Home Depot run

What are the odds?! Pastor Joe was in Southern California this weekend, so Lori didn't get the chance to visit with him at his church in Provo today. Oh well, Lori still enjoyed the opportunity to go to a "real" church. They even had communion today, something Lori hasn't had a chance to participate in for quite awhile.

She had a load waiting for her as soon as she got back to the terminal. Another Prime driver had dropped off a trailer full of nursery plants headed to four different Home Depots in Wyoming and Colorado. The first delivery wasn't due until tomorrow morning but Lori hightailed it to Rock Springs, Wyoming and convinced the garden center manager there to take delivery this afternoon. Hopefully, that will give her enough time to finish all of the remaining three deliveries early enough on Monday that she can get a new assignment late Monday or early Tuesday.

Waiting for the next load

Lori made it into Utah last night, spent the night at a truck stop near her delivery location, and finished up the trip by dropping off the load at 4:00 a.m. this morning. After that, it was off to Wal-mart and then down to the Salt Lake City terminal to take a shower and do the laundry.

It seems there are lots of loads looking for a driver but all of them are headed too far east (since Lori is scheduled to be home next weekend for Liz's shower). Since there's no other loads available as of Saturday evening, Lori told her dispatcher that she's going to church tomorrow morning and that she'll be ready for an assignment after that.

The Salt Lake City terminal is close to a church in American Fork that's being pastored by a former assistant pastor at our church in East Anaheim, Joe McCormick. Pastor Joe and his family moved to the Provo area five years ago to start the church and it has grown considerably. Mike went to the church about four years ago as part of a worship music group headed by Pastor Joe's brother, Ed, who leads the group that Mike plays with every Wednesday night.

Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less

We've blogged earlier about what we believe needs to be done to help reduce fuel prices. There is a movement afoot to help convince Congress to reverse the laws and policies that restrict access to the HUGE oil reserves right here in our own country. Click here to read more about the "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less" program (endorsed by Newt Gingrich) and add your name to a petition being sent to Congress.

One of those days

It wasn't a bad day, really - just one of those days when the little annoyances combine to mess up the whole flow of things.

First, a group of Vietnam vets on motorcycles decided they wanted to stage a protest by blocking the entrance to a truck weigh station - one hour delay. Next, Lori missed a turn off and had to head down to the next highway - another extra hour. Road construction added even more delays. Before you know it, Lori was still driving when she should have been stopped for the night. Oh well...

There was one highlight in the day, though; a stop at Grandpa's Cheesebarn in Ashland, Ohio. (That's Grandma and Grandpa Baum, owners of the Cheesebarn, on the left.) Lori stocked up on some Lebanon bologna, honey-glazed jerky, a loaf of bread, and some bacon cheddar spread. (She decided against going into the ice cream/fudge shop!) That bacon cheddar spread was mighty good melted on the baked potato she cooked in her lunch box stove for dinner. You've got to take your silver linings wherever you can find them.

Mike's newest "hero"

I (Mike) really like the writings of Thomas Sowell (so much so that I've added a link to his website on our "Favorite Links" menu on the right). I stumbled across a commentary of his related to gas prices a few weeks back and have been checking his website ever since.

His style is easy to understand and he cuts right to the heart of whatever topic he's discussing. For those of you who would like to get the conservative point-of-view on today's issues, I encourage you to read Mr. Sowell's pieces.

Boy oh boy, it's back to Utah

It's another long haul for Lori, following exactly the same route she just took to get to Pennsylvania. This time she's hauling 42,000 pounds of that "ol' school" favorite, Beefaroni (along with a variety of other Chef Boyardee products).

SIDE NOTE: For those of you who might have thought that the "store brands" were different than the name brand products, this load includes equal parts of Chef Boyardee branded products and the exact same products branded with Walmart's "Great Values" label. I highly doubt ConAgra (the manufacturer) uses a different recipe for each of the brands.

You have to wonder what's in those recipes, however, after looking at the "best if purchased by" dates on these products. Lori was going over the bills of lading for this load and noticed that they included the "best by" dates. They were all at least TWO YEARS away! What the heck is in those cans that can last that long? I'm not sure I want to know.

The load is due in Corinne, Utah by Saturday morning. Lori would like to get it there by noon Friday so she has a better chance of getting another load before the weekend; many shippers don't work on weekends so she doesn't want to take the chance of having to sit around all weekend. A lot will depend on the weather, driving conditions, etc. so we'll see how it goes.

Memorial Day cookout

Usually, you wouldn't want to eat something that came off the grill on a truck - unless it's a portable barbecue grill carried on the back of a truck. One of the drivers that was at Prime's terminal in Pittston carries a portable grill with her so she invited Lori and several of the other drivers to have an impromptu Memorial Day cookout this evening. Only in America!

Thanks to all those service men and women who fought and died so that we would have the opportunity to enjoy all the great things this country provides - including cookouts in a trucking company terminal.

Lori's going to spend the night at the terminal and then head over to her delivery location tomorrow morning at 5:00 a.m. After that, she's coming back to the terminal to have a scheduled preventative maintenance done on the truck and have the mechanics look at the air conditioner and her brake pads.

Home for the Holiday

Lori thinks everybody has stayed home this Memorial Day weekend. She thought she might see a few more people out on the road but to her surprise there are LESS than she sees even on a "normal" weekend - both tourists and big rigs. Rest stops, which typically have few if any open parking spaces, are practically vacant and the truck stops have about 1/2 the usual number of parked trucks.

It would be easy to say the high price of gasoline is the reason people are staying home but it might also be the bad weather in the areas she's been driving through. While Lori's been able to avoid most of the bad thunderstroms that sprang up in Nebraska and Iowa over the past two days, the fact that she saw several "storm chaser" vehicles is a good indication the bad weather wasn't too far away. Tornadoes in northern Iowa today have killed seven people.

The lack of traffic has made for a fairly relaxing drive. For the most part, she's been able to click on the cruise control and just glide along. That, along with the FLAT terrain, has resulted in some excellent fuel mileage - over 8 mpg average so far for this trip.

Lori will spend the night in Beaver Dam, Ohio, before setting out for Pittston, PA on the final 430-mile leg of this trip. The plan is to spend Monday night in Prime's yard in Pittston and then head to the delivery site Tuesday morning.

More big news from this weekend

Shannon's graduation wasn't the only big event that took place this past weekend while Lori was home. Her boyfriend, Chris, became her fiancee Saturday after "popping the question."

They're planning on an August wedding; thankfully it's August 2009 so Mike and Lori can have a year to "recover" from Lizzie's wedding this coming July.

Packing potatoes from Pocatello to Pittston, Pennsylvania

Excuse the alliteration; I couldn't help it!

Lori made it to Corinne, Utah this morning with enough time to take a 1-1/2 hour nap before dropping off the delivery. After that was done, she got another two hours to sleep before her next load assignment came in; 42,000 pounds of Idaho potatoes headed to Pennsylvania.

It's exactly the type of load she was hoping for in that it will get her through the Memorial Day weekend. Given the length of the trip (2,300 miles), she won't get to the delivery location until Tuesday morning, meaning she won't have to sit around all day Monday waiting for the warehouse to open after the holiday. It will also allow her to drive at a reasonable speed and get her five nights of uninterrupted sleep.

Driving at a slow steady speed across miles of relatively flat land will also give Lori the chance to for some good fuel mileage. Prime recently introduced a bonus program where company drivers can earn additional pay if they keep their fuel mileage at 6 miles per gallon or higher. Lori has been able to get the bonus for each of the past two weeks running at 6.7 mpg the first week and 6.5 mpg the next week.

Like family

The longer the two of us are with Prime, Inc., the more convinced we are that this is a top-notch organization that truly cares about its employees.

