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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.
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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
Sunday, July 5, 2010 I learned today the dangers of craigslist.org. Learned by seeing how Diane and I became obsessed with it and I fell behind in my blog (thus the missing blog entries for July 1-4).
Craigslist held the fascination of something new until it was new to us no more. It was a breech of discipline to let our attention drift into a website like this. The thrill is gone. Back to business. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Monday, July 6, 2010 I learned today the story of a Florida family that is downsizing. Learned when the man of the house told me the story.
Diane and I are laid over in our Florida house, in service, waiting for freight. But the freight is slow this holiday weekend and we are not surprised to be sitting.
I need a desk for my home office and spotted one on craigslist.org that might work. The $50 price was right, the seller responded to my e-mail inquiry (a rare event among craigslist sellers), so we fired up the truck and went out to pick it up.
When we arrived and I laid eyes on the desk, I knew I did not want it. The thing was a massive-huge, heavy piece of commercial office furniture; way more than I had in mind for a home office. It was well worn and not in the best of shape. But having the choice between that desk or no desk soon, and having the truck out of the barn, I paid the fifty bucks. and we loaded that beast into the truck. I figured that the price was low enough to throw the desk away and start over if we had to.
The downsizing story was told to me as the seller helped us take the desk apart and load it into the truck. If you look at craigslist for long, you will see numerous people selling things because they are "downsizing." It seems like a codeword that means we need the money now so we are selling our stuff. That was not the case here. These folks were empty nesters seeking a smaller house now that their kids were gone.
As the desk became more of a burden than a solution for Diane and me, another setback came. We started the reefer to cool the back of the truck while working back there but it did not start. It acted like the battery was low. That made little sense to me because the reefer ran great on the run that brought us to Florida on the 3rd. The Cab Command unit (reefer control box) flashed a low battery code, confirming my suspicion, but I did not have time to troubleshoot the reefer then. It would likely run with a simple jump start off the truck batteries so I worried little about it. The desk was the task at hand.
When we got home with the desk, it was more difficult to move it into our house than it was moving it out of the seller's house. It seemed to gain a few hundred pounds in weight on the trip and turned out to be too big to get through the door of the bedroom that will be my office.
Frustrated in the evening, I went to bed, ending the day with a huge desk in pieces in the middle of the house and a reefer that would not start. As if that was not enough, Diane's cell phone went missing somewhere between the seller's house and ours. We went through the truck several times trying to find it but to no avail.
A reefer needing a jump is an inconvenience. The monster desk is a problem. A missing cell phone is a crisis. It means that Diane and I cannot stay easily in touch when we are apart. Her phone is our "FedEx phone." We never turn it off. It is the phone dispatch calls with business.
Telling FedEx to change the primary number to my phone was easy enough. So was the call to the cell phone provider telling them to suspend Diane's phone. As we remained in service for freight, it was deeply troubling to be one phone short between us. We did not like the idea of going back on the road with just one phone. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Tuesday, July 7, 2010 I learned today more about the community in which our Florida vacation house is located. Learned by visiting with friends who live there.
Diane and I woke up this morning in our Florida house. We are in service, waiting for freight. I'm calling today a recovery and breakeven day.
We returned a defective ceiling fan that I bought a couple days ago. The hated monster desk got tamed into something that is actually useful. We took it further apart, wrestled it in and set up in my office. I got the truck reefer running with a simple jump start off the truck batteries. The reefer works fine. It just needs a new battery which is easy to replace.
Most importantly, we learned the whereabouts of Diane's missing cell phone. Someone found it wedged into the cushions on a piece of patio furniture in a Lowe's store. It apparently fell out of a pocket when we sat on the furniture while shopping in the store. The good person who found it called us to let us know and turned it into the desk at the store. Diane immediately borrowed our friends' car and went to get the phone. (It's nice to have generous friends!)
• We received just one load offer today as the world goes back to work after the long weekend. It was a marginal load that we declined, not once but nine times. The automated system and computerized voice called eight times throughout the day and night, waking us up several times. A human being called the ninth time and received the same answer.
There was a time when it used to be fun to receive a phone call and load offer. The new dispatch system our carrier adopted a while back has taken all the fun out of it. When our carrier calls now with load offers, we find ourselves bracing for a negative experience in ways we did not do before. There are many faults. Today's experience illustrates one of them.
Receiving nine calls for a load we declined with the first call borders on harassment. I can see a second call with increased pay and maybe even a third call from a dispatcher who wants to discuss the "load opportunity" as our carrier now calls them. Nine calls is beyond reason by any measure.
• To close on a more positive note, it felt really good to set up a desk in the room that will be my office in our Florida house. The room will get more interior work and furniture over time but it is functional now as a trading room.
I will be spending a lot of time in this room when we are here. To spend time trading, you need nothing more than a laptop computer and an internet connection. That's what I use when we are in the truck. But when you put the time into trading that I do, having a dedicated room with a comfortable desk and chair and an additional monitor or two is a bonus.
Diane calls it my cave. Others might call it man space. I call it my office or trading room. Whatever the name, it is a comfortable place for me to be and trade. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Wednesday, July 8, 2010 I learned today what our schedule will be from now through July 16. learned when we accepted a load that takes us home.
We need to be home in Minnesota next week for restorative dental work. Between the two of us, we will be getting nine fillings replaced and three new crowns. You don't have to be at a truck stop long to see a number of toothless truckers going about their business. We are not among them and never will be. Instead of having teeth pulled when problems develop, we spend the money and keep our teeth.
