Go West

It's another cross-country trek, this time from York, PA to Ontario, California (and hopefully a chance for a QUICK visit home). This is the load Lori and Tamara were hoping they'd be able to get to in time this morning.

But before we talk about the new load, Lori was able to share something with Mike about the load they dropped off. Since it was a "high value" load, Lori couldn't provide all the details as to what it was until it was dropped off. Seems that in addition to four blood analysis machines, there were hypodermic needles on board - the kind used in the treatment of diabetes. There were actually some pretty strict security precautions in place at the shipper.

The next load was about 30 miles away, so they were able to get there fairly quickly, get loaded, and get back on the road before noon. It's a load of printed materials headed for three stops in Southern California.

Their route took them through Amish country, which Lori says was so quaint and very beautiful - a real touch of Americana. She's got to get her camera on the truck with her!

They also went through Gettysburg and were able to see some of the Civil War battleground area. Another very moving experience when you consider what took place there and the profound role it played in determining the future of our nation. As President Lincoln said in the speech he gave dedicating a portion of that battlefield as "the final resting place for those who here gave their lives so that the nation might live," it is the task of those who visit the place to "take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion --...that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

I am more and more convinced that too many Americans don't understand or appreciate what it "costs" to ensure that our nation - a nation unlike any other in the world - can and will remain free. There are people in the world who, for whatever reason, do not want the way of life we enjoy to continue, and they are willing and able to use deadly force to achieve their goal. And despite what some people would have us believe, they will not stop simply because our leaders go visit with them and try to understand them.

That kind of thinking is more than just naive; it is dangerous and wrong. It is based on the false belief that mankind is basically good. The Bible tells us - and history has repeatedly proven - that "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jeremiah 17:9) and "there is none righteous, not even one" (Romans 3:10). If we are honest with ourselves, we know that many - if not most - of our desires are, at best, selfish and, at worst, would result in harm to other people if we followed through on them.

While certainly not everyone, or even most people, will ever display the kind of evil exhibited by a Hitler or Sadaam or bin Laden or Arafat, it's not because of any inherent goodness that's in Man. It is only because of God's influence on our minds, our hearts, and our circumstances that we are able to accomplish anything that is "good." And even the influence of God isn't enough to sway some people because, in the end, God has given us all a free will that He will not violate. It is those types of people we should be wary of and willing to protect ourselves and our loved ones from - with as much force as might be necessary.

GA to PA

Well, no other drivers wanted to finish up Lori and Tamara's run to Valdosta so they headed out to make their last drop Thursday morning with a fresh slate of 70 available driving hours each.

Their next run was already set up, but they had a few hours before their scheduled pickup time so they stopped to eat breakfast while the truck got an oil change. Then it was back up to McDonough, GA (just outside of Atlanta) to pickup a load headed for Mechanicsburg, PA. Their FM has a load available for them in Hanover, PA (headed for California) if they can get unloaded soon enough. We'll see...

Lori has 49,000 miles in as a trainee, leaving just 11,000 more before she is eligible to be a company solo driver. She hasn't made a final decision on if and/or when she'll go solo but she knows she eventually wants to get some experience as "captain" of a truck before she/we lease a truck.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Buckley

William F. Buckley, the person credited with laying the groundwork for modern American conservatism, died today. You can read articles here and here describing Mr. Buckley's life and accomplishments.

Time Out

Lori and Tamara are having to spend the day in Fairburn, GA after making the second of three drops in this current load. That's because stop #3 in Valdosta doesn't accept deliveries after 10 a.m., so it's hurry up and wait until tomorrow morning. Which actually is okay since they have both run out of hours they are legally allowed to drive this week. Twenty-four hours off will allow them to "reset" their hours.

Tamara, however, is trying to convince their fleet manager (FM) to have some other truck come get this trailer so Lori and Tamara can be put onto another load.

Lori and I talked about that approach and agreed we probably wouldn't do it that way. First, when you accept a load, the standup thing to do is finish it out if at all possible. Secondly, why make life difficult for your FM by asking him to find somebody else to finish your load? And if you think the load is so bad, why try to "dump" it on some other driver?

