Saturday, August 6, 2011
Quick catch up
Hi all, well Matt has been and gone and I think he had a good time and enjoyed his stay. I dont know if the planners and despatchers had anything to do with but but we got some really good trips so thanks to them. I have posted some of my favourite pics from Matt's visit. Hope you like them.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Matts here and so is the sun.
Matt had a good flight and on Saturday I was asked to take a different truck as mine had a multitude of faults and would not be out of the shop for at least a few days. After swapping some of my stuff over we set off bound for Laredo Texas. Stopped at US customs to get Matt a visa and headed south. There was nothing really exciting happened on the way down but for Matt it was all new. Stopped at every state sign we could and arrived in laredo to unload. Afetr almost 9hrs the US customs official arrived to break the seals and an hour later we were empty.
Reloaded out of Galveston TX and after spotting a sign on the shippers window headed up 14th street and parked virtually on the beach. Took an hour or so off and swam in the Gulf of Mexico. We saw some good sights on the way back north, downtown Houston and Dallas.
Parked in Limon Colorado at the minute as out of hours but will be leaving in the morning hopefully getting as far into Montana as possible and then into Calgary the following night.
Reloaded out of Galveston TX and after spotting a sign on the shippers window headed up 14th street and parked virtually on the beach. Took an hour or so off and swam in the Gulf of Mexico. We saw some good sights on the way back north, downtown Houston and Dallas.
Parked in Limon Colorado at the minute as out of hours but will be leaving in the morning hopefully getting as far into Montana as possible and then into Calgary the following night.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Good weather and a steady run.
Well had a good run to Santa Fe Springs and a quick reload. Ran north and had 2 collections, loaded the first but the second had still to be chilled so I called it a night and loaded in the morning. The load is bound for Saskatoon SK and I had plenty of time to do it in.
One thing you notice about California is how clean and shiny the trucks are, everything is polished and gleaming, well except Piglet. The trucks can be washed at Lethbridge but the trailers come first and to be honest they are so busy that there is very little chance of having your truck cleaned. A new wash has been installed at Calgary which is a drive through one, now it’s ok as long as your truck isn’t that dirty, you know Its’ just a bit dusty as the wash only jets the water at the truck but also due to Freightliners build quality also all over the floor and inside of your windscreen and windows. So I have to confess I paid to have piglet scrubbed, yup…I know what you are thinking. Now, I have my standards as piglet is my home, she is nearly always spotless inside but to be perfectly honest when I drove into a customer’s premises or truck stop I was embarrassed and felt ashamed. So $35 later and after 6 guys scrubbed her she is nice and new again. It goes without saying that I will not be reimbursed for the wash but to me it’s worth every penny.
At the minute I am at Saskatoon waiting to deliver in the morning. The truck stop’s internet is down so this will be posted when I can next log on. Then fingers crossed its back to Calgary as I have Friday booked off as I have a visitor coming, my nephew is going to be with me for a month and he needs picking up from the airport.
Until next time, be good!!
One thing you notice about California is how clean and shiny the trucks are, everything is polished and gleaming, well except Piglet. The trucks can be washed at Lethbridge but the trailers come first and to be honest they are so busy that there is very little chance of having your truck cleaned. A new wash has been installed at Calgary which is a drive through one, now it’s ok as long as your truck isn’t that dirty, you know Its’ just a bit dusty as the wash only jets the water at the truck but also due to Freightliners build quality also all over the floor and inside of your windscreen and windows. So I have to confess I paid to have piglet scrubbed, yup…I know what you are thinking. Now, I have my standards as piglet is my home, she is nearly always spotless inside but to be perfectly honest when I drove into a customer’s premises or truck stop I was embarrassed and felt ashamed. So $35 later and after 6 guys scrubbed her she is nice and new again. It goes without saying that I will not be reimbursed for the wash but to me it’s worth every penny.
At the minute I am at Saskatoon waiting to deliver in the morning. The truck stop’s internet is down so this will be posted when I can next log on. Then fingers crossed its back to Calgary as I have Friday booked off as I have a visitor coming, my nephew is going to be with me for a month and he needs picking up from the airport.
