Swimming!

The parking lot in front of this loading dock was merely damp when I pulled in to load peanut butter ... 2 hours later it was axle deep in water, from the rain.

The next driver who showed up refused to use dock 3 ... said he had no intention of taking off his pants and wading out from his truck ...

You will be pleased to notice that there is no more road salt on the truck ... and I didn't even have to pay to have it washed!

It's back to shorts, t-shirt, and sandals in the rain ... what a pleasant contrast to Wisconsin right now. :0)

I Ran Away !!

This is the parking lot of the Motel 6 where I spent the night ... they have so much snow this year and no place to put it ... so they just shove it to one side ... and it's piled as high as the building next door. I saw front-end loaders filling dump trucks with "frozen water."

The weather people talked about this freezing rain, snow, and ice storm coming to places like Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee ...

$1807.83 to replace the compressor and by-pass the dryer ... afterwards, grab my loaded trailer and run South just as fast as I could reasonably go, to Oak Grove, KY last night (Ft Campbell area) ... and this morning head out early and run East on I-24 over Monteagle mountain ... before the freezing rain arrived. I don't like sliding down icy mountains!

The reefer trailer fuel lines finally un-froze this morning ... but the starter really meant it this time when it said "Low Battery": rrrrh-rrrh-rrh ... rrrh-rrh ... rh ... So, I left it alone for 5 hours ... then said a prayer for it ... and went looking for jumper cables (didn't find any) ... went back and tried it once more to see if the battery was still dead ... and the darn thing started. Don't look at me! ... It wasn't my brilliance ...

All I met was regular rain down the length of GA and the top of FL ... but the truck REALLY needed a bath to get rid of all the white salt splattered on it. So this was good. :0)

Still in Wisconsin

The foto is of the pattern left on my front fender from the the ice crystals and road salt.

I'm still in Wisconsin ... It was -5 degrees this morning ... I stood outside for a few minutes and my face turned beet red ... I was afraid my ears would break off if I touched them.

Drove over to pick up my load ... backed into the door ... was waiting for the trailer to be loaded ... when the air compressor, near the left front of the engine, started making a horrible LOUD noise. And my air pressure was dropping ... with the engine running. I decided that I'd better drop the landing gear under the trailer and unhook the tractor from the trailer ... before all the brakes locked up. Called the office ... called a wrecker ... got towed to Mid-State Truck Service (International/Cummins) ... sat all afternoon in their lounge with those judge shows running on the TV while I napped. Seems the air compressor was blowing oil into the air dryer unit ... which was adversely affecting the system air pressure. The office finally decided to only replace the compressor and by-pass the dryer ... maybe replace the dryer when it gets back home ... provided it doesn't freeze up before I get far enough South.

The truck should be ready about mid-day tomorrow ... I'm spending the night at Motel 6 ... air temp dropping to -20 outside tonight. :-p

Iceskating to Wisconsin

I hear they got some sunshine in Chicago this morning ... it was still kind of gray with a dash of snow when I left there. My destination for today was Plover, Wisconsin ... a ways north of Madison ...

It was really an ice skating contest to get to here ... the police and the towing services were having a wonderful day with all of the drivers that tried to stop suddenly ... or quickly avoid something ... or accelerate too quickly ... change lanes ... anything "quick" seemed to be sending people into the ditch or median. I tried to stay in whichever lane seemed to have the most dry ruts ... because the roadway was just as slick as they come. Something as simple as going up the rise of an overpass ... I could hear my engine RPM accelerate rapidly as the tires started spinning ... at which point I'd pray that I had enough momentum to get me over the top ... instead of ending my trip trying to get over a "mole-hill." When you get that slipping sensation ... I spread my feet wide, hang onto the steering wheel fiercely with both hands, and hope the wind doesn't blow me off the road ...

I did make it here ... It consistently & lightly snowed all day ... You can see the snow and snowflakes in the foto of my truck ... pickup isn't until tomorrow morning.

I'm looking forward to a snow-less and warmer Jacksonville ... :0)

Sunny Day

I loved the different blue colors of the mountains when I took this foto ...

