Well, I rolled from the west side of Indiana to the west side of Iowa today and... well... um... I guess that's about it.
Oh, but the traffic... no, there was no traffic. Wait a second, the scenery... yeah right. Oh man, the weather... um, nope. No pickups, no dropoffs, no fuel stops, this was about as ho-hum as a day on the road can possibly be.
Since I've proven to be a pretty useless blogger today, we might as well see if we can answer a few questions. I have plenty of time to elaborate tonight, so maybe I can pretend to know something useful. Keeping in mind here, I don't speak for CFI, but I'll do what I can based on my experience. These come from Kurbski:
Q: What terminals are in or close to Florida?
Well, the closest actual terminal is presently in West Memphis, Arkansas. We used to use a drop yard in Groveland, but they have closed that down. Now, most of the drivers in Florida use a truckstop or other secure location for their home time.
Once the merger with ConWay has been wrapped up, I would expect this to change. It hasn't been spelled out completely yet, but we've been told we'll have access to "many" of ConWay's existing service centers. Since they operate over 300 service centers, it's anyone's guess exactly what "many" will mean. From looking at their website, it looks like Orlando has the closest service center to Daytona. There's also one in Gainesville, which is probably not a whole lot further away from you.
If you visit con-way.com, you can navigate to a directory of their service centers, but it's a pain in the ass if you don't know how to find it. Starting from the home page, mouse over 'companies' and drop down to 'freight.' Then, mouse over 'tools' and drop down to 'service centers.' From there you can play around and see where the locations are. I live five minutes from a CFI terminal, but some of those ConWay locations might give me a chance to park it for a few days and see friends in other places.
Q: What's your opinion on freight into Florida since the ConWay merger?
Well, the merger hasn't happened yet, but I certainly don't expect any drop in freight, that's for sure. How much of an increase is really hard to say. It doesn't seem to me that there is a shortage of freight going into Florida. You have plenty of consumers down there, so people are always sending stuff your way. It's the freight coming out of Florida that can be a little shaky. I have a buddy in Port St. Lucie who drove for CFI last year. He always got home quickly whenever he wanted to, but when he went back on the board he would sometimes sit at home for a day or two before they found him a load out of there.
Personally, I've pulled beer out of Jacksonville a few times, Red Bull out of Miami, some Mom & Pop stuff out of the middle of the state, and some overnight logistics stuff from the airport in Fort Lauderdale. In my experience, I haven't waited long to move out of Florida, but the conventional wisdom holds that this won't always be the case. With the ConWay merger, I think we might be able to pull some of their Menlo business involving international freight coming into the ports down there. This might help balance the freight leaving Florida against the freight entering Florida. We'll have to wait and see.
Q: Does CFI allow you to do a reset in your home town if you are passing through and the time allows?
Yes, but it almost never happens, so I wouldn't expect to be getting many restarts at home. Assuming you pick up on time, deliver on time, and keep your mileage within 8% of your dispatches, you can do whatever you want with your time. That being said, your odds of being on the coast down there with enough time to kill 34 hours are pretty slim. Considering your location, I would come in with the expectation that the only time you're going home is when you ask to take time off.
I've never gotten a restart at home and I live in the city where CFI clears 90% of its Canada freight. I do get through the house quite a bit, especially lately, but not for 34 hours.
Q: Can you explain the averages on miles? There's a lot of whining about miles on the message boards.
And how! Good Lord, truck drivers are almost as whiny as waitresses, and a lot less fun to shower with. Here's the deal on miles, plain and simple. You can expect 120,000 miles a year, at least at CFI that is. If you work a year, take your 52 days at home, and make responsible use of your hours there is no reason to get less. That's an average of 2,300 miles a week over the course of the year. If you figure it based on only being on the road 45 weeks, it's an average of 2,666. Some weeks you'll go home and won't make anything. Some weeks you'll run your balls off and push 4,000. I got 140,000 in my first year, but I am pretty sure this is the exception and not the rule.
If I can get 140,000 and take all of my days off, 120,000 should be expected for anyone. I don't speed, I don't cheat on my log, and I don't have any friends in operations. I'm a regular newbie driver just trying to stay busy.
Here's what I think about people who bitch about miles; They take the good times and keep their mouth shut, thinking they're just getting what is coming to them. Then things slow down. This business is as cyclical as everything else. When they slow down, one or two bad paychecks come along, and everybody comes out of the woodwork to say they're getting screwed.