Until next time, be good!!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Things are picking up.
Well, left Montreal with a trailer for Calgary but it would be far too easy for me to take that one so I did a switch in the Winnipeg yard with another trailer bound for Calgary ??? Highlights of the last few days are not only did I see 3 moose but also a black bear, sadly I wasn't quick enough with the camera so you will have to believe me.
Reset in Calgary and due to the truck not having a tripak the batteries had shut down and I ended up throwing all of my food from the fridge into the trash, what a waste. I really am beginning to think that the addition of another battery pack isn't such a good idea.
I was initially planned to run to Iowa but when I started the truck that had been changed to California so I picked up the trailer from the meat plant, crossed the border and headed south. The following night I parked at Nephi Utah and managed to get my first photos of lightning, I was very pleased.
I have to say that the weather is great, if not a little bit to warm. Today the temp hit 41c which you don't really notice with the air con on until you step outside and it hits you.
Stopped for lunch today at the Gold Strike casino, $6.99 for an all you can eat buffet so I pigged out on oven baked Tilapia with a butter and herb sauce, fried rice, stir fried chicken and a piece of lemon meringue to finish.
I also stopped at Peggy Sue's 50's Diner for a vanilla shake as well as to take some pics.
Parked at Barstow now with a 110 mile drive into LA in the morning. I hope the aircon holds up for the night, its 9pm and its still 35c.
Caught another "Woops" moment because I know you like them.
Reset in Calgary and due to the truck not having a tripak the batteries had shut down and I ended up throwing all of my food from the fridge into the trash, what a waste. I really am beginning to think that the addition of another battery pack isn't such a good idea.
I was initially planned to run to Iowa but when I started the truck that had been changed to California so I picked up the trailer from the meat plant, crossed the border and headed south. The following night I parked at Nephi Utah and managed to get my first photos of lightning, I was very pleased.
I have to say that the weather is great, if not a little bit to warm. Today the temp hit 41c which you don't really notice with the air con on until you step outside and it hits you.
Stopped for lunch today at the Gold Strike casino, $6.99 for an all you can eat buffet so I pigged out on oven baked Tilapia with a butter and herb sauce, fried rice, stir fried chicken and a piece of lemon meringue to finish.
I also stopped at Peggy Sue's 50's Diner for a vanilla shake as well as to take some pics.
Parked at Barstow now with a 110 mile drive into LA in the morning. I hope the aircon holds up for the night, its 9pm and its still 35c.
Caught another "Woops" moment because I know you like them.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Got rid of the load at last.
Finally got rid of that godforsaken load when I unloaded this morning at Montreal. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.
Picked up a trailer in Montreal for Vancouver but dropping it in Calgary. I need to get my foot down a bit as Monday is day 14 for me and I will need a 24hr break, that is unless they send me south from Winnipeg as the last few days poor miles have given me hours back to be able to run again in the States.
No new pictures lately so these are from the trip to Nogales a few weeks ago.
Picked up a trailer in Montreal for Vancouver but dropping it in Calgary. I need to get my foot down a bit as Monday is day 14 for me and I will need a 24hr break, that is unless they send me south from Winnipeg as the last few days poor miles have given me hours back to be able to run again in the States.
No new pictures lately so these are from the trip to Nogales a few weeks ago.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Massive pay day...how will I spend it all ?
Hi, so I am sat on the dock in Brampton waiting…and waiting.
To bring you up to date, I collected the trailer from Schuyler IA and set off running towards Sarnia which is the border where you cross the Blue Water bridge into Canada. All was going well, no messages on the satellite and clear roads. With concentrating on keeping up with the diary I had totally forgot about my driving hours and when I calculated them up I was going to have 15 mins to spare when I got out of the USA.
The second I crossed the bridge into Canada the satellite started chirping. The first message I was pleased I received as it was to remind me to go to the customs broker; this was one of the stops I thought had been left off the load and was an important one. After listening to 3 women talk about what happened over the weekend, how they had caught the sun and so on for almost 2 hours I was told that part of the load was to be re-inspected at a place called Guelph, this was the second stop I thought had been left off the load. So after receiving more messages reminding me to go there I set off, arrived, booked in and waited for 2hrs until the inspector there came out and told me I was at the wrong place. After receiving the correct inspection site address I set off to fuel and park as I had been told the load would not be inspected tonight. For the day I had wasted over 5hrs all of which without pay, if you include fuelling and pre-trips then you are looking at almost 6hrs.