Remarkably, the load we picked up today takes us most of the way from Florida to Minnesota. It is not a load we would normally accept because the pay is too low. But when we need to get to Minnesota from Florida, we'll take the lower pay to move us in that direction. The pickup was just across the Florida/Georgia border. The delivery is in Illinois, north of Chicago. We will deadhead the rest of the way home from there if the freight does not help.
Our Florida house layover went better this time. The last time we were there, it was less orderly as we then purchased and took possession of the place. This time we knew what house we would be going to, where we would park the truck, who our neighbors are, etc.
We have more to do but are working toward the point where we have everything we need in the house so we don't have to lug things back and forth from the truck. The idea is to arrive at the gated community in which the house is located, stop at the house to move our laundry and fresh food in, park the truck in the RV storage area, prepare it for the next run, and then walk the short distance back to the house. The house will contain clothes, linens, toiletries, office supplies, and everything else we need to settle in for a rest and to do my trading.
Like I said, we have more to do. At the moment there are just a couple items hanging in the closets, the dresser drawers are empty, we need more furniture, etc. It was nice entering the house this time to find the bathroom stocked with toiletries, the kitchen stocked with cleaning supplies and the laundry room ready to use.
Leaving the house today went OK but not as smooth as we would like. When we get to the point we want to be, we should be able to vacate and secure the house in just a few minutes with no advance notice, and have the truck wheels rolling a few minutes after that. We are in the emergency freight business and there are times when it pays to be light on your feet. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Thursday, July 9, 2010 I learned today about the Amish Furniture Gallery in Crystal Lake, IL. Learned by visiting it.
We drove overnight from Georgia to deliver a load in a Chicago suburb around noon today. We took this load because it gets us most of the way home from Florida where we were yesterday. We need to be home for dental appointments on Monday.
Immediately after the delivery, we put ourselves out of service to take care of business and work our way home. Home is about eight hours from Chicago. We told dispatch that we would be heading that way and could help cover loads moving that way if they needed the help but did not expect to get dispatched in that direction. As the day progressed, we were not surprised to see our non-expectation fulfilled.
The truck needed new steer tires as the present set was approaching its legal tread-depth limit. We used the internet to find a dealer that was located on the way home and headed toward it.
The freight delivery was a few miles away from a freeway. Suburban Chicago streets are easy to drive with a truck. There are stop lights, of course, but the thru streets are generally four or more lanes wide and well marked. Most major intersections have left turn lanes. If you get lost, it is not hard to turn around and get back on track.
We were rolling along on our merry way, out of service, heading toward home, and then I saw it; the Amish Furniture Gallery. The sign caught my eye, my love for Amish furniture kicked in and open space in the small parking lot sealed the deal. I surprised Diane with an unexpected turn into the lot and the sound of setting the air brakes. She came forward from the sleeper wanting to know what was up. We had the time, I said, let's browse the store. She did not object.
A few weeks ago when we purchased our Florida vacation house, I talked about treating it as a throwaway house in which nothing would be kept in it that we cared about. That was because of the hurricane risk and of the desire to live a life that is philosophically property-free, if not physically so.
While the throwaway house approach has merit, it is taking more time and trouble than it is worth. Diane and I have spent far too many hours on craigslist.org and in used furniture stores trying to buy the furniture we need. It's not working. We don't want to come into our Florida house with a list of furniture to buy. We want to come in and enjoy the house.
It's nice to save money and the thrill of the hunt is there when you are looking for great deals on used furniture. But our time is valuable too and we are finding it far too costly to put time into the used furniture hunt. It would be easier if we were not particular about how the house will look when fully furnished, but we are particular.
We were delighted by the furniture we saw at the gallery today. It is really nice; I mean really, really nice. High Point, North Carolina is another delightful furniture shopping place we have discovered on the road. Craigslist and the used furniture stores are fading into the background as we put together a trip that will fully furnish our Florida house.
We have art work stored at our Minnesota residence that we will hang on the walls in Florida. These are pieces we have picked up in our travels in our years as expediters.
We will come home for Christmas as we always do and head directly to Florida after the holiday. The art pieces will be on the truck. We will stop in Chicago to pick up a bedroom set. Before Christmas we hope to get back to High Point and see if the furniture vendors there have additional pieces we like. If so, stops in High Point to pick them up could be made on our way to Florida.
Such were our thoughts as we headed home. Not needing to be there until Monday, we took our time. After getting new tires put on the truck, we stopped for a nice meal at a restaurant a friend recommended. Our next stop was just an hour or so away when we pulled into the freeway rest area in Beloit, Wisconsin to spend the night. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Friday, July 9, 2010 I learned today the name of the infection I have in my right eye. Learned when my doctor told me.
Diane and I woke up this morning in the Beloit, Wisconsin, freeway rest area we stopped at last night. We headed home to spend the weekend and then go to the dentist on Monday and Thursday of next week. That's our reason for going home, dental visits. If not for those, we would stay out on the road.
My right eye has been bothering me for a week or so (a healthy eye is shown here, not mine). I self-diagnosed it with some internet research and treated it accordingly but it did not get better. I can see out of it fine but it itches and is red most of the time. Knowing we were headed home, I made an appointment to see my doctor. Had we not been going home, I would have gone to a clinic on the road. We were getting close to the point where my reluctance to see a doctor would be overcome by Diane's kicking my ass.
