Rookie Solo Adventures Of A Knuckle Draggin Primate (Rob D.)

12/20 update; almost a 34-hour reset in Denver

I get my next load assignment Tuesday afternoon. A short Home Depot load going from Ogden, Utah to St. George, Utah. Pick up and deliver the same day. Some of you who haul loads for Home Depot, Menards, or other high volume, large corporate shippers may have more thoughts about hauling for these places. The BDC where I picked up has a very organized system where you check in, pull in the lane and bay where they load you, then pull out to strap and tarp. Not to dissimilar from other high volume shippers, but more professional in my opinion. Once I checked in I immediately went to the lane and bay. My load consisted mostly of lumber, with some other miscellaneous materials mixed in. And contrary to other places where the forklift operator gives no thought as to how the load will need to be strapped and tarped, this forklift operator spent time arranging the miscellaneous materials in the middle to make for easier strapping and tarping. After that, you pull out where they have plenty of lanes, with adequate space to strap and tarp. Overall, very good experience. As I said, very short run that I delivered by 1600 the same day.

And since I’m in Southern Utah, I know what is next. Charlotte, Pipe going to Anaheim, California. So close to Disneyland, I think I heard mouse farts while I was waiting to get unloaded. On the way down on I-15 southbound, I saw and accident that demonstrates the force of the “80,000 lbs of rolling death” that you hear mentioned on this forum. A dry van tractor-trailer had essentially “punched through” the concrete barrier dividing the northbound and southbound lanes. You could see a rectangular hole about the width of a semi in the top 1/3 of the concrete barrier. The tractor trailer hit a flatbed on the other northbound, just behind the driver wheels. The flatbed trailer deck rested flat on the pavement because all of the axles has been stripped off and were laying in the middle of the road. There could have been some of the dry van tractor trailer axles there as well. The dry van tractor-trailer was sideways across the entire road. All traffic was diverted onto the immediately adjacent off ramp.

I ended up making to my fuel stop, about 70 miles from the receiver, early Thursday and took about a 14-hour break due to the nature of Los Angeles parking and traffic. The experienced drivers know this but I assume that rookies, trainees, and potential drivers are reading this diary. Once you come through the Cajon pass, there are only a handful of truck stops in the entire Los Angeles area. So, its not like you can park 5 or 10 minutes away from your receiver. I had about 3 and ½ hours left on my clock, so I could have made it to the receiver, depending on traffic, but I might not be able to get back after I delivered. So, if the receiver did not allow overnight parking AFTER, I delivered, it was not wise to try to deliver that Thursday. All of this was moot, because when I called the receiver, they stopped receiving at noon and it was already 1300. So I would get up early and get there at 0600.

Surprisingly, the traffic was light all day long. I made excellent time to the receiver, arriving 20 minutes early, but had to wait a good hour and half to get unloaded. Then I headed north from Anaheim, to Vernon, California to pick up a hodgepodge of steel, that they were still loading when I get there. After I loaded and tarped, traffic was still flowing well at about 1600 in the afternoon. I got to drive through Barstow, where I spend three years of my life (Ft. Irwin actually), for the second time in two days. Brought back a lot of memories from what seems like another lifetime ago. I made it to the Eagle Landing Flying J in Nevada, exit 118. A great place for new drivers. The parking spaces and drive lanes are extra-wide.

Next day was just driving all day through pretty much my most favorite scenery the interstates have to offer. I-15 through Virgin River Gorge, then I-70 through western Utah. Because I only had to drive, I was in “tourist mode” stopped when I felt like it and took pictures of some of the beautiful scenery. Quite the enjoyable day.

I had wanted to see if I could squeeze in another 34-hour reset, but I couldn’t quite make it to Denver on Saturday. I ended up stopping short of Vail Pass and finished up Sunday morning. I still ended up having a pretty much full day off. Prime has a drop yard in Denver with showers and a small lounge. My son lives in Boulder, so I dropped my trailer and bob-tailed to meet him for lunch. On the way, I got a badly needed haircut. My pork ribs are simmering in my 3 in 1 Grillet and I’ll Zoom with my wife later in a little while. All in, pretty good week.

