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'.