It's about that time...

I've been telling myself since day one that I was going to stay out on the road for my first "tour" for as long as I want. I wasn't going to put a time limit on being out here running around. If you asked me yesterday if I wanted to come home, I would of said "not yet". Well, I woke up this morning, delivered my load and drove over here to the Flying J truck stop in Kansas City, MO for a 34hr restart. After I pulled in and parked I popped open this computer and haven't closed it for the last 8hrs. I started looking at old youtube videos of all our trips to go riding and snowmobiling. Right then and there I said to myself "It's about that time, I'm coming home" and I put in my Hometime request.

CFI's policy on home time is 1 day for every 7 days out and a minimum of 10 days out before you can request to go home. Well, I've been out here for 6 weeks (5 weeks driving + 1 week Orientation) so I have six days off. They let you "bank" your days off, meaning I can go home for 3 days and save the other 3 days off for a time when I need them. My plan right now is to take 4 days off and save the rest for later. "


CFI hometime is guaranteed to get you home within 5 days of requesting it, no matter if you're loaded or empty. So I should be home this weekend. You better watch out, I can't wait to jump on my dirt bike and break in the new trails that were covered in snow 6 weeks ago!



This is where I delivered "Epoxy Resin Plastic Granules Pellets or Powder" in 44 separate 1000lb bulk bags. I picked it up at DOW Chemical in Freeport, TX. This wasn't the easiest back to do as you can see from the fence that people have driven over to try to get the trailer lined up to the dock...




PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE drop this truck in the driveway at home... Oh man, this truck is sick!!!



I found this photo of a CFI Drivers messageboard website. CFI used to sponsor a big rig racing team that did drags and the yearly pikes peak hill climb event. I don't think this red racer is governed at 65mph...


-Trucker Chris, Over n out.

Rollin', rollin', rollin'...

Finally, I'm getting some descent miles! Yesterday and today were both 650+ mile days which is nice to get out and stretch my legs on the open road once again. I left McDonough,GA and headed west to Tuscaloosa,LA last night where I spent the night and watched the amazing lightning storm before heading off to bed. I woke up this morning and continued my trek to Dallas, where I dropped off my load of Craftsman sit down lawn mowers to the Sears distribution center and then headed 15 miles south to the CFI Terminal in Lancaster, TX.

I had just enough time to fuel up and fill out some much needed and very late paperwork (oops!) before being dispatched to "dead head" which means running empty to West Memphis, TN. That's over 450 miles EMPTY which is very out of the ordinary. Usually a company will dead head you 100 miles or less to get a load but today there were no loads available in the greater Dallas,TX area and a ton of loads available with no drivers in Memphis. I arrived here in West Memphis (CFI Terminal) and was dispatched to RELAY, which means to pick up a load which is already inroute. Which in this case the load is a Conway load (lots of different freight inside of a trailer going to a Conway terminal to be split up and put in different trucks bound for different parts of the country) heading to the Lancaster CFI Terminal. So tomorrow morning I "flip a U" and head back the way I came.



Here I am crossing the Mississippi heading westbound on I-20.



A nasty storm cloud which didn't produce more than one rain drop on my windshield in Alabama on I-20.



A HUGE windmill blade.



These are my favorite kind of stretches of road. I like it when you can't see the other side of the highway. It's usually blocked by trees on both sides of you which makes for a cool drive and lots to look at.




Self Portrait.




I also really enjoy elevate sections of interstate. There seems to be a lot of these here out east.




Anyone want a Helicopter?




Oh man, I was bored... lol





So I may just be a bit crazy...




I'm trying this out for the first time. It's a video of the lightning storm last night. Let me know how it works and if you would like more videos.

Broke down in Texas.