Got up at 4:00 a.m. ... ran down to Grand Ridge, FL to pick up the trailer (that was supposed to have been fixed) and drove to Blakely, GA to pick up another load of blanched peanuts. Seven times (7x), they had to reload the truck next to me because the bags were tall and heavy ... and he ended up with too much weight on his drive axles. It started out with 5,000 lbs too much on the drives ... they reloaded and he was down to 2,000 lbs too much ... so the 7th time was the charm. (He said that after the 6th time, he wanted them to pull the load off, leave the load on the dock and he'd just drive away.) Fortunately mine worked out the first time ... a double stack of empty pallets in the front ,,, followed by a single pallet of peanuts in the center ... then another single pallet of peanuts in the center ... then 5 rows of 2 ... one single ... and 2 side-by-side ... about 42,000 lbs worth. It came out with 33280 lbs on the drives and 32100(?) on the trailer tandems with only 11100 lbs on the steers with almost a full tank of fuel. EXCELLENT! You say, "Huh?" The maximum limits are 12,000 on the steers, 34,000 on the drives and 34,000 on the trailer tandems ... total gross weight of 80,000 lbs.

I was back home at noon ... it's a sunny warm day ... wearing a t-shirt and pants (see foto below right) I went out for a little 16 mile ride on my recumbent bicycle. A lovely day here in "L.A." ... and they are talking about more snow sunday when I get to Chicago. Ugh! :0)

Robins & such

For the last month or so, we've had flocks of red-breasted robins out in the yard. Generally in the mornings. I'm not sure where they go to in the afternoons. We've also noticed the recent arrival of the brilliant red of Cardinals and the occasional Tanager. Of course, I've been observing them from the stodgy security of my porch.

I didn't feel much like doing anything on Monday ... I had gone to the dentist that morning ... he proceeded to bore a hole in a tooth which has been giving me considerable pain. So he bored ... plugged up the gap with something ... temporarily ... gave me a prescription for Tylenol 3's ... and sent me on my way. I didn't fill the prescription because I don't like Tylenol ... it's NOT an anti-inflammatory ... it merely masks the pain and destroys your liver ... and the codeine is addictive. So I'm taking 800 mg of Motrin several times a day ... to keep the pain at bay. Full on, it feels a lot like a migraine ... the whole left side of my head just flairs into pain.

Yesterday it rained ... and I didn't even get out of my PJ's all day. I set up the blogsite and updated Jack's webpage ... he wanted fotos of the Folding Tandem bicycle put on there ... and then I talked with him about building a DeltaWolf recumbent trike. Also discussed why chickens were dieing ... with the Artsy Scientist. A real couch-potato day.

Shorts & Sandals

A couple of days ago (Feb 4th), I was shoveling snow & ice in Chicago to unstick my truck --- the wheels were spinning, but it wasn't going anywhere. Then I got to run for hours thru fog.

Then Wednesday night (Feb 6) I was sitting in Jacksonville, FL ... wearing t-shirt, shorts, and sandals ... sleeping on top of the blankets ... with the truck windows open. What a difference!

Yesterday (Feb 7th), after unloading, while heading back to the office in Grand Ridge, FL ... before heading home ... just 3 miles before the Grand Ridge exit ... they pulled me into the truck weigh station and sent me to the D.O.T. inspection building (D.O.T = Department Of Transportation). As I approached the building, there was a group of 10 guys in black uniforms waving me forward ... One fellow in a black jumpsuit informed me that they were conducting a truck inspection training class. There were at least 3 groups of 10 ... and each person in the groups would have the opportunity during the day of taking the lead on inspecting a truck (a good 30 trucks in all). And they had the joy of starting with mine.

At this point, you hand over your CDL driver license, your medical certificate, the truck and trailer registration paperwork, insurance forms, IFTA (fuel tax paperwork), bills of lading, and logbook. That stuff all disappeared inside the building where another group would go over them in great detail ...

