Well…finally!  It’s nice to be able to blog again.  A certain someone broke the laptop in the truck, so we have been without one for about a month.  I won’t mention any names but she is my team mate, my love and my wife…lol.  We are on home time now for about two weeks and we look forward to spending time with family and friends.

 

Business has been great so far as owner operators.  We have not had a week yet with less than 6000+ miles.  As I always say “miles is money”.  We have a new Fleet Manager and she is wonderful!  She keeps us rolling and she also realizes that we are living breathing humans…unlike some other FM’s. Red Solo Truck has been running well so far and we have had zero issues.  Our fuel mileage for the first 30 days was right at 7.0 mpg.  That is pretty good for this truck.  We run at 62 mph and have done a few small upgrades to enhance our mileage.  I am hoping that by summer we will be able to bring it to 7.5 mpg, which would make us very happy.  The truck was at 6.4 mpg when we bought it.  By making some upgrades to the truck and bringing the fuel mileage to 7.5 mpg, it would put an additional $15k back in our pocket each year in fuel savings. Pretty substantial…

Well as I said we are home and it’s that time of year when the turkeys are gobbling.  I am off to the woods for a little one on one with a long beard.  Of course Irene has her “honey do list” out but that will have to wait.  We also have a long list of things we want to do to Red Solo Truck so it will be a busy 2 weeks of hunting, honey do, and truck maintenance.  Heck I will need to get back on the road just so I can get some rest…lol

I am going to keep it short for now but will write again when we hit the road with our “new laptop”.  One that Irene can’t break…ooops, I wasn’t going to mention any names. Ha ha!

I know I say it a lot on here, but I thank the Lord for blessing me with a wonderful and healthy family, a job that lets me spend every day with the woman I love, and also lets me travel the country and enjoy all the beauty that Mother Nature has to offer.  

Red Solo Truck

Red Solo Truck…we fill you up…let’s tour the country…let’s tour the country. I love you Red Solo Truck…

We are almost a week into our new (used) truck and I can’t help but think that Toby Keith meant to sing about our truck instead of his Solo cup…lol.  It has definitely been a challenge, but we knew it would be.  Having to shift again after driving the automatic Volvo for 10 months is the biggest challenge. People have said, “Oh it’s just like riding a bike, you never forget”.  Irene has done well but for me…I crash my bike at least once a day...lol. The truck shifts very, very smooth and with Irene’s gentle shifting it goes well for her…but for me, it’s like a bull in a China cabinet. I am doing a lot better with it though day by day.

The other challenge that we encountered was “where oh where do we put everything?” You see, it was like moving from a 4 bedroom house into a 1 bedroom. Thankfully Irene is good at packing things away and she has done just that.  It’s a science now to find anything, but everything does have its place. We tell each other several times a day that this is just a temporary setting and that we will upgrade by the 1^st of the year.  Hopefully when we go home in April we can remove some winter items and perhaps add a couple of shelves for more storage.…in addition, I am just like Tim the Tool Man Taylor…I can build anything. Arghhh Arghhh Arghhh!

We left our home terminal in Joplin on the 18^th and relayed our 1^st load at our terminal in Lancaster, TX.  From there we picked up in Dallas and headed to Kettleman City, CA to deliver a Con-way Freight load. We enjoyed this trip very much because it took us for the 1^st time thru Tehachapi Pass and on up to Bakersfield, CA. It also took us just a stone’s throw from Charles Manson’s home for many years, Corcoran State Prison. Tehachapi was a beautiful ride, as the pictures attached will show.

 

 

 After we left Kettleman, it was off to Sacramento for a load.  However, shortly after we arrived the load was cancelled. No problem because we still got paid for the ride. They reassigned us a load, which would send us down to Los Angeles, but we could not pick it up until the following morning. Therefore, Irene and I decided to wander a little and kill time. We came across an Asian supermarket called Ranch Market.  What a treat this place was. If you ever have the chance to stop at one, you need to do it! The store had a small style food court inside where you could purchase your food and sit right there and eat. I have to admit that I was a little frightened by some of the items they had. Whole ducks cooked…with the beak. Chickens feet…no way Jose, pigs feet…not happening, and other things that I could not even begin to describe. Irene and I just stuck with what we knew…sesame chicken, chow fun, fish. After we ate we wandered the rest of the store and we were both amazed.  At times I thought we left the United States and landed in Asia. Most everything was written in Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, and the list went on. They even had a live seafood section with fish tanks and OMG they had Carp in one tank!  Yep, carp, evidently a delicacy in Asia. But the funniest part for me (with my sick sense humor) was when I saw the packages of round things. Curiosity got the best of me and I had to investigate. These little round balls were exactly that…balls! There were beef balls, pork balls, and many other different balls all packaged up. They even had shrimp and fish balls. Wait shrimp and fish don’t have balls…do they? For you guys that have lost your balls…you can definitely find them here…ha ha ha…like I said, sick sense of humor.

Well it was time to go and if I hadn’t had enough fun already I believe Irene made me laugh the hardest. She said to me oh I know why everything is in Asian…we are close to Japan. I looked at her and without skipping a beat said…can you see it from your house Sarah Palin? Now I love Sarah but I couldn’t resist saying it as I laughed all the way to the checkout while Irene stood there with a puzzled look. Dang I love her…she always knows how to make me laugh…lol.

So we  picked up in Los Angeles and delivered to Chicago and from there it was onto Kansas City, then over to Pennsylvania. We are currently on our way to Oregon as I write this for our next delivery. We had a total of 5798 miles…not bad for our 1^st full week as independent contractors. As long as the miles keep coming we can’t ask for much more. I have said it many times before… we are truly blessed to be able to enjoy this life on the road, the adventure, the laughs, new friendships, and everything else in between.

Great News...

Well, I figured it’s time that I share the latest news with everyone.

We have been investigating this for a while…and the timing just seemed right!  Irene and I have become Owner Operators (Independent Contractors) for Con-way Truckload.  We have purchased one of Con-way’s red 2007 Kenworth T600’s.  It has a Cat motor and we felt that this was a logical choice for dependability. These trucks have a good maintenance history and they have been very dependable for the company.  The truck is a little smaller then we would like, but this purchase allowed us to obtain the truck with no debt. Our plan is to run the truck until December and then upgrade into a newer one so that we can still run in California.  Since we are a “team”, California is usually a frequent stop for us. For those of you not familiar with California rules, as of January 1, 2014, drivers will not be allowed into the state without a DPF (diesel particulate filter).  These filters are only found on 2008 trucks or newer. Any truck prior to 2008 can be fitted with a filter but this is not something that interests us (very costly).  We would much rather put the money toward a newer truck.

After comparing several Owner Operator contracts/companies, we felt that Con-way offered the best options that fit our needs. In addition, being familiar with their system, along with steady freight and great miles, it was really a no brainer. We hope that this will allow for a smooth transition.  Irene and I are very excited about our future. Of course along with excitement comes pressure to succeed.  We are no longer company employees…we own our company so we really have to watch our every move.  Being owners allows us to call the shots now and that is a big advantage along with more freedom. The truck itself is a tad smaller than the Volvo we were driving so I know there will be some growing pains…or maybe shrinking pains to deal with. Thankfully I have a lot of patience with Irene…LOL. Actually that may be the other way around.

I guess now Irene is not only my wife, lover, best friend and teammate…but also my business partner…lol. We have attached some photos of the truck and hope that you will enjoy our future blogs as owner/operators. Wish us luck! 

Our trucks side by side.