Back to July

The route I was to take started out on Interstate, and then was to go 35 mile on a U.S. highway to another U.S. highway, back to an Interstate going north.  The first U.S. highway was one I had just happen to have traveled on while vacationing one time.  And, as I remembered it, it was hard to navigate in a can.  I called the company, questioning the use of this highway.  I was told that it was okay.

When I got on the highway, it was okay most of the time.  There was a section in the middle that had tight turns, and steep hills.  Note that I was in WV.  While climbing one hill, the engine coughed, and I lost some power.  I found a turn out, and inspected the truck.  I couldn't find anything obvious on the engine, but I found a lifting point angle iron resting on a tire.  I used a C-clamp to hold it up off the tire.  I sent a note asking where I could stop to have it fixed.

Before I could get anywhere, the tire blew out.  I called to help, and was told to drive to a tire dealer about ten miles away.  They fixed the tire, but couldn't fix the angle iron.  I was told to go to another place, about two miles away.  They got the angle iron bolted back up on the side of the trailer.  I had lost about three hours.

Now, besides the tire, the engine was not working at it best capacity.   Acceleration slow, and had little power on hills.  For the day, I did not get as far as I could have, and had to stop in a rest area.

I got to the delivery, where I had to wait my turn to get unloaded.  While waiting, I updated this page, to this point.

After the delivery, I drove to a company OC near Guelph.  Note that the G is pronounced like a W.  There I put my tractor in for repair.  I stayed at a motel in Guelph.  The funny thing is that I had been there before, having gone on a brewery tour while attending a van club event in Toronto.

On my way, I drove to Mississauga to get my load.  An hour to get there, two hours to load the trailer and get the customs paperwork in order, I was on my way back to the States.  It was two and a half hours to the border, and just as much time to clear customs.  It took take long to go two to three kilometers to the customs booth.  It only took a couple of minutes at the booth.  The reason for the delay was the bridge over the river that runs between Lake Huron and Lake Erie.  The Canadians hold back trucks so the bridge doesn't fill up.  And, cars and trucks with FAST cards are allowed to go to the front of the line.  Bummer.

After clearing customs, I drove for another four hours, stopping with one hour left on the fourteen, but at a place to stop, with an unknown place down the road.

I got my next load, and started on my way.  I could have gone back to my home lot, and gone home for the night.  But, the load was a high value load, and was to be left alone in an insecure lot.  I drove to Gary where I spent the night,

I drove to a small company lot five hours away.  There I parked for the night, but spent the afternoon and evening at the movies that were within walking distance.

I had to wait about an hour before I was in a dock.  It was a small load, and I was on my way in about forty-five minutes.  This order was also had a average unload time of five and a half hours.  As soon as the unloading started, I sent a note saying I would be available at 1000 instead of 1230.  However, my next load had an appointment time of 1500.  It was a little more than an hour away, and I sat and wasted another three and a half hours of driving time.

It was about 1500 when I got going.  I got to Charlotte NC with less than an hour left.  I fueled up, and showered.

It was an easy drive to the delivery.  I arrived almost an hour earlier than I had said.  But it was no problem, as I had gotten orders for my next load.  After I dropped the load, I had to find an empty trailer.  After looking trough eight trailers that either had pallets in them, or had a flat tire, I found a trailer that was okay.

I drove to the shipper where I had to wait awhile before the trailer was placed in a dock.  But, once there, it was loaded in an hour.  I was on my way with two hour available to drive.  I stopped for fuel after an hour an a half, and stay there for the night

Milestone.  On this day, I have driven over a quarter million miles since starting.

I drove over nine hours with few stops.  I was in Gary with only 1.75 hours to go.  But because of Chicago, I could not go on.  I would have liked to get to WI, but know I wouldn't make it in 1.75 hours, even though it is only 80 miles away.

In Gary, I fueled up, and took the truck to the shop for a PM.  During the PM, the mechanics decided to change out two more tires.  I stayed in Gary for the night.

End of tour 37

The tour started with the pick up of an empty trailer at the home lot.  I had even gotten to the lot earlier than I usually do, but the load didn't have to be picked up until 1200, two hours away.  I waited an hour before starting my fourteen, and arrive an hour early for the pick up.  I was loaded right away.

