STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

Life Day 21529: Circle City Confusion

June 22, 2006 on 5:29 pm | In On The Road | No Comments

Monday, June 19th, 2006. After I arrived at the Shipper in Rio Rico yesterday evening, I discovered that the load to Forsyth, IL was not there. After an hour of confusion, that load was cancelled, and I accepted a load to Indianapolis, IN. I then drove to Lordsburg, NM where I stopped for the night. This morning, I left at 1000 and drove to Las Cruses, NM where I took a quick break for fuel. From there, I drove to Mescalero, NM. Until I reached the junction of US-70 and US-54, I had no idea which route I would take.

I had lunch and strolled through the Casino. At 1630 I left and drove to Texico, NM. I let the MMM out for a short stroll. From Texico, I drove to Amarillo, TX where I stopped for the night.
On Tuesday, I left Amarillo at 1000 and drove to Oklahoma City, OK. I took a long break here for a shower, lunch, and fuel. I left at 1730 and drove to Joplin, MO. After a short break, I drove to St. Robert, MO where I ended my day.
On Wednesday, I left St. Robert at 1000. I drove to Sullivan, MO for fuel and breakfast. Directly across from where I parked I saw this wreckage.

When I inquired inside, I was told that the fire occurred almost a month ago. As I walked back to my truck a while later, the wrecker had arrived to haul it off at long last.

I’d bet it caused a lot of excitement. Glad I wasn’t there.
At noon, I departed Sullivan and drove directly to Indianapolis, IN. I settled in at the Flying J.
Today, I just vegged and geeked all day. About 1300, his squall blew though.

This was after only about 5 minutes. It lasted another 15 minutes, then discipated.

