Some Thoughts

Wow, driving from Charlotte,NC to Arkansas the route to take is I-26 west to I-40 west going through Knoxville, and then Nashville and along the way through the Great Smokey Mountain Park. The tractor and trailer is a 40 ton mass of machinery. And, the company I work for has a policy of installing what they call a governor on each truck that limits our speed to approx. 62 mph. Going up and down hills is a real challenge because I am driving this machine that struggles to make it up the hills/mountains and the method to accomplish this is called downshifting. It was a busy night and seeing some flat land as I progressed westward was a welcome change. Many other trucks going through the same upshifting and downshifting along the way. 

Another  challenge has been the lack of a family. It was one thing to be in Salt Lake City…very far away. It is quite another to drive on I-85 south of Charlotte NC and start thinking about hearth and home . In this OTR business the time demands are such that there is no time for a pull-in to home for an extra hundred miles or so to hug my wife or have some of Kristin’s great cooking. Needless to say..this old cowboy will find some driving duties near the cares and concerns of family.  

Backing a big rig is a real learning. If you are moving backwards on the drivers side …the driver can see very well because the angle going on the driver side affords the view. But, if you are backing towards the other side the driver is really blind. So, usually a driver will maneuver towards a driver side back. The other night, late, we were forced to do a blind side back. A very crowded truck parking area…very cramped. The beautiful thing was the need for spotters. Within a minute there were three drivers on the ground ,  that had been sitting in their trucks, positioning themselves to spot for  and communicate with my trainer so he could get the “blind side back “ done safely.  Good to see the group work together so smoothly and generously.  Not a  charming group…they/we are truck drivers…but we do look out for the other guy.

 

We did spend some time at a chicken processing plant yesterday. Smell...a real smell. The people that were working there were so nice. They even offered the use of their cafeteria. Couldn't say no sort of a thing. The smell and the food (chicken) were hard to swallow. Would not have eaten...but the ladies there were so nice...very country and I'm sure thankful for their thoughtfulness. But I may be off chicken for a while. When I was in high school and the summer before college I cooked chicken for Maryland Fried Chicken. Working til closing on a Friday night when everyone else was partying I was ready for fun when work was over. I would always arrive smelling like fried chicken.