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March 7, 2009 - The live dash cam will be returning, but not in the previous capacity. More information to follow.
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March 7 , 2009 - Blogger will be shutting down their ability to update our site using their blog software and sending it via their FTP tools. This basically means we can use blogger but we have to use their hosting... which defeats the purpose of having our own domain.. So, over the next few weeks I will be working on migrating the site back to Greymatter, which will be used as our primary blogging software again. I have considered wordpress but after looking at the files I don't have time to learn PHP, so this is the easiest. Blogger will continue to be used until May 1, 2010, when blogger intends to shut down FTP access. Further info to follow.


Wednesday, December 31, 2008
subject: Happy New Years

Happy New Years everyone! gotta love a fresh start! as i type this bill and i are holed up in a hotel in pennsylvania enroute to our next delivery. we had some time so we opted to take some down time. so, we're choking down some pizza and soda and enjoying the thralls of humanity again.

yesterday, 12/30/08, we headed over to the con-way yard at about 800pm in Tomah, WI and chose a spot to hole up to get some shut eye. we woke up about 130am to take the load at 330 to Clyde, OH. as it turns out, 5 hours isn't enough time to feel rested for a 9.5 hour rush to ohio. i was so tired i can't even describe it.. but we made it.


View Larger Map

our load consisted of 519 dispatched miles with a relay load heading to Albany, NY. i was able to route it on 513 miles.. not too shabby for my first route planning... but this one was easy. however, the trick was to drive 513 miles in approximately 9 hours... not as easy as it sounds dragging dragging 30,000 lbs. its one thing to do it in a car but its another to get someplace in a specific time and not be able to stop for pee breaks or meals or risk being late. hopefully this isn't the trend.

as i said, we forgot to refuel so after learning to properly hook up and pre-trip a trailer, bill drove over to scale the load on the other side of the yard and slide the tandems (trailer tires) so it was balanced. he then drove 20 miles south to refuel at an "authorized" place to fuel. the con-way yard was too small to handle our tanks so we were turned down by fuel the day previous. i refueled the tanks, took a final pee (anyone who knows me knows this would be a tough run not peeing... i can't seem to go less than 4 times an hour) and i drove the long drive.

we got through chicago about 8am CST, just after sunrise and hit some morning rush hour traffic. i was a little nervous since this was my first time in real traffic but i soon discovered that if you stay on your toes it's not as bad as you think. I do have to say i've never seen the sears tower before, and coming up on it with the early morning sunrise shining on it, it was just GORGOUS. i wish i could have snapped a picture but at this point in my training whipping out a camera was probably a bad idea.

we got through chicago and bill contacted the dispatcher to let them know we were through but might be late depending on traffic but would keep them informed. after all that, we were 7 minutes late at the meeting spot, which was a travel plaza outside of Clyde, OH. not too shabby. the relay driver was deadheaded (sent with an empty trailer) to meet us from the Taylor, MI terminal earlier in the day so he was just waiting on us. we unhooked the trailer, gave the relay the paperwork, hooked up to the new trailer and did a pre-trip, then went and relieved the 'ol bladder before getting something to eat. i think i set a personal best by not peeing for 10 waking hours.. put one on the notch.. or as mary says... "give him a gold star." before leaving the truck, however, we found we had a load to pennsylvania with a pickup time of this morning, 12/31/08 at 700am. not too shabby. i made a mental note to get at least 8 hours of sleep this time.

after eating we discovered the travel plaza had free showers. free you ask? yes, i said free... which is surprising with our economy. most places charge between $5.00 and $10.00 for showers but i got a Pilot rewards card, so for every $25.00 i get in fuel i get a free shower... not hard to do with two 100 gallon tanks strapped to the frame of the truck. Anyways, i digress. i decided to run out and get my shower bag and happily skipped (not really, but its a funny mental image) to take a shower. three days is too long but unfortunately we were not anywhere near a place with showers so i was S.O.L. i'll definately try not to do that again if i can help it. after the shower i hit the sack and managed to wrangle 9.5 hours of sleep. more on this load tomorrow...