Meanwhile, the first group was doing a detailed walk-around inspection. Half an hour's worth. Then they had me roll into the building over the inspection pit ... at which point, the driver ... code named "Bubba" by the inspectors (i.e. me) was asked to get down out of the tractor and open the engine hood. Then Bubba was to get back into the truck. They marked the brake positions ... had Bubba turn the steering wheel vigorously back and forth ... while they inspected various parts ... looked at leaks, belts, and fluid levels ... test the city horn (didn't work) ... test the air horn (worked) ... then the leader asked, "Does that mean the truck is out-of-service?" No. Okay ... now they go underneath ... a number of them are in the tunnel while others walk along both sides of the truck & trailer ... bent over and looking ... drive-wheel and trailer brakes are marked ... finally they do the hold-down-the-brake-pedal test while they look to see how much movement there has been by the slack adjusters and brake cylinders. Next test is for Bubba to pump the brake pedal ... then have Bubba get out of the truck and disconnect the air hoses to the trailer .... being cautious of the pressure in the emergency (red) line ... what is the air gauge now reading? ... Bubba back in the tractor with inspector standing on the step to look at the dial and observe the dashlights as the ignition key is turned on ... check of the truck ABS system ... and warning indicators for the air system .... I knew the warning buzzer wouldn't sound because some previous driver had jerked it out of the dash and put it in the desk drawer in the back (that buzzer can become a bit irritating at times ... I jerked one out of a previous truck because as long as the truck was on it buzzed ... all day, every day). However, the red warning light was on ... only one of the two indicators is mandatory.

The trailer is down for the count ... one tire has insufficient tread, brake light needed changing, brakes need adjusting, and the brake air cables show signs of chafing. This will have to be fixed before picking up the next load ... or traveling long distance. The tractor was declared to be fine ... although no "atta-boy" sticker because there were signs of chafing on the air lines that connect to the trailer. No comment about the electrical pigtail to the trailer being secured in place with safety wire (because it kept pulling out in cold country).

Several times the indoor group sent a messenger to ask about parts of my paperwork and logs.

Finally they gave me back my paperwork and logs (no violations on that) ... a sheet showing the trailer violations ... and sent me on my way. The TA Truckstop repair-shop was being overloaded by all the work that was having to be done before trucks could go onward. Sometimes they got calls from the weigh station by truckers who were so "out-of-service" that they couldn't move until something was repaired (that happened to me once in California). The repair shop manager said, "It would have been nice if D.O.T. had informed me they were going to conduct this little exercise ... just so I could have scheduled enough people to handle all the repairs." TA had the closest repair shop ... only 13 miles away. They did a service on the tractor ... and gave me a coupon to go eat a free buffet or steak meal in the restaurant while I waited. I went for the buffet!

It was 5 p.m. when I was finally headed to the house. I still need to adjust the brakes on the tractor (even though they were still within legal limits) ... but that means crawling underneath with a 11 mm wrench ... tightening the slack adjuster bolt all the way down ... then backing it off a 1/4 turn ... times 4 ... plus the steers.

- Freth :0)

Shoveling Snow & Ice

Going into Chicago on Sunday evening, it was okay up to the mid-town area ... where I transitioned onto I-290 going West/NW ... it started snowing ... the further west I went, the more snow was coming down ... I took the Elgin-O'Hare expressway west to US 20 ... more snow, but two tire ruts let me know where to drive ... by the time I reached the little section of US-20 that becomes a freeway ... I was relying on the concrete barricade on my left so that I knew for sure that I was still on the road (5-10 ft visibility) ... the road was so white that there were no tire tracks ... the snow covered them as fast as someone went past ... but no one was passing me ... they were relying on me to find the roadway and they would follow. Then there comes a point where the concrete barrier disappears ... I know that there is a grassy median that dips down in the middle ... what was once two lanes is now me driving down and guessing where the middle of those would be ... forward and lateral visibility is down to 5 feet or so ...

I managed to get off on Randall Rd and with a top speed of 15-25 mph ... didn't have to put on the brakes and slide thru any red lights. Safe at my destination on Fox Ln ... I parked next to Angel ... and rested for the night. Delivered in the morning. The bathroom wasn't usable, because the floor drains were frozen. Joy. But they did plow the snow out of the parking lot and delivery areas.

