Enjoying North America while earning a living...

I kept a day by day journal the first 5 years I was enjoying North America. While earning a living,I kept track of where I went, often what I did, feelings I had and various other details. I am writing this blog day by day as I lived it. The month/day I lived it is the same as the month/day I write about it. The years are obviously different...thus the days title: ie: August 30, 1989, 2009.

About Me

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Starting as a preschooler, I remember my Grandfather bringing me rocks from his trips he took after he retired. Each rock had a story to tell. In the sixth grade, I watched a freeway be built and then wondered where all the trucks would go. I remember in high school looking at the mountains and wanting to travel. I did many jobs BEFORE trucking but I always wondered what driving would by like. I really wanted to see things and drive a big truck. So after almost finishing nursing school, a divorce and three cute little kids, I became a truck driver. While earning a living, I found myself enjoying North America and seeing the land and people. NO ONE ENJOYED TRAVELING MORE THAN ME. There are two things I have enjoyed in this life and they are traveling and writing. I use to call myself "Protourist" but my Mother-in-law and Wife would become upset with me as they know I really love THE "travel" and not THE stopping to see things. I now call myself "protraveller"(I like it with a double "L") and my Mother-in-law and Wife are now happy!!! I love to write and this blog gives me the opportunity to share my past and thoughts with the public.

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


Blog Dictionaries...

The Trucking Dictionary...words in this dictionary will many times appear highlighted. If a word isn't highlighted or in the blog dictionary and sounds "different", check it out in this dictionary. Please note: Many times when clicking on these dictionaries anywhere in the blog, the first thing that comes up is an advertisement which I have no control over.
The Blog Dictionary...This dictionary contains words I use that aren't "trucker" words and thus not in the "trucking dictionary". I separate them--the dictionaries--in case someone wants to copy the trucking dictionary for personal use. This dictionary also contains names of people(not real names) that I dealt with many times through my trucking career. Blog word found in this dictionary often will be licked to it.
DAILY UPDATES SHOULD BE UP BY NOON CST...

March 11, 2010

March 11, 1990, 2010

FIRST 5 YEARS:(Sunday-Taylor, Michigan)
Got up and checked in with dispatch in Taylor. Got on the trucker's ready board but dispatch told me that I wouldn't be going out today. Went out and cleaned up the inside of my tractor and got my paperwork caught up. Talked with other drivers and when lunch time came, went to lunch with two other drivers: Dan and Snooper. Had a great lunch and we went back to the terminal. Watched TV and talked for awhile before checking again with dispatch. Dispatch said that the only one that may go out today is Snooper, so Dan and I went and got a motel room(paid for by the company). Snooper came along as a “visitor”. One rule with getting a motel room that's paid for by the company is that we have to call in and give them our phone number where we are at...which we three did. Around 4 PM EST Snooper got a call as he had a load to haul. Snooper left and we two continued watching cable TV and talking. About 8 PM EST we got a call and it was dispatch saying the they had a load for Dan to take and he did. No problem as now I can watch whatever I want...Watched TV and went to sleep...


A Trucker's Tale:( A true “Catch 22”) I walked into one of our terminals one day and found a driver talking about a ticket he got in the state of California. He had been on some California highway and the traffic was extremely heavy. Even though the speed limit for "big rigs"(large semi-trucks) was 55 miles an hour, he was going 62. A highway patrolman pulled him over and gave him a ticket for “holding up traffic” EVEN THOUGH he was in the slow truck lane. The patrolman wrote the speed he was traveling(62 miles/hr)on the citation. This truck driver turned the ticket over to the "Pre-paid legal” group he belonged to. The lawyer handling his ticket contacted the appropriated courts in California and got this as an answer: California will cancel out the “holding up traffic” citation but, if they do, will issue him a citation for speeding. The officer wrote his speed on the original citation(62 miles/hr) and he was OVER the speed limit of 55 miles/hour. He chose to keep the original citation!!!

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