Since I'm now officially on the midnight shift, I decided to splurge and grab a pair of those nighttime driving glasses before I left Indy last night. Curiosity finally got the best of me. I am usually rather skeptical but I have to admit - I kinda like 'em. It took a while to get used to the yellow headlights, but I could definitely tell that there was less glare whenever a douchebag would shine his high beams in my mirror. Even as the sun was coming up, the polarized light seemed to make things a little more clear. Not bad at all.
The two elements of uncertainty last night were how far I would drive and what kind of weather I would encounter. As I left the truck stop the wind and rain were hardcore. It was actually a challenge to keep my truck on the road for a few minutes there. By the time I covered the 15 miles to Plainfield the storm had moved through and things were pretty calm. I made my drop/hook and then retraced my route back toward Indianapolis. From Indy it was southward on I-65. I never did encounter another drop of rain or any more heavy wind. Looks like I was headed the right way this time around.
On the scheduling end, this delivery is set for 8am tomorrow, so I had very little say in the matter. I would have to do some serious driving overnight, then take a break and do it all again. Aside from the 42,000 pound payload making me drag ass through the hills, the drive was nice and easy. I didn't encounter any appreciable traffic, even around Atlanta this morning, and the weather was nice the whole way. I made it to the rest area right before I-475 splits off from I-75 and decided to park it for the day and go to bed.
From here I'll have around seven or eight hours left to reach Lakeland. My dispatch says that the delivery is a drop/hook but my last trip down there has left me skeptical. I think I'll shoot for an arrival between 6am and 7am. That way, if it is a drop/hook, I'll be able to get on the board before the planners get to work in the morning. If it turns out to be another live unload, I'll be ready and waiting in case they can get to me a little early.
My pay week will end tonight with 2,967 miles and, when the new pay week begins tomorrow, I'll be empty and ready to work. Not too shabby.
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