A Berry Good Morning & Trucking 101: Fuel

Unloading this morning in Watsonville, CA after driving all night. We just arrived about an hour ago. I'm tired.


Its always so hard to drive through the night after we've spent several days dragging our feet. I like it when freight stays steadily running at the same pace. And it looks like it might this week. We're already rescheduled to load near Stockton and head up north of Seattle, another all night run.

Watsonville is just a few miles from the coast, south of San Jose. It is a really pretty area. We used to load produce around here all the time, mostly in Salinas (south of here) but we came to Watsonville for strawberries several times.

Growing up in the south, there were multiple towns with strawberry festivals and it seemed they all professed themselves to be the "strawberry capital of the world" or had some such title. Well, they may have been the "capital" of their region, but ladies and gentleman...this must truly be the berry capital of the world.

Step out of the truck and the air is just permeated with the aroma of sun ripened berries (except right now all I can smell is apples but that's just at this warehouse).

Fields and fields of berries. The strawberries are in the sunshine, while the raspberries and blackberries are under these canopies.

Last year we treated ourselves to a flat. A number of the packing houses sell the ripe berries at their facility, the ones that are too ripe to ship. They were some of the best I've ever tasted. We'll get some today if we can find a place where they are available before we leave.

Wow...now I'm really looking forward to breakfast!

Now for a little Trucking 101. I don't think I've discussed fuel in great detail, but if I have please forgive the repetition. Yankee Girl ~ Missy asked a good question in her comment on my fuel post yesterday. I should have thought to go into more detail about fuel capacity, and all that is involved there. So, Missy, thanks for the question. I sent you an email with an answer, and now I'm going to answer again on here so everyone can read about it.

After a little over three years of trucking, and 7 years being exposed to the trucking industry, I am still in awe of the whole fuel thing!

Fuel...what a powerful word. Fuel pretty much dictates every bit of what we do. It determines how fast we drive and at what RPM's we shift gears at...all in an effort to get the best fuel mileage. It effects whether or not we idle the truck when we are sitting still. If we're feeling poor, we'll suffer the heat or cold a lot more, in an effort to save fuel. The more it costs, the more we usually make ourselves bare discomfort.

Fuel even dictates when and where we shower! (bet you didn't see that one coming!) Most truck stops give drivers a "shower credit" with the purchase of a certain amount of fuel. So where ever we've recently fueled is where we have to shower. Trust me...if you spend that much on fuel and it comes with a free shower, your not going to go down the road and pay for a shower somewhere, even if it is only $9!

We have a carrying capacity of 300 gallons. Missy asked how much it costs to "fill up" but I can't really say, because we don't ever fill the tank in one stop. We never let our takes get drained, especially in winter because diesel fuel will "gel up" in extreme cold, especially if the fuel level is low. And just as we never let the tanks get empty, we hardly ever fill them up all the way. If you'll recall, in our line of trucking we make our money based on how much product we load. The more weight we can load, the more we make on that trip. So Malcolm estimates how much fuel it will take to get to where we are going, and still be able to load the maximum, and that's the amount of fuel we stick to that trip. Sometimes we only put in 50 gallons (the minimum for a free shower at most places) and rarely do we get more than 150 gallons in one "fill up."

I get an almost daily fuel update from OOIDA (the Owner Operator Independent Driver Association). Yesterday's update stated that fuel had jumped 5.4 cents to a national average of $3.069. It also had an average for each region. If your interested, here is a link to the article report.

So...our truck is actually doing really well, getting good fuel mileage. We average around 6.3 miles per gallon. We aim to drive between 4000 and 4500 miles a week. I'm no math expert. There was a reason I taught history and science, not math when I was teaching, lol! But I can do a little math and tell you that at 4000 miles a week, we're burning about 635 gallons a week. Multiply that by the national average (and we're paying more than that cause we're running on the expensive side of the country) and we're spending somewhere around$1950.00 a week in fuel.

That's ONE truck.

Today when you go run your errands, get on the interstate for a few minutes and just count the number of trucks that go by. Then do the math.

Shocking isn't it? Its mind boggling!

Fuel, and the Hole in my Pocket

I shutter at what I'm seeing on the signs in front of the truck stops. I feel like I'm beginning to re-live the nightmare of summer before last.

Today, when we leave our reload we'll be driving back to Yakima, WA to get fuel before heading out. We'll be paying $3.36 a gallon. We noted the price when we stopped there to washout on our way in this morning.