At my 4 month mark I have 43,499; averaging about 2600 per week.

January 2, 2021 Edition

Not a whole lot happening since the last update because I had home time for Christmas. I’m on an extended 34-hour reset in Nashville, due to the New Year’s Holiday.

I got a nice easy load out of Denver. Shingles, going to Springfield, Missouri. I made good time from Denver to Springfield, but not good enough time to deliver when I got into Springfield about 17:00. So, spent a long 10-hour break at the terminal.

I got loaded with electrical boxes in Jefferson City, Missouri before my home time and parked the truck in the drop yard in East St. Louis. I had a total of four stops. One in Rockville, Maryland and the rest in Philadelphia. Not a fan of Philadelphia. In addition to the typical east coast drivers, they park on the sidewalks and in the center turn lane. In fact, one of the center turn lanes was full of derelict vehicles put there by a body shop. My appointments were for the Wednesday after Christmas, but I ended up driving some that Sunday so that I could try to deliver them on Tuesday. I delivered my 02 and my 90 Tuesday, but I could not get a hold of anyone at my 04 and the 03 didn’t have the necessary equipment to unload my that Tuesday. I ended up staying at Kearsey’s home town truck stop in Paulsboro, NJ, which is right across the river from Philadelphia.

The 04 was an interesting drop. I had two numbers to call. The first one rang non-stop without any voice mail. The second one went to voicemail but no one ever called back. I had called them all day Tuesday while I was driving from Maryland to Philadelphia. So, I figured I would just show up on Wednesday morning. When I show up, the sign on the gate says to call the second number I had which always went to voice mail. And the facility was gated, so I couldn’t just drive in. I ended up waiting at the gate for some one to pull up. They let me in and took me to the warehouse where the shipping clerk/fork lift operator was supposed to be. Well, she wasn’t there. And she wasn’t answering her phone. So, I ended up waiting in the warehouse area for about 20 minutes before someone else asked me if I need help. This guy let me in the gate and apparently had the shipping clerk/fork lift operator’s cell phone. So after about and hour trying to track her down, I finally was able to unstrap and get unloaded.

After that, I headed to my 03 to deliver the last electrical box. The location is a petroleum terminal but I’m essentially delivering to the job site contractor. This particular electrical box weighed over 10,000 lbs. They tried to lift from the driver’s side with a telehandler, but all the weight was on the passenger side of the truck. So, I had to reposition my truck. No big deal. But finally go it unloaded.

My next load was a short one: 316 miles total from Muncy, PA to Rochester, New York. PVC pipe to a plumbing supply company. Same scenario with hours. I made it there in the same day, but too late for delivery. So, I spent the night at a rest area south of Rochester.

I picked up my current load in Towanda, Pennsylvania; fiber board. Same scenario, I picked up New Year’s Eve and drove as far as I could with the hours I had left, just shy of Ohio on I-80. I made it to the Walmart in Lebanon, Tennessee on New Year’s Day. I ended up driving through that big freezing rain storm on New Year’s day, but I never encountered any ice on the road. So, I made pretty good time. I had breakfast this morning at Uncle Pete’s Truck stop in Lebanon, Tennessee before coming to the TA Nashville, my fuel stop.

Barstow, Ft. Irwin? What a small world! I was stationed on the "Planet" from April 1991 to May 1994. I was a Squad Leader in the 87th Engineer Company, 177th Armor Brigade. Hell at the time Black Horse Regiment was still the "Guardians" of the Fulda Gap! Pretty much spent most of my time there out in the "Box" either emplacing obstacles or picking them up only to emplace them again. Had a Command Sergeant Major who's favorite saying was "If you don't like it here kiss the Coyote on your way out"! ....lol

Barstow, Ft. Irwin? What a small world! I was stationed on the "Planet" from April 1991 to May 1994. I was a Squad Leader in the 87th Engineer Company, 177th Armor Brigade. Hell at the time Black Horse Regiment was still the "Guardians" of the Fulda Gap! Pretty much spent most of my time there out in the "Box" either emplacing obstacles or picking them up only to emplace them again. Had a Command Sergeant Major who's favorite saying was "If you don't like it here kiss the Coyote on your way out"! ....lol

I just missed you. I was there from June 1987 to June 1990. A Company Operations Group, Dragon Team, live fire observer controllers. You may have built the log crib at the top of Khyber Pass that the player unit pulverized twice each month.

