Scales

In South El Monte, CA I picked up a high value load at Proctor and Gamble that weighed out at 43,427 lbs. Any load over 30,000 lbs we are advised to scale to verify that the weight on the steer, drive and tandem axles does not exceed DOT limits. My GPS said there was a CAT scale 4 miles away and without a weigh station on the route and I drove there and went onto the scale. 

"First weigh or re-weigh," a voice said over the scale intercom.

"First weigh."

"Come inside for your ticket."

I went inside the truck stop and saw the ticket.

I was overweight on the drive axle by 1000 lbs. This was not good. I knew I could move the trailer tandems 3 holes forward, moving weight from the drive axle to the tandem axle, but each hole would probably only shift 300 lbs. Still, I had to try it. I went back to the truck and pulled the tandem release bar and locked it when I saw the pins had pulled back. I got into the tractor and released the parking brake and flipped the trailer hold switch. Now the trailer wheels were locked and I could push the trailer back along the rails by slowly backing up the tractor. I backed up until I heard the tandems hit and they could go forward no further. I got out and locked the tandem release bar and then got back into the tractor, released all the brakes, and drove back around the truck stop and reentered the scale.

"First weigh or re-weigh."

"Re-weigh"

I went back inside for the ticket.



I was still 100 lbs over on the drive axle. There was only one thing now to do. I would have to move the fifth wheel. I had one notch forward to move it and thought I could perhaps move 100 lbs of pressure from the drive axle to the steer axle. If not I would need to return to Proctor and Gamble and ask that the trailer be reloaded.

I wound the trailer landing gear down and then struggled to raise the raise the heavy trailer. I needed releive some of the pressure on the fifth wheel so I could slide it forward.  I got back into the cab and released the parking brake. I flipped on the trailer hold switch and the inter axle. Then I flipped and held the fifth wheel slide "mom" into the unlock position and, in reverse, slowly let off the clutch.

The truck lurched back. I got out to see if the pins of the fifth wheel were now in the furthest notches forward and they were.

I drove back around the truck stop and drove up onto the scale.

"First weigh or re-weigh."

"Re-weigh."

"Come inside."

I saw the ticket. I was now 80lbs under the max weight of 12,000lbs on the steer axle, and just 80lbs under the max weight of 34,000lbs on the drive axle. I was legal.

"You finally did it," smiled the Mexican girl.

"Yes. If that didnt work I would have to leave my 100lb girlfriend here at the truck stop."

"Really?" She stopped smiling.

"No. No. I'm only joking."

I was relieved I did not need to return to Proctor and Gamble and have the trailer reloaded. I had used up 1.5 hours of on-duty time getting my weight right. Now, as long as the load didn't shift before I hit the weigh stations, I would be alright. In any case, CAT promises to the accuracy of its scales and pledges to pay all overweight fines and to vigorously defend drivers in the courts. 

Judith

(read August 5th post for background)

While I was asleep on August 4th my computer came back on and began to record my hours of service as being on-duty. It recorded me as on-duty until I awoke that morning, when it should of had me off-duty or in the sleeper berth. 18 hours of on-duty time now put me well over the Department of Transportation limit of 70 hours of on-duty and driving time over a 7 day period. However, DOT regulations state that paper logs always supercede e-logs so I recalculated my hours on paper and knew I had around 14 to work with for the day. 

With the computer working I decided to return to e-logs the following day and to Transflow the paper logs for the 3rd and 4th to Green Bay so that they could then correct my e-logs (the Transflow is a sort of fax machine for truck drivers available at all truck stops for the sending of bills of lading, expense reports, DOT inspection reports, tickets, etc. to any trucking company operating center).

But after Transflowing the paper logs the technical support wizards in Green Bay failed to correct my computer logs. A red light began to flash on the Qualcomm as I drove. 

