Home for good - 7/26/09

By the standards of my last post, I didn't get lucky. What I did get was a twenty-four hour bus ride from Wisconsin to Georgia. At least the company paid for it. For those fortunate enough to have never experienced bus travel, allow me to explain. You're crammed into a seat with less room than an airplane, the interior was last sanitized in 1973 when the bus was new, and every person you never wanted to meet will be on the bus with you. But who cares? Just over twenty-four hours after leaving the yard, I was home.

After getting up Friday morning, I dropped my load in Stevens Point, WI and dead-headed to the yard. It took about an hour or so for me to pack my belongings, and after returning the company's items, I was free to go. Pretty simple, really; no hard feelings on either side.

I've been surprised at the number of people that seemed unaware of how truckers live on the road; "where do you sleep?" was a surprising question I received on more than one occasion. Life in a truck isn't too bad. It's kind of like a really long camping trip: Space is at a premium, so you pack the essentials; in the winter, you have a warm, cozy place to bundle up in at night; in bad weather, you have a comfortable shelter from the storm. Most of the larger truckstops have everything a driver could need, including hot showers (that are usually free with a fuel purchase). So, it's pretty easy to get by. All in all, I'll be able to look back on my experience as a favorable one. I was prepared to not get home every weekend, and I didn't. I was prepared to miss meals and drive all day, and I did. I was prepared to see the countryside, and I did. I've learned that proper preparation, in a addition to your expectations, can make a world of difference in how you view your situation. I've learned that there are thousands of hard working men and women on the road that sacrifice time with their families to do their job and that we enjoy the benefits of that sacrifice. And I've learned that being lost isn't so bad. Thanks for following along with my travels; I hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I did.

Janesville, WI - 7/23/09

Unless anything changes between now and tomorrow morning, I have picked-up my final load. I'm set to deliver in Stevens Point tomorrow
morning and then head to the yard to turn in the truck. On more than one occasion today, I've felt it necessary to remind myself that soon I'll be getting paid for ALL the work I do, not just the miles I drive, in addition to being home every day, having weekends off, and plenty of paid holidays and vacation - and it's even a job I'll enjoy! Yessir, things are looking up.

I made my delivery this morning and had to hang out for an hour or so before I received my final pre-plan: a load from Chicago to Wisconsin. I guess I couldn't finish things up without getting caught-up in Chicago construction and traffic. I escaped unscathed, fortunately; it couldve been much worse if I actually had to go downtown.

With any luck, I'll be able to hitch a ride heading south with another driver within the next day or two. Without any luck, I'll be on a very long bus ride or a very expensive flight. Let's hope Lady Luck is feeling generous.

Seymour, IN - 7/22/09

Exactly ten hours of driving got me to Seymour for the evening. I should be in good shape to make my noon appointment in Carol Stream, IL tomorrow.

Once again, dragging 41k lbs across the mountains ensured I had to actually work a little today. And it was perhaps the last time I will cross the mountains in my truck. I drove through a pretty good rain storm in Kentucky this afternoon. Other than that, it was a pretty smooth trip today. Not sure what the next load will be. Guess we'll find out tomorrow.

Catawba, SC - 7/21/09

When you enter the state of North Carolina, you'll most likely notice a sign on the side of the road that reads: "State Law: Must Burn Headlights When Using Windshield Wipers." It hasn't happened yet, but I'm waiting to one day see a car with an Alabama license plate pulled over on the side of the road, the rain-soaked driver kneeling in front of the vehicle with a lighter in one hand, confounded as to why the hell his headlights won't ignite. No, Alabama, mocking you will never cease to amuse.

I left Knoxville this morning and ended up getting to the receiver about an hour and a half ahead of my appointment. I know I'm leaving trucking soon, but I'm not getting cut any slack during my last few days; this place was not designed for tractor-trailers and my skills were definitely put to the test trying to maneuver on narrow city streets. As I approached the building, I saw a narrow driveway on the right, but it was clearly not a truck entrance. With traffic piled up behind me, I figured I should try to get off the main street. Just past the end of the building was an intersection with another narrow street. I could make an easy left and go away from the building, or I could make a hard right, up a hill, with a concrete wall lining the edge of the turn. Hoping there might be a side entrance or some docks in the rear, I opted for the hard right.

And then I saw the dock...and realized I was facing the wrong way.

"Well, you'll just have to go up the hill to turn around, pull back down across both lanes of traffic, and back uphill at an angle to hit the dock." Oh, sure, no problem buddy.



Well, eventually, I got all turned around and managed to get it in the dock. About an hour later, I was empty and ready to go.

(Author's note 7/26/09: the rest of this post was lost during the upload process due to the joys of modern technology, and perhaps, a bit of my own impatience.)

