Pony Express is Fast!

Wow! Uncle Sam wants to put tax refunds back into our check accounts as soon as possible so we can spend the bucks and keep the economy going. I think I e-filed on the weekend of February 11 and the refund was in my bank on February 24th. Now that is fast! But now I have nothing to spend it on so I think I will invest it instead in some stock in General Motors.

Volvo Turns Four

Talking about "driving around". Volvo turned 4 years old this week. She also needed the mechanics attention. The clutch master cylinder gave out rendering the clutch useless. Anyway we got it fixed and continued logging miles on Volvo to add to the 611,000 already on her. That's close to 3000 miles a week for each week she's been on the road. Her first pull was on February 19, 2002.

The Random Drug Test

The truck drivers you see out on the road are required by the rules of trucking (CFR 49 Part 382 available as e-CFR if one has about a week free to study the stuff) to submit to random drug tests. Now this is required of not only the known drug and alcohol users but also of those who never touch the stuff.
Now, this happened here in America and I hope I can tell the story as it unfolded and continues for the next two years for a fellow driver whom we'll call Joe. Joe is a career driver having owned his own truck and now has been with the company for about 4 or 5 years. He's about 50 and has never touched drugs and has a beer or two on the weekends. Joe was ordered (computer draw) to go to the drug testing place to yield a sample which he did. He signed some paperwork which was given to him to sign. He then asked the administering staff if that was all and was told it was. He left the office. The next day he was summoned to the company office and told that he needed to go back to the testing place. The doctor in charge there told him he had failed the test because he had not signed ( I think initialed) a seals on the urine containers. Now remember I said the attendant had told him is so many words that he was done. The attendant had not told him he needed to sign or initial those vials. I guess Joe should have had the knowledge of the testing procedure to do this. He didn't. Too bad for Joe. To make the long story short Joe is now attending substance abuse counseling for a while and will be on "probation" and must be tested a zillion times over the next couple years and was even threatened to be sent to anger management when he began to get a bit frustrated during discussions with the staff at the testing site and with the rehabilitation counselor. And to top it all off Joe must pay for all this out of his own pocket. What do you think?

Paying Bills

I think this is a bit funny. As the internet has become a real time saver for paying my bills it is ironic that the only bill I need to pay by delivered check or cash is my internet bill (I leave the only other bill payment check which is for my rent in the room where the hungry landlord scoops it up like a hawk catching a mouse)! I even inquired if she at the ISP office would take a credit card for payment. Nope, they hadn't progressed to that point in the financial world yet. Maybe someday but not this month. She bills me via email and a pdf file thing, I write out the check, and deliver it to the mail slot in the wall at their office a couple blocks down Vulcan Street. To save the bother of having to do this monthly I pay for two months at a shot. Strange isn't it. The only bill I have to pay by check and get delivered is my internet provider's bill!

It was an International Test Drive

As they in the office all say a trucker is never happy. Well, what do they know. They gave me this brand new International to take out for a ride. So I did. And after two days I was ever so happy to get back home and back into Volvo. A new truck is always a little hard shifting but this one would take a weeks learning. The tranny was the same as Volvo's but matching it to the more powerful engine would take some time. I enjoyed the extra power the 475 produced but the noise of the bigger engine and lack of adequate sound proofing plus added road and wind noise again from the lack of sound proofing exceeded my expectations. I would venture to guess that the noise level of that unit was 3 to 4 times that of Volvo. The noise would be very difficult to live with. Otherwise, the unit handled well and maneuvered well. I would really miss the fingertip cruise controls and the other controls on the Volvo's steering column. The International had the cruise, wiper, and other controls still on the instrument panel so the driver needs to release his right hand from the steering wheel and reach way up to use the controls. Also the turn signal switch was the old fashioned type which did not self cancel. Turn it on and turn it off was the order of the turn. I also missed the little chirping sound the Volvo's indicator produces. The "house" part of the cab was well apportioned except it lacked the little chest of drawers with the pull out tray the Volvo sports. There was no where one could set down a plate of food for instance. Its a lot of little stuff that adds up to a lot when one is accustomed to Volvo's amenities. I couldn't vote for this truck. Give me a Volvo with a bigger engine and I would be happy!

A Freightliner Test Drive

Today I forsake Volvo and get into a "Frightliner" or is it an International?????Some salesman would like to get Mr G to buy up some of his trucks so he dropped this one off last week and I have been appointed to "check it out" for a couple trips. Generally a truck is a truck but this one has a 475 hp engine so it is a bit "stronger" than Volvo's 350. I'll try to report on the test runs soon. I sure hope Volvo won't mind. Oh well, its only a truck.