Shortly after Lori got back on the road following her tire blow out, she got a call on her cell phone from someone who identified himself as a retired Prime driver living in St. George, Utah. He had heard that Lori had been stranded on the side of the road all afternoon and wanted to see if there was anything she needed. She was so astonished she didn't know what to say other than "no thanks" since she was moving again. He said to let him know if she changed her mind or needed anything next time she was in the area and hung up.

The more Lori thought about, the more amazed she was that not only did the staff at Prime make the effort to make sure she had what she needed but that there are also retired drivers that are willing and able to help out their "brothers" who are in need out on the road.

Blow out!

Whew, Lori dodged a bullet today. TWO of the tires on her trailer blew out as she was driving north on I-15 early this afternoon.

Fortunately, the trailer stayed under control and she was able to get off the roadway safely with no other damage. She was also fortunate that she was only about 30 miles away from a "road assist" truck stop that was able to send someone out to fix the tires. Unfortunately, when the mechanic got there, the generator on his truck wasn't working so he had to drive BACK to the truck stop and get another truck.

In keeping with Dept of Transportation safety regulations, Lori put out her emergency reflector triangles but is was so windy they kept blowing over! One of "Nevada's finest" stop to check on her to see if everything was under control. He told her he was going to ask her if she was "having a good day" but he figured the answer to that would be an obvious NO.

All in all, Lori was "out of commission" for about six hours - 1:00 to 7:00. The load is due at 7 a.m. tomorrow morning so she'll have to drive most of tonight to make it on time.

There she goes!

Break's over! Lori headed back out on the road this afternoon after her time off. It was a hectic yet worthwhile weekend that included a T-ball game, time with the grandkids (including a trip to try on "flower girl" dresses with granddaughter Jenna), a college graduation, visits with family, 2 doctor's appointments, an eye doctor appointment, and a teeth cleaning!

Lori's first load back was her shortest ever - about 45 miles from a drop yard in Chino to Ralph's distribution center in Compton. After completing that load, it was out to Riverside to pick up a load headed for Corinne, UT for a Thursday morning delivery.

The next trip back home will come in three weeks when Lori will be back for daughter Lizzie's wedding shower the weekend of June 8.

More on gas prices

Ask people why they think gas prices are so high and most of them will answer "greedy oil companies." Commentator Thomas Sowell has written a great article explaining why they think that, and it's not because it's true. Instead, Mr. Sowell says the real reason - the laws of supply and demand - isn't as "emotionally satisfying" as having a villian to blame and bring to justice.

Click here to read the article.

Heading Home!

Lori got a load assignment headed for Southern California. Well, she's not sure where it will eventually end up but she's taking it from Americold in Salt Lake City to Prime's drop yard in Fontana, just down the freeway from home.

She expects to drop the trailer early Friday afternoon and then head home for the weekend.

Hurry Up and Wait

After getting to drop her trailer last night (instead of the original delivery time of 9:30 this morning), Lori was all set to head out on her next assignment early today.

Unfortunately, there weren't any loads to be had (at least any going towards California). She did receive a message to go to Indiana (!) with a load, that is until Lori called her Fleet Manager and reminded her she was scheduled to go home this weekend. "Oops, that's right," was the answer. "It seems your "home counter" got erased from the system." Whatever...

Anyway, that meant Lori has sat all day at Prime's truck yard in Salt Lake City, along with about 12 other trucks. Word is that there are simply no loads to be had in the Salt Lake area today (except for the one to Indiana Lori couldn't take). That, unfortunately, is part of the biz.

Hopefully, there's something to deliver tomorrow...

Let's See, Where Were We...

After getting sidetracked to Springfield to have her truck fixed, Lori is heading back west so she can be closer to home for her planned weekend off. Plans include visiting with kids and grandkids on Saturday, going to daughter Shannon's college graduation on Sunday morning, and doctors appointments on Monday (plus some plain old time off!).

The trip to the body shop this morning went smoothly and quickly, so Lori went back to headquarters to pick up a trailer of frozen food headed for Ogden, UT. She was on the road by 9:30 a.m. The load isn't due until Wednesday morning so Lori can travel at a "normal" pace.

Hopefully, her next load will be down to Southern California!

Safe Harbor

It was a tough drive, but Lori made it to Springfield this morning. She said adios to her trailer full of apples and headed over to the Freightliner dealer to get the truck looked at. It didn't take the technician long to figure out that the truck needed the latest version of the "object ahead warning" software. With that taken care of, her cruise control started working again, too. She also got her turn indicator, foot well light, and right front speaker fixed. It's almost like a new truck!

She got back to headquarters, did her laundry, and checked into a bunk room for some sleep. However, an hour and a half later the tornado warning siren went off. Luckily, the tornadoes weren't close enough to require a trip to the storm cellar, so she got some dinner and headed back to her bedroom. She's just glad she's not on the road; yesterday's storm in Nebraska was enough for her for awhile.

The weather seems to have passed by for now, so she's going to sleep - hopefully for the rest of the night.

She has an appointment at the body shop (to get her front bumper fixed) first thing Monday morning so she's headed to Calvary Chapel Springfield (after a breakfast of pecan pancakes - mmmm) Sunday morning. Mike and Lori went to several services and met some of the folks there, several of which are originally from Southern California, over Christmas. Lori is looking forward to talking with them again.

Once the bumper gets fixed, Lori will get her next load and start heading west for her three-day weekend at home.

Apple Run - Day Two

Lori's still on her way back to the "mother ship" (Prime's headquarters in Springfield) with her trailer full of Washington apples. She has an appointment at the Freightline service shop at noon on Saturday so she's having to move along at a pretty good clip in order to make it on time.

She was afraid she might arrive with a load of applesauce after the hail storm she drove through near Ogallaga, Nebraska this afternoon. Besides getting pelted with golf ball-sized hail, the large amount of rain meant Lori had to slow the truck down to about 45 mph. Fortunately, she was able to get out in front of the storm and into better weather.

She's enjoying a dinner of roasted chicken and asparagus from her "lunchbox stove" before heading to her next rest stop near Rock Port, MO.

What Government Should NOT Do to Lower Fuel Prices

We've heard more and more talk from politicians (especially presidential candidates) about what the government can and should do to address the ever-increasing price of gas and diesel fuel. While things like a "gas tax holiday" might ease the pain temporarily, what's really needed is for the government to "do" less - in terms of restrictions and regulations.

A recent commentary on the website of The Heritage Foundation echoes what Mike believes needs to happen in order to address the problem - allow more drilling and construction of new refineries. Human Events.com contains a related article discussing how over-zealous environmental groups are impacting our ability to maximize our oil resources.

An Apple a Day

It's actually more like 30,000 pounds of apples for the next two days. Lori's current load consists of apples and pears from Washington state headed for Florida. Lori won't be taking the trailer to it's final destination, however. The truck has a few electrical problems and a cracked bumper that need to be taken care of so she will be swinging by "world headquarters" in Springfield, MO to get the truck looked after. A team truck will take the trailer full of apples and pears onto Florida.

I left out another of Seattle's famous tenants from the last post. In addition to Starbucks and Microsoft, Seattle is the home of Boeing, a fact that Lori was reminded of as she drove to her last drop off spot in Everett. Her route took her on the Boeing Freeway and right alongside Boeing's main production facility.

Lori did get the chance to spend Tuesday evening with her cousins in Grandview, Washington. They had a nice dinner and swapped the latest news from each of their respective families.

Today's pickup locations were both a ways off the main highway in the apple growing regions near Ellensburg and Yakima. Lori said the scenery was beautiful and the truck is filled with the smell of apples.

She's looking forward to a couple of days of just driving since the past two days have involved pulling in and out of five different facilities, including one that had so little room to manuever she had to have the "yard jockey" use his specialized tractor cab to get her trailer up to the loading dock.

Off to the Land of Coffee and Computers

Lori dropped off her load of pre-cut veggies (which happened to be short one case of "carrot coins," but because the load was "shipper load and count" it's the shipper's problem, not Lori's or Prime's) and was quickly sent over to a nearby truck stop to wait for another Prime truck so they could swap trailers. Lori would take their trailer (loaded with frozen veggies) to three stops near Seattle, the birthplace of Starbucks coffee and Microsoft's world headquarters, while they would take her empty trailer for their next trip.