(Note to expediter wannabees, it is essential to have good health insurance. As a self-employed independent contractor, you must chose and pay for a plan on your own. When you do, make sure your plan is recognized by clinics and hospitals in all states. You don't want to find yourself in a distant state with an infected eye and be reluctant to go to a doctor because you may not have coverage. You need that eye to drive. This infection is easily treated. Left untreated, it could be the end of one's eye and truck driving career.)
My self-diagnosis turned out to be wrong. The doctor gave me the right diagnosis, two prescriptions and treatment instructions. He said I should see improvement in a couple days and suggested that I go to an eye doctor for a more thorough eye exam than he can do in the clinic. I'll do so next week. I went straight to the pharmacy from the doctor's office and started the eye drops and pills as soon as I got home.
There are other things to be done at home but when it came to setting priorities today, the eyes had it. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Saturday, July 10, 2010 I learned today more about trading. Learned by studying.
Diane and I woke up at home in Minnesota this morning and will do the same through Friday. We are home for dental work with appointments on Monday and Thursday. Each of us are getting crowns and having some fillings replaced. The early work will be done on Monday. The crowns will be ordered from the lab and installed on Thursday. We plan to be back in service Friday morning.
The dental work itself will only take a few hours. We will fill the rest of the time with the usual mix of trading, business paperwork, truck maintenance, shopping, a recreational or social event or two, etc. It is summer in Minnesota which makes it nice for working on the truck. I intend to dedicate at least half of this free time off the road to trading. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Sunday, July 11, 2010 Today is the same as yesterday except we went to church. My infected eye is clearing up nicely. The symptoms have disappeared. I am being a good patient and will continue the ten days of pills and eye drops as prescribed. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Monday, July 12, 2010 I learned today more about dentistry than I ever wanted to know. Learned by spending time in the dentist chair.
Diane and I woke up at home in Minnesota this morning. We are here for dental work and the heavy lifting got done today. She was in the chair six hours, I was in for three. The next appointments are on Thursday when our crowns come in from the lab and will be installed.
The time at the dentist was much longer than expected so we got little else done. I did trading in the morning before my afternoon dentist appointment and attended a church bible study in the evening. Truck-wise and expediting-wise, nothing got done.
Our dentist expects payment when the services are rendered. Between that $7,000 check, our recent house purchase, some furniture purchases, money spent on truck maintenance when we turned over a half-million miles and other items, we are focusing on the months between now and Christmas when we plan to be home again. These will be months on the road, hopefully uninterrupted, in which we intend to swim in the revenue stream and maximize our income as the trucking business sector improves.
We have not over-spent or gone into debt. We paid cash for all of the above items. Healthy financial reserves remain to see us through any negative events or slow freight periods we may encounter on the road. The money spent in the last couple of months came from a surplus, not from reserves. The surplus was built up over time by working smart as expediters and managing our money well.
Money does not grow on trees but it does grow over time if you earn it on a regular basis, are patient, live within your means and manage your money with financial growth in mind. Big financial decisions do not produce wealth. Big financial goals do, if you set them like you mean it and follow up with thousands of little financial decisions, made day by day, with your goal in mind. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Tuesday, July 13, 2010 I learned today what the retinas inside of my eyes look like. Learned when my eye doctor showed me photos of them.
One of them is pictured here. The eye doctor's office has added new technology since my last visit. It enables photos like these to be taken. The doctor uses it as a baseline photo that will be kept on file for comparison purposes at future visits.
I was amazed as she gave me a photo tour of my retinas and showed me how other peoples' retinas display different diseases and conditions. This is what your doctor sees when he or she squints through a sight glass and peers into your eyes with that irritating bright light. Now they can take photos and e-mail them to you if you so request. I'm sure there is plenty of medical technology that is more awesome than this. Having been blessed with good health I have yet to experience it. My first-time experience with a retina image was impressive enough. It was a fascinating new thing to learn today.
My eyes are fine. The eye doctor said one had improved slightly since my last visit two years ago and the other had changed very little. She wrote me a new prescription but there is no rush to get new glasses. A clean bill of health given for my eyes was good news following Friday's diagnosis. The infection in my right eye has totally cleared. My thoroughly-examined eyes are in good shape. I'm good to go!
Now to the teeth. I had an unplanned visit to the dentist today to have a temporary crown re-installed. It fell out this morning. It was no big deal to have it cemented back in place but the two trips into town to two different offices broke up the day.
While the results are good, these medical and dental appointments are getting old fast. I am once again reminded of how much simpler life is on the road and am eager to get back out. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 I learned today that it took just 200 rounds of ammunition to revive my shooting skills. Learned while doing target practice.
The place we call home in Minnesota is located in a rural setting and includes an old gravel pit on the land. It also includes the usual supply of varmints that are commonly found in the country. This year brings an over-supply of the varmints and the need to thin them out to minimize the damage they are causing.
Partly to help solve a problem and partly for the fun, I bought some ammunition, dug out a rifle that I have not fired for a very long time and went to work. Noticing that the varmints lived to see another day, and I headed to the gravel pit with a pocket full of ammunition and some paper targets.
I got this .22 caliber rifle over 40 years ago when I was a boy. It is a prized possession and still looks like new. I vividly remember buying it with money I earned and saved up from my paper route and ordering it through the Sears and Roebuck catalog.
In those days, my friends all had guns. In the small town we grew up in, people thought nothing at all of seeing a group of us carrying guns on bicycles as we rode to the town dump to shoot. With the coaching we received from our fathers and other men who came to the dump to unload their trash, we got to be really good shots such that I easily qualified for the expert marksman badge years later in Army basic training. I thought they had set the standard low and was surprised that everyone did not so qualify.