I've had people ask why my miles have always been good, and I really have no simple answer. Here are some things I always try to keep in mind though.
(1) If I get a dispatch that looks like it will be tough to fit within my hours, I make it fit. If it's just impossible, that's another story. I don't run illegal, but if cutting a ten hour break to nine hours and forty five minutes will keep me from missing a load, come on.
(2) I make use of the split-sleeper provision to use my hours as efficiently as possible. You'll learn the logging rules in school, but nobody seems to master the split-sleeper. Used properly, this can mean the difference between taking the standard ten hour break and being able to get by with just eight hours. As you may have read on here, this has been the difference between making runs on time and having to pass them up as recently as last week.
(3) I don't complain. Pure and simple, I don't bitch about anything. I'll get online and rant about how dumb the dispatchers are from time to time, but they'll never hear anything other than "please" and "thank you" from me. I have no idea if they have any way of keeping track of this stuff, but it seems to me that people who huff and puff about little things the most are the ones who end up bitching about their miles the most too. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but I'll stick with what works for me. All of the "I don't want to go to the northeast," "That dispatch is too tight," "I hate running overnight," and the rest of it will just earn you a reputation as a pain in the ass, as far as I'm concerned.
(4) I try like hell to get a full ten hour break either at the customer, or right near the customer, before I get unloaded. That way, when I send in my empty call, I haven't started burning the time off my 14 hour clock. If I still have a full 11 and 14 available, the planners (which is a generous title, BTW) have more options to get me a good load. If I have to drive a half hour, then spend an hour and a half at the dock, my 14 hour clock ticks away while I wait.
(5) Whenever we're at a terminal, we get to choose a load from those that are available. Sometimes there's only one and that's what you get. When we have a choice though, the general mentality of drivers is to take the one with the most miles. I try to put a little more thought into it. Maybe one that has a hundred fewer miles will land me in Chicago, where I know I'll get my next assignment right away. Maybe one that takes an extra day will land me in Maine, where I know the run out will be a long one. I haven't mastered this process yet, as I'm only a year in and still learning, but I'm working on it. Getting to know the freight lanes and avoiding the 'herd' seems to pay off more often than not.
Good questions Kurbski, and hopefully some of that info will be useful. I put your ASU question on the CFIDrivers.com forum, so I think you'll get some good info there too. I saw today that your registration finally went through.
My brother starts his career as a firefighter on Monday. He's been working as an EMT for a few years now and finally got hired on with a good department. You guys are one of the few remaining holdouts with a defined-benefit pension. He's pretty excited about that. Haha, 22 years old and looking forward to retirement. Anyhow, time for a nap now. Cheers.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Friday, August 3, 2007
8/3/07
Today was another weird day. After getting unloaded bright and early I sent in my empty call. I knew I would be under the control of local dispatch in Taylor, so I expected to be down the board a little ways. Much to my surprise, I immediately received an assignment. I was to drive 85 miles west, pick up a load, and bring it to Taylor? That had me scratching my head. The final destination was listed as North Carolina. I don't ask a lot of questions though. I do what I'm told and it all seems to work out in the end.
After I got out there and got loaded, I received a plan summary for my next load. Now things were starting to make sense. The load to North Carolina is only 750 miles and delivers Tuesday, so they had me leave it on the yard for someone else to grab over the weekend. I'll be leaving shortly with a 1,250 mile run to Denver for Monday. Since I had time to make the pickup and drop, while still getting a 10 hour break before this Denver load picked up, they were throwing me a few extra miles this morning. Not bad.
I got a chance to have lunch with my brother and sleep for a while in my own bed. When I leave here, I'll have enough flexibility to stop and sleep whenever I get tired. If I don't get tired, I'll just run all night. Either way I'm due in Denver Monday morning for a live unload. My directions stated that loads to this customer are drops, except the ones leaving Friday and arriving Monday. Story of life I guess.
After a really slow couple of days, things are picking up in terms of miles, just as I had suspected. Once I drop off in Denver, I'll be sitting at 2,200 miles and beginning the sixth day of the pay period.
After I got out there and got loaded, I received a plan summary for my next load. Now things were starting to make sense. The load to North Carolina is only 750 miles and delivers Tuesday, so they had me leave it on the yard for someone else to grab over the weekend. I'll be leaving shortly with a 1,250 mile run to Denver for Monday. Since I had time to make the pickup and drop, while still getting a 10 hour break before this Denver load picked up, they were throwing me a few extra miles this morning. Not bad.
