ORGANIC CELERY

We delivered to the CostCo Distribution Center in Tracy Tuesday morning. You gotta love this place. Just like at the Outback Resturarant, upon arrival and checking in, you are handed a pager that lights up, beeps, and vibrates to let you know when your dock is ready for you. When you see/hear your pager again, your trailer is unloaded and you are clear to leave. They have a very organized system of getting the trucks in and out in an orderly fashion, and anyone who knows me, knows how I love organization!

While sitting there watching the endless procession of trucks coming and going, I just couldn't get my head wrapped around the enormity of the trucking business, after all, this was only one distribution center, in one state. What must the number of trucks and distribution centers across the country be? The general public really has no concept of just how important those trucks going up and down the Interstate are. If all trucks shut down, even for a couple of days, the impact would be felt far and wide, and by everyone! It would be nice to educate those who cuss and flip us off, because we are slower going up a hill, and may delay their trip by a few minutes. I think it is a small price to pay for the convenience of having whatever you want, at your fingertips, at a store nearby.

After putting in our empty call, we were instructed to head to Salinas, CA to Dandy Cooling to pick up 42,000 pounds of organic celery. That's a lot of celery my friends! Every bit of it will be going to our second home these days, the Fred Meyer DC in Puyallup, WA. As I sat in the truck, I felt every one of those 23 pallets of celery, as the forklift jerked and shook the truck as it rolled in and out of the trailer. Fully loaded, and with paperwork in hand, we made our way down the street to scale out and make our way back to the Company yard in French Camp, CA for the night. Upon our arrival, we were greeted with a beautiful sunset as another day in the life of a truck driver came to an end.

With a fresh cup of hot coffee, we are off this morning with our sights set on making it to Coburg, OR. Along the way we will pass a business I call "Trucks of Many Colors". This particular business along Interstate 5, near Dunsmuir, CA, sells water trucks. But what makes it so special, is that they paint them every color of the rainbow. It is always fun to see the trucks of many colors, and wonder just who would want to buy a purple water truck?