Almost There!

Hoo boy I'm tired.

Anyway though, so. After a long and hectic month and a bit with my trainer, I reached the required hours etc for promotion to solo. There were speedbumps along the way and some… interpersonal challenges but I got through them and reminded myself that when I get done with this, I get to go solo which is the entire reason I'm doing this in the first place.

Better yet, we were able to get to Fontana and I was able to pick up the new pair of crutches that were waiting for me in the mail there. They're neat, although I definitely need some stickers or something to decorate them with because they're black and that's not as distinctive as teal.

We got to Fontana in the wee hours of Saturday morning. Ended up having to limp my car over to the fuel island to put some air in the tires because I came back to a flat (which I'll be getting fixed tomorrow morning). Got my stuff off of my trainer's truck, hung around for a bit until safety was in, found out what etrainers I still needed to complete, talked to them a bit and then the best part of this: I got to come home. I could have stayed in the hotel for the weekend but home's not far and it's been a while.

It's nice to be home after 41 days (yep, I was keeping track) since the last time I was home.

I've gotten to do laundry, and ended up washing pretty much everything because most of my stuff had a lingering smell of the air freshener that my trainer liked to use, which I… don't so much like as much as tolerated. My blankets are in the wash now, except for the wool one that's just hanging on the line. I had dinner yesterday evening with a friend of mine who came down since I'm in town, hung out until way too late, and then slept all night with my cat nearby.

Now I'm re-packing things to go back to the terminal tomorrow in the morning. It's a process of going through what I had with me and thinking if I used it, if I wore it, if I did was it comfortable— if the answer to those things is no then it's not going back with me.

I'm also packing differently this time, because being solo I'll be able to have the space more as I want it, and without needing to have everything that I take with me be soft-sided I can take my rolling suitcase and duffel bag. I've also got a few dairy crate type things which I'm using for other things, like one that holds my toiletries and such for transfer in and out of my shower caddy to take with me, lotion because dry skin gets painful, ibuprofen and sudafed etc. Winter does mean that I have twice as much clothing but I know also that it gets bitterly fecking cold up there and my tolerance for cold isn't great.

Anyway, that's the more or less of things. I still have some more packing to do, but it's moving right along! (Hey, this means I get to say I'm a rookie driver pretty soon, right?)

Keep plugging K.R.

Congratulations. Great attitude. Let us know how your upgrade goes.

Upgrade was a piece of cake. Drive around the block, back into the parking spot without crashing, Managed it even though the truck they use for testing is an older Peterbilt and the wheelbase was throwing me for a serious loop there.

That was yesterday. Had to wait until this morning for a truck, got it and put it immediately into the shop to fix the driver's seat and the fairing that holds the steps on the driver's side.

That took most of today, and then I got myself moved in. The truck is a 2017 white Freightliner evo, and it's lovely and starting already to feel like home. Only thing I don't like is that there's no cargo net for the upper bunk so I can't have it stay down and use it for storing things. Luckily for me I'm on the shorter side, 5'4", so I have plenty of storage available at the foot of the bed.

Now to get some sleep, morning will be time for my debut into this whole matter and my first load.

Good luck, hope your solo run goes smoothly.

Upgrade was a piece of cake. Drive around the block, back into the parking spot without crashing,

Haha, that's funny

Enjoy that new truck, and your new life!

Welcome to Trucking!

Is there a cargo net for the bottom one? If so move it up top. Actually, first I'd check with the shop to see if they could install one. I built a divided compartment out of 1 X 10 lumber for storage in my upper bunk. Lots of supplies up there and nothing has ever bounced out.

I'm going to check with the shop next time that I'm through one of the terminals where Werner has the Freightliner parts.

There is a net on the bottom but it's not movable, so.

Anyway. I took a load from Fontana down to Fullerton today. Live unload, unbeknownst to me until I got there. Dock setup that I hadn't seen before, too. Three goes around and an owner op who is there too takes pity on me and helps walk me through a different method of backing, using the available space to the dock as well to be able to do the alley dock successfully. Guy comes up and tells me to unhook from my trailer. Thirty minutes later his boss comes up and tells me to rehook that they don't unhook at the dock there. But there are forklifts and people still inside, so as a compromise I got the fifth wheel under the trailer and waited for them to be done to hook up.

