We've Moved! - itsahighwayblog.com

We've decided to move our blog to our own domain - www.itsahighwayblog.com. Please visit our new blog to stay up to date on our adventures.

Judy & Jim

1st week in November, 2 loads and truck issues

Once we got our windshield fixed, we received our next load opportunity.  The pickup was in Jamaica, New York. For those who aren't familiar with the state of New York (including myself), Jamaica is where JFK airport is located. We have picked up at airports before, but have never been to JFK. Traffic cooperated up until we ran into construction, which closed two lanes. Merging traffic and the closure of two lanes soon had us in traffic for about 1/2 hour. We called dispatch and let them know we were in traffic but we were still able to make it on time.

Bronx-Whitestone Bridge onto Long Island

When we first accepted the load, we hadn't realized there were three stops. The only other time we've had multiple stops are when we head into Canada and customs is considered a stop, other than that our stops have been just one. The first was to pick up paper work just north of the airport and then the other two were at two different locations at the airport. I was driving so Jim got his exercise that day, finding the correct doors to go into to find out where they wanted us.

We picked up the paperwork on time and then went to the first pickup. We were there on time but they were not quite ready for us. We have found out that we carry our CDLs when we pickup or deliver because some customers want to see your id and always at the airport and military bases. In talking to dispatch, each stop we did a departure call. Before we called them we weren't sure of the procedure for multiple stops and also weren't sure about the paperwork which we found out, it was up to us. We could do it all on one BOL sheet or do it on two and put the same BOL number on both sheets and send them boh in.

Our third stop was snug. We had to pull onto a road to pull the truck into the dock, tight squeeze. The third stop was another ground carrier and one of the guys on the dock said, "You have a great halloween costume." Jim and I appreciated his sense of humor. So far we have had good experiences at the airports and enjoy watching the airplanes as we wait. After we were loaded and checked and double checked the paperwork and airbill numbers, we were off to deliver in West Virginia.


We left the airport around 4:45, imagine that, traffic in New York City at 4:45! As crazy as we thought it would be, we were not in it as long as we were on the way there. It was moving at about 15 mph, but it was moving. We were merging from traffic into traffic and the truck decided to make a sound like we were dropping a ton of bricks (Jim said it was like someone was hammering on the truck) and then it wouldn't move. I gave it gas but it acted like it was in neutral. We moved it from drive to neutral back to drive, no go. We moved it from drive to neutral, to reverse, to neutral and back to drive. It finally took off. My heart jumped, imagine a stopped truck in the middle of New York traffic. I was so glad that we got it going again. It still made some noise as we stopped but not everytime that we stopped and never made the noise as long as we were moving. We thought that it was probably just because we had been in such start and stop traffic there and back, we thought maybe the truck was just tired of the traffic.

Traffic on the George Washington Bridge Approach

NYC Evening from the George Washington Bridge

 Off we went to West Virginia, even though the sun had been shining and the snow had melted we saw many downed trees on the side of the road as we went through Maryland and Pennsylvania. None of them were on the road, thank goodness but there were sure a lot of them along side of the road. I can't imagine what it looked like the day after the storm. Of course as usual, the scenery was spectacular and even once the sun went down, the moon was so bright you could still see the magnificent scenery.  Jim was sleeping, so we didn't get any pictures on the way to West Virginia or back because he was driving and I was sleeping.

Our drop off in West Virginia was another easy one, at least for me, Jim unloaded it while I slept. He did have a little difficulty finding where we were supposed to be, he went to one place and they told him another and he went over to the other place and the guy told him it was supposed to go somewhere else in the facility. The last guy was wonderful and told Jim that he could just pull into the dock and he would make sure that it got to the right place. I think he kind of felt sorry for us that we had been sent in the wrong direction and it was about 4 am. Jim said that the man needed an award, if we had any to give out. He was really nice and went out of his way to help us, we really appreciated his thoughtfulness and kindness!

We had been predispatched on another load, so off to Maryland we went. The load was a temperature control load that paid well but was a short one and went from Baltimore  to Frederick, Maryland. The pickup was near the stadium where the Ravens play. We've only picked up and/or delivered in the midst of a city just a couple of times. Usually we are in an industrial area on the outskirts, this pickup took us right into the city. Jim took quite a few pictures since the pickup was a time when both of us were awake. I told him that we have been taking lots of countryside pictures and I thought we should take some of city landscapes and places too. We both grew up in small communities, so technically the city life is just as new to us as the countryside is, so this time there are more pictures of city life driving.

M&T Bank Stadium

Right Outside the Stadium!

Our pickup was scheduled for 1:00 pm and we arrived at 12:00. They weren't quite ready for us, so Jim took a nap and I caught up on facebook and read a little. The temp in the box was set for 64, which was a pretty easy temp to reach since the outside temperature was 67. We had turned it on a few hours before we arrived, just in case but knew it wouldn't take to long to get it to the temp. It didn't take anytime at all to get the 6 pallets on the truck and they were heavy enough and tall enough that the load bars held them tightly in place. On the dock, we ran into a couple of different personalities. One person was get it moving, do this, do that, no need for pleasantries, but he got the job done and then the other man got the job done and was able to have a pleasant conversation with us. We really appreciate the friendliness of the dock workers and enjoy talking to them. Their friendliness makes our day!

Off we went to deliver just 50 miles up the road. We broke the seal and backed into the dock. When we got onto the dock, the man handed Jim the pallet jack and proceeded talking to me about the paperwork. Generally Jim and I usually help get things on and off the truck but this time it was kind of funny because we usually help unload or load and we had not had any of our customers expect us to take it off the truck by ourselves. Not a problem, just that it never happened to us quite like that and truth be told, that is just the way he has probably always done it. Jim unloaded and I had a nice conversation with him about what we do and he shared how often they use FedExCC a week and where they got freight from and what cities they shipped to and from. He also shared that he rarely saw the same team and he knew why because he had talked to the other teams that had been there. He told us to have a good trip and we were off.

The next load was also one that we were dispatched on. We were pretty excited about it, it was something we had never done before and were glad to have something new to look forward to. One part of it was driving in downtown New York City. I know, this is not something very many truck drivers look forward to, but we thought that it would be an experience we would probably never forget. The load that we were carrying was also something we had never carried before. The not so new part for us was that it would be a secure load which is why I am not sharing anything else about it. So, we headed in the direction of our pickup.

I decided that I could use a pickmeup from McDonald's, a nice diet coke for the road. We were on US Route 15 and I kept thinking, I should run into one pretty soon. Well, first of all I'm never sure if they have truck parking or not, but have learned that most of them have enough space that we can park our straight truck in some out of the way parking spots or in a parking lot of a shopping center behind them. I passed one without realizing it until I was already by it and thought, there will be another one soon. I drove for a while and decided to get off an exit. Once I got off the exit it said that McDonald's was three miles away. Not bad I thought because we had enough time that we would actually be staying at a truck stop because the load didn't pick up til the next morning. Well, three miles was perfectly all right and then I figured out that I was in Gettysberg. I hadn't really paid much attention other than the McDonald's sign when I got off. I drove through the battlefield and then hit downtown where I decided to follow the highway instead of going down streets not knowing if they were truck friendly. Well, I never did find the McDonald's and then wasn't sure if I was heading in the right direction. Thank goodness for the GPS for getting me back on track. Turns out that Gettysberg is on the business route 15, so it just took me back to the regular route by just turning down another road. Still....no McDonald's, on down the highway I went.

I finally went up the road just a ways and found one that was just off the highway. I got up to the stop light and the truck started in, with the banging and not moving when you pushed on the accelerator. We got it going again and went to McDonald's and decided that we should call Expediter Services and see what we should do. Jim called and we tried to take out the transmission fuse and let it reset to see if that would do the trick. We were hoping that the fuse would do the trick. Not only were we excited about the load but we also needed the load since we had already missed having a load on Monday and a short load doesn't bring much income for a day's work. We wanted the truck fixed but were not looking forward to waiting around until it was fixed. We also knew that if the fuse wasn't it, then we would have to take it to the dealership which we knew would be at least a day's wait until we would be able to get it in.

