A Trucker's Journey and famliy life

I'll be home for Christmas,, I hope

2008-12-15T19:24:00.000-05:00

Finally made it home

2008-07-31T22:36:00.002-04:00

Hey Gang
Well i finally switched trailers this morning {Thursday} and sat around til almost 10:30 and finally dispatch sent me a message telling me to go back to Cincinnati and get another soap load going to Browns Summit, NC that delivers Friday and take it to the TA in Florence where i am at now and switch with another driver, then after all that, i can go home til Monday morning. I'm taking A vacation day Friday so i can go to my brother-n-law's wedding on Saturday and go to my niece's birthday party on Sunday after church. Well its almost 11 pm and I've been up since 4 am so I'm going to finally call it a day. Take care and be safe

Waiting on a driver

2008-07-30T14:33:00.002-04:00

Hey Gang
Well I'm sitting here at the TA in Florence, KY waiting for a driver to show up and take this load i picked up in Cincinnati, OH going to Browns Summit, NC for 9 am tomorrow {Thursday}. I unloaded yesterday at Wal-Mart DC in Gas City, IN and only had 1 1/2 hours to work so i ended up staying at a truck stop down the street from Wal-mart til this morning when they told me to head to Cincinnati to get this load. I've been sitting here about 1 1/2 hours waiting on them to find someone to take this load, was told at 8:13 this morning to do this and they have had all day to find someone. Hopefully i will be able to head toward the house after the switch, i have 1 hour left for the day and if i don't get fuel i can make it to Georgetown and have Tracye and doodle bug come get me. Well guess that's all for now. Be safe

Back online

2008-07-28T14:44:00.003-04:00

Hey Gang
Well I'm finally able to get online here in Mt Vernon, IL parked at the Pilot and using TA WiFi which is across the street. The driver i was waiting for in Greensboro, NC showed up around 6pm with another driver who was bringing the FL load to me, dropped him off near his house Sunday morning and then i headed on down to deliver that load then they sent me up to our yard in Jacksonville to pick up a load of beer to deliver Monday in Punta Gorda, FL and then i went up to Plant City to pick up empty coffee jars to drop in Jacksonville at Maxwell House. I put my truck in the shop on Tuesday to get the oil changed, when i finally got it out of the shop later in the day, they gave me a load that picked up Wednesday in Jacksonville at the Winn Dixie warehouse and took it to their warehouse in Hammond, LA that delivered that evening and then went up to Pineville, LA and took a load to Wal-Mart DC in New Albany, MS that delivered Thursday and then went down to Columbus, MS to pick up a load that went to P&G in Neely's Landing, MO that i picked up and delivered Friday and then went back empty to Columbus, MS to get another load to P&G that i delivered Saturday and went back to Columbus, MS for my 3RD load to P&G that i delivered Monday and now I'm on my way to Wal-Mart in Gas City, IN to deliver on Tuesday and then i can't run til after midnight on Wednesday but i can only work about 4 hours before i reach my 70 hours, well guess i will run for now, take care and keep it safe

Back on the road

2008-07-19T14:30:00.003-04:00

Hey Gang
Well i finally got a laptop yesterday {Friday}, i cut my stay-cation short so i could get in for my brother-n-law's wedding on August 2ND. I went up to Saint Bernard Soap company in Cincinnati, OH and pick up a load that came down to Browns Summit, NC that i delivered this afternoon, and now I'm sitting at our yard in Greensboro, NC waiting on a driver to drop a load going to Fort Pierce, FL that drops by midnight Monday. Dispatched sent me a message to call her and she informed me that i was picking up a driver with this load I'm waiting for, and drop him off at our yard in Jacksonville, FL tomorrow and then head on down to Wal-Mart DC in Ft Pierce. Well i guess I'll run for now, Take care and keep it safe

Home for my Stay-cation

2008-07-11T09:11:00.003-04:00

Hey Gang
Well its been awhile since I've posted, got home yesterday afternoon {Thursday} and I'm on stay-cation {vacation} til 7-21. We was going to Nobelsville, IN for Lexie's adoption agency's yearly get together but we are unable to go with the price of gas over $4 a gallon, couldn't afford the room for 3 days along with the gas, so we are just going to hang around the house, she has a DR appointment next Thursday in Cincinnati, OH for cleaning her ear that the Dr gave her back in February. We may try and go to the zoo up there. Well guess i will run for now, will try and do better on posting this week. Take care and be safe out there

Sick out on the road

2008-05-30T18:08:00.004-04:00

Well, got a call today from Joe, he is real sick and has taken a sick day. Must be something going around, I had to call in today too for a migraine. Anyway, just wanted to let you know. He's stuck out on the road feeling real bad. (sounds bad on the phone too,, sure wish he was home to go to the DR!) Hope your all safe and make it home soon!

