After nearly 500,000 miles of cross country memories, my father is on his final run. He's going out in style, from SaltLakeCity to the last New Jersey Mile. One more run for America! One more look at Liberty, our statue of FREEDOM.
As an ex-Marine and a Professional OTR TruckDriver, he loves his America. This one will always stand out. With the freeways closed in Nebraska, due to heavy snow and ice, he has been stranded for 3 days and nights. His load due in Jersey tomorrow is the least of his worries. His spirits are high and his attitude is good.
He knows he will get there eventually, but the real ride starts when he turns around and heads back home. Westbound and down! Emotions will be running wild as he hits that Utah line, knowing his final 27 are just moments in time. Once in the yard, he will back that 18 like clock work and put it to rest, then make that walk to the building and take a deep breath. He will hand his keys to some young gun, eagerly waiting to make his first run.
Welcome the New Generation!
"AWESOME RUN " , 5+ years and a nearly a half million miles, "THANK YOU "- We love you , man! Tomorrow, we will see how far you can DRIVE- that golf ball!
Your Son
16 comments:
DT...Awesome post! It brought tears to my eyes, man! What guy your dad must be a true Knight of the road...he would be a great guest on the KnightTime radio show..."veteran trucker runs his last 27..." Sweet!
Hats off to your dad...Thanks you Mr.Elliott (with 2 T's) for a job well done! Keep on truckin', even though your saddle is put away...:) We love you and appreciate all you've done for those 500,000 miles!
Scott, you are blessed!
I gave him a quick call to get an update. He told me He just was wiping his window down, as he was headed out. The roads have just reopened. He will see how far he gets.
Whats really cool, is that he ran up with a few truckers that were stranded there as well, and he told me they are all headed to the same state. Now we have a CONVOY!
Put this quickie together for my POP- whos running 18 on his final leg. A little CW McCall- remixed!
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Uh, Breaker One-Nine, this here's NellieBelle-
You got a copy on me Pig-Pen? C'mon
Uh, yeah 10-4 Pig Pen, fer sure, fer sure
By golly it's clean clear to Jersey City, C'mon
Uh, yeah, that's a big 10-4 Pig-Pen,
Yeah, we definitely got us the front door good buddy,
Mercy sakes alive, looks like we got us a convoy ,
Was about to hit dark, on the 3rd of March
In a Kenworth, pullin' logs
and DAD's Liner with a reefer on
And a Jimmy haulin' hogs .
We 'as headin' fer ICE on I-80-Oh
'Bout a mile outta no-where,Town
I sez Pig-Pen, this here's the Nellie
An' I'm about to put the hammer on down
Cause we gotta little ol' convoy, rockin' through the night
Yeah we gotta little ol' convoy, ain't she a beautiful sight?
Come on an' join our convoy, ain't nothin' gonna git in our way
We're gonna roll this truckin' convoy, cross the USA
Convoy... Convoy...
Uh, breaker Pig-Pen, this here's The Nelle
Uh, you wanna back off them hogs
10-4, 'bout five mile or so, 10-roger
Them hogs is gittin' in-tense up here
By the time we hit Quad City
We had eighty-five trucks in all
But they's a road block up on the clover leaf
An' them snow banks were wall to wall
Yeah them ice 'as thick as bugs on a bumper
There was even rain-in-the-air
I sez callin' all trucks, this here's The 'Nelle
We about to go a huntin' winter gear
Cause we gotta great big convoy, rockin' through the night
Yeah we gotta great big convoy, ain't she a beautiful sight?
Come on an' join our convoy, ain't nothin' gonna git in our way
We're gonna roll this truckin' convoy, cross the USA
Convoy... Convoy...
Uh, you wanna give me a 10-9 on that Pig-Pen?
Uh, negatory Pig-Pen, yer still too close
Yeah, them hogs is startin' close up my sinuses
Mercy sakes, you better back off another ten
Well we rolled up interstate eighty
Like a rocket sled on rails
We tore up all a our swindle sheets
An' left 'em settin' on the scales
By the time we hit that Chi-Town
Them storms was a gittin' hard
They'd brought up some reinforcements
From the Illinois National Guard
Well we shot the line, an' we went for broke
With a thousand screamin' trucks
And eleven long-haired friends of Jesus
In a chartreusse microbus
Hey Sod Buster, listen
You wanna put that microbus in behind the one-way jockey?
Yeah, he's haulin dynamite
He needs all the help he can git
Well we laid a strip fer the Jersey Shore
An' prepared to cross the line
I could see the bridge 'as lined with ice
But I did have one doggone dime
I sez Pig-Pen, this here's the Nelle
We just gonna stop and pay the toll
So we stop at the gate from doing' sixty-eight
I sez, let them truckers roll, 10-4
Cause we gotta mighty convoy, rockin' through the night
Yeah we gotta mighty convoy, ain't she a beautiful sight?
Come on an' join our convoy, ain't nothin' gonna git in our way
We're gonna roll this truckin' convoy, cross the USA
Convoy... Convoy...
Uh, 10-4 Pig-Pen, what's yer 20?
Omaha?!
Well they oughta know what to do with them hogs out there fer sure
Well mercy sakes alive good buddy
We gonna back on outta here
So keep the bugs off yer glass
An' the ice off yer... side mirror
We gonna catch ya on the flip-flop
This here's the Nelle on the side
We gone
Bye, Bye...
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IM glad hes got company across America. The team is now rollin 54 out of Nebraska.