Use it or lose it, they say. In the case of marksmanship it is true. It was frustrating at first to have so many wide misses and then delightful to see my shot groups tighten up and shift into the bulls eye.
It never occurred to me before but as I was shooting I realized that this is little different from golf or other sports where the goal is to place an object in a space (cup, hoop, goal) that is intentionally designed to be difficult. I had forgotten how fun target shooting can be.
Regarding the varmints, the population has thinned.
• We remain out of service and at home. More dental work will be done tomorrow. We are scheduled to go back in service Friday morning. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Thursday, July 15, 2010 I learned today that Diane and I picked the right dentists. Learned when we saw the results of their work in Diane's new smile.
A couple years ago a new-to-us dentist told Diane it was braces now or surgery later. With the braces now mostly done, there was some restorative work (fillings replaced) next done and finally a bit of cosmetic work. A crown would cover a dead tooth that Diane has. The crown part was completed today.
She still has one wire in on the back side of her teeth. It had to be removed for the crown work and was replaced today. When she left the crown dentist to go back to the braces dentist and have the wire put back in, the technicians were eager to see her new crown.
I guess the appeal is similar to what truckers feel when they go to convention centers to ogle the show trucks. We get to do that but dentists do not. They don't have mouth shows. It would be too hard to get live models sporting the latest and greatest dental work to sit in the booths with their mouths open for three days.
Anyway, With Diane in the chair and under the light at the orthodontist's office, several trained technicians were amazed as they had difficulty distinguishing the crown from Diane's natural teeth. It is a perfect match. The braces did the job. The crown looks great. We are very pleased with how it all turned out.
My regular readers know we have flown Diane home from the road or deadheaded home several times to get this done. The dental bills, air fare and down time added up. It is hard to say we got our money's worth as it added up to a lot, but it is easy to say we are delighted with the work our fine dentists did.
I also had dental work done today; two crowns were installed. It feels good to have them. It feels better to be done with dental appointments for a while.
• Today is our last layover day on this trip home. No load offers have been received yet. We will be back in service tomorrow morning and will sleep in the truck tonight so we will be ready to roll on a moment's notice. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Friday, July 16, 2010 I learned today that Diane has a $10,000 smile. Learned when she tallied up the cost for her dental work and told me the number.
The $10,000 is what we paid the dentists. The air fare and down time were extra. The money matters in one way but not in others. It's a million-dollar smile as far as I am concerned. See yesterday's blog entry for what I mean.
• We woke up this morning in the truck, parked in the driveway at home in Minnesota. We slept there so we would be ready to roll if a load offer came in during the night. With no load offers received by morning, we moved back into the house to wait there. We declined a couple of loads that were priced way too low. A better offer came in the afternoon which we accepted.
The load picks up on Monday about 80 miles from home. That gives us the weekend to ourselves and we are glad to have it. We got home last Friday and have been running from appointment to appointment since then. Specifically, we have had 11 medical or dental appointments in the last seven days. Tomorrow is a day to play. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Saturday, July 17, 2010 I learned today that to the extent that the Mall of America is an economic indicator, the economy is booming. Learned by observing the crowds as Diane and I spent the day there.
We have been home for a week and only now found a true day to ourselves. We don't know exactly why but when we have a free day at home, we seem to find our way to spend it at the Mall of America. It's a fun day that usually includes a movie, a meal or two, some shopping and a whole lot of people watching.
The mall was busier than we have seen it in the last year or so. Stores had opened where spaces were covered over before. People were everywhere and they seemed to be spending money.
We spent some money too on clothes for our Florida house. We want to stock the house with clothing so we won't have to lug our trucking clothes from the truck to the house and back when we are there. It will also be nice to wear a nicer grade of clothes in Florida that we would not wear in the truck because they would not hold up well on the road.
It seems ironic to go to Minnesota to buy Hawaiian shirts that I will wear in Florida, when we were just in Florida not long ago. It makes sense. There is no sales tax on clothing in Minnesota and the summer close out sales bring the price way down.
• We are in service and dispatched to pick up freight Monday morning. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Sunday, July 18, 2010 I learned today that a January vacation for us in Florida is pretty-much a done deal. Learned when I started waxing our truck in our Minnesota driveway today and deciding this is a job better suited for Florida.
Implied in that decision is a not-yet-stated decision to spend time there. My regular blog readers know that Diane and I recently bought a house in Florida and that we have been buying furniture for it and planning to move some of our stuff down there when the time is right. That would be in the winter, just after Christmas.
I have a trading desk set up in our Florida house and a truck parking place that includes running water and an RV dump station. There is more to trading than staring at trading screens all day long. Highly successful traders advise trader wannabees to do something physical after a trading session.
It's coming together. I'll trade for a while and then work on the truck for a while; all while enjoying the Florida weather in January. We don't know how long we will stay. At this point I'd guess two weeks at least.
• We hit the road again tomorrow morning with a freight pickup that will keep us running overnight. I am looking forward to it. We have a legal residence in Minnesota and a house in Florida but our home is on the road. It's where we most like to be. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Monday, July 19, 2010 I learned today more about trading. Learned by doing.
Diane and I woke up this morning in the truck, in our driveway at home in Minnesota, and proceeded immediately to our 11:00 a.m. pickup about 80 miles away. A dispatch note in the run information said to not arrive more than 15 minutes early. We left well ahead of time to leave a time cushion to deal with any unexpected delays. We then passed time near the pickup to comply with the note and customer's wishes.
