DJ Brian's Trucking Journal
Journal Entries Nov2002-Mar2003 Apr2003 May2003 June2003 July2003 August/Sept2003
October 2003
November2003
thru April2004 Current
April2003
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April 01, 2003-April Fools...We got unloaded early this morning in Zanesville, Ohio and was assigned a new load right away. We headed to Cleveland to pick up the load and apparently I turned off an exit too early and ended up in this small town that had streets that must have been designed way back in the horse and buggy days before cars...say nothing about a truck with a 53 foot trailer. It had singles lanes with traffic poles right on the each of the corner so I had to swing into the other lane of traffic each time I turned. After 1/2 hour we finally got where we needed to be. I was craving a cigarette but that soon passed ( I rarely smoke, maybe 20 cigarettes per year). We picked up our load and headed for our destination...Denton, Texas.
April 02, 2003 2A.M.- We arrived in St. Louis about 2am and here's my feeble
attempt to take a picture of the St. Louis Arch at night traveling at a
bumpy 60 mph.
Oh my goodness, we pulled into
this truck stop on the west side of town. I went in to get my
soda and snacks...I heard the bell from the store door ring and turned
around and there stood the hottest guy. I made every effort to
look his way the entire time I was in the store and then I heard
"7.36". It was the clerk telling me to pay. Afterwards, I
went out to the truck and got in and shortly afterwards, this guy came
walking out and at first was going to walk behind our truck but then
changed course and walked in front of our truck. As he did we
made a very good eye contact as I sat in the passenger seat of our
truck. Damn. I wanted to jump out but I am still with my
trainer. I looked to the seat next to me in the truck and there
sat my 400 pound trainer playing 'air guitar' to a Steven Ray Vaughn
cd. Why me? As he walked passed our truck, he headed to the
trucks parked in the back lot although I could not tell which one he
climbed into. I need to make a point that there are a lot of
tacky looking truck drivers that would make Jerry Springer happy
but several times a day I do see drivers that make my jaw drop...woof!!
April 02, 2003-Its the afternoon now and we made it to Texas early enough to get unloaded today. One thing I want to say is that I really enjoy trucking so far and each day feels like vacation. I enjoy driving down the road and seeing the gently rolling hills of farms and trees or the cityscapes of each metropolitan area we pass through. As we traveled from Ohio to Texas I could see where it was still winter to where spring had already sprung. During this Ohio to Texas trip I could see that spring is right around the upper Oklahoma area as the trees south of that already had started budding leaves. Trucking is not just a job but is a lifestyle...you live it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Sometimes we have to wait many hours to get a load or get unloaded but thats ok because the truck is actually like home. If we have to wait for any length of time, we sit in our truck watching tv, peoplewatching, listening to music, doing computer stuff, housecleaning etc just like I would do at home..except it just a smaller area..so the waiting isnt as bad as it sounds. When I get my own truck I will be installing satellite tv so I can get all the Discovery channels that I like to watch. Well its about 4pm, we're empty and we're heading over to the TA for dinner and then I'm going to go to bed early...g'nite.
April 04, 2003- Thursday afternoon we got a load confirmation over the satellite to be picked up in Laredo, TX and deliver it to the border of Montana and Canada, a little over a 2,000 mile trip. So we took off from Denton and deadheaded (traveling empty) to Laredo. As we made our way down south, we got stuck in a long traffic jam in Temple, TX. After some time of crawling at a rate of 2 mph, I heard some girls in an SUV next to me making all sorts of noise so I looked down and they were motioning me to honk my horn.. They looked like goodlooking college girls but it didnt do a thing for me but I obliged anyway, smiled and sounded my air horn....too bad it wasnt as SUV full of shirtless hot guys. I turned on the cb radio and it sounded like they were making quite a stir with the other truck drivers in traffic. Who knows what they were doing down the road... I can only guess. We finally made it to Laredo around 11pm and dropped our empty trailer and picked up a trailer that came from Mexico. Shortly after coupling up the new trailer, I hit the bunk for some sleep while my trainer took over driving. In order to make the delivery on time, we will have to keep the truck running nearly round the clock so we are taking turns sleeping and driving. The thing that is surprising me the most during this trip is that we are not taking the major Interstate highways but rather small country roads for a large portion of the trip. When I woke up this morning we were in Painted Rock, TX... I'd never heard of this place before and I'm sure you haven't either. It had a population of 300 people and looked like another Mayberry town. The only thing missing is Sheriff Andy and Barney. As we made our way toward Lubbock, the landscape changed to tilled land for as far as the eye could see and here I am at the Rip Griffins Truck stop in Lubbock doing laundry. After I did my laundry we met up with a former student of my trainer and we ended up at his house way out in the boonies for a barbeque. At first I really didnt want to go but glad I did. He has a mobile home west of Lubbock and sits on 6 acres with 2 dogs, one car and an egg-laying chicken. It was quite amusing to watch the dogs interact with the chicken because the chicken would get mad, ruffle its feathers and chase the dogs around. For dinner, we had delicious barbeque ribs and steaks and I was stuffed. We left back to the truckstop after being there for almost 9 hours.
