Happy Birthday for 01/01/08

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday Mark my brother and Nichola my ex wife, happy birthday to you.
I hope you have a fantastic year ahead of you, all the best XXX

Happy New Year Everyone.

Best wishes to all the visitors to this site. To family, friends, readers who I dont know and the lads and families coming over here in 2008, may I wish you the yery best for 2008. Happy New Year everyone !!

Hurricane warnings. !

Morning, its 0730 and a beautiful day. Its hard to believe its winter. Had a good run yesterday after having a pallet of grapefruit taken off the load. The picture above was taken on H-281 somewhere between Mission and Alice,Texas. One of the things I want to see while I am here is a hurricane/tornado/twister, call them what you will. It must be an awesome sight.
The road yesterday was littered with fruit stalls,almost every half mile you could buy citrus and melons. Spaced in between these are stalls selling fireworks and I have lost count of how many of them I have seen, New year must literally go with a bang in the states. One again I will be working both New years eve and day. The money is too good to turn down plus I would only be sat on my own in some hotel.
Drove just under 1000km yesterday and the time seemed to fly by I could of kept going as for some reason I felt good. I think it may be because of the sun I have been getting the last few days, I hope I dont suffer from that sunlight deficiency thing,S.A.D isnt it ?
Looking at doing the same mileage today as I need to deliver 2 jan 08.
For Papa, here is my route.
Texas...Mission,Edinburg,San Antonio,Dallas
Oklahoma.....Ardmore,Oklahoma city
Kansas....Wichita
Nebraska.....Omaha
North Dakota...Fargo, Portal

Canada Saskatchewan...North portal,Regina,Saskatoon

Lazy days in the sun.

Ola. Well had a lazy day yesterday. Played on the internet for a while then drove to a shopping mall where I had a tasty lunch (Rack of baby back ribs,fries,salad) for $10.99 and did a bit of shopping for essentials at Walmart. Did I mention that it was 80F with a cool breeze ? The rest of the day was spent doing nothing but relaxing and catching up on some paperwork.
This morning,I returned to the customer and was overjoyed to see the same customs officer who had sealed my trailer. In 2 hours I was empty and waiting for my next load.
"Beep". 3 collections about 2 hours away and loading for Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
The first was a bitch and took ages to find. It was one of those where everyone knows where it is but in reality none of them do. Loading was pretty rapid and the next collection was 20mins away. Found this no problem and collected one pallet of grapefruit. The third place was hidden but I found it after a few attempts and the loading was complete. As you should know by now you must always wiegh the load to ensure you are legal so its off to the nearest scale. Bad news, not only am I over on the trailer with no scope for adjustment as the truck is legal but I am 1000lbs over on my gross wieght. A quick phone call to H&R and I was told to go to bed and they would sort it in the morning. Cool, that will do for me. So me and the load of grapefruits and limes are going to have an early night. Night night !

Nearly drove into Mexico

Hi all, arrived at Laredo last night about 7pm, had a quick shower,tea and watched "I am Legend" yes I know its just come out but where there is a will there is a way.
Slept in by 30 mins this morning so was in a bit of a panic and rushed off before any coffee had been drunk.
The satellite in the trucks has a function where it will give you directions to where you need to be but it was too late in replying (my fault)and I sailed past the exit I needed which was a big mistake. Only a few miles down the road I was met with locked gates, security fences and flashing red lights, I had arrived at the Mexican border. Crap !!
Worse of all was the fact there was no where to turn around so it was up and over the kerbs and onto the other side of the road. With antics like that I will probably be on "Police,camera,action" USA as the place is bound to be rife with CCTV.
I arrived at the customer and there was a few H&R trucks already there. Paperwork was handed in I was told to wait. Half an hour later I was told I will be unloaded at 0800 tomorrow morning. This is standard practice so I had a brew and fired 3929 up all ready to head back to the truckstop. I hadnt got 20 yards and was told to pull onto bay 4. Cool.
The customs official happily watched me break the seals and back onto the dock. No sooner had this happened a bloke from the office came running out saying there had been a mistake and they had got the wrong truck.The seals had been broken which is a nasty situation to be in regardless of the fact I was at the customers premises.
No fear, the customs officer said he could reseal the trailer and everything would be ok tomorrow morning. As pleasant as he was, I dont believe him and tomorrow I forsee big problems when I try to deliver the load. Watch this space.....

