5/19/08

My poor truck worked its ass off today. I took 47,000 pounds of water from Pennsylvania to Virginia. Then I took 46,000 pounds of beer from Virginia to South Carolina. Today's load is 45,000 pounds, so I guess I'm on schedule to get a light one some time this summer.

I woke up and bumped the dock at the beer distributor bright and early. There was a JB Hunt guy in the dirt lot before I got there last night, and he got up and moving before I did this morning. As it turns out, I did pretty well by spending the night at the customer. By the time he and I were unloaded, a pretty good line of trucks was starting to form.

They had me empty in pretty short order. I spoke with the guy who backed in right after I did (another CTL driver) for a few minutes. Apparently his miles are way down and he's considering leaving for a different company. I really didn't know what to tell him. I'd say my first five months this year are ahead of last year's pace, so I have no complaints there.

I was #1 on the board when I got empty so I just went back over to the dirt lot and hung out. I got my assignment around an hour and a half later. Looking at the assignment, I knew it would be a long day for the old Kenworth. I had to pick up at a paper mill. That always means a heavy load, at least in my experience. My route took me from South Carolina, up through North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia, and into Ohio. That there's some rough terrain.

The dispatch to the shipper was a weird one. It was 87 miles and they gave me a little under two hours. That doesn't sound so bad at first glance. After catching about twenty red lights in the first twenty miles, I got a message from my fleet manager asking if I would make the pick up on time. It was looking pretty sketchy at that point, but things shook loose and I got there right at 11am. I had to wait in line to scale in, then check with the security guard, grab my safety gear, and proceed to the dock area.

I had received instructions to call some 800 number before I was loaded, so I did. The lady on the phone rattled off a bunch of stuff about where and when the load would pick up. She said that it picked up between 7am and 10am. I got the assignment after 9am and was dispatched for 11am, after I had been empty since around 7:30am. I don't know what that's all about, but I had to push it to make the 11am time. I don't know if someone just didn't assign the load to me sooner, or if we got the load late through a broker, or what the story was.

I backed in and hung out in the drivers' lounge with my hard hat, safety glasses, and earplugs on until the forklift lady had me loaded. Then I had to call the 800 number again and give them the information from the bill of lading. Then it was back in line to scale out, turn in the safety gear, and get released by the security guard. And away we go...

That drive would probably be pretty nice on a sunny Sunday afternoon with a light load. On a rainy Monday with a heavy sucker, not so much. There was a mix of two-lanes and interstates and 4-lanes along the way. I stopped for lunch in Mount Airy and, after not having eaten since yesterday morning, my little bit of junk food tasted like a prime porterhouse. Back to the road...

US-35 heading out of West Virginia was the only real super duper pain in the ass, but the interstates in West Virginia also suck pretty badly, especially in the rain. Up and down mountains and around tight curves, over and over and over. Once I hit US-35, I came up behind a Swiftie going about 40mph in a 55mph zone. It was a skinny, twisty, hilly road and there were three cars between him and me. So there was no way I could go around. By the time we got to Ohio and the road opened up to four lanes, there was about a five mile line of traffic behind us. The hockey game was well in hand, so I flipped on the CB to see what the guys were saying. Yeah, they weren't happy.

In Ohio, we got an extra lane and everybody passed the poor Swiftie. From there I was able to set the cruise control and roll along uninterrupted. I didn't have any real plan as far as parking tonight, so when I saw a truck pulling out of the rest area west of Jackson I decided to see if he had left an open space. He had, so here I am. My deadhead was 87 miles and the delivery is 499 miles, so the week is off to a good start for a change. I don't know exactly how far I have to go from here. I'll just leave as soon as my ten hour break is up and I should have more than enough time. My dispatch says 9:17am and the lady on the phone said it has to be there before midnight tomorrow night. Whatever. I think I'm less than fifty miles away.