DATELINE: MT. VERNON, TX, 4:15 p.m. CDT
Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? My dad-burn power setup for my laptop just refuses to work in my truck, and I haven't been able to figure out why. But tonight I'm at a Love's truck stop here along I-30, and they have a section of 8 restaurant booths for customers to eat meals purchased from their Subway or Chester's Chicken stands. Some of those booths have electrical outlets under the tables, and I've commandeered one of them to communicate with you, my loyal readers. (I hope I haven't lost any of y'all due to my silence the last few days.) Anyway, I have some catchin' up to do, so I'd better get to it.
Since my report last Friday night, I have been busy. As you recall from that last posting from Joplin, MO, I was on my way to deliver a load in Lake Orion, MI. On Saturday I made it to Gaston, IN, about 45 miles northeast of Indianapolis, and spent the night at another Petro. That one was smaller and didn't have any place for me to plug in my laptop and let y'all know how my day went. :-(
(By the way, I didn't bring my mileage log in with me tonight, so I don't have the numbers to let you know the distances I drove each day during my silent period.)
Sunday was a good day because I got to get some time at home! I got up early to make the 4-hour drive to the Dexter, MI TA, arriving there at 9:30 a.m. That gave me enough time to grab breakfast and a shower before Mrs. R.T. would finish up with Bible Class at church and come on down to pick me up. After she picked me up and hauled me home, I had enough time to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and get in a few hours of work in the yard. I made the inaugural lawn mowing of the year, bought and spread a dozen bags of mulch, and cut down last year's growth of our ornamental grasses. Much done, but there's still plenty to do. Sunday evening I got to sit in with my friends at Measure for Measure rehearsal and the weekly "afterglow" at a nearby watering hole, parts of my life I truly miss in this job.
Monday morning I set out at 7:00 to make the trek from Dexter to Lake Orion to make my delivery. I arrived about 30 minutes early, then determined why the appointment was set for 9:00--the dock staff was on break 'til 9:00. (It was a GM plant, so obviously a union shop.) Anyway, after waiting beyond 9:00 for direction, someone finally came along. Turns out it was a drop-and-hook delivery anyway, so they directed me to the drop yard and assigned me the number of the empty trailer to take with me.
The drop-and-hook action was simple, but when I walked around my assigned empty, which had its doors open, I noticed 2 holes in the ceiling, right in front of the doors. Long story short, I had to take the trailer to a shop in Romulus to get the holes patched. Surprisingly, the repairs didn't take long at all--less than 30 minutes. Then I boogied over to a nearby truck stop to wait for my next assignment.
That came fairly quickly, too: zip over to South Bend, IN to pick up a load bound for Glasgow, KY. Pickup time was 4:00 p.m., and delivery was scheduled for noon the next day (Tuesday). So it was time to hustle.
I got to the pickup right on time, then had a bit of a wait--about an hour--before they had an opening at their dock for me. The load went quickly then, and I started my trip south. I stopped for the night at a Pilot in Plymouth, IN, but that left a goodly trip the next morning to get to Glasgow on time. I couldn't take any more than the required 10 hour break before setting out Tuesday morning.
Tuesday morning's drive went fine, and I got to the delivery about 30 minutes early. This company assigned me a dock right away, but then I waited there. It was over an hour and a half before they even started unloading my trailer, but once they did, they had it done lickety-split. They had more than one forklift operator working on it. Once they were done and I had collected my signed paperwork, I lit out for my next wait and another truck stop.
This time I had to wait over 2 hours before my assignment came in. And once it did, it promised more mad-dashing for me. The pickup was in Springfield, TN, about an 85-mile drive away. The downside was that I only had 2 hours left in my 14-hour driving window for the day, so I had to make tracks to make the pickup and hightail it to a someplace to take refuge for the night.
Which I did. The pickup was another drop-and-hook, so it went quickly. I'd made a pickup at that company once before--just a few weeks ago, in fact--so I knew their drill. And the load I picked up yesterday is headed to the same place as the last load I picked up there--Dallas, TX. Anyway, after grabbing the new trailer, I made it to another Pilot, this one in Nashville. I only had to stretch my workday by 30 minutes.
But the delivery for this load is (was, but I'll get to that) scheduled for 11:00 p.m. tonight. Nashville to Dallas is, by my atlas, 660 miles. It would take perfect driving conditions to make it that far in 11 hours in a truck that can't surpass 63 MPH, but I set out early this morning to give it a shot. However, after hitting Memphis at rush hour, that possibility was gone. I sent in a message to Dispatch to let them know I'd not be able to make the delivery on time. (The place I'm going will be yet another drop-and-hook--like I mentioned, I've been there before--so getting there early would have been no problem if I could have made it in one shift.) Eventually I got word back that they had pushed back the delivery time, so I'll just get there when I can tomorrow.
So I stopped here at the Mt. Vernon Love's after driving 560+ miles today. I'll take my 10 hours, then get back rolling at around 2:00 tomorrow morning. I have just over 100 miles to go, so I'll get there while it's still good 'n dark. But, with the delivery site in town, at least I'll beat the city traffic. Then it's wait for another assignment, and back on the road and the same ol' same ol'. I do have some shorter work days coming up because of the distribution of hours along my rolling 8-day window, so I hope I can either find truck stops with places I can sit 'n work with my laptop plugged in, or figure out why the &%#$@ thing won't draw power in my truck. Either that or I'll have to resort to spending my free time trolling for "truck stop girls". ;-) (Humor for Mrs. R.T.'s benefit.)
Anyway, that should catch you up with my latest travels and travails. Thanks for your patience during my communication troubles; I hope I can solve them soon. Please send me some comments and questions, and keep on truckin'.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
Joplin, MO
DATELINE: JOPLIN, MO, 5:15 p.m. CDT
Miles Today: 323
I'm frustrated as all get-out today. It started yesterday afternoon. After I had blogged and taken a nap, I figured I'd finally get back to the online poker tables to work on that second income. I logged on and signed up for a free (well, it cost me a sum of Frequent Player Points, but no cash) single-table sit-n-go tournament, with the winner being awarded a free seat in a tournament later that night. The second tourney had some nice cash prizes, so I was a-hopin'.
Anyway, just as the sit-n-go started, I noticed that my laptop was running on battery power, not AC, even though I had the darn thing plugged in. (I have a power inverter that lets me plug the laptop into the truck's cigarette lighter-like outlets.) I tried jiggling the various connections, but never could establish the AC. So I had that stress and distraction bothering me as I played the tourney. I was in the lead for quite a while, after an early double-up with pocket aces, but the power situation kept me from paying as much attention to the action in the game as I needed to, and I'm sure I missed some opportunities to make some plays to increase my chip stack. As my battery power shrank, so did the quality of cards I was getting dealt, and eventually I blew out in 5th place. Grrrr. At least I didn't have to worry about qualifying for the big tournament, then not being able to compete because of a power outage.
So I stowed the offending unit, hopped out of the truck, and went walking around the area to burn off steam and calories. It was still fairly early, and it just frustrates me that just when I finally do have some free time for pokering, I run into this problem. But I'll come back to that topic down below. Let me tell you 'bout my work day today.
With my pickup scheduled for 8:00 a.m. at a company just 17 miles up the road (in Ardmore, OK) from where I was (Marietta, OK), I had my alarm set for 6:30. Of course, I woke up before 4:30. So I sat and read, and heated up some grub for an early breakfast. Eventually, 7:00 rolled around, and I headed out to go get today's load. I've made a pickup at that company once before, so I knew the drill there. It was a drop-and-hook pickup, so I was done there before I was even supposed to arrive.
When I was done making the pickup, I had only 5-1/2 hours left available to work today, so I could take my time, make a nice long stop for fuel, a shower, shave, and lunch, and still finish up good 'n early. By my calculations, I'd have just enough time to make the mileage to Joplin, MO. So I made that stop at the Flying J in Oklahoma City, then continued on eastward over here to Joplin, making it just as I reached the end of my available hours. I'm parked at a Petro Stopping Center for the night.
Since I wasn't sure if the power problem with my laptop was due to the power inverter, the power cord (which I'd just gotten to replace the original), or the laptop itself, I took it inside to see if plugging it into a wall socket would work. Lo and behold, it did! I got the AC power/charging icon in the status bar at the bottom instead of the battery power icon, so that pointed to the inverter as the culprit. I couldn't find any inverters in the Petro store, so I walked over to the Pilot just down the street and bought one there.
Back in my truck with laptop and new inverter in hand, I set up my "workstation". Now, 'splain this to me: I had everything plugged in, and the new inverter's green indicator light was glowing, but the laptop wasn't getting AC power. What up with that? Unfortunately, I don't have any other appliances with standard plugs with me in the truck, so I can't test the inverter with them. Besides, the one I bought was the last one on the rack at the Pilot, so I can't just run over and exchange it for one that might work. So again, I have copious time to kill, and my main source of entertainment is unavailable. AAAAARGH! I may have to resort to sitting in the Petro's theater, watching whatever movie(s) they're showing tonight.
I brought the laptop back inside to connect up and file this report. I'm in their public phone room, which has counters and chairs around 3 walls, phones along 2 of those, and windows on the third (the door into the room is in the 4th wall). So it's not a place I want to spend a lot of time, since it's not a no-smoking area, and the chairs are just wood, no cushions. While I've been composing this, my battery has been recharging, so if I can't find a place where I can plug in tomorrow, at least I'll (probably) have enough battery power to file a report. This is also notice that if I miss posting updates some days, you'll know why--or at least have reason to suspect why.
Anyway, I'm on my way to Lake Orion, MI (just a bit north of the Palace of Auburn Hills) to deliver this load on Monday morning. Tomorrow I'll have 10-3/4 hours available to drive, so I expect to make it to the Indianapolis area. I'm sure I'll get up and rolling early again, since that's my preferred work schedule. I'll also get back on the road early on Sunday (when I'll have 12 hours available) so I can get to that TA near my hometown good 'n early and have some time to see Mrs. R.T. and any other family members that would deem me worthy to be in their company.
So that's my story for today. Thanks for taking a peek, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 323
I'm frustrated as all get-out today. It started yesterday afternoon. After I had blogged and taken a nap, I figured I'd finally get back to the online poker tables to work on that second income. I logged on and signed up for a free (well, it cost me a sum of Frequent Player Points, but no cash) single-table sit-n-go tournament, with the winner being awarded a free seat in a tournament later that night. The second tourney had some nice cash prizes, so I was a-hopin'.
Anyway, just as the sit-n-go started, I noticed that my laptop was running on battery power, not AC, even though I had the darn thing plugged in. (I have a power inverter that lets me plug the laptop into the truck's cigarette lighter-like outlets.) I tried jiggling the various connections, but never could establish the AC. So I had that stress and distraction bothering me as I played the tourney. I was in the lead for quite a while, after an early double-up with pocket aces, but the power situation kept me from paying as much attention to the action in the game as I needed to, and I'm sure I missed some opportunities to make some plays to increase my chip stack. As my battery power shrank, so did the quality of cards I was getting dealt, and eventually I blew out in 5th place. Grrrr. At least I didn't have to worry about qualifying for the big tournament, then not being able to compete because of a power outage.
So I stowed the offending unit, hopped out of the truck, and went walking around the area to burn off steam and calories. It was still fairly early, and it just frustrates me that just when I finally do have some free time for pokering, I run into this problem. But I'll come back to that topic down below. Let me tell you 'bout my work day today.
With my pickup scheduled for 8:00 a.m. at a company just 17 miles up the road (in Ardmore, OK) from where I was (Marietta, OK), I had my alarm set for 6:30. Of course, I woke up before 4:30. So I sat and read, and heated up some grub for an early breakfast. Eventually, 7:00 rolled around, and I headed out to go get today's load. I've made a pickup at that company once before, so I knew the drill there. It was a drop-and-hook pickup, so I was done there before I was even supposed to arrive.
When I was done making the pickup, I had only 5-1/2 hours left available to work today, so I could take my time, make a nice long stop for fuel, a shower, shave, and lunch, and still finish up good 'n early. By my calculations, I'd have just enough time to make the mileage to Joplin, MO. So I made that stop at the Flying J in Oklahoma City, then continued on eastward over here to Joplin, making it just as I reached the end of my available hours. I'm parked at a Petro Stopping Center for the night.
Since I wasn't sure if the power problem with my laptop was due to the power inverter, the power cord (which I'd just gotten to replace the original), or the laptop itself, I took it inside to see if plugging it into a wall socket would work. Lo and behold, it did! I got the AC power/charging icon in the status bar at the bottom instead of the battery power icon, so that pointed to the inverter as the culprit. I couldn't find any inverters in the Petro store, so I walked over to the Pilot just down the street and bought one there.
Back in my truck with laptop and new inverter in hand, I set up my "workstation". Now, 'splain this to me: I had everything plugged in, and the new inverter's green indicator light was glowing, but the laptop wasn't getting AC power. What up with that? Unfortunately, I don't have any other appliances with standard plugs with me in the truck, so I can't test the inverter with them. Besides, the one I bought was the last one on the rack at the Pilot, so I can't just run over and exchange it for one that might work. So again, I have copious time to kill, and my main source of entertainment is unavailable. AAAAARGH! I may have to resort to sitting in the Petro's theater, watching whatever movie(s) they're showing tonight.
I brought the laptop back inside to connect up and file this report. I'm in their public phone room, which has counters and chairs around 3 walls, phones along 2 of those, and windows on the third (the door into the room is in the 4th wall). So it's not a place I want to spend a lot of time, since it's not a no-smoking area, and the chairs are just wood, no cushions. While I've been composing this, my battery has been recharging, so if I can't find a place where I can plug in tomorrow, at least I'll (probably) have enough battery power to file a report. This is also notice that if I miss posting updates some days, you'll know why--or at least have reason to suspect why.
Anyway, I'm on my way to Lake Orion, MI (just a bit north of the Palace of Auburn Hills) to deliver this load on Monday morning. Tomorrow I'll have 10-3/4 hours available to drive, so I expect to make it to the Indianapolis area. I'm sure I'll get up and rolling early again, since that's my preferred work schedule. I'll also get back on the road early on Sunday (when I'll have 12 hours available) so I can get to that TA near my hometown good 'n early and have some time to see Mrs. R.T. and any other family members that would deem me worthy to be in their company.
So that's my story for today. Thanks for taking a peek, and keep on truckin'.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Marietta, OK
DATELINE: MARIETTA, OK, 8:45 a.m. CDT
Miles Today: 403
You read it right, the timestamp above IS in the a.m., and I've already driven 403 miles and made my delivery. And I get to blog now because I used up my available hours just to get to and make the delivery, so now I get to sit (and S-L-E-E-E-E-E-P) for the rest of the day. With my luck, Dispatch'll assign my next load so that I'll have to hit the road at midnight again, just when I get tomorrow's ration of hours from the 70 allowed in any consecutive 8-days. Tomorrow's ration will just be 6-1/2 hours, but I'll get back double-digit hours each of the following 3 days.
Anyway, I did head out this morning just after midnight so I could cover the distance and make my 8:00 delivery appointment. 'Twas a long, dark drive with very light traffic (the bonus for night driving) 'til I hit Dallas just at the very early part of the build-up to rush hour. But that wasn't too bad at all either, as the traffic kept flowing with nary a slowdown. I never did get any more sleep after posting last night's report, so fatigue was an issue during the drive. I'm reporting to you now instead of heading right to bed because I popped a couple of caffeine pills en route, so I'm bodily tired but still a bit overstimulated to be able to drift off. But that will pass soon and I'm sure I'll crash hard through the entrance to dreamland.
One treat about today's drive: along my route, in Van, TX is a Love's truck stop with a Carl's Jr. I just about always stop there when heading that-a-way, and this morning I could get one of my favorite breakfast items, their Steak & Egg Burrito. Yum! I've raved about 'em before, and they're one thing that makes me look forward to trips to the Lone Star State. And, theoretically, I could even have another one this morning. I'm at a small truck stop just across the highway from my delivery site (how convenient), and across the street is a stand-alone Carl's Jr. Being that we're still in the breakfast hours...
But discretion is the better part of weight loss (or the avoidance of significant weight gain), so I'm staying away for now. But I may head over there for lunch/dinner--depending on when I wake up after my dreamland crash--for one of their Tex-Mex charbroiled chicken sandwiches, which I also do adore.
Well, I'm finally feeling the fatigue (a.k.a. "drowsiness") settling in behind my eyes, and I've covered everything I need to about my work day. And I have no new reader comments or questions to which to respond, so it's time to sign off and get horizontal. Thanks for checking up on me today (be sure to read last night's post, just below this one, if you haven't yet), and keep on truckin'.
