DATELINE: FAUCETT, MO, 1:50 p.m. CDT
Miles Today: 386
Miles Yesterday: 260
Another 2-day update. Please do pardon my negligence in reporting yesterday, but it was just a short morning drive from Vandalia, OH to Effingham, IL. I then spent the afternoon and evening in my sleeper berth, working on my online poker skills. 'Twas an effort of mixed results. I played in a number of single-table sit-n-go tournaments, won 1, finished second twice, third once, and out of the money several other times. Most of the day I just wasn't getting any cards, and sometimes I just picked the wrong times to take cracks at pots that nobody else seemed interested in. But overall I think I played pretty well, given my bad run of cards.
When I wasn't pokering yesterday, I took advantage of the culinary options available at the area around the truck stop, another Flying J. Unlike most truck stop locales, this one was at a busy highway intersection with many establishments within easy walking distance. Taco Bell just across the street was for lunch, then I wandered a bit farther to Ruby Tuesday's for a special Sunday dinner. (The rest of the week I try to eat as cheaply as I can.)
Today I was up early again to make the drive over here to northwest MO. My delivery appointment is tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. a bit of a ways--40 or so miles--north of here. I decided to stop here because I saw this inviting mom-n-pop truck stop with a wide open parking lot, and figured it'd be a bit more quiet then the truck stops just up the road in St. Joesph. This place is surrounded by nowhere, so it should be nice 'n peaceful.
It has been a nice couple of quiet days, very warm with lots of sun. Today's supposed to be in the upper 80s around here. Good thing my truck's AC is working now.
And there you have it, my doings for yesterday and so far today. I'll be refining my poker even further once I complete this missive, 'cuz there just ain't a whole lot to do with one's dead time on this job. Might as well develop a skill that can produce some income, right? (Meager as that income could possibly be.) Thanks for stopping by, and keep on commentin' and truckin'.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Home and Away Again
DATELINE: VANDALIA, OH, 1:22 p.m. EDT
Miles Today: 196
Miles Friday: 376
Miles Thursday: 459
Pardon my silence these last couple of days. Thanks to a pickup and delivery in Michigan, I got to spend a couple of nights at my "home truck stop", so I had the chance to have dinner with my wife and daughter. By the time I got back to my truck each night, it was too late (and I was too tired) to do any blogging. But hey, I was thinking of ya'. Here's what I've been up to.
As you recall from my last post, Wednesday evening, I was in Pennsylvania on my way to deliver a load in Grand Rapids, MI on Friday. Thursday's task was to drive as far as I could with the few work hours I had available from my 70-in-8-days allotment. Fortunately, that was just enough for me to get to Dexter, MI, location of my afore-mentioned home truck stop. The missus picked me up on the way home from work, and we stopped by home to pick up our younger daughter (her sister was still finishing up the year at college) and head to one of my favorite places to eat, Qdoba Mexican Grill. I feel the need to eat there whenever I get home. After a scrumdiddlyumptious burrito (the Chicken Fajita Classica with queso, habanero AND corn salsas, and quacamole--YUM!), it was back to the truck and to bed. I had to get up early the next morning to make my delivery on time.
Friday morning I was up and on the road at 4:00. My delivery appointment in Grand Rapids was for 8:00 a.m., and I wanted to leave myself plenty of time to allow for traffic jams, since it's now road construction season and I'd be hitting G.R. at the morning rush hour. However, the drive went without delay and I arrived at 6:45. Early is generally good, but at this site nobody was in to work yet. Apparently this is a smaller company that is not on an around-the-clock schedule. Or even an early-start schedule. So I had to wait 'til someone showed up in their receiving department, which was just before 8:00. Oh well, that gave me a chance to do some reading.
Once someone showed up and I checked in, got my docking assignment, and backed into the loading dock, it only took another 45 minutes for them to unload my trailer, and I was once again on my way. This time to a truck stop not very far away to wait for my next assignment. Which came rather quickly: Head to Muskegon, MI and pick up a load headed for somewhere in Ohio for a Monday delivery. I plotted my route on a map, copied down the directions dispatch provided in the load assignment message, and hit the road. It was only about a 45-minute drive from G.R. to Muskegon. However, as is often the case with the directions the company provides, they had an error. They had me turning right off the highway exit, instead of left, which was the proper direction. After a couple miles, when I came to a sign saying "No Through Trucks", I called the shipper to clarify the directions. They pointed out the error of my (USA's) ways, and I found the location a few minutes later. Once I found the right door to go in there to check in, they told me which dock to back into. That was pretty quick, and then I waited. It took a bit longer than usual to load there, then I had to drive onto their scale to weigh the truck. Well, they had put just a bit too much product on, so I had to pull off the scale, let a guy pull off a pallet with his fork lift, pull around back onto the scale again...yada, yada...then they had another discrepancy they had to sort out...yada, yada...all in all, the stop at that site took over 2 hours. But I had just enough work hours left for the day to make it back to Dexter.
This time Mrs. Reluctant Trucker picked me up and we went home to make some dinner there. I decided I wanted quesadillas, so we stopped at a store and picked up some avacados and bell peppers. I make a mean guacamole, hence the avacados. And I make fajita quesadillas, with sauteed peppers and onions inside with the cheese. 'Twas another tasty dinner. Then I had to tend to some end-of-the month bills and get them off into the mail. Then it was once again back to the truck for bed.
The load I picked up in Muskegon is not due for delivery 'til Monday, so instead of having me sit for the entire weekend, my dispatcher had me bring it here to the Vandalia terminal so I could drop it and grab another load bound elsewhere and rack up some more paying miles. I have no problems with that. I got up early and got here by 10:00, ready to get moving with my next assignment. It took a while for that next assignment to come in, but my next load is bound for a small town in northwest Missouri, due for delivery on Tuesday morning. That's only 600-some miles away, so I can relax for the rest of today, then make the drive in two easy chunks tomorrow and Monday.
And now you're up-to-date with my goings-on. I 'spect I'll spend the rest of the day refining my online poker skills, working on my supplemental income. ;-) Thanks yet again for your interest in my daily doings. I do hope I'm not boring you to tears. If so (or even not), let me know via insightful comments. And do keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 196
Miles Friday: 376
Miles Thursday: 459
Pardon my silence these last couple of days. Thanks to a pickup and delivery in Michigan, I got to spend a couple of nights at my "home truck stop", so I had the chance to have dinner with my wife and daughter. By the time I got back to my truck each night, it was too late (and I was too tired) to do any blogging. But hey, I was thinking of ya'. Here's what I've been up to.
As you recall from my last post, Wednesday evening, I was in Pennsylvania on my way to deliver a load in Grand Rapids, MI on Friday. Thursday's task was to drive as far as I could with the few work hours I had available from my 70-in-8-days allotment. Fortunately, that was just enough for me to get to Dexter, MI, location of my afore-mentioned home truck stop. The missus picked me up on the way home from work, and we stopped by home to pick up our younger daughter (her sister was still finishing up the year at college) and head to one of my favorite places to eat, Qdoba Mexican Grill. I feel the need to eat there whenever I get home. After a scrumdiddlyumptious burrito (the Chicken Fajita Classica with queso, habanero AND corn salsas, and quacamole--YUM!), it was back to the truck and to bed. I had to get up early the next morning to make my delivery on time.
Friday morning I was up and on the road at 4:00. My delivery appointment in Grand Rapids was for 8:00 a.m., and I wanted to leave myself plenty of time to allow for traffic jams, since it's now road construction season and I'd be hitting G.R. at the morning rush hour. However, the drive went without delay and I arrived at 6:45. Early is generally good, but at this site nobody was in to work yet. Apparently this is a smaller company that is not on an around-the-clock schedule. Or even an early-start schedule. So I had to wait 'til someone showed up in their receiving department, which was just before 8:00. Oh well, that gave me a chance to do some reading.
Once someone showed up and I checked in, got my docking assignment, and backed into the loading dock, it only took another 45 minutes for them to unload my trailer, and I was once again on my way. This time to a truck stop not very far away to wait for my next assignment. Which came rather quickly: Head to Muskegon, MI and pick up a load headed for somewhere in Ohio for a Monday delivery. I plotted my route on a map, copied down the directions dispatch provided in the load assignment message, and hit the road. It was only about a 45-minute drive from G.R. to Muskegon. However, as is often the case with the directions the company provides, they had an error. They had me turning right off the highway exit, instead of left, which was the proper direction. After a couple miles, when I came to a sign saying "No Through Trucks", I called the shipper to clarify the directions. They pointed out the error of my (USA's) ways, and I found the location a few minutes later. Once I found the right door to go in there to check in, they told me which dock to back into. That was pretty quick, and then I waited. It took a bit longer than usual to load there, then I had to drive onto their scale to weigh the truck. Well, they had put just a bit too much product on, so I had to pull off the scale, let a guy pull off a pallet with his fork lift, pull around back onto the scale again...yada, yada...then they had another discrepancy they had to sort out...yada, yada...all in all, the stop at that site took over 2 hours. But I had just enough work hours left for the day to make it back to Dexter.
This time Mrs. Reluctant Trucker picked me up and we went home to make some dinner there. I decided I wanted quesadillas, so we stopped at a store and picked up some avacados and bell peppers. I make a mean guacamole, hence the avacados. And I make fajita quesadillas, with sauteed peppers and onions inside with the cheese. 'Twas another tasty dinner. Then I had to tend to some end-of-the month bills and get them off into the mail. Then it was once again back to the truck for bed.
The load I picked up in Muskegon is not due for delivery 'til Monday, so instead of having me sit for the entire weekend, my dispatcher had me bring it here to the Vandalia terminal so I could drop it and grab another load bound elsewhere and rack up some more paying miles. I have no problems with that. I got up early and got here by 10:00, ready to get moving with my next assignment. It took a while for that next assignment to come in, but my next load is bound for a small town in northwest Missouri, due for delivery on Tuesday morning. That's only 600-some miles away, so I can relax for the rest of today, then make the drive in two easy chunks tomorrow and Monday.
And now you're up-to-date with my goings-on. I 'spect I'll spend the rest of the day refining my online poker skills, working on my supplemental income. ;-) Thanks yet again for your interest in my daily doings. I do hope I'm not boring you to tears. If so (or even not), let me know via insightful comments. And do keep on truckin'.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Homeward Bound
DATELINE: WESTBOUND PA TURNPIKE, APPROX. MILE MARKER 201, 7:30 p.m. EDT
Miles Today: 206
A short work day today 'cuz I've bumped up against my 70-hour-in-8-days limit. I had 6 hours available today, and I used 5-1/2 of 'em before seeking refuge at a service plaza along the Pennsylvania Turnpike. It has everything I need for the rest of the day and night: ample parking, rest rooms, convenience store, food court with Roy Rogers restaurant, UNO pizza stand (pepperoni and cheese pizzas only), Nathan's Hot Dogs, jumbo pretzels, and ice cream stand. Beats driving farther to get off at an exit and negotiate a truck stop. Anyway, back to today's work activities.
After a shower and shave, I started the workday at 5:45 a.m. by hitting the fuel island at the Flying J in Carlisle where I spent last night. On the road at 6:00, it took me about 1:45 to get to my delivery in Reading. The delivery was quick and easy, and I was on my way out of there at about 8:00 a.m. 2 hours down.
I headed back towards the Bethel terminal to wait for my next assignment to come over the airways. It actually came in in record time, within 10 minutes while I was driving to Bethel. However, I was driving along 2-lane highways on my way out of town and could not pull over to read it, so I made for Bethel anyway. When an assignment comes in, I need to find the locations and plan my route on a map, so I need a god place to park and do that. Bethel was only 30 miles away from my delivery site, so I just completed the drive there. Another 45 minutes to the cause.
My next pickup was scheduled for 11:00 a.m. in Lebanon, PA, about another 30 miles away, 15 on the expressway, the rest on a 2-lane state highway and city--er, town--streets. That drive took about an hour (running total: 3:45 so far), and I arrived about 45 minutes ahead of my appointment. They assigned me a dock door right away, though, and I backed into it. They didn't start loading 'til 11:00, but my time waiting (and during the load) was off the clock, not considered on duty. That load went quickly again, and I was back on the road at 11:30. ("Back on the road" includes time spent pulling out of the dock, and closing and securing the trailer doors.)
