With all due respect to Horace Greely, the last thing that I wanted to do today was to "go west." The temperature readout on my dashboard said that it was 5º outside and a pretty fair amount of snow had fallen overnight. The Rockies are nice in the summer and all, but not so much at this time of year.
As I sat waiting for my 7am appointment to roll around, I received my next planned load information. Eastbound and down. Good deal. The pickup time was listed as yesterday at 6:30am so I guessed that there was something unusual about the assignment. Once my trailer was empty I received the rest of the information. It was a relay leaving the Bosselman's truck stop in Grand Island and going to Fort Madison, Iowa. The relay time that I was given was 2pm, so I headed over to the truck stop and put my feet up for a while.
Around noon, the inbound truck pulled up next to me and we made the swap. It turns out that this assignment was the result of the other driver's misfortune and none of my own. He got the pleasure of picking it up at the molybdenum mine in Henderson, Colorado. Then he drove to Grand Island and found a mechanical problem with his truck. I'm not entirely sure why the relay was scheduled for 2pm today, on account of the fact that he had been in Grand Island since Friday, but I was glad that he spotted me early. This allowed for a more workable schedule on my end.
The forklift guy at this morning's consignee mentioned that a big snowstorm was coming up from Kansas into Nebraska today, so I hauled ass out of town and tried to stay ahead of it. I was glad to find that I-80 was clean and dry all the way across. My first look at the atlas had me thinking that I would come out of Lincoln on NE-2 and stay in IA-2 through Iowa. My truck stop directory didn't show any parking options along that route though, so I wound up on the interstate all the way to Des Moines. Then I dropped down on IA-163 to IA-92. The truck stop at the corner of IA-92 and US-218 had plenty of parking when I arrived. Beauty.
I'll have between 60 and 70 miles to cover in the morning ahead of an 8:30am delivery appointment. The snowfall here tonight has been light so far. Here's hoping for no unpleasant surprises as far as road conditions go. The temperature got steadily warmer as I proceeded eastward today, so plowing and salting should be plenty effective, assuming they actually do that in this neck of the woods.
This run was 479 dispatched miles, so the week is off to a decent start thus far. I'm due to request home time on Friday. Four more days to try and avoid the Rockies. We'll see...
Monday, December 7, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
12/6/09
I'm not in Central Texas and I'm still not a regional driver, but the same pattern with the same customer seems to be repeating. As I was slumbering away this morning, tucked into my cozy sleeping bag, my satellite unit chirped and woke me with a new assignment. I would be heading back to the place in Waverly where I delivered yesterday (48 miles), then making a drop/hook to pick up a load headed for Grand Island (109 miles). Given that our pay periods run from 12am Sunday to 11:59pm Saturday, most weekends are spent finishing off the prior week's work. In that context, 157 miles for Sunday isn't a bad start to the week. Most weeks start on Monday or Tuesday with zero miles. As long as I don't get trapped in this regional business for a few days I should be fine.
The timeline that I was given, much like those of the short Texas regional runs, left me sort of in-between. The plan summary said that I was to pick up at 1am and deliver at 7am. If I picked up at 1am, then tomorrow's 14 hour clock would expire at 3pm (or sooner, given that I still had to drive to the shipper). Obviously this would be undesirable. My dispatch included the number of my loaded trailer though, so I was pretty sure that I would be able to pick it up early. I decided to hang around and see if my 'Skins could put an end to the Saints' undefeated season and then head over. At some point in the afternoon, the wind kicked up and a pretty steady snowfall began so I changed my mind. I decided that it would be best to knock out some miles this afternoon before the roads got too bad.
The cold temperatures, heavy winds, and steady traffic were enough to keep I-80 clear of any accumulation for the most part. There were a few tree-lined spots where the snow was building up along the edges of the road but nothing to really slow me down. At the shipper I found that my loaded trailer was in fact ready for me, so I made my drop/hook and continued on down the highway. I planned on spending the night at the Bosselman's in Grand Island and then heading over to the consignee in the morning.
