7/7/07

I can't honestly remember the last time I had a good day or a bad day. I suppose today would be no exception, although I think it was more good than bad.

Rolling south from San Antonio before the sun came up, I got to see quite a light show. It has been a long time since I've seen that much lightning. About 60 miles north of Laredo, I got the wind and rain to match. Here's a little secret about the big bad "don't mess with Texas" crowd: They absolutely panic when it rains. I don't mean that they slow down and keep a safe following distance. I mean that they absolutely panic. People were going 15mph on the interstate, weaving in and out of their lanes, slamming on their brakes every time the wind blew. I've heard the whole song and dance about people driving too fast for conditions, and it's true, but these people needed to get the hell off the highway. People don't seem to realize that slamming on the brakes is just as dangerous as accelerating when the road is wet, if not more.

I got to Laredo around 6:30am and sat through my trailer inspection. Then the first bit of good news came my way. The broker to whom I was taking that load was closed until Monday. Thus, I got to leave the load at the terminal for a local driver to deliver Monday morning. I hate driving in Laredo, so any chance to skip a delivery to a broker is a good thing for me.

I went to the dispatch window in order to turn in my paperwork and go on the ready board. The good news continued from there. I had requested home time as soon as I got to the terminal, hoping to be home by Thursday morning. When I got to the window, the night dispatcher told me he had a load going to Canada, meaning it will pass through my hometown. I'll get to Taylor Tuesday morning and then, depending on the trucks available at the time, I'll either leave the load there or deliver it to Ontario. Either way, I'll have no trouble getting home by Thursday. Now I'm sort of hoping to leave it for another driver so I can go to the bar and watch the All Star Game on Tuesday night.

I hooked to my new trailer and took a nice nap before I headed north. Lately I've had quite a beef with the hours of service regulations that do nothing but encourage tired driving. This run will do little to change my views on that subject. I'll have a few hours available for the next two days and then have to run from midnight to 11am in order to reach the terminal on time Tuesday. Today, though, I have a new cause. "No trucks in left lane."

There's a long stretch in southern Texas where trucks are prohibited from the left lane. This is one of those laws that sounds clever to a politician sitting in his office and looking for an agenda. People think it will help the flow of traffic but it seems to have the opposite effect. The concept is fine, but there is one fatal flaw. There is no penalty for the cars driving well below the speed limit in the two right lanes. What you end up with is a logjam of cars and trucks jockeying for position, when in fact the trucks would often be better off just cruising by in the left lane. Instead, we get to deal with merging traffic in the right lane, people cutting in and out of the center lane, people passing on our right when we move over to let people in, and the constant speed up/ slow down cycle that ensues. It's nothing short of ridiculous.

My patience was pretty well shot by the time I got through there. Then, to ice the cake, we got another rainstorm north of Austin. More of the 15mph, riding the brakes, weaving, and so forth. By the time I got to my fuel stop on the south side of Waco, it was time to call it a day. I'll have around 12 hours available to me for Sunday and Monday combined, so there was no point in driving any further while I was thoroughly pissed off.