Texas to California and California to California

As I shared in the last post, we accepted a load that left on Saturday and dropped off Monday. This load was doubly exciting for us, first we found out that we were going to California, a state neither of has ever been to and the other was that we were carrying electronics which was something different for us. Other drivers who have been in the business for a while probably would share that they have hauled electronics quite a bit, but this was the first for us. Since we are both techies (Jim more than me), we were interested in where we were picking up and where we were delivering to. It was also interesting that we would have 7 pallets that only weighed a little over 1200 lbs.

When we arrived at the pickup, we noticed that there was a FedEx Custom Critical straight truck at one of the docks and also a tractor and trailer. As we went in to pick up our load we noticed that there was another tractor and trailor in one of the other docks. As we talked to the drivers, it looked like we were all heading to California. We thought that this was unusual to be somewhere with so many FedEx CC trucks and then to have us all going to the same place. Another odd thing we found out was that one of the tractors was going to be carrying, 25 pallets, the straight truck ahead of us was just carrying one pallet, we were carrying 7 and we're not sure what the other one was going to be carrying since he was still waiting on his load. The load we had was originally for 1 pm and had been moved to 5 pm. We, as usual were early and they let us into the dock. We had just found out from another driver that the other straight truck had just loaded his own truck since he had only one pallet. After talking to the person who was in charge of the shipment, Jim and I decided that we would load our own, mainly because there was only one person loading and it looked like she was going to have to load the two trailors by herself. She really appreciated our willingness to help and went to load the other trailer. Each pallet she had to load was done with a pallet jack which takes a lot more physical effort than a forklift mainly because of pushing it on to the truck, the pallets were light but still took some effort to get them on the truck. This load was secured a little differently than our loads of heavy automotive parts. The pallets were each loaded a little differently, some had one big box with one small box on top, others had one big box with a few small boxes on top. The pallets fit pretty nicely into the truck and we wound up securing them with load bars in front of and behind the six pallets and then another load bar in front of the one that stood alone. We used longer straps to keep the boxes from moving side to side and used a couple of straps to secure the loner box. We also used corner protectors to protect the boxes. High school physics is very helpful when deciding where to put straps so that the load is secured, very scientific. We were travelling a long way and wanted to make sure the contents arrived safely. We had her sign our paper work and she again shared her appreciation of our willingness to help. We pulled out of the dock area and started to make our departure call when Jim asked me, didn't they have a bill of lading. I told him that she didn't give me any paperwork, so he decided to go in and ask her. Since she was so busy, it took forever and what she did was just print off emails. Something us newbies learned, after our departure call was that some of our customers may not have Bills of Lading to give us and as long as they sign our paperwork that says where it is going and what is on the load, then we are good to go. Although what I learned was to at least ask, just in case they forget to give us what they have. Some drivers who are more seasoned could probably tell us if there is a way to know whether they will give us paperwork or not. After our departure call we headed for California.

Jim started off driving and headed across I-10 in Texas. First thing we notice is the drop in traffic. The traffic wasn't near as much as we had on I-35 which was nice. The scenary changed quite a bit as we travelled through Texas, although it was difficult to see since much of the driving was done at night. I had decided the night before to go to bed early and get up early so I would be ready to sleep at 6 pm so I could be ready to drive. Well the night before I succeeded in getting up early even though I didn't have to drive. I even succeeded at laying down at 6 pm the night I was supposed to drive but for some reason, I woke up every hour on the hour, so I wasn't ready to drive when it was my turn. When it was my turn to drive, we decided that we had some time built in for the run and that we could stop for a few hours and rest. That was just what I needed. I was able to start driving about 5 am and was refreshed from the sleep. I began driving about an hour from New Mexico.

I stopped just inside New Mexico at the welcome center. The sun was just starting to rise and by the time I was ready to leave it was just coming up over the horizon. Jim had woke up so I told him he had to get out and see the great sunrise. We both took pictures. City on one side, mountains on the other. Gorgeous! I also pointed out the warning sign to Jim that said Beware snakes. We were pretty fortunate that we didn't see any. We both think that it would really be neat to see one but of course from a very far distance. I will post a few pictures of the view we had along with some more of the rest of our trip.

I didn't expect to see an inspection station in New Mexico, but not to far down the road from the rest area, there was an inpsection station. Now in some states there are inspection stations that are for trucks, so I that was what I was expecting and also expecting it to be closed, as many of them are. That wasn't the case. The road was blocked off by construction barriers and everyone had to exit. It turns out that it must have been border related. There were cameras and a dog. Although for some reason I think that the dog was more interested in going across the road to the other guards. He did his sniffing but then wanted to go to the guard station. There must have been some really great snacks in there. We were waved on and didn't have to stop although we did have to go through the station. Lesson, you never know what you might run into on the road.

