11/17/07

On a run with my trainer last summer, we were dispatched from Laredo to California and given a ton of time to get there. I wanted to run hard, try to get rid of it early, and grab another load. My trainer decided we would go a few hundred miles a day and take it easy. I was less than thrilled, but it was his truck so that was just life.

This run is a drop/hook at ConWay, so I probably could be getting on the board with an empty right about now. But I'm not. Not even close actually. So what's the difference? I don't know. I was making 26 cents a mile as a trainee. My bank account was running low, having taken a month off to go to CDL school. The whole thing was new and exciting. I was eager to run. Fast forward a year and a half...

I woke up around 2:30 this morning and just wasn't in the mood to drive, so I hung out and played on my computer for a while. Then, I still didn't feel like driving, so I went in and had some breakfast. Eventually I got going around 7am. I was rolling across I-80 and trying to think of a spot in Pennsylvania where I would have fast enough internet access to watch football. Nothing came to mind, so I stopped in at the Sapp Brothers in Clearfield. The Sapp truck stops out west have free fast wi-fi service, so I was hoping to find the same here. And I did, so I stayed and watched football. It was my intention to drive for at least six or seven hours today, but I drove about half that.

Apparently I got hoodwinked this week, as Texas had a bye. Yeah, fool me once... Not to be deterred, I turned my sights south. Good old Seminole football didn't let me down

So, after seeing my beloved 'Noles bring home a victory, I decided to go ahead and root for Navy's strength of schedule. That team from Indiana came through with a decent performance, so good for the Middies.

Now here I sit. I'm around 440 miles from where I need to make this drop. I guess I'll just work for eight hours tomorrow and get rid of it. I have some movies that I've been meaning to watch and I need to get some software issues worked out, so I'll stay here tonight and take advantage of the fast connection. Here's where I don't think I'm officially a truck driver yet. I was dispatched to arrive by 5am Monday, but it was well within my ability to be there by Saturday night. My own laziness and failure to prioritize will have me arriving Sunday evening. The correct thing to do, when I officially become a truck driver, is apparently to bitch about the slow dispatch and the fact that I didn't make much money this weekend. That's just not the way I see it though. Oh well, maybe I'll get to that point someday... Who cares really?