5/30/09

I know that some of you think you had fun on this particular Saturday. Amateurs, all of you. If you really want to have fun you need to do what I did tonight - Back up all of your data and re-image a corrupt hard drive with the factory default settings. Yeah. Good times. Good times.

The old truck driving bit somehow seemed awfully easy in comparison. It wasn't totally easy though. By the time my alarm went off this morning, we were up to six CTL trucks in the shipper's lot. Shortly thereafter, two more rolled up to the gate. This time we do have some aerial photography with which we can work...

Interestingly enough, the dock situation this morning was somewhat similar to what is pictured here (but with an extra bunch of trucks hanging around just for good measure). The other CTL drivers started pulling off in various directions to make room for those of us who were assigned the first round of doors. Looking at this picture, the astute trucking aficionados among us might quickly identify the one door that would be a royal pain in the ass to access. Moving in around a dropped trailer? That wouldn't be so bad. Moving into a dock with a trailer on your right but some extra room on the left for a decent approach angle? That wouldn't be so bad. Coming around the one truck that is already backed in and hitting the door right next to it? Yeah, that was my job this morning. Of course, I didn't get the luxury of the extra open space that would be on my right in this picture. That one had a trailer in it this morning. There wasn't enough room on the outside to cut the wheel to the right and take a sharp angle around the parked truck, so I had to come in from a shallower angle. Thus, I couldn't exactly get my trailer turned all that quickly. Thus, I was cutting it pretty close to the aforementioned trailer on my right. Thus, I couldn't turn my wheel to the left and try to get under the trailer, lest it stop turning. Thus, my trailer was way past perpendicular by the time I got far enough from the trees to do anything about it. Thus, I had to do the old Austin Powers routine (two feet back, two feet forward) to swing my truck around, then more or less blindside it in the rest of the way. Still easier than dealing with this computer though.

In assessing last night's parking options, I seem to have overlooked the fact that today was a Saturday. I kept driving last night partly because I didn't want to fight the Philly traffic this morning. As it turns out there was no Philly traffic this morning. There was also no traffic anywhere else along my route today. I have another easy payload (15,000 pounds) as well, so the trucking part of the job was definitely a piece of cake.

I got to the first Flying J in Ohio and stopped driving for the day. In case I couldn't get a fast enough connection on my Sprint card, I wanted to have the option to use Flying J's internet service to watch the hockey game. Their wifi is usually fast and reliable. I fired up the machine, let the startup process cycle through, and then connected to my Sprint service to check on the speed. It was decent but not overly impressive. I read a few e-mails and then decided to wait until closer to game time before logging onto the wifi service. I clicked on another site to see what I had missed in the world today while I was jamming to some homespun CD's. And that was that. No more computer. I tried the old standby of turning it off and then back on. Everything worked again. Sweet. Five minutes later... dead. System Restore... failed. Safe Mode... wouldn't function. Every other step that you're supposed to take... worthless. I was stuck with a situation where my computer would work fine for five to ten minutes and then completely froze without any rhyme or reason.

With a fairly powerful machine, five minutes is just long enough to jam around 500MB onto a DVD before the system crashes again. My install codes and receipts are saved offsite in my e-mail account for the majority of the programs that I would have to whack, so I just needed to get my data backed up before nuking the hard drive. Luckily for me, I had enough blank DVD's handy to do the job. This took a few hours (in five minute increments) while I listened to the Tigers and Wings on the radio. Then the time-honored tradition of setting up a "new" computer... good times. I'll probably have everything back to normal by July, just in time for the sucker to crash again. See? I had more fun than you had tonight.

When a week during which I requested home time comes in at 2,688 miles plus $60 in holiday pay and another $37 in northeast pay, we have to say that it was a pretty good week even with the computer hassle. I'll cross Ohio and Indiana on US-30 tomorrow and then try to find somewhere to set up shop ahead of a Monday morning delivery.

5/29/09

It's official now. No rain at all today. It feels good to get that behind us. The official definitions should be ironed out before the issue arises again.

My alarm was set for 7:30am and nobody woke me until 7:20am, so that was a pretty good start to the day. Once I was empty I headed over to the Flying J on I-71 to wait and see what would come next.