Knoxville, TN - 7/20/09

Well, blog readers, I have an announcement to make. As some of my loyal readers know, while I greatly enjoy the travels and adventures my current job provides, I have been anxious to return to a more routine lifestyle. Recently, I was offered the opportunity to do just that. I've accepted a job offer that will soon have me off the road and back home living a "normal" life. I have given my notice to the company and suspect that I will be home within a week or so. In the meantime, the show must go on...

After a nice weekend at home, I got back on the road yesterday evening for a relatively short jaunt up to Murfreesboro, TN. I had a delivery this morning near Nashville, so the 'Boro seemed like a good place to stop for the night. After my delivery, I received a couple of pre-plans designed to get me up to the yard; I'll be heading over to South Carolina tomorrow to deliver and then pick-up a load to Illinois.

Lawrenceville, GA - 7/17/09

I was greeted with good news this morning: my load was ready in Catawba. I made the five-hour drive over there, dropped and hooked, and was on my way home. Along the way, I noticed there seemed to be an abundance of drivers on the road that woke up this morning with the sole intention of ticking me off. Dragging 41k lbs through the Carolina hills didn't help matters either, though it was easy to find comfort in the fact I was headed home.

I'll be here for a couple days before heading back out to make my Monday delivery in Tennessee.

Shallotte, NC - 7/16/09

I don't think I've been getting enough sleep lately. I can tell because the first thing I want to do upon waking is go back to sleep. I bet you had no idea I could be so profound.

I had a long day of driving, but I found a great way to pass the time: listening to Judge Sotomayor's confirmation hearing on satellite radio. Seeing how many ways she could give the same answer to the same question was quite impressive.

It went something like this:
Senator: Judge, what's your opinion on.....
Sotomayor: I rule on the basis of law, not opinion. You old, wrinkly white man.

Okay, she didn't call them wrinkly, but she was masterful at circumventing their attempts to catch her making contradictory statements or revealing in any way that her legal opinions would be influenced by any thing other than the law. Due to the similar nature of the questions being asked, her deflective answers seemed to become quite routine, almost as if mocking the entire process. I found it humorous. It's always enjoyable to see a blatantly biased senator put in his place by a wise Latina. Take that, Sessions.

As promised to my dispatcher yesterday, I arrived at the receiver this evening after 5pm. Since receiving hours were over at 11am, I was expecting to sit here all night and get unloaded in the morning, however, the kind gentleman here said "though he had to go to his mother's house, he could come back and unload load me at 9pm." Sweet. Works for me. It's just now 9pm and I'm being unloaded as I type. My next load is supposed to be coming out of the black hole that is Catawba, SC. According to my preplan the load was scheduled to be picked-up between 7/13-7/15. I knew better. I was hoping, but I knew better. After calling the guard shack, I was told they hadn't even started making the product that is to be put on the trailer. No surprise there. This load should get me home for the weekend, so I'm hoping for some better news in the morning.

Knoxville, TN - 7/15/09

I finally made it out of Wisconsin Monday afternoon. I was dispatched to southern Wisconsin to pick-up a load to Tennessee. Surprise, the load wasn't ready. After finally getting the load at 7am Tuesday, I stopped to scale and was overweight on my steer tires, yet strangely underweight on my drives and tandems. Back to the shipper. Eventually I was given a different, lighter load. Back to the scales. This time I was overweight on my tandems. Nice. Fortunately, I was able to fix it.

I delivered in Tennessee today and picked-up a load to North Carolina. Well, I didn't so much deliver as I dropped the trailer at the receiver, as my dispatcher specifically instructed. After leaving and going a few miles down the road to eat lunch at the truckstop, I was told "Oops, nevermind. You need to drop the trailer at the truckstop." Alright. With that out of the way, I eventually got back on the road. I'm supposed to deliver in Shallotte, NC tomorrow and I'm really hoping hometime is in the near future.

Amherst, WI - 7/11/09

Yes, I've finally made it to the yard. And a lot of good arriving on a Saturday morning has done me - with the shop guys gone, it looks like I'll be here until at least Monday night. Oh well, at least I'm stationary.

I made my delivery in Missouri Thursday afternoon. The two guys that were there were happy to unload me. Nice. I spent the night just outside Omaha, NE before picking-up there Friday morning. The load was dispatched to load Monday and deliver Tuesday. Sometimes I'm not sure why they bother putting dates and times on the preplans; the load was ready Friday morning and I dropped the load Friday evening in Wisconsin. No problems. Without enough hours to get to the yard, I found a nice, almost empty rest area to get some sleep at last night.

Looks like tomorrow will be another day of hanging out, watching television, and maybe even napping. Good times.

Marston, MO - 7/8/09

All I know is, somebody doesn't have his act together and it's not me. After waiting five hours to get unloaded this morning, I was dispatched to my next load. You know, the load that has to be picked up by 12:30 (it's noon and I'm 2.5 hours away), that was supposed to be picked up yesterday, and has to be in Wisconsin by 9am tomorrow. I guess my dispatcher was just trying to start my day with a little humor. After explaining that no part of that equation was possible, I was told to go anyway. "Hopefully the shipper will load you" and "the receiver is flexible, just let me know when you think you'll get there" was what I got. Alright.

