Breakdowns and tribulations

The better part of yesterday was spent in a nice cold room waiting for a repair to be done. The Qualcomm system was having rebooting and transmission issues that was making my job very difficult to do quickly as it is supposed to. So, going to the repair shop was the key point of my day, they fact that the repair took 11 hours to fix was kinda unacceptable.

This was what the back of my van looked like. Each one of those black boxes is a Qualcomm computer being used to figure out what is going on. Now, I come from a technical background so I would ask my questions as to what has been done, what will be done and how long it should take. When I ask them these questions, it is due to the fact that their answers will make sense to me and I can take that information and make some form of executive decision as to how my day is going to be.

After the first six hours there and I was getting looks of desperation from the technicians that were working on the issue, I kinda saw the writing on the wall that stated I would be a guest there for a long while. So that being said, I went and took myself out of service for the rest of the day.



The issue was finally resolved at 8pm. Turns out that the satellite/cellular/WiFi receiver unit had a crack in the housing that was letting water seep in and that caused a short circuit in the unit. That was the WHOLE problem. What screwed them up for the entire day was one "brand new" cable that they had replaced from their own stock. The cable was the connection between the receiver that was replaced and the Qualcomm unit. After speaking to the Tech, he stated that in the 5 years that he has been doing this type of work, he has NEVER seen a brand new, sealed cable be defective out of the package before. So all the troubleshooting that was being done was communication issues caused by the bad cable.

So in the end of the long day spent at the repair facility, there were two issues. The first issue was the receiver, which was replaced. The second issue was the cable, which was thrown out. The original cable that was being used was never replaced and is still in good working order. The fact of the matter is that there were 2 separate techs working on the truck, the first tech was the one that screwed up. The second tech was covering for the second shift Qualcomm tech and he told me that if he was there when the truck came in, I may have only been sitting around for about 2 hours and been on my way.

At the end of the day, I was able to finally crash of at family's house. Once I got into bed, I don't think I was conscious for more than 30 seconds after head hitting pillow. Got up roughly 9 hours later, showered and shaved and made sure that I was back in service and on duty. Now, the waiting game again.

I actually do enjoy this job. Driving with a purpose is kinda fun and being in a cargo van is a lot less stressful than an 18 wheeler. Not saying that I wouldn't hop back into that Captain's chair if I had the chance. I just think that getting there will be another up hill battle to overcome the trails and tribulations I went through while at Roehl. Til that day, I will put miles under my ass one day at a time and enjoy myself as much as I can.

Hangin in the Carolinas

Jobs are picking up. Was able to complete a total of 3. The last two were riding back and forth from North Carolina to South Carolina. I ended up back in Charlotte today and now waiting for the malfunctioning Qualcomm unit to be repaired.
I am enjoying this job a lot, I just gotta watch out where my time on the road is spent. I just pulled a 26 hour shift without realizing it. While at the repair facility I was able to grab a power nap for a couple hours, now I feel a lot better. Still need to sleep properly, but I will get there soon.

Almost there

Today was the last full day of orientation

Got together all my permits and registrations for my vehicle and organized my paperwork that I will be working with. I think I may have over did it a bit. I was told that it might be a good idea to swipe anything free for the truck. The two major things that I would need are Bill of Ladings and TripPak envelope to send in the paperwork for each delivery. So, I think I have WAY more than I actually need, but I won't be wanting for these items for a LONG while.

Tomorrow will be a half day of orientation, getting the Qualcomm link setup and *fixed*. Once that is done, I login and wait for my first load opportunity. I am kinda of excited and anxious, all the while I sit here thinking about it, my levels of mixed emotions rise and fall. I am tired and I should go to bed. I have an early day in the morning.

All the while I sit here, my thoughts wander and wonder what is in store for me. Everyone has high hopes for me, including myself. The need and desire to do well is strong.So tomorrow will show what will happen through all this planning and hoping.