April 06, 2003- We arrived in Great Falls, Montana around 5am and swapped
our load with another driver ( alright get your mind outta the gutter )
by swapping loads I mean we switched trailers since out tractor is too
long to travel into Canada, the new driver has a smaller steer axle to
drive axle length on his tractor. Our new load is going to Missoula so
we headed west on route 200. As dawn slowly appeared, we were on
the east side of Helena National Forest. The east side is
treeless and as the light of dawn increased in the east, the snow took
on a florescent blue glow against the partially dark sky. I had
to stop for a 'nature break' but unfortunately I did not take a picture
of the landscape. We continued up this winding mountain road and
I had to constantly keep an eye on my trailer so it did not cross the
double yellow line and we turned through curves. As we reached
the top, the trees rapidly grew in number and we ( actually ' I ' since
my trainer was asleep) could also see some quaint little ranch
houses. It was a beautiful drive and as I continued down the west
side I kinda felt like a senior citizen on retirement driving a
winnebago through a park. It was very relaxing.
. We made it to Missoula and unloaded at some paper
factory that had all kinds of smoke stacks billowing huge clouds of
steam. I had to drive though the plant property and there were
tanks and pipes going every which way. Today we got the message
over the satellite that I have reached my required hours with a trainer
and we were assigned a load heading to Omaha. WooHOO....I'm ready
to go solo.
April 08, 2003- Brrrrrr....its cold. We're headed east on Interstate 80 in
Nebraska and they recently had snow
. I finished today driving into Omaha and taking my
final road test with my trainer and past. He dropped me off at
the hotel and I'm finally on my own. Took a shower and hit the
bed...a real bed for the first time in over a month.
April 09, 2003- I went to the terminal this morning and completed a few computer test and got my paperwork down. I am officially a truck driver. I checked with Driver Relations and they are setting me up with my own truck. I have to call back at noon tomorrow to see if a truck is available yet.
April 12, 2003- Yippee, I finally been issued my own truck and now I'm a
solo truck driver. I was hoping for a smaller truck though like a
Freightliner Century but got a Freightliner Classic XL...you
know....the one that needs 40 acres to turn. I guess thats ok
though cuz its the same one I trained with during my time with a
trainer. the one thing I do like about it is that it looks like a
Peterbilt. It has the long hood in front with a big grill that
will swallow up any import car that gets in my way...just
kidding. It's Saturday afternoon and I'm just parked at the Omaha
terminal waiting for a load now. It'll probably be Monday morning
before I get a load though..at least thats what I think. Right
now I'm just typing away at my laptop computer sitting on top of my
pull-out desk inside my truck and listening to music and making
occasional phone calls to friends. Also I got a new CB installed
last night too. I decided not to use the one at home cuz this one
has more functions.
Here's a picture of the inside
of my cab. I took this sitting on my bed facing forward. You can
see my laptop in the lower left hand corner.
April 20, 2003- Well I havent been keeping up with my journal as I would
like since I've been real busy. I started out in Omaha..went to
Indiana..then to Georgia and now I'm back in Dallas. the time I was
Indiana was pure hell because I was at this one warehouse and I couldnt
back the truck up in this slot if my life depended on it. It was
another "I need a cigarette" moment...and I dont smoke. Things
greatly improved once I left that company.. I hope I never have to go
there again. Heading down to Atlanta I passed over the Tennessee River
and took this picture of 2 fisherman on the river
and here's the other side of the bridge
I also finally got a picture
of the truck that I personally drive and that is located on the top of
this page. I think the prettiest Interstate I have been on so far
has been I-20 going through Mississippi and Alabama. 
.This brings me up to
date as I am stuck in
dallas right now. And I do mean "stuck" cuz as I went through our
company's safety lane here at the Dallas terminal, they 'red-tagged' my
tractor so I have to wait to get new tires put on..but then I'm free to
go.
April 22, 2003- Severe Storm and Tornado Warnings tonight... My truck is still in the shop here in Dallas since they need to order a part and so they put me up in a motel for the evening. One of the things they are fixing is the door lock on the driver side door. A funny thing happened the other day as I was driving into Texas..well, it wasn't funny at the time though...but I had to pee really bad and so I pulled into a Rest Area. I stopped the truck and tried to get out but my door wouldn't unlock...meanwhile, I'm grinding my teeth trying to hold it and get the door open...finally I got it opened and ran to the Men's room....Whew..I barely made it. Well back to tonight's journal entry, one thing I've learned about trucking is you really have to watch the weather for the whole country because I could be sent to any part at any given notice. I'm watching the Weather Channel right now and there is a cold front coming in from the west coast warm moist air coming up from the Gulf and they are meeting right here in Texas. An area just west of me is in all red on the weather map and they are forecasting possible tornadoes for that area. I guess I better sleep light tonight in case I have to run for shelter.