I broke down while getting off the freeway in Brenham, TX on friday night. Everything was fine until I came to a complete stop and tried moving forward. My Truck stumbled on itself, a check engine light came on and the truck was blowing gobs of black smoke like a steam train. Luckily the customer was in my sights only about a 1/4 mile down the road. So I was unloaded and gave road service a call. Supposedly I blew a EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) valve. I guess it happens alot with these cummin's motors. On saturday morning I was towed by a little tiny tow truck (photos below) to Houston Peterbilt. They said they wouldn't be able to work on me until wednesday or thursday of next week. Roadservice then said to drive 30 more miles north to Cleveland,TX where I'm at right now. Performance Kenworth says that they will have me diagnosed and parts ordered today around noon. Hopefully I'll be able to get out of here tomorrow or wednesday. Things here at CFI are starting out really slow. I hope my miles improve in the coming weeks.


When I was waiting for the tow truck to arrive, I was looking forward to riding in a big peterbilt wrecker with my truck in tow. When this little truck showed you I said "You got to be %*%&%(#W)# kidding me" haha



A storm rolls in while loading misc. parts for the Peterbilt Factory in Texas.



Getting unloaded at the Peterbilt Factory in Denton, TX.



A nice wet welcome to Kansas City, MO.




Then came the hail and traffic jams...



Loading up a brand new trailer. Eventually the trucks will be white with those same blue stripes on the tractor.




This is why I want a GPS. I missed a turn in Paris, TX and ended up taking the business route through town. I hope trucks were allowed on this route...doh!




Pulling into the Inspection bay at the Company Headquarters in Joplin,MO. The LED sign welcomes each driver to the yard.





Compared to Gordon's headquarters even though CFI and GTI are pretty much the same size, CFI's HQ's are HUGE!




Another end to a nice day in the truck...




While waiting to get loaded some drivers like to grab a bite to eat nearby, some like to sleep and I take stupid pictures...lol




Wonder why this airplane is parked in front of this house? Just a wee bit odd...




Over and out!
Chris

3 weeks can't come soon enough...

I just put my name on the 3 week backorder list for the brand new Teletype WorldNav 7100 GPS designed specifically for Commercial trucks. I heard about it months ago that a company was coming out with a trucker gps that routes you around tolls, lower bridges, restricted routes, etc. Well, The first batch sold out in ONE day! So I called up today and hopefully I'll have mine by the time I go home... I hope! Check it out here:

New photos from the last couple days...

I'm going to get right down to the good stuff tonight...


This is where I got my CB tuned up... It was a hole in the wall but the husband and wife that run the "CB shop" were very nice and my CB is working great!




Do you like my shiny hiney?




A Central Freight peterbilt with SPINNA'S!




Coming into St. Louis today...




A HUGE oversize load. It was a really nice brand new yacht... Maybe he could drop it off at my house?




Taco bell and subway at the same truckstop? I AM IN HEAVEN!!!




This trailer is fitted with fairings that help direct the flow of air around the trailer and improves fuel mileage. Also, it has electric landing gear which is pretty cool. First time I've ever used one. UPS has it on their fleet of trucks.



How many "trucker bombs" (pee bottles) can you count?



Roadking published a link to my gordon blog...


Check this out, RoadKing Magazine published a photo and link about my GORDON blog!!! Roadking is a magazine put out by TA truckstops. Go pick one up!

Sitting here in Chicago....

and it's just a wee bit chillly outside... Well, it's colder than Texas was that's for sure. I delivered this morning in Waukegan just north of Chicago and unloaded my 36,000lbs of Ziploc baggies. I pick up a Conway Freight load tomorrow morning bound for Newark, NJ. This will be my first time going any farther east than Chicago on I-80 and I'm a bit nervous but now that I think about it, I was damn nervous the first time I went to Chicago. Although, now that I've been here about 5 times Chicago is easy and the traffic is just an annoyance. So, there's a first for everything and I'm headed east! CFI Pays 5cents more per mile if you run in the northeast so that's very good and Hopefully I will get a run south or west from Newark. I'm kinda looking forward to heading west to familiar territory once again.

I remember this stretch of road from our RV trips we took each summer. It was around 8-9 years ago since I was last here...








Mississippi really takes care of their roads. I-55 north was a dream to drive on.



I was shut down at the Memphis, TN Kenworth dealership getting some work done for about a half day on wednesday. While waiting to get my truck worked on, I ended up splurging a bit on floor mats... eek