DATELINE: BECKLEY, WV, 7:45 p.m. EST
Miles Today: 430
Back at it once again. This morning I returned to my truck around 6:30 a.m., and this time only had an hour-long wait 'til my first load assignment of this deployment came in. I was to pick up a load in Old Fort (yes, that's an "o" in the second word, not another vowel), Ohio and take it to a Friday morning delivery in Greensboro, NC.
Now, Old Fort is off of county roads off of state highways, in the middle of nowhere. So I spent the majority of my work day driving the back roads of Ohio, first getting to O.F., then getting out of the Buckeye state. Once I found the proper turn-off to teh town (I missed it the first time and had to go all the way down to Tiffin to find a place to turn around; about a 40-minute delay) and made it to the company, things went OK. It was a drop-and-hook pickup, so I was in and outta' there in 30 minutes. Then came the long drive south on OH-53 and US-23 through Columbus to US-35, then southeast on 35 to eastbound I-64 in West Virginia. I picked up southbound I-77 in Charleston, WV, and have stopped for the night at a service plaza along the WV turnpike (a.k.a. I-77) at mile 45, near Beckley. I figure I have about 3 hours to drive from here to Greensboro, so I'll be up and rolling early in the morning in order to make my 9:30 a.m. delivery appointment.
As usual on my last night at home, I had lots to do, so I got to bed rather late. Then I was up early so Mrs. R.T. could drive me to my truck before heading to work herself. It's at least an hour round-trip for her, and she has to be at work by 7:30, so that made for a short night of sleep for both of us. Many thanks to the Mrs. As a result, I'm pretty tired right now and lookng forward to hitting the sack. So I'll bid you a fond "adieu" now. Thanks for looking in. Send me your questions and comments, and keep on truckin'.
PS: A note for future reference: I'm having trouble with my laptop's power cord, so the time may come when I can't get it to pass the juice to the laptop and the battery may run down. If that happens and I can't find a replacement while on the road, I may be silent on this blog for a while. At least 'til I get home next on 2/22. So don't freak out if you don't see any updates here for some period of time.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Home, Ever So Briefly
DATELINE: HOME
Miles Monday: 409
I guess I'd better take some time to let you know that I did get home on Monday. I've been busy since, and still have much to do before heading back to the truck tomorrow (Thursday) morning. But first, here's how my Monday went.
I got up early enough for a shower before hitting the road at 6:15. It only took me 45 minutes to reach my first delivery in Loveland, OH. The customer was an electrical supply company, and it had no loading dock. So I just pulled into the driveway alongside their building and they unloaded their portion of the load from the ground. Then, to get out, I had to back into the lot in front of the building, avoiding the corner of the roof overhang and parked cars and trucks. I couldn't just back out onto the street 'cuz that was a busy, two-lane state highway. But it wasn't too bad, as I took it nice 'n slow backing into the front lot, then out.
Next up was the drive to my next (and last) delivery in Columbus. That drive, including a fuel stop en route, took me 2-3/4 hours, and I arrived there at 10:30. That place had a loading dock, one of those indoor ones where I had to back into the building. But they had plenty of room to line up in front, so it wasn't difficult at all.
I was done there and on my way home at noon. My Fleet Manager had let me know that they wouldn't have me pick up a load to take north, so my "vacation" (or earned time off) started right then, at noon, and I'd spend the first few hours of it driving home. I actually got home at about 8:00 p.m.
A time-off reminder tutorial: Company policy for drivers is one day off for each 7 days on the road. On this last tour of duty, I was deployed for 27 days. Of course, since that wasn't 28 days, I only earned 3 days off. And, naturally, "3 days" equates to 72 hours (more or less), so I'm due back on Thursday at noon. And I'll actually go back early in the morning so I can get the work day started--and over with--earlier. So my actual time at home will less than 60 hours. :-( And, of course, I have plenty to do in those few hours, especially now that it's tax time.
Speaking of tax time, I need to get back to working on my returns, (personal and business), so it's time to wrap up this report. Thanks for checking up on me. Send me your questions and comments, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Monday: 409
I guess I'd better take some time to let you know that I did get home on Monday. I've been busy since, and still have much to do before heading back to the truck tomorrow (Thursday) morning. But first, here's how my Monday went.
I got up early enough for a shower before hitting the road at 6:15. It only took me 45 minutes to reach my first delivery in Loveland, OH. The customer was an electrical supply company, and it had no loading dock. So I just pulled into the driveway alongside their building and they unloaded their portion of the load from the ground. Then, to get out, I had to back into the lot in front of the building, avoiding the corner of the roof overhang and parked cars and trucks. I couldn't just back out onto the street 'cuz that was a busy, two-lane state highway. But it wasn't too bad, as I took it nice 'n slow backing into the front lot, then out.
Next up was the drive to my next (and last) delivery in Columbus. That drive, including a fuel stop en route, took me 2-3/4 hours, and I arrived there at 10:30. That place had a loading dock, one of those indoor ones where I had to back into the building. But they had plenty of room to line up in front, so it wasn't difficult at all.
I was done there and on my way home at noon. My Fleet Manager had let me know that they wouldn't have me pick up a load to take north, so my "vacation" (or earned time off) started right then, at noon, and I'd spend the first few hours of it driving home. I actually got home at about 8:00 p.m.
A time-off reminder tutorial: Company policy for drivers is one day off for each 7 days on the road. On this last tour of duty, I was deployed for 27 days. Of course, since that wasn't 28 days, I only earned 3 days off. And, naturally, "3 days" equates to 72 hours (more or less), so I'm due back on Thursday at noon. And I'll actually go back early in the morning so I can get the work day started--and over with--earlier. So my actual time at home will less than 60 hours. :-( And, of course, I have plenty to do in those few hours, especially now that it's tax time.
Speaking of tax time, I need to get back to working on my returns, (personal and business), so it's time to wrap up this report. Thanks for checking up on me. Send me your questions and comments, and keep on truckin'.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Coming North
DATELINE: FLORENCE, KY, 8:00 p.m. EST
Miles Today: 492
Today was another long, tiring drive. Well, it was tiring because of a short night of sleep, more so than just the act of driving for 9 hours (plus fuel and meal stops). Here's how my day went.
I woke up at 5:18 when a message arrived on my Qualcomm box. (The box beeps when messages come in.) Dispatch wanted to know if I was at the shipper picking up my load. I do wish these people would expect we drivers have to sleep sometimes; I've gotten messages from them at all hours. Anyway, I had to reply that no, I was down the road at a truck stop. But I got up. After all, I had my alarm set to wake me up in another 15 minutes, anyway.
I went inside and freshened up, then walked across the street to grab a couple of sausage burritos from McDonald's. I polished them off in my truck, then got going.
It took me about 20 or 25 minutes to drive the 16 miles back to the company where my new load was waiting for me. It was a drop-and-hook pickup, and I was rolling again within 20 minutes. Then it was just a matter of putting miles away for the rest of the day. I finished up today at a TA (with a Popeye's Chicken 'n Biscuits franchise, of course) in this town just south of Cincy, so I'm about 30 minutes away from the first delivery.
This load goes to 2 spots in Ohio, the first one in Loveland, a northeast Cincinnati suburb, and the second in Columbus. I still don't know when I'm expected to deliver at the first stopoff (and Dispatch doesn't know yet, either), but the Columbus delivery is set for 10:00 Monday morning. If I don't hear anything otherwise, I'll just plan on making the first delivery early on Monday before heading up to Columbus.
And that's how I spent my Saturday. It's looking like I'll get a rest day tomorrow before making my deliveries and heading home (finally) on Monday. I'd like to be able to just stay here all day tomorrow because I've done some driving every day since I ended my vacation and returned to my truck on the 2nd. Some of those days were fairly short, which is how I've managed to make it this long without having to sit out a 34-hour break to reset my 70-hour timeclock.
Thanks for looking in today, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 492
Today was another long, tiring drive. Well, it was tiring because of a short night of sleep, more so than just the act of driving for 9 hours (plus fuel and meal stops). Here's how my day went.
I woke up at 5:18 when a message arrived on my Qualcomm box. (The box beeps when messages come in.) Dispatch wanted to know if I was at the shipper picking up my load. I do wish these people would expect we drivers have to sleep sometimes; I've gotten messages from them at all hours. Anyway, I had to reply that no, I was down the road at a truck stop. But I got up. After all, I had my alarm set to wake me up in another 15 minutes, anyway.
I went inside and freshened up, then walked across the street to grab a couple of sausage burritos from McDonald's. I polished them off in my truck, then got going.
It took me about 20 or 25 minutes to drive the 16 miles back to the company where my new load was waiting for me. It was a drop-and-hook pickup, and I was rolling again within 20 minutes. Then it was just a matter of putting miles away for the rest of the day. I finished up today at a TA (with a Popeye's Chicken 'n Biscuits franchise, of course) in this town just south of Cincy, so I'm about 30 minutes away from the first delivery.
This load goes to 2 spots in Ohio, the first one in Loveland, a northeast Cincinnati suburb, and the second in Columbus. I still don't know when I'm expected to deliver at the first stopoff (and Dispatch doesn't know yet, either), but the Columbus delivery is set for 10:00 Monday morning. If I don't hear anything otherwise, I'll just plan on making the first delivery early on Monday before heading up to Columbus.
And that's how I spent my Saturday. It's looking like I'll get a rest day tomorrow before making my deliveries and heading home (finally) on Monday. I'd like to be able to just stay here all day tomorrow because I've done some driving every day since I ended my vacation and returned to my truck on the 2nd. Some of those days were fairly short, which is how I've managed to make it this long without having to sit out a 34-hour break to reset my 70-hour timeclock.
Thanks for looking in today, and keep on truckin'.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Life Rescheduled
DATELINE: FAIRBURN, GA, 9:00 p.m. EST
Boy, this week sure hasn't ended like I had planned. And I have more catchin' up to do, so let's get right to it.
WEDNESDAY, 303 Miles
I did compose a brilliant report about the day's activities when I reached my resting spot for the night. But a computer glitch just as I was preparing to post it made it all disappear. (GLITCH: Good Luck Is Totally, Completely History.) That was the capper to a lousy day, so I was in no mood (and too tired) to rewrite it. Hence no update that day. But here's what happened during the day.
I started out at the Flying J in Beaverdam, OH. I got up at 5:00 so I could get all cleaned up and grab some breakfast before hitting the road at 6:00. My day would be all I-75, all the time as the load was headed for Albany, GA for a Thursday morning delivery.
Things were going well and I was making good time, having just made quick stops for fuel (at our Vandalia, OH terminal) and lunch (at a truck stop in central KY). Then I came across a weigh station in southern KY, just 33 miles from the TN state line. I passed the preliminary scale test on the entrance ramp and was directed to the bypass lane, bypassing the "real" scale. As I passed the building, the officer(s) inside must have noticed the hazmat placards on my trailer and decided that they needed to do an inspection of my truck. (That's the 3rd time that's happened when I've been hauling a hazmat load.) So they activated the "PARK -->" light at the end of the bypass lane as I approached it, sending me around the back to the parking area.
I parked, grabbed all my paperwork, and went inside. Yadda, yadda, long story short, the officer found a bunch of things wrong with the trailer (and a couple minor ones with my truck). I knew when I picked up that trailer that it would be trouble--it was an older one, and I wrote about the brake problems in my last update. Fortunately, he didn't put me out of service, but when I reported in to USA, they directed me to head to a nearby shop to get the laundry list of violations fixed.
The shop was just 4 more miles down the highway, and was conveniently situated right next door to a Love's truck stop. The repair work took about 3 hours. Because of the delay, dispatch had gotten my delivery appointment rescheduled until Friday morning. That allowed me to park at the Love's (it was evening now, around 7:00) for the night instead of having to hustle for as many miles as I could. It also, however, meant that I would not be able to get home on Friday as I had planned. So I rescheduled that for Monday instead. (The place where I park my truck when I'm home is closed on weekends.)
THURSDAY, 444 Miles
Up 'n at 'em early again to roll southward. Not much to report about Thursday since about all I did was drive, save for a fuel, lunch, and rest stops. I stopped for the night at a TA in Cordele, GA (I've stayed there once before), and I was just plumb tuckered out when I go there. I was too tired to string words together, so I opted to leave my laptop stowed and hit the sack (well, after getting some dinner first). And I got a good, long night's sleep for a change, 10-1/2 or 11 hours.
FRIDAY (Today), 318 Miles
Since my delivery was set for 8:00 a.m. and I was about 35 to 40 miles away (via state highways), my plan was to get underway at 6:30. So I got up in plenty of time to shower and shave before starting my work day.
I'd taken this route once before when I had another load bound for Albany, although to another company. However, it turns out that the company I was headed for today is on the same road as that other one, just a bit further down the road. So it was familiar ground.
I arrived about 15 minutes early and was assigned a dock door straight away. This was a live unload, so it took almost an hour after I docked before they were done. Not too bad at all, to be in and out of a live unload within 75 minutes (check-in and docking took 15). Afterwards, I headed back to a Pilot truck stop on the edge of town to await my next load assignment.
It took a little while, but when I got the assignment, I got another message almost immediately from my Fleet Manager to disregard that one, another load would follow. It was another little while before my "real" assignment came in: Head up to Macon and pick up a load there at noon. So away I went.
Because I got the assignment just after 10:00, and Macon was over 100 miles away, I was perhaps 10 minutes "late" getting to the pickup. Whoopdee-doo. 'Twas a drop-and-hook pickup, so I wasn't keeping anybody waiting. But all went well there.
That load is headed for Rhode Island, but I won't be taking it there since it delivers on Monday, the day I'm now supposed to be getting home. So my FM had me schlep it to a drop yard the company uses just south of Atlanta and leave it there for another driver to grab and resume its journey. I, meanwhile, got another assignment, followed immediately again by another message to disregard that one. (That's becoming a habit.)
After another wait, my FM sent me a message to head to Peachtree City, GA. They were putting together a load, getting the info into the system, and the actual assignment message would come in while I was en route. I had to ask twice for the specific location in Peachtree (and directions to it) before I could set out; it's not like I can pull over anywhere with my big rig to check a message and plot routes. Anyway, Peachtree City is just a short ways southeast of Atlanta, and I made the drive in about 45 minutes.
I pulled up to the gate, checked in with the guard there, and proceeded to the Shipping Office. There I gave the clerk the pickup number of the load I was to get. After looking around some for paperwork and checking her computer, she let me know that I was early; the load's pickup time was 5:00 on Saturday (but would be ready around 9:00 tonight). Because 9:00 was beyond my 14-hour window from when I started work today, I couldn't just wait around and grab it then I would need a mandatory 10-hour break before starting my next work day and picking up the load. So I headed back up the road (GA highway 74) to a truck stop by the junction with I-85. I found a spot to park and am encamped for the night.
I'll get another early start tomorrow to go get that load and head back north. This load is headed for 2 stops in Ohio, the first in Loveland, the second in Columbus. I don't know yet what day(s) they expect delivery, so I also don't know how hard I'll have to push to get up there. Check back tomorrow when I'll (hopefully) let you know.
Thanks for looking in today. Do please drop me a line so I know you're out there. Especially those readers who do not know me personally; let me know how you happened across my blog. And, as always, keep on truckin'.
Boy, this week sure hasn't ended like I had planned. And I have more catchin' up to do, so let's get right to it.
