Loads that matter and Texas

As we are sitting in North Dakota, I have the OSU football game playing in the background while I'm writing. This week presented us with lots of decisions on loads but thanks to God, no breakdowns or time in the shop, a couple of scares but worked themselves out.

After church on Sunday, we received a load that picked up in OH on Monday morning, so we headed over to Ohio to get some rest before we picked up since the load was heading to Tennessee. If we had found out a little sooner and the load pickup was a little closer, we could have headed home for a couple of hours but of course it was over in the Cleveland area. This was the second time we were in OH since we started, the problem is that we are always picking up not dropping off. If we could deliver to OH we could then choose to come home for a little while. Expediters pays fuel if we are 150 miles from home, so it would be good to get a load to OH so the fuel is paid. We are looking for a load to OH but if it doesn't happen, we'll probably go home for a few days in the next week or so anyway to see everyone!

The load from OH to Tennessee was an interesting one for me. We delivered liquid Helium. This was the first time I came into contact with containers called "Dewars". They were huge and on four wheels. The "dewars" help keep the Helium at the correct temperature. This was not new to Jim since when we were first married he worked for Airco which transported all kinds of gases to customers. He was excited about it because this was a load that he knew how to secure and had experience with. The dewars were covered with ice on the top which was interesting to me. We didn't get a chance to talk to the shippers too much. Since Helium is hazmat, on the paperwork, we have to be able to read the signature of the person who signs the Hazmat paperwork. Of course I couldn't read it. We joke about the fact that some of our signatures indicate that we either studied to be doctors or should have because the signatures are illegible. Well, this signature was something I couldn't read, so of course I had to ask. One of the guys commented and said, "That's my signature, you mean you can't read that, I don't understand." Of course he was being a little sarcastic. Once I had a name that I believe matched his signature, we were off to Tennessee.

As we traveled through OH, Jim was driving and of course there was construction being done. He began laughing while he was driving and yelled back at me in the sleeper. I can't believe what that sign just said. I asked him what it said and he shared, "Clean water falling". Evidently there was water falling from construction on a bridge overhead. We both just weren't sure why it was necessary to post a sign like that. My question was, "As opposed to "Dirty water falling" or maybe they thought that people would then appreciate construction on the road that provided clean water just in case someone's car had just been washed or something. It was just one of those things that made us giggle. Not too far down the road we were going through a residential area where they were pouring concrete. Again, Jim started laughing and said you have to come and see this. I am so lucky to have a husband who is amused so easily. I went and looked out the front. He said, "They have a powered wheel barrow." Sure enough there was a guy that was on the back of a wheel barrow just scooting around. It kind of reminded me of the lawn mowers that you stand on to control and maneuver. He wasn't the only one at the site who had it. They filled the wheelbarrow with concrete and then wheeled (or gasoline powered) it over to where it needed to be poured. Jim's uncle used to work for a concrete company and it made us smile when we thought about how much they would have appreciated something like that. I also thought about my son who while helping his grandfather on a construction site had a wheelbarrow come back on his leg. He was moving scrap concrete and if he would have had one of those machines, he wouldn't have had to worry about getting run over by one going down a ramp. The things you see while driving can make you smile and also make you think..."Boy I wish I would have been the one to think of that!

Jim and I are still trying to work on a sleeping pattern and a driving sleeping schedule. We discussed when we first decided that we would try a 2:00-2:00 driving schedule so that both of us would drive a little during the day and a little at night. I think we did that once in the past three weeks. Between the two of us, Jim has always required less sleep than me but he is even getting tired. I think our problem is that there are times when we both sleep at the same time and then we aren't able to sleep when we are supposed to. This is something we definitely need to improve on. Now that we've had a somewhat normal work week, we might be able to figure this out. Any ideas or suggestions that any of you have would be greatly appreciated.

When we delivered to Tennessee, it was like Christmas for the company we delivered to. They were patiently waiting on the Helium. It was extremely important that they had the Helium to do their work and their work was at a critical stage. There were three men who assisted us in getting the dewares off the truck, but as soon as one was off they all disappeared. Jim and I continued to unload and just put the dewars on the dock and went to see if we could find someone to sign the paperwork. I know most of you are thinking, well that was kind of rude, just leaving us in the midstream of unloading the truck. We did know that one of the guys had taken a phone call and left but the other two we weren't sure what happened. As we went back through the warehouse we found two of the guys with the Helium dewar standing on a ladder over an MRI machine. They told us that the one who needed to sign the paperwork was at the desk on the phone. We went over to him and waited until he was done and then had him sign the paper work and talked to him a little bit about what their company did. The warehouse was filled with pieces and parts, some of which I recognized and other parts I had absolutely no idea what they were. He shared with us that his company worked on MRI machines and that this shipment was critical and that he was the one who had forgotten to order the Helium and now they needed it to fix the machine.

One of the things that I learned was that the liquid Helium was at a temperature of 4 Kelvin. Now, not being too familiar with the Kelvin scale I asked about the temp in Fahrenheit. He shared that it was about 400 degrees below zero. Now that is cold! They used the Helium to work on the MRI machines and they needed the very cold temperature to do the work but if the temp was too warm, they wouldn't be able to fix it. Needless to say, they were very appreciative that we made good time. We were about an hour earlier than they were expecting. It felt really good to be a part of saving a machine that in the future would be saving lives.

I also noticed that to these men, their work meant everything, even if it meant that they had to stay late to get the job done. They believed in what they did even though at times it was extremely frustrating it had such great rewards for them. They also gave me a smile while I was walking through the warehouse. In the middle of the aisle leading back to the desk, there was a trike with a basket on it. As we went around the corner there were two Razor scooters. I asked about them and he shared that's how they are able to get around the warehouse, unique, he said, but works quite well. Just by the few observations, you could tell that they were unique, creative individuals and God gave them gifts of problem solving and serving others. I never really thought about a company fixing MRI machines, not sure why not, obviously they probably need it, after all I don't think they would just throw them away and get new ones. I think that would be just a tad bit too expensive.

Before we arrived in Tennessee, we accepted our next load. We would be picking up in Tennessee and heading to Laredo, Texas. After we dropped off the Helium, we headed over to our next pick up. We figured out that this load was a transfer, we would be picking it up at FedEx, so we headed to a truckstop close since the pickup was at 3:00 am. We thought that we would be able to get a little sleep before we had to pick it up. Jim called dispatch and asked it we could pick it up early and they shared that the truck wasn't there yet. So we parked and went to sleep. About an hour so later our phone rang and thinking it was probably FedEx, I picked it up. It wound up being cousins of mine who had just seen a FedEx truck and thought it was us. They were outside of Findlay, I shared with them that we were in Tennessee and heading to Texas. We love hearing from friends and family on the road. Later I explained to them how to know if it was us to try to help them narrow down the whole FedEx truck since there are so many out there. Our truck is red and we have a blue EX on the back of our truck and it says Custom Critical. Although I believe in October we are switching over to the red EX, so we won't be as easy to identify. I shared with family and friends before we left, that every time they saw a FedEx truck that they were to think of us and say a quick prayer for our safety and patience on the road and now I'd like to add also say a quick prayer for blessings on our customers and their families.

A couple of hours later, we received another phone call, this time it was FedEx and they said that driver was there, if we could meet him that would be great. This was now just two hours before we were originally supposed to pick up. We went to the FedEx terminal and switched the freight that the other driver had to our truck. His truck was a straight truck without a reefer and for some reason looked a little wider than ours, so we were hoping that the pallets would fit on our truck. With the help of an amazing forklift driver, they went right in together with not an inch to spare side by side. Now that takes talent! The other driver was a solo driver and had just started driving for FedEx and this was actually his first load. For once we were more experienced than someone else. He had previously driven for another expediter service and just switched over to FedEx. We left them and headed for Texas.

We knew that Texas was hot and dry and we could really feel it when we stopped on our breaks. Someone Jim had talked to said that the heat reminded them of someone taking a hair dryer and blowing it in your face. They were not kidding. That is exactly what it felt like. It was also about 105 with a heat index of 115. Hot doesn't even describe it, but as someone on Facebook said, at least you have air conditioning in the truck. True and we also were very glad that it had been fixed and prayed that it would stay fixed. The ground was so brown and other than some trees and some cacti, nothing else was growing. Other than the cities, houses were very few and most of them you couldn't see, you could see the ranch fences and openings but the houses were somewhere else. Lots of land, lots of cattle and lots of brown grass, very different from our Ohio landscape.

We were supposed to deliver in Laredo at 2:56 am and left Tennessee at about 2:30 am. We were able to avoid most of the rush hours in the major cities. I hit a little in Memphis and then Jim hit a little in Dallas. This helped us make some pretty good time and wound up stopping about 40 minutes from Laredo to stop for a break. About that time, we received a message from dispatch that we couldn't unload until 9:00 the next morning because the border didn't open until the next morning. So we were able to stay at that truck stop for the night. We decided that we would leave about 7:30 or so. When we got to Laredo, all we could see was trucks. I felt a little sorry for cars because they were hard to see in between all of the trucks. The highway architecture in Laredo was really neat. It was like sky scraper highways going over top of us while we were on the bottom. The decor of the beams was interesting and different than I had ever seen. At one point I looked up and told Jim to look because it looked like one of the highways didn't get finished, it just ended in the sky. I'm not sure how to explain it just ended, now I suppose the good thing was that there wasn't any traffic on that particular part of the highway. Maybe someday they were planning on finishing it, maybe it was a government highway grant that dried up, who knows, but it would be interesting to find out.

