One Year

This is a short and sweet note. I will try and be more proactive in writing. We have logged over 275,000 miles with GTI. We are beginning to see the light and the end of our debt snowball. We do enjoy what we are doing, but are sure that we can not be life long committed truck drivers. It is a very tough and demanding lifestyle. We are now entering the Holiday Season, and dodging drunks at night is a full time gig. I had a drunk in LA that wanted to commit suicide by trying to get me to run him over. That is for another blog when I have more time.

Merry Christmas.

Happy Anniversary

It is late night of July 24.
We are on are way to make an early delivery in Bensenville IL .

I pull over in Clearwater MN ., for coffee and do my safeties check on the truck. As I 'm cleaning off the bugs, I notice that Joy has awaken after being asleep for about 5 hours. I say "Hey! You got to go pee?" she looks at me dazed and confused. I tell her were we are and do you want me to escort you to the bathroom. She wobbles her head back and forth no, OK!

I was walking around the truck, checking the tiers and overall appearance of the tractor and trailer. I came around the back side of the trailer and starter my inspection of the passenger's side trailer tiers. As I leaned into the inside of the wheel well I herd a muffled "Brrreeetttt!" I shot a look to that direction, and what I saw sent me into panic mode. Joys crumpled motionless body laid at the foot of the passenger side fuel tank. I ran to her aid, my mind went through a hundred scenarios of medical aid. I crouched to her side; she looked up at me, to my relief. ”Are you OK!!?" I asked. " I have got to go pee!" I lifted her into my arms and took her into the truck stop. After potty, the staff got her some water and Advil. We got her shoe off and inspected the swollen foot. Ouch!

I called Gordon Trucking and explained the situation. I was given instruction to get her to a clinic to be checked out, after the morning delivery that is. Do they have truck parking, yes... OK.. So we got over to the doctors office check in desk, and said that are company made an appointment for us. She looked at her computer monitor, and said "ah yes, can you pee now?" oh, drug test. OK, after that we got a small walking splint and we were set off to make are next delivery.

This evening we are sitting in Jackson TN. Got showered and fed. I was making my way through all of the e-mail junk and got to one that said Happy Anniversary one. I looked over at my wife and said "What is today?" She said Thursday, the 26Th...
I'm sure you can imagine the rest.

Finally a New Post

Blog Violation

I guess I knew that my blog would be read by others and that I had set myself up for on-line scrutiny when I posted it. I created this as an on-line journal, and a way that friends and family could read about our adventures on the road. After I posted my last piece about GPS, I got up early the next day to update some other thoughts. Upon returning to the site, I noticed that it had been violated. Some very troubling and hateful comments had been posted throughout the entire blog. So now I had to add some security to the site and try to clear my head from the hate and discontent that was directed in my general direction.

180,000 Miles
We drove the wheels off truck number one and have been issued a brand new, 2006 Columbia series Freightliner. The new car smell was a little overwhelming. It took almost 2 days to get the new truck back in order. We just took it in to have a 58,000 mile service done. That is just a bit over 2 months of driving.

Stories From The Way Side
We haul all kinds of stuff. Some of it is absolutely bizarre in its relevance to the load before it. We picked up a load of Starbucks Coffee, and the next load was coffee makers for Wal-Mart. We took toilet paper to the east coast and brought back to the west coast porta potties. Of course, some of it can just be silly. Like the 4 loads a day of toilet paper that GTI hauls to Los Angeles, must be for all the B.S. that goes on down there. The Maraschinos Cherries is just a bizarre load, an entire semi trailer filled with them, how many cherries is that and who really needs that many cherries. It might have made more sense if the cherries went to Las Vegas. More toilet paper, this time it went out to the mid-west, and we brought back fertilizer. I guess we haul allot of crap.

This is a short blog. I just wanted to get some of the creative juices running though my veins again. I will leave you with one last load.