the load i am currently on will be posted after i deliver in a few days.. until then...

posted by Daryl at 20:12
1 Comments | leave a comment


Monday, December 29, 2008
subject: 1st load delivered

i hope everyone had a great christmas... ours was good. as mary stated below, we went to another driver's house for dinner and had a blast, then spent most of friday, 12/26, packing up to move out of the hotel.. that sucked. you don't really realize how much crap you have until you unpack it all and try to repack.

anyways, i left out of Joplin, MO at approximately 2pm on saturday, 12/27, and headed north to deliver a load my finisher picked up in Stillwater, OK. he drove for the first few hours so i could "see how its done." hmmm... sit in a seat, move a stick, watch the trailer in the mirrors, watch the traffic... seems easy enough.


View Larger Map

about 530pm we stopped for dinner and sat for a few hours in Peculiar, MO for dinner, then headed out and bill let me drive from the T/A there. it was easy sailing after i stalled it backing out of the pullthrough space, then missed gears getting the 1000 feet from the driveway to the acceleration ramp. hmm... it seemed easier in school.

well, it got easier for the first 15 miles.. then the light hit the interstate just right and we both realized i was driving in glare ice. at that point i needed to change my shorts. we didn't get the opportunity to try the skidpad at crowder so i was already leerey about having to drive in winter as a student driver.. and my first night out? riiiiight. well bill asked me to pull over outside Kansas City, MO and said he would take over from there... a whopping 18 miles. i rock. if this were my paycheck we'd be screwed. we stopped for the night in Eagleville, MO... and ya know.. sleeping in an idling truck ain't so bad.

we woke up at the crack of 9 the next morning, 12/28, and went for breakfast. i think we left out of there about 1130am or so and coasted up to Tomah, WI making a short stop in Albert Lee, MN for dinner. Another 3 hours and we were to Tomah when the realization hit we missed our fuel stop at both pilots and the T/A. DOH! bill paid for the fuel so we could make it through the night and for our delivery.

we headed out about 715am this morning and made our delivery where bill drove and backed it into the dock, then came back to the truckstop we stayed the night at for breakfast and waited on our load assignment. it came 45 minutes later. turns out we had to take the trailer back to the nearby con-way yard... half a mile away from where we just came from. DOH! i need the shifting practice so it was a nice little hop. we took the trailer to the yard and came back to the truckstop for a day of doing nothing. but.. at least we had wi-fi!!! time to sack out for an early morning departure...

posted by Daryl at 15:57
2 Comments | leave a comment


Sunday, December 28, 2008
subject: Let the ice capades begin!

Daryl went out with his trainer today. I dropped him at the terminal at 11:30 this morning, then started my 12-hour drive back to Colorado. As far as I know he is on his way to Tomah Wisconsin and shut down pretty early tonight due to the shear amount of ice and bad road conditions near the border of Kansas and Iowa.

I will be spending some time with the family, our dogs, and packing up our house for our move to Missouri before heading back to Joplin to do some more training starting on January 5th. I made the drive in exactly 12 hours....pretty good for 753 miles. After my week of training I will be ready to go out with my finisher started the week of January 12th.

We had a wonderful Christmas. We were invited to dinner by team drivers, Paul and Ellen, from Conway. Ellen made us a wonderful home cooked dinner with too many different kinds of home made desserts for me to describe in this post and Paul entertained us endlessly with his stories and witty banter. They are truly wonderful people and made us feel very welcome and at ease our first Christmas away from our home.

I'm not sure how much I will be updating this in the next week or two, not going to really be much to report until I get back to Joplin and start with my finisher. We may update everyone on Daryl's location some, but will save the majority of our stories and updating for when we finally get back together and get our own truck.

Hope everyone is doing well and staying warm!


Monday, December 22, 2008
subject: Orientation begins....

After another weekend spent seeing the sights of Joplin....this time of year it's mostly crazies trying to run you off their road in their rush to be the first at the new sale in the only mall in town...we finally started orientation today. The first thing I need to say about the headquarters building is.....wow! It's absolutely beautiful, definitely something to be proud of. We started bright and early at O'dark thirty, for those of you that don't speak 'Daryl' that's about 6:15 am.

