Eastern Swing

DATELINE: KING'S MANOR, PA, 3:00 p.m. EDT

Miles Monday: 488
Miles Tuesday: 165
Miles Today: 304

Once again I find myself in the position of having to apologize for a couple of missed days and to play catch-up in my update. So here goes.

I've spent the last couple of days and nights in New York state, which has anti-idling laws. That means we truckers can't idle our engines to keep our air conditioners cooling our cabs while we're parked. Since the days have been bright and sunny--and therefore very warm, what with it being July--it was too hot to stay in my truck and blog while the sun was up. And by the time it grew dark and cool enough to get back in the truck, I was way too bushed to compose coherently. Today, however, I'm in Pennsylvania, happily running my engine and AC, composing in cool comfort. So here's how my last 3 workdays went.

MONDAY
Monday was all about eating up the road, making tracks from Vandalia to western New York state. I wanted to get an early start, but I remembered that I needed to sit in on a quarterly safety meeting, which is only held at selected USA terminals, Vandalia being one. So I got to sleep in a little bit later, then go to the 8:00 meeting. I was the only driver at the meeting, so the instructor--the Vandalia terminal's Safety Director--zipped right through the material and we were done in 1/2 an hour. Shortly after that I was on the road, headed northeast.

My goal for the drive was to get to the Rochester, NY area where my brother and his family live. I haven't seen any of them since I started this career (I don't think, but my memory may be faulty on that point), and had to miss their eldest daughter's wedding last fall while driving with my trainer. So I wanted the chance to say "Hello" on my way through their vicinity. The drive was long, extended by several construction-related slowdowns along I-90 in PA and the Buffalo area. But I eventually (7:00 p.m.-ish) made it to a service plaza along I-90 (aka the "New York State Thruway") that's fairly near their town. I called them upon arrival and, fortunately, they had a few free minutes to come over for a reunion and quick truck tour.

TUESDAY
Because of the slowdowns on Monday's drive, I was down to 1-3/4 hours in my 70-work-hours-in-8-days limit. That's exactly how long it took me to reach my delivery site in the Rome, NY area. So I knew I'd be breaking that limit by a bit when it was time to leave the site and find a place to park for the night. In the meantime, the delivery went fine, though long (2+ hours). The time I spend during unloading is not counted towards my work hours (unless I actually need to help with the unloading, which rarely happens), so that didn't put me over the top. But once back on the road after the delivery I decided that, since I was already in violation, I'd skip the first place to stop--which was another service plaza with its over-priced food options and scarce trucker amenities--and head to a TA truck stop a little further down the Thruway.

I arrived and found the TA along a smaller highway on the edge of the charming village of Fultonville, NY. Across the street is a canal, and there are many green, tree-covered hills all around. All in all a pretty nice setting, save for the beat-up condition of this particular TA itself and its parking lot. Since it was still early afternoon, and the sun was beating down pretty good, I opted to stay outta' the truck after I changed out of my jeans and into a pair of shorts. Much cooler. As was the interior of the truck stop--nicely AC'ed. I spent a good bit of time browsing the TA store and having lunch at the McDonald's that was next door and right behind my parking spot. I then decided to get some exercise and took a walk along the main drag, then across a bridge over the canal, and back. Eventually I gave in and settled into the drivers' lounge and watched some TV. It was set on the Spike network, and I caught 2.65 episodes of CSI Las Vegas. Interesting show. Once darkness had fallen across the land (the midnight hour was not quite close at hand), I returned to my truck and my bunk, aiming to get up at 3:30 to get to Philadelphia for my 10:00 delivery there. (Remember, this was a 2-stop load, hence no pickup after my Rome-area delivery today.)

WEDNESDAY (TODAY)
Getting up went fine, as did my shower and shave. All cleaned up, I started up the truck and turned in the lights, ready to do my quick pre-trip inspection. However, when I flicked the headlight switch, I noticed only 1 beam heading forward. DOH! My driver's side headlight was out. Fortunately, I was at a TA, most of which have shops, and to which USA sends its drivers for repairs when not near a terminal. So I went through the process of contacting the Breakdown department, getting authorization to get the headlight fixed there, contacting dispatch to let them know I'd probably be a bit late to my delivery, and getting the work done. The actual repair took only about 5 to 10 minutes, but I was delayed over an hour by going through the whole process.

Finally underway, it was drive-drive-drive (OK, with a couple of pit stops en route) to get to Philly. My delivery was on the north edge of town, and I approached from the north, so I still haven't really seen the city, to which I've never been before. Oh well, can't see much on the job, anyway. I'll come back on vacation sometime. The delivery went fine, and afterwards I left to find the closest truck stop, rest area, or Turnpike Service Plaza to wait for my next assignment. As I was driving, the assignment message came in. However, I still had to get to such a place to be able to read the message and plan my route to the pickup. I wound up at this place, a Service Plaza along the Penn Pike just west of the City of Brotherly Love.

The drive to my delivery (and early morning repair time) had used up all but 1-1/4 of the hours I had available for working today, so I knew I wouldn't have time for much more than getting to a nearby pickup for my next load, then finding the closest truck stop, rest area, or Turnpike Service Plaza to stop for the night. The pickup was in a town just a little further north from Philly than my delivery, and was at 2:00 (it was now 1:00). But I noticed the delivery was in Mt. Clemens, MI, 24 hours later. What with my available hours bumping firmly into my 70-hour limit on a daily basis now (unless I stop and take a 34-hour break), I had no chance of completing that run on time. So I communicated that to dispatch, and they took me off that assignment to let me call it a day. I'll have about 12 hours available tomorrow (thanks to one of my L-O-N-G days a week ago), so I'll pick up a load then and see where that takes me.

And now here I sit, typing away so you can be up-to-date on my continuing saga. Thanks for following along. Please be an active participant and send me a comment and/or question and, as always, keep on truckin'.