Hot Load of Cherries
Joy and I have a reputation in dispatch as a team that will get the load there on time without much crying. Yes crying, boo hoo. So we were on our way back up I-5 (boo hoo), again, and we got a message on the Qualcomm “call dispatch ASAP!” Our driver manager wanted to know if we had any experience with hauling refrigerated good’s. Joy said that Brett does. Ok, great like that was 7 months ago when I was just a baby trucker (boo hoo). So why the reefer load. Well it seems that in Yakima, Washington, the rare and succulent plum size cherry is grown. This special little luscious morsel is loved and coveted by the Japanese. The load was relayed to us in Portland, we drove the little tasty snacks non-stop to San Francisco international airport to catch there flights. The air cargo area is not refrigerated, so we waited until the jet’s were ready to fly, (8 hours later...boo hoo)so the cherries went from the cold trailer to the cargo handlers at 3 different terminals, and loaded to fly non-stop to Japan. I can only speculate that those sweet little cherries could pay for 4 new cherry semi trucks and refrigerated trailers. $$$ Nice Load.

The Winter That Made History

Winter is a time of the year, that as humans we have grown to adapt, and can always expect it to happen. Some humans unlike others tend to forget how to prepare for winter, and you usually read about them; see them on TV, and here about them on the radio. I love the weather, I love extreme weather. What I have observed in the most extreme weather is that the most folks also seem to love it too. People seem to get a feeling of invincibility when they get behind the wheel of there 4000 pound, traction controlled, power everything SUV. I see them in the ditch, down the gully, and smashed in to very unrecognizable shapes every day. Wake up America and slow down. God does not care what you do, nor do Mother Nature and Old Man Winter.

The great part about trucking is, if you don’t like they weather that you are currently driving in, drive for about 500 miles, it will change. This has not been the case for Joy and I, or should I say, this has not been the case for America. This winter has blanked the entire USA. All of those silver haired snow birds that migrated to Arizona woke up to a dusting of the very thing that they dislike. Last week we dove over to North Carolina to deliver a load of paper for Procter & Gamble. 200 miles into the state our outside temperature gauge is reading 57 degrees. Wow, could this be true, as I rolled down my window, the heavy musty air poured into the cab of the truck. It reminded me of being in Hawaii. Once we arrived at the RDC (regional distribution center) we were greeted by a very happy security guard. He was dressed in full winter garb. Everything but ear muffs, I think that if he had them he would have had them on. It must have been and interesting site, scrawny white boy in tee shirt next to big over dressed security man. I can only imagine what he must have thought 3 days later when it snowed there.

De Moines Iowa gets snowed in.

Joy and I feel that it is our responsibility to check road conditions of the state that we are currently passing thought. We consult the NOAA web site frequently. Every chance you get, you ask other truckers, listen to the CB and take 5 to watch the weather channel at truck stops. So it was no surprise to us to see snow and adverse driving conditions in the heartland of America. News Flash Iowa, really nasty cold air from Canada is pushing its way into your back yard. The part that makes it really fun is that simultaneously a massive tropical depression from the Gulf of Mexico is going to run into the cold air. Six inches of this wonderfully fluffy snow blanked De Moines that night, and the city had no snow plows. Well none that we saw any ways. The temperature on the dash was reading 14 degrees. This makes for the type of snow that you can not make a snow ball out of. Really Fluffy! Now here is the amazing part, folks that have never seen this stuff were out driving in it, and driving at the posted speed limits, on the freeway.

Smash Boom Bam!

Over the next 24 hours we counted more that 50 vehicle’s off the road. At least one every 5 to 10 miles. Lots and lots of SUV’s too. The best “E” ticket ride that we saw was a Dodge Durango that was traveling a very high rate of speed, lost control, went off the freeway, down into the drainage ditch, up the other side, went airborne, cleared the farmers barbed wire fence and landed on its feet out in the field, at least 75 yards from the road. The most amazing impact that we saw was a band new Ford F-350 Super Duty 4X4 that hit the guard rail with such a violent impact that it removed the entire rear end from the truck. I was driving slow enough to look to see were did the rear end go, no clue.

From high winds in Wyoming, to sub zero temperatures in Texas, this is a winter for not only the record books, but the history books as well. I can’t help but think that secretly Al Gore is pumping his fist in the air in his TV room, chanting “Global Warming is real!” You might have something there, Al.

