Back to Jan

I left by 0445.  The delivery would normally have been about an hour drive, but it took an hour and forty-five minutes.  It was snowing, it was dark, and you couldn't see where the lanes were.  Later that day, I was asked how fast I was going.  I said that it depended on what was in front of me.  I didn get up to forty mph once, but it was mostly under thirty.

I arrived at the delivery at 0630.  The latest was supposed to be 0700, but I don't think they would have cared if I had been an hour late.  The person unloading the trailer was putting the rolls of paper in storage.

I left the delivery at 0800, and drove the empty trailer about thirty-four miles.  It took an hour.  At the shipper, I dropped the empty, and picked up the load.  I was in and out in thirty minutes.

I was happy about the load because it was going to SC, and was over 900 miles.  But, then I got an assignment change.  I was to drop the load at the Gary OC.  But, I got another load to do after dropping this one.  It was going to MS, near Memphis TN.  It was 540 miles.

I drove to the OC, and dropped the load.  But, before I could get an empty to go get the MS load, I was taken off of it.  The reason was that there were other loads that needed to be picked up sooner.

When I was sent the order to drop the SC load, I sent a message that I would be available in Gary at 1200.  It was 1100.  I got a work assignment that had me drive thirty-five miles to get an empty at a rail yard, and then drive sixty miles to get the load.  I was suppose to get to the shipper by 1400, but the trip planner didn't think I could get there until 1430 because I had said I would be available until 1200.  I had done that so I could talk with the TOM about the layover pay.  I told the TOM I had to go so that I could make the 1400 appointment at the shipper.

I drove to the rail yard, and just as I was going to pick up the empty, I was taken off the load because someone didn't think I would get to the shipper on time.  I called the trip planner, and told him I could make the appointment.  That I was picking up the empty now.  It was 1245.  But, apparently, once you are taken of a load, you don't get it back.  This has happen to me once before.  I had been taken off a load going from Chicago to San Diego.  I guess that being put back on a load is admitting that you made a mistake.

Anyway, I was given another load.  The previous one was going to Fort Worth, and was about 950 miles.  The new one was going to Dallas, and was about 900 miles.  The difference was because the other shipper was sixty miles farther north.  The latest shipper was five miles away.  Plus, it was a drop and hook, and the other was a live load.

I was able to get the load, and drive to the OC outside St Louis.  I got there just as my fourteen ran out.  I had only driven nine and a quarter hours for the day.

Since 1200, the roads had gotten better, and I had been making descent time.  The Interstate going to St Louis was in good condition.  The road was a little damp, but didn't seem icy.  Most traffic was moving well.  But, I did see accidents, some looking like they had just occurred.  Then, to prove that there were slippery spots, an spinout occurred right in front of me.

It started slow.  There were three lanes.  I was in the right one.  A U-Haul box van was in the center lane.  The U-Haul was blocking my view of a car in the left lane.  As I was catching up to the U-Haul, it started moving into my lane.  I thought, what the hell is he doing, actually, she,  as I backed off.  All of a sudden, the U-Haul is at a right angle to the road.  All I could see was the side of the box.  I jumped on the brakes, hard.  I thought I was going to plow into the box, as it seemed to be in front of me a long time.  Then, I see the unseen car go off the road into the ditch, rear end first.  The U-Haul then went into the ditch, front end first, and clears my lane.  Despite the hard braking, the rig stayed straight.

I pulled onto the shoulder, stopped, and went back to see if everyone was okay.  I was going to call the TL, and have them send the state patrol to my location, but a volunteer fireman, who was patrolling the road, stopped.  As I approached the scene, I saw that the U-Haul had been towing a car on a trailer.  At the time the box was in front of me, I don't remember seeing the trailer.  The U-Haul and the trailer were jackknifed, and the trailer was probably beside me.  Braking hard was the right thing to doing.  Had I swerved to the left, I probably would have hit the trailer, and any other vehicle in the center lane.  Plus, even at about fifty mph, my trailer might have tipped over.

Thinking about the placement of the U-Haul, in the ditch, it had done some weird movements.  We were all traveling south.  When the U-Haul jackknifed in from of me, it was facing west.  The trailer was on the right side of the van.  Given the U-Hauls position in the ditch, it went in going west, then made a 180, and was facing east, with the trailer jackknifed to the left.  I should have taken a picture, but I was a little rattled.

How was that for one exciting day?

I left at 0645, and drove to Dallas, arriving at 1130, after one short stop.  There I dropped the load.  I spent some time there.  I fueled up, ate lunch., and fixed a bad light.

I left at 1230, and drove to the shipper, 110 miles away.  I picked up the load, and had just enough time to get back to the Flying J I had left that morning.