In this system, the quality of loads you are assigned is largely determined by your FM. And that means it pays to have a good relationship with your manager. You need to trust that he's assigning you the best load he can, based on the current circumstances as well as other loads that are coming available in the next few days. The FMs base their decisions on all sorts of information the drivers don't have, information the drivers really don't need to be worried about. Yet, some drivers try to second-guess their FM, assuming the FM is giving better loads to someone else. Yes, cynicism and the "entitlement" mentally exists in trucking, too.

FMs also need to trust that drivers will deliver the load on time and in good condition. Since FMs' pay is determined by how well their drivers do and your pay is determined by how many good paying loads you're assigned, it just makes sense to work together with your FM.

This Little Piggie Went to Market

Actually, a lot of little piggies are now headed for three cities in Georgia in a Prime Inc refrigerated trailer.

Lori and Tamara made two pickups at hog processing facilities in Ottumwa, Iowa and Beardstown, Illinois with deliveries scheduled in Macon, Fairburn, and Valdosta, Georigia starting early Wednesday morning.

Lori says the weather hasn't been too bad, just cold, gray, and slushy. But at least the roads have been clear. And as long as you stay in the truck, you really can't tell how cold it is outside.

Quickie to the Heartland

Ater all of the 2,500+ miles runs they've had lately, a 900-mile trip (Winston-Salem, NC to West Branch, Iowa) almost seems like a vacation to Lori and Tamara. On top of that, it's a nice light load of cardboard displays going to a Proctor & Gamble facility.

Which raises another point; while I don't want to complain about having freight to haul, it seems a little silly to pay to haul a trailer full of cardboard displays 900 miles to another place where the displays and product can be put onto another truck headed somewhere else. I guess having nice in-store displays for products makes enough of a difference in sales volume to make it worthwhile. (Of course, we as consumers are the ones that ultimately pay for all of this.)

Lori's a little worn out today after driving all night, sitting in line waiting to get into the Wal-mart distribution center, going grocery shopping at Wal-mart, and then helping get the next load squared away before getting a chance to sleep.

Rendevous

Well, Mike did get a chance to meet up with Lori while she was in California - but not in Fresno.

Lori and Tamara made their drop in Fresno early Thursday and immediately received a load assignment to be picked up by 3 p.m. at the Wal-mart distribution center in Riverside. (A load of produce headed for Henderson, North Carolina.) The loading went quickly so they decided to hit the road to avoid as much of the rush hour traffic as possible.

Lori then got on the phone to Mike and they made arrangements for Mike to catch up with them outside of Indio (which wasn't that hard to do given California's 55 mph speed limit for trucks.) Mike got there about 7:00 and climbed into the cab to ride with Lori while Tamara drove behind in Mike's pickup.

Once Mike assured himself that Lori really can drive a truck that big, he relaxed and began to enjoy the ride. He checked out the "lay of the land" in the cab, watched Lori drive to get a feel for how to operate and manuever the truck, and took a short nap in the bunk to see if he could actually fall asleep (he can).

Anybody that's followed a big rig getting on the freeway knows how slowly they seem to move. From the outside, you'd think the driver must not be having to do to much since the truck is going so slow. In reality, Mike was amazed that Lori had shifted through four gears before she was even across the intersection and onto the on-ramp. From there it was up through several more gears before she was in 10th gear and at full throttle on the freeway. However, because this load was so heavy and the road was so steep, the truck was barely able to get to 50 mph - even with the accelerator all the way to the floor.

Why were some trucks able to pass them, Mike wondered. Was it because their engines were more powerful? Nope; Lori said the difference in the truck's performance can be significant depending on the weight and height of the load in the trailer. Mike was able to see proof of that later when they were able to pass other trucks with obviously heavier loads.

The plan was to find a Freighliner repair shop where they could get the truck's air conditioner and one of the headlights fixed. The first shop in Phoenix didn't open for another five hours so the caravan drove a couple more hours to Eloy, AZ. The air conditioning tech there was scheduled to be in at 5:00 a.m. so everybody took a three-hour nap till he clocked in.

While the truck was getting fixed, everybody had a shower and a nice breakfast before Lori and Tamara continued on to North Carolina and Mike turned the pickup back for home.

We're in NASCAR Country

Lori got a chance to run with the "big boys" last night as she was driving along I-40 through Tennessee. Two convoys from a couple of the NASCAR stock car racing teams headquartered in North Carolina - including the U.S. Army-sponsored #8 car driven by racing vetern Mark Martin and owned by the team started by the late Dale Earnhardt - passed her on their way to this weekend's races in Fontana, CA. They were obviously in a hurry as they sped right by her.