I got a chance to have lunch with my brother and sleep for a while in my own bed. When I leave here, I'll have enough flexibility to stop and sleep whenever I get tired. If I don't get tired, I'll just run all night. Either way I'm due in Denver Monday morning for a live unload. My directions stated that loads to this customer are drops, except the ones leaving Friday and arriving Monday. Story of life I guess.
After a really slow couple of days, things are picking up in terms of miles, just as I had suspected. Once I drop off in Denver, I'll be sitting at 2,200 miles and beginning the sixth day of the pay period.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
8/2/07
I ran up to Taylor this morning and afternoon, taking my time along the way. Since my delivery is for tomorrow morning, I wasn't in any hurry to get here.
As I rolled along, I found myself experiencing thoughts that didn't make any sense to me. I consider myself to be a very logical individual. I do not give in to paranoia or any sort of knee-jerk mentality. Yet, as I crossed various bridges today, I found myself thinking, "Damn, this thing is high, get me off of here." The images of those cars in the water are pretty hard to shake. As all of the finger pointing begins to commence among the higher-ups, I can't seem to grasp the fact that what looks like just another bridge might be the last thing I ever see.
I stopped at a Burger King on the Ohio Turnpike for lunch today. I am not exaggerating when I state that there were two absolutely drop-dead gorgeous Russian girls working there. Their English was flawless, but they still had that sexy accent. Maybe I haven't mentioned that I went out with a Russian girl a few times last summer... awesome. I will acknowledge that these two may have been Ukrainian or Latvian or whatever else, but you know how it is. They're all Russian to me. Maybe when I get a nice little nest egg built up, I'll give the folks at Elena's Models a call and snag me a bride.
When I got home, I managed to get hold of a good friend that I missed the last time I was passing through, so we got out for some good Mexican food and a couple of beers.
I deliver bright and early tomorrow, so hopefully there will be something nice to keep me occupied for the weekend. I'll finally have some hours to work with, as I used all but two in getting here. I pick up twelve and ten the next couple of days, so I can cover some ground. We'll see.
As I rolled along, I found myself experiencing thoughts that didn't make any sense to me. I consider myself to be a very logical individual. I do not give in to paranoia or any sort of knee-jerk mentality. Yet, as I crossed various bridges today, I found myself thinking, "Damn, this thing is high, get me off of here." The images of those cars in the water are pretty hard to shake. As all of the finger pointing begins to commence among the higher-ups, I can't seem to grasp the fact that what looks like just another bridge might be the last thing I ever see.
I stopped at a Burger King on the Ohio Turnpike for lunch today. I am not exaggerating when I state that there were two absolutely drop-dead gorgeous Russian girls working there. Their English was flawless, but they still had that sexy accent. Maybe I haven't mentioned that I went out with a Russian girl a few times last summer... awesome. I will acknowledge that these two may have been Ukrainian or Latvian or whatever else, but you know how it is. They're all Russian to me. Maybe when I get a nice little nest egg built up, I'll give the folks at Elena's Models a call and snag me a bride.
When I got home, I managed to get hold of a good friend that I missed the last time I was passing through, so we got out for some good Mexican food and a couple of beers.
I deliver bright and early tomorrow, so hopefully there will be something nice to keep me occupied for the weekend. I'll finally have some hours to work with, as I used all but two in getting here. I pick up twelve and ten the next couple of days, so I can cover some ground. We'll see.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
8/1/07
Today had a different feel to it, right from the start. It was a half hour, get loaded, hour and a half, get fuel, hour and a half, get loaded, hour, get loaded, hour, drop and hook. The short stints on the road were a neat change of pace. The miles don't rack up that way, so I wouldn't want to do it every day, but it was still pretty cool.
I got to the first stop and my communication system wouldn't respond. I had to pull the fuse and wait for it to reboot. In the meantime I went inside to check in. The lady was kind enough to say, "I need you down there in dock 15. We never use that one because it's pretty tricky, but we're moving some things around now so that's where we'll load you." Thanks lady. I came back out and sent in the form messages that I couldn't send while the unit was rebooting. Then I got scolded by my fleet manager because, apparently, the computer showed that I was late making the pickup. I was there on time but couldn't send the forms until after I came back out to my truck. So yeah, whatever... The dock wasn't as tough to reach as it looked at first, but the bees trying to get at me while I hung my head out the window added a new challenge.