UPDATE, 3:00 p.m. CDT
I have my next assignment now. I'll be picking up a load in Ardmore, OK, 17 miles up the highway (I-35) from here, tomorrow morning by 8:00. That load is bound for Lake Orion, MI, with delivery scheduled for Monday morning, so it looks like I'll be able to stop by my "home truck stop" for Sunday night. Consider this fair warning to my family and Measure for Measure guys that you may be seeing me then. ;-)
Miles Today: 403
You read it right, the timestamp above IS in the a.m., and I've already driven 403 miles and made my delivery. And I get to blog now because I used up my available hours just to get to and make the delivery, so now I get to sit (and S-L-E-E-E-E-E-P) for the rest of the day. With my luck, Dispatch'll assign my next load so that I'll have to hit the road at midnight again, just when I get tomorrow's ration of hours from the 70 allowed in any consecutive 8-days. Tomorrow's ration will just be 6-1/2 hours, but I'll get back double-digit hours each of the following 3 days.
Anyway, I did head out this morning just after midnight so I could cover the distance and make my 8:00 delivery appointment. 'Twas a long, dark drive with very light traffic (the bonus for night driving) 'til I hit Dallas just at the very early part of the build-up to rush hour. But that wasn't too bad at all either, as the traffic kept flowing with nary a slowdown. I never did get any more sleep after posting last night's report, so fatigue was an issue during the drive. I'm reporting to you now instead of heading right to bed because I popped a couple of caffeine pills en route, so I'm bodily tired but still a bit overstimulated to be able to drift off. But that will pass soon and I'm sure I'll crash hard through the entrance to dreamland.
One treat about today's drive: along my route, in Van, TX is a Love's truck stop with a Carl's Jr. I just about always stop there when heading that-a-way, and this morning I could get one of my favorite breakfast items, their Steak & Egg Burrito. Yum! I've raved about 'em before, and they're one thing that makes me look forward to trips to the Lone Star State. And, theoretically, I could even have another one this morning. I'm at a small truck stop just across the highway from my delivery site (how convenient), and across the street is a stand-alone Carl's Jr. Being that we're still in the breakfast hours...
But discretion is the better part of weight loss (or the avoidance of significant weight gain), so I'm staying away for now. But I may head over there for lunch/dinner--depending on when I wake up after my dreamland crash--for one of their Tex-Mex charbroiled chicken sandwiches, which I also do adore.
Well, I'm finally feeling the fatigue (a.k.a. "drowsiness") settling in behind my eyes, and I've covered everything I need to about my work day. And I have no new reader comments or questions to which to respond, so it's time to sign off and get horizontal. Thanks for checking up on me today (be sure to read last night's post, just below this one, if you haven't yet), and keep on truckin'.
UPDATE, 3:00 p.m. CDT
I have my next assignment now. I'll be picking up a load in Ardmore, OK, 17 miles up the highway (I-35) from here, tomorrow morning by 8:00. That load is bound for Lake Orion, MI, with delivery scheduled for Monday morning, so it looks like I'll be able to stop by my "home truck stop" for Sunday night. Consider this fair warning to my family and Measure for Measure guys that you may be seeing me then. ;-)
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Rayville, LA
DATELINE: RAYVILLE, LA, 7:15 p.m. CDT
Miles Today: 411
Nothing much exciting about today's activities, as my whole drive was over familiar roads (I-85 west to Montgomery, US-80 west into MS, I-20 west the rest of the day). I only had 7-3/4 hours available to work, so that limited the distance I could cover. But we knew that going into the day. The going was good, though, and I made about as many miles as I could have hoped. I did make a stop for an hour en route at the Flying J outside of Jackson, MS for lunch (a slice of their Hawaiian pizza) and a shower and shave, so at least I'm presentable again. Before that I also made a pit stop at the MS rest area where about a year ago I had my celebrity sighting (Ed Begley Jr.), but no celebs this time.
I've encamped for the night at a Pilot Travel Center here in Rayville, where I've spent the night once before. (By the way, I've decided to start using the cities where I stop each night as the title of each day's update. That way I don't have to keep trying to come up with unique, clever titles every day, and it can give y'all a quick view of my travels in the list of updates over to the right there.) I got here around 1:00 CDT and pulled down my laptop to blog away. But at that time I couldn't get a 'net connection, so that idea was hosed. I was quite tired then, due to a bad night's sleep. (I had taken a nap of a couple hours' duration after writing yesterday's update, then woke up for dinner. Afterwards, I just could not fall back asleep for quite a while, 'til after midnight. So I wound up with just around 4 hours of sleep for the night, not counting the nap.) So I hit the sack for another nap this afternoon.
I woke up around 5:20 p.m., feeling like I'd been asleep for much longer. Not that I was that much refreshed, but it just seemed like longer. But I was ready for some dinner and got outta' bed. There's a stand-alone Popeye's outlet down the road, so I hoofed on over there for a chicken dinner. It is warm and humid down here, but some cloud cover had rolled in, so I wasn't walking with the sun beating down on me at least. After dinner and my walk back, I continued to the strip mall next door to get some more walkin' exercise.
Back in my truck, I was happy to see that this time I could get connected to the 'net, so I could enlighten you with my brilliant prose. Now let me move on and answer reader questions from dennis the accompanist and jim.
Dennis asks, "I know trucking is partly regulated by the feds, and partly by the states. How much do things vary from state to state? Such as speed limits, weight limits on trucks, roads you're not allowed to drive on, etc."
Most states pretty much follow the same guidelines in terms of weight limits and lengths of trucks allowed, but there are variances. Speed limits also vary, but only OH and IL limit trucks to 55 MPH on the interstates statewide (except on the OH turnpike) while cars' speed limits are higher. So I hate having to drive through those 2 states. Pick up (or go browse through) a copy of Rand McNally's "Motor Carriers' Road Atlas". In the front sections are state-by-state regulations and restrictions, as well as lists of low-clearance locations, weigh stations, and restricted routes. That'll give you an idea of what we truckers need to consider when planning trips. There's far too much there for me to describe it all for you here.
Jim's query: "How do you do all of your navigation? A GPS? On-line mapping? Directions from the trucking firm?"
For each location to which we're routed, the company sends us written directions to the site. I suspect that the text is supplied by someone at the company in question, as there's no consistency in the form--or quality--of the directions. I consult my Road Atlas for the highway routing between points A and B, and go online to use MapQuest.com to get a pictorial (and satellite photo) view of the street layouts around the sites. (Unfortunately, I sometimes rely on the provided directions and neglect to verify them on MapQuest. Those are invariably the times when one small unexpected detail escapes those given directions and I wind up somewhere else. So I'm trying to remind myself to MapQuest every time--unless I'm going to a location to which I've been before, such as tomorrow's delivery.)
So now it's time (8:20 p.m.) to wrap up and try to sneak in another nap before I need to get rolling again. In order to get to my delivery on time (8:00 a.m.), I'll need to hit the road at around midnight. I'll have just enough hours available to get to the Marietta, OK site to make the delivery, then zip over to the nearby truck stop to sit out the rest of the day. I'll get 6-1/2 hours back for Friday, so that'll be another short day. Thanks for your interest today, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 411
Nothing much exciting about today's activities, as my whole drive was over familiar roads (I-85 west to Montgomery, US-80 west into MS, I-20 west the rest of the day). I only had 7-3/4 hours available to work, so that limited the distance I could cover. But we knew that going into the day. The going was good, though, and I made about as many miles as I could have hoped. I did make a stop for an hour en route at the Flying J outside of Jackson, MS for lunch (a slice of their Hawaiian pizza) and a shower and shave, so at least I'm presentable again. Before that I also made a pit stop at the MS rest area where about a year ago I had my celebrity sighting (Ed Begley Jr.), but no celebs this time.
I've encamped for the night at a Pilot Travel Center here in Rayville, where I've spent the night once before. (By the way, I've decided to start using the cities where I stop each night as the title of each day's update. That way I don't have to keep trying to come up with unique, clever titles every day, and it can give y'all a quick view of my travels in the list of updates over to the right there.) I got here around 1:00 CDT and pulled down my laptop to blog away. But at that time I couldn't get a 'net connection, so that idea was hosed. I was quite tired then, due to a bad night's sleep. (I had taken a nap of a couple hours' duration after writing yesterday's update, then woke up for dinner. Afterwards, I just could not fall back asleep for quite a while, 'til after midnight. So I wound up with just around 4 hours of sleep for the night, not counting the nap.) So I hit the sack for another nap this afternoon.
I woke up around 5:20 p.m., feeling like I'd been asleep for much longer. Not that I was that much refreshed, but it just seemed like longer. But I was ready for some dinner and got outta' bed. There's a stand-alone Popeye's outlet down the road, so I hoofed on over there for a chicken dinner. It is warm and humid down here, but some cloud cover had rolled in, so I wasn't walking with the sun beating down on me at least. After dinner and my walk back, I continued to the strip mall next door to get some more walkin' exercise.
Back in my truck, I was happy to see that this time I could get connected to the 'net, so I could enlighten you with my brilliant prose. Now let me move on and answer reader questions from dennis the accompanist and jim.
Dennis asks, "I know trucking is partly regulated by the feds, and partly by the states. How much do things vary from state to state? Such as speed limits, weight limits on trucks, roads you're not allowed to drive on, etc."
Most states pretty much follow the same guidelines in terms of weight limits and lengths of trucks allowed, but there are variances. Speed limits also vary, but only OH and IL limit trucks to 55 MPH on the interstates statewide (except on the OH turnpike) while cars' speed limits are higher. So I hate having to drive through those 2 states. Pick up (or go browse through) a copy of Rand McNally's "Motor Carriers' Road Atlas". In the front sections are state-by-state regulations and restrictions, as well as lists of low-clearance locations, weigh stations, and restricted routes. That'll give you an idea of what we truckers need to consider when planning trips. There's far too much there for me to describe it all for you here.
Jim's query: "How do you do all of your navigation? A GPS? On-line mapping? Directions from the trucking firm?"
For each location to which we're routed, the company sends us written directions to the site. I suspect that the text is supplied by someone at the company in question, as there's no consistency in the form--or quality--of the directions. I consult my Road Atlas for the highway routing between points A and B, and go online to use MapQuest.com to get a pictorial (and satellite photo) view of the street layouts around the sites. (Unfortunately, I sometimes rely on the provided directions and neglect to verify them on MapQuest. Those are invariably the times when one small unexpected detail escapes those given directions and I wind up somewhere else. So I'm trying to remind myself to MapQuest every time--unless I'm going to a location to which I've been before, such as tomorrow's delivery.)
So now it's time (8:20 p.m.) to wrap up and try to sneak in another nap before I need to get rolling again. In order to get to my delivery on time (8:00 a.m.), I'll need to hit the road at around midnight. I'll have just enough hours available to get to the Marietta, OK site to make the delivery, then zip over to the nearby truck stop to sit out the rest of the day. I'll get 6-1/2 hours back for Friday, so that'll be another short day. Thanks for your interest today, and keep on truckin'.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Georgia Crossing
DATELINE: CUSSETA, AL, 3:00 p.m. CDT
Miles Today: 477
Only 9-1/2 hours of work today, and since some of that time included a fuel stop and my drop-and-hook pickup in Savannah, I only drove for 8-3/4 hours. Hence the low mileage total for the day. And with the last 3 hours being all back roads (US-80 west from Macon, GA) with lower speed limits, that shortened my mileage as well. Which I can't really use right now, 'cuz I'm on a mad dash to Oklahoma with few hours to get there.
My load is due at 8:00 Thursday morning (they altered that from what my load assignment originally said, which was tomorrow--Wednesday--morning), in Marietta, and it'll take all the hours I have available tomorrow (7-3/4) and Thursday (7) driving as fast as the truck will go to get there on time. Obviously I'll have to get rolling shortly after midnight on Thursday to complete the drive by 8:00 a.m., so I'll need to start early tomorrow, too, to stay acclimated to the early shift. At least I've crossed into the next time zone so I've gained an extra hour that I can spend sleeping tonight.
Tonight I'm parked at a truck stop where I've spent the night once or twice before. It's a non-name-brand place with a nice big lot, a Subway counter, and a restaurant. It's not one of the chains where I earn shower privileges with my fuel purchases, so I'll have to stop at one of them en route tomorrow so I can clean up. (I generally shave every other day, and tomorrow is "shave day".) But any port in a storm, as they say.
Reader jim asks, "After more than a year on the road does the "R" still stand for reluctant?"
You betcha', I'd still far prefer to be at home. As I roam the country these days as Spring is springing up, it reminds me how much I want to be home working in my yard. That's one thing I really do miss (besides being with my family, of course) while stuck out here on the road. I have a good-sized yard, about 1/3 of an acre total, with lots of that space devoted to planting beds that require attention to keep the weeds at bay, shrubberies to trim, and much, much more. On the occasions I do get home, I'm usually too busy with other pressing duties to get much time in the yard. And consider that I'm averaging only 3 days at home per month. And with my hometime stolen last week, I won't even have a full day at home--midnight to midnight--for all of April. So yes, I'm still trucking reluctantly. No other job I'm likely to be able to find will pay as well as this, so this is it for the time being. Unless, of course, the Poker gods decide they've had enough fun at my expense and give me a fair chance when I do play. ;-)
Speaking of poker, I haven't been playing at all lately. For one, I feel reluctant to play because of how bad the cards have run for me the last couple of times I did log on to the tables. For another, this job has kept me so busy that I've been too tired to feel I could give the game the mental energy required to make good decisions. Maybe that'll change in the next couple of days as my work time will be limited by my lack of available work hours. So we'll see about that.
Thanks for checking in today. I do like and look forward to seeing comments and questions from y'all, so please take a sec' and drop me a line. And keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 477
Only 9-1/2 hours of work today, and since some of that time included a fuel stop and my drop-and-hook pickup in Savannah, I only drove for 8-3/4 hours. Hence the low mileage total for the day. And with the last 3 hours being all back roads (US-80 west from Macon, GA) with lower speed limits, that shortened my mileage as well. Which I can't really use right now, 'cuz I'm on a mad dash to Oklahoma with few hours to get there.
My load is due at 8:00 Thursday morning (they altered that from what my load assignment originally said, which was tomorrow--Wednesday--morning), in Marietta, and it'll take all the hours I have available tomorrow (7-3/4) and Thursday (7) driving as fast as the truck will go to get there on time. Obviously I'll have to get rolling shortly after midnight on Thursday to complete the drive by 8:00 a.m., so I'll need to start early tomorrow, too, to stay acclimated to the early shift. At least I've crossed into the next time zone so I've gained an extra hour that I can spend sleeping tonight.
Tonight I'm parked at a truck stop where I've spent the night once or twice before. It's a non-name-brand place with a nice big lot, a Subway counter, and a restaurant. It's not one of the chains where I earn shower privileges with my fuel purchases, so I'll have to stop at one of them en route tomorrow so I can clean up. (I generally shave every other day, and tomorrow is "shave day".) But any port in a storm, as they say.
Reader jim asks, "After more than a year on the road does the "R" still stand for reluctant?"
You betcha', I'd still far prefer to be at home. As I roam the country these days as Spring is springing up, it reminds me how much I want to be home working in my yard. That's one thing I really do miss (besides being with my family, of course) while stuck out here on the road. I have a good-sized yard, about 1/3 of an acre total, with lots of that space devoted to planting beds that require attention to keep the weeds at bay, shrubberies to trim, and much, much more. On the occasions I do get home, I'm usually too busy with other pressing duties to get much time in the yard. And consider that I'm averaging only 3 days at home per month. And with my hometime stolen last week, I won't even have a full day at home--midnight to midnight--for all of April. So yes, I'm still trucking reluctantly. No other job I'm likely to be able to find will pay as well as this, so this is it for the time being. Unless, of course, the Poker gods decide they've had enough fun at my expense and give me a fair chance when I do play. ;-)
Speaking of poker, I haven't been playing at all lately. For one, I feel reluctant to play because of how bad the cards have run for me the last couple of times I did log on to the tables. For another, this job has kept me so busy that I've been too tired to feel I could give the game the mental energy required to make good decisions. Maybe that'll change in the next couple of days as my work time will be limited by my lack of available work hours. So we'll see about that.
Thanks for checking in today. I do like and look forward to seeing comments and questions from y'all, so please take a sec' and drop me a line. And keep on truckin'.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Another Waiting Game
PART I
DATELINE: TAMPA, FLA, 2:30 p.m. EDT
Miles Yesterday: 517
I can't give today's miles yet 'cuz my day (probably) isn't over yet. I made my delivery this morning in Clearwater, then retreated back here to the Tampa TA (where I spent last night, too) to await my next assignment. The delivery went fine, although I had some bad directions--again--and got there a bit late. But that didn't seem to bother anyone (besides me, that is).
So I got back here at about 9:45 a.m., and for the most part have been sitting here waiting. This TA does charge for parking, but gives you 24 hours free if you buy fuel or spend $20 or more in their store. I did get $20+ in groceries this morning before heading out to my delivery, so last night's parking was free. After returning here, I waited nearly 2 hours, then headed out to the Flying J across the street to fuel up (it's a company-approved fuel stop). I'm not parked at the "J" because that one is very small, with only 30 parking spots. Anyway, after fueling there, I worked my way back here and am waiting some more.
