6/20/09

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.

6/19/09

I stand roughly 6'2" tall and, at last check, weighed 220 pounds. I have an affinity for red meat, pasta, and beer. I earn my living by sitting on my ass all day, every day. Raise your hand if you think I can pull off a half mile sprint without any warmups or stretches or any of that. Those of you without your hands up, you suck. I'm a regular Carl Lewis... or something.

I was kicking back and relaxing last night, enjoying some down time after several days of tight timelines and hard driving. I happened to be playing golf on my computer in lieu of the real golf that I didn't get to watch earlier in the day. Whack! You've got to be shitting me. How long has it been since my truck got hit in Atlanta? Not terribly long, if memory serves. This time it was the right fender instead of the left, but it looks like a milder version of the same kind of damage.

I had no pants on at the time (for your own sake, don't try to picture that), so I hopped in the bunk to grab a pair. Then I got out, zipping my trousers as I stumbled along and forgetting to put shoes on, to see what the hell the other guy was doing. I spotted his trailer number and committed it to memory, just in case. Yeah, just in case indeed. Dude took off before I could get to the side of his truck.

I hopped back in my cab and wrote down the name of the company and the trailer number. Then I made a call to the local constables to file a report on the hit and run. The dispatcher said that she would send a unit over and I thanked her for her time. Then I decided to play a hunch. I put my shoes on and took off running. There's a Mr. Fuel truck stop down the street and I figured I might as well see if the guy was over there before I had to call my company and tell them that I had been hit by an unknown entity... again. Ha! Found him. I jotted down the plate number from the trailer that had hit my truck and then my phone rang. It was the police dispatcher telling me that the officer had arrived at my truck and I wasn't there. Shit. That was quick. So yeah, not only did I sprint a half mile last night... I did it a second time before I caught my breath from the first. Take that, you naysayers, always naysaying.

I was huffing and puffing like the fat bastard that I am by the time I got back over to the Pilot where I was parked. The officer took my notepad with the information about the other vehicle and told me to wait in my truck. A short time later, he returned with the other driver in tow. The driver didn't know that he had hit my truck, the story goes. Thought he had hit the curb. Fair enough I guess. I was just glad that I caught up to him so I didn't have to call the safety department today and say that I got hit again... and I had no information... again.

So I got the police report from the officer and the insurance info from the other driver. He was also kind enough to help me bend my bumper back out so it's not rubbing against the tire. My turn signal light is cracked and not working, so that will be something that I'll have to handle as soon as possible. Otherwise it's just one more cosmetic hole in the fiberglass, similar to the last one. The truck should be okay to drive until I pass through Joplin again.

I woke today and called the safety people to report the incident. That went pretty smoothly this time around. The safety guy today seemed to have a little more mental acuity than the safety gal from the last time. Then the only remaining issue was my logbook. When I got hit in Atlanta, I was told to make sure that I logged the accident. I was working at the time so I logged the incident on Line 4 and thought nothing of it. This time around I was in the middle of a 34-hour restart. I wasn't working, I wasn't required to be in a state of readiness for work, and I wasn't performing any job-related functions. Going on duty last night would completely screw the restart. I would likely still pick up enough hours to handle the run to Florida but then I would be right back where I am now - out of hours and waiting for midnight to pass each day so I can work. What to do? What to do?

Long story short - no good answers. People have come up with wishy washy interpretations going both ways but I can't find anything definitive. There are hundreds of opinions providing guidance on dozens of topics to be found on the FMCSA website, but again, nothing definitive about this predicament. That one mile of running on foot probably would have to be considered some form of service to my employer. Then again, I am pretty fat and a run every now and again would do me some good. Maybe it was for my own benefit. We'll just have to leave it at that for now. Certain conversations between certain parties have taken place but, in the tradition of one former employee of the Rose Law Firm... I simply don't recall.

The U.S. Open's webcast console is pretty sweet for viewing, if any of you are out on the road and into that sort of thing. It has live video of whatever group they're featuring and constantly updated leaderboards that you can customize with up to five players at a time. So, for example, if most of your players are going to miss the cut and a scrappy little Canadian is the only positive on your roster, you can watch your chances at a free golf vacation going out the window.

