Excursion Across the Great Midwest

DATELINE: OAK CREEK, WI, 7:00 p.m. CDT

Miles Today: 476
Miles Yesterday: 0

Welcome back from a day off! I spent yesterday ensconced at the TA in Albert Lea, MN, rather than driving up to the Twin Cities area. I figured I'd just stay put and complete a 34-hour reset so I could go all-out this week, not having to worry about bumping up against my 70-hour limit before heading home for the weekend off.

This evening I bring you greetings from the Dairy State, which I'm passing through on my way from Minneapolis to Warren, OH. I was up early this morning, on the road by 4:45, and reached my delivery on time (6:30). Slight problem: nobody was there to take delivery. The customer is a smaller company, not a big-time round-the-clock operation, so I had to wait for their Shipping & Receiving Department to show up. Finally, at 7:30, I made contact and backed into their dock. They were slow at unloading, too, and I didn't leave there 'til around 8:45.

Shortly thereafter my next assignment came in: Drive down to Bloomington, MN and pick up a load there. Pickup time: 10:30 a.m. So I made the relatively short drive to the southern Minneapolis suburb, arriving there at about 9:30.

Now this place was encumbered by limited geography, meaning they had one real narrow lot. It is a long building and lot, but from dock wall to curb and fence on the other side was perhaps 85 to 90 feet. Now, these trucks we're driving around, cab and trailer combined, measure about 70 feet. That didn't leave much pull-up room to straighten up in front of the dock door. (And just enough room for other vehicles to pass by in front on their way in and out.) Because of that lack of room, the company can only use two dock doors at a time, even though they have several more. There just isn't enough room for more trucks to maneuver into or out of the docks if other trucks are parked at them.

It's a good thing they have a long lot and that their docks are a good ways back. Because of the limited dock accessibility, any "extra" trucks have to line up and wait for an active dock to open up. And this apparently is a busy place, because all the time I was there, at least 4 trucks were in line.) Like I said, it's good that their lot is long to be able to fit that line.) Fortunately, they were quick about loading the trailers; it only took them maybe 15-20 minutes to load up mine.

As I mentioned above, I'm on my way to Warren, OH, which is way over on the eastern side of the state, near Youngstown. My delivery appointment is for 1:00 a.m. (yes, just after midnight) on Wednesday, so I gotta boogie to get there on time. All in all I have about 37 hours to make the trip and squeeze in 2 10-hour breaks. At just under 800 miles, I should be able to make it. Tomorrow, after I complete this break and hit the road around 4:30 a.m., I ought to be able to get to the Warren area with enough time to fit in my next break before having to get moving again on my way to the delivery. That's the theory, anyway.

For now I'm at the Flying J in this town just south of Milwaukee. All of the waiting I had to do today ate into my 14 hours, so I couldn't drive as far as I would have liked, so I'll be hauling backside tomorrow. As such, I'll need to finish this up and get off to bed. Thanks yet again for reading my reports, and keep on truckin'.