The load I now have in my trailer is bound for Grand Rapids, MI, so I headed back through town and up the state highway, back to the expressway (I-81 in this case) and to the west. I considered returning to the Carlisle Flying J, but I still had another hour of driving time when I passed there, time I could use to get closer to home.
Home. Ah yes, I'm always happy to see the MI destinations on my load assignments, because they leave the possibility of spending a night at the truck stop sorta' near my house. This one will accommodate that nicely, and I'll get a chance to see my wife, and maybe one or both of my kids tomorrow night.
I arrived at this service plaza with a half hour of today's on-duty allotment to spare. That will carry over to tomorrow, when I'll get 10 hours back as "used days" drop off of the front end of the rolling 8-day period. It was about 1:15 when I got here, and I went inside for some lunch. I decided on an Uno's pepperoni pizza and took it back to my truck to eat it there. After that, I did a little work on my laptop, then great weariness overtook me, and I napped. And napped. And napped. I think it was about 3:00 when I went to sleep, and I woke up at 7:00. Whoa! I didn't think I was that behind on my sleep lately. But it sure did feel good. However, since I want to get up and going real early in the morning--around 4:00--that 7:00 p.m. wakeup from the nap would have been a good time to go to bed for the night. But I need to be a good correspondent and get today's word out to you, so here 'tis.
And that's how today went. Thanks for checking in once more, and I look forward to your commentary. And don't forget to keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 206
A short work day today 'cuz I've bumped up against my 70-hour-in-8-days limit. I had 6 hours available today, and I used 5-1/2 of 'em before seeking refuge at a service plaza along the Pennsylvania Turnpike. It has everything I need for the rest of the day and night: ample parking, rest rooms, convenience store, food court with Roy Rogers restaurant, UNO pizza stand (pepperoni and cheese pizzas only), Nathan's Hot Dogs, jumbo pretzels, and ice cream stand. Beats driving farther to get off at an exit and negotiate a truck stop. Anyway, back to today's work activities.
After a shower and shave, I started the workday at 5:45 a.m. by hitting the fuel island at the Flying J in Carlisle where I spent last night. On the road at 6:00, it took me about 1:45 to get to my delivery in Reading. The delivery was quick and easy, and I was on my way out of there at about 8:00 a.m. 2 hours down.
I headed back towards the Bethel terminal to wait for my next assignment to come over the airways. It actually came in in record time, within 10 minutes while I was driving to Bethel. However, I was driving along 2-lane highways on my way out of town and could not pull over to read it, so I made for Bethel anyway. When an assignment comes in, I need to find the locations and plan my route on a map, so I need a god place to park and do that. Bethel was only 30 miles away from my delivery site, so I just completed the drive there. Another 45 minutes to the cause.
My next pickup was scheduled for 11:00 a.m. in Lebanon, PA, about another 30 miles away, 15 on the expressway, the rest on a 2-lane state highway and city--er, town--streets. That drive took about an hour (running total: 3:45 so far), and I arrived about 45 minutes ahead of my appointment. They assigned me a dock door right away, though, and I backed into it. They didn't start loading 'til 11:00, but my time waiting (and during the load) was off the clock, not considered on duty. That load went quickly again, and I was back on the road at 11:30. ("Back on the road" includes time spent pulling out of the dock, and closing and securing the trailer doors.)
The load I now have in my trailer is bound for Grand Rapids, MI, so I headed back through town and up the state highway, back to the expressway (I-81 in this case) and to the west. I considered returning to the Carlisle Flying J, but I still had another hour of driving time when I passed there, time I could use to get closer to home.
Home. Ah yes, I'm always happy to see the MI destinations on my load assignments, because they leave the possibility of spending a night at the truck stop sorta' near my house. This one will accommodate that nicely, and I'll get a chance to see my wife, and maybe one or both of my kids tomorrow night.
I arrived at this service plaza with a half hour of today's on-duty allotment to spare. That will carry over to tomorrow, when I'll get 10 hours back as "used days" drop off of the front end of the rolling 8-day period. It was about 1:15 when I got here, and I went inside for some lunch. I decided on an Uno's pepperoni pizza and took it back to my truck to eat it there. After that, I did a little work on my laptop, then great weariness overtook me, and I napped. And napped. And napped. I think it was about 3:00 when I went to sleep, and I woke up at 7:00. Whoa! I didn't think I was that behind on my sleep lately. But it sure did feel good. However, since I want to get up and going real early in the morning--around 4:00--that 7:00 p.m. wakeup from the nap would have been a good time to go to bed for the night. But I need to be a good correspondent and get today's word out to you, so here 'tis.
And that's how today went. Thanks for checking in once more, and I look forward to your commentary. And don't forget to keep on truckin'.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Ho, Hum
DATELINE: CARLISLE, PA, 6:31 p.m. EDT
Miles Today: 535
First order of business: Many congratulations to reader Jim the Baritone for nailing yesterday's "Name the Musical Reference" challenge. It was indeed the CSN song you named. Now on to today's happenings.
You may recall that yesterday I set my goal for today to reach Bethel, PA. Well, I stopped just a bit short--about 50 miles--by choice rather than circumstance. I'm at a Flying J truck stop here, one that's on the company's network fuel stop list (I fueled up here on Friday on my way down south). I do need to fuel up, and I'll do that in the morning. (Right now, the dinner hours, the place is a zoo and the line at the fuel islands is long.) I also figured that, with the possibility of rain in the overnight forecast, I'd rather be at a place with a paved lot, than the Bethel terminal's dirt/mud lot. I can also use one of my FJ shower coupons--earned by buying fuel at FJ's--in the morning, too.
Today's drive was, as usual, mostly uninteresting. The weather was great, though, as it has been the past few days. I did have a bit of a slowdown on a detour at one point because the highway was shut down due to a rollover truck accident. But that just slowed me down by about 1/2 hour. It was right after I had stopped for lunch, so I was in good shape to sit through a traffic jam.
Like I said, it was mostly an uninteresting day. Tomorrow will be a short work day 'cuz I only have 6 hours left of my 70-in-8-days (tomorrow is day #8, then I'll get 10 back for the next day). So after my delivery in the morning, I'll have just a few hours to either beat a retreat to a truck stop or get to a pickup assignment if it's relatively nearby, then beat a retreat to a truck stop (or perhaps the Bethel terminal). I'll let you know how all that goes in tomorrow's update.
Thanks again for the use of your eyes (and hopefully their connections to your grey matter). Please do use your fingers (and hopefully their connections to your grey matter) and send me a comment. And do keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 535
First order of business: Many congratulations to reader Jim the Baritone for nailing yesterday's "Name the Musical Reference" challenge. It was indeed the CSN song you named. Now on to today's happenings.
You may recall that yesterday I set my goal for today to reach Bethel, PA. Well, I stopped just a bit short--about 50 miles--by choice rather than circumstance. I'm at a Flying J truck stop here, one that's on the company's network fuel stop list (I fueled up here on Friday on my way down south). I do need to fuel up, and I'll do that in the morning. (Right now, the dinner hours, the place is a zoo and the line at the fuel islands is long.) I also figured that, with the possibility of rain in the overnight forecast, I'd rather be at a place with a paved lot, than the Bethel terminal's dirt/mud lot. I can also use one of my FJ shower coupons--earned by buying fuel at FJ's--in the morning, too.
Today's drive was, as usual, mostly uninteresting. The weather was great, though, as it has been the past few days. I did have a bit of a slowdown on a detour at one point because the highway was shut down due to a rollover truck accident. But that just slowed me down by about 1/2 hour. It was right after I had stopped for lunch, so I was in good shape to sit through a traffic jam.
Like I said, it was mostly an uninteresting day. Tomorrow will be a short work day 'cuz I only have 6 hours left of my 70-in-8-days (tomorrow is day #8, then I'll get 10 back for the next day). So after my delivery in the morning, I'll have just a few hours to either beat a retreat to a truck stop or get to a pickup assignment if it's relatively nearby, then beat a retreat to a truck stop (or perhaps the Bethel terminal). I'll let you know how all that goes in tomorrow's update.
Thanks again for the use of your eyes (and hopefully their connections to your grey matter). Please do use your fingers (and hopefully their connections to your grey matter) and send me a comment. And do keep on truckin'.
Monday, April 23, 2007
And It Appears To Be a Lo-ong...
DATELINE: SPARTANBURG, SC, 8:45 p.m. EDT
Miles Today: 585
Another day, another 500-600 miles. Throw in a load pickup, a stop to weigh the truck, and a refueling, and it's been quite a long one. And now, with another long drive on tap for tomorrow, I do believe I'm getting tired.
I'm glad I had that short work day yesterday, so I could take it easy and rest up. After posting my update for y'all, I spent the afternoon and early evening having a modestly successful day at my "second job", the online poker thing. Despite the good feelings that success gave me, for some reason I had trouble falling asleep, even though I was tired at the time. To make matters for today worse, I woke up at 2:55 (CDT--Alabama is on Central Time) this morning and could not get back to sleep. After an hour of tossing and turning, I finally gave up and did some reading. Then, at 5:15 or so, I walked across the street to a Waffle House and got some breakfast. After that, I got my work day started.
I began (after starting my log for the day and checking the truck over) with the drive to my pickup, which took about 1-1/4 hours. But hey, I was still early. I checked in there and they sent me to my assigned dock door. Since I was early, I did have to wait just a bit before they started loading, but I was still on my way about 1-1/2 hours after I arrived. Then began the long trek here.
The drive was pretty much unremarkable, except that I hit the Atlanta area at the afternoon rush hour and made it around the bypass (the I-285 loop around the city) without any traffic slowdowns. However, once I got back onto eastbound I-85 proper, then traffic got heavy and slowed up. But it wasn't bad as traffic jams go; slow and heavy but moving. It didn't keep me from running out of driving time before I could reach my target, here at Spartanburg. (Why a true blue Wolverine like me wants to keep stopping here, I'll never know.)
Anyway, here I am, clicking away at my keyboard for your delight and enrichment. Tomorrow I'll get up and on the road by 6:30 or so, ready to tackle the 600 miles back to Bethel, PA. For now it's off to bed. Thanks once more for reading and commenting (!), and don't forget to keep on truckin', y'all.
(PS: Quick! What's the musical reference in today's title? Great public adulation to the first comment writer with the correct answer!!!!)
Miles Today: 585
Another day, another 500-600 miles. Throw in a load pickup, a stop to weigh the truck, and a refueling, and it's been quite a long one. And now, with another long drive on tap for tomorrow, I do believe I'm getting tired.
I'm glad I had that short work day yesterday, so I could take it easy and rest up. After posting my update for y'all, I spent the afternoon and early evening having a modestly successful day at my "second job", the online poker thing. Despite the good feelings that success gave me, for some reason I had trouble falling asleep, even though I was tired at the time. To make matters for today worse, I woke up at 2:55 (CDT--Alabama is on Central Time) this morning and could not get back to sleep. After an hour of tossing and turning, I finally gave up and did some reading. Then, at 5:15 or so, I walked across the street to a Waffle House and got some breakfast. After that, I got my work day started.
I began (after starting my log for the day and checking the truck over) with the drive to my pickup, which took about 1-1/4 hours. But hey, I was still early. I checked in there and they sent me to my assigned dock door. Since I was early, I did have to wait just a bit before they started loading, but I was still on my way about 1-1/2 hours after I arrived. Then began the long trek here.
The drive was pretty much unremarkable, except that I hit the Atlanta area at the afternoon rush hour and made it around the bypass (the I-285 loop around the city) without any traffic slowdowns. However, once I got back onto eastbound I-85 proper, then traffic got heavy and slowed up. But it wasn't bad as traffic jams go; slow and heavy but moving. It didn't keep me from running out of driving time before I could reach my target, here at Spartanburg. (Why a true blue Wolverine like me wants to keep stopping here, I'll never know.)
