Holy Cow, It's Cold!

          I didn’t realize how lucky I’ve been the past month until last Tuesday.  I skirted the cold front that came through over Christmas.  Then last week when another one came down, I was bouncing back and forth between Phoenix and Dallas on I-10/20.  Last Saturday I was running the A/C.

          My luck ran out on Monday when I was dispatched on a load out of the Dallas area to Northeast Indiana.  Holy cow, I didn’t realize it’s been so cold.  I mean… I know it has been because I’ve been hearing about it, but I haven’t had to deal with it, so it didn’t really sink in.         

          Tuesday night it was cold enough that I was able to idle the truck.  Our trucks will idle if the temperature is below 10 or above 100. 

          As long as we’re talking about cold weather… are you remembering to put Power Service in the reefer tank?  I worry about that more than I do the truck because the truck has tank heaters, but the reefer doesn’t.  When I was headed towards Dallas last weekend, I put PS in the reefer and topped it off because I knew it has been cold and I didn’t know what I was doing after Dallas.  Just trying to think ahead… makes life so much easier. 

My New Co-driver

                Last week I got a new co-driver from Tiny Tails Small Dog Rescue in OKC.  He is a pocket dog; I swear I have cooked chickens bigger than this dog.  He might weigh 6 lbs.

          I took this picture about 15 minutes after I got him.  He wasn’t quite sure what to make of this crazy lady who had just kidnapped him.  He came to the Rescue from the streets last summer.  Within a few hours, he decided I was okay.

          The lady running the rescue called him Bert… but I decided I can’t have a Bert without an Ernie, so I decided to call him Nacho, which was Bobby’s CB handle.  I figured it was appropriate… they were both little, old, feisty, Mexican guys.  Over the past 24 hours though, I have taken to calling him Einstein… after the genius peed on his own foot.  At least it wasn’t my foot, right?

          I guess he’s decided I’m a pretty okay mom.  We’ve been together for a week now.  He finally believes that when I leave the truck, I WILL come back.  He lost the battle over whether he should be allowed anywhere near the driver’s seat while the truck is moving.  We compromise about me sharing a bite of my food.  I’ve always had mixed emotions about having a dog in the truck, but it seems to be working out really well.  

A Few More Thoughts On the 8/2 Split

                My post two weeks ago about the 8/2 split was shared on the Freymiller FB page and the response surprised me.  The volume surprised me; not the content.  A few comments supported my theory that many don’t understand how the 8/2 works.  Most don’t use it unless the other option is a late load.

                There are three times I’m likely to use it.

    1.   When it’s the only way I’m going to make an appointment on time.  This has happened twice since I wrote that post which supports my belief in the Law of Attraction.

    2.   When I get either an 8 or a 2 unexpectedly, I will take the other to make the best use of my time.

    3.   When it will get me home (or to wherever I’m taking time off) faster.  A couple of years ago I ran 8/2 from the California Central Valley back to OKC on Thanksgiving so I would get back in time to watch the Macy’s parade.

          The 8/2 split is the only HOS law I have ever seen stir such a passionate response.  People seem to either really love or really hate this law.  I don’t understand what it is about the law that causes people to have such a strong reaction.  Maybe it’s older drivers (who drove for years under the old laws) who are resistant to change?  Maybe it’s the drivers who really struggle to understand how it works expressing frustration?  I think Freud would have a field day with this one.

Full Circle

          Last night, I was all set to share some more thoughts about the 8/2 split when I realized that today I was picking up at the same place I was when I found out that the blog was “a go.”  It feels like I’ve come full circle.

          I had created the blog with six sample posts, created a blog proposal and gave it to David Freymiller the next time I saw him.  I handed him this folded up paper, said “check this out,” and took off like a shot.  I was scared to death.  In my mind, the blog was a good idea, but I wasn’t sure that he would agree.  I’ve had plenty of ideas that I thought were great but couldn’t find anyone to agree with me about them.

