DATELINE: HOME!!!!!
Miles Today: 196
Today was all about driving home for 2 days with my family. What a relief it is to be here and not worrying about finding a place to stay for the night. It's such a relief that I can't think of much to comment on in this forum tonight. So I'll just keep this a brief message that I did get home for my break, and I am happy to be here. I'll get back to the truck on Thursday, then I'll be on the road for nearly three weeks, coming home next time for my daughter's sweet 16 birthday.
Remember, I always love to read your comments, and I long for them when I'm out by myself in the truck. Keep 'em coming, and keep on truckin'. Thanks much!
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Monday, January 29, 2007
Back on the Horse
DATELINE: VANDALIA, OH
Miles Yesterday: 204
Miles Today: 430
Pardon my silence yesterday; I wasn't in the right frame of mind for reporting, and I didn't have much to report, anyway. I just drove my wounded trailer from just north of Richmond, VA to our terminal in Roanoke. Slow 'n easy was the order of that drive, in order to keep the wind from blowing off the tarp that I had taped (yes, Duct Tape) over the hole. The silver marvel held fast and the patch arrived intact. The shop folks in Roanoke looked at it there (once they finally got to it) and decided:
1. They could not fix it while loaded, and
2. It was not structurally sound enough to continue on its journey.
Which brings us to today.
They had me take the trailer to a company in town that would "transload" the goods on the trailer into another one. (An employee of the terminal hauled the other trailer over.) Once that was complete, I was on my way back here to Vandalia (our Ohio terminal). Since I've used up my allotted 70 hours for the current 8-day period, I can't complete the trip to Green Bay. So I have unhooked, or "dropped" that trailer and another driver will take it to its destination. Now I have to wait 'til the morning to talk with my fleet manager about whether or not I can head home on Tuesday as planned.
About that drive from Roanoke to Vandalia, it includes a stretch of driving that's mighty stressful. Take a look at your map of West Virginia and locate US-35 from I-64 north to the Ohio border. That stretch of road is two lanes (one in each direction), not divided, 55 MPH, winding along the base of the mountains, with very little--when any--shoulder. AND very heavy traffic, including trucks. I had driven it southbound in the daylight on Friday. Tonight I had to drive it northbound in the dark. That drive will keep your attention as your cab bounces along the none-too-smooth roadway, and oncoming headlights mar your ability to see the center line.
But I made it, and now I get to rest. Still no fallout from Saturday's unfortunate incident. If any news comes, I will, of course, let you know.
That's all for now as I am tired. Driving US-35 as described above, plus straining up the VA and WV mountains with a full, heavy load for 9-plus hours does tire a guy out. Thanks, as always, for reading. Please keep your comments coming, as they do brighten my day. And, as always, keep on truckin'.
Miles Yesterday: 204
Miles Today: 430
Pardon my silence yesterday; I wasn't in the right frame of mind for reporting, and I didn't have much to report, anyway. I just drove my wounded trailer from just north of Richmond, VA to our terminal in Roanoke. Slow 'n easy was the order of that drive, in order to keep the wind from blowing off the tarp that I had taped (yes, Duct Tape) over the hole. The silver marvel held fast and the patch arrived intact. The shop folks in Roanoke looked at it there (once they finally got to it) and decided:
1. They could not fix it while loaded, and
2. It was not structurally sound enough to continue on its journey.
Which brings us to today.
They had me take the trailer to a company in town that would "transload" the goods on the trailer into another one. (An employee of the terminal hauled the other trailer over.) Once that was complete, I was on my way back here to Vandalia (our Ohio terminal). Since I've used up my allotted 70 hours for the current 8-day period, I can't complete the trip to Green Bay. So I have unhooked, or "dropped" that trailer and another driver will take it to its destination. Now I have to wait 'til the morning to talk with my fleet manager about whether or not I can head home on Tuesday as planned.
About that drive from Roanoke to Vandalia, it includes a stretch of driving that's mighty stressful. Take a look at your map of West Virginia and locate US-35 from I-64 north to the Ohio border. That stretch of road is two lanes (one in each direction), not divided, 55 MPH, winding along the base of the mountains, with very little--when any--shoulder. AND very heavy traffic, including trucks. I had driven it southbound in the daylight on Friday. Tonight I had to drive it northbound in the dark. That drive will keep your attention as your cab bounces along the none-too-smooth roadway, and oncoming headlights mar your ability to see the center line.
But I made it, and now I get to rest. Still no fallout from Saturday's unfortunate incident. If any news comes, I will, of course, let you know.
That's all for now as I am tired. Driving US-35 as described above, plus straining up the VA and WV mountains with a full, heavy load for 9-plus hours does tire a guy out. Thanks, as always, for reading. Please keep your comments coming, as they do brighten my day. And, as always, keep on truckin'.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
A Good Day...Almost
DATELINE: CARMEL CHURCH, VA
Miles Today: 420
It had to happen, and now it has. I had an accident today, right at what was to be the end of a long, but good, day. I had completed my delivery this morning, drove another 150 miles to make a new pickup in southern VA, did that fine, headed up the road to start toward my new destination (Green Bay, WI), and pulled off at a truck stop here for fuel and to park for the night. After fueling, I pulled into the lot. I spied an empty area at the end of a row of trucks. It was now dark and the spot was near the scales and I wasn't sure if it was a driveway or a legal parking spot, so I was trying to pull in next to the truck at the end of the row. Alas, in my concern to see the markings on the pavement, I forgot to consider the whereabouts of my trailer, and pulled it into the back of the other truck. Which, of course, was a car carrier. Its pointy end frame carved a nice gash in the side of my trailer, and mine scatched and dented the rear of a Lexus on the back of the other. Totally my fault, caused by a mere 5 seconds of inattention following 12+ hours of careful driving and other duties. Another of the myriad "glitches", as you regular readers know I've come to calling them, that befall my professional life. Fortunately, nobody was hurt.
So now instead of going to Green Bay (I have some doubt that I could have made it there, anyway, within my 70-hours-in-8-days limit), I'll be going to our Roanoke terminal for repairs. After that, I don't know. I'm supposed to be coming home on Tuesday. I'm hoping they don't decide to send me there by bus. (See if you can discern what that would mean.)
You know, everyone says, "These things happen", and they're bound to with as many miles as we drive. But I wish I could have at least a few days in a row without something going wrong. Naturally, it's been clear and very sunny the last couple of days. Now that my trailer is open to the elements, and with a load of paper, it's supposed to rain tonight and/or tomorrow. I have taped a tarp over the hole, and I dearly hope that will hold 'til I can get to Roanoke tomorrow, only about 200 miles away. Please pray for a little divine intervention for my benefit. I haven't been feeling much of that lately.
Anyway, I'm exhausted and need to get to sleep (if I can with all I have going on in my head). Have a good night, and hope I can keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 420
It had to happen, and now it has. I had an accident today, right at what was to be the end of a long, but good, day. I had completed my delivery this morning, drove another 150 miles to make a new pickup in southern VA, did that fine, headed up the road to start toward my new destination (Green Bay, WI), and pulled off at a truck stop here for fuel and to park for the night. After fueling, I pulled into the lot. I spied an empty area at the end of a row of trucks. It was now dark and the spot was near the scales and I wasn't sure if it was a driveway or a legal parking spot, so I was trying to pull in next to the truck at the end of the row. Alas, in my concern to see the markings on the pavement, I forgot to consider the whereabouts of my trailer, and pulled it into the back of the other truck. Which, of course, was a car carrier. Its pointy end frame carved a nice gash in the side of my trailer, and mine scatched and dented the rear of a Lexus on the back of the other. Totally my fault, caused by a mere 5 seconds of inattention following 12+ hours of careful driving and other duties. Another of the myriad "glitches", as you regular readers know I've come to calling them, that befall my professional life. Fortunately, nobody was hurt.
So now instead of going to Green Bay (I have some doubt that I could have made it there, anyway, within my 70-hours-in-8-days limit), I'll be going to our Roanoke terminal for repairs. After that, I don't know. I'm supposed to be coming home on Tuesday. I'm hoping they don't decide to send me there by bus. (See if you can discern what that would mean.)
You know, everyone says, "These things happen", and they're bound to with as many miles as we drive. But I wish I could have at least a few days in a row without something going wrong. Naturally, it's been clear and very sunny the last couple of days. Now that my trailer is open to the elements, and with a load of paper, it's supposed to rain tonight and/or tomorrow. I have taped a tarp over the hole, and I dearly hope that will hold 'til I can get to Roanoke tomorrow, only about 200 miles away. Please pray for a little divine intervention for my benefit. I haven't been feeling much of that lately.
Anyway, I'm exhausted and need to get to sleep (if I can with all I have going on in my head). Have a good night, and hope I can keep on truckin'.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Late, But Not Too Late
DATELINE: LEXINGTON, VA
Miles Today: 401
Well, my trailer did finally make it...at 11:00. I haven't bothered to inquire about what the hold-up was, but I still have to suffer the consequences. I hit the road at about 11:15 and managed to make it into Virginia, as you can tell by the dateline, above. The drive was uneventful, thankfully, except for struggling up some mountains in the Virginias. Despite the power of these truck engines, they just can't maintain speed up these steep inclines. Anyway, I stopped at around 7:00 p.m., less than 100 miles from my morning destination. I'll have to get up and rolling early again to get there on time, but at least the trailer wasn't so late that I'd have to drive it overnight straight from Vandalia to the delivery.
Since I do have an early call in the morning, I'll sign off for now. I hope you're enjoying living the road life vicariously through this blog. Keep those comments coming, thanks for reading, and keep truckin' on!