Jim and I have found it much easier to stop at rest areas on the road, especially because it takes less time and if we have time it gives us a place to walk or just hang out away from the truck. We really enjoy stopping at the Welcome Centers just inside most state lines. They generally provide information about the state and places of interest.
The rest of the trip to California was pretty uneventful. The sites were different and I was hoping that we would get to see the ocean but we wound up pre-dsipatched on another short load. As we were travelling we were able to see San Fransico Bay and the ships that have been put out to pasture sort of speak. Our short load was a secure load and was about 200 pounds in a container that was on a four wheel dolly type thing. When we delivered it the person who was there said that this particular item travels a lot. In these cases we enjoy trying to figure out what is inside since we aren't supposed to know. All they tell us is electronics and that it is confidential, so we'll never know but we love making up stories. Our next load would take us out of California. I'll talk more about that in the next post. This last week was an extremely busy driving week and we enjoyed all the wonderful views and the great people we met along the way. God gives us what we need just when we need it. Sunrises and sunsets are two of His most precious gifts to us and especially those who are up and moving during those hours. Peace and God's blessings, Judy

Texas San Antonio and Austin

We came to Texas knowing that everything is bigger down here, at least that is how the saying goes and you are reminded of it on signs heading down the highway. A couple of things that I noticed while driving were really, really big boots and three giant sized frogs dancing, all of which you could see from the highway. It amazes me how far you can see and the unique beautiful scenary. It kind of makes me wonder...when God created all of these unique places, what did (or does) He have in mind for their uniqueness...maybe it is just so people like us from Ohio could appreciate the beauty of what He created and wonder about the parts of His creation we have yet to see, hmmmm..... I was just talking to a friend today about how unique He has made all of us and that is a great thing. I have seen His work in the people we have met so far in our journeys. It is just amazing that when we open our eyes a little how the Good in people stands out. The people who work in Truck stops are amazing to me. They show such genuine concern for the drivers who stop. They continually say Good morning, how are you today and they actually wait to see what you answer and then they comment. People seem to go out of their way to make you feel at home, away from home. These people God gave us each day and we appreciate all that they do for us to bring a smile to our faces while we are out on the road.

This trip started out being a little on the normal side, we had picked up in Detroit and delivered to San Antonio. That load was pretty uneventful even though it was Hazmat and batteries, nothing unusual and then we decided to take a short load while we were down here waiting on another load. This was the first time we had a load that picked up on a base. Needless to say, we were a little clueless and really appreciate the people on base who understand we civilians who don't understand how the base works. First, we went to the address we received, which was a gate into the base. The guard there told us that we needed to go to the commercial truck entrance for a pass on to base. So, he held up traffic while we did a U turn at the entrance. He also gave us directions to the commercial truck entrance, which Jim had to ask him again so we could write them down because I couldn't remember what he had told me. We went to the commercial truck entrance which was where they inspect the trucks before they allow you on base. No problem, just had to wait for the other trucks in front of us, not really knowing what to expect. Once we showed them our paper work we asked where we go now and asked if we should just go to the address and the gate on our paperwork. Both Jim and I understood that we should, so off we went. Well, when we got there (of course the same guard was on duty), he said that we needed to enter base where we had been inspected that there was a gate there. So...back we went, complete with another u-turn. As we approached the gate, bypassing the inpsection since we had already done it, we met a guard with his arms crossed...we thought to ourselves...we're in trouble now. Turns out once he found out that we had our papers and that we had lost our way, he was very accomodating and even gave us directions. The funny thing was we had to ask, I don't think he realized that we had absolutely no idea where we were going on base. Many of the commercial vehicles probably make daily or weekly trips on base and already know where they are going. Turns out he gave us really pretty good directions although we newbies bypassed the building we needed to stop at and found ourselves at...you got it...on the other side of the gate we tried to enter twice with no way out except a u-turn and of course the guard was still there and by now they had to be in hysterics of laughter now that they had seen us three times. Jim quickly asked them about where to go for the dock of the building (yes the building was literally just inside that gate:) and again, they helped stop traffic while we did our u-turn to head back. Once we were at the dock, it was a piece of cake and we gave the shipper a big smile as we told them our hard luck story. At least we can make people laugh! We were ablle to leave base without any u-turns. The delivery was a lot less painful and did not require any u-turns.

As we were delivering our short load, we received a load opp that picked up on Saturday and delivered on Monday. We spent Friday in a truck stop near Austin. One of the things we noticed while we were in Texas was the amount of crickets that were around. They were everywhere. Jim and I both thought that they were having races in the fuel aisle. I don't know what they feed them here, but they were jumping higher than I am tall and flying at you as you walked by. I asked one of the people at the truck stop if it was normal for them to have so many crickets and she said, yes, they are a pretty big nuisance. She also shared that her young daughter was petrified to go outside at night because of them. We have crickets at home but let me tell you nothing like this. Jim and I were finding ourselves shutting the door to the truck quickly. Both of us imagined what it would be like to have a cricket inside the truck, chirping away and then what would happen if you had more than one, enough to drive any sane person insane! We had hoped to do some tourism in Austin but decided to spend some time at a rest area that shared quite a bit of history of the area and gave some information about the tornadoes in Jarrell. We were also able to take a walk and take some pictures. Excerise is something we are both trying to do. It was hard for us at home, just because we didn't want to take the time and now that we are in the truck, it is just as difficult because sleep tends to rule when there is extra time. Other drivers have shared that we will get used to the sleep and will find ourselves with time to exercise, the question is...will we exercise or find other things to do that we enjoy? Maybe a little of both. In the next blog post, I'll share the details of our next loads and the beautiful country we were so fortunate to see. Peace and blessings to all, Judy and Jim

Labor day week

Two weeks, first week, what we did labor day week and then home for a week.

