 |
Phil Madsen's BlogLearning Something New Every Day |
Truck drivers Phil and Diane Madsen live, work and play on the road; transporting expedited and critical-shipment freight in their custom-built truck. Phil's blog is a blend of travelogue, brain dump and commentary on road-inspired topics.
Jul 2007 Aug 2007 Sep 2007 Oct 2007 Nov 2007 Dec 2007 Jan 2008 Feb 2008 Mar 2008 Apr 2008 May 2008 Jun 2008 Jul 2008 Aug 2008 Sep 2008 Oct 2008 Nov 2008 Dec 2008 Jan 2009 Feb 2009 Mar 2009 Apr 2009 May 2009 Jun 2009 Jul 2009 Aug 2009 Sep 2009 Oct 2009 Nov 2009 Dec 2009 Jan 2010
Blog entries are made so as not to reveal customer specifics or the current location of the truck when we are under load. Entries are updated to include location information after we leave the area. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Monday, February 1, 2010 I learned today one of the reasons I had the feeling of well being described below. Learned by thinking through the experience.
We're on the road again! At least we soon will be. After spending a pleasant weekend at the very nice Pechanga RV park in Southern California, we will soon fire up the truck and go to pick up a load that will keep us running until Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning, depending on the delivery confirmation.
Diane and I have a phrase, "Secure for running." After we have been sitting for a while, the time comes to move again. One or both of of us will say "secure for running." That means play time is over, get ready to roll.
Around sunset last night the words were said, secure for running. Diane wrote up the load. I serviced the toilet and water tanks. We worked together to do a thorough pre-trip inspection of the truck. We updated our log books. I put away the lawn chairs. We took showers and put away anything that was loose in the sleeper.
Secured to run, we next walked to the nearby casino for a light meal. On the way, we held hands and noted a feeling of well being. We have been in a safe place and decent weather for a few days. The truck is in great shape. We used our down time well to both relax and get some good business and trading work done. We are dispatched on a load that provides a great financial start for the month. We felt good being together and free on the road. It was a nice walk.
That was last night. Later this day it came to me why I felt so relaxed and free. In a word, the time and effort I have put into my Operation Streamline is paying off. New habits are taking root. My mind is less cluttered.
One of the things I did yesterday was go through the ten pounds (actual figure) of trucking magazines that had piled up. We don't get home often. When we do, I bring the stack into the truck with the intention of reading them later. Yesterday was my day to do that but this time was different.
No longer serving as the editor of a trucking magazine, it is no longer important for me to try to keep abreast of everything that is going on in the industry. Being committed to narrowing my mental focus, it was easier to go though the stack than ever.
For example, truck engine changes for 2010 and beyond have injected two new acronyms into the industry vocabulary; SCR and DEF. It struck me yesterday that while these items are of great importance, they are not important to Diane and me because we won't be buying a new truck anytime soon. I could be SCR and DEF ignorant and it would not affect us in any way.
I used to read nearly every word in every trucking magazine that came my way. No more. Getting better at maintaining a specific mental focus, I now ask myself if a magazine article actually matters to Diane's and my business before reading it.
Last night's peaceful moments came not from just finishing off a stack of magazines. It came from letting a whole bunch of trucking topics evaporate out of my mind. More specifically, it came from letting go of the need to know. If something important develops, I can research it then. I don't need to keep up with everything that is going on in the trucking industry.
Things have changed. I have changed. I'm not here to break the news. I'm not here to be the first to know. I'm not here to demonstrate or share my industry knowledge among truck drivers at meetings and the dinner table.
I'm here to run a one-truck expediting business with my wife and co-driver Diane, efficiently and profitably. The more efficient and profitable we are in expediting, the more time I will have for trading.
A while ago, someone researching the expediting industry asked me a question online. When I replied, he said he was thrilled to hear back from "the celebrity expediter." Diane and I have never sought to be celebrity expediters but as active and outspoken as we were, it was an inevitable consequence.
A year from now, there will be hundreds if not thousands of new people in the business. Shifting my focus and behavior as I am, I'd be surprised if two percent of them even know Diane and I exist. That's perfect.
A celebrity expediter I care not to be.
Success in business is for me.
Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Tuesday, February 2, 2010 I learned today that the trip to Hawaii Diane and I were planning is off. Learned when we could not bring ourselves to pull the trigger and book the trip.
Touring the Hawaiian islands on a cruise ship at deeply discounted rates sounds nice, especially in the winter. But with air fare for two and extras, the cost comes to about $10,000. That is money we would rather add to my trading stake or put toward a house in in Florida. We don't feel rich enough to stop working for 10 days and blow $10,000 on tourist fun.
In the truck, we get all over the country and have all kinds of tourist fun. It is a hotel on wheels and the shippers pay us to go here, there and everywhere. When having tourist fun on the road, we are never further than the truck away from a cheap place to stay and the opportunity to return quickly to work. Spending $10,000 on a 10 day trip and having nothing to show for it but the trip itself is too much for us. It's a great trip that we would love to take someday, but not just yet.