Then Judith, the woman who lives inside my truck computer, began to announce in a gloomy, reproachful voice through the speaker behind my seat: "Peter J--- D---- has violated the DOT hours of service regulation." She used my full name as my mother did when I was a boy and she was angry with me. Her tone was without the pleasant professionalism she had when advising me of where to turn and when I reached my destination. It was clear I had displeased her, perhaps made her angry. Every few hours Judith announced my violation. I muted the computer to stop hearing her message.

LA to Bakersfield

I was in Los Angeles in heavy traffic on the 605 when I realized my truck navigation had frozen. For how long it was frozen I didn't know. I had no idea how to get north to Bakersfield. I reached for the atlas behind the seat and turned to California and glanced at the map of LA as I moved slowly down the freeway. I thought that by taking the 210 West I could get to the 5, which I knew went to Bakersfield, but I wasn't certain. I called my father and he confirmed it. The 210 West was what I needed. When the 605 broke into the 210 East and West and I made the turn for Pasadena.

On I-5 an hour later the truck computer shut down entirely. A warning flashed on the screen that I must now begin paper logs to record my driving and off duty hours and that I must immediately call technical support in Green Bay. I pulled off at the Flying J at Frazier Park, CA and called tech support and explained the problem. The woman had me unplug and replug the power to the black box underneath my bed. The computer remained frozen. I was told to remain on paper logs until I could come to an operating center and have the computer fixed.

The paper atlas had no city map for Bakersfield. I needed navigation. I went into the truck stop and bought the Rand McNally Truckers GPS, that marvelous instrument that all truck drivers swear by and that I had been planning to purchase. I had been told it was superior to the truck computer navigation and that it also had alerts for coming weigh stations, for construction, for sharp turns and where the road descended steeply in grade. 

I plugged the Rand McNally into the 12 volt socket and entered the destination in Bakersfield. The device spoke to me with a woman's voice, slightly more human sounding than Judith--the woman who speaks from inside my truck computer. The woman inside the Rand McNally announced my first turn with distance and arrival time to my destination in Bakersfield. The screen was small but very specific and there was an ETA given along with many other options. It was an excellent device. I knew where I was and where I was going again. I dug out a paper log book and wrote August 2015 on it and used the ruler to draw in my hours of sleeper berth and on/off duty and driving time.

paper logs as they did it in the old days

With all the delays I did not make Bakersfield until after dark. The woman in receiving said I must sweep out the trailer or face a disciplinary response. I borrowed a broom and with my flashlight swept the trailer clean. Then I dropped the empty in the dark yard and found the full trailer with the number on my bill of lading and coupled to it. I was nearly out of driving time for the day and parked on the street in front of a warehouse near the shipping yard.

The Highway Kind

2015 Freightliner Cascadia

A necessity for truck drivers, somewhere in Oregon

The neighborhood where I sleep. Flying J and Pilot are under the same ownership.

It takes some practice to back a 53ft trailer into a space. And this space is a wide one. Loading docks can be very, very tight with inches to spare between trailers and little room to pull up if you're wrong.

Highway Man

Joshua Trees, Mojave Desert, California

Mojave Desert, CA

 

Nevada, early morning

 

10 speed and smooth

Behind the seats is where I sleep

Pullout table for eating, for writing

California

 "I'm gonna break every heart I can..."

 

Campsite just outside Sequoia National Forest. Arrived in the night and bedded down with my flashlight on the rocky hilltop.

Road beyond the campground

What I awoke to after camping in the night

A famous picture on the way to the Giant Forest

Entering the forest of giants

I heard a rustling in the woods and from above on the trail looked down and saw the bear. He was beside the trail digging in the brush. From above he did not see or smell me. I watched for a moment and then carefully retreated. I did not go further on the trail to see the Sequoia trees.

 The General Sherman Tree, largest living tree by volume in the world. Note the tiny people below.

 

 Gamelin Brothers. 1875. 

I camped again with just my sleeping bag in a forest in the Shasta River Valley. There was good wood to be taken from the forrest and a blazing fire kept the bears away.

The mountains of Oregon, coming north on I-95

Linn, OR the seed capital of the world

Truckers Chapel

At the Luv's Truck Stop at Woodburn, OR