After spending Sunday night in the truck, I caught the shuttle bus to the hotel in the morning and am due to do my upgrade class at 6am Tuesday morning. It was good being able to relax for a while in a proper bed.
Tuesday 10th Febraury 2015
Class started at 6am and after a few quizzes and safety videos it was time to take the driving evaluation. I was one of the last to drive and passed with a 94% score. I am now upgraded to Phase 2 training and am waiting for a trainer to become available.
Wednesday 11th Febraury 2015
Finally got the call this morning to get ready as my next trainer was picking me up at 11am, his name was Jaymie and this was a very different trip as we were traveling from Los Angeles to Miami. From the hotel I took the first drive shift and ran bobtail to Los Angeles to pick up the trailer. We were coupled and ready to go around 1230 and I drove to Tonopah AZ. There was not much time to spare on this load so it was pretty much quick driver changes all the way to Miami.
Friday 13th Febraury 2015
We arrived in Hialeah, FL (just outside Miami) around midnight, and after swapping trailers set off on the trip back to Los Angeles.
Saturday 14th Febraury 2015
I got to drive through most of The top half of Florida and through Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana which had some stunning scenery with all the swamps and river lands. I got to see the Suwanee River and Mississippi River and drove through Mobile AL and Baton Rouge MS.
The Calcasieu River Bridge in Louisiana
My driving shift ended in Baytown TX. After a good sleep I woke almost at the Arizona border and drove all the way to Tonopah AZ. Jaymie drove from here and dropped me back at the hotel around 11pm Sunday night.
Monday 16th Febraury 2015
After a good breakfast at the hotel I contacted head office and was told to wait as they were going to get me home to pick up my license and have some home time. I was finally contacted around 5pm and told I was going to travel with Jaymie again as far as the Cedar Hills school. So now I have time to chill until Wednesday.
Wednesday 18th Febraury 2015
As usual plans change and I was picked up around 1115am by Jaymie from the hotel. It was his usual trip to Florida and I was getting dropped off at Tyler TX, where another trainee would be waiting for him. I did the first drive shift from the hotel to Los Angeles, picked up the trailer and then set of and stopped at Eloy AZ. Jaymie drove through the night and I finished off the drive shift the next day from Odessa to Tyler.
Thursday 17th Febraury 2015
We arrived at the truck stop in Tyler around 8.15pm and Bonnie was there waiting for me, as was Jaymie's new trainee. After unloading my bags and saying farewell, we had a bite to eat at The Best Texas BBQ, very good food. Then Bonnie and I set off for home, it seemed strange arriving back and sleeping in my own bed after 7 weeks away. We spent the next 3 days eating out and doing the things we had missed. I got a much needed haircut and got to enjoy IHOP and Golden Corrall again.
Monday 23rd Febraury 2015
Call the office today and eventually got hold of my DM (Phoenix), she then started to draw up plans to get me back on a truck and complete my training. I spent most of the day in bed with a 24 hour bug that just knocked me out, so good job I wasn't driving.
Tuesday 24th Febraury 2015
Still waiting ......
Thursday 26th Febraury 2015
Finally got the call on Wednesday afternoon and was told to make my way to, of all places, the crappy hotel at Waxahachie, where my driver would pick me up. So after dropping Ceci at school on Thursday morning we set off for the meeting place. Of course we had to stop at Russell Stover's outlet store in Corsicana on the way (as we were passing).
We then set off for Waxahachie with our stash. Bonnie stayed until around 5pm and reluctantly set off for home leaving me to wait for my trainer at 8pm. He arrived (Forrest) and after a greeting and a quick lesson on a 10 speed gearbox, in a different type of truck it was off to Fort Worth to pick up the load (Activa Yoghurt). we left Fort Worth around 1am with me at the wheel and by the time we reached Abilene it was snowing quite hard, I was eventually driving on about 2 inches and not a plough in sight.
Saturday 28th Febraury 2015
A new trip tonight we pick up our load from Colton CA and are bound for Washington Court House in Ohio. We collected our load and set off for the I-10 to I-40 towards Albuquerque and beyond. The snow started about 50 miles west of Flagstaff and by the time we reached Flagstaff it was time to stop to see if it cleared, so we pulled in to Little America truck stop and waited.
The truck stop, with the pines looking very nice covered with snow.
After an hour or so we decided to carry on and not long after cleared Flagstaff the roads improved. We carried on through Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois to Ohio, where there was snow on the ground but the roads were clear.
Tuesday 3rd March 2015
We arrived at the Washington Court House drop around 7.30am and didn't get unloaded until around 2pm, which made us late for our next pick up, this was allocated to another truck. Eventually we got a load from Englewood OH bound for Sealy TX. Englewood was about an hour away and it was a straight hook and drop of the trailers. By 4pm we were Texas bound, via Lufkin (on Wednesday) where I got to have a quick lunch with my wife, Bonnie. We arrived at the drop in Sealy TX at 5pm, but as we were not booked until 8am the next morning were turned away.
After spending a cold night in a local Loves truck stop we arrived back at the drop around 7.30am, hoping for a quick getaway, (ha ha). We eventually left at around 2pm bound for Waco TX for our next load which was for Laredo TX.
This is where I was due to complete my Phase 2 training upgrade at 7am on Friday. Once again luck was not with us and although we arrived at Sandersons Farms at 7pm we didn't get loaded and away until 1am, this meant I would not make the upgrade class at 7am in Laredo.
7.30am and we reached Laredo yard to drop the trailer and get some rest, we thought (wrongly). After an inspection the trailer then had to be taken to another drop site some 18 miles away. So off we went again and got back to the yard around 10am, where Forrest and myself parted company as he had a new Phase 2 student waiting to take my place. I was then sent to The Days Inn hotel for the weekend, and will hopefully complete my upgrade on Monday morning.
After spending the weekend in the hotel, Monday arrived and as it was my birthday was hoping for good things to come my way. I reported to the class at 7am and after doing a couple more written tests, was taken on the road evaluation. This was a very difficult trial as the traffic in Laredo on a Monday morning was crazy. Car and trucks seemed to park where ever they wanted, and most of my junctions were blocked or gridlocked. I somehow got through it and passed. So this is the end of my training (but not learning) and now I have to sit at the hotel and wait for a truck to become available. The learning curve at CR England has been a steep one and at times a challenge, but I have come through the other side and now await my new trials on the road.
No comments:
Post a Comment