By the time I got to the truck stop I found that the surface roads were already quite a bit worse than the freeway. So, after topping off the fuel tanks and grabbing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I decided that it would be best to go to the consignee tonight. I have no idea how much snow is going to fall overnight, but I would rather not wait and see. Plus it was easier to get into the shopping center area on a Sunday night than it would be on a Monday morning when people are driving to work. All told, things worked out pretty well.
For my Redskins on the other hand, things apparently didn't work out so well. In a perfectly predictable outcome, their kicker missed a 23 yard field goal that would have put the game away and the Saints came back to win in overtime. Probably best that I didn't hang around to watch that garbage after all. One giant year of frustration for me as a football fan, one might say. There's always next year though... or something.
The timeline that I was given, much like those of the short Texas regional runs, left me sort of in-between. The plan summary said that I was to pick up at 1am and deliver at 7am. If I picked up at 1am, then tomorrow's 14 hour clock would expire at 3pm (or sooner, given that I still had to drive to the shipper). Obviously this would be undesirable. My dispatch included the number of my loaded trailer though, so I was pretty sure that I would be able to pick it up early. I decided to hang around and see if my 'Skins could put an end to the Saints' undefeated season and then head over. At some point in the afternoon, the wind kicked up and a pretty steady snowfall began so I changed my mind. I decided that it would be best to knock out some miles this afternoon before the roads got too bad.
The cold temperatures, heavy winds, and steady traffic were enough to keep I-80 clear of any accumulation for the most part. There were a few tree-lined spots where the snow was building up along the edges of the road but nothing to really slow me down. At the shipper I found that my loaded trailer was in fact ready for me, so I made my drop/hook and continued on down the highway. I planned on spending the night at the Bosselman's in Grand Island and then heading over to the consignee in the morning.
By the time I got to the truck stop I found that the surface roads were already quite a bit worse than the freeway. So, after topping off the fuel tanks and grabbing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I decided that it would be best to go to the consignee tonight. I have no idea how much snow is going to fall overnight, but I would rather not wait and see. Plus it was easier to get into the shopping center area on a Sunday night than it would be on a Monday morning when people are driving to work. All told, things worked out pretty well.
For my Redskins on the other hand, things apparently didn't work out so well. In a perfectly predictable outcome, their kicker missed a 23 yard field goal that would have put the game away and the Saints came back to win in overtime. Probably best that I didn't hang around to watch that garbage after all. One giant year of frustration for me as a football fan, one might say. There's always next year though... or something.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
12/5/09
There are various reasons that people choose to drive a truck for a living. I'm pretty sure that the quality of conversations on the road isn't one of those reasons. It surely isn't for me.
I received a satellite message this morning telling me that I would be bobtailing to Omaha to retrieve an empty trailer after making my drop in Waverly today. (This was not one of today's dumb conversations, for the record.) I shot back a note acknowledging the message and then checked to see which coaches were rumored to be taking over the Irish today. I had a half hour to kill before I could leave Sioux City, so I figured some amusement would do the trick.
Once my ten hour break was over I hit the road. Just to the south of Sioux City, the scale house was open and I pulled in. I weighed each axle and then got the message to park and bring in my logs and permits. It was 9:15am Eastern time. The following is exactly what was said;
Cop: How are you?
Me: Cold, and you?
Cop: Cold. Is yesterday's log in the back there? (My log sheets are attached at the top and folded back as the days go by.)
Me: Yeah, they're all there.
Cop: (After flipping through a few pages) How were you off duty until 9am?
Me: I got out of bed at 8:30 and hung around the truck stop until 9.
Cop: {Confused stare}
Me: I live in Michigan. I'm on Eastern Time.
Cop: You need to be on Central Standard Time.
Me: {Confused stare}
Cop: Unless your company has a terminal in the Eastern time zone.
Me: Yeah, it says right there that my home terminal is in Taylor, Michigan.
