A Cool Old Scale 206

Everybody coming into the place I loaded today has to weigh in (empty weight) and weigh out once they're loaded.

This is a picture of the scale platform:


And this is the old beam ... what do you call that part?



I hope you can see it good enough to tell how it works - kinda like the scales at the doctor's office, where they slide the doohickeys on the balance beams. The Scale Master said they've been using it for about 25 years. They tried a couple of digital ones, but they kept breaking down. So he told his bosses, "You can't take this one out until I'm gone." I thought it was so cool!

I've only seen one other scale like this. Can't remember where it was, but the only time anybody ever used it was if a driver wanted to weigh his/herself. It was in a tiny little shack by itself, with a few cobwebs hanging here and there.

Anyway, we're at the Flying J in Gulfport MS for the night.

Headed to Meigs GA 205

This is my next trip:

It's Too Hot To Walk In Houston 204

Today is Labor Day.

Checking in from the Flying J in Houston. We're still here. It's another one of those bright, yucky, depressing days. We've only been able to walk around the parking lot once today because it got too hot for me. Right now it's 93 degrees (heat index 98); but the wind is stirring a little, so maybe it'll cool off before long.

I've just about decided to take Buddy back home - if I still have a job next week, that it. It's not fair to her when I get depressed like this. I don't want to neglect her, and yet all I want to do is sleep when stuff like this happens. All this walking probably isn't going to change anything anyway.

I can't believe how the time has flown by. It's already late Monday afternoon, and tomorrow I'll get dispatched again. It'll probably be back towards the east, and I'll sweat the next few days wondering when/if they'll bring me in to the terminal. Actually, I need to get to the terminal anyway because the truck is due service, but ....

I've been reworking the tags in the sidebar here. I use them for reference when I want to find something in the past. And I've been clicking around Facebook some.

I turned my phone off Friday night and haven't turned it on since - except to make necessary calls. I haven't talked to Mother since then. That's depressing too, but I don't need the browbeating I'd get over something she knows nothing about. I miss not talking to her, but ....

Not much else to say for now.

A Big Hug From/To Fillinguy 203

I'm still at the Flying J in Houston (Baytown, really) TX.

A short while ago I had to call the guard at AMX to get authorization to buy some fuel. (Idling a truck uses about a gallon per hour, and I haven't shut it off since I've been here.) I was pleasantly surprised to hear Fillinguy's voice on the other end. He's like a big teddy bear to me. Anyway, I talked to him a few minutes about what happened with the CHR loads.

After I fueled I sent this message to him:

9/6/09: ME: 19:59
Thanks Fillinguy. Regardless of how I felt about that last CHR load, it fell through. I woulda picked it up, but it fell through. That's not my fault. But I was glad it fell through.

Fillinguy: 20:29 I know

ME: 20:49: ... that's what I'm guilty of - being happy about it. No need to reply. It helps just to talk about it. So for being my sounding board, thanks so much.

Fillinguy: 21:03: ... U is welcome-- always do the right thing.

It made me feel a lot better to just talk about it, so I feel like I've just been given a big hug - whether I was right or wrong. Fillinguy used to be a driver, and he's been around this business a long time. He understands how I feel about the situation.

In other news: Remember how happy I was that the electronic cigarettes actually worked? I spoke too soon. The replacement cartridges are "hit and miss" in their quality. The last box I bought weren't as good as the first ones, so I haven't used the NJoy cig much at all lately. And another thing - these cartridges make me cough on the exhale.

I'm still chain smoking, and I don't think it's going to be possible for me to cut down, much less quit. I was going to try to watch what I eat too, but that's not working out either. So I guess I'm going to have to rely on the expensive prescriptions to keep me in good enough shape to work. It's funny how I can afford to die, but I can't afford to be sick.

Buddy and I have been walking though. At least that's something positive.

It's Only This Far On The Map 202

This is about the work related problems I've had over the last few days. It's necessarily long. For some, it may be enough to know that two Houston reloads fell through, so I'm stuck at the TA here until Tuesday. I'm a little worried (isn't everybody) that I may lose my job over this thing. I might as well be honest - I'm a lot worried. But I won't know if I've made it through this, my umpteenth work crisis, until next week. We'll see. Until then, I going to try not to worry.

This is what happened:

I had problems with trip 197, Salem VA to Houston, from the beginning.

From the QualComm on 09/02/09:

ME: 14:47
This freight is 55 gal drums of stuff on pallets held together with only shrinkwrap. They put a "rope" of shrinkwrap at the top of the drums, and the guy said that was stronger than anything else they could use.