I was quickly loaded and rolling to Sandusky for stop 2. I cut across Monroe Street in Toledo to get to 280, passing my old restaurant along the way. The "Red" was lit on the neon sign, but the "Robin" was burned out. There were weeds around the trees. There was garbage in the shrubbery. Ahhh, to not be the person who has to notice that shit anymore... priceless. When I got to Sandusky, the lady told me to go to door 8. Well, door 8 was wide open, right in the middle of the building, with nothing near it. Wouldn't you guess I had the damnedest time getting my trailer straight? Sometimes when things seem too easy you get a little out of sorts I guess.
They put on one pallet and sent me on my way to Wooster. About the only thing I ever knew about Wooster was that the College of Wooster were our rivals during my freshman year at Kenyon. The Rubbermaid plant there required me to drop my trailer at the dock and then wait out front while they loaded it. I was about eight hours early for my appointment, but I was only there three hours. Not too bad I guess.
Then on to Warren to make my drop. Nice, no-nonsense drop and hook. The empty that I was told to pick up was actually there, all of the lights were working, there was no garbage in the back. How nice.
After my drop I headed to the local truckstop. I had received a pre-plan earlier in the day for a load picking up tomorrow afternoon and heading to New York. But then things took a turn. As I anticipated the dispatch for the pre-plan I had received, I instead received one to pick up a relay in New Stanton, Pennsylvania at 6pm? Where is the time travel gear on this truck? And it was to deliver in Canton, Michigan at 5:30am? I'm not a real heavy sleeper, but really? I had to make some inquiries and see what in the hell was going on.
Apparently the driver who picked up this load in Jersey had truck problems and was stuck at a Kenworth dealer. There was nobody, other than me, available to re-power the load. Well then, if we wanted to be accurate, there was nobody available to re-power the load. I told them I could get down there before my 14 hour clock ran out, then I would need a nap before I could get it up to Michigan. Since I had three hours of down time in Wooster, an eight hour break would get me enough hours to get somewhere in the neighborhood of where I had to be. I could work out the difference, but 5:30am wasn't going to happen. They said "thanks a lot" and I headed to New Stanton.
I got down there and swapped my empty for the loaded trailer, then headed back west to use up the rest of my 14 hour clock before laying down for a spell. The dispatch came through for 5:30am. I rolled my eyes and sent a message reminding them that there was no way I could make 5:30am. Then the gentleman on the other end was kind enough to point out that it was 5:30am Friday! The customer couldn't move the appointment to a later time on Thursday, so it was moved to the next day. What the hell? I could have been picking up tomorrow and heading to New York, but instead I'll have nearly 24 hours to kill on this load after I busted my ass to go get it. First reaction - furious.
As tends to be the case as I get older, I took a little time to think the situation over after I calmed down. In reality, even if I ran the load up there in the morning, I wouldn't have hours to go anywhere after that, so either way I'd be waiting until Friday for my next assignment. If I have to get stuck killing a day, doing so at home is probably as good as anywhere else. I made over $200 today, the first of the month, so I should keep it all in perspective. Plus, I'll get a full night's rest this way, which is nice because I'm exhausted. Goodnight.
I got to the first stop and my communication system wouldn't respond. I had to pull the fuse and wait for it to reboot. In the meantime I went inside to check in. The lady was kind enough to say, "I need you down there in dock 15. We never use that one because it's pretty tricky, but we're moving some things around now so that's where we'll load you." Thanks lady. I came back out and sent in the form messages that I couldn't send while the unit was rebooting. Then I got scolded by my fleet manager because, apparently, the computer showed that I was late making the pickup. I was there on time but couldn't send the forms until after I came back out to my truck. So yeah, whatever... The dock wasn't as tough to reach as it looked at first, but the bees trying to get at me while I hung my head out the window added a new challenge.
I was quickly loaded and rolling to Sandusky for stop 2. I cut across Monroe Street in Toledo to get to 280, passing my old restaurant along the way. The "Red" was lit on the neon sign, but the "Robin" was burned out. There were weeds around the trees. There was garbage in the shrubbery. Ahhh, to not be the person who has to notice that shit anymore... priceless. When I got to Sandusky, the lady told me to go to door 8. Well, door 8 was wide open, right in the middle of the building, with nothing near it. Wouldn't you guess I had the damnedest time getting my trailer straight? Sometimes when things seem too easy you get a little out of sorts I guess.