Miles Today: 401
Well, my trailer did finally make it...at 11:00. I haven't bothered to inquire about what the hold-up was, but I still have to suffer the consequences. I hit the road at about 11:15 and managed to make it into Virginia, as you can tell by the dateline, above. The drive was uneventful, thankfully, except for struggling up some mountains in the Virginias. Despite the power of these truck engines, they just can't maintain speed up these steep inclines. Anyway, I stopped at around 7:00 p.m., less than 100 miles from my morning destination. I'll have to get up and rolling early again to get there on time, but at least the trailer wasn't so late that I'd have to drive it overnight straight from Vandalia to the delivery.
Since I do have an early call in the morning, I'll sign off for now. I hope you're enjoying living the road life vicariously through this blog. Keep those comments coming, thanks for reading, and keep truckin' on!
Back to Normal
DATELINE: VANDALIA, OH
Well, gang, things are back to being glitchy. As you recall from last night's post, I'm to pick up a trailer here and take it into Virginia. The pickup time on my assignment was 21:00 last night (or 9:00 p.m. for you civilians). Since I had exhausted my on duty hours yesterday, I didn't bother taking the time to look for the trailer, and did my blogging and went to bed.
I got up good and early this morning (4:00 a.m.) so I could get on duty at 4:45 and on the road around 5:00. Thus I could finish my driving and find a place to park for the night before places stated to fill up. (That's my strategy every day.) Well, after fueling up my truck, I started driving around the lot here and, lo and behold, no sign of my trailer. So I contacted dispatch around 5:30 and they told me it was on the way, 102 miles out. OK, disappointing, but that bought me another couple hours of sleep. Then I woke up at 8:00, promptly went driving around the lot again and, lo and behold, still no sign of my trailer. Dispatch this time told me it was 53 miles out. That's one slow driver.
So here I sit, my 14-hour clock ticking (I have to count from when I first went on duty after my 10-hour break, which was 4:45), taking the opportunity to vent to my loyal readers. Looks like I'll have a mad dash once I get underway today, to get as far as I can towards my destination (it's listed as 469 miles away). Then I'll have to get up early again in the morning to drive the remaining miles to the delivery, which is, naturally, time-sensitive (can't be late). So I'll have that stress to deal with. At least it'll be a Saturmorning and no rush hour to deal with.
That's enough for this morning. I'll give you another update once I settle in tonight. Thanks again for letting me vent on your time, and keep on truckin'.
Well, gang, things are back to being glitchy. As you recall from last night's post, I'm to pick up a trailer here and take it into Virginia. The pickup time on my assignment was 21:00 last night (or 9:00 p.m. for you civilians). Since I had exhausted my on duty hours yesterday, I didn't bother taking the time to look for the trailer, and did my blogging and went to bed.
I got up good and early this morning (4:00 a.m.) so I could get on duty at 4:45 and on the road around 5:00. Thus I could finish my driving and find a place to park for the night before places stated to fill up. (That's my strategy every day.) Well, after fueling up my truck, I started driving around the lot here and, lo and behold, no sign of my trailer. So I contacted dispatch around 5:30 and they told me it was on the way, 102 miles out. OK, disappointing, but that bought me another couple hours of sleep. Then I woke up at 8:00, promptly went driving around the lot again and, lo and behold, still no sign of my trailer. Dispatch this time told me it was 53 miles out. That's one slow driver.
So here I sit, my 14-hour clock ticking (I have to count from when I first went on duty after my 10-hour break, which was 4:45), taking the opportunity to vent to my loyal readers. Looks like I'll have a mad dash once I get underway today, to get as far as I can towards my destination (it's listed as 469 miles away). Then I'll have to get up early again in the morning to drive the remaining miles to the delivery, which is, naturally, time-sensitive (can't be late). So I'll have that stress to deal with. At least it'll be a Saturmorning and no rush hour to deal with.
That's enough for this morning. I'll give you another update once I settle in tonight. Thanks again for letting me vent on your time, and keep on truckin'.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Long Day's Journey From Night Into Night
DATELINE: VANDALIA, OH
Miles Today: 580
Greetings once more from the road. Today was a long day and I want to get up and moving early again in the morning, so I'll keep this short.
Today I drove from Beaverdam, OH, to Paw Paw, MI; Made my delivery there; Drove over to Portage, MI to swap my empty trailer for a full one; Drove back here to Vandalia, just north of Dayton. That took up exactly all of my 14-hour window to get my 11 hours of driving in, and I used up 10-1/2 of those hours. 'Twas nice to drive in the old home state, especially through the lake-effect snow squalls over on the west side. And 'twas strange passing within 1 mile of my house twice, when I used the intersection between I-94 and US-23.
I'm dropping that trailer I just picked up here (this is one of USA Truck's terminals) and will spend the night before grabbing another trailer in the morning to haul to Gordonsville, VA.
I have to say today was probably my best day on the road (well, except for having to start and end it in Ohio). Two stops at customers that included backing maneuvers, and I completed both successfully (albeit slowly with a few extra pull-ups to straighten out). But I'm learning A LOT about backing and docking now.
A quick musing: One of the greatest (funniest) things I've seen on the road is a business along I-75 somewhere around mile 120 in Ohio. The business has a big sign out front and a banner on the building proclaiming, "For Sale or Lease". The name of the business: "Endless Endeavors".
Well, gotta go now. Thanks for your readership, and keep on truckin' (and commentin').
Miles Today: 580
Greetings once more from the road. Today was a long day and I want to get up and moving early again in the morning, so I'll keep this short.
Today I drove from Beaverdam, OH, to Paw Paw, MI; Made my delivery there; Drove over to Portage, MI to swap my empty trailer for a full one; Drove back here to Vandalia, just north of Dayton. That took up exactly all of my 14-hour window to get my 11 hours of driving in, and I used up 10-1/2 of those hours. 'Twas nice to drive in the old home state, especially through the lake-effect snow squalls over on the west side. And 'twas strange passing within 1 mile of my house twice, when I used the intersection between I-94 and US-23.
I'm dropping that trailer I just picked up here (this is one of USA Truck's terminals) and will spend the night before grabbing another trailer in the morning to haul to Gordonsville, VA.
I have to say today was probably my best day on the road (well, except for having to start and end it in Ohio). Two stops at customers that included backing maneuvers, and I completed both successfully (albeit slowly with a few extra pull-ups to straighten out). But I'm learning A LOT about backing and docking now.
A quick musing: One of the greatest (funniest) things I've seen on the road is a business along I-75 somewhere around mile 120 in Ohio. The business has a big sign out front and a banner on the building proclaiming, "For Sale or Lease". The name of the business: "Endless Endeavors".
Well, gotta go now. Thanks for your readership, and keep on truckin' (and commentin').
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Another 2-Day Update
DATELINE: BEAVERDAM, OH
Miles Today: 454
Once again I have to explain my lack of update yesterday. It was one of "those" days. (If you're a regular reader of this site, you know what I mean.) The day started out OK enough, if a bit early (at midnight). I took my time to have something to eat (one of those "Heater Meals" that heats itself up), check my e-mail, and make sure I was awake and ready to go. At 1:30 I went on-duty, fueled up my truck, found the trailer I was to haul, and got on the road at about 1:45. (Remember I was starting from USA Truck's Roanoke, VA terminal.) I made it to the customer site in Winchester, VA in plenty of time (before 6:00), backed into the dock successfully (if just a wee bit off from straight) and everything there went just fine. I then headed up he road a bit to a truck stop for some real breakfast and to wait for my next assignment. Still so far, so good. The assignment came...pick up a load in eastern Maryland. Still no problem, except that the pickup would be shortly before my 14 hour window for the day would run out. But OK, I could get there early; it was only about 2-1/2 hours away, and I had 4-1/2 hours left.
When I got to the pickup site is when the fun started. I discovered a couple of flat tires on my trailer. To make this long story short, I picked up up the load (backed into the dock for them to load up the trailer) then headed 25 miles up the highway to a truck stop that my company referred me to to get the tires fixed. The place was a zoo. Several other trucks waiting in line for service, so I wound up there for over 5 hours. Of course, by the time my tires were fixed, the truck stop's parking spots were all full, so I had to hit the road to find another truck stop or rest area with an open spot. I found one at a rest area about 60 more miles away. At least it was in the direction my load needs to go...to Paw Paw, MI. So by the time I hit that rest area, about 9:45 p.m., I was just too tired (no pun intended) to haul out the laptop and write about it. Hence no update yesterday.
As for today, I got up and hit the road before 8:00. Nothing but driving (and eating and fueling) today, so happily no glitches to report. I did stop a little early--5:30 p.m.--in order to get a parking spot at the Flying J truck stop here. That worked out perfectly. I also took the opportunity to get a shower and do some laundry, so I'll need to wrap this up so's I can get to bed. I'll need to get up early in the morning to hit the road around 4:30 to ensure I reach the delivery appointment on time.
Thanks once more for your rapt attention and commenting. Keep those coming, and keep on truckin'
Miles Today: 454
Once again I have to explain my lack of update yesterday. It was one of "those" days. (If you're a regular reader of this site, you know what I mean.) The day started out OK enough, if a bit early (at midnight). I took my time to have something to eat (one of those "Heater Meals" that heats itself up), check my e-mail, and make sure I was awake and ready to go. At 1:30 I went on-duty, fueled up my truck, found the trailer I was to haul, and got on the road at about 1:45. (Remember I was starting from USA Truck's Roanoke, VA terminal.) I made it to the customer site in Winchester, VA in plenty of time (before 6:00), backed into the dock successfully (if just a wee bit off from straight) and everything there went just fine. I then headed up he road a bit to a truck stop for some real breakfast and to wait for my next assignment. Still so far, so good. The assignment came...pick up a load in eastern Maryland. Still no problem, except that the pickup would be shortly before my 14 hour window for the day would run out. But OK, I could get there early; it was only about 2-1/2 hours away, and I had 4-1/2 hours left.