After we placed the fuse back in, we left in the direction of our pickup. We didn't even make it to the highway until it did it again. This was so disappointing because we then knew we would have to take the truck into the shop and we would also have to be taken off the load we were so excited about. Of course, peace of mind is that it will be fixed and we were not stuck in downtown New York City with a broken down truck. Expiditers told us that if it was the shifter that eventually it would just quit on us and wouldn't move at all, now that would definitely not be fun anywhere let alone in the middle of New York City. We took the last stop as a sign from God that we were not to take our truck into New York City. Both of us are thankful that He told us before we made the trip, but pretty bummed that we lost the load. We called dispatch and they completely understood. We hated to be taken off the load, not only because we wanted the load but also because it causes extra work for the dispatchers and is also disappointing for our owner. Nothing we could do about it, but we still feel lousy because we feel that we have let others down and caused them extra work, especially when it means we are just sitting and waiting.

Jim called Kenworth and of course it was going to be Friday before we could get in, so currently we are in Carlisle, PA at the Petro waiting to be able to get in to Kenworth. Hopefully, they will be able to get us in early Friday so that we might be able to catch a load out this weekend.
Peace, Love and Joy.
Judy

Snowstorm in CT Oct. 29, 2011

I shared in the last post, we knew the snow storm was on its way and decided to stay put where we were and wait it out until our pickup on Monday. I think the eastern states thought that their Halloween weekend was a definite trick by mother nature where in other parts of the country she was handing out treats. Winter storms are a rarity in October. This one was anticipated and they knew it was going to be a doosy.

As we traveled through Massachusetts, there were warning signs on the road stating, "Winter storm and travel advisory in effect for Sat/Sun, take precautions." (or something like that). While we drive around the country, we pay special attention to weather so that we know what to expect on the road. So far we have had excellent weather with just a couple of exceptions, wind storm in North Dakota and cloud bursts in Maryland. Snow in the mountains is expected at this time of the year, but along the east coast, not usually. We read that normally the first significant snowfall is usually in December in Connecticut. The winter storm was calling for heavy snow within a 24 hour period and concerns were downed trees and power outages.

Friday night was pretty uneventful. We ate some supper and then caught up on some TV shows and facebook posts. By Saturday morning we began to hear the rumblings of people talking about the storm coming. Staff members were all talking and wondering if they would be able to go home early or if they would be able to get home at all. The restaurant was pretty calm and we hung out there most of the morning working on our computer. Our waitress noticed the first of the snow which kept changing from snow to rain and then back to snow again. It didn't take too long before it stayed as snow. Some of the younger staff were discussing that their parents had called to make sure they had their coats, blankets and their snow survival equipment. I heard one of them say, "I forgot all about my coat this morning, oh well." I think that she got off about mid afternoon. Definitely a good thing.

In Ohio, I've seen big snow flakes, but they don't usually last very long. The snowflakes during the storm were huge and they lasted most of the afternoon. It was probably one of the most beautiful snowfalls I have ever seen and it just kept coming and coming. The pictures below depict the snowfall in different stages. The one with the sunrise is actually the morning after the snow and let me tell you that was the beginning of a crazy day. The TA was actually pretty slow on Saturday during the storm except for the drivers who were waiting out the storm here.

We talked to a driver that was heading to St. Louis and stopped here because of the chaos on the interstate, he figured he'd just wait a while and head back out. The longer he sat and talked to us, the more horror stories we heard about the roads. His wife was a past accountant and just started driving her own truck. He was supposed to meet her in Ohio later Saturday/Sunday. The later it got, the worse it was and finally he decided he wasn't going anywhere. Truthfully we were glad because we got a chance to talk to him, swap driving and family stories and share pictures. It really helped pass the time during the storm.

While we were talking to him, we found out from another driver that they had just closed down the interstate because there were trees down across the interstate. Soon, we heard that there were thousands without power. It was pretty evident by the amount of utility trucks we saw coming through to get gas. Emergency responders were also coming in to get coffee, dinner and to fill up. Things started to look a little hectic, more drivers, more stories and the lights kept flickering. Jim decided that he probably should get some money out of the ATM just in case it would go out during the storm. We thought for sure they would wind up losing power.  The gas pumps were going off and on which was a very difficult thing for the staff to deal with but they hung in.

When we finally decided to go to the truck, we really should have thought through the storm and had our boots and gloves on. We walked through inches of snow as well as huge puddles of slush about ankle deep. Once we were in the truck, we read a little more about the storm and found out that in Connecticut the governor called a state of emergency and that there were over 700,000 people without power. Maryland and New Jersey had also called state of emergencies. We began to wonder about our load on Monday, wondering if they would have power and if the load would wind up getting canceled.

We woke up pretty early wondering what the storm had brought through the night. The snow removal had started in the parking lot during the night and we were surprised to see that the parking lot had already been cleared out and trucks were on their way out. We went inside and decided to hang out in the restaurant and our same waitress was there from the day before. When we sat down about 7am, there were just a handful of people. I'm not sure how much time passed while we were sitting, except that we had finished eating and had spent some time online. The waitresses and cooks had just been discussing who was going to be able to make it into work and who was stuck at home. We had also overheard that their card readers were acting up and were not reading cards. One driver tried to pay for his meal and gave two cards and both were denied. The waitress told him that it wasn't his cards, it was the card readers. Shortly after that, the people started pouring in, so much that Jim and I decided we'd better find another place to sit because they were going to need our seats for other customers. That was just the beginning.

At this truck stop, there are also three fast food restaurants, Popeyes, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. None of them opened until 10:00 am. Jim and I just sat and watched. The restaurants at Truck stops are usually steady but they usually turn customers over pretty quickly. The line that morning for the restaurant was as long as two of the fast food restaurants. Finally workers came in for the fast food restaurants but only one was able to open because registers were not working in the other two. I have never seen anything like it. People were talking and said that this block was the only block for miles and miles that had power and the only place to get gas. The staff worked as long as they could with the card readers acting up until at last the card readers went out. One of the staff went around posting signs that read, "Cash only". The traffic light was out and traffic was a mess. People really don't know what to do when the traffic lights are on the fritz.

Traffic craze, no gas for miles, line is never ending October2011 snowstorm in CT

If you can imagine, these kinds of crisis bring out the best and the worst in people. There was so much tension in the air. There were people who were just thankful that they had a place to go and eat and then there were others who thought that they were the only ones suffering and were upset because they had to wait in line or because they had to wait for service. The day went on and on and on. I swear that I saw staff members that were here when we came in at 7 and they were working non-stop with most of them still around when we went to the truck to go to bed. I thought it was kind of humorous when one of the taco bell staff came in for second shift and saw that they weren't open and started walking away. Almost in unison, I heard the whole 1st shift say, "Get back here, you're not going anywhere." A couple of them literally came out of their stations and drug him back to help with dishes. The Taco Bell and Pizza Hut staff had been working all day assisting where needed with clean up and let me tell you with all of the people, they really needed their help.

We talked to a driver that came in and said that he had been on the interstate Saturday night for four hours. There were downed trees and powerlines and people were just spinning in the road. There was so much snow, but it became deep slush and people could not move their vehicles. The interstate wound up shutting down completely while things were cleared. All the drivers who had been out in it just shook their heads and said it was chaos. Thank goodness for the most part everyone was safe, just inconvenienced.

At one point I headed upstairs to see what was on the big screen. I walked in and there was a row of truck drivers sitting and watching the screen. I looked at the screen and one of the drivers said, "Are you here to fix the TV?" I told him "no", but I was really curious to find out why they were all watching a screen with nothing on it. He said, "Wishful thinking and what do you mean, nothing, this is the best show I've seen in ages." I went back downstairs and later saw a driver head up the stairs and I asked him if the TV was working yet and he said no. I asked if they all were sitting and still watching nothing and he said, "No, we actually figured out that good old conversation can be just as entertaining." Amazing what power outages do, people actually have conversations, who would have thought?

Jim decided that he should go out and just check on the truck. So I sat with our techie gadgets while he went out. Soon a couple of college students and their mom came in and sat at the table right beside me. It turned out that they were on their way back to school. I asked them about their power at home. Evidently they had power and didn't realize the extent of the power outages. I shared with them the numbers and suggested they might want to call someone at school and see if they still had power because if not, they might just want to go home. One of the girls called and found out that they had power but no cable. Her comment was, "No cable, what are we going to do?" She was laughing because that was the only thing that was out, so that meant classes would probably still happen on Monday. I think secretly she was hoping they didn't have any power so they wouldn't have class. They soon left, because their mom didn't realize that she couldn't use her card to purchase things and the ATMs were out too.

After a loonngg time, I decided to call Jim and see what was wrong. He had been out at the truck for a long time and I thought maybe something had happened. It turned out that he had started talking to another driver about FedEx and expediting.  The driver and his wife teamed and drove a tractor and trailer for a company. Jim invited them to come in and talk to us. We gave them as much information as we could being newbies ourselves. They had actually already talked to a recruiter and were thinking about purchasing their own truck and were wanting to get into a straight truck. They had been team driving for about 7 years and really liked being out on the road together. I think we talked about everything under the sun, but mostly about what we do and our families. It is really energizing to talk to other teams about what we do. After a couple hours of talking, we exchanged numbers and email so that we could stay in touch.

