What I needed today, following yesterday's headache, was a nice non-eventful ride down to Lancaster. That's what I got, so the motorists of Texas don't need to fear any impending road rage from me... at least for now.
The weather was nice, the traffic was light, and the drive was right in that 7-8 hour range that I like. Knowing I was stopping at a terminal, I had no need to arrive early so I stopped and took a couple of breaks along the way. It was just what the doctor ordered.
I was taking a nap in Texarkana this afternoon when my satellite system beeped and woke me up. Damn recruiting contest results. I honestly don't give a shit about who wins a new pickup, but I swear they only send those messages when I'm trying to sleep. I am curious though about the number of people who stick around for a couple of years after these guys recruit them. I tend to think it's not a very high percentage. I'm not going to bash people for trying to make a few extra bucks. That's the American way, so if the company is going to pay the bonus they might as well go for it. I just know that some of the scenarios painted for people by some of these "driver recruiters" are pretty rosy. From some of the stuff I read on certain drivers' personal websites, I would call 'bullshit' in a hurry. But I guess somebody must be sticking around or the company wouldn't shell out the big bonuses.
Tomorrow... Laredo. Friday... the world!
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
1/29/08
Well, I think I've set a new personal record. It usually takes a couple of weeks on the road before I'm ready to park the truck and walk away. This time I got there on day six.
I woke up at the customer and chased around a bunch of Filipino guys who didn't speak English. My appointment was 7am, so of course the shipping lady showed up at 7:20am. The dock guy was a real prick. The paperwork says it's 48,000 pounds for half a trailer. Obviously that's bullshit. It's pretty heavy, but nowhere near that heavy. The traffic from Columbus to Cincinnati was a bitch. And that was the good part of the day.
The second stop had a horseshit dock setup. The guy in the little office told me to wait in my truck and someone would let me know which door to use. Some other guy started bitching at me for sitting where I was told to sit. Their paperwork says it's 6,000 pounds for twenty pallets. Obviously that's bullshit. It's nowhere near that light. The traffic around Cincinnati and into Kentucky was a bitch. That was the part where I started to get annoyed.
Going down I-65 it was windier than shit. There were a couple of pretty intense storms that had everybody riding their breaks. I have no idea how much weight I'm actually pulling, but it's pretty damn heavy. Up and down hills. Downshift, upshift, ride the brakes. Downshift, upshift, ride the brakes. Rinse, recycle, repeat. I-65 was closed for an accident or something (no CB here) so we had to take a convoluted route through some hick town and back down to the highway. That was a fun hour of idling. People don't know how to drive. Slower traffic keep right? Nah, that's a myth. And that was the part where I became thoroughly pissed.
Into Tennessee... I would have given my left nut for about fifty miles of flat terrain tonight. Every climb, five slower cars and trucks would pass me and get in front of me. On the way down, I would try to convince myself to just stay back and wait it out. And they would get slower... and slower... so I would pass them and we would do it again on the next hill. Over and over and over. And that was the part where I had to actually convince myself not to run someone off the road.
Then it flattened out a little and I was able to set the cruise. So of course I would roll along just fine for a few miles with nobody in front of me and nobody on my left. Then I would approach a slower car and put on my turn signal to pass. And suddenly the left lane was the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Every fucking time. And that was the point that I saw the bridge to Arkansas and thanked my lucky stars that the drive was over.
They say tomorrow is another day, so I guess it would have to be better than today. Hard to imagine it being any worse. I'll head to Lancaster tomorrow and then Laredo Thursday. That should give me a solid chance to get some miles in before Saturday night and wrap up a nice paycheck. The way today went though, I'm not in the mood to be an optimist so we'll just wait and see.
I woke up at the customer and chased around a bunch of Filipino guys who didn't speak English. My appointment was 7am, so of course the shipping lady showed up at 7:20am. The dock guy was a real prick. The paperwork says it's 48,000 pounds for half a trailer. Obviously that's bullshit. It's pretty heavy, but nowhere near that heavy. The traffic from Columbus to Cincinnati was a bitch. And that was the good part of the day.
The second stop had a horseshit dock setup. The guy in the little office told me to wait in my truck and someone would let me know which door to use. Some other guy started bitching at me for sitting where I was told to sit. Their paperwork says it's 6,000 pounds for twenty pallets. Obviously that's bullshit. It's nowhere near that light. The traffic around Cincinnati and into Kentucky was a bitch. That was the part where I started to get annoyed.