When I got to the pickup site is when the fun started. I discovered a couple of flat tires on my trailer. To make this long story short, I picked up up the load (backed into the dock for them to load up the trailer) then headed 25 miles up the highway to a truck stop that my company referred me to to get the tires fixed. The place was a zoo. Several other trucks waiting in line for service, so I wound up there for over 5 hours. Of course, by the time my tires were fixed, the truck stop's parking spots were all full, so I had to hit the road to find another truck stop or rest area with an open spot. I found one at a rest area about 60 more miles away. At least it was in the direction my load needs to go...to Paw Paw, MI. So by the time I hit that rest area, about 9:45 p.m., I was just too tired (no pun intended) to haul out the laptop and write about it. Hence no update yesterday.
As for today, I got up and hit the road before 8:00. Nothing but driving (and eating and fueling) today, so happily no glitches to report. I did stop a little early--5:30 p.m.--in order to get a parking spot at the Flying J truck stop here. That worked out perfectly. I also took the opportunity to get a shower and do some laundry, so I'll need to wrap this up so's I can get to bed. I'll need to get up early in the morning to hit the road around 4:30 to ensure I reach the delivery appointment on time.
Thanks once more for your rapt attention and commenting. Keep those coming, and keep on truckin'
Monday, January 22, 2007
Startin' Over
DATELINE: ROANOKE, VA
Miles Today: 0
Today's about changing plans. It turns out that with my several long days in a row, I just about used up all of my 70 hours (remember, truckers can only work 70 hours in any 8 consecutive days). So my load to Hoboken was reassigned to another driver, and I'm sitting through my 34-hour reset. (Remember, if I stay off-duty for 34 consecutive hours, my 70 hours start anew and I don't have to count hours worked in the past few days towards those 70.) Unfortunately, my reset period will be over at 12:30 a.m., so I'll be back to work in the graveyard shift, at least for tonight/tomorrow morning. My next assignment will be to pick up a loaded trailer here (another driver is bringing it) and take it up to Winchester, VA by 6:00 a.m. Hopefully the weather will stay good (it's warmer today -- low-to-mid-40s -- and not precipitating), and that won't bog me down any, since I'm instructed that on-time delivery for this load is crucial.
Since today's new is so brief, please allow me this commercial message. (And please read it fully, and follow the embeded links, because it and they can be of great benefit to you!)
As you can tell by the title of this blog, being a trucker is not my first choice of occupation. This was Plan B since I could not find a "regular" job quickly enough to pay the bills. Actually, trucking is Plan C, and the "regular" job is Plan B. My real Plan A was (and still is) to pay the bills through income from self-employment, entrepreneurship, and investments/passive income. But besides paying my own bills that way, my passion is to help everyone else learn about enhancing their own financial situations. Rather than letting this post get unwieldy, please read my essay about building wealth at www.squidoo.com/JRClear. And read my bio there too, to get an understanding about why it's important to me. Then check out the resources I've listed on that page. You can also take a shortcut to getting in on the act by going to www.AllNewIncome.com.
Thanks for reading, allowing me this brief commercial message, and for all your comments. Truck on!
Miles Today: 0
Today's about changing plans. It turns out that with my several long days in a row, I just about used up all of my 70 hours (remember, truckers can only work 70 hours in any 8 consecutive days). So my load to Hoboken was reassigned to another driver, and I'm sitting through my 34-hour reset. (Remember, if I stay off-duty for 34 consecutive hours, my 70 hours start anew and I don't have to count hours worked in the past few days towards those 70.) Unfortunately, my reset period will be over at 12:30 a.m., so I'll be back to work in the graveyard shift, at least for tonight/tomorrow morning. My next assignment will be to pick up a loaded trailer here (another driver is bringing it) and take it up to Winchester, VA by 6:00 a.m. Hopefully the weather will stay good (it's warmer today -- low-to-mid-40s -- and not precipitating), and that won't bog me down any, since I'm instructed that on-time delivery for this load is crucial.
Since today's new is so brief, please allow me this commercial message. (And please read it fully, and follow the embeded links, because it and they can be of great benefit to you!)
As you can tell by the title of this blog, being a trucker is not my first choice of occupation. This was Plan B since I could not find a "regular" job quickly enough to pay the bills. Actually, trucking is Plan C, and the "regular" job is Plan B. My real Plan A was (and still is) to pay the bills through income from self-employment, entrepreneurship, and investments/passive income. But besides paying my own bills that way, my passion is to help everyone else learn about enhancing their own financial situations. Rather than letting this post get unwieldy, please read my essay about building wealth at www.squidoo.com/JRClear. And read my bio there too, to get an understanding about why it's important to me. Then check out the resources I've listed on that page. You can also take a shortcut to getting in on the act by going to www.AllNewIncome.com.
Thanks for reading, allowing me this brief commercial message, and for all your comments. Truck on!
Sunday, January 21, 2007
First Weather Holdup
DATELINE: ROANOKE, VA
Miles Yesterday: 490
Miles Today: 485
Wow! How's that for consistency? Well, of course, that's not what this job's about. I should be closer to 1200 miles total for the 2 days, but the fates have conspired against that.
Yesterday's glitch was a late start. Not really a glich, but I had to learn a new skill on the job--sliding my tandems. The rear set of 8 wheels (called a "tandem axle") on these trailers are mounted on a rail on the underside of the trailer. They can slide forward and back on that rail to help distribute the weight of the load among all of the wheels--forward, more weight falls on the rear tandems; backward, more weight on the tractor's rear tandems (which don't move). There are weight limits for each set of wheels, and heavy fines (for which the driver takes the hit) if the load is overweight on any set or in total. I have a heavy load this time, and the shipper requires each trailer to have its tandems slid all the way back while loading. So yesterday morning (I had gotten loaded the previous night, then spent the night in the shipper's yard) I checked the weights on the shipper's scales. It showed too much weight on the tractor's tandems, so I had to slide the trailer's tandems forward to take up some of that load. To make this story short, it took 3 or 4 attempts (slide tandems, drive back to the scales, then back to the yard to slide again) to find the right position to get the load distributed properly and legal between the axle sets. That only took me about 1.25 hours. Therefore I got started late, got tired before I could reach my goal mileage (and 11 hours allotted driving time) and had to stop for the night. As you recall, I was aiming for a Flying J truck stop just west of Knoxville, TN. Well, I made it to a Flying J, but this one was just west of Nashville, instead. Oh well. I could make up some miles on the last leg on Monday morning.
This morning started OK, but rainy. My route is to follow I-40 east through the Volunteer state to I-81, then that north out of TN into Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The I-40 stretch was OK, but once I turned north on I-81, going along the Appalachians, that rain turned into freezing rain. That (plus hauling nearly 80,000 pounds gross vehicle weight up mountains) really slowed me down. Finally, the ice was building up too much on my truck and the roads, so I gave in and found refuge at USA Truck's Roanoke terminal, my first time here. I listened to the weather report on the weather band on the truck's radio before I stopped, and it said that this ice storm would last until 6:00 in the morning. So here I sit, corresponding to my faithful readers about it. I'm still about 425 miles from my delivery site in Hoboken, so I won't make the 11:00 a.m. appointment. But the weather can't be helped, so I'll get there when I can.
A commentator to my last post requested that I answer some reader questions, and proffered some, so I'll acquiesce and do so here.
1. What's the most enjoyable part of your job? (I think we have a pretty good idea of what sets your teeth on edge.)
+ Umm, is any part of it "enjoyable"? I wouldn't really say so. It is nice to see new parts of the country, but I'm mostly only seeing the interstate system, and there's nobody to share the experiences with, anyway. So no, nothing's really enjoyable about it.
2. Meet any interesting people on your stops? I know you don't get much chance to socialize, but what are those other truckers like?
+ No, I haven't "met" any other truckers. We all seem to just mind our own business, but are friendly. It seems a fairly diverse group, and naturally some are "talkers". Most people I have contact with on the job are at loading docks or guard shacks, and those encounters are fairly brief.
3. What could you take with you that would make your life more interesting or enjoyable?
+ More books on tape (see below). The Mrs. A CD-to-cassette converter (that's a CD player wired to a cassette that you put into the cassette player, so you can listen to your CDs through the cassette player) since I only have a cassette player in the truck.
4. What are you listening to on the road, and do your readers have any suggestions?
+ Right now I'm listening to the "Lord of the Rings" on tape. So far it's the only audiobook I've brought along, so I'll need to get and/or borrow some more. I'll probably ask to borrow the Harry Potter series from my father-in-law.
That's enough drivel for tonight. Time for me to rustle up some grub and work on resting up for tomorrow. Thanks again for reading, let me know if you have any questions you want me to answer, keep your comments coming, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Yesterday: 490
Miles Today: 485
Wow! How's that for consistency? Well, of course, that's not what this job's about. I should be closer to 1200 miles total for the 2 days, but the fates have conspired against that.
