It's here again

Quick diesel stop in Perth Andover NB

Shopping time at Wal Mart Newport ME

This was on the I90 NY State the other day. The truck in front was from Ontario and as it got worse it was only him and me in the outside lane overtaking.

Crossing the border at Lacolle QC Saturday morning. Just a quick visit to Canada, as i dropped my trl in our terminal at St Laurent, picked up a loaded one and headed back down the States. Them wheels en't turning I en't earning

Morning rush hour heading for Boston

Okay who watched "Boston Legal"? This is the bridge they show in the beginning credits to that great show. Never thought one day I'd be driving a truck over it.

When you come off the bridge it's down to the centre of the earth as you drive underneath the great City of Boston

Boston and Halifax(where i live) have such great ties. When there was the Great Explosion in Halifax, Boston was the first City to send food, workers and materials to help rebuild our City. Now each year we send them a Christmas Tree for the City Square



Part 2

Well Wednesday morning rolls round and saddo here (thought i'd say it before any of you did) got up early to wash the truck before turning in for the safety meeting which resulted me turning up 15 mins late(had to wash her properly). John(head of safety department) had arranged for 2 DOT guys to come in for a Q and A session and to show how they do a level 1 inspection. Well John had got the 1 st person who turned up to hook up to a trl with his truck so they could do sed inspection. Oh boy what a f**k up, the guy had'nt taken enough time off the previous night, his rear brakes where out of adjustment, air leak and play on the 5th wheel (someone has'nt been doing there pre trip properly). He was meant to be heading out after the meeting insted he had to put his truck in the shop and sit on his hands for a couple of days. Anyway the meeting was all over by 130 (did'nt tell you we get paid for turning up to these meetings) so I headed up to dispatch to see what they'd got for me. I should of slowed down and let someone else go up first cus as soon as I walked in Penny looks up at me and gives me a big smile and says" Buster just the person we need". Ron then gets up and walks across with a smile on his face, I knew then I should have made a run for it. "We're in trouble with a load can you help us out". My own bloody fault, should of asked what it was before saying yes. I'd just landed myself with a second load of trees. Each year a driver is expected to do one load of trees only. Now our usual work is just one delivery, if the load includes more we get paid extra for each delivery, Christmas trees is an extra $20 on top of the usual pay. Now this was my second load so Ron told me i get $100 on top. Result, that took the pain away. Now this load had 6 deliveries on, starting in Stoney Point NY and finishing in Virginia Beach VA. Right mixed bag of places to go to, 2 Fire Halls (fire stations), 3 garden centres and a church. Friday morning saw me backing into the small parking lot at the back of the Fire Station, the guys had'nt turned up so I made a start on the unloading. Thats where the pics were taken, the trees had'nt fallen out, i'd thrown them out. Firat 70 trees were delivered and i was off to my second Fire Hall in Merrick, which is on Long Island NY. Plenty of people on hand to unload and I was soon on my way to Raritan NJ. The place was easy enough to find, the only problem was was his gateway. G's with taking all the road up outside she only just got in there with inches to spare each side. Turning round inside involved a couple of shunts but not to bad. When the trl was loaded they must of counted them wrong as the guy ended up with 3 extra trees, which because i said he must of counted them wrong resulted in a $20 tip. Getting out was just as tight but was managed without incedent.  My next del was in Poquoson VA, I was'nt going to make it that night so just drove my time out, ended up south of Washington DC. Was going to call in for tea with the old President but did'nt think they'd appreciatte me parking on the Whitehouse lawn (bloody snobs). That first delivery Sat morning was one of the easiest I'd made, next was the Church in Chesapeake VA. Now this was the best part of the journey. Anyone driven Germany up to Sweden? Well they have the same system of getting over and under the water. You drive over a low bridge first and you see these ships crossing in front of you, next it's down we go into the tunnel under the sea. Anyway only had to del 30 trees here but they were all 12 footers and boy are they heavy. Some folks must have some lge houses for these beauties. Out of there and onto my final delivery, 200 for this one. Found the place and saw the tree lot at the side of the store, so swung across the main road and backed in. Mistake should have done it the easy way and walk in as they want them in the yard at the back. Wow easy, bloody great yard to turn round in. So trees off and trl swept out and onto my reload. I'd been sent the pre plan earlier, reload Aberdeen MD, which was ready Monday morning. Early shower, supper and reset my hours Sunday, or so i thought. I was just parking up at a TA in Baltimore(only 30 mins away from Aberdeen) when the satellite went off " pls ring me asap, Penny". I knew then my plans were going to go out the window and sure enough they did. They'd had another truck doing trees around Long Island and he'd ripped the roof off the trl. Thats the trouble with the area around NYC so many height restrictions and if you don't know the area you can soon be in trouble. Anyway he was meant to be picking a load up from Hazleton PA and delivering the first drop at 3am Monday morning "can I do it". Bit p'd off but I said I would. Now I'll skip over the next day as to do Hazleton PA to St John legally in a day is questionable, so mum's the word. Oh god I love my log book. The load had 3 drops on, St John NB, Fredericton NB and PEI. Ka ching, ka ching just listen to them dollars mounting up. Done at PEI and it was take the mt to our yard in Moncton, pick a loaded on up and head for Nth Sydney. Now i was planning on having the following weekend off, but by the time i got back into Halifax on the Tuesday morning my hours were 'cooked'. "No worries" Ron said," take Wednesday off and I'll keep you busy Thursday and Friday local so you can be home". Any other trucking company would have said 'tough, reset Wednesday then Thursday get back down the road'. Tell you I really landed on my feet when I got this job at Clarke, there one hell of a firm, so remind me of Draycotes. They know how to look after their drivers. In fact they have just been named as one of only two companies in the Atlantic Provinces to be named " Employer of Choice". This designation means they have met or exceeded the trucking Industries best practices, one of them being driver retention. No surprise there for me cus they treat you as a person and not a commodity.
Now it's Jan 15th and I'm sat reseting my hours in Bloombury NJ. I'll try and fill you in with work since the begining of the month later. Am going to make the most of the time now catching up on my emailing. You stay safe and I'll catch you soon. Thanks for reading my ramberlings.