Then I had to do 3 pick-ups in Chicago. It only took 2 hrs 15 min. to go 30 miles to Vienna Beef (sausages). I checked in and they told me I'm #4 to get into door 7, 8, or 9 ... go park in the gravel parking lot. What gravel parking lot??? There was nothing but snow ... there were some trucks up in the snow area ... so I headed there. When I attempted to maneuver next to them ... I ended up with my tires spinning ... forward or back ... straight or turn ... just spinning. Where the snow had been packed down, there was no traction. We had as high as 6 trucks stuck in that area with spinning wheels. Eventually someone inside showed one of the drivers a square-nose shovel and two 80 lb. bags of rock salt. I dug out snow & ice clear down to gravel in front of and behind 4 sets of drive tires ... and here I thought I wouldn't get much exercise driving truck ... then we packed rock salt against the front of the wheels and let it spin it under until we finally got traction and enough momentum to roll out of the lot. It only took 2 hours from the time I got stuck, until I could roll out and back into a door ... and only minutes to put one small pallet (loaded with 40 small boxes) in the trailer. bought one pallet ($6.50).

Half an hour or more ... to go only 10 miles to the next place ... located down a two-lane road. With trucks parked on both sides ... there was a single narrow lane down the middle to traverse ... and from this narrow road, you had to back into the small lot with only 6 dock doors (no maneuver room in the lot) ... and don't bend any of the cars parked out on the street in the "no-parking" zones. I bought 5 pallets here ($37.50).

By the time I got out of there about 3:30 p.m. fog had descended on Chicago. 30 foot visibility. Took an hour to go 10 miles to the 3rd site. This facility had the door slanted at an angle ... you still had to drive out into the the street and block traffic to back into them. Due to the angle, a section of concrete wall juts out on the passenger side (the side where you can't see very well ... particularly in the fog and twilight). One driver split his passenger-side reefer door from top to bottom when he hit that wall. I bought one more pallet ($7).

3 hours later I made it to University Park and retrieved the 22 pallets that they took off my truck a week-ago Monday. I didn't intend to buy any more pallets in Indianapolis ...

After a couple hundred miles in the fog ... sometimes with visibility only as far as the length of the nose of my truck ... I stopped. I was exhausted!! I'd missed a rest stop because I couldn't see it nor see the signs for it ... until the last sign which was only 3 feet from my passenger window ... too late ... even then couldn't make out the rest stop (had hoped there might be a little brightening of the fog in that direction). I was momentarily up to 20 feet of visibility when I saw an exit with a wide paved shoulder ... I pulled off onto the shoulder ... and had about 15 feet of lateral separation from my truck and passing traffic. At one point during the night, I looked out and visibility was clear ... I could see other trucks parked on the far side of the interstate ... but it was back to fog and about 50 - 100 ft visibility when I got up and started driving again.

I arrived at the Indy pick-up while the night shift was still on duty ... they got me in and out without a 2-hr delay waiting for paperwork. South to Greenwood, IN to fuel and scale the load ... and then just drive south on I-65 all day long ...

Below is a foto of my truck stuck on ice in the "gravel lot". A lovely day ...

- Freth. :-P

Rockem - Sockem

Monday (Jan 28th) the temperature went all the way up to 46 degrees ... the snow was melting off. Monday evening the temperature dropped again and in those areas where the snow had gotten very slushy and hadn't quite all melted off, it turned to slick ice.

After delivering Monday morning in Elgin, IL ... I drove to University Park, IL to pick up 7/8's of the load ... all frozen product that they insisted my reefer temp should be between 0 to -10 degrees. So I kept it at 0 degrees all night ... and drove back over to Elgin. Tuesday morning, I picked up the other 1/8th of the load ... 3 pallets of fresh peanut butter ... and it was NOT to be frozen. So the majority of the load was to stay frozen ... but the peanut butter was not to be frozen. So what do you do? If I set the reefer temperature at 33 degrees ... it would warm the trailer up and the outer layers of the frozen would be melted ... the peanut butter would be okay. But we'd be hit for damages on the frozen load. I decided to turn the reefer on occasionally and check the internal air temperature. It was in the mid-20's. Then I'd turn the reefer off and pray for the load. My hope was that the frozen stuff would stay relatively frozen ... and that without actively freezing, the peanut butter would be okay and not freeze.

The office and I both agreed that the best thing would be to get the load to Jacksonville as quick as possible and get unloaded!