Getting loaded early allowed me to get past the bad area of the Chicago bypass before the traffic got real bad.  I fueled up in Gary, and started across IN.  I stopped in a rest area near Ft Wayne IN.  I could have gone farther, but the load was to be delivered until the 16th.

There is fueled up, and had the truck worked on.  I needed to have a power inverter hooked up to the truck that I would need for the sleep apnea machine as it get colder.  While it was being installed, I took a shower.

It took awhile, but I got to the street that went over tracks, instead of under them.  I made the delivery, and picked up an empty trailer.

Following the directions to the next pick up, I exited the highway, but wasn't told whether to go left or right, east or west, or north or south.  I went right, and noticed that the addresses were going up, when I needed them to go down.  I turned around, and went the other way.  The address didn't exist, either east or west.  It took me quite some distance to get going back the other way.  I finally found the place.  Damn, bad, directions.

I picked up the load, and got going.  I needed to get as far as I could.  I had lost quite a bit of time.  I had said I would only have seven hours to drive after I made the delivery.  This is about what I had.  However, the seven today, along with eleven hours tomorrow, and maybe two hours the next is what I would need to make the delivery.

I made good time until I got to Washington DC, where traffic slowed me up.  Then there was an accident, and road destruction.  Finally, I had to stop for fuel.  I had forty five minutes when I pulled into the station, but because the place is so screwed up, that by the time I was able to get out, my time was up.  Luckily, there was a place to park.

Besides this delivery, I had two other deliveries to make with this load.  The second stop appointment time was 1800.

I drove to West Memphis to get fuel, and have a light on the trailer fixed.  I was on my way to the next stop, which I figure I would be two hours late. The bigger problem was that I would have less than two hours left on my fourteen.  Also, I knew of no place to park.  I had called to see about changing the appointment to tomorrow, and it was.  However, the new appointment time was 0600.  Idiots.  The next load had an appointment time 1900.  1900 minus 600 is 1300.  And, I figured I would use an hour to get to the delivery at 0600.  That is fourteen hours.  I would be arriving at the 1900 appointment with no hours left to drive.

I pushed on to make the delivery tonight.  I arrived at 1800, two hours late.  I told them I only had an hour and a half before I had to leave.  They said I could stay on the lot.  They finished the unload just as the fourteen ran out.  Now they said I had to leave the lot.  However, I was told that I could park on the street, just outside of the lot.

Now, I had sent a note saying that I would have a couple of hours available.  but, what did I get, a load that was only 130 miles, and didn't deliver until two day from now.  I called and told them I had ten hours available to drive tomorrow, and they had to do better.  They took me off the load, and said they would check for something better in the morning.  I drove to a small truck stop that was close.

As I drove over, I noticed that the batteries were not being charged.  I called maintenance, and they sent someone over to fix it.  The alternator had to be replaced.

I knew where the load was, and I could have gone to a better location, gotten on the Internet, gone to the movies.  But, by stay where I was, I did a recap.  That means I started the morning with a fresh 70 hours.  I had used only 50 hours for the previous six days.  What a waste

I drove to the shipper hopping that the load would be early.  It wasn't.  Worse, it was two hours late.  Had it been done on time, I might have been able to deliver it yet today.  And, I could have picked up the next load, and delivered it on time tomorrow.  Because it was late, I was taken off the next load.

I drove as far as I could get before my fourteen ran out.  The route I took went through Coffeyville KS.  This sounded familiar, so I checked out the town history, and I was right.  This is where the Dalton Gang met their end.  Look near the bottom of the page.

I drove across FL to Orlando.  I was close to the shipper, but bad directions sent me in the wrong direction.  The directions sent me into a residential area, but at least on a truck highway.  There was no place to park or turn around.  I had turned south, and looked for a road to take me back to I4.  Given the area I was in, one wrong turn and I could have wound up driving up Main Street at Disney World.  I did drive by an exit road

I got back on track, and arrived at the shipper at the appointment time.  I was trying to be early, and if I had, I could have gotten loaded early.  I did get loaded quickly, and was on my way early.  I was early enough, that I could stop for a quick shower, and still make the delivery before the fourteen ran out.  I even had enough time to pick up my next load, that was at the same location.  Plus, I could take my ten hour break on their lot.