WEDNESDAY, 303 Miles
I did compose a brilliant report about the day's activities when I reached my resting spot for the night. But a computer glitch just as I was preparing to post it made it all disappear. (GLITCH: Good Luck Is Totally, Completely History.) That was the capper to a lousy day, so I was in no mood (and too tired) to rewrite it. Hence no update that day. But here's what happened during the day.
I started out at the Flying J in Beaverdam, OH. I got up at 5:00 so I could get all cleaned up and grab some breakfast before hitting the road at 6:00. My day would be all I-75, all the time as the load was headed for Albany, GA for a Thursday morning delivery.
Things were going well and I was making good time, having just made quick stops for fuel (at our Vandalia, OH terminal) and lunch (at a truck stop in central KY). Then I came across a weigh station in southern KY, just 33 miles from the TN state line. I passed the preliminary scale test on the entrance ramp and was directed to the bypass lane, bypassing the "real" scale. As I passed the building, the officer(s) inside must have noticed the hazmat placards on my trailer and decided that they needed to do an inspection of my truck. (That's the 3rd time that's happened when I've been hauling a hazmat load.) So they activated the "PARK -->" light at the end of the bypass lane as I approached it, sending me around the back to the parking area.
I parked, grabbed all my paperwork, and went inside. Yadda, yadda, long story short, the officer found a bunch of things wrong with the trailer (and a couple minor ones with my truck). I knew when I picked up that trailer that it would be trouble--it was an older one, and I wrote about the brake problems in my last update. Fortunately, he didn't put me out of service, but when I reported in to USA, they directed me to head to a nearby shop to get the laundry list of violations fixed.
The shop was just 4 more miles down the highway, and was conveniently situated right next door to a Love's truck stop. The repair work took about 3 hours. Because of the delay, dispatch had gotten my delivery appointment rescheduled until Friday morning. That allowed me to park at the Love's (it was evening now, around 7:00) for the night instead of having to hustle for as many miles as I could. It also, however, meant that I would not be able to get home on Friday as I had planned. So I rescheduled that for Monday instead. (The place where I park my truck when I'm home is closed on weekends.)
THURSDAY, 444 Miles
Up 'n at 'em early again to roll southward. Not much to report about Thursday since about all I did was drive, save for a fuel, lunch, and rest stops. I stopped for the night at a TA in Cordele, GA (I've stayed there once before), and I was just plumb tuckered out when I go there. I was too tired to string words together, so I opted to leave my laptop stowed and hit the sack (well, after getting some dinner first). And I got a good, long night's sleep for a change, 10-1/2 or 11 hours.
FRIDAY (Today), 318 Miles
Since my delivery was set for 8:00 a.m. and I was about 35 to 40 miles away (via state highways), my plan was to get underway at 6:30. So I got up in plenty of time to shower and shave before starting my work day.
I'd taken this route once before when I had another load bound for Albany, although to another company. However, it turns out that the company I was headed for today is on the same road as that other one, just a bit further down the road. So it was familiar ground.
I arrived about 15 minutes early and was assigned a dock door straight away. This was a live unload, so it took almost an hour after I docked before they were done. Not too bad at all, to be in and out of a live unload within 75 minutes (check-in and docking took 15). Afterwards, I headed back to a Pilot truck stop on the edge of town to await my next load assignment.
It took a little while, but when I got the assignment, I got another message almost immediately from my Fleet Manager to disregard that one, another load would follow. It was another little while before my "real" assignment came in: Head up to Macon and pick up a load there at noon. So away I went.
Because I got the assignment just after 10:00, and Macon was over 100 miles away, I was perhaps 10 minutes "late" getting to the pickup. Whoopdee-doo. 'Twas a drop-and-hook pickup, so I wasn't keeping anybody waiting. But all went well there.
That load is headed for Rhode Island, but I won't be taking it there since it delivers on Monday, the day I'm now supposed to be getting home. So my FM had me schlep it to a drop yard the company uses just south of Atlanta and leave it there for another driver to grab and resume its journey. I, meanwhile, got another assignment, followed immediately again by another message to disregard that one. (That's becoming a habit.)
After another wait, my FM sent me a message to head to Peachtree City, GA. They were putting together a load, getting the info into the system, and the actual assignment message would come in while I was en route. I had to ask twice for the specific location in Peachtree (and directions to it) before I could set out; it's not like I can pull over anywhere with my big rig to check a message and plot routes. Anyway, Peachtree City is just a short ways southeast of Atlanta, and I made the drive in about 45 minutes.
I pulled up to the gate, checked in with the guard there, and proceeded to the Shipping Office. There I gave the clerk the pickup number of the load I was to get. After looking around some for paperwork and checking her computer, she let me know that I was early; the load's pickup time was 5:00 on Saturday (but would be ready around 9:00 tonight). Because 9:00 was beyond my 14-hour window from when I started work today, I couldn't just wait around and grab it then I would need a mandatory 10-hour break before starting my next work day and picking up the load. So I headed back up the road (GA highway 74) to a truck stop by the junction with I-85. I found a spot to park and am encamped for the night.
I'll get another early start tomorrow to go get that load and head back north. This load is headed for 2 stops in Ohio, the first in Loveland, the second in Columbus. I don't know yet what day(s) they expect delivery, so I also don't know how hard I'll have to push to get up there. Check back tomorrow when I'll (hopefully) let you know.
Thanks for looking in today. Do please drop me a line so I know you're out there. Especially those readers who do not know me personally; let me know how you happened across my blog. And, as always, keep on truckin'.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Snowy Start
DATELINE: BEAVERDAM, OH, 9:40 p.m. EST
Miles Today: 436
Back to long work days now. I'm scheduled to return home for a weekend off on Friday, and I'm on a new run that'll put getting home on time (within my available work hours) to the test. Here's the scoop.
I woke up this morning to fresh snow on the ground, perhaps an inch of it. My delivery was scheduled for 9:30 a.m. in Highland Park, MI, an enclave within the city of Detroit. I left the truck stop in Dexter at 7:45, right at the peak of rush hour. Because of the snow, the road (I-94) was a bit slick (for cars, anyway, I didn't have any problems in my truck), and several incidents made for some slow traffic in places. Most of the way was clear once I left the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area, but I encountered a major slowdown once I got into Detroit.
I eventually reached the customer site, about 10 or 15 minutes late due to the traffic. I should have been at least 45 minutes early based on when I got started; shows you how bad the traffic was. Anyway, things went mostly OK at the delivery. It was a live unload and bit slow--almost 2 hours from arrival to departure--and they hadn't plowed, shoveled, or salted their lot, so I spun my wheels a bit while negotiating the lot and dock area.
After finishing up there, I boogied back west on I-94 to a small truck stop in Romulus, MI, just down the road from where I park my truck when I go home. My next assignment came in just before I got there. I had a loaded trailer waiting for me at a large company in Midland, MI (yes, THAT large company in Midland), due for pickup at 3:00. I grabbed a quick sandwich at the truck stop, gobbled it down, and headed north. Well, west first, along I-94 to get to northbound I-275.
As I sped north on 275, then west on I-96, the skies opened up into a heavy snowfall. That slowed traffic quite a bit (the traffic was heavy to begin with). But the squall didn't last terribly long. By the time I got to US-23 it had tapered off a lot, and before I had even reached Flint, the sun was shining. So the rest of the trip to Midland was a snap.
The pickup was a drop-and-hook and went OK, until it was time for me to slide the trailer's tandem axles. The trailer I picked up is an older one, and sometimes things are a little "off" with the older ones. Apparently with this one, its brakes don't hold real well, as its wheels turned while I was backing to slide them forward beneath the trailer. (To slide the tandems, the driver releases the tractor's air brakes while keeping the trailer's engaged after releasing the pins that secure the tandems. The driver then moves the truck forward or backward while the tandem axles remain in place, the trailer sliding on the rails above the tandems. If the tandem's brakes don't hold then the wheels turn and move along with the trailer. Got that? Clear as mud?) I tried for a while with no success, then finally found something to wedge beneath one of the tires to hold it in place. That did the trick. So that confounding problem set me back about 45 minutes.
Once back on the road, I would need to make a stop or two to get some fuel and weigh the truck. Naturally it wound up being 2 stops since the place I stopped for fuel, a Flying J in Saginaw, had one of those scales with the phone missing. Therefore I couldn't get weighed there. So after fueling (and grabbing a sandwich at their Wendy's) I proceeded to a TA a few more miles down I-75 and used their scale instead. Happily my load was legally distributed between all of the axles, so I didn't need to slide the tandems again. Then it was back to the road.
I'm on my way to Albany, GA, in the southern part of the state, with this load, so it'll be all I-75 for quite some time. I deliver the load on Thursday at 11:00 a.m., so I gotta boogie to get there on time. Actually, I should be able to get there OK, but getting back home on Friday'll be a challenge. But today I was able to get this far before my 14-hour window ran out (I started my work day at 7:30 a.m. and reached here at 9:00 p.m.). I should be able to get a goodly ways into GA tomorrow by using my full allotment of 11 driving hours.
But now it's time to finish this up and hit the sack. It's getting late and I'll need to get rolling as soon as my requisite 10-hour break concludes at 7:00 tomorrow morning. Thanks for reading today's communique. Please send me something to read by way of a comment or question, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 436
Back to long work days now. I'm scheduled to return home for a weekend off on Friday, and I'm on a new run that'll put getting home on time (within my available work hours) to the test. Here's the scoop.
I woke up this morning to fresh snow on the ground, perhaps an inch of it. My delivery was scheduled for 9:30 a.m. in Highland Park, MI, an enclave within the city of Detroit. I left the truck stop in Dexter at 7:45, right at the peak of rush hour. Because of the snow, the road (I-94) was a bit slick (for cars, anyway, I didn't have any problems in my truck), and several incidents made for some slow traffic in places. Most of the way was clear once I left the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area, but I encountered a major slowdown once I got into Detroit.
I eventually reached the customer site, about 10 or 15 minutes late due to the traffic. I should have been at least 45 minutes early based on when I got started; shows you how bad the traffic was. Anyway, things went mostly OK at the delivery. It was a live unload and bit slow--almost 2 hours from arrival to departure--and they hadn't plowed, shoveled, or salted their lot, so I spun my wheels a bit while negotiating the lot and dock area.
After finishing up there, I boogied back west on I-94 to a small truck stop in Romulus, MI, just down the road from where I park my truck when I go home. My next assignment came in just before I got there. I had a loaded trailer waiting for me at a large company in Midland, MI (yes, THAT large company in Midland), due for pickup at 3:00. I grabbed a quick sandwich at the truck stop, gobbled it down, and headed north. Well, west first, along I-94 to get to northbound I-275.
As I sped north on 275, then west on I-96, the skies opened up into a heavy snowfall. That slowed traffic quite a bit (the traffic was heavy to begin with). But the squall didn't last terribly long. By the time I got to US-23 it had tapered off a lot, and before I had even reached Flint, the sun was shining. So the rest of the trip to Midland was a snap.
The pickup was a drop-and-hook and went OK, until it was time for me to slide the trailer's tandem axles. The trailer I picked up is an older one, and sometimes things are a little "off" with the older ones. Apparently with this one, its brakes don't hold real well, as its wheels turned while I was backing to slide them forward beneath the trailer. (To slide the tandems, the driver releases the tractor's air brakes while keeping the trailer's engaged after releasing the pins that secure the tandems. The driver then moves the truck forward or backward while the tandem axles remain in place, the trailer sliding on the rails above the tandems. If the tandem's brakes don't hold then the wheels turn and move along with the trailer. Got that? Clear as mud?) I tried for a while with no success, then finally found something to wedge beneath one of the tires to hold it in place. That did the trick. So that confounding problem set me back about 45 minutes.
Once back on the road, I would need to make a stop or two to get some fuel and weigh the truck. Naturally it wound up being 2 stops since the place I stopped for fuel, a Flying J in Saginaw, had one of those scales with the phone missing. Therefore I couldn't get weighed there. So after fueling (and grabbing a sandwich at their Wendy's) I proceeded to a TA a few more miles down I-75 and used their scale instead. Happily my load was legally distributed between all of the axles, so I didn't need to slide the tandems again. Then it was back to the road.
I'm on my way to Albany, GA, in the southern part of the state, with this load, so it'll be all I-75 for quite some time. I deliver the load on Thursday at 11:00 a.m., so I gotta boogie to get there on time. Actually, I should be able to get there OK, but getting back home on Friday'll be a challenge. But today I was able to get this far before my 14-hour window ran out (I started my work day at 7:30 a.m. and reached here at 9:00 p.m.). I should be able to get a goodly ways into GA tomorrow by using my full allotment of 11 driving hours.
But now it's time to finish this up and hit the sack. It's getting late and I'll need to get rolling as soon as my requisite 10-hour break concludes at 7:00 tomorrow morning. Thanks for reading today's communique. Please send me something to read by way of a comment or question, and keep on truckin'.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Shop Talk
DATELINE: DEXTER, MI, 9:45 p.m. EST
Miles Yesterday: 180
Miles Today: 195
A couple of short work days to start the week, but they sure weren't short. Here's the story.
Yesterday (Sunday) I got up at 5:00 to get my day started. I was at the TA in Monroe, MI, and I went inside to start the day with a shower and shave. However, their showers were unavailable at the time. Grrr! So I went to plan B. I returned to my truck (after grabbing some quick grub for breakfast at their convenience store) and hit the road. 90-ish minutes later on my trip down southbound I-75, I came to the Flying J in Beaverdam, OH. I pulled in there to use their facilities to clean up. Once presentable, I zipped across the street to the Pilot for Second Breakfast at their McDonald's. Then it was time to go make my delivery.
The Beaverdam truck stops are at exit 135 along I-75 in Ohio. My delivery was off of exit 74, in Troy, OH, so it took just about another hour to get there. Being Sunday, the place was deserted, except for the security guard at the gate. Except he wasn't at the gate. He was at the company's facility next door, and obviously saw my truck at the gate via security camera at his post. A couple minutes after I had pulled up to the gate, he arrived in his company security car to check me in. The delivery was a drop-and-hook, so after backing the loaded trailer into an open slot in the lot and dropping it, I found an empty USA Truck trailer, hooked up to it, and made my way out.
Since this delivery was only 10 miles up the highway from USA's Vandalia, OH terminal, I had made an appointment to get my truck's regular maintenance (every 15,000 miles) done. The appointment was at 1:00, and I arrived at the terminal around 10:30. That left me time to grab a quick lunch (I didn't need much because of the 2 breakfasts) and clean up my cab before turning it over to the shop, which I did at 12:30.
Oh, I forgot to mention that before surrendering my truck to the shop, my next assignment came in: grab a loaded trailer from the Vandalia yard and haul it to a town just south of Atlanta, GA for delivery Monday morning at 8:00. I had hoped that I'd have an easy day and be able to sit in the drivers' lounge and catch the NFL's conference championship games on TV. However, if I was to get to the Atlanta area by that delivery time, I'd have to sleep most of the afternoon and evening so I could make the drive overnight. A couple of problems were evident:
1. I only had 1-1/2 hours remaining to drive yesterday, so I couldn't leave before 10:30 p.m. (Actually, 11:30 because my hours log is on Central Time) Since the delivery was over 530 miles away, that made it extremely unlikely that I could get there on time.
2. I only had 8-1/2 hours available for today, so with the 1-1/2 for Sunday, that meant I only had 10 work hours (driving plus "on-duty-not-driving", such as fueling) to complete the trip. Also highly unlikely.
But I thought I'd be a good soldier and give it a shot (heck, I need the paying miles).