Went five miles away to the next shipper where my second trip was at.

The space assigned for me to drop the empty was tight, and at the end of a parking lot with a fence, so I had to pull around and make a u turn to be able to do it. That time I didn't wait for someone to take pity on me, but walked up and asked one of the other guys nearby if he had a moment to spot me, and with the knowledge that there was someone there got it in the hole no problem, ninety degree backing with my tandems all the way to the back.

Went to pick up my loaded trailer and it had been dropped super high. So the next half hour was spent fighting the landing gear, then hooking up. Then even more time to slide the tandems forward to be California legal and get them to lock. That came up to Wheeler Ridge/Lebec, where I waited an hour and then some for the Dollar General DC to find a place for me to put the trailer.

And that's where my luck at being able to back ended. An hour later of still not being able to get it right, less than two hours left on my fourteen. and I asked one of the yard guys if he could help and he had me drop it and then took it to a door somewhere else. Then there was no empty for me to take, and I was getting tired and a little bit frustrated. I called the night dispatch and called it a day, I have a preloaded trailer tomorrow and I'll find an empty in the morning.

I got to do laundry. I was able to get a shower because someone else had an extra shower credit. I'm exhausted but I didn't hit anything or anyone, I got my feet wet, and I get to do it all again tomorrow. And I'll get the hang of backing again soon. The different wheelbase between the Freightliner and the Kenworth and just the rest of first day nerves added up, and I'm not going to beat myself up over it.

Goodnight, folks. Slee well or drive safe, or all of the above.

I'm going to check with the shop next time that I'm through one of the terminals where Werner has the Freightliner parts.

There is a net on the bottom but it's not movable, so.

Anyway. I took a load from Fontana down to Fullerton today. Live unload, unbeknownst to me until I got there. Dock setup that I hadn't seen before, too. Three goes around and an owner op who is there too takes pity on me and helps walk me through a different method of backing, using the available space to the dock as well to be able to do the alley dock successfully. Guy comes up and tells me to unhook from my trailer. Thirty minutes later his boss comes up and tells me to rehook that they don't unhook at the dock there. But there are forklifts and people still inside, so as a compromise I got the fifth wheel under the trailer and waited for them to be done to hook up.

Went five miles away to the next shipper where my second trip was at.

The space assigned for me to drop the empty was tight, and at the end of a parking lot with a fence, so I had to pull around and make a u turn to be able to do it. That time I didn't wait for someone to take pity on me, but walked up and asked one of the other guys nearby if he had a moment to spot me, and with the knowledge that there was someone there got it in the hole no problem, ninety degree backing with my tandems all the way to the back.

Went to pick up my loaded trailer and it had been dropped super high. So the next half hour was spent fighting the landing gear, then hooking up. Then even more time to slide the tandems forward to be California legal and get them to lock. That came up to Wheeler Ridge/Lebec, where I waited an hour and then some for the Dollar General DC to find a place for me to put the trailer.

And that's where my luck at being able to back ended. An hour later of still not being able to get it right, less than two hours left on my fourteen. and I asked one of the yard guys if he could help and he had me drop it and then took it to a door somewhere else. Then there was no empty for me to take, and I was getting tired and a little bit frustrated. I called the night dispatch and called it a day, I have a preloaded trailer tomorrow and I'll find an empty in the morning.

I got to do laundry. I was able to get a shower because someone else had an extra shower credit. I'm exhausted but I didn't hit anything or anyone, I got my feet wet, and I get to do it all again tomorrow. And I'll get the hang of backing again soon. The different wheelbase between the Freightliner and the Kenworth and just the rest of first day nerves added up, and I'm not going to beat myself up over it.

Goodnight, folks. Slee well or drive safe, or all of the above.

Just keep that positive attitude, and continue learning. It is frustrating at times, but if we can acknowledge it, learn from it, and improve, then we are on the right track.