Actually, I did get an assignment. It's to drive up to Augusta, GA (434 miles) to pick up a load bound for our Laredo, TX terminal (1246 more miles). That's a great load because of the paid miles but, alas, I'm a bit short on hours to make the trip on time (due Thursday afternoon). Dad-burn DOT hours-of-service regulations! So I've messaged in about my hours predicament, and am still waiting to find out if Dispatch wants me to go ahead and get that load, or if they'll give me another.
Meanwhile, I still wait. If they don't hurry up, I'm gonna run out of my 14-hour window for today (I have 5:15 left as of this moment). By the way, sorry about not posting an update yesterday. My drive down from SC took longer than I expected (9-1/2 hours as opposed to the 8 I estimated), and I was a bit tired to put words together in any coherent fashion.
Anyway, I promised to answer reader nancyr's question, "What's the hardest part about trying to get enough sleep on the truck? Is it the noise and the shaking when the motor kicks in and quits? The unyielding mattress? Or do you wake up and start thinking about all the miles you'll have to drive when you get up?"
As for the noise and motions when the engine starts up and stops (remember, the truck has an idle-management system to conserve fuel; it runs to keep the cab's climate in a comfy range, then shuts down 'til the temp falls or climbs out of that range), I'm completely used to them and sleep right through. And my mattress is actually pretty comfy.
Whoops, just heard from my Fleet Manager...gotta go to Augusta. C U tonight.
PART II
DATELINE: JACKSONVILLE, FL, 7:35 p.m. EDT
Miles Today: 270
My F.M. had called and interrupted me while I was composing today's missive, confirming that he wanted me to go ahead and pick up that load in Augusta, GA. So I duly logged off, stowed the laptop, and hit the road.
Before I describe this afternoon's drive, let me finish answering nancyr's question, which basically asks what it is that keeps me from getting enough sleep while on the road.
Like I stated, I sleep right through the engine starting up and stopping in the night, and my mattress is just fine. IMHO, the single factor that keeps me sleep-deprived on this job is the 10-hour break. Well, probably the long work days combined with the 10-hour break. When I have these long days, using up my entire 14-hour window in which I can drive each day (I have to stop driving 14 hours after I start work, then can't drive again 'til I take the 10-hour break, even if I've just been sitting around and waiting for large chunks of the workday), I usually need to get rolling the next morning as soon as my break hits the 10-hour mark so I can stay on schedule. With all I need to do on either end of sleep: blogging, dining, dental care, etc. beforehand, and showering, breakfasting, etc. after, it's rare I get a full 8 hours of sleep. Add in that some days I probably ingest a bit too much caffeine, or that other days (or sometimes the same days) are high on the stress level, and those days I find it hard to drift off peacefully. So that cuts into my sleep time (and quality) as well. Anybody jealous of my exciting life crossing the country (and sometimes Canada)? And now back to today's story.
60-90 minutes along my way (I-4 eastbound across the state at that juncture), my Qualcomm box gave the unmistakable chirp of another load assignment message coming in. It took me 10-15 minutes to come to a rest area so I could pull in to read the message. Sure enough, they pulled me off of the Augusta to Laredo load. (They told me the load was cancelled altogether.) Instead, I'm now heading for Savannah, GA to grab a load there tomorrow (Tuesday) morning.
I don't know yet how far I'll be taking the new load; like I mentioned above, I'm short of hours for the next few days. This load assignment lists the delivery time in Marietta, OK as 25 hours after pickup. Now, it also lists the route mileage from Savannah to Marietta as 1058, so that's a 20-hour trip, at least. The math just doesn't work for a solo driver (especially one short on hours), so I expect some news about relaying the load somewhere. 'Twould be nice to know ahead of time.
I didn't need to change direction at all, since Savannah was on my route to Augusta, anyway, so I just continued on my way. I've made it to the Jacksonville area, to a rest area just south of the city. I wanted to stay at the TA just a mile or so south of here, but when I pulled in, its small parking lot was already full. So I continued on and pulled in here. I could have driven another 1-1/2 hours, but with my hours situation, it just didn't matter. No matter where I stopped, I was gonna have to roll 10 hours later anyway in order to get to the pickup in time. So since I was getting hungry, I just stopped here (it was 6:30 when I stopped) to heat up some dinner and call it a day.
So, again, it'll be another short night and early morning. At least I can sleep in another 15-20 minutes because I can't get a shower here. But I only have 9-1/2 hours available to work tomorrow, and the pickup will be a drop-and-hook, so it'll be a relatively short workday.
Thanks for checking in on today's special two-parter. Let me hear from you with questions and comments so I'll know what you want to know about my nomadic life. (Reminds me of a joke...Man talking to his date: "So enough about me, let's talk about you. What do you want to know about me?") As always, keep on truckin'.
DATELINE: TAMPA, FLA, 2:30 p.m. EDT
Miles Yesterday: 517
I can't give today's miles yet 'cuz my day (probably) isn't over yet. I made my delivery this morning in Clearwater, then retreated back here to the Tampa TA (where I spent last night, too) to await my next assignment. The delivery went fine, although I had some bad directions--again--and got there a bit late. But that didn't seem to bother anyone (besides me, that is).
So I got back here at about 9:45 a.m., and for the most part have been sitting here waiting. This TA does charge for parking, but gives you 24 hours free if you buy fuel or spend $20 or more in their store. I did get $20+ in groceries this morning before heading out to my delivery, so last night's parking was free. After returning here, I waited nearly 2 hours, then headed out to the Flying J across the street to fuel up (it's a company-approved fuel stop). I'm not parked at the "J" because that one is very small, with only 30 parking spots. Anyway, after fueling there, I worked my way back here and am waiting some more.
Actually, I did get an assignment. It's to drive up to Augusta, GA (434 miles) to pick up a load bound for our Laredo, TX terminal (1246 more miles). That's a great load because of the paid miles but, alas, I'm a bit short on hours to make the trip on time (due Thursday afternoon). Dad-burn DOT hours-of-service regulations! So I've messaged in about my hours predicament, and am still waiting to find out if Dispatch wants me to go ahead and get that load, or if they'll give me another.
Meanwhile, I still wait. If they don't hurry up, I'm gonna run out of my 14-hour window for today (I have 5:15 left as of this moment). By the way, sorry about not posting an update yesterday. My drive down from SC took longer than I expected (9-1/2 hours as opposed to the 8 I estimated), and I was a bit tired to put words together in any coherent fashion.
Anyway, I promised to answer reader nancyr's question, "What's the hardest part about trying to get enough sleep on the truck? Is it the noise and the shaking when the motor kicks in and quits? The unyielding mattress? Or do you wake up and start thinking about all the miles you'll have to drive when you get up?"
As for the noise and motions when the engine starts up and stops (remember, the truck has an idle-management system to conserve fuel; it runs to keep the cab's climate in a comfy range, then shuts down 'til the temp falls or climbs out of that range), I'm completely used to them and sleep right through. And my mattress is actually pretty comfy.
Whoops, just heard from my Fleet Manager...gotta go to Augusta. C U tonight.
PART II
DATELINE: JACKSONVILLE, FL, 7:35 p.m. EDT
Miles Today: 270
My F.M. had called and interrupted me while I was composing today's missive, confirming that he wanted me to go ahead and pick up that load in Augusta, GA. So I duly logged off, stowed the laptop, and hit the road.
Before I describe this afternoon's drive, let me finish answering nancyr's question, which basically asks what it is that keeps me from getting enough sleep while on the road.
Like I stated, I sleep right through the engine starting up and stopping in the night, and my mattress is just fine. IMHO, the single factor that keeps me sleep-deprived on this job is the 10-hour break. Well, probably the long work days combined with the 10-hour break. When I have these long days, using up my entire 14-hour window in which I can drive each day (I have to stop driving 14 hours after I start work, then can't drive again 'til I take the 10-hour break, even if I've just been sitting around and waiting for large chunks of the workday), I usually need to get rolling the next morning as soon as my break hits the 10-hour mark so I can stay on schedule. With all I need to do on either end of sleep: blogging, dining, dental care, etc. beforehand, and showering, breakfasting, etc. after, it's rare I get a full 8 hours of sleep. Add in that some days I probably ingest a bit too much caffeine, or that other days (or sometimes the same days) are high on the stress level, and those days I find it hard to drift off peacefully. So that cuts into my sleep time (and quality) as well. Anybody jealous of my exciting life crossing the country (and sometimes Canada)? And now back to today's story.
60-90 minutes along my way (I-4 eastbound across the state at that juncture), my Qualcomm box gave the unmistakable chirp of another load assignment message coming in. It took me 10-15 minutes to come to a rest area so I could pull in to read the message. Sure enough, they pulled me off of the Augusta to Laredo load. (They told me the load was cancelled altogether.) Instead, I'm now heading for Savannah, GA to grab a load there tomorrow (Tuesday) morning.
I don't know yet how far I'll be taking the new load; like I mentioned above, I'm short of hours for the next few days. This load assignment lists the delivery time in Marietta, OK as 25 hours after pickup. Now, it also lists the route mileage from Savannah to Marietta as 1058, so that's a 20-hour trip, at least. The math just doesn't work for a solo driver (especially one short on hours), so I expect some news about relaying the load somewhere. 'Twould be nice to know ahead of time.
I didn't need to change direction at all, since Savannah was on my route to Augusta, anyway, so I just continued on my way. I've made it to the Jacksonville area, to a rest area just south of the city. I wanted to stay at the TA just a mile or so south of here, but when I pulled in, its small parking lot was already full. So I continued on and pulled in here. I could have driven another 1-1/2 hours, but with my hours situation, it just didn't matter. No matter where I stopped, I was gonna have to roll 10 hours later anyway in order to get to the pickup in time. So since I was getting hungry, I just stopped here (it was 6:30 when I stopped) to heat up some dinner and call it a day.
So, again, it'll be another short night and early morning. At least I can sleep in another 15-20 minutes because I can't get a shower here. But I only have 9-1/2 hours available to work tomorrow, and the pickup will be a drop-and-hook, so it'll be a relatively short workday.
Thanks for checking in on today's special two-parter. Let me hear from you with questions and comments so I'll know what you want to know about my nomadic life. (Reminds me of a joke...Man talking to his date: "So enough about me, let's talk about you. What do you want to know about me?") As always, keep on truckin'.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Back South
DATELINE: FLORENCE, SC, 8:45 p.m. EDT
Miles Today: 617
Just a quick update tonight to let you know where I am. It's been a long day and I'm too tired to compose lengthily. (And in my fatigued state I'm making up words..."lengthily"?)
Not quite a round trip, since I'm on a different highway (I-95 as opposed to I-77), but it's hard to believe that it was just yesterday morning when I got up and drove out of this state, and all the way up to the MD panhandle. And today I'm back down among the Gamecocks. At least tomorrow'll be a shorter work day, as I only have around 400 miles to go. I'll write a longer update tomorrow, and answer reader nancyr's query.
But for tonight, I'm at another Popeye's with a TA. 'Cept I didn't eat at the Popeye's tonight; I strayed over to the Zaxby's Chicken next door instead. Something different, but also quite good.
Anyway, as I mentioned, I'm very tired and gonna get up early (4:15 a.m.) to get my day started. Thanks for checking in, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 617
Just a quick update tonight to let you know where I am. It's been a long day and I'm too tired to compose lengthily. (And in my fatigued state I'm making up words..."lengthily"?)
Not quite a round trip, since I'm on a different highway (I-95 as opposed to I-77), but it's hard to believe that it was just yesterday morning when I got up and drove out of this state, and all the way up to the MD panhandle. And today I'm back down among the Gamecocks. At least tomorrow'll be a shorter work day, as I only have around 400 miles to go. I'll write a longer update tomorrow, and answer reader nancyr's query.
But for tonight, I'm at another Popeye's with a TA. 'Cept I didn't eat at the Popeye's tonight; I strayed over to the Zaxby's Chicken next door instead. Something different, but also quite good.
Anyway, as I mentioned, I'm very tired and gonna get up early (4:15 a.m.) to get my day started. Thanks for checking in, and keep on truckin'.
Friday, April 18, 2008
A Good Friday
DATELINE: HAGERSTOWN, MD, 8:45 p.m. EDT
Miles Today: 508
Today's driving went almost as well as I could have hoped. I did encounter some rush-hour traffic in Charlotte, NC and one traffic jam due to an accident along I-81 in mid-VA. But otherwise I just sailed along. I was so far ahead of schedule I even had time to allow myself an hour-long lunch break. All in all, it took me only 9-1/4 hours of driving to make it all the way from Columbia, SC up here to Hagerstown.
I reached my delivery 90 minutes early, but they had plenty of open docks (this is a large distribution center for a national company) and assigned me to one right away. However, the unloading took longer than it should have--2-1/2 hours--though that gave me plenty of time to heat 'n eat my dinner in the truck and work through some more Games Magazine puzzles. But they finally finished up around 7:30 p.m., just as my 14-hour driving window for the day was closing up, and I was on my way.
And my way after leaving the site amounted to about 1 mile or less. Right off the highway at the exit I needed to take to get to that delivery are a couple of truck stops, including a new Pilot Travel Center (the other's a non-name brand truck stop). So I've parked at the Pilot for the night. I've already gotten my next assignment, too. In the morning I'll head down to southeast VA, to the town of Franklin, to grab a load, which I'll then haul to Clearwater, FL. Delivery for that load is set for 7:00 Monday morning, so that'll give me just about 48 hours after I start out in the morning to make the 1000-ish mile trip from here, to the pickup, and down to Clearwater. Shouldn't be a problem, especailly since tomorrow's pickup will be a drop-and-hook.
Oh yeah, I should note that today was one of those rare 5-state days: SC, NC, VA, WV, and MD today. I halfway considered running 8 more miles up I-81 to park at the PA Welcome Center to make it an unprecedented 6-state day, but thought better of it. Had these truck stops not been right here, though...
Anyway, it's been a long few days with too little sleep, and I'm beat. Time to hit the sack. Thanks for taking a look at today's installment, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 508
Today's driving went almost as well as I could have hoped. I did encounter some rush-hour traffic in Charlotte, NC and one traffic jam due to an accident along I-81 in mid-VA. But otherwise I just sailed along. I was so far ahead of schedule I even had time to allow myself an hour-long lunch break. All in all, it took me only 9-1/4 hours of driving to make it all the way from Columbia, SC up here to Hagerstown.
I reached my delivery 90 minutes early, but they had plenty of open docks (this is a large distribution center for a national company) and assigned me to one right away. However, the unloading took longer than it should have--2-1/2 hours--though that gave me plenty of time to heat 'n eat my dinner in the truck and work through some more Games Magazine puzzles. But they finally finished up around 7:30 p.m., just as my 14-hour driving window for the day was closing up, and I was on my way.
And my way after leaving the site amounted to about 1 mile or less. Right off the highway at the exit I needed to take to get to that delivery are a couple of truck stops, including a new Pilot Travel Center (the other's a non-name brand truck stop). So I've parked at the Pilot for the night. I've already gotten my next assignment, too. In the morning I'll head down to southeast VA, to the town of Franklin, to grab a load, which I'll then haul to Clearwater, FL. Delivery for that load is set for 7:00 Monday morning, so that'll give me just about 48 hours after I start out in the morning to make the 1000-ish mile trip from here, to the pickup, and down to Clearwater. Shouldn't be a problem, especailly since tomorrow's pickup will be a drop-and-hook.
Oh yeah, I should note that today was one of those rare 5-state days: SC, NC, VA, WV, and MD today. I halfway considered running 8 more miles up I-81 to park at the PA Welcome Center to make it an unprecedented 6-state day, but thought better of it. Had these truck stops not been right here, though...
Anyway, it's been a long few days with too little sleep, and I'm beat. Time to hit the sack. Thanks for taking a look at today's installment, and keep on truckin'.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Sittin' at the Dock All the Day
DATELINE: CAYCE, SC, 8:15 p.m. EDT
Miles Today: 286
Well this day certainly sucked. Only because I was unable to get more paying miles in, once again due to circumstances beyond my control. Here's the story.
I got up at 3:15 this morning so I could shower and shave before rolling at 4:00. It took me a long time to fall asleep last night, so I didn't get much sleep (maybe 5 hours) before my alarm roused me. But that's OK, I had the promise of a good day with lots of miles. I hit the road on time, but didn't get to my delivery 'til an hour late. Let's just say that the state of South Carolina needs to do a better job with its signage at highway (not expressway) intersections. It can take quite a while to find a place to turn around on those 2-lane country roads.
Nobody at the delivery site even made mention of my tardiness, and the delivery went real quick for a live unload. I was in and out of there in under an hour. Then I bopped down the road just a ways to a roadside clearing to wait for my next load assignment. And that came in rather quickly, too. My mission: Drive over to Gaston, SC (up near Columbia) and pick up a load bound for a Friday evening delivery in Hagerstown, MD. Pickup time was set for 11:00, and it was now 9:15. The route to Gaston would be all state and US highways (SC-125, US-301, and US-321) going through small towns, so 1:45 to get there seemed about right. And it was: I arrived at just a bit before 11:00. Then the fun started.
