Back to May

I arrived at 0900, and the load wasn't ready.  I was able to go at 1100.  Now, I had just lost two hours of the fourteen.  In my attempt to get home tomorrow, I wanted to drive eleven hours today.  That would only leave me with one hour to fuel, eat, and go to the rest room.

I drove four hours, and stopped for a restroom, and a quick meal, to go.  I drove another hour, and stopped for fuel.  The two stopped were my hour.  I then drove five hours, and stopped for the night.  I was in E. St. Louis.  I had figured that I could now deliver the load, and get home.  I was also at a truck stop where I could shower in the morning.  I had driven 9.75 hours.

I had received a message telling me that after the delivery, I would be taking an empty to my home lot, and then I could go home.  By the time I had dropped the load, and found an empty, I still had not received the orders.  I waited a while, and figuring that I would get the orders soon.  I wasn't going to stay there, and wait for the fourteen to run out, so I left for home.  I dropped the trailer, and packed to go home.  I still had not received the orders.

End of tour 33

The date today is 6/6/06, or 666.  I was sent to get a container, and I got a container with the number OPSU24666.  Scary.  I took the container to the shipper, and got my first load.

I had all day tomorrow to get to the delivery, but I wanted to make up for all the lost hours I had on the last tour, so I decided to drive long today, and delivery early tomorrow.  But, first I had to stop in Gary and have lights on the trailer fixed.  Starting today, and for the next two days, the DOT would have inspection stops set up all over the country.  While in Gary, I was able to get a meal due to drive appreciation days.  These just happen to match the DOT days.

After I left Gary, I drove seven hours with a fifteen minute break in the middle.  I got fuel at the end of the day, then went to a Flying J for the night.  However, I was ready for bed when I got there, so had a light meal, and went to sleep.

As I was driving to the delivery, I went up that hill in TN that goes over the Cumberland plateau.  The load was light, so I was flying up the hill.  I was almost to the top when, bang, and my power dropped right off.  The engine kept running, but I was crawling in second gear.  At the top is a rest area, where I stopped, and checked out the problem.  A hose that feeds air from the turbocharger to the engine had blown off due to a clamp failure.  I believe that this clamp had been taken off to replace the radiator.  I replaced the hose, and wired it on.  This allowed me to drive down the road a mile to a repair shop.  I called company maintenance, and they set it up to have it fixed.  I was down for an hour.

I delivered the load, got an empty trailer, and drove to the next shipper.  I was forty-five minutes early, and they didn't start for a while.  I ate lunch, and took a nap.  Although the load was being hand loaded on the floor, I was on my way a half hour earlier than I though.

Now, the load was supposed to be delivery by 0600 in the morning.  The problem at this point was that if I took a ten hour break, it would be two hours late.  The delivery was about six hours away, and that was the amount left on my fourteen.  I drove without stops, and arrived with twenty-five minutes left on the fourteen.  I went to the receiving office, and they were not open.  Well, I dropped the load, got an empty, and drove one mile to a truck stop.  I won't say how I did this, but there is a rule about getting to a safe haven to park, as I wasn't allowed to stay on the customer lot.

Two hours later, I got orders for the new load, but it was going the wrong way.  But, it was on a line if I was sent west with the next load.

To get the load, I had to take the empty on back roads through KY and OH to get to a lot north of Cincinnati.  There I dropped the empty, but the relay load wasn't there.  I called and was told that it was on the way.  Three and a half hours later I was told to go get the load because the other driver had had scaling problems with the load, and was now out of hours.  I drove to get the load.

The load was heavy, and worse, it was loose scrap paper.  A fast stop could put the load farther forward in the trailer, and unbalance the load.  This was how the other driver had balanced the load.  After I got going, I stopped, and scaled the load using the other driver's original weigh slip to reweigh.  I was okay, but would have to adjust the tandems after I fueled up.