"You gotta be kidding" was the first thing the guy at the warehouse said to me before I even spoke. Hey man, I just go where they tell me. He eventually agreed to load me anyway. Sweet. After putting two rolls of paper on the trailer, he came out to the truck and said, "I can't load you with all that powder in the trailer. This is food grade paper and if it's contaminated, the receiver will reject the load." Huh?

Seems someone somewhere spilled a flour-like powder in the trailer and didn't bother to clean it up. I offered to sweep it out, but apparently even that wouldn't remove enough of it to be considered clean. He basically wanted the trailer washed out. And that's about when I got taken off that load.

After that sidetrip, it was on to Cherokee to pickup a load to Missouri. You know, the load that's supposed to deliver tomorrow morning. Not going to happen. The appointment was changed to noon. Still not going to happen. Guess they're just hoping the receiver will unload me after hours. And why not? If they want their stuff bad enough, they should unload me whenever I get there, right? Alas, that's not always the case. Guess we'll find out tomorrow afternoon.

Birmingham, AL - 7/7/09

As it turned out, that Tennessee load that was supposed to be ready in the morning wasn't going to be ready until 6pm. After informing my dispatcher this morning, I was taken off that load and given a load picking up in Georgia by 2pm. Wow. Good thing I hurriedly left home yesterday evening to get to Tennessee last night.

I picked up the Georgia load and delivered to Cherokee, where I picked up my next load. I'm now waiting at the receiver in Birmingham to deliver in the morning. Amazingly, everything worked out today.

Charleston, TN - 7/6/09

I got less than 2 hours of sleep last night. I got home at 7am this morning. At 2pm, my dispatcher informed me I was supposed to pick up a load in Atlanta by 4pm. Hmm, guess you should have told me sooner.

That load was scrapped and I was told to check back this evening. When I did, I found out I had to be in Tennessee before night's end. Not fun, but possible. Only, when I arrived at the shipper this evening, I was told the load wouldn't be ready until tomorrow morning, eight hours or so after it was supposed to be ready. It's amazing that in these technological times, that little piece of information couldn't be communicated before I drove all the way up here. Oh well. At least I get to sleep late in the morning.

Forest Park, GA - 7/5/09

I didn't notice any fireworks at the truckstop last night; I went to bed. I left west Georgia this morning and headed to Cherokee for a drop and hook.

Of course, dropping was not so simple. And for that matter, neither was the hook. Before entering the facility, the tandems must be slid all the way back. Sometimes, like today, the locking pins get in a bind and wont release when you try to pull the handle. Dealing with that took about twenty minutes of pulling forward to try to release the pressure on the pins, getting out of the truck, walking to the back of the trailer, pulling the the handle (too far - still stuck), getting back in the truck, backing up, too far, pulling forward...over and over and over. Finally, I had moved the truck just right and was able to slide the tandems. And now the locking pins won't pop back out. Well too bad; I'm not dealing with it. I dropped the trailer and that was that. Until karma got the better of me.

The trailer I picked up had a flat tire. This is the second time in as many weeks I've picked up a trailer with a flat. I had to deal with that. I went up the road to a local truckstop and the tire was repaired within the hour for a mere $35. Hmm, no wonder the company would rather repair a tire than replace it.

I'm at the receiver now and they start unloading at 12:30am, so I better try to get a some sleep before they knock on my door.

Temple, GA - 7/1/09

My day started way too early for my liking, but that also means it ended much sooner than usual. And that's not a bad thing. I did, in fact, make my delivery on time this morning. And I didn't get lost. +1

Clearing the first hurdle, it was on to my next load, which is set to deliver tomorrow in Atlanta. After I got loaded, I had plenty of time to get over here to west Georgia for the evening, leaving me with a short hop to Atlanta in the morning. +2

I had requested to be home this weekend, and also part of Monday so I could run some errands after the holiday. My dispatcher lined the loads up to make it happen. +3

Seeing as how I'd been in the truck all day, I hopped out to sit on a bench in the shade to get some fresh air. "I'm gonna sit with ya," said a young woman as she stopped and sat next to me for a bit while she smoked (fortunately, I was upwind) and texted on her cell phone. After a couple of employees came out and talked to her for a few minutes, I deduced that she, too, was an employee. Apparently she wasn't on duty yet, because she wasn't wearing a uniform. So, we sat and I smiled and nodded back politely at the people who passed by and did the same. Soon, my bench mate got up and went inside. About five minutes later, a gentleman that had smiled and nodded as he passed by approached me with two cokes and a bag of hamburgers. "This is for you and your girlfriend." Now, obviously the young lady isn't my girlfriend and I had just eaten, so I wasn't particularly hungry. Nevertheless, I was immediately touched by his generosity and this random act of kindness. +4

And then I started to wonder just what I'd done to warrant his generosity. I gave myself a quick sniff test; nope, still fresh (I'd showered recently). I rubbed my face; still pretty smooth. I glanced down at my attire; I was wearing clean, contemporary clothing. I don't know what it was. As he was walking away, he seemed to offer as an explanation that he thought I was someone he had spoken with previously in the parking lot. Ahhh, now I understand. Being mistaken as a bum: -3

Looks like I'm still in the black. Good times.

Cartersville, GA - 6/30/09

A good day, overall. I started out heading towards Minnesota, but swapped loads and am now due in Alabama tomorrow. Though, it will be a miracle if I get there, because I'm working with the worst directions I've ever received.

I'm coming from a different direction than anticipated, so the initial directions I received needed some modification. Actually, they're totally worthless no matter where you're coming from because they don't have any street names. Anyway, my instinct was to call the source - the receiver. A woman answered the phone. She must have just finished sniffing some glue, because in the 2 minutes of her convoluted rambling, not once did I hear a street name. Guess I know where we got the first directions from. She mentioned a landmark I would pass. Not understanding her pronunciation, I asked if she would mind spelling the name. "Why does it matter? That's not where you're going." And there you have it - yet another reason Alabama should be burned to the ground and then flooded for good measure.

I have no idea if what I ended up with are accurate directions or not. I'm gonna go to sleep and hope the directions come in a dream.

Candler, NC - 6/29/09

I had a nice, uneventful day. I delivered in Charleston and picked-up my next load, which unfortunately is not going in the right direction to get me home this weekend. We'll see how it works out.

Short and sweet tonight. I'm going to bed.

Charleston, TN - 6/26/09

I spent last night in Cherokee, waiting for an empty trailer to become available. Upon waking this morning, there were still no empty trailers, so I sent a message to my dispatcher. The reply was "Go tell them where you're loading and they should get you one."

"Them" could mean security, shipping, or receiving. I chose shipping. I didn't know why any of them would care where I was loading, but whatever. After explaining who I was with, where I was loading, and that I needed an empty trailer, the gentleman checked the computer and told me there were no empties on the lot. Thanks for nothing. Providing that already-known tidbit of information was apparently the extent to which he was willing to help, so I went back to the truck and sent another message to dispatch. I had guessed right on 'shipping', but this time, the response included the name of an actual person to talk to. After talking with a very polite young lady who arranged for the next available trailer to be reserved for me, I went back to the truck to wait. Shortly thereafter, an observant coworker happened to drive by and see me and my trailer-less truck. "My trailer is empty. Do you need it?" Yes. Please. Thank you. Bada-boom bada-bing, I had a trailer and I was on the way to Tennessee to pick up my load. I even made it on time.

After getting loaded, which took all of fifteen minutes, I headed to Nashville to swap loads with another driver. I found out on the way there that he had a flat tire and was going to be late. No problem. That means I get more time for lunch. Now, normally I keep to myself and don't go out of my way to strike up conversations. And today was no different, but apparently my waitress saw "Counselor/Tutor" written on my forehead, because after making a brief comment that, because it was time for her to go home, she was handing me off to another waitress, she sat down in my booth as she began to tell me what a rough day she had had and she still had homework to do but she was having trouble with it, etc.

I guess I let it slip that I knew a thing or two about algebra and a few minutes later she had all her books and notepads on the table. I admired her zeal, but I might as well have been discussing metaphysics with the ketchup bottle on the table. After a brief tutoring session, I went back to the truck to wait for the other driver. After swapping loads, I made my delivery and picked up my next load - on a trailer with a flat tire. Fortunately the Love's nearby had recently opened a tire center, so I was able to get a new tire without too much hassle.

My delivery isn't until Monday, so I'm hoping to spend some time in K-Town before heading over to South Carolina. Should be a pretty light weekend - less than five-hundred miles to cover in two and a half days. I can handle that.

Atlanta, GA - 6/24/09

Lately, I've noticed more often kids riding shotgun in the big trucks passing me on the road. Or a kid trudging along beside his dad through the parking lot on the way into the truckstop. I guess that sight is how a trucker knows summer has officially arrived (in case the sweat dripping off your brow wasn't enough to make summer's presence known). I'm sitting in the truck with the A/C on high, trying not to move, so that I don't inadvertently make it any hotter in here. Optimized-Idle is not my friend right now.

I have a 6am delivery appointment, so I'm off to bed now.

Alabama doesn't disappoint

I guess the van only drives in reverse, 'cause that's what it was doing on this 4-lane divided highway.

Conway, SC - 6/23/09

Two nights of neglecting my duties is enough - I figure I better update now while I'm getting unloaded, in case I forget tonight.