We did have Monday off, so we decided to do some laundry. While doing laundry we met another FedEx Custom Critical team driver. We started talking and found out that they also carried bikes on their truck with them. They drive tractor and trailer and have recently kept their bikes in the top bunk in their truck. As we were talking about riding, she shared that they have fold up bikes. Jim and I asked if we might be able to see them, so we met up at their truck a little later.

The bikes were really neat and we appreciate that they allowed us to take a look at them and I was even able to test drive one. We talked to the team for about an hour, about the bikes and about expediting in general. It turns out that they own their own truck and had a lot of knowledge about saving money on fuel. We shared with them about rideandroll.me which is a site that has a map of bike trails that have truck parking close and also the rideandroll facebook page where drivers share their bike riding experiences. We have been curious about the folding bikes and their durability. The team had their bikes for about 6 years and they have not had any problems with them. They ride about 1-2 times a week and are fair weather riders, just like us. The bikes take up a lot less room for storage. Currently, Jim and I have our bikes in the box of our truck and even turning handlebars, they still take up quite a bit of space. We were curious to see how small their bikes folded up and where we would store them on our truck. After some great visual spacial skills being applied, we found out that they could actually fit in the storage box under the truck, both of them. Something we will definitely keep in mind for the future.

Currently, Ohio doesn't have any dealers that carry folding bikes so when and if we decide folding bikes are the way to go, we'll need to look at them while we are out on the road. We all exchanged numbers and emails. We find that the people we meet are wonderful, but the chances of us running into the same people again won't happen for quite a while if ever so exchanging information gives us a way of staying in touch and building a network of people. We appreciate the network of people. It is so helpful to be able just pick up the phone or email someone with experience and ask questions. Our small network has been so helpful as we have gotten started.

After meeting with the other team, we decided that it was time to try the Space Alien Restaurant across the road. It looked pretty interesting from the outside. The restaurant is a local chain. I believe they have about 6 locations all in North Dakota and Minnesota. Jim has a picture of the outside, hopefully he will get a chance to post it. When you walked in there was a dome at the top with stars and outer space kinds of things inside. They also had a game room and prizes. The main dining area was an area that mostly families and kids sat in and they had a lounge where mainly adults without kids hung out. It was lunch and labor day so there were many families there, so we decided instead of taking up room in the cool part that the kids obviously adored, that we would eat in the lounge. The lounge had a bar and they also had a machine at each table where you could play games, cards games, word games, mind games, etc for $1.00 for 4 credits, each game was about two. We decided on a word game and found out all too soon that neither of us must be smart enough to play the games, it was a word scramble and we couldn't even get the first one at the easiest level, now that's bad.

The food was good and they had quite a variety. Afterward, we decided to look around and headed off to the game room where we witnessed some jackpot winners, 10,000 tickets...boy did those moms look excited (not) as they were standing there waiting for all of the tickets to come out, but the kids were extremely excited. As we were going outside, there were two teenage boys that stopped at a couple of tables. The place was packed and there wasn't any room to get around them. My first thought was...if you are going to talk, could you let enough room for people to go by...then I heard their conversation and thought, boy am I a jerk. The boys had won a lot of tickets and were stopping by the tables to give them away to young kids and telling them that they just liked playing the games and didn't need any of the prizes and were hoping that someone else could use the tickets. The smiles on the faces were just amazing, the kids were smiling and it made everyone around them smile. It was a wonderfully positive thing to witness in a place of lots of happiness, two boys brought even more happiness! Love abounds even from stranger to stranger!

No more time off, we left for a load that picked up in Minnesota and delievered in Illinois. A quick short load that just took us the day to get there. After we delivered we were waiting on our next load. Jim and I were both surprised that we didn't have a load offer before we delievered. It had been the norm for the past couple of weeks that before we delivered we were offered a load because we were so close to the pickup. We waited for a little while and Jim decided to check and see what our layover option had in regards to the amount of trucks on dwell time and how many had been dispatched. As he was checking, he found out that our truck was out of service. We knew we hadn't put the truck out of service so we called to find out what was going on. After talking to FedEx, we found out that our truck was due for inspection.

