18wheelsandwomen

This  November 7th day is a nice day and I am getting ready to do my Dallas run–#25.  We do not know how long these trips will last when asked to do it a couple months ago.  It could be 2 weeks, 2 months, 6 months, 2 years.

At 2, I get the truck ready for the trip. As I walk out to the truck, I am approaching the passenger side of the tractor and I see the front outside trailer wheel is SLIGHTLY pointed out–at least it looks that way from this viewpoint.  The one behind it is fine.  When I get to the front of the tractor, I look down the side of the tractor and trailer and I do see that the wheel is slightly outwards. I move to the drivers side and check out those tires. They are under and flush with the trailer. I move back to the passenger side of the tractor and check again. That tire is pointed outward. I get another driver and ask him if he see’s it too. Sure enough he does.

We check the 4 pins that hold the wheels in place when a driver needs to slide them to make the weight legal on the axle. Trailer is also on level ground and all is OK with the trailer.  Tires do get out of whack from curb hopping and potholes and need alignment. I continue with my pre-trip inspection and check the oil and belts and other fluids. I leave the hood tilted out and get some window cleaner and paper towels so I can clean the windshield. I use the truck steps and grab the mirror bracket and get to the tire and stand there and do one side of the windshield and then repeat the process on the other side. Some truck stops expect us to clean our windows from bugs/snow/ice this way and that is so dangerous to do when you need to climb on slick and wet vehicle parts. It is also absurd to give us these short window brushes just like you use on your car. In comparison, the 4-wheelers need to have a toothbrush to clean their windows. 

Soon I am done and hook up my CB and update the mileage report for the rental company. I put my beaded seat cushion on the drivers seat and I really find it comfortable. It sure works for me. Now I can check my lights and all work. In the drivers seat I can see in my mirrors that the passenger outside tire does indeed point slightly outward and the drivers side is OK. Off I go to the shipper. I have the AC on as it is hot for November–in the 80’s.

As I am westbound on I-40 in Oklahoma, the bugs are thick. I have to stop and get the windows clean and I know from the previous trips that my choices are the Flying J or the Loves truck stop as they have the long brushes for the truckers to clean the windows while standing on the ground. I decide on the Flying J. I get this done at 6:30 pm and only clean my side as I need to get going and my side was the worst. Why do bugs do that? Why do the wipers only quit or smear on the drivers side?? 

At 7:10 I am on the north side of McAlester and 3 hours away from Garland Texas to my receiver. I do not stop at Stringtown at 8 for my milk and a cookie snack as I want to keep on rolling. I am 1 hour from the Texas line at this point. I cross the Texas line just past 9 and pull into the receivers drive at 10.

I sometimes spend the night here but tonight I decide to start back home when the trailer is unloaded. That takes up to 30 minutes. All is fine until I cross into Oklahoma. I am driving at different speeds and I am having a hard time focusing on the road to do my job properly and safely. I normally go to bed at 9 pm and here it is approaching midnight. I spend the night at Calera as I have done before and have no problems sleeping!

In the morning I get my coffee and enjoy a walk before I leave. Its a start of another beautiful day and I’ll need to run the AC again. On the way home, I stop for fuel at Eufaula and purchase 123 gallons. I make it home safe again and have done 16,477 miles on these Dallas runs.

BRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!! It’s 3:30am and it’s chilly in the truck. I start it up and after it runs enough to get the oil moving thru its parts, I flip on the high idle. I also turn on WGN, it’s a station I really enjoy. It’s also a break from all the Christmas music I was listening to. I also like the fact that they even announce school closings in Iowa! I get back into my sleeping bag and I bury myself to stay warm. I even use my heavy winter coat as another blanket. From the bunk, I adjust the radio controls for my comfort.At 4am it’s -4 degrees in Aurora and where I am it’s 1 degree. HEATWAVE!! The announcer gives some temps in Iowa–Des Moines–Cedar Rapids–Dubuque. They all have the same temps as here. This is a big weather system. By 4:15 I have the covers off me as it is HOT in this truck. I’m so glad to have a truck with this great heat! If I had 2 keys I would let the truck run while I go inside to eat. I study a map of the new I-355 that will be done in 2007. It is a 12 mile extension to I-80. Sure hope it helps eliminate some traffic off  I-55 & I-294.

