My partner and I left Schneider's Portland, Oregon yard before midnight last night. He had a fresh 70 hours to run on, I was another 10 hours from my reset as I settled into the bunk. My co-driver had things pretty well handled, yet I invited him to wake me up if he had any difficulty at the shipper's facility. Off to the bunk I went; both steps. I closed the leather curtains and prepared my bed just the way I like it. My wife was on the phone while I did this. My Bluetooth headset makes conversations so much more enjoyable; I can hear better, and my hands are no longer held hostage by the phone. Two hands are needed in this business, whether you're working or on break. I usually don't get to talk to my wife at such a late hour. This was nice.
Around 4am, my co-driver woke me up. We were near the Oregon/California border, and it was snowing. "Chains required" signs flashed, but the pavement was mostly bare. My co-driver didn't know what to do; he wanted to know what course of action I would choose. I looked at local radar, on my phone. Things were clearing out. It was my opinion that the chain requirements would be lifted soon. I suggested to my partner, that he remain parked behind the other 5 trucks on the shoulder; when he sees non-chained vehicles start to pass, we could move on. That would mean that the chain requirements had been lifted.This scenario played out exactly the way I thought it would. He ventured back onto I-5 less than an hour after he parked. California has the most stringent chain laws, for trucks, than any other state. It takes a considerable amount of time to install and remove so many tire chains. It is not fun at all.
No matter what, we aim for noon to switch drivers. We did our post-trip/pre-trip inspection ritual at a Pilot Travel Center several miles North of Sacramento. I had a hot breakfast meal from Wendy's. My bacon, egg & cheese biscuit tasted so good. My meals had been very modest in recent days. I resumed the trip to Antioch,with 84 miles remaining.
My co-driver is never as anxious to retire to the bunk as I am. Even after his work shift is completed, he remains fascinated by the road and the scenery. It took me a little less than 2 hours to arrive at the Lowe's store in Antioch. He got outside of the rig; his gloved hands ready to assist. This delivery required a little more work than most drop-offs. We had to disconnect and reconnect the loaded and empty trailers twice, since we had to replace the empty orange trailer for the loaded orange trailer in the same dock door.
Knowing that my next customer would be a food-grade facility, I spent an extraordinary amout of effort getting the inside of the empty trailer clean. It was very dusty. Sweeping kicked up a lot of dust, and I breathed a lot of it in. I will save you the gross details, but I will say this: I want a dust mask next time.
With my partner finally in the bunk, I meandered to the bayfront city of Crockett. The streets leading down to the C&H yard were steep and crooked. I pulled into the trailer inspection yard, located right below the massive, towering columns of the I-80 bridge that crosses the delta channel, into Vallejo. The guard examined the inside of my trailer. He allowed me to take it on in to the next check-in station. There were 15 other trucks waiting on both sides of the driveway, waiting for instructions to proceed to the third check-in office. Getting loaded here is an all-day event, but I'm not too ruffled about it. There are several reasons I'm not distressed about being delayed today: 1. The weather is comfortable 2. I have email to read 3. I want to finish reading a book (Hunger Games), and 4. This load goes to OKLAHOMA!
Around 4am, my co-driver woke me up. We were near the Oregon/California border, and it was snowing. "Chains required" signs flashed, but the pavement was mostly bare. My co-driver didn't know what to do; he wanted to know what course of action I would choose. I looked at local radar, on my phone. Things were clearing out. It was my opinion that the chain requirements would be lifted soon. I suggested to my partner, that he remain parked behind the other 5 trucks on the shoulder; when he sees non-chained vehicles start to pass, we could move on. That would mean that the chain requirements had been lifted.This scenario played out exactly the way I thought it would. He ventured back onto I-5 less than an hour after he parked. California has the most stringent chain laws, for trucks, than any other state. It takes a considerable amount of time to install and remove so many tire chains. It is not fun at all. No matter what, we aim for noon to switch drivers. We did our post-trip/pre-trip inspection ritual at a Pilot Travel Center several miles North of Sacramento. I had a hot breakfast meal from Wendy's. My bacon, egg & cheese biscuit tasted so good. My meals had been very modest in recent days. I resumed the trip to Antioch,with 84 miles remaining.
My co-driver is never as anxious to retire to the bunk as I am. Even after his work shift is completed, he remains fascinated by the road and the scenery. It took me a little less than 2 hours to arrive at the Lowe's store in Antioch. He got outside of the rig; his gloved hands ready to assist. This delivery required a little more work than most drop-offs. We had to disconnect and reconnect the loaded and empty trailers twice, since we had to replace the empty orange trailer for the loaded orange trailer in the same dock door.
With my partner finally in the bunk, I meandered to the bayfront city of Crockett. The streets leading down to the C&H yard were steep and crooked. I pulled into the trailer inspection yard, located right below the massive, towering columns of the I-80 bridge that crosses the delta channel, into Vallejo. The guard examined the inside of my trailer. He allowed me to take it on in to the next check-in station. There were 15 other trucks waiting on both sides of the driveway, waiting for instructions to proceed to the third check-in office. Getting loaded here is an all-day event, but I'm not too ruffled about it. There are several reasons I'm not distressed about being delayed today: 1. The weather is comfortable 2. I have email to read 3. I want to finish reading a book (Hunger Games), and 4. This load goes to OKLAHOMA!
Prior to picking up and delivering the load to Portland, we spent several hours in the West Memphis OC classroom. Our company is implenenting new onboard computer communications software, methods, and expectations of us drivers. There is a lot to learn, but the changes will streamline communication and result in more productivity through fewer mistakes.
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