Since we started with our company Mercer over a year ago, we had successfully avoided the New England area but it was good to get back up here for a delivery today. It's a very scenic part of the country and you just never know what you'll run into along these old roads. We had an address that we found on our GPS with no problem and an 8am appointment for delivery Saturday morning. When I called the business to let him know we were coming, the guy at the other end of the phone made no mention of anything to alert us or warn us as to where exactly this load of windmill parts had to be delivered. I was driving and as I made the turn off the main road onto the road this business was on, we first noticed the big DEAD END sign. Hmmmm.... we thought. This had better be the right place because there was really no turning back or turning around. It was a narrow paved road that was filled with the occasional log cabin or barn but definitely didn't look like there would be a business to deliver to on it. Nor were there any signs telling us it could be up ahead. As I continued down this narrow paved road, it wasn't long before the pavement turned to gravel. Still seeing homes back down this wooded trail, we had no choice but to continue forward in hopes of finding this address. The gravel road turned to dirt and suddenly we came to a fork in the road. Two dirt roads that looked exactly the same- they both proceeded up a steep hill. By this time we were about three miles back in the woods and the only options we had were to continue up the hill (but which road?) or back up all the way out of there to that main road. We didn't want to do any of them. The truck was completely blocking the road but I parked it there and shut the engine off while Jorge decided to walk up the hill and see what was ahead before we regretted the decision. Rocky and I stayed with the truck in case I might need to move it should a car come down the road. Well, Jorge had been gone quite a while when I decided to get Rocky out and walk down the road for a look of my own. We came to a big sign nailed to a tree that read, 'Trespassers will be shot. Survivors will be shot twice." I looked at the nearby home and figured they must be watching us and made my way back to the truck to wait for Jorge. About 15 minutes later, I saw him coming back. We were indeed expected to drive up the hill and follow somebody to the top of this mountain where they would unload our trailer. What choice did we have? So away we went. It was quite steep as we worked our way up about five miles on a narrow mountain road. Had there been any oncoming traffic, there was no way around us. A deep drainage ditch on one side and the downside of the mountain with a creek at the bottom on the other side was all that surrounded us. We crawled up in about third gear (out of the eighteen that we have) and finally made it to a place where they were building a wind farm with a bunch of windmills. We were so glad to get there, get done, and back down the mountain we went on our way. It was an adventure for sure.
Monday we gave our two week notice to our company as we will be switching to another one at the end of July. We have loved working for Mercer but have been weighing the pros and cons of moving to another almost since we started. The people here are very nice to work for and we love that as soon as we finish one trip, we get paid for it the very next day. That's almost unheard of in the trucking world. We also liked that we have been able to pick and choose our loads to a certain extent and have some input as to where and when we want to work. Our main reason for changing is the size of our truck. Because our truck is larger than average, it limits us to the amount of loads we can take. There is a weight limit of 80,000 pounds, including the weight of truck, trailer, and load. Because we're heavy empty and with no load, we cannot pull very heavy loads. That is a limitation that affects us. In any case, we made the decision to move to another company called Southern Pride, based out of San Diego. We almost started with them last year before coming to Mercer but we had problems with our truck title that was prohibitive. We've worked that issue out now and we're making the move. All their loads are light and we can pull every one of them. The commodity they haul is exclusively airline related... particularly the jet engines. We're still in the process of making the change but we should be starting with the new company the first week of August, providing it all goes without a hitch. Instead of the little cities and towns we frequent now, we'll be back to the cities as a majority of our loads are picking up and delivering at airports around the country. We won't have all the options to control our destinations but they should keep us busier and the pay is better too. So new adventures lie ahead for us in the near future and we're excited about the opportunities. Of course there is always the trepidation and questions of 'Are we doing the right thing?' We'll never know if we don't try so that's what we're going to do. All the while keeping the door open at Mercer should we decide it's not for us and we want to come back, we'll be able to do so.
We're camped out in a little town called Fishkill, New York for the night. It has been over a year since we've been up here and our most favorite pizza place in the country is in this town. We plan to stop by there for lunch tomorrow. We have the weekend off as we're working our way to our next load pickup Monday morning. It's going from a little Pennsylvania town to a little southern Indiana town. Our intentions are to get back to Las Vegas by the end of the month and kind of regroup before we start up with the new company. We'll see what loads are available heading west that will get us there. We won't mind having a couple days of rest and relaxation.