Back to Oct

At the fuel stop, I had to wait a while to get to a pump.  This is a really messed up station.  The way into and out of the lot cross each other behind the line up area to the pumps.  There can only be one truck in line, behind the truck fueling.  Any more, and they block the exit.  Trucks exiting the pumps then have to right turn, oval, loop through the area where trucks are backing into spots, on both sides, all the way around.  Also, after a truck has fueled, and pulled ahead to park, so that they can go into the building to get something or use facilities, the drivers have to walk over two hundred yards to the building, one way.  If they take some time, the trucks behind them have to wait.  Anyway, as usual for this station, it took thirty minutes to get out of the station, twice long as normal, and five times what it actually takes to fuel.

I was a little late for the pick up of my next load, but it was okay because they didn't have all the product made.  I was there a quarter over an hour.  Still good.  I then drove almost three hours, and stopped for the night.

I had driven nine and a half hours.  I had wanted to drive only seven or eight hours, so that I might have only that much available next week Friday, that I might get home early.  But, I had a delivery time of 1500, tomorrow, and I preferred to drive later today, than get up earlier tomorrow.

I drove to the delivery, arriving almost an hour early.  I got into a dock right away, and was unloaded in an hour.  I left over an hour before I was to have arrived.  I drove to an OC, where I dropped the empty.  I fueled up, and washed the truck.

The load I was picking up, was supposed to come in during the night.  I was picking it up as a relay.  It wasn't there yet, so I went to sleep for the night.

The load came in about 0800.  I had the driver drop it right away, so I could get going.  The load was suppose to be delivered today, and it was about 470 miles away, in Canada.

I drove three and half hours, and stopped to see if I was cleared to cross the border.  The shipper had sent in the paperwork for the Canadian Customs, so I didn't have to do any of that.  I was cleared to cross.  I then drove to a fuel stop.  At the OC, I was told to only get 50 gallons.  This fuel stop was close to the border, and should give me enough fuel to get to the delivery, and then get out of Canada, where fuel costs more.

I cleared the border shortly after the fuel stop.  I drove just over four hours to the delivery.  There, I dropped the load.  I was supposed to get an empty there, but there were none, so I sent a note saying so.  I was directed to go to the OC in the area to get an empty, but twenty-two miles away from the shipper.  I drove to the OC, picked up an empty, and parked for the night.  It was 1915, CDT.

As I approached the shipper, I saw the smokestack of a medium sized boat crossing the road.  Actually, the road goes under a canal.  It's a tunnel, but it looked more like a bridge.  I got to the shipper, dropped the empty, and picked up the load.  I drove for two hours, and stopped to fax the paperwork for the U.S. customs.  It would have been better if I could have faxed it sooner, but I didn't know any other place to do this.  It takes about three hours to process the paperwork, and I can't cross the border until it is done.  I took a nap.

After two hours, I drove an hour, and stopped for lunch.  While eating, the note saying I could cross the border came it.  I finished eating, and drove a half hour toward the border.  On the Canadian side, is a toll booth for the bridge that crosses over the river that flows from Lake Huron to Lake Erie.  However, the Canadians don't want to many vehicles stopped on the bridge, so I was held up for a half hour.  Something, maybe lunch, was slowing the movement through U.S Customs.

When I got to the customs booth, I was held up.  I had to have the trailer x-rayed to see what was in the trailer.  There were other trucks waiting too, so customs took over an hour.  I had recently seen where this has to be logged on the bottom line of the log book, working - not driving.  But, that time takes away from the driving time.

I drove another three hours, stopping just before my fourteen ran out.  There was a lot of wasted time, today.

I drove to the Gary OC, where I fueled up, and showered.  At this point, I only had three and a quarter hours, available on my seventy to drive.  This was enough time to get to the delivery by 1400.  But, that was the first of three stops, and there may not have been enough time to make the second stop, and definitely not enough to make the third.  I had sent a note last night saying that I would make some deliveries late.

I thought that they might relay the load.  If they had, the next driver had enough time to make the three stops, from the time I had arrived.  But, after the shower, when I went to talk to my TLs, it was too late, as the window on the last was at 1400.  I still had time to make the first stop before my seventy ran out.