Back at the truck it’s still warm. I start it up and head for Wheeling. I head east on I-90 to get to I-294 and go north. I get off at Willow Road exit which turns into Palatine not far down the road. Naturally, the directions given to me do not say that. But everything is going well and I am feeling good about this. Traffic is not bad and I’m just rolling along, not far from my reciever. Suddenly I find myself going from the fast speed I was traveling on the freeway, to a slow-moving business street. What the hell happened!!!??? Where did all the fast traffic go?? How can this be happening to me?? I was cruising along at a great pace like the others in front of me and suddenly they are gone and I am on a different road.  How can this be when I am the one following and traffic is following me???? But no one is following me now. I am pissed, and my blood pressure is going up - I can feel it. I keep going and I’m thankful that I’m in a business area for semi’s. That helps a lot, but I still don’t know what happened to the road.

I drive very slow and try picking out a business that I can turn around in and head back to my starting point. As I move slowly forward thinking this through, I see the road ends ahead of me. But it cross over another road and when I get closer I’m able to see that it’s the road I need to be on. I get up to the turn and see that I can not make that turn - it’s not wide enough for trucks. It’s 6:30 a.m. and I now have to back up 2 entire blocks and avoid all the traffic coming up behind me arriving for work. I have my flashers on and back up with extreme caution. I stop from time to time so the 4 wheelers know that I am watching them. I keep on backing up and I see a “ramp”, which is about as long as the tractor, and I take it.   What a way to start my day!

I make it to the shipper without any more problems and I get loaded in 15 minutes. Why can’t this happen at every place I go? From where I am there are several options I have to get back to the I-80 area. I decide to stay on I-290 so I can drive fast and stay with the other traffic as this will be my only time I can “speed” in Illinois. This will help me get home faster. When I get to I-80 I start slowing down as I know this is where the cops watch for trucks not staying within the 55 mph limit. I have my cruise set at 55 and I keep on heading south on I-55 towards home. Some of the truckers that did not slow down in time on the south side of I-80 were pulled over by the police. I wave at them as I head south. I don’t like the 55 mph limit but I do it to keep my perfect record of no tickets and no accidents. You have to do everything you can to keep your record clean to protect your job and your career. I keep heading south and I have no problems all the way home.

I am not thrilled about going to Chicago in December so close to Christmas. At least I get to take “my” truck, the one I used on all the Dallas trips. I am driver 2 on this load. I top off my fuel in Missouri because it’s cheaper. I will need the fuel to run the truck some for heat while I take my breaks. I will not freeze or be uncomfortable in a truck. I do my best to not idle long for heat/air conditioning, but these stupid laws being put on the books that prevent idling come from the same people who start up their vehicles just to drive across the street. Ooops! I’m rambling. This subject really gets my blood pressure up!This truck is running rough. It just came from the mechanics where it was given a new EGR valve. My highway speeds are OK, but at an idle or while waiting at stop lights it acts like its going to die. It’s not hitting on all cylinders, and it has very little power at the low speeds. Maybe the turbo is clogged because it’s been going from high-idle to shutoff, instead of going from high to low for 1 minute first in order to cool off and clean itself out. All I know is what I was taught, and if it doesn’t go through the proper stages it can cause problems. So many drivers just do not care.

Getting hungry so I get my sandwiches out of my cooler next to me. With all the gel packs I put in there my turkey sandwiches will be just right. I can hardly wait for the first bite. I have fruit and snacks too. I reach in and get the first sandwich out and it is warm–too warm. So is the second sandwich! CRAP!! I can not eat this and get food poisoning. I feel the floor under the cooler and it’s very warm. This never happened to me before, so is it this cooler or the truck? At least the fruit and snacks are still OK.

