Given the amount of my free time that is spent in truck stops, there should be very little by now that surprises me. There are still a few things though. I stopped at the Pilot in Colonial Heights this morning to grab a bite to eat and use the restroom. A tall man, around fifty years old, strode up to the urinal next to me. He then proceeded to drop his pants to his ankles and do his business. What the hell is that all about? Thankfully, I was wrapping up my own work at the time. Shaking the dew, if you will. I couldn't get out of there fast enough, to say the least. Freaking weird, man.
As I approached D.C. it was looking like I had a long afternoon in store for me. Coming out of the Virginia scales, I ran into traffic at a dead stop on I-95. It was bumper-to-bumper for about eight or nine miles. Then, for no apparent reason, the traffic jam was gone and the rest of the drive went quite smoothly.
The service plazas in Jersey outside Philadelphia seemed like a pretty good bet in terms of finding a fast enough internet connection to watch some football, so I took a look at my atlas and saw that I could stop at either Mile 39 or Mile 59. The one at Mile 59 has a Blimpie sandwich shop, as opposed to a Burger King at Mile 39, so the one with the Blimpie was the winner. The Blimpie Best is no Italian BMT with double meat but it's a pretty solid sandwich in its own right.
The pay week wraps up with 2,843 miles plus somewhere around $90 in northeast pay. Around here we call that a pretty solid week at the office. With only 150 miles left to drive tomorrow, my log book should be well rested and ready to get a good start to next week as well.
Now I do believe it's time to see what the gang at myp2p.eu has on tap for us football fans today. And, just for the record, high school kids in Michigan play baseball with temperatures in the 20's and snow flurries at the beginning of every season. Those Major Leaguers in Colorado are a bunch of sissies.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
10/9/09
No, I have no jokes to tell about our president's latest grand honor. I'm purposely steering clear of matters involving all politicians for the foreseeable future, and I stopped paying attention to that award somewhere around the time that they gave it to Arafat. I say good for you, Mr. President. Why not? As far as I could tell, this was the one thing for which the dude actually wasn't campaigning. For those of you who are in the mood though, George Stephanapoulos has you covered. Some of the commenters below the article have a touch more wit than the bloggers who are featured, it seems to me. Anyhow...
It turns out that the conspiracy to make my job suck wasn't vast enough to extend beyond yesterday. I woke at the fairly reasonable hour of 8am, checked the truck over, and hit the road. Five hours would be way more than enough time to cover 143 miles but I wasn't sure what kind of roads I would find along the way. Turns out that US-401 to NC-87 to I-95 is rather quick and easy. I was at the consignee's door in Lumberton before 11am. Beauty.
The drop/hook on that end took a few extra minutes. They made me drop my loaded trailer, hook the empty trailer, pull the empty trailer from the dock, drop the empty trailer, hook the loaded trailer, drop the loaded trailer in the dock, and then hook the empty trailer. It seems pretty dumb to me since they have two docks, but you know how it goes - the customer is always right or whatever. Then I was off to Monroe.
Once again, the route was much quicker than I expected. US-74 (or I-74 or whatever it's called presently) was more freeway than not. The few towns along the way (other than Monroe itself) weren't very congested at all. It did take a little while to get through to the west side of Monroe by the airport. The pickup was another drop/hook but it went very quickly and easily, especially when compared to the drop in Lumberton. With a reasonable 26,000 pounds in the wagon I headed back to the northeast. Up US-601 to I-85 and away we go.
I had no specific timeline in mind as I was driving along. The traffic was moving smoothly so I was just going with the flow. With only 750 miles to cover for the whole weekend, I was obviously free to shut down whenever I felt like it today. It was pretty warm in North Carolina though, so I decided to keep cruising along until the sun went down. This way I wouldn't need to run the truck and the A/C in order to stay comfortable after I parked. Even on warm days it tends to get pretty cool at night during this time of year. This approach found me pulling into the truck stop in Rawlings, Virginia for the night.
With only ~500 miles left to go, it's almost tempting to finish the whole trip tomorrow and take Sunday off. I can't seem to find any good parking options near Wallingford, Connecticut though. Barring any bright ideas in the next day or so, I think I'm going to end up at the rest area on I-91 Sunday night. Since I'm sure as hell not spending two days at a rest area, I think I'll just drive for a while tomorrow and then find a comfortable place with a fast internet connection to cool my heels for the night. Between the football and the baseball that will be on, I'm sure that I can find an entertaining game or two.