They put on one pallet and sent me on my way to Wooster. About the only thing I ever knew about Wooster was that the College of Wooster were our rivals during my freshman year at Kenyon. The Rubbermaid plant there required me to drop my trailer at the dock and then wait out front while they loaded it. I was about eight hours early for my appointment, but I was only there three hours. Not too bad I guess.
Then on to Warren to make my drop. Nice, no-nonsense drop and hook. The empty that I was told to pick up was actually there, all of the lights were working, there was no garbage in the back. How nice.
After my drop I headed to the local truckstop. I had received a pre-plan earlier in the day for a load picking up tomorrow afternoon and heading to New York. But then things took a turn. As I anticipated the dispatch for the pre-plan I had received, I instead received one to pick up a relay in New Stanton, Pennsylvania at 6pm? Where is the time travel gear on this truck? And it was to deliver in Canton, Michigan at 5:30am? I'm not a real heavy sleeper, but really? I had to make some inquiries and see what in the hell was going on.
Apparently the driver who picked up this load in Jersey had truck problems and was stuck at a Kenworth dealer. There was nobody, other than me, available to re-power the load. Well then, if we wanted to be accurate, there was nobody available to re-power the load. I told them I could get down there before my 14 hour clock ran out, then I would need a nap before I could get it up to Michigan. Since I had three hours of down time in Wooster, an eight hour break would get me enough hours to get somewhere in the neighborhood of where I had to be. I could work out the difference, but 5:30am wasn't going to happen. They said "thanks a lot" and I headed to New Stanton.
I got down there and swapped my empty for the loaded trailer, then headed back west to use up the rest of my 14 hour clock before laying down for a spell. The dispatch came through for 5:30am. I rolled my eyes and sent a message reminding them that there was no way I could make 5:30am. Then the gentleman on the other end was kind enough to point out that it was 5:30am Friday! The customer couldn't move the appointment to a later time on Thursday, so it was moved to the next day. What the hell? I could have been picking up tomorrow and heading to New York, but instead I'll have nearly 24 hours to kill on this load after I busted my ass to go get it. First reaction - furious.
As tends to be the case as I get older, I took a little time to think the situation over after I calmed down. In reality, even if I ran the load up there in the morning, I wouldn't have hours to go anywhere after that, so either way I'd be waiting until Friday for my next assignment. If I have to get stuck killing a day, doing so at home is probably as good as anywhere else. I made over $200 today, the first of the month, so I should keep it all in perspective. Plus, I'll get a full night's rest this way, which is nice because I'm exhausted. Goodnight.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
7/31/07
The overnight run came off without a hitch. Well, mostly without a hitch. I started out from Indiana, got some fuel northeast of Indianapolis, and kept rolling north. There was absolutely no traffic to speak of. The construction on I-69 was all on the southbound side, so those of us on the northbound side had no worries.
I was a little sluggish when I left, then I got a bite to eat. That helped a little. Then I started to get a little sluggish. Then the Tigers actually played like a real baseball team for a change. That helped a little. Then I started to feel really tired for a while. Then I got some kind of second wind around 2am. Then there was a long stretch of construction barrels outside of Flint, Michigan. Passing between the barrels had some kind of hypnotic effect on me. By the time I got through, I absolutely had to get off the road for a little bit. Looking at the mile markers, I realized that I was going to be an hour early for my 6am appointment, so I had time for a 50 minute nap. That was very helpful. Then, when I got to the customer, there was nobody around until 6am anyway, so it would have done me no good to arrive at 5am.
They took their sweet ass time unloading my trailer, but I was in no hurry. It was good to get a little rest. After I got empty, I headed to the little truck stop at the end of the street. There's not much parking here, but since it was daytime I was able to find a spot. After sending in my empty call, I was number nine on the board. That's usually a good sign that I'll be waiting a while, so I went to bed. Judging by the drool on my pillow, I'm pretty sure I was out cold for a while there.