Going down I-65 it was windier than shit. There were a couple of pretty intense storms that had everybody riding their breaks. I have no idea how much weight I'm actually pulling, but it's pretty damn heavy. Up and down hills. Downshift, upshift, ride the brakes. Downshift, upshift, ride the brakes. Rinse, recycle, repeat. I-65 was closed for an accident or something (no CB here) so we had to take a convoluted route through some hick town and back down to the highway. That was a fun hour of idling. People don't know how to drive. Slower traffic keep right? Nah, that's a myth. And that was the part where I became thoroughly pissed.
Into Tennessee... I would have given my left nut for about fifty miles of flat terrain tonight. Every climb, five slower cars and trucks would pass me and get in front of me. On the way down, I would try to convince myself to just stay back and wait it out. And they would get slower... and slower... so I would pass them and we would do it again on the next hill. Over and over and over. And that was the part where I had to actually convince myself not to run someone off the road.
Then it flattened out a little and I was able to set the cruise. So of course I would roll along just fine for a few miles with nobody in front of me and nobody on my left. Then I would approach a slower car and put on my turn signal to pass. And suddenly the left lane was the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Every fucking time. And that was the point that I saw the bridge to Arkansas and thanked my lucky stars that the drive was over.
They say tomorrow is another day, so I guess it would have to be better than today. Hard to imagine it being any worse. I'll head to Lancaster tomorrow and then Laredo Thursday. That should give me a solid chance to get some miles in before Saturday night and wrap up a nice paycheck. The way today went though, I'm not in the mood to be an optimist so we'll just wait and see.
Monday, January 28, 2008
1/28/08
My relay was scheduled to go off at 9am, so I got up at 8am. The gorgeous clerk at the truck stop turned down my breakfast invitation, but she did tell me that the place used to be a BP. Yeah, so last night I got pissed at nobody in particular for nothing in particular. I sent a message this morning, apprising CTL of the situation, so I guess it's up to them to fix the location info.
9am arrived and I got a message from someone at CTL informing me that the inbound driver had arrived. Yeah, okay. There were ten empty spaces on either side of me at that point, so I don't think I was hard to find. A few seconds later a guy came (walking) around the corner. He was parked on the row behind me, facing the other way. My first reaction was to wonder why in the hell he didn't just park next to me, but he told me that he and his wife had shown up around 2am and had taken the one spot that they found. Fair enough. It was polite of them to hang out and wait until 9am, rather than wake me up at 2am I suppose. I was awake at 2am anyway, but there's not really a reason for someone to expect that.
So the relay went off without a hitch and I headed south. I took whatever Illinois highway I was on, down to US-24, and then over to I-65. That kept me well clear of the Chicago area. Then it was a ho-hum drive down and across to Cincinnati. The drop/hook at that ConWay was about the easiest one I've had. They didn't need it in a dock so I dropped it out on the yard. My empty was right next to it. I hooked up, checked it over, and took off.
Shortly before I got out of Illinois this morning, I received a pre-plan for my next load. The first stop was in Obetz, outside Columbus. It's always handy to know ahead of time where to go when you get an empty. It was onward to I-71 and up to the Columbus area. I got here a little while ago and found what looked like a locked yard. Upon closer inspection, there was an open gate at the far end of the warehouse. It made for a pretty tight U-turn to get in, but I'm probably experienced far beyond my years with that shit.
Once I'm loaded here, I'll head to Batavia for another pickup on the way to Laredo. Miles are always good, right? Today got me up to 480 miles for the week, the run to Batavia will be 111, and the run to Laredo is another 1,384. That probably puts me in Laredo sometime Friday. Getting out of there unscathed before the weekend settles in could give me a solid week. Sitting in Laredo... not so good. But I'm getting ahead of myself. For now, the miles I have, the unloading pay, and the pay for tomorrow's extra stop are a pretty good start.
The day had a little bit of a shadow over it after I got a call from a colleague. He informed me that a couple of mutual friends had been in a pretty bad accident. It sounds like they're a little banged up but otherwise they'll be okay. I was able to talk with one of them and she definitely sounded drained, if nothing more. As many things as we try to control out here, it only takes one variable that's beyond our control to make all the difference. I'm not one to discuss matters of faith publicly, so I won't get into all that. For those of you who are the spiritual types though, maybe keep the millions of drivers out here in mind tonight. There but by the grace of God...
9am arrived and I got a message from someone at CTL informing me that the inbound driver had arrived. Yeah, okay. There were ten empty spaces on either side of me at that point, so I don't think I was hard to find. A few seconds later a guy came (walking) around the corner. He was parked on the row behind me, facing the other way. My first reaction was to wonder why in the hell he didn't just park next to me, but he told me that he and his wife had shown up around 2am and had taken the one spot that they found. Fair enough. It was polite of them to hang out and wait until 9am, rather than wake me up at 2am I suppose. I was awake at 2am anyway, but there's not really a reason for someone to expect that.
