Breaking the Silence

DATELINE: GARY, IN, 4:30 p.m. CST

Oops! I did it again...I let several days slip by without updating this blog with reports about my doings. Sorry 'bout dat. So I guess it's time I rectified the situation and brought y'all up-to-date. Here goes.

FRIDAY, 396 Miles
I started out the day early in the morning in northern Virginia, bound for an 8:00 a.m. delivery in Louisburg, North Carolina. That part--the drive down, the delivery, and the jaunt over to my next pickup--went just fine, no problems whatsoever. The delivery was a live-unload, but it went quickly. And I didn't have a long wait until my next assignment came in, which was to make a pickup in Wilson, NC at a company I've been to once before.

The pickup in Wilson was a drop-and-hook, and once I saw the ID number of the trailer I'd be picking up, I feared it may cause trouble. The number indicated that the trailer was older, and the older trailers generally present some "challenges". This one didn't disappoint: its tandem axle brakes would not hold the wheels in place to allow me to slide the tandems forward. (This company requires all trailer tandems slid all the way back as a safety issue when they load and unload them at the docks. So we drivers need to slide 'em when we drop off or pick up the trailers.) Instead, the wheels rolled along with the trailer. Grrrrrr!

I "fiddled" with trying to slide the darn things for about 30 minutes before I gave in and called the Breakdown Department for help. They directed me to a trailer sales and service shop a few miles down the road in Wilson. So I boogied on over there (overcoming some unclear directions on the way) to get some professional assistance.

After some more "fiddling" by a couple of the mechanics there, the second of which eventually made some adjustments to the brake mechanisms, we finally got the accursed tandems to slide up to where I needed them. (If I had just left them all the way back and gone on my merry way, the load's weight would not have been legally distributed among the truck's axles, and I likely would not have been happy at the first weigh station I came across.) After that, I was back on my merry way, but more than an hour behind schedule.

That load was headed for another facility of the same company, this one in Woodridge, IL, just a bit west of Chicago. Based on the miles I had to take the load and the hours I had available to do so, I knew I'd have to be just a bit late of the scheduled delivery at 10:00 Sunday night. I had enough hours to get close on Sunday, but not enough to get there and make the delivery (then high-tail it to a truck stop for the night). When I stopped for the night on Friday--which I did at a TA in Greensboro, NC--I let Dispatch know about my hours shortage. In consultation with them, it appeared that I'd drop the trailer at the Vandalia, OH terminal for another driver to pick up and complete the run.

SATURDAY, 464 Miles
Greensboro to Vandalia, back along major portions of the route I'd taken just a few days earlier, US 52, I-77, I-64, and US 35. That drive went just fine, too. I've complained about US-35 in WV, calling it my least favorite stretch of road because it's twisty and narrow. But you know, in the daylight it's not so bad. At nighttime it was scary, but with plenty of light to see the whole picture--the road ahead, oncoming traffic, the sides of the road--it really is OK. But I digress.

I reached Vandalia after 9 hours of driving, unhooked the trailer, and sent in my "Arrived at Final Stop" and "Empty Call" messages. Then I went inside the terminal for a while. When I returned to my truck, Dispatch had sent me a message asking why I had sent those messages; the load wasn't set up to drop there. Sheesh! These weekend Dispatchers!

I communicated back my reason--short on hours--and that I had let them know the previous night. They came back asking when I could make the delivery, and I told them I could get there around 1:00 Monday morning, after I got more hours back from the day that was dropping off the front end of my rolling 8-day work window. (Refresher: Truckers can work only 70 hours in any 8 consecutive days.) Then I heard nothing back from them. So I figured I was "still on the case", and went to bed so I could get up early in the morning, hook the trailer back up, and head to the Chicagoland area.

SUNDAY, 263 Miles
I had 5 hours available to work on Sunday, which was enough to get from Vandalia to a TA in Gary, IN. I woke up earlier than I had planned, but figured I'd just get the drive over with so I'd have plenty of time for a 10-hour break before heading out at midnight to the delivery. 'Twas another easy drive, but less than 30 minutes from reaching Gary, I heard my Qualcomm box sound 3 quick beeps, the sound it makes when a load assignment message comes in. Hmmm.

I reached the TA and parked, then checked my message. Sure enough, it was an assignment to pick up a loaded trailer in Vandalia. I replied back, "No can do. I'm in Gary 'cuz nobody confirmed that I was off the load." Hal let me know that yup, they had set up my current load for a swap at Vandalia and had assigned it to another driver, but they never let me know. Not my fault. So chalk another one up for the weeked crew in Dispatch.

After using up my 5 available work hours for Sunday, I'd only have 2-1/4 hours available to work on Monday, just enough time to run from Gary to the delivery site, make the delivery (I suspected it would be a drop-and-hook, but didn't know for sure), then find a place to spend the balance of Monday. So I figured I'd just stay up 'til I completed the delivery.