First, the shipping clerks at the site didn't know the pickup number USA had given me for the load, so I had to get back in my truck and communicate w/ Dispatch to get a PO (Purchase Order) number for the load. That took maybe 20 minutes, and once with a number the clerks could match up, they assigned me a dock.
After completing the "docking maneuver", I sat and waited. And heated up some lunch in the microwave in the "drivers' lounge". (Using the term loosely--it's just the reception area where drivers check in, kind of like in a doctor's or dentist's office, but not furnished as well. This place had a m'wave, a couple of vending machines, a TV hanging from the ceiling, one plastic chair, and a table on which the 'mwave was sitting.) And ate my lunch back in my truck. And waited some more. And some more. And some more. And napped in my driver's seat for a bit. And waited some more. And worked a number of puzzles in a copy of Games magazine that I picked up while at home.
Long story short, they had some sort of breakdown in the plant, so they couldn't get the product that was to go on my trailer 'til they fixed it. Finally, just as my 14-hour window for driving today was closing up, they resumed loading my trailer, and finished up fairly quickly. So just after 6:00, I was finally able to get my paperwork, pull from the dock, close up the trailer, weigh my truck on their scale (this place has every truck get weights as they come in and go out), and head out.
Because I was out of my 14-hour window, all I could do was head to the nearest truck stop or rest area to camp out for the night--no more paying miles today. Fortunately, there's a Pilot Travel Center right where I'd get on I-77, the route I need to take north, so I didn't even have to get on the highway to search for refuge. And they had plenty of open spots, to boot! So I didn't have to violate the hours of service reg's too badly to find a place for the night.
I would have preferred for the pickup to have taken maybe 6 hours fewer, and been able to get that far up the road towards Hagerstown, but now I just have to do the mad dash thing tomorrow. Hagerstown's 500+ miles away,and with a VERY heavy load and a mountainous route, it'll take me about my full 11 hours of driving to get there tomorrow. If the pickup had been of a normal duration, I'd probably be in southern VA now, either Fort Chiswell or Roanoke. But that's just how things go in this truckin' job.
I'm told the delivery time, 6:30 p.m., is a set appointment--rather than first-come, first-served--so it won't do me any good to get there early. So I can sleep in a little bit in the morning, 'til maybe 5:30 or so. I'll shoot for hitting the road as soon as I can after that, and aim to get to the delivery between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. Wish me luck that the roads are clear.
Thanks for looking in today. Let me know what you want to know about, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 286
Well this day certainly sucked. Only because I was unable to get more paying miles in, once again due to circumstances beyond my control. Here's the story.
I got up at 3:15 this morning so I could shower and shave before rolling at 4:00. It took me a long time to fall asleep last night, so I didn't get much sleep (maybe 5 hours) before my alarm roused me. But that's OK, I had the promise of a good day with lots of miles. I hit the road on time, but didn't get to my delivery 'til an hour late. Let's just say that the state of South Carolina needs to do a better job with its signage at highway (not expressway) intersections. It can take quite a while to find a place to turn around on those 2-lane country roads.
Nobody at the delivery site even made mention of my tardiness, and the delivery went real quick for a live unload. I was in and out of there in under an hour. Then I bopped down the road just a ways to a roadside clearing to wait for my next load assignment. And that came in rather quickly, too. My mission: Drive over to Gaston, SC (up near Columbia) and pick up a load bound for a Friday evening delivery in Hagerstown, MD. Pickup time was set for 11:00, and it was now 9:15. The route to Gaston would be all state and US highways (SC-125, US-301, and US-321) going through small towns, so 1:45 to get there seemed about right. And it was: I arrived at just a bit before 11:00. Then the fun started.
First, the shipping clerks at the site didn't know the pickup number USA had given me for the load, so I had to get back in my truck and communicate w/ Dispatch to get a PO (Purchase Order) number for the load. That took maybe 20 minutes, and once with a number the clerks could match up, they assigned me a dock.
After completing the "docking maneuver", I sat and waited. And heated up some lunch in the microwave in the "drivers' lounge". (Using the term loosely--it's just the reception area where drivers check in, kind of like in a doctor's or dentist's office, but not furnished as well. This place had a m'wave, a couple of vending machines, a TV hanging from the ceiling, one plastic chair, and a table on which the 'mwave was sitting.) And ate my lunch back in my truck. And waited some more. And some more. And some more. And napped in my driver's seat for a bit. And waited some more. And worked a number of puzzles in a copy of Games magazine that I picked up while at home.
Long story short, they had some sort of breakdown in the plant, so they couldn't get the product that was to go on my trailer 'til they fixed it. Finally, just as my 14-hour window for driving today was closing up, they resumed loading my trailer, and finished up fairly quickly. So just after 6:00, I was finally able to get my paperwork, pull from the dock, close up the trailer, weigh my truck on their scale (this place has every truck get weights as they come in and go out), and head out.
Because I was out of my 14-hour window, all I could do was head to the nearest truck stop or rest area to camp out for the night--no more paying miles today. Fortunately, there's a Pilot Travel Center right where I'd get on I-77, the route I need to take north, so I didn't even have to get on the highway to search for refuge. And they had plenty of open spots, to boot! So I didn't have to violate the hours of service reg's too badly to find a place for the night.
I would have preferred for the pickup to have taken maybe 6 hours fewer, and been able to get that far up the road towards Hagerstown, but now I just have to do the mad dash thing tomorrow. Hagerstown's 500+ miles away,and with a VERY heavy load and a mountainous route, it'll take me about my full 11 hours of driving to get there tomorrow. If the pickup had been of a normal duration, I'd probably be in southern VA now, either Fort Chiswell or Roanoke. But that's just how things go in this truckin' job.
I'm told the delivery time, 6:30 p.m., is a set appointment--rather than first-come, first-served--so it won't do me any good to get there early. So I can sleep in a little bit in the morning, 'til maybe 5:30 or so. I'll shoot for hitting the road as soon as I can after that, and aim to get to the delivery between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. Wish me luck that the roads are clear.
Thanks for looking in today. Let me know what you want to know about, and keep on truckin'.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
USA At It Again
DATELINE: SHOULD BE HOME, 7:00 p.m. EDT
Well, I should be heading back to my truck tomorrow morning to start up another tour of duty. But wait! I'm 600+ miles away, in Rock Hill, SC. And so is my truck!
Yes, dear readers, it's another case of "Dump On the Driver", USA Truck style. Here's how they engineered this one.
As you recall from my last posting, they assigned me a load to deliver in Monroe, MI early Monday morning. I had picked up the load in Blue Island, IL on Saturday and had enough hours available to drive to the TA truck stop in Dexter, MI, near home. I arrived there around 5:30. Since I was on a load, I stayed with the truck Saturday night. On Sunday I had the chance to go to church with Mrs. R.T., do some errands around town, then drop by Measure for Measure's rehearsal that night. After that I headed back to my truck to get ready for my wee-hours delivery. (Getting ready included taking a nap of nearly a couple hours.)
I got up just after 2:00 a.m. so I could get rolling at 2:30. Doing so got me to the delivery right at 3:30, the appointed hour. It was a drop-and-hook delivery (I'd delivered there a couple times before, so I was expecting that), so I was done there within 30 minutes. I sent a message to Dispatch for them to verify that I was done and I was to go home for my hometime. Their reply was a big "10-4", so I replied back, "OK, back on Thursday."
I should have known something was up when they messaged back, "Is that what your Fleet Manager told you? Check with him on Monday." I let it slide 'cuz I was tired, and headed up the road to park my truck and await my ride home. (Many thanks to reader jerry for graciously letting me wake him at that ungodly hour and driving out to Romulus to ferry me home.)
I got home around 6:30 Monday morning and headed right to bed. Somewhere around 2:30 that afternoon I was awakened by my cell phone ringing (unfortunately I had brought it up and put it on the bookcase headboard of our bed). It was my Fleet Manager (OK, it was "Mike" who identified himself as my F.M. My F.M. had been Jeff. Was there a change nobody ever told me about?) calling to clear up the "confusion" about when I was due back in my truck. I didn't have any confusion. I got home that morning, so I was due back on Thursday. I'd been on the road for 3 weeks, so I was due 3 days at home. Mike disagreed.
His claim was that since I had been parked so close to my house over the weekend, and I didn't have to move the truck at all on Sunday, USA started counting my home time from the time I arrived in Dexter. So, with the 3 days coming to me, they calculated that I was due back in the truck on Tuesday afternoon.
I won't waste your time with all my arguments for why their heads are where the sun don't shine; you can probably figure them out yourself. But with drivers being lowest on the company totem pole, and my decided lack of extemporaneous debating skills, I couldn't win that argument. So I just hung up on him.
Needless to say, I need the job, and I don't need the headaches from trying to pursue a grievance, so Tuesday afternoon I headed back to the truck. After sending my "back to work" message, I sent in another to get on the record that I felt I had been cheated (although instead of "cheated" I used a word that rhymes with "food") out of most of my hometime and listed the reasons why. Mike replied back that he noted my comments. Big whoop; I'm sure nothing's ever going to come of it.
Anyway, within 45 minutes I had an assignment: Pick up a load in Old Fort (yes, that's an "O" in the second word in the name) OH and take it to a company in Martin, SC. Delivery on Thursday morning. What was interesting was that the pickup time in the assignment was "1400" (or 2:00 p.m.), and I got the assignment at 1600. And Old Fort was nearly a 2-hour drive away. So I was starting out behind schedule. Chalk one more up for Dispatch!
The drive down to Old Fort was fine, and this time I even found the turn I had missed the first time I had made a pickup at this company (a few months ago). Because of the tight schedule, based on distance to the delivery and number of hours to make the trip, I decided I'd have to drive as far into the night as I could, instead of finding a parking spot soon so I could revert to a daytime shift. I made it to the Tamarack Service Plaza in Beckley, WV at 3:00, hoping to find a parking space because I was getting pretty tired by then. (I had been up since around 6:00 Tuesday morning.) Even though it's a big place with a large truck parking lot, it was jammed. Many trucks were parked in "unofficial" spots. But one lone legal spot was miraculously open, and I nabbed it. It was even easy to get into, right by a driveway that I could pull up into in order to line up with the parking space before backing into it. Halleluja! I parked, then went right to bed.
I slept 'til around 9:40 this morning, not quite as long as I'd have liked, but it'd do. I did some mindless web surfing 'til around noon, when I went inside to grab some lunch before starting today's work day. (Since I'd arrived at 3:00, my 10-hour break would be over at 1:00 p.m., and I wanted to hit the road then.) The Service Plaza has a Quizno's among its culinary choices, and I rather like their Mesquite Chicken sandwich, so I treated myself to one. (I do plan to eat a lot more of my meals in my truck this time around, and I've brought a good bit of food with me. But I'll allow myself to buy one meal a day; most of those'll be lunches while trying to make tracks.)
So today was a short work day, as I finished up at 6:00 here in Rock Hill, at a Flying J where I've stayed once before. My delivery in Martin is at 7:00 tomorrow morning, so I'll be up and rolling early to get there on time. I've stopped here instead of going a bit further because truck stop choices are limited between here and there; I'll be doing a bit of "back roading" to get to Martin once I get past Columbia. Besides, I was also getting pretty tired during my last hour of driving this afternoon. I'm gonna head right to bed after finishing this up.
Thanks for checking in today. I hope my hometime depletion isn't as troubling to you as it was to me. Send me your comments and questions, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Yesterday: 315Miles Today: 338
(Many of today's miles were on the tail end of yesteday's shift, but we log the miles per calendar day, not by shift.)
Well, I should be heading back to my truck tomorrow morning to start up another tour of duty. But wait! I'm 600+ miles away, in Rock Hill, SC. And so is my truck!
Yes, dear readers, it's another case of "Dump On the Driver", USA Truck style. Here's how they engineered this one.
As you recall from my last posting, they assigned me a load to deliver in Monroe, MI early Monday morning. I had picked up the load in Blue Island, IL on Saturday and had enough hours available to drive to the TA truck stop in Dexter, MI, near home. I arrived there around 5:30. Since I was on a load, I stayed with the truck Saturday night. On Sunday I had the chance to go to church with Mrs. R.T., do some errands around town, then drop by Measure for Measure's rehearsal that night. After that I headed back to my truck to get ready for my wee-hours delivery. (Getting ready included taking a nap of nearly a couple hours.)
I got up just after 2:00 a.m. so I could get rolling at 2:30. Doing so got me to the delivery right at 3:30, the appointed hour. It was a drop-and-hook delivery (I'd delivered there a couple times before, so I was expecting that), so I was done there within 30 minutes. I sent a message to Dispatch for them to verify that I was done and I was to go home for my hometime. Their reply was a big "10-4", so I replied back, "OK, back on Thursday."
I should have known something was up when they messaged back, "Is that what your Fleet Manager told you? Check with him on Monday." I let it slide 'cuz I was tired, and headed up the road to park my truck and await my ride home. (Many thanks to reader jerry for graciously letting me wake him at that ungodly hour and driving out to Romulus to ferry me home.)
I got home around 6:30 Monday morning and headed right to bed. Somewhere around 2:30 that afternoon I was awakened by my cell phone ringing (unfortunately I had brought it up and put it on the bookcase headboard of our bed). It was my Fleet Manager (OK, it was "Mike" who identified himself as my F.M. My F.M. had been Jeff. Was there a change nobody ever told me about?) calling to clear up the "confusion" about when I was due back in my truck. I didn't have any confusion. I got home that morning, so I was due back on Thursday. I'd been on the road for 3 weeks, so I was due 3 days at home. Mike disagreed.
His claim was that since I had been parked so close to my house over the weekend, and I didn't have to move the truck at all on Sunday, USA started counting my home time from the time I arrived in Dexter. So, with the 3 days coming to me, they calculated that I was due back in the truck on Tuesday afternoon.
I won't waste your time with all my arguments for why their heads are where the sun don't shine; you can probably figure them out yourself. But with drivers being lowest on the company totem pole, and my decided lack of extemporaneous debating skills, I couldn't win that argument. So I just hung up on him.
Needless to say, I need the job, and I don't need the headaches from trying to pursue a grievance, so Tuesday afternoon I headed back to the truck. After sending my "back to work" message, I sent in another to get on the record that I felt I had been cheated (although instead of "cheated" I used a word that rhymes with "food") out of most of my hometime and listed the reasons why. Mike replied back that he noted my comments. Big whoop; I'm sure nothing's ever going to come of it.
Anyway, within 45 minutes I had an assignment: Pick up a load in Old Fort (yes, that's an "O" in the second word in the name) OH and take it to a company in Martin, SC. Delivery on Thursday morning. What was interesting was that the pickup time in the assignment was "1400" (or 2:00 p.m.), and I got the assignment at 1600. And Old Fort was nearly a 2-hour drive away. So I was starting out behind schedule. Chalk one more up for Dispatch!
The drive down to Old Fort was fine, and this time I even found the turn I had missed the first time I had made a pickup at this company (a few months ago). Because of the tight schedule, based on distance to the delivery and number of hours to make the trip, I decided I'd have to drive as far into the night as I could, instead of finding a parking spot soon so I could revert to a daytime shift. I made it to the Tamarack Service Plaza in Beckley, WV at 3:00, hoping to find a parking space because I was getting pretty tired by then. (I had been up since around 6:00 Tuesday morning.) Even though it's a big place with a large truck parking lot, it was jammed. Many trucks were parked in "unofficial" spots. But one lone legal spot was miraculously open, and I nabbed it. It was even easy to get into, right by a driveway that I could pull up into in order to line up with the parking space before backing into it. Halleluja! I parked, then went right to bed.
I slept 'til around 9:40 this morning, not quite as long as I'd have liked, but it'd do. I did some mindless web surfing 'til around noon, when I went inside to grab some lunch before starting today's work day. (Since I'd arrived at 3:00, my 10-hour break would be over at 1:00 p.m., and I wanted to hit the road then.) The Service Plaza has a Quizno's among its culinary choices, and I rather like their Mesquite Chicken sandwich, so I treated myself to one. (I do plan to eat a lot more of my meals in my truck this time around, and I've brought a good bit of food with me. But I'll allow myself to buy one meal a day; most of those'll be lunches while trying to make tracks.)
So today was a short work day, as I finished up at 6:00 here in Rock Hill, at a Flying J where I've stayed once before. My delivery in Martin is at 7:00 tomorrow morning, so I'll be up and rolling early to get there on time. I've stopped here instead of going a bit further because truck stop choices are limited between here and there; I'll be doing a bit of "back roading" to get to Martin once I get past Columbia. Besides, I was also getting pretty tired during my last hour of driving this afternoon. I'm gonna head right to bed after finishing this up.
Thanks for checking in today. I hope my hometime depletion isn't as troubling to you as it was to me. Send me your comments and questions, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Yesterday: 315Miles Today: 338
(Many of today's miles were on the tail end of yesteday's shift, but we log the miles per calendar day, not by shift.)
