Snow Snow and more Snow

Hay people

So what’s going on? Well Monday came and my truck finally turned up at 10pm. Im sick of getting my truck back late at night and expected to get in it and go. 10pm was bad enough but the truck had to go through the workshop first, so it could have been midnight, so I rang dispatch and told them I was not bringing my babies out of bed at that time of night and I would be in at 6am. After getting my trailer scaled and balanced, it was off to Loudon, Tennessee again, same place as a couple of weeks ago that kept me waiting all morning before they got round to off loading me. It was great to actually leave the yard first thing in the morning instead of at night. It took two and half days to get there. Again they left me at least three hours before even getting round to me. I must have watched four episodes of Leverage before they got round to me. Then it was off to Rogersville, Tennessee for my reload. They only gave me seven pallets which was less than quarter of the trailer full, so I informed Joe, so they got me an extra load I could pick up on my way the following day in Charleston, West Virginia. I took both loads to our yard in Montreal, but before crossing the border I had been meaning to call at Walmart to pick up a chest freezer we have been needing for a while. We never had one before with not really having the room in the house when we lived in the UK, but here our house is four times the size of our old one in the UK so we have plenty of room for one. I could have got one in Canada, but it is so much cheaper to buy everything in the States and bring it across the border. that’s why when im at home we always cross into the states to fuel the car and get our weekly shopping etc. It saves us a lot of money. One of the advantages of living next to the border. The same chest freezer in Canada would have cost me an extra $80. Luckily our tractor units are massive inside, so I managed to get the chest freezer through the passenger door and up onto the top bunk where I strapped it in with the built in cargo net. Once at the Montreal yard, I switched for a load I needed to take back to Woodstock. On the way the following morning I called at one of the closed DOT Scales to check my weights. I knew my tractor was under weight because it has a digital gauge on the dash telling me so. Its only a guide though. They have been fitting analogue gauges to our trailers to give us an idea of the weight on the trailer wheels too but this one didn’t have one. If the trailer is loaded even and the trailer wheels are in the right place and one end is good, the other should be good to, so I was shocked to find my trailer was well over. So I went round the building to move my trailer wheels back a little to shift some of the weight forward. it’s a great feature to balance our load weight even across the truck without touching the load. Plus a lot of loading docks like you to move the wheels right to the rear of the trailer while backed onto a dock. It reduces the bounce of the trailer when the fork lifts drive on and off the back. Once adjusted, I went back round to re weigh finding still over, but this time, I had problems adjusting more. Only four pins hold the wheels in place and one of the rods that pull the pins in snapped, so I was stuffed, but while im scratching my head wondering how im going to hold the pin in and pull the truck forward at the same time. Toby, another British driver came and saved the day (thanks mate) and off we went chatting on the CB all the way back.

Toby

When I got back to Woodstock, Emma came to collect the freezer but it was too big for the car, so I had to borrow the workshop pickup to take it home. Once my truck was out of the shop and ready to go again. My reload was going Moncton NB, for a 4am delivery, then a second drop in St John NB then reload in Utopia NB for Philadelphia docks, Pennsylvania.

I had a little moan at dispatch for that. Which fell on deaf ears. I still had five days to fill before I was due home for my time off and going to Moncton, St John, Philadelphia, then back to Montreal then back to Woodstock, was only three and half days, so instead of messing about doing a short run to fill the time, I decided to come home early. Im glad I did really as yesterday we had a ridicules amount of snow fall in just a few hours. Im so glad we have a 4x4. Its fun driving in the thick snow when im in no rush to go anywhere in particular, but it’s a pain when in the truck with an urgent load. I was in Walmart for about twenty minutes. There was a few inches of snow covering the car when I came out. that’s how fast it was coming down. Luckily I had brought a brush to clean the car off before I could set off. The winter in North America as been a bad one this year. The only State in America not to have snow yet is Florida. The lower States that don’t normally have snow, got a little messed up when it snowed as they are not equipped for it same as the UK. Everywhere else cope really easy, like this morning here in Woodstock, after yesterdays bad storm, all the roads was cleared in no time, so everyone can get round as normal. Me and the kids was out in the snow on the sledges. The kids love it.

Luckily our friend came round to clear most of our drive with his pickup

with a plow on the front or i would have been all day clearing it.

I still had to do this bit though

and this

It was my youngest sons birthday party today. We had it at our local leisure centre. That was another reason why I needed to be back this weekend. I had to miss it last year, so I made sure I didn’t this year. The kids had a great time.

Well I have one more day off before its back on the road, hopefully going somewhere warm, yea right  so till my next internet connection, have a great dayyyy.

Wytheville, West Virginia

You can't see them all but there was six plows staggered on the other side clearing the highway in one go

Thats how its done here

Just to give you an idea on what the showers are like in a typical big chain truck stop in the States

We have our own private bathroom with everything you need.

We get them free each time we fuel with 50 gal or more

plus they are cleaned after each person as used them too

Truck stops really do look after us here

Happy New Year Everybody

Happy new year to everyone.