That was it for the day, I was foolish to think things would go well and I would be dropping the trailer in the yard at Brampton. At this moment in time I have all the deliveries to do which considering I really have not started them yet as the load is still waiting to be inspected is going to be a long, tedious day with little reward at the end of it.
Mileage for the last few days is:
Saturday, Waterloo IA to Schuyler NE to Avoca IA, 445 miles and did an 11 day Inc breaks and 7.5 hrs drive.
Sunday, Avoca IA to Battle Creek MI, 584 miles, a 12hr day Inc breaks and drove for 9.5hrs
Monday, Battle Creek MI to Mississauga ON, 356 miles, no breaks and 12.25hr day and 7hr driving.
Just an update as I am still sat on a dock. It’s now been almost 5hrs, I am beginning to lose the will to live. I have no idea how companies can justify taking this long. Look at the women yesterday in the brokers, 3 of them chatting away for hours, being paid and looking forward to going home at a set time. I find that a lot of places I go to the staff have no interest in the job and it shows. I wonder if I would still be here if I was being paid say $25 an hour. Truth is I will get $25 for however long I sit here which is the standard pay for unloading.
I was eventually released 9hrs later. Saying nothing else about it as I am fucking furious.
Started this morning at 5am pre-tripped truck and trailer, ran 15mins to drop, sat for 9hrs, ran 15mins to yard for DEF , ran 15mins to Husky for trailer fuel. It’s now 5pm so that’s a 12 hour shift. Earnings are once again not what you would call acceptable. The mileage isn’t be paid, nor the pre-trip, DEF fueling and trailer fueling. So basically for a nightmare 12hr shift……..$25.00. That is barely enough to buy a meal at the Husky and I am pretty hungry considering if it wasn't for a few things in my fridge I would not have eaten today.
But its still not over, oh no ! The other drops are being re-booked for tomorrow and I will be doing them.
I am going to predict the future; I will end up in Montreal and have to reset there, yet again a reset where I have no interest in taking my break. All of this makes me wonder if its worth just working 10 days and having 2-3 off because being willing to go anywhere, staying away and not refusing loads just opens you up to having the piss ripped out of you!
To bring you up to date, I collected the trailer from Schuyler IA and set off running towards Sarnia which is the border where you cross the Blue Water bridge into Canada. All was going well, no messages on the satellite and clear roads. With concentrating on keeping up with the diary I had totally forgot about my driving hours and when I calculated them up I was going to have 15 mins to spare when I got out of the USA.
The second I crossed the bridge into Canada the satellite started chirping. The first message I was pleased I received as it was to remind me to go to the customs broker; this was one of the stops I thought had been left off the load and was an important one. After listening to 3 women talk about what happened over the weekend, how they had caught the sun and so on for almost 2 hours I was told that part of the load was to be re-inspected at a place called Guelph, this was the second stop I thought had been left off the load. So after receiving more messages reminding me to go there I set off, arrived, booked in and waited for 2hrs until the inspector there came out and told me I was at the wrong place. After receiving the correct inspection site address I set off to fuel and park as I had been told the load would not be inspected tonight. For the day I had wasted over 5hrs all of which without pay, if you include fuelling and pre-trips then you are looking at almost 6hrs.
That was it for the day, I was foolish to think things would go well and I would be dropping the trailer in the yard at Brampton. At this moment in time I have all the deliveries to do which considering I really have not started them yet as the load is still waiting to be inspected is going to be a long, tedious day with little reward at the end of it.
Mileage for the last few days is:
Saturday, Waterloo IA to Schuyler NE to Avoca IA, 445 miles and did an 11 day Inc breaks and 7.5 hrs drive.
Sunday, Avoca IA to Battle Creek MI, 584 miles, a 12hr day Inc breaks and drove for 9.5hrs
Monday, Battle Creek MI to Mississauga ON, 356 miles, no breaks and 12.25hr day and 7hr driving.