While talking to the TLs about some miles I felt I should be paid for, the TL said no, and I said that the company was screwing me, again.  I also said that I would be leaving soon.  The TL didn't like this, and felt we needed to speak to the TOM.  I was taken off the load, and it was set up for relay.  I didn't want to do that, but I wasn't given a choice.

Well, I thought I was going to get fired.  That would have bothered me.  I am about three weeks away from getting matching 402k funds vested.  That was the main thing that keeps me going.  Well, we talked out our concerns, I wasn't fired.

The load I was taken off of was still there, but it couldn't be delivered today because it was past the delivery window.  I was given a short haul load to take into Chicago.  It was 1430, before rush hour, and I got to the delivery okay.  I then drove back to the OC to get another load.  The drive into and out of Chicago was okay because the work that was being done on the various freeways to downtown Chicago was done.  I got the load, and parked for the night.  I still had an hour to drive, but with what I had available tomorrow, I would only have a total of ten hours tomorrow.

The load was going to Canada, but it came from Mexico.  It was being driven across the US under a US Customs bond.  This was something new for me, and the load assignment instructions were confusing.  I talked with other drivers, and they weren't sure about the load either.  One driver checked with his TL, and found out that the load was under a bond, but there was no bond paperwork.  We called for help, but there was nobody home at customs help.  I was able to fax the paperwork to the broker after an hour of trying to find out the fax number.

After about three hours, I went to the truck for the night.

I drove two hours, and stopped to call my TL, now that they were at work.  I explained that I needed the bond paperwork to be faxed to the OC south of Detroit.  I was crossing the border here instead of the crossing at Port Huron.  I found out later that the load was set up to cross at Detroit, but that wasn't in the instructions.  The only indication was that it was include in the company directions.

I drove to the OC, and called the TL.  I was told that the bond paperwork had been found, and they were faxing it to my location.  It was there.  I checked with people there on the procedure at customs.  I drove to the customs lot, and went into the office.  I had to wait awhile, but once I was being served, it only took a couple of minutes.  Basically, what was being done was the cancellation of the bond.  Failure to cancel the bond would mean a fine equal to the value of the load, $68,000, that I would have to pay.

Out in the lot, I had to wait to be let out of the lot.  This is done every so often.  I drove over the bridge to Canadian customs, and got though there is two minutes.  The total time at both customs procedure was an hour and a half.

I drove forty-five minutes, and stopped for lunch.  I then drove two hours and a quarter, and stopped for fuel at the company OC.  It was after 1800, local time, and I had two hours available to drive.  I was driving toward Toronto, and got there about 1900, local time.  Now, in Chicago, this time of the day would be crowded with traffic, but the traffic moves okay.  Not here.  There are eight lanes of traffic.  Four are express lanes.  We were barely doing five MPH.

By the time I got to a place to park, I had gone over on the available time to drive by fifteen minutes.  I also stopped later than I had wanted to.

I drove to the delivery, arriving at 1300, local time, an hour late.  There was a lady there, smoking outside.  I was in Quebec, but she spoke English.  She told me that by the time they were told that I was gong to be there today, they had arranged for other loads to be delivery, thinking I wasn't coming.  I was told I would have to sleep there over night, and get unloaded tomorrow.  This is also the message I had been sent while I was driving to the delivery, but didn't read until after the revelation.

Now, this should not have happened.  The delivery appointment was for 1200 local time.  Went I sent the note yesterday  that I had cleared customs, and that I expected to make delivery on time, the consignee should have been told that I would be there today.  The note was free form, and I believe go to the TL's.  I could have sent a mac29 note that I believe goes to customer service.  But, the mac29 is used for informing when a load is going to be late or early, that is why it was sent this morning.  The bottom line here is that someone didn't do there job.

As a result, I am sitting here with hours to drive.  I will have enough hours to drive long days for the next two days.  The idea I mentioned on the 1st, about driving a shorter day, and getting home earlier on the 9th, may not work.

Sitting here, I worked on this page.  I got caught up on the blog.  All the time I had to work on this is why there is so much written here.

I drove to the shipper of my next load.  I was a few hours late.  I was loaded reasonably quick.  When I left, I drove over six hours with only one short stop.  It was 2130 when I arrived at the OC east of Toronto.  There, I fueled up, faxed border crossing paperwork, and went to bed.  I still had hours to drive, but I had been up sixteen hours, it was after 2200.