Cop: (After flipping through the pages again) How many terminals does Con-way have?
Me: Somewhere around 400.
Cop: Okay, you can go.
Them there's the educated folks keeping your highways safe from guys like me, America. Good luck with that.
I got back on the road and finished the trip to Waverly without any further incidents. The consignee is closed on Saturdays so I was able to avoid any conversation there. I just had to enter a security code to open the gate and then leave my paperwork in the nose of the trailer after I dropped it.
Then I was headed over to a customer on the west end of Omaha, where I found the assigned trailer waiting for me. Let's see what they left me this time. One blinker didn't blink and one marker light didn't light. Par for the course I'm afraid when it comes to my esteemed colleagues. I bounced over to the Sapp Brothers truck stop a couple of miles away and bought some lights to fix my trailer, then stepped over to SubWay for some lunch.
SubWay Guy: You watching the Huskers today?
Me: Probably. Isn't that one on at the same time as one of the other games?
SubWay Guy: I think Texas is playing Auburn or something.
(We're in Omaha, mind you.)
Me: Texas is playing Nebraska.
SubWay Guy: Yeah, that's what I meant.
Me: I'll probably watch some of the game if I'm not driving. I think the ACC game is on at the same time.
SubWay Guy: There's a UFC fight tonight. Are you gonna watch that?
Me: No.
Another asinine conversation, but my Italian BMT with double meat was quite delicious. We'll call it a fair trade.
I was #2 on the board, so I kicked back to watch some football. In the first game, I was hoping to see Pitt put a whipping on Cincinnati. Anything to make the Notre Dame folks realize that Brian Kelly has built his resume on squeaking past weak opponents. Since Big Game Bob finally gave us the dreaded "I will not be the next coach at Notre Dame" today, I fear that people will start to see Kelly as the inevitable pick. The 'Stache managed to blow a big lead and Kelly's team won, so no luck there.
In the next game, I was hoping for the rules of the game to be suspended in some way so that both teams could lose by fifty points. That didn't happen obviously, but the bigger douchebag of the two douchebag coaches lost, so good enough.
The ACC game didn't hold much intrigue so I moved on to the Big XII game to wrap up the night. Obviously I wanted Nebraska to win and throw the BCS into chaos. And they would have done it too if it weren't for those meddling kids. Seriously, Nebraska's defense-to-offense disparity is like a mirror image of Notre Dame's offense-to-defense. That was painful to watch. After seeing that defense shut down Texas for the whole game though, it just didn't seem right for them to give up that last field goal drive. A kickoff out of bounds and a freaking horse collar tackle? Seriously? Bummer.
The inevitable conclusion of the day was that neither Colt McCoy nor Tim Tebow could hold Jimmy Clausen's jock when it comes to playing quarterback. And Alabama will probably stomp Texas by three scores. And that Suh guy from Nebraska is probably the best player in the country. And Golden Tate is probably the second best player in the country. And spread offenses are terribly boring to watch, no matter who is running them (meaning big fun for me if any of the rumored candidates come to South Bend next season).
I never left my #2 position on the board today so the pay week will wrap up in an hour or so with 2,386 miles plus $120 in layover pay and another $70 in stop pay. Just a shade under $1,100 in total and I got to spend a full Saturday watching football. Beauty.
I have 14 hours left on my 70 going into tomorrow so, in the event that there's any freight to haul, I'll be ready. You never know.
I received a satellite message this morning telling me that I would be bobtailing to Omaha to retrieve an empty trailer after making my drop in Waverly today. (This was not one of today's dumb conversations, for the record.) I shot back a note acknowledging the message and then checked to see which coaches were rumored to be taking over the Irish today. I had a half hour to kill before I could leave Sioux City, so I figured some amusement would do the trick.
Once my ten hour break was over I hit the road. Just to the south of Sioux City, the scale house was open and I pulled in. I weighed each axle and then got the message to park and bring in my logs and permits. It was 9:15am Eastern time. The following is exactly what was said;
Cop: How are you?
