Butch had driven four Freightliners in the months, since hiring on with Blake Scott Logistics, LLC in June of 2022. He was being dispatched & hauling trailers for D&D Transportation, Gooding, ID.
He was lucky enough to have a friend recommend him for the job, since he didn't have the required two-years of OTR experience most companies require. The logistics also worked well, since D&D had a large account hauling cheese from Gooding to Carthage, MO. Butch would usually have enough time in the schedule each way to stop for the night.
December 16th, he was notified, a truck had been purchased for him to drive. He just needed to drop the truck he'd been driving & pick up his new-to-him semi. He arrived at Premier Truck Group of Salt Lake City & decided on Traveler, from the two available.
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| 12-16-2022 - The Freightliner Cascadia who became Traveler! |
From that time on, Butch finally had a semi that would run & run & run. No breakdowns, no problems & plenty of power & speed.
Just a couple days later, Butch was sent to Kent, WA & from there to Ferndale, WA near the border of BC. Our youngest daughter Jentry, who'd just moved from Astoria, OR to Camano Island, WA - met him at a truck stop with three of our grandkids!
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| 12-18-2022 - Josie, Papa, Ben & Skyla~ |
At Christmas, he brought Traveler home for the first time. The Bronco - grudgingly gave up his usual parking spot in front of the cabin.
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| Traveler home for the first time at Christmas~ |
During this home time visit, Butch took Nika & I out on a ride to Council Bluffs. Nika had already done her stint as an OTR dog & didn't really want to go again. But, if I was going, she was going too!
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| 12-26-2022 -Nika & I get our first ride in Traveler~ |
By January, Butch was done making paper signs in plastic sleeves for the doors. Traveler was the first Blake Scott truck to receive the new company logo.
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| 1-23-2023 Traveler get a new logo! |
This last winter, there was plenty of snow & wind across the middle of the country.
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| 2-21-2023 Snow on the Utah mountains~ |
The
anniversary of Butch's first year driving OTR happened in February! He was also home to celebrate our birthdays.
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| 3-24-2023 Traveler with new mudflaps~ |
There was time to install the mud flaps he'd purchased at the I-80 truck stop during our anniversary trip - on Traveler! Leaving home after
home time - wasn't an issue either - since D&D had a contract with a busy company in Council Bluffs.
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| 4-30-2023 Traveler gets a bath~ |
On another trip up to WA in May, Butch met with our oldest daughter Courtney. She made the drive through miles of traffic, with our Grandson Mason to have dinner with Papa.
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| 5-1-2023 Grandson Mason & Papa |
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| 6-24-2023 Sunset La Grande, OR |
By June, Butch had been with Blake Scott for a year. On the 16th he began officially
hauling trailers for Jacko Logistics, based in Vancouver, WA. This involved a big change in area of the country Butch would be traveling. Jacko operated in eleven western states.
The fourth of July, Butch ended up out at the spit near Port Angeles, WA. Another beautiful spot. His routes now started taking him out to the Denver area, up to Salt Lake, on to OR, WA & down to the far reaches of southern, CA across NV & into AZ.
On Monday, September 25th, Butch was notified he would be driving as an employee for Jacko. They were leasing the six Blake Scott Semi's & had taken over Authority. Butch drug tested & filled out the necessary company paperwork. We'd already discovered - it was very difficult for Jacko to dispatch Butch east for home time.
October, making another run up to WA, Courtney, Cassidy & Mason met up with Papa again near North Bend, WA. The first time Cassidy & Papa had been together in several years.
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| 10-24-2023 Oregon~ |
We started looking for a company closer to home. A friend, who parks his trailer where Butch parks his, here in town, had just started a new job with a company in Lincoln, NE. Butch made a call, but they had no semis available. Another friend mentioned that his son worked for a company out of Omaha. Butch contacted them. They offered a position & scheduled Butch's orientation.
He gave notice to Jacko, while we were on our anniversary trip. Returning home, he was dispatched two days later to drop his trailer in Omaha. Another dispatch didn't come for three days. When it did, it was to the east, bobtailing almost 600-miles to pick up a new trailer in IN.
It became the strangest, most extended dispatch of all time. He ended up sitting over six hours & inspecting three trailers, before finding one he would sign off on. He picked up a load just south of the Chicago metro & was to deliver it to Salt Lake City. As he read the bill of lading, he discovered it was a split load, with half going to CA. (No - more trips to CA.) In Salt Lake, the trailer was unloaded, the load split & another driver picked up the CA delivery. Butch delivered his half to north Salt Lake, before picking up a load for Target.
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| Travelers' final odometer - 515,209~ |
Eventually, 2,950-miles later, Butch arrived in Vancouver, late in the afternoon of the 24th. He packed what was left of his belongings & walked away from the big red truck for the final time. He took an UBER to a nearby hotel & flew home the following morning.
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| 12-24-2023 -Traveler ~ At Jacko Logistics |
From December 16th of 2022 to October 24, 2023, Butch & Traveler covered 96,888 miles! It's a big number & a testament to Butch's driving ability & a really good Freightliner. Butch made a lot of memories driving this truck, getting the opportunity see the kids was at the top of the list.
He was told team drivers would be out on the road the following day. He's sure a team had driven the truck before him. Traveler was a 2020, so it would have required constant travel to have racked up as many miles as the truck had when Butch took the keys.
We hope this change, to an Omaha company close to home, will be a good move. Soon - Butch will be driving his sixth truck & another story will begin... The first of this coming year, will be the second since Butch took on this occupation. I won't say the time has flown by - but it has - for us both.
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