We decided that we had better go out to the truck and go to bed since we had to get up at 4:30 am so that we could go pick up our load in NJ. Just before we left, we got a text from my little sister from college, so when we got out to the truck I got to talk to her. She was calling to ask how I liked driving a big rig. I shared with her that I really enjoyed it and then she told me why she was asking. Jody has a full time summer job that she really likes but she always struggles in the winter to find a job that makes ends meet. She had come across an article about moving RVs around the US and Canada and was thinking about checking into it. Of course that wasn't all we talked about, but we had a really good time talking and time flew by. I have shared on past posts about sleep and how difficult it is for me sometimes, so it isn't so smart for me to lose track of time so close to bedtime since we had to get up so early and I would be the one driving. Luckily I fell asleep right away after I got off the phone.

Jim and I woke up and were excited to be able to get back to work after the chaos of the weekend. We went inside and did our morning routine including purchasing my morning caffeine of soda. The staff at the fuel desk were using calculators to add because all of the registers were down. After we were done getting our morning caffeine, we went back out to the truck. Jim decided that he was going to do a walk around and help me check the lights. When he got back in the truck, he sat in the passenger side and looked out the windshield. He noticed right in front of him a crack in the windshield. It hadn't been there the night before. We have a theory. We think that when they plowed out the parking lot, a stone hit the windshield and dinged it and then with the mild weather in the day and then the freeze at night, the ding turned into a 10 inch crack.

One of the items on a pre and post trip inspection is the windshield. A cracked windshield is a major safety issue and it needed to get fixed before we went back on the road. We called dispatch and they put us out of service and took us off both of our loads, the one from NJ to Maryland and the one from Virginia to Ohio. Not good for the pocketbook but we both know things happen for a reason. Jim talked to the TA service people and they gave him the number of someone local and Jim called them. They said that they were so swamped that they wouldn't be able to get to us until tomorrow. We decided to call the Kenworth garage at the suggestion of our owner and found out they couldn't get us in until tomorrow either. We decided to call the local company back because they would come out to the truck and fix it and we wouldn't have to drive it anywhere. So, now we were stuck another day and without a load to look forward to.

Today TAs business is a little more reasonable but still busy. They ran out of gas yesterday, just got filled this morning and now at 5 pm are on the verge of running out of gas again. We have had such good experiences while we've been out but today something happened that just shocked me. Jim and I talk about how sheltered we have been growing up and even through our married life. We've heard about people still being racists but I have to say I've never really seen it in action until today. I had steam just running out of me. Jim caught part of it and evidently I caught the other part. Jim saw a young African American adult getting some things that he was going to purchase. The young man put some things in his pocket because he was having trouble carrying them and a caucasian guy just went off on him and said he was stealing and started yelling racist comments. Somehow another young man got involved and the yelling continued as I was coming out of the bathroom, smack dab in the middle of it. They were talking about fighting right then and there and the man kept saying racist things, that is when I started steaming. The manager came back and told them to break it up or he would call the police and the one screaming the racist comments said go ahead. Another one of the staff members took the young adult by the shoulders and walked him in another direction and said, it is not worth it. The general manager and myself walked behind him and both told him that some people are just ignorant and he wasn't worth getting himself in trouble. This just made my stomach turn, I was angry and hurt that a human being could have so much hate in his heart to talk to another human being like that. I just hope that since this was the first time I witnessed, I would not ever witness something like that again.

Sorry that I had to vent about this, but it really upset me and I don't ever want any person to have to experience that hate from anyone. As I end this post I hope that everyone who reads this will take time to love others, not degrade them in anyway because it affects everyone around. God created this world in love. Loving God is the number one commandment and the second one is love your neighbor as yourself. I really hate to think how the man who was saying racist things felt about himself because if he treated someone else so badly, he must feel pretty crappy about himself. I like my cup half full and enjoy seeing the good in people. The only thing I can think is that by watching this situation unfold, it showed others just how wrong it is to treat another person the way that he did. Thank God for the loving friends and family that I have and that racism was something I was sheltered from.

Love, peace and joy,
Judy

And so the snow begins, Oct. 29, 2011 in Southington, Connecticut

After home back on the road

This week has been different than our past weeks on the road. I'm not sure if I shared earlier that our truck status changed. A couple of weeks ago, we decided to look into doing T-Val (Temperature Validated) loads which are loads that require temperature control but have much more stringent temperature regulations and much smaller range of temps. The sensors in the box have to be set precisely and it normally takes a couple days at FedEx running the tests and qualifying for these loads.

As Jim was checking on T-Val, the consultant said that we weren't even in their system as hauling reefer loads (which means refrigerated). Jim and I both figure that probably happened when our reefer went down and needed work done on it. I shared in an earlier blog that our reefer broke down in the middle of a load but we were fixed and finished the load. We didn't realize that there was a way we could check on our truck  status, so we went and checked and then realized that we were not flagged with our lift gate either.Needless to say, once we figured that out, our load offers changed drastically, the week before we went home and this week. We've hauled probably at least 4 loads that were temp assured and now 2 or three that required a lift gate. Advice I would give to newbies is to check on your trucks' status ever so often because to us, nothing had changed about our truck but for some reason it had for FedEx.


Getting back to our loads from this last week. We left our house heading for Middletown, OH (the pickup was less than a mile from where Jim lived when he was little) about 4 in the morning. We were both definitely excited to get back on the road. There is an anticipation while we are on the road. Usually we have an idea about what we will be hauling but do not know details until we pick it up. This load was hazmat and we knew that we would have 6 dewars and three cylinders of helium. Jim enjoys hauling these loads because it reminds him of a job that he used to have at a welding supply business. The pickup was at a business very similar. Pickup was scheduled for 8 and we got there about 7:20, so we wound up waiting for them to get in. This gave me an opportunity to squeeze in a quick nap.

With dewars, we usually use load bars and straps to secure the load. We also use furniture pads where the metal part of the strap meets the dewar, just a little added protection. The dewars were filled with liquid helium and the cylinders with compressed helium.

Hazmat loads have different regulations than regular loads. Paperwork is required to list that the load is hazmat and the order in which the identification is done is very specific. The drivers are responsible for checking that the correct numbers are on the paperwork and that the numbers are also visable on the load itself. Dispatch does assist with this, because when you do the departure call they have you read off what is listed on the paperwork and then ask you if you checked the load. Dispatch also reviews the rules on carrying the hazmat load. Each driver also has a hazmat regulation and reponse book and that book must be marked to the appropriate page and all paperwork including the book has to be within arms reach and needs to be set on the drivers seat if the driver is out of the truck. The book gives specific instructions for what to do in case of a spill. In the case of helium, it is pretty safe unless you inhale an extreme amount of it. Our truck has the metal placard flip cards, if it wouldn't have those the customer would give us the placards to put on our truck. The pickup was easy and Jim was able to get to roll the cylinders which is evidently like riding a bike, once you know how to do it you don't forget.

Off to Indianapolis with our load of Helium (and no the truck did not float away, we kept all wheels on the ground, although the mental picture is kind of humorous). Jim likes to look up on Google Maps exactly where we are going so that we can get a road side peak at the building we will be looking for. I was concerned because it was a hospital and we were going to a larger city. My thought was that it was probably right downtown, not a favorite thing to do among truck drivers. He shared that it was on the outskirts and that it pretty much stood alone (I was relieved).

Once we arrived at our delivery we had to call and tell them that we were there. When Jim got off the phone, he knew exactly where we were going. The hospital has a portable MRI machine and the helium was for the machine. The machine was in a trailer and parked in a parking lot with a gate and the only way to get to it was to go past the parking lot and then back across two lanes of traffic and back into the parking lot. I was feeling pretty powerful so I told Jim, if he did the backing I would stop traffic. Lucky for us it was hospital visitor traffic and not really a through street and there was a light at one end and a stop sign at the other, so traffic was already moving slowly.

As I was taught in driving school, always have a plan, know where you are going and have an escape route so that you know how you are going to get out. Most people who drive truck can tell you, many times you can get a truck in somewhere but then you can not get it out. We had a good plan, back in and pull out. As safety goes, we really don't like to back up unless we have to (backing into docks is even dangerous because you are unable to see directly behind you), in this instance we had to. Thank goodness it was a beautiful fall day because we unloaded outside.