So the relay went off without a hitch and I headed south. I took whatever Illinois highway I was on, down to US-24, and then over to I-65. That kept me well clear of the Chicago area. Then it was a ho-hum drive down and across to Cincinnati. The drop/hook at that ConWay was about the easiest one I've had. They didn't need it in a dock so I dropped it out on the yard. My empty was right next to it. I hooked up, checked it over, and took off.
Shortly before I got out of Illinois this morning, I received a pre-plan for my next load. The first stop was in Obetz, outside Columbus. It's always handy to know ahead of time where to go when you get an empty. It was onward to I-71 and up to the Columbus area. I got here a little while ago and found what looked like a locked yard. Upon closer inspection, there was an open gate at the far end of the warehouse. It made for a pretty tight U-turn to get in, but I'm probably experienced far beyond my years with that shit.
Once I'm loaded here, I'll head to Batavia for another pickup on the way to Laredo. Miles are always good, right? Today got me up to 480 miles for the week, the run to Batavia will be 111, and the run to Laredo is another 1,384. That probably puts me in Laredo sometime Friday. Getting out of there unscathed before the weekend settles in could give me a solid week. Sitting in Laredo... not so good. But I'm getting ahead of myself. For now, the miles I have, the unloading pay, and the pay for tomorrow's extra stop are a pretty good start.
The day had a little bit of a shadow over it after I got a call from a colleague. He informed me that a couple of mutual friends had been in a pretty bad accident. It sounds like they're a little banged up but otherwise they'll be okay. I was able to talk with one of them and she definitely sounded drained, if nothing more. As many things as we try to control out here, it only takes one variable that's beyond our control to make all the difference. I'm not one to discuss matters of faith publicly, so I won't get into all that. For those of you who are the spiritual types though, maybe keep the millions of drivers out here in mind tonight. There but by the grace of God...
Sunday, January 27, 2008
1/27/08
Easy drive on the turnpikes for the most part this morning. Indiana has the automated ticket dispensers like Ohio now. That's probably cheaper than paying someone to hand out tickets, but I liked the people handing out the tickets. They made life just a little easier. I'm not a big fan of trying to get close enough to grab the damn ticket without clipping my mirror on the pole. Oh well, my opinion and a dollar...
I thought the UPS delivery might be a pain in the ass, and I guess in a sense I wasn't disappointed. You would think that weekends would always be easier since there are no UPS trucks buzzing around. This particular location was so overrun with trailers that it was a royal pain. Normally a good number of the trailers are on the road, but not on a Sunday, so I got to do the obstacle course. I had to circle around a couple times and do some super-trucker backing, but I managed to drop my loaded trailer without any major issues.
Back at the empty lot, I got to make my usual choice between a kick in the balls or a thumb in the eye. There were two empties, neither of which I thought I could get out of its respective spot. One was backed in along a 90 degree row, but there was a UPS trailer set up horizontally across from it. I started to back under it, but there was no way I could have pulled it with the UPS trailer in the way. The other was in a 45 degree row. Another UPS trailer would have blocked my (forward) escape route with that one too. Beauty. If you're wondering whether or not it's fun to back a trailer through a 45 degree parking space between two other trailers and try to leave yourself a way to drive out, the answer is 'no.' It's not much fun at all. Lots of getting out and looking, lots of cursing UPS, but I got it out (backwards).
Then the trailer was full of cardboard. I had to back up to a dumpster and clean it out. That's one of those things that isn't really what I signed up for when I took this job, but at $35 for twenty minutes of work, I won't complain too much. It seems more than fair to me.
So, it was a Sunday afternoon, I had an empty, and I needed to find somehere to go. I had come off of I-294, so I went a little further north to the service plaza and parked for a while. On a Sunday afternoon, about all I could hope for was a deadhead to set up for Monday. A few hours went by and I started to think that my hopes wouldn't be realized. Then a little before 8pm I was assigned a relay picking up a little further west on I-80 and delivering to ConWay in Cincinnati tomorrow. I decided to head out and park at the relay point tonight, rather than drive over in the morning. I knew that giving up a parking spot ("the known") and hoping to find another spot at a new location ("the unknown") can be a gamble in Illinois. Still, I thought it was early enough that I should come out okay.