Anyway, here I am, clicking away at my keyboard for your delight and enrichment. Tomorrow I'll get up and on the road by 6:30 or so, ready to tackle the 600 miles back to Bethel, PA. For now it's off to bed. Thanks once more for reading and commenting (!), and don't forget to keep on truckin', y'all.
(PS: Quick! What's the musical reference in today's title? Great public adulation to the first comment writer with the correct answer!!!!)
Sunday, April 22, 2007
A Day of (Mostly) Rest
DATELINE: MOBILE, AL, 1:06 p.m. EDT
Miles Today: 196
A short work day today. As I guaranteed in yesterday's dispatch, my load assignment came in the middle of the night, 12:56 to be precise. Why the hurry to get it to me I don't know, since the pickup is not until Monday morning. It would have been nice if dispatch had waited 'til I'd reasonably likely be awake to send it, don't you think? Anyway, the pickup is set for 8:00 a.m. on Monday, in a small town a little ways north of Mobile. The load's destination is Reading, PA for a Wednesday delivery, so I'll be heading back to from whence I came.
Today I woke up around 6:30, after hitting the sack around 9:00 p.m. last night. I hit the road at 7:30 so I could be somewhat near tomorrow's pickup and to fuel up. I'm at a company-approved fueling point, a Travel Centers of America (TA) truck stop just west of the city. This'll be the first night I've stayed at an actual truck stop in over a week, since that hot night in southern LA. Since then it's been:
- An Oklahoma turnpike travel plaza (rest area),
- USA's West Memphis, AR terminal
- 2 nights at USA's Vandalia, OH terminal,
- 2 nights at USA's Bethel, PA terminal,
- USA's Spartanburg, SC terminal
- Then last night at a rest area in Florida.
I expect to be back in Spartanburg tomorrow night, then Bethel again Tuesday night.
It's nice and warm down here, though it's clouding up and getting windy today. I haven't seen or heard the weather forecast, so I don't know if it's supposed to rain or not. My air conditioner is finally working properly, making it nice and comfy in the truck, so I won't have any more sweaty nights as long as it keeps working.
So that's what's up today and what's coming up for the next couple of days. It'll be another couple of L-O-N-G drives, but hopefully I won't be too worn out after each to keep you abreast of my daily activities. Thanks once more for looking in, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 196
A short work day today. As I guaranteed in yesterday's dispatch, my load assignment came in the middle of the night, 12:56 to be precise. Why the hurry to get it to me I don't know, since the pickup is not until Monday morning. It would have been nice if dispatch had waited 'til I'd reasonably likely be awake to send it, don't you think? Anyway, the pickup is set for 8:00 a.m. on Monday, in a small town a little ways north of Mobile. The load's destination is Reading, PA for a Wednesday delivery, so I'll be heading back to from whence I came.
Today I woke up around 6:30, after hitting the sack around 9:00 p.m. last night. I hit the road at 7:30 so I could be somewhat near tomorrow's pickup and to fuel up. I'm at a company-approved fueling point, a Travel Centers of America (TA) truck stop just west of the city. This'll be the first night I've stayed at an actual truck stop in over a week, since that hot night in southern LA. Since then it's been:
- An Oklahoma turnpike travel plaza (rest area),
- USA's West Memphis, AR terminal
- 2 nights at USA's Vandalia, OH terminal,
- 2 nights at USA's Bethel, PA terminal,
- USA's Spartanburg, SC terminal
- Then last night at a rest area in Florida.
I expect to be back in Spartanburg tomorrow night, then Bethel again Tuesday night.
It's nice and warm down here, though it's clouding up and getting windy today. I haven't seen or heard the weather forecast, so I don't know if it's supposed to rain or not. My air conditioner is finally working properly, making it nice and comfy in the truck, so I won't have any more sweaty nights as long as it keeps working.
So that's what's up today and what's coming up for the next couple of days. It'll be another couple of L-O-N-G drives, but hopefully I won't be too worn out after each to keep you abreast of my daily activities. Thanks once more for looking in, and keep on truckin'.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Sunshine State Sit
DATELINE: MARIANNA, FL, 7:00 p.m. EDT
Miles Today: 429
Miles Yesterday: 591
Looks like it's time for another 2-day update. Here's what I've been up to.
Yesterday was just a long jaunt--using all of my allotted 11 driving hours for the day--from Bethel, PA to Spartanburg, SC, the starting and ending points both being USA Truck terminals. I would have blogged when I reached S'burg, as I wasn't overly tired at that time. However, I decided to take advantage of the free laundry facilities at that terminal (they don't all have 'em), so I was stuck inside keeping an eye on my laundry's progress. By the time it was done, fatigue from the long day was setting in. Besides, it was getting late and I would have to get up early in the morning to get down here to FLA for my delivery. So no blogging last night. Sorry, fans.
Today was another long jaunt, though not as long as yesterday. Some of it was via US highways (as opposed to Interstates), so that added the joy of stoplights through towns and the gear shifting that goes along with them. But I made it to my delivery without incident after 8-1/2 hours of driving (plus another hour for fueling and food). The delivery was a simple drop and hook, after which I boogied on over to a nearby rest area along the highway to await my next assignment. And here I still sit, 3+ hours later, with no word from dispatch. That's given me the opportunity to half-doze for a while, catch up on several days' worth of e-mail, and now blog away.
There, I've just now sent a message to dispatch asking about a load assignment for the morning, since my 14-hour window for today is just about over. Let's see if they respond in a timely fashion....Wait! There's the response already! "As of right now nothing." Weekends are usually kinda' slow for freight. So I guess I'll be here overnight, then check again. Then again, I can guarantee that the assignment message will come in when I'm fast asleep, the alert beep waking me up. (And it beeps every 5 minutes 'til I read the message, so there's no sleeping through it.)
Well, it's been 2 long days, but this hasn't been a very long update. There just isn't very much to tell. On my way down here I did get to traverse some stretches of highway that I haven't seen before, so that added some interest. What keeps the drives from being totally interminable are the books on tape that I've borrowed from my father-in-law. Getting involved with the storylines makes the miles just roll away, so I'll be raiding his audio library every time I get home.
Thanks again for checking in. I look forward to reading your comments, so do please submit some. And do keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 429
Miles Yesterday: 591
Looks like it's time for another 2-day update. Here's what I've been up to.
Yesterday was just a long jaunt--using all of my allotted 11 driving hours for the day--from Bethel, PA to Spartanburg, SC, the starting and ending points both being USA Truck terminals. I would have blogged when I reached S'burg, as I wasn't overly tired at that time. However, I decided to take advantage of the free laundry facilities at that terminal (they don't all have 'em), so I was stuck inside keeping an eye on my laundry's progress. By the time it was done, fatigue from the long day was setting in. Besides, it was getting late and I would have to get up early in the morning to get down here to FLA for my delivery. So no blogging last night. Sorry, fans.
Today was another long jaunt, though not as long as yesterday. Some of it was via US highways (as opposed to Interstates), so that added the joy of stoplights through towns and the gear shifting that goes along with them. But I made it to my delivery without incident after 8-1/2 hours of driving (plus another hour for fueling and food). The delivery was a simple drop and hook, after which I boogied on over to a nearby rest area along the highway to await my next assignment. And here I still sit, 3+ hours later, with no word from dispatch. That's given me the opportunity to half-doze for a while, catch up on several days' worth of e-mail, and now blog away.
There, I've just now sent a message to dispatch asking about a load assignment for the morning, since my 14-hour window for today is just about over. Let's see if they respond in a timely fashion....Wait! There's the response already! "As of right now nothing." Weekends are usually kinda' slow for freight. So I guess I'll be here overnight, then check again. Then again, I can guarantee that the assignment message will come in when I'm fast asleep, the alert beep waking me up. (And it beeps every 5 minutes 'til I read the message, so there's no sleeping through it.)
Well, it's been 2 long days, but this hasn't been a very long update. There just isn't very much to tell. On my way down here I did get to traverse some stretches of highway that I haven't seen before, so that added some interest. What keeps the drives from being totally interminable are the books on tape that I've borrowed from my father-in-law. Getting involved with the storylines makes the miles just roll away, so I'll be raiding his audio library every time I get home.
Thanks again for checking in. I look forward to reading your comments, so do please submit some. And do keep on truckin'.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Go East, Young(?!) Man
DATELINE: BETHEL, PA, 10:45 p.m. EDT
Miles Today: 297
Miles Yesterday: 483
I guess I owe y'all another 2 days of updates, huh? Yesterday was another long day, and I was too tired at its conclusion to correspond. Sorry 'bout dat. But let me tell you about it.
My day started in Vandalia, OH when I awoke to my watch alarm at 5:30 a.m. It re-started 25 minutes later when I re-awoke to knocking on my cab door. It was one of the guys from the terminal's shop coming to see about me getting my truck in for its service appointment a few minutes early. Early! Can you believe that? Well, I got right up and pulled the truck over to the shop door and turned over my keys to them. I grabbed a book and headed to the drivers lounge to wait for the shop to finish up the service. That was at 6:00 a.m. They finally finished with it at 12:45 p.m. After nearly seven hours of being awake, it was time to start my work day.
When I got back in my truck I sent in a "back to work" message to dispatch and pulled around to the fuel island at the terminal to fill 'er up. Once I was done with that, I pulled back around into the parking lot and received my next assignment: Pick up a loaded trailer there at the terminal and take it to an auto plant somewhere in Ohio for delivery the next day. (Curious coincidence: the new trailer had the same product and was from the same shipper as the trailer I had brought to Vandalia.) So I located the trailer, backed under it, hooked up the air and electrical lines, and cranked up the landing gear. I got back into the cab to find my destination in my atlas, when I found another message from dispatch: Never mind this load, we have another "hot" one that has to go right away. Well, I wasn't too happy about having to un-do the hookup, but the new load would give me more miles and send me to another new state for my trucking career: New Jersey. To the city of Eilzabeth for an 11:00 a.m. delivery.
I did drop the original trailer, found the one for the new assignment, and hooked up to it. After a few minutes to plot my trip, I was underway. That was at 2:15 p.m., so I knew I'd be driving 'til well after nightfall. The total trip was about 575 miles, and I knew I'd have to take a 10-hour break somewhere in there. Fortunately, USA's terminal in Bethel, PA is along the route I needed to take, so I planned to take my break there. I calculated it would be about an 8-hour drive, and I was spot-on. Add the 1/2-hour dinner break I took in Somerset, PA, and I arrived in Bethel at 11:15 p.m. Bethel is a small terminal (in terms of the parking lot), and just about all of the parking spots were full (mostly with trailers only). I did find an open one, though, and managed to back into it, though it was slow going because of the darkness (the lot ain't lighted at all back in the area I was in). But I made it into the spot, got myself ready for bed, and hit the hay, succumbing to the long day's fatigue.
I couldn't get back to work this morning 'til 9:15 because of the DOT's 10-hour break rule, so I knew I wasn't going to make it to my delivery on time; my destination was about 120 miles away yet. But no biggie. I arrived there at noon and checked in. They directed me to go around the back of the building to back into their middle dock. Now, this is an older area, and the loading docks were designed and built long before the advent of the 53-foot trailer, I'm sure. There wasn't much room between the dock door and a dropoff to a stream. (Little wonder most drivers hate coming to the northeast--it's ALL older.) First I had to wait for another truck delivering to the business in the adjoining building to get out of my way as I came around the back of the building. When I finally got my chance to prove my skills, I can only say that I'm glad I didn't come here on one of my first assignments, when I didn't really know what I was doing when it came to this kind of docking (line up at about a 90-degree angle to the dock, and back around the corner--there for sure wasn't enough room to line up in front of the dock and back straight in). With the very short space, there would be no room for pulling forward to correct any misalignment. So it came down to getting set up in exactly the right spot and making the turn perfectly. Well, it took me about 5 tries to get the exact spot/turn combo just right, but I did it. Then it was time to wait. It took them about 2 hours to unload the trailer. I did have a good view of the NJ Turnpike toll booth and Newark airport landing pattern from my vantage point in the cab as I waited out the unloading. I also finished a book I was reading and listened to some more of the audio book I've been listening to on my drives, so it's not like I was just sitting there doing nothing.