I pay my toll on I-294 and just get to top speed when we all came to a stop. I was in the right hand lane and there is a sign up ahead that says “3 LEFT LANES CLOSED 1 MILE AHEAD”.  I am just so thrilled to see that Chicago traffic has not changed since Oct of 2004 when I did my last trip here. Construction in December. What a mess! What a crock! I am just thrilled to be here!!

I make it to my delivery point in Des Plaines and sign in. I get to back into an enclosed dock which I hate doing. Its so dark that you can’t see the dock you’re backing into. You have to get out and look at where you are before backing in. Some of the docks do have lines or markings on them, but this time I’m not that lucky. After putting it in the dock I go inside the building. The person unloading my truck asks me if I can help him because they’re short handed and busy.  Every pallet is put on a scale and the weight is written on the top and side. I agree to help him because things will go much faster if he can just stay on the forklift. Another worker joins us later to hurry up and get this job done. They are getting ready for their Christmas dinner/party tonight.

 Soon I am done and I go to the Des Plaines Oasis for my break. I go inside for a hot meal and watch the airplanes taking off and landing at O’Hare. Back at the truck it is still very warm inside. This truck has excellent heat. I start it and let it run for a little while. It’s very cold here - temps are in the single digits. Soon I shut it off and get some sleep. I wake up around 10pm to run the truck for a little while to heat it up in here again before going back to bed, awaiting the adventures that I’ll have tomorrow.

Somedays you just know it is going to be a bad day.  Today was one of them.  Its the last of November and there is all sorts of weather heading our way.  The first thing I get to do is find a empty trailer so I can do my assignment.

I find one at one of our customer’s and as usual the empty trailer is parked in the corner of the lot where it is always under water and in lots of mud–deep mud.  I am not a happy person.  If you are wondering how I know the trailer is empty it is because the doors are left open after it is unloaded.  I can’t find the shuttle people to move this trailer for me so I am going to have to do it myself.  I found some lumber and I used it to “walk on water”.  From the landing gear/crank handle  to the rear of the trailer was all that was under water.  The trailer ahead of the landing gear was out of water/the part that rests on your tractor’s 5th wheel.  So why could this trailer not be dropped FORWARD about 3 feet and put on dry ground?????  I get all hooked up and leave at 7:45a.m. 

It is 2hr and 20 minutes to Muskogee Oklahoma to get my load to bring back to Rogers Arkansas.  I am in a daycab (no sleeper) so this means I have a lighter truck and it will be more of a challenge to my driving skills with the wind and weather coming in.  I drive in rain and drizzle to the first Tahlequah OK exit on 412. From that point on, ice was accumulating and sticking to the signs and other fixed objects, but it was not sticking to the pavement or the backs of my mirrors.  There is still spray from the tires and that is what I am watching with my vehicle and the others on the road.

Not far from this point are the toll booths and then it really got icy. No more spray from the tires.  I am now doing 45 mph. Just past the toll booths is a plaza and I pulled in there.  I use the company cell phone and called one of the drivers who was ahead of me (there are 6 of us on this assignment)  This driver is not too far ahead of me and the report is not good and they are going about  35 mph and having problems.  I am warned to be extra careful especially in that daycab.   A couple of police men pulled in to the oasis and I and some more truckers asked about the conditions west of here.  They confirmed the report of its not good and no one needs to be out in it.  I turn on my power-divider.  This is like 4-wheel drive on your personal vehicle.  Yes, trucks have them.

I head westbound and keep it at 35 mph just like I did in a snowplow and put those snowplowing skills to work in the semi.  The whole key to being safe is to drive according to conditions and get off the road when it is just so bad with blowing snow/blizzard like the northern states.  I drive in normal wet pavement conditions to tire track paths to ice covered roads and a mixture of both for the rest of the trip.   When I finally make it to US 69, I stop at the top of the ramp and creep down and around it and did not do any sliding.  Again the whole key is SPEED or lack of to be/stay safe.  It is really sleeting now and the roads are packed with this mess.  Defrosters are on high to keep the windshield clear.  Wipers are doing a great job and are not covered with ice/sleet/snow where I have to stop and clear them off, but I know that is also coming. 