Just an update as I am still sat on a dock. It’s now been almost 5hrs, I am beginning to lose the will to live. I have no idea how companies can justify taking this long. Look at the women yesterday in the brokers, 3 of them chatting away for hours, being paid and looking forward to going home at a set time. I find that a lot of places I go to the staff have no interest in the job and it shows. I wonder if I would still be here if I was being paid say $25 an hour. Truth is I will get $25 for however long I sit here which is the standard pay for unloading.
I was eventually released 9hrs later. Saying nothing else about it as I am fucking furious.
Started this morning at 5am pre-tripped truck and trailer, ran 15mins to drop, sat for 9hrs, ran 15mins to yard for DEF , ran 15mins to Husky for trailer fuel. It’s now 5pm so that’s a 12 hour shift. Earnings are once again not what you would call acceptable. The mileage isn’t be paid, nor the pre-trip, DEF fueling and trailer fueling. So basically for a nightmare 12hr shift……..$25.00. That is barely enough to buy a meal at the Husky and I am pretty hungry considering if it wasn't for a few things in my fridge I would not have eaten today.
But its still not over, oh no ! The other drops are being re-booked for tomorrow and I will be doing them.
I am going to predict the future; I will end up in Montreal and have to reset there, yet again a reset where I have no interest in taking my break. All of this makes me wonder if its worth just working 10 days and having 2-3 off because being willing to go anywhere, staying away and not refusing loads just opens you up to having the piss ripped out of you!
Saturday, June 4, 2011
A bit of good luck. The Diary
Well I heard nothing for the rest of the day. My plea's to set off running towards the load fell on deaf ears and I was dispatched this morning. So 340 miles later (actually 325 but a 15 mile detour for a trailer washout and back) I arrived at the shipper and was greeted with "Its loaded but we are waiting for the bills (paperwork). Oh well, "they should be 20 minutes"....I nearly jumped for joy. Not only was the trailer ready but the deliveries which I was concerned about, time wise, had been taken off the order so now I can have a leisurely 1000 mile drive to Brampton Ontario.
Its not really a happy ending to this diary, financially the diary is over. Due to the pay structure the empty miles and the return trip to Brampton will not be added to this pay cheque as the trip will not be complete by tomorrow night (Sunday) so it will be a pretty poor wage I will get in a fortnights time. On the upside I will have about 1350 miles to carry over for the start of next week which if I have a decent couple of runs will result in not only a large wage but a huge tax deduction. Bummer !!
As a rough guide I have done the following this pay week including empty miles:
Winnipeg to calgary...825
Calgary to Waterloo...1530
So thats a total of 2355 miles which will gross me roughly $942
Less deductions and so on I will be expecting roughly $550. Not brilliant eh ?
It could be worse, recently a new system of getting the signed paperwork into H&R has been implemented. Basically it a fancy fax but the beauty is that you will be paid for the work you have done for that pay week. If it had not been introduced then my wage for this week would of been horrible as it would be unlikely that I could have got my signed documents to Lethbridge for the Wednesday cut off and then all I would of been paid for this week is Winnipeg to Calgary.
I have just had a thought, had I been dispatched on Friday and ran a few hours, I could of possibly made it to Brampton and dropped the trailer by Sunday night. That way I would of got paid for the whole lot, roughly 3700 miles which would of made a really decent wage, what a difference a few hours makes eh ?
What has happened here with the wages is the exact reason that when I am contacted by prospective drivers and find out they are bringing families over I stress for them to bring as much money over as they can. OK, the big wage will be there the following week but what if you need it now ?
Its not really a happy ending to this diary, financially the diary is over. Due to the pay structure the empty miles and the return trip to Brampton will not be added to this pay cheque as the trip will not be complete by tomorrow night (Sunday) so it will be a pretty poor wage I will get in a fortnights time. On the upside I will have about 1350 miles to carry over for the start of next week which if I have a decent couple of runs will result in not only a large wage but a huge tax deduction. Bummer !!