We were less than a mile from our delivery when we received our next load. The load was for the next day to pick up in Indiana and drop off in Ohio. We both thought...been there done that. I thank God every day that I have a husband with a memory. Since the load did not pick up until the next day, we knew that we were going to spend the night in Indiana. Jim, thankfully remembered that one of my cousins lived in the area. I texted her thinking she was probably still at work and also called and left her a voice mail. By 5, we figured she probably was doing something else and then we got a phone call from her. She shared that she had left her phone at home and just got our message and was wondering where we were.

Sarah was able to come to the truckstop and hang out with us for a couple of hours. It is so nice to be able to see family and friends while we are on the road. As we cousins got older we didn't see each other as often as we did when we were kids. Now it seems like we only see each other for weddings and funerals, so it was a blessing to just be able to stop and hang out catching up and talking. (talking in this day and age is becoming a lost art). If we would have been able to visit longer I'm sure a mean game of rummy or euchre would have entered the picture. We were glad to hear that everyone was doing ok and also to know to keep her sister and kids in prayer, as well as her mom as she travels back and forth to Ohio to be with one of my other aunts. Close families are so cool, although I don't know how it works not to be in a close family. We appreciate so much our family (all of it...extended and immediate), they are always there and Sarah was there for us that evening during a time that could have been a boring evening with just Jim and I. It turned out to be a fun night with a wonderful person!  As we get more used to our schedules and driving, I'm sure we will have a chance to visit even more of our relatives and friends across the country.

The next morning we picked up our next load. This was another hazmat load, although it was a little different. This load was buckets of hazardous material. The load also had non hazardous materials. The total weight for the whole load was over 1000 lbs. The hazardous material made up only 1/2 the load and the non hazardous material made up the other half. This was a good thing because we did not have to placard for the hazardous material because it was less than 1,000 lbs. In our driving world, sometimes being placarded is like having a bulls-eye on you for inspection stations, so we are always happy when we don't have to be placarded. Hazmat is part of our job and loads pay well so it is worth the headache of possibly being stopped. An  inspection isn't a bad thing and they are there to keep our roads safe. It is just the time it takes for the inspection and if you keep your truck in good working condition it is just a pain to have to stop and not to mention a little nerve racking when you are a newbie. This load was one pallet and an easy on load, secured with a load bars and straps. The delivery was even more simple, we pulled in and we really thing we broke some sort of record  in time, I think we backed in and it was about 2 minutes and we were pulling out. We figured this was probably the easiest load we had so far.

On our way to the delivery, we received a load opportunity for our next load. I'm not sure if I've shared before, but this is considered being predispatched. Once we deliver then we receive the 12 messages (which is normal for all loads) for the next load. The 12 messages are the details of the trip and the freight and any notes about the shipper and the receiver as well as suggested routing for both. The next load picked up in New York and went to Canada. The load did not pick up until the next day, so we headed for New York and decided to stay in Pennsylvania for the night which was about 85 miles from our pickup. Jim brushed up on Canada since we hadn't been there in about a month.

Customs need certain information from our customer and from FedEx and require stickers on the paperwork and to have the Canandian permit. This load was temperature controlled pharmaceuticals but not considered hazmat. With a temp control load, we have to make sure that we turn on the reefer so that it reaches the correct temperature before we reach the shipper. The more drastic the temperature is on the outside, the longer the reefer needs to run to reach the correct temperature. The time from the truckstop to the delivery was plenty of time for the reefer to reach the temperature for the load.

The pickup was a business that had been bought out by a Canadian company and now they were closing their doors so the company was shipping their materials to the sister company in Canada, Texas and the Carolinas. The woman in charge of the shipment was a lot of fun to work with. At this facility they did a lot of testing of pharmaceuticals. She shared that the FDA was putting so many regulations on them, that companies were disappearing left and right. It appears that with so many regulations, the business was no longer productive because there were so many hoops that needed to be jumped through and then there still was no guarantees.

When she started there, she had started in the lab where she was responsible for testing materials which she really enjoyed. Like every great worker, her bosses, thought she would make a wonderful supervisor and that was what she was doing when they decided to close down. She has decided to go back to school to be a nurse which she is looking forward to. We had a discussion about how Jim and I decided to go into team driving. She loves the whole idea and can't wait until her daughter becomes of age because she thinks that is what she would like to do because she loves to drive and she really enjoys seeing the country. She shared that she had been talking to a lot of drivers these past few weeks and everyone seemed like they really enjoyed what they were doing. I told her that we always thought that we would retire and RV around the country and that life presented this opportunity which meant that we could do something similar and get paid for it.

Another part of our job that we like is meeting people like her. She had a bright and cheery smile and had such a great outlook on life and here she was about to lose her job. I strongly believe that attitude in life is everything and she had a good one and because of it, she is able to turn what others would see as lousy into something good.

This particular load consisted of 40 boxes and it required a lift-gate. The first part of the shipment, the shipper put on a cart the we took up on the lift-gate. While we were loading the truck, one of the guys who worked there came by and said, I have a better idea. Soon he came to the truck with a cart of boxes and had them on a forklift. This worked much better, as he just placed the cart on the edge of the truck and loading was much easier. We were all very thankful that he took his time to help and to offer his services to help others.

Once we had our paperwork done, the shipper faxed our paperwork to FedEx. She told us that usually the paperwork would take about an hour to clear customs and then we would be able to cross the border. We asked her if it would be all right if we stayed in their parking lot until we had been notified by dispatch that we had cleared customs. She said that was fine. So we waited until dispatch notified us that our paperwork cleared customs and then headed for the Peace Bridge. The trip through customs went fine. The only question he stumped me on was when was our last trip to Canada, I wasn't prepared for that one and I don't remember these things. I did the little, ummmmmm and then said about a month ago. He just smiled and asked how long we had been driving and I told him since August.

Phew, got through that, onto beautiful Canada and the lovely traffic of Toronto.
Every load we have had that went to Canada has been in Ontario and we've had to travel around Toronto on 401. Now we have an understanding that if we go to Canada, we know we will be sitting in a lot of traffic, this trip was no different. We were able to make it through the traffic and to the delivery on time. The delivery had a dock which in most cases would have made things easier but because these boxes were all separate, each of the 40 boxes had to be moved separately and put on a cart. It took some time to get unloaded but not a problem. The people at this delivery were Indian and for some reason I have a difficult time understanding their accents when they speak English. I tend to think it is probably more my hearing than their accent, I am getting a little older. They all were friendly and the paperwork was a breeze, so we were unloaded as quickly as we could be with the separate boxes.

Toronto Traffic

After we were done, we called our fleet manager to see if it was smart to stay in Toronto or if we should head back to the states. She said to stay the night in Toronto and if we didn't get a load by tomorrow then, she would send us to the states. Since it was only about 1:00 in the afternoon, I said to Jim, why don't we see if we can find a mall and hang out for a while and maybe we could even stay over if they allowed truck parking. Since we didn't know Toronto very well, we looked up malls on the GPS and there was a mall called the Pacific mall, we thought we'd give it a shot. We set our GPS to no tolls, so it took us through what I would call suburbs of Toronto.

Jim was driving and he gets a little uptight when driving through the city and of course it was again crazy traffic. By the time we got to the mall we had made some observations about the neighborhoods we traveled through. It seemed that we were traveling through first a very predominately Indian neighborhood and then we felt like we had just travelled overseas to Eastern Asia. All signs were in symbols and we were unable to read any of them,. There weren't any McDonald's or any places that we recognized and then we found the mall that did have an English sign but all the other signs of the stores were not in English. It was like we were in the twilight zone. If we hadn't been so tired from fighting traffic, I think that we would probably have stopped just to see what it was like inside. I do have to admit, I think that I would have felt a little self conscious, everyone else would be speaking a different language and we obviously were not Asian. To put it mildly, we would have stuck out like a sore thumb. I wish we would have thought to just take a picture, it probably was the closest I would ever get to traveling overseas to an Asian country. There were signs in the lot that limited parking so we decided to head to a truck stop.

In the good ole USA, truck stops are easy to find, we have an app for them:) We used our app and found out that there was a Flying J's that wasn't too far but of course on the other side of town. So, through traffic we went to find the Flying J's. I was in the sleeper when I heard Jim, say (in a little louder than normal voice), "This is just a gas station, no truck parking, what in the world." Plan B we didn't have so we looked for another one and drove off to it. This time we knew we were on the right track because there were many trucks turning in that direction. The truck stop we stayed at was very small but it was all we needed. We spent the night and the next morning we decided to head to a service plaza that would be somewhat on our way to the USA in case we got a load. We found our way to the service plaza and went in  and got some hot chocolate. As we sat I made some observations.