After he unload was done, I headed a bit south on the turnpike to a service plaza to grab some lunch ('twas now about 3:15 p.m.) and await my next load assignment. That came quickly: head back north up the turnpike just a tad to Kearny, NJ, and grab a load there at 5:00. After a quick Whopper w/ cheese, no pickles, extra onion--yum!--at the service plaza, I drove up to Kearny and arrived just a bit early (4:15-ish) at the shipper. They were loading up a trailer for me to take and weren't quite done yet. So I had another wait. They finally had it ready for me at about 5:45, but I had a little work to do. They wanted me to pull the loaded trailer out of the dock and back the empty one I brought along into the same dock! You can work out that sequence of events, but it included 3 sets of unhooking and hooking the trailers. Oy.
That done, it was time to hit the road. I checked the routing suggested by USA, and instead of just heading straight south along the coast, it suggested starting by going west along the route I had just come in from this morning. I had been concerned about where I'd find a spot to spend the night, since I would be stopping so late, but that western swing allowed me to stop back here at Bethel. However, all of the normal parking spots were already full when I got here at 9:30, so I just parked along the driveway across from the shop. It's nice and wide, (and somebody else was parked here last night), so I figured no one would mind at all. Beat backing into a dark, narrow spot between two trailers, anyway.
So here I am, all caught up with my goings on. Tomorrow my goal is to make it to the Spartanburg, SC terminal, which is right around 600 miles away by my calculations. From there it's another 500 or so miles to this load's destination in the Florida panhandle. They haven't given me a delivery time yet, but the delivery date is Saturday, so I'm looking at another couple of long, busy days. I'd better get to bed now so I can get adequate rest for them, so it's time for me to sign off. Thanks for checking in yet again, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 297
Miles Yesterday: 483
I guess I owe y'all another 2 days of updates, huh? Yesterday was another long day, and I was too tired at its conclusion to correspond. Sorry 'bout dat. But let me tell you about it.
My day started in Vandalia, OH when I awoke to my watch alarm at 5:30 a.m. It re-started 25 minutes later when I re-awoke to knocking on my cab door. It was one of the guys from the terminal's shop coming to see about me getting my truck in for its service appointment a few minutes early. Early! Can you believe that? Well, I got right up and pulled the truck over to the shop door and turned over my keys to them. I grabbed a book and headed to the drivers lounge to wait for the shop to finish up the service. That was at 6:00 a.m. They finally finished with it at 12:45 p.m. After nearly seven hours of being awake, it was time to start my work day.
When I got back in my truck I sent in a "back to work" message to dispatch and pulled around to the fuel island at the terminal to fill 'er up. Once I was done with that, I pulled back around into the parking lot and received my next assignment: Pick up a loaded trailer there at the terminal and take it to an auto plant somewhere in Ohio for delivery the next day. (Curious coincidence: the new trailer had the same product and was from the same shipper as the trailer I had brought to Vandalia.) So I located the trailer, backed under it, hooked up the air and electrical lines, and cranked up the landing gear. I got back into the cab to find my destination in my atlas, when I found another message from dispatch: Never mind this load, we have another "hot" one that has to go right away. Well, I wasn't too happy about having to un-do the hookup, but the new load would give me more miles and send me to another new state for my trucking career: New Jersey. To the city of Eilzabeth for an 11:00 a.m. delivery.
I did drop the original trailer, found the one for the new assignment, and hooked up to it. After a few minutes to plot my trip, I was underway. That was at 2:15 p.m., so I knew I'd be driving 'til well after nightfall. The total trip was about 575 miles, and I knew I'd have to take a 10-hour break somewhere in there. Fortunately, USA's terminal in Bethel, PA is along the route I needed to take, so I planned to take my break there. I calculated it would be about an 8-hour drive, and I was spot-on. Add the 1/2-hour dinner break I took in Somerset, PA, and I arrived in Bethel at 11:15 p.m. Bethel is a small terminal (in terms of the parking lot), and just about all of the parking spots were full (mostly with trailers only). I did find an open one, though, and managed to back into it, though it was slow going because of the darkness (the lot ain't lighted at all back in the area I was in). But I made it into the spot, got myself ready for bed, and hit the hay, succumbing to the long day's fatigue.
I couldn't get back to work this morning 'til 9:15 because of the DOT's 10-hour break rule, so I knew I wasn't going to make it to my delivery on time; my destination was about 120 miles away yet. But no biggie. I arrived there at noon and checked in. They directed me to go around the back of the building to back into their middle dock. Now, this is an older area, and the loading docks were designed and built long before the advent of the 53-foot trailer, I'm sure. There wasn't much room between the dock door and a dropoff to a stream. (Little wonder most drivers hate coming to the northeast--it's ALL older.) First I had to wait for another truck delivering to the business in the adjoining building to get out of my way as I came around the back of the building. When I finally got my chance to prove my skills, I can only say that I'm glad I didn't come here on one of my first assignments, when I didn't really know what I was doing when it came to this kind of docking (line up at about a 90-degree angle to the dock, and back around the corner--there for sure wasn't enough room to line up in front of the dock and back straight in). With the very short space, there would be no room for pulling forward to correct any misalignment. So it came down to getting set up in exactly the right spot and making the turn perfectly. Well, it took me about 5 tries to get the exact spot/turn combo just right, but I did it. Then it was time to wait. It took them about 2 hours to unload the trailer. I did have a good view of the NJ Turnpike toll booth and Newark airport landing pattern from my vantage point in the cab as I waited out the unloading. I also finished a book I was reading and listened to some more of the audio book I've been listening to on my drives, so it's not like I was just sitting there doing nothing.
After he unload was done, I headed a bit south on the turnpike to a service plaza to grab some lunch ('twas now about 3:15 p.m.) and await my next load assignment. That came quickly: head back north up the turnpike just a tad to Kearny, NJ, and grab a load there at 5:00. After a quick Whopper w/ cheese, no pickles, extra onion--yum!--at the service plaza, I drove up to Kearny and arrived just a bit early (4:15-ish) at the shipper. They were loading up a trailer for me to take and weren't quite done yet. So I had another wait. They finally had it ready for me at about 5:45, but I had a little work to do. They wanted me to pull the loaded trailer out of the dock and back the empty one I brought along into the same dock! You can work out that sequence of events, but it included 3 sets of unhooking and hooking the trailers. Oy.
That done, it was time to hit the road. I checked the routing suggested by USA, and instead of just heading straight south along the coast, it suggested starting by going west along the route I had just come in from this morning. I had been concerned about where I'd find a spot to spend the night, since I would be stopping so late, but that western swing allowed me to stop back here at Bethel. However, all of the normal parking spots were already full when I got here at 9:30, so I just parked along the driveway across from the shop. It's nice and wide, (and somebody else was parked here last night), so I figured no one would mind at all. Beat backing into a dark, narrow spot between two trailers, anyway.
So here I am, all caught up with my goings on. Tomorrow my goal is to make it to the Spartanburg, SC terminal, which is right around 600 miles away by my calculations. From there it's another 500 or so miles to this load's destination in the Florida panhandle. They haven't given me a delivery time yet, but the delivery date is Saturday, so I'm looking at another couple of long, busy days. I'd better get to bed now so I can get adequate rest for them, so it's time for me to sign off. Thanks for checking in yet again, and keep on truckin'.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Take 2
DATELINE: VANDALIA, OH, 1:36 p.m. EDT
I really have some catching up to do today, so prepare yourself to slog through a lot of my drivel today. For the record, I did compose an update on Sunday morning (2 days ago), but my connection went bye-bye and I lost the brilliant piece of literature that I had slaved over for over an hour. So I will have to attempt to recapture my literary brilliance of Sunday. I haven't been blogging otherwise because I have had some very long days that have left me too exhausted to be able to think straight.
Friday, 4/13: 306 miles
Saturday, 4/14: 667 miles
Sunday, 4/15: 600 miles*
Monday, 4/16: 600 miles*
* I record miles per calendar day. These overnight shifts spanned midnight, so some miles reported for one day were part of my shift that started the previous day.
Friday
I was up and on the road at 4:00 a.m. for the trek from Jackson, MS to Hammond, LA for my 7:00 a.m. delivery appointment. The drive down went fine, save for a bad set of directions that had me turn the wrong way off the highway at first. I soon corrected that and arrived at the receiver about 1/2 hour early. I checked in, had my dock assignment at the appointed hour, and the rest of the delivery went as usual--meaning I had a bit of a wait. Not too bad this time; I was in and out of there in right around 2 hours. From there I boogied to a nearby truck stop for a snack and to await my next assignment. Half an hour later I had that assignment: Bop down to the Port of New Orleans and pick up a load from one of the docks there at 11:00, then haul it to Lawton, OK to deliver it at 3:00 the next afternoon.
I had no trouble on I-55 south and most of I-10 east on my way to the Big Easy. Then Friday the 13th reared its ugly head in the form of a 3-hour traffic jam as I approached the city. This was not like your usual rush-hour slow traffic; this was literal stop-and-go. There were periods where I set my parking brakes and sat motionless for minutes at a time. Oy!
Eventually I got out of that and reached the shipper 3 hours late. Once I found the right docks, got checked in and given my dock assignment, that pickup went fairly quickly, and I was on my way. However, it was now rush hour and I had to slog my way through that slow traffic. What with the earlier jam and this rush-hour slowdown, I could not get very far before my 14-hour driving window expired. I did get about 100 miles west of town, but that would still leave over 600 miles for Saturday's drive to Lawton, which I calculated would take all of my allotted 11 hours for that day. But that was Saturday's concern; Friday night's was the severe weather that was pummelling the region just west of where I was. Would it hit my location and interrupt my sleep, which I needed badly? I was totally wiped out once I parked for the night because of the traffic jam stress plus the fact that, though I had it supposedly fixed, my air conditioner did not cool my cab very much. It was a warm, brightly sunny day in southern LA, and I was wearing jeans. So I was not comfy at all. In addition, I had a bad night's sleep because of the heat in the truck--I spent all night sweating. I couldn't leave the windows open because of the threat of rain, and though the truck (and AC) was cycling on-and-off to maintain a comfy cab environment, it didn't do the trick.
Saturday
As it turned out, I don't think we had any rain where I was. When I got up at 3:30, the parking lot was still dry. So I got myself ready and hit the road. I did pass through some rain--some very heavy for a few minutes--as I headed north through LA, the remnants of the previous night's storms. But nothing severe. So the traffic slowups turned out to be a good thing after all, keeping me out of the line of fire of the nasty weather. But I did still have a L-O-N-G drive to make. Fortunately, the 3:00 p.m. delivery time was not do-or-die. Dispatch told me I had 'til 11:30 p.m. I wouldn't need that long.
I arrived at about 4:30. I had been to this locale before at the end of my first tour of duty back in January, so I knew the routine there. That made things less stressful. The unloading went very quickly, and I was out of there in under an hour, with just enough driving time to get to a place to spend the night. That turned out to be a rest area along the highway (one of the OK turnpikes in this case), 20 miles south of Lawton. I wasn't really tired when I got there, but once I had checked my e-mail (a lot of it 'cuz I hadn't checked it the previous day) and got a quick dinner (they have McDonald'ses at the turnpike rest areas), the fatigue hit me, so I went to bed.
Sunday
As I was driving away after Saturday's delivery, my next assignment came in: Pick up a loaded trailer from the same place I to which I had just delivered. I would have turned right back around to get it except:
1. I was out of driving time, and
2. The pickup was for 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, so the trailer probably wasn't even ready yet.
That late pickup time gave me the chance to sleep in and blog an update for you, but I told you about that snafu up top. I had also planned to take some time to head south to Wichita Falls, TX to fuel up at a network fuel stop there. However, I calculated that I could reach USA's West Memphis, AR terminal from Lawton in about 10-1/2 hours, so I preserved my driving time for that. (The Wichita Falls detour would have taken an hour of my driving time, making it unlikely I could have legally reached West Memphis.) Since I did have that late pickup, I would have had difficulty finding a place to park for the night at a rest area or truck stop once I used up my allotted hours. Hence the decision to make for West Memphis. By the way, this load is headed for an auto plant in Detroit, so the West Memphis route was a bit out of the way, not the most direct route. But the delivery is not 'til Thursday, so I had plenty of time to get there. I arrived at West Memphis at about 12:30 a.m. after a nice, uneventful drive.
