Such Travails!

DATELINE: COTTONDALE, AL, 7:45 p.m. CDT

Sorry, folks, that I have so much catching up to do. It's been a challenging few days since last I blogged (Tuesday), so I'll get right to it.

WEDNESDAY, 419 Miles
Although the work portion of the day wasn't too bad, despite a slow loading, Wednesday was lousy because I had come down with a cold Tuesday night. I had a stuffy, runny nose that kept me from getting a good night's sleep, so I was fatigued all day long. My pickup wasn't 'til 1:00 p.m., so I spent most of the morning trying to get some rest before getting to work. My pickup site (Berwick, PA) was only a 30-minute drive from where I had spent the night (Bloomsburg, PA). I arrived for the pickup a wee bit early (45 minutes) and found the shipping department at the company on lunch. Of course. But they were back within about 10 minutes, and shortly after I was headed to my assigned dock on the other end of the complex. The docking went fine, but the loading process was slow, over 1-1/2 hours. All told I was at that site for over 2 hours. Then I hit the road south.

My destination with the load was Opelika, AL, with a delivery appointment for Friday morning, 7:00 a.m. So my goal for Wednesday's drive was to reach USA's terminal in Roanoke, VA. The trip was OK, but my illness-induced fatigue made it a challenge. In fact, I stopped at at rest area in northern VA for a nap as the sun was going down. (Because my route, I-81, goes southwest, as the sun was heading towards setting it was pretty much right in my eyes; another good reason to stop for a quick nap.) Though I didn't sleep much, the rest and break from staring into the sun helped quite a bit.

I reached Roanoke right at midnight, so the plan for Thursday would be to hit the road at 10:00, just as my requisite 10-hour break ended. Well, you know how harmful making plans can be.

THURSDAY, 208 Miles
I woke up at abut 8:45 a.m. As I was getting out of my truck to go inside and get ready to start the day, I noticed a business card stuck in my driver's door window. It was the terminal manager's card, and he had written, "B Service Appt., 9:00 a.m." on it. B Service is the regular maintenance done on the trucks to keep them running well. Such appointments generally take about 1-2 hours if nothing surprising pops up, so I figured I wouldn't get too far behind schedule. So I took the truck over to the garage, turned in my key, and headed up to the drivers' lounge to wait.

By the way, my cold had improved somewhat, as my nose was less stuffy and runny. But the cold had migrated to my lungs and my main symptom throughout the day was coughing.

Yadda, yadda, yadda, long story short, I didn't get my truck back 'til 12 hours after I had turned it over to the garage.
- Upside: I got to see the season premiere of Survivor, one of my favorite shows. (Side note about that: I recognized one of the castaways right away as a poker player I had seen on televised tournaments before. I predict he'll have trouble making friends on the island, as he wasn't a very nice guy at the poker table.)
- Downsides:
1. I had left my laptop in my truck, so I couldn't play any poker or do any blogging while I waited (and waited, and waited).
2. I'd have to drive overnight, without having gotten any sleep during the day, to make my delivery on time. Oy! So I popped a pep pill, stocked up on my caffeinated beverages, and hit the road.

FRIDAY: 505 Miles
(Note that the transition from Thursday to Friday happens somewhere in the next paragraph.)
The drive, especially my ability to stay alert and awake, went surprisingly well. When I reached the Georgia state line, I calculated that I had some extra time and pulled into the rest area/state info center for another mid-drive nap. This time I did sleep well and got a good hour of sleep. Back on the road, I had plenty of energy for the rest of the drive and reached my delivery right on time.

This delivery was a drop-and-hook, so it went quickly. (Interesting side note: the company is in an industrial park right across the street from the company I first "visited" in my professional driving career. My trainer and I made a pickup there on my first trip, and I made the drive back from there (Opelika, AL) almost all the way back to Vandalia, OH in one shot. I used up my 11 driving hours about 30 miles short of reaching Vandalia.) After dropping the loaded trailer and grabbing an empty one, I drove to a truck stop just 4 miles up the highway in Cusseta, AL--I've blogged from there before.