Yesterday's glitch was a late start. Not really a glich, but I had to learn a new skill on the job--sliding my tandems. The rear set of 8 wheels (called a "tandem axle") on these trailers are mounted on a rail on the underside of the trailer. They can slide forward and back on that rail to help distribute the weight of the load among all of the wheels--forward, more weight falls on the rear tandems; backward, more weight on the tractor's rear tandems (which don't move). There are weight limits for each set of wheels, and heavy fines (for which the driver takes the hit) if the load is overweight on any set or in total. I have a heavy load this time, and the shipper requires each trailer to have its tandems slid all the way back while loading. So yesterday morning (I had gotten loaded the previous night, then spent the night in the shipper's yard) I checked the weights on the shipper's scales. It showed too much weight on the tractor's tandems, so I had to slide the trailer's tandems forward to take up some of that load. To make this story short, it took 3 or 4 attempts (slide tandems, drive back to the scales, then back to the yard to slide again) to find the right position to get the load distributed properly and legal between the axle sets. That only took me about 1.25 hours. Therefore I got started late, got tired before I could reach my goal mileage (and 11 hours allotted driving time) and had to stop for the night. As you recall, I was aiming for a Flying J truck stop just west of Knoxville, TN. Well, I made it to a Flying J, but this one was just west of Nashville, instead. Oh well. I could make up some miles on the last leg on Monday morning.
This morning started OK, but rainy. My route is to follow I-40 east through the Volunteer state to I-81, then that north out of TN into Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The I-40 stretch was OK, but once I turned north on I-81, going along the Appalachians, that rain turned into freezing rain. That (plus hauling nearly 80,000 pounds gross vehicle weight up mountains) really slowed me down. Finally, the ice was building up too much on my truck and the roads, so I gave in and found refuge at USA Truck's Roanoke terminal, my first time here. I listened to the weather report on the weather band on the truck's radio before I stopped, and it said that this ice storm would last until 6:00 in the morning. So here I sit, corresponding to my faithful readers about it. I'm still about 425 miles from my delivery site in Hoboken, so I won't make the 11:00 a.m. appointment. But the weather can't be helped, so I'll get there when I can.
A commentator to my last post requested that I answer some reader questions, and proffered some, so I'll acquiesce and do so here.
1. What's the most enjoyable part of your job? (I think we have a pretty good idea of what sets your teeth on edge.)
+ Umm, is any part of it "enjoyable"? I wouldn't really say so. It is nice to see new parts of the country, but I'm mostly only seeing the interstate system, and there's nobody to share the experiences with, anyway. So no, nothing's really enjoyable about it.
2. Meet any interesting people on your stops? I know you don't get much chance to socialize, but what are those other truckers like?
+ No, I haven't "met" any other truckers. We all seem to just mind our own business, but are friendly. It seems a fairly diverse group, and naturally some are "talkers". Most people I have contact with on the job are at loading docks or guard shacks, and those encounters are fairly brief.
3. What could you take with you that would make your life more interesting or enjoyable?
+ More books on tape (see below). The Mrs. A CD-to-cassette converter (that's a CD player wired to a cassette that you put into the cassette player, so you can listen to your CDs through the cassette player) since I only have a cassette player in the truck.
4. What are you listening to on the road, and do your readers have any suggestions?
+ Right now I'm listening to the "Lord of the Rings" on tape. So far it's the only audiobook I've brought along, so I'll need to get and/or borrow some more. I'll probably ask to borrow the Harry Potter series from my father-in-law.
That's enough drivel for tonight. Time for me to rustle up some grub and work on resting up for tomorrow. Thanks again for reading, let me know if you have any questions you want me to answer, keep your comments coming, and keep on truckin'.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Long Drive Looming
DATELINE: ASHDOWN, AR
Greetings, vicarious truckers. My apologies for no post yesterday; that day was all about driving as far as I could in my allotted 11 hours, and I made it from far eastern central Illinois to Texarkana, Arkansas, a total of 633 miles. Once I got done, I was too tired to correspond to you. That drive put me only 200-ish miles from my delivery appointment for 9:00 this morning in a northeast Dallas suburb. So I got up and hit the road by 4:00. (Since I had stopped at 5:45 last night, that gave me my requisite 10-hour break.)
Today was about more glitches. (Is there a theme to this job?) I arrived at the delivery customer, was sent to one receiving office, which sent me to another, where everyone was on break so I had to wait a few minutes, then they sent me down along the building to another dock area so I could make a U-turn in order to take my trailer to a certain spot to drop it. Needless to say, the dock where I was to make that U-turn was ju-u-u-u-ust a bit too small to do so easily. That took a bit of time, but I finally succeeded. Then I found the spot where they wanted me to put my trailer. It required backing into an angled space with ju-u-u-u-ust a bit too little space to swing my tractor around during the backing process. (Did I also mention it was backing and turning to the passenger side, so driver visibility was limited? It's much easier turning to the driver's side whilst backing.) So after wasting some time attempting that, they finally relented and let me put it in a more favorable spot. Once I dropped that trailer, they pointed out an empty for me to take with me, so I easily backed under that one, hooked it up, then rolled off for lunch.
I had that lunch at noon at a truck stop a few miles down the highway and waited for my next load assignment. That came at 1:15, and it was to pick up a load in SE Dallas and take it back to the place I was in the morning. The glitch was the delivery appointment was for after my 14-hour driving window for the day was over. (Refresher: I can drive 11 hours a shift, but those 11 hours must come within 14 hours of when I come on duty for that shift.) So I reported that to dispatch and waited some more for another assignment. They sent one, then almost immediately sent another. PLUS, my dispatcher called my and made sure I got the second one; that he had wrangled hard to get it for me. He said it would be an easy drop-and-hook (drop off my empty trailer and hook up a pre-loaded one). The pickup was in this town (see "DATELINE", above), just north of Texarkana. That was a 3-hour drive from where I was by Dallas, and I had 4 hours left on my 14. No problem. (You believe that, don't you?)
So I made the drive here without any troubles. Once I got here (did I mention I'm parked for the night in the trailer yard of the shipper?), I discovered they have an inspection station for all of the trailers that come in. Well, that was no problem except that it ate into my 14 hours. After I passed the inspection (after having to sweep out the trailer and pull some nails from the floor--remind me to send a letter of thanks to the company that set me up with that messy thing), they then informed me that I was a "live load" rather than a drop and hook. Good thing to find out with 15 minutes left in your day. But what could I do? Refuse the load? OK, I knew by then that I was gonna sleep here anyway (they have signs up mentioning it is permitted to do so), so I figured I'd just record the time getting to the dock and back here to the lot as "On Duty- Not Driving" since I wouldn't be on the open road anyway.
I finally got the dock assignment at 6:00, got docked by 6:30, then waited. They didn't start loading my trailer 'til about 7:45, and finished 1/2 hour later. Soby 8:30 I was done; parked, paperwork completed, and ready to tell you all about it. Oh, by the way, this load is going to Hoboken, only a 1354-mile jaunt. And I have 'til Monday morning to get it there. So Saturday and Sunday are both gonna be a lot like yesterday was. My goal for tomorrow (Saturday) is to get to Knoxville, TN. I figure it's about 4-1/2 hours from here to Memphis, then another 6 or so across Tenessee to Knoxville. Thankfully, the truck stop I want to get to is a bit west of Knoxville, so that'll knock a few miles off the measurement.
So that's the story of the last 2 days. Hopefully I'll be reporting from my goal site tomorrow evening. If not, I'll tell you what glitches conspired to keep it from happening.
Thanks ever so much once more for reading, and keep on truckin' (and commenting!)
Greetings, vicarious truckers. My apologies for no post yesterday; that day was all about driving as far as I could in my allotted 11 hours, and I made it from far eastern central Illinois to Texarkana, Arkansas, a total of 633 miles. Once I got done, I was too tired to correspond to you. That drive put me only 200-ish miles from my delivery appointment for 9:00 this morning in a northeast Dallas suburb. So I got up and hit the road by 4:00. (Since I had stopped at 5:45 last night, that gave me my requisite 10-hour break.)
Today was about more glitches. (Is there a theme to this job?) I arrived at the delivery customer, was sent to one receiving office, which sent me to another, where everyone was on break so I had to wait a few minutes, then they sent me down along the building to another dock area so I could make a U-turn in order to take my trailer to a certain spot to drop it. Needless to say, the dock where I was to make that U-turn was ju-u-u-u-ust a bit too small to do so easily. That took a bit of time, but I finally succeeded. Then I found the spot where they wanted me to put my trailer. It required backing into an angled space with ju-u-u-u-ust a bit too little space to swing my tractor around during the backing process. (Did I also mention it was backing and turning to the passenger side, so driver visibility was limited? It's much easier turning to the driver's side whilst backing.) So after wasting some time attempting that, they finally relented and let me put it in a more favorable spot. Once I dropped that trailer, they pointed out an empty for me to take with me, so I easily backed under that one, hooked it up, then rolled off for lunch.
I had that lunch at noon at a truck stop a few miles down the highway and waited for my next load assignment. That came at 1:15, and it was to pick up a load in SE Dallas and take it back to the place I was in the morning. The glitch was the delivery appointment was for after my 14-hour driving window for the day was over. (Refresher: I can drive 11 hours a shift, but those 11 hours must come within 14 hours of when I come on duty for that shift.) So I reported that to dispatch and waited some more for another assignment. They sent one, then almost immediately sent another. PLUS, my dispatcher called my and made sure I got the second one; that he had wrangled hard to get it for me. He said it would be an easy drop-and-hook (drop off my empty trailer and hook up a pre-loaded one). The pickup was in this town (see "DATELINE", above), just north of Texarkana. That was a 3-hour drive from where I was by Dallas, and I had 4 hours left on my 14. No problem. (You believe that, don't you?)