Rough 2nd Week

2008-05-24T18:55:00.003-04:00

Hey Gang
Well i got home Friday afternoon from delivering empty miller bottles to Trenton, OH. I delivered a load of beer on Monday in Owensboro, KY and then went to Hawesville, KY to pick up rolls of paper that i delivered in Atlanta, GA on Tuesday then after sitting almost 2 hours they sent me to Augusta, GA to pick up a load of soap that went up to Lumberton, NJ that delivered Thursday the 22ND at 8am, got to customer at 638am and when i checked in, they told me my appointment was for 0930 and they would get me in early, when she was looking at her computer, she informed me that this appointment had been moved to 5-27 at 0930 and they should be able to work me in since they wasn't to busy, i sent my travel agent informing him about the change and after they checked on it they was going to send another driver who was empty now and they was going to send him to where i was at and have him sit at the customer and wait for them to get him empty while i was going to take his empty and head toward VA to meet another driver that had the load going to OH that i was going to switch trailer again. Well about 0830 Thursday CVS where i was delivering to finally got me in the door, so i let my travel agent know that i was getting unloaded and they had to stop the driver that was going to switch with me. Finally got empty at 1015am and told my travel agent i could make it to Wytheville, VA to switch trailers and so i started heading south, he told me it was 431 to Wytheville, which it was actually 467 down there. I got to the TA in Wytheville around 615pm and had to wait til about 730 that evening before the other driver showed up with my load, once i got my dispatch, it showed 444 empty and 343 loaded. I took my beak there at the TA and left out Friday morning around 0445am and arrived at Trenton, OH around 11am for a 1159am delivery. I didn't get to the door til 1245 and was empty at 145pm. They sent me a plan that picked up in Louisville, KY and it was going to Tampa, FL for 8am on Tuesday. I wasn't to happy about getting that plan since my 14 was up at 630pm and i wouldn't make Louisville til around 430 or so. Sent my travel agent a message stating that it didn't look like i would make it home in time and wouldn't have much Holiday time home. Once i got empty and called CH Robinson the broker to get information about this load and he told me i needed to call my dispatcher that this load was canceled 3 hours ago. Sent message stating this and he sent message saying time out, they canceled this load on us and he was sending me home. Got to Richmond at 445pm and around 5 i was dispatched on a load that picks up Sunday in Lima, OH going to Kmart in Greensboro, NC for a 24 hour drop on Tuesday, so I'm going to leave out Monday morning. Well i better run for now after it seems like i just wrote a book, hopefully these next 2 weeks will be better then this last week. Take care and be safe

Just a Hi

2008-05-17T08:57:00.002-04:00

Hi gang! Just wanted to say Hi while Joe was out working.
We were talking today about trying to get a laptop for him in the next month. I sure hope we can. Hope all are well! Keep it safe!
OH BTW Joe is on his way to Owensboro KY for Monday ,, boo hoo,, the load doesn't bring him home.

More later,
Tracye

Going to leave Monday

2008-05-11T15:10:00.002-04:00

Hey Gang
Well i called dispatch on Saturday and they have me on a load that picks up in Cincinnati, OH on Monday morning at the P&G plant that makes the bars of soap. Was going to leave out after church today so they wouldn't have to take me early in the morning but Tracye said she didn't mind taking me so I'll just leave out around 5am. My pay week wasn't the best for last week, ended up with 2311, was down in Miami this past Monday, delivered a load of laundry soap and was out of hours and had to stay down in Miami and left out Tuesday and picked up a load of domino's sugar and took it up to Gainesville, FL to deliver on Wednesday, once i was empty, i had to sit 3 hours before i was dispatched on my next load that picked up in Jacksonville, FL at the Budweiser plant that wasn't loaded til 130 Thursday morning and took it to Aiken, SC that delivered same day and then picked up my Florence load that took me home. Well guess i will run so i can go get my grocery's. Take care and be safe