Said that to say this: The woman who brought my bills out said I needed to put a strap or load bar on the stuff. She wasn't around by the time I got on the dock with my load lock, but that guy was. I said, "Why does this need a load lock?" He said, "You don't have a strap?" I said no. He tried to help me put the bar up, but the sides of the trailer are so bowed out it wouldn't stretch across, and we couldn't make it reach a rib.

I said, "Well, if anything happens, I've done my part." and I told him, "just between you and me, y'all ought to use something better than shrinkwrap to hold these things together."

Will try CHR again in a minute.

A few notes here: CHR = C.H. Robinson, the broker. I've talked about CHR before - look over in the sidebar; find the tag "C.H. Robinson"; and click on it if you want to see what I've said in previous posts. When CHR dispatched me, they only asked if I had load locks, not straps.

Putting a load lock in the trailer wasn't a problem, but when I saw the load was low and solid, I wondered why they wanted me to secure it. Most of the shippers I deal with don't ask for securement, and we don't haul much freight where it's needed. But there've been times when I secured a load anyway - just to be sure. Take the load of 12 packs of Dr. Pepper the other day, for instance. Using a load lock was my choice, and I decided to put one up - just to be sure.

Anyway, at the time, I didn't think about this being a liquid load. It meant that the stuff would slosh around in the drums, and maybe cause the last pallet to "walk" around some - if the shrink wrap held. Still, the guy on the dock said, "If the drivers have straps, ok. If they don't, we don't use anything."

AMX provides us with load locks - we carry them in a rack on the back of our tractors. AMX doesn't provide straps.

This is how a load lock works:



And this is how a strap works:






ME: 14:52
...we left the load lock on the floor and he didn't seem to think it was a big deal that we couldn't secure them.

007: 15:14
YOU MAY NEED TO GO BUY SOME STRAPS TO SECURE THE LOAD NEED TO MAKE SURE YOU DO THAT

Note: 007 never uses any kind of punctuation in her messages, and all incoming messages are in capital letters. Sometmes it's hard to figure it out at first glance.

ME: 15:22
So are you telling me to buy some straps for this load? BTW - I may not be able to make it by 3:00pm Friday, but will do my best.

Note: Trip 197 paid 1147 loaded miles, but actual miles are closer to 1175.
No dispatcher ever figures trip time by actual miles.
No dispatcher ever considers the fact that a heavy load in mountainous terrain will slow a driver down considerably.
No dispatcher ever considers that a curving, twisting, or winding highway will slow a driver down considerably - not to mention that kind of driving is real work.
No dispatcher ever considers the possibility that we may have to wait in line for fuel for 45 minutes.
No dispatcher ever considers the fatigue factor - that a driver may need a little extra time simply because he/she is worn out.
No dispatcher ever considers waiting to load or unload is not a "rest" period.
No dispatcher ever considers that sweeping a trailer out, or other equipment issues, involves physical labor.
I could go on and on.

It's not just 007 either. All dispatchers are this way. It's their job. See this post - 14 Hour Violation

In orientation at AMX, when I first hired on, Nolielauri said trips were figured at 55mph, and in the next breath said 50mph. This isn't always so.

I usually figure actual miles at 55, which is what I really do average most of the time.

So, Trip 197, 1175 miles at 55mph = 21.36 hours. 11 hours of driving requires a 10 hour break. So 21.36 divided by 11 = two 10 hour breaks. Now the trip's up to 43.5 hours.

And at 2:45pm, about the time I finally got loaded, I had 48 hours to get there. Logging it legally, that left 4.5 extra hours for whatever might come up. It was doable on paper, but it meant driving 10 hours straight from Salem - and I'd already been working since 8:00am. I had unloaded in Danville VA, and driven 97 miles on one of the curviest highways in the America.

When I called CHR to tell them I was loaded, I mentioned the load lock problem, and the girl blew it off. I also told her I might not be able to make it by 3:00pm. After some checking and being put on hold a couple of times, the girl came back and told me it had to deliver by 3:00pm. I didn't realize Monday was a holiday yet.

ME: 15:34
... come on somebody - b4 I get to fuel stop - u want me to buy straps for this load?

007: 15:36
IF IT WILL SECURE THE PRODUCT YES YOU NEED TO ALSO THIS LOAD MUST NO EXCEPTION DELIVER ON FRIDAY THEERE IS NO REASON IN THIS WORLD THAT YOU CANT MAKE THAT IT BY 1500 ON FRIDAY YOU HAVE 46 HRS TO DO IT IN I DONT THINK THAT IS AKING TO MUCH

ME: 15:40 Y'all will reimburse me for straps, right? As for making it by 3 Friday, I won't argue about it.

