Friday, February 24, 2012
Fun never ends...
As I have mentioned in the past, Irene has had troubles speaking with Border Patrol when she is questioned at the Canadian border or at Ports of Entry in the US. I am happy to report that earlier today she made her first successful interview without a stutter or hesitation…but of course it was not quite perfect. As we pulled into the Texas Port of Entry, the officer asked if she was a US citizen in which she replied yes (good answer), then the officer asked if there was anyone else in the truck with her which she replied, my husband (another good answer)….so I’m thinking to myself, Irene is doing great, could this be the first time she gets it right without choking or asking for my help? The officer then asked the last and final question…what are you hauling ma’am in which Irene replied, “ahhh lots of stuff”. OMG I thought I was going to die. The officer who was trying his hardest not to laugh looked at Irene and said “you can go now ma’am”. I am writing this approximately 12 hours later and I still laugh when I think about it. This particular load was a hazmat load, which contained a large amount of explosives. Lots of stuff…is that all you could come up with Irene? “Well, Irene said, it’s better than saying a truck load full of explosives. He would have stopped us for sure she said. I looked at her laughing and said…I am sure he could read the placards (signs) on the sides. Two out of three questions is progress though so today she gets a gold star…lol…I am so proud of her!
Some good news from this week, as you all know I was ticketed in Arizona for not having a current registration card in the truck, well I spoke with the judge on Thursday morning via telephone, and explained myself in regards to the ticket. The judge was kind enough to dismiss the charges. Needless to say, I have no fine and no marks on my license. This makes me a very happy camper. Irene thinks we should send him a box of chocolates, but I’m not sure how he would take that.
Last week was a very busy one for us. We drove about 6600 miles and this week is no different. We are about to finish the week off with a little over 6800 miles. The road has taken us from Texas to Ohio, Indiana, California, back to Texas and now we will be leaving for Orlando. Once in Orlando we plan on taking a couple days off to visit Irene’s family and do our 34hr. reset at the same time. Funny while we were at Indiana earlier in the week it snowed and a gentleman said to me…its only snowed a couple times up here this year…yeah, no kidding I said…we have been here both times...lol
Well my honey has the microwave fired up and something smells good…so I gotta run…stay tuned!
Some good news from this week, as you all know I was ticketed in Arizona for not having a current registration card in the truck, well I spoke with the judge on Thursday morning via telephone, and explained myself in regards to the ticket. The judge was kind enough to dismiss the charges. Needless to say, I have no fine and no marks on my license. This makes me a very happy camper. Irene thinks we should send him a box of chocolates, but I’m not sure how he would take that.
Last week was a very busy one for us. We drove about 6600 miles and this week is no different. We are about to finish the week off with a little over 6800 miles. The road has taken us from Texas to Ohio, Indiana, California, back to Texas and now we will be leaving for Orlando. Once in Orlando we plan on taking a couple days off to visit Irene’s family and do our 34hr. reset at the same time. Funny while we were at Indiana earlier in the week it snowed and a gentleman said to me…its only snowed a couple times up here this year…yeah, no kidding I said…we have been here both times...lol
Well my honey has the microwave fired up and something smells good…so I gotta run…stay tuned!
Friday, February 17, 2012
Who said bigger is not always better?
For those of you who follow along with us you may recall a posting in regards to Irene handling the UPS loads. The simple fact is that UPS employees who are mostly men are more pleasant to the lady drivers. So to prevent my own frustration and mistreatment from UPS, we decided that it was best if Irene handles these loads. I usually hide in the cab. We thought that we have found a solution to our little UPS problem. Unfortunately Irene has met her match…
We had a load assigned to be pick-up in LA California and dropped in St. Louis Missouri. We arrived at the pick-up point and Irene went inside as planned. We had a few hours to kill before the load would be ready….so while we were waiting….another woman driver in the truck next to us got out and started talking with us. She was from a different company and I will not say the company’s name, but will tell you that her truck was Gold color. One could not help but notice she was somewhat top heavy (if you know what I mean) plus her blouse was undone about half way down, and the twins were standing at full attention (definitely fake)…LOL. She asked us where we were headed and of course we told her that we were going to St. Louis. She told us that she was heading to Irving TX and she commented on what a good run we had. Her run was much shorter for mileage compared to our run, plus her pickup time was after ours. Now that I think about it, she did ask a lot of questions and of course we gave her all the answers. I saw her walk back to the dispatch office a couple different times after our conversation and did not think anything of it.