A couple hours after I had dropped my truck off with the shop, I ambled over there to check on it. When I turned it in, I had noted a couple other problems I'd been having with the truck for them to check out. Anyway, they gave me some interesting news. They found a couple serious problems that they had to fix--the brakes needed replacing and a valve in the exhaust system had been incorrectly replaced the last time, which broke another part, yadda, yadda, yadda...so they had quite a bit of that system to replace. The long and short of it was that with those repairs to make, it'd take them until "the wee hours of the morning" before they'd be done.
Well, that meant I didn't have to worry about the Atlanta drive anymore. I called in to dispatch to let them know so they'd find someone else to cover the load. It also meant I'd get to watch the games. Awwww-right! However, it also meant a long time sitting in uncomfortable chairs. Vandalia doesn't have the large, leather recliners in the drivers' lounge that most of the other terminals have. They just have a variety of metal folding chairs and a couple non-folding ones with molded plastic seats around two round tables. It's also a fairly small room, so management probably figures it's too small for the recliners.
Fast-forwarding: I finally got my truck back around 5:00 this morning. I pulled it away from the shop area and parked in the truck lot. I sent in a message to dispatch letting them know that I was back in the truck, I needed some sleep (I'd been up for over 24 hours), and that I'd send a message when I got up so they could send me my next assignment. However, I promptly got a load assignment message. I was to grab another loaded trailer from the yard and deliver it in Highland Park, MI at 10:00 that morning.
Well, that wasn't going to happen because I needed sleep. I don't know who decided to assign me a load when they knew (or should have known) that my truck was in the shop and didn't know for sure when it'd be available again. Chalk another one up for the weekend load coordinators and dispatchers. Whenever I have load problems like that, it's always the weekend crew (or a replacement when my Fleet Manager is on vacation). My Fleet Manager usually does pretty well by me when he's in during the week. Anyway, I sent in a message that I'd have to sleep before heading out, and their reply was to suggest I call my FM later in the morning. Then I hit the sack.
Around 10:00 this morning a message from my FM woke me up. He let me know that the delivery was rescheduled for 9:30 Tuesday morning, so today I'd just drive up to be nearby, ready to deliver in the morning. That gave me the chance to go a little bit out-of-route and spend the night at the TA near my home. Happily, Mrs. R.T. was not scheduled to work tonight, so I could meet up with her for dinner and some time together. So we did.
And that's how my last couple of days have gone. I didn't take my laptop with me into the terminal and drivers' lounge yesterday to blog for y'all because I can't get a signal in that building, for my phone nor the laptop's phone card. (No, I can't hear you now.) It must be shielded with lead or something. Hence the double-duty update today. Thanks for taking the time to follow along. Please send me a comment or question--or both--and keep on truckin'.
Miles Yesterday: 180
Miles Today: 195
A couple of short work days to start the week, but they sure weren't short. Here's the story.
Yesterday (Sunday) I got up at 5:00 to get my day started. I was at the TA in Monroe, MI, and I went inside to start the day with a shower and shave. However, their showers were unavailable at the time. Grrr! So I went to plan B. I returned to my truck (after grabbing some quick grub for breakfast at their convenience store) and hit the road. 90-ish minutes later on my trip down southbound I-75, I came to the Flying J in Beaverdam, OH. I pulled in there to use their facilities to clean up. Once presentable, I zipped across the street to the Pilot for Second Breakfast at their McDonald's. Then it was time to go make my delivery.
The Beaverdam truck stops are at exit 135 along I-75 in Ohio. My delivery was off of exit 74, in Troy, OH, so it took just about another hour to get there. Being Sunday, the place was deserted, except for the security guard at the gate. Except he wasn't at the gate. He was at the company's facility next door, and obviously saw my truck at the gate via security camera at his post. A couple minutes after I had pulled up to the gate, he arrived in his company security car to check me in. The delivery was a drop-and-hook, so after backing the loaded trailer into an open slot in the lot and dropping it, I found an empty USA Truck trailer, hooked up to it, and made my way out.
Since this delivery was only 10 miles up the highway from USA's Vandalia, OH terminal, I had made an appointment to get my truck's regular maintenance (every 15,000 miles) done. The appointment was at 1:00, and I arrived at the terminal around 10:30. That left me time to grab a quick lunch (I didn't need much because of the 2 breakfasts) and clean up my cab before turning it over to the shop, which I did at 12:30.
Oh, I forgot to mention that before surrendering my truck to the shop, my next assignment came in: grab a loaded trailer from the Vandalia yard and haul it to a town just south of Atlanta, GA for delivery Monday morning at 8:00. I had hoped that I'd have an easy day and be able to sit in the drivers' lounge and catch the NFL's conference championship games on TV. However, if I was to get to the Atlanta area by that delivery time, I'd have to sleep most of the afternoon and evening so I could make the drive overnight. A couple of problems were evident:
1. I only had 1-1/2 hours remaining to drive yesterday, so I couldn't leave before 10:30 p.m. (Actually, 11:30 because my hours log is on Central Time) Since the delivery was over 530 miles away, that made it extremely unlikely that I could get there on time.
2. I only had 8-1/2 hours available for today, so with the 1-1/2 for Sunday, that meant I only had 10 work hours (driving plus "on-duty-not-driving", such as fueling) to complete the trip. Also highly unlikely.
But I thought I'd be a good soldier and give it a shot (heck, I need the paying miles).
A couple hours after I had dropped my truck off with the shop, I ambled over there to check on it. When I turned it in, I had noted a couple other problems I'd been having with the truck for them to check out. Anyway, they gave me some interesting news. They found a couple serious problems that they had to fix--the brakes needed replacing and a valve in the exhaust system had been incorrectly replaced the last time, which broke another part, yadda, yadda, yadda...so they had quite a bit of that system to replace. The long and short of it was that with those repairs to make, it'd take them until "the wee hours of the morning" before they'd be done.
Well, that meant I didn't have to worry about the Atlanta drive anymore. I called in to dispatch to let them know so they'd find someone else to cover the load. It also meant I'd get to watch the games. Awwww-right! However, it also meant a long time sitting in uncomfortable chairs. Vandalia doesn't have the large, leather recliners in the drivers' lounge that most of the other terminals have. They just have a variety of metal folding chairs and a couple non-folding ones with molded plastic seats around two round tables. It's also a fairly small room, so management probably figures it's too small for the recliners.
Fast-forwarding: I finally got my truck back around 5:00 this morning. I pulled it away from the shop area and parked in the truck lot. I sent in a message to dispatch letting them know that I was back in the truck, I needed some sleep (I'd been up for over 24 hours), and that I'd send a message when I got up so they could send me my next assignment. However, I promptly got a load assignment message. I was to grab another loaded trailer from the yard and deliver it in Highland Park, MI at 10:00 that morning.
Well, that wasn't going to happen because I needed sleep. I don't know who decided to assign me a load when they knew (or should have known) that my truck was in the shop and didn't know for sure when it'd be available again. Chalk another one up for the weekend load coordinators and dispatchers. Whenever I have load problems like that, it's always the weekend crew (or a replacement when my Fleet Manager is on vacation). My Fleet Manager usually does pretty well by me when he's in during the week. Anyway, I sent in a message that I'd have to sleep before heading out, and their reply was to suggest I call my FM later in the morning. Then I hit the sack.
Around 10:00 this morning a message from my FM woke me up. He let me know that the delivery was rescheduled for 9:30 Tuesday morning, so today I'd just drive up to be nearby, ready to deliver in the morning. That gave me the chance to go a little bit out-of-route and spend the night at the TA near my home. Happily, Mrs. R.T. was not scheduled to work tonight, so I could meet up with her for dinner and some time together. So we did.
And that's how my last couple of days have gone. I didn't take my laptop with me into the terminal and drivers' lounge yesterday to blog for y'all because I can't get a signal in that building, for my phone nor the laptop's phone card. (No, I can't hear you now.) It must be shielded with lead or something. Hence the double-duty update today. Thanks for taking the time to follow along. Please send me a comment or question--or both--and keep on truckin'.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Ontario Excursion
DATELINE: MONROE, MI, 8:00 p.m. EST
I've made it back to the good ol' U.S. after almost exactly 48 hours in the country sometimes known as "The Great White North". Here's a recap.
THURSDAY, 244 Miles
I started the day in Beaverdam, OH. From there it was a 2-1/2-hour drive up to Detroit and the foot of the Ambassador Bridge. First I needed to stop at a company that procures customs clearance for truckers' loads prior to making the crossing, alleviating the inevitable tie-up to get that done on the other side. Because of a construction project to re-jigger (and hopefully improve) the access routes to the bridge, I needed to follow a nearly confusing, twisty detour to that company's site in the shadow of the bridge. After checking in, I needed to wait for over an hour 'til the clearance came through from the Canadian Customs authority.
Finally OK-ed, I made my way carefully through the narrow, twisty, lanes of the bridge's temporary approach road and onto the structure. Once I hit itts high point over the Detroit River, traffic in the truck lane came to a halt, then a slow crawl as a multitude of big rigs worked their way through the customs checkpoint on the Windsor side. (Even with the pre-clearance, truck drivers still gotta' stop and answer questions from the gatekeepers.) So my actual bridge crossing took over 30 minutes.
Once on Canadian soil, my goal for the day was to reach London, Ontario. London is not a long way into Ontario--only 2 hours--but I only had 6-1/4 hours available to work for the whole day, and I'd used over half of that getting into Canada. The Flying J there (yes, some of the same truck stop chains found in the USA have crossed the border into Mapleland) is on my company's fuel network, and it is one of the better Flying Js I've seen--clean, with a huge, flat parking lot.
FRIDAY, 455 Miles
Up and at 'em R-E-A-L-L-Y early out of necessity. My delivery appointment was for 10:00 a.m. in Cornwall, Ontario, about 350 more miles up Highway 401. So my alarm sounded at 1:30 so I could shower and shave before hitting the road at 2:30.
'Twas a long, dark drive, but the advantage was I was able to sail through Toronto with nary even a thought of having to tap the brakes for traffic that early (4:30, 5:00) in the morning. When's the last time any of you have driven in that metroplex without significant traffic delays, eh?
With only a couple of quick stops en route, I arrived at the delivery right on time. And lo and behold, despite it being a live unload and I had to wait for another truck to finish up before I could slide into his dock door, I was done there about 45 minutes after I arrived. (It helped that the load was only 11 huge rolls of paper--over 2 tons, or "tonnes" in honour of the country I was in, each--instead of 40 or more pallets of stuff.)
After completing the delivery, I had less than 2 hours of work time available for the day, so I be-bopped to a nearby truck stop ("Fifth Wheel", not a U.S. chain), expecting to spend the rest of the day and night before getting my next pickup assignment. After scoping the place out and before I could lunch there, I did get an assignment. My pickup was set for 3:00 (WHAT??!!?!!) Saturday morning in Alliston, ON, about 45 miles north of Toronto, or over 300 miles from where I was. Since I only had 1-1/4 hours left that I could drive that day, there was no way I'd make that pickup on time. However, I did make my way west for an hour, stopping for the night at a Service Centre along the 401. Well, "stopping for the day" is a better description, as it was only 1:00 p.m. when I got there.
I finally had some lunch (heated up a can of beef stew in my little electric stove), read a bit, and napped for about 3 hours. I had hoped to get a good, long sleep session in, but that was not to be. It is hard to suddenly shift wake/sleep patterns, and my body wasn't ready to sleep through the afternoon and evening, no matter how much I tried. I eventually got back up, read a bit more, had a bit more to eat, then tried sleeping some more, since I'd need to get up at 12:30 a.m. this time.
SATURDAY, 548 Miles
Up at 12:30, I was rolling at 1:00. (Since I have to keep my log book on Central Time--because that's where company HQ is--hours I get back to work from the rolling 8-day window aren't available 'til 1:00 Eastern Time.) Including a fuel stop en route (at another FJ, this one in Napanee, ON), it took me 4:45 to get to the pickup. This was a drop-and-hook pickup, and I had to s-q-u-e-e-z-e the empty trailer into a narrow spot between two other trailers before I could hook up to the pre-loaded trailer I was picking up. That was fun in the dark. (Not a well-lighted lot at this site. At least it had plenty of room in front of the trailers for maneuvering.) I took my time to do that carefully, but I was still in and out of there in 30 minutes. Then it was time to drive.
I had 10-3/4 hours to work today, and I'd used almost half of it getting to and making the pickup. By my reckoning, I had just enough hours to make it across the border back into Detroit if traffic stayed clear all the way. I did have to make one stop for another Customs clearance; this time the company had a location in London, ON. Instead of having to wait there while they processed the info, I could drive ahead after checking in there and call back for the clearance number, which I did.
I did make it back to the ol' homeland, as you could tell by this report's opening, but I did go over my allotted hours by just a bit--45 minutes. Well, I did need to get to a truck stop, and there aren't any right by the bridge. I got here a little after 2:00 this afternoon. "Here" is a TA offa' I-75 at exit 15 in this downriver community.
My load is headed to Troy, OH, and I need to deliver it there tomorrow (Sunday) at 10:00 a.m. So I'm going to get up at 5:00 (well, maybe 5:15) so I can spruce up before hitting the road at 6:00. That ought to get me there a bit early. It'll be a drop-and-hook (I've been to that place once before), so timing isn't crucial. Then I have an appointment for my truck's regular maintenance at 1:00 at the Vandalia, OH terminal. (Did I mention Troy is only 10 miles north of Vandalia?) I only have 5-1/2 hours available to work tomorrow, so I'll use just about all of that up getting down to and making the delivery, then making the short hop to the terminal. So I'll be overnighting it in Vandalia once more. Good timing--I'll be able to watch the NFL conference championship games during my down time.
Well, 5:00's gonna come right quick (though after the last couple of days, it'll seem like I'm sleeping in exorbitantly), so it's time to wrap this composition up. Thanks for trucking vicariously through my reports. Drop me a comment or question or 2, and keep right on truckin'.
No, wait, a quick P.S. before I go: I was surprised--shocked, even--to find out that the U.S. dollar actually has a NEGATIVE 10% exchange rate with the Canadian dollar these days. Add that on top of things being expensiver (?) in Canada to begin with, and the country up north ain't a big bargain vacationland anymore. Just letting you know.
I've made it back to the good ol' U.S. after almost exactly 48 hours in the country sometimes known as "The Great White North". Here's a recap.
THURSDAY, 244 Miles
I started the day in Beaverdam, OH. From there it was a 2-1/2-hour drive up to Detroit and the foot of the Ambassador Bridge. First I needed to stop at a company that procures customs clearance for truckers' loads prior to making the crossing, alleviating the inevitable tie-up to get that done on the other side. Because of a construction project to re-jigger (and hopefully improve) the access routes to the bridge, I needed to follow a nearly confusing, twisty detour to that company's site in the shadow of the bridge. After checking in, I needed to wait for over an hour 'til the clearance came through from the Canadian Customs authority.
Finally OK-ed, I made my way carefully through the narrow, twisty, lanes of the bridge's temporary approach road and onto the structure. Once I hit itts high point over the Detroit River, traffic in the truck lane came to a halt, then a slow crawl as a multitude of big rigs worked their way through the customs checkpoint on the Windsor side. (Even with the pre-clearance, truck drivers still gotta' stop and answer questions from the gatekeepers.) So my actual bridge crossing took over 30 minutes.