Me: Cold, and you?
Cop: Cold. Is yesterday's log in the back there? (My log sheets are attached at the top and folded back as the days go by.)
Me: Yeah, they're all there.
Cop: (After flipping through a few pages) How were you off duty until 9am?
Me: I got out of bed at 8:30 and hung around the truck stop until 9.
Cop: {Confused stare}
Me: I live in Michigan. I'm on Eastern Time.
Cop: You need to be on Central Standard Time.
Me: {Confused stare}
Cop: Unless your company has a terminal in the Eastern time zone.
Me: Yeah, it says right there that my home terminal is in Taylor, Michigan.
Cop: (After flipping through the pages again) How many terminals does Con-way have?
Me: Somewhere around 400.
Cop: Okay, you can go.
Them there's the educated folks keeping your highways safe from guys like me, America. Good luck with that.
I got back on the road and finished the trip to Waverly without any further incidents. The consignee is closed on Saturdays so I was able to avoid any conversation there. I just had to enter a security code to open the gate and then leave my paperwork in the nose of the trailer after I dropped it.
Then I was headed over to a customer on the west end of Omaha, where I found the assigned trailer waiting for me. Let's see what they left me this time. One blinker didn't blink and one marker light didn't light. Par for the course I'm afraid when it comes to my esteemed colleagues. I bounced over to the Sapp Brothers truck stop a couple of miles away and bought some lights to fix my trailer, then stepped over to SubWay for some lunch.
SubWay Guy: You watching the Huskers today?
Me: Probably. Isn't that one on at the same time as one of the other games?
SubWay Guy: I think Texas is playing Auburn or something.
(We're in Omaha, mind you.)
Me: Texas is playing Nebraska.
SubWay Guy: Yeah, that's what I meant.
Me: I'll probably watch some of the game if I'm not driving. I think the ACC game is on at the same time.
SubWay Guy: There's a UFC fight tonight. Are you gonna watch that?
Me: No.
Another asinine conversation, but my Italian BMT with double meat was quite delicious. We'll call it a fair trade.
I was #2 on the board, so I kicked back to watch some football. In the first game, I was hoping to see Pitt put a whipping on Cincinnati. Anything to make the Notre Dame folks realize that Brian Kelly has built his resume on squeaking past weak opponents. Since Big Game Bob finally gave us the dreaded "I will not be the next coach at Notre Dame" today, I fear that people will start to see Kelly as the inevitable pick. The 'Stache managed to blow a big lead and Kelly's team won, so no luck there.
In the next game, I was hoping for the rules of the game to be suspended in some way so that both teams could lose by fifty points. That didn't happen obviously, but the bigger douchebag of the two douchebag coaches lost, so good enough.
The ACC game didn't hold much intrigue so I moved on to the Big XII game to wrap up the night. Obviously I wanted Nebraska to win and throw the BCS into chaos. And they would have done it too if it weren't for those meddling kids. Seriously, Nebraska's defense-to-offense disparity is like a mirror image of Notre Dame's offense-to-defense. That was painful to watch. After seeing that defense shut down Texas for the whole game though, it just didn't seem right for them to give up that last field goal drive. A kickoff out of bounds and a freaking horse collar tackle? Seriously? Bummer.
The inevitable conclusion of the day was that neither Colt McCoy nor Tim Tebow could hold Jimmy Clausen's jock when it comes to playing quarterback. And Alabama will probably stomp Texas by three scores. And that Suh guy from Nebraska is probably the best player in the country. And Golden Tate is probably the second best player in the country. And spread offenses are terribly boring to watch, no matter who is running them (meaning big fun for me if any of the rumored candidates come to South Bend next season).
I never left my #2 position on the board today so the pay week will wrap up in an hour or so with 2,386 miles plus $120 in layover pay and another $70 in stop pay. Just a shade under $1,100 in total and I got to spend a full Saturday watching football. Beauty.