We arrived at the gate of our delivery at about 8:00, we were supposed to be there at nine. The gate was locked and closed and there was one truck in front of us. After a short period of time, we were glad we were early because soon there was a whole line of trucks behind us. While we were waiting we received our next load opp from Laredo to Illinois. We were excited and disappointed at the same time. We were excited because we knew that it wasn't always easy to get freight out of Laredo and if you were lucky enough it didn't pay pretty good. This load was right out of Laredo and paid pretty good, so we were excited. The disappointment was that we were kind of looking forward to spending some time down there to see a little more. The load didn't pick up until 1:00 so we had a little time. Well, once the gate opened at 9:00, we went in and unloaded. Drivers weren't allowed on the docks, the paperwork was done through the shipping office. We didn't get a chance to really talk to much to anyone. I did find out that they pretty much all speak Spanish unless you speak to them in English then they speak to you in English. That amazes me, how people can just switch from one language to the next without even breaking the conversation. My brain would not function like that. The office people were upbeat and had music playing while they were working. I didn't talk to them very much but in that small amount of time, I could tell that it would have been a good place to work. There were smiles on their faces and they were helpful to all who walked through the door.

From there we decided to go to a truckstop that one of the expediters online members had recommended. It was up on a hill about 5 miles down the road. As promised, there was a little Mexican restaurant, quiet, clean and a screened in porch with rocking chairs. This is where we took our pictures that we put on facebook. Jim and I decided to eat at the restaurant even though Texas time told us it was still breakfast. We had a breakfast plate complete with sausage, scrambled eggs mixed together, refried beans and two tortilla shells. It was great and hit the spot. I wish we had been there a little later because I would have liked to try some of their salsa, my stomach just couldn't handle it in the morning. Maybe next time. Jim slept and I enjoyed the screened in porch catching up on facebook and emails. We said that if we were ever back in that area, we would layover there if needed. Great small town atmosphere!

At about noon we left for our load that picked up at 1:00. We knew the load was supposed to weigh about 9700 pounds and was 9 pieces, so we knew we would be using our tag axle and that we figured we would also need to put our new dollies down. Once we got to the shipper, the forklift driver handed me the paperwork. His paperwork said 9 pieces that weighed 12,500 pounds. Our truck should be able to take 13,000 but because our truck has a reefer on it and evidently Jim and I weigh alot and all of our stuff weighs so much, we can't take 12,500 without being really careful about being overweight on one of the axels. If you are overweight for your truck, fines can be pretty high and of course we didn't want to break this rule because it also isn't good for the truck either. So Jim calls dispatch and explains. The forklift driver was very kind and said he wasn't sure if the weight was correct and offered to go back and weigh one of the pieces. Jim said that would be great. The forklift driver came back with a packing slip that showed that the weight totaled 5700 pounds, so we decided to risk taking the pieces with the knowledge that we were going to stop by the first scale to see what they really weighed.

While we were waiting for Jim to talk to dispatch and figuring out how to load those very heavy parts, the forklift driver and I had a good conversation. He asked about how the whole team driving thing worked for FedEx. I shared with him that both of us took turns driving and that we went from load opp to load opp, not really knowing where we would be next. He then asked, "Do you have any kids?" I shared with him that yes we did and told them their ages. He responded, "They aren't too far from my kids' ages" and then went on to share about his kids. He asked what we did before we worked for FedEx and I shared with him that we were both in education. I shared that this was our retirement job meaning that we always wanted to see the country and were going to wait for retirement and decided that we don't know how our health will be or if there will even be a retirement for people our age, so we decided to see the country now and get paid for it. The company was full of Hispanic people who talked in Spanish to each other and when you talked to them, they spoke in English. That is just amazing to me, how people can just jump from one language to the next. I brought this up because in my experience with people I know, in the Hispanic culture family is everything and when the forklift driver's first question was, "Do you have any kids?", to me that was an indication of his commitment to his own family. He never once asked about the money or if we were able to make ends meet by driving, it was about our family and kids. He also didn't talk about himself and his job, he talked about his kids. One of his children, as he put it, is book smart and was studying to be an RN with the hopes of being a doctor one day. She wanted to be a doctor but decided that the RN was the place to start and then she could move on to be a doctor. He was beaming when he talked about his kids and was obviously involved in his children's lives and loved them dearly. Conversations like this one have me missing my own family and the involvement we had when they were younger and then I receive a call from one of them and that makes all the difference.

After we were loaded and had the weight distributed properly as far as we knew, we got in the truck and did our departure call. One of the questions that was asked I didn't have the answer to because it wasn't on their paperwork, so I had to go back in and see about getting an answer. I talked to another one of the guys and he said, we'll get an answer for you. About a half hour later, he gave me the answer. On this part I learned a little lesson. Once he gave me the paperwork with the question answered, I noticed that the other paperwork did indicate it by putting it in bold but for the record, the plain black was almost as dark as the bold, so I didn't see it and he didn't either. The second paperwork had xxxx's marked beside it which made the answer evident. I can blame it on my eyes but the other guy was probably a good 10-15 years younger than me and he didn't see it either:) So...2 hours after our pickup time, we were on our way to Illinois. I guess I should say, after we stopped at the truckstop to weigh the truck and make sure that we weren't over. We weighed it and as it turns out the weight was closer to the original 9700 pounds that we were told in the first place. Paperwork makes everything look so official but yet it sometimes only holds half truths or just plain mistakes.

Jim had asked me to stay in and wait for the fuel receipt and weight ticket. Knowing that it would take him a while, I decided to make a trip to the ladies room (I know TMI). While I was in there, I noticed that a woman was cleaning. She was down to the end of the stalls and then with me, there were about 5 of us that walked in to use the bathroom. I thought to myself, this job is never done, once clean, someone comes right in and messes it up all over again. I know some people would say job security which is most certainly true, but I believe that it has to get a little old. I don't normally want anyone to know when I decide to leave a little money for someone but this is the start the rest of a story that I think needs to be spread. After going to the bathroom, I decided that I would get something to drink. Anyone who knows me knows that I drink a lot, so I decided to get a large drink. After I filled it up, I noticed that there weren't any lids for the cup I used. Trying not to be too nosy and not wanting to bother anyone I looked in the cupboards under it and didn't see any. I then decided to go up to the counter and ask because cups without lids and me do not do too well. She said, we have some, if you just give me a minute, I'll get one for you. I said sure, no rush. She was putting money into a counter and couldn't stop what she was doing. As she was doing this, she said, I can't get you a lid because I can't leave without anyone being here. I was just about ready to say that it was all right and never mind, my drink would be all right, then she saw another worker and asked her if she could get a lid for me. She went over to the other cabinet where I hadn't looked and got a lid for me. I told the clerk, if I would have known they were right there I could have gotten them myself. She told the other worker, thank you and I said across the room, Thanks so much. I then waited for the clerk to tell me how much I owed. She looked over and said don't worry about it. Now I've heard stories about people giving money away and they always get it back and sometimes even more. I've even had it happen to me but this was within 1/2 hour. Amazement. I also want others who read this blog to know that there are some really good and amazing people in this world. Sometimes we all tend to focus on the negative in others. I believe that positive breeds positive and we all need to focus on the positives in the world, it really helps to bring hope and good feelings. This is just one of those "people are amazing" stories. You will find these stories within my posts and sometimes separately.

Before I go on to our trip to Illinois, I have to comment on another thing that made us laugh while we were at the truck stop getting the truck weighed. We had noticed sometime before, probably at the other truck stop, a bird that we didn't recognize but I would describe it as kind of blackbird looking but with a huge fanned out tail. We still aren't sure what they are. Anyway, there were a couple of them walking in the fuel isle at the truckstop. As we were walking, one of them flew up to one of the truck's front grill and took a dragon fly off the front of it. I thought to myself, what a lazy bird, he has to get one off the grill of the truck and can't even fly after one that is alive. (my nephew shared with me that it was probably because they couldn't fly as fast as they dragon fly, makes sense to me). Those dragon flies must be pretty good to have to eat one off the grill of a truck:) It is probably one of those stories...I guess you had to be there but it made both of us laugh. Weight good, bird fed...off to Illinois.