Lori did get a chance to take a look at them before they disappeared up ahead. She was surprised by the size of the trucks (double-decker trailers) and the number of trucks for each operation - 3. They were also very impressive looking, especially the Army team's truck all done in black and gold. Obviously a lot of money goes into running those operations.

Wouldn't be surprised if she sees a couple more before they get to California since there should be nearly 100 cars competing in one of the three races this weekend. Wonder what it takes to be a driver on one of these trucks...?

A Disappointment

Being a trainee has some down sides, as Lori was reminded yesterday. Their pickup location was just south of Louisville, Kentucky. The trailer wasn't going to be loaded for several hours so Lori and Tamara had some time to kill. Lori had seen a sign on the way in that said Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, was just a few exits away so she suggested to Tamara that they run up there and have a look around. Tamara said no, so they proceeded to sit in the shipper's parking lot for the rest of the day.

Lori was disappointed to say the least. But it did motivate her to say a quick prayer and make a promise to herself, asking that she might never take these kind of opportunities for granted, to never become so jaded that she won't take the time to enjoy the beauty and variety of what this nation - and life in general - has to offer.

She and Mike talked about this and are in agreement; no sitting around loading docks when there's something worth seeing and the time to go see it!

Lori and Tamara did finish their "top secret" delivery this morning and have their next assignment in hand. It's not scheduled for pickup until Monday morning so they'll have the chance to attend evening service at a trucker's chapel in Clinton, NJ.

The run is from Hanover, PA to Fresno, CA for a Thursday delivery. If everything works out, Mike might try to meet up with them Thursday evening (since City Hall is closed next Friday.) We'll see...

Shhhhhh...

Lori and Tamara dropped their produce load in Springfield, OH early this morning and headed right out to pick up and deliver a high value load. That's all the details we can share until after the load is delivered tomorrow afternoon.

(Wind) Tossed Salad

After a nice day at home, Lori and Tamara headed for a 4 a.m. pickup at the Dole processing facility in Yuma, AZ to pick up a load of "salad-in-a-bag" headed for Springfield, Ohio. A quick check of the weather forecast for the next couple of days convinced Tamara to stay south as long as possible to avoid the snow that was forecast from Flagstaff into New Mexico. The trade-off was having to deal with gusty winds and blowing dust across southern Arizona, not to mention an additional 260 miles. On some trips, you just have to make a choice between the lesser of two evils and deal with the consequences.

They're scheduled to be in Ohio by Saturday afternoon.

A Day Off...at Home!

Ya-hoo! After dropping off their load in Pico Rivera this morning, Lori and Tamara got the rest of the day "off" since they don't have to pick up their next load until tomorrow morning in Yuma. That gave them the chance to park the truck and spend the day at home. Mike and Lori are looking forward to a nice evening together.

Down on the Bayou

The variety of physical beauty to be seen in this country is amazing. On the way down to their next pickup in St. Rose, Louisiana, Lori and Tamara got to travel through the bayou country surrounding New Orleans. The early morning fog created an eerie feeling, "just like something out of the 'Creature from the Black Lagoon,'" according to Lori.

It was beautiful and ugly at the same time, she said. (We're definitely going to bring the digital camera with us when Mike gets on board so we can post photos here; words just don't it justice.) She was amazed there were actually houses out there. The surface looked like a combination of black water and mud; not the kind of place you'd want to wander through let alone live in!

They also drove along the edge of Lake Pontchartrain and New Orleans. It's quite a sight to see a city the size of New Orleans sitting in what amounts to a "hole" next to this huge lake. The area's vulnerability to hurricanes is obvious when you see it in person. Hard to imagine anyone ever thought this was a good place to build a major city.

Lori and Tamara did have an opportunity to attend Sunday services at the Petro truck stop in Hammond, LA. The pastor and his wife operate Yoke Up Ministries. They also started an outreach known as the "Thank You Fairy," which grew out of the desires of their college-age daughter who died unexpectedly. Click on these links to find out more.

Anyway, the load of lubricants and grease Lori and Tamara picked up is headed to Pico Rivera, CA by Wednesday, so there might be an opportunity for a quick visit with family and friends.