I parked and awaited my next assignment. It was now 8:00 a.m. local time. The drive down from Roanoke had used up 9-1/2 of my 11 hours for this shift, and I only had a couple hours left of my 14-hour driving window, so I knew there was a good chance I was done for the day (or at least 'til I could get in a 10-hour break). I was also quite tired by then, so I hit the sack. I was awakened a couple hours later by the beeping alert of my next assignment message coming in. My next pickup would be Saturday morning in Tuscaloosa, AL. After a bit of figuring, I determined that I could complete a 10-hour break at my current spot, drive the 3-ish hours to the Tuscaloosa area, and get in another 10-hour break before having to head out to the pickup. So I did that. I started by sleeping some more, first. Hence my lack of blogging from there.

When my break hit the 10-hour mark at 6:00 p.m., I hit the road for Tuscaloosa. I reached the town of Bessemer, AL at 9:00 and pulled into the Flying J there for the night. I was still pretty exhausted from my cold (which was still getting better) and my overnight drive, so I ignored my blogging duties once more and hit the sack after dinner.

SATURDAY (Today): 60 Miles
What? Only 60 miles? What up with that? Well, let me just tell you.
I got up at 6:15 this morning to have plenty of time to shower and shave (I hadn't done those since Wednesday morning) before heading out to my pickup, which was scheduled for 8:00. At 7:00 I went through my pre-trip inspection and hit the road. I had about 30 miles of highway and a few more miles of city driving to reach the company. After I got off the highway at the indicated exit, I realized the directions I had were not quite specific enough, so I zipped over to another truck stop to park and call the company for more complete directions. That delay led to a first for me.

As I was talking on the phone to the person at the company (who turned out to be the guard at the gate), she mentioned that another USA truck was pulling up. Nothing new there, as I frequently encounter other USA drivers at customer sites. So I followed the new directions and reached the company within 15 minutes. I stopped at their gate and walked into the guard room, which was empty. While I was waiting, the other USA driver pulled up to the exit side of the gate and came into the guard room as well.

Yadda, yadda, yadda, long story short, it turned out that the company only had one load to be picked up today, and the other guy got it 'cuz he was there first. Apparently USA had double booked it, and I lost out. So I drove over to the TA here outside of Tuscaloosa to wait for yet another assignment. (I've stopped here a couple times in the past as well.) The assignment did come in after a while, but I have to wait a while before I can act on it.

The pickup is at 4:00 Sunday afternoon, about 60 miles away from here in Trinity, MS. I've picked up a load from that company before, so I should be able to find it easily (though it's off a side road off of a US highway and that earlier pickup was at night, and I'll be going in broad daylight this time). So I plan (there's that word again) to leave here about noon tomorrow. With a stop for fuel en route, I'll still reach the pickup a wee bit early. Hopefully they'll happily load me up right away.

In the meantime, I've had plenty of time today to "hit the virtual felt" and catch up on my poker. I've played in seven 9-player sit-n-go tournaments and cashed in four of 'em--three third places and one win! I've also played two 2700-player freeroll (no entry fee) tourneys, but missed out on the prizes in those, though I came close in one.

I also go to follow most of the 4th quarter of the Michigan-Penn State game online (just on a screen displaying the results of the plays in the current drive, refreshing itself every 30 seconds, not like a live broadcast). Way to go Wolverines! Speaking of college football, on my drive through Tuscaloosa today I did catch sight of the U of Alabama stadium in the distance. Good thing they're playing a night game today or I probably would have been caught in some big-time traffic this morning.

I'll have just over 48 hours to get to the delivery in northern Virginia on Tuesday. I have 2 routes to choose from. The one that looks slightly longer will take me past USA's Spartanburg, SC terminal around the time I'll be looking to stop for the night. The other will leave me with truck stops to choose from, and since I'll be getting the late start, those truck stops may be getting full by the time I've rolled enough miles to call it a day. So check back to see which route I ultimately decide to take.

Whew! That was a lot of catching up. Sorry to have left you hanging these last few days, but as you could see, there wasn't much I could do about it. But thanks for loyally following my exploits here. (Just asking: if "exploits" are things you've done, are "ploits" the things you're doing right now?) Drop me a line, and keep on truckin'.