Life Day 21525: Phoenix Phrustration

June 18, 2006 on 10:13 am | In On The Road | No Comments

On Monday, the 12th, after spending an extra day in Vegas due to a lack of freight, I finally recieved and accepted a PrePlan which picked up in North Las Vegas, NV and delivered in Cheyenne, WY. The load was a “live load” and didn’t pick up until 1500. I called the customer, and was informed that I could not be loaded any earlier, so I just waited at the WWW. At 1400, I drove to the Flying J in NLV where I fueled. I then drove the 2 miles from there to the Shipper, arriving precisely on-time. It took 1 1/2 hours to be loaded. At 1645, I departed. I drove to the MMM’s favorite Rest Area on I-15 at mm-88 in Utah. They had a nice untethered romp there. Then I drove to our terminal in Salt Lake City where I stopped for the night. The most direct route would have been I-15N to I-70E to I-25N to I-80E to the consignee, but I had to go to the SLC terminal to take the Swift HAZMAT Test, and put my rickety old truck in the shop. The Transmission Cooler is leaking again. It was not that far out of route going through SLC.
On Tuesday, I got a late start. The shop was busy, and it was 1500 before they got to my truck. On my daily inspection, I noticed a bolt in the right rear outboard (RRO) tire of my truck. It wasn’t leaking, but I had the shop pull it out. When they did, it did start leaking, really fast. It was 2-inches long. Naturally, they had to repair the tire as well. While I was waiting to get into the shop, I took and passed my HAZMAT test. At 2000, I finally left SLC and drove to Rock Springs, WY. I stopped here for the night.
On Wednesday, I left Rock Springs abound noonish. I awoke with a PrePlan on my QualCom. It picked up at the same customer to which I was delivering in Cheyenne, and delivered in Mesa, AZ. I accepted it. I drove directly to the Consignee in Cheyenne, arriving at 1630. The PrePlan wasn’t scheduled for pick-up until 0300 tomorrow AM. Upon checking with Shipping, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was already loaded, so I was able to just drop/hook. Much more expediant, and also, it saved me having to “wake up the chickens” at 0300 to get the load. I left Cheyenne at 1830 and drove to Denver, CO where I called it a day.
On Thursday, I left Denver at 1000. I drove to Raton, NM and took a nice break here for lunch. I made a couple of hot dogs in the new Burton “stove to go” that I purchased in Denver this AM. It worked well. After lunch, I drove to Albuquerque, NM where I stopped for the night. The weather was windy all the way from Raton, and I arrived at sunset in another dust storm.
On Friday, I left Albuquerque at 1000. I drove to Winslow, AZ. I took a lunch break here. At 1530, I drove to Mesa, AZ. By the time I arrived in the Phoenix area, most of the evening commute traffic had discipated and it was smooth sailing all the way to Mesa. I arrived at 1915. I could have made this run in 2 days, arriving in the Phoenix/Mesa area on Thursday night, but since the load had a ‘firm’ delivery time of 2000 on Friday, I decided to just mosey to Phoenix/Mesa. This way my work day on Friday is ending at 2000 rather than beginning. Anyway, I made the delivery, which turned out to be drop/hook at 1900. Many of Swift’s larger customers will set a firm appointment time, usually in the evening or early AM when the store is closed, then have the driver spot his loaded trailer after they determine that the door seals are intact, and hook to the empty trailer from the previous day. These are usually companies that have a large volume of inbound freight. This way, they can unload the trailer at their leisure.
After the drop/hook, I secured a secluded spot in the corner of their parking lot and called it a day. I set my PTA for tomorrow AM at 0700.
On Saturday, I was ready to roll at 0700 as promised. At 0900, I still had no PrePlan, so I called my home terminal (SLC). The DM du jour sent a message to the Planner in Phoenix. I repeated this process again at noon. I am really beginning to hate the new “centralized dispatch” system thast Swift adopted at the first of this year. My home terminal can no longer find a load for me, but has to go through the Planner in Phoenix. At 1700, the Planner offered me a load which picked up in the Phoenix terminal and delivered Monday AM in Richmond, CA. After some close scrutiny, I turned the load down on principle. This load had been sitting in the terminal in Phoenix since Thursday. Had the Planner offered me the load earlier in the day (like before noon), I would have accepted it, but since he/she saw fit to ’sit on’ this load for 10 hours before offering it to me, I turned it down. I had enough time to make the delivery if I wanted to, but if I had accepted it this late in the day I would have had to rush to make the delivery on time. I first would have to drive to the terminal in Phoenix, pick-up the paperwork, go into the ‘yard’, and try to find a parking spot for my empty, which on a weekend is quite a task. Then I would have had to locate my loaded trailer among all the vast acerage and trailers and general congestion. In all probability, I would have to move a trailer or two just to get to it. Then, I would have to go weigh the load since it was over 40,000lbs. Then, I would have to go back and fuel, then go re-weigh to make sure the load was legal after taking on the fuel. With all this rigmarole, it would have been 2100 before I was ready to leave Phoenix. Since I had already been up since 0700, I wouldn’t be able to drive very far before I got too tired to drive and had to stop. If I drove a full day on Sunday, I would still be short of my destination by about 150 miles. That means that I would have to get up in ‘the wee hours’ on Monday, fight my way through the Monday rush hour clear across the entire Bay Area to get to the customer. It just entailed way too much B.S. for my liking. Anyway, I digress. The bottom line is that I got no load today.
Today, Sunday, about noon, I recieved and accepted a PrePlan which picks up in Rio Rico (Nogales), AZ and delivers on Thursday in Forsyth, IL (170 miles empty and 1554 miles loaded). Much better!!!! As a bonus, I have been off for enough consecutive hours to re-start my 70-hour clock. Look out Land of Lincoln, here I come.

