Collin thought he would be able to come up with a plan to load it, though, so we took the job.
The equipment was basically a metal framework on wheels, with rollers and some kind of motorized thing, that apparently helped the golf course lay irrigation lines, or something. It had flat tires, and was weighted heavier on one side so it was lopsided when lifted.
We spent 2 hours assessing the location, looking for something to use as a makeshift loading dock, then driving around to neighboring businesses trying to find a place we could go to load it, but we struck out. The dispatcher then decided to call a tow truck to the scene to pull it onto his flatbed, and then we could push it onto our trailer from there, having disconnected from the truck, and 'kneeling' our trailer by lowering the landing gear as far as possible.
It started out okay, until during the process of moving it from the tow truck to our trailer, it started to roll, and almost fell off the side of the trailer - only it's axles kept it from tipping all the way.
It then took an hour or more to get it back up on the flatbed, using the tow truck to push it from the side, then pulling it from the other side. Then we had to move it back toward the center of the trailer in increments, trying to prevent another incident of it rolling and falling.
All in all, we were at the site for about 6 hours. So much for easy and quick. We also found out that they had had another truck there the week before, but couldn't find a way to load it. The tow truck driver said he had come out then, too, but the driver wouldn't have anything to do with it. That driver was there from 9 in the morning until 3pm, and was pitching a fit at missing out of loads from all the time he was burning.
We got it on 'well enough', chained and strapped the snot out of it, and headed out, keeping our fingers crossed that the delivery site would have a way to unload it.
Neither of us got much sleep that day - we were glad it was a relatively short (8 hour) trip.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Almost Idle Time
After we delivered some scaffolding to Paramount Scaffolding in Carson, CA, we had planned to pick up an oversize load from Fontana bound for North Dakota, but after several attempts, we couldn't seem to meet the shipper's requirements for entry to their site.
So we found a load through SPI (Colette) going from Metal Coaters of California in Rancho Cucamonga to All Weather Insulation in Vacaville, CA, then reloading there with some panels going to Alaska Marine Lines in Seattle, WA.
Pay is not quite as good, but much less hassle.
Delivered panels to Alaska Marine Lines, in Seattle, WA, drove to Terminal 5 to find our how to register the truck with the Port of Seattle, and drove over to the office to do that. Process took all of 15 minutes.
Our reload wasn't ready until Thursday, so we had some work done on the truck. Got the fuel tank fixed, and discovered we needed to have two wheel seals and brakes replaced. after the tank was reinstalled, we promised to come back after we got loaded to have them work on the wheel seals and brakes. Very trusting people - they told us we didn't have to pay until all the work was done. Very reasonable, too. All that work, including welding the tank, and it only came to $1200.
Picked up load of Pipe from Terminal 5 (Port of Seattle) for ConocoPhillips, bound for Tulsa, Oklahoma. Since we couldn't make delivery by Friday, AND I had accidentally left my wallet at home when we stopped by the house Tuesday, we took our time, got the wheel seals done, and went home for Friday.
So we found a load through SPI (Colette) going from Metal Coaters of California in Rancho Cucamonga to All Weather Insulation in Vacaville, CA, then reloading there with some panels going to Alaska Marine Lines in Seattle, WA.
Pay is not quite as good, but much less hassle.
Delivered panels to Alaska Marine Lines, in Seattle, WA, drove to Terminal 5 to find our how to register the truck with the Port of Seattle, and drove over to the office to do that. Process took all of 15 minutes.
Our reload wasn't ready until Thursday, so we had some work done on the truck. Got the fuel tank fixed, and discovered we needed to have two wheel seals and brakes replaced. after the tank was reinstalled, we promised to come back after we got loaded to have them work on the wheel seals and brakes. Very trusting people - they told us we didn't have to pay until all the work was done. Very reasonable, too. All that work, including welding the tank, and it only came to $1200.
Picked up load of Pipe from Terminal 5 (Port of Seattle) for ConocoPhillips, bound for Tulsa, Oklahoma. Since we couldn't make delivery by Friday, AND I had accidentally left my wallet at home when we stopped by the house Tuesday, we took our time, got the wheel seals done, and went home for Friday.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Snow Zone
Delivered next piece of equipment to Baribeau Implement in Rice Lake, in about 8" of snow, which continued throughout the day. Drove to third drop in Saint Croix Falls and delivered, then drove to Ellsworth, WI for the fourth drop. The shop in Ellsworth was a tiny little venture at a crossroads in the middle of country nowhere. Then we drove into Minnesota to Wanamingo, to deliver the fifth Disc Bine. The weather was getting steadily better as we went further south, and by the time we got into South Dakota the roads were clear.
Continued to drive toward Salem, through a bit of Wyoming, then Montana, and down Hwy 12 from Missoula to Lewiston, ID. It was a pretty drive, but we were glad to get through before full dark. From Lewiston, we came into Oregon at Umatilla, then down the gorge, into Portland. Then we spent the night at the rest area in between Wilsonville and Aurora.
Delivered last Disc Bine to Brim Tractor in Salem, then headed home for the first time in over a month. Nice.