It just makes me sick, and its not going to go down. Diesel has been making a steady rise for the last several months, but recently has spiked to these extremes. Everyone is saying its just going to keep going up.

Two summers ago we were dealing with the same problem, but it didn't really have much effect on us, because our rates kept up with it. So far, I'm not seeing that happen this time. I'm hoping we start seeing them keep up with the price of fuel soon!

The only sad part is, when our rates go up, the extra shipping costs get passed onto the consumer. Its just one long, sad, domino effect!

Why are we just on this long steady decline? When are things going to start moving in a positive direction again?


Amendment:
Let me make an amendment to the above post. Malcolm just returned with the fuel reciept. I had forgotten that teh $3.35 price was the "cash" price and since we fuel on a credit card, we got to pay $3.47. Sorry for mis-informing you!

From Washington

We've just unloaded in Granger, WA and are now rolling towards Yakima to load up some apples! But that load will smell good! Actually I know it will. I also know it will make the trailer extremely sticky!

They are going to Watsonville, CA which is south of San Jose. We used to go to that area to load produce quite a bit. So not so excited about the traffic of San Franciso that we have to get through, but kind of looking forward to seeing our old stomping grounds...a bit.

Carlie Jean sure did enjoy the warmth and sunshine in Texas last weekend.

It was sunny in Washington this weekend too, but not quite as warm. We took parked at the Walmart in Sunnyside all day Saturday and let the girls run in the banks yard across the street. They had a blast...well not Paris. She doesn't like prickly grass. She's more of an asphalt kind of girl. But the other two ran and ran and ran.

I took this picture last Monday evening where we parked in Mount Pleasant, TX. We had to wait till the next day to load. There is something about gates that draws me. Don't know why, but I think they are very beautiful. This one, and the scene behind it, reminded me of scenes at home in Tennessee. This was the kind of gate we had there. I don't see many of them...actually any of them...in Montana.

This morning while Malcolm was unloaded I did paperwork, paid some bills, made some phone calls, and went to visit this little guy in the pasture next door. Momma was being very protective, keeping to the far side of the pasture, and doing her best to stay away from the other four horses who were dying to meet the new herd member. I think he's a Medicine Hat if I'm not mistaken. He was very wobbly and overwhelmed with his morning so far!

That's about it in the news around here. We're waiting to get washed out now in Yakima before we load. Guess they don't want limestone on their apples...can't imagine why? (joking of course)

For a little update on John Beckett (see precious post):

I learned from my sister this morning that the prognosis isn't good at all. They have medically induced a coma to protect him. After tests, the doctors are not giving much hope to his parents. They are reporting 100% damage from lack of Oxygen. Please continue to hold this family in your prayers.

Prayers for Beckett

Somehow I missed this post on my sister, Meagan's, blog, but since I've now read it, I'm passing it along to my blogger friends, because I know many of you beleive in the power of prayer.

Visit this link to Meagan's blog to read the story.

It was shocking to read this this morning because Meagan was just at the beach with this little family a few days ago! How quickly and unexpectedly life changes!

All I have to say is, when this is all over, I pray that little Beckett will be fine....and I hope his parents sue the pants off that daycare!!!

Tearing it Up

After driving empty 280 miles on Monday to Mount Pleasant, and then waiting more than 13 hours at Pilgrims Pride on Tuesday, we are finally on our way to California, tearing up the highway.

This time no events to delay the feather meal we're hauling to Helm, CA. No deer smashing into us, no tire's blowing out, and no insane mudflap adventures. We are safely out of Texas, and though the wind is blowing, it looks like a beautiful day in New Mexico. We just crossed the border a bit ago (how do you like their new sign? they just finished it a few weeks ago) and got prepassed by the weigh station 13 miles into the state. Got to love the PrePass!

Malcolm talked to Mark the broker a little while ago. We call in each morning to let him know where we are, just so he knows. And usually, if he's not swamped, he'll take a minute to chat, maybe review what he has in mind for the next couple days. He did that this morning, and suddenly the rest of the week looks much brighter. We (hopefully) aren't turning around and going to Texas again. Looks like we're taking some stuff over the mountain to Reno, and then reloading at Winnemucca and heading to Granger, WA for Monday.