Today was some general paperwork and SMITH training. Not terribly exciting (okay...exciting at all if im being honest) but necessary, and tomorrow we get to get out in the trucks again! We do another backing, another road, and another obstacle course test. These ones aren't quite as strict as the standards we were held to at Crowder, but still important. Mostly I'm just looking forward to getting back into the trucks after being away for a few days...I miss driving!

We went out to dinner with some of the other people in orientation today. We had such a great time. They are really wonderful people. The ones we went out with are from Central Tech, the school in Oklahoma. I think we are all going to get along well for our next few days here (unless you count the Christmas we are all going to be spending in the hotel).

Mostly likely we will all be sipping hot chocolate in the lobby of the hotel, sitting around the plastic tree, watching 'The Christmas Story'. Oh, that's not even the best part, wait until later when we are all sloppy drunk (just kidding) and start holding hands and singing carols.

I think for the most part all of us are excited to just get started. Daryl and I completely understand that people want to be home for Christmas, the only holiday drivers are guaranteed home time if they want it, but we can't wait to get started and hit the road.

We are still waiting to hear if we will be able to get home. It's not looking good, but everyone keep their fingers crossed for us! We wish all of our frineds, family, and readers a Happy Holiday...well it is our website so I'll say it....Merry Christmas! If we don't get to update before the holidays...safe driving to all our co-workers, we'll see you down the road.


Friday, December 19, 2008
subject: On to Joplin

Hey everyone! Daryl and I got some more sad news today. We learned today that the pastor that did our wedding is having some health problems. The outlook is optimistic and we wanted to let him and his family know that we will be thinking of him and his family, especially during the holiday season and hoping for the very best for all of them.

So, we made it! We have officially completed our courses at Crowder and have checked into our hotel in Joplin Missouri. This one is actually paid for by Conway...doesn't get much better than that! We had the weekend to relax and catch out breath, which we are going to spend doing laundry, re-packing, and driving up to Springfield to check it out. We have both heard who our finishers are going to be and are very excited to get started. I managed to get a female trainer (which Daryl was ecstatic about) and we learned that Daryl's finisher actually lives in Joplin, so even if he does go home for Christmas, Daryl should be heading out by Friday at the latest. I have no idea how soon I will be going, from what I understand, my trainer still has a trainee, and will definitely be going home (wherever that is) for Christmas and then picking me up. I may be going out a week or so after Daryl.

If at all possible, we are going to try heading home for Christmas. We haven't seen our parents, our home, our dogs, or our children in about a month and are missing all of it very much. We decided that if we are going to have at least 4 days after orientation before our trainers get in we will definitely be heading home to have some quality time with everyone.

We are both feeling very relieved that we finished Crowder and were able to go get our CDL's today. We are excited and nervous to start the test that Conway has in-store for us. We went in today to start some of the hire paperwok and were able to have our first look at the inside of the Conway headquarters. All I have to say is.....wow! We were impressed. Just in general the building is amazing, and yet again, everyone that we met were very nice and wonderful which always gives us a warm feeling.

Next week we will try taking pictures of the building and the interior to post on here so everyone can see how amazing it is. We will try to write to update everyone next week as we progress through orientation, but we start at 6am so....we'll see how that goes! If we don't get to post again, we wish everyone a very MERRY CHRISTMAS! Be safe and give thanks for those close to you.


Thursday, December 18, 2008
subject: CDL Testing

Alas! The wilds of being able to drive a commercial motor vehicle no longer elude me! We were able to start our testing today. We started with the backing tests, which you have to pass to go onto the road test. I completed my backing test, passing, then went out on my road test. I had a few mistakes, a couple of points that I missed, but I passed, and I passed with a B.