I drove another hour and a half, and stopped for the day.  I could have gone farther, but that wouldn't have gotten me there any sooner.  I showered, ate another late night meal, and went to sleep.

The road going east out of Birmingham was really hilly, and with a lot of stop lights.  It must have taken me over a half hour to go three miles.  After that, it was pretty smooth to the delivery.

I dropped the load and got an empty trailer.  I took the empty to the shipper of my next load, dropped it there, and picked up my next load.  I was just about out of hours, but I was also within fifteen minutes of the Atlanta OC.  There I had a tire changed, and stopped for the night.

I was also told that I could go out of route to get the package waiting for me at West Memphis.  This would add about one hundred miles to the trip.  Even at that, I could still make it by tomorrow.

I drove to West Memphis, picked up the package, had lunch, and took a shower.  I then drove another two hours to a Flying J.  I was pretty tired the last two hours, but miniature candy bars and a Coke got me there.

I got up, as I had the last two days, at 0600.  I felt okay.  After I had been driving an hour, I drove into a storm.  It got dark, it rained some, there was lightning, but it got cooler.  Five and a half hours out, I stopped for fuel, lunch, and took a nap.  Now I felt much better.

I arrived at the delivery at 1600.  I had three hours available for driving, and four on the fourteen.  To my surprise, the delivery turned into a drop.  I dropped the load, and picked up an empty.  I had already received orders that included taking an empty to Kansas City.  However, the load was a short haul, and had an appointment time of 1300 on the 13th.

I sent a note that I could delivery tomorrow at 1100.  As I had figured, I got a return message saying that the place wasn't open, it's Sunday, and that I should call in the morning.  I could have taken the empty to Kansas City, but I could be taken off the load, and going a different direction, so I drove to a lot I had seen, just two miles from the delivery, and stopped for the night.

Slept a little later because I wouldn't be able to call the right people until 0730-0800.  I called, explained the delivery time of tomorrow, and that I could deliver today.  After some checking, I was taken off the load, and given a different one.

As with the previous load, I took the empty to Kansas City, MO.  There I dropped the trailer and looked for the load, that was a relay pick up.  Except, it wasn't there.  I checked the order, and it wasn't going to be there until 1230.  That made the load interesting.  It had an appointment time of 0600 tomorrow.  The calculated distance showed that I only had to average 50 mph to get there by 2000 tonight, so I could take a ten hour break, and delivery at 0600.  However,  once I got going I might not have time to stop for anything.

While waiting for the load, I cleaned up a bit, and ate lunch.  The relay arrived a little early, and I was on my way by 1230.  Now, on the Interstate, I can average 60 mph and more, but this load was practically no Interstate.  I was surprised to see that the road I started out on were mostly divided, with 65 mph speed limits.  There were a couple of towns, but smooth driving from Kansas City to Branson MO.

Around Branson, there were lots of older drivers, driving like older drivers.  At one cross road, an old lady pulled out right in front of me to make a left turn.  I hit the brakes hard, and gave her the horn, among other things.  I don't think she even knew that she almost cause an accident.

South of Branson, in AR, the road turned into a two lane road.  It had steep hills, and tight turns.  This went on for 160 miles.  Then I got on a state road that was narrow, hilly, with steep hills and tighter turns.  Watching the mirrors, I could see that the rig just fit between the lines, on the straight away.  After forty miles of this, I found a little spot to park for the night.  There was another truck there, so I stopped.  I had driven just under seven hours non-stop.  I was about fifteen miles from the delivery, and after the ten hour break would have thirty minutes to get there. 

During the unloading, I received orders for the next load.  I drove an hour to the shipper, dropped the empty, and picked up the load.  Up to this point, I had used an hour and 45 minutes.  I only had about five hours left.  I drove a half hour, and scaled.  Then I drove two hours to West Memphis, where I fueled, showered, and ate lunch. I called my TL about delivering the load.  Given the hours I had available, I would need most all of them to get to the delivery tomorrow, and then I would have problems with the fourteen hour rule.  Should I try and make it, and fail because traffic and road destruction cost me time, or do I use the formula of 50mph, which means I don't get there until the next morning.  We agreed that I would start early tomorrow, and play it from there.