Christmas Day over and done with.

Hi all, well xmas has been and gone.
Spent Xmas eve at the "J" Cheyenne and woke up this morning to snow, how much did you people at home wish for that? Its great when you can get the sledge from the garage but not so great when you have 600 miles to drive.
Woke up about 6am and got straight into making phone calls which I thoroughly enjoyed and it was good to hear that everyone had a good day and had full bellies.
I didnt bother with breakfast but set off into the ice and snow which was ok as the roads were empty. The stereo in the truck automatically broadcasts severe weather warnings and just as Chris Moyles started his xmas show I was told that my breakfast stop - Denver Colorado was getting badly hit by snow and high winds.
Hungry as hell I pulled in and went for an all u can eat breakfast and caught up with a few calls that I had missed earlier. The snow was forecast to fall at a rate of 4-5" per hour so I set off in a bid to beat the worst. Luckily I outran it in about 1hr and pointed 3929 towards Texas.
Did I mention I am going to Laredo Texas which is right on the mexican border. The load of beef I have is destined for Mexico and can only transit the USA. When I arrive the load is transhipped to a Mexican and we go our own ways after that.
Hopefully by now my Dad will have is Xmas gift of a Roadmap so he can follow my travels. This is for you Dad, the route I have to take on this trip.
Canada,Alberta (Calgary,High River,Lethbridge,Sweetgrass) USA Montana (Shelby,Great Falls,Billings) Wyoming (Sheridan,Casper,Cheyenne) Colorado (Denver,Limon,Lamar) Oklahoma (Boise City) Texas (Amarillo,Lubbock.Abilene,San Antonio,Laredo) Then the toll road to the customer.
Ok, thats enough for today, at the minute I am at lubbock so a good shift tomorrow will get me to Laredo. Speak soon

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas Glitters

I would like to wish all of the people who visit this site, my family and friends a very very happy christmas and a prosperous new year.
My thoughts and best wishes are with you all

Easy day, Lethbridge to Edmonton

Easy day today. Left Lethbridge at 8.30 and headed north. Stopped for a few mins to get a "Subway" and ate that on the way up. The sun was shining,even though it was really cold.
Arrived at the yard In Edmonton and dropped the trailer. There is a trailer for me to take down to Calgary but its not ready until late this evening so I wrapped things up and called it a day as I dont enjoy working nights. There is no harm done as I will pick the trailer up in the morning,drop it and then either bobtail or take an empty to High River where I will collect the trailer that will keep me busy until Boxing day.
As I write this at Flying J Edmonton the snow is falling and its 15f (-11c) so the night heater has got its work cut out tonight. The plan is ... have a shower,get some food and watch a movie that I downloaded last night.

Idaho Falls to Lethbridge

Hi, left a place just north of Idaho Falls Utah this morning and as you can see the weather was not that brilliant. Still it didnt last for long and once I hit Montana the weather was better. On this route you pass through a town called helena, a town that was built with the money from the gold that was found here in 1864. By 1888 the town was home to 50 millionaires per capita, more than any other city on earth.
The trip also takes you through huge lava fields where eruptions 2100 years ago have left breathtaking sights.
Anyway, all was good at customs and I hit lethbridge at 1830. The trailer was dropped and I have driven to my secret little haven where there is a large choice of stuff to eat and free internet.
Tomorrow its a semi decent start in the morning and a run up to Edmonton to drop the trailer. I already have the pre-plan for my next load which will keep me busy over Xmas but I will wait to have it confirmed before I tell you where it is going. Its not California thank god.

Happy Birthday Mam XXXXXXXXX

Happy birthday mam. I hope you had a great day and received my card in time. Will be thinking of you. I miss and love you loads xxx

Weights explained, I hope.

Ok, above is a scale ticket from my California trip. As you can see the trailer axles are overloaded. Legal limits are written in pen.
There are 2 places on the truck that can be moved to shift the weight around. The first being where the truck hooks onto the trailer and this can be slid forwards and back but adjustments are minimal. The second is the trailer axles are slid as one unit forwards and back and greater adjustments can be made. The bad thing about California is that the centre of the rear trailer wheel cannot extend beyond the 40ft mark so Adjustment is limited.In any other state I would of slid the trailer wheels back and in sort of a see-saw effect more weight would of transferred to the drive axles on the truck. With on visit to the scales I would of been legal and good to go. Below is the final scale certificate after the load had been taken off and reloaded, just incase the law is reading this !!!

