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Made my Delivery in Stockton, Ca on Tuesday hoping for a load to deliver or be T-Called in So Cal so I can get home for the following Friday for our big move to Texas. I got a load that delivered Friday at 21:30 tried to do a trade with the Fontana Terminal but being a holiday no luck. So told dispatch I will Dropped the trailer and Bobtailed home did some packing on New Years Day, Picked up the truck (U-Haul) on Friday and started to load up. Headed back "down the hill" to pickup the trailer and made the delivery. Slept a couple of hours at the terminal and my wife picked me up and we returned to finish loading. Late at night my wife discovered a lot of personal papers that needed to be destroyed so I then spent the next 6 hours having a bon fire burning old bills checks and other personal info that a thief might want. Finely finished the burn and flooding and filling the fire pit around 1:00 a.m. We left around 9:00 a.m. after 3 hours sleep and headed for Texas. 1 U-Haul 24' truck with myself and my mother in law and her dog, 1 U-Haul Auto Carrier (car filled) to the brim. 1 FJ Cruiser filled with my wife 9 I repeat 9 dogs and 3 cats. We stopped every couple of hours for an hour so my Mother In Law could stretch her legs and smoke a cigarette and take all the dogs out to relieve themselves. Spent a couple of hours sleeping in Benson, Az before continuing on. Hit a few rain showers even had a little snow in New Mexico some where between Las Cruces and Vado. Hit a little snag in the Google directions at the end of the trip the last 2 roads where not allowed for trucks even a Large U-Haul so ended up going different road about 30 minutes longer. We pulled into the driveway of our new home @ 1:00 finely went to sleep at 2:30 almost set alarm for 7:00 slept till 7:45. Had to hurry to catch a flight back to California to get my truck and start running again. Was late to the airport and had to wait another 3 hours for another flight. After getting a beer and something to eat went to look for my License and discovered I had lost it. Made it back to SoCal at 21:30 second thing I did this morning after being denied access to Target to get an empty trailer then took a run to DMV and got replacement license (only need it a month since I now need to get a Texas license). Now sitting here in Fontana and waiting for a load.  Keep It Safe, I maybe next to you.
Anytime you park your truck or car for that matter ALWAYS set your brakes. Seen at the TA in Santa Rosa, New Mexico a driver obviously forgot 1 important thing before leaving his truck. Did he remember to set his BRAKES? By the looks of things NO! His truck rolled into the Trucker Chapel at the TA luckily for him there was a K-Rail in the way. From what I could see there was no damage to the Chapel, however, his truck did receive minor damage to the grill. When he came out the police was already there and an employee of the TA was taking pictures. After a while everyone did take off including the truck the K-rail however, remained under the Chapel trailer. Just a reminder check your brakes. 
Keep It Safe, The Trucker Chapel maybe close by
Well, I know it has been a long time since I have been on Chicken trucker but rest assured I have not forgotten my friends here. It has been a long month since I last visited with you all. Swift has kept me fairly busy a mixture of small , medium and long hauls. Spent 3 weeks in the Midwest from Illinois to Pennsylvania even had the "joy" of driving one cold night in the Chicago area when they had the ice storm back on the 18th. Did a dedicated K-Mart out of Manteno, Il which went first to Elkhart, In and finished in Sturgis, Mi only 208 miles. It took me 3 1/2 hours to go 120 miles due to the ice build up on the windshield. My next load was a bit hard as I could not get the weight to adjust so I went barely legal from Ohio to Tennessee weighed the truck in Dayton Ohio weight was 79460 weighed it again in Georgetown Kentucky and it weighed 78060. During the night ice kept falling off the top of my truck and sliding off the trailer hitting the back of the truck. My guess is that I had over a 1000 pounds of ice on the rig. 
