Back to Nov

I drove the current load to the receiving point, and picked up my next load.  I drove back to the Pilot station where I had spent the night, and fueled up.  I had used four hours of driving time, and I would be using the whole eleven today.  I had to get as far as I could, and I couldn't make many, if any, stops.  The receiving point is about 550 miles away, and I only have about 21 hours to drive 10 hours, take a ten hour break, loose an hour to eastern time, and make the 0930 appointment.

I had made a sandwich while the truck was fueling.  I ate the sandwich while driving, plus some snacks.  I didn't drink much, cause I wanted to minimize my stops.  The drive wasn't bad.  I was listening to an audio book.  It was long enough to last the whole day.  All the while I was driving, I continually checked my progress.  I knew about where I would be when the eleven hours of driving were up.  I knew that if I maintained speed, I would make it to the GA border, and have to stop within minutes.  I knew that there was a rest area just within the border.  I also saw signs for truck stops at exit 5.  When I got to the rest area, a sign said the rest rooms were closed.  I went three more mile to a Pilot station.

This worked out great.  Checking the distance to go, I could make it in a little over two hours.  I had three hours to work with.  I could take a shower in the morning, and still have plenty of time.

While I was being unloaded, I waited for orders for my next load.  Usually I have them a couple of hours before I am available for my next load.  However, there is a change in my loads.  For most of the year I have been driving loads dedicated to one company.  I am now driving general loads.  The reason is that I asked for this.  I now have one year with the company, and I got a raise.  If I stayed with the dedicated account, the raise is 2.5 cents a mile less than if I was driving general freight.  As I had been averaging 2500 miles a week, I would have to drive 2700 miles with the dedicated account to make the same money as general freight.  There can be a problem with getting loads.  Now, I started out in the "system", and if you look at the blog  last December and January, I got some of the longest loads I have ever gotten.  Anyways,  I am now unloaded, and I am still waiting for a load.  I called to see what the problem was.

There was a problem.  Although my old TL passed me on to a new TL, nobody told the computer system.  Their data processing people are really bad.  And, I couldn't find a job in the field.  See "Why Drive"

I got a load and took off to get it.  I went almost back to where I had started this morning.  I pickup up the load, and headed north.  The route, to start, was pretty much the same as one I had taken at the end of the day on Nov 15.  However, this time it was light out, and I could see the country.  The route went through some rustic towns.  I didn't had my camera out, or I would have taken a shot of this huge mansion on a hill with a large front yard as big as a football field.

I stopped at the same Flying J that I had stopped at on Nov 15.  This is the first time I have been able to get on line this tour.  I updated the blog and posted it to the Internet. Went to bed early.

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The trip to the delivery was eight hours away.  It had been awhile since I took I75/I24 to Nashville.  It had been raining just before I got up, but now it was just a little overcast, and some sun.  North of Chattanooga, the sun went away.  At the Cumberland plateau the clouds were so low that I was effectively driving in fog.  Visibility was down to less than a hundred yards.  Going down the other side took me out of it.

It was an easy drive.  I arrived at the delivery in Eight hours.  The directions told me to go left, but the warehouse was to the right.  There weren't any signs, and I thought I was still in the wrong place.  When I turned into a lot to get turned around, there were the signs.  Another truck had just in ahead of me, so he got unloaded first.

An hour and a half later, just as I was unloaded, my orders for the next load came in.  I was to take the empty to the Indianapolis OC, and pick up a relay load.  The delivery time was 0900 EST, over 200 miles.  I could stay at the OC for the night, but that would have meant getting up before 0400.  I picked up the load and drove almost a hundred miles.  Now I can sleep until 0500.

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The load was in Battle Creek, thirty minutes away..  I picked it up, and took off.  I drove another five, plus hours, and stopped for the night in Seville.  There I fueled, and showered.

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The route took me through the back roads of PA.  Some of these road are divided highways, but most are two lane roads.  There were a lot of steep hills along the route.  These slowed up my progress, and I was  beginning to appreciate having left early.  I arrived about a half hour early, and was glad I had left early.

The load was another live unload.  I ate lunch while I was being unloaded.  It took about two hours.  Now the company has a repair shop and mini OC here.  I checked with them, and was told I could park there for the night.  Now, if you did the math, you might think it was too early to stop.  Normally, noon is too early.  I had only worked 4.75, but I only had 45 minutes left on my seventy.  So, I was done.

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Now I had a timing problem.  The shipper was about two hours away , at a normal 50 to 60 MPH.  But, the route was all back roads.  I had studied the given route, and checked it with my Streets & Trips program.  It would be tight.  I started out okay, but the company directions led me in the wrong direction.  I got turned around, and going it the right direction.  The roads didn't match the given directions or the Streets & Trips.  I must have missed a turn.  I was all mixed up.  I sent a request for directions from where I was.  I got going in the right direction.  I arrived at the shipper an hour late.  There I found out that they don't have appointment times.  So, I wasn't late.