It turns out that the conspiracy to make my job suck wasn't vast enough to extend beyond yesterday. I woke at the fairly reasonable hour of 8am, checked the truck over, and hit the road. Five hours would be way more than enough time to cover 143 miles but I wasn't sure what kind of roads I would find along the way. Turns out that US-401 to NC-87 to I-95 is rather quick and easy. I was at the consignee's door in Lumberton before 11am. Beauty.
The drop/hook on that end took a few extra minutes. They made me drop my loaded trailer, hook the empty trailer, pull the empty trailer from the dock, drop the empty trailer, hook the loaded trailer, drop the loaded trailer in the dock, and then hook the empty trailer. It seems pretty dumb to me since they have two docks, but you know how it goes - the customer is always right or whatever. Then I was off to Monroe.
Once again, the route was much quicker than I expected. US-74 (or I-74 or whatever it's called presently) was more freeway than not. The few towns along the way (other than Monroe itself) weren't very congested at all. It did take a little while to get through to the west side of Monroe by the airport. The pickup was another drop/hook but it went very quickly and easily, especially when compared to the drop in Lumberton. With a reasonable 26,000 pounds in the wagon I headed back to the northeast. Up US-601 to I-85 and away we go.
I had no specific timeline in mind as I was driving along. The traffic was moving smoothly so I was just going with the flow. With only 750 miles to cover for the whole weekend, I was obviously free to shut down whenever I felt like it today. It was pretty warm in North Carolina though, so I decided to keep cruising along until the sun went down. This way I wouldn't need to run the truck and the A/C in order to stay comfortable after I parked. Even on warm days it tends to get pretty cool at night during this time of year. This approach found me pulling into the truck stop in Rawlings, Virginia for the night.
With only ~500 miles left to go, it's almost tempting to finish the whole trip tomorrow and take Sunday off. I can't seem to find any good parking options near Wallingford, Connecticut though. Barring any bright ideas in the next day or so, I think I'm going to end up at the rest area on I-91 Sunday night. Since I'm sure as hell not spending two days at a rest area, I think I'll just drive for a while tomorrow and then find a comfortable place with a fast internet connection to cool my heels for the night. Between the football and the baseball that will be on, I'm sure that I can find an entertaining game or two.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
10/8/09
The following exchange took place this morning at a Wendy's in Raphine, Virginia...
Goofy Airheaded Lass: Will this be for the dining room?
Me: Yes
GAL: What can I do for you?
Me: I would like a spicy chicken combo, large sized, plain, with an unsweetened iced tea to drink, please.
GAL: Okay, plain?
Me: Yes please.
GAL: Small, medium, or large?
Me: Large.
GAL: And what would you like to drink with that?
Me: Unsweetened iced tea, please.
GAL: Okay, iced tea, sweetened or unsweetened?
Me: Usweetened.
GAL: Okay, and is this for here or to go?
Me: For here.
I probably would have decided to share that story with you for no reason other than that it made me chuckle. As it turns out though, the tale of the Wendy's would be a pretty good metaphor for the day. While the overwhelming lack of common sense in the world might leave you completely stunned sometimes, it's all good as long as you get what you want in the end.
After my lunch break there in Raphine, I continued southward and wound up in some seriously annoying duels with motorists who insisted on passing me and then slowing down. My load wasn't extremely heavy, but it was heavy enough to hold me back on the numerous climbs. So if you passed me while I was going up a hill at 50mph, got half a mile ahead of me, and then I used my engine brake to come down the hill at around 65mph, there should be no reason for me ever to see you again. Yeah, who needs a reason to be a jagoff though? That dance can get pretty damned frustrating when it's repeated over and over and over. No freaking common sense.
Right around the time that I thought I might have to plow into the back of a minivan and let the chips fall where they may, I got some good news. First came a pre-plan for a load picking up in Greensboro tomorrow morning. It was only a 95 mile deadhead and then a 143 mile run, but at least I wouldn't be stuck in Charlotte and wondering where to park after I made my delivery this afternoon. A few seconds later, I received a revised pre-plan. It had the same short run out of Greensboro followed by a weekend run to Connecticut. I could get into a sarcastic rehashing of certain water under the bridge here, given that my second run for tomorrow is apparently scheduled to pick up today at 8am, but we'll leave that for another time. For now we'll just say that it was welcome news to see some work lined up for the next few days.
