Winter in Wyoming

Winter proved to much for this trucker. He wrecked his truck before even getting up and over the first hill in Wyoming.

Ground Blizzard in Wyoming

I really don't care for driving through Wyoming in the winter. There is no scenery, to many trucks on the roads and the conditions just suck most of the time. This video shows a little of that.

Utah in the Snow

Here is a little bit of me trucking along I70 in Utah. The scenery through this area is beautiful.

Some Stills from a Couple of Years Ago

I loved driving the Volvo, it was 1000% better the Freightliner I have now. The dates that show on some of the photos is wrong. These pictures are from 2006 and 2007.

Oregon in the Snow with Chains

Here i am hanging some chains and running with the big trucks across I84 towards Portland.

Winter Carnage in Iowa

This video got a lot of complaints on YouTube. A lot of bad drivers didn't like being exposed I guess. Listen people, the snow and ice didn't cause these wrecks. The drivers who were going to fast for the conditions did.

Big Trucks Rolling

Turnpike Doubles rolling across I90 in New York State

Old YouTube Video's

I am going to post some video's that I took off of YouTube a little while ago for a variety of reasons. Chiefly YouTube pulling my audio. Many of you have seen these already but maybe some people will find them interesting.

People Net, Its about time

I can run with the best of em' but my days of trashing through loose leaf log pages are over and yours are probably numbered too. I have been logging with my PeopleNet for about a month now and I have not had one Problem with it. I do have an advantage working for a private fleet that hauls its own product both ways to be sure. The first thing I noticed is how much time I am saving not filling out the paper log. It is also a huge relief to be legal and not worried about what's waiting up ahead. Probably the biggest difference is that for those running the big miles you will never again run the full 11 hours. You have to park some where without running over so that might be after 9 or 10 hours depending on where you are.

For the guys who want to keep pushing it to the limit I have to say "get a life man" 14 hours is long enough for anybody to work. It is such a relief to not have to make up for everyone Else's mediocrity anymore. I just do my job and let everyone else do theirs. If I can't make it there is no pointing of fingers at me. Now the blame falls where it needs to be, on the customer, the warehouse, etc etc etc.

The list of fleets who are switching to this is growing rapidly and will allow the DOT to concentrate on the rule breakers I have to think. What has brought this about is the FMSCA or Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration revising a rule that had prevented their auditors from asking to see satellite tracking data. As many of you know, as long as the fuel receipt was close and any tolls matched the rest was up to you.

My company and many others fearing that their own data will be used against them figured the gig is up. If they have to be accurate to every 15 minutes (the time between peopleNet positioning) then we might as well just go electronic and not worry about it.

I think it's a good deal. After all I need my rest.

RAGBRAI in the Book

It's been a while folks but I have been busy here in Iowa. I decided that I wanted to be a bicycle rider recently and what better way to test my mettle than to get out and participate in the annual RAGBRAI. That stands for Registers Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa. Last day was a nice ride, just 45 miles or so. Can not wait to do it again next year. This is a very social event with plenty of drinking and partying for those that have the energy.

Trkrjim and son. he made it all the way too!

This is a good example of the hills that kicked my ass. 25 miles of these, one right after the next.

Riders on the Road outside of Mount Pleasant, Iowa

Trkrjim at the Mississippi River in Burlington,IA

I am still here

I know its been a while, its been a busy summer. I started e-logging. No more paper log books for me to falsify. I will have a lot to say about that in a day or two. It should be interesting to hear some opinions from people who have worked with it and now are without. I will save mine until I put together my analysis. This week I am off to Northern Vermont to drop a couple pallets of popcorn of all things.

Blind side backing

I get to do this a couple of times a month so I have gotten pretty good at judging when to cut my wheels to get it in.

columbia at 324,000 miles

Here is a little video. For a Freighliner it's holding up ok.

2007 Freightliner Columbia Revisited

The truck is doing pretty good for the miles, it helps that I am the only driver it has had. No problems with the interior and I have not even had to replace a bulb yet either in the dash or outside.

The bumper seems to want to rust out but I suspect this will be repainted sometime before winter and that should get us through to the end of the lease. We are halfway there already.

Colin Hay playing Land Down Under with Rode NT3

If you have not heard this song since the 80's you may appreciate a stripped down accoustic version, I know I do.