Hes moving now, I was able to here some radio talk among the 3, they sound pretty excited to be rolling out of that rest area, headed towards Jersey. My dad is a super road warrior, the best in the Industry!
thank you for your comments.
ON BOARD VIRTUALLY- 150 miles west of chitown, and rollin eastbound... I-80, on the final run.
Awesome DT, Awesome!!
JERSEY CITY AND THE TURN AROUND! Nothing left, but due west and the Utah line! Dad hit Jersey late yesterday and waiting a load for home. He ran hard, to make up for those days stuck in Nebraska. Hes tired I can hear it in his voice.
Turn the page,pop,and bring 'it on home.
Not exactly the turn around he expected, the companies alittle upset that his truck keeps breaking down. Gave him a run upstate New York!
He had to deadhead to Maryland to pick up, there he sits broken down again. I think NellieBelle knows shes turning 1 million.
He made his trip North in New York, in a place called Johnstown. Being broken down, those few days, they wont take his load off til Monday.
He missed his connecting return load on what he considered would have been a great run back- a load of medication headed to California..
Full day of rest at the J in Johnstown- then Monday morning he heads off to Sanford, Maine to make the long haul back to SALTLAKECITY. He will be dry on this load, carrying rubber products cross country.
This is a 2 drop trip, from SaltLake, he will then go down to LasVegas to finish this westernrun.
Hes been having truck problems. I was suprise on the expenses that come with truck repair. A few of these without a reserve can be an O/0 worse nightmare.
Just like with most things in life, trucking is no exception- its always wise to save for a rainy day. Its been raining hard this month for my dad.
MILEMARKER 390, Nebraska westbound. Striving for an 825 mile day, pushing it to the grindstone aiming for Evanston,Wyoming- just shy of the Utah line. With more truck troubles and a focus on getting the job done we havent had much commincation in the last couple of days- Today , hes on a 11 hour mission, 18 and rollin!
Nebraska
The longest straight stretch of interstate anywhere in the system is the approximately 72 miles of I-80 occurring between Exit 318 and milemarker 390 in Nebraska. Along this length the road does not vary from an ideally straight line by more than a few yards
3500 MILES on the trip back, from Jersey and hes now home, sitting in the yard. The family and him spent the afternoon cleaning the truck out, hes already got it SOLD! He finished off the rest of the trip from Little America, Wyoming this morning. We now have closure on this 18 day journey and the 5 year RoadTrip. Home Sweet Home, in SaltLakeCity ~
DT...Man, I gotta tell ya...By the time I got to your last comment I had a tear in my eye. It's great that your dad is done but sad at the same time..one more trucker off the road and NellieBell has a new owner. Kinda gets me right in my heart.
Maybe NelleiBell would like go out to pasture:)
Thanks for the trip by trip updates on this...Great song material in there!:)
Yes, Caroline- I did get an update on 'ole Nelliebelle. She was SOLD to be parted out. In a sense, 'ole nellie's at rest as well.
As for my dad, he was talking maybe running team 6 months out of the year as a company driver and 6 months off. Im was hoping he still had it in him. His other options was to move to his other home, which is far, far away.
Not 100% sure yet what he wants to do, but as for Owner and Operator - this chapter is closed.
I build a pretty tight relationship with my father while he was on the road. Its the closes we became as father/son, pretty exciting actually. That was one thing we shared in interest in, THE MILES! It was his way of living, it was my way of connecting.
Thanks for letting me share- GODBLESS Sister!
DT
That would be awesome if he still drove..even part time. Seems trucking was a wonderful thing for you AND your dad...that's terrific!!
I do feel bad for Nelliebelle though...she'd didn't have a choice in the matter..I'm really weird when it comes to trucks..I'm really attached to Shadow, our F250 too..he's in the shop right now and i miss him:(
Jeff can tell ya...I'm a strange one..hehe!
Hey Sister, I understand. I wanted to get the latest from my dad, tonight I decided to call him up to see what is going on! I felt kind of blue lately not running the MILES with him.
He was home sitting on his recyliner in beautiful SALTLAKECITY- which was also good to hear- POPS getting some long over due relaxation! I wanted the scoop and the lowdown, so I rolled it out.
He told me he's probably going to run 6 and 6 and will remain home in Utah. Although this is not 100%, but I hope it is.
This is all exciting news, well atleast to me. I dont know about him, he seem positive. You never know with my dad.
I think what got him on retirement was that his sister just retired and he said to himself, 'ITS MYTIME'. He could anytime if he wishes too. So with this in mind and plenty of time to think ahead, my dad thinks like 8 months in advance at alltimes. Hes a planner. I wonder if all truckers are like that!
I, I think as the minute goes by, thats about how far I get. So I give my POP credit, always ahead of the game. Hes always focused on tomorrow. This is what through me in a loop, his retirement came out of the blue.
So I will see what happens, and I told him if he continues to drive, send me a pic of the NEW NELLE' and call me on his first run. He laughed at me. He goes, "SON, why dont you just become a driver, I'll train you" then I just laughed at him. I really wish I could!
He caught a cold on his cross country run, so I am glad hes home resting and spending time with his family.
One thing is sure-
Ole Nellebelle' is retired, and I do believe Ole Nelle' had a choice. She was giving signs to her loyal owner in the last few months that her time was near, slowly but surely my father caught on to 'em.
She will not be forgotten-
Nelle's parts will be past on to keep America running- for MILES and MILES..and MILES!
Awesome comment DT! I can't wait to hear more stories from your dad. I still feel sad for Ole Nellie:(
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