Once on Canadian soil, my goal for the day was to reach London, Ontario. London is not a long way into Ontario--only 2 hours--but I only had 6-1/4 hours available to work for the whole day, and I'd used over half of that getting into Canada. The Flying J there (yes, some of the same truck stop chains found in the USA have crossed the border into Mapleland) is on my company's fuel network, and it is one of the better Flying Js I've seen--clean, with a huge, flat parking lot.
FRIDAY, 455 Miles
Up and at 'em R-E-A-L-L-Y early out of necessity. My delivery appointment was for 10:00 a.m. in Cornwall, Ontario, about 350 more miles up Highway 401. So my alarm sounded at 1:30 so I could shower and shave before hitting the road at 2:30.
'Twas a long, dark drive, but the advantage was I was able to sail through Toronto with nary even a thought of having to tap the brakes for traffic that early (4:30, 5:00) in the morning. When's the last time any of you have driven in that metroplex without significant traffic delays, eh?
With only a couple of quick stops en route, I arrived at the delivery right on time. And lo and behold, despite it being a live unload and I had to wait for another truck to finish up before I could slide into his dock door, I was done there about 45 minutes after I arrived. (It helped that the load was only 11 huge rolls of paper--over 2 tons, or "tonnes" in honour of the country I was in, each--instead of 40 or more pallets of stuff.)
After completing the delivery, I had less than 2 hours of work time available for the day, so I be-bopped to a nearby truck stop ("Fifth Wheel", not a U.S. chain), expecting to spend the rest of the day and night before getting my next pickup assignment. After scoping the place out and before I could lunch there, I did get an assignment. My pickup was set for 3:00 (WHAT??!!?!!) Saturday morning in Alliston, ON, about 45 miles north of Toronto, or over 300 miles from where I was. Since I only had 1-1/4 hours left that I could drive that day, there was no way I'd make that pickup on time. However, I did make my way west for an hour, stopping for the night at a Service Centre along the 401. Well, "stopping for the day" is a better description, as it was only 1:00 p.m. when I got there.
I finally had some lunch (heated up a can of beef stew in my little electric stove), read a bit, and napped for about 3 hours. I had hoped to get a good, long sleep session in, but that was not to be. It is hard to suddenly shift wake/sleep patterns, and my body wasn't ready to sleep through the afternoon and evening, no matter how much I tried. I eventually got back up, read a bit more, had a bit more to eat, then tried sleeping some more, since I'd need to get up at 12:30 a.m. this time.
SATURDAY, 548 Miles
Up at 12:30, I was rolling at 1:00. (Since I have to keep my log book on Central Time--because that's where company HQ is--hours I get back to work from the rolling 8-day window aren't available 'til 1:00 Eastern Time.) Including a fuel stop en route (at another FJ, this one in Napanee, ON), it took me 4:45 to get to the pickup. This was a drop-and-hook pickup, and I had to s-q-u-e-e-z-e the empty trailer into a narrow spot between two other trailers before I could hook up to the pre-loaded trailer I was picking up. That was fun in the dark. (Not a well-lighted lot at this site. At least it had plenty of room in front of the trailers for maneuvering.) I took my time to do that carefully, but I was still in and out of there in 30 minutes. Then it was time to drive.
I had 10-3/4 hours to work today, and I'd used almost half of it getting to and making the pickup. By my reckoning, I had just enough hours to make it across the border back into Detroit if traffic stayed clear all the way. I did have to make one stop for another Customs clearance; this time the company had a location in London, ON. Instead of having to wait there while they processed the info, I could drive ahead after checking in there and call back for the clearance number, which I did.
I did make it back to the ol' homeland, as you could tell by this report's opening, but I did go over my allotted hours by just a bit--45 minutes. Well, I did need to get to a truck stop, and there aren't any right by the bridge. I got here a little after 2:00 this afternoon. "Here" is a TA offa' I-75 at exit 15 in this downriver community.
My load is headed to Troy, OH, and I need to deliver it there tomorrow (Sunday) at 10:00 a.m. So I'm going to get up at 5:00 (well, maybe 5:15) so I can spruce up before hitting the road at 6:00. That ought to get me there a bit early. It'll be a drop-and-hook (I've been to that place once before), so timing isn't crucial. Then I have an appointment for my truck's regular maintenance at 1:00 at the Vandalia, OH terminal. (Did I mention Troy is only 10 miles north of Vandalia?) I only have 5-1/2 hours available to work tomorrow, so I'll use just about all of that up getting down to and making the delivery, then making the short hop to the terminal. So I'll be overnighting it in Vandalia once more. Good timing--I'll be able to watch the NFL conference championship games during my down time.
Well, 5:00's gonna come right quick (though after the last couple of days, it'll seem like I'm sleeping in exorbitantly), so it's time to wrap this composition up. Thanks for trucking vicariously through my reports. Drop me a comment or question or 2, and keep right on truckin'.
No, wait, a quick P.S. before I go: I was surprised--shocked, even--to find out that the U.S. dollar actually has a NEGATIVE 10% exchange rate with the Canadian dollar these days. Add that on top of things being expensiver (?) in Canada to begin with, and the country up north ain't a big bargain vacationland anymore. Just letting you know.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Going International
DATELINE: BEAVERDAM, OH, 9:45 p.m. EST
Whoops, more catching up to do. Here goes.
MONDAY, 467 Miles:
I got up at 1:15 a.m. in order to make the drive to my 6:00 delivery on time. I started out about 44 miles east of the Texas border in Arkansas, and had to go to Fort Worth. After getting myself ready, I hit the road at 2:00. Four hours of driving and a 15-minute fuel stop later, I reached my destination. 'Twas a drop-and-hook delivery, and I was in and outta' there in 30 minutes. Then I had to find a place to wait for my next assignment.
I decided to truck on over to a Pilot on the far side of Fort Worth. (The delivery was on the east side, Pilot on the west.) The Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex is a huge area, and it took me an hour (including rush hour traffic) to get to the truck stop. There I grabbed some breakfast at the McDonald's in the building while I waited. And waited. And waited. After a while I sent a message to my Fleet Manager (FM) asking how long it'd be 'til an assignment came along. His reply was that, due to my available hours situation (it was low), I'd probably have to wait to get a morning pickup.
So I hauled out my laptop, went online, and registered for a daily 1:00 p.m. (EST) Texas Hold 'Em tournament. (This was around 11:00 CST.) About 30 minutes later, an assignment came in. I was to pick up a load from a company just a bit south of Texarkana, TX at 3:00 p.m. Because of my lengthy wait, the issue became whether or not I could reach (and complete) the pickup before my 14 hour driving window for the expired at 3:45. It all hinged on how much traffic I'd encounter getting out of the DFW area.
And traffic there was. I ran out of time about 30 miles short of Texarkana, so I pulled into a rest area to sit out my required 10-hour break. Unfortunately, that rest area is in the middle of nowhere and I could not get a signal for my laptop, hence my lack of blogging that day. Sorry 'bout dat.
TUESDAY, 536 Miles:
Up at 1:15 again, this time I was rolling at 1:45. It took me about 45 minutes to reach the pickup, which was another drop-and-hook. 30 minutes later, I was hauling my new load towards its destination.
And that destination will be a new experience for me; it's an international route. This load is headed for Cornwall, Ontario, which is W-A-A-A-A-Y over near Montreal, almost as east as you can get in Ontario. Delivery is scheduled for Friday morning, and again I have concerns about my available hours being sufficient to get me there in time. I should be able to make it if I have no major delays.
I had enough hours available on Tuesday to drive all the way to Fariview, TN, just west of Nashville. I stopped at the Flying J there (I've been there a couple times before) for a good night's sleep. Because of my consecutive early starts, I was too plumb tuckered out to blog coherently, so I didn't. Sorry 'bout dat.
WEDNESDAY, 439 Miles:
Today I only had 8-3/4 hours available to work, so I slept in a bit later--this time 'til 5:00. I know, I'm such a lazy slacker. Anyway, after a shower and a shave, I was on the road by 5:45. My goal was the Vandalia, OH terminal, because my FM had indicated that I'd probably drop the load there because of my hours situation.
The drive to Vandalia went fine, and I got there at about 2:15 EST. (I crossed the time zone line in western KY.) I was getting ready to unhook the trailer when I got a message from my FM to call him. I did, and we decided that I'd keep the load. We figured that I did have just enough hours to complete the run on time, and besides, there weren't any other drivers available to pick up the load in Vandalia. So I got back in the truck and headed a bit further up the road since I had another 90 minutes available to work today.
Tonight I'm at the Flying J in this town. Posting an update for you tonight is essential because my laptop phone card does not have coverage in Canada, and I'll be in that country for at least the next 2 nights. I only have 6-1/4 hours available to work tomorrow, enough to get to Detroit, cross the Ambassador Bridge, deal with customs, and make my way as far as I can into Ontario in the time I do have.
Then on Friday I'll have to get up R-E-A-L early again to make the delivery on time (10:00 a.m., but I hear there's actually a window 'til 4:00 p.m.). That drive will most likely use up most of the 8-3/4 hours I'll have available that day, so that'll be another night to spend in the Great White North.
Anyway, this will likely be the last you hear from me 'til sometime this weekend. Don't let that stop you from submitting questions and comments--I'd like plenty to read when I get back to the U.S. Thanks for reading today, and keep on truckin'.
Whoops, more catching up to do. Here goes.
MONDAY, 467 Miles:
I got up at 1:15 a.m. in order to make the drive to my 6:00 delivery on time. I started out about 44 miles east of the Texas border in Arkansas, and had to go to Fort Worth. After getting myself ready, I hit the road at 2:00. Four hours of driving and a 15-minute fuel stop later, I reached my destination. 'Twas a drop-and-hook delivery, and I was in and outta' there in 30 minutes. Then I had to find a place to wait for my next assignment.
I decided to truck on over to a Pilot on the far side of Fort Worth. (The delivery was on the east side, Pilot on the west.) The Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex is a huge area, and it took me an hour (including rush hour traffic) to get to the truck stop. There I grabbed some breakfast at the McDonald's in the building while I waited. And waited. And waited. After a while I sent a message to my Fleet Manager (FM) asking how long it'd be 'til an assignment came along. His reply was that, due to my available hours situation (it was low), I'd probably have to wait to get a morning pickup.
So I hauled out my laptop, went online, and registered for a daily 1:00 p.m. (EST) Texas Hold 'Em tournament. (This was around 11:00 CST.) About 30 minutes later, an assignment came in. I was to pick up a load from a company just a bit south of Texarkana, TX at 3:00 p.m. Because of my lengthy wait, the issue became whether or not I could reach (and complete) the pickup before my 14 hour driving window for the expired at 3:45. It all hinged on how much traffic I'd encounter getting out of the DFW area.
And traffic there was. I ran out of time about 30 miles short of Texarkana, so I pulled into a rest area to sit out my required 10-hour break. Unfortunately, that rest area is in the middle of nowhere and I could not get a signal for my laptop, hence my lack of blogging that day. Sorry 'bout dat.
TUESDAY, 536 Miles:
Up at 1:15 again, this time I was rolling at 1:45. It took me about 45 minutes to reach the pickup, which was another drop-and-hook. 30 minutes later, I was hauling my new load towards its destination.
And that destination will be a new experience for me; it's an international route. This load is headed for Cornwall, Ontario, which is W-A-A-A-A-Y over near Montreal, almost as east as you can get in Ontario. Delivery is scheduled for Friday morning, and again I have concerns about my available hours being sufficient to get me there in time. I should be able to make it if I have no major delays.
I had enough hours available on Tuesday to drive all the way to Fariview, TN, just west of Nashville. I stopped at the Flying J there (I've been there a couple times before) for a good night's sleep. Because of my consecutive early starts, I was too plumb tuckered out to blog coherently, so I didn't. Sorry 'bout dat.
WEDNESDAY, 439 Miles:
Today I only had 8-3/4 hours available to work, so I slept in a bit later--this time 'til 5:00. I know, I'm such a lazy slacker. Anyway, after a shower and a shave, I was on the road by 5:45. My goal was the Vandalia, OH terminal, because my FM had indicated that I'd probably drop the load there because of my hours situation.
The drive to Vandalia went fine, and I got there at about 2:15 EST. (I crossed the time zone line in western KY.) I was getting ready to unhook the trailer when I got a message from my FM to call him. I did, and we decided that I'd keep the load. We figured that I did have just enough hours to complete the run on time, and besides, there weren't any other drivers available to pick up the load in Vandalia. So I got back in the truck and headed a bit further up the road since I had another 90 minutes available to work today.
Tonight I'm at the Flying J in this town. Posting an update for you tonight is essential because my laptop phone card does not have coverage in Canada, and I'll be in that country for at least the next 2 nights. I only have 6-1/4 hours available to work tomorrow, enough to get to Detroit, cross the Ambassador Bridge, deal with customs, and make my way as far as I can into Ontario in the time I do have.
Then on Friday I'll have to get up R-E-A-L early again to make the delivery on time (10:00 a.m., but I hear there's actually a window 'til 4:00 p.m.). That drive will most likely use up most of the 8-3/4 hours I'll have available that day, so that'll be another night to spend in the Great White North.
Anyway, this will likely be the last you hear from me 'til sometime this weekend. Don't let that stop you from submitting questions and comments--I'd like plenty to read when I get back to the U.S. Thanks for reading today, and keep on truckin'.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Mystery Light
DATELINE: PRESCOTT, AR, 6:45 P.M. CST
Miles Today: 487
Almost everything went as planned today. I got outta' bed at 5:15, showered and shaved, and returned to my truck to get rolling at 6:00. I turned it on, switched on all the lights, then hopped out to make sure they were all glowing. Nope, my passenger-side headlight was out. So I called the Breakdown Department at HQ to find out what they wanted me to do about it.
What we decided was for me just to stop at the West Memphis terminal on my way past there (since it was along my intended route for the day) and get the headlight replaced. I then waited 'til 7:00, for the skies to lighten a bit, before I hit the road. So I started out an hour behind schedule.
The driving went fine, and I reached West Memphis around 11:30. I checked in at the shop and they instructed me to pull my truck up in front of one of the bay doors. I had left the lights on and as I was walking back to the truck, I noticed the "bad" one was indeed on. Go figure. I unhooked the trailer and drove the cab over to the shop anyway to have the guy take a peek. I needed to take my permit book inside the shop so they could update it with new pages for this year, so I didn't get a chance to see what the guy working on the light did, whether he replaced it anyway or just found a loose connection and corrected that. Either way, when my permit book was ready, so was my truck. I hooked my trailer back up and headed back out to the road. In and out within 30 minutes.
The rest of my work day was just monotonous driving, 4 more hours across Arkansas. I've stopped at the TA in this town, where I've stayed on a few previous occasions. I arrived here at 3:45 p.m. As soon as my break hits the 10-hour mark at 1:45 tomorrow morning, I'll need to get back underway in order to make it to my delivery in Fort Worth by my 6:00 appointment. I think I'll have just enough time to make it with a fuel stop in Texarkana en route. Boy, I'm really looking forward to those several hours of driving in deep darkness. NOT!
Anyway, I'll need to get to bed right quick now so I can catch a few hours of shut-eye before the beep-beep...beep-beep...beep-beep...beep-beep of my watch alarm annoys me out of slumber in the morning. (Morning? Heck, it'll still be the middle of the night.) Thanks for peeking in. Send me your questions and/or comments, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 487
Almost everything went as planned today. I got outta' bed at 5:15, showered and shaved, and returned to my truck to get rolling at 6:00. I turned it on, switched on all the lights, then hopped out to make sure they were all glowing. Nope, my passenger-side headlight was out. So I called the Breakdown Department at HQ to find out what they wanted me to do about it.