• We picked up freight in San Diego, California yesterday morning and are hauling it now, driving and sleeping in shifts. The delivery has not yet been confirmed. We expect to have the freight off the truck by Wednesday afternoon. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 I learned today that it is possible to set up a Wi-Fi connection between Diane's and my laptop computers and then have both computers share the internet connection that one of them uses. Learned by reading the Windows help pages.
Diane and I each have our own computer in the truck. Several months ago, we got Diane her own wireless internet account. With me spending more and more time online for trading and downloading financial podcasts and eBooks, I'm pushing the limit on my internet account. I need to use her account to download the big stuff to my computer and leave my bandwidth free for trading; thus my journey into into the help pages. I haven't got our little in-truck network running yet but I will.
• We drove overnight last night and continued the run that began in San Diego, California on Monday morning. We delivered the freight in Virginia this afternoon, just before close of business. We went next to a retail area to settle in for the night and wait for load offers. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Thursday, February 4, 2010 I learned today that the Volvo trucks dealer in Ashland Virginia offers a five percent discount on labor if you return for service within a certain period of time. Learned by receiving the discount.
On the way to yesterday's delivery in Virginia our truck developed a troubling noise. We pulled over at the first safe opportunity and popped the hood. The noise did not happen when the truck was stationary, only when moving. I looked and looked and noticed nothing amiss. Except for the noise, the truck ran normally. There were no trouble codes. No warning lights appeared on the dashboard display.
We decided to continue driving and the noise did not return. Having driven to Virginia from California and having only a couple hundred miles left to go, we wanted to complete the delivery. With the truck seeming to run normally, we continued.
We then stopped for fuel about 60 miles from the delivery. The noise returned as we left the truck stop. Diane noticed a Volvo dealer nearby and we headed there. These people deserve a favorable mention; Colonial Truck, Ashland Virginia.
The service manager pulled a mechanic off another job and sent him out to ride with us to hear the noise. The mechanic asked me to pop the hood before he got in the truck. It took him one second (literally) to diagnose the problem. It was a broken EGR pipe. They had the parts. It was an easy fix made in the parking lot. Diane and I were on our way to the delivery in less than an hour.
(Please permit me a moment of ego service. I like to think I did not see the broken pipe because the break was not as large when I looked. The break was easily seen after the noise returned and the hood went up a second time.)
• We woke up this morning in a retail area about an hour away from this dealership. Our expediting day consisted of turning down one bad load after another, six in all, and accepting but not receiving the one good load that was offered.
With hope for more offers fading with the daylight, we decided to return to Colonial Truck to have a windshield wiper motor replaced. There was nothing wrong with the present motor but a factory recall was in effect and Volvo wanted to replace it at no charge. We had some scheduled maintenance work done while we were there. The night crew was as pleasant to deal with as the day crew was yesterday.
• I also learned today that Diane and I will be going home for ten days later this month. Learned by setting the schedule.
Diane worked as an attorney before she and I took up life on the road. She needs to complete a certain number of continuing legal education courses to keep her law license current. She completed a bunch last year. We are going home soon so she can complete the rest and visit the dentist.
The pass she purchased to take an unlimited number of courses expires at the end of this month. With these courses costing $250 to $350 each, the more she can get done under her pass, the better. Since she had a dental appointment already scheduled, taking the courses doubles the value of this trip home.
• I have never looked forward to a trip home more than this one. Diane will be in class most of the time. Nothing of consequence is scheduled for me. The truck will be safely parked and needs no work. If there is any business paperwork to do, it won't be much. We are caught up on that, thanks to Operation Streamline.
This gives me the better part of ten days for full-time trading. That is very good news. I am eager to get home and immerse myself in the game. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Friday, February 5, 2010 I learned today that Virginia state law now bans smoking in truck stops and presumably other public places. Learned by seeing the sign on the door.
It is a sign of the times, I guess. A tobacco state now outlaws smoking. Who woulda thunk? While the logic of the ban may be sound, it shows yet again that the land of the free ain't so free any more. I recently read of several places where rules or laws have been proposed to ban fat people from restaurants. Sound logic lies behind that too. Would things go that far? It could. Virginia tobacco farmers of a generation or two ago would never have imagined that their product would be deemed evil. Bad smokers. Bad eaters. Ban them all!
• 
Diane and I woke up this morning at the TA truck stop in Ashland, Virginia, still waiting for freight. Today's weather map is "colorful" as Diane put it. A winter storm warning is in effect for this area through 6 p.m. tomorrow. It is 10 a.m. now and the snow is beginning to accumulate. Ten inches or more are forecast, as are sleet and wind gusts up to 30 mph. More severe conditions are forecast for cities further north.
At this time of day on a Friday, it is normally unlikely that we will be dispatched to pick anything up today. More common are load offers for Monday pickups. The weather may change that. Extraordinary weather disrupts ordinary freight patterns. Expediters are sometimes called in to get important loads through when common carriers are delayed or hang it up for the day.
