Did You Feel That?

Sitting here quietly at the itsty, bitsy, tiny, small, no space Pilot in Denham Springs, LA (exit 10, I10) broad daylight, sparsely occupied....our trailer rocks!

I hear a faint "bang" and then I feel the cab shove forward and backwards. I quickly asked Trapper, "Did you feel that?" At the same time I look out my side mirror and see a Swift trailer sideways behind us.

"Oh my gosh, we just got hit!"

"What? No we didn't. Are you sure?" (I'm still trying to figure his thought pattern with that series of sentences.... didn't he hear me, was he making a statement, or asking a question... all three at the same time?)

In my excitement all I can say is, "Yea... the Swift truck." as I bail out my door to run check this out!

I don't know what I was thinking.... here I am a professional passenger... if I saw damage was I going to run after the truck? What was I going to do if I caught the truck? I could see me now... chasing a Swift truck through the parking lot, jumping up on the step and demanding the driver stop?

I checked out the trailer and there wasn't any damage that I could see. I never see the trailers when we pick them up... I'm always in the truck. I wouldn't have known if we were damaged or not, unless the doors were ripped off or something! Trapper was out of the truck quickly too, checking to make sure we weren't damaged. If we had been, I wonder if he would have said, "Catch that truck!" (probably so, lol)

The bump was no worse than backing into a dock, but it was the principle. Someone, a professional driver, driving in a tiny parking lot (this has got to be the wierdest Pilot in the USA) as if they were driving a Smart Car.

Wed... Jan 6 .... Trailer Theory

Anyone who is in the truck driving industry knows that you don't want to get stuck without a trailer! When Trapper came home for Christmas he was dispatched to take his "empty" trailer to Columbia, SC. We knew it could be a mess when we went back on the board.... but....

Sunday morning we go on the board at 7 a.m. We are preplanned to pick up a load at the terminal about 30 miles from home at 10 pm Sunday night. Ok... we thought... that's easy. Trapper called the company just to ensure they knew we had NO trailer. The qualcomm was showing a live load. Here lies the problem... How were they going to live load us and us bobtail???? Can you say weekend crew????

We decided to leave the house around 5 p.m. The truck was fairly ready with all the clothes, supplies, food, my stuff (and lots of it), etc., etc. We turned the heat down, set the light timers, turned the hot water heater off, unplugged tv's, computers, and small appliances. Leaving a house for weeks at a time is time consuming. We loaded a few more things in the truck and off we were.

As we're driving our few miles he calls dispatch just to reconfirm that we have NO trailer. The dispatcher, "Hold on." Next thing.... the qualcomm... "Load Unassigned." Next thing, "Sorry, you have no trailer, we can't load you if you have no trailer." My comment... well.... I won't type that.

We make a U-turn and return home. It's funny. Once you decided to come home you are ready to come home... once you make the decision to go back out... you're ready to go back out. Period! It's a mind set!

I was willing to stay at the truck stop vs. going back home for the night. That probably sounds pathetic but upon returning we had to undo all the stuff to the house that we had just done an hour before! Being mentally worn out by this time, sandwiches were in order for dinner. I couldn't face unpacking anything out of my fully and very carefully stocked fridge in the truck!

Monday rolls around and we were dispatched to Aiken, SC to pick up an empty trailer. Ok, so let's close the house up one more time.... we arrived in Aiken and.... wait for it...... the shipper wouldn't give us an empty!!!! I just laughed.

Another call to dispatch.... this time we had to explain the circumstances of the prior day and try to explain why we are running all over the state with no trailer! Finally, we were preplanned to pick a load up at this same shipper at 1:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning.

All is well now. We have a good trailer, stocked full! We're sitting tonight in Baton Rouge, LA. Every job has it's draw backs I suppose. There must be a trailer theory though. The qualcomm doesn't allow you to send some info if you can't put in a trailer number, you can't be actually put "on the board" if you have no trailer. My suggestion... death to the trailer theory! It's hard enough out here!

Fri... Jan 1... A New Year!

My month at home has come to an end now and I'm actually looking forward to returning to my home away from home!

The Christmas holiday's were a hoot around here. Trapper made it home on the 23rd. He was highlighted and sitting 50 miles from home but it took a little coercing to get the company to go ahead and dispatch him home. On the way to the house, the qualcomm beeps 4 times and the message was to take the trailer 100 miles east, drop it, and bobtail home. WHAT????

His mom, who has a passenger pass, was here at the house so I took her.... hauled butt down the interstate, and met him on the shoulder! She had never riden with him so the 200 mile trip was an experience for her! I told her she could mark it off her bucket list!

We had a house full for Christmas.... Trapper's mom and son and then my two children came down. My parents came down a couple of days after Christmas and spent the day with us.

We are very blessed to have the family we have.

My mother climbed up in the truck and was kinda amazed looking when she realized we had only one bunk! We had to have the top one taken out and a shelf put in. We needed the room.