California, Keep me away !!!!

I have decided after my first trip that California is not for me. A few things that have put me off are the regulations regarding weights, the Donner Pass when it has less than 1" of snow and the lack of parking.
I had to park in a side road the other night as the Flying J was heaving and although I have no problem with that,I do have a problem with the guy who thought it would be a good idea to park beside my truck,blast his horn then stand beside his car with his trousers round his ankles.
Luckily a trailer was preloaded for me at the customer so I hooked up and ran to the flying J to weigh off. 2600lbs over on the trailer axles and due to regulations in California you cannot slide the axles back to allow more weight to be transfered to the truck axles. So after 4 weighs I gave up and took the load back to the customer who had to reload it and put more weight at the front. Back to "J's" and I hit the scales, after I alteration I was legal to go.
On my trip back you drive through Sacremento and I was amazed to see how much litter and rubbish there is by the side of the road and by North American standards this was disgraceful.
As I mentioned in my last post snow was forecast for the Donner Pass so I was expecting to have to fit the "Jewellery"(snowchains) to the wheels. What I wasn't expecting was trucks strewn all over the road panicking to put chains on when the road was only wet, then overtaking each other at 20mph while dodging other drivers stood in the road fitting chains. It was one of the most dangerous situations I have witnessed and how someone didnt get killed I have no idea.
I never did fit the chains as there was no need, but having to avoid other drivers going at a few mph seemingly terrified of the conditions was a nightmare. I must admit when I first got here the importance of doing your mountain driving trip was a bit daunting to me purely because of the fear factor that was put upon you. I have driven over some of the biggest mountain ranges and demanding roads in Europe and for a country that gets severe winters I can honestly say I was appalled at the standard of driving. I believe that a lot of drivers here would refuse to tackle even Sutton Bank on wet roads. As things go at the minute I dont want to tackle the Donner Pass again in the winter, not because of the conditions but because of other professional drivers

Empty from Idaho to California

Hi all, left Nampa Idaho yesterday at about 10.30 on my journey to Lodi California.The trip was ok and took in a few sights along the way. I left Idaho, clipped the corner of Oregon then ran through Nevada and finally into California. I suppose the highlights were Reno at night as The neon lights of the casinos are blinding and also driving past Lake Tahoe through the Donner Pass in California.
The weather is pretty grey and miserable this morning however last night on the news up to 15" of snow was forecast to fall on the mountains which is the way I need to go to get back to Lethbridge.

Just whats in a Flying J buffet

I am always going on about the food in the Flying J's so tonight I made a mental note of what was available.
SOUP : Clam chowder or chicken noodle.
SALAD BAR: Every salad item and dressing you can think of.
MAINS : Roast chicken,fried chicken,Roast brisket of beef,fried shrimp,sausage casserole,spagbol.
SIDES : Macaroni cheese (plain or with sliced hot dog)mashed potatoes,saute potatoes,roast mixed veg,green beans,cauliflower+Broccoli.
DESSERTS : Ice cream(choice) fruit salad,jelly,hot sponge (chocolate,butterscotch,cookie dough), cold custard, hot chocolate sauce, Italian doughnuts.
All of the above is "All you can eat" and tonight as its "Steak and Shrimp Night" will set you back $10.99 (£5.50)

Trip to Nampla Idaho

The above pic is of Lethbridge with the sun just coming up. It was taken on my way from Calgary to the yard to pick up some documents to get me into the states.
On Thursday I banged the miles out and parked at a place called Dubios Idaho which was a small gas station in the middle of nowhere but they had hot coffee and hotdogs so I was more than happy.
I set off again this morning and arrived at the customer at 12 noon so all was good.I booked in and returned to my truck to find a message on the satellite saying I had to unload then give my empty trailer to another truck as they had some problems with the meat inspection and I would have to sit and wait to deliver there load. Brilliant,I had just come off a 36hr break and now they were saying I might have to wait until monday.
At about 5pm the load was cleared and they pulled it out of the back. I sent an empty message to dispatch but was told to call them in the morning, so for the umpteenth time lately I have done nothing today and now have to wait for a load. No money is made this way and to be honest its starting to grate on me a little.
So here I am parked up at Flying J, Boise Idaho planning on wether to have the buffet or something off the menu, decisions eh !!!!!

