Updates 10/31/09

How is everyone doing? Been awhile since I've been on here, been pretty busy the freight has really been picking up lately for us. Had my wife with me for a few weeks then dropped her off at the house and went to KS and got a load going back to OH and I picked her up again, so I was only gone about 4 days and we just couldn't stand being apart. Kept her out with me a few more weeks. We dropped the truck off at the terminal in CO for a "B" service, which is oil change and full service. We dropped the truck off on a Friday and we spent the night at her Aunt's house. We had a load going to UT and were supposed to deliver Sunday night then pick up and head to CA.

When we came back to the truck on Saturday they told us our truck had been sent to KW for a bad oil sample, coolant in the oil, and was supposed to be ready to go that day. But KW didn't have the parts and we ended up stuck there until Monday in the motel. This is the 3rd time in three months my truck has been in the shop because of problems with the coolant and every time they have to replace parts in the DPF system because the coolant is going out the exhaust, and with the new emissions control systems it doesn't fair well with coolant. In the old days coolant could shoot out the exhaust and it wouldn't really hurt anything, but not the case now days with all this high tech gadgetry.

So we lost our load to UT and we got out Monday night and headed to KS and picked up a meat load for NJ and I dropped mama off at the house and went on too NJ. Now they tell me I have to go back to KW again and have the "clean power" system taken off my truck. It was a battery operated APU system that KW engineered but it turned out to be a big failure, plagued with so many problems the company just decided to take them all off I suppose. However they didn't have the parts when I was in town so I escaped that for now. I will have to completely clean out my truck and give it to them for a day so they can remove all this junk, on the plus side after they remove that big tank of water from under my bunk, I should have a nice big storage spot now! I'm looking forward to that for sure. LOL

In the electronic logs I have been pretty happy, however it seems to cause some confusion with the DOT officers so I have started keeping paper logs as a back up along with my ELOGS so I can just hand them my logbook and keep it simple for them. Also a few times the sensor has gone out on my ELOGS and I've been left with no records for a period of time. So it's always best to not put your faith in anything high tech, because if DOT wants your logs and you don't have any they are not going to care that your ELOGS are down and you got caught off guard! Just make sure you keep your paper logs matched up exactly with your ELOGS. Don't want the DOT to cross check your paper logs with your ELOGS and find any errors on your paper sheets! LOL

If you hand the DOT paper logs then that is what you're showing as your log book, but they could check it against your ELOGS if they want too, and if your paper logs don't match then it's falsification because that's what you gave them as your logs ya see....

Anyway I ran from McDonough GA out too Denton, TX and back to McDonough and now I'm headed to Memphis for Monday and Tulsa, OK for Tuesday. Spent a little time with Dominick, "Trucker Low Gear" from the local chrome shop here in Jackson , TN today and now I'm just relaxing waisting time on the laptop. LOL Did a good interior cleaning on the truck again today. Mama did a great job when she was on the truck, but it seems so hard to keep it clean for long around here! Ya'll take care and thanks for reading. Please check out www.YTTrucking.com for ALL the YouTube truckers out there! Many of them I'm subbing to now I didn't even know existed.

~Rooster

September 13, 2009

We started out this week after leaving John's house back in Windsor, CO waiting for a load to Baltimore. When we got there they told us nobody was doing paperwork because of the holiday (labor day) so we spent the night in the bobtail lot and checked in at 10:00 when our load was scheduled to be loaded. It was loaded but there was no paperwork yet, the office told me to check back in one hour, so we went down to Johnson's corner to get some breakfast and then we headed back and still nothing. Finally at 1 pm our paperwork was ready and we took off across highway 14 headed towards I76 and up to I80. The load was scheduled to deliver in MD on Thursday morning, which is almost 1,700 miles away. I knew there was no way we would be able to do this legally.