As a rough guide I have done the following this pay week including empty miles:
Winnipeg to calgary...825
Calgary to Waterloo...1530
So thats a total of 2355 miles which will gross me roughly $942
Less deductions and so on I will be expecting roughly $550. Not brilliant eh ?
It could be worse, recently a new system of getting the signed paperwork into H&R has been implemented. Basically it a fancy fax but the beauty is that you will be paid for the work you have done for that pay week. If it had not been introduced then my wage for this week would of been horrible as it would be unlikely that I could have got my signed documents to Lethbridge for the Wednesday cut off and then all I would of been paid for this week is Winnipeg to Calgary.
I have just had a thought, had I been dispatched on Friday and ran a few hours, I could of possibly made it to Brampton and dropped the trailer by Sunday night. That way I would of got paid for the whole lot, roughly 3700 miles which would of made a really decent wage, what a difference a few hours makes eh ?
What has happened here with the wages is the exact reason that when I am contacted by prospective drivers and find out they are bringing families over I stress for them to bring as much money over as they can. OK, the big wage will be there the following week but what if you need it now ?
The diary continues.
Yesterday, Thursday 2nd was an easy day even though I couldn’t really afford to hang around as I needed to cover some decent miles. Started the day at 7.45, took 45 mins off and parked at Clearwater Minnesota at 1945hrs. The 12 hour day consisted of 622 miles and a 10.5hr drive. Also there was 2 fuel stops in the shift as well as pretrips.
But, the good thing was that the satellite only bleeped twice all day, piece, quiet and being left alone to get on with the job.
Up early (ish) this morning and was on the road for 6.45am. Drove straight through to my destination and after fueling I dropped the trailer in the customers yard to be unloaded. Usually there are empty trailers which we can hook up to but today I was out of luck and had to wait for one to be unloaded.
While waiting I have been preplanned for what I describe as a pig of a load. A collection with a 26hr loading window so you have no idea when it will be loaded and 6 deliveries, 5 into Ontario and one to Montreal, 4 of the deliveries have booking times already so the pressure is on. Even more so considering I am 320 miles away from the collection which is in the opposite direction that I need to be going and the time to have the trailer there to start the loading is ……..20 minutes ago.
Not a good start to say the least and I don’t have enough time to get there to drop the trailer tonight. Dispatch hasn’t replied to my messages yet asking if they want me to set off on my way, maybe they have somebody closer to cover the load.
So, at the time of writing this its 18.30pm Central time and I don’t know what lies ahead of me, I have only driven 300 miles today and been on duty for 6.5 hopefully I will find out soon whats going on and when I know I will let you know.
But, the good thing was that the satellite only bleeped twice all day, piece, quiet and being left alone to get on with the job.
Up early (ish) this morning and was on the road for 6.45am. Drove straight through to my destination and after fueling I dropped the trailer in the customers yard to be unloaded. Usually there are empty trailers which we can hook up to but today I was out of luck and had to wait for one to be unloaded.
While waiting I have been preplanned for what I describe as a pig of a load. A collection with a 26hr loading window so you have no idea when it will be loaded and 6 deliveries, 5 into Ontario and one to Montreal, 4 of the deliveries have booking times already so the pressure is on. Even more so considering I am 320 miles away from the collection which is in the opposite direction that I need to be going and the time to have the trailer there to start the loading is ……..20 minutes ago.
Not a good start to say the least and I don’t have enough time to get there to drop the trailer tonight. Dispatch hasn’t replied to my messages yet asking if they want me to set off on my way, maybe they have somebody closer to cover the load.
So, at the time of writing this its 18.30pm Central time and I don’t know what lies ahead of me, I have only driven 300 miles today and been on duty for 6.5 hopefully I will find out soon whats going on and when I know I will let you know.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
No takers on my bet, I am not suprised.
Not one person contacted me to claim there $100, what a bunch of honest law abiding drivers you are.
So, on with the diary.
Picked up the trailer and sent in the relevant messages including one that stated I would be in Calgary at 12pm. First message came through and.."can u be in Calgary for 8.30am". Of course the reply was no. That message was the first of roughly 35 I was to receive until the trailer was in calgary. Now remember, I was quite happy to deliver this load to BC and had ample time to do it, but somebody else had better ideas and I had to switch trailers believe it or not with a team. I was parked at 8pm, they rolled up at about 11pm, I went to bed.