Now I have a nice fresh haircut and I'm all showered and shaved and ready to get back into the trucking thing. I may have a face that only a mother could love, but Mom would sure think I'm purty tonight. And I haven't seen any more white whiskers either. So I have that going for me... which is nice. I'm not sure exactly what kind of schedule I'll be running tonight and/or tomorrow. I took a pretty long nap (Sharapova, Kournikova... know what I'm sayin'?) this evening so I might just drive on through the night. That lightning on the horizon and the security guard at the truck stop talking about tornadoes might change my mind though. Time will tell.

6/18/09

We at Fenian Godfather Inc. do not condone drug use in any way. That being said, the stoners among you probably would have enjoyed the scene in Iowa this morning. I awoke to the sound of thunder and rain hitting my truck around 2am. Then I tossed and turned for a while, trying to get back to sleep. Since I had managed to doze off before midnight for a change, I wanted to take advantage to whatever extent I was able. My satellite unit chirped at me a short time later and that was that. No getting to sleep at this point. I got up and saw that they had sent me the information concerning the driver to whom I would be relaying my load today. Why this is always necessary in the middle of the night, I have no idea.

After scheduling some financial transactions for (payday) tomorrow and returning a few e-mails, I decided that I may as well head out. I caught up with the storm around twenty miles down the road and it certainly was a wild one. Sort of like driving through a disco with the strobe lights on full tilt. The rain was pretty heavy as well but I was the only one on the road for the most part. It didn't slow me down much. Across on US-34 and into Illinois the situation was much the same. The rain did let up as I crossed Illinois but the light show in the sky continued. And no, Dark Side of the Moon was not playing on my XM radio.

I pulled into the lot of a McDonald's with truck parking somewhere along US-34 this morning to grab a delightful bacon, egg, and cheese bagel. You guys who sleep at McDonald's overnight - I don't like you very much. There was nowhere for me to park my truck so the proprietors of the eatery were deprived of their pending $4 sale. The idling trucks were jammed in so tightly that I had a hell of a time turning around and getting out. So I caught up with I-74 and, after twenty minutes or so, spotted another McDonald's next to a truck stop. Not to be deterred by the first setback, I pulled off and grabbed a spot at the truck stop. I walked over to the Mickey D's and found that their power had been knocked out by the storms. No luck this time either. Okay. I get it. My fat ass was not destined to get a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel this morning. Sheesh.

After a fuel stop in Bloomington and a brief nap at a rest area, I finished off the run into Indianapolis and found that the Pilot parking lot was about as I expected it to be. My relay partner was parked in a spot were he was easy to find, but the spot that I had to take was a doozy. There are three rows of trucks and trailers in a space that could reasonably accomodate two and a half rows. I had to cut a real tight line into my parking space as a result. I got a bit of a break in that the spot directly across from mine opened up as I was backing in. This allowed me to pull farther forward and adjust my angle of approach, thus relieving the CRST guy on my left of his anxiety. He seemed to have concerns about his mirror. I never got any closer than three inches man. Lighten up already.

In the 'credit where credit is due' department, I have to give a tip of the cap to the load planners again. I was on the board for a few minutes when I received a message from my fleet manager. He said that the planner was asking if I wanted to take a restart. Since I had ¾ of an hour left for today and I only pick up 1 ¾ hours tomorrow, I agreed that a restart would be the logical thing to do. Then a minute later I got a load assignment. It has an open-ended pickup appointment in Plainfield and it's a drop/hook, so I can sit here for a day and a half and then go get it. Then I'll have 1,004 miles to cover over the weekend, heading down to Lakeland, Florida. All in all, that's a pretty solid outcome for my week. Good lookin' out, my brother.

My preferred breakfast may not have been in the cards today, but you can bet your ass that I hightailed it inside for a delicious Italian BMT with double meat after my load assignment was confirmed this afternoon. Awesome. Then, with my nice fast internet connection, it was time to put up my feet and watch some golf. Postponed due to rain? Ain't that a bitch. I guess I'll be forced to do some reading and actually try preserving some of my brain tissue for a change. Maybe I can find a stream of the ballgame tonight. The Tigers appear destined to lose their division lead before long so I'd like to see a few games while they're still on top.

6/17/09

You are encouraged to root for the following players this weekend (unless you hold a negative opinion of this blog's author, in which case you might as well go ahead and root against them):

Tiger Woods
Jim Furyk
Zach Johnson
Mike Weir
Justin Leonard
Chad Campbell
J.B. Holmes
Rod Pampling
Brian Gay

I didn't miss the free golf vacation by a whole lot during my Masters pool, so maybe I can catch a few breaks this time around.