At first, we were confused and then we realized that at orientation they had told us that our truck would need inspected soon. The date was over a month after orientation so I think we both put it out of our minds because it wasn't now and partially I think we both figured we would be reminded about it either through FedEx or Expediter Services, well obvioulsy that wasn't the case. After our frustration with ourselves, we called Expediter and asked them where we could have one done and it turned out that we could have it done at a TA, so we headed for Bloomington, Il. which was the closest. While we were at it, we had the service maintenance done on the truck as well as maintenance done on the APU. We chuckled a little afterward. We thought, you know how many times the truck had been in the shop the first couple of weeks, that if we would have thought about it, we could have had the maintenance, the inspection and the fixits all done at the same time. From now on, we put the dates in our calendars and have put a reminder for our next inspection which should be done in six months, so reminder comes in March:)

Afterwards, we went in to service and received a load opp as soon as we went back into service. This load picked up in Indiana and went to Arkansas. By this time we were starting to think about how we were going to get home because we wanted to take some time off. This load would have been great if it had delievered in Indiana but of course it picked up, so we didn't get to go home with this load. This load was a non-hazmat load but was classified as chemical, non-hazardous. We delivered it to a paper plant in the middle of nowhere. The drive was really neat and on some two lane state highways. It reminded us of the way towns were back in the 50s.

The roads ran along the Mississippi River flood plain, so there was nature and preserve areas all over. Of course being in the 50s, all that the towns had in them were just little small convenience stores with very limited parking. We were able to use a couple of them for food and restroom but had to make our own space along one of the sides of the small parking lot. The people were friendly and always spoke to you first and they asked how you were doing and shared that they felt the day was beautiful and how much they appreciated it.

We arrived at the plant and Jim and I knew from our own experiences that this type of plant can have a strong smell and once we drove back towards the dock, you could really smell it. I think that we both decided that it smelled like a port-a-potty that hadn't been cleaned out for at least a year or two. Thank goodness the smell only lasted through just a small portion of our drive back to the dock. The man who help unload our truck discussed the weather and the flooding in the spring and what FedEx CC is and how the team concept worked. We unloaded and were off to our next load. As we were leaving the plant, we noticed a big machine that was unloading rail cars. Jim or I had never seen a rail car being emptied. The machine literally picked up the car and turned it over to empty it. I guess I have lead a sheltered life although it hasn't been without trains, I wonder why I never witnessed this type of machine before, it was pretty cool. I'm not sure what it was called, I may have to figure that one out and find a picture somewhere.

Our next adventure took us to Memphis where we picked up a load of shower curtains that were headed to Minneapolis (Minnesota was starting to feel like home). The pickup was our usual pleasantries and the smile that I have when I hear the southern accents. The trip was pretty normal for us, starting to get in the swing of our sleep schedules and working on those. Then as we were following our wonderful GPS, the highway sign shared something different.

There was construction going on in downtown Minneapolis and where the GPS wanted us to exit was a small problem. There was a sign at the exit that said trucks use next exit. So...being the good sign followers that we are, we thought, we'll just go down and hit the next exit. There is probably a very good reason why they don't want us to take that exit. Well, come to find out, there was no way to get there from here. Once we found where we were supposed to be, it was just on the other side of where the road was closed, the complete opposite the other exit brought us out to. We were surrounded by small streets that we weren't sure were even suitable for a truck. Jim decided that we'd park and he'd walk and see if he could find someone who might be able to help us get around it. After a nice long walk, he found the dock and talked to the person at the dock who said, you would be better off going back to the highway and getting off on the original exit. He didn't have any idea of why they would route the trucks on the other road. So we went back to the highway, now going in the opposite direction as before and got off the exit. This time there was not a sign that said please use the next exit. We both found it strange that on one side of the interstate they had a sign but on the other side you were able to use the exit. Who knows, we did get there and unloaded.

The dock person the whole time kept saying, I don't know where these go and the person that we said was the contact was a neuro biologist or something. Somehow we got on the topic that usually the freight we haul is freight that is needed quickly, many times it has to do with an order that someone forgot to place or something that someone needs yesterday. He thought for a minute and then said, Oh...I bet I know where this goes. They were evidentally opening up a new portion of the hospital somewhere and he even made the connection of the person who was on the bill. He had been afraid that he was accepting freight that they hadn't ordered and then realized that probably wasn't the case. I wasn't sure what we would have done if he would have said, "Sorry we didn't order this." Actually I know what we would have done, we would have called dispatch and they would have handled it, but thank goodness we didn't have to do that:)

We decided to put ourselves out of service for a couple of hours, so that we could get showers, eat and nap. Once we came back into service, we received a load opp for the next day, which was Saturday. We were hoping for a load that went out on Friday and delievered on Sat but this one worked out even better mainly because Jim really needed some sleep and since the load was on Saturday, Iwas going to be the one who was driving and it turned out that it was a short load and it paid pretty good. This was a new type of load for us, it was being picked up at an airport and then taken to northern Minnesota. FedEx CC has their own air dispatch so we were working with a different set of regulations that we needed to follow. It was pretty interesting to pick up at the FedEx airport terminal. The load weight wise is probably about the lightest we've had at 270 lbs. The paperwork was a little different and we had to do dispatch a little different than what we were used to. We were there a little before they opened on Saturday so we were able to see the planes taking off which is something we both really enjoy doing.

