Back After Another Regrettable Absence

DATELINE: SIMPSONVILLE, KY, 7;45 p.m. EST

So, have I been away from this blog long enough yet? Sorry 'bout dat, dear readers, but please refer to my usual litany of excuses. (Too busy, too tired at the end of the work days, wrong frame of mind due to job stress, etc.) Tonight I'll take just a little time to fill you in on what's what.

Since last we "spoke", I did some "terminal hopping", took a seminar to become certified as a trainer for USA Truck, ran a couple of assignments with lots of miles, and picked up a new truck. Here's a bit fuller re-cap.

From Roanoke (terminal #1 in the terminal hopping saga) I drove over to our West Memphis, AR facility in one swell foop. Whew! Long day. The next day I took my load to its delivery in Shreveport, LA, then stopped in at our terminal in that city for the night. My next assignment had me pick up a load an hour east of Shreveport the next morning (Monday of last week) and run it up to our Van Buren, AR HQ/terminal. Which was good because my trainer seminar was to start on Tuesday. So that made 4 different terminals in 4 days.

The training seminar took 3 days, and I got to spend 2 of those nights in a hotel. Woo hoo! Luxury! But once it was done it was back on the road. So Thursday afternoon I got started toward a Friday morning pickup in southeast AR. That was a nice assignment 'cuz it took me to Fort Pierce, FL and some sunshine and near-warmth. (Only into the mid-60s at the warmest when I was down there.) From there it was back north into GA for a pickup, then to our Spartanburg, SC terminal to get my new trainer truck (more on the truck to come), then into NC.

I delivered the load I picked up in GA in Winston-Salem, NC yesterday morning. Then I got a load to pick up in a town a bit further west in NC (I forget the name right now). That load is bound for Addison, IL, a 'burb in western Chicagoland. Before getting that assignment I notified my Fleet Manager that I was running low on available hours, so I'd be limited in how much driving I could do.

The full NT-to-Addison route was theoretically possible to complete within my available hours (it's due tomorrow--Thursday--morning at 8:00), but, alas, we don't live in a theoretical world. (Maybe Dispatch and Fleet Managers do; that's part of the problem for us drivers.) In the real world, snow and steep mountains slowed my progress and I now can't make it to that delivery on time tomorrow. (In fact, I can't make it at all tomorrow. I'll only have 6 hours available to drive, and it's 333 miles from here to there. And the last bit of those miles would be in Chicagoland rush hour traffic.) I let my FM know about that at around noon today, and didn't hear anything back from him about a load swap or re-scheduled delivery. So after 4:00 I sent in another message...had to repeatedly clarify and confirm my unable-to-make-delivery-on-time status for the yahoos in Dispatch...yada yada...I'm still waiting to hear a final disposition. I'll probably go to sleep without an update, then get woken up in the middle of the night by another driver who's come to take the load. That would be typical. But enough of my whining. On to news about my new wheels.

Since the trucks assigned to solo drivers only have one bunk, trainers with students need trucks with 2 bunks (obviously). So I needed a new one. When I took that seminar, the company assigned me new one right away. The problem was the truck was at our Spartanburg terminal. So I couldn't take it (and a student) right away. Hence the assignments to FL and NC in my "old" truck. (Old? It's an '08 that I got brand-spanking new last June and put 75,000+ miles on in 7 months.) But en route from GA to NC I stopped by Spartanburg Monday night to swap rides. Naturally, it was raining (and dark) when I got to move my worldly possessions between the trucks. But it was worth it for me to get one step closer to earning more money as a trainer.

The new truck is an '09 Kenworth T660. (See http://www.kenworth.com/2100_vir_t660.asp, but picture one in white with USA Truck markings.) I've seen them rolling down the roads the last couple years and thought they were a pretty sweet-looking machine. Much more attractive than either of the Internationals I've driven. But I'd heard that the Kenworths were kinda' lacking in interior roominess and storage space, two facts that I confirmed right away upon climbing aboard. The front part of the cab (where the driver and passenger seats are) is narrower and not as tall--I can't stand up fully up there. The sleeper berth portion widens out and has cool skylights (with covers for nighttime privacy), but does not have the copious storage bins and shelves of the Int'l. But, again, if USA's gonna' pay me more when I have a student in the truck, I'll put up with it.

The KW is a much nicer ride, too, even though it's a manual transmission instead of the automatic I had in my most recent International. (The students need to learn to drive the manual shift, of course, in case they get assigned one when they go solo.) It handles better and turns much tighter. Then again, the geography of the driver's seat, steering wheel, and foot pedals is not quite to my liking. (The pedals are too far forward and the horizontal part of the driver's seat is not deep enough.) But, again, if USA's gonna' pay me more...

Anyway, that's my update for today. If you're out and about scoping out USA's trucks, watch for me in my new address, #T293. Thanks for checking my blog even though I've been away for so long. Let me hear from you via comments and questions, and keep on truckin'.