Back to the Waiting Game

DATELINE: VAN BUREN, AR, 8:00 p.m. CDT

I know you've all been on pins and needles waiting to hear (or, more accurately, read), so I won't keep you waiting any longer...I passed my road test this morning! So it's back on the road for me. Well, after a bit more waiting. (What else would you expect?)

After passing my test at 8:30, I messaged in to dispatch that I was ready for a load assignment. The first response was that I was "7th on the board", meaning a bit of a wait 'til my turn came up. So I tried dozing in my bunk for a while. Did I mention I was up before 5:30 this morning for my 6:30 appointment to start waiting for my road test? Anyway, the load assignment came in at 10:30 a.m. Grab a loaded trailer here at the terminal and take it...to a customer 56 miles away for an 11:05 p.m. delivery tonight.

OK, so that, of course, meant more waiting. I have plenty of time to get in a 10-hour break before starting work tonight to take that load a whole hour away, so I waited for lunch (did I mention they've been giving us students free lunches while we've been here?), then hit the sack to rest up for tonight's shift. I haven't been getting enough sleep here each night, so I certainly needed it. I slept for 5-1/2 hours, then got up. I wasn't hungry yet, and didn't feel like concentrating on anything, so I went into the drivers' lounge to see what was on TV.

They actually have 2 side-by-side lounges here, each with its own big-screen TV (and those leather recliners I mentioned in an earlier post), and one of 'em was tuned to TNT's broadcast of Forrest Gump. So I plopped down to watch that. Good flick. That was followed by Cast Away, so I caught the first bit of that before heading back to my truck to tell you all about it. And now you're up to date with my activities. In about an hour I'll start prepping for the trip: unhooking this empty trailer I've been hauling around for training, hooking up to the loaded trailer, fueling up the truck, and getting underway.

I don't know what's in store after tonight's delivery. Being the weekend--and the middle of the night at that--I'm skeptical about my chances of picking up another load right away. Perhaps they'll have me swing back to pick up another load that someone else will have dropped here. I doubt many companies do much shipping very early on Sundays, so I don't expect to be sent for a live load. But we'll see. I'll be sure to let you know about it in my next update. Check back for that.

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