Looks like a beautiful drive through open countryside for the weekend. Lots of time, good places to eat, gorgeous scenery, and hopefully happy weather to enjoy it with!

So we're tearing up the highway for now, but not too bad. We're still holding it back around 64mph. The truck was built to perform best at that speed, so that's what we try to run.

Speaking of "tearing it up," don't let this sweet face fool you.

Ella has a habit that the other two babies never really developed. At first, when she was little, it was cute. Now we still laugh at her, but I think we're at the end of letting it be amusing. I think some discipline is in order now. Ella likes to "make" her bed before she lays down. Normally it wouldn't be a big deal, but her bed is our bed. We'll be settled in, all is quiet and peaceful, and all of a sudden we'll hear this frantic digging. She just goes to town, usually getting up three or four times to re-adjust things. I keep telling her she isn't accomplishing anything, but apparently I was wrong.

Malcolm climbed into bed the other evening, and found a surprise...

Now these sheets were cheapies from Walmart and they have lasted us about three years, which is probably pretty good, considering how much use they get. They were washed thin and had a small hole in them already. So its not like she ruined a good pair of sheets. The problem is that the beds in the truck are odd sizes. The bottom bunk is wider than a normal twin size and longer too. So twin size sheets are two small, and full size sheets are way too big. I'm sure you can order sheets from Kenworth that fit their bunks, but I just have this feeling that they are going to be over-priced and as course as sandpaper. So I haven't even bothered looking. I have a couple more sets, but they are getting older too. I finally stripped off the old torn one yesterday and Malcolm's going to use it for scraps to clean his guns since it was flannel. He was very disappointed because it was his favorite sheet.

I replaced it with my favorite sheet. But, for some reason, I don't have much hope of it lasting very much longer.

Does anyone know where you can get good quality odd sized sheets?

Easter Weekend

Hope you all had a beautiful Easter weekend! Ours was very nice with great weather and beautiful scenery. We loaded in Stockton, CA on Thursday afternoon and headed south and then west towards Texas. Our delivery was just east of Austin, TX on Monday morning.

Instead of running I-40 again, we dropped south to I-10, passing through the Arizona desert. All the desert plants were in bloom or about to begin blooming.


We passed through Phoenix and Tuscon. On over in New Mexico we drove through Los Cruces where there were a few hot air balloons in the sky, though they were too high and too far for pictures. Then it was into Texas and through El Paso, on out into the wilds. Southwest Texas is another gorgeous area of the state, and by all appearances very sparsely populated.

Its very dry around El Paso, almost desert looking, but shortly after leaving the border behind, more vegetation appears, though not the lush green grasslands and forests of east Texas. We stopped in Fort Stockton, TX for dinner and slept there Saturday night.

Easter morning was absolutely beautiful, and the land was in bloom, colored in carpets of orange and deep blue and purple.

Before reaching San Antonio, we cut across country on US290 through Texas hill country. I didn't take pictures. I was too busy soaking in the view for myself. It was more beautiful country, and in the middle of it we passed through the home town of Lyndon B. Johnson.

Off track a little, but there is a book (and movie) called True Women by Janice Woods Windel . It is the story of two friends who grow up during the settling of Texas, during those violent years of fighting the Mexicans and Comanches for possession of Texas lands. I love this book. There is a sequel to it, that Mom found and bought me a few years ago. It is called Hill Country, and continues the story of their families. Lyndon B Johnson is a character in the later part of the book, and the setting is this area of Texas that we were driving through. I recommend both. They are entertaining, and also give a Texas history lesson through the story of these women's lives.

Back to present day Texas, we came out of the country and dropped in on Austin, where we stopped to do some grocery shopping and eat on the east side of town.

We stepped out of the truck at Walmart and it was like walking into a steam bath. Shocking, after being in the western states dry air for so long. It was only around 75 degrees, and not by any means as humid as it will be later this summer, but for us, it was sticky thick air, heavy to breathe, and I got sweaty for the first time this year. We were not enjoying the humidity at all!

Walmart was crowded and loud and had so many cultures and races represented that I lost count. It was overwhelming. I was also a little concerned when I saw that even the $9 movies were locked up behind glass! What was up with that. I suddenly had the feeling that despite appearances, we weren't in one of the choice areas of Austin. On the way into the store I got looks and kisses blown my way, and upon returning to the truck I learned that Malcolm had had company stop by to ask for money and a drive by looking to see if anyone was in the truck. We decided not to spend the night in Austin.