In Canada, they actually still have and use phone booths, not just at the service plaza but in town and believe it or not, people still actually use them. Another observation I made was that in the service plaza very few people were using cell phones. I have a few theories about the cell phone usage in the plaza. For example, maybe in their culture it is impolite to have the cell phones out in public. Another theory is that cell service is extremely expensive in Canada. Jim stated that the people we actually saw using cell phones were probably American. Our family in general tries to put the cells away when out eating somewhere. I think that even in the United States, people still respect time with family and cell phones are put away, like for instance while the family is eating together. Of course that will probably change as the generation who have always had cell phones will start having kids. Hopefully the cell phones will not take over so much so that we lose discussions and conversation. There is something to be said about face to face discussions. As a society, in my opinion, if we rely so much on communication through technology, we will no longer be able to read people and understand body language and non-verbals. (of course, that would also mean, you can't see someone's eyes roll, I could always do without that:).

Canadian Phone Booth (hard to see, but it's there!)

After our hot chocolate, we headed back out to the truck and wound up being dispatched for the next day, so we started off to the states. We arrived at the border about 1:00 pm, which worked out great, we didn't have to wait in the staging yard, we were able to just go across the Peace Bridge. Customs always gives me a little anxiety, am always afraid I'm going to answer questions and wind up having them pull us over. Also, we have heard that coming back into the US is more stringent than going into Canada, of course most of those stories are from Detroit, but I still worry. I know the more we do it the less anxious it will be. Going through customs this time was surprising.

View from the Peace Bridge Entering the US

 
The first question we were asked was, "So you are buckeyes?' and then he went on to say, "I'm so sorry."   That broke the tension I was feeling right then and there. He took our passports and continued to talk to us. We've only been across the border a few times and usually the people are all business, but this man made our day, was pleasant and really interested in us. We talked for a while about Ohio and the Buckeyes and that his name closely resembled my maiden name (his was Burke and mine was Burks). We gave him our ACE paperwork and then we were cleared to go. It was so nice to have someone that put you at ease right from the beginning. He sent us on our way by saying, "It was really nice talking to you." Wow!

Our next load picked up in New York and delivered in Connecticut. We spent the night in New York about 7 miles from our pickup. We left about 6:30 for our pickup at 8:00. When planning, we always take into consideration city traffic. If we leave too late we wind up in traffic which could make us late to our delivery, if we leave too early we risk having to sit and wait until the shipper is ready. We usually choose to arrive early and wait. The company did not come in until 8 so we waited for just a little while. There was actually another custom critical truck in front of us with a delivery. They told us that they had just come from Connecticut (exactly where we delivered) and had driven through lots of snow (in their words, a blizzard) and had arrived for their delivery at midnight. The business allowed them to stay overnight in the parking lot which we thought was awesome. It turns out that they were from Ohio too.

After they unloaded, we were able to pick up our load. I'm still not quite sure what our load was, but it was categorized as electronics. The men who helped load the equipment were really helpful and fun to talk to.  As always the topic of weather comes up and we talked about the small snowfall the evening before and what the east coast we expecting for the weekend. One of the men shared that he enjoyed winter, that his family and he went camping in the winter in Canada and Pennsylvania. I just had to ask, "In a tent?", really thinking he would reply, are you kidding? Instead, he said, "Yes, in a tent." My next question was, "So, are you a scout or a scout leader.", considering I know that boy scouts have campouts in the winter. The other man chimed in, "No, he isn't a scout and the funny thing is, I am and I think he's crazy." We all talked a while longer about family and the outdoors then signed paperwork and we were off to Connecticut.

A little snow on the Mass. Turnpike

 We traveled through New York and Massachusetts on the New York and Massachusetts Turnpikes. This is one of Jim's favorite drives, and the scenery was very beautiful. We were not expecting there to be as many leaves left on the trees as there was, but we were very glad to get to see a little "fall color".  Another thing we were not expecting to see was SNOW! we started seeing some on the higher elevations, and then lower down. The picture below shows one area where it was Fall on one side of the road and Winter on the other! Very interesting. (And a little foreshadowing for the upcoming weekend!)

Fall /  Winter at the same time!

In Connecticut we pulled into the dock and one of the guys brought out a cart and loaded the containers on it. The conversation on the dock was about the coming storm. After the cart was loaded one of the other guys from the dock came onto the truck and said sarcastically to the other guy, "Here, let me help you with that, you know I do all the work around here and you never help." At that point he pulled the cart across where the dock met our truck and as he did, the handle of the cart slipped right out and the containers shifted backward. Nothing hurt, but the guys on the dock said, "And you, the head of safety. We probably should get someone to weld that together so that doesn't happen again." Everyone thought that was pretty humorous.

Once we were loaded, we decided to go to the TA and wait to see if we could get a another load.  We knew that we probably would not get a load for the weekend but were hoping to get a load for Monday. We accepted about 4 loads before we were dispatched onto our load for Monday. It would be picking up in NJ, so we decided to spend the weekend in Connecticut. Paying special attention to the weather, we were glad that we weren't going anywhere until Monday. The snow was to hit on Saturday and  Sunday and Monday were supposed to be in the 50s so we knew the snow would be melted by the time we needed to leave. For the area there was worry of downed trees and power outages because the trees all still had their leaves and were still weakened by the tropical storm they had earlier and because of the weight and amount of snow that they were expecting.
Pictures and stories about our winter storm October weekend in Connecticut will be updated in our next post.

Well, almost updated to present time. Still loving our job and loving the people we meet. One adventure right after another, one day at a time!

Happy Halloween everyone! Happy Reformation Day!
Peace and blessings,
Judy                                                  

Travels 2 before going home

Monday morning, we were still in Clearwater. We thought we would wind up with a load Sunday night but that wasn't the case. Monday morning was an absolutely gorgeous fall day, so after we hung around the truck, we decided to take a short bike ride to pick up a few things from the store, knowing that we could be back to the truck if we were sent a load opportunity.

We started riding and went to the pharmacy across the way. On our way, we noticed that there was a bike path and decided to follow it for a while. It wound up going down by the Mississippi river. It was a wonderful ride and had good downhill riding but we knew that by the end we would be riding back up the hill. The picture below is a stream that feeds into the Mississippi along the bike trail.


After our uphill battle on the way back, we started to load our bikes into the back of the truck and received a load opportunity. We were dispatched and were on our way once again. We picked up clutch parts north of Minneapolis. The funny thing about this trip was that we had been there and done that before. It was one of our first loads that we had successfully picked up but were not able to deliver due to truck issues. Teams that we've talked to say it is rare to go to the same customers more than one time, it happens, but not very often.

I was very happy to be back at this customer because I had spent quite a bit of time talking to the guy on the dock and was hoping that he was there so I could see how he was doing. He was a musician in his younger years, meaning he travelled with a band all over, then he settled down and had a family. His wife had some health problems in the past and now they were getting a divorce and he was working on getting custody of his son and moving to a new house. Lots of other things he shared and I just was glad that we were headed there and I could see how things were going for him. He had also shared with me that he kept a very detailed journal that someday he thought he would put into a book. He said that he had kept one through all the periods of his life. As we left the last time, I encouraged him and told him to keep writing and it all would make a great book someday.

When we pulled up to the building there was another FedEx CC truck there. This was the first time they had been there. Their box was about as big as ours but they did not have a tag axle. We were hauling about 10,000 lbs and we definitely use our tag on the heavier loads. The other driver was worried and called dispatch (which was funny because that is exactly what we did on our first trip there, which is why I was able to  talk to the gentleman on the dock for so long). I wasn't able to talk to him as much because they were busy. He got us loaded and I was able to ask him quickly how things were going and he shared that he had gotten custody of his son and they were in the midst of moving into a new house. He still cares for his wife and her limitations but felt that it all was too much for his son, so they both decided that it would be better if his son moved out and was with his dad. He said everything was crazy but it was all worth it to do what was good for his son. He and I both agreed that it was odd that we were back and were able to see him again. The last time we were there we picked up when he was there but it wasn't the normal shift that he worked and this time we picked up when he usually worked. I am sure that God had a reason for us to be there twice in such a short period of time.

