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'.