Trading Texas Towns in Tennessee

DATELINE: NORTH LITTLE ROCK, AR, 6:30 p.m. CDT

Miles Today: 555

Well here I am, back in the Central time zone. I think I actually prefer working over here (as opposed to the Eastern zone) because, for the most part, the driving and docking are easier. Most of the roads and company sites are younger than those back east, so they generally are larger, making maneuvering a big rig with a 53-foot trailer much easier. Plus, the topography is so much different than I'm used to back home that it's more interesting to drive across. But I digress; let me move on to today's recap.

I slept in an hour later than usual--'til 5:15 instead of 4:15--this morning 'cuz I'd be heading into Central time within a couple hours of getting started. After a quick shower (2 days in a row now--what a joy!) I fueled up my truck and hit the road.

It was still dark and raining pretty steadily as I set out, but the rain eased up and dawn broke on my way to Nashville to drop off my load. The weather was cloudy, gloomy, and off-and-on-rainy throughout the day, though. I made it to Nashville and found the yard where I was to drop off my trailer easily (Mapquesting the place last night helped immeasurably). I was surprised that another driver was already there, waiting for it. That load's not due for delivery 'til Tuesday outside of Houston, so I figured Dispatch would let it sit for a day before assigning someone to pick it up. Oh well, what do I know? I'm just a driver. Anyway, back to what I do get to do.

I had to wait 30-45 minutes before my next assignment came in, and, as it turns out, I'm still going to Texas (Yee-Ha!). I was to make a pickup in Springfield, TN (a little ways north of Nashville) and take the load to Dallas for a noon delivery tomorrow (Sunday). Well, that's good 'cuz it's a bunch of miles real quick. And it's gonna' use up most of the rest of my 70-hours-in-8-days allotment, so I'll likely have a free day on Monday. Ya' know, I haven't been able to play any Poker online in over a month now. Wonder if I remember how. But that'll have to wait 'til I finish up my tax return first. But I've digressed again.

I made the pickup just fine, although it took a while for a drop-and-hook pickup. The company from which I picked up the load was busy (and they have a small lot, so I couldn't even get in the gate for 20-25 minutes after I arrived). Then they had to inspect the trailer I brought in (thankfully there had been 1 empty one at the yard where I dropped my first trailer of the day) and I had to sweep that out. At long last they told me which trailer I'd be taking and directed me around their building to their trailer yard. After that, I was outta' there pretty quick.

And after that, I just made tracks to get as far as I could within my hours for the day. And I've made it, as I expected, to the Petro Stopping Center (really, that's what they call it) here in North Little Rock. Dallas is another 5-1/2 hours or so from here, so to make a noon delivery tomorrow, I plan to get rolling by 6:00. Being Sunday morning, traffic shouldn't be very bad anywhere along the way. I'll give y'all a report on how it all goes tomorrow when I get parked for the night.

By the way, for your general edification, I've planned for this to be a 3-week tour of duty. I'll get home next--if all goes as planned--on Monday, April 14. So I'll be home for some weekdays for a change, instead of over a weekend. That's so I can get another 3-week tour in after that and be home for Measure for Measure's spring concert in May. So that's my plan for the next few weeks. Unless, of course, I hit it big in an online Poker tournament and can give all of this trucking glamour up. ;-) Hey, I can dream, can't I?

Thanks for reading up on me today. Send me a comment or query so I can read up on you, too, OK? And keep on truckin'.