The first drop is due at 6:30 tomorrow morning so she'll be driving all night. It looks like she'll be heading back to Boise with her next load, which will take her by her cousin's home in Grandview, WA. If all goes according to plan, they'll have a chance to visit for awhile tomorrow evening.

Not the Best of Days

While today wasn't the worst day Lori's ever had as a trucker, it was far from the best.

It started when her drive wheels got stuck at her pickup location. The concrete parking pad only extended about 10 feet out from the loading dock; the rest of the lot was gravel. For whatever reason, the gravel in front of the dock they sent Lori too couldn't handle the weight and her drive wheels starting digging a hole as she backed in. She tried rocking the tractor back and forth to get out of the hole, but it was no go. So she climbed out of the truck and started moving gravel from behind the wheels to the front of the wheels. She eventually got out of the hole and moved to another loading dock.

After she was loaded (with pre-sliced veggies) and on the road, she got a message from headquarters that the refrigerator on her trailer wasn't working. She pulled over at the next rest stop and proceeded to check the refrigerator unit. It was running and the temperature gauge showed the correct temperature inside the trailer; 37 degrees. So it was back on the road and off to Boise, about six hours away. She'll spend the night at a local truck stop before dropping off her load at Sysco Foods in Boise Monday morning.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

Mike took the opportunity to take some photos of Lori's truck while he was in Utah with her. Here they are...

Lori's co-driver's (below)

A Tree Grows in...

Lori delivered her frozen pizza just south of Portland early Thursday and received her next load assignment shortly thereafter; trees and plants to be picked up from four wholesale nurseries. It seems the area around Portland has quite a few nurseries that ship plants all over the country, most of them run by the same Japanese families that started them many years ago.

Nurseries loads are a little different from what Lori is used to; no big lots with lots of trucks and fancy loading docks. Basically, it's just pull the truck into a dirt lot and wait for the workers to load the plants into the trailer. This load is a combination of some fairly large trees in wooden boxes and flats of plants.

As she was going from one location to the next, Lori had to go through a weigh station - and was asked to pull to the side for a Department of Transportion (DOT) inspection. The officer looked at Lori's time logs, her trip paperwork, and the entire truck and trailer from top to bottom. Unfortunately, he found a defective brake slack adjuster so Lori got a "fix it" ticket. This particular problem is something that a driver can't check as part of their daily visual inspection so Prime won't "ding" Lori. She will have to bring the truck into the yard at Salt Lake City, though, to get the problem fixed.

The delay at the weigh station meant Lori didn't make it to her fourth pickup location before they closed at 4:30 so she spent Thursday night near Portland and made her last pickup this morning before heading back along the Oregon Trail. The load is eventually going to Springfield, MO but Lori is going to drop it off in Salt Lake City for a team truck to pick up and take the rest of the way.

Along the Oregon Trail

Mike made it up to Springville, Utah to spend Sunday night and Monday with Lori. He even got some early training when he went along to the drop-off location (Stouffer's) and helped unhook the trailer. Since Lori's next pickup (back at Stouffer's) wasn't going to be ready until Tuesday morning, they "bobtailed" (no trailer) back to the local truck stop where Mike got back in his car to drive home and Lori spent the night.

Lori picked up her new trailer Tuesday morning filled with more Lean Cuisine pizza headed for the Safeway distribution center in Clackamas, Oregon which is just outside of Portland. Her route took her north to Idaho where she followed the route of the Old Oregon Trail through the Snake River canyon, through Boise, down "The Cabbage Patch" (east Oregon's version of the Grapevine grade), and alongside the Columbia River through the Columbia Gorge. She's spending Wednesday night at a truck stop near her delivery location before her drop-off appointment at 4:00 a.m. Thursday.

Close(r) to Home

Lori is heading out west and Mike is heading out to meet her.

After dropping her beer in Kokomo, Lori was sent to Schaumberg, IL to pick up a load of "Lean Cuisine" frozen pizza (another location she's been to before with Tamara.) The pizza is headed for Springville, UT just outside of Provo, not exactly our home turf but close enough for Mike to make a run to meet her.

Lori should be able to make it to Springville early Monday morning so Mike has taken Monday off work so they can spend the day together. Unfortunately, Mike HAS to be back to work by Tuesday evening for a "Town Hall" community meeting but hey, a little time together is better than none.

We'll report back after Mike returns home.

Just the Black Keys

Mike has been a musician since before junior high school, playing saxophone and keyboards in a variety of bands all the way through college. He spent a few years away from public performances after that but eventually starting playing keyboards and singing in church.

Among the church groups he is currently playing with is a gospel group at Calvary Chapel East Anaheim. It was here that he developed a deeper appreciation for all styles of gospel music. Even so, he had never heard the truth that is described in the video post entitled "Amazing Grace: Just the Black Keys!" You can view it by clicking here.

Perhaps Senator Obama should have been listening to messages such as this instead of those spouted by Reverand Wright for the past 20 years...

Beer Run

Lori has completed her next delivery; a trailer full of Anheuser-Busch products going from the brewery in Williamsburg, VA to Kokomo, Indiana. Frankly, Lori's getting a little tired of running back and forth over the Appalachin Mountains. While they're certainly beautiful they do have some steep grades, which are challenging to navigate with a full trailer.

The weather has been nice the past few days; in fact, Lori says it's been a bit humid with highs in the low 80s. Nothing too bad but you can tell that spring is here and summer can't be too far away.

"I will bless those who bless you..."

Genesis 12:1-4 is just one of many Biblical references that points out how God feels about the nation of Israel. As believers, Lori and I feel strongly about Israel's rights and the role it plays in the future of this world. That's why we are supporting an effort aimed at eliminating federal funding for former President Jimmy Carter's Carter Center.

Carter's recent meeting with the anti-Israel, pro-terrorist group Hamas is an abuse of power and misuse of American citizens’ hard-earned tax dollars. We will not stand for our federal dollars being spent to support terrorist negotiations!

We would ask you to prayerfully consider joining with us, Members of Congress, and the American Center for Law & Justice in calling for an immediate halt of federal funding to the Carter Center. Click here for more information on this effort and to add your name to a Petition to Cut Off Carter Center Funding.

Catching Up

Sorry; we couldn't get an Internet connection yesterday so we're a bit behind on posting. Fortunately, Lori's latest run wasn't a rush so we didn't miss much. She left Columbus Tuesday morning to pickup a load of yogurt and refrigerated biscuits in Hamilton, OH headed for Mechanicsville, Virginia (just outside of Richmond). Along the way, she stopped at Wal-Mart to stock up for the week.

Lori set a leisurely pace since the load isn't scheduled for delivery until 12:30 a.m. Thursday morning. It was the first time in a long time she didn't need to set her alarm to wake up. And when she did, she was greeted by a row of beautiful flowering dogwood trees lining the rest stop. But even with this slower pace, she arrived at the location Wednesday afternoon around 4:30, enough time to take a nap and watch a little TV.

She's already "pre-planned" for her next trip, which includes a pickup in Williamsburg, Virginia at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning. Not sure yet where it's going or when it has to be there. We'll find out tomorrow.

A Bit of Italy - from South Carolina?

Lori had to hightail it to South Carolina as her load of pork from Wisconsin took longer to load than expected. That meant no stopping for church service, otherwise she would have missed her delivery appointment time in South Carolina.

No sooner did she get that load dropped off when she was given another assignment; a load of Cheddar Garlic Cheese bread going from Pioneer Foods in Prosperity, South Carolina to Columbus, Ohio. She's getting a bit tired of driving in Ohio - known not so affectionately in the trucking industry as "Slow-hio" because the truck speed limit is 55 mph.