You've heard me whine about my Qualcomm unit's power saver mode plenty of times. Usually it doesn't affect things and my complaints are in the 'what if' context. Today the 'what if' came to bear. I got a call from the folks in Joplin while I was trying to decide which news was better - the fact that Pravda (for crying out loud) is stunned by how quickly we're adopting Marxism in this country or the fact that each American household is on the hook for an additional $55,000 in debt this year alone. Pravda had some banner ads with hot chicks on them, so I think they were in the lead when the phone call came. They had sent me a load assignment but the message hadn't come through yet. As nearly as I can tell, the Qualcomm turns itself on and checks for messages once every half hour or so. In this case the message must have been waiting to be delivered for the full half hour. I was needed in Lordstown for a ConWay run in exactly three hours. The distance from the Flying J to the ConWay yard was right around 160 miles. That's a pretty tight timeline in a 55mph state. Away we go then...

Due to some lingering uncertainty regarding my legal status in Ohio, I'm pretty diligent about observing the double nickel. I don't know for sure that they have an issue with me but I also don't know for sure that they don't. Better safe than sorry. Today I had to let my Swedish buddy Sjoe take the wheel for a few hours. ConWay loads are absolutely required to pick up on time and I'm one of those guys who is never late. He went ahead and fell in line with the usual flow of trucks moving a little more quickly than 55mph. The speed limit is slated to go up sometime in the near future, but as of today Sjoe and the boys were still bending the rules a little. The cops were out in full force on I-71 but they didn't seem too concerned with us.

I got to the ConWay yard with plenty of time to spare and checked in with the dispatcher. And... my load was ready an hour after my scheduled pickup time. Typical. I made a quick four-hour hop over to New Columbia, Pennsylvania and got rid of that load without incident. The nice and easy 17,000 pound payload took most of the frustration out of I-80 along the way. Also along the way, I got a pre-planned assignment to pick up tomorrow morning. Beauty. As we've covered in previous posts, I wasn't too optimistic about making any money this weekend. Gotta give the planners some props this time around.

I headed eastward on I-80 toward Levittown without any concrete plans regarding parking. I have to pick up early in the morning and there isn't a whole lot of available parking in the vicinity. My last decent bet was probably the service plaza on I-476 outside Allentown. Parking there and fighting the traffic toward Philly tomorrow morning sounded like a shitty idea though. Oh hell, it must be about time for a good old roll of the dice. I got to the shipper a little while ago and found an open gate. Charmed life, I tell you. There's a chain with a lock hanging from the gate but apparently someone forgot to close up shop tonight. As that preacher on the radio in Iowa once told me - "You're never lucky. You're blessed." Two other CTL guys showed up after I did tonight. I'm pretty sure that this makes me an official trailblazer or something.

I'm picking up a load headed to Illinois for a Monday morning delivery. Since I don't pay cash tolls, I'll spend a little extra time crossing Ohio on US-30, but I still will have plenty of time to hang out and watch some hockey over the weekend. Then I'll be set up nicely for something back toward Detroit. Usually lots of freight originating from Illinois. Beauty.

5/28/09

We almost had a full-blown controversy on our hands in the news department at Fenian Godfather Inc. today. I have encountered rain every day for at least two weeks and probably closer to three. Today looked like it may be the first day in a long time that I didn't encounter any rain. Here's the thing though. There was a ten mile stretch of I-71 in Kentucky where I had to use my wipers on account of road spray from a storm that had preceded me through the area. The news department couldn't reach a consensus. Is road spray a form of rain or has it ceased to be rain once it reaches the ground?

As it turns out, the 'no rain' story won't be reported this evening so we'll have some time to work on that one. After a long break at the Pilot in London, I got back out on the road and finished my drive to my consignee in Delaware. There was a bit of a steady rain shortly after I left the truck stop, so the streak of days with rain has been maintained. Controversy avoided... for now.

I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be parked here or not but it looks like I'm not bothering anyone. The purpose of the break at the truck stop was to wait until the consignee had closed up shop before I arrived. There are a handful of cars in the lot and the lights are on, so I guess my plan missed the mark by a little bit. We'll have to see if anyone kicks me out before tomorrow morning. I think I'll be fine.

