Driving...

I drive for Ford, as a dealership driver. I do dealer trades (my favorite), dealer buys, lease returns, pick up auction cars, and deliver cars to their new owners..... sometimes we even go straight to the Ford plant and pick them up as they come off the assembly line.

We drive all over.... mainly in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, and Michigan. But sometimes as far as Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Missouri, Iowa, and Florida...

Sometimes I drive one way with another driver. (My favorite driving partner is Joe. We have gotten to be best friends over the years, and have a great time together.)

Sometimes, its just me by myself for the whole trip.

I absolutely love driving!

Driving is exciting. I love the adventure of where the road might take me. Of not knowing how my day will go. I love seeing the beautiful landscape and the sunsets. I love the quiet solitude of being in the car alone with my thoughts. I love driving on wide open interstates, in congested traffic lanes, and on narrow back country roads. I like seeing big city's, little towns, and trying new restaurants. I love people watching at truck stops and rest areas. I love the sound of a tractor trailer shifting gears or putting on their Jake brakes. I love driving fast. For me, nothing is more comfortable than being in the drivers seat.

I have loved traveling/driving ever since I was kid... 

I loved it when mom would let me take the wheel, while she was driving home from town on a back country road. Or when we could drive the vehicles on our back lanes and actually be in the drivers seat and in control of the pedals.

I loved taking trips. Dad liked to drive at night and he would let me come up to the front of the van while everyone was sleeping and we'd play the licence plate game or count the color of cars... When I was 16, my parents moved to Pennsylvania and I got to drive alot of loads (my dad moved alot of his shop/junk) out there. 

When I was married to my 1st husband, we drove a F550 super duty hotshot tractor with a sleeper cab and 53 ft. wedge trailer, delivering cargo box trailers out of Elkhart IN and back hauling cars for John Fett Trucking. Our routine trips were mostly Long Island New York (going through the Bronx was both exciting and nerve wracking, but it was my most favorite run), Chicago, Minneapolis, Georgia (we got married on one of our Georgia trips), and North Carolina, but we went all over. 

We don't travel nearly as much as I'd like too, but we take the kids on a 1-2 week long trip once a year, and do family day trips, and small weekend getaways. Hubby and I also go on an Anniversary trip every year too. I love a good long road trip with my family!

To me, driving is relaxing and there's nothing better than being by myself in a brand new car or truck, with an ice cold diet Mountain Dew beside me, the music turned up, and a long road ahead.... 

Since I spend alot of time driving, there are a few things that could definitely be improved upon in the auto industry to make the driving experience better. I have a knack for picking out all the little things... so here we go...

1. All licence plates should have the same type of screw. In my job I put on and take off licence plates, sometimes multiple times a day. And different cars, models, and makes all use different types of screws for their licence plate. Why not have a universal standard for the screws? Or if not universal, could we at least have the same screw for each make, (example all Fords have one size, all Chevy's have another, etc.)?

And while we are on the subject... the screws with the 5/16 head are the best - a simple nut driver works perfect!

2. The other thing would be if every car maker would pick which side of the car you want the gas tank on and leave it there for every model..... such as Ford's would always be on the right side of the car, Toyota's would always be on the left side, etc..

Most people don't realise this, but some Fords are on the right and some Fords are on the left.... and some cars have arrows pointing both directions for the gas, when its only on one side (I'm not kidding!) - its just very confusing when your doing a job that requires getting gas sometimes multiple times a day, in multiple vehicles, and you never know which side of the car the gas tank is on. Just pick a side.

3. It would be nice if all cars would come automatically with navigation. In our day and age, when paper maps are a thing of the past, and many states are issuing hands free driving laws, navigation should come standard in every make and model.

4. Speaking of hands free driving laws.... carmakers should put a built in universal phone holder on the dash of every car. If it was universal so you can use different sizes of phones and it would be right there handy beside you when you're driving.

5. SiriusXM should be standard in every vehicle!!! I absolutely love it when I get in the car and it already has a SiriusXM radio subscription. It makes driving so much better when you don't have to flip through channels. - especially when you spend 12+ hours a day in the car, driving out of state.... it just makes the whole driving experience way way better when you don't have to be flipping channels trying to find one that will come in for more than 30 minutes or listening to ads.

6. All trucks should come with mandatory adjustable pedals.... It makes a huge difference for us short people, so we don't have the steering wheel in our face, just to reach the pedals! Hubby and I won't even consider buying a truck without adjustable pedals.