So, another early morning of driving to finish off a trip today. This is getting a little old, I must say. The alarm clock has never been a friend of mine. I angled across on I-44 and then went up through the northeastern part of Missouri on MO-5, US-54, MO-19, and US-61. Given the length of the drive off the interstate, I wasn't sure how long the trip might take. It turned out to be a fairly quick route so I had time for a nice nap at the Missouri welcome center shortly before reaching Iowa. That was quite helpful to the cause. Not surprisingly, I didn't sleep worth a shit last night.

Before I got to Iowa, I received a pre-planned assignment for my next load. Always nice to see those. This one was picking up in Iowa at 9:30am today (an hour or so before I received the assignment) and delivering in Pennsylvania on Friday morning. The run was listed at 1,092 miles but I was pretty sure that I wouldn't be covering the whole trip. I've been running pretty hard since I left home and my 70 hours are getting to be in short supply. In any case, I had somewhere to go once I was empty so I was content.

At the consignee there was another CTL truck ahead of me, waiting for a dock to open up. He pulled in once another truck left and then I got the next dock when a second truck took off. Once I was empty I started heading westward toward the next pickup. I didn't receive a dispatch right away so I started to wonder if the load planning gang had come up with a different plan on account of my hours. I called the 800 line and found that I was not on the board. Taking this to mean that my empty call was still being processed, I continued westward. About fifteen or twenty miles down the road I finally got my assignment.

At the shipper in Corydon, my loaded trailer was ready and waiting when I arrived. Good deal. I made a quick drop/hook and then sent in the information for the load. My dispatch came through for the full 1,092 miles, with a scheduled ETA of 3am on Sunday. So essentially the computer took my remaining hours and figured out when I could finish the trip within the law. Not surprisingly, I got another message a few seconds later. Yep. I'll be relaying the load in Indianapolis tomorrow afternoon. That makes a little more sense. Relaying in Indy will make pretty decent use of my remaining hours but those truck stops on the loop seem to be awfully crowded whenever I drive by. I would have preferred a more convenient location. I don't know. We'll see.

I'll be empty on Thursday with 1,944 miles on the books for the week. There's a bit of a chance that my week will stall out at that point. I only pick up a couple of hours on Friday, although I do get a decent chunk back on Saturday. Maybe I can get something for the weekend and make it a good week. For perspective though, my dispatched miles for the roughly seven days from last Thursday night (when I left home) to this Thursday morning numbered 3,713. That's a solid week by anyone's definition. If nothing else comes up for the weekend and I'm forced to sit and watch the U.S. Open, I suspect that I'll survive.

I have around seven hours or so to drive in the morning to reach my relay point, so it looks like another early morning is in store. Might as well try to sleep. One of these nights it has to work.

6/16/09

Well, a gold ring it ain't, but I got a little pin and a sleeve patch and a sticker to commemorate my recently earned service award. I don't know if they still do the gold ring thing or not but I wasn't sticking around to find out. I got a chance to leave Joplin this afternoon and, by golly, I jumped at it.

My trip into the Ozarks was pretty mellow and easy this morning. The climbs were a little steeper than I recalled from my last drive up I-540. Probably due to the weight of the load that I was pulling, I suspect. The guy doing the unloading was exceedingly polite and prompt. That's always nice to see. Folks in my profession are not generally held in very high regard, so it's refreshing when someone shows a high level of courtesy and professionalism toward us.

Once I was empty I headed down the street to an abandoned truck stop to park, in hopes that I would receive a load assignment rather than a deadhead to Joplin. As soon as I set my brakes I received a deadhead assignment, to Joplin of course. I did get through the inspection without them flagging my truck for any work. I consider this to be a small victory of sorts. Those guys always seem to find something whenever I pass through. I was #8 on the board when I checked in and, not too long after a quick workout and a shower, my turn came up.

I could go over to Pryor, Oklahoma this afternoon for a drop/hook that delivers tomorrow in Iowa or I could go to Springfield tomorrow for something... I didn't even listen to the rest of that one. Get me out of town baby. More light traffic ensued on the way into Oklahoma and my trailer was waiting for me when I arrived at the shipper. Some more light traffic was in store when I headed back eastward across I-44 into Missouri as well. Good deal. The deadhead to Joplin was 89 miles, the deadhead to Pryor was another 76, and the loaded run to Keokuk, Iowa tacked on another 448. Sitting at 1,382 when I'm empty tomorrow afternoon, I'll be on my way to a decent week as long as the bottom doesn't fall out.