Instead we drove 10 miles down the road. Ten miles can make a big difference. We parked at a warehouse that was for lease that was conveniently behind a BBQ joint. Ate dinner and tried to sleep in a very muggy warm truck. We were feeling too cheap to run it for AC.

The next morning we finished the last 15 miles under cloudy skies and a cool breeze. We delivered our load of organic soybean meal to Coyote Creek Farm. I enjoyed a morning of watching these VERY happy cluckers while Malcolm unloaded the trailer.

I so look forward to having a little flock of my own one day!

Tuesday morning and we are sitting in Mount Pleasant, TX waiting our turn to load feather meal. Its back to California for us, and this time I don't mind. The weather in the rest of the country looks king of crummy weather wise, so I'm happy to stay down here in the dry, and out of the snow and rain.

Being a Temporary HomeKeeper and Playing Cowgirl

Hard to believe we've already been on the road for a week after our last home time. Sometimes it seems that time just crawls out here, and sometimes it flys by. We're intending to work through till the end of May when we'll go home for Malcolm's sister's high school graduation. Thats almost 2 months. Lets hope it goes by quickly! Of course if it doesn't we'll still have a few fly by stops probably like we usually seem to get. Those are much needed. I know for sure we'll have one because we have to get back to sign our taxes before the 15th.

As stated before, we had a marvelous, fun, relaxing time at home, and also spent a little time at the ranch. The girls and I started our home time out by catching up on laundry...always a big job after numerous weeks out on the road. I could do laundry on the road, but I just don't like to. For one thing, its boring sitting around waiting on it, and those public washers just give me the wllies...not to mention they take forever to get stuff dried...and cost a ridiculous amount. Enough on that. I'd rather wait and have mountains of it to deal with at home. This was just part of it. The rest was upstairs waiting to be hauled and sorted.

The girls love laundry time because the laundry room, for some reason, stays really warm. Its their sleeping room, and they love when I'm working in there. They wallow in the laundry, and chase each other around, using their kennel as base.

Speaking of their kennel, I made them a new bed while we were home. Its pink and black leopard print fau fur. Its a little poofy, but they are working on getting it squished down into a nice bed.

I also baked bread, made my sister and her boyfriend's daughter matching aprons for her birthday, cleaned the bathrooms and wood floors (something I've neglected for months), and just generally did homey things and soaked it all up. We only saw snow on one day, the day after we got home, and it melted by that afternoon. Overall the weather at home was mild, sunny, and almost springlike!

While I worked inside, Malcolm worked outside. He took advantage of the mild weather and fertilized the yard and pastures.We live up in the hills northeast of Billings and its very dry. Last summer we tore out a retaining wall and it looks much better, but left us grassless in the back yard. We were overjoyed to see that this spring the grass is slowly making a comeback, and he thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to help it along some. We're also considering selling the house and moving (more on this later) so it would look better if we actually had some grass...and it was green and lush, or at least as lush as it can get up there. So fertilizer should give it a nice boost. And as soon as he finished this, it started a very gentle sprinkling of rain that came and went all day. Perfect for soaking it all into the ground.

He also spent his time tinkering in the shop, running a few errands in town, and playing with his guns. The truck had been turned into Kenworth as soon as we got home for some warranty work and an overhead (they do that at 100,000 miles..go through the engine and truck and get everything adjusted and back into spec), so he wasn't able to work on it every living moment that we were home. I was grateful that he was forced to stay away from the truck. He was too. He needed that.

This studly fellow moved in down the road. I'm not a big paint fan, but he has caught my affection with only one glimpse. I think he's a blue roan paint, which I had not seen before. He also had a girlfriend that he was in hot pursuit of. I'm looking forward to seeing him after he slicks out for summer, and also curious to see what his offspring look like. His girlfriend is some kind of draft cross, or light draft.


After nearly a week at home, we loaded up the pickup one morning and headed to the ranch south of Baker. I love this drive. I love leaving Billings behind me and heading into eastern Montana. It feels like coming home. Its convenient living near Billings, but I left my heart in eastern Montana when we moved a year and a half ago.