What we decided was for me just to stop at the West Memphis terminal on my way past there (since it was along my intended route for the day) and get the headlight replaced. I then waited 'til 7:00, for the skies to lighten a bit, before I hit the road. So I started out an hour behind schedule.
The driving went fine, and I reached West Memphis around 11:30. I checked in at the shop and they instructed me to pull my truck up in front of one of the bay doors. I had left the lights on and as I was walking back to the truck, I noticed the "bad" one was indeed on. Go figure. I unhooked the trailer and drove the cab over to the shop anyway to have the guy take a peek. I needed to take my permit book inside the shop so they could update it with new pages for this year, so I didn't get a chance to see what the guy working on the light did, whether he replaced it anyway or just found a loose connection and corrected that. Either way, when my permit book was ready, so was my truck. I hooked my trailer back up and headed back out to the road. In and out within 30 minutes.
The rest of my work day was just monotonous driving, 4 more hours across Arkansas. I've stopped at the TA in this town, where I've stayed on a few previous occasions. I arrived here at 3:45 p.m. As soon as my break hits the 10-hour mark at 1:45 tomorrow morning, I'll need to get back underway in order to make it to my delivery in Fort Worth by my 6:00 appointment. I think I'll have just enough time to make it with a fuel stop in Texarkana en route. Boy, I'm really looking forward to those several hours of driving in deep darkness. NOT!
Anyway, I'll need to get to bed right quick now so I can catch a few hours of shut-eye before the beep-beep...beep-beep...beep-beep...beep-beep of my watch alarm annoys me out of slumber in the morning. (Morning? Heck, it'll still be the middle of the night.) Thanks for peeking in. Send me your questions and/or comments, and keep on truckin'.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Short Saturday
DATELINE: MORTON'S GAP, KY, 9:00 p.m. CST
Miles Today: 258
Today turned out to be a short work day, though I hadn't intended that when I started out. Well, it was going to be shorter than usual because I only had 9 work hours available (of my DOT-mandated 70-hours-in-8-days limit). But I wound up working only 6-1/4 hours. Here's the story.
I started the day outside of Florence, KY, right about where southbound I-71 splits off from I-75, if you want to consult a road atlas for the particulars. I woke up at 7:30 (EST) and pretty much got going right away. About hour later I stopped in Pendleton, KY for breakfast at a McDonald's inside a Pilot Travel Center there. Then it was back to the road to complete my journey to my delivery in Evansville, IN.
The delivery was scheduled for noon (CST--the time zone line runs down the middle of IN), and I arrived just before 11:00. It was a drop-and-hook delivery, so I was done there within 30 minutes. I took my time leaving after hooking up my new trailer to see if my next assignment would come in quickly. You recall me mentioning in yesterday's update about the other USA driver who had picked up a load from the same place in NJ and was delivering to this same site in Evansville? I came across him at the delivery--he was leaving as I was entering the site. He said his next assignment already came in, and it was to pick up a load at a big company just up the road. So I guessed that my next assignment could be a pickup there, too. And I was right.
I made the short drive over to the company's warehouse, where the pickup was another drop-and-hook. (As I was driving up the road to the warehouse, the other USA driver was heading out from there.) That took me 15 minutes to complete, then another 15 minutes to plan my route to the delivery and complete some paperwork. This load is headed to Fort Worth, TX, and I have to get it there Monday morning. (I didn't find out if the other guy is headed to Ft. Worth or not.)
Actually, the load assignment gave the pickup date as 1/11/08 and the delivery date as 1/13/08. Well, since I got the assignment on the 12th, ain't no way I can get it there on the 13th (Sunday). So I conferred with dispatch, and they confirmed that delivering on Monday will be fine.
After leaving the pickup, I headed south from Evansville on Kentucky's Pennyrile Parkway. My route takes me down that Parkway and along another Parkway across western KY before dipping into TN. Then I cross over to I-55, which I'll take down to West Memphis, AR before heading across that state as I have done many times now. Anyway, I tell you that because it factors in why my work day was shorter than planned.
There are few truck stop options between Evansville and West Memphis along that route, and I didn't have enough hours to drive all the way to West Memphis. So I stopped at a Pilot in this town for the night. The hours I had available for today that I didn't use will carry into tomorrow, so I'll have 9-1/2 hours to get as far as I can towards Fort Worth. I expect I should be able to make it to Texarkana. From there I'll get up REAL early Monday morning to get to my destination for a planned 6:00 a.m. delivery.
Since I've been here (at the Pilot, arriving at 1:00, CST), I've had some lunch (a sandwich from the Subway they have here), did some online stuff, played a couple of freeroll poker tournaments with lousy results (completely card-dead the whole time), heated up a pre-packaged meal (noodles with peanut sauce) in my little oven for dinner, and now blogged. I think I'll be putting myself to bed pretty soon so I can get up and rolling early tomorrow.
Thanks for checking up on me. Drop me a line, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 258
Today turned out to be a short work day, though I hadn't intended that when I started out. Well, it was going to be shorter than usual because I only had 9 work hours available (of my DOT-mandated 70-hours-in-8-days limit). But I wound up working only 6-1/4 hours. Here's the story.
I started the day outside of Florence, KY, right about where southbound I-71 splits off from I-75, if you want to consult a road atlas for the particulars. I woke up at 7:30 (EST) and pretty much got going right away. About hour later I stopped in Pendleton, KY for breakfast at a McDonald's inside a Pilot Travel Center there. Then it was back to the road to complete my journey to my delivery in Evansville, IN.
The delivery was scheduled for noon (CST--the time zone line runs down the middle of IN), and I arrived just before 11:00. It was a drop-and-hook delivery, so I was done there within 30 minutes. I took my time leaving after hooking up my new trailer to see if my next assignment would come in quickly. You recall me mentioning in yesterday's update about the other USA driver who had picked up a load from the same place in NJ and was delivering to this same site in Evansville? I came across him at the delivery--he was leaving as I was entering the site. He said his next assignment already came in, and it was to pick up a load at a big company just up the road. So I guessed that my next assignment could be a pickup there, too. And I was right.
I made the short drive over to the company's warehouse, where the pickup was another drop-and-hook. (As I was driving up the road to the warehouse, the other USA driver was heading out from there.) That took me 15 minutes to complete, then another 15 minutes to plan my route to the delivery and complete some paperwork. This load is headed to Fort Worth, TX, and I have to get it there Monday morning. (I didn't find out if the other guy is headed to Ft. Worth or not.)
Actually, the load assignment gave the pickup date as 1/11/08 and the delivery date as 1/13/08. Well, since I got the assignment on the 12th, ain't no way I can get it there on the 13th (Sunday). So I conferred with dispatch, and they confirmed that delivering on Monday will be fine.
After leaving the pickup, I headed south from Evansville on Kentucky's Pennyrile Parkway. My route takes me down that Parkway and along another Parkway across western KY before dipping into TN. Then I cross over to I-55, which I'll take down to West Memphis, AR before heading across that state as I have done many times now. Anyway, I tell you that because it factors in why my work day was shorter than planned.
There are few truck stop options between Evansville and West Memphis along that route, and I didn't have enough hours to drive all the way to West Memphis. So I stopped at a Pilot in this town for the night. The hours I had available for today that I didn't use will carry into tomorrow, so I'll have 9-1/2 hours to get as far as I can towards Fort Worth. I expect I should be able to make it to Texarkana. From there I'll get up REAL early Monday morning to get to my destination for a planned 6:00 a.m. delivery.
Since I've been here (at the Pilot, arriving at 1:00, CST), I've had some lunch (a sandwich from the Subway they have here), did some online stuff, played a couple of freeroll poker tournaments with lousy results (completely card-dead the whole time), heated up a pre-packaged meal (noodles with peanut sauce) in my little oven for dinner, and now blogged. I think I'll be putting myself to bed pretty soon so I can get up and rolling early tomorrow.
Thanks for checking up on me. Drop me a line, and keep on truckin'.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Heading Back from the East
DATELINE: FLORENCE, KY, 8:00 p.m. EST
Miles Yesterday: 318
Miles Today: 522
My apologies for not posting last night. I had a long work day and was just too tired when I stopped for the night. So I'll tell you all about it today.
I slept in 'til the (relatively, for me) late hour of 7:00 a.m. yesterday, then took the time to stroll across the street for a leisurely (15 minute) breakfast at McDonald's. I took my time returning to my truck and getting ready to start my work day, and hit the road at 8:00.
'Twas an easy, 30-minute drive back to the company to which I was delivering in Newfield, MA. (Well, it was easy once I finally found a gap in the traffic in front of the truck stop big enough to allow me to make the left turn onto the busy street. It was rush hour and there was a stoplight maybe 20 yards to the right of the driveway I was making my way from.) I checked in at the customer, they assigned me a dock door right away, and I worked my way into it (small lot, had to have another truck pull up so I could get around him to my door, but not too bad). Then I had to wait. The crew at this place didn't seem to be in much of a hurry, and they had to unoad the other truck first...yadda, yadda, yadda...I was there for 3 hours.
Once they finally finished offloading their product, I hightailed it back to the truck stop from whence I had begun the day in Chicopee, MA. I had checked with my Fleet Manager during my wait and found out that they hadn't pre-planned my next pickup, so I knew I'd have a bit of a wait.
And that was a nearly 2-1/2-hour wait. At nearly 2:30 the assignment came in: drive down to North Bergen, NJ for a 5:30 p.m. pickup. Since that was about 150 miles away, and I'd have to cross Brooklyn (and the George Washington Bridge) and negotiate the NJ turnpike at rush hour, it was time to boogie.
As I was pulling out of my parking space and heading up the aisle to the exit lane, I noticed another USA truck heading out, too. Strangely, he headed along the same route I needed to follow. My truck's speed governor must be set just a little higher than his, and I eventually passed him along southbound I-91 in Connecticut, each of us giving the other a courteous wave when our windows aligned. I kept an eye on him in my mirrors, and he stayed in view for quite some time. Eventually though, I lost sight of him.
I arrived at the shipper at right about 5:30, puling up the street in front of the company. I was looking at a gate in front of me across the intersection (I was at a stop sign), pondering it and the big sign that read, "Please use our new entrance -->" (indicating up the road to the right), trying to determine which way to proceed. Fortunately, a security guy came over and instructed me. First I had to turn around and go to a lot down the street behind me to drop off my empty trailer (the assignment indicated that I would be picking up a pre-loaded one). Then I would bobtail back to the indicated new entrance, park on the street outside of it, walk in to the office trailer in the yard to check in and get the paperwork, walk back to my cab, then drive in to find my assigned trailer in the lot and hook up to it.
The empties lot was very large, but dirt and gravel and VERY un-smooth. Plus they'd had a lot of rain an/or melting snow, so all of the potholes were filled with dirty water. It made for a fun time. But I got the empty-drop completed and made my way over to check in. While I was waiting by the office, another USA driver walked up after parking behind my cab. Turns out it was the same guy with which I had left the Chicopee truck stop contiguously. AND we're both taking our new loads to the same place in Evansville, IN. I've made pickups before with other drivers headed to the same destination, but never after having left the same place to drive 150 miles to make the pickup. Pretty weird.
After completing the pickup, I had just enough hours left to drive to our terminal in Bethel, PA (including a few--30--minutes to stop for a quick dinner at a service plaza along the NJ Turnpike). Once in Bethel (I arrived at 9:45 p.m., 14 hours after I started my work day), I had just enough energy left to complete my driving log for the day, call the missus, go inside the building to brush my teeth, and return to my truck and hit the sack.
This morning I had another incidence of waking up way too early, unable to fall back asleep. Wish I knew what causes that. Anyway, today it happened around 4:30 a.m. GRRRR! And because of DOT regulations requiring a full 10-hour break, I couldn't just get up and hit the road. I'd have to wait 'til 7:45 for that. I considered hauling out my laptop, going online, and composing a blog entry, but I wanted to make it easy to try to get back to sleep if the impulse arose. I did some reading for a while, then turned out the lights and attempted sleep, but never did return to the land of nod.
Come 7:00 I finally got up, headed inside for some breakfast (a chicken salad sandwich and Diet Coke) from the vending machines, and got ready for the day, and at 7:45 was back to work. My main task for the day was just to drive as far as I could on my way to Evansville, but I had a couple other necessary stops to make en route.
First I had to get my truck weighed (the load's not heavy, but the trailer's tandem axles are set a bit more forward than usual, so I had to make sure none of the axes are carrying too much of the load). I took care of that at a TA about 30 miles down the road from Bethel, near Harrisburg (all the axles' weights were fine).
Next I needed fuel, so I hit the Flying J in Carlisle, PA, another 30-ish miles down the road for that. I also needed a shower and shave, so I took care of that while stopped at the "J", too.
Besides quick rest stops, I just drove for the next 7 hours 'til I reached Hebron, OH, just a bit east of, ugh, Columbus along I-70. I was getting a bit peckish by then, so I pulled into the TA there to eat at their Popeye's Chicken 'n Biscuits. This time I opted for their Chicken Deluxe sandwich (spicy) and a side of Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya. Tasty! Then it was back to the roads 'til I got to Jeffersonville, OH, a bit south of, ugh, Columbus along I-71. My fuel was getting low again, and the Flying J there is on USA Truck's fuel network, so it was time to hit the pumps.
Once more back to the highway, I continued to the Kentucky Welcome Center/Rest Area just south of Florence. I've been here a few times before and know it has a large truck parking lot and no infernal "No Overnight Parking" signs. (KY is trucker-friendly at its rest areas, unlike some other states.) I had enough time available to go a bit further, such as to a truck stop near Lousiville, but I was getting tired, so I decided to stop here for the night. With the sun down, rainy weather, and the road between here and Lousiville being quite hilly, it would not have been a good idea to push on through my fatigue. Besides, I don't have to make my delivery 'til noon tomorrow--CST no less--and I have less than 3 hours of driving left to Evansville, so I'm in good shape as far as my progress goes.
So now it's time to succumb to that fatigue and wrap this up and get to bed. Thanks for your loyal readership. Send me your comments and questions, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Yesterday: 318
Miles Today: 522
My apologies for not posting last night. I had a long work day and was just too tired when I stopped for the night. So I'll tell you all about it today.
I slept in 'til the (relatively, for me) late hour of 7:00 a.m. yesterday, then took the time to stroll across the street for a leisurely (15 minute) breakfast at McDonald's. I took my time returning to my truck and getting ready to start my work day, and hit the road at 8:00.
'Twas an easy, 30-minute drive back to the company to which I was delivering in Newfield, MA. (Well, it was easy once I finally found a gap in the traffic in front of the truck stop big enough to allow me to make the left turn onto the busy street. It was rush hour and there was a stoplight maybe 20 yards to the right of the driveway I was making my way from.) I checked in at the customer, they assigned me a dock door right away, and I worked my way into it (small lot, had to have another truck pull up so I could get around him to my door, but not too bad). Then I had to wait. The crew at this place didn't seem to be in much of a hurry, and they had to unoad the other truck first...yadda, yadda, yadda...I was there for 3 hours.
Once they finally finished offloading their product, I hightailed it back to the truck stop from whence I had begun the day in Chicopee, MA. I had checked with my Fleet Manager during my wait and found out that they hadn't pre-planned my next pickup, so I knew I'd have a bit of a wait.
And that was a nearly 2-1/2-hour wait. At nearly 2:30 the assignment came in: drive down to North Bergen, NJ for a 5:30 p.m. pickup. Since that was about 150 miles away, and I'd have to cross Brooklyn (and the George Washington Bridge) and negotiate the NJ turnpike at rush hour, it was time to boogie.
