other dog

wow,rough week-sort've a good week and bad week in one. I know exactly what you're saying about the American products. I was talking to one of our drivers in Ambridge Pa. Tuesday morning after we both unloaded at the same place and the conversation got around to all the steel mills that have gone out of business. I told him that a lot of them have no one to blame but themselves in my opinion. I've been hauling steel for close to 30 years now,and many times i've sat and waited all day and half the night to get loaded. U.S. Steel was one of the worst. Loaded at Copperweld in Warren,Oh, once and when I finally got to back in a door that night,after sitting there all afternoon,I had one more lift of bars to go on the truck when the craneman took the crane to the far end of the building and climbed down the ladder.I asked the foreman/supervisor what was going on-she said their shift ended in 30 minutes. So I said "but there's only one more lift-and i've already been here all evening and half the night!" She said "sorry,it's in their contract.They get 30 minutes at the end of their shift to shower and change clothes" And the 11 o'clock shift coming in got 30 minutes to change from street clothes into work clothes of course-and got paid for it! They should do that at home! By the time I finally got that last bundle loaded,chained down,got the paperwork processed,it was 3:00am! Now when I pass through Warren on rt. 82 &5 and look over where Copperweld used to be I kind of smile,because it looks like a bombed out pile of rubble now...same as when I pass what used to be LTV on rt.21 in Massilon,Oh. Most of that has been demolished for real,but it's hard for me to feel sorry for steelworkers when you see them on TV talking about how they lost their jobs to overseas companies,when they were inefficient and overpaid to start with.They couldn't care less whether or not the trucks got loaded,they just stood around for 8 hours a day for the most part,treated truck drivers like they were the scum of the earth, and drew a huge check on Friday...still makes me hot!

What? I lick my truck all the time...thought everybody did

it's a busy place all right,traffic everywhere!

Gee,wonder where Paul is,if anywhere...haven't heard anything for a while-hope he's not rotting in jail in an unknown location in Canada. What if he is ,Joe? Wonder what he's gonna do with the b-67 and the h-model if he's picking up trash along the Trans-Canada Highway for the next 15 to 20?...just a thought,i'm sure he's fine

well,sorta-kinda strange,as it was a bit out of the ordinary. Get used to doing pretty much the same thing all the time,and going to the same places all the time,so whenever you do something different it seems strange.The week started out as usual,unloaded in LaCrosse Monday,then went to Petersburg and loaded beams going to Ambridge,Pa.Unloaded there Tuesday morning,and went to Hubbard,Oh. and loaded for Alpharetta,Ga (near Atlanta).We almost always load coils going to Lynchburg or Roanoke,so that was the unusual part. Figured the best way to get to Atlanta was to run 71 down to Cincinnati,then run 75 to Cartersville,Ga. then Ga. 20 to 371 to 9. So I did. Made it all the way to Crazy Ed's Truckstop in Niota,Tn. before I stopped Tuesday night. I didn't get unloaded at Mac Steel (formerly Edgcomb Metals) until after lunch...well after lunch - if AK Steel is the absolute worst place to go if you're a steel hauler,Mac Steel runs a close second...and why do they have to be so hateful about it ? It was 677 miles there from Hubbard,and by the time I got unloaded I couldn't get to Rome,Ga. to load by 4:00 pm,so I loaded there at Temple-Inland yesterday morning.Huge place,there were pulp wood trucks,log trucks,chip trucks,and flatbeds going to load lumber all going there,so I guess it's a paper mill and lumber yard all rolled into one. It was a good place to load,and everybody there was nice,which I like . Very much unlike the pot-bellied b@$^@&! in the red t-shirt at Mac Steel. Couldn't get to Moneta in time to unload yesterday either,so I came home and unloaded in Moneta this morning,then went to the shop and while they were servicing my truck,I got to drive one of the Columbia's to Dillwyn to load.I was gonna drive the T-800 daycab,but there was no fuel in it,and i'm way too lazy to put fuel in it,so I just drove a spare Freightliner there's no driver on now...I complain about the Peterbilt enough,but that Freightliner really made me appreciate a Peterbilt! Van load too,also out of the ordinary! Got a van load in Follansbee to pick up Monday going to Richmond,so I loaded Kyanite going to Conneaut,Oh. in a van today. Might have some pictures tomorrow,finished a roll today after I wasted about 6 pictures at the truckstop just to finish the roll...don't remember what's on it,except the stunning black Honda I saw in Georgia-that's why I finished the roll!

Thanks Barry,I have the pictures saved on my pc, as a matter of fact I've never deleted them from the camera yet,so if you want to pass it along that's fine,anyone else who might want a copy i'll be glad to make more too...no charge

I noticed the resemblance myself

That is a good looking truck. Don't think i've ever seen a Diamond Reo sloped nose before.

I went to the antique truck show in Troutman,N.C. yesterday and just finished posting all the Mack truck pictures in my album,Troutman 2008, if y'all want to check it out.