The best possible scenario would be a load that picks up today and takes us south out of the winter storm. The most likely scenario is that we will sit out the storm where we are and have something to haul on Monday. Expecting that, we moved up the road to a Petro truck stop where I can enjoy the free movies they play in the small theater there.
Update 1: Minutes after posting the above, an offer came in that we accepted and got. It is a short run that picks up and delivers on Monday. The pay per mile is OK but because the load is short, the money is not so good for the time the load ties up the truck. Taking the load means we won't have to drive in the winter storm, which is a plus. It also means we will be spending time at a less than exciting place until the rotten weather clears.
Update 2: We got dispatched late in the day on a load that also picks up and delivers on Monday. The two loads combined turn Monday into a good moneymaking day and make the weekend easier to bear. Still, we are sitting out a winter storm and that's no fun at all. Lots of Florida thoughts here. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Saturday, February 6, 2010 I learned today a little about Florida vacation rental properties. Learned by looking at them on the web.
I was not kidding yesterday when I said lots of Florida thoughts here. We are laid over for the weekend in Ruther Glen, Virginia while a big winter storm hits. The only thing worse than sitting through it would be driving through it. In that regard, we are in good shape. The storm will end tonight and we don't pick up freight until Monday. We are keeping warm and cozy in our nice truck but I'd rather be in Florida. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Sunday, February 7, 2010 I learned today how the winter storm we sat through affected the area around us. Learned by looking out the window and reading news reports.
The Washington Post photographers got busy during and after the storm and produced some magnificent photos that can be viewed here. We did not get hit as hard in Ruther Glen, Virginia. We have a few hours of driving to do today to get near tomorrow's pickup. The storm ended last night so we expect the roads to be clear and the driving to be fine. Today's blog photo was taken yesterday. It is sunny now and the trucks at the truck stop are beginning to move. Tomorrow is a work day. I'm glad we don't have to go into Washington or Philadelphia as thousands of truckers must.
We were glad to get the parking spot we got on Friday and settle in to wait out the storm. That is until Saturday when a truck next to us left and another pulled in. Like many trucks at the truck stop, our new neighbor idled his engine the whole time. That was not a problem. The problem was his engine was out of tune and produced acrid, sooty fumes that we breathed all day and night. We did not move because there was no place to move to. The storm kept us in place.
Parking a straight truck like ours is much easier than parking a big rig. The big rig drivers rely heavily on truck stops for parking. We avoid truck stops when we can, for air quality reasons and a host of others. There are a few truck stops that we like and go to when we are near them. Otherwise we seek out cleaner, quieter and safer places to park.
Update: "... we expect the roads to be clear and the driving to be fine?" ... NOT!
Holy Moly, what a day! We have never seen roads like this in seven winters of truck driving. What a mess! I am talking about the part of our drive that took us north on I-95 from Quantico, Virginia to Baltimore, Maryland.
We finally got where we are going, hours later than planned. We unwound with a hot, sit-down meal and a cup of cocoa at a Perkins restaurant. After a quick stop at a Walmart to re-supply the truck, we found a place to park safely for the night and settle in for the sleep we need. I'll write more about today's drive as time permits. It is not one we will soon ever forget.
Tomorrow is a two-load day that begins early. The first load picks up at 6 a.m. The second load delivers at midnight. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Monday, February 8, 2010 I learned today the status and company views of expediter friends of ours after they changed carriers some time ago. Learned by visiting with them by telephone.
Today was a busy day as expected. After spending the night in a retail area 30 miles away, we arrived on time at our 6 a.m. pickup. The usual routine was followed.
The pickup is at 6 a.m. Thirty miles of driving is 30 minutes. That puts us at 5:30. Thirty minutes to get out of bed, get ready and get the truck ready puts us at 5:00. Build in one hour of sluff time to react to unexpected traffic delays, truck surprises or whatever. That puts us at 4:00, the time at which we set our alarms to go off.
That's alarms, as in more than one. We use our cell phones. Diane sets hers. I set mine. That way if one of us makes a mistake, the other alarm will go off at the right time.
Today's first run was only a couple hundred miles. It picked up and delivered in Pennsylvania. We proceeded next to New Hampshire, arrived after sunset, and picked up a load that goes west and delivers tomorrow morning. The original delivery time was for tonight but it bumped to tomorrow as no one would be there as late as we would arrive. That is fine. Either way we will sleep overnight in a non-moving truck.
We are already pre-dispatched to pick up the next load. With that one, we did something we almost never do. We took freight that is not profitable to run. We took it because it takes us closer to home, where we need to be on Sunday. It pays less than the price we normally require to put freight on our truck but far more than what we would get by booking a backhaul load and hauling really cheap freight.
The load will put us just 700 miles from home on Wednesday. We have hauled loads from that area to locations near home before. It would be really nice to score one of those and have the freight pay our way home. Otherwise we will do the usual thing and drive home on our own dime. We have the time to set up a backhaul load but having done that before, it is more trouble than it is worth. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Blog entries are made so as not to reveal customer specifics or the current location of the truck when we are under load. Entries are updated to include location information after we leave the area. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page