When the beep woke me up, I was full of anticipation to see what today had in store for me. Yep, sitting on my ass, that's what today had in store. So I'll fall just below 6,500 for the paycheck. On balance, once my northeast bonus miles are factored in, the money will be good, so I can't complain too much. I got a dispatch to head over to Flint and pick up a load for tomorrow morning. Then I'll have two more pickups in Ohio for a delivery at a fourth stop in Ohio. That's not exactly primo work for an OTR driver. The miles will add up to be somewhere between 300 and 400 for the day. I'll get another $52.50 for the extra stops, so that's the equivalent of another 145 miles. The day will be a productive one in terms of pay, but bumping four docks in a day is nobody's idea of fun.
So, I've had a good day of sleeping and browsing the web and watching funny video clips and sleeping and paying bills and sleeping and... yeah, boring day. But the Tigers are winning, for now. Verlander is over a hundred pitches. That bullpen still gives me heartburn.
I was a little sluggish when I left, then I got a bite to eat. That helped a little. Then I started to get a little sluggish. Then the Tigers actually played like a real baseball team for a change. That helped a little. Then I started to feel really tired for a while. Then I got some kind of second wind around 2am. Then there was a long stretch of construction barrels outside of Flint, Michigan. Passing between the barrels had some kind of hypnotic effect on me. By the time I got through, I absolutely had to get off the road for a little bit. Looking at the mile markers, I realized that I was going to be an hour early for my 6am appointment, so I had time for a 50 minute nap. That was very helpful. Then, when I got to the customer, there was nobody around until 6am anyway, so it would have done me no good to arrive at 5am.
They took their sweet ass time unloading my trailer, but I was in no hurry. It was good to get a little rest. After I got empty, I headed to the little truck stop at the end of the street. There's not much parking here, but since it was daytime I was able to find a spot. After sending in my empty call, I was number nine on the board. That's usually a good sign that I'll be waiting a while, so I went to bed. Judging by the drool on my pillow, I'm pretty sure I was out cold for a while there.
When the beep woke me up, I was full of anticipation to see what today had in store for me. Yep, sitting on my ass, that's what today had in store. So I'll fall just below 6,500 for the paycheck. On balance, once my northeast bonus miles are factored in, the money will be good, so I can't complain too much. I got a dispatch to head over to Flint and pick up a load for tomorrow morning. Then I'll have two more pickups in Ohio for a delivery at a fourth stop in Ohio. That's not exactly primo work for an OTR driver. The miles will add up to be somewhere between 300 and 400 for the day. I'll get another $52.50 for the extra stops, so that's the equivalent of another 145 miles. The day will be a productive one in terms of pay, but bumping four docks in a day is nobody's idea of fun.
So, I've had a good day of sleeping and browsing the web and watching funny video clips and sleeping and paying bills and sleeping and... yeah, boring day. But the Tigers are winning, for now. Verlander is over a hundred pitches. That bullpen still gives me heartburn.
Monday, July 30, 2007
7/30/07
I left Washington, Indiana this morning allowing myself enough time to arrive at the customer an hour early. Then I apparently missed an interchange and wound up heading south instead of west. So, a re-route on the fly got me back on track and after going an extra forty miles I showed up ten minutes ahead of schedule. Good enough.
The WalMart DC in Olney, Illinois tends to be one of the slowest in terms of checking in and checking out. The people in the receiving office seem to be more interested in gossip than in doing their jobs. Today was no exception. It turns out that showing up right on schedule was probably not a bad thing. By the time I got in there, most of the people waiting had appointments for 9am Central. Since mine was for 8am Central, I got to move ahead of them.
Most companies have to pay WalMart to unload their trailers, and we do at some locations, but in Olney we get unloaded for free. This saves the hassle of ordering a Comcheck number and then sending in the reimbursement form. With the end of the pay period coming up tomorrow, I would have been charged the lumper fee against this paycheck and then reimbursed on the next one. This way I don't have to wait for any of my money.
It wasn't too long before I was empty and headed to the local truckstop for a nap. A while later, the communications system beeped and woke me up. I've been at this little experiment for about thirteen months now, but I still get a little bit of excitement from wondering where I'll be going next. Sometimes I don't like the result, but the moments after the beep are always fun.
I had to head down to Evansville and pick up a load going to Imlay City, Michigan for 6am tomorrow morning. This run will put my miles for the pay period at 6,400 or so with one more workday to go. Not bad. The timeline made it very difficult to fit within my hours, but by taking an eight hour break and using the split-sleeper provision I should make it on time. I got a call from my fleet manager wondering if my ETA was going to be okay, so I told him it will be close but I think I'll be there on time.
