9/11/07

I got a decent night of sleep last night, so that was a nice change. When I woke up and looked outside, it was immediately apparent that today was going to be work. Quite a few days out here just seem like a long drive with the radio on. Going through West Virginia and Virginia in a steady rain is much more like labor.

I got a pretty major scare about five minutes after I started driving this morning. I came over a hill and noticed a green light at the bottom. Since the roads were wet, I started slowing down in anticipation of the light changing. As I approached the intersection the light did turn yellow. I had allowed plenty of stopping distance, so I just had to increase the pressure on the brakes a little to complete the stop. When my loaded trailer came off of a little rise, the forward thrust changed the story in a hurry. I was shoved forward, picking up about 5mph instantly. Then I hit a bumpy patch on the road. Long story short, the trailer started to slide out to my right and my drive tires broke traction. I had about a tenth of a second to decide what to do. Getting off the brake would make me go into the intersection. Staying on the brake could mean a jackknife. I went with my instinct and stepped on the gas. I was going to run a red light, so I blew the air horn and tried to make eye contact with the driver of the car sitting at the light. Fortunately he was paying attention. If he had just blindly moved when the light turned green, this might have been a very tragic story.

I've had all day to reflect and I really can't see what else I might have done. I was traveling slowly, certainly within a suitable limit for the conditions. I took a pretty good measure of my stopping distance, allowing a substantially longer margin that I should have needed. My equipment was inspected and working properly. I was alert and aware of the surroundings. I guess sometimes things just go wrong. In a split second, all of those stories you hear can become reality. It's a pretty sobering experience, to say the least.

West Virginia... yeah, whatever. I have nothing further to say about that state.

The fuel stop in Greenville, Virginia was packed as usual. I went in to get my receipt and grab a few supplies, then got back on my way. A Stevens driver was trying to back into a space, forcing all of us trying to exit the truck stop to wait for about ten minutes. I guess it's better safe than sorry, but it gets annoying when you just want to get back on the road.

I took the Richmond bypass and hit the area right at rush hour. Aside from a few slow merging points, it wasn't all that bad, so I managed to complete today's run in 7.5 hours' time. The WalMart security guard actually processed my paperwork ahead of a few WalMart drivers. That was a pleasant surprise. I don't know what the actual protocol is supposed to be, but quite a few of those guys make us OTR drivers wait until they check-in the WalMart drivers. The drop/hook was a typical ho-hum deal for the most part. My assigned space was occupied (per usual) so I took the nearest one. It was pretty tight, but I had plenty of room to pull forward and get situated.

On the way down, I didn't see any truck stops or rest areas nearby, so I asked the security guard on my way out. He directed me to a place only a couple of miles away, which is where I now sit. I have about three hours left on my 14 hour clock, but I won't hold my breath as far as tonight is concerned. I will have some hours to work with tomorrow, so I'm optimistic.

I was listening to the radio most of the day. I find it very alarming that people seem so far removed from the events of six years ago. It's almost as if they would prefer to forget what happened, if they haven't forgotten already. I've said before that this is not a political blog and I don't intend to get into it, but we go down a very dangerous road when our memories are so short. That's all I really have to say about that. A friend of mine was in WTC 1 when the plane hit it. He got out alive, but somehow I doubt that he will forget a thing.