W900 and the Colorado Wreck

So going back to late 2007 when I was back at Navajo for my second round of employment, I was at the yard one day when I noticed one of the only ten Kenworth W900s they had was sitting there. So I asked about it, and they said that the driver was going to be off for awhile due to some medical issues. So I asked if I could have the truck, and they said if I was willing to clean out his stuff and put it in the shed, it was all mine! So I was more than happy to do so! Just like before with my first Peterbilt, I was in heaven man! I loved this truck, quickly had it polished up and looking sharp as heck!

I had driven it for several months, I was just in chicken hauler heaven man! I was just out stylin & profilin c'mon! So anyway fast forward to spring of 2008 to Virginia and I had just picked up a load of some kind of organic milk I think it was, and this is where the story begins, the beginning of the end of my W900.

This load was a two stop load for Colorado, one in Aurora and one in Grand Junction. So I picked it up and trucked it across country all the way to Colorado. Now the first stop was a regular customer that we had that I knew very well, and I knew they had two warehouses, one on each side of Airport Blvd. So I went to the refrigerated warehouse first on the east side of the road, and they told me it went to the warehouse on the west side of the road. So I took it over there, they pulled it off,set it on the dock, signed the bills and I was on my way to Grand Junction. Now this may sound pretty basic, but this is where things on this load went really wrong, but we'll get back to that later.

So I continued on up to Grand Junction and made my delivery up there the next morning, and then headed back to Denver empty. BEAUTIFUL day in the rockies, sun was shining, just a little bit chilly, being an early spring day. I was in no hurry so I stopped along the way to take some pictures.

So I came up to the Eisenhower/Johnson Tunnel and on the west side of the mountain it was sunny, east side was full blown winter storm. So by the time we reach the exit of the tunnel I'm doing about 15 mph. Now I'm going to recount the circumstances that happened in the next few moments EXACTLY as it happened, swear on a stack of bibles. This is important because later on you're not going to believe how it all plays out.

 So as I exited the tunnel at approximately 15 mph everything in front of me turns to total chaos. I see cars swerving all to the right hand shoulder, the road is solid ice, and I look up and see a six wheeled box truck spun sideways in the left lane. I had no where to go, so I hit the brakes to try and stop and my trailer immediately slides sideways. I can see at this point I have no where to go and there is no way I'm going to be able to stop. So I aimed my truck for the back of the box truck, not knowing if anyone was in the cab, I didn't want nobody to get hurt. I tightened my grip on the wheel and braced for the impact, it was like it was all happening in slow motion, BANG!!! I slammed into the box, scooted him down the highway farther, and my truck turned left into a jackknife and I slid off into the concrete median. Then I looked out my driver side window and saw a pickup pulling a trailer coming right at me, he slammed into my drive tires, another pickup went into the median, and all the way back into the tunnel vehicles were colliding, some 13 cars and trucks all total.

So the state patrol showed up and eventually I was able to back my truck up and pull over to the shoulder. There were no serious injuries but I was transported to Denver in an ambulance just to get checked out. The state patrol wrote up the accident as a no fault, act of God, and even a witness at the scene called my safety department and told them there was nothing I could've done to prevent what happened. So my truck was  towed away and the next day I went back up to pick it up and bring it back to the yard.

So back at the yard the next day I get a call from the office wanting to know where the paperwork was for the Aurora stop, I told them I already sealed it and dropped it in the trippak box at the yard. So we had to open it up and find it, because here's where we get back to the story from before, Like I said I had been to this customer and I was familiar with only 2 warehouses that they had, so I paid no attention to the actual delivery address, turns out I had delivered it to a dry warehouse, and the person at the warehouse unloaded it for some reason, and left it sit on the dock and it all spoiled. We tried to argue the point that they signed for it regardless, but in the end the two companies accepted 50% of the blame, and the cost of the mistake, so this meant I was liable for a damage claim, in which the driver gets charged $1000.00.

Now back to the accident. Everyone in the office knew my story, and the story of the witness who called in, and it was pretty well felt that there wasn't much I could've done, everyone except the safety director that is. Despite the witness accounts, and the report from the state patrol which said that there was nobody at fault, he claimed I was "driving too fast for conditions" and this resulted in me being charged with a preventable accident,another $1000 charge to the driver, so I got nailed with a double whammy on this load, one that took me a very long time to pay back at $100 a week I think it was. By the way the driver of the box truck was not in the cab, he actually got out and walked away from the truck, so I guess that was a good thing. He however tried to later claim I hit him and made him spin out, but this didn't hold up because there were plenty of witnesses who saw what happened.
I felt like I could accept responsibility for my part int he spoiled food claim, due to my lack of attention to the delivery address, and delivering to a dry dock and not paying attention, turns out they had three warehouses by the way, the one I didn't know about was the correct one. But I think on the accident I really got screwed, a lot of people were on my side and very upset about it also.