Now, as I wrap up the eight hour break, it's time to check the truck over and head out for a long night of driving.
The WalMart DC in Olney, Illinois tends to be one of the slowest in terms of checking in and checking out. The people in the receiving office seem to be more interested in gossip than in doing their jobs. Today was no exception. It turns out that showing up right on schedule was probably not a bad thing. By the time I got in there, most of the people waiting had appointments for 9am Central. Since mine was for 8am Central, I got to move ahead of them.
Most companies have to pay WalMart to unload their trailers, and we do at some locations, but in Olney we get unloaded for free. This saves the hassle of ordering a Comcheck number and then sending in the reimbursement form. With the end of the pay period coming up tomorrow, I would have been charged the lumper fee against this paycheck and then reimbursed on the next one. This way I don't have to wait for any of my money.
It wasn't too long before I was empty and headed to the local truckstop for a nap. A while later, the communications system beeped and woke me up. I've been at this little experiment for about thirteen months now, but I still get a little bit of excitement from wondering where I'll be going next. Sometimes I don't like the result, but the moments after the beep are always fun.
I had to head down to Evansville and pick up a load going to Imlay City, Michigan for 6am tomorrow morning. This run will put my miles for the pay period at 6,400 or so with one more workday to go. Not bad. The timeline made it very difficult to fit within my hours, but by taking an eight hour break and using the split-sleeper provision I should make it on time. I got a call from my fleet manager wondering if my ETA was going to be okay, so I told him it will be close but I think I'll be there on time.
Now, as I wrap up the eight hour break, it's time to check the truck over and head out for a long night of driving.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
7/29/07
Long, good, hard running kinda day today...
I grabbed another quick shower in Lamar to make sure I was off to a good start and then hit the road. I got on the interstate with the best of intentions - set the cruise at 65, take it easy, roll along. Then life happened. People going slow, people going fast, people going slow then fast. I gave in to temptation and hammered it down long enough to run away from the pack. Then there was another pack, then another. Any time I thought I would just back it down a little, a little became a lot, so I wound up flooring it again. I wound up running all the way out of Pennsylvania that way, but such is life.
Once I got to Ohio, I settled in right around the 55mph speed limit. This makes for a long day crossing the state, but it can be relaxing too. I tend to be the only, and I mean only, truck that obeys the speed limit in Ohio. This means that I rarely have to change lanes, hit the brakes, hit the gas, shift gears, or anything else. I just set the cruise, kick back, and enjoy the ride.
I made a deviation from my original plan today. Instead of catching I-70 across to Indianapolis and then angling down toward Olney, Illinois I decided to run 71 to the Cincinnati bypass and then go straight across on US-50. This allowed me to shave some miles off the run and, according to my estimate, wouldn't cost me much time. As I got out of Ohio and into Indiana, I began to have second thoughts. Heavy traffic, one red light after another, 35-45mph speed limits, what had I done? About 15 miles into Indiana, things shook out though and I had an enjoyable ride. Not too many towns, 55-60mph most of the way, I was able to make very good time.
The way I timed today's run, I was able to look forward to tonight's ballgame that started at 8pm. It was a long morning and afternoon, but knowing the Tigers would have a chance to get back on track with Bonderman on the mound gave me some sense of motivation. Anyhow, enough about that, moving along...
After the disgrace of a game I was flipping through the vast selection on my XM radio. I stumbled across Cigar Dave on Channel 166. It doesn't generally make for compelling radio, but I was in the mood to enjoy a nice cigar and I do get a chuckle out of the nerds with the "Long ashes, General" salutation so I gave it a listen. I like to drink a beer and enjoy an occasional stogie, so any time people gather to discuss life's simple pleasures it's not all bad.
Ole Dave was on the soapbox tonight though. Apparently Congress is prepared to pull another infinitely stupid money grab. They're proposing a tax hike on cigars from the current 4.8 cents to as much as $10. What is that, a 20,000 percent increase? Brilliant. Drive an industry out of business, piss off people who enjoy one of life's simple, affordable pleasures, give the money to someone that you deem more worthy. But it's for the children of course. The money would go to expand the SCHIP program, so if you oppose the tax hike you must not want children to have health care, right? I'm veering into politics now, and I make an effort not to do so on the internet, so it's time to shift gears.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that I made it further than expected within my 11 hours today. In fact, I had 15 minutes to spare when I arrived in Washington, Indiana. I got the last parking spot at a small truck stop here, so I consider myself lucky. The parking situation is such that, when I started this job, I would have looked at it and driven away. With experience comes confidence though. I won't pretend to be a super trucker out here, but this lot is just a little tight, not ridiculous, and I had the confidence to put 'er in the spot without much trouble at all. I am still not too proud to look at a spot and say, "That's ridiculous." Fortunately this wasn't one of those spots.