Sometime later while we were watching TV and relaxing, we heard her truck start, and then she drove away…we thought that it was a little odd and maybe her load was cancelled, oh well. About 30 minutes later my phone rings and its UPS telling me our load is cancelled and to come inside for a new assignment. By this time Irene is sleeping so I decide to go to the dispatch counter. I asked the guy what happened to our original load and the dispatcher (male) looked at me as if he didn’t know what to say…he hesitated and then stuttering says…Ahhhh, there wasn’t enough freight for that one…sounded strange to me. “So where are we off to now?” I asked. The dispatcher looked at me in an odd way and said “Irving TX”. I immediately thought to myself that Dolly Parton, I mean the other driver was supposed to go to Irving TX and not us. As he handed me the paperwork (Bill of Laden) I noticed the name of her company had been crossed out and in place our company name was added.
Well I may not be a rocket scientist but I quickly realized what happened. “Ole Double D’s” went in there and must have sat them on the counter, batted her eyes and sweet talked her way into getting our load. As I climbed back into our truck, Irene asked me where we were headed, and all I could do is laugh and say, Victoria Secrets honey! After I explained to Irene what I felt had happened we laughed halfway to TX. I told Irene that when we go shopping to Victoria Secrets and they ask us how they can I help us, I will respond with…”do you have something for my wife that can guarantee us a 2000+ mile runs?”…LOL …What an interesting day it was. When we are at UPS we have to wear a fluorescent safety vests…I will have to see if Victoria Secrets carries anything fluorescent….
All kidding aside, Irene and I try to bring a very professional appearance to each and every customer. Our goal is to break the typical stereo type “truck- driver” image. I am not going to lie; there is a lot of nasty in this business, but on the other hand there are a lot of good professional drivers who care not only about their jobs, but also about their health, hygiene, and environment. The industry is changing rapidly and we are noticing a lot of husband and wife teams. There are more women on the road than ever before. I hope that in time we will be able to erase the black eye that we receive from the general public.
Stay tuned!
We had a load assigned to be pick-up in LA California and dropped in St. Louis Missouri. We arrived at the pick-up point and Irene went inside as planned. We had a few hours to kill before the load would be ready….so while we were waiting….another woman driver in the truck next to us got out and started talking with us. She was from a different company and I will not say the company’s name, but will tell you that her truck was Gold color. One could not help but notice she was somewhat top heavy (if you know what I mean) plus her blouse was undone about half way down, and the twins were standing at full attention (definitely fake)…LOL. She asked us where we were headed and of course we told her that we were going to St. Louis. She told us that she was heading to Irving TX and she commented on what a good run we had. Her run was much shorter for mileage compared to our run, plus her pickup time was after ours. Now that I think about it, she did ask a lot of questions and of course we gave her all the answers. I saw her walk back to the dispatch office a couple different times after our conversation and did not think anything of it.
Sometime later while we were watching TV and relaxing, we heard her truck start, and then she drove away…we thought that it was a little odd and maybe her load was cancelled, oh well. About 30 minutes later my phone rings and its UPS telling me our load is cancelled and to come inside for a new assignment. By this time Irene is sleeping so I decide to go to the dispatch counter. I asked the guy what happened to our original load and the dispatcher (male) looked at me as if he didn’t know what to say…he hesitated and then stuttering says…Ahhhh, there wasn’t enough freight for that one…sounded strange to me. “So where are we off to now?” I asked. The dispatcher looked at me in an odd way and said “Irving TX”. I immediately thought to myself that Dolly Parton, I mean the other driver was supposed to go to Irving TX and not us. As he handed me the paperwork (Bill of Laden) I noticed the name of her company had been crossed out and in place our company name was added.
Well I may not be a rocket scientist but I quickly realized what happened. “Ole Double D’s” went in there and must have sat them on the counter, batted her eyes and sweet talked her way into getting our load. As I climbed back into our truck, Irene asked me where we were headed, and all I could do is laugh and say, Victoria Secrets honey! After I explained to Irene what I felt had happened we laughed halfway to TX. I told Irene that when we go shopping to Victoria Secrets and they ask us how they can I help us, I will respond with…”do you have something for my wife that can guarantee us a 2000+ mile runs?”…LOL …What an interesting day it was. When we are at UPS we have to wear a fluorescent safety vests…I will have to see if Victoria Secrets carries anything fluorescent….
All kidding aside, Irene and I try to bring a very professional appearance to each and every customer. Our goal is to break the typical stereo type “truck- driver” image. I am not going to lie; there is a lot of nasty in this business, but on the other hand there are a lot of good professional drivers who care not only about their jobs, but also about their health, hygiene, and environment. The industry is changing rapidly and we are noticing a lot of husband and wife teams. There are more women on the road than ever before. I hope that in time we will be able to erase the black eye that we receive from the general public.
Stay tuned!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)