Now, today was Saturday.  Last week I was left without a load, and sat for over a day.  I was in the same general area, between St Louis and Kansas City, and I thought the operation people were not going to give me a load.  I sent a note saying I was available.

I dropped the load, and positioned myself to pick up an empty trailer, assuming that I got orders to pick one up.  I even checked it out.  I only waited about fifteen minutes when I got the orders, and it was over a thousand miles.

Now, the load is actually closer to 1200 miles, which is better, but the load was to be delivered on the 26th, and I only had twenty hours on my seventy hours to get the load there.  Even at sixty miles per hour average, that would use all the time.  And, where is the time for pre-trip/daily inspections, that use fifteen minutes each.

I drove to the shipper, and found that the distance was a little shorter than I was told.  Also, I got there by five after the hour, which meant I could log it back to the hour.  The load wasn't ready, so I had to wait.  I was able to pick it up and get to a lot to park just as my fourteen ran out.

I checked the truck, and drove to a Flying J in KS, a little more than half way.  I had used 8.5 hours, and had 7.75 to go on the seventy.  That would leave me with 7.5 to drive 343 miles.  If I maintain the pace I had done yesterday, I could get there before the seventy ran out, but then I wouldn't have much, if any time, to get to a truck stop.

I had to wait until noon at the earliest before I left, because I might have to have my fourteen extend past 2359, so that I could use hours from the previous week.  Being at a Flying J I was able to get on the Internet, and work on my computer.  It had developed a problem that caused my TiVoToGo to stop working.  This meant that I could watch any of the shows I had brought with me.  The virus scan also had a problem, and it was what was causing the TiVo not to work.  I tried fixing everything, but didn't have the virus CD with me.  I remove the virus scanner, and loaded a new version of the TiVo.  I also updated the Windows.

I also worked on this page, and got it updated to right now.

As I approached the delivery point, I knew that I could make the delivery, and get to a truck stop before the end of the day.

I dropped the empty, and went to get the loaded trailer.  It was at a rail yard.  I drove to the first delivery, and found out that I could park on the property.  There I took my ten hour break.  I tried to get some sleep, but did not get much.  Just before midnight, I pulled into a dock. 

The alarm I had set went off at 0500.  I when to see where I paperwork was.  I do not know why someone had not brought it out to me,  but I got them, and left.  I was now starting my fourteen hours as late as I could.

I drove to the next stop, where I was unloaded quickly.

I had been thinking that my next load was going to be close, but it was back the other way, away from the direction that would take me home.  I got the load, but once I got going, I only had about nine hours to drive, determined by the remainder of my fourteen hours.  I was tired, but anger, and the thought of getting home, motivated me.  I stopped once in nine hours, to go to the rest room, and take a quick shower.

Now, once I had gotten going, I called some friends of mine.  They were driving to CO, where I was coming from.  After the shower, I had just enough time to get to the Flying J near Omaha NE.  This is as far as they went their first day.  We were able to meet for dinner.

Ahead to Sep

In Des Moines, I made my only stop, for fuel, and a restroom break.  I was in and out in six minutes.  Two hours out, a 1330 delivery was possible.  Twenty miles away, I ran into road destruction.  When I was less than a mile away, the road was closed.  I called the consignee, and was told that they had moved.  Luckily, I was able to make a right turn, and drive three miles to the delivery.  It was 1345.

I was unloaded quickly, and was on my way to pick up my next load.  It was about 35 miles away, but the wrong direction.  I got the load, and was on my way to my home lot.  I was able to drive 2.45 hours before I had used up my eleven hours of driving time.  I was in WI

Now, where I picked up the load was near where my son was.  I had called him, but he was in meetings, and we just didn't connect.  Had I stay in the area for the night, we might have hooked up, but then I would have had to get up at 0300 to be home by mid-day.