Hey Gang

2008-05-10T15:25:00.002-04:00

Well i made it home Friday morning around 11:30, came out of Augusta, GA on Thursday and delivered to Florence, KY and then came home empty. We had our home visit today for our host student that will be here around August. She is 16 and is from China, we will have her for 10 months while she attends high school for the entire school year. Not much else is going on. Guess i will run for now, take care and be safe

Finally Made It Home

2008-04-26T12:09:00.003-04:00

Hey Gang
Well i made it home late Friday afternoon, i unloaded Friday morning in Cary, NC at BJ's Wholesale Club at 530am and left at 730am, they sent me home empty and my company said we would split the miles to the house which i wasn't happy about, they said it was 380 to the house and i would be eating 190 miles, it was 491 total miles to where i park my truck in Richmond, which is about 15 minutes away from the house. They have me going back out on Monday and as of right now i don't have anything. We are going to church this evening for a mission banquet. Well i guess i will run for now, take care and be safe

Passing Thru

2008-04-20T14:08:00.002-04:00

Hey Gang,
Well its Sunday the 20Th and I'm passing thru with a load going to Trenton, Oh for 8am tomorrow. I had to put my truck in the shop at our yard in Greensboro, NC on Friday to replace my hood that a driver hit last month and cut my speed from 67 to 65 mph, once my truck was out of the shop around 1pm on Friday they dispatched me on a load that picked up at 130am Saturday in Browns Summit, NC going 167 miles to Wal-Mart DC in Sutherland, Va then i was to go back to Browns to get a load going to Fort Walton Beach, Fl for 10am Monday, and later that day they took the Fl preplan off me and gave me a load that was already at the yard going to Trenton, but i had to deliver the VA load then come back to the yard to get this load which made it where i couldn't make it home til Sunday morning. Tracye was telling me that Doodle bug woke her up around 430 this morning wanting to go to Heart{Loves truck stop where i park my truck} and get daddy and she had to tell her that daddy wasn't at heart yet and to go back to bed, which she didn't, she went and put her shoes on while still in her bed clothes. Well guess that's all for now take care

Heading to the Dock

2008-04-16T19:30:00.000-04:00

He's heading to the dock. Its 7:30 pm. Lets see how long it takes him to get unloaded now. Said he is waiting of a yard jockey to get a trailer out of door 11,, that has taken 20 min so far,,, you know when you are pissed,, every minute is like a hour! Calm down Honey!

MAJOR DELAY!!!!!!!

2008-04-16T18:42:00.000-04:00

Well, Joe is so pissed off right now. I'm sitting here on the phone with him and he is to his boiling point and ready to call and turn in the keys!!! It all started yesterday when he went to get loaded at Lexington NC and it took 6 hours!!!!!!!! arrived at 12:15 and loaded 6:00 and his tour was over at 7:15 pm! He drives and arrives late (because of how long it took to get loaded) He got to Trenton OH at 1pm and is still sitting outside the gate waiting to get called back to get unloaded! Its 6:45 pm now! It look like they are taking about 2 1/2 hours to get the trucks unloaded once they are in the door. So far,, he has lost about 12 hours in the past 2 days that he wont get paid for! Said he was tired of giving his time for free! I wish he could just come home, but we just can't afford for him to quit his job right now and make a change. Hopefully soon. I think he is getting real burned out, out over the road. I'll let you know what happens next.. he just got back in the truck,, I'm proud of him, I thought he was going to cuss the lady out. LOL Anyone who knows him knows that it takes alot to get him to that point.
Keep it safe.

