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| Date |
Activities in
2005 |
| Back to Apr
May 1
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I sleep late. There was no rush. The load
didn't have to be delivered until tomorrow morning, and I was six
and quarter hours away. I'm familiar with the area, having
dated a girl from Oconomowoc. I left at noon, and drove a
little over five hours. I was 15 miles away, and ready to go
tomorrow.
The route crosses IA on US151 to Dubuque. I have been this
way a few times. US151 is a near straight line from Green Bay
to central IA. As you come over a rise on the cliffs, you can
see all of downtown Dubuque, and the US20 bridge over the
Mississippi. |
| 2 |
Got up, checked the truck, and drove 15 minutes to my
delivery. I had to unload the truck. This was the first
time I had to unload a truck. I used a powered pallet
jack. It took me about an hour. I used to unload trucks
with a forklift. I could have done it in a half hour with a
forklift.
Before get to the delivery, I had received orders for my next
load. I had to go to Neenah WI to pick it up, and the route to
my destination went by my home base. A calculation of my hours
showed that I would get there about the time I would run out of
time. The drive to Neenah used back roads through farm country
of WI. I liked the opportunity to smell WI's dairy air.
I picked up my load, and started to my destination. I stopped
at home base, and went home for the night. I had 45 minutes
left for the day. |
| 3 |
Took off about 830. I planned to drive about
eight or nine hours. I drove through Chicago, and stopped at
Gary to fuel, eat, and have a light changed on the trailer.
Left Gary about noon, and drove until 1830. I stayed in a
Loves truck stop in KY. The route was nothing new. |
| 4
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Got going about 800 EST. I figured about a 6.5
hour drive. A short ways down the road I got a notice that I
should take another route because of construction near
Knoxville. My routing instructions included this detour.
I calculated that the route might be about 40 miles shorter, but
didn't know if the road or towns would slow me up.
The route is US25E south from I75 to I40. It goes through
the Cumberland Gap. The exit is at Corbin. When I have
driven by this exit before, I have seen signs about the birthplace
of KFC. From US25E I could see the site and museum.
Mostly, the road is divided highway with a 65mph limit. There
were some stop lights, and towns. There are references to
Daniel Boone. After being in TN for awhile, the road became
two lane. However, a wider road is being carved
through the hills. After while, the road becomes divided
again. Just before going downhill, there is a
scenic overlook. Here is a sign
that was with the view.
Got to my destination, and dropped the load. I had to wait
awhile for my next load. When I got it, I had to take an empty
from my location to Charlotte NC. The pickup time was the next
day. The route to Charlotte took a US highway that was a
parkway. I don't think that it done on purpose, but there
were patches of different colored flowers beside the road.
I could have parked at the pickup location, but missed a turn, so
I decided to go to the Charlotte OC for food, fuel, and a
shower. |
| 5-6
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Got the load in the morning, and started home.
The load was suppose to be delivered on the 7, that's
Saturday. There would go half my day. I called about it,
and a check showed that it could be delivered anytime Monday.
This worked out all around. I had 18 hours to get to my home
lot, and that is about what it would take, but I would be home
Friday. I planned to go camping, and I would get there Friday
rather than Saturday. The company wanted me in Green Bay to
attend safety training. I would also get back the Sunday when
I left early at the beginning of the tour. Also, I would have
time to take care of business on Monday.
It was a hard, long drive, with occasional traffic
congestion. I made it from Charlotte to 16 mile north of
Louisville KY on the first day. Drove the rest on
Friday. Got to the lot around 1430, 17.5 hours, 850
miles. |
| 9
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Finished delivering the load. Picked up a
trailer that had a low tire. No problem, I'm staying at GBOC
tonight. Earlier, I had stopped at a rest area. When I
went to leave, the truck would not start. This is a problem
that I had had before, and was worked on twice. I tried
hitting the starter to get it to work. It had worked before,
but not this time. I was parked on a slight incline, so I
rolled the truck, and popped the clutch. Not enough to start
it, but enough to move the starter. It started.
Now I was at GBOC to report the low tire. The truck would
not start again. They looked at it, and took it into the
shop. So, my truck was being worked on, and the trailer was
being worked on separately. Besides the tire, it need a
tracking system installed. I did realize this when I brought
it in. I got a meal ticket for bringing in a trailer that
needed the tracking system.