My home time request has now been sent in advance of my time off for next week. If history is any guide, I'll be heading home in short order without making any more money this week. Obviously I would prefer another few hundred miles first but I don't really have any say in the matter. Either I'll make a few more bucks and get home early next week or I'll get home and have an extra weekend off. No tears will be shed either way. (Still prefer the few extra bucks though.)

5/27/09

A good easy day of driving and nothing more... awesome. I didn't set an alarm for this morning and my truck didn't heat up too much until I was already awake... awesome. I got to Jackson after the morning rush was starting to die down and past Memphis before the afternoon rush kicked in... awesome. I made it all the way to the Nashville suburbs with only a brief rain shower along the way, just enough to de-bug the windshield... awesome. I left myself just over seven hours of driving from here to my consignee and the Google Earth check seems to indicate that I'll be able to park there tomorrow night... awesome. The GM bondholders told the board to get lost and held onto our last hope for contract law and capitalism in America... awesome. I have a nice fast internet connection so I'll be able to watch the Wings dispose of those cheapshot artists from the land of Capone, Blago, and you-know-who... awesome.

5/26/09

You know what I really like about my job? I like the fact that I can make a hundred dumb decisions every day and, more often than not, those dumb decisions don't affect anyone but me. When other people make dumb decisions on the other hand...

I can't figure out any logical reason that I was sent to that ConWay yard on the northwest side of Houston yesterday. We've already covered the fact that they were closed. Now we can add the little tidbit that they only have two CTL trailers in their tiny little yard at a time - exactly the number that they need, incidentally. So the decision to have me drive over there was a dumb one.

UPS - no empties. ConWay - no empties. So, where to next? I got the distinct pleasure of driving down to the other side of Houston during the morning rush hour. Supposedly they always have a lot of empty trailers. 20 mile drive... 55 minutes. Sweet. Yeah, they didn't have any empties either. Dumb.

Fourth time is the charm, or something like that. From the second ConWay yard I was sent to another trucking company that does some local work in the Houston area on our behalf. The lady in charge was exceedingly pleasant and she gave me the number of an empty that I could take. The trailer was nice and clean inside just for good measure. And the gal was kinda cute. Good deal.

So, after a day and a half of nonsense, I was finally ready to head to the shipper in La Porte and pick up my next load. That place is a bit of a pain in the ass sometimes but today wasn't too terrible. Setting aside the long line of trucks waiting to get in, things seemed to be fairly efficient today. I got my 42,000 pounds of plastic and hit the road before too long. Ohio, here we come.

The paid 'practical' miles out of the Houston area to the Midwest tend to reflect a route up US-59 to Arkansas and then across to Memphis. Every truck routing program that I have ever seen lists the 'practical' route as going across Louisiana and then up I-55 to Memphis. I usually run up US-59 anyway, so it doesn't amount to a big issue. It's just odd that I can't seem to find a program listing the 'practical' route as the one for which I'm getting paid. It's like they have some magical mystery dispatch program or something. Anyhow, I'm getting sidetracked. Since the load is so heavy and I had my fill of traffic earlier in the day, I decided to take the all-interstate route and headed eastward on I-10. That's all I was trying to say.

By the time I got to Mississippi I was feeling pretty hungry and bored, so that was that for today. There's a big old truck stop at Exit 42. My delivery is set for Friday morning so I've left myself two days of 7-8 hours on the road from here. That should work pretty well for me.

So I heard those wacky North Koreans are defying UN resolutions again. Who would have figured? But it's almost like I've seen this episode before... [Content Warning: Not safe for work]

5/25/09

Man. Someone is going to have to retrieve an empty trailer from a construction site in College Station within the next week or so. I do not envy that driver. That being said, I put the damn thing in there in reverse, so my sympathy only runs so deep. My drive to the site took around an hour this morning. The process of dropping the trailer took another hour. We won't be able to have any fun with satellite imagery this time around, on account of the fact that the place isn't fully built yet. Thus, it hasn't been photographed. I do believe that it may have been the single toughest course to navigate that I've seen in my nearly three years working this gig. The guy who met me at the entrance this morning asked if I've been driving for a while. "About an hour or so," said I. No, no, no. He wanted to know how long I have been a truck driver. Apparently the guy who delivered last week (from a company that rhymes with Shmerner) had some issues. They were hoping that I would do a little better.