After delivering in Cherokee Sunday evening, I picked up this load and made it to Lincoln, AL. I drove all day yesterday and stopped in Aynor, SC last night. They're almost finished with me here and I should be headed to Columbia, SC to pick up a load back to Cherokee.

Hopefully no hurricanes or other natural disasters are headed this way. In such a situation, it would seem important to have the governor on hand and ready to dispatch emergency personnel when needed. However, given the SC governor's recent penchant for going AWOL to "kind of clear his head after the legislative session," I'm not holding my breath for him to be around the next time things get tough.

That ain't right (pics)

Tractor-trailer and camper wreck on I-65 in Alabama

This car apparently got tired of waiting in the traffic jam, so they turned around and drove the wrong way on the interstate, which had fortunately been closed

U-Haul truck towing a vehicle decided to make a u-turn on the interstate

Convertible buses. I have no idea why.

Wildwood, FL - 6/18/08

Four hours getting unloaded this morning meant I wasn't going to make it to Orlando before the 3pm cut-off to get loaded. I got there around 4:30 and they loaded me anyway. Thanks.

This morning, I had already explained to my dispatcher that a noon delivery tomorrow in Alabama was not possible, so I was told I could take the load home for the weekend. Works for me. After getting loaded, I had to figure out how to get back to I-75 without paying any tolls. The most direct route is not always the fastest. Orlando has 468,238 traffic lights and the highway I was on contained 468,235 of them. Realizing I was approaching the end of my 14-hr clock, and sick of redlights, I gave up and got on the turnpike. I managed to escape relatively unscathed, robbed of only ten dollars.

Should be home tomorrow evening, barring any unforeseen change in plans. I've learned when it comes to trucking, it's usually not wise to commit to anything 100%, as nothing is certain and things can change any time. Not always, but sometimes. Occasionally, but not a lot. I think I'll get ready for bed, or maybe not. See how that works? It takes practice to become that noncommittal. Okay, enough rambling about nonsense. Time for bed.

Miami, FL - 6/17/09

I made it to Miami without paying so much as a penny in tolls. Take that, Florida. I had a nice, leisurely, speed-limit ride all the way down the coast, that is until I got to Miami. The last four miles took about half an hour - because there was a wreck on the other side of the divided highway. The *other side* of the * divided* highway. People just wanted to look. And I just wanted them to go. We've all been in a traffic jam where people drive in a rude, careless, and ignorant manner, so I'll spare you the details.

I had plenty of time to spare today, so I grabbed a shower this morning and had a sit-down lunch this afternoon. The weather has been great and I already have a load back to Alabama. All in all, a good day.

Jacksonville, FL - 6/16/09

By the time I got to Cherokee last night, all I wanted to do was go to bed. So I did. Here's why:

I was scheduled to deliver on the westside of Atlanta at 8am Monday. That's not too early, but with traffic, I figured I'd try to leave around 6am and, if I was lucky, get there a little early. So, like a good little truck driver, I stepped outside to do my pre-trip inspection. A little while later I was all finished and it was time to hop in and get on the road. Only, my door won't open. Oh. Crap.

It was now just before 6am, the truck was locked, my keys were inside, and I was up the creek. The only thing I had was my iPhone, which I had clipped to my belt before getting out of the truck - as if I couldn't love this phone anymore. Alright, time to call a locksmith. After pulling up a list of local locksmiths on my phone, I called the first 24 hr one listed...and got an answering machine. Okay, on to number two. And the second answering machine. Do these people know what 24/7 means? Well, the third time was a charm - I got a real person on the line. The technician, as he referred to himself, showed up about an hour after he said he would. By that time, it had already become clear an 8am delivery was not going to happen, so I had alerted my dispatcher. According to the technician, this was the first big truck he had worked on - and it was evident: three phone consultations with other locksmiths and one hour later, my door was unlocked.

So remember kids, if you lose your wallet and think things can't get worse, Murphy hates you and things will get worse. You'll end up locked out of your vehicle...with your no-wallet-having self.

So that was yesterday's adventure. I ended up making the delivery and picking up a load to Cherokee. I dropped the trailer in Cherokee, parked in front of my trailer that was being loaded in the dock, and went to bed.

Today was much smoother. A long but relatively painless ride from Cherokee to Jacksonville today. My routing to Miami had me taking a bunch of toll roads, but since, as previously mentioned in an earlier post, my Sunpass is in Wisconsin and I don't want to deal with stopping to pay for tolls with my own cash, I'm taking an alternate route. It's a little longer drive, but I'm saving the company a chunk of change by avoiding the tolls. And did I mention I'm not a fan of using my own money to pay for tolls? Of course, the company reimburses me for such expenses, but that's a hassle and I'm simply not a fan of tolls or of lending my company money.

