Just a Little Melody To Brighten Your Trip

I can't complain much, I've been pretty blessed actually. Life has been good for the most part and I hope it is for you too whoever might run across this blog and read it. I just wanted to share a little trucking song with you today  Blessings.  Trucking Gypsies 
 My old dog is still hanging in there and shows no sign of pain and I still have the same great job I've had for the last 8 years. I miss OTR sometimes but it was hard to run totally legal back then and impossible not to now a days and not worth it either.So much has changed in this industry, it almost looks like a new animal.
I sure have missed not having Mother call at 2 am for the last 2 years. This wreck was from a few years ago,
a friend of mine named Rob came over a rise in the road and a dump truck was stopped in his lane and that was the end of the road. for him. Keep it safe drivers.

Driver Forgot To Set Brakes

Have you ever forgot to set your brakes? Chances are you have if you have been driving for any length of time.That is one sinking feeling when you look up and see your truck start rolling down the road and you and no one else is in the drivers seat. One night I was fueling at one of our truck stops that is located on a hill. I looked up and there was a whole load of brand new trucks that were piggybacking heading down the hill rolling off of the fuel island. I didn't realize the driver was not in the cab until they crashed into a truck that was in the parked area, no doubt the driver was sleeping.
 A few days ago a new driver loaded his brand new company truck with fuel at a terminal and one of our company drivers said he looked up and the truck crashed through a fence and took off down a steep hill before slamming into a telephone pole. As it rolled over the embankment the oil pan was tore completely off the unit. He thought maybe the driver had a heart attack and started to run after the runaway truck but when he arrived at the scene no one was there. Looking back up the hill he saw the driver coming out of the bathroom pulling his pants up.

Trucking In The Northeast

Over the past few months I was sent up north to help out in some different areas. I spent about a month in Sturbridge Massachusetts, a couple weeks in Albany Ny, and  Kanona NY, and a few weeks in Carneys Point NJ. Things went pretty smooth the whole time I was gone. No bad accidents or any real problems occurred just the way we like things. The hardest part was getting used to the various time schedules that I had to work always starting on the day shift to get the loading cards I would need at the various loading terminals then shifting to the night shift which was invariably the spot where help was needed the most. We ran shifts from 11 to 11, 5 till 5 and 2 till 2. The most difficult shift I worked was from 2 A:M until 2 P:M. It was difficult getting up at 2 in the morning and right as the sun came up it became hard as he## to keep the eyes open. There was nowhere stop because I was running into Philadelphia most of the time. I was glad to finally get home but I noticed my old dog was not acting the same and took her to the vet. He told me her kidneys were starting to fail and I have had her for around 14 years now so it was hard news for me.He kept her on IV fluids for 3 days and she has come back around although she lost a lot of weight and I am trying not to think about what will inevitably happen.

First Recordable Incident In 27 Years

Well I finally bit the bullet and had my first incident in all these years . I'm not counting the light pole I took down when I first started trucking or the car that was parked in the no parking zone that I backed into 25 years ago. This was the real mccoy only thing was it was around 3 O'clock in the morning and there was not another vehicle on the 5 lane highway neither trucks nor cars anywhere. I didn't even know what was happening when a 4 wheeler slammed into my front passenger fender. He must have come up behind me and was going to pull one of those jackrabbit lane changes in front of me you know the ones I'm talking about, but he misjudged. Luckily no one was hurt and there was minimal damage to my truck but his pickup was a in a little rougher shape than my vehicle. Funny he didn't have a thing to say when the police came and I told them what happened but naturally he changed his story when he was speaking with the officer alone. Oh well Sh- t happens, I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later just a matter of rolling the dice enough times. Be Safe

Truckers Music

Trucking used to be more than a job and to some of us it still is. It was a way of life like farming or fishing. Awhile back I was talking to another trucker and something was mentioned about the movie Convoy. Never heard of it he stated and I was amazed. I asked him if he had never heard any trucker music and again he said he hadn't. Not even Red Sovine? Here is some old trucker music some from before I was born. Tried to get the original versions and these pages will lead you to other trucking music you might care to listen to.
Truckers Prayer http://tinyurl.com/3cbpmue

Convoy http://tinyurl.com/3gabg5o

Phantom 309 http://tinyurl.com/3mtqybp

Teddy Bear http://tinyurl.com/3nqcc72

Trucking For Hayter Trucking

In 1983 I walked into Bob Calvin's office at Hayter trucking in Fellows California. I want to learn how to drive a truck I said. We don't train drivers here son was Bob's reply. Okay I said I will find someone who will and started walking out the door. Don't be so hasty he replied maybe we can give you a shot but you only have one week to learn and no pay. Be here at 5 O'clock tommorrow. Fair enough I said thanks.
The next morning at 5 I met my trainer Irish. He was a big man who had lost his left leg up to the thigh in Vietnam. We would be servicing drilling rigs which continually needed drilling mud hauled off and water hauled in. We were driving an old Mac and this was before the formula engine and the gear shift was a large round metal knob with a button on the side with 3 positions that read ID DIR and OD. To shift you would run through the low gears in Indirect then shift into high range or direct tach out the engine and flip the button to overdrive tach it out which would increase your speed by about 5 miles per hour then drop to the next gear flipping the button back to direct and repeating the procedure. I think the transmission was a Dana Spicer but I usually didn't take a lot of notice to things like that except when something needed fixing
Three days and 50 hours of driving later Irish took me to the office and told Bob I was ready to drive. I am not trying to brag but everything just came natural the rest I would have to learn on my own. A week later I had my liscense and yes they paid me.
I became good friends with Irish and his wife and 3 girls. Most of the drivers used to get together and have a beer at one of our houses. There was a different atmosphere of companionship back then. One day a couple years later Irish showed up dressed in a suit and declined to drink with us and even stated he had quit smoking and started going to church. We sat and talked for awhile then he left. A few weeks later he had a massive heart attack in front of his wife and died.

Wow Been Awhile

I haven't posted anything for awhile but things sure heated up this year in more ways than one. In my personal life an Aunt passed away shortly after the last posting.
We had the flood of Nashville and mother passed away May 25th from cancer. We have a few more months to go hope they will get better. I am thankful to still be working and on a brighter note I learned how to put a camcord movie on youtube.