We had a Sergeant Major who was adamant that every soldier had to meet Army guidelines for weight and fitness. Many of these almost 20 year folks had someone overlook these guidelines for far too long. Some of them were "Spec-9s" as one of my SFC's said. Sergeant Major said "These are the Army standards that you have to meet. And it's not that I'm not compassionate, I'll give you 90 days to comply and if you can't I'll give you a ham sandwich and road map."

12/20 update; almost a 34-hour reset in Denver

I get my next load assignment Tuesday afternoon. A short Home Depot load going from Ogden, Utah to St. George, Utah. Pick up and deliver the same day. Some of you who haul loads for Home Depot, Menards, or other high volume, large corporate shippers may have more thoughts about hauling for these places. The BDC where I picked up has a very organized system where you check in, pull in the lane and bay where they load you, then pull out to strap and tarp. Not to dissimilar from other high volume shippers, but more professional in my opinion. Once I checked in I immediately went to the lane and bay. My load consisted mostly of lumber, with some other miscellaneous materials mixed in. And contrary to other places where the forklift operator gives no thought as to how the load will need to be strapped and tarped, this forklift operator spent time arranging the miscellaneous materials in the middle to make for easier strapping and tarping. After that, you pull out where they have plenty of lanes, with adequate space to strap and tarp. Overall, very good experience. As I said, very short run that I delivered by 1600 the same day.

And since I’m in Southern Utah, I know what is next. Charlotte, Pipe going to Anaheim, California. So close to Disneyland, I think I heard mouse farts while I was waiting to get unloaded. On the way down on I-15 southbound, I saw and accident that demonstrates the force of the “80,000 lbs of rolling death” that you hear mentioned on this forum. A dry van tractor-trailer had essentially “punched through” the concrete barrier dividing the northbound and southbound lanes. You could see a rectangular hole about the width of a semi in the top 1/3 of the concrete barrier. The tractor trailer hit a flatbed on the other northbound, just behind the driver wheels. The flatbed trailer deck rested flat on the pavement because all of the axles has been stripped off and were laying in the middle of the road. There could have been some of the dry van tractor trailer axles there as well. The dry van tractor-trailer was sideways across the entire road. All traffic was diverted onto the immediately adjacent off ramp.

I ended up making to my fuel stop, about 70 miles from the receiver, early Thursday and took about a 14-hour break due to the nature of Los Angeles parking and traffic. The experienced drivers know this but I assume that rookies, trainees, and potential drivers are reading this diary. Once you come through the Cajon pass, there are only a handful of truck stops in the entire Los Angeles area. So, its not like you can park 5 or 10 minutes away from your receiver. I had about 3 and ½ hours left on my clock, so I could have made it to the receiver, depending on traffic, but I might not be able to get back after I delivered. So, if the receiver did not allow overnight parking AFTER, I delivered, it was not wise to try to deliver that Thursday. All of this was moot, because when I called the receiver, they stopped receiving at noon and it was already 1300. So I would get up early and get there at 0600.

Surprisingly, the traffic was light all day long. I made excellent time to the receiver, arriving 20 minutes early, but had to wait a good hour and half to get unloaded. Then I headed north from Anaheim, to Vernon, California to pick up a hodgepodge of steel, that they were still loading when I get there. After I loaded and tarped, traffic was still flowing well at about 1600 in the afternoon. I got to drive through Barstow, where I spend three years of my life (Ft. Irwin actually), for the second time in two days. Brought back a lot of memories from what seems like another lifetime ago. I made it to the Eagle Landing Flying J in Nevada, exit 118. A great place for new drivers. The parking spaces and drive lanes are extra-wide.

Next day was just driving all day through pretty much my most favorite scenery the interstates have to offer. I-15 through Virgin River Gorge, then I-70 through western Utah. Because I only had to drive, I was in “tourist mode” stopped when I felt like it and took pictures of some of the beautiful scenery. Quite the enjoyable day.