So I made the drive here without any troubles. Once I got here (did I mention I'm parked for the night in the trailer yard of the shipper?), I discovered they have an inspection station for all of the trailers that come in. Well, that was no problem except that it ate into my 14 hours. After I passed the inspection (after having to sweep out the trailer and pull some nails from the floor--remind me to send a letter of thanks to the company that set me up with that messy thing), they then informed me that I was a "live load" rather than a drop and hook. Good thing to find out with 15 minutes left in your day. But what could I do? Refuse the load? OK, I knew by then that I was gonna sleep here anyway (they have signs up mentioning it is permitted to do so), so I figured I'd just record the time getting to the dock and back here to the lot as "On Duty- Not Driving" since I wouldn't be on the open road anyway.
I finally got the dock assignment at 6:00, got docked by 6:30, then waited. They didn't start loading my trailer 'til about 7:45, and finished 1/2 hour later. Soby 8:30 I was done; parked, paperwork completed, and ready to tell you all about it. Oh, by the way, this load is going to Hoboken, only a 1354-mile jaunt. And I have 'til Monday morning to get it there. So Saturday and Sunday are both gonna be a lot like yesterday was. My goal for tomorrow (Saturday) is to get to Knoxville, TN. I figure it's about 4-1/2 hours from here to Memphis, then another 6 or so across Tenessee to Knoxville. Thankfully, the truck stop I want to get to is a bit west of Knoxville, so that'll knock a few miles off the measurement.
So that's the story of the last 2 days. Hopefully I'll be reporting from my goal site tomorrow evening. If not, I'll tell you what glitches conspired to keep it from happening.
Thanks ever so much once more for reading, and keep on truckin' (and commenting!)
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Oy!
DATELINE: I-70, SOMEWHERE NEAR MARSHALL, IL
Dear Readers,
I'm gonna keep this short today 'cuz I am very tired. It's been a long 2 days, full of my favorite things...GLITCHES! Let's start w/ yesterday. Since I'm too tired to give the full story on each, I'll just list 'em:
1. At a truck stop just outside of Lansing, ready to start the day's driving, felt the unmistakable tug of the trailer brakes holding fast. Frozen. Call #1 to the Breakdown dept. at USA Truck.
2. Bad directions to my delivery site (led me to the wrong gate at the site)
3. Guard at gate misread the manufacture date of the trailer (thought it said "06/95" when it was, in fact "06/05") and would not let me on site 'cuz the trailer was too old (> 10 years). Sent me to another site for unloading
4. Receiving clerk at new site wouldn't take me 'cuz they didn't take my commodity at that site. Message from my dispatcher sent me back to the original site.
5. No place to drop my trailer at the original site. (They had a spot they wanted me to drop it into, but it was physically impossible to get it in there). Sent me back to the other site to just drop the trailer there. No empty trailer for me to take with me.
6. Back to the truck stop I started from in the morning to fuel up. Problems w/ fuel pumps.
7. After 2-ish hour wait, got new load assignment, along with assignment to pick up an empty trailer in Coldwater
8. Got to Coldwater, hooked up new trailer, started to go, felt the unmistakable tug of the trailer brakes holding fast. Frozen. Call #2 to the Breakdown dept.
9. Trailer fixed, drove to nearby truck parking area (a rest area w/o facilities) to spend the night, typed in a long update for this blog enumerating the day's glitches, lost my wireless signal AND my likely-award-winning composition.
Today:
1. Got to my pickup site in Elkhart, IN on time (25 minutes early, in fact). Waited 2 hours beyond my appointment before they gave me a dock assignment for loading.
2. While backing into the loading dock, another driver pointed out to me that I had a flat tire on my trailer (it was actually 2 flats on the same axle). Call #3 to Breakdown. After loading, drove to the tire fixit shop Breakdown directed me to about 10 or so miles away, shredding the flat tires along the way.
So those delays have me a few hours behind schedule. I'm supposed to get this load to the Dallas area Friday morning at 9:00 for my delivery appointment. If EVERYTHING can go right between now and then, I think I can just make it. Send your good thoughts my way that I can get there glitch-free the rest of the way.
Anyway, sound like a fun job? You want to sign up? ;-)
Time to cut out 'cuz I'm too tired to see straight. Thanks for reading. Keep on commentin' and truckin'.
Dear Readers,
I'm gonna keep this short today 'cuz I am very tired. It's been a long 2 days, full of my favorite things...GLITCHES! Let's start w/ yesterday. Since I'm too tired to give the full story on each, I'll just list 'em:
1. At a truck stop just outside of Lansing, ready to start the day's driving, felt the unmistakable tug of the trailer brakes holding fast. Frozen. Call #1 to the Breakdown dept. at USA Truck.
2. Bad directions to my delivery site (led me to the wrong gate at the site)
3. Guard at gate misread the manufacture date of the trailer (thought it said "06/95" when it was, in fact "06/05") and would not let me on site 'cuz the trailer was too old (> 10 years). Sent me to another site for unloading
4. Receiving clerk at new site wouldn't take me 'cuz they didn't take my commodity at that site. Message from my dispatcher sent me back to the original site.
5. No place to drop my trailer at the original site. (They had a spot they wanted me to drop it into, but it was physically impossible to get it in there). Sent me back to the other site to just drop the trailer there. No empty trailer for me to take with me.
6. Back to the truck stop I started from in the morning to fuel up. Problems w/ fuel pumps.
7. After 2-ish hour wait, got new load assignment, along with assignment to pick up an empty trailer in Coldwater
8. Got to Coldwater, hooked up new trailer, started to go, felt the unmistakable tug of the trailer brakes holding fast. Frozen. Call #2 to the Breakdown dept.
9. Trailer fixed, drove to nearby truck parking area (a rest area w/o facilities) to spend the night, typed in a long update for this blog enumerating the day's glitches, lost my wireless signal AND my likely-award-winning composition.
Today:
1. Got to my pickup site in Elkhart, IN on time (25 minutes early, in fact). Waited 2 hours beyond my appointment before they gave me a dock assignment for loading.
2. While backing into the loading dock, another driver pointed out to me that I had a flat tire on my trailer (it was actually 2 flats on the same axle). Call #3 to Breakdown. After loading, drove to the tire fixit shop Breakdown directed me to about 10 or so miles away, shredding the flat tires along the way.
So those delays have me a few hours behind schedule. I'm supposed to get this load to the Dallas area Friday morning at 9:00 for my delivery appointment. If EVERYTHING can go right between now and then, I think I can just make it. Send your good thoughts my way that I can get there glitch-free the rest of the way.
Anyway, sound like a fun job? You want to sign up? ;-)
Time to cut out 'cuz I'm too tired to see straight. Thanks for reading. Keep on commentin' and truckin'.
Monday, January 15, 2007
On the Road Again
DATELINE: LANSING(ish), MI
Miles Today: 104
Well, all good things must end. So my home time is over and I'm back in my truck. 'Twas an easy day today; I just had to drive from Romulus over here to Lansing so I'll be near my delivery tomorrow morning. As long as the road commissions get the salt out and keep the roads clear overnight, I should be all set for that delivery. It wasn't bad at all driving today; the roads were wet, but I was moving while it was still relatively warm out, so nothing was slippery.
It was good to be home, despite how brief that period was. It's always good to get a chance to go to church, see the whole family, and all sit down to a nice meal that my wife made (way to go, Nancy!). With our oldest, Lindsay, away at college, even if it is just at Eastern Michigan U, just a few miles down the road, we don't all get together for home-cooked meals very often anymore. So that was special.
With not much to report today, I'll just finish up here. I'll find out after I make my delivery in the morning where I'll be headed next, so be sure to check back for that update tomorrow. Enjoy the new winter weather, and keep on truckin' (and commenting on my posts). Thanks much!
Miles Today: 104
Well, all good things must end. So my home time is over and I'm back in my truck. 'Twas an easy day today; I just had to drive from Romulus over here to Lansing so I'll be near my delivery tomorrow morning. As long as the road commissions get the salt out and keep the roads clear overnight, I should be all set for that delivery. It wasn't bad at all driving today; the roads were wet, but I was moving while it was still relatively warm out, so nothing was slippery.
It was good to be home, despite how brief that period was. It's always good to get a chance to go to church, see the whole family, and all sit down to a nice meal that my wife made (way to go, Nancy!). With our oldest, Lindsay, away at college, even if it is just at Eastern Michigan U, just a few miles down the road, we don't all get together for home-cooked meals very often anymore. So that was special.
With not much to report today, I'll just finish up here. I'll find out after I make my delivery in the morning where I'll be headed next, so be sure to check back for that update tomorrow. Enjoy the new winter weather, and keep on truckin' (and commenting on my posts). Thanks much!
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Made It
DATELINE: HOME!
Yes, it's true! I made it home last night after the 11-hour drive from Sullivan, MO. Thankfully I got up and started driving early, so I reached my parking spot (a truck yard near the Detroit Metro Airport) around 6:00 p.m. Pardon me for not posting last nght, but I decided to take it easy and re-acclimate to my family--well, my wife and youngest daughter, anyway--and get to bed early instead of composing a new update. Anyway, I did make it home safely, so you can rest easy about that.
My delivery appointment for my load is on Tuesday morning about 3 hours away from my truck's parking place. I'll go get my truck Monday afternoon and drive to a truck stop nearby the delivery in time for me to get my 10-hour break before making the delivery. I don't want to wait 'til Tuesday morning to pick up the truck and make the drive just in case of unforseen problems (such as the yard not being open that early). So I'll have a good 2-1/2 days off.