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Saturday Surprise
DATELINE: DEXTER, MI, 6:20 p.m. EDT
Miles Today: 519
An unexpected treat to end the week, I get to stop by home early! Here's how it all came about.
I started out this morning at the company's terminal in Vandalia, OH. I got rolling at 5:45 (EDT), heading for our drop yard in Blue Island, IL. My assignment was to drop my current load there, a load bound for Eagan, MN. I couldn't take that load all the way to its destination because I'm due to start my next period of home time on Monday, the day that load is scheduled for delivery. Hence the dropoff in Chicagoland.
I reached Blue Island at 10:00 (CDT), dropped the trailer, and sent in my "Arrived at Final" and "Empty Call" messages. A while later I got a response. Dispatch sent me a message saying that the load was not set up for dropping in B.I., and that I'd have to deliver it. Sheesh! More troubles with the weekend Dispatch crew. I politely replied that I'd been told since before I even picked up the load to take it to B.I., and that I was due home on Monday. After another long while they finally let me know (after I prompted them for a status update) that they were setting up that load as a drop, and that I'd be getting another assignment.
At noon (CDT) I finally did get that next assignment: grab another load that had been dropped there and take it to its delivery on Monday morning (3:30 a.m.) in Monroe, MI. Hoo-Boy! I had enough hours remaining in my daily allotment to drive to my "home truck stop" in Dexter, MI, so I quickly hooked up that new trailer and got a-rollin'. I also called Mrs. R.T. to give her the bad news that she'd have to see me a couple days early. ;-)
It was a rainy drive back home. I'd been in some real nice spring weather the last few days, so it was a shock this morning on my drive to B.I. when I stopped just north of Indianapolis for a quick break and it was COLD! So it's spring as we know it in the upper Midwest, eh? Anyway, I made it here to the Dexter TA at 5:30 (EDT), fueled up, and parked. I got a good spot close to the entrance to the Popeye's Chicken, so all's well with the world.
Since my delivery appointment isn't 'til Monday morning, I'll be spending all day Sunday parked here, unfortunately not driving any paying miles. But I'm ready for a stationary day, although I will be doing some running around tomorrow. I'll get to go to church in the morning, and to Measure for Measure's rehearsal in the evening. Add in an errand or two, and it'll still be somewhat of a busy day for a "day off".
Mrs. R.T. has to work tonight, so I won't see her 'til near midnight. But that gives me time to write y'all this report. Next I may take a nap, or I may hit the poker tables online. Not sure yet. Somewhere in that interim I may get hungry, so I'll have to roust up some dinner somewhere. (I wonder where.)
Thanks for looking in today. Send in your comments, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 519
An unexpected treat to end the week, I get to stop by home early! Here's how it all came about.
I started out this morning at the company's terminal in Vandalia, OH. I got rolling at 5:45 (EDT), heading for our drop yard in Blue Island, IL. My assignment was to drop my current load there, a load bound for Eagan, MN. I couldn't take that load all the way to its destination because I'm due to start my next period of home time on Monday, the day that load is scheduled for delivery. Hence the dropoff in Chicagoland.
I reached Blue Island at 10:00 (CDT), dropped the trailer, and sent in my "Arrived at Final" and "Empty Call" messages. A while later I got a response. Dispatch sent me a message saying that the load was not set up for dropping in B.I., and that I'd have to deliver it. Sheesh! More troubles with the weekend Dispatch crew. I politely replied that I'd been told since before I even picked up the load to take it to B.I., and that I was due home on Monday. After another long while they finally let me know (after I prompted them for a status update) that they were setting up that load as a drop, and that I'd be getting another assignment.
At noon (CDT) I finally did get that next assignment: grab another load that had been dropped there and take it to its delivery on Monday morning (3:30 a.m.) in Monroe, MI. Hoo-Boy! I had enough hours remaining in my daily allotment to drive to my "home truck stop" in Dexter, MI, so I quickly hooked up that new trailer and got a-rollin'. I also called Mrs. R.T. to give her the bad news that she'd have to see me a couple days early. ;-)
It was a rainy drive back home. I'd been in some real nice spring weather the last few days, so it was a shock this morning on my drive to B.I. when I stopped just north of Indianapolis for a quick break and it was COLD! So it's spring as we know it in the upper Midwest, eh? Anyway, I made it here to the Dexter TA at 5:30 (EDT), fueled up, and parked. I got a good spot close to the entrance to the Popeye's Chicken, so all's well with the world.
Since my delivery appointment isn't 'til Monday morning, I'll be spending all day Sunday parked here, unfortunately not driving any paying miles. But I'm ready for a stationary day, although I will be doing some running around tomorrow. I'll get to go to church in the morning, and to Measure for Measure's rehearsal in the evening. Add in an errand or two, and it'll still be somewhat of a busy day for a "day off".
Mrs. R.T. has to work tonight, so I won't see her 'til near midnight. But that gives me time to write y'all this report. Next I may take a nap, or I may hit the poker tables online. Not sure yet. Somewhere in that interim I may get hungry, so I'll have to roust up some dinner somewhere. (I wonder where.)
Thanks for looking in today. Send in your comments, and keep on truckin'.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Terminal Hopping
DATELINE: VANDALIA, OH, 7:15 p.m. EDT
Miles Yesterday: 241
Miles Today: 542
Guess I gotta catch up with 2 days' worth of action, eh? Sorry for not reporting yesterday, but when I finished up for the day, I was just bushed and went right to bed. So I have to do double duty today. I'd better get right to it.
Yesterday, since I didn't have to get rolling 'til after 10:00, I had my alarm set to get me out of bed at 8:00. However, I woke up at 5:30 and could not get back to sleep. Eventually I gave up the attempt and tried my hand at some poker online. I had played a bit the night before with lousy results--the poker gods were having fun at my expense, not giving me anything decent unless they gave someone else something just a bit better--and the trend continued in the morning. Fortunately, I was playing for very low stakes, and my total loss for the two sessions wouldn't even buy a cup of coffee these days. Which is fine 'cuz I don't even drink coffee and won't miss the cup I wouldn't have had anyway. But back to the real job.
As you recall, my assignment was to pick up a load at 1:00 in Avenel, NJ, about 100 miles from where I was in the New Haven, CT area. The assignment mentioned that I couldn't arrive more than 30 minutes early, so I hit the road around 10:30. Of course, I ran into traffic jams going through New York City (my route, I-95, goes through Brooklyn) and made it to the pickup 15 minutes late. No biggie. What also wasn't a biggie was the company's dock area. Let's just say that by the time I eventually got my truck straight in the dock, only 6 feet of space remained between my truck's grille and the fence in front of it. It took a good while and number of attempts finding that sweet spot in making the backing turn where the trailer's wheels could pivot and then roll back, getting the trailer straight and into place at the door at the same time.
Then, of course, the loading was slow. I didn't get out of there 'til after 4:00. You regular readers know that I don't like to drive late into the night because the truck stops and rest areas fill up, making it next to impossible to find a place to park. So that set my course for the rest of the day: drive to our terminal in Bethel, PA and spend the night there.
With northern NJ rush-hour traffic, it took me about 3 hours to get to Bethel. Once there, as I mentioned above, I just crashed. As in hit the sack, not ran into another truck or something. ;-)
I got up this morning at 4:45 so I could get rolling just as I completed my 10-hour break at 5:15. Once underway, I settled in for the long trek across PA and OH, not to mention the 10-ish miles of WV between the two. With this load headed for the Chicago area, I'm taking the "southern route", I-76 and I-70, instead of the more direct northern route of I-80 because USA won't cover the tolls on the OH turnpike ($30.50). Therefore, because I have a "special" load this time, I had to take a couple of detours around tunnels along the PA turnpike. Now, PA has some nice big signs letting drivers know where to exit the pike before reaching the tunnels. However, they have no signs telling drivers with "special" loads which way to go once off the turnpike. So we have to guess if we haven't looked at a map beforehand. On my first detour, I guessed wrong and wound up finding my way to I-81, which I took down into MD to grab I-70 there before it went north to join I-76 at Breezewood, PA. (I wanted to stop in Breezewood for fuel and a shower at the TA there, anyway.) So that added an hour to my route--or put me an hour behind schedule, however you want to look at it.
The next tunnel detour, a little ways after my Breezewood stop, took me along US-30 for a good ways, maybe 30-40 miles. I want to go back over that stretch someday in a car, because there are some interesting things along it, including the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville. I also don't want to do it in a heavily-loaded big rig because it has quite a few STEEP stretches, and I found myself struggling along at 15 MPH in 6th gear (out of 10) a number of times. That put me even further behind schedule.
Anyway, once around the tunnels and back on the turnpike, life was simpler, despite rainy weather. I made good time then and made it all the way to our Vandalia, OH terminal just within my 11 allotted driving hours. So by now I've fueled up--the truck and myself--and just about completed this report for y'all. I hadn't eaten anything except a couple of Mallo Cups since my Breezewood break (where I walked down to a nearby Hardee's for a breakfast sandwich combo), so I was getting quite hungry when I got here. And by now I'm getting tired once more. I'll be getting up early again tomorrow to finish up my run to Blue Island, IL, where I'll drop this load at our drop yard there, then get my next assignment. Since I'm due home on Monday, I don't expect I'll be going very far with the next load. (Better not be, anyway.)
So that's my story for the past 2 days, and I'm sticking to it. Thanks for taking an interest in my trucking phase, and keep on truckin' yourself.
Miles Yesterday: 241
Miles Today: 542
Guess I gotta catch up with 2 days' worth of action, eh? Sorry for not reporting yesterday, but when I finished up for the day, I was just bushed and went right to bed. So I have to do double duty today. I'd better get right to it.
Yesterday, since I didn't have to get rolling 'til after 10:00, I had my alarm set to get me out of bed at 8:00. However, I woke up at 5:30 and could not get back to sleep. Eventually I gave up the attempt and tried my hand at some poker online. I had played a bit the night before with lousy results--the poker gods were having fun at my expense, not giving me anything decent unless they gave someone else something just a bit better--and the trend continued in the morning. Fortunately, I was playing for very low stakes, and my total loss for the two sessions wouldn't even buy a cup of coffee these days. Which is fine 'cuz I don't even drink coffee and won't miss the cup I wouldn't have had anyway. But back to the real job.
As you recall, my assignment was to pick up a load at 1:00 in Avenel, NJ, about 100 miles from where I was in the New Haven, CT area. The assignment mentioned that I couldn't arrive more than 30 minutes early, so I hit the road around 10:30. Of course, I ran into traffic jams going through New York City (my route, I-95, goes through Brooklyn) and made it to the pickup 15 minutes late. No biggie. What also wasn't a biggie was the company's dock area. Let's just say that by the time I eventually got my truck straight in the dock, only 6 feet of space remained between my truck's grille and the fence in front of it. It took a good while and number of attempts finding that sweet spot in making the backing turn where the trailer's wheels could pivot and then roll back, getting the trailer straight and into place at the door at the same time.
Then, of course, the loading was slow. I didn't get out of there 'til after 4:00. You regular readers know that I don't like to drive late into the night because the truck stops and rest areas fill up, making it next to impossible to find a place to park. So that set my course for the rest of the day: drive to our terminal in Bethel, PA and spend the night there.
With northern NJ rush-hour traffic, it took me about 3 hours to get to Bethel. Once there, as I mentioned above, I just crashed. As in hit the sack, not ran into another truck or something. ;-)
I got up this morning at 4:45 so I could get rolling just as I completed my 10-hour break at 5:15. Once underway, I settled in for the long trek across PA and OH, not to mention the 10-ish miles of WV between the two. With this load headed for the Chicago area, I'm taking the "southern route", I-76 and I-70, instead of the more direct northern route of I-80 because USA won't cover the tolls on the OH turnpike ($30.50). Therefore, because I have a "special" load this time, I had to take a couple of detours around tunnels along the PA turnpike. Now, PA has some nice big signs letting drivers know where to exit the pike before reaching the tunnels. However, they have no signs telling drivers with "special" loads which way to go once off the turnpike. So we have to guess if we haven't looked at a map beforehand. On my first detour, I guessed wrong and wound up finding my way to I-81, which I took down into MD to grab I-70 there before it went north to join I-76 at Breezewood, PA. (I wanted to stop in Breezewood for fuel and a shower at the TA there, anyway.) So that added an hour to my route--or put me an hour behind schedule, however you want to look at it.
The next tunnel detour, a little ways after my Breezewood stop, took me along US-30 for a good ways, maybe 30-40 miles. I want to go back over that stretch someday in a car, because there are some interesting things along it, including the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville. I also don't want to do it in a heavily-loaded big rig because it has quite a few STEEP stretches, and I found myself struggling along at 15 MPH in 6th gear (out of 10) a number of times. That put me even further behind schedule.
Anyway, once around the tunnels and back on the turnpike, life was simpler, despite rainy weather. I made good time then and made it all the way to our Vandalia, OH terminal just within my 11 allotted driving hours. So by now I've fueled up--the truck and myself--and just about completed this report for y'all. I hadn't eaten anything except a couple of Mallo Cups since my Breezewood break (where I walked down to a nearby Hardee's for a breakfast sandwich combo), so I was getting quite hungry when I got here. And by now I'm getting tired once more. I'll be getting up early again tomorrow to finish up my run to Blue Island, IL, where I'll drop this load at our drop yard there, then get my next assignment. Since I'm due home on Monday, I don't expect I'll be going very far with the next load. (Better not be, anyway.)
So that's my story for the past 2 days, and I'm sticking to it. Thanks for taking an interest in my trucking phase, and keep on truckin' yourself.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
CT Duty
DATELINE: BRANFORD, CT, 4:15 p.m. EDT
Miles Today: 206
A short work day due to bumping up against my 8-day hours limit. But for a short day, it had enough stress.
I had my alarm set for 5:45 a.m., but woke up 2-1/2 hours before that. I eventually did fall back asleep, but it took a L-O-O-O-O-N-G time. When my alarm sounded, I got up, wnet inside, and took a nice, hot, leisurely shower (I needed to warm up--I had left my truck's idle management system off when I went to bed, and it got chilly overnight. 'Twas quite brisk in my cab this morning--though still comfy inside my sleeping bag--so I was pretty chilled by the time I got dressed and outta' there). Once cleaned up, I hit the road at 6:45, headed for Shelton, CT.
I arrived at about 10:30. Shelton's an older town (aren't they all out here in the northeast?), so it has narrow streets. Fortunately, the company to which I was delivering was right off the highway. But I still did have a couple of tight turns to make to swing around the building to their receiving docks. But traffic was light and I made 'em without incident.
This company only has 4 receiving docks, and they were all full when I arrived. So I pulled past the the building and parked in a lot along the far side and walked back to the docks to check in. It must have been break time, 'cuz it took several minutes (10?) before someone responded to me ringing the bell for entrance to the docks area. During that time, one of the trucks pulled out, so when the fork lift driver (he must be the only one who does unloading) finally answered the bell, he pointed me to the open spot.
As I was walking back down the block to my truck, I saw the driver of another truck in the lot where mine was--and who had arrived AFTER I did--finish opening his trailer doors, hop back in his cab, pull out into the street, drive over to the docks, and back into MY spot. He hadn't even checked in with the Receiving Office (or, at least, the unloader) as I had. Some people!
I remembered that the shipper of my load had given me a bolt seal to secure my trailer, so I needed to borrow some bolt cutters from the fork lift guy to open the trailer. I went back inside and "forky" had disappeared again. He finally reappeared after another 5-ish minutes, and in that time one of the other trucks had left the docks. So I had a slot to back into. I hustled back down the block, cut off the seal, opened up the trailer doors, and headed to the docks.
Now, this company's docks are right off a city street (2-lanes), and internal (meaning I'd be backing into darkness from brilliant sunlight. AND they're kinda' narrow AND have concrete posts alongside each truck slot. So this was an instance where taking it V-E-R-Y S-L-O-W-L-Y was in order. All challenges considered, I made it in pretty well. I had to pull up a couple times early on to get the trailer's back tires properly in position to allow the front of my truck room to swing by the curb on the far side of the street (did I mention it's a narrow street?) without going up on it and taking out any "No Parking" signs. But once I hit the approach just right, I slid the trailer right into place with just a couple more minor adjustments to get square to the dock wall. And I didn't even get those concrete posts to cower any.
All told, I was at that site for just under 2 hours. Then, with only 45 minutes left of my available work hours for the day, I departed for the TA just east of New Haven. I opted to take the most direct route (CT-34) rather than the bigger highways (CT-8 south to I-95), which took me into New Haven before hitting I-95. (Consult your atlases, follow the listed roads, and you'll see why I chose 34.)
And here I am, at yet another Popeye's Chicken with a TA. I did attempt to stay here a couple of weeks ago, but it has a small lot (only 75 spaces) and was full at that time. Today, in the early afternoon, oodles of parking spaces were available. After fueling and parking, I spent some time sending in my just-delivered-load's paperwork, checking out their men's room (nice place), and then walked to the supermarket conveniently across the street to pick up some 2-liter bottles of Diet Coke to stash in my cooler. (For one thing, the 2L size is mostly unavailable at truck stops; for another, they're more expensive at the truck stops than they are at grocery stores when they are available.) When I got back to my truck, my next assignment was waiting.
