8/1/09

I still hate the 70 hour rule. In point of fact, I hate the 14 hour rule too, just in case you were wondering. One got me on the front end of the day and the other got me on the back end. Bastards.

I guess we'll go with the front end first, since that's usually how days progress. 2am. Any questions? No, of course I didn't get any sleep. I tossed and turned as I tried to sleep while I should have been driving last night. Then I drove across Louisiana while I should have been sleeping this morning. Feds.

It was a foggy and dreary kind of trip into Texas, but at least the traffic was light. I hadn't checked a map since I left Vermont. I knew that the route was all interstates until I got to Beaumont, Texas. From there I was taking US-90 over to Dayton. Pretty simple, right? So I rolled into Beaumont, saw a sign for US-90 West, and took the exit. Shit. Note to self: Try checking a map at least once every morning before you start driving. That exit took me into the downtown area. This wouldn't be a huge deal, in and of itself, but the whole freaking place was under construction. No road signs, lots of orange barrels. We know how this song ends, don't we? Residential zones, commercial zones, skinny streets, wide streets, the whole deal. I managed to find my way back to the freeway, so that was a start. I got back on I-10 westbound and then saw an exit for US-287 North. My glance at the map back in Vermont left me with the impression that US-90 ran along the north side of I-10, so I took the northbound exit. Surely I would hit US-90 and resume my trip.

It turns out that I-10 bends southward right about where I got off at US-287. Then US-90 passes to the west. Obviously, I never hit US-90 as I traveled northward. After a few miles I pulled over and looked at my damned atlas. Okay, I could take TX-105 westward and then drop down on some other road to US-90. I found a turnaround and went back toward TX-105. It was only a mile down so I stayed on the surface road along the highway. And... the surface road ended. I had to turn around again and go back northward to the first turnaround, head back toward the south, then get on the highway and exit at TX-105. All in a day's work...

From there the rest of the trip was uneventful. I made my delivery and then got my dispatch to New Braunfels for the second drop. Running US-90 all the way into Houston and then getting back onto I-10, I didn't encounter much traffic at all. Out to the west of Houston though, it was like a parade route. Any time I came upon a slower vehicle, it took ten minutes for the left lane to open up and let me pass. All in all though, a decent drive I guess.

Once I was empty in New Braunfels, I headed over to the T/A to see what would come up next. My 70 hours were running low, but you never know. I was #1 on the board, which came as something of a surprise on a Saturday afternoon in Texas. After I sat for a while, my 14 hours were about to run out when I got a chirp from the satellite unit. Hmm. It was a load assignment picking up in San Antonio at 10am today. Obviously 10am had long since come and gone, so I confirmed the load and assumed that the planners were taking my hours into account. Probably a weekend drop/hook that I could get tomorrow morning or something.

My dispatch came through at 3:45pm for a 5pm drop/hook. Plenty of time to go 36 miles, but I started at 2am today. 14 hours... you see where this is going. I sent a message asking if I could get it tomorrow morning. Nope. It has to pick up tonight by 11:59pm, so I need to go get it and then take a break, I was told. But my hours will run out first, I replied. I confirmed the load with one hour available, I was told. No, I confirmed the load with a half hour available, 15-20 minutes before this part of the satellite exchange took place. We have some kind of antiquated dispatch software that just rounds .5 up to 1, the way you learned in knidergarten. That's all fine for estimating the price of a cup of lemonade but it doesn't fly in the trucking world.

I had already been sitting in New Braunfels for a couple of hours, so I would be able to complete a ten hour break by 11:45pm. Then 36 miles... hmm. Aha though, this turned out to be the resolution that we chose. Since these people set their clocks an hour behind those of us in the civilized world, 11:59pm really means 12:59 am and I can easily do that. So I got to try to sleep while I should have been driving yesterday, on account of the 70 hour rule. Now I get to try to sleep while I should be driving today, on account of the 14 hour rule. This brilliant system is brought to you by people who are chauffered to work every day and wouldn't dream of driving for a living, of course. I am actually pretty tired at the moment, but driving 36 miles and then parking for the night sounds a hell of a lot better than taking off at midnight and then driving until who knows when.

I have a Monday morning delivery in El Paso, so once the bitterness fades I think I'll be content with this week. My northeast miles and extra stop pay, plus the last second infusion of miles (assuming I can get my drop/hook done before midnight Central) will get my weekly pay up to $1,200. Better than a kick in the balls, as I've been known to say. And this T/A does have a SubWay. What could be better for a fat dude than a nice double meat BMT right before bedtime?