It is good to be home, though today's duty was not what I would have preferred to do. If you've been reading all along, you know that I was headed home for a memorial service today. (See my "Tribute" post from last month.) Don't get me wrong, I would not have missed this celebration of a dear friend's life for any reason at all, I just wish it hadn't been necessary. But the service was wonderful; full of beautiful music and warm remembrances of Dr. Len Riccinto, a man who touched and enriched literally thousands of lives. If you met the man, you were his friend. We'll all miss him.
I'll end today's update here. It's been a long two-plus weeks and an emotional day. Thanks for reading, please add your comments, and keep on truckin'.
Yes, it's true! I made it home last night after the 11-hour drive from Sullivan, MO. Thankfully I got up and started driving early, so I reached my parking spot (a truck yard near the Detroit Metro Airport) around 6:00 p.m. Pardon me for not posting last nght, but I decided to take it easy and re-acclimate to my family--well, my wife and youngest daughter, anyway--and get to bed early instead of composing a new update. Anyway, I did make it home safely, so you can rest easy about that.
My delivery appointment for my load is on Tuesday morning about 3 hours away from my truck's parking place. I'll go get my truck Monday afternoon and drive to a truck stop nearby the delivery in time for me to get my 10-hour break before making the delivery. I don't want to wait 'til Tuesday morning to pick up the truck and make the drive just in case of unforseen problems (such as the yard not being open that early). So I'll have a good 2-1/2 days off.
It is good to be home, though today's duty was not what I would have preferred to do. If you've been reading all along, you know that I was headed home for a memorial service today. (See my "Tribute" post from last month.) Don't get me wrong, I would not have missed this celebration of a dear friend's life for any reason at all, I just wish it hadn't been necessary. But the service was wonderful; full of beautiful music and warm remembrances of Dr. Len Riccinto, a man who touched and enriched literally thousands of lives. If you met the man, you were his friend. We'll all miss him.
I'll end today's update here. It's been a long two-plus weeks and an emotional day. Thanks for reading, please add your comments, and keep on truckin'.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
The Long Rush
DATELINE: SULLIVAN, MO
Miles Today: 494
Yesterday: 502
Dear Road Worriers,
Pardon my absence from these "airwaves" yesterday; I knocked off driving when I became too tired to think straight, and was obviously too tired to type straight. I parked at a rest area in OK and pretty much went straight to bed, even though it was only about 7:30 p.m. Got a good night of sleep, too. It had been a long day, what with driving a heavy load ("only" 43,000+ pounds) several hundred miles, dropping the trailer, then waiting for a proper new load assignment. I had gotten one right away, but it didn't take into account that I was supposed to be home this weekend. So I had to object to my dispatcher, who set about fixing that. After about a 2-1/2 hour wait, he finally came through with one.
So there I was in Lawton, OK, 1100 miles from home, and about 18 "legal" hours to make the drive. PLUS I couldn't take the most direct route, up I-44 through OK. I had to stop in Van Buren, AR to pick up my new load, which probably added another 100-ish miles to the run home. Since I ABSOLUTELY will be home on Friday for a memorial service on Saturday (see my "Tribute" post), needless to say I'm going to be "stretching" one or two DOT hours of service regulations. Besides, the yard in Romulus where I need to park my truck closes for the weekend at 10:00 p.m. Friday--I found that out today, too.
Remind me to thank my dispatcher for the favors he did me this week. ;-) I was on a load going to Atlanta for Wednesday. That would have been perfect for an easy jaunt home for Friday. But instead he had me switch that load in West Memphis, AR and haul another (the 43,000+ pound one) to Lawton for a Wednesday delivery. Thanks to him I do get to test the DOT.
So here I am now an hour or so west of St. Louis. Tomorrow's gonna be one heckuva long drive, and I will be starting early. So I'll wrap this up here so I can get plenty of rest. I hope to see as many of you as I can this weekend when I'm home. Have a good night, thanks for reading, keep commenting, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 494
Yesterday: 502
Dear Road Worriers,
Pardon my absence from these "airwaves" yesterday; I knocked off driving when I became too tired to think straight, and was obviously too tired to type straight. I parked at a rest area in OK and pretty much went straight to bed, even though it was only about 7:30 p.m. Got a good night of sleep, too. It had been a long day, what with driving a heavy load ("only" 43,000+ pounds) several hundred miles, dropping the trailer, then waiting for a proper new load assignment. I had gotten one right away, but it didn't take into account that I was supposed to be home this weekend. So I had to object to my dispatcher, who set about fixing that. After about a 2-1/2 hour wait, he finally came through with one.
So there I was in Lawton, OK, 1100 miles from home, and about 18 "legal" hours to make the drive. PLUS I couldn't take the most direct route, up I-44 through OK. I had to stop in Van Buren, AR to pick up my new load, which probably added another 100-ish miles to the run home. Since I ABSOLUTELY will be home on Friday for a memorial service on Saturday (see my "Tribute" post), needless to say I'm going to be "stretching" one or two DOT hours of service regulations. Besides, the yard in Romulus where I need to park my truck closes for the weekend at 10:00 p.m. Friday--I found that out today, too.
Remind me to thank my dispatcher for the favors he did me this week. ;-) I was on a load going to Atlanta for Wednesday. That would have been perfect for an easy jaunt home for Friday. But instead he had me switch that load in West Memphis, AR and haul another (the 43,000+ pound one) to Lawton for a Wednesday delivery. Thanks to him I do get to test the DOT.
So here I am now an hour or so west of St. Louis. Tomorrow's gonna be one heckuva long drive, and I will be starting early. So I'll wrap this up here so I can get plenty of rest. I hope to see as many of you as I can this weekend when I'm home. Have a good night, thanks for reading, keep commenting, and keep on truckin'.
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Oh, The Irony
DATELINE: RUSSELLVILLE, AR
Miles Today: 198 in 3 ;-) hours of driving
Do you remember from one of my earlier posts when I explained the D.O.T. regulations regarding hours of service for commercial drivers? I'm running smack dab into one now. That is the rule that drivers cannot be on duty for more than 70 hours in any 8 consecutive days. Well, after yesterday, I had 3 hours available for today or else I would exceed my 70 for the last 8 days. Hence the short drive today. I love the irony: they day I'm most well-rested (I did sleep well last night due to my excessive fatigue), I have to stop after only 3 hours. Fortunately, I get 11.75 hours back tomorrow as that day I worked 11.75 hours last week "rolls off" the count. That's good 'cuz I have a long drive (another 350 miles or so) to reach my delivery appointment in the afternoon. Then they'll find me another load to pick up and haul home.
Yes, I said "home". The day I requested to be home next is Friday (remember, I get 1 day at home for every 7 on the road, with stays on the road going from a minimum of 14 to a maximum of 35 consecutive days), so my dispatcher told me he'll get me a load going from OK to MI. The "fun" part will be seeing if I can make the distance--from Lawton, OK to Ann Arbor, over 1,000 miles--in time, considering my 70 hour problem. After 11.75 hours tomorrow, the next 3 days will give me 6, 8.5, and 12 hours, so with so many miles to go, I may be getting home early Saturday morning rather than Friday. That would figure, eh?
So for now I'm holed up in my cab at a Flying J alongside I-40 passing the time. I plan to hit the road at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow in order to make my delivery appointment. But for now I'll fire off this posting, go through my e-mail, and take care of other business.
Thanks once more for reading, and keep the truckin' on.
Miles Today: 198 in 3 ;-) hours of driving
Do you remember from one of my earlier posts when I explained the D.O.T. regulations regarding hours of service for commercial drivers? I'm running smack dab into one now. That is the rule that drivers cannot be on duty for more than 70 hours in any 8 consecutive days. Well, after yesterday, I had 3 hours available for today or else I would exceed my 70 for the last 8 days. Hence the short drive today. I love the irony: they day I'm most well-rested (I did sleep well last night due to my excessive fatigue), I have to stop after only 3 hours. Fortunately, I get 11.75 hours back tomorrow as that day I worked 11.75 hours last week "rolls off" the count. That's good 'cuz I have a long drive (another 350 miles or so) to reach my delivery appointment in the afternoon. Then they'll find me another load to pick up and haul home.
Yes, I said "home". The day I requested to be home next is Friday (remember, I get 1 day at home for every 7 on the road, with stays on the road going from a minimum of 14 to a maximum of 35 consecutive days), so my dispatcher told me he'll get me a load going from OK to MI. The "fun" part will be seeing if I can make the distance--from Lawton, OK to Ann Arbor, over 1,000 miles--in time, considering my 70 hour problem. After 11.75 hours tomorrow, the next 3 days will give me 6, 8.5, and 12 hours, so with so many miles to go, I may be getting home early Saturday morning rather than Friday. That would figure, eh?
So for now I'm holed up in my cab at a Flying J alongside I-40 passing the time. I plan to hit the road at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow in order to make my delivery appointment. But for now I'll fire off this posting, go through my e-mail, and take care of other business.
Thanks once more for reading, and keep the truckin' on.
Monday, January 8, 2007
Catchin' Up
DATELINE: WEST MEMPHIS, AR
Greetings, readers. Pardon my updatelessness the past few days, but it's been hectic out here. I am very tired tonight so I'll keep this short; just enough to let you know where I've been, where I'm going, and why I missed those few days.
As you recall when last I wrote, I was in the Chi-town area to pick up a load and haul it to Texas. I did pick it up early Friday morning and headed south through Illinois, aiming for our terminal in West Memphis, AR to spend the night. My truck was due some regular maintenance, so I called and made an appointment to have that done while I was there. I got there an hour before my appointment, dropped my keys...well, to make a long story short, I was there for almost 24 hours, and since my truck was unavailable to me most of the time, I didn't get much sleep. (And I couldn't get to my laptop to keep y'all updated.) So I then had to revert back to an overnight driver to get my load to Sulphur Springs for my 3:40 a.m. Sunday delivery appointment. Made it, but with just one niggling little glitch that I won't goo into now.