I got loaded in three hours.  The route was suppose to use back roads again, but the PA turnpike was only two miles away.  Using the turnpike cut off over an hour on the travel time.  Had I not taken it, I might have been late for the delivery.  When I got to the delivery, I was told to drop the load.  The unload had been changed.  I dropped the load, and got an empty.  I drove toward my next load, and parked for the night in the same town.

A historical note on today was when I went through the town of Johnstown.  This was the scene of a great flood in 1889, that killed over 2200 people.  The greatest disaster of it's day.

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Looking at the directions to get to the shipper, I realized that the place was only about two miles away.  That short of a move wouldn't have to be logged.  I took off, and followed the supplied directions.  They were wrong.  By the time I got back to where I had started from, it took fifteen minutes.  I had to log that.  I asked a clerk in the truck stop where this place was.  He had not heard of the company, and told me that another driver was looking for the same place.  I call my TL, and found out that the company has another name.  I also got directions.   The place was the other direction, a left at the stop light, not a right.  It was actually less than a mile away.

There really weren't any appointments.  It was first come, first serve.  If I had had the right directions, I would have been in ahead of two other trucks.  When I did get into a dock, they loaded me very fast..  Most of the load was on the dock, and two forklift driver put the load in the trailer.  I was required to count the load as it went in the trailer.  First time for that.

I was on my way  before 1000.  That allow me to get to the delivery later that day, and still have time to get to the next load location.  I dropped the load, and bobtailed to get another trailer.  The route to the empty trailer took back roads in southeastern OH

 I had only driven a little ways when it started to snow.  I knew that snow was in the forecast, and that it would be bad.  I probably should have turned around, but I wanted to get to the empty trailer, so I could get my next load earlier in the morning.  The storm was suppose to move through fast.  The road I was on made a roller coaster look tame.  There were steep hills, and tight turns.  I couldn't use high beams because of the snow.  I was only going fifteen MPH.  It took an hour or so to get to a better road.  By then the snow let up some, and I made the rest of the trip at about 35 MPH.  I got the trailer, and stayed there for the night.

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If I had an appointment, I wouldn't have started my fourteen hours until a half hour before the appointment.  I finally got loaded.  By the time I left the shipper, I had used four and a half hours of my fourteen.  I was going to my home lot, and my weekend home.  Home was about 550 miles away, and I only had nine and half hours.  I still had to scale the load, and I needed to made a fuel stop.  I couldn't made it, even if a took the OH and IN toll roads.  When I got to the fuel stop, I was two hours past the time I would have had to leave there to make home.  I sent a note that I couldn't get there until tomorrow.

I was okay with getting home Saturday, instead of Friday, because I didn't have anything going on this weekend.  I would just start the next tour next Tuesday.  The thing that upset me was that this load was due to be delivered on Monday.  It was the longest load that I had had in a week.  Now I had to turn it over to someone else for delivery.  Plus, I would have been in northwestern WI, in a position to maybe go west.

As I couldn't get home today, I stopped at 1900, even though I could have gone on until 2030.

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End of Tour 22

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The tour started with me picking up an empty.  Luckily, there was one available in the lot, so I didn't have to go somewhere to get one.  I drove to the north side of Milwaukee, and got the load.  It was a light load.  This looked like it was going to be an easy trip.  It would take today and some of tomorrow.

I was going good on the tri-state around Chicago.  At this time of day, there shouldn't have been any problems.  WRONG.  Two miles from the last toll plaza, the traffic came to a halt.  There were long periods when the traffic didn't move at all.  It took over an hour and a half to go six miles.  I got so upset that I called the toll people, and left a message on there voice recorder, saying that they had some nerve changing tolls, and then costing me $30 in lost time.  It should be noted here that the tri-state toll road is now privately owned.  I wonder if you can sue them for lost wages.

After I cleared the mess, I stopped in Gary for fuel, and ate a quick meal.  Then it was on to battle the idiots and stop lights on US 30 in IN.  By the time I got to OH, I was getting tired.  I was also running behind time.  I could stop anytime, but the load had to be delivered at 1400 EST.  If I stopped to early, I would have to get up early.  I wanted to get going tomorrow around 0600 CST, so I didn't want to stop before 2000 CST.  There is a new rest area on US 30 in the middle of OH.  I stopped there at 2015.

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I was making good time.  This was going to be a rough trip.  I didn't even have time to go to the bathroom.  Shortly after I got into PA, I got behind a rolling road block.  One minute earlier, and I would have been ahead of it.  After ten minutes of going slower and slower, the traffic came to a stop.  The electric company was dragging a wire across the highway.  This took about fifteen to twenty minutes.  A new calculation of my progress showed that I wasn't going to arrive until 1430.  I sent a note to that effect.