I rolled into the consignee in Charlotte ahead of the afternoon rush. Since my assignment said that it was a drop/hook, I was hoping to get rid of it early instead of waiting for 6pm to come around. It was, in point of fact, not a drop/hook. They unloaded me early anyway though. Good enough. By the time I left Charlotte, however, the afternoon rush was in full swing. Traffic came to a dead stop a mile or two before the right lane (where I was driving) would be forced to exit onto the outer loop. I put on my blinker and kept an eye on my mirror for an opening, since I wanted to stay on I-85. It's one thing for the cocksuckers in the next lane to ignore my blinker and keep the space next to me filled. You expect that sort of thing out here. It's quite another for the lady behind me to dart around my left side and block me from moving over once I did spot a tiny crack in the traffic jam. She sat behind me for five minutes watching me try to edge over, then cut me off simply so she could stop right next to me. What a bitch. No freaking common sense.
Before I ran out of road, I managed to scare some dude driving one of those goofy little eco-friendly cars into thinking that I didn't see him. Obviously I wasn't going to hit him but he didn't know this. That'll get 'em to step on the brakes in a hurry. Okay then, moving along...
I stopped at the Pilot in Kannapolis to top of the tanks and mail my paperwork to Joplin. The traffic jam had shaken loose by that point so I was in good shape for the rest of the drive to Greensboro. Or so I thought. When I pulled up to the fuel island, there were trucks two-deep at each pump - one fueling and one that had finished fueling and pulled forward. The 'pulled forward' one in my lane didn't move for a good twenty minutes. I sat there thinking to myself, "This bastard is going to come out with a fucking SubWay bag in his hand." Just after the twenty minute mark, there he was, waddling out with a SubWay bag in his hand. Now, I love an Italian BMT with double meat more than anyone, but come on. Half the damned truck stops in this country have a SubWay. You can find one with an empty parking space without too much difficulty. But no, genius here had to screw the rest of us trying to do our jobs. No freaking common sense.
So he drove off and I waited for the truck in front of me (at the pump) to move forward. Surely after twenty minutes he was as agitated as I was, right? But the truck didn't move. What the hell? Seven minutes later, I shit you not, another son of a bitch came waddling out of the building with a SubWay bag in his hand. To make matters even more annoying, this guy was in the trademark sleeveless t-shirt. I've had about enough of this sleeveless trucker nonsense as it is, you know. So yeah, it's been a while since I was in my last fist fight... sometimes it's a close call. No freaking common sense.
So he drove off and I finally got to the pump. Gas up the tanks, take a leak, grab my receipt, and hit the road... or not. Another Mensa candidate had parked in the driveway and gone into the truck stop. Since there were trucks two deep in the fuel lines and other trucks who had entered the driveway, this prick had completely shut down the flow of traffic. Nobody coming in, nobody going out. Since the people who had left the fuel island couldn't exit, nobody who had finished fueling could pull forward. Since nobody could pull forward, nobody could pull into the fuel island. Since nobody could pull into the fuel island, the people trying to enter the truck stop couldn't get out of the way. Since they couldn't get out of the way, nobody could get around the cocksucker blocking the driveway. One big circle jerk of epic proportions. No freaking common sense.
Once the dipshit driver (R&L, that's you) decided to bless the rest of us by leaving, there was another whole debacle involved with trying to clear out the logjam. People were backed up onto the street outside the truck stop and everything. Little by little though, people made their way back onto the road and I finally got back to the freeway. My next pickup was scheduled for 6am tomorrow in Greensboro and the shipper has an overnight parking area, so I headed straight there to spend the evening. No more traffic issues along the way, thank God.
Once I pulled into the shipper's lot I decided to roll the dice and check in as if the pickup were scheduled for tonight. It was a drop/hook so I figured my odds were at least 50/50. If I could get the loaded trailer tonight, then I wouldn't have to get up at 6am tomorrow. The delivery is scheduled for 1pm and it's only 143 miles away, after all. My loaded trailer was in fact ready and the drop/hook went quickly and smoothly. Beauty. Now, instead of parking for the night with an empty trailer, I'm parked for the night with a loaded trailer. I'll still have to set an alarm for tomorrow but it won't be for 6am. And thus, in the end, it's all good. The overwhelming lack of common sense in the world has indeed left me completely stunned, but I got a decent week of work in the end.
My schedule over the weekend would work out quite nicely for a respite at one of the Corleone family's East Coast estates. With my Irish on a bye week and my Tigers eliminated though, it would probably be a waste of money. I think I'll just enjoy the light workload and take it easy for a few days. Lord knows I'll probably get my share of frustration going up I-95. I'll have plenty of time for breaks if the need arises.
Goofy Airheaded Lass: Will this be for the dining room?
Me: Yes
GAL: What can I do for you?
Me: I would like a spicy chicken combo, large sized, plain, with an unsweetened iced tea to drink, please.
GAL: Okay, plain?
Me: Yes please.
GAL: Small, medium, or large?
Me: Large.
GAL: And what would you like to drink with that?