As I was pulling out of my parking space and heading up the aisle to the exit lane, I noticed another USA truck heading out, too. Strangely, he headed along the same route I needed to follow. My truck's speed governor must be set just a little higher than his, and I eventually passed him along southbound I-91 in Connecticut, each of us giving the other a courteous wave when our windows aligned. I kept an eye on him in my mirrors, and he stayed in view for quite some time. Eventually though, I lost sight of him.
I arrived at the shipper at right about 5:30, puling up the street in front of the company. I was looking at a gate in front of me across the intersection (I was at a stop sign), pondering it and the big sign that read, "Please use our new entrance -->" (indicating up the road to the right), trying to determine which way to proceed. Fortunately, a security guy came over and instructed me. First I had to turn around and go to a lot down the street behind me to drop off my empty trailer (the assignment indicated that I would be picking up a pre-loaded one). Then I would bobtail back to the indicated new entrance, park on the street outside of it, walk in to the office trailer in the yard to check in and get the paperwork, walk back to my cab, then drive in to find my assigned trailer in the lot and hook up to it.
The empties lot was very large, but dirt and gravel and VERY un-smooth. Plus they'd had a lot of rain an/or melting snow, so all of the potholes were filled with dirty water. It made for a fun time. But I got the empty-drop completed and made my way over to check in. While I was waiting by the office, another USA driver walked up after parking behind my cab. Turns out it was the same guy with which I had left the Chicopee truck stop contiguously. AND we're both taking our new loads to the same place in Evansville, IN. I've made pickups before with other drivers headed to the same destination, but never after having left the same place to drive 150 miles to make the pickup. Pretty weird.
After completing the pickup, I had just enough hours left to drive to our terminal in Bethel, PA (including a few--30--minutes to stop for a quick dinner at a service plaza along the NJ Turnpike). Once in Bethel (I arrived at 9:45 p.m., 14 hours after I started my work day), I had just enough energy left to complete my driving log for the day, call the missus, go inside the building to brush my teeth, and return to my truck and hit the sack.
This morning I had another incidence of waking up way too early, unable to fall back asleep. Wish I knew what causes that. Anyway, today it happened around 4:30 a.m. GRRRR! And because of DOT regulations requiring a full 10-hour break, I couldn't just get up and hit the road. I'd have to wait 'til 7:45 for that. I considered hauling out my laptop, going online, and composing a blog entry, but I wanted to make it easy to try to get back to sleep if the impulse arose. I did some reading for a while, then turned out the lights and attempted sleep, but never did return to the land of nod.
Come 7:00 I finally got up, headed inside for some breakfast (a chicken salad sandwich and Diet Coke) from the vending machines, and got ready for the day, and at 7:45 was back to work. My main task for the day was just to drive as far as I could on my way to Evansville, but I had a couple other necessary stops to make en route.
First I had to get my truck weighed (the load's not heavy, but the trailer's tandem axles are set a bit more forward than usual, so I had to make sure none of the axes are carrying too much of the load). I took care of that at a TA about 30 miles down the road from Bethel, near Harrisburg (all the axles' weights were fine).
Next I needed fuel, so I hit the Flying J in Carlisle, PA, another 30-ish miles down the road for that. I also needed a shower and shave, so I took care of that while stopped at the "J", too.
Besides quick rest stops, I just drove for the next 7 hours 'til I reached Hebron, OH, just a bit east of, ugh, Columbus along I-70. I was getting a bit peckish by then, so I pulled into the TA there to eat at their Popeye's Chicken 'n Biscuits. This time I opted for their Chicken Deluxe sandwich (spicy) and a side of Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya. Tasty! Then it was back to the roads 'til I got to Jeffersonville, OH, a bit south of, ugh, Columbus along I-71. My fuel was getting low again, and the Flying J there is on USA Truck's fuel network, so it was time to hit the pumps.
Once more back to the highway, I continued to the Kentucky Welcome Center/Rest Area just south of Florence. I've been here a few times before and know it has a large truck parking lot and no infernal "No Overnight Parking" signs. (KY is trucker-friendly at its rest areas, unlike some other states.) I had enough time available to go a bit further, such as to a truck stop near Lousiville, but I was getting tired, so I decided to stop here for the night. With the sun down, rainy weather, and the road between here and Lousiville being quite hilly, it would not have been a good idea to push on through my fatigue. Besides, I don't have to make my delivery 'til noon tomorrow--CST no less--and I have less than 3 hours of driving left to Evansville, so I'm in good shape as far as my progress goes.
So now it's time to succumb to that fatigue and wrap this up and get to bed. Thanks for your loyal readership. Send me your comments and questions, and keep on truckin'.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Mass. Mess
DATELINE: CHICOPEE, MA, 7:00 p.m. EST
Miles Today: 259
Something new today. As you recall, I was going to see if I could delivery my load today, one day early. So I made the drive over there (5 hours from Scranton, PA to the Springfield, MA area), got there when everybody was on lunch hour, waited 20 minutes for them to get back, then went to their Receiving Department. Unfortunately, this is a somewhat small company, so they couldn't squeeze me in today. (Grumble, grumble, grumble.) I'll have to come back tomorrow morning at my original appointment time. So that's the executive summary of my workday. Now let me fill in some details.
I slept in this morning 'til nearly 7:00 after staying up past midnight playing deep into a freeroll Hold 'Em tournament online. I was doing pretty well, staying out of the fray until I got good hands, played those aggressively, and was around the middle of the pack or above most of the time. Then it happened. We were nearing the money (in this tourney, only the top 27 places win small cash prizes, out of a starting field of 2700) and I found myself with pocket kings. Well, that's about as good as it gets, so I went all-in. Of course, the player to my immediate left calls my bet and turns over pocket aces, the only hand that's better than mine pre-flop. Naturally the hand plays out and I don't catch a long shot king to win, so he took the pot. Since I started the hand with more chips than he did, that didn't knock me out of the tournament. It did, however, pretty much cripple me, and I had to push not long after and got knocked out in 33rd place. Just the kind of night it had been for me at the tables. (In another tourney, I busted out when my pocket aces got beat by pocket tens that sucked out a third ten, and in another case I went all-in with ace-king only to run up against pocket aces. How come other peoples' pocket aces hold up but mine continually get busted? Either that or I don't get any action when I have 'em and can't get lots of chips from anyone else. But I digress.) Anyway, back to today.
It was raining when I got up, but the temperature hadn't dropped precipitously. After freshening up I hit the road. The route I had to take--I-84 and I-91--have lots of steep grades (mostly uphill, of course) and with my very heavy load (45,000+ pounds), I spent a good deal of time crawling along below 45 MPH. That's why it took 5 hours to go only 225-ish miles. That plus the stretches of highway in Connecticut's urban areas where the speed limit is 50 MPH.
I found the company easily enough (believe it or not, the directions provided to me were accurate!), although the roads to it got progressively narrower and windier. After checking in and getting rebuffed, I consulted my truck stop directory and found a listing for a large one not very far away. There are only 15 in this state listed in my directory, so I was happy to find that listing. I was expecting to have to hoof it back into CT. I made the 30-minute drive over here and easily found a good parking spot. This truck stop is an outlet of a national chain by the name of AMBEST (for "America's Best"). They have a 50's diner inside, so I had lunch there, indulging in a very 50's-era meal: a Fajita Chicken Salad. ;-) It was good, though. Since then I've been in my cab trying the tables some more. So far I've played in one multi-table tournament (and was totally card-dead in that one except for when I finally got a good hand and got knocked out by a great one) and 5 6-handed sit-n-gos. I won two of those and was, again, totally card-dead in the rest, getting knocked out early. So for the day I'm a little bit ahead. In just a few more minutes I'll try my hand again at the 7:40 p.m. freeroll tournament that I did so well in last night. Wish me luck.
Tomorrow I'll get up at 7:00, then head over to make my delivery as scheduled. After that, who know where they'll send me. Check back to find out. Thanks for looking in today. Drop me a line, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 259
Something new today. As you recall, I was going to see if I could delivery my load today, one day early. So I made the drive over there (5 hours from Scranton, PA to the Springfield, MA area), got there when everybody was on lunch hour, waited 20 minutes for them to get back, then went to their Receiving Department. Unfortunately, this is a somewhat small company, so they couldn't squeeze me in today. (Grumble, grumble, grumble.) I'll have to come back tomorrow morning at my original appointment time. So that's the executive summary of my workday. Now let me fill in some details.
I slept in this morning 'til nearly 7:00 after staying up past midnight playing deep into a freeroll Hold 'Em tournament online. I was doing pretty well, staying out of the fray until I got good hands, played those aggressively, and was around the middle of the pack or above most of the time. Then it happened. We were nearing the money (in this tourney, only the top 27 places win small cash prizes, out of a starting field of 2700) and I found myself with pocket kings. Well, that's about as good as it gets, so I went all-in. Of course, the player to my immediate left calls my bet and turns over pocket aces, the only hand that's better than mine pre-flop. Naturally the hand plays out and I don't catch a long shot king to win, so he took the pot. Since I started the hand with more chips than he did, that didn't knock me out of the tournament. It did, however, pretty much cripple me, and I had to push not long after and got knocked out in 33rd place. Just the kind of night it had been for me at the tables. (In another tourney, I busted out when my pocket aces got beat by pocket tens that sucked out a third ten, and in another case I went all-in with ace-king only to run up against pocket aces. How come other peoples' pocket aces hold up but mine continually get busted? Either that or I don't get any action when I have 'em and can't get lots of chips from anyone else. But I digress.) Anyway, back to today.
It was raining when I got up, but the temperature hadn't dropped precipitously. After freshening up I hit the road. The route I had to take--I-84 and I-91--have lots of steep grades (mostly uphill, of course) and with my very heavy load (45,000+ pounds), I spent a good deal of time crawling along below 45 MPH. That's why it took 5 hours to go only 225-ish miles. That plus the stretches of highway in Connecticut's urban areas where the speed limit is 50 MPH.
I found the company easily enough (believe it or not, the directions provided to me were accurate!), although the roads to it got progressively narrower and windier. After checking in and getting rebuffed, I consulted my truck stop directory and found a listing for a large one not very far away. There are only 15 in this state listed in my directory, so I was happy to find that listing. I was expecting to have to hoof it back into CT. I made the 30-minute drive over here and easily found a good parking spot. This truck stop is an outlet of a national chain by the name of AMBEST (for "America's Best"). They have a 50's diner inside, so I had lunch there, indulging in a very 50's-era meal: a Fajita Chicken Salad. ;-) It was good, though. Since then I've been in my cab trying the tables some more. So far I've played in one multi-table tournament (and was totally card-dead in that one except for when I finally got a good hand and got knocked out by a great one) and 5 6-handed sit-n-gos. I won two of those and was, again, totally card-dead in the rest, getting knocked out early. So for the day I'm a little bit ahead. In just a few more minutes I'll try my hand again at the 7:40 p.m. freeroll tournament that I did so well in last night. Wish me luck.
Tomorrow I'll get up at 7:00, then head over to make my delivery as scheduled. After that, who know where they'll send me. Check back to find out. Thanks for looking in today. Drop me a line, and keep on truckin'.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Loads of Fun on 81
DATELINE: SCRANTON, PA, 7:00 p.m. EST
Miles Today: 400
Just another leisurely, 400-mile drive today, along I-81 the whole way. And boy, was the weather ever gorgeous, too! Who'd ever thing I could be walking around in jeans and a T-shirt in January in Pennsylvania? Yowza! But that's gonna change real quick.
The weather forecast calls for a cold front to move in ("barrel in" sounds more accurate) after midnight tonight, bringing rain--possible thunderstorms--and high wind tomorrow. Good thing I get to drive through twisty mountain roads tomorrow, huh?
I have about 225 miles to go to my delivery, which is scheduled for Thursday morning. I've asked my Fleet Manager how early I can make the delivery since I can easily get there tomorrow. He checked with the company and word is they can try to fit me in tomorrow, depending on how busy they are. So I'll just go ahead and show up and hope for the best. I guess it's best I make tracks before the weather does get cold and these mountain highways get icy.
I've stopped for the night at a Petro Travel Center in the Scranton area. I arrived here at about 4:00 this afternoon after starting out from Roanoke at 7:00 a.m. or so. Along the way I stopped for lunch in Greencastle, PA, (at an Arby's across the street from a TA that provided the parking space) then for fuel and a shower at the Flying J in Carlisle, PA. Since the weather was so nice, I took the opportunity after arriving here in Scranton to take a good walk around the truck stop's big lot. I walked for 25 minutes or so, then headed into my truck once the sun was getting low and the air cooler.
So that was my day. I've already mentioned my plan for tomorrow. If that plan works out, I should have a new assignment and be headed somewhere else that I can tell--er, write--you all about in tomorrow's update. Thanks yet again for reading my drivel. Send me some of your own, ;-) and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 400
Just another leisurely, 400-mile drive today, along I-81 the whole way. And boy, was the weather ever gorgeous, too! Who'd ever thing I could be walking around in jeans and a T-shirt in January in Pennsylvania? Yowza! But that's gonna change real quick.
The weather forecast calls for a cold front to move in ("barrel in" sounds more accurate) after midnight tonight, bringing rain--possible thunderstorms--and high wind tomorrow. Good thing I get to drive through twisty mountain roads tomorrow, huh?
I have about 225 miles to go to my delivery, which is scheduled for Thursday morning. I've asked my Fleet Manager how early I can make the delivery since I can easily get there tomorrow. He checked with the company and word is they can try to fit me in tomorrow, depending on how busy they are. So I'll just go ahead and show up and hope for the best. I guess it's best I make tracks before the weather does get cold and these mountain highways get icy.
I've stopped for the night at a Petro Travel Center in the Scranton area. I arrived here at about 4:00 this afternoon after starting out from Roanoke at 7:00 a.m. or so. Along the way I stopped for lunch in Greencastle, PA, (at an Arby's across the street from a TA that provided the parking space) then for fuel and a shower at the Flying J in Carlisle, PA. Since the weather was so nice, I took the opportunity after arriving here in Scranton to take a good walk around the truck stop's big lot. I walked for 25 minutes or so, then headed into my truck once the sun was getting low and the air cooler.
So that was my day. I've already mentioned my plan for tomorrow. If that plan works out, I should have a new assignment and be headed somewhere else that I can tell--er, write--you all about in tomorrow's update. Thanks yet again for reading my drivel. Send me some of your own, ;-) and keep on truckin'.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Monday's Leg of the Long Trip
DATELINE: ROANOKE, VA, 6:45 p.m. EST
Miles Today: 505
Nothing much to report about today. I just drove and drove, only stopping in Knoxville, TN and Wytheville, VA for food and fuel. Well, add a couple other quick rest area stops and you have the tale of my day. Unless you also want to know that I woke up at 5:30 CST, walked to a nearby McDonald's for breakfast (they didn't have breakfast bagel sandwiches; I had to settle for a McSkillet Burrito and a Sausage Burrito instead), hit the road by 6:15, and arrived here at the company's terminal at 6:15 p.m. EST.
I haven't yet planned where I'll make my goal destination for tomorrow. No doubt it'll be somewhere in PA, but just how far across the state I don't know yet. Guess I'll play that by ear and let you know tomorrow night where I wind up.
I'm gonna wrap this up now so I can get some rest before the National Championship game comes on. I do believe I'll be pulling for LSU--at least they have a Michigan Man at the helm who can knock off the Buckeyes.