I have 14 hours left on my 70 going into tomorrow so, in the event that there's any freight to haul, I'll be ready. You never know.
Friday, December 4, 2009
12/4/09
You know... I like to read the Wall Street Journal. Their reporting is generally pretty sound and I have always taken an interest in things related to the financial world. So what in the hell am I supposed to make of today's article by Ray A. Smith? I ain't gonna lie to you, man. I could easily play the Charlton Heston role in The Greatest Story Ever Told. Am I to understand that now I need to shave my chest periodically and wear low-cut shirts? This is bullshit. I now know, more than ever, that I was supposed to be born fifty years earlier. At least the college chick quoted at the end of the article has a little common sense.
Last night was generally annoying, beyond the point when I stopped driving. It was pretty damned cold so I had my bunk heater running. A couple of hours after I went to bed, my truck's battery rundown warning thing started beeping. I got up and started the engine, then went back to bed. The next time I woke (for no apparent reason, as I'm prone to do), I reached over and turned off the truck, then kicked the bunk heater back on. A couple of hours later, the damned beeping woke me again. I started the truck one more time and resolved that I would just leave it running until it was time to get up.
An hour or so after that, my satellite unit woke me with a pre-planned assignment to follow the one that I had to deliver this afternoon. I replied with my confirmation and then managed to doze off for one last half hour before I had to get to work.
The drive into Minnesota was nice and easy. There was some light snowfall but it was so cold that the flakes were light and they were blown off the road before they could cause any trouble. I checked in at my consignee in Rogers and kicked back for a while as they unloaded the freight. Once I was empty (or so I thought), I pulled away from the dock and walked back to close the doors to my trailer. There were two cases of bleach sitting inside. Shit. So I headed in and got my paperwork, complete with the notation that 2 cases were damaged and refused. The lady was kind enough to note that I had arrived with the seal intact, so that was good.
Next I had to call our claims department and get some direction from them. The first part was fairly standard - note 'seal intact,' write the claim number, etc. Then the guy told me to write down that the shipper had advised us to donate the product. Yeah, donate it to a dumpster, right? He said that we're not supposed to dump bleach and that I should find a fire department or some other place where it could be put to good or charitable use. No, I'm not making this up. I understand that it's best not to waste things and all that jazz, but seriously. I have a job to do. Moseying on up to a fire station in a 70 foot tractor-trailer combination is not commensurate with my need to perform this job. Not to mention that it was rush hour on a Friday afternoon in a busy suburban area. It was about all I could do just to get back to the freeway.
I decided to head to my next shipper and try to think of something along the way. By the time I made the 70 mile trip down to Le Sueue amidst fairly heavy traffic, I had forgotten all about the bleach. After I opened my trailer doors and realized that it was still there, I asked the guy in the office at the shipper if their janitor or someone else might have a use for it. He said that he would find someone to use it and took it off my hands. Good enough for me. I guess it may not have been completely within the spirit of 'donating' to someone, but what can you do? They didn't want me to throw the stuff away and I couldn't exactly take it with me. Carrying all that bleach in my truck likely would have been more problematic than those paper towels in Miami.
Once I was loaded with another 40,000 pounds of goodies, I was off and running again. This time I'm headed down to Waverly, Nebraska. Out of Le Sueue, the route was along US-169 to MN-60, which later became IA-60. I passed on a chance to park in Worthington, Minnesota in hopes that I could reach Sioux City, Iowa before today's 14 hour clock expired. I wasn't sure just how much further it would be to Sioux City, but I had two and a half hours left so I was pretty optimistic. It turned out that Sioux City was only another 90 miles or so along the way and the route (IA-60 onto US-75) was mostly a divided highway with a 65mph speed limit. There was virtually no traffic and I made it with plenty of time to spare.