I stopped by the permit window before I left Joplin and asked the nice lady if I had anything in my mailbox. There were some updated permits and such along with my little envelope of commemorative goodies. I'm not really gung-ho enough about my job to sew patches on my sleeves or wear Con-way pins, but the gesture was nice just the same. For that matter, I don't imagine I'll wear the gold ring either if I do end up getting one. Gold might be worth $50,000 an ounce in the not-too-distant future though unless things change course in a hurry. Every little bit helps.

6/15/09

I love the smell of Satan's Driveway in the morning. It smells like... traffic.

San Antonio and Austin during the morning rush - just because I decided to take a load requiring that kind of schedule - awesome. What a royal pain in the ass that road is. Yeah, I know I always say that. My opinion hasn't changed.

I love the smell of Satan's Driveway in the early afternoon. It smells like... more traffic.

Usually there's a bit of relief once you clear Austin on I-35 northbound. Today every jackass in Texas seemed to show up and cause trouble. God forbid I be allowed to move into the left lane and pass them. Dumb. What a royal pain in the ass that road is.

I love the smell of US-75 in the late afternoon. It smells like... still more traffic.

Have I taken this shtick far enough yet? Yeah, probably. Dallas was another clusterfuck though, just in case anyone was wondering. It was no Austin, mind you, but the traffic was slow and congested for no apparent reason.

As obnoxious as those particular areas were, the overall route for this trip is mostly open and fast. I was able to get a solid 650 miles in the books before my hours ran out for the day, leaving a little over a hundred miles to drive in the morning. My only hope from this point is that they don't deadhead me to Joplin once I'm empty. This happened the last time I delivered to Northwestern Arkansas. Joplin, Missouri is most certainly not my favorite place in the world. I do think that I have a shiny gold ring coming to me sooner or later but they can mail it to Michigan as far as I'm concerned.

I love the smell of Checotah in the evening. It smells like... a front row parking space and a fresh hot slice of Flying J pizza.

(Still no personal welcome from the lovely Ms. Underwood though.)

6/14/09

That's a long haul down US-59 from Texarkana to Laredo, but I think it's going to be my standard weekend route for a while (until I get bored and try something else). The few towns here and there are just enough to break up the monotony and not enough to slow down the pace too much.

About the only thing that came up during today's trip was a technological issue with my satellite unit. It has had a blank white screen for the last day and a half. I thought that it would reset while I slept last night, since it normally shuts itself down whenever my truck is off. The truck was off for five or six hours before I got too hot this morning, but the satellite unit never powered down. After driving most of the way to Laredo I realized that I wouldn't be able to get directions to my broker without a fully functioning unit. I called our road service department, thinking that they would tell me which fuse to pull or something in order to reset the system. The road service guy told me to call the dispatcher. The dispatcher told me to call Qualcomm, and gave me the phone number along with a serial number of some sort for my unit. The Qualcomm guy sent a magical signal through outer space and everything was fixed. Beauty.

I had missed two messages during the time that my unit was non-functional. One came through yesterday, asking us not to call Joplin unless we really need to. Those messages seem to come on a fairly regular basis. Must be some lonely truckers out here in need of someone with whom to talk. The second message came through just before I got rolling this morning. It said that I was on the late board and needed to let them know how I was doing. I never got the message until I was almost to Laredo, but I won't lie to you. I most likely wouldn't have called even if I had received the message. (Aren't we always being told not to call unless we have to?) Those 'late board' messages are asinine. I took a few breaks along the way and still got to Laredo tonight, with my delivery scheduled for tomorrow morning. Whatevs.

Once I got to Laredo I expected to get on the board, lift some weights, hit the sack, make my drop tomorrow morning, and then sit around all day waiting for work. The night dispatcher had other ideas. There was one load going to Fayetteville, Arkansas for a Tuesday morning delivery. I could have it if I wanted it. Otherwise I would be getting one of the short runs in Texas that he had to parcel out. 769 miles by Tuesday morning. That would take some balls-out driving but I couldn't pass it up. I've already dropped the southbound trailer and hooked to my northbound. I'll have to hit the road as soon as tonight's break is over, drive a full eleven hours tomorrow, take another ten-hour break, and then drive the last hundred-whatever miles into Fayetteville. This will make three straight days of long shifts, which incidentally is three more than I like to work. A brother's gotta eat though. Plenty of folks are having a hard time making ends meet these days. Things seem to be going pretty well for me, so I can't complain.