About the only vehicles on the road now are us truckers.  I went about 2 miles from the ramp and find a 18-wheeler off in the west ditch and on its left side, trailer ripped open and its contents scattered.  I pull into the Muskogee shipper at 11:15—a 3 1/2 hour drive for this trip and not the normal 2hr 20min run. 

I sign in, back into the dock and get my load rather quickly as this plant is shutting down at 3 due to the weather that is still coming in later in the day.  I pull out of the dock, shut the doors and get my papers and I leave at noon.  Now its foggy with sleet and snow.  I had to stop 3 times to clean the wipers.  This is also very dangerous to clean them when your truck is covered in ice.  I am able to drive 40.

The curves and ramps and hills were the “fun” part. I could feel that trailer start to slide.  Not much weight in the trailer when you carry empty bottles.  I ran into a pocket of snow and there was a large stretch of road where you saw zero pavement.  Was just a guessing game to stay on the road—just like being in a snowplow again.  That’s when you look for signs of the edge of the road/ditch to get your bearings.  When I got near the Oasis again, I could go almost 50 mph. With all the ice on the truck, some of the pieces would break off and hit the windshield and the wipers which would then break the ice on the wipers.  The trip home was much faster as I got back at 3 pm.  I had a test of skills today with rain, sleet, fog, ice and snow and even sunshine when I got closer to home.  Been a long time since I had that much weather in one day. Nerves shot.  Glad to be home.

When you arrive at Kelloggs in Omaha, you shut off your truck at the guard shack and give your pickup number for your assigned load. Next you sign a carboned paper that has your name, truck number, trailer number and company name. This is stamped with the time and you get the top copy to keep while on the grounds. You must give it back on the way out. The guard will then get in your trailer to inspect it for cleanliness and no daylight showing anywhere. Does not matter that the product is on pallets and in plastic. The trailers must be clean and no daylight showing via holes in floor, wall or roof.

At this point if you look to the left, that is the empty trailer lot. Loaded lot is straight ahead and to the left across some railroad tracks. To the right is where you go to live load, which I have done before. There are also camera’s everywhere watching you. This is done almost everywhere you go in today’s world and you don’t have to be a trucker to see this.

 When the guard is thru with inspection you will then proceed to the empty lot or the live load according to your pickup instructions. You may also be required to move to the “sweep out trailer area” which is by the guard shack on way to empty lot. You will do as instructed as everyone is just doing their job. I drop in the empty lot and go out the same way and head to the loaded lot. I find my trailer and do my inspection of it–tires are NOT FLAT and in proper condition, doors are shut and sealed and no tampering that I can detect, seal number matches the paperwork.

I enter all my info into the Qualcomm (truck computer) I have 1632 cases or 27,744 pounds of Special K Red Berry. What a treat for me as I had been getting Fruit Loops (24,908 pounds/1332 cases on one load) and was wondering if someone was trying to tell me something! HA! I head back to the guard shack and give back the paper given to me and the trailer is checked again to make sure the doors are shut and not been tampered with. When that is done you will get clocked out and now you are on your way to Chicago area to drop off at the warehouse.

When you arrive there for your scheduled appointment time, you again sign in at the guard shack. Depending on your load and other factors you may drop in the lot at slot #_____ or be asked to put the trailer in dock #______. I am told to drop trailer 614 in slot 167 and get trailer 677. (one time my empty was in slot 300 something) Again you do as instructed. Your company may have more empty trailers next to or near the one just assigned to you. You do not take them just because you feel your assigned trailer is a piece of crap. You take what the guard assigned you. My employer has nice trailers so this is not a problem.

I find slot 167 and drop the trailer in it. I get my empty and leave the doors open or just one door. It will be inspected by the guard on your way out. When this is completed I leave to go get my next load in the Chicago area.

I arrive at work around 5 am to get the truck and trailer all ready to go by 5:30 for Seneca, MO to the Smuckers plant. Extra loads are needed due to the holiday season. I pulled out of the drive at 5:30.

