It's a Team's Life

Never get Bored

By Linda Caffee
Posted Aug 8th 2017 8:51AM

Expediting is a game of waiting, running like crazy, and we had better be good at both.  The waiting game can be tough as how long do we wait and there is a lot to consider. PAST BLOG HERE.

Waiting and not going crazy is peace of mind.  If on Friday we do not have a weekend load booked we will probably be sitting till Monday.  What do we do with all of that down time?  There are always chores to be done with the truck, cleaning, polishing, laundry, cooking, among other things. I am always writing and working to stay caught up with blogs and if possible to get ahead.

While we have down time we also have our hobbies that do not have anything to do with the truck.  Bob likes to play games on his IPad and I have a couple of cross stitch projects I am working on.  My big project that was going to take about ten years at my current speed has been extended to probably twelve years since we are expecting our first grandchild.  Over the years, I have made Christmas stockings for almost everyone in our immediate family and our new little girl will have her own cross stich stocking for her first Christmas.  This is a joint project with our daughter Brandy, the baby’s mother, as I will do the cross stitching and she will do all of the finish work.  The baby girl is due in November so I will have time to add her name once the name is decided on.

This month is a little different as we are preparing for the Pride and Polish Truck Show at GATS.  We always enjoy entering truck shows even though they are a lot of work and I mean a lot of work.  When we enter a show, we know it is time to clean the truck from top to bottom and some of the things we have been ignoring we can no longer ignore such as small dings in paint or even on the woodwork in the sleeper.  Since we have added Texas, our German Shepard puppy to our truck we have more dings than normal including her spilling her water constantly till I found a great water dish.  This spillage caused damage to the floor and we will be replacing the wood with vinyl flooring.  When we added Squeaky the cat to the truck he poked pin holes in our seats and the seat covers have to be replaced.  This all needed done but we have been putting it off.

Bob is also looking at the outside with a critical eye and we will have our windshields replaced when home due to sand pitting.  He will also look for rock chips on the paint and he will be fixing them with a little touch up paint.  The work never ends keeping a truck in tip top shape, a show just emphasizes the little dings we might over look as time goes by.  All of this work of behind the scenes takes place before we get to Dallas and have the aluminum polished as well as the whole truck and box waxed.  Bob will spend hours performing wax on and wax off technology or using arm strong movements. 

The judges touch everything and it has better be smooth as silk and that includes inside and outside.  No dust bunnies, stray dog or cat hairs, or anything that is dull when it should be shiny and that includes the coffee maker.  We leave the truck pretty much as it would be as if we are under a load or out on the road.  The coffee maker is left out, the GPS, Dash Cam, and everything is left in its respective place.  It is a working truck and it takes to much work to take this stuff out!

Hope to see you at the Great American Truck Show, Dallas, Texas August 24th – 26th

Bob & Linda Caffee

TeamCaffee

Saint Louis MO

Expediters since January 2005

[email protected]

 

Expediting isn't just trucking, it's a lifestyle;

Expediting isn't just a lifestyle, it's an adventure;

Expediting isn't just an adventure, it's a job;

Expediting isn't just a job, it's a business.