It was mid-night when I got my tractor back. They installed
a new starter. I parked, and went to sleep. I had to get
up at 630 for the training.
|
| 10
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Got up, and attended the training course. Part
of the training for a ride along to see how I drive. The
instructor thought I was more of a two year driver rather than just
six months.
After training I went looking for my trailer, picked up a load,
and was on my way before noon. The load was due on the 12th,
in the morning, in north central PA, so I wanted to get to Toledo,
which I could do by 1900. However, by Chicago, it was hotter
than in GB. The A/C wasn't working again, and the cab was in
the high 90s. I stopped in Gary. By the time they
finished fixing it, I didn't have enough time to really go
anywhere. It was just better to get up early and drive all
day. |
| 11
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Got up early, and left by 530. This is a mile
stone day. Shortly after leaving, I pasted the 50,000 mile
mark. Also, I think this is my six month mark. The
first have of the trip is mostly two lane across IN and OH. In
IN the highway goes through an Amish community. I had to watch
for buggies and bicycles. Four hours to Toledo, two more to
Cleveland, another two to Erie, and three across NY almost to
Corning. Almost 11 hours of driving. I only stopped to
use restrooms twice.
The second stop was at a really nice wayside in NY. It was
like a park, with a nice view of a lake. The park and view has
a history, so I took a bunch of picture. Check this out
later. |
| 12
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Woke up at 430 EST, because I had to deliver the load
by 700 EST, two hours away. I had traveled the route before,
so I knew how long it would take. I arrived at 655.
Dropped the trailer and picked up another. The new load was
going to GA. I got on I81 near Scranton, and headed
south. After I passed I80, the rest of the highway was new for
me. I had to drive over eight more hours, which got me to
I77, and across five states for the day. I started in NY,
drove into PA, across MD, and WV, and spent most of the day in
VA. It got warmer during the day, and I was glad that the A/C
was working.
During this drive, I listened to a book on tape. I have
done this a few times, and it is pretty nice for long drives.
I have been getting them at my library. I can have them out
for four weeks, but return them in two. Most truck stops have
them for rent. You pick a book up at one truck stop, and
return it at another that is in the system. I listened to the
whole book today. It was Tom Clancy's "Executive
Action". Pretty good.
I stopped at a Flying J near I81 and I77. It was a little
hot, so I ran the A/C for a while |
| 13
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It was overcast and cool. I drove to Charlotte
NC, fueled, and had a trailer tire replaced. On the way I
drove into some dense fog, but given the altitude, it could have
been a cloud. As I went downhill, I came out of the fog.
After leaving Charlotte, as I approached Columbia SC, the sun came
out, and the temp started to rise. I turned on the A/C.
No air!! Now I'm mad. I called my TL to say I want to go
to Atlanta, to have it fixed. I was told to deliver the load
first, then bobtailed to Atlanta. I now know that the load is
more important than if I dropped dead from heat exhaustion.
To make matters worst, the
route used back roads from Augusta GA to Cordele GA. The
roads were okay, not much traffic, but I had to go through a few
towns. I had driven into lower humidity, but it was hot.
I had the windows and vents open, which helped, but when I was going
slow, and stopped in the towns, the temp rose. I got up to 100
degrees.
I delivered my load in Albany, and drove back to Cordele to park
for the night. I had stopped at a Pilot station there before,
and I liked the lot. While there I bought a 12v fan. It
work pretty good. I fell asleep watching TV. Woke,
turned it off about 2300, and went back to sleep. It got cool
over night, and I sleep well. When I woke, I was surprised to
see that the fan had not dragged the battery down. |
| 14
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It was about 60 degree when I got up. I drove to
Atlanta, and put my truck in for A/C repair. I watched some
TiVo programs, took a shower, and worked on the blog. After
getting up to date with blog, I checked the shop screen, not
thinking to even see my truck on the shop floor, and found that it
was done. Surprise, surprise. It hadn't lost freon, it
was electrical. I sent a message that I was available, and got
an order to pick up a trailer at a rail yard.
I driving over to get the trailer, I saw that there was a big
road destruction backup on the other side. I was going to come
back that way. However, the by-pass around Atlanta goes all
the way around, so I went the other way around. It is a little
longer, but I would miss the traffic jam. Wrong, they were
working on the other side too. So, it still took awhile.
I drove east from Atlanta on I20 for about an hour, and stopped at a
rest area.