IMMIGRATION IDIOCY

June 14, 2006 on 1:08 am | In Rants | No Comments

All sovereign nations in the world have Immigration laws. The difference between the United States and the rest of the world is that the other nations enforce their laws and deal harshly with those who enter their country illegally, and America does not.
Many Americans have turned a ‘blind eye’ to illegal immigration for decades. Average citizens have become ‘numbed’ to the problem. They make the mistake of trusting their elected Representatives to solve the problem (big mistake). Meanwhile, they can’t go to a convenience store for gas and some sundries without encountering a language barrier and a surly attitude, in their own country.
Politicians in America are “the best that money can buy”. Unfortunately, I mean that literally, not facetiously. Republicans see cheap labor so that their “big business contributor” cronies can increase their profit margins. Democrats see “potential voters” and pander to the myriad illegal immigrant lobbyists so that they can increase their power base. Neither see the damage being done to the fabric of this country by illegal immigration, or if they do, they don’t care. These narcissistic ninnys only care about getting re-elected. They propose “eye wash”, feel-good legislation to dupe their constituents into thinking they care, get the “7-second sound bite on CNN”, then make sure that it is ‘tabled’ in Committee until after the next ‘election cycle’. Currently, Congress has two versions of an Immigration Bill, one in the Senate, and the other in the House of Representatives. Both are in the above mentioned “eye wash”, feel-good legislation catagory, written to pander to their individual constituancies. The proposed Senate Bill is basically “delayed amnesty”. This is the one favored by President Bush and Senator Kennedy. (Note: If you see President Bush and Senator Kennedy standing before the TV cameras in agreement on anything, you just have to assume that President Bush is wrong on that particular issue). The proposed House Bill is the exact opposite. It basically states that all 12 to 20 million illegals should be ’rounded up’ and deported. Neither Bill does anything to actually solve the problem. The awful truth is that they don’t want to deal with illegal immigration. If they do accidently pass a Bill regarding illegal immigration, they don’t fund it. The costs of these “unfunded mandates” are thereby passed on to the already over-burdened State and Local governments.
Hospital Emergency Rooms are closing because they are being inundated by illegal immigrants, and they can no longer afford to offer pro bono care. Public Schools are mandated to provide bi-lingual education. Despite what the pinheaded pundits would have you believe, a dis-proportionate number of illegals are recieving Welfare benefits. Yet, when some Americans do urge enforcement immigration laws, or enactment of new updated laws designed to secure our borders, they are branded as racists or xenophobes, with full complicity from the media, by pro-illegal activist groups.
With the number of illegal immigrants in the US now estimated at between 12 and 20 million, the question becomes what can be done.
The first thing we need to do is secure the borders. In the shadow of 9-11, security should be Job 1. In May, 2006, President Bush proposed that 6000 National Guard troops be stationed along the borders to supplement the Bordert Patrol. This is blatent bogus B___ S___ indicating that he really has no intention of securing the border. The actual number needed is at least 10 times that amount. They should also be given full Border Patrol powers to interdict illegals, turn them around, and send them back. Taking them to a Processing Center, giving them a date to appear for an Immigration Hearing, then releasing them is just idiocy. 99.999% will never show up for the Hearing. Catch & release is fine if you’re fishing. It is not however, sound Imigration policy. In addition, ’state of the art’ electronic surveillance should be installed along the border, and, where practical, a 3-stage wall should be built. (The wall installed near San Diego significantly reduced illegal border crossings in that area).
The second thing we need to do is identify those already here illegally. Illegals should be given 90 days to register with the INS, be fingerprinted, provide an actual address, and obtain a “tamper proof” Identification Card, which would be required for employment. Anyone with a criminal record (1 or more felony convictions, or 3 or more misdemeanor convictions) would not be allowed to remain. After the 90 day “grace” period, anyone caught without the ID card would automatically be deported. Those who comply with the above conditions and qualify should be given a “pathway to citizenship” by “jumping through a few more “hoops”. The first “hoop” would be to pay a fine of $2000.00 or perform 1000 hours of Community Service. This would indicate that they are serious about becoming a citizen. The second “hoop” would be to have a job, and remain employed for 5 years (not necessarily in the same job). A gap of 30 days between jobs would be acceptable with a maximum of 4 different jobs in the 5 year period. This would indicate that they are reasonably stable. The third and final “hoop” would be to learn English to at least a 5th grade level. This would indicate that they are trying to assimilate. After they have met the above criteria, they would be put at the back of the line for citizenship behind those from their particular country of origin who respected our laws and legally applied for citizenship.
The third thing we need to do is penalize those who employ illegals. Nothing would make me happier than seeing a few CEO’s of major corporations doing a “perp walk” on Fox News for knowingly hiring illegals. It would also significantly stem the flow of illegals into this country. A fine of $25,000.00 per illegal, per day they were employed would be appropriate. Multiple repeat offenders would face prosecution and Federal prison time, and not in one of the “Club Fed” facilities.
The forth and final thing we need to do is slap the Social Security Administration around until they get control of their own system. Because of identity theft, there are millions of duplicate Social Security numbers issued. The government doesn’t want to do this because it’s like ‘free money’ to them. If it doesn’t already exist, any “apprentice computer geek” could develop a program to find duplicate Social Security numbers, identify the person to whom it was originally issued (living or deceased), and create a list of people illegally using that same number to be turned in to the appropriate law enforcement agency for immediate action. Aside from the obvious [to people with functioning brain stems, not necessarily politicians] security threat, posed by the lack of control by the Social Security Administration, illegal immigrants obtain fraudulent Social Security cards and then use them to defraud the government (re: American taxpayers).
I’m sure that there are many more things we can do to secure our borders, and stop the illegal immigrant hemmorage, but this would certainly be a good start.