Tomorrow afternoon (can you believe Dispatch actually took into consideration that I was out of hours for today?) I bop down into New Jersey (Avenel this time, a tad south of Newark) and pick up a load at 1:00 bound for Eagan, MN. That's another good 1100-mile-plus load but, alas, I won't take it the whole way. It delivers on Monday, the day I'm due to get home. Instead, I'll take it to our drop yard in Blue Island, IL, in the south part of Chicagoland. I expect I'll get there Saturday morning sometime.
I'm guessing my Fleet Manager is on vacation this week, 'cuz some other dude has been answering my mesages via Quacomm during the day. I asked today if they'd approve me running the Ohio and Indiana Turnpikes on this run so I could be reimbursed for the tolls. If the load is a "hot" one and time is of the essence (and it usually is), my FM usually does authorize it. But they guy today said that they'd pay the tolls only if routing for the load necessitated taking the 'pikes. We get the load's routing via a request on Qualcomm, and in this case (the load I'll pick up tomorrow), it only said that routing isn't available for that specific type of load. (The type that pays 3 cents extra per mile.) So it looks like I'll be taking the longer southern route (I-70 across OH and IN to Indianapolis, then up I-65 to Chicagoland) instead of the more direct route via the 'pikes.
(By the way, the IN Turnpike has just instituted a system called "I-Zoom" which does electronic tolling via transponders for those with them instead of everybody pulling up to a booth and paying cash. I-Zoom also works with E-Z Pass--NY State Thruway--transponders, which USA has in all its trucks. So I don't have to shell out any cash to traverse that road anymore. But it still cost me $30.50 to cross OH on its pike yesterday. I'm hoping they'll reimburse me for that one 'cuz that load was on a short timeframe and nobody ever responded when I asked if it was OK to take that route.)
Anyway, Dispatch asked when I could get to Eagan (a Twin Cities 'burb) in case the customer would take delivery early. My best guess was late Saturday or early Sunday, but I think that idea has gone by the wayside. I did spend some time working out my ETA there in order to respond to the query, so that ate up some more of my afternoon. After all that I did go in and get my chicken dinner, and now I've told you all about it.
So that was my day (most of it--I left out some about a turn-around in a tight lot brought on by a missed turn and low bridge in New Haven while trying to reach I-95). Thanks for your interest in my travails. Let me know what you want to read about in this travelogue, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 206
A short work day due to bumping up against my 8-day hours limit. But for a short day, it had enough stress.
I had my alarm set for 5:45 a.m., but woke up 2-1/2 hours before that. I eventually did fall back asleep, but it took a L-O-O-O-O-N-G time. When my alarm sounded, I got up, wnet inside, and took a nice, hot, leisurely shower (I needed to warm up--I had left my truck's idle management system off when I went to bed, and it got chilly overnight. 'Twas quite brisk in my cab this morning--though still comfy inside my sleeping bag--so I was pretty chilled by the time I got dressed and outta' there). Once cleaned up, I hit the road at 6:45, headed for Shelton, CT.
I arrived at about 10:30. Shelton's an older town (aren't they all out here in the northeast?), so it has narrow streets. Fortunately, the company to which I was delivering was right off the highway. But I still did have a couple of tight turns to make to swing around the building to their receiving docks. But traffic was light and I made 'em without incident.
This company only has 4 receiving docks, and they were all full when I arrived. So I pulled past the the building and parked in a lot along the far side and walked back to the docks to check in. It must have been break time, 'cuz it took several minutes (10?) before someone responded to me ringing the bell for entrance to the docks area. During that time, one of the trucks pulled out, so when the fork lift driver (he must be the only one who does unloading) finally answered the bell, he pointed me to the open spot.
As I was walking back down the block to my truck, I saw the driver of another truck in the lot where mine was--and who had arrived AFTER I did--finish opening his trailer doors, hop back in his cab, pull out into the street, drive over to the docks, and back into MY spot. He hadn't even checked in with the Receiving Office (or, at least, the unloader) as I had. Some people!
I remembered that the shipper of my load had given me a bolt seal to secure my trailer, so I needed to borrow some bolt cutters from the fork lift guy to open the trailer. I went back inside and "forky" had disappeared again. He finally reappeared after another 5-ish minutes, and in that time one of the other trucks had left the docks. So I had a slot to back into. I hustled back down the block, cut off the seal, opened up the trailer doors, and headed to the docks.
Now, this company's docks are right off a city street (2-lanes), and internal (meaning I'd be backing into darkness from brilliant sunlight. AND they're kinda' narrow AND have concrete posts alongside each truck slot. So this was an instance where taking it V-E-R-Y S-L-O-W-L-Y was in order. All challenges considered, I made it in pretty well. I had to pull up a couple times early on to get the trailer's back tires properly in position to allow the front of my truck room to swing by the curb on the far side of the street (did I mention it's a narrow street?) without going up on it and taking out any "No Parking" signs. But once I hit the approach just right, I slid the trailer right into place with just a couple more minor adjustments to get square to the dock wall. And I didn't even get those concrete posts to cower any.
All told, I was at that site for just under 2 hours. Then, with only 45 minutes left of my available work hours for the day, I departed for the TA just east of New Haven. I opted to take the most direct route (CT-34) rather than the bigger highways (CT-8 south to I-95), which took me into New Haven before hitting I-95. (Consult your atlases, follow the listed roads, and you'll see why I chose 34.)
And here I am, at yet another Popeye's Chicken with a TA. I did attempt to stay here a couple of weeks ago, but it has a small lot (only 75 spaces) and was full at that time. Today, in the early afternoon, oodles of parking spaces were available. After fueling and parking, I spent some time sending in my just-delivered-load's paperwork, checking out their men's room (nice place), and then walked to the supermarket conveniently across the street to pick up some 2-liter bottles of Diet Coke to stash in my cooler. (For one thing, the 2L size is mostly unavailable at truck stops; for another, they're more expensive at the truck stops than they are at grocery stores when they are available.) When I got back to my truck, my next assignment was waiting.
Tomorrow afternoon (can you believe Dispatch actually took into consideration that I was out of hours for today?) I bop down into New Jersey (Avenel this time, a tad south of Newark) and pick up a load at 1:00 bound for Eagan, MN. That's another good 1100-mile-plus load but, alas, I won't take it the whole way. It delivers on Monday, the day I'm due to get home. Instead, I'll take it to our drop yard in Blue Island, IL, in the south part of Chicagoland. I expect I'll get there Saturday morning sometime.
I'm guessing my Fleet Manager is on vacation this week, 'cuz some other dude has been answering my mesages via Quacomm during the day. I asked today if they'd approve me running the Ohio and Indiana Turnpikes on this run so I could be reimbursed for the tolls. If the load is a "hot" one and time is of the essence (and it usually is), my FM usually does authorize it. But they guy today said that they'd pay the tolls only if routing for the load necessitated taking the 'pikes. We get the load's routing via a request on Qualcomm, and in this case (the load I'll pick up tomorrow), it only said that routing isn't available for that specific type of load. (The type that pays 3 cents extra per mile.) So it looks like I'll be taking the longer southern route (I-70 across OH and IN to Indianapolis, then up I-65 to Chicagoland) instead of the more direct route via the 'pikes.
(By the way, the IN Turnpike has just instituted a system called "I-Zoom" which does electronic tolling via transponders for those with them instead of everybody pulling up to a booth and paying cash. I-Zoom also works with E-Z Pass--NY State Thruway--transponders, which USA has in all its trucks. So I don't have to shell out any cash to traverse that road anymore. But it still cost me $30.50 to cross OH on its pike yesterday. I'm hoping they'll reimburse me for that one 'cuz that load was on a short timeframe and nobody ever responded when I asked if it was OK to take that route.)
Anyway, Dispatch asked when I could get to Eagan (a Twin Cities 'burb) in case the customer would take delivery early. My best guess was late Saturday or early Sunday, but I think that idea has gone by the wayside. I did spend some time working out my ETA there in order to respond to the query, so that ate up some more of my afternoon. After all that I did go in and get my chicken dinner, and now I've told you all about it.
So that was my day (most of it--I left out some about a turn-around in a tight lot brought on by a missed turn and low bridge in New Haven while trying to reach I-95). Thanks for your interest in my travails. Let me know what you want to read about in this travelogue, and keep on truckin'.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Trekking East
DATELINE: SCRANTON, PA, 7:00 p.m. EDT
Miles Today: 536
First things first: Apologies to reader dennis the accompanist. I was looking at the wrong day's update when chastising you for mis-reading the numbers. You were referring to my typo in Saturday's edition (since corrected) and I was thinking you saw something in Sunday's. Sorry for the mixup and public correction. 30 wet-noodle lashes for me. Now back to your regularly-scheduled program.
Beautiful day today, sunny and warm. The driving was fast and easy as I made it all the way across Ohio and most of Pennsylvania in 9 hours of driving. I could have continued on and cleared PA, too by driving on another 2 hours, but it wasn't necessary. My delivery tomorrow morning is at 11:00, and only about 3 hours away, so I'll have plenty of time in the morning to finish the trip. Besides, once I'm done with the delivery, I'll just about have reached my 70-hours-in-8-days limit (I'll have about 5 for tomorrow), so I wasn't going to get far after delivering tomorrow, anyway, whether I used up the hours today or tomorrow. (Was that clear for y'all? Understand what I'm trying to explain?) Besides, had I continued out of the Keystone state, I'd have finished up in NY or CT, 2 states with anti-idling laws. The weather is perfect, so I probably won't need to run my engine for climate control in the cab anyway, but it's good to have the option in case the temperature drops.
And now I'm at the Petro in Scranton, having arrived at about 5:00 local time. I've stayed here once before, a few months back on my first venture into New England as a trucker. This time I finally have a rewards card for the Petro chain, fueled up at a Petro around Toledo today, so I have a shower credit to clean up with tomorrow morning. Always a good idea on delivery days.
And that's that for today. Thanks for dropping by, keep those questions and comments coming, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 536
First things first: Apologies to reader dennis the accompanist. I was looking at the wrong day's update when chastising you for mis-reading the numbers. You were referring to my typo in Saturday's edition (since corrected) and I was thinking you saw something in Sunday's. Sorry for the mixup and public correction. 30 wet-noodle lashes for me. Now back to your regularly-scheduled program.
Beautiful day today, sunny and warm. The driving was fast and easy as I made it all the way across Ohio and most of Pennsylvania in 9 hours of driving. I could have continued on and cleared PA, too by driving on another 2 hours, but it wasn't necessary. My delivery tomorrow morning is at 11:00, and only about 3 hours away, so I'll have plenty of time in the morning to finish the trip. Besides, once I'm done with the delivery, I'll just about have reached my 70-hours-in-8-days limit (I'll have about 5 for tomorrow), so I wasn't going to get far after delivering tomorrow, anyway, whether I used up the hours today or tomorrow. (Was that clear for y'all? Understand what I'm trying to explain?) Besides, had I continued out of the Keystone state, I'd have finished up in NY or CT, 2 states with anti-idling laws. The weather is perfect, so I probably won't need to run my engine for climate control in the cab anyway, but it's good to have the option in case the temperature drops.
And now I'm at the Petro in Scranton, having arrived at about 5:00 local time. I've stayed here once before, a few months back on my first venture into New England as a trucker. This time I finally have a rewards card for the Petro chain, fueled up at a Petro around Toledo today, so I have a shower credit to clean up with tomorrow morning. Always a good idea on delivery days.
And that's that for today. Thanks for dropping by, keep those questions and comments coming, and keep on truckin'.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Musta' Been a Monday
DATELINE: FREMONT, IN, 10:00 p.m. EDT
Miles Today: 254
D'you remember a couple days ago when I wrote that I'd had my favorite kind of day on this job--just driving, making lots of paid miles? Well, today was my least favorite kind--lots of waiting around at BOTH delivery AND pickup, and toss in waiting for a repair to boot! But let me pick up the story from where I left off yesterday, after the hit-and-run and while waiting for guidance about getting my truck fixed.
Shortly after I signed off, the Road Assistance Department sent me to the TA that was just 3 miles down the highway (I-80/94 in Gary, IN) to have their shop fix up my broken mirror post. They took a quick look and determined that they didn't have the necessary part (the whole mirror and post assembly, actually) and couldn't get it until this morning. So we determined that I'd make my delivery in the morning (it was only 10 miles away), then return to the TA for the repair. So I found a spot in the TA's lot (it's a big lot, and many spaces were still open) and spent the night there.
This morning I woke up far earlier (4:36) than I wanted to (6:00) and couldn't get back to sleep. So I eventually (a little before 6:00) got up and headed inside for a shower. Then it was back to the truck to kill some time before heading to my delivery.
The delivery appointment was for 8:00, so I figured I'd get there a bit early and got rolling at 7:00. It was indeed a short trip, and I arrived at 7:15. Unfortunately, the place didn't open up 'til 7:30. When I signed in at 7:30, I learned that the lady who handles my customer (this place was a warehouse that receives and holds materials for many different companies) didn't get in and start 'til 8:00. So it was back to the truck to wait some more.
At 8:00 I was back inside. By 8:15 I finally had a dock assignment, and drove over and backed in. And waited. And waited. And waited some more. Apparently the dock team had a meeting, and they didn't even touch my truck 'til after 9:00. A long while later, I noticed it had been quiet for a few minutes in my trailer, so I walked inside to see it they were done. Nobody was around, and my trailer was still 1/2 full (I guess that's the pessimistic view in this circumstance). Break time does rule; this musta' been a union shop.
I could run on and on, but in the interest of brevity (whaddaya mean, "Too late"?), I'll just say that I didn't get out of there 'til 11:00. I then drove the 10 miles back to the TA and started the process of waiting there. Most of which was waiting out the repair authorization process. In the end it turned out that the mechanic just used some wire (he said it was a coat hanger; I asked if it was a DOT-approved coat hanger) to temporarily hold the broken part of the mirror post together. Fine by me, as long as it would hold the mirror in a place where I could get it angled correctly for a proper view down the side of the truck and the adjacent lane. And it does. When I get to a terminal I'll see about a permanent repair.
So I was done with the shop there around 12:15 or 12:20. When I got back in the truck, I already had my next assignment (of course, I had told Dispatch NOT to assign me a load 'til I told them I was done with the repairs). But it worked out OK, 'cuz the pickup was in Manteno, IL at 1:30, and I had just enough time to get there on schedule. Which I did. Then more waiting began.
They got me into a dock right away, and they got started loading reasonably soon, but they never seemed to finish. This place has one of the newer generation of docks with red and green lights at each door to indicate to the driver when s/he can move in or out of the dock (green) or has to stay put 'cuz they're working in the trailer (red). Once my dock light went red after docking, it didn't go back to green.
Now, this load (and presumably me with it) is going to Shelton, CT (just west of New Haven) for a Wednesday morning delivery. 875 miles (or probably more; the 875 is what the load assignment quoted). That meant I needed to get rolling so I could eat up as many of those miles today as possible before my 14-hour driving window ran out. But, of course, it stayed red. A "normal" load process takes about an hour; less--sometimes much less--if the dock is an efficient operation. This afternoon, I didn't get green 'til I'd been there for almost 2-1/2 hours. When I went in to get the paperwork after being green-lighted, the guy there *itched and moaned about their computer system messing up.
A side note: Something seems to have been going on with computers today. While I was sitting at my delivery this morning, my daughter called from home and said her laptop would not connect to the internet--it said it didn't have a wireless adapter installed, which of course it does. Later I found out that the situation resolved itself without intervention or explanation. This evening, when I first turned on my laptop, it "stalled" when booting up my Verizon Access Manager program (MY internet connection), stopped responding at all, and it looked for a while like I was going to have to just let the battery run down in order to even get the thing to shut off so I could even restart it. After a while it did go into hibernation and let me sign back on. I did restart it then and since, everything's been fine. Now back to today's story.
Anyway, at 4:15 (CDT) I was finally free to start eating up the road to CT. I made the obligatory stop to weigh my truck (perfect on the first attempt) and another quick stop to grab a bite to eat, and managed 3-1/2 hours of driving before stopping for the night at a Service Plaza along the IN Turnpike. The last one before Ohio, actually. My time was running short, otherwise I would have made for the Toledo area. But this place is fine; it has a McDonald's and Dairy Queen along with a convenience store. Since I can't get started 'til 7:00 (EDT)tomorrow morning (remember, I gotta take a full 10-hour break, and I stopped at 9:00 EDT), I'll be able to grab breakfast under the arches if I so choose.
So it was another long day for relatively few paid miles. That's what really burns my biscuits about this job--having to wait while shippers and receivers eat up my hours that I could be driving. Makes me really appreciate the companies that know what they're doing on the docks and get me in and out fast.