Not a lot of time to dally on this load either as the delivery time is 10 a.m. Tuesday morning. At least that means Lori will be able to have the load included on this week's paycheck. All loads whose paperwork are submitted by 4:00 p.m. Tuesday afternoon make it on that Friday's paycheck.

REady, SET, Go

As of 9:30 this morning, Lori's hours-of-service "reset" after 34 hours off-duty so she was able to start driving again. She may not hit the road for a few more hours, however, since her next pickup (45,000 pounds of butchered pork) won't be ready to go until later this evening.

Her delivery location in Milwaukee was directly across the street from Harley-Davidson's headquarters. It was interesting (but not surprising) to see how many Harley motorcycles were in the employee lot. The local newspaper did have some bad news for Harley Friday morning; 750 employees laid off. There's no doubt the economy is in a significant slump. While it will certainly impact the trucking industry, Prime may avoid much of the impact since most of its business is food-related and people still eat even during a bad economy.

Lori's plan to take in a baseball game during her break didn't work out since the Cubs were the only team in town and they played Friday afternoon, too early for Lori to make the game. Actually, that was fine as it gave Lori some time to do laundry, clean up the truck cab, and just unwind with some reading and relaxing.

Once the pork gets loaded, it's off to Fort Mill, South Carolina (just across the border from Charlotte, North Carolina). It's a 2-day trip, so Lori will overnight somewhere in Kentucky and hopefully get to attend a church service at a truck stop along the way.

Chocolate of a Different Kind

Last week, Lori delivered a truck full of Milky Way bars. She now has another load of chocolate, only this time it's in a different form; cocoa powder - 80 barrels of it.

The cocoa is coming from the Archer Daniels Midland plant on the coast of North Carolina, a place she visited before when she was teaming with Tamara. The load is headed for Milwaukee to a location on Harley Davidson Blvd. [INTERESTING HISTORICAL SIDE NOTE: Harley Davidson was started in Milwaukee in the early 1900s by two Davidson brothers and Mr. Harley. It is still the site of the company's world headquarters.] The trip length is almost 1100 miles, two full days on the road.

After Lori makes the delivery Friday morning, she's going to need to do her 34-hour reset. Since she's going to be in the Milwaukee/Chicago area she's thinking she might go to a baseball game. Mike is checking the schedules on the Internet to see who's going to be in town Friday night.

More Lumper Tales

Just when Lori thought she had seen all there was of the strange new world of lumpers, her arrival at the Piggly Wiggly distribution center this morning revealed yet another aspect of this link in America's consumer distribution chain. [INTERESTING HISTORICAL SIDE NOTE: Piggly Wiggly was the world's first fully self-service grocery store, opening in Memphis in 1916].

As Lori got off the interstate, she drove past a dirt lot filled with parked cars and guys trying to wave down passing trucks. Not knowing what they wanted, Lori drove past and got in line with the other trucks waiting to go into Piggly Wiggly. At that point, a gentleman approached the truck and presented Lori with his business card. All it said was "D, Certified Lumper." (Turns out D is short for "Diesel;" Lori didn't bother trying to find out how one gets "certified" as a lumper.)

D was trying a little too hard to be helpful, offering to take Lori's paperwork to the supervisor, break the seal on the trailer, and open the doors. Lori told him "thanks, but no thanks," she'd rather take the responsibility for doing all that or have a Piggly Wiggly employee do it. At that point, D says "I am a Piggly Wiggly employee; they let us lump on our days off." Man, I think I'd want to spend my day off at home, especially since the lumping business at Piggly Wiggly is so competitive. Some of the guys, wanting to get whatever advantage they can, used the CB to solicit approaching trucks with phrases like "Hey, northbound Werner truck! Need a lumper for Piggly Wiggly?"

D took about four hours to finish unloading and collected his $200. Lori's work hours were up for the day, so she drove over to a nearby truck stop and slept. When she woke up, her next assignment was waiting for her; drive empty for 250 miles to the Pict Sweet frozen veggie plant in Brownsville, Tennessee to pick up a load headed to Greensboro, North Carolina, a 600-mile trip.

The plan is to get all loaded up late tonight, take a 10-hour break, and then drive straight through to Greensboro. Lori ought to be able to make it within the allotted 11-hour driving day.

Dodged a Bullet

Whew, that was close! The Ohio Turnpike between Toledo and Cleveland was closed last night when severe weather brought down some power lines that cross the turnpike - just AFTER Lori drove through.

Unfortunately, that made it a little tough for Lori to find an empty truck parking space to spend the night since all of the trucks heading east had gotten off the turnpike to wait until it re-opened. She managed to grab one of the last two spots at the second truck stop she visited in South Bend, Indiana.

Ten hours later, it was back on the road to drop off the candy bars. She's now on her way to Beardstown, IL to the Excel pork processing plant. This is one of Lori's least favorite stops (she and Tamara were there back in February); it smells, has an all dirt lot that gets muddy in the rain, and is just not an attractive place. It's a "drop and hook" load so she won't have to stay long.

The pork is headed, ironically enough, to the Piggly Wiggly distribution center just south of Birmingham, Alabama. It's due for delivery Monday morning.

Taking Your Lumps

As promised, here's a post describing an interesting role in the trucking industry, one that we had never heard of before - lumpers.

Basically, lumpers are the people who load and unload trailers, known in the vernacular as "lumping." Not sure where that term came from. If we find out, we'll let you know.

We knew that over-the-road truck drivers typically don't have to load and unload the trailers. We assumed the people who did were warehouse workers employed by the warehouse company. While that is sometimes the case, more often than not the lumpers are freelancers who have permission from the warehouse company to work on the loading dock but aren't their employees. And, the warehouse doesn't pay them - the truck driver does! Even more bizarre is the fact that you don't know what the lumping fee will be until you get to the dock and actually "hire" a lumper. Lori has seen the fees range from about $40 up to the $200 she had to pay the other day to have her load of coffee creamer re-arranged.

Payment is made in cash or through the use of a "Com Data" check, the paper equivalent of a debit card. The driver pays the agreed fee, gets a receipt, and submits it with the rest of the final paperwork for each load so they can be reimbursed by Prime. Prime then charges that amount back to the shipper as part of their final invoice.

Some places will allow the drivers to lump their own loads. If they do, Prime will pay the driver a lumping fee based on the size of the load. But as a rule, most drivers use their dock time to rest up. It's nice to know, though, that you can make a few extra bucks if you want. However, some places make it impossible for a driver to lump the trailer by not allowing "unauthorized" persons to use their pallet jacks or other loading equipment. Some won't even allow drivers off of their truck. The frustrating thing is there are no hard and fast rules on lumping; they vary from company to company.

It seems a person could make a pretty good living as a lumper. But not knowing all the ins and outs, we don't know how someone would get into that line of work or how steady it is. Anyway, it's not a career path we'll be taking!

"Light" Chocolate

It's surprising how light candy bars can be. Lori's current load of Milky Way candy bars (original, dark chocolate, and mint) fills the entire trailer front to back but weighs only 17,000 pounds (just 1,000 pounds more than the trailer itself and 35,000 pounds less than what the trailer could carry).

While not considered a "high value" load Mars does take some extra precautions when shipping its candy, such as even putting a lock on the small "inspection" door that is typically used to check out the contents during a trip. Since the load comes right up to the door, I guess they don't want anybody reaching inside and snatching a few boxes.

Speaking of free candy, Mars does provide its employees with as much candy as they want in their break rooms. Lori was talking with one of the guards in the drivers' lounge, who told her there are literally bowlfuls of every kind of candy Mars makes; Milky Way, M&Ms, Snickers, 3 Musketeers, etc. The only restriction is the employees have to eat it in the break room; no candy goes past the door. Lori asked if employees ate a lot of candy at work. The guard said "only for the first couple of weeks on the job." After that, they've had enough!

Lori's run of good weather ran out this afternoon. Approaching Cleveland, she drove right into a major thunderstorm with blinding lighting and lots of rain. Fortunately, she was traveling perpendicular to the storm front so she was quickly under clear skies looking up at the real Milky Way.

