Hung out for a little while at the Mother Ship, CRST headquarters in Cedar Rapids, IA. Used my one year safe driver coupon, worth $120 at the company store, to get a bunch of shirts to replace my ratty ones, a pair of CRST bibs for Rebekah (really cute) , and a ***** as a gift for ***** who collects those things. (sorry, he might be reading)

I met my dispatcher today. He seems like a nice enough guy. I guess I'll give him a pass on what he said the other day. At 525,255 miles this tractor (5306) is just a few weeks away from it's 550,000 mile retirement party. Not bad for an '05 Freightliner! At 18 months I'm eligible for a brand new truck! I don't know if it'll be an '06 or '07 model, but it will be new with no tree hits, bent cab extensions (from not paying attention & turning too sharp ) or engine abuse.

Can't wait for that new truck smell!!

Truck drivers can usually find good food on the road. If you ever find yourself in New Johnsonville, TN on US-70 during the day you must stop at the shell station! It's not a real truck stop, it just has a big dirt lot next to it. Good place to take a bio-break. I bought a corndog and some biscuits for lunch at the deli counter.

Forget the corndog, these were the best biscuits I have ever bought anywhere at anytime in my life!

If I had known how good the biscuits were I would have bought the whole case!

Picked this load up at 1745 (Local) 03/26/07

I spent all day driving around delivering our last load and picking up this one: 96 miles
Ontario, CA - Gallup, NM 608.1 Miles - Mike
Gallup, NM - Weatherford, OK 614.7 Miles - Me
Weatherford, OK - Jackson, TN 623.2 Miles - Mike
Jackson, TN - Greenville, VA 623.5 Miles - Me
Greenville, VA - New Jersey 369.8 Miles - Mike

2935.3 Miles total
Delivering by 0800 (Local) 03/29/07

I just thought this was funny:

A lot of Christians are kind of afraid to laugh at 'God jokes'. Maybe we're afraid of being struck by lightning. I think this one is free of static discharges.

I'm sitting in our Fontana yard right now. I've got a city-work load Monday morning. Kinda hard to get a load out on a weekend, even in the LA area. The new co-driver is working out great. He actually knows how to drive a truck & even has a sense of humor. He's very easy to get along with (critical for 2 guys living in a truck) All but one of my previous co-drivers have been right out of training. The trainers do their best on their 28 day run with new drivers, but how do you release a student who can't read a road sign? Had one of those.

Yes, this is Wisconsin!

Adair, Iowa. I had to adjust this picture in Photoshop because it was taken at dusk. Other than that, it's totally legit.

You guys like the new colors for the blog? I couldn't take the pond-scum green background any more.

1. Never do anything sudden in a truck.
2. Never feel lost in an unfamiliar city. You are. Get used to it.
3. Never drive into a situation you can't drive yourself out of.
4. A soft shoulder IS something to cry on, if you let your wheels drift onto it & get pulled over onto your side.
5. Signal early & often.
6. If in doubt, don't. Big trucks make big mistakes.
7. Don't hit stuff with your truck.
8. As much as you may really want to, do not drop golf balls out of your window when being tailgated by some fool with his high beams on.
9. There are 2 people in the world you can't get away with lying to, your mom and a State Trooper. They just know...

Well, my new dispatcher is Jake, not Kimberley. She's new and they didn't want to overwhelm her with all of Ernie's trucks. Still, everything I said in my last post is true.

With one major exception...

All of my contact with Kimberley was great. Can't say that for Jake. I called him yesterday afternoon to say hi. When I started to tell him that I have a webcam in my truck he said "I don't even want to know what you do with that"

What the hell is that supposed to mean?!?

I don't know about this guy, he's either developmentally disabled, or he just has very poor social skills.

Today Kimberly officialy takes over as my dispatcher from Ernie. Ernie sent out a message saying that he would no longer be a Fleet Manager & would be moving to 3rd shift dispatch to attend to some personal issues. Hope everything's ok, it didn't sound like he's going to be working on his golf game. A driver's income & mental health depends on having a good dispatcher. Ernie was good, hopefully Kimberly will be as well. My contact with her so far has been great. A good relationship with your dispatcher is also crucial. As long as I (we) keep up our habit of delivering on time & not hitting things with the truck , that shouldn't be a problem.

Just had a nice dinner with Jan & Charlie in Kansas City, MO
sorry, it's a little blurry

Jan, Charlie & I are members of WidowNet, an online support group for widows & widowers. My wife, Jennifer, passed away in April '99. WidowNet is a unique, close knit commuinity on the internet. Even though this was the first time I'd met Jan & Charlie in person it was like sitting down with old friends. Groups of WidowNet members frequently have GTG's (Get ToGethers) that can range from having lunch to going on Alaskan Cruises. When I started driving for CRST I had the idea for 'Drive-By GTG's'; spur of the moment (by necessity, I never know when or where I'll be or for how long) GTG's that take place when I happen to find myself parked near another member who can stop by and say hi.

This is the 4th Drive-By GTG I've been able to pull off. Here are pictures of the other three:

#1 Jerry in North Carolina
#2 Lou in Texas
#3 Janet in Tennessee

...but has anyone seen what they did to a cement truck on Mythbusters?
.......

Picked up a load of (Undisclosed Cargo) at (Undisclosed Shipper) in (Undisclosed Location) and took it on a quick 500 mile overnight run to (Undisclosed Consignee) in (Undisclosed Location).

This was a very high security load. We're talking High Value Procedures on steroids. The shipper even hired an escort company to follow me to help prevent hijacking! I didn't ask if they were armed.

It's the first time I've used an escort service.

Most High Value loads are high value to the shipper and nobody else really cares much about them. Things like scientific equipment, aircraft parts & precision machinery. Unfortunately, some High Value loads also have high value on the black market. Makes it tough (and expensive) for everybody.

Now I'm off to a high speed run to Salt Lake City.

The woman standing next to the white truck is a 'Lot Lizard', I think you know what her profession is. The 'Person' in the gold car brought her to the truckstop.
She didn't get into this truck, so I blurred out the company name.


I have to word this very carefully as not to jepordize my ICCS™ Certification

I'm heading toward Texas now.
My new co-driver has the same last name as NASA's recently-infamous astronaut,
I'm carrying 19,931 Lbs of adult diapers!



If I suddenly veer off towards Florida, there might be something wrong!


Just kidding, my new co-driver seems like a good guy. He even knows how to shift already. (that's a first!)