          I was shocked about a month later, when I was sitting in a dock at the same place I’m sitting right now, and I got a call from work.  I was expecting it to be Clyde, but it was Denise.  She was calling to tell me that they’d all looked at the blog and discussed it and they wanted to go with it.  It was a mind-blowing moment.

          Sometimes I’m still a little blown away by it all.  Writing is a passion of mine, it always has been, and I’m here to tell you… if you have a passion… don’t give it up.  Keep pursuing it until you get to where you want to go with it.

          More on the 8/2 split next week.  BTW, I saw all the comments on the Facebook page.  WOW!  That’s all I can say about that.

The 8/2 Split

          During the 12 years I was off the road before coming to Freymiller, the Hours of Service laws were changed.  The most difficult part about learning the new rules was understanding the 8/2 Split.  It took me months to really understand how it worked, and I spent those months relying on my brother to tell me when I needed to do one and my Qualcomm to do the math for me.  It took me about 6 months to get a solid understanding of how it worked.

          I would be willing to bet that 50% of the drivers I know won’t use the 8/2 split because they don’t understand it.  I’ve had many tell me as much.  I’ve also had drivers tell me they wouldn’t do one on paper logs because it’s too easy to mess up and go into violation.  On December 18^th, the law requiring all drivers to be on e-logs went into effect.  I know there are some exceptions, but I’m not one of them.

          On e-logs, there are times that I HAVE to do an 8/2 to be able to make on time delivery.  There are also times when doing one is the best use of my time.  Most of the time, both situations involve me getting held up for more than 4 hours, either at a customer or with repairs.  When that happens, it’s usually in my best interests to “finish out an 8 (hour break),” which resets the 14-hour clock back to where it was at the beginning of the 8. 

          The 8/2 Split works like an escalator: whatever falls off the top comes back on the bottom.  Think of it as a revolving 14-hour clock.  This is the visual I use when I’m explaining the 8/2 Split to a trainee.  It seems to help them wrap their brains around it easier.

Drive	5
Break	8 (Sleeper Berth)
Drive	6
Break	2 (off duty/sleeper)
Drive	5
Break	8 (Sleeper Berth)

          This was a quick explanation, I think I will expand on it next week with some examples of when I choose to use it.  I just wanted to show you that the 8/2 Split isn’t as scary as most drivers think it is. 

Blah!

          I’m finding myself very thankful for the mundane continuity of my job right now.  I’ve had some personal stuff going on that I can’t do anything about. Nothing catastrophic; mostly just irritating.

          The hardest part is these things are weighing on me heavy enough that I’ve been racking my brain all week trying to think of what I wanted to blog about this week.  No, I didn’t come up with a good answer. 

          For so many years I’ve had people tell me how strong I am.  I hate hearing that because it usually comes at a time where I’m going through something really hard and I can’t help but wonder if people convince themselves of my strength so they can justify not asking if they can help. 

          I’m okay, really.  I’m just “not feeling it” today. 

The Mad Vacationer Strike Again!

Guess who is going on vacation again?  Yep, you guessed it.  This girl!  Back to Mexico, I go.

Last year on Thanksgiving, my brother called me and said, “let’s do something crazy for Thanksgiving next year and go on a cruise.”  Of course, I was all for that.  It’s a total win for me.  I get to be on a cruise ship and someone else will be responsible for cooking dinner AND doing the dishes.  Plus, the average daily temperature for Cozumel is 77 and Progreso is 87 next week.  Can’t beat that, right?

My friends have reacted with “you’re going on vacation again?”  Darn tootin’, I am.  I’m the mad vacationer this year.   Nothing wrong with that when you consider how many years I didn’t get to take a vacation.

I am going to have to settle down after this.  I told my brother that I’ve been spending like I’m in Congress the second half of this year.  First, it was the motorcycle, then vacation #1.  I bought a new car right before vacation #1 because my other one died and now vacation #2. He told me if I was spending like I was in Congress I would have earned 50, spent 250 and handed the bill to my granddaughter.  Good point, but still.  I don’t think I’ve ever spent like this.

Happy Thanksgiving, my peeps.  Catch you when I get back!