The time made available for trading came when the customer was confused by our prompt, 10:55 arrival. "The freight won't be ready until at least three" she said. I apologized and we returned to our parking spot to pass the time.
There is more to the story and my better judgment keeps me from publishing it here. Suffice it to say that Diane and I were embarrassed to have done everything right only to irritate a customer who should otherwise be able to expect nothing but the best from us.
I was glad both for the time to spend on trading, and for trading itself, which can provide a productive use of time when blocks of time like this unexpectedly appear.
It turned out that the freight was not ready until 4:00 p.m. At that point we loaded it up and began our overnight run. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 I learned today that a favorite parking spot of ours in New Jersey has been fenced off. Learned when we saw the chains and read the sign that said "No Dumping."
Our thanks go to the person or persons who decided to use that are as their private landfill. It was probably a lawn care or construction contractor who chose to do that instead of pay the fees to properly dispose of the refuse he was paid to remove.
It is not an uncommon occurrence. Some Bubba with an old pickup truck, struck with an unusual flash of brilliance and ambition, stumbles upon an opportunity to haul someone's refuse away for pay. When the load is on the truck and the pay is in hand, Bubba reverts to his habitual ways. In what he considers to be another flash of brilliance when he sees an open and unpatrolled space on his way to the landfill, he decides to dump the refuse there.
Bubba is a spirit. He manifests himself in many ways in men and women (Bubbette) worldwide. Consequently, good parking spaces get chained off, laws get passed and prisons get built.
Today's delivery was completed late this afternoon. Being pre-dispatched on another good run, we found a new parking spot and settled in to spend the night.
Our intent is to stay in service and complete as many runs as we can from now to Christmas when we plan next to go home. The only other thing on the calendar is a short September dental appointment for Diane. We hope to work that in with minimal disruption to our work. Being on a good run and getting pre-dispatched on another gives us a good start back out on the road. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Wednesday, July 21, 2010 I learned today the latest about the global and U.S. economy, U.S. government debt, the case for recovery, the case for a double-dip recession and other financial topics. Learned by listening to a number of Bloomberg podcasts as I drove.
Today was mostly a freight day. We woke up late this morning in the same New Jersey parking place we went to sleep in the night before and proceeded to our 11:00 a.m. pickup. The pickup was routine, except for a HAZMAT (hazardous materials) question, and we were soon on our way to the Saint Louis, Missouri delivery.
The HAZMAT question rose after I had loaded the three cardboard boxes and sealed the truck. Sealing the truck means putting an anti-tamper seal on the door latch that should be intact when we arrive at the delivery. If it is not, the shipper and consignee will know something may be amiss. The seal number is documented on the bill of lading.
After all of that is done, the shipper hands me a large envelope labeled MSDS (material safety data sheet). Those are common with HAZMAT loads but the boxes and paperwork indicated nothing about HAZMAT freight.
Part of what makes a FedEx Custom Critical White Glove Services® driver a FedEx Custom Critical White Glove Services® driver is the HAZMAT training we receive. Not wanting to be caught out on the road with a load that might be HAZMAT but was not properly documented as such (a huge, potentially career-ending violation), I double checked.
We carry certain HAZMAT books in the truck. I took the proper shipping name off the MSDS and checked it against the book. The shipper was correct. This was not HAZMAT freight.
Still not wanting to be caught out on the road with a load that might be HAZMAT but was not properly documented as such, I triple checked by calling dispatch and having a HAZMAT-trained dispatcher also check the product name against the HAZMAT list. The result was the same and we set out on a nice summer drive. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Thursday, July 22, 2010 I learned today (reluctantly) a bit about Windows 7. Learned by reviewing the product information.
My Windows Vista laptop has been crashing with BSOD errors lately. That's Blue Screen of Death. I've been putting up with it, thinking that I am not the only one with the problem and the errant device driver or software will be upgraded. That may well have happened yesterday as the computer did not crash. But having time between loads, I decided to do a little troubleshooting. Of course, the Microsoft web site steers me straight to their latest and greatest product - Windows 7.
I have had it with Microsoft's latest and greatest products and resist them whenever I can. Microsoft tells me, "We designed Windows 7 to simplify your everyday tasks, work the way you want, and make new things possible." I have lost count of how many Windows upgrades I have done over the years. None of them simplified my everyday tasks or allowed me to work the way I want. As for the "new things possible," Microsoft has left a trail of hundreds of now joke products in its wake. They made new things possible but the new things became quickly if not immediately useless.
Sorry about the rant. As i wrote it, the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor scanned my computer and says my laptop is powerful enough to run Windows 7. I don't think so. I'm not going to pay Microsoft more money to make my computer life difficult once again, not if I can help it. The only reason I'm on Windows Vista now is a previous Windows product took a dump and we needed a new computer in a hurry. It came with Windows Vista.
I want to someday build a Ubuntu machine to see if I can do everything I do with Windows on it. Perhaps I'll find some time to do that when we vacation in Florida in January.
• We hauled freight overnight last night and delivered three cardboard boxes weighing a total of 50 pounds in Saint Louis, Missouri, this morning. It is about 1:00 p.m. now. We have had our morning nap and are waiting for dispatch offers. That's "waiting for the beep" as expediters say. The offers come via satellite to the Qualcomm unit in the truck. The unit announces new messages with a piercing beep.
Update: The day passed with only bad (low pay) offers received. We declined them all and are still waiting for freight in the Saint Louis area. With both of us fighting head colds, it didn't bother us much to sit. Even with the sleep we got during the day, we will probably be in bed before sundown to sleep these colds away.