Monday (Yesterday)
I awoke to another bright, sunny day (yesterday had been one, too) at around 9:30. It was so nice I decided to take the time to get some exercise by walking about 1-1/4 miles up the road for an early, cheap lunch at the local Taco Bell. That (and the walk back) accomplished, I fueled up and got the truck washed at the terminal and hit the road at about 11:30 a.m. My goal for this day was to make it to the terminal in Vandalia, OH, a trip that takes about 10 hours of driving. That plan would also use up all of the time I had remaining of my 70 hours, and I could then take a 34-hour break at Vandalia. I also made plans to get my truck in the shop at Vandalia for its routine maintenance during my 34-hour break.
All went as planned, so here I am now, resting up after a long, busy week. My dispatcher had me drop that Detroit-bound load here, so I won't be heading home tomorrow. (I had thought about spending a night--Wednesday night--at the truck stop near home before delivering in Detroit, but those plans have gone up in smoke now.) Once my truck's maintenance and my 34-hour break are complete, I'll get a new assignment from dispatch, so I don't yet know where I'll be headed next. 'Twoulda' been nice to get home briefly, but perhaps the next assignment will be in MI anyway. Here's hoping.
So now you've done it again, you've wasted several minutes of your valuable day reading this banal composition. Thank you for sticking with it all the way through, though. Please submit your own questions and comments and, even though the Department of Transportation vows to find a new line of work whenever they hear me say it, Keep on Truckin'. (With apologies to Click and Clack.)
I really have some catching up to do today, so prepare yourself to slog through a lot of my drivel today. For the record, I did compose an update on Sunday morning (2 days ago), but my connection went bye-bye and I lost the brilliant piece of literature that I had slaved over for over an hour. So I will have to attempt to recapture my literary brilliance of Sunday. I haven't been blogging otherwise because I have had some very long days that have left me too exhausted to be able to think straight.
Friday, 4/13: 306 miles
Saturday, 4/14: 667 miles
Sunday, 4/15: 600 miles*
Monday, 4/16: 600 miles*
* I record miles per calendar day. These overnight shifts spanned midnight, so some miles reported for one day were part of my shift that started the previous day.
Friday
I was up and on the road at 4:00 a.m. for the trek from Jackson, MS to Hammond, LA for my 7:00 a.m. delivery appointment. The drive down went fine, save for a bad set of directions that had me turn the wrong way off the highway at first. I soon corrected that and arrived at the receiver about 1/2 hour early. I checked in, had my dock assignment at the appointed hour, and the rest of the delivery went as usual--meaning I had a bit of a wait. Not too bad this time; I was in and out of there in right around 2 hours. From there I boogied to a nearby truck stop for a snack and to await my next assignment. Half an hour later I had that assignment: Bop down to the Port of New Orleans and pick up a load from one of the docks there at 11:00, then haul it to Lawton, OK to deliver it at 3:00 the next afternoon.
I had no trouble on I-55 south and most of I-10 east on my way to the Big Easy. Then Friday the 13th reared its ugly head in the form of a 3-hour traffic jam as I approached the city. This was not like your usual rush-hour slow traffic; this was literal stop-and-go. There were periods where I set my parking brakes and sat motionless for minutes at a time. Oy!
Eventually I got out of that and reached the shipper 3 hours late. Once I found the right docks, got checked in and given my dock assignment, that pickup went fairly quickly, and I was on my way. However, it was now rush hour and I had to slog my way through that slow traffic. What with the earlier jam and this rush-hour slowdown, I could not get very far before my 14-hour driving window expired. I did get about 100 miles west of town, but that would still leave over 600 miles for Saturday's drive to Lawton, which I calculated would take all of my allotted 11 hours for that day. But that was Saturday's concern; Friday night's was the severe weather that was pummelling the region just west of where I was. Would it hit my location and interrupt my sleep, which I needed badly? I was totally wiped out once I parked for the night because of the traffic jam stress plus the fact that, though I had it supposedly fixed, my air conditioner did not cool my cab very much. It was a warm, brightly sunny day in southern LA, and I was wearing jeans. So I was not comfy at all. In addition, I had a bad night's sleep because of the heat in the truck--I spent all night sweating. I couldn't leave the windows open because of the threat of rain, and though the truck (and AC) was cycling on-and-off to maintain a comfy cab environment, it didn't do the trick.
Saturday
As it turned out, I don't think we had any rain where I was. When I got up at 3:30, the parking lot was still dry. So I got myself ready and hit the road. I did pass through some rain--some very heavy for a few minutes--as I headed north through LA, the remnants of the previous night's storms. But nothing severe. So the traffic slowups turned out to be a good thing after all, keeping me out of the line of fire of the nasty weather. But I did still have a L-O-N-G drive to make. Fortunately, the 3:00 p.m. delivery time was not do-or-die. Dispatch told me I had 'til 11:30 p.m. I wouldn't need that long.
I arrived at about 4:30. I had been to this locale before at the end of my first tour of duty back in January, so I knew the routine there. That made things less stressful. The unloading went very quickly, and I was out of there in under an hour, with just enough driving time to get to a place to spend the night. That turned out to be a rest area along the highway (one of the OK turnpikes in this case), 20 miles south of Lawton. I wasn't really tired when I got there, but once I had checked my e-mail (a lot of it 'cuz I hadn't checked it the previous day) and got a quick dinner (they have McDonald'ses at the turnpike rest areas), the fatigue hit me, so I went to bed.
Sunday
As I was driving away after Saturday's delivery, my next assignment came in: Pick up a loaded trailer from the same place I to which I had just delivered. I would have turned right back around to get it except:
1. I was out of driving time, and
2. The pickup was for 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, so the trailer probably wasn't even ready yet.
That late pickup time gave me the chance to sleep in and blog an update for you, but I told you about that snafu up top. I had also planned to take some time to head south to Wichita Falls, TX to fuel up at a network fuel stop there. However, I calculated that I could reach USA's West Memphis, AR terminal from Lawton in about 10-1/2 hours, so I preserved my driving time for that. (The Wichita Falls detour would have taken an hour of my driving time, making it unlikely I could have legally reached West Memphis.) Since I did have that late pickup, I would have had difficulty finding a place to park for the night at a rest area or truck stop once I used up my allotted hours. Hence the decision to make for West Memphis. By the way, this load is headed for an auto plant in Detroit, so the West Memphis route was a bit out of the way, not the most direct route. But the delivery is not 'til Thursday, so I had plenty of time to get there. I arrived at West Memphis at about 12:30 a.m. after a nice, uneventful drive.
Monday (Yesterday)
I awoke to another bright, sunny day (yesterday had been one, too) at around 9:30. It was so nice I decided to take the time to get some exercise by walking about 1-1/4 miles up the road for an early, cheap lunch at the local Taco Bell. That (and the walk back) accomplished, I fueled up and got the truck washed at the terminal and hit the road at about 11:30 a.m. My goal for this day was to make it to the terminal in Vandalia, OH, a trip that takes about 10 hours of driving. That plan would also use up all of the time I had remaining of my 70 hours, and I could then take a 34-hour break at Vandalia. I also made plans to get my truck in the shop at Vandalia for its routine maintenance during my 34-hour break.
All went as planned, so here I am now, resting up after a long, busy week. My dispatcher had me drop that Detroit-bound load here, so I won't be heading home tomorrow. (I had thought about spending a night--Wednesday night--at the truck stop near home before delivering in Detroit, but those plans have gone up in smoke now.) Once my truck's maintenance and my 34-hour break are complete, I'll get a new assignment from dispatch, so I don't yet know where I'll be headed next. 'Twoulda' been nice to get home briefly, but perhaps the next assignment will be in MI anyway. Here's hoping.
So now you've done it again, you've wasted several minutes of your valuable day reading this banal composition. Thank you for sticking with it all the way through, though. Please submit your own questions and comments and, even though the Department of Transportation vows to find a new line of work whenever they hear me say it, Keep on Truckin'. (With apologies to Click and Clack.)
Thursday, April 12, 2007
2 More Drives Down
DATELINE: JACKSON, MS, 8:30 p.m. CDT
Miles Today: 295
Miles Yesterday: 598
(Note: Some of today's miles were actually part of yesterday's shift, which ran beyond midnight.)
A bit of catching up to do today, 'cuz I'm a shift behind in your updates. I am still on the load bound for Louisiana; I'll make the delivery in about 10-1/2 hours from now. So let me fill you in on how the trip has gone so far.
As you recall, yesterday I wrote an update before starting my shift, and had awoken to snow in western Michigan. It was still snowing just after noon as I started my shift and drove to Paw Paw to make the pickup. That turned out to be a drop-and-hook, where I drop my empty trailer and pick up a pre-loaded one. The drop part went fine, then I drove around the building to the shipping office to get the info for the trailer I was to pick up (the guard shack where I checked in told me about the drop part). No problems there, either; the new trailer was back in the same lot where I dropped the old one. Then came the problem: I couldn't find the trailer with the assigned number, which was 53568. Being that there were only 8 to 10 USA Truck trailers to choose from (they were all parked in the same area of the lot), it didn't take long to exhaust the possibilities. There was one trailer with the number 55568, so the likely answer was obvious--a typo. To make sure, I drove back around to the shipping office to inquire. Their solution: hook up to 55568, back it into a dock door and have them verify the trailer's contents against the bill of lading.
OK, so this was no longer a simple drop-and-hook-and-drive-away pickup. I had an extra backing maneuver thrown into the mix. That went alright, relatively (did I mention that the snow had turned to rain sometime during the time at the shipper?). And it turned out that 55568 was the correct trailer, so I was finally on my way.
The confusion and verification process added about an hour to the pickup, so my shift was going to run later than I had hoped. But my task at this point was to drive as far as possible during the shift, which turned out to be much farther than I expected.
I followed I-94 west into Illinios, and didn't even get so much as slowed down as usually happens approaching the Chicagoland area. I hopped on I-57 south and made the long trek (350+ miles) straight down through Illinois. 20 or so miles after crossing the mighty Mississippi into Missouri, I-57 ends and I picked up I-55 southbound. From there it was only about 2-1/2 hours to West Memphis, AR and USA's terminal there. I arrived there just as my shift's 14-hour driving window was expiring. What luck! Very good traffic conditions had allowed me to put an extra-long chunk of the drive to Louisiana behind me.
After my requisite 10-hour break, some quick calculations determined that I could drive to the delivery area today, then get in another full 10-hour break before making the delivery Friday morning. I decided to stop here in Jackson, which is about 2 hours north of my destination in Hammond, LA, so I can start tomorrow's shift at 4:00 a.m. and get back on my preferred work schedule. So today's drive was only 4 hours. I'm at the same Flying J where I stayed on Super Bowl Sunday. I arrived here at about 3:00 p.m. local time, got some lunch/dinner, and was going to blog then, but when I got back to the truck the effort from Wednesday night caught up to me. So I took a nap for a few hours.
Now it's time to wrap up so I can get back to sleep. My delivery is set for 7:00 a.m., so hitting the road at 4:00 will get me there early, with wiggle room for traffic or any other potential delays. Thanks once more for stopping by. Please be so kind as to add a comment to this post, so I can track what's going on in the real world. And do keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 295
Miles Yesterday: 598
(Note: Some of today's miles were actually part of yesterday's shift, which ran beyond midnight.)
A bit of catching up to do today, 'cuz I'm a shift behind in your updates. I am still on the load bound for Louisiana; I'll make the delivery in about 10-1/2 hours from now. So let me fill you in on how the trip has gone so far.