Almost time to go back to work

2008-04-12T21:28:00.000-04:00

Hey Gang
Well its 930 and getting ready to call it a day. Finally went and mowed the yard around 6 this evening, been watching TV and looking at bus company sites most of the day. We are going out to lunch after church tomorrow for my sisters birthday which is today, then i plan on going to the store and then hitting the road to go up to Slow-ohio. Well i guess i will run for now

Finally made it home

2008-04-11T09:35:00.000-04:00

Hey Gang
Finally made it to Richmond, Ky at 0745 this morning, left Roebuck, Sc at 0145 and leaving out Sunday evening to go up to Batavia, OH to deliver Monday morning with super sacks of laundry soap. Its raining this morning, so guess my "Honey Do" List will have to start tomorrow. Hopefully i can get some movies watched today. Guess i will run for now, take care and keep it safe

2008-04-10T11:41:00.000-04:00

I just got empty at 11:20, going to pick up a load to in Augusta GA tomorrow and deliver Batavia OH for 6:30am Monday. Looks like I'll have a pretty good weekend home. And will get to get Doodle off the bus tomorrow. She's been such a chatter box on the phone with me this week.

She got a good report at the Dr's yesterday, she can hear in the left ear!!!!!!! For those of you who don't know, she was born without a left ear and ear canal along with an extra left thumb. Shriners removed the thumb last Aug, and in Feb she had ear canal surgery and they created her a new ear drum. She wears a special hearing aid called a Baha. She will go in 2 weeks to remove the ear packing and possible have tubes put in the right ear.

Keep it safe!!!

well stuck in Green Castle

2008-04-08T09:15:00.000-04:00

Well I made it to Hagerstown MD at 4am and had to wait to be unloaded. After they got done with me he called and said that there was 6 pallets of Coffee that had to be sent back! GREAT!!! At this rate I'm not going to make my next pick up in Tunkhannock PA, its going to CVS in Fredericksburg VA for 6am tomorrow. They will LTL the load its just waiting on them to deside to send me to get it dropped off. Anyway, will update you more later on. Have a great day all! And keep it safe!

Happy Monday!

2008-04-07T09:18:00.000-04:00

Joe is on his way to Haggardstown MD with coffee that came out of Lacombe LA. It was a slow weekend for him. Spent most ot if on his PlayStation. (Rolls eyes here) 4 more days and he will be home again! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!! Its a beautiful spring day today! Hope you all are driving safe and getting miles!

no miles this week, playing in FL

2008-04-03T20:13:00.000-04:00

Just got off the phone with Joe. No miles this week, he's been playing in Flordia all week long back and forth from Jacksonville. Got a load of beer right now he just picked up in Mimai on his way back to Jacksonville. I sure hope they give him something delivering for Saturday with some miles on it. Looks like he will be lucky to get 2000 miles this week

Heading to Miami

2008-04-02T13:16:00.000-04:00

On my way to Miami for tomorrow. Its 81 Degrees and I'm about to roast! (poor Momma has 50 degree weather today) Before I left today they came out and took pic's of my hood. Hope they get it fixed soon.
Keep it safe everyone!

In Jacksonville at Keefe Supply

2008-04-02T08:16:00.000-04:00

Well I made it safe and sound to Keefe Supply here in Jacksonville, FL. Kinda expect them to send me over to the yard and castrate my truck. Raven has decided to lower our MPH from 67 to 65 to conserve on fuel. I still don't have a plan yet. Maybe they will fix my hood while they are at it. On Friday, while I was backed up to the dock waiting to get unloaded, I had a driver from Cookie Carriers on my left back right into the side of my hood and crack it. I'm thinking they will have to replace the whole thing. Bad part is he didn't even get out and look till after he hit me, pulled up, backed into the door, then came to check on the damage. This was an older driver who you know knew better! Actually, I don't know how long he's been driving, but, If I don't know where you are,, I'm sure not going to just back and hope for the best. Come one guys get out and look! Will Have Tracye update you as to where they send me next.

Where in the world is Waldo?

2008-04-02T02:59:00.000-04:00

OK,, so not Waldo but Joe. Tonight I started this blog for him. We hope to get him a laptop here in a month or so, so please forgive my posting for him till then. (then your on your own Bud!) Just wanted a place for him to blog a big about driving, rant and rave about the industry and his trucker friends,,,(you know who you are!) He is on his way to Jacksonville FL with a load of pickles! LOL Anyway, I am sitting here tonight thinking,, now where did he say that he shut down at?? Ohhh wait its 3am no wonder I can't think! lol OK crew, I'll update in the morning for him when he calls. Sending prayers out there to all the drivers who are feeling the crunch with the fuel cost. And Praying for miles for all of you too!!!!!!!!! (Lord knows we need them!) Keep it safe!