Well I did go out in someone else’s truck on the evening of 23rd. It was a team truck, same make as mine, but only four months old. Only one team member brought the truck to Woodstock and I had to take her with me to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, where I was dropping her off to stay with family over the Christmas holidays. It was really bad weather going down with icy roads and snow etc. Normally I would have parked up for the night, but it was an urgent load plus Jan wanted to get home to her family so I took it easy with it been a light load so I didn’t lock the brakes up on the trailer all the time. Then the last hour or so of the journey, I could speed up as the roads were clear again. We got down there at 1130pm. I dropped the trailer, then dropped Jan off, then it was off to my reload in Pictou, Nova Scotia. I remember getting there at 315am, I asked how long it would take to load, and was told about an hour so I asked them to knock me up when it was ready, as I wanted to get straight back home with it been Christmas eve. Next thing I knew, was Emma ringing me waking me up at 9am throwing fits cos I was still in Nova Scotia I was loaded, still parked on the bay. It looked like they had tried to knock me up as the seal for the trailer was put on my door handle. I guess I was tired I got back that afternoon. Spent a lovely Christmas day with Emma, kids and friends, then my truck got back that night, so I went back out on the road on Boxing Day. My load went to Loudon, Tennessee. My reload was from Algood, Tennessee, going back to Toronto. I unloaded really quickly then set off to the yard, to drop the empty trailer, so I could bobtail over to my reload, which would be ready in about an hour, but as im on way to the yard, they call me and ask if I would mind doing them a favour and going to reload my trailerI already had. The customer wanted to load it by 6pm and I just had to drop it at the yard and go for my reload which was ready sometime after 6pm. I thought ok, that fills the gap, so off I went. Yeaaaaa Right. 10pm before im loaded. I dropped the trailer, got to my reload to find another one of our trucks had took my load, and his load was not ready for a couple of hours. I was not happy at all. Another 16hr day and not getting any extra pay for it. That’s the biggest down side to this job. Because you only get paid for the miles you do, and the customers don’t care how long they take to load you. One day you could drive for 8hr and earn $200 then the next day due to off loading and loading, you may end up doing 16hrs and only earn $150. it’s a pain, but you have to accept it if you want to do this job. Im a really laid back kind of guy, so normally I would not fuss, but this time it really spoilt my plans. This was the night before New Years Eve, so my plan was to pick up my load and drive for two and half hours out of Toronto leaving me ten and half hours to do New years Eve so I could be back to see the New Year in with my family and friends. Luckily in Canada, we are allowed to drive up to thirteen hours in one go, provided you have enough hours left, so because of the delays, the only way I could be back in time, was to take advantage of my waiting time, allowing me to be able to set off early enough in the morning and drive the thirteen hours to get back before midnight. I stopped for 10mins on the way and that’s it, getting me back by 10pm then it was party time. Emma had dropped our car off at the yard so I could get home without her leaving the party. Its funny seeing the New Year in here in Canada, as we have six time Zones. I could actually see the New Year in at Woodstock, then drive ten minutes down the road and cross the border into the US, and see the New Year in again on their Midnight. Cool hey! New Years Day I expected dispatch chasing me, but I heard nothing. I already had my paperwork so it was just a case of getting in my truck, hooking to my trailer and going. I was just about to pull out the yard just before mid day when one of the head mechanics knocked on my door and told me the truck needed to go to the dealer for some warranty work they had discovered that morning. So I took it up to the dealer where the on call mechanic had come in especially to fix it. Emma came to get me from there as it was going to take five hours to fix. Once back on the road that evening. My load was going to Fayetteville, North Carolina. Wicked somewhere warm Saying that though, the weather in North America has just been as whacked out as the UK. California as had unbelievable amounts of rain causing floods and mud slides. The Mid West have had a lot more snow than normal. Here in Woodstock, we have had a really mild winter so far. Last year once the snow arrived, it never left till the end of March. This year, its snowed then warmed up and melted it again or rain has washed it away. Christmas day I could see the grass again. When I took the Christmas Tree to the garden rubbish on New Years Day, I didn’t need my coat. mind you, I do sometimes walk around in just a T shirt at zero degrees anyway. It doesn’t feel cold when there is no wind. The temp in Fayetteville was in the twenties,

I was well impressed. Pity I didn’t have my shorts with me my reload was ten minutes down the road, which took me back up to the cold in Toronto. Then I had a load coming back to Woodstock. By the time I got there Wednesday night driving through some white out conditions, I had already done ten and half hours driving, but my reload had to be in Moncton, New Brunswick by 5.30am so the only way I could get it there in time was to continue on another two and half hours to get it there before 530am. Another thirteen hour day. I was down there by 2am. 430am they wake me to give me a loading bay number. 530am they wake me to back on the bay, then they keep waking me driving on to the trailer with the fork lift bouncing me up and down, then 830am they wake me to give me my paperwork back. I then parked up in the truck stop at the end of the street. Then 10am one of our drivers wake me up to see if I had any spare straps, so I gave up at that point about getting anymore sleep. just another typical day been a truck driver. My reload was in our yard in Moncton which was going to Illinois, but I just needed to bring it back to Woodstock. I was due home today anyway for my time off, so I didn’t see the point in going anywhere else, so I came home a day early. Im due back out on Monday, so till my next update. I will leave you with some pic’s of my travels. Buy for nowwwwww

I think they went over board