1-15-01

It's already time to go again... how fast that week off disappears.  I am going to Leola, PA for the 17th at 7:30 AM Est.

Upon arriving at the yard, I am met by my new "temp" partner.  I spoke with him for awhile about this and that and another thing.  He told me the reefer on this trailer had had some problems out in California and had to be taken to a ThermoKing dealer.  It is supposed to be okay now.

As we talked more I learned that this man was getting into a company truck because he had recently lost his.  He had owned 6 or 7 trucks but no more.  He said fuel costs and difficulties with drivers had finally done him in.  I shook my head -- this is happening all over.  I read the other day that approximately 3500 carriers closed their doors last year.  That figure doesn't include the O/Operator's that went under. 

There was a time I wanted to be an O/O.  I decided, though, before jumping in head first to go drive for one and act like that truck was my own.   I kept track of what was paid for fuel, what kind of fuel mileage I got, what the paid miles were (empty & deadhead), service & breakdown costs, etc.  I kept track of everything I possibly could.  At the end of a year I had decided I did not really want to own my own truck.

The person I drove for was one of the most level-headed, professional businessmen I've ever known.  He drove one of the trucks.  He had 30+ years under his belt.  He had a no-nonsense way of doing things. He wanted a certain number of miles put on his trucks per month.  He gave the driver a lot of freedom.  He gave me a list of states with their respective fuel taxes and such and wrote notes in the margin like, "Buy as much fuel as possible here." or "Don't buy any more than necessary here."  He taught me a great deal about the business end of things:  the expense of tires, freight rates and taking loads to get to better freight areas.

The sad thing is that the man I wrote about who recently lost his trucks and the brilliant owner operator are the same man.  So many of you email in about wanting to become owner operators fresh out of driving school.  I (nearly) always try to discourage this.... If my former boss couldn't make it, please, what makes you think you can???  True, he had multiple trucks to take care of and find drivers for, and most of you tentative O/O's are only dealing with one, but none-the-less, what truly makes you think you can do a better job than this person???  I am sorry to be harsh, but let's be realistic!!!!!!!!!  I was saddened by this... The look in his eyes as he told me about his loss was very depressing.

1-17-01

I made my delivery in Leola, PA at 7:30 AM.  My reefer decided to die.  It had made this decision on my way here.  I had messaged Dispatch that it was having difficulties so that they'd be aware before I loaded another load.  It's failure hadn't been a problem really on the way out here because the Set Point was the same as the outdoor temperature and the freight wasn't sensitive.

Once empty in Leola, PA I messaged in again that the reefer wouldn't stay running.  There was a big communications problem -- they hadn't been aware the reefer was problematic and tried to dispatch me on another load.  I repeated that my problem reefer needed attention first.  They sent me to the terminal in New Kingstown, PA to have it looked at.  All of this shot the day.  I was given a reload for the next morning.

1-18-01

I was dispatched to go back down to the same area where I'd been yesterday to load in Lancaster, PA.  It would go to Itasca, IL for 1-20 at 1:AM.  I got that loaded and I was on my way to Illinois.

1-20-01

I rolled into Itasca, IL around midnight.  They told me they were running behind and it would be awhile.  My heart wasn't broken -- in fact, I was perfectly happy that I could lay down for awhile.  They didn't bother to wake me when the load was unloaded.  Most places will at least come knock on your door and tell you, but not here.  Whatever, I guess.  I woke around 8AM and went in to get my signed paperwork.  My reload was in McGaw Park, IL (a bit north of Chicago).  It was a drop and hook going to Omaha, NE for 1-22 at 5AM.  Boy sometimes things just work out well....

I ran up there, dropped & hooked and headed back west.  It is only the afternoon of the 20th and I have until the 22nd to deliver.  How convenient that home is between Chicago and Omaha!  I stopped at home for the night of the 20th and slept in my own bed....

1-21-01

I left home in the evening to get over to Omaha, NE.  I crashed until my alarm went off at the incredibly rude hour of 4:15 AM.  After delivering the load, I deadheaded back to the yard and called it a week.... (an easy week, too, thankfully!)