Me: Unsweetened iced tea, please.
GAL: Okay, iced tea, sweetened or unsweetened?
Me: Usweetened.
GAL: Okay, and is this for here or to go?
Me: For here.
I probably would have decided to share that story with you for no reason other than that it made me chuckle. As it turns out though, the tale of the Wendy's would be a pretty good metaphor for the day. While the overwhelming lack of common sense in the world might leave you completely stunned sometimes, it's all good as long as you get what you want in the end.
After my lunch break there in Raphine, I continued southward and wound up in some seriously annoying duels with motorists who insisted on passing me and then slowing down. My load wasn't extremely heavy, but it was heavy enough to hold me back on the numerous climbs. So if you passed me while I was going up a hill at 50mph, got half a mile ahead of me, and then I used my engine brake to come down the hill at around 65mph, there should be no reason for me ever to see you again. Yeah, who needs a reason to be a jagoff though? That dance can get pretty damned frustrating when it's repeated over and over and over. No freaking common sense.
Right around the time that I thought I might have to plow into the back of a minivan and let the chips fall where they may, I got some good news. First came a pre-plan for a load picking up in Greensboro tomorrow morning. It was only a 95 mile deadhead and then a 143 mile run, but at least I wouldn't be stuck in Charlotte and wondering where to park after I made my delivery this afternoon. A few seconds later, I received a revised pre-plan. It had the same short run out of Greensboro followed by a weekend run to Connecticut. I could get into a sarcastic rehashing of certain water under the bridge here, given that my second run for tomorrow is apparently scheduled to pick up today at 8am, but we'll leave that for another time. For now we'll just say that it was welcome news to see some work lined up for the next few days.
I rolled into the consignee in Charlotte ahead of the afternoon rush. Since my assignment said that it was a drop/hook, I was hoping to get rid of it early instead of waiting for 6pm to come around. It was, in point of fact, not a drop/hook. They unloaded me early anyway though. Good enough. By the time I left Charlotte, however, the afternoon rush was in full swing. Traffic came to a dead stop a mile or two before the right lane (where I was driving) would be forced to exit onto the outer loop. I put on my blinker and kept an eye on my mirror for an opening, since I wanted to stay on I-85. It's one thing for the cocksuckers in the next lane to ignore my blinker and keep the space next to me filled. You expect that sort of thing out here. It's quite another for the lady behind me to dart around my left side and block me from moving over once I did spot a tiny crack in the traffic jam. She sat behind me for five minutes watching me try to edge over, then cut me off simply so she could stop right next to me. What a bitch. No freaking common sense.
Before I ran out of road, I managed to scare some dude driving one of those goofy little eco-friendly cars into thinking that I didn't see him. Obviously I wasn't going to hit him but he didn't know this. That'll get 'em to step on the brakes in a hurry. Okay then, moving along...
I stopped at the Pilot in Kannapolis to top of the tanks and mail my paperwork to Joplin. The traffic jam had shaken loose by that point so I was in good shape for the rest of the drive to Greensboro. Or so I thought. When I pulled up to the fuel island, there were trucks two-deep at each pump - one fueling and one that had finished fueling and pulled forward. The 'pulled forward' one in my lane didn't move for a good twenty minutes. I sat there thinking to myself, "This bastard is going to come out with a fucking SubWay bag in his hand." Just after the twenty minute mark, there he was, waddling out with a SubWay bag in his hand. Now, I love an Italian BMT with double meat more than anyone, but come on. Half the damned truck stops in this country have a SubWay. You can find one with an empty parking space without too much difficulty. But no, genius here had to screw the rest of us trying to do our jobs. No freaking common sense.
So he drove off and I waited for the truck in front of me (at the pump) to move forward. Surely after twenty minutes he was as agitated as I was, right? But the truck didn't move. What the hell? Seven minutes later, I shit you not, another son of a bitch came waddling out of the building with a SubWay bag in his hand. To make matters even more annoying, this guy was in the trademark sleeveless t-shirt. I've had about enough of this sleeveless trucker nonsense as it is, you know. So yeah, it's been a while since I was in my last fist fight... sometimes it's a close call. No freaking common sense.
So he drove off and I finally got to the pump. Gas up the tanks, take a leak, grab my receipt, and hit the road... or not. Another Mensa candidate had parked in the driveway and gone into the truck stop. Since there were trucks two deep in the fuel lines and other trucks who had entered the driveway, this prick had completely shut down the flow of traffic. Nobody coming in, nobody going out. Since the people who had left the fuel island couldn't exit, nobody who had finished fueling could pull forward. Since nobody could pull forward, nobody could pull into the fuel island. Since nobody could pull into the fuel island, the people trying to enter the truck stop couldn't get out of the way. Since they couldn't get out of the way, nobody could get around the cocksucker blocking the driveway. One big circle jerk of epic proportions. No freaking common sense.