Note: 007 hadn't specifically told me to buy straps for the load yet, and I wanted to be sure I'd get reimbursed. Straps are not cheap. As for not arguing about the delivery time, I already knew I was going to do whatever it took to make it. By this time I knew Monday was Memorial Day, the reason for the "007 push".

007: 15:43 I SAID YES BUY THEM IF IT WILL HELP SUCURE THE LOAD I SENT YOU A MESSAGE

ME: 15:45 Ok

007: 15:46 YES PUT PER 007 ON THE RECEIPT AND PER WHATAGREATGUY AND KUNG FU LOAD MUST BE THERE ON TIME FRIDAY

ME: 15:51 That's all I needed to hear. If Whatagreatguy and Kung Fu say to get it there regardless, it'll be there. Sometimes I think y'all put your index finger and thumb in the air and say "It's only this far on the map."

Note: 007 didn't respond, so to me this meant Whatagreatguy and Kung Fu knew the circumstances, and I wouldn't get called down for throwing the log book out the window. I had to get some rest, but I'd do it in snatches instead of 10 hours at a time. That way I'd be able to make it on time.

ME: 17:19 ...and y'all never figure things like 45 mins just to get to a fuel pump.... (Sent while I was sitting in line at the pumps. This was where the fuel route on the QualComm told me to stop.)

From the QualComm on 09/04/09:

007: 8:55 PLEASE DON'T STOP TILL YOU GET TO CUSTOMER NEED TO RELOAD BY 15:00

ME: 9:00 Sometime today I've got to take a full 10 hour break to get legal again, but I don't intend to stop again until I get there.

007: 9:02 YOU CAN TAKE A BREAK AFTER U RELOAD YOU ARE RELOADING IN HOUSTIN 800 MILES FROM NOW TO TUESDAY I THINK YOU CAN GET PLENTY OF BREAKS IN

ME: 9:03 Good deal.

ME: 9:04 I'll drive 24/7 as long as Kung Fu and Whatagreatguy approve it.

ME: 9:07 ...2 hour nap here, 5 hours there - I'd rather do it that way anyway.

007: 11:26 ARE U ALMOST AT CUSTOMER

ME: 11:27 Yes

ME: 12:14 unloading now

I sent in my empty call and she sent the next load info to me. It picked up at BASF on the west side of Houston. I drove over there.

ME: 13:51 Guy at BASF says this load has already been picked up

007: 14:00 WE ARE CALLING NOW

007: 14:23 TAKING YOU OFF LOAD UPDATE YOU ASP

ME: 14:24 I'm going back to the east side of town then - to the truck stops.

ME: 15:15 Do you think y'all will be able to get me out of here today?

I was hoping they wouldn't. I was totally exhausted, and I didn't like the shape my log book was in compared to the GPS.

007: 15:38 NOT SURE

ME: 15:39 Ok, thx.

ME: 16:12 Just leave he here. Unless it's across the street, I can't get anywhere by closing time anyway.

Please just leave me here - anything I do will be illegal.

007: 16:44 WE HAVE A LOAD IN HOUSTON TODAY AS SOON AS I GET THE FAX ILL SEN TO YOU SO BE READY THANKS

ME: 16:51 It'll take forever to get there the way traffic is now, but good deal.

I didn't really think it was a good deal, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway.

And then came the Load Assignment at 17:02:



007: 17:02 CALL BROKER ASAP # IN COMMENTS
...and she was gone. It was after 5:00pm and her day was done. She could walk away and leave it all behind.

When I saw the load assignment my heart sank. No information whatsoever, and the numbers listed were both for C.H. Robinson. And 007 had walked away leaving me holding the bag. I was sick.

I called CHR and the guy told me it was one pallet (seriously, one pallet) of phones. I said, "Aw man, this isn't going to pan out." He said, "It might not, it might not." He told me to sit tight and he'd call me back in 10 minutes - because he didn't want me to go after the one pallet of phone if it wasn't a sure-fire thing. By this time he knew I had log problems, and he knew I was seriously concerned about it.

Me: 17:07 Y'all better not count these chickens yet - this sounds like another fall through

...but nobody was listening. I kept trying though:

Me: 17:28 ... this is not a good deal at all.
Let me stay where I am. It's not worth the risk if anything should happen.

CHR didn't call me 10 minutes later, so I called him. I told him about how I'd never drive again if anything happened in the traffic - not to mention AMX would be sued for everything they had. I told him I couldn't get anybody to answer at AMX. I was almost in tears. I told him I was between a rock and hard place, but I'd go pick it up if it was legitimate.