OK, after that delivery, I headed down the highway to find a truck stop or rest area for some snoozin'. It only took 60+ miles to find one. And after my shut-eye (only 5-ish hours, still having trouble sleeping a full shift), I tried to log on to the 'net but found that, way out in the middle of nowheresville, TX, I had no Verizon signal (I have a Verizon card for my laptop to enable my online capabilities on the road). So no update Sunday, either.
Sunday afternoon I got my next assignment: head up to Shawnee, OK for a pickup to haul to Atlanta. OK, so that meant hit the road as soon as I complete my 10-hour break in order to make that pickup and start the trek eastward. The trip to and the pickup went just fine, so I headed towards USA's terminal (and company HQ) in Van Buren, AR. This was another overnight drive, and with my growing lack of sleep, a tired one. After a couple of wrong turns in Van Buren(more bad/incomplete directions) I finally found the place at about 3:30 a.m. and hit the sack. I was awakened by my message box beeping to alert me to a new message just before 9:00 a.m., so that made another short sleep. The message was from my dispatcher asking me to come into the building (we have GPS in the truck, so he knew I was in the yard) for a safety meeting. They hold such meetings quarterly for the drivers, who can attend when they're at one of the terminals giving the meeting. I dutifully went in and sat through the 30-minute presentation. Since I was up, I decided I might as well take advantage of the terminal's facilities, namely the showers and laundry. While at Van Buren, my dispatcher let me know that instead of taking my load all the way to Atlanta, I'd just take it to West Memphis and swap it with another driver. He'll take that one and I'll take his to Lawton, Oklahoma. And that's where I sit now, readying for sleep and catching y'all up with my travels. This was just a quick once-over, without all the troubles filled in. It was an "interesting" weekend. I'm just too tired for full disclosure right now.
I am very fatigued, so sleep oughta' come pretty quick. If all goes well, I'll write again tomorrow night, once I get set up in southwestern OK. Thanks once more for reading, and I hope your life wasn't too empty without my updates the last few days. I hope to keep such absences to a minimum.
As always, keep on truckin'.
Greetings, readers. Pardon my updatelessness the past few days, but it's been hectic out here. I am very tired tonight so I'll keep this short; just enough to let you know where I've been, where I'm going, and why I missed those few days.
As you recall when last I wrote, I was in the Chi-town area to pick up a load and haul it to Texas. I did pick it up early Friday morning and headed south through Illinois, aiming for our terminal in West Memphis, AR to spend the night. My truck was due some regular maintenance, so I called and made an appointment to have that done while I was there. I got there an hour before my appointment, dropped my keys...well, to make a long story short, I was there for almost 24 hours, and since my truck was unavailable to me most of the time, I didn't get much sleep. (And I couldn't get to my laptop to keep y'all updated.) So I then had to revert back to an overnight driver to get my load to Sulphur Springs for my 3:40 a.m. Sunday delivery appointment. Made it, but with just one niggling little glitch that I won't goo into now.
OK, after that delivery, I headed down the highway to find a truck stop or rest area for some snoozin'. It only took 60+ miles to find one. And after my shut-eye (only 5-ish hours, still having trouble sleeping a full shift), I tried to log on to the 'net but found that, way out in the middle of nowheresville, TX, I had no Verizon signal (I have a Verizon card for my laptop to enable my online capabilities on the road). So no update Sunday, either.
Sunday afternoon I got my next assignment: head up to Shawnee, OK for a pickup to haul to Atlanta. OK, so that meant hit the road as soon as I complete my 10-hour break in order to make that pickup and start the trek eastward. The trip to and the pickup went just fine, so I headed towards USA's terminal (and company HQ) in Van Buren, AR. This was another overnight drive, and with my growing lack of sleep, a tired one. After a couple of wrong turns in Van Buren(more bad/incomplete directions) I finally found the place at about 3:30 a.m. and hit the sack. I was awakened by my message box beeping to alert me to a new message just before 9:00 a.m., so that made another short sleep. The message was from my dispatcher asking me to come into the building (we have GPS in the truck, so he knew I was in the yard) for a safety meeting. They hold such meetings quarterly for the drivers, who can attend when they're at one of the terminals giving the meeting. I dutifully went in and sat through the 30-minute presentation. Since I was up, I decided I might as well take advantage of the terminal's facilities, namely the showers and laundry. While at Van Buren, my dispatcher let me know that instead of taking my load all the way to Atlanta, I'd just take it to West Memphis and swap it with another driver. He'll take that one and I'll take his to Lawton, Oklahoma. And that's where I sit now, readying for sleep and catching y'all up with my travels. This was just a quick once-over, without all the troubles filled in. It was an "interesting" weekend. I'm just too tired for full disclosure right now.
I am very fatigued, so sleep oughta' come pretty quick. If all goes well, I'll write again tomorrow night, once I get set up in southwestern OK. Thanks once more for reading, and I hope your life wasn't too empty without my updates the last few days. I hope to keep such absences to a minimum.
As always, keep on truckin'.
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Windy City? Try Rainy CIty
DATELINE: PRAIRIE VIEW, IL
Miles today: 395 in 8 hours of driving
Why, yes, I'm feeling much better today. Thank you for asking.
As you recall, yesterday I told y'all about how I was feeling ill and had to be relieved of my load. Well, after a good night's sleep, I woke up feeling much better. Still a couple of "twinges" in my stomach, but my energy was back and I was ready to go.
Today's assignment was to drag an empty trailer to the Chicagoland area from just north of Columbus, OH. OK, no problem, and no glitches. HALLELUJAH! (So long as you don't count rain, heavy rain. I saw Noah out selling his blueprints along the road.) I got that thing to the destination, which was a USA Truck yard in a southern Chicago suburb. Once there, I "phoned home" (messaged dispatch that I had arrived) and awaited my next assignment. After waiting about an hour or so, they finally sent it to me: a pickup tomorrow morning about 20 miles south of where I was. Well, I didn't want to sit overnight in a fenced yard with no food or bathroom services, so I opted to head out to a truck stop for the night. Happily, it turns out there are two truck stops at the exit I need to get off the highway to get to tomorrow's pickup. Sadly, even though it was still just 6:00-ish, both were already jammed with trucks. So I hopped back on the freeway and headed south, where within just a few miles I found a rest area here in Prairie View with an open parking space. SOLD!
OK, food service at rest areas is somewhat limited, so 2 single-serve bags of chips and a pack of Dolly Madison Devil's Food Zingers made quite the tasty--and oh so nutritious--dinner. Oh well, at least I had a good lunch today--honey-sesame chicken and lo-mein noodles. I'll be sure to get some good food for breakfast tomorrow, too. Anyway, at least I have a campsite not too far from my morning appointment. Now if I can manage NOT to sleep through my alarm in the morning, I'll be good to go.
Oh, I didn't mention where I'll be taking this next load. It's going to the lovely and scenic Sulphur Springs, Texas. Wish I had a camera so I could take some pictures. ;-)
I'm sure I've bored you enough by now, so I'll wrap up for tonight. All my best to y'all who continually subject yourselves to my rantings here. You have my absolute thanks. As always, keep on truckin'.
Miles today: 395 in 8 hours of driving
Why, yes, I'm feeling much better today. Thank you for asking.
As you recall, yesterday I told y'all about how I was feeling ill and had to be relieved of my load. Well, after a good night's sleep, I woke up feeling much better. Still a couple of "twinges" in my stomach, but my energy was back and I was ready to go.
Today's assignment was to drag an empty trailer to the Chicagoland area from just north of Columbus, OH. OK, no problem, and no glitches. HALLELUJAH! (So long as you don't count rain, heavy rain. I saw Noah out selling his blueprints along the road.) I got that thing to the destination, which was a USA Truck yard in a southern Chicago suburb. Once there, I "phoned home" (messaged dispatch that I had arrived) and awaited my next assignment. After waiting about an hour or so, they finally sent it to me: a pickup tomorrow morning about 20 miles south of where I was. Well, I didn't want to sit overnight in a fenced yard with no food or bathroom services, so I opted to head out to a truck stop for the night. Happily, it turns out there are two truck stops at the exit I need to get off the highway to get to tomorrow's pickup. Sadly, even though it was still just 6:00-ish, both were already jammed with trucks. So I hopped back on the freeway and headed south, where within just a few miles I found a rest area here in Prairie View with an open parking space. SOLD!
OK, food service at rest areas is somewhat limited, so 2 single-serve bags of chips and a pack of Dolly Madison Devil's Food Zingers made quite the tasty--and oh so nutritious--dinner. Oh well, at least I had a good lunch today--honey-sesame chicken and lo-mein noodles. I'll be sure to get some good food for breakfast tomorrow, too. Anyway, at least I have a campsite not too far from my morning appointment. Now if I can manage NOT to sleep through my alarm in the morning, I'll be good to go.
Oh, I didn't mention where I'll be taking this next load. It's going to the lovely and scenic Sulphur Springs, Texas. Wish I had a camera so I could take some pictures. ;-)
I'm sure I've bored you enough by now, so I'll wrap up for tonight. All my best to y'all who continually subject yourselves to my rantings here. You have my absolute thanks. As always, keep on truckin'.
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Lizton to ...Blah!