Once the dipshit driver (R&L, that's you) decided to bless the rest of us by leaving, there was another whole debacle involved with trying to clear out the logjam. People were backed up onto the street outside the truck stop and everything. Little by little though, people made their way back onto the road and I finally got back to the freeway. My next pickup was scheduled for 6am tomorrow in Greensboro and the shipper has an overnight parking area, so I headed straight there to spend the evening. No more traffic issues along the way, thank God.
Once I pulled into the shipper's lot I decided to roll the dice and check in as if the pickup were scheduled for tonight. It was a drop/hook so I figured my odds were at least 50/50. If I could get the loaded trailer tonight, then I wouldn't have to get up at 6am tomorrow. The delivery is scheduled for 1pm and it's only 143 miles away, after all. My loaded trailer was in fact ready and the drop/hook went quickly and smoothly. Beauty. Now, instead of parking for the night with an empty trailer, I'm parked for the night with a loaded trailer. I'll still have to set an alarm for tomorrow but it won't be for 6am. And thus, in the end, it's all good. The overwhelming lack of common sense in the world has indeed left me completely stunned, but I got a decent week of work in the end.
My schedule over the weekend would work out quite nicely for a respite at one of the Corleone family's East Coast estates. With my Irish on a bye week and my Tigers eliminated though, it would probably be a waste of money. I think I'll just enjoy the light workload and take it easy for a few days. Lord knows I'll probably get my share of frustration going up I-95. I'll have plenty of time for breaks if the need arises.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
10/7/09
There's a serious void in the evening tonight. When the Tigers' season has come to a merciful end and I'm not terribly interested in the remaining matchups, it just seems like a part of my daily routine has been wiped out. This used to be my favorite time of year to sneak out of the office. I would head over to Damon's and knock back a beer (or several) and watch baseball for hours on end on their big projection screens. Day after day, the baseball playoffs provide some of the highest levels of execution in the sporting world. Tonight though, I don't have the beer as an option and watching an internet stream on my computer just doesn't have the same feel as sitting with a couple of buddies in a restaurant booth. So depressing.
This morning's trip into Jersey was surprisingly easy, given the conditions. It was raining steadily before sunrise and my eventual route had the potential to become another of my many misadventures. I had forgotten to check my directions before leaving the rest area, so I was catching glances at my atlas whenever the opportunity arose and then choosing a route on the fly. I'm not entirely sure what it means when some of the numbered roads in the atlas are highlighted and others are not. Usually it's probably best to use the highlighted ones, I assume. Today though, not so much. I just decided to go with my gut and keep my eyes peeled. Hopefully there would be signs to warn me if I was heading for trouble. The only signs that I saw referring to trucks were the ones warning of steep grades and such. If they were warning trucks about the grades, then they must have expected trucks on those roads. Good enough for me. And I didn't make any wrong turns either. Beauty. I did see a sign warning travelers to avoid Piscataway this weekend, on account of a Rutgers home game. I don't imagine that information is very useful to any of you but I thought I might as well share.
By the time I got to the turnpike, the rain had stopped. That's always nice. Once I made my drop/hook in Monroe Township I was #2 on the board. The guy who dropped right before I did must have been #1 then. (The folks at Fenian Godfather Investigations figured this one out.) We both hooked to our empty trailers and stayed in the consignee's drop lot to await whatever came next. I hopped in the bunk for a quick power nap and, after about an hour, the satellite unit's chirp woke me. After opening my eyes and getting all squared away, I realized that it wasn't my satellite unit that I had heard. It was the one in the truck next to mine. My satellite unit went off a few minutes later. Homeboy next to me got a 5-stopper on Long Island and I got one going from Pennsylvania to North Carolina. I'm gonna go ahead and guess that I'm glad he beat me to #1 this time around.
The trip back into Pennsylvania came well after the morning rush had petered out, so the traffic was light and my empty trailer had me ruling the hills once again. I got down to the shipper in Topton and saw that there were a couple of our trucks waiting for door assignments. I didn't get quite as lucky as I did the last time I was there, but I did get a door right away while the others continued to wait. I said it then and I'll say it again now - I'm far more important than those other drivers.
With my 30,000 pounds of freight loaded and ready to rumble, I headed back out once again. A wrong turn found me wandering down Main Street into some little town, but I got lucky and saw a sign telling me where I could turn to get on the state route going toward I-78. Then I got even luckier when there were no cars approaching the intersection as I made that turn. Oy. That one was a doozy. Nary an inch to spare, you might say.
