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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.


Saturday, January 31, 2009
subject: A quick update

I guess it's about time I finally made an update on this thing huh? My goodness where to begin. After my last posting regarding getting onto my trainer's truck, things got crazy. I realize for anyone who has been following along with me on this, this statement may seem a bit.....weak we'll say, but I'm trying to keep a positive attitude and outlook. My trainer and I at first hit it off fairly well. Within a week of being on the truck together things just sort of fell apart. We had a bit of a disagreement and a falling out. I believe in my last post I said something along the lines of NEVER riding a bus again...or if I didnt, I should have. Well....

After not being able to get me a ride back to Joplin with another driver because we couldn't get a load I was privelaged to take part in the lovely greyhound accomodations from Ontario California, all the way back to Joplin Missouri. This wonderful 'roadtrip' was approximately two days AND two nights long...about 36 hours or so. To say the least it wasn't a whole lot of fun, especially considering we had to get off the bus about every hour and a half or so, even at night!

Back at Joplin I was able to make contact with my new trainer who is just great. He has been with the company for a few years and was previously a teacher, making him a perfect match. He's incredibly laid back and helpful and I think I will definitely be recommending him to future trainee's I may speak with. So, we immediately got out on our truck and started rolling. We left on the night of Wednesday 1/28 and have managed to thus far rack up about 1,300 miles. Our first trip took us up into Ontario Canada. My first experience with crossing a border and dealing with customs...wasn't too bad. Don't get me wrong, they weren't exactly friendly, but I would definitely do it again. I guess a lot of people think it's more trouble than its worth, but I found it to be an interesting and fun learning experience.

We are already under another nice long load that will be taking us out of Taylor Michigan and down to the southern regions (thank goodness because its freakin' cold here!), after which I will be sitting at over 5,000 miles! Being here in Taylor was a nice change, I have now officially been to all the terminals. I was also able to have dinner with mom and dad Selby, which doesn't happen very often as they are all the way up here. Hopefully we will get the opportunity to see them more now that we will probably be coming up to this terminal more frequently now.

I'm so excited to get out on the truck with Daryl and just work I can hardly stand it. I guess everyone saw the picture of our truck! I'm excited because I already trained on that kind of truck with my first trainer. Like Daryl said, it's not as big as some of the team trucks, but a home for us all the same.

Everyone wish me luck on my last few thousand miles before the Selby team officially begins their adventures! I'll try and update everyone on the next leg of my journey and where I am when I get there. Until then....



subject: Assigned a truck

after sitting around the Joplin, MO terminal for about a week we were finally issued a late model Volvo tractor! I love this thing...



this picture was taken at the pilot travel center just outside of Lexington, KY. mary hasn't posted recently due to running in Canada but she is about a week or so behind me on getting into our truck. soon enough!

posted by Daryl at 18:28
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Wednesday, January 21, 2009
subject: Finished training

i apologize for the long delay. sometime while staying in el paso i lost our wifi card, which means internet is more difficult to come by than you think, so i'm a bit behind on my load summaries.


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anyways, we left Laredo, TX on 01/16 headed for Kernersville, NC for a delivery on 01/19. we then were sent from Kernersville, NC on a two stop load to Indianapolis & Ft. Wayne, IN. these 3 loads put me at 7630 miles for 3 weeks... a good workout if you ask me... and just above the required 7500 training miles before heading solo. we took on our load this morning from Plainsville, IN to Marshfield, MO, then we were directed to deadhead back to Joplin where i was put in line for a truck. at this point it us unknown when we will have our truck but hopefully soon!

total miles in training: 8199
total time in training: 26 days

i will be sure to update more as it comes available including pics of our truck (hopefully we get the one we want). if i am assigned our truck before mary gets out of training i will be running solo until i can pick her up. since this site was designed to follow both our journeys through training and our time together my posts will stop here until mary joins me on the truck.. and the updates from this point forward will be those of mary's training.

posted by Daryl at 22:14
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Sunday, January 18, 2009
subject: Ive started training

This is a bit delayed but here goes...