Even though they offered me my W900 back after it was fixed, I went ahead and accepted a brand new T660 instead. Useless fact, but I was the first person at Navajo to move in and drive out of the terminal in a T660, aside from the one test unit they had been running for awhile.

My First Peterbilt

This goes way back to around 2003, 2004ish. After I met my pal Bruno that I talked about in the last post, I had a strong desire to someday drive a big ol' Petercar for myself. I had never had a "hood" truck before, unless you count the Freightliner FLD120 from Covenant, which is kind of a "hood".
Well one day I was at the Navajo terminal, the old one in Commerce City, CO, and there was a 379 Pete short hood, with one stack in the back that was available. Now this was a truck that had been used by one of our partner companies, Cargo Express from Idaho, so it was white with green fenders.
Well I jumped at the opportunity, even if it was a short hood, and had no stacks on the sides, I was happy as could be to finally have a hood in front of me, and be Petermobilin'!

I remember spending all day moving in my Pete and cleaning it all up, then I took off with a load of beer for Kansas City. I was so exhausted that night, popping caffeine pills and everything I could to stay awake, but it was worth it! After I got a little more free time, I had her all polished up and looking high class, and I drove it around with pride for months!

Then one night I stopped at the TA in Foristell,MO to grab a shower, and the only parking spot available was right on the end of the row, the most dangerous spot in any parking lot, and actually forbidden by some companies. I know when I was at Covenant if you parked on an end spot, and was hit, you would be held accountable for a preventable accident!

Anyways I went inside and got my shower, and not 5 minutes later there was a knock on the door from the manager, who I knew because she had been my trainers girlfriend. She told me someone just hit my truck. I was pissed! I threw my clothes on and ran outside, there it was, front hood and fender all mangled and nobody in sight to blame! They just took off. It was the saddest day in my truckin life! So I managed to get the bumper bent back off the wheel and drove her down the road to the Peterbilt dealer. Great news, they could have it all fixed up like new in about 2 days! Bad news, the company didn't want to fix it there, they just wanted it made "legal" and bring it back to Denver, which would've been okay too I guess, but as luck would have it, for them, there was a driver who was arrested nearby at a Flying J for selling drugs, and I was the only one in the area who needed a truck. So I had to go recover the old T600 and take it back to Denver instead, and I never did get my Peterbilt back,and I never drove another one again until I got here to B&L in 2010.

Instead I ended up with a brand new International that was ordered for Cargo Express, and I drove it around until they were ready for it, then I got a brand new T600 with a CAT motor, a limited test program that Navajo was trying, boy did I LOVE that truck!

Flight 837 & the Triple Digit Midget

One of my best friends I've ever came across in my career was a man named Mike Bruno, or we just called him Bruno. His handle was trouble, but I always called him the 'triple digit midget', because he wasn't much over 5 foot tall, and he had a fast damn truck! It all began one night back at Navajo, around 2003 in a town called Napolean , Ohio at the campbells soup plant. See I was sent there to do a relay, and when I met Bruno he had a company orange and white 379 Peterbilt, that he had fully decked out, train horns and all. This is where my fascination for chrome really took off, up until that point it had never really been a thing for me.

So I got his number and we talked almost daily for the next two years, until I left Navajo in 2005.
But about Bruno, see even though he had a company truck, he knew some people, know what I mean, and he was like the owners right hand man, so he was kinda untouchable,so to speak. This gave Bruno quite the big ego, he would often run meat loads up to the northeast and get back hauls back to Denver, and he would always brag about how fast he could run, and poor me, I was in an actual governed company truck.

Now just before I had left Navajo it came time to get rid of his Pete, but the owner had his own truck which he had gotten from an owner/operator who failed to go through with his purchase,so the owner turned it over to Bruno as a company truck, again with certain "favors", it was a two tone maroon 379 Peterbilt, and it wasn't long before Bruno got to work and added his own special style to it, and had it looking real nice, even putting it in a few small truck shows.

So anyway, I left Navajo in 2005 for a small carrier in Ohio and bounced around several companies for the next two years, eventually I lost regular contact with Bruno. Fast forward to summer 2006, when I was driving for Jamestown in my red Classic XL, and one afternoon I picked up my regular run to Denver and set out across I70, strolling in the hammer lane looking large ya know! I make it across Indiana and into Illinois, all the way to Effingham, and by this time it was dark out. So I'm cruising the left lane through Effingham, almost to the big cross and the 57/70 split when I come up on a Navajo trailer in the right lane. Then I see the maroon Pete and all the chicken lights, I'm like this has GOT to be Bruno! So I said I'm gonna get this sumbich tonight!

