Into L.A. and out again

29 August 2014

Gooood morning Grapevine!

         

   Day 3 of the tour and we were able to get a  much better night's sleep, even used the alarm to wake us up. Eating on the road can be a bit of a challenge, as I mentioned in my previous post. It's easy to see how fast food becomes enemy #1. Some drivers have a microwave and or mini fridge type system in their trucks. Not all trucks have room for those items and some of the trucking companies don't allow them, thus making it difficult to eat healthy on the road. We've been doing pretty good so far, and let me tell ya I didn't think I'd be eating pb& j anytime soon after I spent nearly my first 2 months in Korea eating them, but here I am having pb&j almost once a day and I don't even mind.

     Today we spent finishing up our first delivery of hazmat goods and then on to a warehouse in Ontario to pick up some sort of snack food items. I still haven't gotten out of the truck to get on the dock to watch them load and this second load was no different because we did what is known as a drop and hook. This is when the driver has an empty trailer that they drop off at the warehouse and pick up a trailer that has already been loaded. As long as the pre-loaded trailer is ready, then this is by far the best situation for the drivers so they don't end up waiting around for their trailer to be unloaded. The unload process can last upwards of 4 hours. This wouldn't be so bad if the driver didn't have another load to pick up elsewhere and had a deadline for both pick-up and delivery of the next load or they (the driver and trucking company) were making money for the truck and driver to be sitting idle at a warehouse.

Our first delivery of the tour. Not all companies have nice big delivery docks for the drivers to get into. This one left us taking up most of the side street, upsetting some people who were trying to get by as we backed into the dock. Trust me, the drivers don't like having to do that to people just as much as we feel inconvenienced by it. Luckily we were there for about 4 minutes. Scout keeps asking me if I could back this into the places he does, my response: Of course I can... in MY car! lol

            You see, if the truck isn't moving, then no one makes money. Guidelines for drivers is that they are essentially on the clock for 14 hours and off for 10. They can drive for a maximum of 11 hours a day and at 8 hours they must take a 30 minute break. In today's trucking world using the automated log books has all but done away with drivers being able to use multiple books so that they can get around these guidelines. Drivers have to play the game of when they need to take their 10 hour break, and the amount of time it will take them to deliver their current load and get to the next customer for pick up and the delivery time of that load. It is a balancing act to say the least. I honestly had no idea just how much goes into this job, it has been quite an experience thus far.

Six Flags Great America at sunrise

            Our route today has us going through Pasadena and over the Grapevine twice. I got to see Six Flags just as the sun was coming up and again later in the afternoon. I tried to get Scout to drop me off in the morning and told him I'd be waiting on the side of the road for him to pick me up later in the afternoon. He didn't quite go for that. Darn it! It's fun getting out of the desert and seeing some of the sights like where the A's play, the Honda Center home of the Clippers, amusement and water parks that I can' only longingly wish to be at. I know that tomorrow we'll be headed back through the farmlands once again.

And here is the shower in all of its glory!

            We FINALLY got showers today. YAY!!!! The trucking companies have fuel contracts with the truck stop fuel stations like TA, Pilot, Love's, etc. When the drivers buy fuel they earn points which can then be used to buy showers. Some places charge up to $15 for a shower so it is much better for us to go to the Pilot to use their showers and not have to pay. Since I'm not really doing any work, not having a shower every day hasn't been too awful, I still manage to clean up every morning though, don't worry! The shower rooms were surprisingly well kept and they provide towels and washcloths so it is nice that we don't need to carry our own.

     It looks like tomorrow we'll deliver just south of Sacramento and then head over to Hollister for a produce load to take back down to the Colton area for Wally World. Another fun day! I'm feeling sorry for Scout as he has to listen to me yammer on and play 20 questions. I am sure that by tomorrow he'll be wishing I'd have stayed home! haha  But seriously, he's been wonderful and teaching me a lot.

Going through a weigh station. In Oregon they show you how much your truck weighs but not in California which is an annoyance to the drivers. If your truck meets the weight requirements and visual inspection then you get the green light to keep going, if not then you are red lighted and must pull over and deal with the transportation department. This could be anything from the load being uneven distribution causing the load to be overweight on different parts of the axle and can usually be fixed without being ticketed or the entire load can be overweight and the driver is the one ticketed and responsible for paying the fee.