12/24/07

Hahahaha, Tarvaris Jackson... hahahaha! I only got to watch the first quarter, but it looked a lot like last week's game against Chicago for that poor kid. Just out of his league man.

So... my plan summary said that I was to receive a relay in Salt Lake City at 3am Mountain. So, I set my alarm for a half hour before. When I woke up, I still hadn't received the information on the inbound truck and trailer. That's unusual. I sat around until 3am came and went, then hopped back in bed. I guessed that it was one of those imaginary ConWay loads. Sometimes ConWay will tell CFI that a load needs to go from here to there. Then CFI will get the trucks all lined up to relay the load across the country. Since the freight is time-sensitive, we have to be at the relay point early enough to take a full ten hour break. That way we can run a full shift without stopping once we get the load. Then sometimes ConWay calls CFI back and says, "Just kidding." Then the drivers have all wasted a day preparing to pull a load that doesn't exist. Maybe that's what happened to this relay, maybe not. I don't know.

In any case, they beeped me at around 8am to say that I was being re-assigned. I would be heading about 60 miles south and getting loaded for one stop in Wyoming and a second in Montana. I went down to the shipper and found that it was actually a drop/hook. The trailer was ready. The paperwork was ready. Not bad. Then, back to the north.

I got off I-15 at the exit for US-189 and ran it up through Provo. They had signs along the way saying, "Overweight and overheight vehicles, including 53' trailers, prohibited in Provo Canyon/US 189." Now, I think they probably meant that you aren't supposed to take a 53' trailer through the canyon. I think so, but I don't know. The wording was ambiguous enough to let my curiosity get the best of me. Maybe they meant the overweight/overheight part applies to 53' trailers, right? In that case, I was neither overweight nor overheight. Good enough for me. Into the canyon I went.

About four miles in, I saw something that I was hoping not to see. There sat a sheriff, hanging out and monitoring traffic. As I approached, he inched out toward the road. Shit. Well, you win some and you lose some. I started preparing my best, "Sorry sir, I misunderstood the sign." Then I passed him. He pulled out onto the road... and headed south. Beauty. Either my interpretation was good enough for the law or he just had better shit to do. Either way, it was onward and northward for me.

I kept waiting to see a reason that they didn't want 53' trucks going through there, but I couldn't find one. The lanes were nice and wide. There were no prolonged climbs. There was no snow on the road. There were no tight turns. There were no towns. The scenery was absolutely beautiful. In point of fact, it was about the nicest ride I've had in the last few months out here. I guess the locals just don't want these big ugly trucks screwing up their view.

I got up to Little America and stopped for a break. The rest of the trip is a little over 300 miles, but I don't have to be there until the morning of the 26th. I was planning to head a little further north today, but I don't know man. It's all off the interstate once I hit Rock Springs. There are no 24 hour truck stops on my route and tomorrow is Christmas, so I'm not too confident that I will find a place open with adequate restroom options along the way. I'm probably better off spending the day here and driving up tomorrow. An eight hour drive with no restrooms I can handle. A day and a half, not so much. My brother got me a couple of books for Christmas, so I guess I'll do a little reading.

So, what's the net result of the day's events? Lost a 500 mile run, replaced by a 518 mile run plus a 58 mile deadhead. I can't deliver this until the 26th, which makes tomorrow a lost day. But the original plan would have probably had me sitting tomorrow anyway. Plus, I have something like 320 miles from the first drop to the second one. At least that's some more miles plus a few bucks for the extra stop. All in all, it probably worked out better for me in the long run. By the time I drop in Montana I'll be right around 3,000 miles for the pay period. I'm still holding out hope for a strong finish to the year. Then apparently we'll have a five-day pay period as we transition to weekly pay. Then it will settle in to a paycheck once a week.