Second Year OTR ~

 The end of February marked the completion of Butch's second year driving Over-The-Road.  During the past two years, Butch has safely traveled 254,654 miles.

2-20-2023 Corinne, Utah

Butch began driving for Blake Scott Logistics LLC, June7, 2022, pulling D&D Transportation trailers.  He picked up his Freightliner -Traveler in December of the same year. His routes were fairly consistent, taking him from ID to UT, NV, NE, CO, WY & MO.  He was getting home about every three-weeks.

3-1-2023 Hwy 50, CA  26 degrees. 

2023 - Winter driving was, well, winter driving again!  Leaving Wells, NV the morning of 3-1 & arriving in Carson City, NV by nightfall, had been a day of treacherous driving.  My husband though - is an expert at driving the mountain passes & has done them all.

3-5-2023 1:07 a.m. Flying J, Snowville, UT

The morning of the fifth was thick with snow & fog too!  Butch waited until things warmed up a little before leaving.  Several semi's had slid off the road.  On to Hayden, UT the weather improved.

4-4-2023 Arkansas Rest Area~

Arkansas weather was warmer & turning springlike by April.  Dispatches were covering more states, D&D Transport had lost a large contract.  Without that contract, Blake Scott was down to six drivers.

4-18-2023 UT

On April 18th, the day's drive took Butch from Santa Rosa, NM to Green River, UT.  The country was beautiful.  He enjoyed seeing the southwest again driving in NV, NM, AZ etc.

5-1-2023 Mason in the driver's seat! Traveler~

The first of May, when Butch realized how his schedule was going to work out, he called daughter Courtney.  She & Mason were happy to make a long road trip south, through lots of traffic to have dinner with Papa!  Butch had driven 621-miles to make the meet-up happen!

6-24-2023 Oregon~

By mid-June, Jacko Logistics in Vancouver, WA was leasing the six remaining Blake Scott semis.  Butch's home base had moved from north of Salt Lake, all the way back to WA.  When he asked for home time, it seemed impossible for Jacko to get him home anywhere near the dates he needed.  

7-1-2023 Crossing the Hood Canal Bridge, WA

Butch spent the weekend of the fourth-of-July in Port Angeles, WA waiting for a trailer to be loaded. It was also the beginning of his second year driving for Blake Scott.  

8-18-2023 On the way from Beaver, UT to Coors in Golden, CO

In August, Butch sat a new personal best - driving 745-miles in 10:27.  To do those miles on an 11-hour drive clock takes long open stretches, no traffic, a light load & a lot of luck.

9-21-2023 - What happens when a semi takes a curve too fast~

September 25th, Butch was hired to drive for Jacko Logistics who had taken over authority on the Blake Scott semis.  (Butch was the last of the Blake Scott drivers.)  This change resulted in dispatches taking him up & down the west coast.  It wasn't long before he realized why so many drivers refuse to drive in or out of CA.  

10-3-2023 Cassidy, Courtney & Mason~

By early October, Butch had made several dispatches to the pacific northwest.  On one of those trips - he had a layover in North Bend.  Daughter Courtney brought both grandkids with her to have lunch with Papa.  (This was the last time Butch was with our Grandson Mason.)

By the end of October, Butch gave notice to Jacko Logistics.  He drove one final extended dispatch to get Traveler back up to WA before flying home.  He had been looking at companies in the Omaha area & with a friend's recommendation, settled on Nationwide Transport.  

11-5-2023 Maverick, Butch's new ride~

Butch had a few days at home the end of October while he had orientation at Nationwide.  His new truck, a Volvo VNL860 was not the Freightliner he had hoped for, but within a few weeks he was happy to be driving it. Maverick was more comfortable, had a bigger cab & was smooth ride.  

11-2-2023 Maverick's dash~

The first time I looked in - I was amazed at all the bells & whistles!  Of course, the one problem Butch encountered was the horn...  It wasn't loud enough.  Traveler had a very loud horn that got other drivers' attention.  This truck hardly sounded like a truck at all.  A trip to Iowa-80 solved the problem with a beautiful new horn that sounds off at 175 decibels!   

12-15-2023 - Silver Lake Rest area, IL~

We were both happy to have him based closer to home.  Nationwide is only about 25-minutes away which makes it handy for Butch to come home overnight when he's in the area.  It took a few weeks for the dispatching to smooth out, but it's been very consistent.

12-19-2023 - I-80 Sunrise, eastbound~

The views have changed too!  From the mountains & snow to the prairies of the Midwest.  Butch was very lucky this winter & managed to skirt most of the storms that rolled through.  Not having the passes of CA, CO & WA to navigate has saved me a lot of worry.

1-7-2024 - Great Sauk Trail Rest Area, IL~

It's not that he didn't have some interesting driving conditions.  He's traveling to MI, IL, IN, AK, KS, MO, WI, KY, TN, AK, OK.  Of course, IA, SD & NE too.

1-13-2024 Bosselman Travel Center, Grand Is. NE

Travel in the winter months along I-80 is rugged no matter what state you're in.  NE is almost as notorious for bad weather as WY.  IA saw a record number of accidents during a big blizzard that rolled through.  

It's gratifying for us both to know this second year is in the rear-view mirror.  I won't say it was any easier, with changes in companies, trucks & dispatches.  All's well that ends well & this year ended with Butch home for Christmas & a New Year's Day spent with our closest friends.

This new year, I'm no longer home alone - since Finnigan became a member of our family early December.  His cheery little attitude does wonders to keep me smiling.  I'm happy every evening when Butch calls to say he's done driving for the day & is parked somewhere safe.  

Butch's first year~