Unfortunately, Daryl failed his backing test on a complete technicality. The instructors are supposed to blow the whistle if you go over the boundary line. They also tell you that you have a maximum of two pull-ups and two get-outs, no more. Daryl was lucky enough to draw a 90 degree dock on his test which is only a 1 in 3 chance. He got it in, using his allotted pull-ups and get-outs, and proceeded to back it into the three foot area you have to stop within. Due to the instructor not blowing the whistle when he went over the boundary, not having anymore pull-ups or get-outs, they automatically failed him! It was complete bull. He is one of the best backers in our entire class, and it was all based on something that had nothing whatsoever to do with his ABILITY. Needless to say he isn't very happy. The good news is that he will have the opportunity to redo it tomorrow, then off to the DMV for our licenses!

We are required to check out of our hotel tomorrow morning, go to Conway to start some paperwork, then check into our new hotel room. We will be staying at that hotel room a minimum of three days. Our orientation begins Monday. We have to do backing and road tests again, fill out MORE paperwork, and then get our individual finishers numbers. This process will take about three days. We should be finishing up orientation on Wednesday. If our finishers are not going home for Christmas and are going to be able to get back to Joplin, we will go out with them on Thursday. If either of our finishers decides to go home for Christmas, which most do, our can't get back to Joplin, we will have to wait and stay in that hotel until they can make it back to pick us up. Most likely one of us will be leaving at least a day different than the other, and returning at near the same time is practically impossible.

So...we are getting closer! We have the possibility of being out with our finishers, as soon as next week, provided we complete orientation satisfactorily and Conway extends us a formal job offer...until then, everything is up in the air.

Continue to keep your fingers crossed and wish us luck!


Tuesday, December 16, 2008
subject: Dragging Days!

First off, I would like to mention a few people that are dear to my heart. These are people that have friends or family dear to them that are struggling with some very serious health problems. Chris & Amanda and Henrietta, we are thinking of you and your loved ones. Stay positive, lean on those who will listen, and find strength in those who love you!

On a much lighter note, I don't think Daryl and I will EVER get out of Neosho. Due to the crazy temperatures and freakish ice storms, class was canceled yesterday AND today! We definitely won't be able to take our CDL tests tomorrow and they are talking about administering them on Friday and Monday. We are supposed to be in Joplin starting orientation by Monday. If we fail any part of the test, as it's broken into three different sections, we can come back the next day and retake it. If Daryl and I both get lucky enough to be drawn on Friday for testing, we better hope neither of us has to retake anything because we will be screwed. Not to mention that we have to go and get our licenses before we can even attend orientation....Quite a predicament.

We are both suffering from cabin fever, with nothing more than tv and browsing around walmart to provide us with our daily amusement. Can't wait to go back to school....can't wait to get our cdl's....mostly can't wait to go out with our finishers and start driving the country!

Will keep everyone abreast of our progress...or in this case our lack-there-of....and pray for a balmy 25 degree day so we can get out there.


Thursday, December 11, 2008
subject: Obstacle Course

Days until CDL tests: 5...

We were able to run the obstacle course today. Its a course set up with different stopping, serpentine, trailer tire closeness, off-set alley, and general control exercises. We each got to do it twice. Daryl got a 59 his first run and a 81 his second. I got a 76 my first run and a 80 my second....not bad. The total amount of points available are 120, and you have to have a 40 to pass.

We will be doing a road trip to Seneca tomorrow which we are both very excited about. We will be updating the gallery with the pics we took today as soon as Daryl finishes manhandling the picture gallery into submission (it's acting up again).


Wednesday, December 10, 2008
subject: Alley Docking, Parallel Parking, & Ice

We put up some new pictures of the whole gang doing more practicing on backing. We also got to take our third to last road trip today. Actually took us right through Neosho and onto some back roads. It was actually a really nice drive. One turn in particular can be tricky if you're not careful, as the third driver of Daryl and I's truck found out. The turn is a very tight left on a tiny road with a stop light. The woman on the left side pulled up past the stopping line. As Ralph went to make the turn he didn't square off quite enough and barely cleared her bumper...I wish I could have seen her face when she pissed her self.