We loaded up and then headed to northern Minnesota. Jim and I were both excited to go to Northern Minnesota, we figured we would get to see some different scenary and Jim was excited because the place we were going was the home to the fishing shows where they catch the big walleye and muskies (Go Muskies!!). As we were driving we were a litle disappointed because we were on a four lane highway all the way there. We were in the plains and drifting into the pine area. One of the coolest things we saw along the way was a helicopter working on power lines. We were warned by construction signs to watch out for low flying working helicopters, now that was a sign I had never seen before. The helipcopters actually lowered the worker from the helicoptor and as it was hovering, the person did their work. Talk about a risky job, I don't think that I could do it, if you fell, you would not be here to talk about it. Of course they had harnesses and helmets and all the safety equipment but still.

The hospital we delivered to was in a small town (nothing like Minneapolis) and the dock was very small. Jim mentioned that there was no way they could have gotten a tractor and trailer in it. It was pretty tight on both sides and at the top. The directions from FedEx were great and we found it right away. We found out that what we were hauling was IV tubing that they needed. This load was an easy delivery, pulled off freight, signed paperwork and we were off. I was able to share with the lady who had helped us take off the frieght that we knew all about IV tubing because of our nephew Reese who had a multi-organ transplant when he was about 1 year old. He had been through plenty of it, not sure whether it was more than what we hauled but it must have been pretty close.

From there we got a load offer that picked up in Iowa and delivered to Indiana. Yipee, we knew that was close to home so we would be able to go home from there. We enjoyed being out but were also excited to be able to go home and see all of our family. Bonus was that it was fair week too so we would even get to see friends that only come home for that one social event. The load picked up and delivered without any story to go along with it, I guess, they knew we wanted to get home. After delivery, I drove until we hit the Ohio line, at which time I started to sneeze. I told Jim that I must be allergic to Ohio:) Jim then drove the rest of the way home.

We spent time with family the week we were home. Much of it was spent in Upper. We were able to go to the fair on Thursday where we met up with my sisters, mom, dad, my nieces and nephews. It was a lot of fun spending time with all of them. Katie, one of our daughters, was able to come too. Kira and Casey are still working at Put-in-Bay and Disney, so they couldn't come. We have two nieces and a nephew that couldn't be there and my brother and his wife. My nephew had to work, my niece is in college and my other niece was at her mom's. We try to spend time with our family, all of the cousins are getting older and will be moving in their own directions. We especially want to get to spend some time with our nephew who has joined the marines, we know we will not get too many more opportunities to spend with him before he heads off to boot camp. We are proud of him and will miss him when he goes.

That is the same for all of them, once the kids go to college or get jobs, they might wind up somewhere other than Tiffin or Upper, so we want to cherish these times that we can all get together even if it is for just a short period of time. We also have younger nieces and nephews and a great nephew who are just a lot of fun to watch at the fair and the way their eyes light up when they see the animals and the rides. They make us laugh and we all have such a good time together. The hardest part about being on the road is that we can't just stop what we are doing and go visit. Thank God for cell phones and skype, we can keep in touch while on the road. It really beats long distant phone calls and pay phones.

My two nephews are being homeschooled so we were able to see them and work with them on their school work this last week. Kira, just came home last night, so we were able to see her before we went back out on the road. Mom, Katie and I were able to go shopping on Saturday. This last week we kept busy, while I was out visiting, Jim hung around and did some work on the truck. He was able to catch the football games at Dad's which is something I know he'll miss this fall. He has always enjoyed watching the games with dad. We were also able to go to our home church, both Saturday and Sunday and were able to see our church family and hear two great messages and sing some of our favorite hymns as well as go to our small group class, which we miss.

After church we went to our favorite place to eat, Bob Evans in Upper, actually it is our favorite place to eat because of their wonderful manager and great servers. (a little bias, my sisters, niece and nephew work there and all work on Sundays). A early happy birthday to my niece, Jessica who will be 21, sorry we won't be here to help celebrate. Happy belated, re-birthday to Reese, September 17th was the 8 year anniversary of his multi-organ transplant. We thank God for the family who was able to share the gift of life and give us the opportunity to spend these past 9 years with a great boy! Organ donation is the gift that gives and gives and gives. Our family has been so blessed by doctors, nurses, family and friends who know how much organ donations and transplants can change people's lives. Give the gift of life, if you aren't already, please consider being an organ donor.

It was so nice to see everyone and catch up. We are not sure when our next trip home will be but for sure we will be heading home for the Burks Thanksgiving at my cousin Jack's the weekend before Thanksgiving, can't wait to see everyone there. We may be home before then, depends on the load opps and our need to be home. As we head out tomorrow and head to Michigan (wish we were heading to the part of Michigan where we have family) and make our way to Texas, we give thanks for the opportunities we have daily and for the love we witness each day.

