El Paso, near Cloud but not too near. Right under the star.

I'll be passing down I25 soon as I pick up this load headed to the border crossing there.

Then it's just a long-distance wave this time. :(

Hi Brian!

watch out for lovely Mexican ladies named Falina. And Rose's cantina.

:lol2: That happens every time one hears "El Paso", doesn't it? At least it's a great song.

I got my hands full with a chica named Mary as it is. I don't need any more trouble!

Slight change of plans. I head out Tuesday instead and go to San Antonio instead of El Paso. I should be there by the 27th at 1830.

This is like the Waldo Books. :D

Without the happy meal.

J/K

Waldo doesn't keep changing position, though

Heading to Bozeman, Butte, Helena and Havre beginning tomorrow at 0900 and ending Havre at 0900 on the fourth. Anyone about?

Damn! It's COLD up here in Havre, MT!

I delivered my load here and can't seem to find another load out, been here in a hotel (too cold in the truck). Last night I slept in the truck because I didn't know what time the customer started work so I wanted to be ready at a moments' notice. Turned out they start at nine here. Couldn't start the truck (dead batteries), brakes frozen to the drums and a huge sheet of ice across the (slanted) parking lot.

Got a jump courtesy of the company's breakdown dept ($75), broke the brakes free with warm liquid (yes, THAT) and managed to get the truck across the lot without losing control. Now I'm here all night again and I'll have to do it all again tomorrow IF I can get a load out.
It's the boonies out here and there's no freight that I know of for a hundred miles.

Ah, me. Such is the life of a trucker.

Hey, if you ever travel between Billings MT and Sheridan WY, be sure to stop in Garryowen and tell Chris that his friend in SW Washington said to treat you right.

:)

so tell us about being a trucker, Brian. Do you own your own truck? Or rent one? How do you get your loads? How do you get paid? etc. Is it regular to drive somewhere without having secured a load for the return trip or is that just a sign of the current economy -you take what you can get and then sit and wait....?
....if that's not being too nosy....

there was a big article in the local paper about truck driving being a fairly good biz to be in right now---are you finding that to be true, brian?

I work for a major company (third largest) as a company driver, which means they buy and maintain the truck, it is issued to me and I drie it but do not own/lease/rent it. Loads come from our company load planners and are handed out by my dispatcher. I am paid by direct deposit weekly, by the mile as well as extra pays (load/unload, extra stop etc). Yes, it is common to deliver a load without another out. I am not responsible for that. I do get paid for sitting here (not much tho) but sitting costs me a lot of money.

Trucking has been very rewarding to me, I have been all over, met some interesting people including my wife. I have seen some amazing scenery, something that a desk jockey cannot claim. My view changes daily and varies from dismal city slums to breathtaking mountain vistas. I see lots of wildlife, some still alive. Yesterday I viewed fossils from dinosaurs in a small museum and learned something about the local history from Indian times to the present. This would never have happened had I remained at home, doing whatever I could find to earn money.

The business isn't what it was this time last year but I still have work to do. The company is still hiring new drivers and I still train them. Freight is a little harder to come by than it used to but it is just now coming out of the winter doldrums. This is usual and I was ready for it. The spring merchandise is coming out, I just delivered four stores' worth of Sears. WalMart is another frequent customer as is Home Depot.

Glinda, I just came up near there...Cheyenne to Caspar to Billings and Bozeman. I have been through that stretch of road several times. Next time, I'll stop.