He told me the shipper hadn't called him back so he thought it wasn't going to work out anyway. I told him, "Let's pray it doesn't". He said he'd call me right back - that he was going to tell the shipper he needed a "yes" or "no". He called back so quickly that I got the impression the shipper didn't answer. After all, it was almost 5:45pm by now - on a 3 day weekend. When he did, he said, "Your praying paid off, so just get some rest, and we'll talk to you Tuesday I guess."

Me: 17:43 CHR just called me back. The deal fell through."

Me: 17:55 I've been trying to call, but I guess everybody's gone home now. I'm not going to worry about it anymore. Maybe something'll turn up tomorrow. Things will be better then anyway.

I didn't know who sent the message at 18:46: CAN YOU CALL ME PLEASE?

ME: 18:52: I've been trying to call. Nobody answers - not even the guard

GUARD: 18:56: THIS IS THE GUARD. I HAVE NOT HAD A CALL FROM YOU.

So I called and talked to a young man I didn't know. CHR had called him, and he wanted to know what was going on. I told him.

From the QualComm on 09/05/09:

ME: 10:00: Dispatch, did you see that my load fell through yesterday?

007: 10:02: SURE DID AND BROKER ALSO INFORMED US THAT YOU WERE GLAD IT DID SO YOU CAN SIT THERE TILL TUESDAY
------------>
ME: 10:23: I don't care if I sit here 'till doom's day. At least everything's legal again, and nobody got hurt.

The broker knew I was worried about my log problem, but I told him I'd go get it if it was a legitimate load. He told me to sit tight while he called the shipper

He was going to tell the shipper to give him a yes or no

He called back almost immediately and said it wasn't a load. I got the impression nobody answered at the shipper.

I was glad because nobody was at risk anymore if anything had happened in the heavy holiday traffic. In fact, I was real glad - for myself and AMX.

The more I thought about it, the more worried I got that something might happen. I was between a rock and a hard place. So yeah, I'm glad it fell through.

So here I sit at the Flying J in Houston - across the street from the TA. Thank goodness it's not like last Christmas was when a "007 push" didn't work out. Everybody knows about that by now though, when Buddy and I spent 4 or 5 days at a Flying J in PA - and I missed a doctor's appointment because of it.

Goodbye Daisy - We'll Miss You 201

Harmlessette sent me a message yesterday:

"...I took Daisy to [Dr. Herriot's] at Hope Animal Clinic, just seemed like more was wrong with her than ... her arthritis. They x-rayed her and said all the swollen joints were bone cancer. I kept watching her and she just seemed to be suffering so much. Anyway, they said it was in her lungs, too, and it would be hard to give her anything for the pain so they suggested putting her to sleep. Thats what I did. I let them put her to sleep. It seems so odd here in the house without her. We had her around 10 years...."

I told her, "... I know it was a hard thing to do, but I fully believe dogs go to Heaven just like people do. She's in a much better place now - pain free and healthy. ..."

And I posted on Chesty's Facebook Wall, "...I know she'll be waiting at Heaven's gate wagging her tail when it's my/our turn to go Home. She was like one of the family - just as you and Harmlessette are."

This is the (Source) for the following:

James Herriot "Dog Stories"; chapter: The Card Over the Bed

Responding to a dying old woman's inquiry James Herriot, the late British author/veterinarian noted: "If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans. You've nothing to worry about there." He goes to note regarding animals joining their masters in the afterlife: "I do believe it. With all my heart I believe it."


Pope John Paul II: 'Animals Possess A Soul'

Pope John Paul II declared in a public audience in 1990 that "also the animals possess a soul and men must love and feel solidarity with our smaller brethren". He said, too, that they are the "fruit of the creative action of the Holy Spirit and merit respect," and are as near to God as men are."

The Pope went on to say that, "animals have the breath of life and were given it by God. In this respect, man created by the hand of God is identical with all living creatures. ... The existence therefore of all living creatures depends on the living spirit/breath of God that not only creates but also sustains and renews the face of the earth."


"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went." Will Rogers, 1897-1935

Buddy Waits Patiently 200

Any time we're sitting still, and it's safe enough, I let Buddy get out of the truck. This is why I'm not afraid to let her out by herself:





These were taken while I was getting unloaded at Danville VA this morning. She never goes very far from the truck; and she acts as if being free is no fun if I don't get out with her. What a great dog! My little Buddy.

She always does this when I'm on the computer too:



Ok. Now for the business at hand:



Legally, I couldn't leave Danville until 10:00AM. Luckily, Danville has a little Pilot that has wifi. That's where I'm posting from, and if I don't get out of here now, I'm might miss the pickup. Yikes!