Chrimbo Trees

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL



Okay lets go back a little while. Are you sitting comfortably, then i'll begin. It all started on the Monday, I remember it well as it was the day after Sunday. I rang in about 8 and was told to come in. When I arrived at the yard my friend Jozsef had just arrived. We were both told to bob tail to Bridgewater and pick up our trls full of those loverly Christmas trees. I ended up with 4 deliveries in Connecticut (not tooo bad). Now the thing is with delivering these trees, en't the unloading(handball everyone), it's the fact your taking a Highway truck where even a city truck would'nt go. So that night was spent looking at Google earth, so I could at least know what to expect when I arrived at each delivery. Now my 4 dels were garden centres(of sorts), the 2nd one was in a back water town selling animal feed and all sorts(s**t hole place actually). "You'll have to go down the road to turn round" he said. " I need you to back into my parking lot" (fit all of 4 cars and a bike in it) " plenty of room for you to turn round down the road" What a prat, I belived him. There was just anough room for Del Boy to turn his Reliant round in. Ahh well couple of shunts and it was done. When you deliver trees they always want them where the people can see them, which sometimes en't the best place for my truck to be. Take the last del, bloody great Garden Centre, big parking lot, big goods in area, where did they want them? In a small parking lot in front of a dog grooming place. High kerbs, fire hydrants and cars. No got to admit love a challenge, to get 72 foot of tractor and trailer in some of these places and coming out un scathed, is quit rewardind in it self. Now this was the Wednesday I was doing these dels, now Penny in Dispatch told me my reload was from Tottawa, New Jersey and I had to be there before 4. Whats the problem with that I hear you say. Well the following day was Thanks Giving in the States, and if I did'nt get loaded that night I'd be stuffed till the following Monday, as they took a long weekend. Well I think everyone had headed out of New York on the Tuesday as the GW bridge was moving pretty good, which was a relief, and I made it to Totowa just before 4. The load was heading for Ajax, ON so it was a pretty straight forward run up to there. Delivered that on the Thursday morning, picked another load up from Concord bound for Dartmouth. Sorted, I was going to be home Friday night, take Sat and Sun off and head back down the road Monday. Well it sort of went like that. Through October and November they have a Winter Safety meeting most Wednesdays, keep you up to date with any changes, tests and all that B' s**t. It just to show the DOT that the drivers are kept up to date on training etc (like I said B' s**t). Well I'd managed to avoid going to one and the following Wednesday was the last one of the year. I did'nt drop my p'work in on the Friday night so I popped round and dropped it in on the Saturday morning. Ron (head of Dispatch) was in so I asked him if I really needed to go. "Yes" was the reply "but don't worry i'll keep you busy on local work Monday and Tuesday" he said. He's good like that, the local miles soon add up and anything round the City is paid by the hour so I've never lost out. 2 days resulted in 860 miles and 7 hrs pay, which en't bad.

Going for a smoke catch you with part 2 in a bit