1-29-01

I'm supposed to be headed out today but my Dispatcher totally shocked me.... I called in this morning to find out what was up for the next day or two.  I told her we're in the midst of a nasty ice storm.  She was worried that even if I made it to the yard okay, that I wouldn't make it far out of the yard.  In Iowa for tonight they are saying the roads will likely be nearly 100% ice covered, with at least 1/4 inch of ice on them.  Yuck.  She said that since there were plenty of times that I get home late, to have an extra day at home wasn't the end of the world..... Gee, I'm so disappointed.  My shock is at the fact that she cared about the weather.  Most of the time a lot of them don't care about what the weather is doing.  The freight must move!!!!  (So they say)

1-31-01

I headed toward Council Bluffs, IA pretty early this morning. I was flipping through the AM dial on my way out of town and caught a talk show about meat plants. Naturally, this grabbed my attention. The featured guest had written a book about the "monopoly" that the meat industry has, the effects on the consumer and the poor treatment and pay of the workers. I called in to the program. Of course, I wanted to talk about the plight of the truck driver hauling for the meat plants. I actually got on the air. I couldn't believe it. I got a bit tongue tied, but I managed to state my case. Both the host and the author of the book said they didn't know that drivers were often held up 1-2 days waiting for loads, usually without pay, and often without decent facilities. I blamed "big meat" for being a big contributor to driver fatigue because they refused to load on time, yet expected deliveries to be on time. The book's name was, "Fast Food Nation", for what it is worth.

I got to the yard, found my load and got out of there. I had to stop on the other side of town to buy some windshield wiper fluid. As I was getting back into my truck after having bought it, I heard "Excuse me!?" I turned around and there was a man with a microphone and beside him, a man all loaded down with camera gear. He tells me that they're from a local TV station (Fox) and he'd like to know what I think about the fact that the state of Nebraska has run out of road treatment stuff. I tell him I don't think much of that at all! He asks if he can ask me questions on camera about winter driving, the lack of salt in NE, etc, etc. I went ahead and did it but again, became tongue tied. I surely looked like an idiot. Geez, I got 30 seconds of fame today and I think I blew both my shots. I can stand in front of a group and talk, but radio and television just don't seem to be my thing! I guess I'll kiss a future in these industries good-bye! What a weird day...

The significance of the reporter's questions showed itself in the afternoon. Between Lincoln, NE and York, NE, the roads went bad. By Grand Island, NE they were pretty wicked. The stupid thing was that only the westbound side was bad. The north wind was blowing the snow right back over the westbound side and making it pretty treacherous in places. The eastbound traffic had it made -- I didn't see anything over there. Westbound was mostly patchy ice. You would go a mile or two, or maybe a few, and HELLO here comes a 300 or so foot long patch of ice to wake you up. It was like this for about 100-150 miles.

On the western side of the state it was more glare ice than the bumpy stuff. At the I-80/I-76 junction, it was a long stretch (at least 1-2 miles?) of pure, glare, mirror ice. Was I nervous? Damned straight I was!!!!!! I only had 27,000 lbs in the trailer. The reporter's question was bouncing around in my head... It was obvious that there had been no salt/sand/whatever put on the westbound icy patches. Nothing. I did see quite a few plows and salt dumpers out, but all of them on the Eastbound side, where it was dry!! Go figure!

There were tons of cars, campers and trucks littering the ditches and medians. Tow trucks were having an extremely busy day. The Highway Patrol was quite busy as well. You'd think people would have the common sense to slow down but many do not. It is hard to feel sorry for them when they fly by you and then you see them in the ditch on up the road. The icy patches fooled many; in the couple of miles of clear road between these patches, people would speed up 15-20 mph, but would then hit another patch and SEEYA, it was over for them. In the ditch or median they would go.

Most of the trucks weren't running much faster than 45mph or so and maintaining very large space cushions. This is such an essential thing -- space ahead. The closest I came today to a parking spot in the ditch was when a van cut into my space cushion and then immediately hit an ice patch. He hit his brakes (not good) and I sucked in air. I do believe a few words did escape my mouth, but I will not list them here.  I had to move left because I was afraid I would run into him. I did put some light pressure on the brakes -- only as much as I felt I could -- but that wasn't slowing me enough. I didn't like the lane change on the ice, but the lesser of the evils seemed to be the lane change. Thank The One Above that the patch ended and the van sped up.

The first 30 miles on I-76 were worse than Nebraska. The icy patches were a lot longer. They'd done little to nothing to treat the road. If I were a Colorado taxpayer, I'd be rather miffed.

I had the CB radio on all day today, which is unusual for me. On days like this, however, it is important that you can communicate with those around you. Drivers are generally so concentrated on the road conditions that few fight, argue and carry on. The drivers are busy warning each other about a car that just ditched, a car going too fast, a bad icy spot ahead, etc. It's times like these that the drivers seem to pull together the best. Few have time to fight and insult.

All of these photos were taken on I-80 in Nebraska on 1-31-01

Not sure why he is being towed away...

A rather unusual parking place...

Well, at least if you gotta ditch it, it probably feels

a little better to have company (?)

The classic Jackknife.