Wish my Ex was as dirty as my truck

Only joking Nic if you are reading this. Look at the state of 3929, still you cant say that the Canadians don't salt there roads.
Just got next trip through but still waiting for it to be confirmed. A short run down into Idaho so that will keep me out of mischief for a few days

The cold and the Sheriff

Oh man, what a crap week its been. Freezing temperatures,the road from hell and a run in with the old bill.
The run up from Joplin Missouri was pretty uneventful and I flew through customs at Sarnia Michegan with no problems other than the snow on the ground. I ran into the yard at Mississauga Ontario, dropped the trailer and then began my trip across to Calgary Alberta.
The road we take is to be blunt a "bitch". Speed limits of 90kph, all single track roads for 1000 miles with nothing to really see. God help you if you need a number 2 as it could be hours before you see any sign of a toilet. The map even makes the trip depressing as the section for Northern Ontario changes scale to about 50 mile per inch so the little section it shows takes bloody 2 days to drive.
I stopped for one of the night at a place called Cochrane Ontario and believe me it was really cold. The picture in the left hand column shows the outside temp and I will leave it to you to calculate how cold it was using the temp chart I posted.
I survived the night and headed off on my travels. Once you enter the province of Manitoba/Saskatchewan the roads open up and the speed limit is a bit more generous so you can clip on into Alberta which is where you will find Calgary.
The phrase "clip on" was my downfall while passing a pokey little township near Medicine Hat. I was called into scale at a weighbridge and left pleased as I was heavy but legal, so off I went without a care in the world until I had to overtake a slow moving car and seconds later saw flashing police lights behind.
Apparentley the speed limit was 80kph through the pokey township and as I had not noticed the signs I went through at 105kmh.
The Sheriff was very clinical,took my licence and insurance,went to his car and returned with a "Violation Ticket" for the sum of $150 (£75).Thanks very much,off you go. I swear I never saw the sign for the speed limit !
So the trailer was dropped at the Calgary yard and I need to reset my hours due to the crap roads at the beginning of the trip. 36 hours at Fling J Calgary,brilliant !
See, its not all glorious scenery and huge hotdogs here, there is some rubbish that tags along but all in all I am having the time of my life.

Back after no internet connection

Hi all, have been struggling to get internet access since my last post so here we go again.
Things have been pretty grim this last week as I have had way too much unpaid time off in places I would rather not be. It started last Monday when I only did a few hours and dropped my loaded trailer in the yard at Lethbridge. Then I was told to reset my hours even though there was no need. I left Wednesday to collect a trailer from High River and by the time it was ready I was too late to clear meat inspection so back to Lethbridge. I was told I was unloading Sunday morning at 0700 so booted it down to Booneville Arkansas and found out they dont open until 2000 so that was another wasted day as I only did 3hr driving. Come Monday the satellite was beeping and I was told they were waiting to load my trailer as soon as I arrived. So 530 empty miles later I arrived at Friona Texas,dropped the trailer and waited,and waited,and waited. The fact is I bloody waited from 1800 on Monday until 2300 on Tuesday. I was furious but there is nothing you can do except grit your teeth and bare it. I wasn't leaving at 2300 so went to bed and left this morning at 0600. Once again I reset my hours without the need to, in a bloody meat factory that stinks to high heaven,with no facilities.
I know I could of gone elsewhere but you never know when the load will be ready and I am on a tight timescale as it is so I sat and waited.
I am left with roughly 1600 to do in just over 2.5 days, its do-able but its not the way I like to work.
Tonight I am at the Flying J at Joplin Missourri. I could really do with a beer but that will have to wait.Its an early start in the morning,I have loads of laundry to do and need some food.
With a bit of luck things should pick up tomorrow and I won't be feeling so pi**ed off.

I got my truck back !