As you recall, yesterday I wrote an update before starting my shift, and had awoken to snow in western Michigan. It was still snowing just after noon as I started my shift and drove to Paw Paw to make the pickup. That turned out to be a drop-and-hook, where I drop my empty trailer and pick up a pre-loaded one. The drop part went fine, then I drove around the building to the shipping office to get the info for the trailer I was to pick up (the guard shack where I checked in told me about the drop part). No problems there, either; the new trailer was back in the same lot where I dropped the old one. Then came the problem: I couldn't find the trailer with the assigned number, which was 53568. Being that there were only 8 to 10 USA Truck trailers to choose from (they were all parked in the same area of the lot), it didn't take long to exhaust the possibilities. There was one trailer with the number 55568, so the likely answer was obvious--a typo. To make sure, I drove back around to the shipping office to inquire. Their solution: hook up to 55568, back it into a dock door and have them verify the trailer's contents against the bill of lading.
OK, so this was no longer a simple drop-and-hook-and-drive-away pickup. I had an extra backing maneuver thrown into the mix. That went alright, relatively (did I mention that the snow had turned to rain sometime during the time at the shipper?). And it turned out that 55568 was the correct trailer, so I was finally on my way.
The confusion and verification process added about an hour to the pickup, so my shift was going to run later than I had hoped. But my task at this point was to drive as far as possible during the shift, which turned out to be much farther than I expected.
I followed I-94 west into Illinios, and didn't even get so much as slowed down as usually happens approaching the Chicagoland area. I hopped on I-57 south and made the long trek (350+ miles) straight down through Illinois. 20 or so miles after crossing the mighty Mississippi into Missouri, I-57 ends and I picked up I-55 southbound. From there it was only about 2-1/2 hours to West Memphis, AR and USA's terminal there. I arrived there just as my shift's 14-hour driving window was expiring. What luck! Very good traffic conditions had allowed me to put an extra-long chunk of the drive to Louisiana behind me.
After my requisite 10-hour break, some quick calculations determined that I could drive to the delivery area today, then get in another full 10-hour break before making the delivery Friday morning. I decided to stop here in Jackson, which is about 2 hours north of my destination in Hammond, LA, so I can start tomorrow's shift at 4:00 a.m. and get back on my preferred work schedule. So today's drive was only 4 hours. I'm at the same Flying J where I stayed on Super Bowl Sunday. I arrived here at about 3:00 p.m. local time, got some lunch/dinner, and was going to blog then, but when I got back to the truck the effort from Wednesday night caught up to me. So I took a nap for a few hours.
Now it's time to wrap up so I can get back to sleep. My delivery is set for 7:00 a.m., so hitting the road at 4:00 will get me there early, with wiggle room for traffic or any other potential delays. Thanks once more for stopping by. Please be so kind as to add a comment to this post, so I can track what's going on in the real world. And do keep on truckin'.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Another Tour of Duty Begins
DATELINE: WATERVLIET, MI, 10:50 a.m. EDT
Miles Yesterday: 393
I'm back, faithful readers. Back on the road and on these blogwaves. I got a late start yesterday because I was up 'til 4:00 a.m. Monday night/Tuesday morning working on accounting and taxes for my various companies--the ones that did so well for me that I had to head out on the road in this job. I was hoping to take an extra day off to finish that up, but USA denied my request. So I was back at my truck by 2:00 in the afternoon and ready for my first assignment of my new tour of duty.
Yesterday turned out to be all I-94, all the time. I was first assigned to take an empty trailer to a company in Portage, MI, which is along I-94 right by Kalamazoo. I would then bobtail back along I-94 to the trucking company yard in Romulus, from whence I started (and had parked my truck over the weekend) to await my next assignment. That was a 6-hour round-trip. Once back I waited...and waited...and waited (so what else is new?). At nearly 10:00 p.m. I finally got tired of that (even though I was reading an interesting book) and sent in a message to dispatch asking if a load assignment was headed my way anytime soon. Within just a few minutes I had one: Hook up to a loaded trailer there at the yard and deliver it at 8:00 a.m. the next morning to a company in Paw Paw, MI.
Paw Paw is about 20 miles further along I-94 than my first stop of the day in Portage. Problem: If I counted my requisite 10-hour break as having started when I first arrived back at Romulus, I couldn't leave 'til 6:15 a.m. With a 2-1/2 hour drive to Paw Paw, I was destined to be just a bit late. Since it was "critical" for that load to be on time, dispatch decided to let me take it over there right then, since I did still have plenty of time available on that shift. I would arrive at about 1:00 a.m.
The trip to Paw Paw went just fine, but the guard at the company's gate had some doubts about whether or not they would take my load that early since I was not expected then. A brief walkie-talkie conversation with the receiving department ensued, and they let me in. Whew! If I had had to go camp out for the night and come back after my 10-hour break, I would have been even later than originally feared. So it all worked out for the best. I even nailed the backing-into-the-dock maneuver on the first shot.
An interesting thing about the companies I delivered to yesterday: I had been to both of them before--it must have been back in January or February--only in the reverse order. I had delivered to the Paw Paw company one day, and my next assignment after that was to pick up a load at the Portage company. So that familiarity made yesterday's assignments less stressful. (Familiarity in this job does not always breed contempt.)
After the Paw Paw delivery, I headed about 15 miles further west along I-94 to a rest area. Halleluja, there were some open parking spots, so I took one for the night--er, morning. That was about 2:15 a.m., so my next shift will start at 1/4-after noon today. I already have that assignment; it came in after 6:00 a.m., the Qualcomm message box beeping me awake. The pickup time--at another company in Paw Paw--was set for 8:00 a.m. Well, that obviously wasn't going to work for me, so I messaged my concern back to dispatch. They replied that I could just go ahead and make the pickup once I had completed my break. So back to sleep I went.
I woke up this morning at about 10:15. I had a surprise when I opened one of the window flaps (vinyl coverings held in place at the corners by Velcro) in my sleeper berth and looked out: snow covered the ground. So once more I come to the west side of the state and get snowed on. That has happened each time I have ventured over here, the lone exception being when I came in from the west on my way through from Iowa a couple weeks ago.
Well, anyway, that's where things stand right now. Once I pick up the load in about an hour from now, I'm headed south. That load is headed for Louisiana. I hope I get to take it all the way there, 'cuz I haven't been to that state on this job yet. Delivery is set for 7:00 a.m. on Friday, so it'll be another mad dash to get there. I think I'll have to drive as far as I can tonight, take an extra long break, then drive overnight tomorrow night to arrive towards the end of my shift. The way my schedule is right now, factoring in 10-hour breaks and driving times, I don't know if I can align the delivery time with the start of a sift. But I'll work on that math after I sign off here. Which I'll do now.
Thanks for checking up on me and sending in your clever comments, and, as ever, keep on truckin'.
Miles Yesterday: 393
I'm back, faithful readers. Back on the road and on these blogwaves. I got a late start yesterday because I was up 'til 4:00 a.m. Monday night/Tuesday morning working on accounting and taxes for my various companies--the ones that did so well for me that I had to head out on the road in this job. I was hoping to take an extra day off to finish that up, but USA denied my request. So I was back at my truck by 2:00 in the afternoon and ready for my first assignment of my new tour of duty.
Yesterday turned out to be all I-94, all the time. I was first assigned to take an empty trailer to a company in Portage, MI, which is along I-94 right by Kalamazoo. I would then bobtail back along I-94 to the trucking company yard in Romulus, from whence I started (and had parked my truck over the weekend) to await my next assignment. That was a 6-hour round-trip. Once back I waited...and waited...and waited (so what else is new?). At nearly 10:00 p.m. I finally got tired of that (even though I was reading an interesting book) and sent in a message to dispatch asking if a load assignment was headed my way anytime soon. Within just a few minutes I had one: Hook up to a loaded trailer there at the yard and deliver it at 8:00 a.m. the next morning to a company in Paw Paw, MI.
Paw Paw is about 20 miles further along I-94 than my first stop of the day in Portage. Problem: If I counted my requisite 10-hour break as having started when I first arrived back at Romulus, I couldn't leave 'til 6:15 a.m. With a 2-1/2 hour drive to Paw Paw, I was destined to be just a bit late. Since it was "critical" for that load to be on time, dispatch decided to let me take it over there right then, since I did still have plenty of time available on that shift. I would arrive at about 1:00 a.m.
The trip to Paw Paw went just fine, but the guard at the company's gate had some doubts about whether or not they would take my load that early since I was not expected then. A brief walkie-talkie conversation with the receiving department ensued, and they let me in. Whew! If I had had to go camp out for the night and come back after my 10-hour break, I would have been even later than originally feared. So it all worked out for the best. I even nailed the backing-into-the-dock maneuver on the first shot.
An interesting thing about the companies I delivered to yesterday: I had been to both of them before--it must have been back in January or February--only in the reverse order. I had delivered to the Paw Paw company one day, and my next assignment after that was to pick up a load at the Portage company. So that familiarity made yesterday's assignments less stressful. (Familiarity in this job does not always breed contempt.)
After the Paw Paw delivery, I headed about 15 miles further west along I-94 to a rest area. Halleluja, there were some open parking spots, so I took one for the night--er, morning. That was about 2:15 a.m., so my next shift will start at 1/4-after noon today. I already have that assignment; it came in after 6:00 a.m., the Qualcomm message box beeping me awake. The pickup time--at another company in Paw Paw--was set for 8:00 a.m. Well, that obviously wasn't going to work for me, so I messaged my concern back to dispatch. They replied that I could just go ahead and make the pickup once I had completed my break. So back to sleep I went.
I woke up this morning at about 10:15. I had a surprise when I opened one of the window flaps (vinyl coverings held in place at the corners by Velcro) in my sleeper berth and looked out: snow covered the ground. So once more I come to the west side of the state and get snowed on. That has happened each time I have ventured over here, the lone exception being when I came in from the west on my way through from Iowa a couple weeks ago.
Well, anyway, that's where things stand right now. Once I pick up the load in about an hour from now, I'm headed south. That load is headed for Louisiana. I hope I get to take it all the way there, 'cuz I haven't been to that state on this job yet. Delivery is set for 7:00 a.m. on Friday, so it'll be another mad dash to get there. I think I'll have to drive as far as I can tonight, take an extra long break, then drive overnight tomorrow night to arrive towards the end of my shift. The way my schedule is right now, factoring in 10-hour breaks and driving times, I don't know if I can align the delivery time with the start of a sift. But I'll work on that math after I sign off here. Which I'll do now.
Thanks for checking up on me and sending in your clever comments, and, as ever, keep on truckin'.
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Home Sweet Home
DATELINE: PITTSFIELD TWP., MI, 11:15 a.m. EDT
Well, I made it home on schedule. I'm glamn dad to be here, as always. Yesterday was a simple matter of driving from Dexter, MI to the Vandalia, OH terminal, dropping my loaded trailer there and hooking up and empty one, sitting through a 1.5-hour safety meeting (held quarterly), and driving home. 'Twasn't a bad day for driving, despite some snow squalls, except there was a lot of traffic. Must've been the day everyone was heading for their Easter destinations, me included.
I get to stay at home 'til Tuesday morning, when it'll be back to the truck for another tour of duty to last couple of weeks. I probably won't blog again 'til after working on Tuesday, so I wish you a blessed Easter. Thanks for following my every move through these posts, and please do reply with your own comments. And, as ever, keep on truckin'.
Well, I made it home on schedule. I'm glamn dad to be here, as always. Yesterday was a simple matter of driving from Dexter, MI to the Vandalia, OH terminal, dropping my loaded trailer there and hooking up and empty one, sitting through a 1.5-hour safety meeting (held quarterly), and driving home. 'Twasn't a bad day for driving, despite some snow squalls, except there was a lot of traffic. Must've been the day everyone was heading for their Easter destinations, me included.
I get to stay at home 'til Tuesday morning, when it'll be back to the truck for another tour of duty to last couple of weeks. I probably won't blog again 'til after working on Tuesday, so I wish you a blessed Easter. Thanks for following my every move through these posts, and please do reply with your own comments. And, as ever, keep on truckin'.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Busy, Busy
DATELINE: DEXTER, MI, 8:41 p.m. EDT
Miles Today: 427
Miles Yesterday: 580
I hope you'll excuse my lack of posting an update of my exploits yesterday, I was just too plumb tuckered out to type. But let me get back to where I left off 2 days ago.
As you recall, I was waiting at a truck stop in Nashville, TN, for:
a) Another USA driver to arrive so we could swap loads, and
b) Severe thundertorms to hit the area.