Well...My lone (with my trainer) journey has finally begun! After finishing the paperwork necessary to get me 'hired' and completing some training, I have made it all the way to West Memphis AR. Now....this may seem shocking, as the last I knew...I wasn't even sure when my trainer would be able to make it back to Joplin. So here's what happened:

I was on my way back to the hotel from work to check-in, as my trainer (her name is Rene' by the way and she is fantastic!) wasn't going to be able to make it back for at least another day. Upon walking into the hotel, I learn that they do not in fact have a reservation for me....well crap. I contact the training department and learn that instead of checking into the hotel....I will be boarding a bus to....yes...yes....West Memphis Arkansas! Now, where in the world is that you ask? Well, me too. West Memphis Arkansas is actually a part of Memphis Tennessee, but still in Arkansas. Okay then, 9.5 hours on a greyhound bus...sounded like a great time to me so we set it up.


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My bus left at 11:35 pm on Tuesday the 13th however, I was informed I needed to be there early. For anyone who has ever boarded, or waited to board, a grey hound in the middle of nowhere let me give you a bit of advice. DONT LOOK! Just avert your eyes no matter what you may see! I made sure that I was completely engrossed in my novel when in fact I believe I read the same page six or seven times.

Finally 11:30 rolls around. We all pile onto the bus...everyone managed to get their own seat....sweet! At this point I'm beginning to think that the terrible things everyone told me about riding greyhound for more than just a couple of hours were the baldest lies, designed as nothing more than a scare tactic to get my nerves fringed before I left. But wait, what's that smell? What is that under my shoe? Why is that guy looking at me like that?

To make a long story short. I had to change buses twice (rode three buses total) which didn't allow for much sleep. Our second to last stop, we boarded our final bus to find that it's completely packed. As I amble down the aisle attempting to not hit anyone with all my gear and searching for the least homicidal looking person to make my seat mate, I decided that I will NEVER ride a bus more than a few miles...ever again! Approximately 3 hours of being packed like sardines and sitting next to an older gentleman that wouldn't look at me except to sneer anytime I came too close to his 'bubble' space, we arrived in Memphis....but they keep driving...what the hell? I see the Conway terminal fly by then realize the bus terminal we are heading to is in fact located in down town Memphis Tennessee....Crap!

I gathered my gear and made my way into the bus terminal only to find that I have no idea how to get a cab here... I walk over to the tickets/information desk and ask if there is some way I can call a taxi. The woman behind the counter looks at me like I'm daft and points out the front door "The cabs are out there." Okay then. I pile my stuff into a heap around me on the curb and wait for a cab to come and rescue me from my misery, and I wait, and I wait, and I wait. Now at this point Im starting to get a bit discouraged. I think I held it together pretty well after everything I had been through... but now I can't even get a cab in a city I was unfamiliar with, with scary people eyeing my every move ("Look at that crazy white girl! What the hell does she think she's doing?"), but now I'm starting to lose it. Nearly on the verge of tears I walk back into the terminal and politely ask the woman behind the counter how I go about getting one of these magical invisible cabs to pick me up. She says, "Go back out the doors, take a left and stand on the left side of that sign." Okay then. I pile my stuff on the curb just to the left of the sign and magically as if my bag had hit a hidden button under the curb I have a cab appear in front of me...eager to do my bidding.

I guess I could have just said that I made it to the West Memphis terminal in Arkansas in one piece and left it at that… but it was such an experience I felt I needed to share it with everyone. We were lucky enough to get a load immediately and I will now be able to update more often on what I have been up to and my own trials tribulations.


Tuesday, January 13, 2009
subject: I love warm weather

60 degrees waking up this morning. this sure beats the -10 in Pennsylvania we ran into a few weeks ago!

we received orders to head from El Paso to Laredo, TX, on 01/12, a hop of about 606 miles. not too bad and accomplishable in one day.