The following is more editorial than anything else.  When it comes to taking showers, I usually do it every other day.  Another way of looking at it is that I only sleep in the bunk two nights between showers.  Today was a shower day.  I had a coupon from the stop at the TA last Sunday, but an inspection showed that it expired yesterday.  That would be eight days, inclusive.  Shower coupons from Pilot stations are only good for five days, inclusive.  So, not having stopped at a Pilot recently, I didn't think I had any coupons available.  Pilot stations log coupons with a member card.  The next Pilot where I was to fuel up was too far away to get to with the available hours to drive.  Where is this going.  I stopped at a Pilot station in Joplin MO, having used fifty gallons of fuel, and filled up.  You need a minimum purchase of fifty gallons to get a coupon.  I then took a shower.

I found out that I did have a coupon.  I didn't have to get any fuel there.  I thought back, and determined that today is the fifth day since I got fuel in Atlanta.  Lesson learned, don't assume that you don't have coupons for showers.  Also, don't assumes you do.

The problem with the shower coupons is that the company wants me to get fuel at the OCs where it is cheaper.  Understandable.  The problem with this is that when you drive a couple of short days between fill ups, or you don't have time to shower at an OC, or you fuel up at OCs two days in a row and don't get fuel for another day, is how you are not in a position to take a shower when you want.

Because I have had problems in the past, I have asked for some solutions from the company.  Here are some suggestions.  Because the company gets a lot of fuel at Pilot stations, we be allowed to take showers anytime without coupons.  Or, extend the life of Pilot shower coupons.  I will probable fuel up again before I get home.  But, every time this happens, it expires before I go back out on the road.

I drove four hours, and stopped for lunch.  An hour and fifteen minutes later, I delivered the load.  I was there for an hour waiting for an empty.  I had to wait for an okay from the company, and then a gate pass from the company I had dropped the load at.

My next load was about an hour away.  The load assignment said the pick up window was tomorrow at 0900.  I called the shipper, and was told to come on in.  I drove to the shipper.  I loaded in forty-five minutes.  I drove another hour and a half before running out of time.  It had been snowing for this part of the drive.  I missed a small truck stop because I saw no trucks parked at it.  I was allowed to park behind a gas station fifteen minute farther down the road.

The drive took over four hours to go 132 miles.  It was a little easier to see the road once it got light out.

At the home lot, I dropped the load for relay.  I called the trip planner to see if there was a local load that needed to be picked up and brought to the drop lot.  There wasn't, so I was let loose to go home.  Good thing, as the day progressed, the snow got worse.  It was difficult to get home.

End of tour

I drove to the lot.  There the tractor was frozen to the pavement in a puddle of ice.  There was snow around the truck, so I wanted to pull it out of the spot so I could load up.  I checked the truck, and started it.  When trying to back out, I noticed that the rear wheels were turning in the ice, but I wasn't moving.  I locked in the other drive axle, and tried to back out.  As I let the clutch out, and applied power, something banged in the back.  The truck would not move.

There is a company there that works on trucks.  They had a front end loader, and used it to lift the truck out of the spot, and onto good pavement.  There I was able to determine that something was broken.  The truck did not move well, went it did.  I called maintenance.  They sent someone over to check out want I had told them.  He determined what I knew, I needed to be towed.

After awhile, a tow truck showed up, and towed the truck to Gary.  There, I was told that they wouldn't get to it until tomorrow.  I slept in the truck.  It was cold, so I had to idle the truck all night long.

I talked with my team leader, and resolved a pay issue for the layover when I spent twenty-four hours in the Canadian OC back on 1/26.

The truck was done at 1600.  I fueled up, and called the trip planner to see if there was a load I could get, and drive for a while, but not require any over night driving.  I waited three hours.  I got the load assignment at about 1915.  Worse, the place closed at 2200.  It was a little more than an hour away.

I picked up an empty trailer, and drove to the shipper.  I was able to get into a dock right away.  The loading didn't start right away, and I had been there an hour when it was finished.  It was 2200.

The load had two stops.  The first stop was five hours away, with a delivery window of 0700-1200, EST.  If I left now, I would get there at 0400, and my fourteen would run out 0600.  If I took my ten hour break now, I would arrive late.  Had I not been given the load when I first called, I wouldn't have had this problem.  I took the ten hour break because I was allowed to park at the shipper, and the break had started when I arrived.

One of the messages I sent was that I was going to be late.  I also sent a message that I could arrive an hour earlier if I was allowed to use the IN/OH tolls roads.  I was going to Toledo, from Chicago.  Before I got to the toll road, I received a message saying it was okay to use the toll roads.  This probably save an hour and a half.  I arrived at the first stop an hour late.  They did not seem to be upset.

