I think today could be described as a day in the life of a northeast regional driver who neither lives in the northeast nor is going home for the weekend. I got checked in and unloaded nice and early, then pulled around the corner to await my next charge. I guess it took about an hour or so until I was sent to Baltimore. The timing worked out pretty well on the front end, allowing me to get through Philly and into Baltimore after the morning traffic had died down. Even made it through the Delaware toll booths without any backups.
The shippers in Baltimore worked quickly and had me on my way within 45 minutes of my arrival. From there, it was back to the north. The load is delivering to a place in Cortland, New York on Monday so my job was to get it to Hazleton, Pennsylvania and drop it off at one of our customers here. The timing worked out pretty well for a second time since I made it out of Baltimore before the afternoon traffic kicked in. Beauty.
The third time (or timing) turned out not to be a charm this time around, since I hit Harrisburg right in the middle of the Friday afternoon rush. I-83 was a parking lot from the point where it turns eastward all the way to the I-81 split. Gotta love it. I made it to the warehouse in Hazleton with five minutes to spare and dropped off my loaded trailer. After grabbing an empty and finding myself on the board at #2, I was fortunate enough to find a parking space at the rinky-dink truck stop down the street. Small victories, I suppose. I usually don't have much luck finding a spot here.
We were almost to 6pm by the time all was said and done, so the odds of getting another assignment on a Friday weren't looking too good. And they're still not looking too good. Haven't moved from #2 on the board and my 14 hour clock is running low. Looks like Hazleton will probably be home for the night.
Thus far, I have 2,276 miles on the books with a little over $30 in northeast pay coming on top of that. Good enough for me. If I manage to catch a decent assignment in the morning, I may be inclined to grab a room at one of the Corleone family's estates tomorrow night. Today's paycheck had my vacation pay and my safety bonus on it, so the bank account got a much-needed shot in the arm. A few bucks spent on a motel room certainly won't kill me. It will just depend on the timing of the run, I suppose.
Apparently Purdue games are supposed to involve the rare combination of pregnancy and Natty Ice, but you can rest assured that my plans involve neither.
She's a real peach, eh? Go Irish!
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