Thanks for looking in today. Send in your comments and questions (note to reader dennis the accompanist: read that again, it says "10+", not "110", but thanks for writing in), and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 254
D'you remember a couple days ago when I wrote that I'd had my favorite kind of day on this job--just driving, making lots of paid miles? Well, today was my least favorite kind--lots of waiting around at BOTH delivery AND pickup, and toss in waiting for a repair to boot! But let me pick up the story from where I left off yesterday, after the hit-and-run and while waiting for guidance about getting my truck fixed.
Shortly after I signed off, the Road Assistance Department sent me to the TA that was just 3 miles down the highway (I-80/94 in Gary, IN) to have their shop fix up my broken mirror post. They took a quick look and determined that they didn't have the necessary part (the whole mirror and post assembly, actually) and couldn't get it until this morning. So we determined that I'd make my delivery in the morning (it was only 10 miles away), then return to the TA for the repair. So I found a spot in the TA's lot (it's a big lot, and many spaces were still open) and spent the night there.
This morning I woke up far earlier (4:36) than I wanted to (6:00) and couldn't get back to sleep. So I eventually (a little before 6:00) got up and headed inside for a shower. Then it was back to the truck to kill some time before heading to my delivery.
The delivery appointment was for 8:00, so I figured I'd get there a bit early and got rolling at 7:00. It was indeed a short trip, and I arrived at 7:15. Unfortunately, the place didn't open up 'til 7:30. When I signed in at 7:30, I learned that the lady who handles my customer (this place was a warehouse that receives and holds materials for many different companies) didn't get in and start 'til 8:00. So it was back to the truck to wait some more.
At 8:00 I was back inside. By 8:15 I finally had a dock assignment, and drove over and backed in. And waited. And waited. And waited some more. Apparently the dock team had a meeting, and they didn't even touch my truck 'til after 9:00. A long while later, I noticed it had been quiet for a few minutes in my trailer, so I walked inside to see it they were done. Nobody was around, and my trailer was still 1/2 full (I guess that's the pessimistic view in this circumstance). Break time does rule; this musta' been a union shop.
I could run on and on, but in the interest of brevity (whaddaya mean, "Too late"?), I'll just say that I didn't get out of there 'til 11:00. I then drove the 10 miles back to the TA and started the process of waiting there. Most of which was waiting out the repair authorization process. In the end it turned out that the mechanic just used some wire (he said it was a coat hanger; I asked if it was a DOT-approved coat hanger) to temporarily hold the broken part of the mirror post together. Fine by me, as long as it would hold the mirror in a place where I could get it angled correctly for a proper view down the side of the truck and the adjacent lane. And it does. When I get to a terminal I'll see about a permanent repair.
So I was done with the shop there around 12:15 or 12:20. When I got back in the truck, I already had my next assignment (of course, I had told Dispatch NOT to assign me a load 'til I told them I was done with the repairs). But it worked out OK, 'cuz the pickup was in Manteno, IL at 1:30, and I had just enough time to get there on schedule. Which I did. Then more waiting began.
They got me into a dock right away, and they got started loading reasonably soon, but they never seemed to finish. This place has one of the newer generation of docks with red and green lights at each door to indicate to the driver when s/he can move in or out of the dock (green) or has to stay put 'cuz they're working in the trailer (red). Once my dock light went red after docking, it didn't go back to green.
Now, this load (and presumably me with it) is going to Shelton, CT (just west of New Haven) for a Wednesday morning delivery. 875 miles (or probably more; the 875 is what the load assignment quoted). That meant I needed to get rolling so I could eat up as many of those miles today as possible before my 14-hour driving window ran out. But, of course, it stayed red. A "normal" load process takes about an hour; less--sometimes much less--if the dock is an efficient operation. This afternoon, I didn't get green 'til I'd been there for almost 2-1/2 hours. When I went in to get the paperwork after being green-lighted, the guy there *itched and moaned about their computer system messing up.
A side note: Something seems to have been going on with computers today. While I was sitting at my delivery this morning, my daughter called from home and said her laptop would not connect to the internet--it said it didn't have a wireless adapter installed, which of course it does. Later I found out that the situation resolved itself without intervention or explanation. This evening, when I first turned on my laptop, it "stalled" when booting up my Verizon Access Manager program (MY internet connection), stopped responding at all, and it looked for a while like I was going to have to just let the battery run down in order to even get the thing to shut off so I could even restart it. After a while it did go into hibernation and let me sign back on. I did restart it then and since, everything's been fine. Now back to today's story.
Anyway, at 4:15 (CDT) I was finally free to start eating up the road to CT. I made the obligatory stop to weigh my truck (perfect on the first attempt) and another quick stop to grab a bite to eat, and managed 3-1/2 hours of driving before stopping for the night at a Service Plaza along the IN Turnpike. The last one before Ohio, actually. My time was running short, otherwise I would have made for the Toledo area. But this place is fine; it has a McDonald's and Dairy Queen along with a convenience store. Since I can't get started 'til 7:00 (EDT)tomorrow morning (remember, I gotta take a full 10-hour break, and I stopped at 9:00 EDT), I'll be able to grab breakfast under the arches if I so choose.
So it was another long day for relatively few paid miles. That's what really burns my biscuits about this job--having to wait while shippers and receivers eat up my hours that I could be driving. Makes me really appreciate the companies that know what they're doing on the docks and get me in and out fast.
Thanks for looking in today. Send in your comments and questions (note to reader dennis the accompanist: read that again, it says "10+", not "110", but thanks for writing in), and keep on truckin'.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
And Then...
DATELINE: GARY, IN, 4:00 p.m. CDT
Miles Today: 450
And it was all just going along as another innocuous day, just a drive from Nashville to Chicago (or points nearabouts to them). And it was a shorter work day, too, only 7-3/4 hours of driving (as opposed to 10+). I finished up by fueling then parking at a Flying J here, had some lunch, and was relaxing in my bunk (napping, really) when some idiot hit me. By the time I registered what was going on, could get up and dressed, and pull back my curtains to see, the other truck was gone.
Now, it was nice & bright and sunny, and it was wide open next to me on the side I got hit (meaning the other guy wasn't squeezing into a tight space). So there was no reason ANYBODY should have even needed to get close enough to make hitting my truck a possibility. That's why I know it was an idiot who hit me. That and the fact that he left the scene. Perhaps he (just playing the percentages by guessing at the gender) didn't know he hit me, 'cuz it was on his way out and he was heading the other way, and the back end of his trailer scraped along the side of my cab. (That's what I surmise by the nature of the damage.)
The damage isn't terrible, by any means. The back corner of his trailer clipped the right (passenger) side of my cab, and he messed up my mirrors on that side and scraped and cracked the fiberglass hood. Oh, and the crack that had been in my windshield on that side now runs from top to bottom--it had been only about 4 inches long before.
But now I'm pissed. I've reported the accident to the company's Accident Hotline, and now I'm waiting for a call back from the Safety Department for more complete coverage of the issue (more info to them, instructions for me regarding dealing with the damages). The mirrors are a definite safety issue, obviously, so I'll need to get them taken care of before I can drive much. Otherwise I'll be almost totally blind on that side of the truck. (Do YOU want to drive around a truck that can't see other traffic around him on an entire side?)
This Flying J does have a garage facility, but I don't know yet if USA uses the "J-Care" facilities in its repair network. I may have to roll 3 miles down the road to a TA--the Maintenance Department has been communicating with me and they suggested the TA (I've had a bit of work done at TAs during this career so far). So, naturally, on a day when I'd finished up early and gotten a good parking place, I now may need to move somewhere else, wait while the mirror gets fixed, and see if any parking spots are open then. Sheesh!
Also, I was gonna have plenty of time for a little poker, but now that's gone bye-bye, too. Woulda' been the first time in a few days, and I was looking forward to it. (Another chapter in the ongoing saga entitled, "The Best Laid Plans...".)
That's all for now. I'll report on the resolution and whether or not I get to make the delivery on time tomorrow. Thanks for looking in today, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 450
And it was all just going along as another innocuous day, just a drive from Nashville to Chicago (or points nearabouts to them). And it was a shorter work day, too, only 7-3/4 hours of driving (as opposed to 10+). I finished up by fueling then parking at a Flying J here, had some lunch, and was relaxing in my bunk (napping, really) when some idiot hit me. By the time I registered what was going on, could get up and dressed, and pull back my curtains to see, the other truck was gone.
Now, it was nice & bright and sunny, and it was wide open next to me on the side I got hit (meaning the other guy wasn't squeezing into a tight space). So there was no reason ANYBODY should have even needed to get close enough to make hitting my truck a possibility. That's why I know it was an idiot who hit me. That and the fact that he left the scene. Perhaps he (just playing the percentages by guessing at the gender) didn't know he hit me, 'cuz it was on his way out and he was heading the other way, and the back end of his trailer scraped along the side of my cab. (That's what I surmise by the nature of the damage.)
The damage isn't terrible, by any means. The back corner of his trailer clipped the right (passenger) side of my cab, and he messed up my mirrors on that side and scraped and cracked the fiberglass hood. Oh, and the crack that had been in my windshield on that side now runs from top to bottom--it had been only about 4 inches long before.
But now I'm pissed. I've reported the accident to the company's Accident Hotline, and now I'm waiting for a call back from the Safety Department for more complete coverage of the issue (more info to them, instructions for me regarding dealing with the damages). The mirrors are a definite safety issue, obviously, so I'll need to get them taken care of before I can drive much. Otherwise I'll be almost totally blind on that side of the truck. (Do YOU want to drive around a truck that can't see other traffic around him on an entire side?)
This Flying J does have a garage facility, but I don't know yet if USA uses the "J-Care" facilities in its repair network. I may have to roll 3 miles down the road to a TA--the Maintenance Department has been communicating with me and they suggested the TA (I've had a bit of work done at TAs during this career so far). So, naturally, on a day when I'd finished up early and gotten a good parking place, I now may need to move somewhere else, wait while the mirror gets fixed, and see if any parking spots are open then. Sheesh!
Also, I was gonna have plenty of time for a little poker, but now that's gone bye-bye, too. Woulda' been the first time in a few days, and I was looking forward to it. (Another chapter in the ongoing saga entitled, "The Best Laid Plans...".)
That's all for now. I'll report on the resolution and whether or not I get to make the delivery on time tomorrow. Thanks for looking in today, and keep on truckin'.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Windshield Wipers, Slappin' Out a Tempo...
DATELINE: ANTIOCH, TN, 7:45 p.m. CDT
Miles Today: 584
Just another long driving day today, much of it in driving rain. (How appropriate!) But I did make my goal, reaching the Popeye's with a TA here within my allotted 11 hours of driving time for today. I actually made it with 1/2 hour to spare, even.
I've been to this locale a few times before, so I know it as a TA with one of the smaller parking lots. When I arrived at 4:00 p.m., only a few parking spots were still open. But I didn't need 'em all, so I nabbed one. After parking, I headed inside for my "traditional" Popeye's dinner: the 2-piece meal, spicy, with a biscuit and side dish. The side varies depending on what's available at the specific location. Here it's the Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya. After that, I checked out the TV room and stayed for the movie they were showing: "The Chronicles of Riddick" on TNT. After that was the first 30 minutes of "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" before someone requested a switch to the Final Four game. I woulda' been interested in staying for that, but it has been a long day and I need some sleep (and to write up this captivating report).
Boy, lately I've gotten in the habit of starting off these updates with how my day ended before telling you about how it started. I must be subconsciously observing the journalistic inverted pyramid style. Anyway, I just couldn't get up when my alarm sounded at 4:00 (EDT) this morning, and finally woke up at 5:22. I just did what was necessary to get myself started, and hit the road at 5:45. After that, all I did was drive except for the usual stops every couple of hours or so, including a fuel stop and lunch break in Jackson, GA.
Tomorrow I'll be up early once more, this time to make the trek to the Chicago area. I'll most likely stop in Gary, IN where there's a cluster of truck stops along I-94, and which is sufficiently close to Calumet City, IL, where I'll be delivering this load Monday morning.
And that's all I have to say about that. (Name that quote! I think I remembered it correctly. Fame and glory to the first person to submit a comment with the correct reference.) Thanks for reading today, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 584
Just another long driving day today, much of it in driving rain. (How appropriate!) But I did make my goal, reaching the Popeye's with a TA here within my allotted 11 hours of driving time for today. I actually made it with 1/2 hour to spare, even.
I've been to this locale a few times before, so I know it as a TA with one of the smaller parking lots. When I arrived at 4:00 p.m., only a few parking spots were still open. But I didn't need 'em all, so I nabbed one. After parking, I headed inside for my "traditional" Popeye's dinner: the 2-piece meal, spicy, with a biscuit and side dish. The side varies depending on what's available at the specific location. Here it's the Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya. After that, I checked out the TV room and stayed for the movie they were showing: "The Chronicles of Riddick" on TNT. After that was the first 30 minutes of "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" before someone requested a switch to the Final Four game. I woulda' been interested in staying for that, but it has been a long day and I need some sleep (and to write up this captivating report).
Boy, lately I've gotten in the habit of starting off these updates with how my day ended before telling you about how it started. I must be subconsciously observing the journalistic inverted pyramid style. Anyway, I just couldn't get up when my alarm sounded at 4:00 (EDT) this morning, and finally woke up at 5:22. I just did what was necessary to get myself started, and hit the road at 5:45. After that, all I did was drive except for the usual stops every couple of hours or so, including a fuel stop and lunch break in Jackson, GA.
Tomorrow I'll be up early once more, this time to make the trek to the Chicago area. I'll most likely stop in Gary, IN where there's a cluster of truck stops along I-94, and which is sufficiently close to Calumet City, IL, where I'll be delivering this load Monday morning.
And that's all I have to say about that. (Name that quote! I think I remembered it correctly. Fame and glory to the first person to submit a comment with the correct reference.) Thanks for reading today, and keep on truckin'.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Fun in Central Florida
DATELINE: REDDICK, FL, 7:45 p.m. EDT
Miles Today: 308
My apologies, but I can't think of a clever way to start today's report, or at least any way that'd conform to what you're taught in any creative writing class. Must have a wee bit to do with fatigue. And because of the fatigue, I'm also too tired to sit and wait for a clever opening to come to me. So this is the dreck you get today. I hope it's not too big a step down from the quality of dreck you normally get in these "pages".
I had a REALLY early start to the day, as I had somewheres around 50 miles to go to get to my 3:00 a.m. delivery appointment. Because USA Truck's policy is NOT to reimburse drivers for tolls on the Florida Turnpike, which naturally would have been the fastest and most direct route I could have taken this morning, I had to take "back roads", state and US highways. So I got rolling just after 1:30, expecting about a 90-minute drive into Orlando.
The route was easy to follow, as the roads (FL-44 and US-441) were well marked. But it took almost 2 hours because of some construction zones and lots more stoplights than I had expected along the way. This Orlando area really is spread wide.
Anyway, I reached the customer site at about 3:30 and backed into their dock (well, 1 of 2 they had open). I went inside to hand in the bill of lading, and the guy on the dock asked me to pull back out. Huh? He explained that my truck was a mess. Huh? He pointed inside the trailer, so I peeked in. Indeed, some of the load had shifted and toppled over. I hate when shippers don't secure their loads.
The load was a mix of products, some in boxes, some in pails. Some of the pails, stacked 2 or 3 high, and forward of the boxed goods, had toppled, something I couldn't see from the ground when I opened the trailer doors in preparation for backing in. The dock guy explained that it would take a while to handle my trailer, and he head 2 more trucks coming in at 4:00 (it was now after 3:45). So he'd get them out of the way before dealing with my mess.
All things considered, the delivery went quicker than it could have. The other 2 trucks were in and out in about 30 minutes, then it was my turn. And they had my trailer unloaded within 45 more minutes. Afterwards, I hustled on over to a truck stop I found listed in my Truck Stop Guide, the only one listed in (or even close to) Orlando, and it was only about 3 miles away.
The Guide listed the place under the name "Trucker's Paradise", so it certainly looked promising. So I was expecting a big, huge place with lots of lights and neon palm trees and the like. Instead, I found the place by a plain white, rectangular sign with black block letters reading "TRUCK STOP". That's it. No "Trucker's Paradise" identified anywhere. But it was for sure the right place, as it matched the address given in the Guide.
A paradise it was not. The parking lot was gravel and cratered. And it wasn't very well lighted, either. And the restaurant and store, housed in a cement block building, were closed because of the early hour (the "good" truck stops have them open 24/7). At least their rest rooms were accessible. But hey, any port in a storm or, more appropriate to my case, any parking spot when it's time to wait for a load assignment. And I did find a spot to put my rig for the interim.
I had just enough time to walk over, hit the rest room, walk back (I was at the far corner of the lot from the building), and lie back in my bunk. Just as I got comfy, the assignment came in: pick up a load in Lakeland that's bound for Calumet City, IL. The pickup time was listed as 0700 hours. Since it was after 0600 when I got the message, and the pickup was 55 miles away, AND I'd have to stop at a truck stop en route to pick up some load locks (adjustable bars to spread across the trailer to secure the load in place) which were required for this load, in no way was I going to get there on time. I sent that info in and got rolling. En route I got a reply that I actually had a pickup window, so it was no biggie to be later than 0700.
