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'.
1 comment:
Wow, a five-state day for you! I think it's been a while since I've had one of those. I'm glad your hectic-paced day went well. Enjoy your East Coast trip and get some sleep!
Here's a question for you - 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?
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