Facts and figures for that day are : Total shift....11.45hrs, total drive...10.5hrs, total miles...590.
Yesterday morning I set off with my new trailer, destination Calgary with the instructions to drop in the yard. Once again it was too good to be true. Beep...."are you aware you have to deliver this afternoon at Walmart", my reply.. "err, no, told to drop in yard", "please deliver to Calgary Walmart". So I set off, ran the 15 miles or so out of my way, battled the traffic and sat behind two trucks booking into Walmart. Beep...."please deliver Calgary Yard", "Ok, once I deliver this walmart", "Dont deliver it, please go to Calgary yard". So I pulled out of the queue, drove the 15 miles or so back through traffic and dropped in Calgary Yard. Load finished and I was thrilled to have rid of it.
So then I was preplanned for a load to Iowa and had to go through the usual rigmarole of finding an empty trailer, fuelling it, having it washed out, pretripping it then dragging it the 2hrs to the meat plant where now you spend more time on the weighbridge and doing the securities job for them than anything else.
Thankfully everything was in order and I set off south.
Started at 7.30am yesterday, finished at 9pm, did 8hrs driving and covered 450 miles.
I have finally caught up, today I have just finished and got parked up. Had a bit of hassle at the border as the load had not cleared and that cost me an hour but other than that its easy sailing. No messages on the satellite, no grief, no worries.
Had a steady day, did the trip to Walmart for shopping and rang home.
Today I started at 7.15am, finished at 8.30pm, took 2hrs off, drove for 8.45hrs and covered 470 miles.
Because of today and my taking it easy I need to push a little tomorrow and will be looking at 600 miles. In order to do that I need to be awake and as its bed time for me I will bid you all a good night.
While I remember, if you do want to leave a comment, at the bottom of every post is a "comment" link so click that and you are ready to go. All comments are vetted by myself before publishing so please if you want others to read it, tone down the language, dont mention any names and try to make it legible.
One hell of a storm ahead.
Whooops !!!
So, on with the diary.
Picked up the trailer and sent in the relevant messages including one that stated I would be in Calgary at 12pm. First message came through and.."can u be in Calgary for 8.30am". Of course the reply was no. That message was the first of roughly 35 I was to receive until the trailer was in calgary. Now remember, I was quite happy to deliver this load to BC and had ample time to do it, but somebody else had better ideas and I had to switch trailers believe it or not with a team. I was parked at 8pm, they rolled up at about 11pm, I went to bed.
Facts and figures for that day are : Total shift....11.45hrs, total drive...10.5hrs, total miles...590.
Yesterday morning I set off with my new trailer, destination Calgary with the instructions to drop in the yard. Once again it was too good to be true. Beep...."are you aware you have to deliver this afternoon at Walmart", my reply.. "err, no, told to drop in yard", "please deliver to Calgary Walmart". So I set off, ran the 15 miles or so out of my way, battled the traffic and sat behind two trucks booking into Walmart. Beep...."please deliver Calgary Yard", "Ok, once I deliver this walmart", "Dont deliver it, please go to Calgary yard". So I pulled out of the queue, drove the 15 miles or so back through traffic and dropped in Calgary Yard. Load finished and I was thrilled to have rid of it.
So then I was preplanned for a load to Iowa and had to go through the usual rigmarole of finding an empty trailer, fuelling it, having it washed out, pretripping it then dragging it the 2hrs to the meat plant where now you spend more time on the weighbridge and doing the securities job for them than anything else.
Thankfully everything was in order and I set off south.
Started at 7.30am yesterday, finished at 9pm, did 8hrs driving and covered 450 miles.
I have finally caught up, today I have just finished and got parked up. Had a bit of hassle at the border as the load had not cleared and that cost me an hour but other than that its easy sailing. No messages on the satellite, no grief, no worries.
Had a steady day, did the trip to Walmart for shopping and rang home.
Today I started at 7.15am, finished at 8.30pm, took 2hrs off, drove for 8.45hrs and covered 470 miles.