Hi all, well checked out of the Sandman Hotel and went to H&R.
Saw Deb and was told I had to bobtail to High River (100mls) and pick up my trailer. All went sweet, helped a mate slide his axles as they had frozen solid then on my way by 2pm. As it was so late I could not clear meat inspection so dropped the trailer in the yard and went to Safeway as they are open all night and have wireless internet. In the morning I found out some trailers had been broken into and boxes had been stolen. Bear in mind 50 x 25kg of prime rib costs a fair whack.
Anyway, meat inspection was busy but I was cleared to go in about an hour so off I went to pick up my truck. From now on I shall call her 3929 which is my fleet number.
I got to Billings Montana about 1730, the picture above is the city from the main road that runs by the airport.
On the way though there was a few dramas. The snow in Alberta/Montana is very dry, almost like flourand it likes to get blown about. The pic above shows how visibility can be reduced instantly if the wind pics up or a truck clips some of the snow. I went from 65mph to 20mph in a matter of seconds as I was totally blinded.
At Billings the handover of the rental truck went smooth and I set off in 3929.
The comfort,space and gearbox seemed like heaven considering what I had been used to for the last 13 days, it was a pleasure to have her back.
Today,saturday 30th has been pretty uneventful really. Bought a few bits and pieces from Walmart and drove 805km. Parked at the Flying J Limon/Colorado which is a bit of a hole as the truck park is a dust bowl. Still, it has everything you want and good food.
Right, off for some tea now, its 1930 and going to check the menu for something different to eat.

Getting my truck back. Wahey !!!!!

Hi all, its been a few days since the last post but I haven't forgotten about you.
The drive up from the Grand Canyon was ok, I got to see a bit of Utah on monday morning and its quite nice, plenty of mountains and 6 lane highways once you hit Salt Lake City.
Haven't told you yet but when you load from the states you have to clear customs to bring the load into Canada. Its quite an easy process which involves a lot of copying and faxing to the broker who deals with the import. A barcode system is used and if all goes well you pull up to the checkpoint at the Canadian border, they scan the code,stamp your paperwork and off you go. Easy. The process is a little different if you are bringing meat/meat products or deravitives of meat.
So I arrived back in Canada monday at about 1100 and ran to the yard.
The load had been rebooked so the trailer was dropped and I was told the good news...My truck is fixed Hooray.
I need to get to Billings Montana so a load had to be found which will take me that way. Deb, my fleet manager sorted me out with a load to Booneville Arkansas but it doesnt load until tomorrow which is Wednesday ,so, here I am in the old faithful Sandman hotel.
H&R drivers get a discounted rate when we stop here, its roughly half price and costs $54 per night. As I didnt get finished till late afternoon I stayed at the hotel carpark and slept in the truck. When I woke up there was about 3" of snow on the ground and the temperature had plummeted to -12c. Its freezing !
As I write this blog Tuesday 27 2000hr the snow is gently falling again so god knows what it will be like in the morning. Its only a few days ago I was sweating in temps of 28c.
Ok, am going to post a few pointers for any lads coming over here in the near future in the side bar and then watch some TV.
Will keep you up to date while on my trip to Arkansas.

Grand Canyon National Park (click pic to supersize)

Today has been the best driving experience of my life. I have witnessed the most stunning landscapes that I have ever seen. Forget Europe as there is no comparison. Today I drove through the Grand Canyon National Park and it was just awesome
The first part of the drive was a gruelling climb that went on for what seemed like hours and brought me out at a place called Flagstaff. All the way up the climb is cactus and some of the greenest parts of the USA I have seen.
Once past Flagstaff the view opens out into a vast desert of dry grass but this soon gives way to red soil and rocks and then all of a sudden there it is, the most wonderful scenery. Huge ridges tower above the truck, on the ground below native Indians have set up home and every few miles they sell trinkets at small roadside shacks
The pics I have taken do not do the place justice, I cannot believe that I get paid to drive through places like this.
As I crossed into Utah it was dark so unfortunately there are no photos of that bit but in the moonlight it did look pretty impressive.
The trip today from Eloy Arizona to Richfield Utah will stay with me forever, of that I have no doubt.

Idle Air

Here is a better picture of how Idle Air fits to the window. A plastic template is provided which fits your truck. You basically wind your window down, pop the template in place and wind the window up securing the template then fit the flexible hose. I couldn't get hold of anyone who had it fitted so I could get a pic from the inside of the cab.
H&R trucks are fitted with a small generator (Tripac) which not only monitors the charge of the truck batteries but also provides aircon, night heating plus a mains electrical supply. As far as I am aware the tripac does not come under anti-idling laws.