My Brother's Keeper

Mike has shared his concerns about the growing sense of entitlement people have about the role of government. People are expecting more from government and less from themselves. The result has been the creation of what radio host Larry Elder calls "victicrats:" "Victi" as in victim, and the suffix "-crat" as in a supporter of a certain kind of ruling body.

The politics of seeing yourself and/or others as victims (as opposed to someone who is responsible for the consequences - good or bad - of their own decisions and actions) have become a very powerful force in America. As a result, more and more tax dollars are being used to fund welfare or entitlement programs. While I agree there are people that truly need help because of circumstances over which they have no control, I don't believe government has the primary obligation to provide that help.

This article from the website of the Heritage Foundation is an excellent discussion of why it's NOT government that should bear the responsibility of being my "brother's keeper."

What does this have to do with trucking? Well, not much except to say Mike and Lori have also seen many employees, including truckers, who bring the entitlement mindset to the workplace, who think the company they work for has an obligation to employ them and to do so in a way that suits them, not the company. Sorry, it doesn't work that way. If you don't like the work environment, then don't let the door hit you on the way out. At the same, an employeer that truly abuses its employees soon won't have any.

Veggie Tales

What a difference good weather makes! Lori and Tamara practically flew to North Carolina, arriving at the Dole warehouse 10 hours early - which meant the chance for a GREAT night's sleep while the truck was sitting still.

They pick up their next load literally right around the corner of the building; more Dole produce headed back to Hammond, LA east of Baton Rouge. There's a trucker's ministry service at the Petro in Hammond so they hope to get there in time for that Sunday morning.

While the hard driving takes its toll, Lori appreciates the opportunity to get so many miles so quickly. First, because every mile over 5,000 in a week earns her extra money, and secondly because it gets her closer to her "A" seat certification and her own truck that much sooner. It's also good experience for her to get a realistic view of how hard you can drive - or not - and still make money. Remember, the goal is for us to enjoy driving a truck, not kill ourselves to make a living. It's looking like that can be done.

On the Road Again

Break's over! Lori and Tamara hit the road again early this afternoon. Lori had a great few days off the road, taking the opportunity to sleep in a real bed, visit with family, and go to the spa for a relaxing massage. Ahhhhhh....

After picking up an empty trailer at the drop yard in Fontana, they swung by a truck stop in the Palm Springs area for fuel and a wash before heading down to Yuma, AZ to pick up a load late tonight. From there, it's across the country to Bessemer City, North Carolina (just outside of Charlotte).

The weather is looking good along their route for the next few days after yesterday's devastating tornados in Arkansas and Tennessee. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who were injured, and especially to the family and friends of the 52 people who were killed. Another reminder of the awesome power of Creation and the fact that none of us are promised tomorrow!

Heading Home

Lori and Tamara are on their way to Vegas to make the first drop of this load and then into Southern California. They decided to take the southerly route (I-40) from Wisconsin to avoid having to negotiate the Rockies while it's snowing. That took them through Springfield, MO which gave them a chance to stop by Prime's headquarters where they fueled up, took showers, and had a nice hot lunch while the trailer they are pulling went through its annual inspection and had some brake work done.

They should get into Vegas early Sunday afternoon, then it's on to I-15 with the hordes heading back into LA after a weekend in "Lost Wages." Tamara is going to swing by Norco so Mike can pick up Lori at the closest off-ramp and take her home. In the meantime, Tamara will finish the run with a few more drops around So Cal before taking the truck in for some work.

This will probably be the last post until Lori gets back on the road after a few days of well-deserved downtime.

White Night

Another first for Lori; driving in a snow storm at night. This morning's weather reports note that 7 to 10 inches of snow fell in the Chicago area overnight.

While it wasn't snowing hard enough to stop the truck or put on chains, it took all of Lori's concentration to keep the truck in the lane since it was hard to see the roadway. Thank goodness for the reflective lane dividers. While she couldn't see those either, the noise they make when you run over them let Lori know she was at the edge of the lane.

The snow let up this morning as Lori and Tamara finished up their flower deliveries in Chicago, Milwaukee, and Stoughton, Wisconsin. From there, it's up to Lomira, WI to pick up newspaper inserts destined for Las Vegas and the L.A. area. The plan is to get that load Friday evening and then head west along I-80, drop down to Denver and over the Rockies to get to Vegas Sunday morning and then into LA later that day.