Tomorrow should be a relatively light 5-6 hour drive down to Miami. I'm supposed to deliver Thursday morning and then I'm hoping for a load back to Georgia, but I'm certainly not going to hold my breath.

Birmingham, AL - 6/12/08

Today brought good news and bad news. The good news is I should be home tomorrow. The bad news is I now know the despair of losing a wallet. For those of us that value things such as, say, our identity, it is a nightmarish experience. I've spent most of the day kicking myself for losing it and wishing I could kick the person or persons that know where it's at and have decided to not return it. But with no cash in the wallet and all my debit and credit cards now cancelled, I realize I'm more fortunate than some people, in that I haven't lost any money.

So, to the *CENSORED* that has my wallet, I hope you enjoy playing with the garbage that was my wallet, because nothing in it is of any value to you.

Jackson, GA - 6/11/09

I was pleasantly surprised this morning at only spending three and a half hours getting unloaded instead of the usual five or more. Way to go, Sysco, for having your act together this morning.

After unloading, I headed into Tampa to pick-up the load of scrap paper. After bumping the dock, I barely had enough time to fix a sandwich and eat before of was time to pull around to the scales again. Works for me. The sooner I get rolling, the sooner I can drop this load, and the better my chances of getting home soon.

I stopped for fuel in Ocala on my way north. Inevitably, a person will get solicited in some manner or another at a truck stop, and today was no different. This time it was "Hey man, you wanna buy a radio? I jut lost my job and I'll sell it to you cheap. Twenty bucks." He may have been jobless and broke, but he wasn't dumb; after declining his offer on this hot Florida day, he asked if he could use my radio to advertise so he wouldn't have to walk all around the parking lot saying "Hey man, you wanna buy..."

After a few unanswered calls on the radio, he called it quits and reluctantly decided to meander the parking lot. I got back on the road and made good time to Jackson. I should be in Cherokee tomorrow afternoon. And then...???

Tallapoosa, GA - 6/9/09

I was rather productive today, getting my drop and hook done in Cherokee and making it back down to Georgia. I've got around 570 miles to cover tomorrow, so I should be in good shape to make my appointment Thursday morning in Palmetto, FL.

Coming back down I-65 this afternoon, I was glad to be on the southbound side instead of the northbound side: Apparently a tractor-trailer and a camper being towed by a pick-up truck got mixed up with one another. That's what the rumor on the CB was, anyway; I saw the semi on the side of the road and a pile of white debris, that I assume was the camper, strewn across both lanes. There were two miles of bumper to bumper traffic, unfortunate souls that got caught in the jam before the police had time to shut down the interstate and detour traffic a few miles down the road. Traffic was backed up another two miles because of the detour. People in both traffic jams were out of their cars, sitting on tailgates, talking to one another.

What I found out a few miles down the road was, they had already sat in one traffic jam just to get caught in another. A tanker truck was pulled over on the shoulder with about five police cars and a fire truck and the police cars had blocked off at least one of the two lanes. I'm guessing the tanker truck might have been leaking. That had traffic stopped for another mile or so.

My ride south and then east was trouble free. Hopefully the trip to Florida tomorrow will be, too.

Carnesville, GA - 6/8/09

I was really tempted to take the night off from blogging, but in the spirit if continuity and tradition, blah, blah, blah, whatever, here I am.

Today would have been much better had the forklift guy in Spartanburg, SC not taken five and a half hours to unload me. In fact, he took so long, the forklift ran out of gas - while it was in the trailer; that was another half-hour ball of fun. Had he taken, say, four and a half hours, I would be home right now. Instead, I ran up against my fourteen hour clock and am enjoying the evening in Carnesville. Whatever.

After that disaster, the rest of the day's events progressed much faster. I drove up to the shipper in Charlotte and was loaded in thirty minutes. Thirty minutes! That was awesome, but it still didn't give me enough time to get home, thanks to the aforementioned forklift guy. Whatever.

I'm headed back to good ol' Cherokee, where I'll be dropping this load and picking up a load to Florida. Fortunately, I don't anticipate driving on any toll roads in Florida, which is good, since my Sunpass is sitting at the yard in Wisconsin. Though, last time I went to this particular receiver in Florida, I did have to cross a toll bridge to get to my next load in Clearwater. Hmm, maybe I better get a few bucks in cash just in case.

A few random pictures

Welcome to Alabama

At a shipper next to an Amtrak shop


A nice spring day


A morning visitor


Windmill blade


You can check out the rest of my random, senseless pictures and see where they were taken here.

Tuscumbia, AL - 6/4/09

My favorite joke of all time: How do you get a clown off a swing-set? (answer at end of post)

Well, I started off the day with 8.25 available hours and managed to use every last minute. I drove, made my delivery on time, and even got fuel. I would say today was a perfect illustration of my masterful trip planning skills, but I'm pretty sure luck had something to do with it (not really, but Murphy's Law can be a real pain in the ass sometimes, so I'm trying not to jinx myself).