I had wanted to see if I could squeeze in another 34-hour reset, but I couldn’t quite make it to Denver on Saturday. I ended up stopping short of Vail Pass and finished up Sunday morning. I still ended up having a pretty much full day off. Prime has a drop yard in Denver with showers and a small lounge. My son lives in Boulder, so I dropped my trailer and bob-tailed to meet him for lunch. On the way, I got a badly needed haircut. My pork ribs are simmering in my 3 in 1 Grillet and I’ll Zoom with my wife later in a little while. All in, pretty good week.

At my 4 month mark I have 43,499; averaging about 2600 per week.

Where did you go in Rockville, MD?

Barstow, Ft. Irwin? What a small world! I was stationed on the "Planet" from April 1991 to May 1994. I was a Squad Leader in the 87th Engineer Company, 177th Armor Brigade. Hell at the time Black Horse Regiment was still the "Guardians" of the Fulda Gap! Pretty much spent most of my time there out in the "Box" either emplacing obstacles or picking them up only to emplace them again. Had a Command Sergeant Major who's favorite saying was "If you don't like it here kiss the Coyote on your way out"! ....lol

I just missed you. I was there from June 1987 to June 1990. A Company Operations Group, Dragon Team, live fire observer controllers. You may have built the log crib at the top of Khyber Pass that the player unit pulverized twice each month.

We had a Sergeant Major who was adamant that every soldier had to meet Army guidelines for weight and fitness. Many of these almost 20 year folks had someone overlook these guidelines for far too long. Some of them were "Spec-9s" as one of my SFC's said. Sergeant Major said "These are the Army standards that you have to meet. And it's not that I'm not compassionate, I'll give you 90 days to comply and if you can't I'll give you a ham sandwich and road map."

Been to Irwin many times. Loved it!! Always ****ed off the OPFOR. But being in MI we could do that!

12/20 update; almost a 34-hour reset in Denver

I get my next load assignment Tuesday afternoon. A short Home Depot load going from Ogden, Utah to St. George, Utah. Pick up and deliver the same day. Some of you who haul loads for Home Depot, Menards, or other high volume, large corporate shippers may have more thoughts about hauling for these places. The BDC where I picked up has a very organized system where you check in, pull in the lane and bay where they load you, then pull out to strap and tarp. Not to dissimilar from other high volume shippers, but more professional in my opinion. Once I checked in I immediately went to the lane and bay. My load consisted mostly of lumber, with some other miscellaneous materials mixed in. And contrary to other places where the forklift operator gives no thought as to how the load will need to be strapped and tarped, this forklift operator spent time arranging the miscellaneous materials in the middle to make for easier strapping and tarping. After that, you pull out where they have plenty of lanes, with adequate space to strap and tarp. Overall, very good experience. As I said, very short run that I delivered by 1600 the same day.

And since I’m in Southern Utah, I know what is next. Charlotte, Pipe going to Anaheim, California. So close to Disneyland, I think I heard mouse farts while I was waiting to get unloaded. On the way down on I-15 southbound, I saw and accident that demonstrates the force of the “80,000 lbs of rolling death” that you hear mentioned on this forum. A dry van tractor-trailer had essentially “punched through” the concrete barrier dividing the northbound and southbound lanes. You could see a rectangular hole about the width of a semi in the top 1/3 of the concrete barrier. The tractor trailer hit a flatbed on the other northbound, just behind the driver wheels. The flatbed trailer deck rested flat on the pavement because all of the axles has been stripped off and were laying in the middle of the road. There could have been some of the dry van tractor trailer axles there as well. The dry van tractor-trailer was sideways across the entire road. All traffic was diverted onto the immediately adjacent off ramp.