We added Oklahoma to our list of states on the way to Illinois. I was trying to sleep while Jim was driving down some back state routes in Oklahoma. Needless to say I slept some but the curves and bumps were a little crazy at times. Oklahoma was great to travel through. Different landscape and since it was light we were able to see some of the ranch animals and some of the layouts of the ranches. We continued through Missouri up through St. Louis and then on to Illinois. We were about 150 miles from our delivery and the traffic went to a stand still. In the middle of nowhere Illinois traffic was at a standstill. There was some construction and we never did figure out what happened but we spent about a 1/2 hour in traffic. While we were sitting in traffic our AC decided to stop working. We were no longer in Texas but in Illinois but the temperature was 102 on the highway (it should never be as hot in Illinois as it is in Texas, that just isn't normal). We decided since we were stopped we would shut off the truck and start it up and see if that would work. We shut off the truck and then it decided it wasn't going to to start. Great, now what, traffic had started to move. After a couple of things, none of which we know was a problem the truck started again but the AC still didn't work. So, a little more start and stop traffic and then 140 miles without AC. Windows down provided a little breeze but not coolness. We were able to get to the delivery on time and got everything off the truck. After the delivery the AC went back to working again. Talk about being thankful!!

We then headed off to a truckstop and put ourselves out of service for a few hours. We needed showers and were just plain exhausted. Jim wasn't able to sleep because of the heat and I was exhausted from driving in the heat. Not to mention we just plain stunk (stank, past tense of stink anyone??). We also decided that a few hours would give us some time to do laundry and get something to eat. Showers were first on our list. Our wait was going to be 28 minutes. This was actually the first time we had to wait for a shower. We had heard that you had to wait on showers but had not experienced it yet. So, we went to the laundry room to do some laundry. There were four washers and four dryers. The problem I already knew was that 2 out of 4 of the dryers were out of order. Dryers take about an hour and washers take about 1/2 hour. I knew we were going to be there at least a couple of hours to do laundry. We put our laundry in and decided to go and wait for our shower. We were so exhausted, we just stood in the hallway. An attendant saw us and asked us if we were waiting on a shower, we said yes. He asked, what is your number? We told him and he said follow me. He shared that they had a shower clean and ready to go but the driver never showed for the shower and said we could take it if we wanted. He then grabbed and extra towel. Now I know that he was probably risking getting yelled at by other drivers and could probably get in trouble for allowing us to go ahead but I saw him as an angel that saw that we really needed that shower, sooner than later. He put himself on the line to help someone else. He took a risk just being nice to someone else. Not only did we get a good shower but we saw Christ in another person, doing and acting Christlike. God knew what we needed and sent that special person to us.

After shower and laundry, we decided to stay out of service until Friday morning. We knew we were risking not getting a load especially since it was Labor Day weekend, but decided we needed it. We went back into service at about 10:00. We had gone to Walmart and gotten some things we needed and stayed in their parking lot for a little while getting organized and cleaning a little inside the truck. At around lunch time we thought we'd go to McDonald's where they had truck parking and also outlets for charging our computer. I planned on doing some paperwork while Jim got a little sleep knowing that we could have a load and he would need to drive. We went to McDonald's got something to drink and Jim headed back to the truck and I set up the laptop to start working. It probably wasn't five minutes after I set the laptop up that we received our next load opportunity. We replied that we would take it and got the load. I called Jim and packed up. The load was from Illinois to North Dakota. North Dakota...another state we hadn't been to yet.

Once I got back to the truck Jim said, did you realize that the pickup is a couple of hours away and they have us picking it up in an hour. No, I didn't realize that, so Jim called dispatch and they moved the time up so off we were to pick up at 4:30. The pickup was non hazmat but it was described as chemical/paint. Had no idea what that meant. The weight was 10,300 pounds with 4 pieces. When we got to the pickup the dock was inside and down a ramp. It was really nice, there were lights on both sides that were easily visible by the mirror. They made backing in a lot easier. The shipper shared that this was a rush load and then he chuckled. He said that they day before the customer called and said that someone would come and pick it up at 6 in the morning. He was there and no one showed. Then they shared that someone would be there at 12 and again no one was there. Then they said 2 pm and again no one was there. Then they said someone would be there at 3:37. He said he sent a joking email back to them and said, so they will be here at 6, right. We showed up just about fifteen minutes before we were supposed to. The customer was a government agency and he shared that all of the people who used to organize the shipments and deliveries had left and there were younger less experienced people working who hadn't gotten a handle on how it all works. We also had a discussion about someone who had actually come and picked up similar units to the ones we had with a budget rental truck with no tag or dollies and wanted him to load them with the forklift. He shared that he had been doing this way too long and said that he wouldn't be able to that because it wasn't safe. I'm still not quite sure how that story ended. He signed the paperwork and said that he learned how to write his name when he went to school to be a doctor and then he decided to drop out but he decided to keep the signature. I thought that was quite humorous. We then started talking about drinks and health. When I told him I drank diet coke, he said, "That stuff will kill you, you need to stop drinking it." He told me regular was better for me or even try coffee. I said that I didn't like the taste of either and then shared that we have diabetes in the family and knew that I needed to watch my sugars so that's why I drink diet and because I like the taste. Then he shared that his doctor said he was diabetic and he had no family history and said that he was going to tell his doctor to test him again because he thought it was wrong. We then talked briefly about his son. His son had tried little league but was bullied and teased because he wasn't very good and he also had a disability. He said actually the parents were worse than the kids. That topic came up when we were discussing watching sports on TV. He said he doesn't watch them anymore after the way his son was treated by others who were talented in sports. We were loaded and wished him well and were off to North Dakota.

I drove and we went on state highways. As Jim said there isn't an easy way to get to an interstate from here. I kept thinking to myself, I sure am glad that we drive an automatic because a standard would have been a pain with all of the traffic and the stops and starts that needed to be made. At one time on the edge of one town there were scales signs. The scales were on the left side of a two lane highway, there were no other trucks ahead of me in traffic to follow and there weren't any closed signs or signs that shared that the easy pass would be triggered. I decided that I'd better stop, I didn't want to get in trouble. It looked deserted but I went ahead and stopped. It took a long time to get to the scales and after seeing no one there, I said it was going to take us a very long time to get back on the road. There was not a sign of clearing traffic in either direction. It probably took us a good 15 minutes to get back into traffic again. It took me a while but I finally realized that it was labor day weekend and that was why there was so much traffic. I drove through Wisconsin and then Jim took over at about 11:30 pm so that we could deliver at 6am.

We arrived for delivery at 5:30 am. It was a gated plant and we had to wait for someone to come and let us in. The smell reminded me of a feed mill. They did a lot of work with corn. This delivery was going to be a little tougher than what it was at the shippers. There wasn't a dock and Jim said, so how do we want to unload this. The guy was helpful, he said, however you want to. You all can do the math 10,300 pounds divided by 4. Each container was about 2500 pounds. They decided to use the pallet jack and get the containers to the edge of the truck and then use the forklift to get them off. Getting the containers moved around so that the forklift could pick them up, was the trick. One guy was on the fork lift and the other guy got up in the truck with Jim to help him get them turned and over to the edge of the truck. The guy who helped was pretty comical and made us laugh. He shared that it was almost time for him to go home. We all goofed a little and I asked for his signature. He shared that he had just had practice with that at the bank the day before, so it should be good. He said that he had just purchased a truck and was hoping that he would have a job to be able to pay it off. He shared that he was extremely thankful that during this economic time that he had a job and that he felt for those who didn't. Once we were unloaded we went outside the gate and did our delivery message.

Jim noticed that we hadn't gotten a layover option. We usually get those once we tell them we arrived for delivery and now we were confirming delivery and we still hadn't gotten an lay over option. He called dispatch and they shared that the computers were down. He told them that we would find the closest truck stop and head there since they didn't give us a option. Jim found a Petro station, so we headed there.

We've been here since about 8:30 this morning and it looks like we will probably be here for the rest of the weekend. Dispatch said freight is slow right now because of the holiday weekend. Jim chose this petro because we thought we would be here for a while. There are quite a few things within walking distance. We have our bikes with us, but the wind is a little crazy right now and there is a wind advisory out. I know that the midwest is dealing with very high temps. Currently the temp is about 65 and the high today was for 68. Clouds have rolled in so it actually feels a little cooler than 65 and of course since just yesterday we were without AC in 102 degree weather, this almost feels a little winterish to us, kidding.

Interesting people I've noticed today while I have been sitting at McDonalds charging the laptop and writing the blog. I have a window seat, so I can see things that are happening outside. I saw a younger couple walking with hiking backpacks, carrying guitars in cases and walking two husky type dogs. I thought, are they hiking somewhere and then I noticed a sign on the back of one of the backpacks that simply said West. I was hoping that they would stop by so that I could talk to them but they were down the road and across the street before I knew it. You could hear people chattering about them and what they thought they were doing. It is so interesting to listen to people talk about things they don't understand and boy does the imagination take over.