The load took us back down to Texas. This time we picked up another state we had not been in, as we drove through Oklahoma on our way down. I think this trip is where we actually started getting our sleep down pretty good and were getting into a routine. Before we delivered, we were offered another load that picked up the next day. Once we delivered, we decided to stay in the truck stop in Laredo overnight and head to the pickup the next morning. We didn't pick up until later in the afternoon, early evening. This truckstop is pretty neat, because they have expediter parking in the front. We saw a few panther trucks, a couple of FedEx trucks and vans from both companies.

Laredo is an extremely busy freight area, trucks everywhere which I believe I have mentioned before. There is now talk, which I won't get into, that the United States is now going to allow Mexican trucks to deliver and pickup in the USA. It will be interesting to see how this will all work out. Currently, Mexico truck drivers are limited to a certain distance into the United States, with the new regulations the drivers would not be limited. Lots of talk on Expeditersonline about this particular topic.

Jim was sleeping and I was hanging out in the truckstop surfing the net and facebooking and of course people watching. I noticed a woman sitting not too far from me.  At first I didn't really think too much about her and then heard her talking. Then she raised her voice and I looked over and found out that she wasn't talking to anyone, at first I thought that she was on a cell phone talking to someone but that wasn't the case. Then I noticed something else, she had a stack of clothes neatly folded sitting on the table beside her and a coffee cup in front of her. There was also about 20 containers of cream and about the same amount of sugar packets. I went back to my computer  and continued to hear her talking very loudly and in some cases using some not so good language. Not really knowing for sure, I thought that she was probably homeless and maybe had some type of mental illness. I went back to my computer and was just listening.

Soon, I heard her ask a gentleman who was ordering at Burger King if he had some money to buy her a hamburger. He told her no, of course this was pretty much right after she had raised her voice and was using some vulgar language toward someone that wasn't there. I'm not sure why he told her no, it just might be that he isn't able to give, was afraid of her, had given all he could, was in a hurry, or maybe thought that it doesn't help her enough to give her handouts, who knows....there are so many times  that I have turned down people to give them money because I have heard so many horror stories. Now, I give when I'm able and try hard not to make it a difficult decision because I've been taught to help those who cannot help themselves and I truly believe that Jesus died for everyone and the commandment that says love thy neighbor as yourself, I take to heart.

Feeding the hungry and looking after the poor. I know that God didn't give up on any of us and that is why he sent Jesus. In what I understand from the Bible, I want to not give up on others and I do not want to judge them. I know that I do sometimes, but I really feel that Jesus taught us to understand each other and that God made each of us in our own uniqueness and yes he has given us so many different people who understand his teachings better than we do. So I decided to ask the woman to come over.

I asked her if she needed a sandwich and she said yes. I gave her some money to get a sandwich. She decided to go to subway and got a footlong sub with all the fixins. At first she didn't know what to order and then she figured it out. She said to me thank you so much and God bless you. I told her God bless you too. Then she went and sat down, I shot her a smile and then she asked me, do you want half of the sandwich? She really caught me off guard. I told her, that's all right you save the other half for later. I continued working on the computer and looked up a little later and saw the other half of the sandwich neatly wrapped and sitting beside her clothes and coffee. She continued to talk to herself for the rest of the time I was there. Now that I think about it,  I wish that I would have stopped and got another sandwich and sat with her for a while, I'm sure she could have taught me a lot, because just when I thought that I was doing something good for someone else, she offered me half her sandwich. It reminded me of the story in the Bible about giving. When a woman gives when she has hardly anything herself. I have no idea what it is like to be hungry or homeless or what it is like to have a mental illness and be homeless, but what I do know is that we are all God's children and He wants us to take care of each other and sometimes it is the homeless taking care of the ones who have a home.

After a good nights sleep we headed the next day to our pickup. This load I can not discuss because it was a secure load. What I want to share is what it means to deliver a secure load. In a secure load, you may not stop anywhere until after you've run 200 miles. The truck is secured, locked and sealed. After 200 miles, you may stop but you can not be any further than 25 feet from the truck. We also have to notify dispatch when we stop for any reason, even if it is going to be for just five minutes. For obvious reasons these loads are run in teams so that there is always someone available to be with the load. We are to be on the look out for suspicious activity. This type of load makes me feel like we are part of something secretive and very important. Customers will tell you that you are carrying priceless materials, meaning what we are carrying can not be replaced. Some things that might be carried are documents, computers with information, pieces for highly specialized projects and yes at times we do not know what we are hauling because it is determined we are on a need to know basis and we don't need to know. So, since it was a secure load, you are on a need to know basis and I can not discuss it with you or anyone else. We can not even talk to our family about where we are going, we just tell them we are on a secure load and we can not discuss anything about it. After we deliver the load, we are then able to touch base with them and tell them where we are and what we'll be doing for our next load. (as long as it is not a secure load). Once we delivered our secure load, we were off to our next load.

This load picked up in Virginia and delivered in Maryland. We were excited for this load because it put us in Maryland where we knew we would have time to spend with some friends. This is one of the best perks of the job. We were able to spend a couple days with friends that we normally don't get to see very often, about once every 3-6 years and usually it was because Mark's work brought him in our direction. Mark and Margot are great friends and as people go, there aren't many that come as good as them. We spent time catching up on our kids and family, ate great homecooked spaghetti with homemade sauce. It also just happened to be their son, Corin's homecoming, so we were able to be there to take pictures and help him pick out a tie to go with his shirt and suit.  We were able enjoy our time together with great fall weather with a little driving tour and walks. Of course it was like we were young again, stayed up til the wee hours of the night (ok...midnight is wee when you are 40 something), Jim and Mark were able to jam with the guitar and keyboard while Margot and I shut the door so we could hear each other talk. We had an amazing time with them and are really looking forward to meeting up with them again when we are back in the area. We are really grateful that they are flexible and were able to spend so much time with us on such short notice. Mark is away a lot with his job and we were very fortunate that he was home


Our load from Viriginia to Maryland was electronics and was a company to company transport. Pretty uneventful, although the DC traffic was a little more eventful. It was just packed with traffic both ways, slow moving but at least moving. Jim and I both thought it was better than we expected. Mark shared with us that we were on the inner loop and there weren't very many times that the traffic wasn't heavy. We made the pickup and delivery without a problem although we tried to get on the other side of town before rush hour which helped us and traffic could have been much worse if we had planned to travel differently.


Our next plan was to try to get home by Thursday because our son, Casey was coming home from Florida. We were hoping to get to spend at least a couple days with him before he headed back out the next Monday and both girls were going to be home too. We had been out about 4 weeks so we thought it would be a great time to be home. Since this was our second time heading home, we knew we had to start looking for an opportunity to head that direction. When we were on our way to deliver, we had an opportunity to take a load to Georgia but we turned it down. As Jim put it, that is in the opposite direction of home. I was kind of thinking, you know it was a good paying load, you should have taken it and we could have gotten back up toward home on the next load, now we'll probably have to sit out a day because there won't be any others that are going to head home. Just as I was thinking that we were offered another load, none other than picking up in Virginia (almost where we had picked up our last load) and headed for of course...Ohio. Jim goes with his gut sometimes when we accept or deny a load, this time I'm glad his gut told him to deny the first one, so we could head home a little earlier than we planned.

We made good use of our time in Ohio. We stopped by the FedEx CC office and were able to pick up some paper supplies that otherwise we would have probably have had shipped. We were able to touch base with our trainer from orientation and let her know about our very first load which gave her a good laugh (Canada and hazmat, really...). It was a training day so we weren't able to speak to our contract coordinator (cc) or our recruiter, they were busy with the new trainees. One of our questions was about our uniform change and truck decals. Our wonderful security guard gave us the information we needed, they didn't have a definate time frame on either. Well that answered that!

Next stop home. Since we take so many scenery pictures while on the road, we decided that we would take some pictures at home and post the beautiful scenery in Ohio.  Honey creek runs right through our backyard and I have included it in this post. Funny thing...when we are out on the road, I am always on the lookout for wildlife. When I get home I just expect our usual, deer, skunk, racoons, opposums, snakes...the usual. Well when I stepped out of the truck, I heard a bird that I had never heard before, it was an odd noise and having lived in our house for 12 years, I hadn't heard it. I quickly ran out to the back yard because I knew it was coming from the creek. I was just in time to see two bald eagles take off from a tree in our backyard along the creek. What an amazing sight!


While we were home the APU in the truck decided to quit. So while the girls were picking up Casey from the airport, we had to run the truck to Toledo and get the APU fixed. It turned out that it had been a filter that needed to be changed. As we were just about ready to leave, we decided to check the heat since it would be getting cold soon. Come to find out the heat wasn't working (the heat that was coming out of the APU, the actual truck heat worked fine), so back into the shop it went for just a few minutes. There was a wire that had come loose, so they fixed that and we went back home.

