Talking Shop: The Just Talking Thread

Hi Trucking Friends,

How about a thread with no topic at all? If this is okay with the mods, we can just come here to chat about anything (of course, if the thread starts to go off the rails, the mods can come in to reign everything back in).

I thought this would be a good idea to get to know each other better and just talk shop (if any major topics need to be discussed, the better option is to create a thread to address this concern in depth).

How did everyone's week go?

I'm ready for the weekend.

Tuesday I had to work and did a double South Bend which wasn't too bad. there were better runs here in the yard but they needed that done, so I did it without complaining.

Yesterday I had to go to a terminal 20 miles 45 minutes north and then go to Saint Louis. In total it added only about 25 miles and 1.5 hours extra driving.

Today I was sent to Des Moines, about 70 miles from the terminal, the truck beeps and says it is going to derate in 1 hour. It was thinking it was out of DEF when it wasn't. Called break down told them I'm not going to make it to terminal, so they said they will send a tow truck but it will be 2 hours. Told them I can get closer to Des Moines if they want, they told me to go for it. About 15 minutes after I started driving the light went out, I made it to the yard without a tow. Got another truck there that wasn't turned up so had a nice slow 65 mph drive home.

Sitting at a little gas station that serves as a truck stop in CA off 395 waiting for repairs. Just blew a trailer tire. Was expected, older trailer and they just are not well taken care of. But its the weekend and afterhours, so pretty much on your own, most of our shops arent open on weekends and after 4:30. Its one of those things that you just learn to be self reliant, yet document everything. Beautiful sunset. CA has some really beautiful land, I cant stand the government and policies there, but its sure pretty.

Gives me some time to keep working on the novel Ive been writing. Hard to shut the mind off from planning and scheduling loads. This one has too much time on it, delivers in Portland OR on Monday, which there is no parking and I dont want to loose a day waiting around. I picked it up a day early because I finished my last load 2 days early after having 2 days of layover. So ill drop it for Tcall at our terminal there, and try to force another load.

Ive been working with the kids in the office on doing this thing called pre-planning, where they actually set up more loads than just the one Im on. Esecially since they know Ill be early on them and will get them delivered come hell or high water. Seems to be a difficult concept for them, but hope springs eternal.

Ive come to accept that our load planners dont have the capacity to effectively plan loads even though its the actual title of their position. Even when freight was busy, its a constant battle to get them to stage more than one load at time and have one that doesnt have too much time on it. Keeps me on my toes, and I try to stay positive with it.

As I was writing this, Breakdown just called me back. No tech tonight. Looks like Im sitting here all night. Ill get paid for it. It is what it is. I try to accept the things I can not change, change the things I can as that saying goes. Just try to be positive.

I'm finally, FINALLY on home time that wasn't connected to an emergency, death, or other catastrophe. I was able to park the truck, log off duty, and just be. Thinking back, it has been since Thanksgiving since I was able to do that, with no agenda.

Spent one full day with my Dad already, which is super weird now that my Mom is gone. He appears to be rapidly declining, which was sort of expected after losing your partner of 48 years.

I got to spend today with my cousins, at a Margarita Festival. This is where I learned that jalapeno does NOT belong in a margarita, the dude mixing the huckleberry one was pouring way way heavy handed, and the strawberry balsamic basil margarita was the best. It also won as the "best" of the festival. Between massive sunburn, too much booze, and too much junk from the food trucks, it's going to be painful in the morning.

Tomorrow is best friend time, playing catch up, as our schedules have rarely allowed any time when I was through before.

Peaches my English Bulldog got spayed, and is getting a new 4 year old Brother. Odie was a breeder take back, as they found out the male of the couple was seriously abusing him. He has a severe distrust of men with beards and ballcaps, but is slowly starting to trust men who move slowly, and adores my son. No more murder shows in the truck with him, because he will attack the TV if there is a man with a gun on there. He really is a sweet boy, but will take more active work to get him to a place where he trusts all people, not just "his" people.

Peaches and Odie get along like two peas in a pod. So that's a great start!

The rest of my vacation is undecided, other than having to do a DOT physical. I'm a little nervous, as I get white coat syndrome, and have historically had my BP shoot up during exams, but goes back to normal by the end of the appointment. I'm concerned because my regular primary Dr no longer does them, so the " unknown" factor of having to go elsewhere where they don't have my entire medical history, complete with the ER Doc notes regarding my BP spiking any time a provider got near me 🤪🤣🙄

Sorry for the novel, but it's good to be home-home-ish without an agenda, or excessive stress and emotions.

I'm ready for the weekend.

Tuesday I had to work and did a double South Bend which wasn't too bad. there were better runs here in the yard but they needed that done, so I did it without complaining.

No complaints is a great attitude to have. I think this will help set you apart.

Sitting at a little gas station that serves as a truck stop in CA off 395 waiting for repairs. Just blew a trailer tire. Was expected, older trailer and they just are not well taken care of. But its the weekend and afterhours, so pretty much on your own, most of our shops arent open on weekends and after 4:30. Its one of those things that you just learn to be self reliant, yet document everything. Beautiful sunset. CA has some really beautiful land, I cant stand the government and policies there, but its sure pretty.