DATELINE: BERKSHIRE, OH
Miles today: 242 in 5-1/2 hours of driving
Ohio? Wasn't I supposed to be in western Pennsylvania tonight? Well, yes I was. And I had every intention of being there, too. But circumstances that are typical of my life prevented me from completing this load. I woke up this morning with a bad stomach ache, and felt a bit tired, too. But nothing to keep me from hitting the road. However, as the day went on, the stomach ache spread to my back, and my fatigue worsened. All in all, I was feeling pre-flu symptoms. After pushing as far as I could, I finally decided that it would be unsafe for me to continue driving. So I reached the truck stop where I was planning on fueling anyway, parked, and let my dispatcher know that I couldn't continue. (I had sent him a heads-up that I was feeling lousy and stopping was a possibility.) Since my load is time-sensitive, he arranged for another USA driver to swing by and swap his empty trailer for my load.
As relieved as I am to get to sleep off this illness (let's hope it's a 24-hour bug), I really did want to complete that assignment without a hitch. Let's see, that's 3 assignments so far, and (at least) 3 hitches. To recap:
Assignment #1: Milwaukee to KC; Hitch: Had to pick up the load late 'cuz of my overnight bus ride to my truck the previous night.
Assignment #2: KC to Tomah, WI; Hitch 1: Fuel cards not activated AND invalid due to data entry error at corporate office. Hitch 2: After driving all night to get the load to the receiver on time, found out I had to wait past my allowed work time to take the trailer away after unloading.
Assignment #3: Menominee, WI to points east; Hitch: Driver felled by illness.
How long will USA Truck want to keep me on if this kind of track record continues? Anyway, that's normal for me; nothing ever comes without complications, especially the seemingly simple ones, like driving a truck from here to there.
Next, once I get to feeling better (hopefully in the morning), I get to pull this empty trailer to a USA yard in the Chicago area. Let's see, how can I time that to hit the least of the notorious Chicago traffic? Oh well, I'll try it and find out.
Now it's time for recovery sleep, so TTFN. Comments: Keep 'em coming. Truckin': Keep on.
Miles today: 242 in 5-1/2 hours of driving
Ohio? Wasn't I supposed to be in western Pennsylvania tonight? Well, yes I was. And I had every intention of being there, too. But circumstances that are typical of my life prevented me from completing this load. I woke up this morning with a bad stomach ache, and felt a bit tired, too. But nothing to keep me from hitting the road. However, as the day went on, the stomach ache spread to my back, and my fatigue worsened. All in all, I was feeling pre-flu symptoms. After pushing as far as I could, I finally decided that it would be unsafe for me to continue driving. So I reached the truck stop where I was planning on fueling anyway, parked, and let my dispatcher know that I couldn't continue. (I had sent him a heads-up that I was feeling lousy and stopping was a possibility.) Since my load is time-sensitive, he arranged for another USA driver to swing by and swap his empty trailer for my load.
As relieved as I am to get to sleep off this illness (let's hope it's a 24-hour bug), I really did want to complete that assignment without a hitch. Let's see, that's 3 assignments so far, and (at least) 3 hitches. To recap:
Assignment #1: Milwaukee to KC; Hitch: Had to pick up the load late 'cuz of my overnight bus ride to my truck the previous night.
Assignment #2: KC to Tomah, WI; Hitch 1: Fuel cards not activated AND invalid due to data entry error at corporate office. Hitch 2: After driving all night to get the load to the receiver on time, found out I had to wait past my allowed work time to take the trailer away after unloading.
Assignment #3: Menominee, WI to points east; Hitch: Driver felled by illness.
How long will USA Truck want to keep me on if this kind of track record continues? Anyway, that's normal for me; nothing ever comes without complications, especially the seemingly simple ones, like driving a truck from here to there.
Next, once I get to feeling better (hopefully in the morning), I get to pull this empty trailer to a USA yard in the Chicago area. Let's see, how can I time that to hit the least of the notorious Chicago traffic? Oh well, I'll try it and find out.
Now it's time for recovery sleep, so TTFN. Comments: Keep 'em coming. Truckin': Keep on.
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Menominee to Lizton
DATELINE: LIZTON, IN
Miles Today: 541 in 10.25 hours driving time (12 total hours on duty)
I hope you're OK with a short update tonight. It's been a long day on the road, and I'm beat, ready for some shut-eye. I do have to admit that I do really prefer daytime driving to the overnight shift, but these long hauls still get tedious. It's remarkable that after 6 hours of driving, when you're already tired of it, you realize that you're just past halfway into your shift. That gets old whether it's daytime or night.
Anyway, everything went well today. I was able to get into my pickup site a little early, swapped trailers (dropped my empty one for a loaded one), and hit the road. The weather was perfect: sunny and nary a cloud in the sky 'til evening when they provided a gorgeous sunset. I managed to find a parking spot at a rest area on I-74 just west of Indianapolis. The problem with starting late in the morning (my pickup today was 11:00 a.m.) is that by the time your shift is ending, the truck stop and rest area truck parking spaces are full. I did pass through a couple of truck stops and left because they were full. But as I was pulling into this rest area, I noticed the brake lights brighten on a trailer, and indeed the truck pulled out. The Lord does provide, eh? (By the way, in case you were wondering, I didn't drive all 11 hours 'cuz I wanted to make sure I had a place to camp out and didn't want to get stuck out on the road violating the DOT regulations again.)
So that's enough for tonight. Have a good day whenever you read this, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 541 in 10.25 hours driving time (12 total hours on duty)
I hope you're OK with a short update tonight. It's been a long day on the road, and I'm beat, ready for some shut-eye. I do have to admit that I do really prefer daytime driving to the overnight shift, but these long hauls still get tedious. It's remarkable that after 6 hours of driving, when you're already tired of it, you realize that you're just past halfway into your shift. That gets old whether it's daytime or night.
Anyway, everything went well today. I was able to get into my pickup site a little early, swapped trailers (dropped my empty one for a loaded one), and hit the road. The weather was perfect: sunny and nary a cloud in the sky 'til evening when they provided a gorgeous sunset. I managed to find a parking spot at a rest area on I-74 just west of Indianapolis. The problem with starting late in the morning (my pickup today was 11:00 a.m.) is that by the time your shift is ending, the truck stop and rest area truck parking spaces are full. I did pass through a couple of truck stops and left because they were full. But as I was pulling into this rest area, I noticed the brake lights brighten on a trailer, and indeed the truck pulled out. The Lord does provide, eh? (By the way, in case you were wondering, I didn't drive all 11 hours 'cuz I wanted to make sure I had a place to camp out and didn't want to get stuck out on the road violating the DOT regulations again.)
So that's enough for tonight. Have a good day whenever you read this, and keep on truckin'.
Monday, January 1, 2007
Happy New Year
DATELINE: MENOMINEE, WI.
Happy New Year one and all! I've had an easy day, as I only had to drive 100 miles west along I-94 here in western Wisconsin to be right by my pickup appointment for tomorrow morning. I'm camped out at a truck stop literally right across the highway from that appointment, so I won't have to burn any driving time from my daily allotment to get there. That'll leave plenty of driving time, which I'll need for the next three days since I'll have lots of miles to cover.
The load I pick up tomorrow is destined for three deliveries on Thursday, from western PA to southern MD. And, of course, I can't take the most direct route across northern IN and OH because my company doesn't want us to use those states' turnpikes (something about double billing on tolls and taxes). So I'll have to dip southward to cross them via I-74, I-70, and I-71. If my trip planning calculations are close to accurate, I have about 950 miles from here to the first stop a bit north of Pittsburgh. If the roads and weather stay clear, that shouldn't be a problem. And, of course, dispatch tells me that these are time-critical appointments; I can't be early or late. No stress there, eh? Anyway, send whatever good thoughts you may have my way that I can complete this mission to everyone's satisfaction. Thanks much.
By the way, in case you were wondering following yesterday's post, I did get a good night's sleep in the truck. Perhaps my documented previous sleeplessness problems are related to the day/night cycle thing. We'll see how it goes tonight, too.
That's enough for today; not much happening, so not much to write about. I hope you have a great year, and please keep those cards and letters--er, comments--coming. It is lonely out here. Thanks again for reading, and keep on truckin'.
Happy New Year one and all! I've had an easy day, as I only had to drive 100 miles west along I-94 here in western Wisconsin to be right by my pickup appointment for tomorrow morning. I'm camped out at a truck stop literally right across the highway from that appointment, so I won't have to burn any driving time from my daily allotment to get there. That'll leave plenty of driving time, which I'll need for the next three days since I'll have lots of miles to cover.
The load I pick up tomorrow is destined for three deliveries on Thursday, from western PA to southern MD. And, of course, I can't take the most direct route across northern IN and OH because my company doesn't want us to use those states' turnpikes (something about double billing on tolls and taxes). So I'll have to dip southward to cross them via I-74, I-70, and I-71. If my trip planning calculations are close to accurate, I have about 950 miles from here to the first stop a bit north of Pittsburgh. If the roads and weather stay clear, that shouldn't be a problem. And, of course, dispatch tells me that these are time-critical appointments; I can't be early or late. No stress there, eh? Anyway, send whatever good thoughts you may have my way that I can complete this mission to everyone's satisfaction. Thanks much.
By the way, in case you were wondering following yesterday's post, I did get a good night's sleep in the truck. Perhaps my documented previous sleeplessness problems are related to the day/night cycle thing. We'll see how it goes tonight, too.
That's enough for today; not much happening, so not much to write about. I hope you have a great year, and please keep those cards and letters--er, comments--coming. It is lonely out here. Thanks again for reading, and keep on truckin'.
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