I'm already over the hump and am feeling better than before. Diane is not yet sure if she is going to get a full-blown cold or not. The colds are mild compared to some we have had. We're fine to drive. If we got to feeling worse, we would not hesitate to put ourselves out of service in the interests of safety.
We get sick far less as expediters than we did as white-collar professionals. I think that is mainly due to less human contact. We use our hands to secure freight and drive a truck now. We used to use them to shake other people's hands as we worked our white-collar gigs. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Friday, July 23, 2010 I learned today more about trading. Learned by trading.
Diane and I woke up this morning at the TA truck stop in Troy, Illinois. After delivering yesterday in nearby Saint Louis, Missouri, we got the truck greased, swung by the Volvo dealer to pick up some filters and went to the TA for fuel and showers. With the day mostly passed and no acceptable load offers received, inertia got the better of us and we stayed in place to spend the night.
We woke this Friday morning wondering what offers we will receive today and if we are dispatched on a Monday load, how will we beat the heat in Saint Louis. It's a cooker here. Once again, we are enjoying the comforts our ARI truck sleeper and Onan generator provide. We are passing time in air-conditioned comfort while many truckers see their rigs as a trap instead of a refuge.
After a number of low-paying load offers were received and rejected, a good one finally came our way that we got. As expected, it was for a Monday pickup, which means spending the weekend in the heat. Not wanting to run the generator non-stop for three more days, we went to the Casino Queen RV Park where we can plug into shore power and run the AC with it. It is located in Illinois, just across the Mississippi River from the famous Gateway Arch.
I sit within sight of the arch I write this (see photo). If you look close through the truck windows at just the right angle, you might see me in the sleeper. Go ahead and wave to me in Saint Louis. I might wave back.
The park is nice. The showers and laundry are good. There is a free shuttle to the casino and its four restaurants. The shuttle also goes to the commuter train terminal where we can catch the train into Saint Louis. We will likely take advantage of the shuttle. RV parks are common but RV parks with free shuttles that can get you to area attractions are less common. It will be great to leave the truck in a safe place and take in a tourist attraction on Saturday or Sunday.
We've already been to the arch a couple of times. The heat pretty much nixes outdoor activities. Nothing has jumped out yet but we will find something to do beyond working, eating and sleeping between now and Monday. We are open to suggestions if you, dear readers, have any to share.
Expediter wannabees, here is a life-on-the-road exercise for you. It's Friday in Saint Louis. You have the weekend to pass and the train to take into town. If reservations are required for anything, it is probably too late to get them. You did not know you would be here until a few hours ago and you have no idea what is going on in town this weekend. Soooooo...what are you going to do? Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Saturday, July 24, 2010 I learned today that as a writer I have risen to the level of blurber. Learned by seeing in print a blurb I wrote.
This is exciting! I have to get the new business cards printed up right away! "Phil Madsen, Blurber."
You know what blurbs are, don't you? They are endorsements or promotional statements found on book covers. I was asked a while ago to write a blurb for an upcoming book by Johnny Ryan, A History of the Internet and the Digital Future, due out in September.
Mr. Ryan lives in Ireland and is a senior researcher at the Institute of International and European Affairs. He contacted me out of the blue some weeks ago to interview me for the book he was then writing. He was interested in the internet work I did for Gov. Jesse Ventura in 1998 (see my bio). Ryan later asked me to write a blurb for the dust cover of the book, which I did. So there you have it: Phil Madsen, Blurber!
• I had time to look up the blurb today because Diane and I are parked in an RV park near Saint Louis, Missouri this weekend. We are going nowhere because Diane's head cold manifested itself as the real deal. Tourism is out. Feeling bad for her while she feels miserable is in. Thankfully, my head cold is all but gone and I feel good.
• The entire day was not spent with Diane. For breakfast this morning I walked to the nearby casino and met one of my blog readers who lives in the area. Frank, a logistics professional, reads my blog every day and likes to meet when Diane and I are near. We sat down at 8:30 and the time flew as we mixed thoughts. Our visit concluded when the wait staff pressured us to leave because breakfast buffet was over and lunch was about to begin.
• The weather is hot in Saint Louis today, too hot to be comfortable doing anything outside. With Diane not feeling well, it's a day in the air conditioned truck for me. Of the many things I could do, putting time into trading will be the most interesting. The markets are closed today but trading homework can be done. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Sunday, July 25, 2010 I learned today more about trading. Learned by doing my trading homework.
Diane and I woke up this morning near Saint Louis, Missouri, in the RV park we have been staying at this weekend to beat the heat. Diane is feeling better but not great. To give her time to recover further from her head cold, we stayed with the truck instead of taking a tourist excursion. Next time we are in this area and have time, we will be back to take full advantage of the nice facilities and tourist opportunities this RV park offers.
Diane feels good enough to drive now and we expect she will feel better tomorrow. We will leave tomorrow morning to pick up a load that will keep us running overnight. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Monday, July 26, 2010 I learned today how to correctly put on a particular type of shoe cover. Learned by first putting it on incorrectly.
We woke up this morning at the RV park near Saint Louis, Missouri, where we laid over for the weekend. We then drove from there to our Indiana pickup.
This shipper likes things clean. Before I could enter the loading dock area to secure the freight, I was required to put on a white hair net, white disposable coveralls, white shoe covers and safety glasses. A woman coached me through the process as there is a particular order in which the items are to be put on. "Marshmallow man," I quipped. "Pillsbury Doughboy," she quipped back. I would post a photo here but photography is prohibited at this location.