We fueled up in Big Springs, NE and headed on eastward. We both called into the blind spot trucker show on talkshoe.com with Trucker Steve. I spent three hours on the phone chatting with everyone and after the show ended I stayed on with Dr. Suess and Truckin Paul, who was only about thirty miles behind us. I was hoping to make it to Des Moines but ended up pulling off and going to sleep at exit 40 in Avoca, IA. When I woke up the next morning my dispatcher said she had set us up a relay over at exit 254 in IA. As soon as my ten hour break was complete we headed that way, when we got there we relayed with a team truck and took there empty trailer and headed back to Council Bluffs, IA to the Con-Agra plant to pick up a load for Russellville, AR.

I thought the load was supposed to pick up that day, but it wasn't until the next day, Thursday. So we dropped our trailer off at the plant and went over to the TA truck stop. We then went across the street to Wal-Mart and bought some cleaning supplies and headed back to the truck stop. We spent half the night cleaning the truck. Pocahontas cleaned the inside thoroughly and I polished and waxed the outside.Earlier in the day we got the truck washed at the blue beacon in Altoona. It was the first time in a few months I had washed it, it was filthy! After it was all done we had the truck looking like new again!























We then went to bed and got up Thursday morning and our load was ready and we proceeded down I-29 to Kansas City, which we hit right at 5 pm and it was a mess. We finally got through all the traffic and headed down US 71 to Joplin where I stopped at the Flying J to get a cup of coffee, it only took about forty five minutes to get in and out of there, I forgot what a mess that place can be.

We went down 71 to 540 and onto 40 east and finally arrived in Russellville about 2 am. I fueled up the truck and reefer at the Pilot and then went over to Americold and dropped my load off. We picked up an empty trailer and headed back to the Pilot. The next morning we got a load assignment to pick up back at Americold going to Phoenix, AZ. So I went and filled up the reefer again and headed over to the truck wash to have the trailer washed out then back over and dropped it off and picked up our load and we headed west. We spent the night about twenty miles from the NM line in TX at a little shell station. We took off Saturday morning and spent most the day listening to college football on XM. We tuned into the the Tennessee Vols game first, our favorite team. It was a great game but they lost. We then listened to a little bit of the Alabama game until the Ohio State Buckeyes came on, then we tuned in that game. We made it to the Pilot in Jamestown, NM to get fuel and there was one minute left in the game so I had the stereo cranked up in the fuel island. We lost the lead in that game with one minute left and I was running around the fuel island cursing like a lunatic. LOL

We left there and headed to Gallup to meet up with Florida Hillbilly, who i had been chatting with on Facebook. We showed up at the TA and I called him and he bob tailed over and we spent about an hour talking to him.

We left there and headed on into AZ and down I-17. We parked up for the night at the first brake check area here and we will deliver in Phoenix as 9pm tonight.

Pocahontas's story part #2

Must be true if your blushing that much Geoff. After we sit awhile and talk. We got right back on the topic about everyone missing but a few of us. Steve and Geoff decide to send out face book messages and twitters to see if there are more of us.

Quite a bit of time has passed and no response's. I look to Geoff and Steve for any kind of hope in their eye's, but all I can see is cold, black emptiness. Does this mean we have no hope of living or will we run with the white lines again?

As I get up to stretch my legs my phone started ringing with messages. I rushed over to my phone like it was the first message I got on a new phone. I let out a sigh with relief "OMG, it's MICHELLE". I start talking on the phone so fast and crying so hard. Michelle finally calms me down to let me know she is ok and that people are missing in Canada as well. I yell at the guys (Geoff & Steve) to let them know she was ok. I ask Michelle if she would be able to get here somehow? Unless someone can fly a plane then no. Michelle answers. What about the dog sleds, Richard said you have them up there. I reply. Well yea, but that would takes days. She says. What else you have to do? I tell her. Steve proceeds to yell on the phone for to get her ass here. As I slap Steve on his arm, Michelle tells me that she will get headed down here. I tell her to keep in touch with me.