What can I say? I'm a pro (or I'm lucky... or I'm blessed... or whatever it is). The construction entrance was closed due to freshly poured cement, so I had to drive in through the main entrance to an apartment complex. Then it was a pretty damn tight serpentine route through to the part of the complex that is currently being built. I started to exhale once that part was over, since I didn't tear up any of the landscaping like my predecessor had done. We were just getting started though.

Next I had to make a wicked tight turn between two long dumpsters and set up to move backward. I won't bore you with the whole play-by-play but it was crazy. The final maneuver was to drop the trailer, unhook, reorient my truck, hook the trailer again from the side, and back my truck to move the front of the trailer sideways, getting it out of the street. I thought of that slick move myself. There wasn't enough room for me to swing my truck around as long as I was hooked to the trailer. Every productive movement of my truck was being offset by a counterproductive movement of the trailer. By unhooking in the middle of the process, I was able to leave the ass end of the trailer in place while I got jacked around to the side of it. I don't think they recommend that sort of thing in truck driving school, but it worked like a beauty. Sucks for whoever has to pick up that trailer next though.

I headed over to Wal Mart to grab a fantastic Italian BMT with double meat for lunch and wait for whatever came next. I had to get on the board without a trailer and the computers won't let me do this via Qualcomm, so it was time for my first phone call of the day to Joplin. The fella on the other end didn't seem entirely clear on what was being done ("Let us know if you do find an empty...") but he did get me on the board. He said that I was #10 at the time. The web portal said I was #1. I dunno. By the time I ate my lunch, took a nap, and went back in to do some shopping, I had an assignment waiting for me.

In order to make my next pickup, I would need an empty trailer. No worries, I was told. Head to the UPS terminal in Houston and grab an empty. I drove to Houston and checked in with the security gal at UPS. After two laps around the terminal it was clear that they had no CTL empties. Time for the second call to Joplin. The gal on the phone this time said that I would have to wait at the ConWay yard until they had an empty. Of course, this might have made sense if I were at a ConWay yard. So she sent me directions to the ConWay on the west end of Houston. And off we go...

The ConWay yard is all chained up and nobody's home. Third call to Joplin. Since my next load is about thirty miles from here and I'm not due until 11am, I was told to hang out here until ConWay opens in the morning and then grab an empty. We'll see how that goes, but good enough. I found an empty parking lot around the corner and set up camp for the night. A little while later, I received a call from Joplin (fourth call today). The guy this time asked me if I had an empty trailer yet. I don't guess I really need to comment on that one. Yeah.

On the plus side...
Single use charcoal grill combo from Wal Mart - $6
Comfy camp chair from Wal Mart - $10
Burgers, buns, and cheese from Kroger - $11
A sunny sky and a holiday cookout for dinner - Priceless

Happy Memorial Day everyone.

5/24/09

I was forced to write another new law today. Effective immediately, the residents of Texas are forbidden to drive on any major freeway when rain is falling from the sky. 35mph in the left lane is absolutely unacceptable under any circumstance, especially when traffic in the right lane is also moving at 35mph. I now have data points ranging from El Paso to San Antonio to Dallas to Houston. The facts speak for themselves. These people can't drive in the rain.

The depressing saga of my days in the darkness continued for another chapter today. It was sunny when I left Slidell. That lasted for about ten minutes. Then the soakers started. The people in Louisiana weren't handling the rainy weather a whole lot better, but they at least had the sense to get the hell out of the way when I approached from behind them in the left lane. The traffic from Orange to Houston was ludicrous. The traffic in Houston was worse. By the time I got onto US-290 toward Austin, I had endured all that I could handle. I found a Shell station with truck parking within a few minutes and thus managed to preserve what little is left of my sanity. It looks like I'll have about 60 miles to drive in the morning.

Since my recommendations regarding traffic laws will never be implemented, I'll go ahead and make a recommendation for the folks who play hockey in Chicago. This recommendation won't be implemented either, but here goes... Every team that plays the Red Wings, every year in the playoffs, year after year after year, thinks that it will intimidate them and gain some kind of advantage. It doesn't work. They've seen it all a thousand times and they're better than you. Knock off the cheap shots after the whistle and you won't spend as much time in the penalty box. Your wannabe tough guy routine is not helping your cause. If your coach isn't going to tell you this, then somebody has to.

It's not raining. I'll be damned.