Continued to drive toward Salem, through a bit of Wyoming, then Montana, and down Hwy 12 from Missoula to Lewiston, ID. It was a pretty drive, but we were glad to get through before full dark. From Lewiston, we came into Oregon at Umatilla, then down the gorge, into Portland. Then we spent the night at the rest area in between Wilsonville and Aurora.
Delivered last Disc Bine to Brim Tractor in Salem, then headed home for the first time in over a month. Nice.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Random Pix for March
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| Kubota tractors bound for Fort Worth, Texas |
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| Delivering Pipe to Tampa, Florida |
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| Another snowstorm near Laramie, Wyoming |
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| Our first dust storm, in Nebraska |
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| Not much to look at in the photos. It was much more visible in person. |
Rush Hours
In Startex, South Carolina we picked up plastic pipe going to Baton Rouge, Louisianna.
Ran all night to get there early so we could get unloaded and then reloaded quick, so we could make our next delivery before the weekend.
Alas, it wasn't meant to be. We were early at the unload site, but it took them an hour and a half to unload us. Then we deadheaded 16 miles to West Side Galvanizing in Port Allen, LA, where it took them six hours to load some Galvanized Steel bound for a Refinery Warehouse in Linden, New Jersey. They finished at 3pm.
We now had 24 hours (we thought) to make a 22 hour drive.
Drove through the night again, frantically trying to make a 3pm delivery time, but despite our best efforts - bare minimum of stops, doing the full speed limit of 70 when legal - and looking at an ETA of 2:45, we found out when we got to the Pennsylvania line that the crews go home at 2 pm on Friday, and there was no way to get anyone to stay late. The contractor had no authority for overtime.
So we have decided to spend two nights at a Red Roof Inn in Allentown, PA.
We will deliver at ConocoPhillips at 7 am, then deadhead 160 miles to New Holland, PA to pick up some equipment. This is a one pick, six drop load. The deliveries start in WI (four there), then one in MN, then the final one takes us home to Salem, so even with missing delivery today, we will still get home by Friday, in time for the Spring Birthdays Party at Mom's house on Saturday.
Ran all night to get there early so we could get unloaded and then reloaded quick, so we could make our next delivery before the weekend.
Alas, it wasn't meant to be. We were early at the unload site, but it took them an hour and a half to unload us. Then we deadheaded 16 miles to West Side Galvanizing in Port Allen, LA, where it took them six hours to load some Galvanized Steel bound for a Refinery Warehouse in Linden, New Jersey. They finished at 3pm.
We now had 24 hours (we thought) to make a 22 hour drive.
Drove through the night again, frantically trying to make a 3pm delivery time, but despite our best efforts - bare minimum of stops, doing the full speed limit of 70 when legal - and looking at an ETA of 2:45, we found out when we got to the Pennsylvania line that the crews go home at 2 pm on Friday, and there was no way to get anyone to stay late. The contractor had no authority for overtime.
So we have decided to spend two nights at a Red Roof Inn in Allentown, PA.
We will deliver at ConocoPhillips at 7 am, then deadhead 160 miles to New Holland, PA to pick up some equipment. This is a one pick, six drop load. The deliveries start in WI (four there), then one in MN, then the final one takes us home to Salem, so even with missing delivery today, we will still get home by Friday, in time for the Spring Birthdays Party at Mom's house on Saturday.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Kemmerer, Wyoming
In Houston we picked up a 'lunch box' container - about 8 x 8 - full of misc tools for a job site in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
We ran hard through the night and much of today to get there before 4:30.
This place was 30 miles west of Little America on Hwy 30, then 5 miles down a muddy road; at the site, I walked around in three inches of mud. Almost lost my boot at one point.
The Roberson Creek Compressor Station is situated in a beautiful river valley with snow on all sides, and little sites where they are mining something, and tiny caravans with shepherds and huge flocks of sheep. I mean to look up about those shepherds. Their caravans look like Tinker/Gypsy caravans, and they have horses, and sheep dogs. What a cold, simple existence. I want to say they are Athabascan, or Basque shepherds, but I don't know for sure. (I Googled Basque shepherds in Wyoming, and they are present there, so I bet that is who we saw.)
We ran hard through the night and much of today to get there before 4:30.
This place was 30 miles west of Little America on Hwy 30, then 5 miles down a muddy road; at the site, I walked around in three inches of mud. Almost lost my boot at one point.
The Roberson Creek Compressor Station is situated in a beautiful river valley with snow on all sides, and little sites where they are mining something, and tiny caravans with shepherds and huge flocks of sheep. I mean to look up about those shepherds. Their caravans look like Tinker/Gypsy caravans, and they have horses, and sheep dogs. What a cold, simple existence. I want to say they are Athabascan, or Basque shepherds, but I don't know for sure. (I Googled Basque shepherds in Wyoming, and they are present there, so I bet that is who we saw.)
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| The road to Roberson Creek |
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| On the way to the jobsite |
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| Snowscape |
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| A few sheep. |
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| The Shepherd's Horses (hobbled) |
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| Get 'Er Done Dr |
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| Mud and Snow |
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| "Gotta Git a Little Mud on the Tires..." |
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| Muddy Jobsite |
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| "Wish I had a River I could skate away on..." |
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| Our winter home could use some work... |
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| Shepherds Caravans |
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| Muddy boots |
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