Another person I noticed, stood outside for a very long time. Just standing, not talking to anyone, not trying to be noticed but because he was just standing out there he was noticed. At one point I saw a father and daughter coming in the door and I caught a glance of them and how they passed by him. The day was making a bee line for the door, almost like he was afraid that the man would talk to him. His daughter probably about 6 or 7 just beamed him a huge smile. I couldn't see the man's face to see what his reaction was to her smile. To everyone including myself, he was probably thought of as a homeless person or a beggar. That was my first impression...his hair had not been combed and it was longer and he had some facial hair. One thing that was missing was that he didn't seem to have any personal possessions with him. I decided to get something to eat so went to stand in line. After waiting a while, I decided that I would just wait until the rush was over and turned around to head back to my work space. I am not sure how it happened but the man was standing directly behind me and I didn't even know that he had come in. Scared me and I'm sure my reaction was a look of fear. I thought to myself, of all people to see that I was scared, as I was observing him earlier, I thought what a shame that no one stops and talks to him. He is a real person and then I find myself startled in his presence. Well, truth be told I wasn't expecting anyone to be standing behind me and no matter who it was, they would have scared me. I told him that I was sorry for almost knocking him over and he said don't worry about it. He ordered his food and sat down. Of course I think to myself...why don't you go over and talk to him, but my human fear sets in. I'm still not sure why I am afraid. I think that I'm more afraid of not being able to help someone in need. I know that sometimes just sitting with someone and talking to them is all of the help they need. Many people won't talk to them because they fear they will get taken advantage of. But then I think...wow, do I have an inflated ego, maybe he doesn't need my help, maybe I need his help, maybe he can help me see something that I've been questioning or looking for. I have heard and have experienced times when I think that I've wanted to help someone and instead they wind up showing and teaching me much more than I could have ever helped them. I also think, what if Jesus came back as a homeless person, would I sit and talk to him or shun him? I know that someday God will give me the courage to reach out and talk even though I may have fear. All those who differ from us are God's children too and we are to love one another even though we do not all live in this world in the same way.

Unless we get a load tonight, we are off to church tomorrow. We may walk if it is nice, it is only a mile up the road. If time allows, I'll post about that tomorrow and if we are here I will post what kinds of things we do while playing the waiting game.

Remember to see the positive in people and remember those things that make you smile because every time you remember them, your smile comes back.

Love, peace, joy and hope
Judy

08282011 Church on Sunday and people we meet

It is important for us to continue our church life while we are on the road. Last week we were in the middle of a load and broke down so we were not able to attend a church. This week we are waiting on a load, so we were able to go to church. The trick was to find one. We began our search with Lutheran churches, just to narrow it down a little and since we are Lutheran it made sense to us. We found quite a few in the area and decided to go to one that was closest. We talked to the crew at Pilot and they shared that there probably wouldn't be a place to park since the church was on a hill and in a residential area. They were very helpful, but we decided to go and see if we could find some place to park and then walk.

We got as far as the road it was on and found a sign that said "No trucks". We went back the way we came and decided to park in a shopping center parking lot and walk. We actually saw a small church on top of the hill that was closer and decided to make our way there. Once we hit the top of the hill we noticed that the church service started at 9:00 and for all of our church going friends, 9:00 is early, just ask North Salem. Well we obviously were about 40 minutes late for that service so we decided to make our way to the one we had originally decided to go to which started at 9:45. According to our calculations it was just down the road a ways. I'm sure I'm exaggerating but I think it had to be at least a mile and since we are not big exercising people, it took us a little while longer than most to walk, so naturally we were a little late. Of course we figured we'd be able to just slide in and sit in the back in case we needed to get up and and leave early. We walked in and of course everyone was sitting in the back. There were plenty of seats up front, so we headed down the aisle and very quietly sat in the fourth row from the front by the band. Now I wonder if Lutherans are the only ones who sit in the back. We joke alot about that at our church but I think that I've heard others say their church is the same way.

It was a great service with Pastor Catherine Douglas presiding with a great message about putting God first in our lives which is difficult when everything tells us to look out for ourselves and put ourselves first. The scripture today talked about loving everyone even if they have done something evil to you. That is pretty tough. Showing love and kindness to strangers without judgement, again difficult when humans are always trying to one up each other. Pastor Douglas shared that in such a competitive world, we live for our own egos and how something will make us feel instead of thinking about how it will affect others. Jesus loved us so much that he was willing to die for us, what if we loved each other the way he loved us? Anyone out there ready to die through public humility for a stranger that they've never met that has done wrong (even killing someone else?). Jesus was willing to do that for all of us, not just the people we judge as being good people but all of us, sinners of all kinds.

Jim and I started this expediting venture because we felt that God was calling us to do something more in sharing His word and His love. This is also something we are pretty newbies at. We have always been church goers but have kept our faith to ourselves except when another person talks first about their faith. Now we want to be the ones to speak up and both of us feel this works well when you first get to know people and share love and then when we are asked why we are positive and happy then we can share what God has done in our lives because He has sure worked miracles. Getting to know others and sharing faith stories just shows God's power and love for us all. We are still learning and of course sometimes shut God out when we think we know best, but really are trying to listen a little more to what He has planned for us.

We miss our friends and family at our home church but since The Church is not a building, we are looking to grow in our faith and getting to know more of God's wonderful children.We have already met such wonderful people along our journey so far. We've met other team drivers and we've met lots of people along the way both on pickups and deliveries. It is great to be able to share our experiences with each other.

In this blog, we will talk about our truck adventures and also about the people we meet who have touched our lives in special ways. We would also like to share the outside of our box world we are experiencing. Sometimes we get caught up in our own difficulties that we forget there are others out there who are experiencing difficulties that we can not even imagine. As we move forward in this blog we will share our special experiences as well as our God sightings.

So far I've noticed that God uses truck drivers to help spread his love. In just our short experience in truck stops, I have noticed that there is much more noticeable prayer before meals. It wasn't something I was trying to notice, it was just obvious. So far I've noticed that drivers genuinely care about others on the road and how others are affected by what they do. In our short experience, drivers tell you like it is. I know we've been pretty lucky but most of the drivers we have talked to will talk about the hardships but usually gave a positive outcome.

We'll keep working and posting as we have the opportunity. Once we figure out our power issue with the laptop, we'll be able to post more often. Thanks for reading about our adventures.

Peace, love and joy,
Judy

08272011 Loads since Richfield and Newbie

Another week of learning and making, I am sure, many unknown mistakes. We try really hard not to look like we have no idea what we are doing, but it seems like I keep saying, well this is only our second week, we will do it better next time. I think at some point though, there will be a time when we will not be newbies anymore (a year, two, three??). We live and learn everyday and this business seems to be even more complicated than going to college and working in education. There are so many what ifs and so much in timing and this is before we even get a load. So on to our week, the work we did and the people we meet.

Our truck was fixed and we said good bye to the couple we met at Carrier and headed out. Almost as soon as we put our truck into service we received a load opportunity going from Ohio to Kansas. This load was a couple of gears and I'm not talking the small kind, I'm talking the huge kind (can't remember the weight, but they were big). I'm talking huge like National Machinery huge (sorry, Tiffin Ohio reference). Pickup went smoothly and we went to Kansas, pretty much I drove during the day and Jim drove at night. We decided that we were going to try the 2 to 2 shift, I would drive 2am to 2pm and he would take the 2pm to 2am. That first one was tough because we had both slept all night the night before, and neither of us was tired enough to sleep during the day, but we made it through which made the next one a little easier. We dropped in Kansas which went well. We decided after this load that the next time we had a chance, we wanted to get the dollies fixed on the truck, but would wait until we had a chance. Jim worked at securing and loading and unloading the load. He keeps telling me securing is just simple physics. I get the load bars but how he decides where to put the straps and where he decides on the e-track to put them, I'm not sure if I'll ever get that:) By the way, Physics was not my favorite class in school, so even if it is simple, I'm not sure if I paid attention enough to even get the simple.

After the Kansas load, we were given the option of laying over in Kansas City which would have been 200 or so miles from where we were, so we decided to go to a different city (which right now I don't remember which one) that was only about 80 miles away. We called our fleet manager from Expediter Services just to see if she thought that was a smart move, she agreed, so we told FedEx we would be laying over there. We probably didn't get a mile down the road when the next load opp came across. We were both pretty excited about it because it would take us to a state we hadn't been to yet. Long story but we wound up getting the load.

The load was from Minnesota to Texas. Now, again being newbies and not knowing a whole lot, we took off toward Minnesota, which I believe was over 600 deadhead miles. We do get paid for deadhead miles but again we need to learn about this part and how it affects us, Expediter Services and of course the truck we are driving and if the pay is worth running the truck that many miles. It was a good trip with scenery we hadn't seen before. We arrived at the shipper about 1/2 hour early. They were ready for us and then showed Jim an email from the person we were shipping it to that said, "Load as much on the truck as they will let you." I believe the original order was for 4 skids and the shipper asked if we could take 9. Well, another newbie thing...we didn't know for sure how much we were able to take on our truck. We had an empty weigh ticket and knew about how much we should be able to haul. Jim got on the phone to the wonderful Expediter couple that we had talked to at the Expo and found out not only how much we should be able to haul but also how to use the tag axle to assist us in spreading the load out over the axles. Another newbie thing we did was of course to call dispatch since we were told that if there was something different than what we were told, we needed to call. So we called dispatch and waited to see if it was all right to take the extra weight. After an hour of waiting, we found out that normally extra weight was ok to take as long as your truck can hold it. So, we wound up taking 6 of the 9 skids. So after our departure call, we were off to the scales to adjust the weight of the axles. It only took one reweigh to get the weight evened out. Then we were off heading for Texas.