Only six rolls of paper were taken out of the trailer, so I was ready to go in less and a half hour.  The second stop was so close that it only took five minutes to get to it.  There I was unloaded in an hour.  I left there at the time the delivery window would have closed.

The next load was about an hour away.  But, it had an appointment time of 1900.  I would be early if I went now.  However, the load assignment are not always accurate with the information.  Quite often I was able to get loaded when I showed up.  That the appointment time was base on when it was thought I would arrive at the shipper.  Not the case this time.  I was told to go to a holding area.

I rested, and watch TiVo.  When the appointment time came, and went, I drove back to the shipping area.  I was told to wait there.  Less than an hour later, I was told to go into a dock.  An hour later, my fourteen hour day ended.  Around 2300, I went to sleep.  I slept in my clothes.  I was sure if I would have to get up and move the truck.  Somewhere around 0300, they started loading the truck, and finished an hour later.   I had to get up to get the paperwork.  I was allowed to stay where I was, and went back to sleep for four hours.

I was concerned about the weather.  It had snowed over night, but wasn't now.  There were reports of freezing rain and sleet where I was going.  I listened to the weather channel on the XM radio, but heard nothing for the area I was driving through.  Before I got out of IN, it started doing something.  It was rain, perhaps ice, and some snow.  But it cleared up before I got to IL.

The were times when the roads looked icy.  I did see one truck in the median, but all he needed was to be pulled out.  Another truck didn't fare so well, as the tractor was upside down.

I got to the Memphis OC with minutes to spare.  There, I fueled up, and showered.

One interesting event was the trailer on the road.  As I drove by, I saw the there was smoke coming from under the pads on the landing gear.  The trailer had just finished sliding to a stop.  It must have been an empty trailer or the landing gear probably would have collapsed.  Farther down the road I saw a tractor driving along with its flasher on, the driver looking around.  I think he lost his trailer.

After making the delivery, I drove to the OC in Laredo.  There I sent another note saying I was available for a load.  I had this fear that I was going to sit there until tomorrow.  One of the last times I was here, I sat for two days.

After a while, I got a load.  Based on the distance, and the appointment time, I had to hustle.  I fueled up, picked up the load, there at the OC, scaled it, then took a shower.  I had just enough time to make it to a Flying J before my fourteen ran out.  The GPS indicated that I had about fifteen minutes to spare, but I was suppose to stop for fuel before the stop.  The fuel stop seemed to be after too short a distance, which proved to be true.  I only took 46 gallons.  Not even enough to get a shower coupon.

After the fuel stop, I drove another hour and a half.  I might have made it fifteen minutes sooner if it hadn't been for some unknown lane closure.

At the Flying J, I updated this page to this point, and posted it to the Internet.

After I was past New Orleans, I took I59 north.  I59 from I10 to I20 was new highway for me.  I drove I59 to GA, where I stopped for the night.  It was another eleven hour day.  That made four in a row.  I was about two hours from the delivery.

The drive to the delivery didn't take two hours, so I was there a half hour early.  I was placed in a dock right away, but unloading didn't start until 0800.  Despite that, I was unloaded by 0900.

I drove off the property, and parked out on the highway.  I was going to take a little break.  But, the load assignment for the next load came over the QualComm, so I wrote down the info, and took off.

I drove eighty miles, or so, back the way I had come.  I dropped the empty trailer in a drop lot, and picked up the load in the same place.  I drove a short distance for fuel.  I then drove about two hours before stopping to take a shower.

After the shower, I drove about thirty minutes to the delivery.  There it took a while to get unloaded.  I had to wait for other trucks to get unloaded first.  While I was being unloaded, I received the orders for my next load.  It had a pick up time tomorrow afternoon.  This was okay.  Actually, I had talked to the trip planner about my hours.  The four eleven hour days had used up most of my seventy.   I was only going to have about twelve hours to use the next two days.  When I left, I drove thirty minutes to a TA, and stopped for the night.

I watched some TiVo for a while.  At 1015, I got up, and out of the truck.  I left at 1100.  The pick up was suppose to be at 1500.  If it was ready, good.  If not, no big deal, I was only going to drive about five hours.

At the shipper, the load was ready to go.  I dropped the empty in a dock, and picked up the load.  I then drove about four and a half hours to the Indianapolis OC.  There I had the trailer looked at.  Several of the tires had flat spots on them, and one may have been flat.  One of the wheels also needed brakes.  And, as long as I was going to being staying there for the night, I had the tractor put into the shop to have a noise that it makes when starting, looked at.

I spent the next few hours on the Internet, doing some banking, and paying bills.  I worked on this page, up to this point, and posted it to the Internet.