We had a great visit with all of our family including nieces and nephews. All of us were able to get together on Sunday night before we went out on the road again. Our family is pretty close nit and we try to get together as much as we can. I am so glad that my sisters started the "Let's hang out at mom and dad's on Sunday evening" (the only time we were all off work, or at least the majority of us).  It was such a nice time, I was able to spend time helping my nephews with their school work and giving my niece a really hard time (which is my job when I'm home). Our kids were doing good and we were able to visit with them for a while. Casey had warned us that he was planning on visiting with his college buddies while he was home and had planned on taking Katie and Kira with him. Well, he wound up making that a family event and took two of my nephews and one of my nieces as well as his sisters. It is so fun to see them grow up and to also see them being able to stay connected to family. They all grew up together and are not only family but really close friends, so it makes sense that they all still like to hang out. Jim and I are so proud of our three kiddos and all of our nieces and nephews. They are all growing into such wonderful people. God has truly blessed our family and we are so glad that we are a part of such a great group of people!

Even though we planned to leave on Monday, we went back into service the Friday before, hoping that we would be predispatched on a load for Monday. It worked, we were predispatched on a load that went from Middletown OH to Indianapolis, Indiana, short run but paid well. The dead head miles were actually more than the actual run miles. I now only have to update on this last week's activities and I'll do that in the next post.

We are quickly approaching the time of year I love so much. Special time to spend with family. Today count your blessings and hug the ones you love! Life is never so busy that we can't spend some time talking to or being with family and friends. We are a social species, relationships are what we are all about! Love and laughter is the best medicine in the world, spend a little time with both!
Judy

Winter Weather - Fun in Connecticut

We are sitting in a truckstop near Hartford, Connecticut. It is snowing, but luckily we don't have to be in New Jersey till Monday morning. Been sitting here most of the day enjoying the snow. Have heard from some other drivers there are trees down blocking the interstate to the south of us, and some of the truckstops in Pennsylvania are without power. We are just sitting tight, watching it snow!

Trips before heading home

Jim mentioned our trips before we went home, I just wanted to write about some of our adventures and people we saw along the way.

Just before we went into Denver, Jiim and I had discussed that we didn't understand when the sitting in expediting happened. All of our sitting seemed to be planned by us by putting ourselves out of service just to take some time off. Once we got to Denver, I told Jim he had jinxed us. We wound up sitting Monday and Tuesday after taking the weekend off to go to Estes Park. We had enjoyed our time off and were ready to get back to work. So in Denver, we learned to be patient and wait.

The parking lot at the truck stop was crazy, it is probably the busiest truckstop we have ever been in. As we walked from our truck to the truckstop, the fuel lines and entrance were on our way. I'm not quite sure what made it different except that there were parking spaces everywhere and it was one of those places that the trucks were all moving from various directions. We finally figured out that we needed to take the long way around and stay close to the parked trucks instead of taking the diagonal short cut. It was so busy that quite a few of the fuel islands were out of fuel which then meant more chaos. The truckstop itself was very nice it was just making it inside. Being intelligent human beings by the end of our time there we figured out how to avoid the chaos. Walking a few extra steps actually provided us with a little more exercise which is much better for us anyway, not to mention saving our lives from the truck traffic.

While laying over in Denver, we made the best of our time  by cleaning out the truck, checking on the inside and outside making sure everything was in good running condition. After the cleaning, laundry and other things were done, we were able to venture over to a Custom Critical truck that was parked on the other side of the truckstop. We met a wonderful team that we spent a few hours just talking to about lots of things including the expediting business.

We really appreciated the time they spent talking to us. They shared with us that some teams really don't talk to other teams  because in essence we are in competition with each other. The problem with that is that teams learn from other teams. If it weren't for others in the business, we wouldn't know what to do. We have other teams that we call when we have a question and are stuck on something or stuck somewhere. Other teams are a wealth of information and most of the time questions are just logistical or organizational. Another benefit to talking to other teams is that when you are away from home, they become your network, people who know what you are going through, the ups the downs and the business part. So, I guess what I'm saying is that if you've been in the business for a long time or are new, it is great to talk to others in the business and learn from each other which is what we have done since we've started.

Sherry and Sam were great to talk to. First we did the little wave from afar and then walked up to the window where we saw Sherry sitting and told her that we were CC drivers. From there we just started talking, of course the first part was just sharing where we were from and how long we had been working for FedEx, then to fleet owners, then to our travels, how long we had been sitting and talking to them about their past experiences in Denver. We learned so much from them about just the business part in general.

Sherry has a degree in accounting so she was informing us of some of the things to think about for tax purposes. For example, some teams do not realize that while they are away from home, each member gets a 50 some dollars a day for food. With expediting, you are out more than you are home, so this works out well for tax purposes. She was also sweet enough to share how she keeps her runs, mileage and totals. They work with a fleet owner, but they pay for their own fuel and have a different percentage than we do. We really appreciated the time that both Sherry and Sam spent talking with us about the business and advising us newbies about the business.

Our conversations were split between business and family. It has been so long since we talked to them, there maybe a little fog in the memory area of what we talked about and some of the details. They have grandkids that are very precious to them. Sherry and I talked about education and her grandson. I was excited to share with her that I had been in education and specialized in gifted education. I enjoyed sharing with her the characteristics of gifted kids, the good, bad and ugly. Her grandson was going to be entering kindergarten and she was worried about him. Her son had been identified and lost interest in school in about junior high, she didn't want that to happen to her grandson. The social and emotional part of gifted is what I love to talk about to other people. Her and I talked for quite some time about school, learning and social, emotional issues for gifted kids. This type of conversation with Sherry is one of the reasons I believe so much in gifted education. I was glad to be able to discuss it with her.

It is also times like this, that I enjoy being on the road and being able to talk to parents and family about giftedness. There isn't any politics, except to warn them about the politics behind educating a gifted child. I don't have to worry about whose toes I might be stepping on or if the educator believes in gifted education or if the administration considers this group of children as at risk. Also being on the road, I have been able to talk to other parents about their children and how to work with their little quirks, especially facing challenges and how they might be dealing with things emotionally.

When we first went into expediting, we had a couple share with us that we should find something that interests us while having our down times. So far this is what I enjoy doing on my down time...talking and working together with other teams, talking to them about family, talking to others about education and of course sharing my beliefs with others. Our experience in expediting was lead by God and I am very happy that I can share that in this setting, that wasn't always so easy to do in the educational system. I see by being out on the road, the acceptance of others for who they are which is amazing to me when we hear so much about how others are constantly fighting for their right for this and that. We rarely hear about people who don't fight because they see the world differently, that they see others respecting them and understanding their differences. In general I am a positive person and have been told that I can only see good in people. There is good in people, if we would all just concentrate on that and bring out the good instead of expecting the worst. All right, jumping off my soap box now...

While we were talking to Sherry and Sam, we received a load opportunity and turned it down. Then the load came acrossed again, which we turned down again. Since we were the first ones in line, FedEx called us and talked us into taking the load after negotiating for a little while. The difficulty with the load was not that it paid too bad, it was that it put us up in no man's land in Montana and we knew we would probably be sent to Seattle, Wa for our layover which was another place that from talking to others, we would wind up sitting and waiting on a load. After talking to FedEx, we decided to go ahead and take it, we hadn't been to Montana yet.

Another beautiful drive, we have been so lucky with the weather. This load was a toolbox that needed to be delivered to a small town in Montana. Most of the trip in Montana was actually on two lane roads, which are not bad during the day when you are driving but it is a little more stressful at night because it is more difficult to see where all the twists and turns are. Not to mention watching out for those nightly critters that like to cross the road at night. The most stand out thing about thing about this trip was the two weigh stations we ran into.

For one thing, we weren't expecting a weigh station on a little two lane highway. The first weigh station we ran into was at the intersection of two highways and had a temporary sign  that they obviously put up and down depending on if it was open or not. This weigh station was not like the typical ones we've run into. That was obvious when we approached it. An officer was standing and directed us when to stop. The first thing he asked was how we were doing and he went on to talk about the beautiful day. He also mentioned that we must not have much on. He was just extremely polite and was making small talk, which in our experience is not usually the case at weigh stations. For one, when you go across the scales you usually don't talk to anyone, you just roll across. He asked us about our log books and we shared that we had electronic logs. He then shared that he likes it when teams come through because for the most part he doesn't have to worry about their hours and he was excited to know we had electronic logs. He asked to see them and I showed them to him. He genuinely appreciated everything and acted like what we were doing was helping him do his job better. This man obvioulsy enjoyed what he was doing and we were really grateful to have someone who made us smile. He told us to have a good day and we went on to our delivery.

