This afternoon I was making my way through Southern IL, through the rain, when some dimwit decided to pull off the shoulder directly in front of me. As I had traffic on my left I had no way to swerve to miss this idiot so the only choice I had was to slam on the brakes. Slamming on the brakes while hauling a 50,000lbs fire truck is not a good thing but it's preferable to running over a car even if the driver is dead from the neck up. The rear chains snapped and the fire truck skidded forwa...

"R" called me at the hotel shortly after 8:00 this morning to let me know that my truck was finally ready at the engine shop and also that the fire truck I am hauling to Key West was ready to load. Cool, things are finally coming together. I made a mad dash over to the yard and grabbed "J" to drive me down to get my truck. Once I signed the final bill I hopped into my truck and started back North to go get my load out of Oshkosh. Along the way I made a quick stop at Wally World to pick up ...

The truck wasn't ready today. Surprise surprise. I went and picked up a couple of things for "R", a military truck and a generator. When I got back to the yard "A" said something about he was going to pull the generator off right away. I just shrugged and walked off. I'd done enough free work for one day, I'd gotten rained on, and I was hungry. He knows me well enough to know that when I'm in that sort of mood it's best to just shut the hell up and let me go. I hope he had fun. I return...

I checked out of the hotel at 10:00 this morning and went over to the yard to find out about the status of my truck. They said it's supposed to be ready some time after lunch. Cool. I unloaded my stuff from the van and turned the key in to the shop. I then checked in at the office. My worker's comp check had finally arrived and the office had loaded the money onto my fuel/payroll card. I endorsed the check so they could deposit it into their account. "R" in dispatch said that he had a f...

I changed rooms right after eating lunch and started in on my paperwork. Even though there were three separate trips all requiring their own sets of reports I managed to throw the whole thing together in about 30 minutes. I then hopped into the van and dropped them off over at the office so they can be processed by payroll tomorrow morning. I'll get paid Friday which is always a nice thing. Another of our drivers is staying here in the hotel with his wife. I ran into them out in the hotel ...

When I checked into the hotel all of the smoking rooms were booked (2 different wedding parties here this weekend). She put me in a non-smoking room and asked that I keep the window open as much as possible to help vent the smoke. This morning as I was in the lobby getting my coffee she told me that she would have a smoking room available for me later if I wanted to move. As the new room is on the first floor instead of the second where I am now I happily agreed. My bad hip hates the stai...

As it's such a beautiful day with just some scattered clouds in the sky and the air feeling reasonably warm (for Spring in WI), and just happening to have wheels, I decided to go out and find myself something for lunch. I opted for the Chinese buffet down the street and sat down to enjoy a nice leisurely meal. While I was enjoying my lunch I noticed this one kid of about 10 years of age kept watching me as I was eating. When he eventually realized that I was aware of his staring he asked m...

I saw the witch doctor this morning and he finally released me back to full duty. About damn time. I then went to the yard to see what needed to be done while waiting for my truck to be repaired. They wanted me to take the day cab (ugh) and pick up a military truck in Oshkosh. It's been a long time since I drove a day cab. It sucked. When you're used to driving a truck with a long hood and long wheel base a snubby nosed, short wheel base day cab is a very nasty ride. It's very bumpy and tu...

After hanging around at the diesel shop for a few hours they informed me that the problem was a factory machining defect in the head which resulted in a crack. Wonderful, cracked head. They have to replace the head on the engine and the truck won't be ready until tomorrow afternoon. It just couldn't be something quick and simple. Since I have to hang around until tomorrow anyway I went ahead and made an appointment for the two week follow up visit with the witch doctor which I hope will re...

I'm currently hanging out in the driver's lounge at the Detroit Diesel shop while they check out my truck to determine why it's drinking coolant at a rate of 3 or 4 gallons a day. I'm still hoping that it's something simple like a leak I just couldn't spot due to all of the rain. But I'm not going to hold my breath on that. The most likely suspect is the EGR cooler, but it could be the head, the radiator, or the charge cooler. But that's why these guys make the big bucks; they have the tools ...

I made my delivery in Oshkosh this afternoon and then headed for the yard. I checked in first with the shop to find out where they wanted me to take my truck to be repaired. I've been been going through a LOT of coolant. I got the info I needed, I have to be at a shop in Milwaukee at 7:00 am tomorrow morning. No problem. I then headed down to the bar at the bottom of the hill for a couple of cold ones and something to eat. I wasn't surprised to see the boss sitting at the bar when I walked...

The weather in Nebraska sucks today. Well, to be more accurate, it blows. It's raining and I've had a very strong headwind all day. It's killing my fuel mileage and is seriously slowing my speed which is costing me time. Thanks to the wind I'm a good hour behind schedule. Just once I'd like to get a good tailwind instead. I'm currently in Omaha and am getting ready to start rolling again after a very brief break to stretch my legs. I am hoping to make Walcott, IA for tonight but if this wi...

I finally got out of the People's Republic of Colorado and am spending the night in Nebraska. I am sitting in a bar across the street from the truck stop here and, shockingly, you can actually smoke in the bar ! I looked up the Nebraska smoking ban law. It seems the government of this state is a rarity on this end of the country. They actually allow their citizens to think and choose for themselves. How unusual! The Nebraska law bans smoking in all government buildings but leaves it up to...

As planned, I was at my delivery point in Johnstown, CO waiting for them to arrive at 6:30 am local time. As It was 7:30 am to me I had plenty of time to get up, have some coffee, wake up, and ease on in there. I had the chains off and the trailer detached when they arrived for work. The only minor hitch I had with them was the guy wanted me to drive the panel van off the trailer. Sorry bud, no can do. Not my van to drive and my driving it isn't covered on our insurance. The truth is, it w...

My sinuses have been bothering me for about a week now. Spring allergies and all that. I normally just ignore it and go about my business. The past few days my ears have been plugged up due to the sinus problems and everything sounds like I'm under water or something. It's quite annoying. Last night and this morning I took really hot showers hoping that it would ease the pressure but no love there. As I have been steadily climbing in altitude today the pressure in my ears has steadily grow...