We didn't get probably 5 miles away from the pickup when I noticed a car beside me trying to get my attention. I rolled down my window and she said, "You have smoke coming from your brakes." Now, I've never been so scared and so thankful in my entire life. (God definitely sent a couple of angels to us to get our attention). I was just driving along and didn't know it was happening. I looked out my mirror and black smoke was coming from the bottom. Well, another newbie thing...since it was Expediter truck, we called them first. They shared with us that since we were under a load for FedEx then we needed to call them. At this time, I'm just panicking because didn't they understand that our brakes were smoking and that this was an emergency and now we have to call someone else. By the time we called FedEx and put our emergency triangles out, the smoke had cleared and things were cooled down, so I was a little better. FedEx said they would call a tow and to expect a call from the company. The company called and said that they were going to send a technician who might be able to help us out on the road instead of having it towed but that he would have a tow truck if needed. Of course during this whole time, I'm blaming myself, thinking, did I hit the breaks too hard or was it something that I had done. Once the technician got there he shared that it was in the tag axle and that all he had to do was adjust the brake. He did and then decided to look at the other brake on the other side and it also needed to be adjusted. If anyone is keeping track, we were now about 3 hours late, an hour at the shipper and a couple hours dealing with the brakes. FedEx did adjust our delivery time for us so we didn't have to deliver until Monday morning. That really helped relieve the stress of being late to delivery, after all we are working for FedEx, they pride themselves on getting things there on time and Jim and I are perfectionists and we did not want to be late. We tested the brakes and then the rest of my shift went well and was free of black smoke.

Smoothe sailing as Jim was driving once it hit 2pm. His shift went pretty well. I took over at 2am. I was well rested and was having a great conversation with God. At about 5:30 am (eastern time, since that is the time FedEx uses no matter where we are), one by one, my gauge lights started going out, the ABS light came on and then went off and then poof, the headlights went out. I knew then and there that this was not good and pulled off (doing a well planned emergency stop along the road). As soon as I got off the side of the road and put it in neutral, the lights came back on. By that time Jim was up and we decided that we would try to go down the road and follow our route until we could get off an exit and check on things. Actually I think both of us just hoped it was a fluke and that it would be all right. The next part of our route involved us getting on another interstate. In the middle of the onramp getting on to the interstate, it happened again. This time, there wasn't a place to pull off, so I drove very slowly down the ramp as far off the road as I could get and stopped just past the ramp once I had room to get off. Jim put out the emergency triangles and again called Expediter Services thinking maybe it was just something glitchy with the truck that we could play with and fix. No such luck, so then we had to call FedEx because we were under load still. They called a company to tow. Jim and I both thought that it was probably something major and we would need a tow truck and since it had done it twice in just a couple of miles, we didn't think we would get very far. The tow truck company called and said that they were going to send someone out to see if he could fix it before they towed us. Well it was an hour later and FedEx had already called us and said that they were working on getting us a transfer truck who would take the load the rest of the way. The technician came and of course everything was up and running again, so he didn't know what it could be. I started the truck and then it made a wonderful clanky noise (like something metal hitting a fan). He thought it was a pulley or something and that it would probably need to be fixed. FedEx had already told us that the transfer would happen at the tow truck yard. The technician told us that there wasn't room at the yard to do a transfer, that there wasn't room for two trucks but that their shop had a couple of loading docks that we could use. So we called FedEx and made arrangements for the other truck to meet us there. The truck made it a couple of exits to their shop and we were able to wait there for the transfer truck. While we waited we called Expediter services and left a message that we were going to call Kenworth and see if we could get it in on Monday. Jim called and little did we know that the garage is open 24-7 but probably still wouldn't be able to look at it until Tuesday and that was only if we were able to get it there and check in on Sunday, if not it would be later. We decided after the transfer that we would take it over to the garage. I decided to get out my lawn chair and wait for the other truck, I was getting a little motion sick looking out the mirror to see if they were there yet and Jim was trying to get some sleep. I sat out under a wonderful shade tree. I think I forgot to mention that this was all taking place in Kansas City, remember the place where they wanted us to lay over before we got the load. I decided then and there that for some reason God wanted us in Kansas City, obviously we didn't listen the first time so he was giving us another chance:) The team came to transfer our freight to their truck. A wonderful couple from PA. As the guys were flopping freight, the girls were able to have some wonderful conversation. They themselves had only been out on the road for about 10 months. They had made the trip to Texas a couple of times and she was excited about going to the truck stop down there because there was a guy who sold movies at a very good price and she was excited that they would be able to get some new movies, I think that is where our conversation went to the movie Green Lantern, which is when the guys were done and wondered how our conversation had lead to that. When the guys were done and we had our paperwork transferred, they were off to Texas and the weigh station to make sure they were all right with their weight. I learned that day how to do transfer freight BOL. I became the shipper on their paperwork and they became our cosignee on our BOL. Made perfect sense after she explained it. They followed us to Kenworth which was right by a truckstop so they could get a weight on the truck. By the way....sometime quite a ways into one of our next loads, Jim realized that we were missing a lawn chair. Oops, I guess someone at the shop now has a lawn chair because I forgot to put it back in the truck.

We went to Kenworth and checked in. We spent some in the truck, went next door to the truck stop and got something to eat, showered and then headed back to the truck for bed. We spent a little time in the drivers' lounge at Kenworth and watched a little TV. On Monday, we called Expediter and talked to the guy who in charge of maintenance on the trucks. He asked us to take the truck to the TA. He thought that it was probably the alternator which Jim and I had thought but then decided it wasn't because the gauges came back on and it drove for a while. We left Kenworth and went to the TA. Sure enough it was the alternator and we learned that the TAs can handle most things and that should be our first step when something goes wrong. Of course we always clear anything we do with the truck with Expediters first since they are the ones paying for the repairs. We also asked Expediter if while we were at it if we could fix the dollies and they sent us to the repair shop which was right down the road from the TA. We were there until later Monday evening. Now we had a new alternator and now new dollies. At this time we thought we were definitely good to go and ready for our next load.

Our next load we accepted was from Missouri to Ontario Canada and was a temp controlled load which meant our reefer probes were going to be put to the test. Once we got to the dock the guys on the dock asked why FedEx had sent a reefer because the load didn't require to be kept at a certain temperature. I told them I would call dispatch and about that time a lady came out with the paperwork and someone said something about a different delivery location and I showed them that my paperwork said a different company at another location in Ontario. They discovered that we were the other load going to Ontario and that it definitely needed the temp control. All of that seemed to go pretty smoothly, we even sealed the load and had everything completed. I did the departure call and the dispatcher asked for the PARS number, I questioned her and said where can I find that. She then reminded me that since this was a Canada load, we had a Pars sticker to put on the paperwork and that the paperwork had to be faxed over to FedEx so that we could clear customs. I must have momentarily forgotten what they told us during orientation. Jim informed me that we had done it on the last one we took to Canada, I just didn't remember because he handled the paperwork for our first load. So, again really not liking the fact that I forgot something and had to go back in and let them know that I was a "duh" newbie and had forgotten the sticker and would need them to fax paperwork to FedEx. I also had to tell them that we had to wait for the reefer to cool down. We had it at temp when we picked up the load but since it was 103 outside when we loaded the box was up to 70 degrees and it needed to be at 40. Paperwork was done and she followed me out to check on the temp. Once the temp was down I attempted my second departure call only to find out that the sticker we had used was the wrong one. I told dispatch that I couldn't go in and ask her to fax it again, her and I both were just not having the best of days. I asked if I could find a truck stop and fax it, she said that would be fine just stop and do it as soon as possible. We took care of that and were heading off to Canada.

Everything was going good until we got to Indiana. I noticed and asked Jim about the message on the reefer monitor. We stopped and the reefer completely stopped working. This time we knew to call FedEx. Add stress for this load, temperature controlled at 40 and as we drove the temp kept going up. The closest place FedEx could send us was Fort Wayne and it was about 25mins up the road and it was about 12:30 am. Great, we were supposed to be at delivery by 8 the next morning, again we were going to have to be delayed. As we were pulling into the shop to fix the reefer at about 1 am a message came across that said the paperwork hadn't cleared customs and we would have to wait to cross the border until the next morning. That was a blessing, so again we could relax a little even though we still had to get the reefer fixed and the temp was still climbing. While the reefer was being fixed FedEx called us and said that they were going to have to pull us off a load that we previously accepted that would have picked up in Ontario about 15 mins from where we delivered because of the customs delay, not because of the reefer. About 2am, the reefer was up and running again. We had to wait until about 3am to get the paperwork and make sure that the reefer would run for a while. During all of this, there was a major storm that went through and I was very thankful we were not driving with the lightening and the torrential rain that was happening outside the building. At 3am, we were off again heading to Canada. During our drive we ran into a traffic jam that wound up being a truck that had jackknifed. Even though we were extremely frustrated that again, we were in the shop, afterward, we were thanking God for our delay. Sometimes we have to trust that things go wrong for a purpose, of course He is the only one that knows and that is what is so incredible.