Breakdown...Again !!!

Thought it was too good to be true. 1159 miles of easy empty running across Texas, New Mexico and into Arizona, nice warm temps then bang, it all goes a little bit wrong.
I find out that I have 5 collections in Nogales Arizona, luckily enough they are all within a stones throw of each other and it took about 5hrs to get them all on. I then had to use the weighbridge and found out I was 3500lbs heavy on the arse end so after a bit of jiggling the axles about (will explain when I have more time) and 2 more weighs I finally get myself legal.
I have talked about the satellite in previous posts and I really missed it today. The idea is we send a message when we arrive at the customer, when we are loaded and with what. I would of had to do this 5 times and then I would of sent a final load call which would summarize the total loading plan which dispatch can check to make sure there has been no blunders. I had to use the phone and it was a nightmare.
So, finally loaded I set off,me and my load of waremelons,greenbeans,courgettes and cucumbers. I pulled in for fuel at Eloy and saw the whole truck and trailer was covered in oil with a massive pool underneath the engine. I had to call the rental company who were superb and had a mechanic with me within 20mins. One of the oil filters had slightly loosened itself and sprayed its mess everywhere. It was promptly fixed at a Petro service centre and I was free to go.
I am now sat at a truckstop waiting for the morning so I can get a decision on who is going to pay for the truck to be washed. Total cost of callout,oil and filters was $311. The bulk of that was labour at $203 so its no different to the UK when it comes to being ripped off by garages.
My camera has ran out of battery life so not a lot of pics to be had lately. Its a shame as came past some signposts in New Mexico saying I was in a USAF test area, signs warning me that "dust storms exist" and a few telling me not to pick up hitchhikers as there were prisons nearby.
I did manage to get a few though and I have posted them for you to see.
Looks like its that time again so will love ya and leave ya.

Empty all the way to Tucson Arizona and beyond

Hi, its true. 1050 miles empty and probably more as the word is that I am loading in California. So its easy running at 70mph until my time runs out, which happened sooner than expected.
Now to be honest I don't really understand the hours you can work over here. I was under the impression that I could work 70hr in 7 days but I am in the USA and I was wrong. Over here its 70hr in 8 days so there is me thinking I could claw back time and all I was left with was 3.5hr to work with today. Its not so bad tomorrow as I can claim back 12.75 but I was looking forward to blasting on today.
At the minute I am at the flying j at Pesco Texas and struggling to keep an internet connection. The weather has been great the last few days and has been touching 80f which is nice.
Today I pulled off the highway and ate at one of the places that most people would tend to drive past in favour of a Bigmac. It was called Pappas BBQ and is about 45 mins west of Pecos on the I-20. From the outside it looked nothing special but the carpark told a different story. It was heaving and the truck parking which can hold about 10 had half a dozen rigs in there.
Once inside its a family ran affair, you select which meat you would fancy, select 2 sides and then pay. I chose a small plate of roast brisket of beef. The portions are measured by weight and small means half a pound of meat. With it I had mixed beans and the best potato salad I have ever had. Included also in the price is what I can only describe as a taste sensation...cornbread ! Then you can visit the condiments counter for pickles,chillies and the like. With a glass of the coke the price was $9. Its one place I would recommend and I will be going back.
So its been a lazy day for me, I should of made the effort to clean the Kenworth out a little but its not my truck and its not my mess.
Tomorrow brings a new day, I should hit El Paso in about 4hrs and be in Tucson 4hrs roughly after that so its an early night for me.
Its 1845 here, the truckstop is filling up and its all-u-can-eat buffet for tea.
I hopefully should have some more news and pics tomorrow.

Delivery to Tyler Texas - Done !