Other than the gowning ceremony, the pickup was routine. Tomorrow's delivery is in New Jersey and we'll drive overnight to get there. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Tuesday, July 27, 2010 I learned today more about getting around in New Jersey. Learned by finding our way to and from a shipper that was located off the beaten path, so to speak.
We drove overnight last night from our Indiana pickup and delivered a load in New Jersey just after rush hour. As is our practice when we are not dispatched, we found a place to park and laid down for a morning nap.
We were not down long. An offer came in that we accepted and received. It was a short run that picked up and delivered today and paid over $500. Diane had driven until 3:00 a.m. this morning. I drove the rest of the way to New Jersey and did the delivery. The second run was done on my remaining log book hours.
We were feeling pretty good about the money we made on the overnight run followed up with a $500 short run, but were also feeling the need to get a good night's sleep before doing another run. I felt OK but was running out of log book hours for the day.
Doing a short run on New Jersey local streets made it it impossible for Diane to sleep. There would be no way to safely drive another overnight load. More people live in a small New Jersey town than live in some Minnesota counties. They are packed in tight here and the place is a mess as a result.
The good news was the short run gave us less-than-75 status so there would be no dwell-time penalty for going out of service to get some sleep. We could go out of service in the afternoon, sleep all night, go back in service in the morning and use our less-than-75 to be first in the dispatch order. Going out of service would also put an end to the irritating stream of crap load offers that came through the day. Out of service we went and to the Bordentown truckstop we headed.
When we go out of service, there is a line on the Qualcomm unit where the reason for being out of service can be stated. Dispatchers see that line when they are looking for trucks. Comments like "personal" or "mechanical" or "truck maintenance" are common.
If we are looking for freight we will put something like "Sleep. OK to call." That tells a dispatcher who is having a hard time covering a load that we are open to calls even though we are out of service.
A call came soon after we parked in Bordentown. It was about a load we had refused three times earlier today (part of the irritating stream of crap offers). The dispatcher was out of trucks and wanted to know what we needed to cover the load. We told her we could not take the load at all because we needed sleep and the load picked up too late for us to do it.
When she said the pickup time could be bumped everything changed. After talking it over, Diane and I called dispatch back and explained our needs and terms. Dispatch agreed and we accepted the load. We'll get our sleep tonight and roll on the load tomorrow morning. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Wednesday, July , 2010 I learned today nothing new.
Diane and I woke up this morning at the Petro truck stop in Bordentown, New Jersey, and headed immediately to today's pickup from a familiar shipper in Pennsylvania. From there we drove to Canada on a familiar route.
I did learn something new just before going to bed last night. That was the names of an expediter couple I had the pleasure of meeting. Our friends Glen and Janice Rice were driving in Colorado at the time and called to say the team was parked directly behind us and would be passing by our truck soon as they went inside to eat.
Diane and I have never met them but have heard of them several times from Glen. Glen knows them well and they chat by phone from time to time. He was eager to have us meet.
I stepped out of the truck and, right on cue, they came walking by. We introduced ourselves to each other and chatted for a few minutes. I hated doing it but cut the conversation short because Diane and I needed sleep. These people are as nice as Glen said they were and we easily could have talked the night away. We are looking forward to meeting this driving team again and spending some real time together when we do. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Thursday, July 29, 2010 I learned today the rhythm of a parking lot in Toronto, Ontario. Learned by observing it overnight.
I also learned what's on my mind these days. Learned by sitting quietly and letting my thoughts run.
Diane and I picked up a load yesterday morning in Pennsylvania and drove to the Toronto-area delivery. We arrived around 11:00 p.m. and settled in to spend the night as no one will be here to take the delivery until business hours begin today. It is 3:30 a.m. as I write this. I'm in the cab of the truck, awake with the freight, as required by the security protocols attached to this load.
Diane drove us across the border and into Toronto. When we arrived, I settled into a delightful period of sleep in a non-moving truck with the sleeper windows open. Diane stayed awake with the freight. Shift change came at 2:00 a.m. this time. That put her in bed and me in the cab.
On the way to Toronto we stopped for fuel and showers at the TA in Corfu, New York. A lot of good thinking gets done in the shower. As I was thinking about the next 24 hours, I found myself looking forward to the quiet time I am having now. I would have several uninterrupted hours to write, think and work on trading.
The reefer is running so no sounds from outside the truck can be heard. There would not be much to hear anyway in this quiet area. Looking over the area with the reefer vibration and rumble in the background is similar to watching an old silent movie. You see things going on but hear only the projector running in the background.
The truck seats can be raised and lowered. They swivel. They have adjustable arm rests and several air bladders that can be inflated or deflated to maximize comfort. Having found the most comfortable position many parking lot nights ago, I swiveled the passenger seat to face the driver's seat, raised it to its maximum height, positioned the arm rests, moved the seat forward and put my bare feet on the driver's seat which then served as my ottoman. With a trading book on the shelf to my left, a snack to nibble on my right and an LED reading lamp worn on my head, I was all set to spend some time with the book but it did not work out that way.
It felt better to simply sit and let my mind wander. The parking lot was quiet except for the occasional car that passed through. The rhythm was provided by the lawn sprinkler system. I watched and contemplated the system as the active sprinklers moved from one zone to another. I thought about the grass that was being watered, its life cycle, and why people felt the need to put it there. I noticed the back-and-forth motion of each sprinkler, the angle at which it shoots the water, the points where the water streams intersect, the pressure that makes the water go just so far and not a centimeter more.