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| 15
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The load was a short haul, and I drove less than two
hours before arriving at the delivery destination at 930. The
consignee noted that the load wasn't due until tomorrow, and
wouldn't take it because their lot was full of trailers. I
called in for instructions, and was told to wait for them. Two
hours later, I called again. I was told that the Qualcomm
system was down, so I was told what to do. I had to take the
full trailer to a drop lot about fifteen miles away, and near
Augusta, then come back to my original destination to get an empty
trailer, take it to the shipper of my next load, on the other side
of Augusta, and pick up the load. During the day I had driven
over the same six mile stretch of I20 five times. When I got to the
shipper, the load wasn't ready, even though it should have been done
four hours earlier. It was after 1600 by time I got
going. I drove to Charlotte, fueled and stayed the night.
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| 16
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Not much to say. Woke up early, took a shower,
and left Charlotte. Drove up the Shenandoah Valley between the
Appalachian Mountains and the Blue Ridge. This is a reverse of
what I did on the 12th. I was able to stop at a FlyingJ in
Northern PA.
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| 17
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It was cool out, actually cold. I slept great
and long. I was in no hurry because I only had about 4.5 hours
available to work. When I left, I drove into NY. Since
Scranton, and north to Syracuse, I was on new highway again. I
have now traveled I81 from I90 in NY to I77 in VA. Dropped my
load, and picked up another. I was taking a trailer of pallets
to a drop lot in PA. There I would pick up another load.
After I stopped, I check out the load I would pick up
tomorrow. It had to be delivered at 900 on the 19th.
That was bad. It was only 1400 now, and in order to get there
on time, I would have to drive at night. I went to sleep
early, but I didn't sleep well, have slept late that morning.
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| 18
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I had figured that I didn't have to get up until 400,
but couldn't sleep. The thought of having to drive so early,
and a noisy truck next to me, kept me awake. It was 200.
I got up and left. About three and half hours later, I dropped
the pallet trailer, and got my next load. I was in the area of
PA with the hills and old towns that I mentioned last month on the
18th and 19th. It was a hard drive. I only had about
four hours available for the rest of the day, and I wanted to get to
my fuel stop in Erie. I would be able to shower there
too. I was constantly calculating my time and miles. At
first it looked like I would be fifteen minutes short. Then it
looked like I might make it. When I stopped for lunch, I
looked at my options. There was another stop a little closer,
if I ran out of time. But, then I would have to fuel right
after I left tomorrow. And, no shower, or take one at one in
the morning. As I approached the first stop, I still had five
minutes to go, the next one was seven minutes away. I
went for the fuel stop. A couple of minutes won't violate the
log. I immediately parked, and laid down. I could fuel
just before I left I showered about 1600, had a light
dinner, and tried to sleep.
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| 19
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One in the morning, CST. I slept rather
well. This is an interesting
problem. The load had to be there at 900, EST. My log
book is filled out based on CST. I couldn't leave until after
midnight, CST, so I had already lost an hour I might have
needed. That is why I drove as far as I could the last two
days, to get as far as I could. And I did. I figured
that I had just seven hours to get there. I left an hour early
in case I needed to take a power nap along the way. The drive was
okay. I felt a little floaty, but did not have trouble staying
awake. Arrived at 800 EST, in Lansing MI, as figured. I
dropped the load, and picked up a trailer, even though I was not
told to. I had not received orders yet, but another driver told
me that if I left the yard, I would not get back in. I pulled
this almost new trailer out of the area, and parked in the sleeping
area. I closed up, and went to sleep. Three hours
later, there was a knock on my door. An independent driver for
the company had a problem. He had a trailer older than the
shipper he was picking up at would allow. He wanted to swap
trailers. I wasn't assigned the trailer, so I did. That
was the start of major problems. A while later, I got my
orders. It was going to the place that didn't allow old
trailers, and now I had an old trailer. I call my TL with the
problem. I had to drive it two hours to Detroit, to get rid of
the ttrailer. After
that, I was to go and pick up a trailer at another location.
Once I got there, I found out the trailer was still loaded. I
was told to bobtail back to Lansing, and pick up a specific trailer
at the consignee where I had dropped the load in the morning.
Apparently, I could have bobtailed in to get a trailer. Had I
pulled out without a trailer, I wouldn't have given it to that other
guy, and I would not have driven to Detroit. I had to stop shortly
after leaving Detroit. Because I was bobtailing, I could park
just about anywhere. I parked behind a Wal-Mart. I did
some shopping, and bought new sheets for the bed. When I
calculated my hours, I had gone over the 14 hour rule.
