Papa Pigs Zainy Rookie Solo Adventures

I also agree papa’s last post is golden.

PapaPig, your comment "be known for your work ethic" should be painted, boldly, everywhere drivers congregate. There's an old timey phrase that I use often. "Ride for the Brand."

For those not familiar with the term, this from CowboyAccountant dotcom "...cowboy poet Red Steagall summed it up best in one of his poems that earned him recognition as the Official Cowboy Poet of Texas, “Son, a man’s brand is his own special mark that says this is mine, leave it alone. You hire out to a man, ride for his brand and protect it like it was your own.” .... In the old west, when a cowboy rode for the brand, it meant that he had signed on to the mission, goals and aims of the ranch owner. It meant that he was committed and that he was a dedicated team player. It meant, in the words of Red Stegall, that he gave his promise to protect the brand as though it were his own."

If you ride for the brand, you're making your OWN brand. And its priceless

Exactly mr curmudgeon! !

So I am glad I have tools and realize I need better ones. Parked at the store for the morning and Did my post trip and found 2 major problems. Drive tire got severely gouged at some point today , doesn’t look safe so I put in a breakdown. They are coming at some point tonight. I decided to go over my lift gate and run it through a cycle just to be sure, (I had checked the switches function before I left but didn’t do a full cycle) low and behold it is out of sync. One side wasn’t coming out fully and this won’t allow it to raise to the trailer. ( from now on I WILL check this before I leave) Called the trailer shop and he was able to give me instructions on how to fix it. Remove bolts, drop drive shaft, pull it out by hand, push drive shaft back in place and tighten the bolts. I am lucky I have a few basic tools but I’ll tell u what. Those bolts were long so I’m going to carry an impact driver from here on out! Papa pig got caught snoozing today but it won’t happen again!

So I am glad I have tools and realize I need better ones.

Papa, you'll likely be one of a very few that carries any kind of power tools. Three years ago I bought with my Christmas money a Ryobi 1+ bundle with impact driver, recip saw, regular drill, and a circular saw. Added the leaf blower. One full battery charge is enough to do three full passes on three trailers (9 passes total) on 53 footers. The recip went with me everywhere as well - one time getting an intermodal flatbed with timber bracing with no way to safely leverage the boards with a pry tool made it obvious that stuff needed cutting. Good on you for being willing to do what needed to be done, and being confident enough to make the call for the right way to do it. And Kudos to your outfit for having someone that could give you the info!

Y’all know how this one goes. It’s been one of “those “ weeks. Maintenance issues, crappy stores , etc. Was super happy when I got in the driveway and got out of the truck.

Getting a little unexpected “extra”hometime. Was getting ready to do my pretrip before I was to roll out yesterday and realized I had a bad coolant leak. Service truck came to verify but said they couldn’t get the part till tomorrow. Luckily this happened at home before I got out on the road. Even though I’m missing out on a load today, my body appreciates the extra day “at least” of rest that it’s going to get.

What????

No duct tape?

Who knows what I’m getting ready to do with these? Any guesses?