Thanks for taking a look today. Drop me a line, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 505
Nothing much to report about today. I just drove and drove, only stopping in Knoxville, TN and Wytheville, VA for food and fuel. Well, add a couple other quick rest area stops and you have the tale of my day. Unless you also want to know that I woke up at 5:30 CST, walked to a nearby McDonald's for breakfast (they didn't have breakfast bagel sandwiches; I had to settle for a McSkillet Burrito and a Sausage Burrito instead), hit the road by 6:15, and arrived here at the company's terminal at 6:15 p.m. EST.
I haven't yet planned where I'll make my goal destination for tomorrow. No doubt it'll be somewhere in PA, but just how far across the state I don't know yet. Guess I'll play that by ear and let you know tomorrow night where I wind up.
I'm gonna wrap this up now so I can get some rest before the National Championship game comes on. I do believe I'll be pulling for LSU--at least they have a Michigan Man at the helm who can knock off the Buckeyes.
Thanks for taking a look today. Drop me a line, and keep on truckin'.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Sunday Drivin'
DATELINE: HURRICANE MILLS, TN, 5:15 p.m. CST
Miles Today: 456
Hurricane Mills? In Tennessee? Go figure. Anyway, that's my resting pace for the night. I'm at a Pilot Travel Center with a nice, large parking lot. I also stopped early--45 minutes ago--so finding an easy-in parking space was no problem at all. My favorite way for such things to go. It's been mostly an easy day, except for a couple irritants early on.
I woke up and got outta' bed at about 5:15 this morning. (As you recall from yesterday's post, I was at the Flying J in Texarkana, AR.) I went inside for a shower and shave. After that I picked out a chicken burrito and bottle of Diet Coke from their cooler for my breakfast. My intent was to heat up the burrito in their microwave, but when I opened up the package (after paying for it, of course), I discovered a nice colony of blue mold growing on it. So much for that breakfast. So I got my money back and settled for some chocolate mini rice cakes that I have along with me in my truck for breakfast.
I ate some of the rice cakes as I made the 30-minute drive to my pickup in Ashdown, which is about 15 miles north of Texarkana (and the F.J. is 7 miles east of town). The pickup was a drop-and-hook at a company I've been to several times before. The loads we get there are heavy ones, and the company has its own truck scale on site so drivers can make sure their axles all comply with weight restrictions before they leave the site. I had to weigh twice--with a tandem axle adjustment between--to make sure my load was legal. However, since their scale just provides a readout on a sign--no printout--I wanted to use a scale at a truck stop to get printed documentation of that fact in case some state's weigh station scale found differently. So I swung back by the Texarkana Flying J (I had to backtrack that way to head toward the delivery in MA) to use their scale.
After fighting the insane traffic in their lot (it's rather smallish, tight, and many truckers park in places they shouldn't), I finally pulled onto the scale. Flying Js use a different system at their scales than other truck stops--instead of a speaker built into a sign by the driver's window, they have a phone on a post at the back that the driver has to get out of the cab to walk to. (The speaker or phone are for communicating with the fuel desk inside to give truck info and get confirmation that the weighing is complete.) When I reached this place's phone, I found the earpiece broken. Grrrr! So with no way to talk to the desk, I just blew that one off and headed up the road to the next truck stop.
That was another 39 miles up the road (I-30, BTW), a Love's truck stop in Prescott, AR. They have the speaker-in-the-sign system (which all CAT scales do) so I got my truck weighed successfully there. And my truck's axles all weighed in legally to boot! While there I also stopped in the truck stop's Hardee's and picked up a Loaded Breakfast Burrito. 'Bout time for some protein.
After that stop it was just drive, drive, drive. 'Cept for a quick fuel stop at the West Memphis terminal and a late lunch break in Jackson, TN at another Hardee's in a Love's. This time I had a Hawaiian Chicken sandwich and side salad. Tasty. Then it was one more hour of driving to my current location.
All told I drove for 8-1/2 hours today with another 1-1/2 hours of non-driving on-duty time. So 'twas a 10-hour work day for me. My plan for tomorrow is to drive to our Roanoke, VA terminal. I think I should have plenty of time to get that far, though I haven't plotted out the mileage yet. I know I have driven to Roanoke from another truck stop just a little further east of here in one day--my first time to the Roanoke facility and on a day that an ice storm moved in during the latter part of the drive.
Now to answer reader nancy r's query, "Do you listen to any news shows while you're on the road, or is it strictly Books on Tape? There's plenty of interesting things going on in the world lately, for good or bad. Are you keeping up?"
GRAMMAR POLICE CITATION FOR NANCY R: That should be, "There're plenty of interesting things...", not "there's". ;-) Pay your fine next time I'm home.
For the most part it is just audiobooks (some are on CD instead of tape). When I'm in range of NPR stations on weekends I'll listen in on some of my favorite shows (Car Talk, a couple of the humorous news quiz shows, Prairie Home Companion, etc.), but otherwise it's all recorded matter. So, no, I'm not keeping up with world and national events very well. I keep up mostly by headlines on Yahoo when I fire up my laptop and Internet Explorer (Yahoo's my default home page).
So that's how today went. Thanks for checking in, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 456
Hurricane Mills? In Tennessee? Go figure. Anyway, that's my resting pace for the night. I'm at a Pilot Travel Center with a nice, large parking lot. I also stopped early--45 minutes ago--so finding an easy-in parking space was no problem at all. My favorite way for such things to go. It's been mostly an easy day, except for a couple irritants early on.
I woke up and got outta' bed at about 5:15 this morning. (As you recall from yesterday's post, I was at the Flying J in Texarkana, AR.) I went inside for a shower and shave. After that I picked out a chicken burrito and bottle of Diet Coke from their cooler for my breakfast. My intent was to heat up the burrito in their microwave, but when I opened up the package (after paying for it, of course), I discovered a nice colony of blue mold growing on it. So much for that breakfast. So I got my money back and settled for some chocolate mini rice cakes that I have along with me in my truck for breakfast.
I ate some of the rice cakes as I made the 30-minute drive to my pickup in Ashdown, which is about 15 miles north of Texarkana (and the F.J. is 7 miles east of town). The pickup was a drop-and-hook at a company I've been to several times before. The loads we get there are heavy ones, and the company has its own truck scale on site so drivers can make sure their axles all comply with weight restrictions before they leave the site. I had to weigh twice--with a tandem axle adjustment between--to make sure my load was legal. However, since their scale just provides a readout on a sign--no printout--I wanted to use a scale at a truck stop to get printed documentation of that fact in case some state's weigh station scale found differently. So I swung back by the Texarkana Flying J (I had to backtrack that way to head toward the delivery in MA) to use their scale.
After fighting the insane traffic in their lot (it's rather smallish, tight, and many truckers park in places they shouldn't), I finally pulled onto the scale. Flying Js use a different system at their scales than other truck stops--instead of a speaker built into a sign by the driver's window, they have a phone on a post at the back that the driver has to get out of the cab to walk to. (The speaker or phone are for communicating with the fuel desk inside to give truck info and get confirmation that the weighing is complete.) When I reached this place's phone, I found the earpiece broken. Grrrr! So with no way to talk to the desk, I just blew that one off and headed up the road to the next truck stop.
That was another 39 miles up the road (I-30, BTW), a Love's truck stop in Prescott, AR. They have the speaker-in-the-sign system (which all CAT scales do) so I got my truck weighed successfully there. And my truck's axles all weighed in legally to boot! While there I also stopped in the truck stop's Hardee's and picked up a Loaded Breakfast Burrito. 'Bout time for some protein.
After that stop it was just drive, drive, drive. 'Cept for a quick fuel stop at the West Memphis terminal and a late lunch break in Jackson, TN at another Hardee's in a Love's. This time I had a Hawaiian Chicken sandwich and side salad. Tasty. Then it was one more hour of driving to my current location.
All told I drove for 8-1/2 hours today with another 1-1/2 hours of non-driving on-duty time. So 'twas a 10-hour work day for me. My plan for tomorrow is to drive to our Roanoke, VA terminal. I think I should have plenty of time to get that far, though I haven't plotted out the mileage yet. I know I have driven to Roanoke from another truck stop just a little further east of here in one day--my first time to the Roanoke facility and on a day that an ice storm moved in during the latter part of the drive.
Now to answer reader nancy r's query, "Do you listen to any news shows while you're on the road, or is it strictly Books on Tape? There's plenty of interesting things going on in the world lately, for good or bad. Are you keeping up?"
GRAMMAR POLICE CITATION FOR NANCY R: That should be, "There're plenty of interesting things...", not "there's". ;-) Pay your fine next time I'm home.
For the most part it is just audiobooks (some are on CD instead of tape). When I'm in range of NPR stations on weekends I'll listen in on some of my favorite shows (Car Talk, a couple of the humorous news quiz shows, Prairie Home Companion, etc.), but otherwise it's all recorded matter. So, no, I'm not keeping up with world and national events very well. I keep up mostly by headlines on Yahoo when I fire up my laptop and Internet Explorer (Yahoo's my default home page).
So that's how today went. Thanks for checking in, and keep on truckin'.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Arkansas Swing
DATELINE: TEXARKANA, AR, 4:15 p.m. CST
Miles Yesterday: 320
Miles Today: 333
I just finished up the second of a couple of short workdays, then tomorrow they'll get long again. Here's my story, and I'm sticking to it. ;-)
All I did yesterday, as far as this job is concerned, is drive from Effingham, IL to our West Memphis, AR terminal. Once at the terminal, after a quick bite for lunch, I checked in with the shop. I had called maintenance on my drive down to get an appointment with the shop to check on a couple of issues I'm having with my truck. My "Warn Engine" light is on most of the time (though not so much today, of course) and my cruise control has been working only intermittently, as I mentioned in my report a couple of days ago. So I wanted to have the shop check those things out.
They had me pull my cab over in front of the building, and one of the guys came out to take a look. He checked the error codes the engine had been sending to the diagnostic system, then checked with his boss, then reported back to me. The problems were nothing major (he never told me what they were) and that I should wait 'til my next regular service to get them addressed. In other words, they didn't want to be bothered with them just then. Sheesh! Just when I had a bit of time in my schedule for some work on the truck. So enough about that topic.
I spent the balance of the day (the shop discourse took place at about 2:00 p.m.) playing sit-n-go Texas Hold-em tournaments online. I played in 9 of 'em, with lesser results than I wanted. I took 2nd place in 4 of 'em (these were 6-handed games, and paid the top 2 places), 3rd and 4th place twice each, and a 5th place. I spent most of the time being card-dead, and when I wasn't, someone else was getting a bigger hand or sucking out on me. I'm not saying I played optimally every time I was in a hand, but I think for the most part I made the right decisions given the circumstances.
OK, I know this isn't my poker blog (see that at http://ziptochips.blogspot.com/), but I want to give y'all a taste of all of my life on the road. (Besides, ZipToChips will follow only my PokerStars escapades as I try to build a significant bankroll starting from nothing. Yesterday's travails were on Full Tilt Poker, where I've already whittled a small bankroll down a ways. So I won't include that story on that blog.) But back to the trucking job.
This morning I slept in a bit, although I was awake for an hour or more early in the morning--one of those wake up and can't get back to sleep episodes. I finally got up at 8:00, got myself ready for the workday, fueled up the truck and hit the road around 8:45. I just drove straight to my delivery in Pine Bluff, AR, a 3-hour tour--er, drive. (OK, I did stop for a rest room break at a small truck stop just at the exit where I needed to get off I-530 to get to the delivery anyway.) This was a new delivery experience. The company is in an industrial park, and nobody was there. My fleet manager had told me that it was a 24/7 drop-and-hook operation, so I knew I'd just be dropping my loaded trailer and grabbing an empty one. But we usually need someone to sign for the delivery. They had mailboxes along the side of the building, by the trailer yard (which was a small one) labelled, "Please sign and leave the white copy". So it seems their standard M.O. for drivers to handle the paperwork without human (the company's) intervention. So I backed the trailer into an empty slot and unhooked it, found the one empty USA Truck trailer and hooked up to it, and sent in my "empty call" message. That came right away again.
This time I'm headed for the town of Ashdown, AR, to a facility from which I've made pickups at least thrice before. At first the pickup was set for midnight tonight, but I messaged back to dispatch that I'd be a little late for that because I'd need a 10-hour break besides the 3-hour drive over there (it was 12:30 p.m. already). So dispatch has re-set the pickup time to noon tomorrow (Sunday). I presume the load will be ready any time after midnight, so I'll get up early in the morning (probably) and go get it.
I made the drive from Pine Bluff here to Texarkana, where I've parked at the Flying J. It's on USA's network fuel list, so I bought the requisite 50 gallons to earn a shower credit so I can clean up in the morning before starting work. The load I'm picking up tomorrow is bound for a town in Massachusetts, so I have a nice, leisurely 1500-mile drive coming up. Delivery isn't 'til Thursday (1/10) morning, so I'll have plenty of time for the drive. I'll see if I can deliver maybe a day early so I can get more paying miles, of which I need as many as I can get.
I'm feeling a new sensation in my truck today--or at least one I haven't felt for a little while--heat, without mechanical influence. It had been a grey, drizzly, cool day all day 'til I neared Texarkana. Then the sun broke through the clouds and started beating down on my cab. By the time I got here (3:45-ish), the temperature outside was probably in the 60s, and with the sun on the truck I've had to open my windows to keep from overheating as I compose this report. Now (5:00 p.m.) the sun's heading downward, so I expect it'll cool off soon. But it has been nice to be outside of the truck and not shivering for the first time in a few weeks.
So that's the what's-what for the past 2 days. Check back for tomorrow's report when I fill you in on how far I've gotten on the road to MA. Thanks for reading today's brilliant composition (right!), and send me some of your own. And, as ever, keep on truckin'.
Miles Yesterday: 320
Miles Today: 333
I just finished up the second of a couple of short workdays, then tomorrow they'll get long again. Here's my story, and I'm sticking to it. ;-)
All I did yesterday, as far as this job is concerned, is drive from Effingham, IL to our West Memphis, AR terminal. Once at the terminal, after a quick bite for lunch, I checked in with the shop. I had called maintenance on my drive down to get an appointment with the shop to check on a couple of issues I'm having with my truck. My "Warn Engine" light is on most of the time (though not so much today, of course) and my cruise control has been working only intermittently, as I mentioned in my report a couple of days ago. So I wanted to have the shop check those things out.
They had me pull my cab over in front of the building, and one of the guys came out to take a look. He checked the error codes the engine had been sending to the diagnostic system, then checked with his boss, then reported back to me. The problems were nothing major (he never told me what they were) and that I should wait 'til my next regular service to get them addressed. In other words, they didn't want to be bothered with them just then. Sheesh! Just when I had a bit of time in my schedule for some work on the truck. So enough about that topic.
I spent the balance of the day (the shop discourse took place at about 2:00 p.m.) playing sit-n-go Texas Hold-em tournaments online. I played in 9 of 'em, with lesser results than I wanted. I took 2nd place in 4 of 'em (these were 6-handed games, and paid the top 2 places), 3rd and 4th place twice each, and a 5th place. I spent most of the time being card-dead, and when I wasn't, someone else was getting a bigger hand or sucking out on me. I'm not saying I played optimally every time I was in a hand, but I think for the most part I made the right decisions given the circumstances.