At the Pleasant Grove exit there are some construction workers doing their thing. As I pass by, the smell of something burning fills the cab. Instantly I am alert and looking at all of my gauges to see if there is something wrong. I look for smoke from the motor and I check all of my mirrors to see if I can see anything back there in the dark that may be wrong. Nothing I found told me there was any trouble.

Soon after, as I was passing another semi, the burning smell returned. Again I check out all of the possibilities, but find nothing, and the smell goes away. The semi I had just passed decided to speed up and pass me. As he did, the smell returned once again! Again I check everything. When the truck gets back into my lane, I notice that the right side mud flap has more reflective markings than the left side. This is nothing unusual because the reflective markings get dirty and torn off from time to time. But soon I notice that there is something wrong. As the truck pulls further ahead I can no longer see my headlights on the back of his trailer, but there is some sort of light coming out from underneath it.

I can only go 65 mph because that is what our fleet is set at, and this truck is getting away from me. It’s getting difficult to see what’s happening. About this time, another truck passes me. When he gets up to the truck that I’m watching, he applies his brakes and stays just behind him. Then, he speeds up, gets around the truck I’m watching, and he applies his brakes to slow the other truck down. Now I can catch up to both of them!

At this point the light is much brighter and I can see that his brakes are on fire!!! I move to the left lane to try to get side by side with this truck so I can get up to the driver and get his attention. His CB must not be on. We are now approaching the Missouri line. The lead truck gets thru the next stop light and pulls off onto the shoulder so he can flag down the burning truck. I am still in the left lane and we get the red light. I turn on my interior lights and lower the passenger window (electric windows are great in a semi) to get the driver’s attention. He lowers his window and I tell him, “YOUR BRAKES ARE ON FIRE! PULL THRU THE LIGHT AND I WILL STOP WITH YOU!!” He is shocked at hearing this news and checks his mirrors.

The light turns green and I go first. I pull over onto the shoulder with my flashers going and he stops a few feet behind me. The lead truck sees that everything is under control, so he leaves. I get out of the truck and grab the fire extinguisher and the driver of the burning truck does the same. We run to the back of the trailer, he goes underneath, and uses both of our extinguishers on the flames. A cop is there almost immediately and asks me what is in the trailer. I tell him its not mine and the driver you need is under the trailer putting out the fire. I assume that the truck that left must have called him. A fire truck is also called as we were not able to get the fire completely out and it arrived while I was there.

I finally left the scene at about 6:15 and I was only a mile away from the plant I was going to for my 7 am appointment! What a way to start my day.

The end of my great day started at the enclosed dock on the end. I hate this kind of dock. I had been here several times and on my way here, I just knew that I would get it again.

Sure enough, after checking in, I get the last dock on the end by the short wall that surrounds the small parking lot. I drive along the dock openings and head to the end dock. When the tractor is at my opening, I crank hard left to avoid the short wall in front of me and get set up for the backing. As I am going left, I wished again that the parking lot would be a wee bit bigger for this type of turn and it would make backing into any of the docks easier.

The backing is going just fine and when my tandems clear the corner of the trailer next to my slot, I turn the wheel hard and jackknife the trailer into the slot. I missed the door frame and the wall of the building which is closer than I prefer to the right side of my trailer. The building was poorly designed it seems, but it may have worked just fine when these trucks were shorter in length. I stop and get out so I can see the right side rear of the trailer and get my bearings so I can finish getting into the dock.

My heart stops when I get to the right side of the trailer. The door is just past the side wall beam about 5 foot inside and if I pull forward I will tear the door off. (for you newbies, when you are at the back of the trailer looking at the doors open against the trailer wall, it looks like a “V”. The hinge part is tight against the trailer but the other part of the door by the hook/chain may be 1 to 4 inches out from the side). The doors to this trailer had about 1 inch of play or less and when backing up, the beam touches the hinge part of the door. So while backing up it moves to the front of the door, pushing it closer to the trailer. Then when free, the door pops out again.

