Yesterday morning a gasoline tanker exloded on the interstate in Brimingham, Alabama at the junction of I 65 and I 59. When I went by, they were still trying to clean up the mess. I saw that there was nothing at all left of the tanker except the frame which was charred and twisted. The overpass under which the tanker exploded was badly burned and closed down. It will likely have to be torn down and rebuilt. Fortunately, the driver of the tanker managed to escape the wreck just prior to the...
I am now hauling an oversized load down to Pensacola, Florida from Wisconsin. It's a fire truck I am taking to the Naval Air Station there. I normally enjoy oversized loads because they aren't allowed to move at night which means I stop at sun-down and get plenty of rest. This load, I knew, Was going to be a problem. Firstly, I have a bad case of bronchitis which makes driving all day a real chore. I can hardly breath, am coughing all the time, and basically just feel like crap and would...
Once again we are hearing that there is a shortage of flu vaccine. At one truckstop clinic I saw a big sign that read "No Flu Vaccine". When I inquired about this, they said all the available vaccine in that area had gone to m"ore important" local clinics. I suppose that translates into "truck drivers aren't considered important even though they travel all over the country and are at extreme high risk of catching and spreading the flu from one end of the country to the other". I guess s...
As I ride around the country, I see and hear some pretty interesting (and not so interesting) things. I hear some of the local lingo which at times can be baffling. Every area has it's expressions that can be confusing to someone just passing through. We truckers have our own special language as well which may not make a lot of sense to someone not famailiar with our lifestyle. Cracker head: an idiot Lot Lizard: A truckstop prostitute a.k.a. Sleeper Leaper a.k.a. Recreational Reptile...
A few weeks ago I was driving my rig along I-80 in Pennsylvania. Now, if you've never driven across there, it is all up and down hills. Well, I was loaded pretty heavy so every time I would start up a grade I would slow down. (That pesky gravity thing, ya know). As I would slow, this other driver would come shooting past me, obviously loaded light. He would put on his signal and come over in front of me. As we would start down the next grade I would pass him again. This went on for a few m...
A few weeks ago I was driving my rig along I-80 in Pennsylvania. Now, if you've never driven across there, it is all up and down hills. Well, I was loaded pretty heavy so every time I would start up a grade I would slow down. (That pesky gravity thing, ya know). As I would slow, this other driver would come shooting past me, obviously loaded light. He would put on his signal and come over in front of me. As we would start down the next grade I would pass him again. This went on for a few m...
As I spend a tremendous amount of time behind the wheel, I see just about every kind of driving there is on the road today. From the maniacal aggressive driver who weaves in and out of traffic, cutting people off in an attempt to drive faster than the traffic is moving, to the snail powered vehicle riding 10 mph below the speed limit in the passing lane for 50 miles, and everything in between. I am sure that anyone who drives a certain pet peeve that other drivers do that really get's thei...
As a trucker I travel all over the country, moving from one climate to the other, so it's a real wonder I don't get sick more often than I do. Right now I have a really bad chest cold, It came on over the course of a few days, and basically, I feel like shit. This is one of those times where being on the road is definately pretty crappy. I would like nothing better than to just go to bed, have someone tend to me, and feel pretty much pampered. But, I live on the road, and have to deal w...
M.....R.....DUCKS M....R.....NOT O.....S.....A.....R C.....M.....PN L....I.....B M.....R......DUCKS Ok not a new one, but just saw it again today Ever notice how ducks fly in a "V" formation? Ever notice one leg of the "V" is longer than the other one? Ever wonder why? There's more damn ducks in that one.
M.....R.....DUCKS M....R.....NOT O.....S.....A.....R C.....M.....PN L....I.....B M.....R......DUCKS Ok not a new one, but just saw it again today Ever notice how ducks fly in a "V" formation? Ever notice one leg of the "V" is longer than the other one? Ever wonder why? There's more damn ducks in that one.
I have been meaning to post this announcement for some time, but just haven't gotten around to it until now. I will be holding a workshop to help those who suffer from procrastination. While I haven't gotten around to actually scheduling this workshop yet, I hope to get it scheduled in the near future. When I actually do get around to scheduling it, I will try to announce the date sometime or other, hopefully prior to the actually date scheduled. It is my hope that I can be of some hel...
Hello everyone. I know I haven't been on JU much lately, but I have been trying to keep running pretty steady while the weather is still good. It tends to slow down once winter weather hits. Make hay while the sun shines, and all that. I brought a load down from Wisconsin, dropped a skid loader in Arkansas, a military truck at Dyess AFB in Abilinene Tx, and a freight elevator in Round Rock Tx. Now I am sitting in Tyler at the truckstop waiting for them to find me a decent paying load out ...
Just kinda checking in. I haven't written in a while (haven't looked at my stats, I'm sure they're terrible now). I am sitting in Fargo, North Dakota and it's really cold here now. Freezing actually. Today was the first time I've had to wear my carharts in quite a while. This last hurricane, Jeanne, took half the roof off then house according to my mom. I haven't been there since the day before Charlie hit. Such is life. On the road of life, some days you're the windshield, some days yo...
I arrived here in Tacoma, Washington Friday afternoon after a very hard drive from Wisconsin. I had a military load that had to be on a ship that was due to sail on Saturday. I left Wisconsin on Wednesday around noon and made it here Friday afternoon. Naturally there wasn't any freight leaving out of here that late on a Friday, so here I am, resting up over the weekend here in Tacoma. Thank goodness the truckstop here has WiFi service. I was pretty tired after the hard run here so I really...
I arrived at the terminal in Wisconsin yesterday afternoon around 2::30. We decided to move the load to a step deck trailer and add a military truck to it. I took the rest of the day off while they were re-working the load to the new trailer. It gave me the opportunity to go to the bank and then go buy a new hat to replace the one that was damaged. I got a pretty good deal on a black 5X beaver felt Rodeo King and a horse hair band for it. I guess it will take some time to get used to it an...