Daryl and I both received 99% on our road trip. It was a nice trip today as Daryl and I got our first road trip together. We were able to see the other one's progress and get a feel for where we are both standing. I can definitely say that while I wasn't impressed (I knew he was good) I was very proud. He is an excellent driver and I think we are going to make an excellent team. Even the instructors have said they think we are going to do very well, not only on our own, but as a team as well. We are both very strong drivers and know how to stay safe.

I am sorry to say though that we lost another of our members today. Tina was released from the program due to the instructors fearing she wouldn't be able to grasp the backing and catch up with the rest of the class by next Wednesday. Seeing Tina go made me pretty nervous today. I have the safety, I have the HOS, I obviously do great with my driving (for not even having my CDL yet), but I am still having a hard time with the backing. Daryl keeps telling me that I am worrying for nothing and I know what I need to do, I'm just having a hard time convincing the trailer that I know best. As Lonny has said, I'm letting the truck drive me when I need to be driving the truck. Daryl and I brought home the little plastic toy truck the instructors keep around for demo and played with it for about 2 hours. I set up different scenarios and different problems and then figured out what the best way to maneuver the truck was to over come the problem and get the truck backed. I'm feeling much more confident with it now and hopefully some of this understanding will carry on into tomorrow (when we are doing backing all day again) and I will be able to drive the trailer.

Our class is now down to 9 people. We lost Scott the second week and now Tina this week. Scott proceeded with some of the other training at Crowder and received his Class B license on Monday...good for you Scott! Tina's husband is actually already a driver for Conway. She was getting her CDL so that she could drive team with him. I have no doubt we will be seeing her again. I think she will probably go back to Michigan, get her license out there, and come be a kick ass truck driver....Best of luck to both of you!

As for the rest of us. Tomorrow is another day. You can see from some of the new pictures, if you look closely, that we had some serious ice storms. It hasn't gotten above the 20's, the wind is blowing, and it's been raining....what the hell? In Colorado, with conditions like that, it snows....not this icicles shooting into my skin crap! The picture from 12/10 with Lonny speaking with Tina while she is in the truck...the truck looks really wet...that's solid ice and that ice is left over from the ice storm we had last night. I miss fluffy snow but, alas, tomorrow is supposed to be in the 30's and we will all be studying and working hard at getting ready for our CDL tests next week.

As long as the camera doesn't freeze to our hands, we will take more pictures as often as we can between now and the end of class next week. After we get through our CDL test on Wednesday we have to go through another road and backing test for Conway on Monday. Everyone keep your fingers crossed and wish us luck.

PS Bruce from class was crying because we didn't 'mention' him on our site. Well here's to you Bruce! We both give you the one finger salute!...Jack Ass. Just kidding! Bruce is the class teddy bear, one of the funniest people I have ever known. We love you Bruce!


Monday, December 8, 2008
subject: The lightbulb is flickering!

We had another road trip today. Both Daryl and I did fantastic (so they said, I'm a bit nervous). After completing the road trip we were able to work on our backing a bit more. They added in lane change backing or 'off-set' alley back. Of course I can't 90 degree dock to save my life, but Lonny used me as the example for the off-set backing and I put it in there the first time. I practiced on the 90 backing as well and while I can't say the light bulb is burning brightly, it is starting to flicker. I was able to complete the 90 degree twice in a row with only one small cone casualty...I swear it jumped out in front of me! Have to be careful with those cones, them buggers can be sneaky!

I am starting to get excited now that the wind down of class has begun. We only have three road trips left. 11 days of class to go. We will be finishing all our class room time this week, working on backing all day tomorrow, then be incorporating practice and road trips the rest of the week. Next week we will not have any class room and will only have Monday and Tuesday to finish cramming the rest of the information into our brains. We will be starting our CDL tests on Wednesday....so soon! I have to admit, while I feel comfortable with some things, I'm afraid I'm not ready for my test yet. Hopefully the next week and a half will allow me to tune out some of the kinks and hone my skills a bit more.