My drop is about 50 miles away, so I'll head out around 7am. It's a WalMart distribution center, so I'll have my share of red tape to deal with in the morning. The old log book is going to start yelling at me pretty soon. With over 3,500 miles in the last week, the 70 hours are running low. I'll be able to cover a few hundred miles tomorrow, assuming they find me a load. Then it's the old 'wait for midnight' game again.
I grabbed another quick shower in Lamar to make sure I was off to a good start and then hit the road. I got on the interstate with the best of intentions - set the cruise at 65, take it easy, roll along. Then life happened. People going slow, people going fast, people going slow then fast. I gave in to temptation and hammered it down long enough to run away from the pack. Then there was another pack, then another. Any time I thought I would just back it down a little, a little became a lot, so I wound up flooring it again. I wound up running all the way out of Pennsylvania that way, but such is life.
Once I got to Ohio, I settled in right around the 55mph speed limit. This makes for a long day crossing the state, but it can be relaxing too. I tend to be the only, and I mean only, truck that obeys the speed limit in Ohio. This means that I rarely have to change lanes, hit the brakes, hit the gas, shift gears, or anything else. I just set the cruise, kick back, and enjoy the ride.
I made a deviation from my original plan today. Instead of catching I-70 across to Indianapolis and then angling down toward Olney, Illinois I decided to run 71 to the Cincinnati bypass and then go straight across on US-50. This allowed me to shave some miles off the run and, according to my estimate, wouldn't cost me much time. As I got out of Ohio and into Indiana, I began to have second thoughts. Heavy traffic, one red light after another, 35-45mph speed limits, what had I done? About 15 miles into Indiana, things shook out though and I had an enjoyable ride. Not too many towns, 55-60mph most of the way, I was able to make very good time.
The way I timed today's run, I was able to look forward to tonight's ballgame that started at 8pm. It was a long morning and afternoon, but knowing the Tigers would have a chance to get back on track with Bonderman on the mound gave me some sense of motivation. Anyhow, enough about that, moving along...
After the disgrace of a game I was flipping through the vast selection on my XM radio. I stumbled across Cigar Dave on Channel 166. It doesn't generally make for compelling radio, but I was in the mood to enjoy a nice cigar and I do get a chuckle out of the nerds with the "Long ashes, General" salutation so I gave it a listen. I like to drink a beer and enjoy an occasional stogie, so any time people gather to discuss life's simple pleasures it's not all bad.
Ole Dave was on the soapbox tonight though. Apparently Congress is prepared to pull another infinitely stupid money grab. They're proposing a tax hike on cigars from the current 4.8 cents to as much as $10. What is that, a 20,000 percent increase? Brilliant. Drive an industry out of business, piss off people who enjoy one of life's simple, affordable pleasures, give the money to someone that you deem more worthy. But it's for the children of course. The money would go to expand the SCHIP program, so if you oppose the tax hike you must not want children to have health care, right? I'm veering into politics now, and I make an effort not to do so on the internet, so it's time to shift gears.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that I made it further than expected within my 11 hours today. In fact, I had 15 minutes to spare when I arrived in Washington, Indiana. I got the last parking spot at a small truck stop here, so I consider myself lucky. The parking situation is such that, when I started this job, I would have looked at it and driven away. With experience comes confidence though. I won't pretend to be a super trucker out here, but this lot is just a little tight, not ridiculous, and I had the confidence to put 'er in the spot without much trouble at all. I am still not too proud to look at a spot and say, "That's ridiculous." Fortunately this wasn't one of those spots.
My drop is about 50 miles away, so I'll head out around 7am. It's a WalMart distribution center, so I'll have my share of red tape to deal with in the morning. The old log book is going to start yelling at me pretty soon. With over 3,500 miles in the last week, the 70 hours are running low. I'll be able to cover a few hundred miles tomorrow, assuming they find me a load. Then it's the old 'wait for midnight' game again.
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