Long Morning's Journeys Into Afternoon

DATELINE: BUFFALO, OH, 7:30 p.m. EST

Miles Yesterday: 541
Miles Today: 519

Time for another 2-day update. So I'll get right to it.

Yesterday I, as a matter of course these days, got up early and hit the road. I had a long drive--which I had estimated to be about 350 miles--to reach my scheduled delivery in Ogdensburg, NY. As it turns out, I checked my odometer when I was sitting in the dock after I got there: exactly 350 miles. How 'bout that? Anyway, 'twas an uneventful drive, save for the few minutes of snow squall as I trudged northward along I-81 (after a long eastward trudge on I-90). But the skies cleared up soon and let the sun shine for a while up in the north country. It took me just under 7 hours to make the trip.

The delivery/pickup went pretty quickly--an hour or so once I docked--considering they unloaded the trailer then put another load on. Getting into the dock was a bit of a chore, though. The space was kind of tight, downhill to the dock, and somewhat icy. At one point, as I was trying to pull forward to straighten up in front of the dock, I just spun my wheels on the ice. The combination of a very heavy load, an uphill climb, and the ice led to that situation. Fortunately, they had some sand to throw down under my tires, and we quickly resolved the problem.

That company's location also made the drive to it "interesting". It is down by the town's port (Ogdensburg is on the St. Lawrence Seaway), and the truck route there is down a narrow, residential street for mile or so, then a right turn onto a narrower street next to the port, and one more right turn onto another narrow street. That all leads to a final left turn into the company's lot, before the narrow, tight spaces moving around the main building to the dock. (Don't forget I had to go back through all that on the way out.) So that delivery kept me on my toes.

Once done there, I had about 4 hours left that I could drive for the day. I decided I had to take the most direct route to my next delivery in Caldwell, OH. That meant back down I-81 to westbound I-90 and spending the night somewhere in NY state. I made it as far as a Service Plaza near Rochester, about where I expected to. I had called my brother, who lives in that area with his family, the day before to see if I could impose on him to pick me up so I could spend the night at his house because of the no-idling laws in the state. That plan was fine with him and his wife, but wound up being unnecessary and less-than-practical.

The no-idling laws actually allow trucks to idle for a few minutes at a time (up to five minutes, I think). So my truck's auto-idle system could keep my cab warm enough by cycling on and off in response to the cab's thermostat readings. Also, I'd need to get up and rolling really early again in the morning, so it'd just be easier if I stayed with the truck. As much as it would have been great to see the relatives, it just wasn't practical this time around. Perhaps next time, and perhaps it won't be as long 'til I get another load passing through that part of NY state.

This morning I again had a long drive to an afternoon delivery. This time it took me 8 hours of driving (plus extra time for stops for fuel and to weigh the truck) to reach my destination. Most of the way was through snowy weather, though none heavy enough to make the roads hazardous. But as I got further south, close to Caldwell, the precipitation tapered off.

The company I was headed for this time was hidden back off of another narrow road off of a 2-lane state highway, and I missed it the first time by. I had to take the state road 9 miles before I could get back on I-77 (which, happily, it parallelled) and head back to the original exit. So that added about 20-30 minutes to my drive. But I found it the second time.

The unloading there was uneventful, save for another dock placed curiously enough (in relationship to the pavement in front of it) to make it difficult to line the truck up for a "clean" backing maneuver into it. But I overcame that difficulty and completed my mission.

Next up was a pickup just over the border into West Virigina, at a company I've been to once before. It was a short, 40-mile jaunt to the pickup, which was a drop-and-hook, in Willow Island, WV. The drive took about an hour, and the pickup about 45 minutes. I'll be taking this load to the Vandalia, OH terminal, because it's not due for delivery until Monday in Indiana. Dispatch will get me another load that will give me more paying miles over the weekend.

I ran out of available work time for today as I came back up I-77. I'm parked at a rest area along the highway, and I'll be getting to bed soon after I wrap up this report. I'll be getting up early again tomorrow so I can get to Vandalia and drop this load. Hopefully they'l have something else for me soon afterwards, but word is they don't have anything pre-planned for me yet. My Fleet Manager had called me while I was at my delivery today to see if I'd be able to take a load from Vandalia to Berwyck, PA (400+ miles) tomorrow, but it turns out that just won't work out for me. I still have 3 hours to go to get to Vandalia from here, and only 10-1/4 hours available for the whole day. So Berwyck's out. Somebody else will have to do that job.

So check back tomorrow to see where I'm headed next. I am due back at home next Friday, so this will be a "home stretch" week. I have a couple of short days coming up on Monday and Tuesday, unless I wind up with a 34-hour break before then to re-set my 70-hour counter. Thanks for reading today's report. Let me know what you want to know about this trucking life, and keep on truckin'.