After seeing the mess I got myself into, it looked fairly simple to get out of, so I put my plan to work. Well, It did not work. That trailer door on this brand new trailer popped right off and landed in the parking lot. I am not a happy person. This should not have happened and no one is to blame but me.

The yard jockeys come over to me and tell me that they will put the trailers in these docks if the OTR drivers don’t want to do it. “Now you tell me this!” I “scream” at them. They picked up the door and put it in the trailer.

I call my Safety Director at home to tell him I had good and bad news. I told him that the new trailers with the hinges that snap off to save damaging the doors really do work, and it happened to me!

I ended up taking the trailer to a local shop and dropping it off. I picked up my other trailer back at the customer and went to the truck stop for the night. When I went into the restroom to wash up, the paper towel dispenser fell to the floor when I touched it!! “What next??” I said to myself.

The next day started off better until I got onto a dirt construction road. They put those spikes in the road about 6 inches out from the curb that you can’t see and I ripped open the 2 outside tires. Holy crap what a week this is turning into! I had one heck of a time turning that heavy load on this type of road. The tire shop, which was also our tire repair shop away from home, fixed the tires. I then dropped that trailer off for the other driver and got my new trailer. I survived the rest of the week but was very paranoid wondering what and when is something else going to happen.

Friday. All I have to do is drop this trailer and get my new one and in 2 hours I’ll be at the terminal for the weekend. Then home!!!! And I will be getting home way before dark on a Friday. Awesome!!! I can hardly stand it.

I arrive at our customer to drop the loaded trailer and get my new one for Monday delivery. I get the trailer hooked up and peek at the 5th wheel to make sure the bar is locked. When done and getting out from under the trailer, I hit the top of my head on a piece of the trailer that had a sharp edge and it brought blood. Not much but I knew it wasn’t good. All because I was doing my job to be safe and now this. But it was all my fault as I went under the trailer between the tractor tires and the landing gear and the set up on this trailer did not have the same amount of room. If I had been smart, I would have checked from the right side of the landing gear.

I’m still bleeding and my trailer is near the guard shack. So I go to see the guard. It is determined that the employees trained as emergency responders are needed. Naturally, I don’t think so and start to give my opinion on this, but it is too late. The phone call has been made to assist an injured driver bleeding from the top of the head.

I sit down and wait in a chair and soon there are about 6 people in the shack to assist me. Sure enough I actually hit my head hard enough there was a small but deep scrape on my scalp. So as 1 or 2 are checking this out with gauze and bandages another responder talks to me as they have to have the proper papers filled out on this call.

They need my name too. I’ll spell it for you as it is easier that way. So I start out with S-T-U-P-I-D as the responder is still filling out the form for date/time and etc. They all laugh and tell me my real name is needed. So I give it to them. Now they want to know where I am heading.

“Home”, I tell them, “2 hours from here”.

My employer is called and we all talk and I insist I am fine and that I could have been home by now!

I am given the OK to leave by all and to take it easy for the weekend and use the icepack thing for the throbbing that may/will start.

I make it to the terminal and grab my things and put them in my pickup and head home. When home there was some throbbing and tenderness but all was fine.

I thought about the injury and how and why it happened. I could have been slower in leaving from under the trailer and doing it from a safer point. I just plain ole misjudged the point where you can get up from your bent position. Did this happen because it was Friday and I was going home?????

Most of us who shop do not give it any thought as to how that product got on the shelf.  All we expect is to see the shelves full when we spend our money on the needed items.  Food, clothing, tools anything you want to buy came on a truck. It takes a lot of trucks to keep America going and the shelves filled.  Take your pop for one example.  Some one has to make the cans/bottles and take it to the pop factory so the pop can be put in the container.  Sheets of thin metal are on flatbeds and the van trailers who deliver to the can factory where that metal turns into the product you are familar with.  When made it is put on pallets and then put in a trailer to be taken to the pop maker (and others who use cans for their products—like our canned fruit and veggies. Then the product is put on trailers and trucked to the pop maker.