She'll be ending up her driving day shortly, probably just on the other side of the Ohio/Indiana border. Tomorrow, it's on to the Chicago area.

A Lovely Day

Lori's days seem to be following a pattern; one crummy day then a great one.

The weather across Pennsylvania today was beautiful, the route didn't include any small rural highways to drive, and the rest stop where Lori had lunch had aspen trees (her favorite).

She arrived at Kraft in the late afternoon and dropped her trailer at a loading dock. Her next assignment requires that she pick up an empty trailer from Kraft, but they're one shift behind so she can't get another trailer until tomorrow morning.

Once she gets her trailer, she's heading up to a distribution center to pickup a load of Mars candy for delivery to a city just south of Chicago, a nice two-day trip. Hopefully, the weather won't get too bad, though there is a big winter storm heading east across Minnesota.

Getting Hosed

Lori's starting to feel like she can't catch a break.

After finally getting the last part of the coffee creamer load to Sam's Club this morning, the trailer Lori was pulling somehow managed to cut through the air hose leading from the tractor to the trailer, resulting in a complete lockup of the trailer's brakes. Headquarters told her to get the trailer to as safe a location as possible, unhook it so "road assist" could come pick it up later, and then head over to a local mechanic who would be waiting for her.

While all these challenges are frustrating, it's a great learning process. Situations such as this are a fact of life in the trucking biz, so it's best to just roll with the punches and not let them get you down. If they do, then over-the-road trucking is probably not the business to be in.

Fortunately, installing a new air hose is a fairly quick process so Lori was able to get back on the road to her next pickup location: Great Lakes Cheese in Hiram, Ohio where she picked up a trailer that was all ready to go with 31,000 pounds of sharp cheddar cheese headed for Kraft Foods in Allentown, PA.

She had to stop the truck around 11:00 p.m. for her 10-hour break near the Ohio/Pennslyvania border. Tomorrow morning it'll be back on the road for the rest of the trip to Kraft.

When in Canton...

As expected, Sam's Club is as inflexible with missed appointments as Wal-Mart. Lori couldn't get a new delivery appointment until 11:00 a.m. Wednesday.

It's not all bad news, though. Lori's fleet manager authorized $125 in layover pay for Lori, the downtime will allow Lori to "reset" her 70-hour driving clock, and she had a chance to do some sightseeing. And when you're in Canton, Ohio, the only place to go is the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The truck stop Lori was staying at is about 5.5 miles from the Hall of Fame, so she called Mike to give her directions from Google map and she took off walking. Along the way she stopped at an organic food store to get some cheese and an apple for lunch (which she enjoyed at a local park) and some basil gnocchi to cook for dinner back at the truck, arriving at the Hall of Fame after about 2 hours. She wasn't really interested in going inside without Mike, so she shot a few photos, took a quick nap under a tree, and then headed back to the truck.

She's looking forward to restful night's sleep before heading over to Sam's Club in the morning.

And so it Continues...

Well, Lori finally left with her load of International Delight coffee creamer after nearly 12 hours of waiting, giving her six hours to get to her first drop-off appointment in Lima, OH. Normally, that would have been enough time but the route across West Virginia was suprisingly hilly, which meant a significant drop in speed for much of the trip.

In any case, Lori managed to arrive just 30 minutes past her appointment time. And that's when she discovered this comedy of errors was not over. The shipper knew this load involved three drop-off locations but they had loaded the trailer in reverse order, putting the items for the first drop-off in the FRONT of the trailer. That meant the entire trailer had to be unloaded and then re-loaded, which meant another delay and an additional $200 in "lumper fees" (an interesting part of the trucking industry we'll explore in another post.)

By the time Lori finished the second drop (which was only 17 miles from the first location) she had to take her mandatory 10-hour break, meaning there was no way she could make the scheduled appointment for drop-off number 3 in Canton, Ohio. Prime's sales staff is supposed to contact them and get a rescheduled drop-off appointment. It's a Sam's Club warehouse. If they're anything like their parent company, Wal-Mart, the new appointment time could be as much as a day or two later.

Hurry Up and Wait - Again!

Eight hours and still waiting for the load to be ready in Mt Crawford, VA. (Not exactly sure what the load is but the company makes Silk soy milk, International Delight coffee creamer, and other dairy products.)

It's quite frustrating to plan out your driving/break schedule and then have it completely screwed up by having to sit and wait and wait and wait while the trailer is loaded. You would think that a company that was that far behind would at least call and let somebody now. When we're King of the World, then well make that happen. In the meantime, we'll just have to deal with it.

Lori has let headquarters now about the delay but since it's the weekend, none of Prime's sales staff is around to call the receiver and reschedule the delivery time. Oh well, all Lori can do is drive until she has to take a break and see what happens.

High in the Middle and Round on Both Ends

In case you couldn't tell from the title, Lori is headed for O-hi-o. She made her drop at Wal-mart early this morning and then headed for a nearby truck stop (along with several other trucks from Prime) to sleep while she waited for her next load assignment.

Her driver communications unit (known as the Qualcomm after its manufacturer) announced her next load late this afternoon; pickup at Mt Crawford, VA at 9:30 Sunday morning and head to Ohio for drop offs in Lima, Delphos, and North Canton throughout the day Monday. She's headed for a rest area about five miles away from her pickup location for a full night's sleep. Hopefully, that will help her get over the "frog" that has developed in her throat. It's been a bit cool and very humid this last week, which has given her a case of the sniffles.

Once she completes this load, she'll have 2400 miles for the week since leaving Springfield last Tuesday, which will mean a larger than "minimum" paycheck. (Any miles over 2000 in a week earns her an extra 30 cents/mile over the minimum.)

Just in Time

Whew, that was close. Lori arrived for her 8:30 a.m. delivery at 8:27. Fortunately, her trip from Wilkesboro was uneventful (including a stop for fuel) otherwise she wouldn't have made it on time. Her truck (along with all the other company trucks) has its top speed limited to 62 mph so she couldn't haven't gotten there any faster even if she wanted to.

She did have to miss meeting up with her brother and his wife. They were leaving Baltimore last night headed for Memphis traveling along part of the same route Lori was going to be on (except in the other direction). However, Lori's late start meant they were already past her before she got on the road.

Lori's now at her next pickup spot; National Beef in Selinsgrove, PA nestled on the shores of the Susquehanna River. As soon as she's ready to go she's going to grab a few hours sleep and then head back south to the Wal-Mart distribution center in Gordonsville, Virginia. After that drop she's going to turn off her phone and get 10 straight hours of sleep!

"Fowl Up" at Tyson

Lori finished her delivery in Black Mountain, North Carolina this morning and was sent to pick up a load of chicken at the Tyson packing house in Wilkesboro, NC. She arrived at about noon and expected she'd only be there for a few hours. Ten hours later, she was still waiting to leave. And no one else is leaving either, with more trucks arriving. Sounds like there must be something wrong with the production line inside.

The original delivery time for Lori's load was 8:30 a.m. Friday in Greencastle, Pennsylvania. It's going to be tough (if not impossible) to make that time so the dispatcher is working on getting the delivery time delayed.

Truckers' Strike Gets Mixed Results

News reports about yesterday's "strike" by independent truckers wanting to protest the high cost of diesel fuel show that participation was spotty. (Read article here.) Seems to my all they did was throw away a day's pay for themselves and make some "four wheelers" angry as they snarled traffic in New Jersey, Atlanta, Chicago.

They also managed to get themselves a bit of national media coverage but I don't think it's going to have any real impact on the cost of fuel. You can read our previous post commenting on why we think the strike was a bad idea in the first place by clicking here.

P.S. - Happy Birthday to daughters Shannon and Christina, and granddaughter Jenna!

One Stop Down, One to Go

Lori made her first official delivery this morning as a solo driver...with just one minor hiccup.