We are so blessed and thankful to have such wonderful and supportive people in our lives! God bless you all and watch out for those special blessings that God gives you everyday! Stay positive and look for what is positive in our world!

Peace and blessings to you all,

Judy

Home, Air-tabs

Have been doing some work on the truck while we have been home. Got our truck GPS and the satellite radio mounted in a new location.

We also added a set of AirTabs to box. They help reduce the wind resistance of the truck, increasing the fuel mileage, and helping the truck be more stable on the road. Our truck gets "pushed around" by the air coming off passing trucks sometimes. We hope they help. Several other expediting couples we know have highly recommended them, so we will see. Only took about an hour or so to install. (They are the little tooth like things near the back of the truck in the pictures.)

Should be going back into service tomorrow afternoon. Been a good week off, but ready to head back out. Hoping to stay out till late October or early November this time.

Home For a Week After Our First Month on the Road

We arrived at home yesterday afternoon, after spending a little over four weeks on the road. (We left on Sunday, August 14th) I just thought I would say a little about our first trip out.

When we first went out, we were not sure when we would be coming home. Our fleet owner, Expediter Services, asks that we spend three weeks out / one week at home each month. We thought we would probably spend a little more than the three weeks out, and it turns out, we managed to do just that. We might have stayed out a little longer, but we were able to get a load that came pretty close to home (if you consider 250 miles away close!), so we decided it was time.

It was certainly a learning experience for both Judy and I. Both of us had somewhat of a notion of what life would be on the road, but I am not sure either of us knew exactly what to expect. Having seriously researched expediting over the last three years, I felt I had a pretty good idea what it was going to be like, but there were some surprises along the way.

Probably the most surprising thing to us was the lack of waiting on loads. Maybe it was just beginners luck, but we never sat more than 1 day waiting on a load, and in many cases, were predispatched on our next load, before we even were near our delivery. Talk to almost any expediter, and they will almost always say one of the hardest things is waiting on loads. At least this time out, we really didn't have much waiting time. In fact, there were a couple of times that we actually turned down loads, as we were just too tired to keep running.

Probably the hardest thing to get used to is trying to get enough sleep. Judy and I have tried to follow the advice of one of the expediting couples we have gotten to know about working in "shifts". As we are only allowed to drive a maximum of 11 hours a day (and all within a 14 hour window once you go on duty.) We have been trying to split the day in half, with Judy driving (or on duty) from 2am to 2pm, and me driving from 2pm to 2am. We are still trying to get used to this schedule. So far, we haven't been that successful, but I think the last few days in the truck worked out pretty well, so I guess it is something we will just have to get used to. Of course, being off for a week sort of throws a wrench in the schedule.

Also, trying to sleep in a moving truck takes some getting used to. Someone needs to invent a way to smooth out those bumpy roads! Much better ride than when my dad drove, but still, some of those bumps literally almost throw you out of the sleeper.

We hauled a total of 15 loads and managed to put a little over 12,000 miles on the truck, while traveling through parts of 21 states and 1 province in Canada. We were so close to the border in Laredo, TX that we could look across over into Mexico. We managed to miss all the the southeastern states, as well as all of the west. I think we crossed the Mississippi River well over 20 times (but more than 10 of those were in just one day!)

We drove through Toronto and New York City. Got to cross both the George Washington Bridge in NY and the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit. Probably one of my favorite places was the farmlands of north central Iowa. Very similar to what we have here in Ohio, but the farms were fewer and much farther between. Very peaceful. Also, the windmills farms they are putting up out on the plains are very impressive.

Spent about 3 days with the truck in the shop getting various things fixed and the oil changed. We also spent about a day and a half running from Hurricane Irene. We were about 12 hours ahead of the storm in New Jersey, but we managed to just get sprinkled on. We also took a little time off when we were just to tired to go on. In total, we were probably out of service for about 6 of the days we were out, with most of that, not by our choice.

Altogether, I think we had a pretty good initial month on the road. We are looking forward to getting back out there, but it is really nice to be at home and get to spend time with the family. Will be doing a little work on the truck for the rest of the week. There are several minor "issues" to work out, and it would be nice to get the truck washed and waxed. All in all, we are thankful we get time to spend home. We plan to go back into service sometime next Monday, Sept. 19

Uncertainty Isn't Such a Bad Thing

I am sitting here at the Bloomington, Il TA and just updated my Facebook status -

Back in Bloomington, Il, having an inspection and PM (preventive maintenance) done to the truck. Then back into service. Still have no idea what we are doing or where we may be going once everything is done. ~ And that is a great feeling!

and it got me thinking about the uncertainly involved with expediting, and to some degree, life.
In our old jobs, there was a small degree uncertainty, but we essentially knew what we were going to be doing almost everyday. Get up, got to work, work, come home (or to a ball game), watch a little tv, go to bed. Repeat the next day. Even the weekends were pretty well planned out in advance.