Life Day 21518: Oompah Encore

June 11, 2006 on 6:05 pm | In On The Road | No Comments

On the 7th, I began my day at 0600. I checked in with Recieving and was immediately given a door. Enroute to the dock area at the back of the building, I couldn’t resist taking this photo of a Roadrunner. Wile E Coyote was nowhere in sight. Probably at home waiting for his next delivery from “ACME”.

After delivering my load, I drove to the shipper in Tempe for the North Las Vegas load. It took a couple of hours to get loaded. I then drove to our terminal for fuel and an MMM walk. From there, I drove to Kingman where I stopped for lunch. About 1600 I drove on to NLV. I spent the night at the Flying J, which was about a mile away from the consignee.
On Thursday, I arrived at the customer a little before the appointed time of 0800. As I arrived, there was another Swift driver backing into a dock. I checked in with Recieving. I was told to just drop my trailer in place and go to their satellite location for my empty. When I left, the other Swift driver was still trying to back into his assigned dock. I arrived at the satellite location and found that there was only one empty Swift trailer. I hooked to it, then did my E-Call and updated my Driver Stats. As I was preparing to leave, the other Swift driver finally drove by looking for his empty. I guess he was disappointed. I then drove to the WWW to begin my much deserved and needed time off. After I arrived, I gathered the necessary paperwork to begin the process of obtaining the HAZMAT endorsement for my CDL. My license expires on my birthday next month and because of the new DOT requirements, and Homeland Security, I need to have a “background check” before I can get the endorsement. Part of this process was to go to a “quick care” medical facility to be fingerprinted, which I did. I just ‘vegged’ and ‘geeked’ for the rest of the day.
Today, I did more ‘vegging’ and ‘geeking’. After sunset, I decided to re-visit the Hofbrauhaus for dinner. I had Schnitzel Weinerart which is a huge breaded pork cutlet. It came with Bavarian Potato Salad and a miniscule portion of Cranberry Sauce. I also ordered a side of Mashed Potatoes and a side of Saurkraut, which I prompty mixed together with lots of butter. It was yummy as usual. When I was done, I returned to the WWW and went to bed.
On Saturday, surprisingly, I did yet more ‘vegging’ and ‘geeking’. Again, I waited until after sunset before I ventured out. For dinner tonight, I went to Bootleggers Bistro. You would never guess by it’s name that it is one of the best Italian restaurants in Las Vegas. I had Minestrone Soup and Chicken Fettucine Alfredo. It was ‘top notch’. I can’t say as much for the entertainment. If you combine all of the bad stereotypes of Las Vegas Lounge Acts, you have Frankie Bells’ Round-up Show. I’ll definitely return, but i’ll make a conscious effort to time my visit to avoid this floor show. To be fair, I cannot pass judgement on any of the entertainers who perform on other nights of the week. I’ll have to check them out and render an opinion later.