Guess which one arrived first? That's right, the rain, of course. I had arrived there at abut 5:00 p.m. local time. By the time the other driver arrived at about 9:00 p.m. (or maybe later--I forget exactly when it was), the rain was torrential. He ran up to my truck (he had managed to find the spot right behind mine, which had fortunately opened up shortly before he arived) and we decided to wait for the rain to lessen a bit before swapping trailers. After a few minutes, the rain had slowed to merely monsoon, so I thought that'd be as good a time as any to get to swappin'. I wanted to get it done so I could get to sleep before my mad dash to Michigan the next day. So I hopped out of my cab and cranked down the landing gear, unhooked the electrical and air lines, and pulled the hook that secures the trailer to the truck's 5th wheel. Then I drove my cab out from under the trailer and around to where he was parked.
Did I mention that he had pulled head-first into the parking space? That meant that he had to back his entire truck out of the space, he couldn't just unhook and drive out like I did. So he backed out and, instead of turning around and backin back into the same space, he pulled off to the side in the lot and unhooked there. Now, once I had hooked up to the new trailer, I considered:
1. It's dark out (it was after 10:00 p.m. by then) and hard to see,
2. It's raining heavily,
3. Another truck has taken the spot he just vacated,
4. The lot is very full and there are few open parking spaces, and
5. Any open spaces are narrow and between other expensive trucks.
Now, with all of those factors in mind, I decided on Plan B (Plan A being just to back into an open spot and go to bed), which was to head back north up the road and find a spot at a rest area to get some shut-eye. Rest areas are good choices late at night in that they have "pull-through" parking spots; no backing required. I knew of one with a nice big parking lot about 1-1/2 hours north along I-65 in Kentucky.
I made the drive--the trailer swapping work had given me a second wind for the day--and, wonder of wonders, found a spot to park at that rest area. The problem with seeking parking at rest areas late at night is they are usually packed to the gills, indeed overflowing onto the on- and off-ramps, with trucks. But I figured this one with its exceptionally huge lot would probably have an opening or two. And it did, though there were still many trucks parked in "unofficial" spots. So I finally got to bed around 1:00 a.m.
OK, so that was Tuesday's tale. On Wednesday I woke up and hit the road by 7:00 a.m. in order to reach my delivery in Dearborn, MI by 3:00. What I didn't factor into my travel time was needing to weigh, slide my tandems, re-weigh, slide my tandems again, and re-weigh one more time in order to get the load legally apportioned between the axles. This was my heaviest load to date and when I finally got the weights right, the drive and rear axle sets were each carrying 33,000+ pounds. 34,000 pounds is the legal maximum. So all that weighing, parking, going into the truck stop to get the scale printout (and pay for it), sliding the tandems, etc. took about 45 minutes. Which is about how late I was for my delivery.
The delivery customer didn't have a dock; they just unloaded the trailer with a hi-lo and another apparatus I don't know the name of as the truck sat in the lot behind their building. Halfway through the unloading came another opportunity for me to wait--their electric hi-lo ran down and they had to charge it for about 20 minutes.
Finally done, it was time for me to head to a spot to spend the night. I had already driven 10-1/2 of my allotted 11 hours for the day, so I wouldn't have any time to go pick up another load. So I headed to my "home" truck stop, the TA in Dexter where I had spent last weekend. I got a bite to eat at the Arby's across the street, my wife came out to see me, and we had dessert together at the TA's restaurant. By then I was pretty worn out, so she headed home so I could get to sleep. Hence my lack of blogging yesterday.
I did get a good night's sleep and was ready to go this morning. I already had my assignment--dispatch had sent it to me shortly after I completed my work day yesterday. I was to head to Romulus, to the yard where I leave my truck during my home time, and pick up a trailer with a load destined for Monroe, MI. That was easy enough, and I had started early enough to stop at another truck stop right near the delivery point and get some breakfast before making the delivery, for which I was still early. The delivery was a drop-and hook (drop the loaded trailer, pick up an empty from the customer's lot), after which I headed back to that nearby truck stop to get my next assignment.
This time they sent me over to Holland, MI to pick up a load. That load is going to Arkansas, but since I'm to get home tomorrow for my next time off, I'm just going to take it to the Vandalia terminal and head home. Anyway, the drive to Holland was easy, and after getting the trailer loaded there, I had just enough driving time to make it back here to the Dexter TA once more. No visit from the Mrs. this time--she's come down with a cold and needs to rest. Besides, I'll see her tomorrow.
So tomorrow I'll finish the drive to Vandalia with this load, get another trailer, and head to my Romulus parking place. Oh, I'll have to sit in on a quarterly safety class when I'm in Vandalia, but that'll just be 1/2 an hour or so. So the driving and the class will take up a good work day, so I ought to be home by mid-afternoon, assuming I get up and started by 6:00 a.m. as I'm planning to do.
Now you're caught up with me once again. I don't know if I'll get around to posting any updates while I'm at home this weekend, because I will be very busy. If I don't compose another update, I wish you a Happy Easter. Thanks once again for reading and commenting, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 427
Miles Yesterday: 580
I hope you'll excuse my lack of posting an update of my exploits yesterday, I was just too plumb tuckered out to type. But let me get back to where I left off 2 days ago.
As you recall, I was waiting at a truck stop in Nashville, TN, for:
a) Another USA driver to arrive so we could swap loads, and
b) Severe thundertorms to hit the area.
Guess which one arrived first? That's right, the rain, of course. I had arrived there at abut 5:00 p.m. local time. By the time the other driver arrived at about 9:00 p.m. (or maybe later--I forget exactly when it was), the rain was torrential. He ran up to my truck (he had managed to find the spot right behind mine, which had fortunately opened up shortly before he arived) and we decided to wait for the rain to lessen a bit before swapping trailers. After a few minutes, the rain had slowed to merely monsoon, so I thought that'd be as good a time as any to get to swappin'. I wanted to get it done so I could get to sleep before my mad dash to Michigan the next day. So I hopped out of my cab and cranked down the landing gear, unhooked the electrical and air lines, and pulled the hook that secures the trailer to the truck's 5th wheel. Then I drove my cab out from under the trailer and around to where he was parked.
Did I mention that he had pulled head-first into the parking space? That meant that he had to back his entire truck out of the space, he couldn't just unhook and drive out like I did. So he backed out and, instead of turning around and backin back into the same space, he pulled off to the side in the lot and unhooked there. Now, once I had hooked up to the new trailer, I considered:
1. It's dark out (it was after 10:00 p.m. by then) and hard to see,
2. It's raining heavily,
3. Another truck has taken the spot he just vacated,
4. The lot is very full and there are few open parking spaces, and
5. Any open spaces are narrow and between other expensive trucks.
Now, with all of those factors in mind, I decided on Plan B (Plan A being just to back into an open spot and go to bed), which was to head back north up the road and find a spot at a rest area to get some shut-eye. Rest areas are good choices late at night in that they have "pull-through" parking spots; no backing required. I knew of one with a nice big parking lot about 1-1/2 hours north along I-65 in Kentucky.
I made the drive--the trailer swapping work had given me a second wind for the day--and, wonder of wonders, found a spot to park at that rest area. The problem with seeking parking at rest areas late at night is they are usually packed to the gills, indeed overflowing onto the on- and off-ramps, with trucks. But I figured this one with its exceptionally huge lot would probably have an opening or two. And it did, though there were still many trucks parked in "unofficial" spots. So I finally got to bed around 1:00 a.m.
OK, so that was Tuesday's tale. On Wednesday I woke up and hit the road by 7:00 a.m. in order to reach my delivery in Dearborn, MI by 3:00. What I didn't factor into my travel time was needing to weigh, slide my tandems, re-weigh, slide my tandems again, and re-weigh one more time in order to get the load legally apportioned between the axles. This was my heaviest load to date and when I finally got the weights right, the drive and rear axle sets were each carrying 33,000+ pounds. 34,000 pounds is the legal maximum. So all that weighing, parking, going into the truck stop to get the scale printout (and pay for it), sliding the tandems, etc. took about 45 minutes. Which is about how late I was for my delivery.
The delivery customer didn't have a dock; they just unloaded the trailer with a hi-lo and another apparatus I don't know the name of as the truck sat in the lot behind their building. Halfway through the unloading came another opportunity for me to wait--their electric hi-lo ran down and they had to charge it for about 20 minutes.
Finally done, it was time for me to head to a spot to spend the night. I had already driven 10-1/2 of my allotted 11 hours for the day, so I wouldn't have any time to go pick up another load. So I headed to my "home" truck stop, the TA in Dexter where I had spent last weekend. I got a bite to eat at the Arby's across the street, my wife came out to see me, and we had dessert together at the TA's restaurant. By then I was pretty worn out, so she headed home so I could get to sleep. Hence my lack of blogging yesterday.
I did get a good night's sleep and was ready to go this morning. I already had my assignment--dispatch had sent it to me shortly after I completed my work day yesterday. I was to head to Romulus, to the yard where I leave my truck during my home time, and pick up a trailer with a load destined for Monroe, MI. That was easy enough, and I had started early enough to stop at another truck stop right near the delivery point and get some breakfast before making the delivery, for which I was still early. The delivery was a drop-and hook (drop the loaded trailer, pick up an empty from the customer's lot), after which I headed back to that nearby truck stop to get my next assignment.
This time they sent me over to Holland, MI to pick up a load. That load is going to Arkansas, but since I'm to get home tomorrow for my next time off, I'm just going to take it to the Vandalia terminal and head home. Anyway, the drive to Holland was easy, and after getting the trailer loaded there, I had just enough driving time to make it back here to the Dexter TA once more. No visit from the Mrs. this time--she's come down with a cold and needs to rest. Besides, I'll see her tomorrow.
So tomorrow I'll finish the drive to Vandalia with this load, get another trailer, and head to my Romulus parking place. Oh, I'll have to sit in on a quarterly safety class when I'm in Vandalia, but that'll just be 1/2 an hour or so. So the driving and the class will take up a good work day, so I ought to be home by mid-afternoon, assuming I get up and started by 6:00 a.m. as I'm planning to do.
Now you're caught up with me once again. I don't know if I'll get around to posting any updates while I'm at home this weekend, because I will be very busy. If I don't compose another update, I wish you a Happy Easter. Thanks once again for reading and commenting, and keep on truckin'.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Much Going On Today
DATELINE: NASHVILLE, TN, 6:25 p.m. CDT
Miles Today: 369
I guess I have plenty to report on today--comparatively, anyway. I started this morning with my 11-mile drive to my delivery appointment. It and the delivery went fairly well, except I was there for 2 hours. More waiting. Once done, I zipped back to the Vandalia terminal to grab a bite to eat from a vending machine and await my next assignment.
The next job came in short order: run down to Kentucky, a bit east of Louisville, and pick up a load destined for northeastern Texas. Now with that delivery in TX scheduled for Thursday morning, and my next hometime scheduled to start on Friday, I had a suspicion I wouldn't keep that load for its entire journey. After I made the pickup (a 3-hour drive from Vandalia, and in-and-out in only 45 minutes--what a departure from the norm), my dispatcher confirmed that I would be swapping out that load for another bound for somewhere closer to home. He didn't have those details worked out yet, so I started with the load towards West Memphis, where I expected to make the switch. On the way through KY I stopped at a truck stop to get my truck weighed (it's a heavy load and I had to make sure the weight is evenly distributed among the axles--it wasn't so I had to slide the trailer's tandems back to even out the load. But I digress.) and get some lunch. Upon returning to the truck I had a message with the swap details: Head to a Pilot truck stop in Nashville and swap there for a load headed to Dearborn, MI. Since Nashville is on the way from KY to West Memphis, I just kept headed the way I was going.
I'm at that Pilot right now, waiting for my swap partner (hmm, I wonder if my wife'll care for that term) to show. Our "appointment" was at 4:30 local time. I was about 1/2 hour late (dispatch is usually short when estimating drive times), but still didn't see the other truck. After a while I sent in a message to dispatch asking for the other driver's ETA. I was told that at that time he apparently was in Knoxville, about 3 hours away. OK, so I guess I'll be staying here for the night, as my 14-hour driving window will elapse before he can get here. My worry right now is, will I get to stay here?