Expediting is an entirely different adventure. Unless we are on a load, we really have no idea where we will be, or what we'll be doing even 10 min. into the future. Take now for an example. The truck is in T/A here in Bloomington getting a D.O.T. inspection done, and a PM done on the truck and the APU. The phone could ring at any moment telling me there is something wrong with the truck that needs to be fixed, or that we are finished and ready to go.

And once we are finished, we'll go back into service. Would could be offered a load almost immediately, or we may be sitting till tomorrow or even later. And if we do accept a load, where will it pick up, and deliver to?

Some people might not like to idea of never really knowing what is going to happen next, but for now, we really like the uncertainty. Sounds a little strange, but in some way, I at least find the idea liberating. And the freedom to pretty much do what we want was one of the things that attracted us to this business. I know we do not have complete freedom, as we are somewhat at the mercy of getting loads, delivery and pickup schedules and government regulation, but still, I think we have a great deal more freedom than before.

Well back to the uncertainty.

Sunday in Fargo North Dakota

Another beautiful day in Fargo, North Dakota. We woke up with the sun shining and the temperature was 50 degrees. Sunday is a day of worship in our household and Jim and I still want to be able to worship on Sundays. Last night we found the Lutheran Church of the Cross that was about a mile and a half down the road. We had called the church office to see about truck parking but thought that since it was so close we would walk. Then it dawned on us...we had brought our bicycles with us and a mile and a half would go a lot faster on a bike. I think most would understand, get to sleep a little longer and might not wind up as sweaty during church. I know that when we all grew up, church was put your Sunday best on and head to service. I'm glad that dressing up is not as important as it used to be because going to church after riding a bike would not be a pretty sight. Well, this morning brought a little scare, neither of us had set an alarm, church didn't start until 10:00 and we always wake up pretty early, so we thought we didn't need to. I had woken up earlier and decided to go back to sleep since it was 4:00 am. I'm not sure what woke me up, but I got up, looked at the clock and it said 8:15. I woke Jim up because for one, we had planned on taking showers and showers aren't necessarily ready when you want to take one or you have to wait in line, so I was panicking just a little. We got up, got together our shower things and went over to take a shower. At some time, I'm not sure when, I looked at the cell phone and it said 7:30. I had forgotten that my watch and the truck clocks are all set on eastern time because that is the time zone that FedEx has us follow which is great because that is home time. The problem arises when you are doing something local, we tend to forget about the time. I should say that I do, Jim uses his cell phone for time and he confuses me when we are different time zones when he tells me what time it is. Once we figured out the time, we relaxed a little. So, we dressed in our Sunday as best as it gets while riding a bike and headed off to church. The church we attended had a very interesting story. The church campus is shared by two congregations: one Lutheran and one Catholic. They have a website if you are interested in their story. http://www.lutheranchurchofthecross.com

The service was traditional, complete with the Cranberry hymnals. The church itself was contemporary with a beautiful sanctuary and the seating was wide instead of deep with both pews and nice cushion chairs.It also had two projected screens with words to the songs and prayers. The church has a pretty big congregation and has quite a mix of young and old. It was great to have parents around trying to quiet their children. There was a couple in front of us that had a little girl and during the offering the children take up money and put it in a water jug (just like our home church, First Lutheran Upper Sandusky, OH). There were probably about 20 or so kids taking money up and she just kept standing there, and after the last person left, she stood there even longer just staring at the jug. Finally she put the money in and went back to her parents. I told the parents that she was being polite and let all the others go before her and was probably saying a little prayer too. (she was probably around 2-3 years old..very cute). Later in the service she kept trying to put her barrette in her mom's hair and told her mom that she needed the barrette and said to her mom, "Don't you want to be pretty?", "You need the barrette so that you'll be pretty." - that made me chuckle.

They have two pastors, Pastor Bill and Pastor Joel (Senior and associate pastors). Pastor Joel gave both the children's message and the sermon. The children's sermon he had the kids be a blade of grass and talked about how water and sun help the grass to be strong. He showed them a sprinkler and that sometimes the grass needs water from the sprinkler just like we need our faith sprinklers and he talked about communion and baptism. Very neat, the kids acted out being blades of grass.

In the sermon he talked about the gospel for today which discusses confrontation. I thought that the message was insightful. The gospel shares that if someone has sinned against you, talk to that person about it. If that doesn't work, then bring others with you and if that doesn't work then take it to the church. I know I'm doing a really poor job of paraphrasing this, it is Matthew 18:15-20. Anyway, the personal story he shared about his last call and the remodeling of the parsonage and how he was being not so nice to the volunteers from the church because he thought things should be done certain ways and they did it the way they thought was right. Toward the end of the project, he asked a friend of his if he had been a little harsh with everyone. His friend was silent and of course didn't want to hurt his friend, so he said nothing. Pastor Joel said tell me, I really want to know. After a couple times of asking, his friend said, "you know you probably should tone it down a little bit." Pastor Joel stated that this probably made their friendship stronger and that it is scary to talk to our friends about things because we all want to be nice. Then he asked us to think of the nicest thing someone has ever done for us. Then, he said....(wait for it).....discuss it with the person next to you. Oh, no, Lutherans discussing things during service, not heard of....and then he said what all good Lutheran pastors say, "I understand this is something very non-lutheran to do, but just try." After about a 3 minute wait time, some started discussing. I'm not sure what everyone was waiting for, maybe for God to give them some sign that it was all right to talk in church, I'm not sure. It wasn't just this congregation, our church would have done the same thing.