OK, I know this isn't my poker blog (see that at http://ziptochips.blogspot.com/), but I want to give y'all a taste of all of my life on the road. (Besides, ZipToChips will follow only my PokerStars escapades as I try to build a significant bankroll starting from nothing. Yesterday's travails were on Full Tilt Poker, where I've already whittled a small bankroll down a ways. So I won't include that story on that blog.) But back to the trucking job.
This morning I slept in a bit, although I was awake for an hour or more early in the morning--one of those wake up and can't get back to sleep episodes. I finally got up at 8:00, got myself ready for the workday, fueled up the truck and hit the road around 8:45. I just drove straight to my delivery in Pine Bluff, AR, a 3-hour tour--er, drive. (OK, I did stop for a rest room break at a small truck stop just at the exit where I needed to get off I-530 to get to the delivery anyway.) This was a new delivery experience. The company is in an industrial park, and nobody was there. My fleet manager had told me that it was a 24/7 drop-and-hook operation, so I knew I'd just be dropping my loaded trailer and grabbing an empty one. But we usually need someone to sign for the delivery. They had mailboxes along the side of the building, by the trailer yard (which was a small one) labelled, "Please sign and leave the white copy". So it seems their standard M.O. for drivers to handle the paperwork without human (the company's) intervention. So I backed the trailer into an empty slot and unhooked it, found the one empty USA Truck trailer and hooked up to it, and sent in my "empty call" message. That came right away again.
This time I'm headed for the town of Ashdown, AR, to a facility from which I've made pickups at least thrice before. At first the pickup was set for midnight tonight, but I messaged back to dispatch that I'd be a little late for that because I'd need a 10-hour break besides the 3-hour drive over there (it was 12:30 p.m. already). So dispatch has re-set the pickup time to noon tomorrow (Sunday). I presume the load will be ready any time after midnight, so I'll get up early in the morning (probably) and go get it.
I made the drive from Pine Bluff here to Texarkana, where I've parked at the Flying J. It's on USA's network fuel list, so I bought the requisite 50 gallons to earn a shower credit so I can clean up in the morning before starting work. The load I'm picking up tomorrow is bound for a town in Massachusetts, so I have a nice, leisurely 1500-mile drive coming up. Delivery isn't 'til Thursday (1/10) morning, so I'll have plenty of time for the drive. I'll see if I can deliver maybe a day early so I can get more paying miles, of which I need as many as I can get.
I'm feeling a new sensation in my truck today--or at least one I haven't felt for a little while--heat, without mechanical influence. It had been a grey, drizzly, cool day all day 'til I neared Texarkana. Then the sun broke through the clouds and started beating down on my cab. By the time I got here (3:45-ish), the temperature outside was probably in the 60s, and with the sun on the truck I've had to open my windows to keep from overheating as I compose this report. Now (5:00 p.m.) the sun's heading downward, so I expect it'll cool off soon. But it has been nice to be outside of the truck and not shivering for the first time in a few weeks.
So that's the what's-what for the past 2 days. Check back for tomorrow's report when I fill you in on how far I've gotten on the road to MA. Thanks for reading today's brilliant composition (right!), and send me some of your own. And, as ever, keep on truckin'.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
A Day Among the Illini
DATELINE: EFFINGHAM, IL, 7:00 p.m. CST
Miles Today: 444
Another busy day, but not too bad. Just a 3-hour drive to my delivery this morning, an hour or less at the delivery, little-to-no wait for my next assignment, a 60-mile drive to the pickup (with a 1/2-hour break for lunch en route), in and out of the pickup in 45 minutes, then haul tail for the rest of the day.
As you recall from yesterday, my delivery was in Waukegan, IL, set for 9:00 a.m. CST. I started at 6:00 a.m. EST from Benton Harbor, MI and arrived just a bit after 8:00 CST, and they assigned me a dock door right away. 'Twas a live unload, so after backing to the door (which took a bit of maneuvering because of their lot layout and a big mound of snow), I waited in my cab while they unloaded the trailer. The process went pretty quickly--they even started right away--but I had time for a little light reading during my wait. After picking up my paperwork when they were done, I sent in my "empty call" message so dispatch would send me my next assignment.
While I was pulling my truck from the dock, then shutting the doors, the assignment came in. My next pickup was in Batavia, IL, just a bit west of Chicago along I-88. I headed right over that way, but stopped at the Lake Forest Oasis along I-94 for a quick bite to eat. Pickup was scheduled for 12:30 p.m., and it was only 9:45, so I had some time for a leisurely break. I took 30 minutes, then set back out.
I arrived at about 11:15, checked in, and got assigned a dock right away again. This was a smaller company, so I got prompt attention there. Loading took about 20 minutes (or less), during which I just waited inside the dock. Then I had to pull away from the door, secure the load with a couple of "load locks" (expanding bars that press against both side walls of the trailer), close up the trailer, and make my log entry for the pickup. So I was outta' there around noon, CST.
This load is headed for Pine Bluff, AR, a little ways southeast of Little Rock according to my atlas. I haven't been to that area of USA Truck's home state yet, so I'm interested in seeing it. I'm guessing it's just flatland like the rest of the eastern half of that state is. Anyway, delivery isn't 'til Saturday afternoon, so I have plenty of time to get there. I'm heading down I-57 from Chitown, down the length of the state. I've made it to Effingham today, and I'll head to our West Memphis, AR terminal tomorrow. I may even head over to Little Rock tomorrow after stopping by West Memphis so I'll have a shorter drive on Saturday before making the delivery, but we'll see. As for tonight, I've stopped yet again at the Flying J here. Across the street is a TA with a Popeye's Chicken inside, so I walked over there for dinner, as has become my custom here in E'ham. Love that Popeye's spicy fried chicken--yum! (I park at the FJ 'cuz they have a bigger, easier-to-negotiate lot.)
Now to answer reader jerry's query, "Umpteen years ago, truckers all had CB radios. Are they still in use?"
Yes indeed, CBs are the norm for trucksters. Many companies to which we deliver or from which we pick up loads use CBs at their sites to communicate with drivers to let them know:
a) to which dock door to proceed, and/or
b) when their load/unload is complete.
I don't have a CB (and I don't really want one), so I make do with my cell phone and/or just go inside the office. Not having one hasn't been a hardship at all. Many truckers who do have 'em just keep them off most of the time, anyway, because of the many yahoos out there who just love attention and have to broadcast insults to other drivers around them or other inane what-not. So I'm not missing that.
So that's today's report. Thanks for taking a look. I love getting comments and questions from y'all, so keep 'em coming. And, as ever, keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 444
Another busy day, but not too bad. Just a 3-hour drive to my delivery this morning, an hour or less at the delivery, little-to-no wait for my next assignment, a 60-mile drive to the pickup (with a 1/2-hour break for lunch en route), in and out of the pickup in 45 minutes, then haul tail for the rest of the day.
As you recall from yesterday, my delivery was in Waukegan, IL, set for 9:00 a.m. CST. I started at 6:00 a.m. EST from Benton Harbor, MI and arrived just a bit after 8:00 CST, and they assigned me a dock door right away. 'Twas a live unload, so after backing to the door (which took a bit of maneuvering because of their lot layout and a big mound of snow), I waited in my cab while they unloaded the trailer. The process went pretty quickly--they even started right away--but I had time for a little light reading during my wait. After picking up my paperwork when they were done, I sent in my "empty call" message so dispatch would send me my next assignment.
While I was pulling my truck from the dock, then shutting the doors, the assignment came in. My next pickup was in Batavia, IL, just a bit west of Chicago along I-88. I headed right over that way, but stopped at the Lake Forest Oasis along I-94 for a quick bite to eat. Pickup was scheduled for 12:30 p.m., and it was only 9:45, so I had some time for a leisurely break. I took 30 minutes, then set back out.
I arrived at about 11:15, checked in, and got assigned a dock right away again. This was a smaller company, so I got prompt attention there. Loading took about 20 minutes (or less), during which I just waited inside the dock. Then I had to pull away from the door, secure the load with a couple of "load locks" (expanding bars that press against both side walls of the trailer), close up the trailer, and make my log entry for the pickup. So I was outta' there around noon, CST.
This load is headed for Pine Bluff, AR, a little ways southeast of Little Rock according to my atlas. I haven't been to that area of USA Truck's home state yet, so I'm interested in seeing it. I'm guessing it's just flatland like the rest of the eastern half of that state is. Anyway, delivery isn't 'til Saturday afternoon, so I have plenty of time to get there. I'm heading down I-57 from Chitown, down the length of the state. I've made it to Effingham today, and I'll head to our West Memphis, AR terminal tomorrow. I may even head over to Little Rock tomorrow after stopping by West Memphis so I'll have a shorter drive on Saturday before making the delivery, but we'll see. As for tonight, I've stopped yet again at the Flying J here. Across the street is a TA with a Popeye's Chicken inside, so I walked over there for dinner, as has become my custom here in E'ham. Love that Popeye's spicy fried chicken--yum! (I park at the FJ 'cuz they have a bigger, easier-to-negotiate lot.)
Now to answer reader jerry's query, "Umpteen years ago, truckers all had CB radios. Are they still in use?"
Yes indeed, CBs are the norm for trucksters. Many companies to which we deliver or from which we pick up loads use CBs at their sites to communicate with drivers to let them know:
a) to which dock door to proceed, and/or
b) when their load/unload is complete.
I don't have a CB (and I don't really want one), so I make do with my cell phone and/or just go inside the office. Not having one hasn't been a hardship at all. Many truckers who do have 'em just keep them off most of the time, anyway, because of the many yahoos out there who just love attention and have to broadcast insults to other drivers around them or other inane what-not. So I'm not missing that.
So that's today's report. Thanks for taking a look. I love getting comments and questions from y'all, so keep 'em coming. And, as ever, keep on truckin'.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
2008 Begins With %$@#*& Challenges
DATELINE: BENTON HARBOR, MI, 7:15 p.m. EST
Miles Today: 351
First things first: How 'bout 'dat Capital One Bowl, eh? Way to go, BLUE! (But do you always have to make the games so exciting?) The Wolverines finally won a "sendoff" game. Thanks for the memories and the classy, honorable way you ran the program, Lloyd. Now, back to business.
As you can tell by today's dateline, I'm back on the job, back on the road. Mrs. R.T. drove me back to my truck this morning--many thanks, I think, to her for that. We arrived at around 6:30 a.m., then I had to wait--as usual--for my first load assignment of the year. That finally came in at nearly 10:00; drive up to Bay City for a pickup at a customer I've been to 3 or 4 times previously. That was fine, except the pickup time was 11:00 and I was over 100 miles away. Oh well, that's getting to be the norm. So off I went.
The drive up went fine, except I couldn't get my cruise control to engage (that happens frequently), so I had to use my accelerator foot the whole way. The pickup was a drop-and-hook, and almost went smoothly, too. It's been too long a day after a very short night of sleep, and I'm too tired to type out the whole explanation about what was "challenging". Suffice to say that sliding the tandem axles on the trailer I picked up should not have been as difficult as it was.
Once back on the road (this load is going to Waukegan, IL, north of Chicago, almost to the WI state line), my cruise control decided to work, so I could rest that lower right leg and keep it from cramping up. The traffic was fine, and the weather clear most of the way. However, as I neared the state's west coast, the clouds moved in and I drove into a lake-effect snowstorm, just as dusk was falling, too. I looked in my side mirrors and noticed that the running lights along the side of the trailer were not illuminated (I keep all my lights on all the time when I'm rolling), and neither were my dashboard lights. But my headlights, fortunately, were working. Being on the highway in the dark, in a snowstorm, with no lights on the trailer is a hazard for other drivers, so I had to find a place to pull off to address the problem.
Luckily there's a Flying J truck stop here in Benton Harbor, where I was nearing as I noticed the problem. I pulled off the highway, into the lot, parked, and called USA's Maintenance Department for assistance. The nice young man on the other end of the line talked me through checking the fuses (the panel's hidden behind the glove box), and I discovered that the ones for the running lights and dashboard lights had blown. Actually, they're more like circuit breakers than fuses, and all I had to do was re-set the little plastic buttons on the tops. So I once again have lighting. Woo-hoo!
I had planned to go just 18 miles further and stop at the TA in Sawyer, MI, but since I was already parked, it was snowing and dark, and I was tired, I just stayed here. I figure I have about 3 to 3-1/2 hours to drive tomorrow morning to reach my delivery by my 9:00 a.m. CST appointment, so with the time zone change I can get up and rolling by 6:00 EST and get there in plenty of time--so long as Chicagoland traffic is not any worse than it usually is.
So that's the scoop on my first work day of 2008. (Happy New Year, by the way.) Check back tomorrow when I report on how that delivery went and where I'll be headed next. Thanks for checking in, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 351
First things first: How 'bout 'dat Capital One Bowl, eh? Way to go, BLUE! (But do you always have to make the games so exciting?) The Wolverines finally won a "sendoff" game. Thanks for the memories and the classy, honorable way you ran the program, Lloyd. Now, back to business.
As you can tell by today's dateline, I'm back on the job, back on the road. Mrs. R.T. drove me back to my truck this morning--many thanks, I think, to her for that. We arrived at around 6:30 a.m., then I had to wait--as usual--for my first load assignment of the year. That finally came in at nearly 10:00; drive up to Bay City for a pickup at a customer I've been to 3 or 4 times previously. That was fine, except the pickup time was 11:00 and I was over 100 miles away. Oh well, that's getting to be the norm. So off I went.
The drive up went fine, except I couldn't get my cruise control to engage (that happens frequently), so I had to use my accelerator foot the whole way. The pickup was a drop-and-hook, and almost went smoothly, too. It's been too long a day after a very short night of sleep, and I'm too tired to type out the whole explanation about what was "challenging". Suffice to say that sliding the tandem axles on the trailer I picked up should not have been as difficult as it was.
Once back on the road (this load is going to Waukegan, IL, north of Chicago, almost to the WI state line), my cruise control decided to work, so I could rest that lower right leg and keep it from cramping up. The traffic was fine, and the weather clear most of the way. However, as I neared the state's west coast, the clouds moved in and I drove into a lake-effect snowstorm, just as dusk was falling, too. I looked in my side mirrors and noticed that the running lights along the side of the trailer were not illuminated (I keep all my lights on all the time when I'm rolling), and neither were my dashboard lights. But my headlights, fortunately, were working. Being on the highway in the dark, in a snowstorm, with no lights on the trailer is a hazard for other drivers, so I had to find a place to pull off to address the problem.
Luckily there's a Flying J truck stop here in Benton Harbor, where I was nearing as I noticed the problem. I pulled off the highway, into the lot, parked, and called USA's Maintenance Department for assistance. The nice young man on the other end of the line talked me through checking the fuses (the panel's hidden behind the glove box), and I discovered that the ones for the running lights and dashboard lights had blown. Actually, they're more like circuit breakers than fuses, and all I had to do was re-set the little plastic buttons on the tops. So I once again have lighting. Woo-hoo!
I had planned to go just 18 miles further and stop at the TA in Sawyer, MI, but since I was already parked, it was snowing and dark, and I was tired, I just stayed here. I figure I have about 3 to 3-1/2 hours to drive tomorrow morning to reach my delivery by my 9:00 a.m. CST appointment, so with the time zone change I can get up and rolling by 6:00 EST and get there in plenty of time--so long as Chicagoland traffic is not any worse than it usually is.
So that's the scoop on my first work day of 2008. (Happy New Year, by the way.) Check back tomorrow when I report on how that delivery went and where I'll be headed next. Thanks for checking in, and keep on truckin'.
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