12/3/07

There's a lot of chatter around about whether LTL and local drivers have it better than OTR drivers, and vice versa. To me it's like asking whether a blonde with big boobs is better than a redhead with no gag reflex - different strokes for different folks. Anyhow, one thing I can say for certain is that the typical OTR day is a hell of a lot less like work. Today wasn't backbreaking or anything, but I only made three pickups and a drop. Those guys making a bunch of stops every day - let's just say I'd have to make a lot of money. According to the LTL companies with whom I've spoken, the part about those guys making more money than us is utter bullshit. But anyway...

The first stop was in what looked like a fairly modern industrial area. So of course it had almost no room to maneuver a truck. I got in and snaked through the driveway without taking out any trees, then checked in. I had a 9am appointment, according to CFI. I was scheduled to pick up any time after 10am, according to the customer. Don't even get me started on the communication thing today. So I hung out for a while, then backed into the dock. There was room on my right, which was good since there was hardly any room in front of the dock. I had to come in at a pretty shallow angle and twist the hell out of it, but I got the trailer settled in. Two pallets and 400 pounds later, I was ready to wind my way back out of there.

Then a nice little stretch down to Lafayette, IN. The traffic leaving the Grand Rapids area was a bitch. Then it settled in for a bit. Then that stretch of Indiana where everyone thinks Chicago is going to disappear if they don't get there last week. Then I-65 settled in for a bit. Then, when I made it to Lafayette, I had another wicked tight entrance and dock area to navigate. A guy carried a pallet and set it in the trailer. Yes, he carried it. It was a total of 50 pounds, including the pallet.

Then leaving Lafayette and getting back to I-65, a stretch of maybe three miles, took forever. I ran down to Frankfort, where I got to back into another pain in the ass dock. This one wasn't as tight as the first two, but it was still a day cab job. Four pallets and 1,000 pounds. Do the math if you want to. It seems like a waste of a 53 foot trailer behind a sleeper cab, but I don't pay the bills.

The route from Frankfort to Anderson, where I would deliver, was IN-38 over to IN-32 over to Anderson. It was dispatched at 54 miles. I took the most direct route, so I don't imagine it could have been much longer than the dispatch. It took a little over two hours. IN-38 is on my version of the 'do not call' list from now on. It's a 55mph state highway, but there's a stretch that totally sucks balls. The lanes were so skinny that I had tires on the white line and yellow line, at the same time. There are a bunch of 10mph curves that require the use of the oncoming lanes. That's well enough, but a few of them were in wooded areas. I couldn't see through the trees, so I had to ease into the oncoming lanes just to see if there was anybody coming at me... in the oncoming lanes. See a problem there? Then the towns along the way had more crazy tight turns. I can handle them, but man. After a while it seemed way too much like work.

The guy at the Peterbilt place is pretty cool. It was the same guy from the time I ran down there last month. He started working and I sent in my empty call so I could I check the directions to my next pickup (I did get the Florida run). After a while, I didn't feel any bouncing so I went inside. He was nowhere to be found, but there were still the two pallets from the first place in the trailer. So I went back outside and caught up my e-mails. Still no bouncing, so I headed back in. He was there this time. "Your bills are over there." Uh, sir, do you want those other two pallets? "Oh yeah, that would be good." So he unloaded the last two and I took off.

The route to Lebanon, where I pick up tomorrow morning, would be straight back across on IN-32. Yeah, maybe another time. I had my fill of that shit today. Here's a serious question: If you were driving along and saw this big-ass red truck pulling this big-ass white trailer, blocking your travel lane as it came around a corner, why in the hell would you continue driving right into its path? There's always a dumbass here or there, but this must have happened ten times today. One lady (I think the town was Edgewood) just sat right in front of me and refused to back up. The people behind me stopped. The people behind her backed up. She just sat there and waved her arms at me. Well I hope you packed a lunch sweetheart, because there's only one way I can go from here. The light changed. She sat through a green facing her direction. Man, did that piss her off! Whew! Then it changed back to green for me. We had quite a few spectators lined up along both roads by the time she backed it up. Then, she would back up a foot, I would go forward a foot. She would roll her eyes and back up another foot. I would yell out the window at her and go forward another foot. And so on and so forth, until I got around the corner. Dumb bitch. Anyway, what was I saying?

Oh yeah, over to Lebanon. After the way this afternoon went, I just took I-69 to the loop and back up I-65. Nice and easy. I rolled through the Flying J parking lot, expecting to find it full. I got a spot. It was pretty tight and I can't back worth a shit today, but I'm there. That saved me from having to scout the industrial park for one of my hiding places. Beauty.

Early start tomorrow, then it's southward and away from the cold for a few days. I may, depending on how the next couple of days go, actually end up highlighting for home when I get down there. Something about my steering seems a little off today. I'll give it the trip to Florida and see if it's actually the truck or if it's just me. Plus, my oil temperature gauge sometimes sticks at 300+ degrees. I know that's not right, but the gauge is supposed to work. If those things are still going on, I'll head back to Michigan and take a day or two at home while it's in the shop. I guess I could even have them take care of that fuel tank while it was there. This is actually starting to sound like I probably should highlight. (My apologies for the rambling in this last paragraph. Sometimes you folks get to join me as I figure things out for myself, or at least try to.)