1/29/10

Want some good news? Strong growth in the 4th quarter, despite the fact that the government was a draining factor. (Keynes who?) That's pretty good though, right? Gotta get that sucker growing sooner or later. The bulk of it appears to have been a matter of adjusting inventories rather than real activity, but you know, we'll see where it goes from here. I heard a couple of days ago that we're gonna double our exports in five years... or something. Better keep one eye on those intermodal jobs, I reckon.

Want some bad news? Bin Laden says our economy has to be broken in order to stop global warming... or something. Given his esteemed worldwide reputation as a scientist, I think we're screwed. So much for that intermodal gig.

I saw 10° on my truck's temperature readout when I woke this morning in Rochester, Minnesota. I took this as a sign that things were moving in the right direction. Then I took a closer look and saw that it actually said -10°. Damn. That's cold. Fortunately though, the gal who would be unloading the freight was already at the door when I walked over there. Sometimes those store people leave me standing outside and freezing my nuts off after I ring the doorbell and try to check in. Any time I can minimize my exposure to the elements, this is a good thing.

Once I was done at the first store, I had a quick and easy ride across I-90 and US-14 to Viroqua, Wisconsin for my second delivery. One of the pallets had tipped over by the time I got there, so it took the forklift guy a few extra miutes to get everything squared away. Nothing was damaged though, and I had a new assignment waiting for me by the time I had finished sweeping out my trailer, so I had no complaints.

My next load was picking up in Rockford, Illinois, meaning that I got to do some more non-interstate driving for a while. US-14 turned out to be a pretty relaxing ride, especially with dry roads and no weight in the wagon. There was some heavy traffic on US-12 around Madison but then the rest of the drive down I-39 to Rockford was nice and smooth. The shipper for this load is a small trucking company with whom we have some sort of cooperative arrangement. Their location was easy to spot as I arrived and their docks are easy to access. Beauty. Unfortunately though, my dispatch was correct. It said that I was to arrive at midnight for a drop/hook. I was hoping this would mean that my trailer was waiting for me to pick up any time before midnight. You know, weekend load and all. Nope. The guy in the office said that it would be ready at midnight. Bummer.

I dropped my empty trailer and pulled off to the side of the yard to await my appointment. Since I started work early this morning, the 14 hour rule is going to screw with my schedule. As long as the shippers will let me sit here for an extra couple of hours, I'll just wait until I've had a ten hour break before hooking to my loaded trailer and rolling out of town. If they won't let me wait, I'll have to use a split break. Given the disjointed nature of the early part of today (work-drive-break-work-drive-break-work), I would prefer to keep things simple and stay away from the split option. That way I can start with a clean 11 & 14 available to me. We'll see how it goes.

I have either a Sunday night or Monday morning drop scheduled in Stillwater, Oklahoma (plan says 4am Monday), so I'm thinking I'll angle over into Kansas and then drop down from there. Maybe this way I can stay above whatever nasty weather came through today. I'm not sure exactly how bad the roads are further to the south, but I've crossed Missouri in the snow a couple of times. Their highway maintenance left me, shall we say, unimpressed. With all weekend left to cover ~750 miles, I'll have plenty of time to take some state highways and cut across a little higher on the map.

Now I suppose it's time to try sleeping for a few hours. Assuming that they let me finish a full break here, I may end up driving well into the morning. Better get some rest just to be safe.