Stop at a Love's to get the load locks: Check. (Though I had a bit of a wait on hold while calling in to Dispatch to get the purchase authorization code.)
Find the correct exit off of the highway, #38 for FL-33 South: Check.
Find the state route I was to take to the shipper: Not so check.
The directions provided with the assignment told me to take a left onto "State Road 59, aka Combee Rd". (Why do I keep thinking, "I am Combee, dammit!"?) A mile or so down FL-33 I came across the junction of FL-659, N Combee Rd. The shipper's address was on S Combee, so I figured that'd be another intersection farther down. Yada, yada, long story short, I had a nice tour of Lakeland before determining there is no FL-59, and that FL-659 was indeed correct. So I retreated back to that junction and followed that road 'til I came across the shipper.
Loading there went fine, though a little longer than I normally like. But it was only 1-1/4 hours, then I was on my way. And now I'm on my way back north. Well, not right NOW, as I'm parked for the night at a Petro Stopping Place here along I-75, just north of Ocala. My load is due for delivery Monday morning, so I have the weekend to make the drive to Chicagoland. My goal for tomorrow is Nashville, so we'll see how that goes.
My regular readers will recall that, as a sports fan, I like to see the major sporting venues across the country. I've driven past Lambeau field, Texas Stadium, the Cotton Bowl, The Meadowlands, and many others. Today I got to see one of the Hoiliest of Holies. Well, to me as a lifelong southeast Michigander and, therefore, a Tigers fan, it's a shrine. Thanks to the lousy directions I was provided to the shipper in Lakeland, I passed right by Tigertown and Joker Marchant Stadium. Three times even. True, I couldn't get a good look since I was driving, and it's a block off of the main drag, tucked behind a Honda dealership, but I did catch glimpses of it. And its light towers are very prominent. So that was a thrill for me. Now I'll know how to find it when I get the chance to come down for some Spring Training action.
It's now gotten to be time for bed. I snuck in a break while composing this and caught "Ghost Rider" with Nicholas Cage that was showing in the truck stop's theater. Not a great movie, but the special effects are cool. But now it's 10:45 and I want to get up at 4:00 to hit the road. I did grab a nap of a few hours when I got here around 2:00, so I won't be totally sleep-deprived. Thanks for checking in on me, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 308
My apologies, but I can't think of a clever way to start today's report, or at least any way that'd conform to what you're taught in any creative writing class. Must have a wee bit to do with fatigue. And because of the fatigue, I'm also too tired to sit and wait for a clever opening to come to me. So this is the dreck you get today. I hope it's not too big a step down from the quality of dreck you normally get in these "pages".
I had a REALLY early start to the day, as I had somewheres around 50 miles to go to get to my 3:00 a.m. delivery appointment. Because USA Truck's policy is NOT to reimburse drivers for tolls on the Florida Turnpike, which naturally would have been the fastest and most direct route I could have taken this morning, I had to take "back roads", state and US highways. So I got rolling just after 1:30, expecting about a 90-minute drive into Orlando.
The route was easy to follow, as the roads (FL-44 and US-441) were well marked. But it took almost 2 hours because of some construction zones and lots more stoplights than I had expected along the way. This Orlando area really is spread wide.
Anyway, I reached the customer site at about 3:30 and backed into their dock (well, 1 of 2 they had open). I went inside to hand in the bill of lading, and the guy on the dock asked me to pull back out. Huh? He explained that my truck was a mess. Huh? He pointed inside the trailer, so I peeked in. Indeed, some of the load had shifted and toppled over. I hate when shippers don't secure their loads.
The load was a mix of products, some in boxes, some in pails. Some of the pails, stacked 2 or 3 high, and forward of the boxed goods, had toppled, something I couldn't see from the ground when I opened the trailer doors in preparation for backing in. The dock guy explained that it would take a while to handle my trailer, and he head 2 more trucks coming in at 4:00 (it was now after 3:45). So he'd get them out of the way before dealing with my mess.
All things considered, the delivery went quicker than it could have. The other 2 trucks were in and out in about 30 minutes, then it was my turn. And they had my trailer unloaded within 45 more minutes. Afterwards, I hustled on over to a truck stop I found listed in my Truck Stop Guide, the only one listed in (or even close to) Orlando, and it was only about 3 miles away.
The Guide listed the place under the name "Trucker's Paradise", so it certainly looked promising. So I was expecting a big, huge place with lots of lights and neon palm trees and the like. Instead, I found the place by a plain white, rectangular sign with black block letters reading "TRUCK STOP". That's it. No "Trucker's Paradise" identified anywhere. But it was for sure the right place, as it matched the address given in the Guide.
A paradise it was not. The parking lot was gravel and cratered. And it wasn't very well lighted, either. And the restaurant and store, housed in a cement block building, were closed because of the early hour (the "good" truck stops have them open 24/7). At least their rest rooms were accessible. But hey, any port in a storm or, more appropriate to my case, any parking spot when it's time to wait for a load assignment. And I did find a spot to put my rig for the interim.
I had just enough time to walk over, hit the rest room, walk back (I was at the far corner of the lot from the building), and lie back in my bunk. Just as I got comfy, the assignment came in: pick up a load in Lakeland that's bound for Calumet City, IL. The pickup time was listed as 0700 hours. Since it was after 0600 when I got the message, and the pickup was 55 miles away, AND I'd have to stop at a truck stop en route to pick up some load locks (adjustable bars to spread across the trailer to secure the load in place) which were required for this load, in no way was I going to get there on time. I sent that info in and got rolling. En route I got a reply that I actually had a pickup window, so it was no biggie to be later than 0700.
Stop at a Love's to get the load locks: Check. (Though I had a bit of a wait on hold while calling in to Dispatch to get the purchase authorization code.)
Find the correct exit off of the highway, #38 for FL-33 South: Check.
Find the state route I was to take to the shipper: Not so check.
The directions provided with the assignment told me to take a left onto "State Road 59, aka Combee Rd". (Why do I keep thinking, "I am Combee, dammit!"?) A mile or so down FL-33 I came across the junction of FL-659, N Combee Rd. The shipper's address was on S Combee, so I figured that'd be another intersection farther down. Yada, yada, long story short, I had a nice tour of Lakeland before determining there is no FL-59, and that FL-659 was indeed correct. So I retreated back to that junction and followed that road 'til I came across the shipper.
Loading there went fine, though a little longer than I normally like. But it was only 1-1/4 hours, then I was on my way. And now I'm on my way back north. Well, not right NOW, as I'm parked for the night at a Petro Stopping Place here along I-75, just north of Ocala. My load is due for delivery Monday morning, so I have the weekend to make the drive to Chicagoland. My goal for tomorrow is Nashville, so we'll see how that goes.
My regular readers will recall that, as a sports fan, I like to see the major sporting venues across the country. I've driven past Lambeau field, Texas Stadium, the Cotton Bowl, The Meadowlands, and many others. Today I got to see one of the Hoiliest of Holies. Well, to me as a lifelong southeast Michigander and, therefore, a Tigers fan, it's a shrine. Thanks to the lousy directions I was provided to the shipper in Lakeland, I passed right by Tigertown and Joker Marchant Stadium. Three times even. True, I couldn't get a good look since I was driving, and it's a block off of the main drag, tucked behind a Honda dealership, but I did catch glimpses of it. And its light towers are very prominent. So that was a thrill for me. Now I'll know how to find it when I get the chance to come down for some Spring Training action.
It's now gotten to be time for bed. I snuck in a break while composing this and caught "Ghost Rider" with Nicholas Cage that was showing in the truck stop's theater. Not a great movie, but the special effects are cool. But now it's 10:45 and I want to get up at 4:00 to hit the road. I did grab a nap of a few hours when I got here around 2:00, so I won't be totally sleep-deprived. Thanks for checking in on me, and keep on truckin'.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Morning Panhandling
DATELINE: WILDWOOD, FL, 5:00 p.m. EDT
Miles Today: 521
Blog, then bed. But I doubt I'll be able to sleep for quite a while yet. Y'see, I need to get up at 1:00 a.m. so I can make my 3:00 delivery tomorrow. But I've only been up today for about 12 hours now (since 4:00 a.m. CDT) and I'm not all that tired yet. Perhaps I can head out and take a walk for a while to sap my energy in the Florida heat (my cab thermostat says it's 91 out there), but that may depend on if the rain holds off--the skies are pretty dark right now. But first I gotta' tell y'all about my day.
Like I noted, I got up at 4:00. The first order of business was a shower and shave, which I got out of the way quickly. I was on the road by 4:45, and most of the rest of my work day was just drive, drive, drive. I made a brief stop for a quick bite in Mossy Head, FL, and a fuel stop in Ocala. Other than quick rest stops every couple of hours, I was behind the wheel churnin' up the blacktop.
I arrived here in Wildwood (just a bit south of Ocala) at 4:00 EDT. I did lose an hour today because of crossing into the Eastern time zone, so I have just enough time for my 10-hour break before I need to get going tomorrow morning. I'll get up at 1:00 so I can get in a shower and quick breakfast before rolling at 2:00. I stopped here because I noticed in my reference materials that there's a Popeye's Chicken with a TA truck stop here. 'Nuff said.
That about covers my day. Nothing exciting. Well, this morning was a bit rainy, then quite foggy across much of the FLA panhandle. But by noon the skies had cleared up completely. Then, as the afternoon wore on, the clouds built up and off-and-on rain began. I'm not sure if that's the normal FLA afternoon raininess, or a weather front I had run out from under this morning that has caught back up. But who cares? I'm (hopefully) gonna' be sleeping through it soon, anyway.
Thanks for getting your truckin' fix from me today. Drop me a line, and keep right on a-truckin'.
Miles Today: 521
Blog, then bed. But I doubt I'll be able to sleep for quite a while yet. Y'see, I need to get up at 1:00 a.m. so I can make my 3:00 delivery tomorrow. But I've only been up today for about 12 hours now (since 4:00 a.m. CDT) and I'm not all that tired yet. Perhaps I can head out and take a walk for a while to sap my energy in the Florida heat (my cab thermostat says it's 91 out there), but that may depend on if the rain holds off--the skies are pretty dark right now. But first I gotta' tell y'all about my day.
Like I noted, I got up at 4:00. The first order of business was a shower and shave, which I got out of the way quickly. I was on the road by 4:45, and most of the rest of my work day was just drive, drive, drive. I made a brief stop for a quick bite in Mossy Head, FL, and a fuel stop in Ocala. Other than quick rest stops every couple of hours, I was behind the wheel churnin' up the blacktop.
I arrived here in Wildwood (just a bit south of Ocala) at 4:00 EDT. I did lose an hour today because of crossing into the Eastern time zone, so I have just enough time for my 10-hour break before I need to get going tomorrow morning. I'll get up at 1:00 so I can get in a shower and quick breakfast before rolling at 2:00. I stopped here because I noticed in my reference materials that there's a Popeye's Chicken with a TA truck stop here. 'Nuff said.
That about covers my day. Nothing exciting. Well, this morning was a bit rainy, then quite foggy across much of the FLA panhandle. But by noon the skies had cleared up completely. Then, as the afternoon wore on, the clouds built up and off-and-on rain began. I'm not sure if that's the normal FLA afternoon raininess, or a weather front I had run out from under this morning that has caught back up. But who cares? I'm (hopefully) gonna' be sleeping through it soon, anyway.
Thanks for getting your truckin' fix from me today. Drop me a line, and keep right on a-truckin'.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Gulfport Greetings
DATELINE: GULFPORT, MS, 5:15 p.m. CDT
Miles Today: 541
Greetings today from the Gulf Coast. Well, I'm not actually right on the coast, but I'm certainly well within 10 miles of it. Probably 6 or 7 miles as the seagull flies. I've found refuge for the night at the Flying J here along I-10 at exit 31 (info given for those of you atlas-tically inclined), arriving around 4:15 this afternoon. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Back to how my workday went.
I woke up at 5:15 this morning so I could grab a quick shower and start work promptly at 6:00, when my requisite break reached its 10-hour mark. There was a delay before a shower room was ready for me, and I used that time to grab a quick bite--a hot dog--from the truck stop's convenience store because I was REALLY HUNGRY when I got up. But even with the delay, I managed to hit the road on time.
The rest of the day I pretty much just drove straight through; no lengthy stops for anything, just quick ones for rest rooms. My longest stop was at the Shreveport terminal for fuel, but that was only 15 minutes. After Shreveport, which I left at 9:15, I didn't make any other stops long enough to note in my log book, so that just shows a continuous line in the "Driving" section from 9:15 'til my arrival here in Gulfport at 4:15. I decided to stop here instead of proceeding on to Mobile, AL as I wrote as my plan yesterday because it'd take me most of another hour to get to that TA, and it has a much smaller lot (and is an older, smaller facility).
I'm motivated today and tomorrow to get as far as I can as quickly as I can because I need to get to Orlando (or wherever I stop tomorrow) in time to take a full 10-hour break before I need to get rolling Friday morning to get to my 3:00 a.m. delivery appointment. By my calculations, I do have enough time to take a couple extra hours in tonight's break and sleep in 'til 4:00 tomorrow morning. If I'm rolling by 5:00 (after a shower and shave), I should reach the Orlando area around 3:00 tomorrow afternoon if all goes well.
I am a bit worn out now--possibly because I didn't have enough to eat today and was getting hunger shakes by the time I got here--so I'll hit the sack fairly soon. I did run over to the Wendy's right next door for dinner after I parked, so I did take care of that hunger issue. No need to enumerate my whole caloric intake for the day, but I did have some between the aforementioned hot dog and Wendy's meal (Spicy Chicken sandwich and fries). Just apparently not enough. But all's well now.
It's been another grey, on-and-off rainy day, but down here along the coast it's good 'n warm. No need for another shirt over my T-shirt when I'm roaming outside now, so that's good to feel. Last night was good in that the temperature was moderate enough that I left my truck off, without needing the climate control system to periodically turn the engine on to run the heater. And I'll probably do that tonight, too, though until the sun goes down, I'm a-gonna need to run the AC to keep it comfy in here.
So that's the scoop on today from my vantage point. Thanks for living it with me vicariously, and keep on truckin'.
Miles Today: 541
Greetings today from the Gulf Coast. Well, I'm not actually right on the coast, but I'm certainly well within 10 miles of it. Probably 6 or 7 miles as the seagull flies. I've found refuge for the night at the Flying J here along I-10 at exit 31 (info given for those of you atlas-tically inclined), arriving around 4:15 this afternoon. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Back to how my workday went.
I woke up at 5:15 this morning so I could grab a quick shower and start work promptly at 6:00, when my requisite break reached its 10-hour mark. There was a delay before a shower room was ready for me, and I used that time to grab a quick bite--a hot dog--from the truck stop's convenience store because I was REALLY HUNGRY when I got up. But even with the delay, I managed to hit the road on time.
The rest of the day I pretty much just drove straight through; no lengthy stops for anything, just quick ones for rest rooms. My longest stop was at the Shreveport terminal for fuel, but that was only 15 minutes. After Shreveport, which I left at 9:15, I didn't make any other stops long enough to note in my log book, so that just shows a continuous line in the "Driving" section from 9:15 'til my arrival here in Gulfport at 4:15. I decided to stop here instead of proceeding on to Mobile, AL as I wrote as my plan yesterday because it'd take me most of another hour to get to that TA, and it has a much smaller lot (and is an older, smaller facility).
I'm motivated today and tomorrow to get as far as I can as quickly as I can because I need to get to Orlando (or wherever I stop tomorrow) in time to take a full 10-hour break before I need to get rolling Friday morning to get to my 3:00 a.m. delivery appointment. By my calculations, I do have enough time to take a couple extra hours in tonight's break and sleep in 'til 4:00 tomorrow morning. If I'm rolling by 5:00 (after a shower and shave), I should reach the Orlando area around 3:00 tomorrow afternoon if all goes well.
I am a bit worn out now--possibly because I didn't have enough to eat today and was getting hunger shakes by the time I got here--so I'll hit the sack fairly soon. I did run over to the Wendy's right next door for dinner after I parked, so I did take care of that hunger issue. No need to enumerate my whole caloric intake for the day, but I did have some between the aforementioned hot dog and Wendy's meal (Spicy Chicken sandwich and fries). Just apparently not enough. But all's well now.
It's been another grey, on-and-off rainy day, but down here along the coast it's good 'n warm. No need for another shirt over my T-shirt when I'm roaming outside now, so that's good to feel. Last night was good in that the temperature was moderate enough that I left my truck off, without needing the climate control system to periodically turn the engine on to run the heater. And I'll probably do that tonight, too, though until the sun goes down, I'm a-gonna need to run the AC to keep it comfy in here.
So that's the scoop on today from my vantage point. Thanks for living it with me vicariously, and keep on truckin'.
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