I-78 to I-81 and southward we go. My delivery is set for tomorrow evening in Charlotte, so the schedule was plenty flexible for me. I drove down to Toms Brook, Virginia before deciding to call it a night. Might as well leave some work for tomorrow and stay on this fairly normal schedule while I have the chance. I guess it's probably six hours or so from here to Charlotte. So the miles continue to come in at a steady pace and today tacked on a bunch more of the extra northeast nickels. All in all, the week is going fairly well.
If only it weren't for that void in the evenings...
This morning's trip into Jersey was surprisingly easy, given the conditions. It was raining steadily before sunrise and my eventual route had the potential to become another of my many misadventures. I had forgotten to check my directions before leaving the rest area, so I was catching glances at my atlas whenever the opportunity arose and then choosing a route on the fly. I'm not entirely sure what it means when some of the numbered roads in the atlas are highlighted and others are not. Usually it's probably best to use the highlighted ones, I assume. Today though, not so much. I just decided to go with my gut and keep my eyes peeled. Hopefully there would be signs to warn me if I was heading for trouble. The only signs that I saw referring to trucks were the ones warning of steep grades and such. If they were warning trucks about the grades, then they must have expected trucks on those roads. Good enough for me. And I didn't make any wrong turns either. Beauty. I did see a sign warning travelers to avoid Piscataway this weekend, on account of a Rutgers home game. I don't imagine that information is very useful to any of you but I thought I might as well share.
By the time I got to the turnpike, the rain had stopped. That's always nice. Once I made my drop/hook in Monroe Township I was #2 on the board. The guy who dropped right before I did must have been #1 then. (The folks at Fenian Godfather Investigations figured this one out.) We both hooked to our empty trailers and stayed in the consignee's drop lot to await whatever came next. I hopped in the bunk for a quick power nap and, after about an hour, the satellite unit's chirp woke me. After opening my eyes and getting all squared away, I realized that it wasn't my satellite unit that I had heard. It was the one in the truck next to mine. My satellite unit went off a few minutes later. Homeboy next to me got a 5-stopper on Long Island and I got one going from Pennsylvania to North Carolina. I'm gonna go ahead and guess that I'm glad he beat me to #1 this time around.
The trip back into Pennsylvania came well after the morning rush had petered out, so the traffic was light and my empty trailer had me ruling the hills once again. I got down to the shipper in Topton and saw that there were a couple of our trucks waiting for door assignments. I didn't get quite as lucky as I did the last time I was there, but I did get a door right away while the others continued to wait. I said it then and I'll say it again now - I'm far more important than those other drivers.
With my 30,000 pounds of freight loaded and ready to rumble, I headed back out once again. A wrong turn found me wandering down Main Street into some little town, but I got lucky and saw a sign telling me where I could turn to get on the state route going toward I-78. Then I got even luckier when there were no cars approaching the intersection as I made that turn. Oy. That one was a doozy. Nary an inch to spare, you might say.
I-78 to I-81 and southward we go. My delivery is set for tomorrow evening in Charlotte, so the schedule was plenty flexible for me. I drove down to Toms Brook, Virginia before deciding to call it a night. Might as well leave some work for tomorrow and stay on this fairly normal schedule while I have the chance. I guess it's probably six hours or so from here to Charlotte. So the miles continue to come in at a steady pace and today tacked on a bunch more of the extra northeast nickels. All in all, the week is going fairly well.
If only it weren't for that void in the evenings...
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
10/6/09
Some day, I'm going to feel motivated enough to resume my crusade against truck drivers in sleeveless shirts. Some day. Not today though. I'm busy listening to a ballgame. Time for extra innings. I guess sometimes 163 games just aren't enough.
I was the king of the hills for the bulk of the day so I guess that's pretty nice. The load that I dragged into Pennsylvania was only 8,000 pounds, allowing me to race past the long lines of trucks dragging ass up each slope. Beauty.
Along the way I received a call from the lady in Joplin who handles our detention billing. She needed me to help her reconstruct the timeline of the Shawnee incident so that she could deal with the matter appropriately. I take this to mean that I'll have some extra pay coming. Beauty.
Not long after that call, I received a pre-plan for a load picking up after I made my drop in Hazleton. Since I was burning a chunk of today's hours in making my delivery, it was good to see that I would have some work to make use of my remaining hours for the day. Beauty.