Actually it was 16 because of the sleep break. Earlier, I had
calculated my hours, and thought I was okay. I do not know
where I went wrong. The whole problem was a result of starting
at one in the morning, and sleeping for a while in the middle of the
day.
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| 20
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I knew where my load was going, so I woke up and left
at a time that would work for the delivery time. I arrived at
the consignee from the previous day, and went looking for my
trailer. It was gone. Someone had taken it. Of
coarse, this is what I had done yesterday, but the trailer I took
yesterday, and gave away, was not assigned to anyone. The
other trailers in the lot were old. I called to say that my
trailer was gone, and that I was going to wait for one to get
unload. However, it now occurred to that I had lost an hour
and was going to be late for my delivery. I was told to forget
the trailer, and bobtail to get the load. Bad directions sent
me in the wrong direction. I went the other way and found the
place. It took longer than usual to hook up and get going.
I drove hard, and as fast as I could legally get away with.
Stopped only for fuel, and took a restroom break at the same
time. Did both in less than fifteen minutes. I drove
through Chicago rather smoothly, with a minimum of slowdowns.
I snacked on the go, and took no lunch break. Despite this, I
was an hour late at the delivery. There was no one
there. I called for instruction, and while they were checking
to see what to do, someone showed up to sign for the
load. But all this cost more time. The trailer I was told to
take from this location was loaded. I found only one empty
trailer. By the time it was assigned to me, more time was
lost.
I headed home. I was watching my 14 hour day. It
looked like I should make it, and I did. When I calculated my
work hours, I had used 12, the exact amount available.
This was the end of the worst tour ever.
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| 23
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Begin of tour 12.
This was a simple day. Take a trailer from my home lot,
drive to Milwaukee to get loaded, and head south. No big deal
here, I drove into KY, and stopped for the night.
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| 24
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This morning I was able to have cereal for breakfast.
Most of the previous tour, I was in a hurry, and only had breakfast
bars. I felt rested despite the truck I was parked next to
making too much noise. It would idle low, then high, as
something kicked in, probable the A/C. If it stayed one way or
the other, it wouldn't have been so bad.
I drove out of KY, into TN, and GA. I arrived earlier in
Atlanta then I thought I would. I had the windshield that got
hit with the rock last week, replaced. When the replacement
was finished, I drove another hour south, so I could stop at a
FlyingJ to get on-line. This also placed me closer to my
delivery point, so I would arrive earlier tomorrow. I had
gotten my next order. It will be going about 340 miles for a
delivery on the morning of the 26th. I expect an easy day
tomorrow. Three in a row. This is better.
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| 25
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Once again, breakfast, followed by an easy two hour
drive to Albany GA, where I dropped and picked up a load.
Drove back to Atlanta, where I took a shower and had lunch before
heading northeast. I stopped outside of Spartanburg SC.
Here I was positioned for a 615EST appointment. During the
drive, I got orders for my next load. It will also make the
next two days easy.
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| 26
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Had to get up at 430 CST for an appointment at 615
EST. It was a short half hour drive. The delivery was at
a new distribution center. It was still being put together
inside, and new employees were being trained. The person
unloading my trailer took two hours. When I had to unload one
myself, I did it in one. The unloader was also inexperienced
with a fork lift or pallet jack. After I left I found broken
pallet scraps in the trailer.
After I was unloaded, I drove the trailer to Augusta, and swapped
it for a full load. The route to Augusta went via back road in
SC. I went through a lot of peach groves. One town
declared itself the peach cpitol. A build there was identified
as the peach exchange. Besides peaches, there were filed of
grain, barley, oats, or wheat. They are already harvesting the
first crop.
The load I picked up was going to IN. The route backtracked
most of the was I had driven to get to Augusta, but cut off onto
I26. The route is the one that goes by the Smokey
Mountains. I stopped in Knoxville for the night.
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| 27
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I slept late. The appointment time was at 1800,
and I less than seven hours away. I built in some time for
construction on I75. However, went I got there, the
construction was gone. When I got close to Cincinnati there
was a traffic backup. It was slow going, but we continued to
move. After a while I noticed that there was no traffic on the
south bound side. When I got to the cause, I could see that
the accident involved, a semi, a motorcycle, a car, jeep, and a
pickup with a small hauling trailer. The traffic behind it had
been there a long time. People were out of their cars, kids
were play, people were grilling, and it looked like they were
forming a government and holding elections.