At the custom booth I got through in a few minutes.  I drove an hour, and stopped for lunch.  I then called my trip planner.  This is something that had been going on for about six months.  I used to have to call the TL when I wanted to change the load assignment.

The load I was hauling didn't have to be delivered until anytime tomorrow.  It had a BY time, so I could deliver it today.  However, if I did that, I wouldn't have enough time to get home today.  I thought that if I couldn't get home today, I wondered if I could get a load to use up part of tomorrow, then go  home, and start the next tour on Tuesday.  The other option would be to drop the load for relay, and go home.  The trip planner asked if I would drop the load for relay, and pick up a load that delivers Monday, near home.  I said, "Yes".

I drove to the OC in Gary, dropped the load, and picked up the other load.  I took care of a little business there, wasting some time because it was rush hour, and I had to go around or through Chicago.  When I left, I decided to go through Chicago.  Given that the freeway is done, and that it is after 1900, the drive through has been okay in the past, and it was this time.  There was an area of slowness, but it still moved okay.  Even north of Chicago I continued on US 41 instead of cutting over to the toll road.  It is still being worked on, and even with out the work it can be slow this time of day.  I saw a sign saying that it would take thirty minutes to get to Gurnee.  I beat that by eight minutes.  I got to the lot at 2030.

End of tour 63

The delivery time on the load I had was 0800.  That is the time I usually start the tour.  I didn't want to have to get up an hour earlier to make this delivery, so I can to the truck last night, and slept there.

I got up at 0600, and left a half hour later.  I didn't know what rush hour traffic through downtown Milwaukee was like, so I gave myself some extra time.  I arrived at 0715, forty-five minutes early.  That was okay.  I got into a dock by 0730.  I was unloaded in an hour, and was on my way to the second stop for this load.

I drove to Green Bay.  I was in the area over two hours before the appointment time.  I called the consignee to see if I could come in early.  They said, okay.  I drove to the delivery, and got into a dock.  I was unloaded in less than an hour.

I then drove to the OC that was less than a mile away.  I ate lunch, and waited for my next load.  The load assignment came soon after.  I was on my way before 1300, the delivery time of that second stop.

I drove two and a quarter hours to the shipper.  Along the way I saw a flock of large birds along the road that I took to be geese.  However, they were turkeys.  About twenty of them.  I wish I could have gotten a picture.  At the shipper, I saw another large flock.  I hoped that I could get a picture as I left, but they were gone.  I did get this picture of deer, grazing less than twenty feet from the road.

Having picked up the load, I drove back towards Milwaukee, getting to the south side as my fourteen ran out.

When I left, I got a picture of these trucks getting ready to haul bridge sections.  Once on the road, I drove almost six hour non-stop to the delivery.  I delivery time was tomorrow, but I could park there, so I did.  I even parked in a dock.  I thought that I might get unload this night, but it didn't happen.

The shipper took two hours to load me.  This was because the load was in bales.  The bales were light, so they were stacked three bales high.  That meant the forklift drive made three times as many trips into the trailer.  The bales were tobacco.

The rest of the day was driving, with a stop for lunch and a nap, and a stop for fuel.  I stopped at a Flying J that I had never been to.  Actually, this may have been only the second time I drove this road, I40 between Greensboro and Raleigh, NC.

At this point, I hadn't received my next load assignment.  I figured I would need an empty trailer, so I looked for one.  There were not there.  A spotter told me there was another lot were empties were parked.  I went there.  None.  The spotter came into the lot, and said that one had just come available at the first place.  I drove back there, and there was a trailer there.  I was going to call my TL to see if I should take it when my load assignment came in.  The first part said to pick up an empty, the very one that had come available.  Sometimes things happen.  I hooked up the trailer, and checked it out.  I was just about to leave when another driver came along, and asked if I had been assigned that trailer.  I said yes, he said that it had been assigned to him too.  I left with the trailer.  I had to pick up at three stops, and I wasn't going to be able to make the second one on time.