The first truck stop that I saw was completely full. I headed over to the other (bigger) one and found a couple of open spaces. All told, it turned out to be a pretty productive day. I'll have around 140 miles left to drive from here. The delivery in Waverly is a drop/hook and my dispatch says that I'm due at the perfectly logical time of 10:53am. Another early morning wake-up call appears to be in store. At least it looks like the weather should be cooperative in the morning (notwithstanding the fact that it's 15º outside right now). Dry roads are happy roads... or something.
Last night was generally annoying, beyond the point when I stopped driving. It was pretty damned cold so I had my bunk heater running. A couple of hours after I went to bed, my truck's battery rundown warning thing started beeping. I got up and started the engine, then went back to bed. The next time I woke (for no apparent reason, as I'm prone to do), I reached over and turned off the truck, then kicked the bunk heater back on. A couple of hours later, the damned beeping woke me again. I started the truck one more time and resolved that I would just leave it running until it was time to get up.
An hour or so after that, my satellite unit woke me with a pre-planned assignment to follow the one that I had to deliver this afternoon. I replied with my confirmation and then managed to doze off for one last half hour before I had to get to work.
The drive into Minnesota was nice and easy. There was some light snowfall but it was so cold that the flakes were light and they were blown off the road before they could cause any trouble. I checked in at my consignee in Rogers and kicked back for a while as they unloaded the freight. Once I was empty (or so I thought), I pulled away from the dock and walked back to close the doors to my trailer. There were two cases of bleach sitting inside. Shit. So I headed in and got my paperwork, complete with the notation that 2 cases were damaged and refused. The lady was kind enough to note that I had arrived with the seal intact, so that was good.
Next I had to call our claims department and get some direction from them. The first part was fairly standard - note 'seal intact,' write the claim number, etc. Then the guy told me to write down that the shipper had advised us to donate the product. Yeah, donate it to a dumpster, right? He said that we're not supposed to dump bleach and that I should find a fire department or some other place where it could be put to good or charitable use. No, I'm not making this up. I understand that it's best not to waste things and all that jazz, but seriously. I have a job to do. Moseying on up to a fire station in a 70 foot tractor-trailer combination is not commensurate with my need to perform this job. Not to mention that it was rush hour on a Friday afternoon in a busy suburban area. It was about all I could do just to get back to the freeway.
I decided to head to my next shipper and try to think of something along the way. By the time I made the 70 mile trip down to Le Sueue amidst fairly heavy traffic, I had forgotten all about the bleach. After I opened my trailer doors and realized that it was still there, I asked the guy in the office at the shipper if their janitor or someone else might have a use for it. He said that he would find someone to use it and took it off my hands. Good enough for me. I guess it may not have been completely within the spirit of 'donating' to someone, but what can you do? They didn't want me to throw the stuff away and I couldn't exactly take it with me. Carrying all that bleach in my truck likely would have been more problematic than those paper towels in Miami.
Once I was loaded with another 40,000 pounds of goodies, I was off and running again. This time I'm headed down to Waverly, Nebraska. Out of Le Sueue, the route was along US-169 to MN-60, which later became IA-60. I passed on a chance to park in Worthington, Minnesota in hopes that I could reach Sioux City, Iowa before today's 14 hour clock expired. I wasn't sure just how much further it would be to Sioux City, but I had two and a half hours left so I was pretty optimistic. It turned out that Sioux City was only another 90 miles or so along the way and the route (IA-60 onto US-75) was mostly a divided highway with a 65mph speed limit. There was virtually no traffic and I made it with plenty of time to spare.
The first truck stop that I saw was completely full. I headed over to the other (bigger) one and found a couple of open spaces. All told, it turned out to be a pretty productive day. I'll have around 140 miles left to drive from here. The delivery in Waverly is a drop/hook and my dispatch says that I'm due at the perfectly logical time of 10:53am. Another early morning wake-up call appears to be in store. At least it looks like the weather should be cooperative in the morning (notwithstanding the fact that it's 15º outside right now). Dry roads are happy roads... or something.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Visits to this here blog dohickie.