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we picked up at about 0830am and left the shipper at around 930am headed east. the temperature stayed on average around 55... a temp i can deal with. not much happened on this run but i managed to get a lot of upshifting/downshifting practice as we hit a few towns on the way... and a whole lot of nothing. if youve ever run south Texas at all youll find there is a whole lot of nothing out here, but i do have to admit it is rather pretty... especially at sunset. we did hit a border patrol checkpoint or two but nothing happened there.. thats definatly a first for me. along the way i did spy a few agents out and about performing tracks for illegals in the desert.. something ive only read about on their website. other than that it was rather uneventful.

as of right now were on the board at 84. i only have 2100 or so miles to go before im eligible to be released from training but from what im hearing from bill it wont be a problem for me to finish on time at my 7500 miles.

on another note, i have lost our aircard so updates may be a bit delayed in the future...

posted by Daryl at 12:29
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Friday, January 9, 2009
subject: Good 'ol El Paso

we left Lawrence, KS headed for El Paso yesterday morning taking primarily backroads. we were dispatched with 902 miles and taking all highways took about 1000 to 1100 miles.. so backroads kept us just over the dispatched, only giving us maybe 2% out of route...


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there isn't really much to explain or brag about on this run, unfortunately. i do have to say that i have never seen so many people cut big rigs off or change lanes without signaling. as a cop that was one thing i looked for as my probable cause to pull someone over but i didnt see it much as i do now.. and its amazing that people are so oblivious that if they slam their brakes on.. we drivers cannot stop on a dime like people think.. and then theyll want to blame the "professional driver" when something DOES happen. it just amazes me.

bill and i decided to get a hotel tonight since we were 44 on the load board when we got into El Paso and dont expect to be leaving out tonight unfortunatly. maybe tomorrow...

posted by Daryl at 23:08
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Thursday, January 8, 2009
subject: Cancelled!?!

what a day! we got up around 8 and found there was a load waiting for us. the orders were to deadhead to Salina, KS, a 469 mile hop to pick up a load heading to Memphis, TN, a 667 mile hop. not too shabby. well, 100 miles outside of Lancaster, TX, we received a message over the qualcomm that our load was cancelled. we called the dispatcher and he told us he was going to put us on a load going from someplace in KS to Ill. however, 30 minutes later we were called and told we were put back on the Salinan to Memphis load. fair enough. so we continued up to Salina and got there about 1000pm.

as it turns out after checking in our load was cancelled again. so, we headed over to Bosselman's Pilot to stay the night. we were sent a message on the qualcomm before arriving we were to head to Lawrence, KS, about 150 miles east to pick up a load headed for El Paso, TX, a 990 mile load. this week should indeed prove to be a fairly profitable week after all!


to finalize training a student has to have 7500 miles under their belt with 80% of the driving done by the student. i'm progressing pretty well so far and should be done within a week if we keep getting miles. so far after my run to El Paso, TX i'll have 4748 miles under my belt... then ill be heading back to Joplin, MO to hopefully receive our truck!

on a side note, ill be bringing a table to the site shortly that will be linked on the left side navigation bar that will show both mary's and my miles while in training... then once we complete training it will track our combined miles together and display the places weve gone. stay tuned...

posted by Daryl at 08:15
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Tuesday, January 6, 2009
subject: Halfway there

boy am i glad to be out of Pennsylvania. it was something like -10 at night so it made going potty at 0200am a chore in the bitter cold. after dropping off our load in Gouldsboro, PA we received good orders... to deadhead back where we came from to pick up a load near Dubois, PA and take it to Irving, TX within 4 days... a run of just under 1500 miles total.


