Well, the schedule may have been a little inconvenient, but we managed to make a few more bucks today. Since I now get to chip in for those second mortgages that many of my fellow comrades used to fund nice cars and family vacations while I paid my rent and invested my money, it's good to know that I'll be able to contribute my fair share this week.
Nobody kicked me out of the consignee's dock this morning so that was a good start. I never did get a pre-plan though. As the guys were taking the freight out of my trailer, I noticed that the parking lot behind the shopping center didn't seem to be filling up. I took this to be a good sign, as I would likely have a place to hang out once I was empty. I also had time for an awesome lunch at Applebee's before they were done unloading. That 10oz. burger is a beauty.
Once I was empty, I pulled off to the corner of the parking lot and hung out for a while. My next assignment came through later in the afternoon. This time around I was set to pick up in Sapulpa and then head down to Houston. My pick up was scheduled for 8:30pm. I would have plenty of time to take a ten hour break along the way and then make my scheduled delivery tomorrow at 6:30pm.
So what do I do there? Pick up at 8:30pm, drive a little while, and then leave the rest for tomorrow? That would probably make sense since I spent last night catching a few winks between the train horns that blew every half hour. I wasn't exactly feeling too energetic by the time that assignment came through. Leaving a lot of miles for tomorrow would force me to burn up tomorrow's 11 and 14 hour clocks before I could get another assignment though.
Or pick it up and drive all the way to Houston tonight, sleeping tomorrow before getting unloaded? That would leave my log book in the best position to make some more money for myself and the new brotherhood after I was empty. I really had nowhere to park in Houston though, and the delivery is a scheduled one for 6:30pm. I was the sixth of six CTL trucks making this trip tonight. The other guys had scheduled delivery times ahead of mine, one every hour. No point in arriving more than an hour or two ahead of schedule then, since I'm probably not getting unloaded anyway.
For today's part, I decided to head straight to the shipper and take a shot at getting loaded a few hours early. Maybe I could cover some serious miles tonight without having to pull a complete all-nighter. The worst thing that could happen would be that they said no, right? I checked in and they sent me directly to a door. I took this as a good sign. Then... there's probably a wisecrack about union forklift drivers that could be inserted here, but I suppose they're just doing the job the way that they were taught. I think all of the recent news is making me bitter or something. In any case, I was there for a long time. It likely would have been worse if I had showed up at 8:30pm though. Good enough.
I took off down the highway and just figured I would stop whenever I felt tired and found a parking space. The tired part kicked in somewhere in the northern suburbs of Dallas. Parking there and then driving through town tomorrow seemed like a pretty dumb idea though. I got through Dallas and onto I-45, then started looking for the parking space to round out the plan. The first four truck stops and one rest area that I tried were all overfilled. The fifth truck stop had a spot for me. As a result of the quest for parking, I wound up covering the bulk of the trip tonight. I'll have about 140 miles left to drive once my break is over.
This week is sitting at 2,418 miles so far, with Friday and Saturday still to be determined. I would normally think that a 3,000 mile week would be a foregone conclusion. Last week I got 300 miles over the weekend though, so you know, chickens before they hatch and whatnot. For the second day in a row, I'll be something close to SOL for parking unless I get a pre-plan before I'm empty. It worked out fine today. Hopefully tomorrow will be the same.
When you leave a reciever after unloading & begin your day in your log book with the new log rules, doesn't sitting at your pick up eat into your 14 hour clock tremendously? How in the world do you guys handle this new rule. Back in the day when I drove we always went up off duty while waiting. Now though the clock can't be stopped right? Unless you split break but that only extends & I have heard some companies aren't even allowing drivers to do split breaks now. Times have certainly changed from back in the good ole days.
ReplyDeleteSW
The time sitting at the shipper did eat into my 14, but I only wound up driving about six hours or so once I left there anyway.
ReplyDeleteThey say that these new rules have cut down on accidents, but I don't know. I think they make it harder to stop and take a nap when you're tired. If you are at a dock for three hours and then you want to rest for three hours later, you only get eight hours to drive. So a lot of people just stay on the road and skip the nap.
I use splits more than most drivers do, but it only helps in certain cases. The eight hour break in the bunk extends the 14, but the shorter break doesn't.