There's A Bear In The Air 176

Last night as Buddy and I were about to get off I85 in Duncan/Spartanburg SC to get fuel, we saw a helicopter with a search light overhead, and every cop within 20 miles was surrounding a building at our exit. In fact, they had the exit closed off, and we had to flip around at the next exit. As we were passing where we should'ave gotten off, I saw one of the cops holding his shotgun at waist level.

Nobody knew what was happening, but a driver told me the cops had come onto the TA's premises looking for somebody.

This morning I called the Duncan Police Dep't to find out what happened. The girl told me to go to www.goupstate.com, and I should be able to find the article there. She was right. According to the article:

Multiple law enforcement agencies scoured wooded areas near the intersection of I-85 and Highway 290 late Tuesday night looking for a man accused of shooting at authorities after a traffic stop.

Master Deputy Tony Ivey, public information officer for the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office, said that officers established a perimeter near Cryovac Inc. at 1502 E. Main St. in Duncan and were using a helicopter and K-9 teams in their search for a black male wearing blue jeans and a dark tank top. Ivey said no one was hit by the shots.

Ivey said officers were conducting a traffic stop as part of the third Operation Rolling Thunder, a multi-jurisdiction patrol of I-85 and I-26 in Spartanburg County this week, near mile marker 63 of I-85 North.

Ivey said the driver jumped from the vehicle and ran, and the officer conducting the stop reported shots had been fired as the suspect ran into a wooded area.

Authorities blocked off the area around Cryovac for the search

And from one of the comments on the story:

Remember Paul Harvey who used to end with "and now you know the rest of the story"? Well, I guess I will fill in the rest of the story the newspaper failed to mention.

The suspect was driving an orange Dodge Charger type vehicle. It was shown on 2 local TV stations. He shot at a Florence County deputy who had him pulled over on the north bound Hwy 290 ramp. It started around 7.30-8.00pm. At 12.48am an officer spotted him around the Jack in the box on Hwy 290. Suspect ran behind a semi truck while crossing 290. They started running him again but could not get helicopters up in the air for the second chase. The dogs lost him.

Law enforcement preformed perfectly. Especially since there were over 10 different agencies involved. It was humorous to watch some young guy driving a Duncan car who had just shown up start barking orders at people standing around while the real professionals were working.

This Is How Crazy I Am.... 175

Remember when I got the traffic ticket in Harrisburg PA and had to pay $109.00? When I came home last time I had a check from the Harrisburg court for $81.50. Yesterday I call to see why.

The girl said, "Your ticket was for $109.50, right?" I said yes. She said, "Well you sent $191.00."

Is that crazy or what?! I don't know what I was thinking.

Ok. Buddy and I are leaving for Danville VA now. Gonna be hard to get her back in the truck.

Flying Hook Pilots? 174

This is the logo for Flying J Travel Plazas. Truck drivers often call the truck stops "Flying Hook" or "Flying Fish Hook" because that's what the logo looks like. I like Flying Hooks, but we don't have very many of them on our fuel list.

I was hooking up to Pilot's wifi the other day and was a little surprised to see the press release "Pilot Enters into Interim Financing Arrangement with Flying J". Flying J declared bankruptcy in December 2008. The following is from their website:

"Even though Flying J has been a successful company, it faced near-term liquidity pressure from an unprecedented combination of factors: the precipitous drop in the price of oil and the lack of available financing from its traditional sources due to disrupted credit markets. With a sudden and unanticipated inability to meet its liquidity needs, the company had no other choice than a Chapter 11 filing to provide the time to work through a solution."

I remember when it happened. Little Buddy and I were laid over at the Flying J in Brookville PA for Christmas last year, and an employee came out and blocked off all the fuel islands. I asked one of the Hook's tanker drivers why, and he said, "Probably because they're out of fuel". He figured what caused the bankruptcy was that Flying Hook stockpiled/bought a whole bunch of oil and then the bottom fell out of oil prices; i.e, they couldn't refine and sell the fuel and get back even what they paid for it.

According to the Pilot press release:

"After a careful and exhaustive review of the alternatives available, we have concluded that a merger with Pilot represents the best possible outcome for Flying J, our creditors, our customers, and our employees," said Crystal Call Maggelet, Chairman of the Board of Flying J. "Over the next few months, we will negotiate definitive agreements to merge our companies. This transaction will allow us to emerge from the bankruptcy process relatively quickly thereafter and to start a new chapter in the Flying J story."

So are we gonna have Flying Hook Pilots now? I doubt it. They'll probably stay exactly like they are, just as the TAs (Travel Centers of America) and Petros did in 2007.

Utahans seem to have bad luck with their investment deals. The Osmond family has had their share of bankruptcies too.