Watkins and Shepard- Week #1

First Load from Missoula, MT to Sacramento, CA

(Jan. 23, 2010)

What was supposed to take 12 hours took about 36 hours. The entire state of OR was one big blizzard as well as coming into California over Mt. Shasta where we almost hit our first deer. After recovering from that, we dropped off one of our fellow students who rode down with us at Wallly World (Walmart) and made our first delivery by 7 am on Monday, the 25th. The pic below is of our new rig...the big red sporty number. We haven't named her yet, but I'm sure it will happen soon. This was our first delivery at the dock and yes...Jeff backed it into the dock, so it was a perfect shot!

Sacramento, CA to Modesto, CA then to Commerce, CA

(Jan. 27)

We picked up our load in Modesto at the Gallo plant. Very official. Had to check in with the guard. They like to keep their booze secure. We then headed down to Commerce, which is in the heart of LA down I-5. This was our first encounter with the infamous Grapevine pass, which we have heard all kinds of stories about and I believe every one of them now. This was truly a wake up call that we were in CA. These people drive like crazy folk. We were in the slow lane traveling at 35 mph, which is the speed limit for trucks and were passed by I would have to say at LEAST 500 trucks all going over 60 mph. To be honest with you, it was terrifying, but a good lesson was learned by all. If you didn't know know how to downshift you were srewed at this point.

Santa Fe Springs, CA (Watkins Shepard terminal) to Paso Robles, CA (Jan. 28)

Our third run was awesome. We picked up our load at midnight and were on our way. We took the 101 up the coast and got to drive right along the ocean for quite some time with an almost full moon...it was awesome. We both remembered at this point why we made this drastic change in our life and it all came into perspective after laying in the sleeper and watching the moon glow on the ocean and through our "sunroof" on the tractor. It

beautiful drive through agricultural land. Saw many a winery and as you drive past the fields, was a it was really cool to see the rows of grapes go by. The "mountains" were so green and fuzzy I just wanted to touch them they looked so soft! After dropping off half our load in Paso Robles, we headed for Modesto to drop the trailer off at the terminal and picked up another load to Gallo... the Grapevine again. It was better this time except we got stopped at the weigh station on the bottom of the hill and we were 500 lbs. over-weight on our drive wheels and got a ticket. Not sure what they will entail yet, but I'm sure we will find out. We scaled our load when we left the Gallo plant and everything scaled just fine. We did learn an important lesson from the highway patrol guy at the weigh station. Always use a CAT scale to confirm the weight of your load because you can get a copy of the weights and if you scale differently at the weigh station CAT scales will back you in court. I also heard the words of wisdom over and over again in our heads that our instuctor Kelby told us in Missoula... ALWAYS scale once you have picked up your load! The company reimburses you for it, so why would you not take the time? We are newby dumb-asses and will scale every single load we get from now on.

We just got our new load assignment for the morning (Jan. 30) and are going to be heading to West Virginia next, 2547 miles. We will be going through AZ, NM, TX, OK, IL, OH, WV and PA....I might have missed one, but I am so tired right now I had to look at my phone just to see what day it was.

I have to say that everyone we have met at Watkins Shepard has been very helpful and friendly and we feel as if we are part of a family that we didn't even know existed. This has been a really hard transition for both of us, but I think once we get our rythym down, we are going to love this new adventure. Until then, this is an exhausted and cold-ridden Melissa signing off.

5 Days Down...5 to go!

Okay...so the picture isn't great, however it is really two pictures made into one because the truck is so flippin big! The trailer is 53 feet and along with the tractor it measures 70 feet 4 inches total. We have been driving 48 foot trailers at school...and yea it is only 5 more feet, but when your backing it up it seems like its 20 more feet. But after practicing backing for 9 hours on Sunday I'm hoping I can get it "in the hole". I know what most of you are thinking...but your wrong. The trailers in the background are lined up like you would see at a truck stop. We are backing in to the spots that are empty, with just room for one trailer. Truckers make this look so damn easy, but its really not. There is about 2 to 3 feet extra on each side, but it can seem like 2 or 3 inches. Someday I am just sure Jeff and I will look back on this little task and wonder why it was so difficult :o )

We took the truck out 3 times last week. The first day of city driving. Not too bad. That is truly the part I enjoy the most. Heck thats why we wanted to do this in the first place, right...to drive a truck! The second day we learned how to up shift on an uphill grade (6%) and then down shift on the same hill going down hill. It was awesome to know that you can always catch another gear so you don't have to worry about burning your brakes out. Takes a lot of worries out of mountain driving. The Jake Brake is great, but this is a skill that is truly fantastic to have. The third drive we went downtown and took turns and curves that I would have never thought a big semi truck could ever take, let alone me taking them, but..who knew...it can be done. I believe only 1 curb was bruised along the way, which if I could have shown you what we drove down you would be proud as punch.

Both of our instructors, Dick and Kelby have been great. They both have a great sense of humor...which is important when dealing with The Linn's. Both of them make everything look easy, so you know that they are good truck drivers. I have come to the conclusion that when anybody shows you how to do anything with the truck and they say " see, its just that simple", is usually somebody who makes it look really simple, but when you get behind the wheel and try the same thing it doesn't seem to be as "simple". Time, practise and more practise will all make a big difference.

Its getting late so I think I will be turning in so I can be fresh for tomorrow...who knows what might be coming next.

First Day of Class

Well...this is going to be interesting! Missoula is beautiful, but it is cold and humid...which we aren't used to both at the same time. The raining when it is 23 degrees out is interesting as well. It freezes instantly on your windshield. Shouldn't it be snowing when it's 23 degrees?

We didn't drive today, but went over loading procedures and shifting the Watkins Shepard way. Tomorrow we take our first drive with our instructor...should be interesting. The last class finished up today and 4 out of the 6 students passed and were hired to be drivers. I think we will do just fine, but the pressure is difficult. When you have an instructor and students together in a truck and you have to remember everything your doing and perform correctly it does get a little intense.

We had a thick fog this morning until about 2 pm...and I mean thick. Also the sun doesn't rise here until about 8:30 which makes it a bit more difficult to to wake up and be motivated.

We Got the Call

Jeff and I will be leaving for Missoula, MT on Monday, January 11th to start our journey to Watkins and Shepard. We will be in training for the following 10 days starting on the 13th of January. If all goes well and they think we can drive a truck, we will be assigned a rig and be on our way to our first load within 2 days following our training.

It is finally beginning!