After we delivered, we were given the option of going to Seattle as our layover. We decided to call our consultant at Expediter's and get her advise on what we should do. If we choose to go to Seattle, FedEx pays our deadhead, if we decide to go somewhere else, they do not pay. Since this not only effects us as drivers, but also Expediters, we contacted them. Together we decided that we would head to Minneapolis instead of Seattle. So, off to Minneapolis we headed. A funny thing happened on our way, we were stopped at a weigh station on another two lane highway. We pulled in, noticing the trailer that is usually occupied by the people tending to the weigh station, was empty. As we looked ahead, we noticed that there was a combine in the middle of the highway that was stopped. There we saw the officers helping out with the combine, so we pulled out of the weigh station and went to ask them if it was all right to pull on through. When we got to the officer, he waved us on and around the combine and wouldn't you know, if was the same officer who was at the other weigh station. We almost wished that we didn't have to pull through so that we could talk to him again, not really, but it did give us a smile and laughter as we passed him.

The trip to Minneapolis should have been pretty uneventful, but there are a couple of things that happened along the way. We had to take the journey across North Dakota. At this time the weather began to be a little more uncooperative. When I was driving, the weather started to turn and then Jim took over for his shift. We had looked at the weather and knew that there was a wind advisory in effect and thought we would drive until we needed to stop. Wow...North Dakota winds are nothing to sneeze at...those winds rock the truck like you could not imagine. Jim had put the air tabs on which we have shared, were blessings when passing trucks and with higher winds. I can't imagine not having them, as we drove through North Dakota. Jim also decided to put our tag axle down too for more stability. After driving for a few hours, we decided to park and wait out the wind for a while. We sent a message through c-link to dispatch. FedEx is big on safety, so they were fine with our layover option of a rest area in the middle of nowhere North Dakota. After the winds died down (I think it was 40 mph instead of 60 mph) we decided to venture out and take our time. Gusts were a little less often and traffic was light, so we were able to continue slowly.

By this time, we knew the chances of getting a load opp from where we were was probably not going to happen and resigned ourselves to the fact that we would be spending the weekend wherever we wound up. We enjoyed Fargo and the convenience of everything so we stopped there. Fargo is considered in the Minneapolis Express Center which would give us load opps from that area. This stop was much different than the last. It was bright, sunny and warm the last time, so we got out our bikes. This time, it was cold, cloudy and windy (the windy part is when we decide not to get out the bikes, too much of a work out for us:). So, we spent part of the weekend in Fargo and decided that we would head down to Clearwater to be a little closer to Minneapolis.

Once we got to Clearwater, the weather was better and warmer. Of course this is one of our favorite places because of their wonderful restaurant and bakery and gift shop. Since we hadn't received a load opp we knew that we wouldn't until Sunday afternoon, so we decided to go to church on Sunday at the church that was right down the road from the truck stop. There were two service times and I jokingly said to Jim that we could go to both services and by that time we should be hearing about load opportunites. We later found out that they had a festival the night before, which would have been great to pass the time with. Since we didn't know about it, we went to dinner instead.

We had headed over to go to a dairy queen, just for something a little different and on our way, we encountered a place called Taco Gringo, so we stopped there instead. This is worth mentioning because it is the only one of its kind. We enjoy eating locally when we can and usually wind up finding out that where we eat is actually a local or regional chain. Like always, we take our electronics with us while we sit, so I looked it up. Interestingly enough this is a Mexican restaurant that was started by a woman who is not of hispanic descent, although I believe that maybe her husband was. The food was good and we found out by reading that her husband recreated a southwestern sauce that he had encountered in Mexico, making the sauce his own recipe. They happened to sell bottles of it in the store, so of course we bought a bottle. It was a really good sauce that you could probably put on just about anything from tacos to hamburgers, from veggies to fries. The sauce is another part of their story. The only restaurant is in Clearwater, MN. We would highly recommend it. Our waitress was just a little preoccupied, she had some friends that had come. Her service was great, we just noticed that this group of young ladies had something up their sleeve. We were seated by the window and since we like to people watch, we noticed that our waitress' friends went out to the parking lot and we assumed that they were going to go home. That was not the case...

We spent the next twenty minutes or so, watching these teenagers sticky note the windows of a car. Our waitress served us well, so when she came over the next time, we asked her about it, stating that we had witnessed the normal, soaping, egging kinds of things you do to cars, but this was the first time we witnessed sticky noting. She shared with us that a friend of theirs was out on a date and had left her car in the parking lot, so they decided to leave her a friendly note (pun intended). As you can imagine this was a very meticulous activity since they put the sticky notes in rows and columns very close together on the windshield and on the side windows. They weren't done there, they then wrote on each of the sticky notes a sweet note to their friend. Jim took a picture of it and posted it on facebook. The question we both had, was what would happen if a police officer caught them, what would they say...sir, we're just leaving her a note. They were pretty proud of the fact that the sticky notes didn't cause any damage to the car and was something fun to do and surprise their friend. We don't know the rest of the story since we left before their friend returned. Just another one of those things we would never have seen if we hadn't been on the road.

The next morning we went to church by walking across the field instead of using the busy road that it was on and let's face it the field was closer:)  We went to the first service. They had special guests that were from International Children organization. It turns out that this congregation works with an orphanage in Mexico and the two women that were there were from the orphanage which also now houses a K-12 school. Their congregation has gone down and assisted with construction for beds, new rooms and buidling for the school. It was amazing to hear their testimony and their success with the kids they have. Some of the children are orphans and some are children whose parents or family members have brought them to the orphanage because they can no longer care for them. Some o ftheir parents are on drugs and some have wound up with elderly grandparents who can no longer take care of them. A couple of the congregation members had actually been at the orphanage as house parents. The kids are housed with house parents  who bring the children up in the Christian faith and the school is based on Christian values and students attend services as part of their education. Faith is stressed and hope is given to children who came to them with little or no hope at all. The presenters gave God all the credit for the success that they have had and thanked everyone for their support.

We spoke to many members after the service where they had coffee and cookies after service. At our church, we have a small group that meets on Sunday before church for Sunday school. Jim and I both miss getting together with others to discuss the Bible, books for disucssion and life in general, so we decided to stick around for their adult Sunday school class. We told them we didn't mean to intrude and stir up their seating arrangements. They all laughed (we joke that in a Lutheran church, people have their certain seats...I'm sure that other churches have the same thing, we get comfortable and like routine so we all sit in the same spot). We learned that the associate pastor went to seminary in Ohio and his wife went to OSU. Small world...our pastor knew him, not well but knew who he was. We had a great discussion about the parable that was the gospel lesson. What's great about being in a group is the differences in the interpretation of the parable and what it was that Jesus was actually trying to say. When it comes down to it, we were doing exactly what Jesus wanted us to do, sit around and talk about it together and let the Holy Spirit guide us. It was great discussion and we really enjoyed hashing out the scripture with others and feeling the excitement in the room. Afterward, we decided to go to the other service which was considered their contemporary service. They had a wonderfully gifted group of volunteers that shared their talents through worship. They had a wonderful potluck afterward that they invited us to, don't worry about not bringing anything, we have plenty.

We also found out that they had about three dozen people who attended Via De Cristo which is a movement that Jim and I have been involved in for the past few years. We talked at length to one of members and their church had actually hosted a few of the retreats. He also was one that shared his phone number with us and said that the next time we're in town to give him a call and he would pick us up and bring us over to church. As we sat down and talked at the potluck, we had his number sitting out. Someone asked us about it and wondered if we knew that he was the mayor. We felt pretty special that the mayor was offering to pick us up the next time we were in town. Of course being the man that he was, I don't even think that probably crossed his mind, he was just a nice person offering help to someone else.

The people we meet on the road are strangers, but once we open conversations with them, we are no longer strangers...we all are people living on this earth trying to make sense of a broken world and living one day at a time, having so much more in common than any of us can even imagine.

Shared faith and love for others connect us and I just imagine God smiling down on us and saying, see, I told you so!

I'll continue with the rest of our loads on another post, I really didn't imagine this one to be so long.

Love, peace, faith, joy continue to be there through all of our adventures. Daily we are guided by our wonderful God, his Son and the Holy Spirit.

Love to all of our friends (old and new), family and strangers we have yet to meet. We thank you for your continued love and support of our adventures!
Judy