I'm going to Washington

[Tobin S.]

The state of Washington, that is, and I'm really digging that. The northwest is my favorite area of the country to go to as long as there aren't any mountain pass closings or chain up laws in effect due to snow. I don't think I'm going to have to worry about that on this trip.

I emptied out in Columbus, Ohio yesterday and now I'm sitting at the house. I'll be loaded up later tonight with four stops, one going to Spokane and the other three to the Seattle area. We have a terminal there and, hopefully, they'll load me up coming right back to Ohio and I can just keep going back and forth between here and there. Until December maybe, then I might try to get loaded going to southern California and back until spring.

This is working out really good so far. There are a couple of undesirable things about this company that I wasn't told about before I signed on, but it's nothing that will break me. One is the amount of time sometimes spent waiting at their terminals getting loaded. I was at the Commerce, California terminal for 20 hours waiting on a load. But I've been taking long loads so that limits my exposure to down time. I still have enough time to run out of hours on my log book and that's 70 hours in an 8 day period. The other bad thing is the amount of hazmat loads they have. I'm not afraid of them, but I think the D.O.T. man takes a little closer look at a truck carrying hazmat and I really don't want the attention. But the hazmat loads do pay extra, that's one good thing about that.

Everything else is groovy. If there are any owner/operators out there who are looking for a decent company to lease to, send me a PM and I'll give you the details.

[Tobin S.]

1. Feel like a tourist

Julian Casablancas "Tourist"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl5UWLU6Dz0

I wish that clouds could hold me up like I thought as a child growing up
I wish I could sound as soothing as the rainfall
But I am only a drop from the storm

Feel like a tourist out in the country
Once this whole world was all countryside
Feel like a tourist in the big city
Soon I will simply evaporate

They took the strings up north, the drums down south
After they crossed Afghanistan a long time ago
You're shuffling your feet into the next dimension
Soon skyscrapers will be everywhere

I feel like a tourist lost in the suburbs
Soon the whole world will be urban sprawl
Feel like a land lover out on the ocean
Feel like a teardrop streaming off your chin

Some will bet against you, try even to prevent you
But not many can stop you man, if you got a perfect plan
Can they possibly try - I demand to know why they would doubt you?
In this hand, a thousand generations...

Feel like a tourist out in the desert
So hot it feels like the Devil's breath
Feel like a tourist out in the swampland
This world is just patches of water and land
Everywhere I go I'm a tourist
But if you stay with me, I'll always be at home

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. My dear Tobin!

Sounds like a great trip! I love the NW...Especially the mountains. Mt. Rainier is my favorite mountain of all of them...

And as for the downsides: Well, every job has them. Yours don't sound too awful. I'm glad you're happy!

:hug:

[Curmudgeoness]

3. Glad things are going well so far.

Doesn't your company charge detention time? You should get that. Bummer to sit that long waiting to get unloaded, but you are right, long trips keep you from dealing with that too much. There will always be surprises at every trucking company. There is no perfect job, but sounds like you are close by how happy you sound.

And you are right about the hazmat---they do look much closer at those trucks. But from my point of view on the highway, I don't think that is all bad.

Good luck.

[Tobin S.]

7. The company I haul for has their own freight and their own docks

and no company trucks. I could try to charge them detention time, but I don't think I could actually get them to pay up. There is nothing in my contract about detention pay. It is possible that I can get detention pay from one of their customers, but I've only run across one situation like that so far and they haven't paid up. That was that Wally World load I was telling you guys about.

[MiddleFingerMom]

4. So far... so good!!!

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It really sounds like things are working out well for you.
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I'm glad.
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It couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
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Except ME, of course... but OTHER than that...
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[Tobin S.]

8. Where do you come up with those pictures?

They're damn funny and it seems like you have one for every situation. Do you make them on the fly?

[MiddleFingerMom]

12. I've been doing something the last several years where I've gotten REALLY good...

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...at searching for graphics (I call it "mining the Web").
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Some I find quickly on the fly AND I've got a freaking
ENORMOUS archive of pictures and cartoons that
I can search, too
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I do make some of my stuff -- but those are
few and far between. More often, I'll caption
something to fit my need of the moment.
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Thanks for the "damn funny" part.
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[rurallib]

5. Keep up your reports. I sure enjoy reading them

Have you had time to actually talk to people in different parts of the country?

[Tobin S.]

9. I have talked to some people from out and about

I ran across some characters at a casino there in New Mexico and I also talk to other drivers here and there. That's one of the things I love about this kind of work: All of the interesting people I meet out here.

[rurallib]

13. would love to hear of some of the characters

during my traveling days I met some real keepers.

[pokerfan]

6. Broadway Truck Stop

I-90 Washington exit 286

The diner was remodeled a couple of years ago to open up the space. “For our drivers, this is their living room,” General Manager Teri Hobbs says. “When we did the remodel, we put in flat-screen TVs, and we’ve just got sports, weather and news channels on. We changed over to more subdued colors, so they can just kick back and relax.”

Among the conveniences is the free wireless Internet access. “We have people who come in and plug themselves in, and they’re in their own little world,” says Hobbs.

The diner is open 24 hours a day, and breakfast is available around the clock — as are dinner and lunch. They’ll serve you a steak dinner at 6 am, or bacon and eggs at dinnertime.

[Tobin S.]

10. Thanks for the tip, pokerfan

Sounds like a nice place. That free wifi is a really good deal. All of the big chains charge you for wifi which is one reason why I have mobile broadband, but I've run across a few of the independent truck stops that have the free wifi and I think that's really cool.

[Suich]

11. I can see the I5 Ship Canal Bridge from my house

but I think you'll be coming in on I90, then probably heading south on I5, so....

I won't be able to go out on my front porch and watch you go by!!!

Have a good trip!

:hi: