10/13/07

Well hell, they beat the spread at least.

I got rolling nice and early and, even though I covered over 600 miles today, it seemed quite easy. The first stop was the Georgia Port Authority in Garden City, near Savannah. I was actually struck by the sheer enormity of the place. Stacks of shipping containers, looking like office high-rises in a big city, stretched as far as the eye can see. I checked in with the security guard, who promptly sent me to a different guard at a different part of the facility. I had to wake that guy when I got down there. He directed me to a drop lot, but seemed to have trouble grasping the fact that I wasn't picking up anything. I was just there to drop off an empty, ostensibly to be used for some future shipment.

The drop lot presented a couple of issues. First was the fact that a train was blocking the driveway. Then, after the train finally moved, the lot itself was a tester. It really was pretty tight while I was driving in... forward. Backing into a slot in the dark was wicked tough. Judging by the dings in the sides of many of the trailers, I suspect that the yard dogs aren't too concerned about the close quarters. I got mine in squarely and safely, then took off bobtailing across the state.

And on to Lawrenceville... The ConWay facility is in a really stupid location, down a winding road and behind a residential neighborhood. That being said, the directions were easy enough to follow. Since ConWay is closed on the weekend, the security guard thought he was King Salami. I had to show him my CFI identification, confirm the emptiness of the trailer I received, and initial by my arrival time before he would leave me alone. I convinced him that I wouldn't hurt anybody by parking in their (empty and inactive) lot to watch the football game. I took a nap and then turned on the TV. My signal was pretty crappy, so I found a stream on the internet instead.

Yeah, I watched it. Moving along...

At some point I got my next load assignment. I was to drop my empty trailer at our yard in Atlanta and pick up a loaded trailer headed north. The next few days will be fairly unproductive, but I've been running pretty hard so a little break won't kill me. I'll leave Atlanta tomorrow, drop in Nashville on Monday, drop in Columbus on Tuesday, and drop in Michigan on Wednesday. The drops are only a few hundred miles apart, so I won't exactly be working my ass off. I've been trying to catch up on my movies anyway.

Once my ten hours were up, I headed over to Atlanta and dropped my empty. As I got off of I-285, there were lights flashing everywhere. Another freaking fatality accident? This is starting to give me the heebie-jeebies. There was an SUV that was smashed like a pancake, as well as a VW Beetle that had massive front-end damage. It's hard to imagine anyone in that SUV surviving. As I slowly inched past the carnage, I passed our drop yard. I had never been to this location and it's not exactly clearly marked. In fact, I don't think it's marked at all. My directions said our lot was across from Roadway. As I passed, with the bright lights flashing in my mirros, I noticed Roadway (also not marked) on the left. Luckily there was a parking lot at the next light with enough room for me to loop back around.

I dropped the empty ConWay trailer on the yard. I'm not sure exactly what is the story with the electric landing gear, but I just used the handle. The security guy at ConWay wasn't exactly going to be much help, but it really made no difference to me. The crank had two gears, contradicting what I had previously heard. Easy enough.

Then it was off to the local grocer for some dinner and refreshment. I got a few sideways stares down there, presumably because white dudes are not exactly prevalent in these parts. Makes no difference to me. I spend plenty of time in the ghetto back home, so why should it matter in Atlanta? With groceries and refreshments in hand, I've settled in for a nice relaxing night of watching baseball. I have to be in Nashville by 10am Monday, so I have no intention to set an alarm for tomorrow. I have Cleveland at pretty decent odds to win the World Series, so I'm hoping this score holds up.

Slightly off topic, well it's my blog so I guess it would be on topic, unless the topic is truck driving, but I'm the driver so anything goes. Either way, I was watching some lousy movie called Adam & Eve and I found the future Mrs. Godfather - Emmanuelle Chriqui.

She's not aware of this fact yet, but that's okay. I'll have to overlook her French heritage and she'll have to overlook the fact that I'm a deadbeat, but I think we can make it work.