I went online and did some more of the poker thing, playing in a number of tournaments (the majority of them single-table sit-n-go's, but also some multi-table events) and one cash game. I played for quite a while, and boy did I have a bad day. I played pretty well for the most part, making the correct decisions most of the time (IMHO), getting fairly deep in the tourneys, but lady luck had other plans for me. She kept knocking me out just before I could reach the money (although I did rack up 2 second-place sit-n-go finishes), thereby taking my entry fees with her. I did come out 4 cents ahead in the cash game, however. Eventually I had had enough and decided a nap (and dinner--this TA has a Taco Bell) would be a good idea before hitting the road.

I hit the sack at around 10:00 p.m., planning to get up at 11:30. I don't know if I actually slept any, what with my poker frustration level being a bit elevated, but my alarm finally sounded and I got up to get back to work.

MONDAY (Today), 88 Miles
A short work day, but more frustrations. The drive over to deliver the load was another breeze, about 45 minutes or so--I tell ya' midnight Sunday/Monday is the time to be driving the highways around Chicago. I checked in with the guard at the gate, who informed me that it was indeed a drop-and-hook delivery, although I would open the trailer and back it to a dock door. Of course, this being the same company , I had to slide the tandems back again. And, naturally, they didn't want to. But this time I was able to wedge something beneath one of the tires and it held, so that didn't delay me much at all.

After docking and dropping, I drove around the back of the facility to look for an empty trailer in their empties lot. No USA trailers there. That was fine, it'd be easier to get into a truck stop at that time of the night with just a cab and no trailer. Then as I was heading back to the front gate, I saw a couple of USA empties by the fence. One was older, and one was newer. Guess which one I wanted. That's right, the newer one. So I hooked right up and got rolling...er, sliding.

One (or more, I never discovered the exact number) of the trailer's brakes was frozen, clamped down on the drum. Unlike the trailer I had just dropped off, this brake held the wheels fast, so it/they just slid along the pavement. (This was on the "passenger" side of the trailer; the driver's side wheels rolled fine. I could tell by the skid marks on the asphalt.) I thought moving might break them free, so I headed out the gate, which was right nearby. However, by the time I got there, it was evident they would not release, so I got permission from the guard to turn back around and come back into the lot to deal with the problem.

The street in front of the gate was too narrow to turn the truck around, so I had to head down the street to the next intersection--about 150 yards--to make the U, dragging the frozen wheels the whole way. Once back in the lot, I called Breakdown for some more help. Yadda, yadda, yadda, long story short (this post is getting lengthy), after a bit of waiting on hold--twice--and some useless banging at the brake drums with a hunk of metal, I wound up just swapping and taking the older trailer. Its wheels roll just fine, of course, and I had no problems sliding its tandems.

Anyway, while I was at that site, my next load assignment came in. It was the same one: Pick up a loaded trailer at Vandalia; destination: Flat Rock, MI. So I just headed back to Gary and the same TA. Because of the delay dealing with the trailers, I got here after some truckers who had been parked here had gotten
their work days started, so I easily found a spot to park my own rig. I was still a little wound up, and hungry, so I treated my frustrations to an early morning (4:15) dinner at the truck stop's sit-down restaurant. The Chicken Fajita Wrap sandwich and fries looked good, and they were nice and hot, which was a must. Did I mention that the temperatures were sub-zero all the time I was here yesterday and last night? (They have warmed up considerably today, into the high teens or twenties.) That made all that fun with the trailers so much more enjoyable. So hot food hit the spot.

After dinner it was finally time for some sleep, and I managed about 6 hours. Since them I've been online most of the time, checking e-mail, playing a little more poker (not as much, and not quite as bad as yesterday), and checking weather forecasts. Oh yeah, I did get a new load assignment this afternoon, so I won't get to swing by the old home state just yet. Tomorrow morning I need to traverse the length of the Hoosier state to go pick up a load in Grandview, IN. Pickup's set for 7:00 a.m., so I'll be getting up and rolling around midnight again to get there on time. Of course, a winter storm warning is in effect for this part of the country, so the going's going to be slow--if at all possible. I'll find out when I get up.

The load will be headed for 2 stops, the first in upstate New York (Ogdensbug is the town, if you want to look for it on a map) on Thursday afternoon, the second in southeastern Ohio (Caldwell) on Friday morning. Go figure why they're in that order. Oh well, lots more miles that way. My main concern, besides the weather and road conditions, is where I'll spend a couple of nights. New York state has no-idling laws for trucks, so I'll have to see if I can plan routes that get me in and out of that state to the delivery there within one day. Wish me luck with that.

This has taken me 2 hours to compose, and it's time for me to get to bed. Thanks for looking in, send me your comments and questions, and keep on truckin'.