My Jobs: SNI: 9/99

While I worked at SNI, I kept tract of where I went and what I did. Some of this information will be interesting if you are thinking about getting into the trucking business.

The amount of hours you have to put in, and how long you are away from your loved ones in an effort to make a living.

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September 1999
6 Monday: Was Labor Day, I was off.

7 Tuesday: 4pm Bobtail to Porterville to get an MT trailer.(120 miles) Then drop trailer at Sears Delano. P/U loaded trailer then drove to Williams and went to bed.

8 Wed: Got up early, drove all day to Fuel stop at Stanfield Or. 25 miles short of Pendelton.

9 Thursday: Delivered Pendleton Or. Hermiston Or. and Kennewick WA. Sears stores(1000 mi). Was MT at 11am. Then back to Hermiston for 5pm P/U drop and hook Potato Chips for Safeway Spokane WA for 9am Friday (200 mi). Drove to Spokane, was there at 10pm and sat all night 3 blocks from customer.

10 Friday: Delivered Chips to Safeway, Driver unload of course, then to Sand Point ID to get wood pellets (80 mi) got loaded then dropped at yard in Spokane Wa. (80 mi) Then P/U loaded trailer around the corner from there going to Portland Sat 8am (350 mi). Made it about 3 hours short of Portland, stopped at Roosevelt WA for night.

11 Sat: Drove in to customer in Portland Or. Then dropped trailer, BT to Albany Or. (85 mi) and P/U loaded trailer at Target headed for Ammon ID (Near Idaho Falls)(750 mi) For Sunday 4pm. Drove in to Boise ID.

12 Sunday: Drove 5 hours to Ammon ID and dropped trailer 3 hours early. Went to truck stop and sat till morning, I wanted to run, but they didn't have anything for me.

13 Monday: Drove North an hour to Rexburg ID and P/U a load of Bark going to Sacramento Ca. Made it as far as Mill City Nv., our fuel stop, a half hour west of Winnemucca.

14 Tuesday: Drove into Sacramento and delivered at 2pm. Then went to Stockton Ca and P/U a trailer at our drop lot going to the LA area. It was a load of empty Egg cartons going to Egg farms. I had to wait 4 hours for the driver to bring it to me. My friend Mike was there at the drop lot too, and he waited for me, and we ran together to Wheeler Ridge Ca. ( our fuel stop ). We got there about 1am.

15 Wed: We got up at 4:30am and drove into LA ( Los Angeles ) We had the same exit off the 605 and the places we were going to were only 2 miles apart. I got to my first stop and found out that not only was the load on the floor, but they loaded the truck backwards. My first stop was loaded first! Which meant that I had to drive to my second stop and deliver there, and then come back and deliver here! The problem was that my second stop was 70 miles away in Hemet CA. I drove there and found that only 1 guy was there to unload. The only way I was going to make my second stop by 2pm was to get in there and help. So I did. I got out of there by 12:15pm and raced back to my first stop and made it there at 1:45pm. They unloaded their stuff and I was on my way... Then to Delano to get a Sears load. Got to Delano at 8pm and P/U my loaded trailer. Then drove two hours to Madera and shut down at 11pm. This was a long day...

16 Thursday: Drove 3 hours into Concord ( SF Bay Area ) and delivered floor load to a Sears store. Then drove to Stockton to a Soap Warehouse and P/U loaded trailer. I waited 3 hours for it. Then drove home. Home at 7pm.

17 Friday: Drove to Wal-Mart in Porterville in the morning and dropped trailer. Then bobtailed home for the weekend.

9/20/99, Monday, I left the house at 3:00pm, Drove to the yard in Fresno and P/U an mt trailer, then took it to Sears Delano and dropped it and P/U my loaded trailer going to Portland Ore. (830 mi)I hooked up with my friend Mike there in Delano and we ran together to Burns Bro`s in Corning Ca. Got there about 2am.

9/21 Tuesday, Mike and I drove to Portland Yard, got the company car and went to dinner. He went on to Seattle WA and I went to bed.

9/22 Wednesday, Delivered Sears store in Portland Ore. Then went to Longview WA to P/U paper rolls, (50 mi) going to Calexico CA (1260 mi) for Friday 5am. Drove down to Pollard Flat CA and shut down for the night. (45 minutes North of Redding CA)

9/23 Thursday, Drove straight through to Castaic CA (Bottom of Grapevine on South end) I went right through Fresno but could not stop or I would be late. I wasn't given enough time to deliver on time. 1260 miles in 36 hours doesn't sound like allot, but running it legal in 55 mph states is a challenge. Figure 1260 divided by an average of 50 mph=25 hours plus two 8 hour brakes= 16 hours. That is 41 hours and that does not include fuel stops, eating, inspections, and other stops you have to make when you travel. That is why I couldn't stop at the house.

9/24 Friday, Got up at 2am and drove into Calexico CA, and dropped trailer and P/U a loaded trailer full of tissue paper going to Pueblo and Denver Co. (1150 miles) Drove to Buckeye AZ (30 miles West of Phoenix AZ ) and stopped for the night.

9/25 Sat, Got up at 2am and drove 8 hours into Albuquerque NM and visited my friends Ralph and Andrea for the afternoon, then headed North on I-25 to Springer NM and stopped for the night. There is a nice brand new Texaco Truck Stop up there. Exit 419 North of town. Classic cars, and a toy truck collection that must be seen. Lots of parking.

9/26 Sunday, Slept only 3 hours and could not sleep anymore, so I got up and watched TV in the lounge from 1am to 5am, then drove up to the Pueblo stop, delivered it, and then drove to the brand new TA Truck stop in Commerce City, across the highway from the Sapp Bro`s T/S. Got there at 6pm. Ran out of hours right here.

9/27 Monday, I delivered the Denver stop then returned to the T/S. And took the day off. I was out of hours. Which means that I had worked all of the hours that the law allowed and I had to take the day off. But I delivered the load anyway, because I am a good employee and I go beyond the call of duty on many occasions. In addition to the delivery, I also fixed a flat tire on the trailer and replaced a burned out headlight on the tractor. What a nice guy I am. Then I did my laundry and watched movies all day in the lounge. What a great day off. Wish it was at home though.

9/28 Tuesday, Got up at 4am and watched the snow fall from the sky in the T/S, then went to Keebler and dropped my MT and P/U loaded trailer going to Costco, in Mira Loma CA, near Ontario CA. (1000 miles) It snowed all morning in Denver and half way up the hill, then it cleared up and it was a nice drive into Beaver Utah (Where I-70 and I-15 meet) I stopped in the Wendy`s Parking lot about 6:30pm.

9/29 Wednesday, Drove into Mesquite Nv and had breakfast, then into Ontario CA T/A truck stop. Then went to Costco in Mira Loma CA and went to bed early.

9/30 Thursday, Delivered Costco load from 2:30 am to 5am then went back to Ontario and loaded a full load of tires going to Delano Sears that delivers as soon as I could get there and then drove home for the weekend. I got home at 5pm.

Over the weekend I cleaned out the truck and took it to the yard in Fresno and took 2 weeks off. It was not my vacation but I needed to get out of the truck. I am not going to put this story here, but I will put the reason I took this time off somewhere else on this site.


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