She got to the Wal-Mart warehouse on time, was told which loading dock to go to, and expertly backed the trailer into place - or so she thought. As she backed up, she was sure she felt the trailer bump up against the dock, so she jumped out of the cab, unhooked the trailer, and pulled the cab forward about a foot (as per Wal-Mart procedures). As she was sitting in the cab doing her paperwork, one of the dock workers came to the window and said she was about a foot away from the dock! She got out, took a look, and sure enough, she hadn't back up far enough. So, she hooked the trailer back up to the cab, backed up the remaining 12 inches, and then re-unhooked the trailer and pulled the cab forward again.

She's not sure what she bumped into that made her think she hit the dock the first time but it reinforced one of the acronyms she learned during her transition training: GOAL - Get Out and Look!

After they finished unloading (this stop only took 7,400 pounds of the 75,000 pounds of pork that was on the trailer), Lori headed over to a nearby truck stop to take her time off for the day and get some sleep. At 1:30 p.m. she was ready to roll again so she headed off for Black Mountain, North Carolina. Before she hit the road, she put a Cornish game hen into her "lunchbox" stove to cook for the afternoon so it'll be done by dinner time.

The first 30 miles or so were along a state highway in Tennessee east of Nashville. The trip took her through "Cedars of Lebanon State Park" which Lori said was beautiful. She fueled up before getting onto Interstate 40 and heading east for North Carolina. That's one thing about being a company driver vs. a lease operator; you follow the exact route you're given and you fuel at the truck stops they tell you to go to (they even tell you how much fuel to get!) It's based on a fairly sophisticated routing and fueling software program available for large trucking fleets.

After getting on the interstate she saw two convoys of NASCAR trailers headed west for the next race at Texas Speedway outside of Dallas; one for Jeff Gordon's DuPont-sponsored car and the other for Jimmie Johnson's Lowe's-sponsored car. Both of these cars are part of Hendricks Motorsports, which is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Lori arrived at her next delivery location at about 10:30 p.m. (Eastern time), checked in, and climbed into the bunk to get some sleep until they call her to get unloaded (scheduled for 7:00 a.m.)

And She's Off!

Lori got her first official load assignment as a solo driver today. She picked up a loaded trailer that another driver dropped at the Prime facility in Springfield. It's a load of processed meat (probably pork based on its origination point), with some of it headed for the Wal-mart distribution center in Shelbyville, TN and the rest destined for Ingalls market in Black Mountain, NC.

It's actually a good load to start with since there's not a lot of miles to cover and there's lots of time to get there. The delivery time for Wal-mart is 3:15 a.m. Wednesday morning (12 hours to go 340 miles) with the next delivery set for 7:00 a.m. Thursday morning (24 hours to go 329 miles). Of course, you've got to throw the mandatory 10-hour break in there but even then there's plenty of time for her to get where she needs to be.

She's made herself quite at home already. After a good cleaning, she's added some nice rugs to the floor, loaded up the pantry and refrigerator, and found a place for Mickey and Minnie Mouse to sit in the passenger seat. (NOTE: They will NOT be staying there once I get on the truck...) I'll post a photo of the truck (and maybe some video) once I get a chance to meet up with her and get some shots.

Ready to Roll

Lori has successfully completed all the requirements to be "upgraded" to a solo driver and has been assigned her own truck. It's a used one; a 2007 model, burgundy colored, with 225,000 miles. She spent the morning giving it the once over, taking it for a test drive, and then dropping it back off at the maintenance facility for a few minor tweaks.

After that, she headed over to Wal-Mart to pick up some supplies. On the way, she heard the tornado warning sirens go off and actually saw a funnel cloud on the horizon. She was just pulling into the Wal-Mart parking lot so she ran inside and waited for the storm to pass.

After that, it was back to the hotel to finish packing up the truck and spending one more night in a "real" bed before she gets her load assignment tomorrow.

Not Yet

Lori didn't get assigned a truck today as she'll need to pass the driving test on Monday. So, that means another three nights in Springfield.

At least that gives her the weekend to hit the practice pad so she can nail the test come Monday.

Take Cover

Lori's luck with weather has not been the best the past few weeks. While at training this afternoon, all the drivers got the call to pack a bag and head over to the main facility. They needed to drive all the tractors and trailers north so they wouldn't get damaged by the hail storms that were headed their way.

There were more than enough drivers so Lori was sent back to her hotel room. Mother Nature was putting on quite a show with non-stop lightning and marble-sized hail. All the TV channels had non-stop weather information scrolling across the bottom of the screen with regular warning updates being broadcast.

As of 11:00 p.m., things seemed to have settled down so Lori was going to get some sleep to be ready for her final classes and test tomorrow.

School Days

Lori made it back to Prime's headquarters in Springfield early Tuesday evening after two days of driving back from home. Needless to say, she went to bed early!

She was "excused" from the Wednesday morning class on safe driving techniques since she had already taken it during her stay in December. The rest of the classes and driving test are scheduled to last through Friday morning, after which she should be assigned to her own truck.

The Fleet Manager (FM) that had been working with her and Tamara let Lori know that she has been assigned to a new FM based in Denver. That's the center of operations for Prime's western regional services. Not sure how much, if any, difference that will make as far as what areas Lori will be driving to since any Prime driver can theoretically be dispatched to wherever they're needed. Though it would be nice if Lori was able to stay relatively close to home.

Truckers Threaten Strike; Bad Idea!

A grassroots effort is growing among independent truckers to go on "strike" April 1 to protest rising fuel costs. (Click here to read the story.)

Personally, I think any truckers that do strike would simply be cutting off their nose to spite their face. The only ones that would be hurt would be the drivers that decide to stay off the road because: 1) they WILL lose money if they sit still, and 2) there will ALWAYS be truckers and trucking companies out there to take up any slack. Plus, if all the good drivers stay home the only people left to haul freight are the bottom feeders - and the shippers will use them because they've GOT to move their stuff. As a result, rates go down and when the strikers end up coming back, they'll be worse off than before.

The proper response to ungodly prices is to reduce consumption and thus reduce exposure to the high prices. There are certain companies and drivers unwilling to do that, and the economy will destroy them. Those that do what it takes to cut costs will survive and be in a position to really make a killing when the economy turns around.

Next Phase

As of early Wednesday morning, Lori is officially "off" Tamara's truck and ready to move to her next phase of training.

They rolled into Prime's headquarters about 3:oo a.m. after leaving Memphis shortly before 8:00 p.m. Tuesday. The weather was miserable, with tornado watches and warnings along their route. They managed to miss the wind but the thunderstorms were so heavy the raindrops kept setting off the truck's "object ahead" indicator. Fortunately, Lori was able to navigate through it all.

As Tamara got ready to leave she gave Lori a going away present; a "lunchbox" stove that runs off the truck's 12-volt plugs. It's just like the one Tamara has. Lori's actually become very good at using it to cook a variety of hot meals, so she can continue to avoid truck stop food.

Lori got a few hours sleep at Prime's headquarters, took a shower, had a nice hot meal, picked up her rental car, and hit the road to be home for Easter. The plan is for her to be back to Springfield next Wednesday for several days of classroom instruction before being assigned to her own company truck to finish up her next 20,000 miles as a trainee.

We probably won't be posting again until next week, so everybody have a blessed Easter. He is risen, alleluia!

Midwest Values - Part II

The video below was e-mailed to us by Mike's mom. In addition to being an outstanding rendition of the National Anthem, I consider it another indication of the Midwest value system, one that includes respect for America. While I'm sure most people in LA, New York, and other urban areas would say they, too, respect America, I say actions speak louder than words. Notice how quiet this crowd is throughout the performance, something that probably wouldn't happen during a Lakers' game.

Midwest Values

This op-ed piece from a recent issue of the Orange County Register newspaper expresses something that I (Mike) have always believed was true but had never really had confirmed by anyone else - until now.