I arrived at 1430.  Apparently there was no rush to get the load there on time.  They checked, said no, and had me drop the trailer in a lot.  Now, the orders also said that it was going to take two and a half hours to unload the trailer, like I was suppose to stay with the trailer.  Now, I was ready to go.  I had received orders for my next load, so I when to get it.  It was at an OC in Carlisle, PA, just seven miles away.  I went there, fueled up, found the trailer, took care of some paperwork, took a short break, and left.

The load was a short haul, about three hours.  I could deliver it anytime after 0700 EST tomorrow.  The only reason to leave, was to go to the Flaying J an hour and a half down the road.  There, I stopped for the night, and worked on the blog.

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Shortly after leaving the scale, it started snowing.  By the time I got to the delivery, it was snowing pretty good.  There was some accumulation of the roads.  I made the delivery, and was unloaded in about an hour.

Next, I drove about a hundred miles to get my next load.  The snow turned to ice or rain as I drove south.  The roads were slick.  At times, the rear wheels of the tractor would spin.  I also think I felt the trailer starting to jackknife.  I depressed the clutch, and let the rig roll, and it straighten out.  I was early at the destination, and had to wait a while before they were ready to load the trailer.  After about three hours, and was on my way.

By now the roads were sloppy.  Although wet, the roads were not as slippery.  Despite this, I was still wary of the roads.  The route took me south of Roanoke VA to a back road that would take me over to WV.  The road was US460, a highway that was divided almost all the way.  It did have steep hills on it.  The weather was interesting.  Sometimes it was real bright, with the sun almost coming out.  At other times, it got real dark.  After I passed a town called, Narrows, the road literally hugged a cliff.  To the right was a sheer wall.  I had to stay in the left lane as being in the right lane might have resulted in the trailer hitting the wall while taking a sharp right curve.  To the left, and below me, was the oncoming lane.  At least I assume that because I could not see it.  Lower yet, was a river.  After about three miles, the road crossed the river.

Just as I started getting dark, I reach I77, and headed north.  The road was good, and the temperature was warm enough to prevent freezing.   A little more than an hour later, I stopped in a travel plaza for the night.  I wanted to get far enough to be able to make my delivery by 1500, and have time to shower when I stop for fuel.

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About two hours later, as it was getting light out, I entered OH.  About the same time, I encountered a light snow.  It seems that I get snowed on when I drive in OH.  Later on, it looked like the snow would accumulate.  When I got to the IN border, the snow stopped, the sun came out, and the roads were without snow.  What did I say.

I arrived at the OC in Indianapolis, where I fueled, showered, and ate lunch.  After that, I drove to the delivery, and half hour away.  There, I was unloaded in an hour.  I then drove fifteen minutes to pick up the next load.  There I dropped the empty trailer that I had hauled two loads with, and picked up a loaded trailer.   A half hour after that, I was on my way.  Two and a half hours of more driving, and I stopped for the night at a Flying J.  There I updated the blog, and posted it to the Internet.

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Almost all of the trip to the delivery was on a US highway.  I was in TX, and going from Texarkana AR to east of Houston.  The speed limit was good, and most towns had by-passes, but few stop lights.  I made good time.  Along the way, I got orders for my next load.  I could make some distance after I got it.  I delivered the current load, picked up an empty trailer, when 30 minutes to the next shipper, dropped the empty, and picked up the load.  I drove another 30 minutes to the OC in Houston, where I fueled up, and took a shower.  I calculated how much work I had done, and figured that I could go an hour and a half.  This would also put me close enough to make the FlyingJ in Joplin MO.  I stopped at a Pilot station near Huntsville TX.  I had worked eight hours.  That included 45 minutes of equipment inspection.

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After Dallas, the Interstate turn into a US highway.  I had been on this route twice in the past, but this time I was going the other way.  I only stopped twice on the drive, once for a restroom, the other for lunch.  I arrived at the FlyingJ after 8.75 of driving.  Despite the US highway with some small towns, stop lights, and by-passes, I drove 520 miles.

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Across from the drop lot is a Pilot station.  This truck stop was something else.  There was lots of remodeling going on.  The lot, and various areas of the building were being worked on.  I fueled up, scaled the load, and took a shower.  The remodeling of the showers was great.  I shower stall looked like it was made of Correll, the kitchen counter material.  It looked like black marble.

The third leg was done driving the remainder of the available time, two and a half hours.  This was just enough time to make another FlyingJ.  As I arrived, my 70 hours ran out.