I went to several Pepsi plants to deliver cans/bottles and it sure was interesting.  On one visit, I gave 20 oz clear bottles, 22 pallets in a trailer stacked floor to ceiling.  77,682 bottles.  At this plant they put the labels on here.  I arrived at 4pm and backed into the dock.  I went inside and stood by the door and watched the forklift driver take the stack of bottles on the pallets, still wrapped in their plastic and put them on the converybelt—about 3 stacks.  Each stack is 8 to 11 layers high depending on the size of the bottles.  The stack then moves into a enclosed “closet” and each layer rises to the top for the bottle conveyor belt.  The board separating the layers is removed to the left and the bottles go single file to the right and thru curves and hills.  A burst of water is put into them and then the bottles do a upside down and go downhill to drain and then go back up and upright to the pop filler.  From there the pop goes to the package area.  On another visit to this same location, I was the last truck in of 7 or 150 pallets to make a batch of Mountain Dew that night.

 When I arrived at the 7-UP plant, a worker asked me if I was the driver late with the flats as they are making 10,000 7-UP and the truck is 6 hours late and they need the flats ASAP.   I stood in the recieving area to watch what was being made today. To my right and thru a garage door opening, I watched the right top conveyer belt doing 16oz 7-UP in packages going to the north or my left as they left the machine at my end.

To the left of this is another machine that had RC with orange lids in packages and they were on a conveyer belt under the 7-UP’s whizzing by.  I walked the few feet to that opening to see to the left.  Was another machine that did cans and today was Sunkist Orange already in its carton and moving along the belt to the trucks and storage area.  At the other end of the building, the forklifts were taking the product to storage and to the trailers. 

When you carry a pop load it needs to be loaded to the right of the trailer and then that leaves a small gap to the left side wall.  This prevents shifting as the road does slant to the right.  If done the other way, your load will shift, pallets will fall off and if the pop breaks, you have a mess and the load may not be accepted. You will have to clean it up or take it back.  During cold tempertures you leave your truck running to keep the product from freezing. The running engine keeps enough movement in the trailer so the product will not freeze.

I passed my training period and I’ve been assigned a cabover. This does not thrill me. I really wanted one of the newer trucks, but I know I have to start somewhere. Does this mean I’m a Professional Driver? I sure don’t feel like one, and I don’t think the motoring public is ready for me either! If they knew what I knew, they would not be on the road with me. I must be out of my mind for doing this, and so is my employer! But wait a minute! They have all the confidence in me, so then why don’t I? I just need to calm down and accept this challenge. No more trainer for my security blanket - I’m on my own. For everything.

“Pickle Park”, “Big Road”, “Super Slab”, “Chicken Coop”, “Cash Box”, “Bear Trap”, “Hammer Lane”, “Hammer Down”, …and so many more.

I guess I’ll learn them as I go.

My first trip was a short one, and I mean short.  It did give me the confidence I needed though. Then my next load was going to Chicago and I suddenly thought of many reasons why I should not go. Again I told myself that I had better get used to this. I did each mile one at a time and as I covered more and more miles my confidence grew. I put my training to use and did just fine. Nervous. YES!! Scared. YES!! but just think it thru and take your time, and you will do just fine.

Simply drive safe and be a professional. Just remember the training films you watched of the truck crashes. Remember that you can kill an innocent person in a second, and you too can be killed just as fast. Being in this big vehicle does not make you safe.

The closer I got to Chicago, the more my confidence level dropped. But once I was there, it was not as bad as my fears had led me to believe. After all, I had been through Chicago and many other major cities with my trainer. I was concerned about the paperwork and the bill of lading at the shipper and receiver. I was still confused about that. But I also knew that everything would turn out all right. Just don’t worry about it.

My first job is to get from point A to point B safely. Focus on that and the rest is easy. I thought back to when I got my license to drive my parent’s cars. The fears I had back then were the same fears I have now. It seems kind of silly, but I knew nothing about driving a car back then, just the same way I knew nothing when I started driving this semi. But we all get over those fears and in the end do great.