Enjoying North America while earning a living...: November 3 1989, 2009

About this blog's layout...BLOG UPDATED ONCE PER DAY...

I follow my journal daily by writing under the daily title, "FIRST 5 YEARS:" The first five years will strictly follow my 5 year journal. If I find the day I am writing about to be boring, I will either write about thoughts I remember(placed under the title of "SECOND 5 YEARS"), write a trucker tale(placed under "A Trucker's Tale"), give a helpful trucker hint, ask a "student driver" question or do something.....When a location appears after the day of the week after "FIRST 5 YEARS:", it is where I am at the start of that day((IE: FIRST 5 YEARS: (Sunday-Kansas City, Missouri))..... I would encourage those that find themselves enjoying North America to follow me day by day.....REMEMBER: THIS IS A BLOG ABOUT WHAT LIFE IS LIKE FOR A TRUCKER THAT DOES NOT HAVE A DAILY ROUTINE ROUTE(called a "dedicated" route). THERE WILL BE MANY TIMES WHEN THE ROUTING, SCENERY AND DAY'S ACTIVITIES WILL BE SIMILAR(boring???) TO PREVIOUS DAYS; THAT'S TRUCKING! THERE WILL BE DAYS WHEN THE ROUTING, SCENERY AND DAY'S ACTIVITIES WILL BE TOTALLY NEW; THAT'S TRUCKING. Frustrations? I mention the frustrations I had as a driver. I loved my job while earning a living and realized that all jobs have frustrations; truck driving is, and was, no different..... Many pictures on this blog can be left-clicked and made larger.....Questions?...Please E-mail PT at fabalt2000@centurylink.net

November 3, 2009

November 3 1989, 2009

FIRST 5 YEARS: (Friday-Amarillo, Texas)
I have a lot of time to start the deliveries. Next Wednesday is my first delivery of this load. I decided to watch movies here in Amarillo, Texas at the "Just A Truckstop"until around 3 AM. I did and went to my tractor where I went to sleep. Woke up around noon and ate. Fueled my tractor as it was last fueled in San Antonio(Texas). It took 128 gallons. Did a simple vehicle inspection while I was fueling(paid special attention to the fueling) and headed for the “All Right Truckstop” in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. It will be my stop for most the night. I will leave Santa Rosa around midnight(my time). Got to Santa Rosa in a little under three hours. Put myself off duty from 4:30 pm until 1AM. After going off duty, I went into the trucker store and looked at clothes. Bought 3 pairs of pants(these pants were the best I have ever bought; you could not rip them. I wore the zippers out of all three pairs.) and two flannel shirts. Took them to the tractor and went back inside the truckstop. I bought some goodies to munch on and watched movies until 7 PM. Went to the tractor where I took a long nap...

SECOND 5 YEARS: ( too expensive...)
I had got back to the yard in Olathe, Kansas and dropped my empty trailer. Talked with dispatch which gave me a broker load(loads we don't carry on a regular basis) to Denver(Colorado). I was going to a warehouse for a popular hardware store chain. It was a great one day run and I knew the area to which I was going. I made the normal stops in Hays, Kansas and Goodland, Kansas before going into Colorado. I stopped in Limon(Colorado) for dinner and then onto Denver. I parked, before the sun went down, on the wide street outside the warehouse. Early the next morning, I was approached by a lumper(a loader/unloader of trailers which we pay) and I said he could unload the trailer. When I asked how much money he wanted, he said $240. What???I found out what? I had a load which the company would break down each pallet and put it away before going to the next pallet. I had on hundreds of little thingies that had to be stored. I called dispatch before being unloaded and they had to call the broker of this load for the lumper money. I got the money and it took 7 hours for two lumpers to get me empty. I gave the one lumper a “com-check”(a special trucker check) for the work and I was off to the next job.