7. Last, but not least.... drivers are way underpaid.. I mean yes, its not a complicated or rocket science type of job, but seriously, we put our lives on the line everyday. There is a much greater chance of being hurt in an automobile accident when driving is your job. There are alot of crazy's out there and we come across alot of crashes. We drive on snow and ice, in pouring down rain, dense fog, and strong winds.

 As much as I love driving, I don't do it for the pay. For me, its simply something I enjoy. A reason to get away from the house. For me its stress relief from life. Don't get me wrong, driving can be tense and stressful at times.... there are deadlines, flat tires, dead batteries, tolls, paperwork, construction, detours, road closures, traffic jams, and lots more.... I love it, but it's a different kind of stress. So ya, a pay raise should definitely be a must!

I've driven alot of different makes and models of cars, from little tiny boxes on wheels, to work trucks, panel vans, sports cars, suv's, Jeep Wrangler, mini vans, Cadilacs, Bronco's, foreign cars, electric cars, and everything in between.

So probably the best vehicles that I've driven in my experience while driving for the dealership would have to be:

Mustang Mach E (0 to 60 in 3 sec. and yes, I tested it out.... I got it to 90 mph in 4.5 sec. -it was pretty awesome!) 

Ford Mustang's

Dodge Challenger

Ford F150's and super duty's and Raptors 

Lincoln mkx and mkz

Ford Explorer - I absolutely love to drive limited, sports and platinum (with every bell and whistle you could imagine on them) Ford Explorers.

Cars that I like to drive the least would be any thing little, like a Ford Focus, Hatchbacks, Eco Sport, Honda's, CRV's and Toyotas. I know that some people like Hondas and Toyotas, but after you drive a nice car they really are just junk. They are noisy, you hear a lot of road noise, The seats are not comfortable, they are just not as tight or as nicely put together. We call them boxes on wheels!

I'm a bit biased towards Ford's obviously, but honestly there are 3 kinds of cars in almost any make or model. 

First you have just a cheap basic model that people that don't want to spend money on buy, because they look like a new car and they just want a car that will get them from point A to point B. But they drive like crap. Seriously. 

Second, you have the mid line cars (the limited and sport's are in this category).... these are what most people are happy with... they look nice, drive decent, have a few bells and whistles, come with a bit more power, 

and just all around are a pretty decent car.

And lastly you have the 3rd category which would be what the rich people drive...  I love it when I get to pick up these top of the line vehicles... like $100,000+ sports cars, Ford Raptors, Tremors, and custom anything! These vehicles have every bell and whistle you can imagine in them, they are super comfortable, (some give you a back massage as you are driving down the road!) and they practically drive themselves!

Pet peeves of driving would have to be:

People driving slow in the fast lane, not getting over and staying in the fast lane even though they're not going faster, because they don't want to weave in and out of traffic. 

People that don't drive with cruise.... they go fast and slow, fast and slow and it drives me crazy! Either use the cruise or drive with your foot, I don't care what you do, but for goodness sake, keep a steady even speed!

Construction.... I mean, I really don't mind construction if they are actually working on the road, bridge, etc. But, if they have you slow down for no reason or go down to a single lane when they are absolutely doing nothing... thats just irritating!

Speed Limits - The speed limit should be raised. If you think about it, alot of our speed limits have been the same for 50+ years. With better and more roads, and safer vehicles, its past time. Most people don't go the speed limit anyway, so why keep it so slow. For example on I465 around Indianapolis the speed limit is still 55mph. However, with the exception of rush hour or traffic jams, traffic is always going around 75+ mph. 

Fun Fact: I always wanted to be a over the road long haul truck driver.... I still do.

I think my first love of big rigs was when I was a little kid... my mom owned a bulk food store and would get deliveries from Dutch Valley Foods.... my favorite driver was a guy named Nevin Ebersole.

I always wanted to ride in his big rig and he'd always tease me and say he was gonna take me home with him to meet his daughter! When I was 12 years old, my uncle Don who also drove for Dutch Valley, let me ride back to Pennsylvania with him.... and I loved it!

After all these years... I still look for Dutch Valley Trucks when I'm on the interstate and when I see one, I smile and wave real big.... I'm sure the poor driver thinks "look at that odiot!!"

In my opinion, my perfect job would be to drivelong distance over the road in a decked-out Ford F150, super duty, or Ford Explorer. Something that would pay great, have a flexible schedule, so I wouldn't be away from home all the time, let me bring the hubby or kids along every once in awhile, and put me up in hotels at night. If you find anything like that. I'm totally in!