So I rolled up right beside him, reach up and grab the ol' mic, I hollered "Hey Bruno!" He said "Who is that?!?" I said "It's Sleepy man!" He said "Damn Sleepy, where the hell are you?!?" I said "I'm right beside you!" So he looked over, he's like "Damn you done got you a nice ride now huh!" I said "Yeah and it's wide open, and I gotta be in Denver tomorrow, let's go!" He was going to Denver to of course, so we set out across there, got to MO and we hammered down, me on the front door all the way. I think we finally went to bed somewhere out about Kansas, got up and I led the way all the way to Denver doing about 80!

So I finally got to ride with my ol' buddy, the triple digit midget, after all those years of him leaving me in the dust everywhere. It was fun, and it made me feel like the big dawg for once!

Love For The Road

Do you wander why so many people flood through trucking schools every week, and why the turnover rate is actually above 100%? (not sure how they calculate that) But the fact is, people come from all walks of life,and all ages to "try their hand" out on the open road, and why so many wash out if not within the first few months, the first year? I guess a lot of the appeal is the money people "think" truck drivers make, and don't get me wrong, some do, like myself. But it took me 14 years to get to this point, and I've always worked just as hard as I do now, and for very little money compared to where I'm at today. But I guess people who come into the industry with a lot of financial obligations already, and a family at home right off the bat have a very high chance of failure.

Sadly most people don't really realize what they are getting themselves into until they are actually out on the road, probably with a trainer and making pennies on the dollar, so to speak. They were probably suckered into the industry by some recruiter, whose job is to fill seats, so naturally they're not going to tell you the real truth of life on the road.

I was fortunate to have come into the industry at a young age, I was single with very little bills and a deep passion to succeed because I just loved trucking, and life on the road. I've never been very good at sitting still for very long, so I fell right into this lifestyle with little difficulty.

I'll tell you this, it's not an easy life at all, especially in the refrigerated business where I've spent 90% of my 14 years on the road. Tight deadlines, long lonely times away from home and my family, stress over bills and debt I've acquired over the years, dealing with traffic and the DOT and so on. But never have I ever considered in any seriousness going home and throwing in the towel, or getting a "local" job, as many have done.

The things that keep me truckin' on are the simple things really, I love rolling down that highway at night under the moon and stars, the peace and serenity of it all. The sunrises and sunsets of the western skies, the mountains and snow capped peaks along the way, the brotherhood of the highway and my fellow truckers, the only ones who really get me.

Trucking is a demanding career, it's the "other man/woman" of a relationship so to speak, yes trucking is what it is, and when the road calls, you gotta roll! America isn't going to stand still for nobody, and without us she will come to a screeching halt very quickly. So if you want to succeed in over the road trucking, you have to love trucking above all the hardships! Even if you plan on settling down to a more local lifestyle in the future, you're here now, and you better learn to love it!

Enjoy the experience, the journey, living a life that many people only dream of. This I've learned through social media over the years, so many people become friends with truckers because they are fascinated with our lives. That which they can't for whatever reason pursue on their own, they live vicariously through us, and see the world through our windshields, and they are on the journey with us. Remember one thing, trucking is a lifestyle, not a job. The hours will vary everyday, you must work nights, days, weekends, holidays, it's best you just forget the term "sleep schedule".  People say you shouldn't be defined by your job, but in my case that isn't true, I am a TRUCKER, as my tattoo on my right arm proudly professes. It's not just what I do, it's who I am! But to each their own, not everyone is as passionate about this life as I am.

Back in the Volvo again

Well I went and did it again, went back to a new Volvo! I decided that overall driver comfort and reliability would outweigh all the flashy chrome, and the need for a kick ass stereo system! I never did install the old stereo I bought for the Peterbilt, ended up selling it to another driver.  I love this truck though, it comes with a Thermo King APU and power inverter, so now I have a microwave for heating up my food, makes life a lot easier than waiting 20 minutes on an old 12v portable lunch box stove. Also I've equipped it with a 32 inch TV and DVD player, so it feels like home now!

The automatic transmission is pretty nice too, you get used to it, and it's kind of nice in heavy traffic, and it climbs the hills so much better than the Pete did, and it averages 7 mpg, which is great for the company. This one I call the "Asphalt Cadillac" because of all the nice features, it does feel like I'm driving a big Cadillac.