We are home now, resting up and getting ready to see what February holds for us. Driving a 80,000 pound sled around is stressing enough, but trying to avoid SUV’s and Mini vans filled with children playing games, and giving you the traditional blow your Semi Truck horn, will drive you insane. So the next time you are all out on the highways and byways of our nations roads, remember to leave lots of room between you and those big trucks, please don’t tailgated or cut us off, remember that it takes 90 feet a second to stop in 800 feet going 60 mph.

12 Loads of Christmas

We have just returned after running 30 states in 30 days. On our last tour out we drove 18,000 miles in 21 days. We believe the reason for so many miles in a short about of time is the Christmas Holiday rush. That and we are the newbie’s, covering loads that would normally be ran by local and regional drivers. So I thought that it would be appropriate to tell you about the 12 loads of Christmas.

You can sing if you like.

On the first load of Christmas Gordon Trucking had us haul
1 giant Roll of Paper made from trees.

On the second load of Christmas Gordon Trucking had us haul
200,000 pars of Levi's
And 1 giant Roll of Paper made from trees

On the third load of Christmas Gordon Trucking had us haul
30,000 pounds of Paper Towels
200,000 pars of Levi's
And 1 giant Roll of Paper made from trees

On the fourth load of Christmas Gordon Trucking had us haul
44 thousand pounds of Starbucks coffee
30,000 pounds of Paper Towels
200,000 pars of Levi's
And 1 giant Roll of Paper made from trees

On the fifth load of Christmas Gordon Trucking had us haul
5 thousand pounds of Toy Apparel
44 thousand pounds of Starbucks coffee
30,000 pounds of Paper Towels
200,000 pars of Levi's
And 1 giant Roll of Paper made from trees

On the sixth load of Christmas Gordon Trucking had us haul
6 Century Gun Safes
5 thousand pounds of Toy Apparel
44 thousand pounds of Starbucks coffee
30,000 pounds of Paper Towels
200,000 pars of Levi's
And 1 giant Roll of Paper made from trees

On the seventh load of Christmas Gordon Trucking had us haul
7000 Coffee Makers
6 Century Gun Safes
5 thousand pounds of Toy Apparel
44 thousand pounds of Starbucks coffee
30,000 pounds of Paper Towels
200,000 pars of Levi's
And 1 giant Roll of Paper made from trees

On the eighth load of Christmas Gordon Trucking had us haul
18 tons of Soap
7000 Coffee Makers
6 Century Gun Safes
5 thousand pounds of Toy Apparel
44 thousand pounds of Starbucks coffee
30,000 pounds of Paper Towels
200,000 pars of Levi's
And 1 giant Roll of Paper made from trees

On the ninth load of Christmas Gordon Trucking had us haul
9000 Camouflage Hunting Vests
18 tons of Soap
7000 Coffee Makers
6 Century Gun Safes
5 thousand pounds of Toy Apparel
44 thousand pounds of Starbucks coffee
30,000 pounds of Paper Towels
200,000 pars of Levi's
And 1 giant Roll of Paper made from trees

On the tenth load of Christmas Gordon Trucking had us haul
256 Kegs of Beer
9000 Camouflage Hunting Vests
18 tons of Soap
7000 Coffee Makers
6 Century Gun Safes
5 thousand pounds of Toy Apparel
44 thousand pounds of Starbucks coffee
30,000 pounds of Paper Towels
200,000 pars of Levi's
And 1 giant Roll of Paper made from trees

On the eleventh load of Christmas Gordon Trucking had us haul
11,000 rolls of Toilet Paper
256 Kegs of Beer
9000 Camouflage Hunting Vests
18 tons of Soap
7000 Coffee Makers
6 Century Gun Safes
5 thousand pounds of Toy Apparel
44 thousand pounds of Starbucks coffee
30,000 pounds of Paper Towels
200,000 pars of Levi's
And 1 giant Roll of Paper made from trees

On the twelfth load of Christmas Gordon Trucking had us haul
$12,000 dollars worth of Appliances & chaining up over Cabbage Pass
11,000 rolls of Toilet Paper
256 Kegs of Beer
9000 Camouflage Hunting Vests
18 tons of Soap
7000 Coffee Makers
6 Century Gun Safes
5 thousand pounds of Toy Apparel
44 thousand pounds of Starbucks coffee
30,000 pounds of Paper Towels
200,000 pars of Levi's
And 1 giant Roll of Paper made from trees!