The drop/hook took a little while, since I had to deliver the loaded trailer to one warehouse and then retrieve an empty trailer from a different warehouse. The multiple check-ins and check-outs and such can slow a fella down a little. Eventually though, I had my empty and I was headed up I-81 toward Cortland, New York. Without any weight in the wagon, I was once again able to blow past all of the slower traffic in the hills. Beauty.
The pickup in Cortland was a drop/hook and the paperwork was already ready already, so I was loaded and rolling in short order. This load is a 40,000 pounder though, so my reign as king of the hills came to an abrupt end. Oh well, heavy lies the crown and so forth.
I have a delivery in Jersey tomorrow morning and the timeline is fairly tight, so I wanted to knock out a good portion of the trip tonight. I'm not what you would call a morning person. Back down I-81, over to I-380, and then onto I-80, I was targeting the big truck stop at Exit 302B. I had been there a few times in the past and always found plenty of available parking at night. After around two and a half hours of driving, I reached my exit. Off the freeway, to the end of the ramp, take a quick left... dude, where's the truck stop? Hmm. Guess they're building a shopping center or something in its place. I'll be damned.
This left me royally screwed in a couple of ways. First was that I was heading the wrong way on PA-611. I had no idea where that road led. Better find somewhere to turn around then. Yeah, that's a lot of fun on a little hick road through the hills in the dark. A few miles up the road, I spotted a little strip mall and swung into the parking lot. The businesses had all closed for the evening, so all I had to do was go in one driveway and out the other. Umm... yeah, there was no other driveway. Shit. I had enough room to back up along the buildings and then swing back around through the one driveway and onto the street. Always something in this line of work, it seems.
I got back onto the freeway and started trying to figure out how to deal with the other half of my newfound screwedness. Where to park? Once I got into Jersey my hours would be almost gone and I would find slim pickings in terms of truck parking. I pinned my hopes on finding a spot at the Pennsylvania welcome center off Exit 310. Three open spots, I'm only driving one truck, we're all good. My internet connection sucks and I had vending machine snacks for dinner, but hey, beggars can't be choosers.
It looks like I have around 80 miles to go from here and my ten hour break will be over at 6am. 9am delivery... Three hours to go 80 miles? Should be okay, but it is Jersey. We'll see.
RABURN THROWS OUT THE RUNNER AT THE PLATE! WE'RE GOING TO THE 11TH! HOLY SMOKES!
I was the king of the hills for the bulk of the day so I guess that's pretty nice. The load that I dragged into Pennsylvania was only 8,000 pounds, allowing me to race past the long lines of trucks dragging ass up each slope. Beauty.
Along the way I received a call from the lady in Joplin who handles our detention billing. She needed me to help her reconstruct the timeline of the Shawnee incident so that she could deal with the matter appropriately. I take this to mean that I'll have some extra pay coming. Beauty.
Not long after that call, I received a pre-plan for a load picking up after I made my drop in Hazleton. Since I was burning a chunk of today's hours in making my delivery, it was good to see that I would have some work to make use of my remaining hours for the day. Beauty.
The drop/hook took a little while, since I had to deliver the loaded trailer to one warehouse and then retrieve an empty trailer from a different warehouse. The multiple check-ins and check-outs and such can slow a fella down a little. Eventually though, I had my empty and I was headed up I-81 toward Cortland, New York. Without any weight in the wagon, I was once again able to blow past all of the slower traffic in the hills. Beauty.
The pickup in Cortland was a drop/hook and the paperwork was already ready already, so I was loaded and rolling in short order. This load is a 40,000 pounder though, so my reign as king of the hills came to an abrupt end. Oh well, heavy lies the crown and so forth.
I have a delivery in Jersey tomorrow morning and the timeline is fairly tight, so I wanted to knock out a good portion of the trip tonight. I'm not what you would call a morning person. Back down I-81, over to I-380, and then onto I-80, I was targeting the big truck stop at Exit 302B. I had been there a few times in the past and always found plenty of available parking at night. After around two and a half hours of driving, I reached my exit. Off the freeway, to the end of the ramp, take a quick left... dude, where's the truck stop? Hmm. Guess they're building a shopping center or something in its place. I'll be damned.
This left me royally screwed in a couple of ways. First was that I was heading the wrong way on PA-611. I had no idea where that road led. Better find somewhere to turn around then. Yeah, that's a lot of fun on a little hick road through the hills in the dark. A few miles up the road, I spotted a little strip mall and swung into the parking lot. The businesses had all closed for the evening, so all I had to do was go in one driveway and out the other. Umm... yeah, there was no other driveway. Shit. I had enough room to back up along the buildings and then swing back around through the one driveway and onto the street. Always something in this line of work, it seems.
