John’s Traveling Around the Rocky Mountains!

My new job has me driving “Rocky Mountain Doubles” for S.A.C.S. Trucking. These are a tractor and full length trailer (48-53’) like you see everywhere, and then I add a shorter trailer (26-28’). The front big trailer is called the lead, and the back small trailer is called the pup. With this combination I can haul about 130,000 lbs (65 tons) of wood shaving or sawdust in Montana. Most states max out at 80,000 lbs (40 tons). I go to various lumber yards throughout western Montana and load their saw dust and/or planer shavings, and then return to Missoula and “dumps” it. Now when I say dump I mean that the tractor and lead are backed onto a platform and the whole shebang is it tipped almost vertical and shaken until all the dust or shavings come out. The same is done to the pup on a smaller platform. And no I don’t get to ride it up and down! I will do from one to three trips in my twelve hour shift. I usually start in the afternoon or evening and work Monday through Friday, I am home every day.

Now to the traveling part! The best part about this job (besides the pay check) is the beautiful Rocky Mountains that I travel through. One day I get to drive through the cherry orchards on banks of the thirty mile long Flathead Lake on the way to Columbia Falls. From here I get to see the 10-11 thousand feet tall mountains of Glacier National Park. Another runs takes me through the Flathead Indian Reservation, along the National Bison Range, and deep in the Mountainous terrain of Northwest Montana and Northeast Idaho. On this run you dodge elk herds in the early morning, and big horn sheep in the afternoons. And there are several other runs that take me to other parts of Western Montana. But they all return back to Missoula! I really like this job…it keeps me active instead of just sitting in the truck as a “Steering-Wheel-Holder.” And I really don’t mind working the hours either, but it does take away from home time and Deb. Keep checking our photo page, I may take some pictures and post them.

Well that is all for now. -John