Everyone seems amazed that we both can live and survive in such a small place. At times, we are surprised and impressed both!

It does actually take a lot of patience and the ability to adapt to change in order to survive living on the road. This lifestyle would not be for everyone.

So we will be headed back out, together, on Sunday morning. Being stuck without a trailer won't be the ideal situation but I'm sure the company will find us one somewhere close!

Tues... Dec 22.... We Should all Stop and Think About This...

Trapper is slowly but surely making his way home. He left IL this morning and is delivering in SC on Wednesday afternoon. Hopefully he'll be home Wednesday afternoon! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

I left on Monday afternoon to go see my family in Charlotte, NC. As I talked to Trapper he was routing himself around a wreck with a fatality.

This afternoon I caught a snippet of the news and there was a sandstorm in Arizona that claimed 4 people, due to the wrecks involved and as I talked to Trapper he was, again, sitting in traffic on I-24 just before Chattanooga, TN with an accident that involved a fatality. A van had crossed the median and hit an 18-wheeler head-on. Who do you think won?

I was driving down I-85S today in South Carolina, returning home from North Carolina and was behind what could have been a horrible scene. Something blew out on a vehicle in the front and all of a sudden all I saw were brake lights. Vehicles had been running "in a pack" with a couple of big trucks and I had just backed off. I get really uncomfortable when cars are bunched up together.

Being that I have been in the seat of a truck and I see, first hand, what 4-wheelers do (and don't do) I have to wonder what will it take for them to understand how to drive? Do people go brain dead when they get behind the wheel of a car?

Long before I ever rode in a truck, my daughter and I were almost (killed, hurt, run off the road) in an accident on I-40W. I was in the driver's blind spot. I looked up, realized he could not see me, and the next thing I knew he was coming over. Luckily, there was no one behind me so I slammed the brakes on and he was able to get over in the lane safely.

However; I am a very caucious driver. I was then. I simply wasn't going fast enough and the timing was off. I was crusin' right in his blind spot... just behind his driver's door. He did not see me, period. And it was my fault.

There are at least 6 families that are getting horrific news either yesterday or today. Right at the holidays. Is there a worst time? It's never a good time. Do you think these truck drivers that were involved with today's accidents are sleeping well tonight? I doubt it. I know we wouldn't be if we had been involved in a wreck that killed someone today.

My point is... tell your family to drive safely, but mean it. Tell them how to drive safely. At times, mechanical things are going to happen to someone's vehicle and the vehicle will be out of control... but what I've seen is more driver stupidity. Tell your family and loved ones to ... stay away from the big trucks!!!! Give the big trucks... big room!

A lot of the country is covered with snow right now. White out conditions, you typically see coming... sand storms... you see coming.... heavy rain... you see coming... slow down.... don't drive into a storm at 70 mph... and move away from the big trucks....

Please drive safe this Christmas Season! Your family and friends want to see you at their house, not the morgue or funeral home.

Thurs... Dec 16... Just a Few More Days!

As I've mentioned in previous post, I've been home since the middle of November AND I am ready to get back on the road! Poor Trapper, he would probably appreciate a break... well, he'll get one when he gets here for Christmas.

He calls and tells me what's going on and how pretty everything is and I miss it! I know, two months of being back on the road, I'll be ready to come home! He said today that last night he had a bottle of water stuck between the mattress and the wall of the sleeper (3" from his head) and it was frozen solid this morning! I just laughed. I know the bunk heater works but the inside walls of the cab do get cold! (click the read more below)

Sun... Dec 13... Weathering the Storm

Ok, so when Trapper left IL, he was preplanned to go to WV... plans change, as is with life, and he called and explained he would be going to Utah!

Oh wow... time for me to jump into action. I checked the weather maps Friday and he would have smooth sailin'. And then came Saturday night and Sun... no more smooth sailin'.

Sat, I was on the computer, here at home for a couple of hours, trying to decide what was facing him. Sat night he stopped somewhere around Laramie, WY.

Then came Sunday! Sunday had a wide variety of snow report, incidents reports, and chain requirements. The only time we have practiced with the chains was at home, in the driveway, clear conditions, and a week ago.

He called Sunday morning to tell me exactly where he was and for the next 3 hours I was like a weather- road condiiton- first source for info! I now know UTAH like the back of my hand!

It's hard enough being in the truck, listening to the CB, and trying to figure a way around... but to be 2,500 miles away makes it even harder.

He is safe and sound in Salt Lake City... the load is delivered, it is cold, and snow covered!

.... The Tiniest Apt in NYC... ???

I read this article and had to try to post it here. I hope the link works.

2 people bought the tiniest studio apt in NYC and it's still bigger than the cab of the truck! They don't even cook in this apt!!! At least most of us have managed to conquer the cooking!
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/city_tiniest_studio_AF3nqD1kArYgpdyTyjNnXP

source: NYPost.com