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I made the delivery, and picked up an empty trailer.  I took the empty to Indianapolis.  The route to there was almost all back roads.  It was terrible.  There were lots of towns, stop lights, and low speed limits.  Over 180 miles, it took four hours.  There were a couple points of  interest.  A month ago, a tornado had passed through southern IN.  At one point I came upon a scene where the tops of trees had been ripped off, and the roofs of houses were gone.  At another point, I saw two deer cross the road.  I slowed up as I approached the area, and sure enough, another one came lopping toward the road.  I hit my horn, and the deer made the most interesting u-turn, as its front legs touch the ground, and its read legs passed its head, turning the deer around.

In Indianapolis, I traded the empty for a load.  The load was going to Milwaukee.  I had lost so much time with the bad directions, and the back roads, that I didn't have enough time to make the home lot.  I drove to Gary for the night.

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The trip around Chicago was smooth, so I stopped for an hour once I got close to the delivery.  I delivered the load, which was a live unload.  After it was done I waited for my next load.  I had said I would be available at 1230, it was now 1300.  I sent a message that I was ready for a load.  After another hour, I drove to a FlyingJ that was close by.  I needed facilities.

Two, three hours later, I got a message that I could go home for the holidays.  Now, this may sound great, except that I would be expected to go back out on Christmas day.  No way.  This is my weekend home, and I made plans for Christmas Eve and Day.  I told my TL so, and that I was working tomorrow.  I was told to call in the morning.  Tomorrow could be very interesting.  This is the king of stuff that has made me consider a better company.  They all have to be better than this one.

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End of tour 23

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To begin, I was to bobtail to Neenah to pick up my load.  Because I would be close to Green Bay, I called my TL to see if I should go to Green Bay to pick up my permits and IFTA sticker.  IFTA stickers show that the company had paid gas taxes for all states, I think.

I drove to Green Bay first.  There I found out that the documents had been sent to Gary.  I had made a wasted trip.  I did get to meet my new TL, (team leader).

I drove to Neenah, picked up the load, and drove to Gary to get my documents.  Today was a Federal holiday, so going around Chicago was a breeze.  I ate a late lunch in Gary.  I drove to Beaver Dam OH, and, although I was at a Flying J, I was too tired to get on line.  I ate a small dinner, watched some TV, and was sleeping in less than two hours.  I had driven 10.5 hours.

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I got them after awhile.  I drove to Carlisle to get fuel, take a shower, and eat lunch.  I continued on another fifty miles, and picked up the load.  It looked like I was going to have am easy drive the rest of the day, and tomorrow.  I was moving along well.  The route was heading toward Washington DC, and then south.  Traffic was getting heavier, and got real backed up as I got onto I95.  The traffic cost me two hours.  I stopped a few miles short of NC with only 45 minutes left on my 14.  I only drove 8.5 hours.

The route today went by exits to many Civil War battlefields.  The battlefields I passed near included: Antietam, Manassas,  Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania Court House, and Petersburg.  The reason for so many battlefields in this area is the ninety mile distance between the two capitals at Washington DC and Richmond.  I have been to Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Petersburg.  The battle at Fredericksburg was shown in the movie Gods and Generals.  Petersburg was in Cold Mountain.  The battle at Manassas was so close to Washington, that people went out to watch the battle and picnic, and were overrun by the battle.  There were two separate battles at Manassas.  It is also referred to as Bull Run.

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The delivery point had parking across the street, so now I can sleep until just before the 600 EST delivery.  The weather was warm, so I went for a walk-about.  There were a lot of fast food places near by, and a small mall, but the area seemed poor.

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After I finished, someone had to count the items on the pallets to make sure everything was okay.  It was 1230 EST before I left.  I had to be to the shipper of my next load by 1600, 183 miles away.  I was suppose to stop for fuel, but knew that I could fuel after I got the load.  When I arrived at the shipper, there was another truck in a dock, with another waiting.  I was informed that I would not be able to get loaded until tomorrow.  I went to get fuel, and shower, but the Pilot station didn't have any parking.  I fueled and drove back to the shipper.  I was able to back into a dock, and stay on the lot that night.

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I got going at 0930.  The route was mostly Interstate accept for two sections, one outside of Birmingham, and the other south of Memphis.  They did slow me up a bit, but I was able to make good time on the Interstate.  The slow area outside Birmingham did offer me a benefit.  I had a coupon for four DVDs for 12 dollars, but didn't get to use it because the sale started the day I left on this tour.  I brought the coupon along in hope of being able to stop at a Blockbuster to use it.  There was a Blockbuster, with a space to park the rig right in front.  Also, they honored the coupon.

As I approached Memphis, I came upon an accident.  A pickup truck was turned over, and blocking the right two lanes of three.  It had happen recently, and the police weren't there yet.  The traffic was working it's way around to the left.  I was afraid that the police would show up, and shut down the road.  I needed to get through as I was running out of time on my 11.  I got through, and made the OC with only ten minutes left. I dropped the trailer and parked the truck.  I scheduled the truck for a PM and went to bed.