I got back onto the freeway and started trying to figure out how to deal with the other half of my newfound screwedness. Where to park? Once I got into Jersey my hours would be almost gone and I would find slim pickings in terms of truck parking. I pinned my hopes on finding a spot at the Pennsylvania welcome center off Exit 310. Three open spots, I'm only driving one truck, we're all good. My internet connection sucks and I had vending machine snacks for dinner, but hey, beggars can't be choosers.
It looks like I have around 80 miles to go from here and my ten hour break will be over at 6am. 9am delivery... Three hours to go 80 miles? Should be okay, but it is Jersey. We'll see.
RABURN THROWS OUT THE RUNNER AT THE PLATE! WE'RE GOING TO THE 11TH! HOLY SMOKES!
Monday, October 5, 2009
10/5/09
Backing a big rig without mirrors isn't something you would likely try to do, is it? Well, when your delivery is scheduled for 8am with the sun rising in the east and your customer's docks are facing west, sometimes you may as well have no mirrors. Once I got backed almost all the way in, the building blocked the sun and I could see that I had done a fine job. Prior to that, I had to set the brakes and climb out onto my step in order to look and see where my trailer was going. Something about burning helium just doesn't sit well with my retinae (or retinas, depending on how you like it). And thus began day #278 in this glorious year.
My unloading was done quickly and, as anticipated, I was assigned to a new load within a few minutes. Also as anticipated, I only had to drive a few miles for my next pickup. I bounced over to the shipper for a quick and easy drop/hook and then hit the road for Pennsylvania with a nice and easy 8,000 pounds in tow. It seems like quite a while since I've had a light one, so tomorrow in the hills will probably seem like a pleasant change of pace.
Ohio is now on the EZPass network. Thus I had no reservations about hopping on I-80 in Illinois and taking it all the way across. Thus I had a pretty easy day of driving. The morning rush in the Chicago area had died down by the time I got moving and the traffic across Indiana and Ohio was moving freely as usual. My delivery is another drop/hook in Hazleton, Pennsylvania tomorrow afternoon, so Girard, Ohio seemed like a pretty good place to stop for the night. This leaves around 275 miles to finish the trip tomorrow and then we'll get on the board and see what else is in store. Good start to the week so far.
My unloading was done quickly and, as anticipated, I was assigned to a new load within a few minutes. Also as anticipated, I only had to drive a few miles for my next pickup. I bounced over to the shipper for a quick and easy drop/hook and then hit the road for Pennsylvania with a nice and easy 8,000 pounds in tow. It seems like quite a while since I've had a light one, so tomorrow in the hills will probably seem like a pleasant change of pace.
Ohio is now on the EZPass network. Thus I had no reservations about hopping on I-80 in Illinois and taking it all the way across. Thus I had a pretty easy day of driving. The morning rush in the Chicago area had died down by the time I got moving and the traffic across Indiana and Ohio was moving freely as usual. My delivery is another drop/hook in Hazleton, Pennsylvania tomorrow afternoon, so Girard, Ohio seemed like a pretty good place to stop for the night. This leaves around 275 miles to finish the trip tomorrow and then we'll get on the board and see what else is in store. Good start to the week so far.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
10/4/09
Well, sometimes I guess 162 games just aren't enough. The only way for the Tigers to fail to clinch the AL Central was to lose two of three to Chicago and to have the Twins win all three against Kansas City. Surely with Greinke going yesterday for the Royals and Verlander today for the Tigers, this scenario couldn't happen, right? And... big game in Minneapolis on Tuesday. At least they pulled out a win today though. Losing the division outright would have been quite the embarrassment.
Wins for my Irish and Skins make it a complete weekend overall, I suppose. Style points might have to wait for another weekend on both accounts, but a win is a win, by golly.
There wasn't much to today's drive. A few hours of the old double nickel up to the industrial park in Romeoville and that was that. The consignee opens at 8am tomorrow, so hopefully I can get unloaded quickly and then kick next week off to a good start. I know that I've picked up loads in this area plenty of times in the past. Barring any major freight shortages, I don't see any reason to think I'll be stuck on the board very long.
Wins for my Irish and Skins make it a complete weekend overall, I suppose. Style points might have to wait for another weekend on both accounts, but a win is a win, by golly.
There wasn't much to today's drive. A few hours of the old double nickel up to the industrial park in Romeoville and that was that. The consignee opens at 8am tomorrow, so hopefully I can get unloaded quickly and then kick next week off to a good start. I know that I've picked up loads in this area plenty of times in the past. Barring any major freight shortages, I don't see any reason to think I'll be stuck on the board very long.
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