All done, load delivered a day and a half late which isnt bad considering the hold ups.
Left Wichita Falls and drove 4hr to Tyler which involved tackling Dallas. I have never been to Dallas before and was a bit apprehensive as I needed to make the delivery time and couldn't afford to lose any time so out came the Tomtom and the address was programmed in. I have to say that the route it took me was not the one I would of taken but it went seamlessly considering the screen looked like a young child had gone mad with a crayon on a freshly painted wall. 232 miles covered in 4 hours.
Since I have been in the rental truck a few things have come to my attention, the big one being not having satellite communication. I need to call dispatch at least 3 times a day, I cannot request directions and if I break down again I am in big trouble as I don't have a cell phone. I have to write everything down and hope I don't lose the scrap of paper. The pain in the backside satellite is a godsend !
Anyway, I have my reload instructions through and will post where I am going when I get it confirmed tomorrow. When told, my response was "What, you do realise I am on the east side of Texas". Dispatch simply replied "yes, head towards ????????? and call in enroute tomorrow afternoon."
So thats it for now, parked up at Flying J in Tye Texas and off to bed.
Till next time........

Breakdown

How bad can things get ?
Already running a day late for my delivery in Texas due to the shipper, I set off on my travels and did the customs thing and cleared the meat inspection -so far so good.
After parking at Great Falls I set off nice and early and was having a good run, until....... "Check Engine" warning light comes on and all power disappears from the truck. So there I am sat just south of Eddies Corner Truckstop. I gave the truck a minute to sort itself out then turned the key. Nothing except the sound of the reverse buzzers going off which was strange considering I was going forward at 60mph when this happened. I tried again but nothing. A quick message to the breakdown people led to me having to walk up to the truckstop to ring Penske who are the people H&R lease the trucks from. This all happened at 0930am. I was told that a tow truck would be with me in 2hrs. The 2hrs passed and at 3.30pm a recovery truck and a bobtail unit arrived. Apparently its not allowed for a wrecker to tow a semi so hence the other unit.
We left at about 6pm and arrived in Billings at about 8.30. The driver of the wrecker had disconnected the batteries so I had to book into a hotel for the night. I was quoted $76 for the night and rang H&R to authorize a T-Check which is basically a travellers cheque. I was told to ring back in an hour as there was a problem with the computers. So I rang back, got the authorization and trotted off to the hotel to be told by a different receptionist that they didn't accept T-Checks and the bill for the night would be $86. I was gutted but paid cash for the room and still have to sort the T-Check out.
I arrived back at freightliner this morning and the truck hadn't been touched so it was pack a bag with everything I thought I might need as I was getting a rental truck to finish the trip.
I ended up with a right banger of a Kenworth, 750000 miles on the clock and as dirty as a texan whore. The saving grace for the truck is that its limited to 70mph so with the extra speed the time I have to spend in it will be shorter. I miss comforts of my Freightliner.
So thats me, on my way to Texas, running a day and a bit late and having the fillings shook from my teeth.
All in a days work eh ?

Waiting for empty trailer

Sat in Calgary at the minute in the Flying j truckstop waiting for an empty trailer so I can load for Texas. Not keen on sitting about but at least I can get a shower and they have Internet access here. Today I bought a George Foreman grill for the truck and it got christened with a big fat steak. The trucks are fitted with a sort of small generator which not only charges the batteries but provides aircon,night heating and mains voltage into the truck. Long gone are the days of buying a 12 or 24v Tv for £200. A quick trip to Walmart will get you a 15" flatscreen for £100 and I think one of them will be my next purchase.
My last trip was from Edmonton-Alberta to the yard in Delta-British Columbia which involves driving through the Rockies. All in all its a good trip but winter is starting to raise its ugly head and the snow and sub-zero temperatures are well on there way.
I dropped the trailer in Delta and picked up a loaded one to come back to Edmonton with. This was dropped in the Yard at Edmonton and another loaded trailer was picked up which I brought to Calgary. Have done hardly any miles today which is a waste but the Texas trip should make up for that.
Once I work out how to add pictures to the blog I will post some as the Rockies are a magnificent sight and the whole purpose of this blog is to share stuff with you.
Well its 10pm here so time for bed I think.
Until next time,

8 weeks on and things are great

Hi all,
please bear with me until I get the hang of using this website thingymajig.
Well its been 8 weeks to the day that I left sunny Darlo and flew into Calgary and so far so good.
I did the training that I needed to do and have been out on my own and let loose on the public. God help North America.
I work for H&R Transport who are based in Lethbridge which is in southern Alberta and drive trucks in both Canada and the USA.
Hopefully I will be able to keep this site updated and give you an insight into my life over here.
I hope you enjoy reading my posts and looking at the photos that I take on my travels