Parenting with heart in the heartland
by Ari Kaufman, freelance writer, fromer Los Angeles public school teacher

Growing up in a coastal “liberal” family, most of my friends shared similar, ignorant views on what those strict parents in the so-called “heartland” were all about. After my brief teaching career in Los Angeles, I moved to that heartland, where I now work as a freelance writer and full-time researcher for Indiana’s War Memorials. I am the only Jewish employee in my office and the only transplant from either coast.

Unlike most state agencies, and because patriotic military folks run the show, office politics are predominantly conservative. My co-workers are warm, family-oriented Christians who like basketball and fly the flag on their porches. They invoke the Lord’s name, denounce Islam, and support Israel. While this behavior might irk some, I revel in it.

Many pregnant military moms and other small-town families walk through our building each day. I give tours to aging veterans and respectful schoolchildren when requested. The families and teachers make sure the kids behave, which contrasts sharply with what I’ve observed with Europeans, Americans from more affluent suburbs, and inner-city folks (including here in Indianapolis) where parents and teachers exercise little control over their children.

Too many parents and teachers seem ill-equipped or unwilling to discipline their children. Instead of reprimanding misbehavior like in the “old days,” they have been instructed by seminars and school psychologists that children should be allowed to let their feelings out so they don’t fester. Teachers and parents are told that “whatever makes a child feel comfortable is the right answer.” When I occasionally sent a poorly behaved student to the office at an L.A. public school, the kid would come back smiling as my principal, fearing a lawsuit or hurt feelings, rewarded him or her with candy.

Parents and teachers are told that, “If kids aren’t allowed to freely express themselves, they won’t develop proper self-esteem.” Self-esteem? In this era of Facebook and YouTube, esteem is the last thing that needs augmenting. Say what you will about parochial or other “antiquated” schools of discipline, they work – and most inner-city parents who send their uniformed children to well-funded charter schools enthusiastically agree.

Today, many of America’s esteem fortified children spout profanity or even try to kill their parents. This casual back talk carries over into the classroom, where teachers, paralyzed by 40-year-old pop psychology, tolerate assaults and abuse because “whatever makes children feel comfortable inside” is the basic rule. Parents struggle against the same propaganda.

I’m no psychologist, but it seems that insecure 21st-century parents want to be friends with their children first. Yet, as I learned during my early days as an inner-city schoolteacher, if you don’t set strict limits, children, feeling confused about who’s the boss, will rebel. This then devolves into our current dysfunctional social order, where no one teaches students how to behave, to dress, or what is appropriate to say and do.

Juxtaposing big-city parents with those pious small-town folks whom the elite media often demean, parental ignorance is actually less common among the latter. While eating at a diner in Western Kentucky the other weekend, we watched a truck-driving mom and dad discipline their children in public. When did you last see that in Santa Monica?

These people also have busy schedules, but they’re more likely to schedule time with their children than their kids’ preschool consultant. Many instill conservative values in their children, who then join the military and become some of our most noble and selfless folks. Many accomplish more with less than residents of our inner cities.

I never believed a word of this until I began traveling across our great land six years ago, moving to its interior three years ago. Political speeches and media anecdotes about the people in “flyover country” and their lives are a disservice because other Americans, who haven’t spent the time to get to know the reality, believe what they hear.

It may take a village to raise a child. Normally I’d rightly scoff at such communal balderdash, but it’s true in the sense that in small communities, where everybody may know just about everybody else, misbehaving children would be reported to their parents, and neighbors often would intervene directly to correct behavior.

Those kinds of villages aren’t named Westwood or Greenwich.

A Day Off...sort of

Lori and Tamara made it to Fed Ex at the Newark Airport with a couple of hours to spare. They dropped their trailer at a dock and picked up an empty trailer from the others on the lot.

Unfortunately, the next load available (at least of those that would get the truck closer to Springfield) can't be picked up until tomorrow morning so Tamara decided they would just spend the day in the Fed Ex lot - which didn't go over very well with Lori since there was an evening church service at a relatively close truck stop that she would have liked to attend. But, it's Tamara's truck so she gets to call the shots.

The plan is to pick up the load tomorrow headed for Memphis, and then get another load that takes them by Prime's facility in Springfield so Lori can get off the truck and come home. Keep your fingers crossed!

Change of Plans

Tamara decided she wanted to drop the load headed for Arizona at Prime's yard in Dallas in order to get a load from the Fed Ex facility at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. Not really sure why she decided to make the change; she didn't offer any explanation to Lori and Lori didn't ask. All we know is that the new Fed Ex load pays less than the load that Tamara dropped off. The only reason we think Tamara may have made the switch was because the Arizona load couldn't be dropped off until Monday morning, which would have meant sitting all day on Sunday.

Frankly, Lori and I decided we would have been glad for the day off since 1) all drivers have to take at least 34 hours off every 70 hours of driving, and 2) it would have been a great chance to go see a spring training baseball game. Oh well, when we have our own truck...

The Fed Ex load is headed for Newark International Airport and has to be there within 34 hours after the truck is loaded. Shouldn't be a problem making it there and the traffic shouldn't be too bad since they expect to arrive early Sunday morning. The only bad thing is that rain is expected along their entire route.

Since Lori now has enough miles to transfer from being a team trainee to being a solo driver of a company truck, the plan is for their next load to bring them through the main facility in Springfield, Missouri (probably sometime Tuesday). That's when Lori will say good-bye and thanks to Tamara and get ready for her final phase of training, starting with three days of classes.

However, Lori's classroom training isn't scheduled to start until the Wednesday after Easter (since Lori had asked to be home for Easter) so she's going to rent a car in Springfield and drive home, spend a few days with family, and then drive back to Springfield for three days of training before being assigned her own company truck.

Westward, Ho!

It's back to the Wild West for Lori and Tamara. After making their delivery of bagged salad this morning, they accepted a load out of South Port, North Carolina headed for Casa Grande, Arizona (just south of Phoenix).

They got a bit of a treat once the salad was off-loaded. It seems the receiver didn't want to accept one case of Cesar Salad kits (6 bags) because they thought it was "damaged." Lori and Tamara didn't see anything wrong with it so they put the bags in their cooler to enjoy over the next few days.

The pickup location (Archer Daniels Midland) was near the North Carolina coast, a good spot for this particular facility since they produce sodium-based products, which they must get from sea salt given the HUGE pile of salt outside the building. The load is 50-pound bags of sodium citrate, otherwise known as citric acid, a food additive.

Getting to and from South Port was interesting since much of the route was along smaller state and U.S. highways. Lori saw lots of small stands selling local produce, including yams and boiled peanuts, a very Southern roadside treat.

The directions from Prime weren't the best either, so Mike talked Lori toward Interstate 20 over the phone while he was looking at Google Maps on-line. Once she makes it onto the interstate, the rest of the trip should be pretty straightforward.

The delivery location is Ross Laboratories, which manufactures "nutritional products" according to documents Mike found doing a Google search. They should arrive Saturday afternoon.

A Quickie

Lori and Tamara arrived in Bessemer City this morning with enough time for a shower before heading over to the Dole facility to unload the heads of romaine lettuce they had on board. Then it was around to the other side of the building to pick up their next load; bags of salad headed for Dunn, NC - a mere 200 miles away. That load should be finished up by tomorrow morning, and then...?

Haven't We Been Here Before?

It's back to Bessemer City, NC with a load from Dole in Yuma (see March 4 post). The only difference is what's in the truck; this time it's 75,ooo pounds of head lettuce. And the weather should be different (better!).

Here and Gone

Lori and Tamara dropped their "high value" load (coats from Burlington Coat Factory) in Chino early this morning, which gave Mike a chance to swing by for a visit on his way to work. He came bearing some smoked chicken, baby back ribs, and cold slaw that he made over the weekend. He was just going to grill a chicken but Lori talked him into firing up the ol' smoker and making enough so her and Tamara could enjoy some homemade 'cue on the truck. Mike's trying to figure out a way to strap the smoker onto the catwalk behind the cab... Probably not going to happen.

