Saturday, August 21, 2010

Got back on the road this morning.  Only had 8.5 hours available to drive today before reset.  Drove to Tucson, AZ where I'll be until Monday morning.

Friday, August 20, 2010

I went over to pick up my next load.  It was bowling equipment in Chino, CA going to Ft. Worth,TX.  Was only a few miles from the truck stop I was at.  Basically it is stuff to build a bowling alley.  Got there at 9am local time. They started loading me shortly after I got there.  After I had the load on and secured they told me that there was a scale across the street so I could see if I was OK on my truck weight.  I was very happy to hear that and went and got on the scale.

 My gross, according to their scale, said that I was at 69,960. GREAT!!  So I went back across the street and tarped the load.  That took HOURS!!  The thermometer on my truck said 119 !!  It felt it too!! I was exhausted after finishing.

When I finished I started to drive off.  When I got out on the freeway the weight felt a lot heavier than 70,000 pounds so I went to the truck stop I had left in the morning.  Scaled up and sure enough I was overweight.  82,180 pounds.  I was over by 2,180 pounds.  It was now 4:45 pm local time.  I called them on the phone & told them my weight. They stayed over after closing to unload some of the cargo to get me "legal".  Have no idea why the other scale was so far off.

When I got there I had to take the rear tarp off, fold it up, then unstrap the cargo so they could unload. I got no help from them at all.  One guy stood there & watched me pull the tarp off, spread it out on the ground and fold it up.  Never offered to help or anything!!  And I still had not had lunch.  In the photo below, the bundle with the paper that says "medlite" was what they took off.  That bundle alone weighed 3,000 pounds.

Then I re-secured the load and re-tarped it again.  Of course after unloading that bundle they went home.  I finished at 7:15 local time.  Was so exhausted all I could do was go back to the truck stop.  I scaled up again.  This time I was legal, 79,020.  Parked, took a well deserved long shower, tried to eat something and fall in bed.

Thursday, August 19,2010

Delivered my load this morning in San Diego at a place in the southern most part of San Diego.  Real close to the Mexican border.  Then drove up to Carson, CA for my next load.  Thats when things went bad.

I arrived at the warehouse in Carson at 11:55 am local time. Checked in at the shipping desk. The guy at the desk said that they had just gone to lunch and would be back at 13:00 local time. I asked if I had to come back to the desk when they came back from lunch? He said no, just wait in your truck they will know that you are there. I said OK and returned to my truck and waited.
At about 15:00 local time I got tired of watching everyone else get loaded except me so I went back in to the shipping desk and asked again if I had to do anything else to get loaded? There was a different guy at the desk this time. He said no, just wait in your truck, he knows you are there. I, again, said OK and returned to my truck and waited.

Finally as the last truck (except for me) was being loaded at approximately 16:15 local time, I talked to the fork lift operator. He said that he didn't know anything about me. I gave him the slip of paper that security gave me when I arrived. He looked for my load and could not find it in his paperwork. He went inside and could not find it in there either. He said that the woman that handles the paperwork had gone for the day and there was nothing else he could do.

I left and drove 3 more hours in LA bumper to bumper traffic to get to the nearest truck stop in Ontario, CA which was 61 miles away. Needless to say, I'm not a "happy camper".

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Strarted off good.  Got through El Paso before the sun came up and missed all the traffic. Went through a Border Patrol check point on I-10 just west of El Paso.

Border Patrol Check Point on I-10 West of El Paso, Texas

Had some nice scenery on I- 10 as the sun came up.

I-10 east of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Looks better in person, but you get the idea

Stopped for lunch in Eloy, Arizona.  Went back to the truck and it would not start.  Goodie!!  Fortunately I was at a TA truck stop.  Got them to bring the service truck over and jump start my truck.  I knew I had weak batteries and they finally gave out.  Put the truck in the service bay.  They checked out the batteries.  Two of the three were very bad.  Replaced all three.  They aint cheap!!  Then my sun glasses broke!!  Three hours later I was back on the road.

My nerdy sun glasses

Here is a photo of the US / Mexico border.  The "famous" border fence.

The fence is the black line under the power lines.

Just inside California on I-8 is the Imperial Sand Dunes.  Best place to ride an ATV.  Sand dunes just like the desert.

Went through another Border Patrol check point on I-8 in California.

Stopped for the night at the Golden Acorn Casino in Campo, California after driving 692 miles today.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Got a good start this morning.  Drove for a few hours then stopped for fuel in San Antonio.  While I was fueling up I walked around the truck and checked the load and trailer (I always do that when fueling).  I found a screw in one of my trailer tires and that two of the tires were wearing real bad. 

Replaced that tire and got back on my way.  That was the only excitement (if you want to call that excitement) from the road today.

Stopped for the night at the Petro in El Paso, Texas after driving 684 miles today.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Delivered my load of bricks this morning.  Then went to Plaquemine, LA to pick up my next load. 
Its going to San Diego. Drove 419 miles today and stopped for the night in Sealy, TX.