1/8/10

Everybody loves a good appetizer, right? The queso flameado at El Zocalo in Detroit is my personal favorite, but there are plenty of things that we can munch on to get warmed up before the real meal arrives. I didn't have any tasty meals or anything today, but I did get something akin to an appetizer. As I sat in West Virginia waiting for the time to pass, a message came across the satellite. We've been getting a steady barrage of messages lately, telling us that our trucks are crashing all over the place and we need to be careful. Today though, as I prepared to drive across Ohio, the message was particularly inspiring - WEATHER RELATED ACCIDENT / DOT / JACKKNIFED IN OH. The standard 'please be careful' stuff followed, but that first part definitely had me warmed up and looking forward to my trip.

Given that our drivers are apparently driving off the road in bunches, I assume that our safety rating will be going down soon. This can impact our chances of getting a green light to bypass the scales in various states. Fewer green lights would mean a higher chance of getting inspected, so I decided to play it safe and deal with my missing mud flap before leaving the T/A in Valley Grove. Their shop wasn't really busy so it seemed like a logical thing to do. They got to work quickly on the mud flap and also changed my fuel filters and lubed my truck, at the request of our road service guys. Before too long it was time to drive.

The ramp from the truck stop exit onto I-70 was a slippery pain in the ass so I was braced for a really long day on the highway. Once I got out onto the big road though, everything was fine. There were some wet spots but the road for the most part was clean and clear. Beauty. I was able to cruise down past Columbus and onto I-71 without any issues at all. The rest area near Jeffersonville had some parking spaces open so I pulled in and kicked back for a while. I'm not allowed to arrive at my consignee before 1:30am and it's around 60 miles from here, so I'll take off again around 12:30am and get rid of this load.

The parking issue following my delivery has probably been resolved, so that's nice. I received a pre-planned assignment as I rolled across I-70 earlier today. My next pickup will be on Saturday morning in Cincinnati and will be headed to Jacksonville, Florida. Given that the load number is way smaller than the one I'm currently hauling (meaning it was booked quite a while ago) and the delivery time says 3am on Tuesday, my guess is that it will be a Con-way load. If so, I'll be able to cruise over to the yard, drop my empty trailer, and go to bed. The pickup time (10am) will be an issue vis a vis my 14 hour clock (expiring at 4:30am). As long as I'm there and I've checked in with the dispatcher though, I don't think it will bother the Con-way people if I stick around for a few extra hours until I've taken a ten hour break. It certainly wouldn't be the first time.

Regardless of who is the shipper and how I manage my schedule, I'll have to send a message tomorrow and see what they're going to do about my paid miles. The plan summary says that it's 796 miles from Cincinnati to Jacksonville. Our paid miles are based on some kind of Rand McNally routing program (I think), so I went to randmcnally.com and typed in the trip. Exactly 796 miles, as I suspected. That route would take me into North Carolina on I-40. I-40 is still closed as far as I know, so we'll see what kind of paid routing and mileage I end up with.

Now, as long as no more snow storms come blowing through Southern Ohio tonight, I think I'm in pretty good shape. I guess it's time for a little nap before I get rolling again. And it might also be time to stock up on more bottled water. Eww.