After a rest, I drove the last two and a half hours, getting about two thirds of the way to Nashville.  I stopped at a Pilot station that had access to the Flying J Internet connection.  There I updated this page, and posted it to the Internet.

Between Cincinnati and Columbus, it looked like I could arrive at the delivery early, if they would take me.  I sent a note to my TL with ETA, and hours available.  I asked about delivering, dropping, or maybe a relay, if it had to be there at the specified time.  You may be wondering why I hadn't left later.  Well, to maximize my time, I would have had to average about 57mph.  Yes, I do this most days.  But, if anything slowed me up, I would either be late, run out of hours, or both.  Note that the load was a live unload that would usually take 2.5 hours to do.  I would also need time to leave their lot, and find a place to park.

Anyways, I stopped in Seville OH.  I was thirty minutes away, with an hour and 15 minute available to drive, and three hours and 15 minutes on the fourteen.  I had received a note to delivery in the morning.

The pick up time on the next load was at 1300, five hours later.  Once I got going, I didn't have much time to drive.  Five hours later, I had driven across OH, and past Fort Wayne, IN, going west.  I distance would allow me to sleep a little later.

The receiver showed up fifteen minutes early.  It was a hand unload, but they had a dozen or so guys, and I was unloaded in two hours.

Two and a half hours later, I was at the home lot, and on my way home to get the camper, and get camping.

End of tour 34.

When I start a tour, I usually am ready to go at 0800.  Today was no different.  If I have a load right away, I can get nine to eleven hours in by 1900.  Today was a usual start.

I drove to an area just outside downtown Chicago, where I picked up an empty trailer.  I took to the shipper in an outlying suburb.  There I was loaded in two an a half hours.

Road destruction traffic backups slowed my drive to Gary for fuel.  Now I was finally on my way.  I only drove another four hours, and stopped for the day.  It was after 2000, and I was tired.  I had only drive seven hours and fifteen.

I delivered the load, and picked up an empty.  The shipper was only fifteen minutes away.  I picked up the load, and got going.

Now, when I started the day, I had sent a note that I would only have an hour available to drive when I was done with the first load.  As it turned out, I had about three hours available.  I have to wonder if anyone read my availability note earlier in the day.  When calculating how long it will take to drive to a destination, the company told it's drivers to divided the distance by 50 mph.  At that rate, it would take over thirteen hours to drive the load.  So, I needed the extra time, plus all tomorrow.  And, the load had to be delivered tomorrow.

I drove two hours and fifteen to a truck stop outside Roanoke VA.  The route took US 220 out on NC and into VA.  A fun, hilly, twisty road, if you have a light load.

I had to leave early enough to get there on time, and late enough to leave time to unload, and get to a place to park.  I left at 0815.  I noted that once I arrived, there might not be a place to fuel in the area.  As I was driving by a company OC, I stopped for fuel, and ate lunch.

Shortly after that stop, I got on the US highway heading across PA.  Surprise, most of the time it was divided highway, with a high speed limit.  The hill were not steep, and there were only a few towns.  Once into NY, I was back on Interstate.  I arrive an hour early.

I had to wait the hour before getting into a dock.  It was suppose to take two hours to unload.  This would give me enough time to get to a truck stop.  However, it took five hours before I could leave.  It was past the end of my fourteen hour day.  DOT rules allow for a move to a "safe haven", up to two hours past the fourteen.

At 1145, I drove to the shipper of my next load.  It was suppose to be a live load, taking five hours.  Luckily, they already had a loaded trailer going to the same place, and as I had arrived just ahead of this other drive, I got to drop and hook.  I was on my way in an hour.