I drove over an hour to the first stop.  I was there a half hour.  I then drove sixty miles in and hour and a quarter.  Half of that was on back roads, using the GPS.  It got me there okay.  I was loaded in an hour.  I then drove to the town of the third stop.  It was three hours of back roads in NC and into VA.  The pick up time for this stop was tomorrow.  There was a small truck stop in this town.  The only one alone the route.  It took awhile to find it.

The rest of the day was a driving day.  I drove nine and half hours, with three stops.  The second stop was for lunch, a nap, and fuel before I continued.  The third stop was at a WalMart, where I bought some groceries.

I stop at the Indianapolis OC for the night, fueling up and showering before I parking for the night.

The empty I was sent to get was still in a dock, so I assumed that it was still loaded.  There were other trailers there, so I hooked up to one, and checked it out.  It was missing a tail light, but I carry extra parts, so was able to fix the problem.  I left, and headed for the shipper, that was back the way I had come from.  It was less than an hour away, and I was able to get to the shipper before the "BY" time.

I was loaded in less than an hour.  I was also able to scale the load there, thus saving the time to stop and scale the load at a truck stop.

I left the shipper, and took back roads going east.  The GPS said the fastest route was to go north to US30, thirty miles away, then east.   This route that has many stop lights.  Streets and Trips said this route would take two and a half hours.  I think it would have taken longer.  The load was heavy, and every light I had to stop for would use up a lot of time.  The back roads I took went pretty much straight east from the shipper, with very few stop lights, less than five.  Eventually, I got onto US30, taking about two and a half hours, but I saved eighteen miles.

I drove to Seville OH, stopping at the OC just as my fourteen ran out.

The rest of the day was a drive day.  It was also a short drive day.  It was also snowing.  Here is a picture at an appropriate place. I drove seven and a half hours, stopping four times.  No rush, the load delivers tomorrow.  I stopped eleven miles from the delivery point.

Now, along the way, I had checked the route as I got close.  I was concerned about the route, and where I was going to stop for the night.  I was going to stop at a rest area in PA, near Port Jervis NY.  The route problem was that there is a low bridge in the area, going the way I wanted to go.  I checked the roads in the area against the motor guide that shows restricted routes, and low bridges.  I thought I had found a safe route.

When I got to the rest area, it didn't allow trucks from 7:00PM to 7:00AM.  You could stop during the day to use the facilities, but couldn't park over night.  There was a WalMart in the area, and I could have stayed there, having seen another truck there.  But, I continued on.  I drove what I thought was the safe route when I came on an underpass with a posted height of 12'6".  There was a place to stop there, so I checked my route.  I guy in a car drove up and said he was a driver, and that the height was what is called a snow height.  The actual height was 13'6".  I drove under, going slow, and got through.  I continued on my planned route.  As I left Post Jervis, I climbed up a really steep hill.  the road was a roller coaster.  I wish I could have driven it in the day, so that I could have seen the view.

I stopped at a service station with a lot in the back.  I was told I could park there.  It was 1700.  It was early, so I worked on this page for the first five day of the tour.

I bought a breakfast, instead of my usual cereal bars.  I was there over an hour, waiting for a load.  I started the computer, and watched a TiVo show.  This usually gets me a response.  And, it did this time, with the load assignment coming in five minutes.  The pick up time was at 1200, 110 miles away, and it was only 0800, so I watched a show before leaving.

The route used NY 17, an extension of I86 that it become one day.  I have been on parts of it before, but I traveled parts that I haven't been on before.  It flowed into I87, a section of this Interstate highway I have not been on.  I eventually got on the NJ turnpike.  Despite the overcast day, I could see Manhattan, identified by the Empire State Building.

I found my way to the shipper, arriving forty-five minute early.  I got into a dock right away, and was being loaded shortly thereafter.  I ate lunch while being loaded, and finished when the loader did.  I got the paperwork, and left at the time I was supposed to have been loaded.

I drove to a truck stop, where I got some fuel, and scaled the load.  I still had time to drive, and was able to get to a Flying J in PA.  There I updated this page to this point, and posted it to the Internet.

Although the load was going to Kansas City, it was diverted to Gary for relay so that I could get home tomorrow.

I delivered the load, and took the empty to a shipper,  where I dropped it.  I then drove to another shipper, where I picked up a load going to Gary for relay.  I drove to Gary, going through downtown Chicago.  Although it was mid-day, traffic was heavy due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

In Gary, I dropped the load, went and talked to the TL, and then bobtailed home.