Can you see the ice? Since I left on November 24th I have put in 11,200 miles. When I finish this run tomorrow it will be 11,700 miles and maybe one or two more runs before heading home and our move to Texas this weekend. I will try not to stay away so long in the future. Keep It Safe, As the new year begins
Spoke with my DM Tuesday morning he had a "Trader" for me to take to Phoenix to trade with a new truck so far only issue I had to have the dome replaced on qualcom. Got a load that I was to pickup at the Fontana terminal going to Phoenix however it was over weight. I spent 2 hrs trying to get it legal with no luck so they sent me back to shipper (third time for this load) they removed 1 pallet and did a little shifting. Bottom line made it legal barely. However, the customer changed the appointment for Saturday morning but dispatch did not want me to sit on it for 3 days so they took it off me. They did get me another load going to Target DC in Phoenix with an open drop time. Delivered Wednesday morning. Got the new truck that afternoon a '08 Volvo with 30 miles on it. Talked to my DM and he made a comment that it only had one bunk which I replied I can only sleep in one at a time anyway. My guess is he is hoping I become a Mentor again. Shortly I got another load this one returning to So Cal in Lancaster for delivery next week. However this was also a drop and it could be dropped early so I tried to make it before 22:00 but no luck. Sat on the load in Mira Loma till early Friday and delivered to the customer. Before I left Mira Loma I got a pre-plan to Kansas which I am on my way to. Hope to deliver either tomorrow night or early Monday. Keep It Safe, It’s The Season We All Want To Make It Home
Completed orientation yesterday passed all the tests but still waiting for drug test results (no fears there). Passed the work well a test to see if physically able to do the work. I was surprised that I passed it because of my knees but I think they really try to help drivers to pass the test. Of course after all the lifting I did yesterday my legs are hurting tonight. Passed the DOT physical but only got a 1 year card because I had high Blood pressure. Did have one hiccup was notified that safety in Memphis needed a copy of the police report from my accident in December to show that I was not at fault. So I called my wife and she could not find it, then my lawyer but they had gone home at noon. After I got home I searched for it and luckily I found it after 2 hours of searching. Faxed to Memphis so hopefully by Monday morning I will be coded and be on the road by the afternoon. 2 or 3 failed the work well, one failed the road test he could not double clutch. Another just did not return for the second day? Maybe got a better offer? Also spoke to my old DM and he's going to put me back on his board. He really did me good, always kept me running and got me home when I wanted. Many of those there asked me if I would return as a Mentor (trainer) told them have not decided if I want to do it or not. Told them that I will decide later maybe a month or two. Keep It Safe
Well here I am sitting at the Red Roof Inn waiting to go to orientation in the morning again. Tomorrow I will be re-learning the Swift way also be taking the dreaded Work Well and DOT physical and of course the Drug test. The only concern I have is the work well due to the injury I received last December to my knees. The weights that I will need to lift can cause problems with my standing but I am determined to push through. Last July I did a little series called "I Do This Why?" I came to the conclusion that... " Driving 80,000 pounds of steel and rubber and whatever I am hauling is a bit rewarding as I deliver that load. Seeing this great country and meeting so many great Americans of all kinds I think is one of the draws. Also as we all know and I think the rest of the country is maybe starting to understand it is the TRUCKER who makes this country move. Which makes me proud to help move the economy of the USA forward." I have also said that being on the road is like being addicted you need that fix to make things right. So I need my fix of that black ribbon with those white lines that we call the highway. So when I pass everything I should be back on the road early next week after the drug test comes in.
Tags: Swift Orientation
Last Friday I sent a e-mail to the recruiter at Swift to see what was happening. I also notified him that I have been given a pre-hire from other companies but I preferred to return to Swift. He replied and said that all the paperwork is in Memphis (he verified it) and that I'm good for the 20th. So come the next week I will be heading down to Fontana again for orientation. I so look forward to getting back on the road.
Slight glitch in my return to Swift seems some of my paperwork either the recruiter did not send or Memphis lost it. My past history with Swift tells me that Memphis lost my paperwork and is blaming the recruiter. With the missing paperwork I was sent home. As I talked to the Recruiter he let me know he was upset (seemed to me more then I was) that they made a bad call and should have waited till the afternoon. He would have hoped they would have waited till he returned to the office to correct the problem. He's going to complain to management but we know how that will most likely turn out and it won't get me working this week. He wants to get me into the next orientation which is already filled, he is going to fight to add 5 more seats as 4 others where also sent home. So now I need to decide what I want to do wait till this gets resolved? Or do I want to call Werner? I really do not want to drive for Werner but with no other options at this moment I just might do it. I will wait till I hear from the Recruiter tomorrow and then make a decision over the weekend.
Update, Thursday I will be going to orientation for 2 days with Swift. The first day if I remember correctly will be all the testing Drug, DOT and work well. Work well is the only one that concerns me due to the injuries I received in the accident I had last December. However I will do all I can to pass it, if all goes well I should be in a truck by next week. In the mean time I have received another "Pre-approval" this one with Werner. Not really my choice but if I have to go with Werner for a short time until I can into a better company so be it.
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