A little difference in their service compared to ours wasn't much. They had a welcome and sharing of Peace before the service started and announcements they did at the end of the service. Second week in a row we were able to have communion. In our home church we have communion twice a month and so did this church, we just came on one of those Sundays. I'm not sure why and I didn't ask, but there was a baptism but they had it after the service. I had not heard of that before, but maybe they had decided to just have family, not sure, I'm sure there was something.

The bulletin cover had a plain cover with a black billboard with white letters that said, "that"Love thy neighbor"thing....I meant that. - God". Put a smile on my face as soon as I walked in the door. The people were friendly and when were entering the church there were two boys passing out bulletins, they must have been brothers and were probably only about 4 or 5 and gave very good directions to the bathrooms. As we were leaving we were introducing ourselves to the Pastors and sharing with them that we were just passing through and were expediter truck drivers. A woman was standing behind us and started talking to us, I shared with her that we had a blog that we write about our adventures. She shared with us that her husband was a retired truck driver and she was a retired special education teacher. She thought her husband would like to read our blog, so we gave our blog site to her. We left church together and continued to talk, her and I talked education and then we also discussed their church and its history. We were happy to meet her and hope that she will visit our blog from time to time. Amazing people!

After church we thought we'd head back to the truck because the temperature was now about 65 and thought that t-shirts were more appropriate than our long sleeves. Since we are small country folk in a big city, we thought that before we went anywhere with our bikes, we had better get a bike lock. Fargo has a population of about 105,000 with North Dakota State University. So, off to Wal-mart on our bikes to get a bike lock. Jim went in and bought the mother of bike locks, so our bikes should be safe at least for now. We were hungry and debated about where to eat since now we were on the other side of town. We found Culvers and for those of you who don't know, they are the home of the butter burgers and frozen custard. We don't have those in our area of Ohio but had eaten there in other states. Good wonderful fattening food, but we were biking so it balances. While we were there we decided that we would go see a movie and decided to go see, "the Help".

It was a while before the movie so we decided to ride to Best Buy. We are still looking for an inverter and thought they might have one. Fargo is pretty biker friendly. They have marked bike routes and on the roads they have bike lanes which made getting around pretty easy. We only had to turn around a couple of times because we ran out of sidewalk and couldn't cross a major intersection. At one stop light, a lady rolled down her window and said you have nice bikes and started talking to me about them, then the light turned green and they were off. You know, after sharing our whole bike lock, I really don't believe that anyone here would steal a bike. Almost every car we passed, people waved at us and every person we passed said, "hello and have a great day or isn't it a beautiful day". In my opinion this city is a small town in disguise. And I'll also mention very good bike riding, no hills, now that is a major plus for Jim and I on our bikes and people allow you to have the right of way and don't run you over, major plus.

After we went to Best Buy, by the way, no such luck on the inverter, probably going to have to order it and have it delivered home, we went to the movie. The movie theater reminded me of the one at home, theater style seats and big screen. If you haven't seen "the Help", go see it, it is an awesome movie and I think now I have to read the book. The theater was packed. The movie was one of those that made you laugh and cry and applaud, awesome!

After the movie we headed back to the truck stop since the sun was now going down. For those of you who like biking and exercising, it only took us about 10 hours to ride 10.08 miles:) It was a lot of fun. We wanted to be able to go to the Air Museum but is was closed on Sundays, which by the way, other than restaurants, most of the businesses do not open until 12:00 here. From the truck stop we came over to McDonald's so that I could update the blog.

As we've been sitting here, we've been observing the crew here at McDonald's. They are a very happy crew that have a lot of fun while they work. Jim and I had a good time discussing their interactions. One crew member in particular reminded us of one of our previous students, who is a good family friend. It was pretty weird, there was a guy here that looked just like him and then started discussing politics with another person. Our friend's favorite topic is politics. We both couldn't help but laugh and of course now the whole crew probably thinks we are crazy. Some say that we each have a twin somewhere in the world, well we decided that this was truly our friend's twin. We'll be talking and smiling about that one for a while.

Tomorrow, we will be washing the truck, doing a little maintenance on it and then headed for Minnesota. We pick up early Tuesday but will probably head that direction tomorrow afternoon after our Labor is done on the truck. Whether or not you are working, have a great Labor Day!

We are heading back to the truck. We will share more about our adventures later. Until then, keep positive thoughts in your heart and look for the positives in everyone and everything around you! Life is good and we thank God everyday for what he has done for us and for giving us this wonderful country to live in! God bless you all and be safe when you drive.
Peace, love, hope and joy..
Judy

Updated State Map

Updated map as of Sept 1, 2011