10/9/07

The last day and a half have been pretty smooth as far as trucking goes. I got started in Knoxville when the inbound driver got the load to me three hours early. That meant a 3am end to my shift rather than 6am. He was a grumpy old sucker, but so be it. I never checked the empty trailer that I was giving him to see if it was clean. The guy who gave it to me said he had been sitting for two days, so I assumed he swept it out. Old man river wouldn't give me my paperwork until he saw that it was clean, so I went back and opened the doors. Squeaky clean. Moving along...

So, onward and westward. I sent a message to CFI, similar to the one that had been ignored the day before. I was scheduled to arrive in East St. Louis at 8:20am my time. I told them they could let the other driver know that I would be at least three hours early, in case he wanted to get an early start on his day. Much to my surprise, I actually got a coherent response. They told me that the relay was changed to our yard in Pocahontas, rather than the truck stop in ESL. Sweet! I was not looking forward to rolling into that place in the middle of the night and trying to park. I'm pretty sure that's the Pilot by the racetrack and, if so, I hate that place. Our yard in Pocahontas was much more convenient. Further to that, they said that my ETA had been updated to 5am, as I requested. I got there at 3:30 and parked next to the guy while I worked on a few computer projects. He was asleep and I had nowhere to go, so no point waking him up.

After I hung out for an hour or so, he woke up and made the switch with me. He was highlighted for Wichita, so that load will get him pretty close to home. Apparently that's my role at CFI this week - getting people home. I went to bed after a little while longer and, in the 64 degree air, slept like a baby for a few hours.

Shortly after I woke up, the next assignment came through. I was to receive a relay (yeah, another one) at the Pilot in Troy, Illinois and run it over to Ohio for tomorrow morning. There was plenty of time for a solo driver to get to Troy, take a ten hour break, and make the 10am appointment but they set it up as a relay. Didn't bother me any, I'll take whatever miles I can get. I suspected that the inbound driver was probably headed home somewhere near Troy, explaining the relay. Nope, they just set it up to be safe on the delivery time I guess.

After seeing that I was going 20 miles west to take a relay and bring it east, my first thought was that they should have just set the relay at Pocahontas. I was going to drive right past the yard on my way to Ohio anyway. It worked out fine for me though, because I probably would have driven to Troy to take a shower anyhow. This way I got paid for the short trip over there, as well as the miles back to where I started.

I had plenty of time to get in a good workout, take a long shower, enjoy a relaxing lunch, watch a movie, and take a nap before the other driver showed up. That's the way it would always work out in a perfect world, so I was loving my job today.

I thought I needed a new cord for my cooler, but first I plugged the old cord in to make sure it wasn't just loose. I'm not a detective, but when the motor caught on fire I concluded that I needed a new cooler. I picked one up at the Pilot in Troy then waited for the inbound driver. He showed up exactly when he was scheduled to arrive. Another guy, having left the same place forty-five minutes later, showed up a half hour earlier. Weird. Anyhow, loaded and ready, it was off for Ohio. I checked Google Earth before I left and it looked like the customer had plenty of room for me to park overnight, so I was able to take a leisurely drive across Illinois and Indiana knowing I didn't have to find a spot nearby and wake up early.

"To be Irish is to know that, in the end, the world will break your heart." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Pat said that about the death of John F. Kennedy. My deal tonight wasn't nearly as dramatic, but the premise really does hold true. There is something messed up in my head such that, when things are going well, I know that the other shoe is about to drop. I don't think so, I know so. As I entered Indiana, my dashboard lights went out. Oh well, I'd have to replace a fuse at the Pilot in Brazil. No big deal. Then the trailer lights went out. Shit! Not good to be on the highway with no trailer lights. As it turned out, I still had brake lights and rear turn signals, but I couldn't tell that while I was driving. It was a pretty stressful couple of miles until my exit, but I got off quickly enough and pulled into the Pilot.

I topped off the fuel tanks while I walked around the trailer to assess the situation. I could see in my mirrors that the lights had gone out, but I didn't know exactly what was or wasn't still functional. I basically did another pre-trip routine at the fuel island. The amber belly lights were not lit, but they flashed when the turn signal was on. The trailer clearance lights were AWOL. With the brakes applied, one brake light lit up but the other did not. With the lights turned on, the outer red tail lights were lit but the inners were not. And, of course, the dashboard lights were out. I parked the truck and started some tinkering. The one brake light that was out was actually fried at the connector. Maybe that's what triggered the fuse situation in the first place. I don't know, I'm not a mechanic. So, one replacement light later it was time to attack the fuses. There is a schematic on the back of the fuse panel showing the locations of various fuses, but it correlates loosely with reality. I got to sit on the step of my truck and go, one by one, through the fuses. None were burned out, but eventually I pulled one and put it back in causing my dashboard to light up. Cool. Then, I found one that lit up the trailer lights. Double cool. But that made the tractor clearance lights go out. Bogus. I found the one to fix the tractor lights, and the dashboard went back out. What the fuck! I went back to the one that lit up the dashboard the first time, and it did nothing. Back through the whole fuse panel again, I finally got everything lit up. I was watching the whole way through Indiana, expecting them to pop again. They never did so everything is apparently okay, for now.

I rolled into the customer's yard a little before midnight. My directions from CFI gave a route starting from I-70 but I was coming from 74 and 275. I found a sensible route from there, but at one point I was convinced that I was on a road where trucks do not belong. There was a sign mentioning no engine braking, so that was a relief. I checked in with the girl at the desk and she said they may or may not get to me tonight. No big deal to me either way. My ten hour break will be up right at my 10am appointment time, so if they unload me early that's great. If not, that's fine too.

A little side note: I know quite a few people who read this are looking to start driving careers in the early part of next year. The 2008 atlases are starting to show up on truck stop shelves. If you live near a truck stop, you might want to take a look and see what kind of deal you can get on the 2007 version. I saw some for $4.99 earlier. Might as well save a few bucks if you get the chance.