I was less than ten miles from my delivery, and an hour to
kill. I stopped in this little country strip mall. There
was a beauty shop there, so I had my hair trimmed. I noticed a
clock, and it had the same time as CST, even though I was in EST
time zone. Oh yes, most parts of IN don't use daylight saving
time. This is one place that didn't spring ahead. Now I
had another hour to kill.
I made the delivery, which two about two hours, and drove to
Indianapolis. There I put the tractor in for a brake job on
the front axle. I had spotted cracks in one of the brake
drums.
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| 28
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I had slept in the truck, but got up at 0530 to take
the tractor over for the brake job. I took a shower, and had
breakfast. I watched some TiVo shows. It was coming up
on 1100, so a had lunch. I checked on the tractor, only find
that wouldn't be done until 1400, when it should have been done at
1000. Apparently there was a parts problem.
The tractor was ready at 1400, so I picked up my trailer and
left. I had my load, and the next one too. Doing the
math while I drove to the pickup showed that I was going to have to
do some hard driving over the next two days. I wasn't even
sure if I had enough on my 70 hours, and thought I would have to do
the last two, three hours on the 31st. A little over three
hours I was in Elkhart IN. After an hour of driving around in
circles, and staying on truck routes, I found the place where I
picked up my load. Picked in up and took off. I
originally thought I would stop early, and start early. But,
that would reduce the time I would drive the next load. I
drove until 2300, and stopped 40 miles from Springfield IL.
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| 29
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I left after my 10 hour break at 900. I drove
three hours to my delivery point, which happen to be the pick up
point for the next load. The load wasn't suppose to be
available for another hour, but it was ready now, and I got a one
hour jump on the trip.
We are told to figure are driving time at 50mph. At this
rate, I would need 18 hours, the remaining 7.5 today, nine tomorrow,
and three on the 31st. The delivery time is 600, and I loose
an hour going into the EST zone, that is why three on the
31st. Now, I stopped at 2300 last night, in order to
start driving at 300 on the 31st, I will have to shift my stop time
by not wasting any of the time used for pit stops and meals, the
difference eleven hours of driving, and the fourteen hour day before
the ten hour break.
After hooking up the trailer, I took a short break to make a
sandwich, and eat it quickly. I took off, and drove non-stop
from St Louis to Indianapolis. I arrive in Indie about an hour
after the race had ended, but the traffic was okay. In Indie,
I took a two hour sleeper berth break, which allow my to take a nap,
and have a meal. I took off, and drove another three hours,
stopping east of Columbus before 2200. Now, you are probably
wondering how this shifts the driving time. Well, the two hour
break in the sleeper berth meant I only had to do an eight break
now, and be able to leave at 600. Calculating the remaining
distance showed that I had done a good trip today, and I could
actually leave later, if I wanted to.
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| 30
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I got up at 600, and was on the road before 700.
Drove across the rest of OH, WV, and PA. After four hours, I
realized that I was way ahead of schedule, so I stopped for a good
lunch. Drove four hours after lunch, and stopped at a truck
stop near my delivery point. Based on the given miles, I drove
hard the last two days. Now I have 13 hours to rest. I
also still have 1.5 hours left on my 70, and get back 8.5 tomorrow.
|
| 31
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Ahead to Jun
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There are not many states that I haven't been to since
driving, and it will be rare if I go to those New England
states. But, here I am in NJ, and later I picked up a load in
DE. It was an easy trip to deliver the load. After that,
every went bad. First, I couldn't get a trailer off the
grounds because I wasn't in their system. Customer service
back home didn't start for an hour or more, so I sat around for two
hours. Once I left with a trailer, and following the route
given me by the company, I wound up on a street with a weight limit,
and the cops were waiting for me. I was cited for being on the
street. As I approached the next load pick up, the same said
directions were so confusing, that I went around in circles for a
half hour until I sent opposite of what I thought the directions
were trying direct me. I left and got going okay, but I
couldn't find a scale. After while, a state weight station,
that wasn't indicated as being there on my map, showed up. I
guess I set the tandems okay because I wasn't stopped. After
that I missed a turn, and probably went thirty miles out of my
way. It was only suppose to be a 300+ mile day, and it took
all day.
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