8/11/07

Well, sometimes you need a day off and sometimes you just get one. Today I just got one. I woke up and headed to Salina this morning. The coolest part of the ride was the little kids asking me to blow the air horn for them. I still get a kick out of that. I got to Bosselman's and topped off the fuel tanks, then pulled in and laid down. I was #11 when I went on the board, so I knew I had plenty of time for a nap. Little did I know I had time for a lot more.

Here's the puzzling thing to me. I was dispatched from Colorado to here, some 425 miles. They paid me and paid for the fuel, but why? I'm under the control of Kansas City dispatch from here, but they already had ten trucks in the area this morning. It would seem to me that, if you're going to spend a couple hundred bucks in fuel and wages to move a truck then there would be a reason behind it. I'm now #7 on the board, so obviously there wasn't much freight to move from this area today. Personally I'd rather get the 425 miles and spend a day here than stay at the gas station in Colorado for a day and get no miles, but it doesn't seem like smart business. This truck stop is a much better place to spend a day than the Joplin terminal as well, for that matter, so I guess I can't complain too much.

I spent some time watching movies, some time downloading music, some more time watching movies, and some more time downloading music. The Dropkick Murphys put a new song on their MySpace page, so that was pretty cool. I'm looking forward to their new CD release in a few weeks. I thought I was getting hungry earlier, but after spending a couple of hours watching one portly driver after another walk by, I decided to go for a walk and take a shower instead. Man, I've gotten lazy and put on a few pounds lately, but some of these guys really need to be concerned for their health.

Miles so far are sitting just over 4,000 for the month, so a good week is in order. It will be tough to crack 6,500 on this check, but I'm still hoping for 6,000. I heard from another driver that the tractor shop in Joplin was backed up pretty badly last night, so I have my fingers crossed hoping that they get caught up before I get routed through there. I would seriously not like to spend a day in Joplin for a simple repair. My hunch is that a bunch of the people going to Joplin for the meeting today were having some fix-it work done, so they should be gone before I get there. I guess I'll find out soon enough.