After our short load, we didn't have to wait too long until we accepted another load that would pick up in the morning and of course was back down the road we had just come up for our delivery. So we decided to go ahead and drive down to where our pick up was and stay the night. Since Texas, we have been in three time zones. FedEx CC pickups and deliveries are all eastern time which is good so we don't have to do any converting for time zones. The trick is to keep your sleep to eastern time while the sun is rising and setting 2-3 hours after eastern time. The trick is to not fall into the time zone you are in. Truck stops tend to understand this, lunch is served much earlier than what it would be if you were out eating at a fast food restaurant. Speaking of time zones, our delivery was at 11:00 am (eastern time) which works out to be 8:00 am (Pacific time). So, on our time, the day is almost half over and places are just opening. Our cells are always on the time zone we are in, so when we set alarms we have to be careful and watch the time zone. There is an alarm in the truck which we keep on eastern which helps and of course we have to set three alarms because we are paranoid about missing our pick-up and delivery time. This shipment was heading to Utah, back to mountain time. Good thing we stick to eastern or else we would wind up with terrible jet lag or maybe I should say we keep to FedEx CC team driving time and therefore we miss the jet lag.
Off to Utah we went. When we accepted the load, we were told that the customer would like us to drive straight through. Now being newbies, our thoughts were...go from California to Utah without a potty break or a stretch and eat break...wow this must be one important shipment. We decided to call dispatch and see exactly what that meant. Well, it turned out that the customer just wanted us to drive straight through even though FedEx CC gives us time to stop along the way, they usually give us plenty of time which means that some drivers (including us sometimes) decide to stop more often and for longer if there is plenty of time built in. The dispatcher told us that potty, stretch and eat breaks for fine but if we found ourselves with extra time, then please go to the customers. Afterward we thought, if the delivery time is when they open and you are two hours early, it would make sense to stop a little longer...more about this a little later.
Jim drove through the most difficult parts, night time driving with unfamiliar roads and a couple of steep grades. I of course picked up driving and was able to come into Salt Lake City early morning. The city was just lit up so beautiful. We arrived at our delivery by driving straight through, about 2 hours before our delivery time and of course they weren't open yet, so all we could do was park and wait, so I was able to take a little nap which was great appreciated. Once they opened we were able to unload quickly and headed off to the west side of town which is where dispatch told us to layover.
I had been to Salt Lake once and I had flown in and stayed downtown, so I didn't get a chance to see the sights outside the major part of the city. It was really nice to be in the truck so that I could see more. We weren't sure how long we would wind up in Salt Lake, we had been told there is little freight that comes out of the city. You can get in, you just can't get out. We were prepared to maybe layover for a night or so. Truthfully we didn't mind, we are still getting used to driving so many miles and hours, so a day's rest would have been fine with us. I was also excited because I thought I might get to see a friend (Connie Marshall) from home who had just recently moved to Salt Lake. I called her and we made plans that if we didn't get a load that we would meet up the next day. It turns out that she lived on the complete other side of the city and it would take her about 45 minutes to get to us. Of course chance would have it, we wound up getting a load.
To put the horse before the cart...we received a load opportunity via phone that we recognized as our short load we had done in California just in reverse. So we would have to dead head back to California for a short load. Just as we were trying to decide on that one, another one came across the phone, Jim switched over and it was a load that deadheaded to Arizona and then would go to Colorado. We decided to take the one that went to Colorado, a state we hadn't been to yet. We were dispatched on the load and were excited because that put us around Denver just in time for the weekend. We thought that it would be nice to take a couple of days in Colorado to see the sights so we decided that after delivery on Friday, we would go out of service until Sunday.
Jim drove the first leg. When I took over, he and I had a discussion on mountain driving. He showed me how to look at the gauges as I was climbing and slowing going up to keep the engine from overheating. We also talked about the use of the jake brake on the way down. Knowing that as long as the weather permitted we could make use of it and of course, we had another beautiful day ahead of us. Our truck is automatic so Jim and I still need to practice using the manual and low gears for going through mountains. Jim worked on it a little while he was driving and would show me later since we were able to use the jake brake and that was new enough for me. I'm sure we'llhave more mountain adventures so he can show me. I'm not sure why but this is interesting to me and I wish I knew more about the workings and the physics behind the truck because that's me, I just like to know the why things work the way they do and once I know that, things make much more sense to me. Instead of writing so much on the blog, I should read up on those things.