We all walk outside to get some fresh air and to smoke. I curl up in a ball in a sitting position and begin to think of Richard and the others. Are they ok? Tears start to fall as I think about all the different possibilities. What has happened? I search my head for the answers.

I inform the guys that this is a lot for me to take in. I'm going to go take a shower and take sometime to myself. I head for the truck to get my shower bag ready. I receive a message from Michelle letting me know she is on her way. I send a text back letting her know to be careful and to stay safe. She responded "of course". I make my way to the showers the guys tell they will keep an eye out for things. Ok, I say.

I get out of the shower to a steam filled bathroom. Glance in the mirror to find out I look like hell. Face all puffy from crying. I pick up my phone to check the time 3:00 pm. Wow, I was in there over an hour, wonder what the guys are up to?

I search the truck stop for the guys. They are no where to be found. Bathrooms and showers empty, restaurant empty. OMFG, I'm all alone. I fall to my knee's asking that I am not alone. My body starts to give way I curl in a ball on the floor. Tears pour out. What did I do to be left all alone?

Pocahontas's story part #1

It was early September morning. The fog from last night left dew all over the truck. I rub my eyes to look at the beautiful sun. I look around the truck my husband is no where to be seen. My first instinct is to call him on his cell. Hmm no answer. Where could he be? I took a deep breath, telling myself he is fine he just didn't hear his phone. I throw my pj's off and grabbed my jeans and a white tank top. Ran a brush through my short messy brown hair. I move up front to the passenger seat. I've decided to wait a little longer before I went trotting off through the truck stop. I lite my first smoke of the day. Many things are going through my head, as I finish the last drag of my smoke I pull my shades out to block the sun's bright rays. I hop out of the semi and slowly make my way to the truck stop.


Looking I notice no movement coming from anywhere. I start getting a lil worried. What the hell is going on around here? As I move closer to the doors, I pull it open. I immediately start looking around for someone who can explain what is going on. My search ended soon as I found a familiar face. "STEVE" as I shouted his name, he seem to be coming out of daze. I ask him if he knows what is going on. He. Replies, I woke up on the bathroom floor with my pants down by my ankles. Umm, no offense Steve but what you do in private is your business. No, that wasn't what I was doing. He replies. What do you mean? Last thing I remember was coming in here after fueling to "drain the lizard". Once again to much info Steve but go on. That's just it I can't remember anything else. Steve says. Well I remember falling asleep with "Richard" but he is missing along with the rest of the truckers here. I turn to Steve with my eyes filled with tears, I mumble out in weeping voice asking him what we were going to do? The look on Steve's face makes me concerned. I decided to sit down and think, but my mind was only on one thing and that was finding my husband. Steve and I walk to get some food to eat from their store at the truck stop. Suddenly I got a message on my BlackBerry Storm from driver Geoff updating where he was on britekite. Steve instantly calls him and ask's Geoff what is going on. Geoff's response is that the highway is clear and open. Geoff ask's Steve if there is some kinda holiday or war going on that he missed. Steve laughed. No dude, people have gone missing. Just Pocahontas and I, are here. Where you at? Steve proceeds to ask Geoff. I'm about 20 miles from Iowa 80 truck stop. Geoff replies. Good that is where we are then we can try to figure something out. Twenty minutes have past and we know Geoff is somewhere in here because I just received his update on face book. Geoff finally meets up with us inside. I proceed to ask if the real reason he didn't notice anything was because of all the youporn that you've been watching. I giggle at the sign of Geoff's rosie red cheeks.

NJ to CO

After going home for my home time last week, I took only one day off after three weeks out because I knew I was going to be picking up Pocahontas to ride with me for the next month. We left out on Weds. and relayed a load from another driver in Columbus, OH going to Costco in Monroe Twp., NJ. It's about an eight hour ride from Columbus so we arrived late that night. Our appointment was for 0900 Thursday morning. We parked out in the street outside the gate. The signs said no parking but it was an industrial area and there were trucks lined up all down the street so it was not a big deal, nobody bothered us about it. I went in shortly after 0800 and got unloaded, they give you a pager when you go in the gate, and when they are finished unloading the pager starts vibrating and you take it back to the guard house and they hand you your paperwork. Very cool system, first time I've ever seen that. They also unloaded the load of meat free of charge, which is also rare.