Paris and Ella love going to Malcolm's parent's. Carlie has always been kind of edgy about it. She usually stresses out and stops eating when we are anywhere other than home or in the truck. But this time she seemed to settle right in and I think she had a good time. They love ripping around on the living room carpet, snuggling with Malcolm's mom, and laying in front of the gas stove. Paris and Carlie Jean discovered a new place to enjoy the fires warmth...my girls always like heights for some reason.Malcolm had some rifle's at his parents and got them out to look at them before packing them up to bring them home. He made the mistake of leaving the case open and the princess, apparently too good to lay on the carpet like the others, insisted on making a bed of the gun case. Only she could have gotten away with this. She's too cute for her own good.I didn't catch it before, but a friend of mine pointed out that she's wearing her camo shirt too. How appropriate!

She gets away with a lot of things because of her cuteness. Things like this...

She's tall enough to see over the edge of the table anyway, but she discovered that she could stand on the treadmill that's right there and get a GOOD view of everything that we were eating or drinking. This became here permanent position for every meal, snack, or general gathering around the table, for the entire visit.

The trip to the ranch wasn't all about visiting and fun and games. Well I guess that depends on who you ask. I enjoyed it all as fun and games but I'm sure that my sister-in-law felt differently. And these guys probably did too.

Shoshoni and Dandi. They were wondering who I was, why they were left standing in the barn with me, and what was going on. Rachelle had left to go tag some calves with her Dad before we moved them, and the boys and I were hanging out in the barn waiting. This was actually day two of moving pairs, so they probably new what was up, but I'm sure they were wondering why we weren't getting to it.

I've not had a lot of experience moving or working cows, but I enjoy every chance I get. I only hope I'm learning and not getting in the way too much. Sometimes I feel like I'm more of a burden than help, and I know on one occasion I created more work, because I let a cow and calf get away and they went down in a low spot and Rachelle couldn't get them out. Oh well...they just got a little longer with the herd, but eventually came up and were pushed into the other pasture with the rest of the pairs.

It was cool and cloudy and on day two as we were finishing up, the wind got stronger and colder. But it could have been worse weather, and we were all bundled up for it. I had fun, and though I was sore for days afterwards, it was very much worth it! I have so much fun working with Rachelle and she's very good at teaching without loosing patience. Maybe one day I'll actually be a help to her.

My father-in-law was fixing some fencing that the snow had weighed down over the winter, but later on he came in and helped us with some stubborn pairs. We also left a few of the more aggressive mothers for him to deal with on the four-wheeler.

While he was fencing and we were moving pairs, Malcolm was working with his D-7 Cat. The neighbor had just finished working on the tracks which had been loose sense we bought it. It was like a new machine! He used it to clean the lot for his Dad.

By the time he was finished he had created quite a mountain of poo. The hill above is after the first days work. He worked on it a second day till mid-afternoon. The pile was so big you could see it from the road, a mile away. I told them they should put a flag on top. His Dad said he was thinking of putting his windsock up there.

While Malcolm and I were outside in the chilly damp working, the girls were inside with my mother-in-law who continued the trend of spoiling them. She moved the dog bed over by the door so they could nap, watch for us to go by, and rub the coziness of the house in the barn cats nose.

After getting cleaned up, we all headed to town for dinner. They had some errands to run in town, and after dinner they got to it, and we headed home.

At home we finished some things up. I had to finish the laundry we created while we were at home and at the ranch, gather things together to put back in the truck, and other odds and ends. I also had to bake another batch of cookies for the girls. I have become unsatisfied with all the store bought treats. They just seem so...un-nutritious. So last summer I bought this book. I've only tried a couple of recipes, but they are all HUGE hits! The apple muttins were a big success, but so far these gingersnaps are the favorite.

Ella will do anything for a gingersnap, and thinks she gets one every time she takes position in the passenger seat for her turn at co-pilot. And of course she does get one every time. Here she is waiting in the kitchen as I rolled out the dough. I honestly think she knew what I was making because she doesn't usually hover in the kitchen...at least not quite so much.

That's the reason I had to make more. The recipe makes about 150, but I was running low from the last batch. The things taste pretty good too! (yes I tried one) Kind of bland, but not too bad. They are made from organic oat and rice flour and have molasses, ginger, cinnamon, honey, and some other good ingredients in them.

Picked up the truck the next evening. It didn't get done till later in the afternoon, so Malcolm didn't get to work on it till Sunday morning. He got up early, and replaced air filters and did something to the trailer, though I forget what it was. It didn't take long, and by noon we were on our way to load in Billings and head to Nebraska.