I'm all set to pick up a load in Corinth, MS in the morning that should get me home for the weekend.

Answer: Hit him in the face with with an axe!

Effingham, IL - 6/3/09

I had lousy directions to the receiver this morning, putting me on the wrong side of the warehouse (the side with no docks) and at the end of a dead-end residential street. I drove through downtown Chicago, on crowded narrow city streets (that's the only kind they have). I finished my pick-up just in time to hit the peak of rush-hour on the way out of Chicago. And if I'm lucky, I will barely make my delivery
tomorrow before running out of hours. Yee-haw!

De Forest, WI - 6/2/09

Random observation #1: Windmills have been a pretty common sight the past few days. Strangely, for the hundreds (if not thousands) of functioning windmills I've seen, and the many I've seen being hauled by trucks, I've yet to see one actually being installed. I think they're like crop circles; they just show up one day.

Random observation #2: As one might imagine, dairy farms are quite popular 'round these parts. And if I don't ever smell another cattle-hauler truck again, it'll be too soon.

I just got my next preplan this afternoon, so after my delivery tomorrow I'll be heading down to Chicago to pick-up a load to Cherokee. Yee-haw!

Albert Lea, MN - 6/1/09

Minnesota: Check

I was just flipping through the pictures on my phone and realized it's been a while since I've posted any. I've taken quite a few, mostly because I've learned that pictures taken with my iPhone are automatically geo-tagged in my Google Picasa Web album, providing an excellent illustration of my travels. Well, maybe "excellent" is a little strong; you can see where I've been, at least. I'll try to remember to post some pics next time I'm home.

I made my 7am appointment this morning with no problems. I was delivering to a home improvement store that had several buildings, only one of which had a dock. Only a small portion of the load, which was all baled home insulation, was going to the building with the dock. That meant the rest of it (practically a trailer full from floor to ceiling) had to be unloaded by hand. The bales had to be rolled or carried to the end of the trailer and dropped onto the
waiting forklift, four bales at a time. I hopped in the trailer to help the guy, working up a sweat and making thirty bucks in the process.

After catching my breath, it was on to the shipper for the next load. I guess the company must have heard me complaining about their crappy directions the other day, so this time they didn't bother to give me any. Fortunately, I had the shipper's name and address, a GPS, and their phone number, just in case. My GPS was spot on - it took me right to the address I was given. After driving all the way up the street, I realized "Cook Paper Recycling" was a figment of someone's imagination. Time for a phone call. The gentlemen that answered the
phone greeted me with the name of an entirely different company than I was given, but seemed to be expecting me and provided me with directions to a location several blocks away. Wow, my company gave me a worthless address AND doesn't even know the name of the shipper. Is this a test? Am I on hidden video? I found the correct location and got loaded, but then it was the shipper that didn't have their act together. They filled the trailer with product and had no idea how
much it weighed. For cryin' out.... So, I had to go to the Pilot a
few miles up the road to weigh the load.....and then go back to the shipper to get my paperwork. It was at this point I found out the address I was initially given was the main office, as this was where I had to pick-up my paperwork. Can anybody in South Dakota work out of just ONE building?Please?

With that adventure over, I hit the road. I'm low on hours, so this load isn't scheduled to deliver in Wisconsin until Wednesday morning, which means I get some time to relax today and tomorrow.

Sioux Falls, SD - 5/31/09

South Dakota: Check

I made good time to Kansas City this morning. After calling to see if the load was ready early, and learning that it was, I hit the road around 9am. After a drop and hook, I made my way back to Missouri for some fuel and lunch. Not much excitement in Missouri, just in case you were wondering. Ditto for Iowa.

South Dakota, not to be outdone by Iowa's bridge work, tore up the entire northbound lanes of I-29 for a good many miles. Thus, I found myself driving north in the southbound lanes once again. Unlike Iowa, however, since the speed limit in SD is 75mph, their idea of a safe speed through the construction zone is 65mph. I didn't even have to touch the brakes. And traffic was flowing smoothly. I think some other cities should take note: Chicago *cough* Atlanta *cough*

I'm only a few miles from the receiver, so my morning drive for a 7am appointment should be pretty quick. I'm down to about 6 hours on my 70-hr clock, so tomorrow should be a relatively light day.

Percival, IA - 5/30/09

Today brought a couple new experiences, which is (usually) a welcome thing. As I was cruising on I-74 this morning, it occurred to me that I would be passing the famous Iowa 80 Truckstop around lunchtime. The place advertises 800 parking spots, and though I didn't count, I believe them. The place was, how do you say? Oh yeah, huge. I grabbed some lunch and browsed around for a bit before getting back on the road.

