The Ol' Switcheroo

DATELINE: CULLMAN, AL, 5:00 p.m. CDT

Miles Today: 353

Not an impressive mileage total today, but I still managed to use up almost all of my 14-hour window, making for another long day after a short night. So what else is new? How 'bout this: I'm here in this town, but needn't be after all. So here's today's story.

I got up before 2:00 EDT this morning to go make my pickup in Cartersville, GA. That drive took about 1-1/2 hours, but went quickly with virtually no traffic at those hours. The pickup was a drop-and-hook, but took extra time because of the procedures used by the shipper. Afterwards I burned up more time weighing my truck at the nearby TA, readjusting the tandems because too much weight was on the trailer axles, and reweighing. And this was a very heavy load, so I had to get it just right (and I did ob the first reweigh).

After all that rigmarole, I hit the road for the delivery in Birmingham, AL. That drive, with a fuel stop and later pit stop, took 4 hours, and I got to the delivery about 45 minutes behind schedule. Nobody there took any notice of my tardiness, but by the time I got there 8 trucks were already on-site for unloading. Since they only have 4 docks, (and were only unloading on 3), I had a bit of a wait.

All told, I was at the delivery for 4-1/2 hours. But at least I managed to catch a few Z's during my wait (did I mention I didn't sleep much last night--probably only 4 hours total). Afterwards I hightailed it over to a Pilot in town to send in my load paperwork and wait for my next assignment. Apparently the company's server was down, so they couldn't send me the assignment message, but my Fleet Manager did tell me (via Qualcomm message) to head towards the town of Moulton, AL for my next pickup.

Now, by that time of the day, my 14-hour driving window was closing up. I only had 1-1/4 hours left, and Moulton was at least 90 miles away. I messaged in that I couldn't get all the way to the pickup within my 14 hours before I'd have to take my 10-hour break, but I'd head up the road (I-65) to get closer for a morning pickup. And off I went.

Along the way, my new assignment message came in. A few miles later I came to a rest area so I could pull over, read the message, and get the load details. As I suspected (and had mentioned to Mrs. R.T. on the phone that it was a possibility), they switched my assignment. Instead of picking up a load in Moulton, I was now to grab a trailer from a drop yard we use back in--ready for this--Birmingham.

Yup, I coulda' stayed at that Pilot, where I coulda' eaten free at their Wendy's and taken a shower in the morning. Also, if they'd kept me on the Moulton pickup, I was headed for another Pilot up that-a-way. But no, I'm 40-50 miles up the road at an independent truck stop, since I didn't have the available hours to drive all the way back. At least there's a Hardee's right next door, so I got something tasty for dinner anyway. (A Jalapeno Burger and side salad.)

So now, come early morning--or the middle of the night, more accurately--when I've finished this 10-hour break, I'm gonna' get up and head back to B'ham to start that new load on its way. This one is headed for Brownsville, TX, about as far south as you can get in that state. (When I was driving with my trainer nigh on almost 2 years ago now, we went to Brownsville several times.) I deliver there on Monday, so I'll be hoofin' it pretty good over the weekend. It's about 1000 miles from B'ham to B'ville (at least, that's what the load assignment will pay me for), so that'll be a couple of full days of driving.

Well, once again I have to hit the sack early so I can rise in the dark. Thanks for looking in today, and keep on truckin'.