This Pilot has a fairly small lot, and by the time the other driver gets here, he may not be able to find an open parking spot. And since my trailer's already in a spot, and we'll be trading trailers, he'll get this spot. You see my potential problem. In any event, I'm unlikely to get a good night's sleep anyway, since I have stay awake waiting to make the swap. Plus, the load I'll be taking from him is due for delivery at 3:00 p.m. tomorrow (Wednesday) in Dearborn. That's about 550-ish miles from here, or a full shift's worth of driving. I'll need to hit the road about 3:00 local time (or 4:00 eastern time, which my body is attuned to right now, having been in that time zone the past few days). So tomorrow's gonna' be one of those "challenging" days. At least I may be able to spend tomorrow night at the truck stop near home and see some of my family briefly.
Acquisition News: I finally caved and bought another appliance for the truck: a 'fridge. Actually, it's a soft-sided plug-in cooler rather than a hard-bodied appliance, but it's the same idea. I got this one 'cuz it's small and was only $40 here at this Pilot. I don't plan ever to need a big one for this job; just one big enough for a couple of beverages and some condiments. Now when I buy sandwiches at truck stops I can dress them up how I like them, instead of having to settle for the default condiments they have. I'll have to remember to take it home when I have hometime so it won't drain the batteries while the truck is sitting idle.
That's enough news for today, I guess. Wish me luck that the swap goes off without any other hitches--or glitches; I haven't used that term for a while--and that I get some good, restful sleep before I have to haul a** in the morning. Oh, and here's hoping that the severe weather predicted for later this evening doesn't blow my truck over. Thanks again for looking in, please send in some commentary, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 369
I guess I have plenty to report on today--comparatively, anyway. I started this morning with my 11-mile drive to my delivery appointment. It and the delivery went fairly well, except I was there for 2 hours. More waiting. Once done, I zipped back to the Vandalia terminal to grab a bite to eat from a vending machine and await my next assignment.
The next job came in short order: run down to Kentucky, a bit east of Louisville, and pick up a load destined for northeastern Texas. Now with that delivery in TX scheduled for Thursday morning, and my next hometime scheduled to start on Friday, I had a suspicion I wouldn't keep that load for its entire journey. After I made the pickup (a 3-hour drive from Vandalia, and in-and-out in only 45 minutes--what a departure from the norm), my dispatcher confirmed that I would be swapping out that load for another bound for somewhere closer to home. He didn't have those details worked out yet, so I started with the load towards West Memphis, where I expected to make the switch. On the way through KY I stopped at a truck stop to get my truck weighed (it's a heavy load and I had to make sure the weight is evenly distributed among the axles--it wasn't so I had to slide the trailer's tandems back to even out the load. But I digress.) and get some lunch. Upon returning to the truck I had a message with the swap details: Head to a Pilot truck stop in Nashville and swap there for a load headed to Dearborn, MI. Since Nashville is on the way from KY to West Memphis, I just kept headed the way I was going.
I'm at that Pilot right now, waiting for my swap partner (hmm, I wonder if my wife'll care for that term) to show. Our "appointment" was at 4:30 local time. I was about 1/2 hour late (dispatch is usually short when estimating drive times), but still didn't see the other truck. After a while I sent in a message to dispatch asking for the other driver's ETA. I was told that at that time he apparently was in Knoxville, about 3 hours away. OK, so I guess I'll be staying here for the night, as my 14-hour driving window will elapse before he can get here. My worry right now is, will I get to stay here?
This Pilot has a fairly small lot, and by the time the other driver gets here, he may not be able to find an open parking spot. And since my trailer's already in a spot, and we'll be trading trailers, he'll get this spot. You see my potential problem. In any event, I'm unlikely to get a good night's sleep anyway, since I have stay awake waiting to make the swap. Plus, the load I'll be taking from him is due for delivery at 3:00 p.m. tomorrow (Wednesday) in Dearborn. That's about 550-ish miles from here, or a full shift's worth of driving. I'll need to hit the road about 3:00 local time (or 4:00 eastern time, which my body is attuned to right now, having been in that time zone the past few days). So tomorrow's gonna' be one of those "challenging" days. At least I may be able to spend tomorrow night at the truck stop near home and see some of my family briefly.
Acquisition News: I finally caved and bought another appliance for the truck: a 'fridge. Actually, it's a soft-sided plug-in cooler rather than a hard-bodied appliance, but it's the same idea. I got this one 'cuz it's small and was only $40 here at this Pilot. I don't plan ever to need a big one for this job; just one big enough for a couple of beverages and some condiments. Now when I buy sandwiches at truck stops I can dress them up how I like them, instead of having to settle for the default condiments they have. I'll have to remember to take it home when I have hometime so it won't drain the batteries while the truck is sitting idle.
That's enough news for today, I guess. Wish me luck that the swap goes off without any other hitches--or glitches; I haven't used that term for a while--and that I get some good, restful sleep before I have to haul a** in the morning. Oh, and here's hoping that the severe weather predicted for later this evening doesn't blow my truck over. Thanks again for looking in, please send in some commentary, and keep on truckin'.
Monday, April 2, 2007
Correcting the Misinformation
DATELINE: VANDALIA, OH, 8:45 p.m. EDT
Miles Today: 321
Miles Yesterday: 0
Miles Saturday: 412
Pardon the silence over the weekend, and the misinformation I fed you on Friday. Well, it wasn't misinformation when I fed it to you; my assignment was to pick up a load near Des Moines on Saturday and shuffle off to Buffalo with it for a Wednesday delivery. When I arose Saturday morning, I went into the truck stop to get some breakfast. When I returned to my truck, I had a message waiting that they had given me a new assignment: pick up another load in the Davenport area (about 20 miles from where I was) and take it to Ashland, Ohio for a Monday afternoon delivery.
I didn't like the change very much, because I hadn't been to NY state yet in my trucking career, and I wanted to add that to my collection (I buy one of those state refrigerator magnets for each state I drive into or through). I haven't had a new state yet during this tour of duty. On the other hand, with this new assignment I realized that I could reach home within 8 hours and park at the nearby truck stop and get to see my family over the weekend. WOO-HOO! So that's what I did.
I reached the home truck stop at about 7:00 p.m., and my wife came out to see me and we got to have dinner together. On Sunday I got to experience some other aspects of my "normal" life: go to church in the morning and Measure for Measure (my men's chorus) rehearsal in the evening. And in a hapy coincidence, my mom had planned to take my wife and daughters out for lunch that day, so I happily tagged along and got to see her, too. (Thanks, Mom, for the lunch!) All that plus I recorded a 34-hour restart of my 70 hours, so I can work long and hard this week before heading home for official home time next weekend. Hopefully dispatch will give me one or two lengthy drives so I can build up a nice paycheck for next week.
Quick note to my western NY relations (reader mrr and family): Sorry I couldn't keep that load and get a chance to see you. Sounds like you'd-a been busy, though, as I would have been there Tuesday night. By Wednesday night I would have completed my delivery, gotten a new assignment, and probably been out of the area. So we'll have to hope for another opportunity to meet up.
As for today, my delivery appointment in Ashland, OH was set for 4:30 p.m. Since I was in the Ann Arbor, MI area, about a 3-hour drive away, I was planning on hitting the road at noon. I got a message just after 8:00 a.m. from my dispatcher saying that the customer was ready for me and I could head right in. OK, so I hit the road 30 minutes later, after getting dressed and a quick bite to eat. The drive took just about exactly 3 hours, and when I arrived and checked in at the receiving office, the clerk there didn't have me on their schedule. Figures. So I had to wait for an open dock. Another USA driver was also there in the same situation; he had a late afternoon appointment and figured he'd get there early. We both waited, and about 1-1/2 hours later, they finally assigned us dock doors. Even after backing into the dock, it was about another hour before they started unloading my truck. Sheesh! All in all, I was there for 3 hours from arrival 'til they were done unloading my truck.
Afterwards, I drove just up the road to a McDonald's with a truck parking area. After lunching inside the joint, my next assignment was already waiting for me when I returned to the truck: drive to the Vandalia terminal (170-ish miles), pick up a loaded trailer there, and deliver it in Dayton, 11 miles away, Tuesday morning. Now THAT'S a lenghty drive, eh? Really gonna pad my paycheck with that one. Well, I expect I'll get another load right after that and it ought to be a bit farther.
So now I'm spending the night here in Vandalia once more. Except this time the weather is primo! No snow & ice; no cold, arctic winds. It was in the low 70s and the sky was completely clear when I got here. It ought to be very nice for sleeping tonight.
And that catches you up with my adventures. Thanks for checking up on me, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 321
Miles Yesterday: 0
Miles Saturday: 412
Pardon the silence over the weekend, and the misinformation I fed you on Friday. Well, it wasn't misinformation when I fed it to you; my assignment was to pick up a load near Des Moines on Saturday and shuffle off to Buffalo with it for a Wednesday delivery. When I arose Saturday morning, I went into the truck stop to get some breakfast. When I returned to my truck, I had a message waiting that they had given me a new assignment: pick up another load in the Davenport area (about 20 miles from where I was) and take it to Ashland, Ohio for a Monday afternoon delivery.
I didn't like the change very much, because I hadn't been to NY state yet in my trucking career, and I wanted to add that to my collection (I buy one of those state refrigerator magnets for each state I drive into or through). I haven't had a new state yet during this tour of duty. On the other hand, with this new assignment I realized that I could reach home within 8 hours and park at the nearby truck stop and get to see my family over the weekend. WOO-HOO! So that's what I did.
I reached the home truck stop at about 7:00 p.m., and my wife came out to see me and we got to have dinner together. On Sunday I got to experience some other aspects of my "normal" life: go to church in the morning and Measure for Measure (my men's chorus) rehearsal in the evening. And in a hapy coincidence, my mom had planned to take my wife and daughters out for lunch that day, so I happily tagged along and got to see her, too. (Thanks, Mom, for the lunch!) All that plus I recorded a 34-hour restart of my 70 hours, so I can work long and hard this week before heading home for official home time next weekend. Hopefully dispatch will give me one or two lengthy drives so I can build up a nice paycheck for next week.
Quick note to my western NY relations (reader mrr and family): Sorry I couldn't keep that load and get a chance to see you. Sounds like you'd-a been busy, though, as I would have been there Tuesday night. By Wednesday night I would have completed my delivery, gotten a new assignment, and probably been out of the area. So we'll have to hope for another opportunity to meet up.
As for today, my delivery appointment in Ashland, OH was set for 4:30 p.m. Since I was in the Ann Arbor, MI area, about a 3-hour drive away, I was planning on hitting the road at noon. I got a message just after 8:00 a.m. from my dispatcher saying that the customer was ready for me and I could head right in. OK, so I hit the road 30 minutes later, after getting dressed and a quick bite to eat. The drive took just about exactly 3 hours, and when I arrived and checked in at the receiving office, the clerk there didn't have me on their schedule. Figures. So I had to wait for an open dock. Another USA driver was also there in the same situation; he had a late afternoon appointment and figured he'd get there early. We both waited, and about 1-1/2 hours later, they finally assigned us dock doors. Even after backing into the dock, it was about another hour before they started unloading my truck. Sheesh! All in all, I was there for 3 hours from arrival 'til they were done unloading my truck.
Afterwards, I drove just up the road to a McDonald's with a truck parking area. After lunching inside the joint, my next assignment was already waiting for me when I returned to the truck: drive to the Vandalia terminal (170-ish miles), pick up a loaded trailer there, and deliver it in Dayton, 11 miles away, Tuesday morning. Now THAT'S a lenghty drive, eh? Really gonna pad my paycheck with that one. Well, I expect I'll get another load right after that and it ought to be a bit farther.
So now I'm spending the night here in Vandalia once more. Except this time the weather is primo! No snow & ice; no cold, arctic winds. It was in the low 70s and the sky was completely clear when I got here. It ought to be very nice for sleeping tonight.
And that catches you up with my adventures. Thanks for checking up on me, and keep on truckin'.
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