Gives me some time to keep working on the novel Ive been writing. Hard to shut the mind off from planning and scheduling loads. This one has too much time on it, delivers in Portland OR on Monday, which there is no parking and I dont want to loose a day waiting around. I picked it up a day early because I finished my last load 2 days early after having 2 days of layover. So ill drop it for Tcall at our terminal there, and try to force another load.

Ive been working with the kids in the office on doing this thing called pre-planning, where they actually set up more loads than just the one Im on. Esecially since they know Ill be early on them and will get them delivered come hell or high water. Seems to be a difficult concept for them, but hope springs eternal.

Ive come to accept that our load planners dont have the capacity to effectively plan loads even though its the actual title of their position. Even when freight was busy, its a constant battle to get them to stage more than one load at time and have one that doesnt have too much time on it. Keeps me on my toes, and I try to stay positive with it.

As I was writing this, Breakdown just called me back. No tech tonight. Looks like Im sitting here all night. Ill get paid for it. It is what it is. I try to accept the things I can not change, change the things I can as that saying goes. Just try to be positive.

Bravo for having the positive attitude, Davy. You can only truly control what you can control.

The rest of my vacation is undecided, other than having to do a DOT physical. I'm a little nervous, as I get white coat syndrome, and have historically had my BP shoot up during exams, but goes back to normal by the end of the appointment. I'm concerned because my regular primary Dr no longer does them, so the " unknown" factor of having to go elsewhere where they don't have my entire medical history, complete with the ER Doc notes regarding my BP spiking any time a provider got near me 🤪🤣🙄

I'm glad you had time off, Nae!

Regarding the DOT physical, have you considered deep breathing or conscious breathing to help lower your BP and/or anxiety?

Since today is Sunday. I went to church with the family and my wife is ready for me to get started with trucking.

Training pay was brutal and she is ready for me to start to earn decent pay instead of training pay.

She encouraged me to get a hold of the terminal manager (TM) today instead of Monday since I passed the road test and my plan was to call the TM on Monday.

I swallowed my pride, listened to her advice and I texted him.

He responded that he wants me to call him at 9 am tomorrow.

As a new rookie driver, I will most likely sign papers...discuss the construction barrel incident if he brings this up...and find out what type of schedule I will be on.

In addition, I had a weekly review (something that I want to start doing on Sundays) using the following questions while journaling my answers:

- What went well? - What didn’t go well? - What can be better? - What improvements can I make?

I also went to Trucking Truth's Knowledge Center to read articles plus Brett's Book on trucking.

Good Lord willing, I plan to go to church tonight...knock out the rest of my targets (personal mini-goals I set each day) I need to do...then head for bed.

The week was very busy (by choice) and will be the largest paycheck I've received. That's a good thing, except now most checks will be disappointing in comparison. I ended the week with nearly 2700 miles and 37 stops, my paycheck should be just over $3,000 for the week for 62 hours of work. It wouldn't have been nearly as lucrative but holiday pay was time and a half (turned my $412 day into $624), and friday I took a monster (compared to most) 741 mile route with 14 store deliveries, then picked up a crossdock on the way back in. There were some available that would've paid an extra $300 but i didnt want to work all day Saturday as well. I knew taking the route it was a layover but I am taking Monday off with no pay to deal with an appointment so figured the $850 run would be a good idea. I got the 14 stores off, only having to wait at 1 dock for 10 minutes on Coke to finish up so I got my 30 in, and made it to the diamond jo casino just across the IA border with 24 minutes left on my 11, and 26 on my 14. Originally I planned on stopping at my last store in Mankato MN and getting a hotel across the street but I still had 1:45 on my clock and the drive to where I ended up stopping was 1:15. Friday I was able to knock out 552 of those miles on many 2 lane roads and didn't feel the least bit tired until i was able to lay back and relax in my room. Only complaint was i was craving a nice buffet to make a huge salad and come to find out they closed it down a couple months ago so I had to settle for burger king. In Mankato there would have been applebees, red lobster, and olive garden very close by. Next morning I woke up around 2am and drove the 2 hours back, grabbed my crossdock then hung out at the yard for a bit so dogs barking at me getting home didnt wake the family.

Grabbed donuts and got home just as everyone was waking up. Went out to Waterloo to a newish amusement park, followed up by taking the kids fishing today. All in all, excellent week.

Pulling out of a truck stop yesterday I noticed the truck in front of me had a tandem tire that was barely there. I mean a strip of rubber on the outsides and nothing in the middle. No answer on the cb, no reaction to my air horns, and he hit the highway like a bat out of hell so there was no way my slow truck could catch him and get his attention!

Rob T, sounds like a fantastic week. Glad you mentioned the casino, and I see there's also an adjacent rest area, so I'm adding those to my list of stopping points for if I'm ever through there.

I'm currently in Owatonna, MN, at the Costco DC which allows overnight parking starting at 1500hrs the day before your appointment.