Because of today and my taking it easy I need to push a little tomorrow and will be looking at 600 miles. In order to do that I need to be awake and as its bed time for me I will bid you all a good night.
While I remember, if you do want to leave a comment, at the bottom of every post is a "comment" link so click that and you are ready to go. All comments are vetted by myself before publishing so please if you want others to read it, tone down the language, dont mention any names and try to make it legible.
One hell of a storm ahead.
Whooops !!!
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Already its on the slippery downhill slope.
Not long after I posted the previous entry I received a satellite message dispatching me for the load, bear in mind it isn't loaded yet. When I informed the dispatcher my reset would be up in the morning which would be approx 2hrs after the trailer would be put on the dock and could I go in for it then the reply was basically no. I asked if the trailer had been loaded early, if so seeing as how I had already had 24hrs off I would run a few hours tonight so I could be in Calgary the following day, once again the answer was no..it wasn't loaded but I would be in Calgary tomorrow anyway !!
So, I throw out an open challenge. I will pay $100 to anyone who can travel 825 miles in 13hrs when limited to 62 mph (even in a car). The "average" speed needed is 63.5 mph
The good news is that I am dropping the trailer in Calgary,the bad news is I don't know whats happening when I get there.
Oh well !!
So, I throw out an open challenge. I will pay $100 to anyone who can travel 825 miles in 13hrs when limited to 62 mph (even in a car). The "average" speed needed is 63.5 mph
The good news is that I am dropping the trailer in Calgary,the bad news is I don't know whats happening when I get there.
Oh well !!
More pics and whats coming next.
Hi all, more pics as promised along with a few new ones from Las Vegas. Stopped off there for a few hours on my way back from Mecca CA.
Coming up is something that is not new but I have not done it for a long time. Its a detailed diary of what happens to me, how long I drive and where I am and so on and so on. I am on a reset in Winnipeg MB so I will be starting a fresh week and will log in as often as I can. Doing this type of thing really shows both how good the job can be and vice versa.
So to start, I parked up at 1930 last night which was Saturday 28th and am due to reset until 07.30 on Monday 30th. A reset wipes out any hours that I have previously used and in effect wipes the slate clean so its a fresh start.
The plan so far is to load out of Winnipeg or rather pick up a loaded trailer and head across to Surrey BC for delivery on Wednesday 1st at 7pm. Its roughly a 2271km (1420 mile) trip and I will have 3 shifts to do it in, easy enough if things go to plan.
We will see what happens, so enjoy the pictures. I have put a link on this page to my Flickr page, this holds all of the pics I have uploaded and a lot my blog readers will not have seen.
Speak soon. Any feedback would be welcome regarding the larger picture sizes, do you prefer them or not. Cheers
Coming up is something that is not new but I have not done it for a long time. Its a detailed diary of what happens to me, how long I drive and where I am and so on and so on. I am on a reset in Winnipeg MB so I will be starting a fresh week and will log in as often as I can. Doing this type of thing really shows both how good the job can be and vice versa.
So to start, I parked up at 1930 last night which was Saturday 28th and am due to reset until 07.30 on Monday 30th. A reset wipes out any hours that I have previously used and in effect wipes the slate clean so its a fresh start.
The plan so far is to load out of Winnipeg or rather pick up a loaded trailer and head across to Surrey BC for delivery on Wednesday 1st at 7pm. Its roughly a 2271km (1420 mile) trip and I will have 3 shifts to do it in, easy enough if things go to plan.
We will see what happens, so enjoy the pictures. I have put a link on this page to my Flickr page, this holds all of the pics I have uploaded and a lot my blog readers will not have seen.
Speak soon. Any feedback would be welcome regarding the larger picture sizes, do you prefer them or not. Cheers
Friday, May 20, 2011
A busy bee
Hi all, lots of miles and no internet have made my posts a little scarce.
I think I was in Washington state when I last posted, no I was in Vancouver (after looking in logbook). Well I got across to Calgary, had a quick reset and ran with an empty trailer to Lethbridge and since then the reason I love this job took over.
A load to Nogales which is on the Mexican border but its the drive down I enjoy. You take in Montana, Idaho, Utah and Arizona, going through cities like Salt Lake, Phoenix and Tuscon as well as driving through the Grand Canyon National Park.