We got as close to the border as we could and stayed at a truck stop and waited until FedEx called and said that we could cross the border. Of course the newbies that we are, we figured that they would probably call us about 8:00, so we were ready to go. I called at 9:00 and they hadn't heard anything. It was 10:00 before we were able to cross in Detroit. I was the lucky one driving through customs, Jim got the chance on our first run. We were able to cross with no problems. The rest of the trip went well and we delivered about an hour before the rescheduled time, so they were happy. I didn't mention that the load we were carrying was strawberry flavoring for applesauce and it was in huge barrels. The lady on the delivery end of it, asked us questions about teaming with FedEx and I love listening to Canadians talk. I almost forget to let them get their "ehs" in. Just a little different accent, I like to listen to them talk. I'm not sure why they say "eh" all the time. I think it must be like when we say, "you know what I mean, or you understand". It is always in the form of a question. I just wonder where it comes from. Easy delivery compared to the trip we had.

Before we delivered, a load opp came across that picked up in New York and delivered to Connecticut. We accepted, the pay was all right and we hadn't been to Connecticut before, so new country for us to see. The beauty of this delivery was that we were able to cross the border at a small crossing in the middle of no where. The directions took us through Toronto which was fine with us since we had already been through there before. I had a couple of hours left to drive so I said, I'll just finish out my hours and drive through Toronto. Well, I guess big cities in Canada are the same as they are here. 5pm is not a good time to go through, hmmmm rush hour in Toronto. I have said before that Canadian drivers are very polite and do not seem to have the reckless maneuvers so it wasn't bad, just stand still and moving slowly. New terms for me in driving in the city is the expressway and the collectors. Did not have any idea about the collectors, kind of had an idea about the expressway. We just kept seeing signs that said, collectors moving very slow, expressway moving slowly. I asked Jim if I ran out of hours, if the truck would just stop in the middle of traffic and not let us move. We both decided that if that happened, we would just switch drivers the traffic was stop and go anyway, no one would probably notice. We were able to get through without me running out of time, so Jim was able to take over at a nearby exit. Now we were on our way to NY.

One of the things that is difficult when in Canada is talking to people back home. We haven't gotten our cell phone bill yet, but I'm sure it will be a little more than normal. This time when we went we called family and friends and shared that we would call them when we got back to the states. We checked with Verizon and for $4.00 a month we can have a plan but that plan just allows us to call for .69 a minute versus 2.00 a minute. We went ahead with the plan, but if we find we don't run to Canada very often, then we probably will drop it.

On to NY. All we knew about the load was that it was glass. I told Jim, you know with the way things have been happening, I'm not sure if I want to carry glass. We both decided that it would be packed really well. We got to the loading dock and of course were not able to take a look at the glass because it was in a container. There were two guys at the dock, obviously the creators of the the glass piece. They were also the ones who developed the container to put it in. I called it a crate and jokingly asked them if there was a name for the container. They shared that it was called a flip box. It was really cool looking with latches. I shared with them that I thought it should be called a turtle box since it had a shape to it and it was protecting what was inside. I shared with them that we would treat it like we would a baby. Jim made sure it was secure and the guys both agreed that it wasn't going anywhere. Furniture pads, corner protectors, load bars and straps...it wasn't going anywhere. After we left I told Jim, we should have asked them what the glass was used for and we decided that we would ask when we got to the delivery.

This delivery was exciting because it went to an aerospace engineering company. We had absolutely no idea that was where we were going. They shared with us that they did the work for the Hubble Space Telescope. It was really interesting to talk to them. We actually got to talk to one of the engineers and he was the one who helped us unload it. I asked him what the glass was used for and he told me that he couldn't tell me about that but he could share work that they had done in the past. He also shared that their company is growing and they are looking for people to work there and that the company has not been affected by the economy. Of course they are looking for very specialized people to work for them. I shared that in the past I had worked with students who were interested in getting into aerospace engineering and asked how he liked it. He shared that he loved his job although the stress at times was very intense but well worth it. He asked about what we did and how expediting works. Another person that in our small part of Ohio, we would have never gotten the chance to meet. I was a little concerned when I asked about the cost of what we were hauling. He said the item was priceless. Boy was I glad we had gotten it there safe and secure. I know God had his protective hands on it all.

Before we had completed that load, we had another load offer that we accepted so we knew where we were heading after that. We headed in that direction because it wasn't to be picked up until the next morning. There are certain loads for FedEx that we can not disclose anything about and this was one, so I can't share the where or what of what we did. What I can share with you is that it was considered a secure load that had to have us go through security to pick up and we had to have someone with the load at all times and we had a tracking unit on the freight and that we were supposed to be extra cautious about our surroundings. We also had to follow a very specific route and if we deviated from that route we had to call dispatch. Well Jim noticed right away that our local directions did not match our general directions. They had us coming in on two different roads. He called dispatch and they were helpful and sent us new directions. We went to deliver and one of the roads it had us going down did not allow trucks. As we passed the road, thinking at this time we would probably have police surrounding our vehicle if we didn't get this figured out. Dispatch wasn't sure how to tell us to go because they weren't with us in the truck. I finally got out our navigational tool and found a way there. Lesson learned is that if there is something wrong with a route, we should find the alternative and then ask dispatch if it is all right and then have them let the customer know. That was just a little stressful and of course Jim is the navigator and we weren't supposed to stop enroute so I had to be the navigator which turned out all right. I did find out though that I can no longer read the road atlas, my eyes just can't see the small stuff anymore. We made it through that one.

Right after delivery, we got another load opp. We turned it down because it was going to pickup in NY city and was heading further east. Hurricane weather is not for us. We had two other load offers both going east. We said no to those and decided that we were going to head west until after the hurricane went through. We didn't want to go too far west in case supplies were needed to be taken east due to the hurricane. After being out on the road for almost 2weeks straight we decided that we could use a break, so we took the truck out of service for a couple of hours and sat at a service plaza and ate. After talking to our contract coordinator (cc) at FedEx, we decided we needed more time off and put ourselves out of service until Saturday. We were able to do laundry, shower and do some paperwork for the business part of our job.

We are currently in western PA waiting on a load. The sunset over the mountains is beautiful. The sun is gone down but its light is still showing in the clouds. Only God could create such an amazing view. In all the details above I forgot to mention all of the wonders we saw along the way. The mountains were spectacular (a little nervy driving a truck, although I know what the jake brake is:). The cities in all of their hustle and bustle remind me how good human kind is. The road is a great way to recognize the good in drivers. Just thinking about it...how amazingly trusting we all are when we drive down the road. We trust that the other driver is going to stay in his own lane and that another driver will slow down when traffic becomes hectic and trust that someone won't just smash into your car when you accidentally pull out in front of them. Cars and trucks alike letting each other over, flipping on and off their lights and gently tapping on the horn. The next time you are on the road count how many courteous drivers you notice. I guarantee that courteous drivers far outweigh the non-courteous ones. Sunrises and sunsets are beautiful and I never tire seeing them and being in awe of them. New York city night lights is just an awesome site to see and what a city it is. Amazement is a feeling I have over and over and the excitement of our next trip and what we will see and who we will meet keeps this all new.

Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone dealing with the hurricane and are especially thinking of the areas who have not ever experienced a hurricane.

Eventually I would like to do a daily post so that these aren't so long. Currently we have two difficulties with posting everyday. One is that I haven't figured out how to type while Jim is driving and we haven't figured out a way to power our laptop. Our inverter does not like to power our laptop. So I have to wait until we stop and have power to be able to post. Hopefully we'll get that rectified when we are home for a few days. I have also told Jim that he will have to do some of the postings.

Love, peace and joy to you all,
Judy

Quick Travel Map Update

Here is a quick update map on all of the states we have been to so far. Will try to get a "route" map later so you can see where we have been. Stuck in very slow moving traffic on I-80 in central PA. Looks like everyone is trying to outrun the hurricane.

We are headed west ourselves. Will be following the storm, and that will determine how far west we move. Need a load to the Midwest!

August 17 and 18 Truck and Reefer Repairs

We have spent the past two days in Richfield getting the truck worked on. As I shared in the last post, we had some AC issues and came to Richfield so that Kenworth could squeeze us in at some time. That also explains why I was able to ramble about our first two loads.

Yesterday, we spent the day at Kenworth, partially in the truck and then in their drivers' lounge. We met a couple of other drivers and one from PA who said he won't take his truck anywhere else and he really was appreciative of the work that they do and as he said, they always have parts, very rarely do you have to wait for parts to come in. He also shared with us his opinions about the automatic vs. standard transmission trucks. We also talked to him about inclines and mountains and he shared his experience in the mountains. We also spoke briefly to another man that was having his truck worked on and then he was off to take a phone call from his family. Other than that, we sat in the lounge, charging our electronics and of course I was able to post.

One of the things I knew that I would like about this job is noticing differences in others and the gifts that God has given them. Yesterday and today I noticed that mechanics work extremely hard, even if it means giving up their own time to be able to help someone out. Let me tell you, truck drivers who need work done on their trucks do not want to hear a mechanic say, "Sorry, we don't have a part, you'll have to wait a day or two or by the way it will take a couple days for repairs." Truck drivers time is money and when they have to sit, they lose loads. I really have compassion for the mechanics who have to break the news to drivers about their trucks.