My directions told me that I would be making the relay at a BP. The exit ramp signs said that the BP was to the north. I turned north. No BP. I had to go about five miles down before I found a John Deere place that looked like it was big enough for me to turn around. It was tight, but I spun it around and headed back south. Still no BP, so I crossed the highway. Maybe I had misread the exit ramp sign. Nope, no BP there either. I went along looking for a place to turn around... yet again. There was a BP about a mile and a half down, but it had no parking lot at all. I was half tempted to park there on the sidewalk and wait for someone to bother me. Then maybe I would still be pissed off enough to start a fight. I thought better of it though, and continued on my way. I eventually (6 miles later) found an intersection that allowed me to do a quasi-U turn. I made the left onto an adjoining highway, then just never straightened the wheel until I was headed back north. And back across the highway...
You know what the BP is? It's the fucking T/A. The gas pumps out front (for cars) sell BP gas. If you want to set up a relay at the T/A, just fucking say "T/A," not "BP." Stupid. By the time I got here, I found a full parking lot. I guess "the unknown" wasn't on my side this time. I found an out-of-the-way spot along the back and sat tight for a little while. As I suspected, it didn't take long until someone left and I was able to grab his spot before anyone else showed up. And thus concludes another glamorous day on the road.
The relay here is set up for 9am Central tomorrow. Then it's 300-something miles to Cincinnati. It's not a big-time day, if that's all I get tomorow, but it's not terrible either. A bunch of 350 mile days, with an occasional long one mixed in, can pay pretty well.
I thought the UPS delivery might be a pain in the ass, and I guess in a sense I wasn't disappointed. You would think that weekends would always be easier since there are no UPS trucks buzzing around. This particular location was so overrun with trailers that it was a royal pain. Normally a good number of the trailers are on the road, but not on a Sunday, so I got to do the obstacle course. I had to circle around a couple times and do some super-trucker backing, but I managed to drop my loaded trailer without any major issues.
Back at the empty lot, I got to make my usual choice between a kick in the balls or a thumb in the eye. There were two empties, neither of which I thought I could get out of its respective spot. One was backed in along a 90 degree row, but there was a UPS trailer set up horizontally across from it. I started to back under it, but there was no way I could have pulled it with the UPS trailer in the way. The other was in a 45 degree row. Another UPS trailer would have blocked my (forward) escape route with that one too. Beauty. If you're wondering whether or not it's fun to back a trailer through a 45 degree parking space between two other trailers and try to leave yourself a way to drive out, the answer is 'no.' It's not much fun at all. Lots of getting out and looking, lots of cursing UPS, but I got it out (backwards).
Then the trailer was full of cardboard. I had to back up to a dumpster and clean it out. That's one of those things that isn't really what I signed up for when I took this job, but at $35 for twenty minutes of work, I won't complain too much. It seems more than fair to me.
So, it was a Sunday afternoon, I had an empty, and I needed to find somehere to go. I had come off of I-294, so I went a little further north to the service plaza and parked for a while. On a Sunday afternoon, about all I could hope for was a deadhead to set up for Monday. A few hours went by and I started to think that my hopes wouldn't be realized. Then a little before 8pm I was assigned a relay picking up a little further west on I-80 and delivering to ConWay in Cincinnati tomorrow. I decided to head out and park at the relay point tonight, rather than drive over in the morning. I knew that giving up a parking spot ("the known") and hoping to find another spot at a new location ("the unknown") can be a gamble in Illinois. Still, I thought it was early enough that I should come out okay.
My directions told me that I would be making the relay at a BP. The exit ramp signs said that the BP was to the north. I turned north. No BP. I had to go about five miles down before I found a John Deere place that looked like it was big enough for me to turn around. It was tight, but I spun it around and headed back south. Still no BP, so I crossed the highway. Maybe I had misread the exit ramp sign. Nope, no BP there either. I went along looking for a place to turn around... yet again. There was a BP about a mile and a half down, but it had no parking lot at all. I was half tempted to park there on the sidewalk and wait for someone to bother me. Then maybe I would still be pissed off enough to start a fight. I thought better of it though, and continued on my way. I eventually (6 miles later) found an intersection that allowed me to do a quasi-U turn. I made the left onto an adjoining highway, then just never straightened the wheel until I was headed back north. And back across the highway...
You know what the BP is? It's the fucking T/A. The gas pumps out front (for cars) sell BP gas. If you want to set up a relay at the T/A, just fucking say "T/A," not "BP." Stupid. By the time I got here, I found a full parking lot. I guess "the unknown" wasn't on my side this time. I found an out-of-the-way spot along the back and sat tight for a little while. As I suspected, it didn't take long until someone left and I was able to grab his spot before anyone else showed up. And thus concludes another glamorous day on the road.
The relay here is set up for 9am Central tomorrow. Then it's 300-something miles to Cincinnati. It's not a big-time day, if that's all I get tomorow, but it's not terrible either. A bunch of 350 mile days, with an occasional long one mixed in, can pay pretty well.
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