If I haven't said it before, I really enjoy driving through Arizona. The culture, the ecosystems that make up this state, just intrigues me. Driving through the desert, the mountains, the Indian reservations just reminds me of how different our country is and the land and people that make up such a great nation. In general I think the southwestern states are so much different than the midwestern states that I have grown up in. I enjoy the cultural and land differences. The melting pot of our nation is very evident in these areas, especially when I've spent most of my life in midwestern small towns in which the melting pot has long since boiled together and the nationalities that were once evident have melted together. The Irish, Italians, Germans, Scandanavians have Americanized and lost many of their cultural traditions, although not totally. It seems in the south these cultural differences seem to still hold strong as well as melting into to American tradition. I am not a political person, just ask anyone...I am a people person and enjoy seeing strong family values and genuine caring of others. This is something I see as missing in many parts of our country, it seems we are all out for number one, but that is not the case in many people and it is something I cherish to witness, those people helping others, just because, not for anything in return. I have seen lots of examples of this while being on the road and I want others to experience our world with these wonderful people whose only care in the world is to be there for each other. Enough of my society and people soapbox and on to our adventure. This particular load was yet another fascinating load. It wasn't confidential, so I can share that it had something to do with aerospace technology. We knew when we accepted the load that it was one piece and was only 15 lbs. (no I did not miss a couple of zeros). One fifteen pound piece in a straight truck. I went into the shipper and jokingly asked if they wanted us to back into the docks. We all decided that it wasn't necessary. We were early again and this time the shipment wasn't ready, which was all right, afterall we were early. It only took about a half hour and it was ready. Now, we were used to securing heavy, shifting kinds of freight, but the lightest we had ever hauled was about 250 pounds which was pretty easy because the container was pretty durable and was probably the most of the weight. This time we had a cardboard box that weighed 15 pounds. Now this type of box could literally fly in our truck if not secured properly and its contents were very fragile. Jim and I worked together to determine how we would secure it so that it was protected from our bouncy truck. We knew that load bars would be needed but our E track is such that we could only place load bars at the bottom of the box, the box was not tall enough for our next track. Ingenuity and creativity played an important roll. I know for most experienced drivers, this probably would have been a piece of cake but for us newbies, this took a little thinking. Once we were satisfied, we closed it up and called dispatch for our departure call. The dispatcher jokingly asked the same question they ask for every departure call, so what did you secure the frieght with (knowing we only had a 15 pound box loaded). I laughed back and told her that we probably used more equipment for this tiny box than we had used on our heaviest frieght. We wound up using 3 load bars, one in front, one in back and one on top. We also used two furniture pads, one on the bottom and one on the top between the box and the loadbar on top and finally a strap across. An awful lot of equipment for such a small piece. We knew that it would make it to delivery without moving. The load was also sealed, so we knew we weren't going to be able to check on it, so we made sure it wasn't going anywhere. As we left, we were again excited about the terrain we were going to venture into. We would be going through the painted desert but we weren't able to see anything because it was dark. Jim and I were both bummed about that, but as Jim says, there is a lot to see at night that you can appreciate. The cities that come into view inthe horizon that just create a glow at night and can be seen from miles away and once you approach them, the beauty of the lights at night. We also experienced RT 89 on this trip which is a two lane windy road and of course the majority of this road we travelled at night on. Jim commented on the unique road signs he saw along the way. Nature was all around and there were of course your normal deer signs, but now elk entered into the picture. Jim saw both and luckily was able to stay clear of both although he saw a deer and an elk on his way. Road signs that we don't see in the midwest, elk signs. We've also come across highway signs such as crosswinds, dust storms with zero visibility (thank goodness not while we were there) and one of our all time favorite, "in case of flooding, head to higher ground". I am sure there have been more, I just don't remember them right now. There didn't seem to be much time between our pickup and delivery for this shipment, still not sure why, but it seemed like we were only going to be about 1/2 hour early from the begining of the trip to the end which is unusual. We were able to keep up, the only worry we had was hitting the city traffic before our delivery. The traffic cooperated and only slowed us down and we were still able to make it 1/2 hour before delivery. Once we got there Jim went up to ask about breaking the seal and where they wanted us to park. The person in charge of receiving said that he was unable to authorize that and we would need to wait on the powers that be to come and authorize it. We only had to wait about 45 minutes and then not just one power that be, but about 5-6 powers that be were on hand to witness the break of the seal. This is when we say to ourselves, "Crap, what is it that we have on board?" They took the box so quickly that Jim had to go to them and ask for a signature on our paperwork. Jim shared that it was like they were vultures and were wringing their hands as they went to open the package. What we determined from all of this, was that it was a pretty important shipment. When we deliver and pickup from places like this, it takes me back to my educational career and the students I specialized in working with were gifted and this was definitely a group of gifted individuals working on this particular project, whatever it was. I also love to people watch and this was definitely a stereotypical gifted scene which felt like home to me. As soon as we were done with the delivery, we put our truck and ourselves out of service for the weekend, so we could enjoy a mini-vacation as we like to call it. Showers were definitely first on the list, which normally are after delivery. I know this seems a little weird to be putting in a blog but showers become part of relaxation not just part of hygiene. Jim went to sleep soon after and I was able to read and catch up with facebook before I headed to bed. Cleaning and laundry had been on the list of to dos on Friday but that didn't happen, sleeping and showers took presidence. As I am trying to work on my wordiness, I will post our minivacation and what has happened since in the next post. We thank God each day for the wonders we are able to witness and this past week, I witnessed the scenes and people He has created, all unique. Lifting up in prayers this week, those who have the abilities to engineer such intricate pieces that benefit so many people and also pray that they have ways to relieve their stress when their projects are so important to them. Peace and God's blessings, Judy
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