There was a winter storm warning for Chicago area mid-day Tuesday to mid-day Wednesday. I ran down to Greenwood, IN just south of Indianapolis and fueled. Then kept right on going. Tuesday evening I pulled into northern Tennessee as the storm really hit. This is where the rock-em/sock-em stuff really comes in ... It's dark, blowing rain, I'm driving down this big long mountain, my truck weighs about 78,000 lbs ... and the brakes aren't very effective in that situation ... as I'm whipping down around curves. Then the wind became really serious ... slamming into the sides of vehicles ... shoving us to the side. The rain was coming down by the bucket-load ... the wind was blowing it horizontally from right to left in front of me. Along with the rain, it was blowing leaves and other hard objects ... I could hear/feel them slamming into the side of my truck & trailer. There were occasions where I was blown from the right lane into the left lane. I was expecting a tornado at any time.

There were trucks drivers hitting the exits and pulling off the road to face their trucks into the wind ... there were trucks hiding under bridge overpasses ... later I heard about trucks getting blown over. I just kept praying and running. It calmed down just north of Nashville, TN where I transitioned from I-65 South to I-24 East. However, when I was nearly to Monteagle (eagle mountain) it intensified again. I watched a car in front of me get shoved sideways into the other lane ... that driver was really freaked. More wind, rain, and flying objects as we snaked up the mountain. At the top there is a mandatory brake-check site for all big trucks. I stopped and checked out my truck. The storm died down. I called and talked with my office and the lady said, "You're going down Monteagle? You're CRAZY!" But on the Chattanooga side of the mountain, the road was damp but not flowing in water ... very controllable ... I went down at 35 mph. Near the bottom of the really steep section, I started getting hit by occasional gusts of wind.

I kept going ... blew my horn as I went past the headquarters for Covenant Transport. Took I-75 south right thru the middle of Atlanta. I pulled over in a rest stop just north of Macon, GA. Got about 3 hours of sleep ... and headed out again at 0500 a.m. Central Time for Jacksonville. They would quit unloading trucks at 1030 CST (1130 EST) ... so I had to go. As I headed out, I turned the reefer on to 33 degrees ... for the sake of the peanut butter. Then about 1/2-hour from Jacksonville ... I turned the reefer down to zero (for the sake of the frozen food) ... and didn't figure I'd freeze the peanut butter in only half an hour. I got there half an hour before they quit unloading. I got immediately into a dock door ... they pulled the peanut butter off ... and with the reefer continuously running ... pulled off the rest of the frozen load.

As soon as they were done, I ran from I-10 mm 356 (mile marker) to mm 192 ... there's a Flying J truckstop there. I had a coupon for eating the buffet. I was woozy ... but that didn't stop me from eating. Then I wandered back out to the truck ... lay down in the bunk ... and woke up 3 hours later ... still feeling sleep deprived. Managed to make it to Grand Ridge, FL to drop off my paperwork ... and then back to the house ... and went to bed.

Yesterday (Jan 31st), I was still feeling sleep deprived. Finally, this morning (Feb 1st), I am feeling back to normal. I am definitely not as young as I once was. That lack of sleep really drug me down for 2 days afterwards.

IN THE MEANTIME ... Dan Jones was driving the Peterbilt truck (the same one that quit on me last week in Pelham, AL). He delivered in Chicago ... but was having problems getting it to shift into and stay in high gear as he went to pick up in Wisconsin. Down in Indiana on Tuesday, he ended up stopped. He spent Tuesday afternoon/night and Wednesday morning working on the truck. He found out the air lines had been routed past/around the dryer. The problem with this is that the shifting system, the brakes, the windshield wipers, and a few other important things are all powered by the air system. When the air lines get moisture in them ... which occurs naturally from the air ... that moistures condenses out and then freezes in the lines ... at which point, none of the air systems work. He was "dead in the water" ... busy pouring alcohol into the lines ... hoping to unfreeze them. The lady at the office told him that she knew of a way that he could get the truck started ... Dan said, "How's that?" She said, "Got a match?"

Dan finally limped thru Newton, AL yesterday afternoon ... on his way to Jacksonville. They paid a crew overtime to wait for him to show up and get unloaded ... they needed the product on his truck for their local deliveries today. There's a foto below of Dan and the Peterbilt truck ... which I will never drive again! (You'd think you'd be a little suspicious ... when you show up to drive the truck and the guy who owns it is still working on it for several more hours before you can drive it ... did it really get all fixed?)

