August 17, 2008

I have been told that it would be a neat idea to blog my adventures driving an 18 wheeler. Well I guess this is the start of something like that. First let me say that I am not sure what I need to do to blog. So this will be a journal of sorts.
After getting my CDL license, which was no easy task, I decided to go with Werner Enterprises. I was amazed that I had pre hire letters from all 10 of the companies that I applied with. There was one company that did not give me a pre hire letter because they had no openings in this area.
Today I had to travel by bus to Atlanta. I will start my orientation tomorrow at 7:00 AM. The bus trip took 4 hours. It was not the most pleasant form of travel. But since I will be bringing a truck home, when I get a few days off, I could not take my own car down there.
Mack Amick rode his bike down to the bus station to see me off and give me a gift of a do-nut cushion. He told me that it would be very useful on those long trips. As he left, Dee hollered, I’ll see you Wed. That is the day we normally meet Patty and him at the Carriage house to enjoy some wine. I told Dee that she could at least wait till I was gone before she made a date. Hum, she was not amused.
When I arrived at Atlanta, I had to wait 1 hour for my ride to the motel. I hope that is not a sign of things to come.
Well that is my first day on what will surly be a great adventure.







8/18/08
Monday

I’m too tired to think. This will be real short. I’ve been up 17 ½ hrs. Most of it at Werner School. I can not believe the amount of paper work they want just to let you drive for them. I have got to get to bed before I fall on my face.

8/19/08
Tuesday

Well today was the last day of orientation and they must have liked what I put on all the paper work. I have a Werner ID badge now and hopefully I’ll meet a driver trainer tomorrow and start what I consider a new chapter in my life.
It was another long day but not as bad as yesterday. If they all are like this I am not sure how long my old body can keep the pace.
I sure wish Dee could be with me on the road. It would be impossible while I have to drive with a trainer but after that she could. I’m sure we will work something out.

8/20/08
Wednesday

Hum! I think this is a lot like the military. The saying you learned there of “hurry up and wait” is very appropriate for what we are doing now. I am told there are over 3000 Driver Trainers that work for Werner. A very small percentage of them have gotten in contact with a student from my class of 48, to start there driver training. I think we have to log 360 hours with a trainer before they will let us terrorize the traveling public. That could equate to 6 to 8 weeks.
Boy, will I get skinny in that length of time. I am referring of course to the feeble amount of denaro I’ll receive in this time period. The doctor wanted me to lose weight but I’m not sure starving was what he had in mind. Well, I think I’ll take a siesta while I wait for my phone call.

8/21/08
Thursday
Guess what, no phone call yesterday or today. Surprise, surprise! If you recall, I stated on the first day that I hope the wait I had at the bus station was not a sign of things to come. Well it looks like I must have had a premination. A lot of the guys in my class are on the road now or have at least heard from their driver trainer. I’ll bet you can’t guess who hasn’t. If I don’t get one by noon tomorrow I’m in a little predicament. The front office of the motel told me today that I only have tonight left. I may be entering an unexpected side rode in my adventures on the road. This journal may have entries from a park bench somewhere in Atlanta. Wouldn’t that be a kick in the head! I hope the pigeons don’t poop on my laptop. Maybe they will share some crumbs with me. Time to leave you hanging, and see what the rest of the day will bring.

8/22/08
Friday

The rest of yesterday was uneventful. So today started off with a bang. At the 7:00 AM meeting I learned that I would have a driver trainer call me today. YEA! Well at 9:00 I called to find where he was and was told that he would not be coming because there was some paper work that I had not signed. Hope went to despair. I hurried over to the terminal and had the paper faxed to me. I signed it and faxed it back. Maybe all is not lost. Within the hour I heard from another Driver Trainer. We got our wires crossed and I sat at the motel for 4 hours before I went back to the terminal to meet him. He is an owner operator and has his own tractor. We are sitting in Rome Ga. Now while we are being loaded so we can go to Columbus Oh. The journey has begun!

8/23/08
Saturday

My driver trainer is a Philippine by the name of Ted. Since I have not been trained on a straight drive truck, he drove to get our first load from Rome Ga. We were loaded and left about 7:30PM. He drove to a truck stop close to Chattanooga Tenn. There we refueled and spent the night. Let me qualify that. That is where I spent the night in the upper birth of the sleeper cab. What a lovely experience! If you have ever put a pad on the top of the washing machine and set the cycle to spin, climbed on and tried to sleep, you will know what I’m talking about. The comparison does not really do the idling truck justice, because the washing machine will eventually stop.
At 5:30AM the old bladder told me that it could take no more. We went down the hill to the store that had adequate facilities and did our business.
Well, time for me to drive. After grinding through the gears we were on the way to Columbus Ohio. With one pit stop we made it to our destination. After we were unloaded, we discovered a major problem. The air drier on the tractor was leaking badly. So what you say. Well let me explain to all you non-truckers out there. With out adequate air pressure a most annoying alarm goes off. Oh yes, there is also the problem that without enough air pressure your breaks will lock and you aren’t going anywhere. The breaks don’t care where you are either. You could be going 64, our governed speed, down an interstate, and they say STOP and you stop! This takes place through no action on your part, of course. Well, we uncoupled the trailer and left it at the unload spot. We then bobtailed to a local Freightliner center for repairs. So I am now stuck in a motel at company expense till at least Monday. All in all, a very interesting first day.

8/24/08
Sunday

Except for a couple of walking jaunts to Wal-Mart and Perkins for nourishment, I spent the day in the motel. I sure hope the truck is ready tomorrow so we can get back “on the road again.” The journey is temporarily adjourned.