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we woke up about 0500am on 01/02, picked up our trailer, and got to Dubois, PA, just outside our delivery point about 1200pm. we hung out at the pilot and reviewed some training objectives, then i napped since the 4 hours of sleep earlier didn't provide much rest.

we headed north to pick up our load at 1000pm and left around 1100pm. i was able to get a bit of little mountain driving in with 5% to 7% grades and really understood gearing and the dynamics of a heavy load on the transmission while doing this.. which i think made my shifting much better overall. bill suggested that since we had a ton of time to make our delivery we stop through Joplin, MO to have our trailer inspected... so we drove for a few hours, took a break, then finished driving into Joplin and arrived around 0100am on 01/04. as mary eluded to earlier, she was going to be in town then so we had the opportunity to spend a day and a half together before i headed out to make our delivery. not much, but something is better than nothing.

bill and i left about 0900pm on 01/05, finished driving and delivered this morning without a hitch. we've been sitting at the terminal since waiting for our next dispatch but nothing as of 0600pm.

we took advantage of the down time to practice some backing since im still deathly afraid of having to, at some point, back between two trucks at a truck stop... something i dread only for fear of striking another truck and losing my job. after two backs between trailers at our Lancaster, TX yard and really learning the maneuvering capability of the Kenworth T2000 moreso than i did in school i can say i feel comfortable enough that if i have to do it i could... but only time will tell at this point.

posted by Daryl at 19:46
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Saturday, January 3, 2009
subject: Back at it

So I made it back to 'home sweet Quality Inn'. Daryl and I lucked out yesterday, when we received the news that we were both going to be in Joplin at the same time......that means we get to see each other...yay! Come Monday, after having Sunday together to catch up, its back on the truck for him and back to the Con-way terminal for me. I will complete some more paperwork, then head back down to Crowder for a week of extra training with Kelli and John. I'm so excited to get started. Kelli and John are fantastic, and Kelli has to be one of the best truck drivers I've ever met. I'm thrilled to have the chance to soak up more information from these two before heading out with my finisher next week.

The weather down here was a welcome repreive from the cold dry weather in Colorado. I drove into 75 degrees at 4 o'clock this afternoon....ah it was wonderful. Hopefully I will be able to start with my finisher directly following next week. Some of the people we did orientation with two weeks ago are still waiting on the board to be able to head out on their first load. Luckily Daryl is already about a third of the way done with his miles needed to complete finishing, so we shall see what comes next....


Thursday, January 1, 2009
subject: A white.. Xmas?

this time our route took us from the travel plaza to Clyde, Ohio, at 700am. we had to travel 10 miles east down the turnpike to head south 4 miles just so we could go 10 miles west and be positioned exactly 5 miles directly south of where we were. go figure. we woke up to a brisk chilly morning with snow and ice everywhere. i grabbed some breakfast for bill and i and then we were off.


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since there was snow and ice everywhere bill drove to Akron where we stopped at the Summit Racing super dooper mega store. this place was huge. ive never seen anything like it. on the way out we did see a USA Truck jack knifed on the side of the road and tore up pretty bad… unfortunately i forgot i had my camera so didn’t get a shot. obviously he wasn’t driving for the conditions. that was a bit of an eye opener. anyways, after leaving Summit, when the ice and snow melted a bit, i drove until we hit Mill Hall, PA. we fueled up the tanks and grabbed a hotel for the night where i enjoyed two showers in a 14 hour period and did some laundry.

we woke up this morning and hit breakfast around noon thirty or so, then headed out for a leasurely stroll down I-80. we detoured through Scranton, PA to hit a Sprint warranty service center to exchange our usb aircard since the one we had shorted and took a crap. however, while getting there i can say i learned a thing or two about driving in the mountains with 22k pounds on board. it’s nothing like what you learn in school. in school one basically learns to drive on very few hills with no more than 5k pounds on board, which makes understanding mountains nearly impractical until you get out here to do it. but, after missing a few gears I learned rather quickly where I needed to be at what speed. i can say for the first time since I hit the road i felt comfortable with my shifting, although i don’t think i hit the speed limit once… the mountainous hills here still intimidated me. anyways, afterwards we opted to head down to our drop point 3 hours early to see if they let us in, which surprisingly they did. for the first time I got to back the trailer in and did a decent job getting it in the hole. doing it with the tandems rolled all the way back sucks though... the trailer does not respond very well compared to being positioned at the 40ft mark! but i got it in the hole and now we sit waiting for our next assignment. unfortunately as i write this we have 6 Con-way trucks sitting here with us… so hopefully were out of here pretty quickly!

posted by Daryl at 20:48
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