Daryl is as confident as ever and certain that he will ace everything. He is definitely doing very well as far as I can tell. I'm proud to say hes mine. We haven't had the opportunity to see each others skills very much over the last few weeks. The instructors take great pains to try and keep the married couples separated. They seem to see that him and I can conduct ourselves in a very professional and unbiased manner, and let us work together a couple of days last week. It was nice to catch up on each others progress and see the questions or problems that each of us was having, but this week we are back to separate trucks and focusing on getting our skills fine tuned.

I'm sure I will have more to write before the end of the week as we are learning parallel parking tomorrow...yeah...parallel parking in a 70' vehicle...who's jealous? Seriously I hear its not that difficult. The instructors said if we can lane change back, we can parallel park with enough concentration and patience.

Until then...


Wednesday, December 3, 2008
subject: Alley Docking

So, I have come to a decision. Alley docking in 20 degree weather with 20 mph winds for 5 hours is not my forte'. Started out pretty good. The instructors explain everything, even give us a demonstration, then help us back the trucks into the spaces. For those of you who aren't familiar with an alley docking set-up, let me paint you a picture. There are cones or painted lines set up to simulate an approximately 12' wide space that you need to back your trailer into. The kicker is that you are pulling up to the space at a 90 degree angle. You pull past the space, the back into it...hence the 90 degree alley backing. The really fun part of all of this is, they put a line of cones in front of the space you are backing into, meaning you have a very short distance to work with. This exercise is supposed to simulate you pulling into an alley, having brick walls about 6' away from either side of you and backing 90 degrees into a 12' wide space, without hitting any walls or pulling up more than twice to realign.

I firmly believe that everyone struggles with at least some part of this training. If it isn't shifting, it's logs, if it isn't logs, its clutching. Well, Daryl and I have both discovered our struggle. After 5 hours in 20 mph winds and 20 degree weather with nothing to really block the wind and not having anything to eat, drink, or sit on, I can tell you that at this moment, 90 degree alley docking is the bane of my existence. I can also tell you this feeling is completely normal though. According to our instructors everyone feels that way, which is why they literally have you working on this everyday for the next week and a half. Well, HOORAY! for us.


Tuesday, December 2, 2008
subject: Coupling, Cornering, & Backing

We had the best time today! We started our first road trips yesterday and did our first graded road trips today. Daryl and I both got A's. We worked on learning to couple and uncouple the trailers this morning. It's not as difficult as I thought it was going to be, just a lot of steps to remember and very critical to get it right. After lunch (like I said) we went on our second road trips thus far. It was like a convoy of tractor-trailer student drivers...I feel bad for all the other motorists out there today. If you were on the road between Neosho and Goodman Missouri today between the hours of 12:00 and 3:00...I'm sorry, and it probably wasn't me that nearly ran you off the road...probably.

We got some light traffic and back road time as well as some highway, merging, and empty lot parking practice. Daryl and I are both progressing nicely, as are most of the people in our class. The instructors have said that this is one of the better groups they have seen in a while. Everyone is doing quite well learning and the instructors have seen great improvement with those that started out struggling.

Not to toot our own horn, but several of the instructors have told both Daryl and I on several different occasions that we are both very good and that both of us have a natural talent. One of the instructors today told me they thought I was a very good driver, a natural, and that Daryl and I were going to make a great team for Conway. That made both of us feel pretty good to say the least!

The first two days of this week I started out with the T2000 which Daryl had last week. Tomorrow we will be switching groups and trucks again....I think they are going to run out of trucks to put me in before too long (not really but I have driven 4 different ones so far already, which is more than anyone else). Everyone is supposed to get to drive all the trucks before the end of class, I'm just glad I started getting a rotation in early so that I didn't get too adjusted to one truck early on. I was a tad frustrated with it last week, feeling like I hadn't had a chance to really get acquainted with one particular truck, but I'm feeling much more comfortable with all of them now.

We are both sick of the hotel room already and I think missing our home a bit and our dogs a lot. As time to go out with our finishers gets closer though, we are both getting more anxious and excited to start our fun and unpredictable road ahead. Daryl has just finished posting some new pictures of our coupling and nearly 90 degree backing from today. Be sure to check them out!


 

 

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