After we had our truck fixed at Kenworth we had to wait to have the reefer repairs done because they closed at 5:00. So, next morning, we went as soon as they opened. It was a wonderfully interesting morning. Another team was having their reefer worked on and they were from FedEx Custom Critical and they were the first team we met that was from Ohio but actually more eastern Ohio. The funny thing is when I told them that we were from Northwest Ohio around Findlay, their comment was, "Wow, you're not too far from us."...funny how in truck driver terms 150 or so miles is close. It was wonderful being able to talk to them for a couple of hours while our trucks were worked on. We pulled up our lawn chairs and started talking about driving, our families at home and just a little bit of everything.

I have said that we want to be able to spread the Good News while we are out here and we are still finding our way. God gives us ways and opportunities but I am finding that we miss so many of those opportunities. During the time that we talked to the couple, I probably know more about their family and how they came into the business just as much as some of their friends. Amazing in a couple of hours I found out that they now own 2 trucks and are training their son and a friend of his to be custom critical team drivers. This is the son who was taking care of their house while they were gone and now would be out on the road just like them. One of their sons other friends needed a place to stay and has been staying with them for a while, so he is going to take care of it for them. Their daughter is moving home from Michigan, she lived there for 2 years and is going to have a baby in about 6 months or so and the father is not in the picture. So she is coming back to live in Ohio. The couple both had kids from previous marriages but her husband is not talking to his children, which they said is a long story. They both seemed happy doing what they are doing, they've been working for FedEx since 2007. The wife shared that she and her husband get along really well in the truck but when they get home it is a little more difficult. She shared that he likes to drink when they get home so they argue more. She has tried to get him to stop but he likes his beer.

Once I met this couple, I decided that until I take opportunities to share God with others that when I miss an opportunity I will pray for that person. Some I will know their names and others I won't. I'm also praying that God gives me the words to share Him with others. I am finding that once I do talk to others I bring my church family into the conversation and I share that I will pray for them. As God gives me the words, I will share those stories, but for right now, I am going to share the people we meet along the way and those caught opportunities and those missed opportunities.

A few more missed opportunities were a couple of homeless in a couple of different truck stops. Also people who work in the truck stops, they really like to talk and help and at times I've been too tired to talk. They all have been so helpful and really cater to the needs of the travelers.

More stories to come later. At this time we do not have power in the truck to charge the laptop, so the only time I will be able to post is when we take some time off.

Once we get in a little more of a routine, I will post more routinely:)

Love, peace, hope and joy,
Judy

Load number 2 August 16, 2011

As stated in the previous post, we had a SHORT load that picked up in Niagara Falls and went to Pennsylvania. SHORT is the way it started out. I know that when they said it was a SHORT load, they were talking about distance which by that statement they were correct. For such a SHORT load it sure was a long day. We've been told and we've decided that we have to have a sense of humor out here or else things would absolutely drive you crazy. We are not crazy but after you read our adventure see if you would be crazy on your second day on the job.

We decided that to be at the shipper's by 7 am we should get up about 4:00 because we were so tired the night before we hadn't planned our route, we wanted to shower and the truck needed to have an empty weight ticket which we hadn't done yet and the reefer needed to be turned on because it was a temperature controlled delivery. So, we got up and felt pretty rested, made plans for the trip, took our showers,started up the reefer, did our pretrip and decided that Jim would drive first because I had driven last and had driven the whole day before. We were staying at a truckstop that had a scale so we headed over to weigh the truck. Jim drove it up on the scale and then went off the scale to go into the truckstop to get the ticket. He came back out and said, "You know, I don't think this is going to be a good day, it sure isn't starting off too good." I asked him why and he said, "The weight didn't save so we have to go weigh it again." The second worked like a charm. Now I'm wondering if we will be able to tell if we've lost or gained weight by the next time we weigh the truck empty. I am talking about Jim and myself, not the truck. So instead of the normal, 2-3 pounds difference in scales are truck scales off by 100-200 pounds and if so, I would be happy about losing 100 but probably not too happy about gaining the 100:) So...on to the next crazy thing that happened while Jim was driving....

We arrived at the shipper at about 1/2 hour early. We were supposed to call a contact and let her know that we were there, well she didn't answer. We sat for a couple of minutes and one of the people from the company come out and ask if we needed something. Jim said that we had a pickup to make and showed him the Bill of Lading which is a fancy name for Shipping and Receiving paperwork. He said that he didn't know about it and had Jim come with him to figure it out. They got it figured out and it was supposed to be picked up, so they loaded the truck. They were going over the paperwork and the shipper noticed that the temperature said 60 degrees and he said that it should be set a 40, not 60. In our orientation we learned that anything, we mean anything that gets changed needs to be reported to Dispatch so they can confirm it. So Jim called dispatch and they said they would confirm it and get back to us. These rules should be in place especially for the safety of the load and others. We were again hauling hazmat and I think that it is a very good thing that everyone be on the same page. So we waited at the shipper for about an hour and found out that yes, we could set it at 40 degrees and then we waited another 15 minutes till the temperature went down to 40, then we were off.

On to crazy thing number 3

The reefer that I mentioned above, did an excellent job keeping the temperature at 40 degrees, the crazy thing is that there is a monitor with four readings on it. Three of the readings showed 40 degrees give or take one degree. The fourth reading showed 137 degrees. OK we've obviously got a problem with one of the detectors. So we kept driving. Crazy thing is that when the readings go back to FedEx it shows that our reefer temperature is out of range and then they send us a message through the Qualcomm every 15 minutes which needs to be replied to. So, the whole trip, every 15 minutes they sent us a message. By the way every time you get a message on the qualcomm it talks to you and says in a loud obnoxious voice, "You have a new message." So needless to say if either of us need any sleep, it wasn't going to happen. I also have a question for everyone to ponder...we are a team so one of us can answer but what about those solo drivers how do they answer those messages? I think most would answer you, even the team drivers is that they would either pull over and answer or call and see what the message was. So on to the next crazy thing.

Crazy thing 4

Jim pays the toll at the New York/Pennsylvania line and what do you know...they have an inspection point set up. Before he knew it the state trooper was asking him to pull over for inspection. REALLY...how many drivers have gotten pulled into an inspection on their second load. The state trooper told us that is was because we were hauling hazmat and that is a flag for them to pull us over. We actually heard that during our orientation, but REALLY I thought they might have been exaggerating a little, evidently not. The inspection went fine, but we were now even later to get to the delivery. We called dispatch and they set us up for a new delivery time for the second time. Then of course right after the inspection there was a weigh station so we had to pull into that. Not unusual by any means but it was our first time going across a scale because others we had passed were closed and of course we had just weighed the truck empty just that morning.

The delivery in Pennsylvania itself went off without a hitch, then almost as soon as we said delivery complete we headed off toward Canton Express Center where FedEx asked us to go. About two minutes after we said we were available for a load, we have a load opportunity come through. We looked at it and decided to go ahead and take it, the pay wasn't that great but it would give us some experience. The load was taking us to the east coast, so we turned around since we had been heading west and starting heading east. We decided to take a restroom and lunch break so we stopped at a small convenience store. Then we continued our journey heading east.

Crazy thing 5

Well we get going, wind back up in Pennsylvania almost an hour in and our Air Conditioner decides to stop working. It had stopped for a little while the day before but when we stopped and started again, it started working. So we decided to stop for a few minutes to see if that would help. Needless to say, it didn't. So we called Expediter Services and told them about it and of course they thought that we should have it looked at. So we stopped at a TA and asked them if they could take a look. About an hour later they were able to get it in and two hours after they were able to let us know what was wrong. We had called FedEx and told them that we were going to have it looked at but now we were getting a little nervous because we had to be at the pick up by 8 on the east coast. Once we talked to the TA mechanic, he informed us that we should take it to the dealership. So again, we call Expediter and let them know that we have to talk to FedEx to see if we can be pulled from the load (Jim and I neither one was happy because we were looking forward to that load). So we called FedEx and decided to be pulled off the load to get the air conditioner fixed. Jim called a couple of the dealerships and no one could get us in quick. So he took a chance and called the one in Richfield, OH and they said that they would try to squeeze us in and to go ahead and come over. So...after another call to Expediter and FedEx we were now for the second time in one day heading to Ohio after staying all night at the TA. It was about an hour and half trip back to the dealership.

The people through this whole crazy day were what made all of these things at least seem humorous. After all how many crazy things can you fit into one day! The shipper, consignee, the mechanic, the TA people and yes even the state trooper were so helpful and went out of their way to treat strangers so wonderfully. I also have to say the waitress at the TA was wonderful. We had just eaten before we got there so we just went in to wait and ordered a couple of drinks. When we were done, I went up to her and asked her what I owed and she said, "Don't worry about it." I said, "Are you sure." She said, "Yes and you all be safe out there." Those kind of people are what make our world a better place. In all of that, I was so gracious to the waitress that come to think of it I didn't even leave her a tip, gee whiz, I wish that every once in a while my brain would kick in when it should not a day later.