I ended up making to my fuel stop, about 70 miles from the receiver, early Thursday and took about a 14-hour break due to the nature of Los Angeles parking and traffic. The experienced drivers know this but I assume that rookies, trainees, and potential drivers are reading this diary. Once you come through the Cajon pass, there are only a handful of truck stops in the entire Los Angeles area. So, its not like you can park 5 or 10 minutes away from your receiver. I had about 3 and ½ hours left on my clock, so I could have made it to the receiver, depending on traffic, but I might not be able to get back after I delivered. So, if the receiver did not allow overnight parking AFTER, I delivered, it was not wise to try to deliver that Thursday. All of this was moot, because when I called the receiver, they stopped receiving at noon and it was already 1300. So I would get up early and get there at 0600.

Surprisingly, the traffic was light all day long. I made excellent time to the receiver, arriving 20 minutes early, but had to wait a good hour and half to get unloaded. Then I headed north from Anaheim, to Vernon, California to pick up a hodgepodge of steel, that they were still loading when I get there. After I loaded and tarped, traffic was still flowing well at about 1600 in the afternoon. I got to drive through Barstow, where I spend three years of my life (Ft. Irwin actually), for the second time in two days. Brought back a lot of memories from what seems like another lifetime ago. I made it to the Eagle Landing Flying J in Nevada, exit 118. A great place for new drivers. The parking spaces and drive lanes are extra-wide.

Next day was just driving all day through pretty much my most favorite scenery the interstates have to offer. I-15 through Virgin River Gorge, then I-70 through western Utah. Because I only had to drive, I was in “tourist mode” stopped when I felt like it and took pictures of some of the beautiful scenery. Quite the enjoyable day.

I had wanted to see if I could squeeze in another 34-hour reset, but I couldn’t quite make it to Denver on Saturday. I ended up stopping short of Vail Pass and finished up Sunday morning. I still ended up having a pretty much full day off. Prime has a drop yard in Denver with showers and a small lounge. My son lives in Boulder, so I dropped my trailer and bob-tailed to meet him for lunch. On the way, I got a badly needed haircut. My pork ribs are simmering in my 3 in 1 Grillet and I’ll Zoom with my wife later in a little while. All in, pretty good week.

At my 4 month mark I have 43,499; averaging about 2600 per week.

Where did you go in Rockville, MD?

Peco energy

Barstow, Ft. Irwin? What a small world! I was stationed on the "Planet" from April 1991 to May 1994. I was a Squad Leader in the 87th Engineer Company, 177th Armor Brigade. Hell at the time Black Horse Regiment was still the "Guardians" of the Fulda Gap! Pretty much spent most of my time there out in the "Box" either emplacing obstacles or picking them up only to emplace them again. Had a Command Sergeant Major who's favorite saying was "If you don't like it here kiss the Coyote on your way out"! ....lol

I just missed you. I was there from June 1987 to June 1990. A Company Operations Group, Dragon Team, live fire observer controllers. You may have built the log crib at the top of Khyber Pass that the player unit pulverized twice each month.

We had a Sergeant Major who was adamant that every soldier had to meet Army guidelines for weight and fitness. Many of these almost 20 year folks had someone overlook these guidelines for far too long. Some of them were "Spec-9s" as one of my SFC's said. Sergeant Major said "These are the Army standards that you have to meet. And it's not that I'm not compassionate, I'll give you 90 days to comply and if you can't I'll give you a ham sandwich and road map."

I started out in the Dragon Team when I first got there. I was on the Lima Team. My team reloaded the Pyro on the Drink Water Lake Defense live fire range. At the time GE was contracted to service target mechanisms but they (GE) wouldn't reload the Pyro launchers (Liability reasons) So all of us 12B's would reload them after each defense interation I was on the team for about 5 months then I took over a Squad in the Engineer Company. I used to like heading out the back way into the box and going by JPL Goldstone

Barstow, Ft. Irwin? What a small world! I was stationed on the "Planet" from April 1991 to May 1994. I was a Squad Leader in the 87th Engineer Company, 177th Armor Brigade. Hell at the time Black Horse Regiment was still the "Guardians" of the Fulda Gap! Pretty much spent most of my time there out in the "Box" either emplacing obstacles or picking them up only to emplace them again. Had a Command Sergeant Major who's favorite saying was "If you don't like it here kiss the Coyote on your way out"! ....lol

I just missed you. I was there from June 1987 to June 1990. A Company Operations Group, Dragon Team, live fire observer controllers. You may have built the log crib at the top of Khyber Pass that the player unit pulverized twice each month.