Arrived at Nogales, unloaded and since my reload wasn't until later that night I nipped across the border on foot and spent a few hours in Mexico which was an eye opener to say the least. There was a lot of poverty but the people were great and everywhere is bursting with colour.
Anyway, loaded and headed back in 80f temps until I hit Flagstaff AZ when the temps plummeted to 34f and hail and snow fell like it was going out of fashion. Once out of the Grand canyon National Park it warmed up again to the 60's until I was a short distance into Utah and the snow fell like it was December. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful.
At the minute I am in a place called Mecca California waiting to load watermelons back up north,. For some reason I have been routed the backroads but I wont complain as you get to see things you wouldnt normally and thats a bonus.
So, I have loads of pics of Arizona, Mexico and a cool place called Cliff Dwellers to upload when I have a faster connection.
Speak soon
I think I was in Washington state when I last posted, no I was in Vancouver (after looking in logbook). Well I got across to Calgary, had a quick reset and ran with an empty trailer to Lethbridge and since then the reason I love this job took over.
A load to Nogales which is on the Mexican border but its the drive down I enjoy. You take in Montana, Idaho, Utah and Arizona, going through cities like Salt Lake, Phoenix and Tuscon as well as driving through the Grand Canyon National Park.
Arrived at Nogales, unloaded and since my reload wasn't until later that night I nipped across the border on foot and spent a few hours in Mexico which was an eye opener to say the least. There was a lot of poverty but the people were great and everywhere is bursting with colour.
Anyway, loaded and headed back in 80f temps until I hit Flagstaff AZ when the temps plummeted to 34f and hail and snow fell like it was going out of fashion. Once out of the Grand canyon National Park it warmed up again to the 60's until I was a short distance into Utah and the snow fell like it was December. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful.
At the minute I am in a place called Mecca California waiting to load watermelons back up north,. For some reason I have been routed the backroads but I wont complain as you get to see things you wouldnt normally and thats a bonus.
So, I have loads of pics of Arizona, Mexico and a cool place called Cliff Dwellers to upload when I have a faster connection.
Speak soon
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
The Californian Dream
Piglet 4th is The California Dream.
California has some of the most stringent green policies regarding trucks in N.America and piglet isn’t fazed by them one little bit. Pulling the latest of H&R’s trailers she is super eco-friendly.
If we start at the back and work forward we have super wide single tyres, somehow they reduce rolling resistance which results in better mpg and tyre wear. If anyone is interested in the size they are 455x55/22.5
Next up are the long and low side skirts. When travelling at speed these flap frantically in the wind and in very much the same way a hovercraft works they provide a down draft which helps to raise the trailer and alleviate the weight which once again results in better mpg. ;-) The eagle eyed amongst you may also have spotted that the truck side skirts are longer than on previous Piglets. This hinders access to the tyre chains which are hung behind them but looks better.
Neither in the pictures nor on the truck is the Tripak. This was used to monitor and charge the truck batteries as well as to supply power to the inverter so mains powered appliances could be used. Very handy but noisy, this has been replaced by an additional bank of batteries which I don’t think will be a success but I will no doubt be proven wrong.
The reefer unit or fridge motor. Now it’s whisper quite and I think that’s about it. Probably had some sound deadening materials fitted….very nice though when you are sleeping.
Now onto the engine bit. Piglet 4th has a Detroit DD15 engine and that’s about the only facts I know.
DEF fluid is a liquid which is expensive, stinks and goes into a tank with the blue cap next to the battery box. I understand that it is injected into the hot exhaust system and does wonderful things to the gases. I really don’t know.
DPF. A filter which filters out particles in the diesel (hence diesel particulate filter). The cool thing about this is that every once in a while it needs “Regenerating” which sounds like something like from Star Trek.
Anti-idle. Or anti tick-over, after a few minutes the engine will shut down to save fuel and cut down on emissions.
Some have said that piglet 4th is so eco-friendly that you could fill the fuel tanks with horse piss and spring water will jet from the exhaust stack like the Bellagio fountains, watering the crops while she cuts through the air and drives on by.
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