End of tour 64.

Today is Sunday, but because I got three days at home, including Thanksgiving Day, I was leaving today.  Sometimes in the past, when I left on a Sunday, or Holiday, I usually got a short haul load delivering tomorrow.  This are loads that someone else got to drive the distance.  However, I got a load with some distance.  However, it had a 1500 delivery time tomorrow.  So, I had plenty of time to get there.

I picked up the load at the lot where I parked the truck.  So, once I was hooked up, the rest of the day was a driving day.  The route I took was the shortest when going toward St. Louis.  This route goes through four toll booths.  The other route is nineteen miles farther with only one toll booth.  The thing is, the company won't give a routing point so that I would get the miles.  They want me to give up driving time, so they can save on the tolls.  It seems that they would rather pay over twenty dollars in tolls than give me eight dollars.

I drove to the other side of St Louis, and stopped at a Flying J.

When I was starting to get unloaded, I sent a note with a new availability time.  I ate lunch while I was being unloaded.  I got my next load.  It was about two hours away, but the pick up time was four hours away.  The load assignment was probably based on when the first load was to be delivery, and how long it was going to take.

I drove to the next shipper using a US highway that went from AR toward Muskogee OK.  Now, I know OK.  I went to school there for a year.  The route went by Tahlequah, a city I had been to when I was in school here.  But, this route came from the east.  There was a little mountain range with a good climb and tight turns.

I got to the shipper two hours early.  The load wasn't ready.  I dropped the empty trailer I had, and parked for awhile.  Two hours later, I checked to see if the load was ready.  It wasn't.  I was told that I could park there for the night.  Or, if I see my trailer go by, pick it up and leave, or park out on the road.  The load didn't come until 2300.  I picked it up, checked out, and parked for the night.

The rest of the day was a driving day.  I drove to the OC on the north side of St Louis, where I fueled up and showered.  I left the OC, and drove another three hours, stopping shortly after 1900, when I like to in the winter.

I left at 0630, and drove an hour to the delivery.  There I dropped the load, and picked up an empty trailer.  I then drove an hour to the shipper.  It was only 35 miles to the shipper, but took an hour.  I arrived at 0915.  There was another truck there, so I had to wait about a half hour to get into the dock.  I was there an hour and three quarters.

The rest of the day was a driving day.  Once again, I was traveling the I55/I44 Interstate between OK and Chicago.  I stopped once for lunch, and once for fuel, at the St Louis OC.  I stopped for the night at Lebanon MO.

I drove just under three hours to the delivery.  There I dropped the load, and picked up an empty.  I was suppose to take the empty to another shipper, but only to drop it.  Initially, I was to take the empty to one place in Fort Worth TX, but it was changed to another place south of Dallas.  I called my trip planner to see if there was a rush to get the trailer there today.  I was told, "No", that I could take there tomorrow.  My next load didn't pick up until tomorrow.  I needed a shower, so I drove to the Dallas OC.

There I fueled, and had a light on the truck fixed.  I parked for the night, and turned on the TV.  The Packers were playing Dallas, in Dallas.  I saw the stadium as I drove to the OC.  During half time, I took a shower.  Back in truck, I watched the Packers get beat.  But, they had to used their backup quarterback.

Ahead to Dec

I drove the empty drop, and dropped the trailer.  It was south of Dallas, and as I started out south of Dallas, I was driving away from rush hour traffic.

The route to the shipper took a back road, short cut to I20.  At I35W, I turned south, away from downtown Fort Worth, and rush hour traffic.  I picked up the load at the shipper, and left at 0875.

The route went back toward the Dallas OC.  The GPS kept wanting me to take highways into downtown Dallas.  Yes, those route might have save a couple of miles, but at that time of day, might have taken longer.  I drove around Dallas, and headed east.  The drive today was an easy one.  I drove to West Memphis, the half way point.  I stopped for the night.

While there, I fueled, and had that light on the truck fixed, again.  The mechanic in Dallas didn't connect the wire well, and the wind blowing up the windshield ripped the wires apart.  I figured that this had happened when I heard something beating against the top of the truck.