When the sprinklers stopped, my attention drifted to the stop sign that is directly in front of the truck; an octagon, red background, white letters, white border, mounted on a post...an inanimate object that is dumb as a post but which has the power to control the actions of every human being that approaches it in a vehicle.
Actually, the sign has no power at all. It is an inanimate object. The letters on the sign could say GO, Yield, or Jump. The sign would not care or even know the difference. The only power the sign has is the power we give it when we choose to obey the social convention and law the sign communicates. The power of the sign resides not in the sign, or even in the law, but in the brains of the people who see it and choose to stop.
The choice is usually made without thinking. We stop because we have been conditioned to stop without giving it a second thought. If we give it a second thought it becomes a good idea to stop as that is what the oncoming drivers are conditioned to expect you to do. Because of what they believe and how they will act, obeying stop signs is a good idea because it is a good way to avoid collisions.
Having finished with the sprinklers and then with the stop sign, I thought about other actions we take without thinking. After a few minutes of that, I closed my eyes, folded my hands across my chest and sat quiet to see what would bubble up.
First came an online conversation I am having with other contractors about the ongoing stream of low-paying load offers we now see on a regular basis. I noted that this bothers me but not a lot. What came next to mind was no surprise. It was trading.
Trading matters to me now more than most other things. It has moved from being an item of curiosity to a consuming passion to which I am fully committed. The results of my nearly two years of trading study and practice are manifesting themselves in positive, real-money trading results. These results fuel an even greater interest in trading, to which I now turn as I attend our freight and wait for the delivery location to open for business. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Friday, July 30, 2010 I learned today what certain foreign currency bills look like in the flesh. Learned by buying some yesterday and studying them today.
Diane and I woke up this morning in a retail area in a Toronto, Ontario, Canada, suburb. We delivered a load here yesterday morning and were immediately dispatched on the load we will pick up late this afternoon. That gave us yesterday and most of today off.
We spent some of the time in the truck yesterday and some at the Yorktown Mall in North York. We had no reason to go to the mall other than to get out of the truck and pass some time. When viewing the mall directory, the Continental Currency Exchange immediately jumped out.
We don't have currency exchange stores in malls in the U.S. but they seem to be common in Toronto. When I saw this one, I headed straight to it. When trading, I think long and hard about foreign currencies. I have been wanting to get my hands on some of the bills for a while now, just for the fun of seeing them and making ideas like Yen, Euro, Peso, Franc, Pound, Yuan, Canadian Dollar and Australian Dollar seem more real.
I was delighted to learn that the store had all but one of the bills I sought. The Australian Dollar was not in stock. The bills are pictured here. I exchanged about $75 for the lot. They will be matted and framed to hang on the wall in my office/trading room in our Florida house.
• The load we will pick up later today is another overnight run. It pays well and delivers Saturday afternoon in Minnesota, just an hour from home. If we are not pre-dispatched, we will stay in service and head home after the delivery to wait there for load offers. Blog author Top of page Bottom of page
Saturday, July 31, 2010 I learned today that gun oil is not as easy to find and buy as it once was. Learned by trying to buy some.
Diane and I drove overnight from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to the Twin Cities in Minnesota where we delivered freight around noon.
The border crossing was uneventful, except for the delay involving the trucker in the lane next to us. The officer in our lane told us to stay put while he left to assist his buddy. His buddy had a truck stopped just past his booth and had ordered the driver to the rear of the truck where the other officer watched him. The first officer used a big bolt cutter to break the seal on the truck and then ordered the driver to open the doors. The driver complied.
After a quick look with his flashlight, the officer ordered the doors closed and proceeded to the cab while the driver stayed in place, under guard. The officer emerged from the cab a few minutes later carrying several packages of fresh fruit like you would buy in a grocery store.
He then raised his voice to the driver and said, "Didn't I ask you if you had any fresh fruit?" "Yes" the driver replied. "And you said no," the officer said, "why did you say no?"
He did not wait for a response. The two officers stepped closer to the driver while the one continued to interrogate the driver. Other observers might say the officer pestered or harassed the driver or entertained himself with a power play at the driver's expense.
I don't know what the officer was really doing or why. Maybe it was a professional interrogation technique. Whatever it was, our sympathies went to the truck driver. Having been through interrogations like that ourselves, it was easy to imagine how the driver felt. I don't suppose it matters to the officers, but what they will forget as a routine event, the truck driver will remembered, resent and talk about for the rest of his life. PR people these border officers are not.
After yelling at the driver for a few minutes, the officer threw the fruit in the trash while the driver watched and sent the driver on his way. Both officers then returned to their booths. After answering the usual questions we were cleared and sent on our way.
The delivery put us just an hour from home. Not being dispatched on another load, we headed toward home to park, plug into shore power and sleep. Having no reason or desire to be home, we stayed in service and available to haul freight. On the way, and to be run ready, we stopped at a grocery store to re-supply the truck.
When we were home on July 14, I did some shooting and found myself without gun oil. Now home again, I wanted to get back to the clean but un-oiled rifle and oil it up proper.
It has been a long time since I have had any of my guns out. I thought it would be a simple matter to buy a bottle of gun oil but found out different. Legislators and political rectitude have struck again. After two futile stops and then a few phone calls, we finally found a place to buy gun oil.
With that purchase made, we drove home, parked, emptied the trash, serviced the water tanks and toilet, took showers and settled in to sleep and wait for freight. No freight came and we ended up spending the night.
• That closes out July. Our July trip map is below. See other trip maps here. 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