Life Day 21513: 666 Salutations

June 6, 2006 on 10:49 pm | In On The Road | No Comments

On Thursday, June 1st, with a renewed 70 hours, I accepted a load which picked up in Cheverly, MD (Washington, DC) and delivered in Mary’s Landing, NJ. It was only 149 paid miles, but there was an empty trailer available at the truckstop where I spent the last 2 days, so at least I didn’t have to chase one down. I did the drop/hook pick-up and drove back to the TA one last time to weigh the load (it weighed 45391# according to the Bill of Lading). The weight was good, so at 1130, I departed for NJ. E-Z Pass got me through all of the toll booths with no ‘out of pocket’ expense. I arrived at 1415. It took over 2 hours to unload. By this time it was 1700 (1900 local time). There was no more freight available, so I drove to a miniscule truckstop about 10 miles away in Buena, NJ where I parked for the night. The only restaurant within the immediate environs was the aptly named Buena Tavern. It was directly across the street from the truckstop. The food was edible, but expensive. I had Veal Parmesan. It cost a bit over $20.00 with tip. At least it was conveniently located. After dinner, I ‘geeked’ on the computer and watched Mother Nature’s “light show” until 2030, then went to bed. I don’t know what it is about rain, but I slept the sleep of the dead until just after sunrise. Maybe the sound of the rain hypnotizes me into REM 3 sleep mode.
In the AM, I accepted a load which picked up in New Brunswick, NJ and delivered in Tolleson, AZ. A good load, over 2600 miles. I left Buena at 0600 and drove to Paulsboro, NJ for fuel and a bite to eat. I then drove to the shipper in New Brunswick. It took over 4 hours to load (GEEEEEZE). At 1500, I finally left and drove to Carlisle, PA where I stopped for the night. This is a HAZMAT load, so i’ll need to watch my P’s and Q’s (watch for restricted routes, do a tire check every 2 hours, etc). These days HAZMAT loads recieve increased scrutiny from the DOT. I only managed to drive 302 miles even though I logged 10.75 hours.
Today, I finally began to cover some territory. This route for this load is almost identical to the route to Washington, DC earlier. I decided for no particular reason to use Swift routing on the way back across country. I left Carlisle at 0930 and drove to Valley Grove (Wheeling), WV. I took a 1 hour break here, then drove to our terminal in Columbus, OH for fuel and another break. There is a place here for the MMM to exercise untethered. At 1730, I drove to Brazil, IN where I stopped for the night. I drove 583 miles. Not bad considering I drove through Ohio, which is a Neo-facist Nanny State (55 mph speed limit for trucks).
On the 4th, I left Brazil at 0900. I drove across Illinois (another Neo-facist Nanny State). I made a short stop in East St. Louis, IL to deliniate the Speed limit change. From here on i’ll have 65+ mph speed limits. At 1315, I drove to Kansas City, MO. I stopped here for fuel. It starts getting more expensive the farther west I go from here. At 1830, I drove to Newton, KS where I stopped for the night at Newell Truck Plaza. There is a good restaurant here called Charlie’s Restaurant. It is one of a dwindling number of GOOD locally owned truckstops remaining. I drove 618 miles.
I started driving today at 1100 after a relaxing morning. As I was walking the MMM before I left, I passed by the Fuel Desk. The ‘girls’ there loved dogs, so the MMM got invited into the building for a visit. They enjoyed the unexpected attention. After that, I drove to Texoma (oddly enough located on the border between Texas and Oklahoma on US-54). Along the route, I took the picture below, which clearly illustrates the reason I avoid 2 lane highways as a general rule.

This picture was taken on US-54 in Kansas, somewhere between Wichita and Pratt.
From Texoma, I drove to Albuquerque, NM where I stopped for the night.
On 6/6/6 I left Albuquerque at 1000 (you thought I would leave at 06:06:06 didn’t you). I drove to Winslow, AZ where I took a 1/2 hour break. I passed the junction with former US-666 (now US-491) as I drove through Gallup, NM. At 1500, I left Winslow and drove to Phoenix. At our terminal, I swapped this load for another with an earlier delivery time. This load didn’t deliver until 1100 on the 8th. There was a dust storm in progress when I arrived.

I recieved a load which delivered at 0600 tomorrow AM in Tolleson. I also accepted a Pre-Plan which picked up in Tempe, AZ and delivered in North Las Vegas.
After this I had dinner at the Jake Brake Cafe in the driver’s lounge.

After dinner, I drove to the consignee, parked on the street, and went to bed.