We had a Sergeant Major who was adamant that every soldier had to meet Army guidelines for weight and fitness. Many of these almost 20 year folks had someone overlook these guidelines for far too long. Some of them were "Spec-9s" as one of my SFC's said. Sergeant Major said "These are the Army standards that you have to meet. And it's not that I'm not compassionate, I'll give you 90 days to comply and if you can't I'll give you a ham sandwich and road map."

I started out in the Dragon Team when I first got there. I was on the Lima Team. My team reloaded the Pyro on the Drink Water Lake Defense live fire range. At the time GE was contracted to service target mechanisms but they (GE) wouldn't reload the Pyro launchers (Liability reasons) So all of us 12B's would reload them after each defense interation I was on the team for about 5 months then I took over a Squad in the Engineer Company. I used to like heading out the back way into the box and going by JPL Goldstone

The Captain in our team arranged a tour of Goldstone for all the drivers on over team. The 105 mortar OCs. It was pretty cool.

1/10/2021 Update

Delivered the fiber board first thing Monday morning and then got a very nice gravy run load going from Woodburn, Kentucky to Riverside, California. Over 2,000 miles. Got to the receiver about 12:30 or so, and had to wait for them to get back from lunch to load me up. The clerk/forklift operator showed me what I was getting, which were two palleted coils weighing over 17,000 lbs each. He pointed to some, saying “you’re getting two of those, except yours are red.” Okay, red is fine, although I find out when I call the receiver why they are red. Pretty easy securement. Three straps, two cross and one straight across. One steel tarp and I’m rolling.

I make it to West Memphis, Arkansas with what I have left on my clock that Monday. I make it to Erick, Oklahoma, the next day (603 miles). Then Joseph City, Arizona, the next day (643 miles), leaving me with about 500 miles to get to the receiver later in the afternoon on Thursday. I was scheduled to deliver Saturday. The notes said they were 24/7 delivery, but I wanted to touch base with someone at the receiver to make sure that I delivery on Thursday. When I call, the automated message says Anheuser Busch. After I get through the menu to talk to a live person and ask if I can deliver early. He says “well, I don’t know if you product will be ready.” I reiterate that I’m not picking up but delivering two steel coils. He responds, somewhat excited, “you got red tap?” I said yeah they’re red. He said, “oh you can deliver anytime, 24/7, but we prefer daylight hours.” That’s fine with me because even though its going to be later by central time, I’ll get there about 1600 PST. So, get there unload, and then off to the TA in Ontario for the night. I had let my FM know that I would be done with hours for the day and would head to truck stop, so didn’t get the standard message of “got your empty, will have a load ASAP.” I knew I would get something the next morning.

Got my next load at about 0800, Friday. Flatbedder tarps, picking up in Calexico, California, which is right on the Mexican border, and delivering to Joplin, Missouri. I’m delivering to the tarp company where Prime, and many of the lease operators, ger their tarps. Another nice long run of 1,600 miles. On the way I see a nice sunrise over the San Bernardino Mountains. I get to the shipper late morning, but the guy is not ready for me. And his English is not to good. There are 23 pallets of tarps. The shipper is located in one suite of a warehouse building. A long open loading dock extends out from all the suites. He stacks all 23 pallets of tarps on the edge of the loading dock. Then drives down the ramp on the side to arrange them around my trailer. It takes a while to get loaded, but I strap each group as he puts them on the deck. The tarping is what takes me the longest. They are 6 to 7 feet tall and there are voids in between the pallets. Plus, the top surface is not that even. But I get it done and get headed out. Along the way, I’m so close to the Mexican border that I can see the Border Patrol agents perched on hills overlooking the border wall. With the new rule, I still have my full drive clock left, but I’m going to be driving past midnight, which will shift my next day forward, as well as my delivery next week. I will take a 34-hour reset on the way. And in fact, my FM schedules my delivery for Monday or Tuesday, knowing that I will take a 34-hour reset along the way.