You have to be ready for anything!
Before I begin, I have to set the scene so you can get a good understanding of the emotional trauma I went through a few days ago.
Our truck is a 2007 Freightliner Columbia hi-rise. We have had it since new and have outfitted it to fit our life on the road. Inside you will find a large sleeper area. We have 2 bunk size, stacked beds and plenty of head room to stand up and step around. We have 2 ceiling to floor wall mounted cabinets with shelves for clothes, food and anything we may need to store. One unit is split with a space in the middle so we can set our microwave on it. Inside that cabinet underneath is a real refrigerator with a small freezer so we can have drinks or food that needs to be cold.
Other things we have that are a life line for truckers are, C.B., trucker's map, truck stop book, an air suspension gauge (tells weight on drive tires for load balancing) privacy curtains that wrap around the front and side windows so no one can see inside you truck while you are stopped and most importantly our truck is totally automatic so there is no stick shift sticking out of the floor. It is the ultimate in modern comfort and convenience. Now the story..............
The transport truck.........One 2008 Freighliner Columbia mid-roof 70 inch sleeper economy version (means stripped down)
Last week our safety dept. asked Jack and I if we could transport a truck from our Springfield, Mo. terminal to our Springfield, Oh. terminal. Thinking this would be no issue since we are both seasoned drivers, we told them it would be no problem. They in turn said they would get us loads going the same way so we could travel together and I would not need to haul bedding and a set of clothes etc. into the extra truck. To skip all the minor details, as most things go, it did not work out that way.
I got into the transport truck to get ready to leave just to discover there on the floor was a dreaded *stick shift*. Let's see.....it's only been about 5 years since I drove one ,so I figured I'd only have to grind the gears about half a day to get refreshed. Then, I had to get 1 set of clothes as it was only a 2 day trip. OH WAIT......no storage, no cabinets....well where in the #%* do I hang my clothes? Must be from that tiny hook mounted on the ceiling in the corner of the sleeper. I threw 1 pillow and a blanket in for sleeping as of course the issue of traveling with Jack fell through due to the fact that my load had to leave now and his was not on the yard yet. So with a peck goodbye from Jack I shoved that truck into gear and off I went. Shift, grind, shift, shift, grind, oh whatever.................. Once rolling, things went along well. 10 minutes into the trip Jack called to see how it was going and to see if I was OK..........WHATEVER! He called several hours later to say he was 3 hrs behind me. OK, that's good but I can't stop as I have to get to the truck stop near my delivery so I can get my break.
I get to the truck stop and get parked. This truck is not equipped with an APU so I had to let it idle so I would have heat. I am tying up my logs when all of a sudden my truck shuts down after 5 minutes. *OH NO YOU DIDN'T JUST SHUT DOWN!!!" Before our company went all owner operator they took all the company trucks and set them to idle only 5 minutes and then shut down because some of the drivers refused to use the APU and were wasting fuel. ONE THING HERE...this truck didn't have an APU and it was 16 degrees outside. Now what? I remembered a few of the trucks were set to shut down but you could override it by starting the truck and setting the idle up......I tried it, it worked. Now I am just plain tired and my arm hurt from shifting so I just need to get into my sleep shirt and go to bed. I get up to close the privacy curtains and realize...NO PRIVACY CURTAINS...screammmmmmmmmmmmmmm! I have the lights off but there no sleeper area to stand in. I have to stand in the front between the seats to change clothes and all the truck stop bright lights are reflecting inside. At this point I just threw up my arms removed my shoes and fell into bed with my clothes on and fell asleep from sheer exhaustion.
At 04:00 the alarm goes off, I put my shoes on and head to my receiver 10 miles down the road. All goes well there. Thank you Lord! It is still early and I do not have another load yet so I head back to the truck stop and catchup on a bit more sleep.
At 08:00 my qualcom beeps with a new load. I go to grab for my map and realize there is no map and I have no load locks which is required for the next load. Just then Jack calls to see how my delivery went. I tell him what's up and he says he is just west of the Indianapolis circle, I am just south of it. We agree to meet just north of the circle at a Pilot truck stop. We visit for 5 minutes, he gives me 2 of the load locks off our truck, I go in and buy a map book and off we both go. He will deliver his load and then head to Springfield, Ohio and I will pick up a load and take it to that terminal to drop and to leave the transport truck there and then Jack and I can depart on our truck.
I get to the terminal at 18:00 and he arrives at 22:30. We load all my things back into our truck. We chat for about an hour. I get a cold drink from our fridge. I make a hot dog in the microwave. Jack closes our privacy curtains. I stand and stretch in our roomy truck. I fall into my familiar bed. Jack leans over from the top bunk and says " Glad to be home?" I didn't hear......I was already out.
In our job we have to be ready for anything. Most days are good but every once in awhile you need to put on the hat, strap on the guns, throw the extra ammo over the shoulder and stand ready!
It's an exhausting job but someone has to do it.
Happy Trails!
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