So....tomorrow I will post about our day at the shop since we will be in the shop for the reefer tomorrow, I should have a little time. And it will not be as long as these last two posts unless something crazy happens.

Faith, peace, love and joy!

Judy

First days on the road

I can't believe it has been since July since one of us posted last. In short we picked up our truck from Richfield Ohio, took it home and got it cleaned up inside and out. It took us about a week straight working on it. Then we went to FedEx orientation which began on Aug 8. The training was interesting and we learned alot and forgot a lot. We completed our orientation for Surface and then for White Glove as well as our training in Hazmat, Explosives and Radioactive materials. It was nice to meet others who were just getting started and also being able to talk to those who had been in surface and were training to be in white glove. We learned a lot from them too.

So..jumping ahead to the present.....

It took a little longer for us to get our things packed and the truck box organized so we didn't go into service until Sunday, August 14th. No sooner did we go into service then we received a phone call asking if we would take a load that picked up in Cleveland and dropped off in Ontario Canada. The funny thing is that we both had said, watch our first load be to Canada and neither of us thought we would really be ready for it because we needed experience. Dispatch convinced us that we would be all right, it was one of their regular customers and it would be simple. We decided to go ahead and take the load.

It was about 7 in the evening so we decided that Jim would drive, the load picked up at 11:00 pm and needed to be dropped off at 12:30 the next afternoon, so off we went. We decided that we would drive that way so that he would be the one to go through customs on the way up. We were at the pickup in Cleveland early (can't remember exactly how early, maybe around 9:30 or so...we were excited about the first load and wanted to be on time). The shipper took us early. I think that I forgot to mention that it was also a hazmat load so that also made us a little nervous. We picked it up and then headed off to Canada. I decided that I would try and get some sleep because I didn't know whether Jim would last driving until the next morning. Needless to say I didn't get much sleep but Jim was so excited that he stayed wide awake the whole time. We hit customs really early in the am. The customs guy just asked us where we were going and how long we would be there and of course the weapon, drug whatever question. We did tell him that we had a couple of box cutters and a large flashlight that some people might consider weapons. He smiled and said you're good to go, and we headed off.

I took over driving about a half hour after we hit the border. Granted this was the first time I had driven the truck in unfamiliar territory and not to mention my only experience driving was the dump truck at school and the little bit I drove the truck once we picked it up. I know that God was watching over me because on the way through Toronto we didn't hit too much traffic although it was busy, there just weren't any slowdowns. I learned that first day how to change lanes and merging traffic. By the way...on ramps in Canada are much, much shorter than in Ohio and they also require you to go around a 25-30 mph curve before merging. So I learned to get over for other drivers and in turn people made room for me to get into traffic. Drivers there seem to be courteous and believe it or not even drive about the speed limit, so it was pretty smooth sailing. Something I didn't know before I started driving is that the trucks have to have something on them so that they can't drive over 65, that is the only way a truck can drive in Canada. Hmm....maybe they require the cars to have them too:)

We were 4 hours early to drop the load off and it was a huge plant with a gate. The lady at the gate asked for my paperwork. There had been a sign in the front of the office that said if you are coming from the US you need to pull forward. I asked the lady at the gate if she wanted me to pull forward. She then asked if I was sealed and I said no, then she said did the person at customs unseal you and look. I said no. Then she said, were you ever sealed? I said no, the shipper did not seal us. I then explained to her that this was our very first load and that Jim was driving when we picked up the load. She just gave me a weird look handed me a pass and let me go on but said that since we were early we'd have to check back with the office and if they were able to take us that was fine but it not then we would need to come up front and park. I said all right and we went back. They accepted us four hours early. I forgot to mention that when we were almost to the place where we deliver, our electronic gadget (called a qualcom- which tells dispatch where we are) went off saying that we were more than 15 minutes late for our load. I called dispatch and told them we were almost there and made sure I had the right time. She said I was fine. The qualcom a few minutes later sent us a message that said, did you make it to the border. Well what we didn't know was that we were supposed to send a message when we got to the border so the qualcom was a little behind. We got the load off the truck without any problems.

After we dropped off the load we called Expediter Services and asked them if we could take the truck somewhere and put 2 tires on the truck. They said to wait until we got back to the states and that we could take care of it in Buffalo. So we put our truck out of service. The drive back was a little more crazy through Toronto, it probably didn't help that we started going through at about 3:00 pm and there was construction. Well after sitting in traffic for about 20 minutes and things were moving pretty good, we missed our turn off. I need to mention here that Canada also doesn't mark their roads very well. There were times where the first sign I saw was at the exit and it was across four lanes of traffic. So, we missed the exit and the only way around it without getting off an exit and driving downtown Toronto was to go around and come back to the exit...so that added an extra hour of driving because we also wound up coming through the same traffic a second time. Once we were finally through the mess (which I really didn't mind other than the real need to stop and use the bathroom) we got off an exit to get something to drink and go to the bathroom. We hadn't exchanged any of our money because we knew we wouldn't be there for too long so that made us think that they might not take US dollars. Well of course they did and it was interesting to watch the register. She told us the price and then right in front of our eyes, the register changed to a different price because we had US dollars, obviously it was more because our dollar isn't worth a whole lot:) So we got our drinks and headed toward the border.

The border, I should say US customs was a first for me. I had been through in a car but not a truck. I have to share that we were probably heading back over to the states during customs rush hour because there was a ton of cars and trucks heading that direction. There had been signs a few miles before that stated that trucks would probably have a 30-60 minute wait and it also said that about the cars. So once we got there they put us in a holding yard to wait our turn. Trucks were lined up across 5 customs lines which then narrowed to one traffic line all the way across the bridge that ended in the yard we were in. The yard we were in, held a ton of trucks. There were fives lines of trucks on one side of us and each line probably held 6 trucks or so. After about 30 minutes we then made our way to the bridge. Our truck was not happy about the hill of the bridge we were sitting on, moving slowly and stopping and starting. We finally made it to the customs window where the attendant asked for our identification. He took them and then said we'll be with you in a second. I was thinking, is there something wrong already, what could it be? After a few minutes another person opened the window (I had noticed the first attendant left the booth and she had walked up but she never said anything about it) and asked me some questions. First she asked our license plate number which I had written down earlier because there is paper work that we fill out when we cross the border. So I told her. Then she asked me if there was anything that I wanted to declare before going back into the US and I said no. Then she asked me the question, "So you are heading back empty?" I was excited that she asked me that question because I was prepared because we had learned in orientation that you never, never, ever say you are coming back empty. The reason is that our box is not empty because we carry equipment with us and if you were pulled over to do more in depth questioning and they opened your truck and you said you were empty and you had equipment back there, that would raise a flag to them and they would detain you even longer. So my answer was, as I learned in class, "We are dead heading back to the states and have no loaded freight." She said all right, you may go ahead. Boy was I relieved and you know what I don't think she even asked the weapon and drug question. Both customs (Canada and the US) did ask us if we had anyone else with us. We said no and both of us had to show our passports and ids. So....we made it through customs and were off to the good ole USA.

Once we got to the states we called Expediters and talked to them about getting tires put on. (They were wonderful and part of the reason we waited to talk to them until we got to the US is because they reminded us that talking in Canada would waste a lot of our minutes because it is all roaming). So we stopped at the TA around Buffalo and got the tires changed. This was difficult on Jim because he had been up all night and hadn't gotten too much sleep because he wanted to make sure I didn't get lost and also because he wanted to help me unload and work together with the paperwork. So by the time we went to get the tires on, he was really worn out. We had called dispatch a couple of times to tell them we were still waiting. Later on they called us and asked us if we would be willing to take a short load that didn't pick up until 7:00 am and it was not too far from where we were getting the tires put on. We said that sounded good since our tires were just getting put on and that meant we could sleep all night before the load. Jim was really excited about the sleep and so was I. Even though I was the one to be able to sleep while he was driving, I didn't get much sleep too much running through my head and of course it was the first time I had tried to fall asleep in a moving vehicle and it wasn't my bed:) So a good nights' rest sounded good to me.

We both have shared that we like to travel and see different things. This trip was an interesting one with lots of different scenery. The lake was gorgeous both in the morning and afternoon. Toronto has a really pretty cityscape and something I didn't know was that they have a population over 2 million, no wonder there was so much traffic:) Another reason we decided to hit the road was to meet people, learn about cultures and be Christlike to whomever we meet hoping to be able to share a little of the Good News with some people. We met a couple of gentlemen at our Canadian delivery. Super nice people who asked us if we had visited Canada before and we shared with them that our only experience was at my Uncle Donnie's cabin at McGregor Bay. We talked about the traffic in Toronto, they smiled and asked us how that was. It was nice to hear the traditional "eh" while they were talking. Jim will post pictures once we figure out how to charge the laptop in the truck because the pics are on his camera which needs the laptop connection to load. So a little more later.

Since I've taken up so much room on this post, I think I'll start another one for the next load.

Faith, peace, hope and joy!!

Judy