Congratulations to my favorite Over the Road Truck Driver!
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| 11-1-2022 - Butch & his big Blue Freightliner - at 100,288 miles! |
Butch hit the
big number at the end of today's drive! Nine months to the day from when he first left Joplin with his trainer - the first of February. Most
new to the road drivers have
arrived when they've reached 100,000 miles. It can easily take a couple years to attain those miles. Accomplishing it in nine months doesn't surprise me - knowing my husband! It takes a lot of skill, grit, consistant dispatching & trucks that don't break down often!
An outline of the journey~
Butch completed his month of training at Truck Dynasty in Springfield, MO for CFI the end of January. He was sent to Joplin where he met his Finisher, Steve. The two of them left Joplin on February 1, 2022. That first day Butch drove Steve's Kenworth T-680 623-miles.
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| 2-23-22 Butch is assigned Big Red! |
By February 23rd, he had completed his time with his finisher & was assigned a truck! From then on - he was on his own & on the road full-time.
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| 3-3-2022 Big Red comes Home! |
Early March, Butch came by home to outfit his new truck &
pick me & Nika up! We were going to see if we'd like traveling with him! I did my best, but I've had difficulty with motion sickness my entire life. It was a relief to me - when he was dispatched back through Council Bluffs a few days later. I was happy to be home, but sad traveling wasn't for me.
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| 5-26 - Big Red gets a tow~ |
Butch enjoyed another short home time in April. The problem with asking for home time, is the difficulty in dispatching you to home & then back out! We were lucky to be close to a large customer of CFI, so usually only lost an additional day or two.
By the 26th of May, Big Red's computer had gone out & the semi was towed into the Dallas Kenworth dealer. When the mechanic said it would be a wait for the parts, Butch flew home. After a five-days, Butch was told the parts could be weeks out.
A friend mentioned the company she worked for - was looking for a driver. Butch was hired by Blake Scott Logistics LLC. Making this change would require a road-trip back to Seagoville, TX to unload Butch's things from Big Red. He officially gave notice to CFI. It was fun to take our truck & make the drive. I hadn't been to TX for many years - so we made a short holiday out of it.
Butch left for Salt Lake on June sixth, traveling light, with his duffle bag & a sleeping bag. After an unplanned overnighter in Denver due to weather - he was in Salt Lake & on the road the following day.
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| 6-7-2022 "Ranger" a 2016 Freightliner Cascadia |
It didn't take him long, to appreciate driving a Freightliner, over the
Kenworth T-680. The larger engine, spacious cab & overall drivability of the semi was great. Not being governed at 65 mph was a nice change too.
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| 6-10-2022 Ranger comes home to be outfitted~ |
A short time later, Butch came home to outfit the truck & after an all too short stay, left again. This time with Nika! She was thrilled to go & seemed to love having a job to do. Guarding the truck was an opportunity to bark!
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| 7-9-2022 Nika on the road~ |
Butch was putting in some good miles but ended up with two flat tires on two separate occasions. One drive tire & one steer. Then another flat on a trailer. Toward the end of July, he was notified Ranger was to be sold & he'd be driving another truck.
A few weeks later, another driver met Butch & they exchanged trucks in the middle of WY. (Ranger was to be sold in TX & the other driver was picking up a almost new Kenworth.)
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| 8-6-2022 Ranger & Blue~ |
It was fun to see the bright Blue Freightliner parking at home! Another truck to thoroughly clean, replace air filters in the cab etc. This truck was two-years newer than Ranger & sported new brakes & tires!
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| 8-6-2022 Blue comes Home~ |
Just a couple weeks later, the AC went out! Not a good thing in the middle of summer! Butch drove to Gooding, ID with the windows down - where
D&D Trucking called out a Freightliner mechanic. Another part needed to be ordered & that was weeks away.
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8-15-2022 Nika paitently waits on the cool concrete!
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Butch was given another truck to drive in the interim. Way better than waiting days & weeks for truck parts to arrive. (As far as we've heard, Big Red is still parked at Seagoville, TX.) The truck below was another Freightliner, newer with more options. Butch really enjoyed driving it.
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| 8-18-22 Nika riding shotgun in their temporary truck Rebel~ |
By the 30th, Butch & Nika were back in Blue. Rebel was moved to a dedicated route.
Our 40th anniversary was the second week of October. We'd planned a trip to the far side of our state. It's always a beautiful time of year to travel. We visited the trucker's Nirvana - the
I-80 Truck Stop. Butch had stopped by once but hadn't had time to look around. We spent a night in the area, which gave us time to tour the
amazing museum. We also did some shopping! It was fun to see all the extra gadgets & customized items available. Blue is sporting a new Look!
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| 10-14-2022 New Bars & Mud Flags~ |
When we left for our trip - Nika stayed with our friend Doris. Doris said Nika slept for almost two-days straight. We decided her days as a trucking dog were over. She'd lost weight & even though she had the heart for it, at ten-years young, it was too hard on her physically. Since then, she's picked up weight again, has stopped shedding so heavily & her new winter coat is rich & beautiful. (She let the mailman know she was home!) Butch misses her terribly & she listens to our daily phone conversations :-)
The trucking business is having ups & downs currently, as our economy suffers. We're thankful Butch was able to make the move to
Blake Scott Logistics LLC, when he did. Driving refrigerated & moving supplies of food from one side of the country to the other is probably one of the most reliable trucking jobs. There have been only a few cancelled loads. Dispatches can run from; have
it there yesterday, to four days to make a two-day run. Even so, the wheels are turning! Driving for a small company has been more beneficial for us so far - than if Butch had stayed with CFI.
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10-27-2022 Heading out!
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Butch is able to occasionally come by home for a night or two - nice for us both! We still have a few months to go before this first year of OTR driving is complete. His goal was to drive the miles. We're expecting he'll probably do at least another year of over-the-road to gain the required experience. Then possibly move to a local company route.
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