It wasn't long before they had another load assignment (picking up veggies at Dole in Yuma - again) so it was off to the office for Mike and out to the desert for the truck.

What a Day!

There's no doubt about it! Today is a day that Lori will not soon forget.

The delivery of frozen chicken in New Jersey this morning went smoothly enough, and it was looking like the next assignment was going to be pretty straightforward. However, after Lori and Tamara got to the pickup spot, the shipper cancelled the shipment because of the weather. No problem, Tamara would still make some money on the cancellation and it was still early enough to get another load. Sure enough, an assignment came in for a load headed to Wisconsin. Tamara said she would go pick it up and take it to Prime's yard in Pittston, PA for someone else to haul the rest of the way. And it was a good excuse for Tamara and Lori to see the "new" facility in Pittston, which Prime took over when it purchased the TRL trucking company several months ago.

They got the Wisconsin-bound trailer to the yard and took a look around while they waited for another assignment. It's going to take a lot of work to get this facility in shape. We'll see how it goes.

It wasn't long before they got a load assignment headed out of central New Jersey to Southern California (Can't tell you what it is since it's a "high value" load). It was a "drop and hook" (leave an empty trailer and pick up another one that's already loaded) so they got on the road quickly. That's when it got ugly.

Friday afternoon is no time to be driving along the New York/Philidelphia/Baltimore corridor, especially when it's raining. Lori says it took them 5 hours to drive 61 miles. And the drivers there make Southern Californians look like saints. It was miserable.

When Mike and Lori last talked, she was out of the Baltimore area on I-70 headed for I-81 south down to Nashville where they'll catch I-40 for the cross-country run. The weather is wet, cold, and foggy but should clear up once they make the turn west.

Education - Who Knows Best; Father or Big Brother?

A couple of recent news items have attracted my (Mike's) attention so I'd like to share them with you and offer my opinion (for what it's worth!).

A recent article from USA Today (click here to read it) talks about a study that has found that more and more of today's teens probably wouldn't understand the title of this post because they've never been exposed to a significant part of America's cultural, political, and social history.

I believe this knowledge is important because it is part of what creates and maintains a "culture." Part of being an American is sharing a basic understanding of things that are uniquely American, including literature, movies, historical events, TV shows, music, etc.

Personally, my day-to-day conversations and much of my writings are filled with references to American culture. For example, anybody who knows me has probably heard me say "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" more than once. Few movies are more beloved in America than the Wizard of Oz. And even fewer phrases can instantly convey - at least to people who know the movie - the concept of imperfect human beings trying to cover up their shortcomings by projecting a strong, intimidating persona. How sad would it be if we as a culture no longer shared that common ground. I'm afraid this study shows we are headed down a path that leads to an America that is less united by common understandings and values.

The question then is how best to pass along that cultural knowledge? The USA Today article talks about a group that believes the answer is to increase the teaching of humanities in our public schools. While I agree our schools should increase the study of classic American literature and place more focus on the social and political context of historical events, I do not believe we should place full responsibility for educating our children on schools - particularly public schools.

That is not to say I think poorly of the people entrusted with teaching our kids. On the contrary, I know many educators - including our daughters Shannon & Elizabeth - who have a God-given gift for teaching and nurturing children. I am thankful there are people like them who are willing to take on this important role in society.

What I am saying is that parents have the ultimate responsibility for the quality of their children's education. That responsibility can be exercised in a number of ways, from supplementing what their kids are learning in public school all the way to home schooling. And exercising that responsibility requires they have the freedom to do so without undue government interference.

Which brings me to the second news item. A recent ruling by California's 2nd District Court of Appeal could have significant impact on parents' ability to home school their children. (Read about it here.) The implications of this ruling are huge. On a practical basis, not only could it mean the end of homeschooling in California, it could significantly impact the ability of private schools to operate (which currently can hire non-credentialed teachers) and independent study programs offered through "charter schools" within the public school system (which have parents supervise their children's education at home).

There is, however, a more frightening "Big Brother" component to this ruling. (If you don't understand the reference, you should read George Orwell's novel 1984 - click here to see the Wikipedia entry about the book.) I believe this ruling by the appeals court is based on the idea that government, not parents and families, should have full responsibility for educating our children; that "they" know best when it comes to what and how our children should be taught and that anything that contradicts the government's approach is, at best, ignorant, and at worst, illegal.

I couldn't disagree with that philosophy more, especially in light of recent California legislation (SB 777) that forbids any materials in California’s public schools that “promote discriminatory bias” toward forms of sexual deviancy, including homosexuality and bisexuality. The practical effect of this law is that phrases like "Mom and Dad" and "husband and wife" and the concept of the traditional family could disappear from public schools, replaced by the idea that homosexuality is a valid, healthy lifestyle without any negative impacts. God's Word says otherwise, a concept that has been backed up by numerous studies. (Click here for a look at the Myths and Facts of homosexuality.)

Homosexuality is just one topic about which I and many other parents feel public schools are sharing wrong - even harmful - information with our children. Parents have a God-given responsibility to raise their children in a way that accuractely reflects His commandments to "Love God" and "Love your neighbor." Therefore, parents should have the right and ability to ensure their children are being educated in whatever way they feel is most appropriate to fulfill that responsibility.

Catching Up

We haven't posted in a few days so here's a quick update.

The air conditioning was fixed (yeah!) in Eloy, AZ and it only took 30 minutes to get the work done. The rest of the trip to Bessemer City, NC was uneventful. In fact, things went so smoothly, Lori and Tamara made the original delivery time even with their late start from Yuma and the repair.

The delivery went quickly and they were assigned another load right away; frozen chicken from Wilkesboro, NC to Keasbey, NJ. Most of the drive was on Lori's shift, which meant she got to drive on the outskirts of Washington DC, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. It was a bit like driving around back home, what with the amount of traffic on the road even though it was close to midnight on a Thursday night.

Fortunately, the run went smoothly and as of 3:oo a.m. they were waiting at the delivery location for a dock assignment. Nothing pre-planned as of yet so we'll see where they're headed next.

Back and Forth

Tamara and Lori headed out from home last night about 10 o'clock going to the Dole facility in Yuma. Their route took them out I-10 to Indio where they had a choice of going down either 111 or 86 to get to I-8. Since Lori was driving, Tamara let her choose. Since she had never driven down 86, Lori decided to head that way.

Well, God was obviously behind that decision since, unbeknownst to Lori and Tamara, a train derailment and poisonous gas leak had closed Highway 111. There are no coincidences!

Their scheduled pickup time was 5:00 a.m. (which they made) but they weren't loaded and out until after noon. A quick stop at Wal-mart for supplies and then it was on the road headed for the Freightliner dealer in Eloy, AZ. That's because the air conditioner on the truck has been acting up; it will work for awhile and then it won't. When it's not working, the interior of the truck gets way too warm and stuffy. Even Lori thought it was getting too warm for comfort. Hopefully, they can identify the problem and get it fixed without too much delay. Then it's onto Bessemer City, NC for a Thursday delivery.

A Day of Firsts

With Tamara and Lori coming into Southern California, Mike took the opportunity to meet up with them in Kingman, AZ and ride in with Lori. Tamara drove Mike's pickup truck since she had to run some errands in Hesperia, etc.

Among the "firsts" Mike got to experience on the trip were:

• Church service at a truck stop
• Wind storm while riding in the truck
• Preparing a meal using a knife in a moving truck (Mike still has all his fingers!)
• Riding in a big rig down the Cajon Pass
• Getting caught in a traffic jam in a big rig

Mike and Lori managed to make it into Riverside where they met up with Tamara and swapped "rides." Tamara let Lori take Sunday evening and Monday off while she made the three local deliveries and got the air conditioner serviced on the truck. So, Mike and Lori took the grandkids out for dinner, Lori got to sleep in a real bed, and they spent Monday together.