In a Rut

DATELINE: REST AREA, MILE 152, SOUTHBOUND I-95, VA, 8:00 p.m.

Miles Today: 467

Another long, busy day. The "Rut" alluded to in today's headline is I-95, on which I seem to be trapped. But I'll get off of it tomorrow. Here's the scoop.

I started today by waking up at 4:45 so I could shower, shave, and run across the street to try the McSkillet Burrito with Steak at McDonald's for breakfast before I hit the road. (Burrito review: Nothing special--but what at McD's is? I prefer the Steak, Egg, & Cheese Bagel.) I got rolling at 6:00 on my way north on 95 to Westampton, NJ.

Actually, I did leave I-95 for a while; I had to take I-295 in NJ to get to my delivery. But 295 is a "spinoff" (using a TV term, not a driving term) of 95, and they run parallel and very close together for the stretch I was on 295, so I was still essentially on the "parent" road.

The delivery went fine, although I arrived during break time for the dock team and had to wait more than 30 minutes before they (one guy, actually) started unloading my trailer. At least for some of that wait I was taking my time backing to the dock door, so once I was docked it wasn't that long. I also had to wait on the dock during the unloading, so I couldn't sit in my truck and read, which I normally do during live loads/unloads.

Once the guy started unloading, it went quickly--less than 10 minutes. So all-in-all I was done there in just over an hour. (Well, plus a few more minutes to finish up my paperwork and close up the trailer doors after I got back to my truck.) Afterwards I headed a bit further up 295 to a rest area, and while on the way there my next assignment came in. So I didn't have a long wait for that. The assignment: Go to Linden, NJ (56 miles farther north on the NJ Turnpike, a.k.a. I-95, in he Newark area) and pick up a load bound for Louisburg, NC. And the route from Linden to Louisburg is, of course, mostly southbound I-95. But I'll come back to that.

First, I gotta tell you about the pickup. Actually, not much to tell about that, except that I arrived just after noon (the scheduled pickup time was 1:00), right during lunchtime for the dock team. Fortunately, one of the guys was around and at least let me know which dock to use, so I could spend some of my waiting time doing the backing-to-the-dock thing.

Lunch was done at 12:30, and again I had to "supervise" the loading on the dock instead of waiting in my cab. "Supervise" in this context meant just watching and verifying the count of the product loaded onto the trailer, not a big deal. But it also went quickly (20 pallets), and I was on my way before 1:00. Now I had to get as far as I could within the 6-1/2 hours I had left to drive today.

The mileage quoted in my load assignment is 435 miles from pickup to delivery. (Figure in about 10% more, for the likely actual milage.) Delivery is scheduled for 7:30 tomorrow (Friday) morning, and I set out at 1:00 p.m. I normally figure I can average 50 miles per hour when accounting for rest and fuel stops, so I was looking at roughly 9 or 10 hours to drive that far. Plus I'd have to fit in a 10-hour break somewhere. (Never mind added time for driving through the Baltimore and D.C. areas at rush hour.) So that's 20 hours, and I had 18-1/2 hours from the time I left 'til the scheduled delivery time. That math just doesn't work, so I'm gonna be just a tad late.

I stopped for the night at a trucks-only rest area here in northern VA at 7:00 tonight. So I'll get up in the morning in time to get back on the road at 5:00 as my requisite break hits the 10-hour mark. I'll be on I-95 'til I get just past Richmond, when I'll get to swing onto I-85 instead. Then I'll take that for a while 'til I have to take some state highways down to Louisburg.

So that's the story of my day. Oh, I did stop by the Jessup, MD TA again for old time's sake on the way back south. Well, I did need fuel, so I suppose that's really why I stopped there. I considered staying there for the 3rd consecutive night, but it was just too early; I still had another couple hours available to drive. Who knows? I may get the chance tomorrow night, the way things are going lately. Now let me move on to some reader questions.

Dennis the accompanist is wondering how many states I've visited in my trucking career so far. Well I counted 'em up tonight, and the answer is 30--plus one Canadian province. They are: ON, AL, AR, CT, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV, and WI.

And nancy r asks this two-parter: "Is the Washington DC area new for you? Where do you think you'd like to go that you haven't been to so far?"

I have had some trucking work in the DC area before, though not actually in the city. It's all been in MD. Plus, I have driven around the city on a couple other occasions on my way past to other destinations.

As for new places I'd like to go, a couple come to mind. Well, a few actually. I wouldn't mind heading across the northern tier of the western states over to Washington, and trips to Colorado, Utah, and Idaho would be cool. Of course, it'd be much better to do those trips in the summertime rather than this time of year, so I can wait.

That's all I can muster tonight; I gotta get to bed so I can get up early come the morning. Thanks for taking a peek inside my trucking life today. Comments and questions, please, and keep on truckin'.