April 23, 2003- The part that the shop needed for my truck still hasn't
come in yet so its another night in the motel for me again. I
called my dispatcher and he said that this was getting ridiculous about
how long I have had to wait so he said he was going to try and get a
new truck for me. Although I'mm not running a load right now I still
get layover pay for each night. Its not alot but better than
nothing..and not bad at all for just sitting around watching tv all
day. Tonight we are under a Tornado watch again and the main part
of the storm the weathermen are referring to will hit this area between
6 and 10pm tonight. Each local tv channel I tune to has "tornado
watch in effect" written in the corner of the screen. I guess its
a good thing I'm in a motel tonight. Here I am 
in my motel room , slurping on a soda, watching tv and
the weather report
.
April 24, 2003- My truck is finally out of the shop and my first assigned load is almost a waste of time. I have to head north of Dallas to pick up an empty trailer and take it 27 miles. I got to the place but it wasn't empty yet and was told to come back at midnight so I headed off to the closest truck stop to eat and sleep for a few hours. I'm predicting a long night.
April 25, 2003- Geez, today was sure a long day. After picking up the empty trailer in Denton Texas at midnight, I took it over to Grapevine,TX and dropped it off at a business around 1:00am, then drove bobtail (without a trailer) to a grocery store parking lot to sleep but around 2:00am I got assigned another load for 8:00am in the morning so I drove bobtail again over to the next business and parked in front and slept. Got up at 7:30am and hooked up to the new trailer and headed off. Today I'm back on Interstate 20 heading east. By law, I can only drive 10 hours a day and due to my driving early this morning I only have 8 1/2 hours left so that got me to Jackson, Mississippi and I stopped at Petro truck stop to eat and take a shower. Usually Petro has really good food but this one had terrible food. After dinner I went back to my truck, watched an episode of Wheel of Fortune and a movie and went to sleep.
April 26, 2003- Up at 4am. I need to take my trailer to a drop
yard in Jacksonville, Florida by 7pm. Today I was cutting it
close because it will take me almost 10 hours to get to
Jacksonville. From I-20 in Jackson MS, I took US49 to
Hattiesburg, US98 to Mobile, AL and picked up Interstate 10 there but I
took a wrong turn getting on I-10. I wasted 1/2 hour of my
driving time looking for a place to turn around. Unfortunately,
when your pulling a 53 foot trailer you can't just pull into a Taco
Bell parking lot to turn around so its a challenge when you get
lost. Anyway, got back on track and made it to I-10 and through
Mobile. Here's a picture of a bridge just outside of Mobile.
. Being an Arizona boy, I
always get excited every time I see water. Spent the night at the drop
yard in Jacksonville.
April 27, 2003- As soon as I woke up at 6am, I got assigned a new load and fortunately I was to pick it up at the drop yard I was already at. I found my trailer and headed for a truck stop in Kissimmee, FL to spend the night. I pulled in to the Trucker's Paradise (thats its real name) and realized it was no paradise. Its may have been back when Ponce De Leon first explored Florida but not anytime recently but hey, beggars can't be choosey. I paid my $8 parking fee, $7 shower fee and did some laundry at 1.75 per wash but I needed it ( normally showers don't cost me anything because of where I fuel up). It was still quite early in the day and I was debating whether I should walk over to "Gator World" just down the street but decided to eat at the trucker cafe instead. I walked in and I was the only person there with all my teeth and no tattoos. The walls were painted a aqua green with forest green trim, the floor a dark green marble vinyl flooring. I ate and went back to me truck and watched 5 episodes of Frontier House on PBS. I'm starting to feel the loneliness too since I've started driving solo. I'm without any other human contact for more than 23 hours a day. I'm missing the bars and being around other gay people but I guess I'll get used to it. My favorite sing-along song came on the radio yesterday which is Gloria Gaynor's 'I will Survive'...I sit in my truck singing along with the song like some big ol' black drag queen so its a good thing I'm alone when I hear it.
April 28, 2003- I missed taking a picture in my moment of glory this morning. My first stop was at a construction site and when I started to leave, I got the truck stuck in deep wet sand and so they had to push and pull my truck with a bulldozer....truly a Kodak moment....whooops.
April 29, 2003- Happy Birthday to me..... Well I started today pretty
rotten because I went to Proctor and Gamble in Albany, GA (yes,
yesterday I was in southern Florida) and they were 6 hours late getting
my load ready to its a late start for me today....Fortunately, the
drive on US82 from Albany, GA to Tuscaloosa, Alabama was
beautiful. Most of the way it was a small 2 lane country road
that went through many small towns. 
. My only trouble was several tight turns I had
to make. Here is a picture of one small town, 
the real tights spots I had to keep both hands on the
wheel so there are no pictures. I'm really into American history and
driving through this area I just imagined what it was like 150-200
years ago. Quite often, I would past an old house or barn that was
built perhaps 100 years ago and I wish I knew the story of the people
that built that structure, how their life might have been?
April 30, 2003- Made it to my pickup last night but they said the load
wouldnt be ready until the morning which was perfect because I ran out
of driving hours for the day and they had overnight parking where I
could park my truck and sleep....woke up this morning to a cardinal
sitting on top of my truck hood chirping away.
. I'm heading west all the way to
California...I'm traveling along Interstate 40 and spending the night
just east of Fort Smith, Arkansas.