-- Freth :0)

Shorts & Sandals

A couple of days ago (Feb 4th) I was shoveling snow & ice in Chicago to unstick my truck --- the wheels were spinning, but it wasn't going anywhere. Then I got to run for hours thru fog.

Then Wednesday night (Feb 6th) I was sitting in Jacksonville, FL ... wearing t-shirt, shorts, and sandals ... sleeping on top of the blankets ... with the truck windows open. What a difference!

Yesterday (Feb 7th), after unloading, while heading back to the office in Grand Ridge, FL ... before heading home ... just 3 miles before the Grand Ridge exit ... they pulled me into the truck weigh station and sent me to the D.O.T. inspection building. As I approached the building, there was a group of 10 guys in black uniforms waving me forward ... One fellow in a black jumpsuit informed me that they were conducting a truck inspection training class. There were at least 3 groups of 10 ... and each person in the groups would have the opportunity during the day of taking the lead on inspecting a truck. And they had the joy of starting with mine. At this point, you hand over your CDL driver license, your medical certificate, the truck and trailer registration paperwork, insurance forms, IFTA (fuel tax paperwork), bills of lading, and logbook. That stuff all disappeared inside the building where another group would go over them in great detail ...

Meanwhile, the first group was doing a detailed walk-around inspection. Half an hour's worth. Then they had me roll into the building over the inspection pit ... at which point, the driver ... code named "Bubba" by the inspectors (i.e. me) was asked to get down out of the tractor and open the engine hood. Then Bubba was to get back into the truck. They marked the brake positions ... had Bubba turn the steering wheel vigorously back and forth ... while they inspected various parts ... looked at leaks, belts, and fluid levels ... test the city horn (didn't work) ... test the air horn (worked) ... then the leader asked, "Does that mean the truck is out-of-service?" No. Okay ... now they go underneath ... a number of them are in the tunnel while others walk along both sides of the truck & trailer ... bent over and looking ... drive-wheel and trailer brakes are marked ... finally they do the hold-down-the-brake-pedal test while they look to see how much movement there has been by the slack adjusters and brake cylinders. Next test is for Bubba to pump the brake pedal ... then have Bubba get out of the truck and disconnect the air hoses to the trailer .... being cautious of the pressure in the emergency (red) line ... what is the air gauge now reading? ... Bubba back in the tractor with inspector standing on the step to look at the dial and observe the dashlights as the ignition key is turned on ... check of the truck ABS system ... and warning indicators for the air system .... I knew the warning buzzer wouldn't sound because some previous driver had jerked it out of the dash and put it in the desk drawer in the back. However, the red warning light was on ... only one of the two indicators is mandatory.

The trailer is down for the count ... one tire has insufficient tread, brake light needed changing, brakes need adjusting, and the brake air cables show signs of chafing. This will have to be fixed before picking up the next load ... or traveling long distance. The tractor was declared to be fine ... although no "atta-boy" sticker because there were signs of chafing on the air lines that connect to the trailer. No comment about the electrical pigtail to the trailer being secured in place with baling wire (because it kept pulling out in cold country).

Several times the indoor group sent a messenger to ask about parts of my paperwork and logs.

Finally they gave me back my paperwork and logs (no violations on that) ... a sheet showing the trailer violations ... and sent me on my way. The TA Truckstop repair-shop was being overloaded by all the work that was having to be done before trucks could go onward. Sometimes they got calls from the weigh station by truckers who were so "out-of-service" that they couldn't move until something was repaired (that happened to me once in California). The repair shop manager said, "It would have been nice if D.O.T. had informed me they were going to conduct this little exercise ... just so I could have scheduled enough people to handle all the repairs." TA had the closest repair shop ... only 13 miles away. They did a service on the tractor ... and gave me a coupon to go eat a free buffet or steak meal in the restaurant while I waited.

It was 5 p.m. when I was finally headed to the house. I still need to adjust the brakes on the tractor (they were still within legal limits) ... but that means crawling underneath with a wrench ... tightening the slack adjuster bolt all the way down ... then backing it off 1/4 turn ... times 4 ... plus the steers.