I drove an hour and scaled the load.  It was real heavy in the front, so, with the tandems all the way forward, I had to slide the fifth wheel forward, to put some of the weight on the steering axle.

Drove to 2015, and stopped for the night.

Even with that, I got to the shipper of my next load, only twenty minutes late.  They loaded me in an hour.  it was a short haul, and I delivered it in an hour and forty-five minutes.

It was only 1600, so I asked about getting my next load, even though I the pick up window was tomorrow.  My TL called customer service, and found out that it was ready to go now.  That was a surprise because it was suppose to be live load, and it turned out to be another drop and hook.

Before going for the load, I had to get fuel and an empty trailer.  I was able to do both at a small OC outside Columbus OH.  I drove to the shipper, got the load, and got going.  I drove an hour and fifteen minutes to a Pilot station.  I had worked all but forty-five minutes of my fourteen hours, but only drove seven and a half hours.  Also, I you counted, I had worked three loads today.  I don't remember ever having done that before.

Now, the reason for the push on that last load was that it was going to Roanoke VA, yes, again, and I needed to be back at my home lot by noon on the 26th.  I had lost a filling in a tooth, and I needed to go to the dentist twice, a week apart.  I was able to get an appointment on the 26th, and July 3rd.  I just had to give myself the time to get back.

When I arrived at the delivery, I was told that it had a 2000 appointment time.  Great, there went the plan, and now I couldn't get to the next load today, and I wasn't sure I would get to the dentist.  Company morons gave me wrong information, which caused me to send an availability time that I would be available at, which gave me a load that had a pick up location farther away.

By the time I would get in, I would have been sitting ten hours, a DOT break, so I could drive after I was unloaded.  But, I don't like to drive at night, plus I didn't sleep during the day.  Then to mess things up more, they decided that they need to unload me at 1800.  Now, that would make my ten hour break end at about 0700 in the morning.  Now it was doubtful that I could make the dentist appointment.  However, another driver showed up, and he moved my truck into the dock, and to a place to park.  I didn't break up my ten hour break.

The truck was parked by 2000.  I went to sleep early, which surprised me that I was able to do.

I drove the distance in two hours and fifteen.  Dropped the empty, and picked up the load.  From now on, it was drive as long and as far as I could.  The route was following the same route I had used with the first load of the tour.  I would travel on I77/I64 in WV for the third time in six days.  After a stop for fuel, one for lunch, and a restroom break, I was able to get into IN before stopping.  I drove the whole eleven hours.  I am close enough to make the delivery, fuel and shower in the middle of the trip, and get to the dentist.

I stopped at a Flying J, where I update this page for the late eighth day.  I have been getting lazy, should have done it when I sat for ten hours yesterday.  Anyway, done and posted.

It was an easy drive to deliver the load, and make it home to make the dentist appointment.  Before the delivery, I showered and fueled.  As I was leaving to make the delivery, I noticed that the Qualcomm wasn't working.  I had to call my TL leader to inform him of want I was doing, and what to do next.

When I arrived at the home lot, the door handle on the drivers side broke.  I had to go out the passenger door.

I picked up an empty, and drove south from near Philadelphia to northeastern VA.  Half of the route was non-Interstate roads, and it was slow going because of towns and stop lights.

I had been to this shipper once before.  It was a lumber mill in the middle of nowhere.  The last time was in the dark.  Now it was afternoon, and I could see the extent of the operation.  Along with lumber, they make pallets.  That is what I was picking up.  The manufacturing process had been down, and there were four trucks ahead of me.  It was after my fourteen when I was done being loaded.  Luckily, I could stay there for the night.

Ahead to July

In the afternoon, I received order for my next load.  The pick up would be tomorrow at 1800.  As I would be available at 0800, and the shipper was 70 miles away, and that I was suppose to be home tomorrow, and that the delivery was on the next day, in the afternoon, I sent note to my TL to check on this load.  I was ignored.