Next the load planner sent me down the road to Trenton to load for TX, but the load wasn't delivering for five days. So I ran down and picked it up and took it to the drop yard that we have near Keasbey, NJ. We then went to pick up a load of Arizona iced tea from Maplewood, NJ. This place is no fun at all, it's a suburb of Newark. When you get off the exit and go to the light to turn right, it is impossible to do in a big truck. You have to take up both sides of the road to swing wide and drive into the oncoming turn lane forcing cars to back up and you still run over the sidewalk and nearly take out the light pole. Luckily the exit route is much easier getting back on the interstate. But once we got past that turn it wasn't too bad getting in and picking up the load.
That load was going to Rome,NY for Friday morning. So we headed across I80 and up I380 and I81 in PA and into NY. Since it's pretty much the same distance as running up the NY turnpike, and this way it saves the company a lot of toll money. We stopped off at the Pilot Travel Center in Binghamton, NY for fuel and a shower. We got one shower but when we went to get in we found out that shower had NO hot water, it was freezing! So we had to get dried and dressed all over again and request a new shower, which worked out good because then we got the handicap shower, which is much larger than a normal shower. This works out better when you have two people in the same shower.

We arrived in Rome and stayed at a truck stop ten miles from the dollar general warehouse. We stayed up for awhile playing with our new Blackberry phones, which we really like! I got mine free with an upgrade and Amanda's came free with the purchase of mine. We got the storm. I like the touch screen, but Amanda has more trouble with them because of her nails. Anyway, we got up and headed to our delivery which is next to an old air base, so it was pretty cool.



















After we left there we ran down the thruway to Syracuse and got our trailer washed out and then headed to Rochester to pick up our next load bound for Windsor, CO. A Kodak load from one plant to another, we do a lot of those. We drove over to Erie, PA and fueled up at the Pilot and headed on into Ohio. We went through Cleveland where the people out driving were insane, weaving in and out of all lanes and speeding. Somehow we got through there without a scratch though and parked for the night at one of the plazas just east of Toledo. Next day we headed out across IN, IL and IA and parked for the night at a truck stop just west of Des Moines.

Sunday we took off and went across IA and NE and stopped at the Wal-Mart in Lexington because they have lots of truck parking. We stocked up on groceries and got some new blankets and pillows for the sleeper to match the truck, so it looks pretty neat.



















We then headed on westward and stopped off at the Bosselman in Big Springs, NE to fuel up and then took I76 into CO and across Hwy 14 to Windsor, arriving at our destination about 0200. I took my 10 hour break at the plant and then we went into Denver and my buddy John came and picked us up from my company terminal and we went to his house for a labor day BBQ where we all stuffed on ribs and corn and strawberry shortcake.Tthis was the first time my wife got to meet his wife and their three young daughters. John took us back to our truck later and we made another run to Wal-mart to pick up a few items we forgot then headed back to Kodak to pick up our next load to Baltimore, MD which we are waiting on now.

Rooster and Pocahontas

My name is Rich (Rooster) and my wife's name is Amanda (Pocahontas). I am a OTR truck driver for Navajo Express out of Denver, CO, and we reside in Ohio. I've been driving for seven years, four years for Navajo. I currently pull a refrigerated trailer across all forty eight states hauling beef and various kinds of other food and temperature controlled loads. My wife rides with me a few weeks at a time, then she goes and stays home for a little while. This blog is to write about our current adventures each week on the highways of America, and maybe some past ones also.

You can find me on the web at:

www.youtube.com/airbornerooster

www.myspace.com/airbornerooster

www.facebook.com/roostercruisin1

www.twitter.com/KWNightRider28