For those of you that don't know, I'm a fan of police car chase shows; it's always entertaing to see someone suddenly cross the median and drive the wrong way on the interstate. Sadly (and fortunately, I suppose), I didn't witness such a police chase. I did, however, cross the median myself and drive the "wrong way." Four times. I just wanted to see what it was like. Actually, it might have had something to do with my side of the interstate being closed for bridge work. What do you know, they really do use those stimulus dollars.

Senatobia, MS - 5/28/09

I just went inside to brush my teeth before going to bed; who knew an entire bathroom could smell like wet dog. I have no idea why, but hey, I am in Mississippi.

I managed to do just over six hundred miles today, which means I'm freakin' tired. It's time to get some sleep so I can get up and make it through Memphis before the morning rush. I think I can miss Memphis traffic, but Nashville might be a different story.

Houston, TX - 5/27/09

After leaving this morning, just after my 10-hr break was over, the goal was to get to the receiver by eleven; one hour ahead of my appointment. I wasn't wasting time and couldn't have gotten there any sooner. Which is why I found it amusing that I had to pull over and stop to read my "urgent" qualcomm message (can't use Qualcomm while vehicle is in motion) telling me to "get to the receiver ASAP and don't wait until noon!" Ok. I was gonna.

I ended up arriving at eleven-thirty, thanks to a construction zone snafu. Apparently, another truck driver had two flat tires, and instead of pulling off at one of the 9,743,247 truckstops before the two-lane, jersey-barrier laden construction zone, opted to mosey through it. So the kind, patient, and understanding souls (not really) on the CB radio said, anyway.

After being unloaded, I made my way downtown to the shipper for my next load. My appointment wasn't until six this evening, but I didn't have anything else to do. It couldn't hurt to try, right?after checking in almost five hours early, I was told to wait in the dirt lot and they'd call my cell phone when they were ready for me. Fine with me; my book was just reaching it's climax, so I was content to read the afternoon away. And I did. When six o'clock rolled around with nary a phone call, I headed back to the shipping office. "Oh yeah, you can back into door three." What I said was, "Thanks." What I was thinking was, "Now or three hours ago?"

After backing in, I felt a few bumps in the back and then it settled down. A while later I had finished my book. Well, nobody has come to give me my paperwork, so I guess I should fix some dinner. Of course, as soon as I take a bite of my sandwich, there's a pounding on my door. My fourteen-hour clock was almost up, so I'll be hanging out here until the morning. I'm supposed to deliver in Kentucky Friday.

Port Allen, LA - 5/26/09

The first time I typed this e-mail, I hit "send" and my phone immediately died - while it was plugged in. It's been charging for a few minutes, so there should be enough juice to get the job done this time. I'll keep it short.

I drove. I ate. I drove. I got pulled into the scales. I had to park and go inside the scale house. I showed the nice DOT man my paperwork and he let me go. I drove. I parked.

I logged just over eleven hours today, so I'm a little worn out. I have to get up early (surprise), so I'm going to bed early.

Birmingham, AL - 5/25/09

After a relatively long weekend, I'm back on the road. It's too bad, really. Something about being at home and not working for a few days just makes me want to stay at home and not work. Ever. It's interesting how that works.

I don't have to be in Cherokee until the morning, so I made the hop from Atlanta to Birmingham this evening. After Cherokee, it looks like a load to Texas is on the horizon (that's what the pre-plan says anyway).

Lawrenceville, GA - 5/22/09

I arrived at the receiver around 5:30am this morning and after checking-in and bumping the dock, promptly went back to bed. A couple hours later, I was quite relieved upon being awakened by a beep with a message letting me know I could go home after picking-up the next load. Awesome.

It took six hours and three-hundred dollars to get the trailer unloaded, and then I was on my way back to....I-20, exit 49; fortunately, this time I was not in search of a truckstop. I arrived at the shipper and pulled onto the scales, as is customary with recycling facilities, before being instructed to back into any open dock. Just as I was setting up to back in, a gentleman came hustling over to the truck to tell me I could drop my empty trailer in the gravel lot and pick-up my loaded trailer in the same. Awesome.

After scaling the loaded trailer, I was on my way home. Enter Atlanta traffic -everywhere: I-20, I-285, I-85. It was inescapable. And a pain. But I made it. I'm going to enjoy a few days off and spend some time with the family this weekend.

Atlanta, GA - 5/21/09

Just in case you were wondering, there is not a truck stop at exit 49 off I-20, regardless of what the truckstop guidebook tells you.

I left Huntsville this morning and headed to Cherokee, making a quick drop and hook before heading south. I made a fuel stop in Birmingham and checked the truckstop guidebook to figure out how close I could get to my delivery in the morning. Ah, how convenient: two Citgos AND a QT, with two of them having overnight parking. And all within a few miles of my delivery. So, off I went, cruising along I-20 into Georgia, knowing I would soon stop at exit 49 and be done with my day.

I did, in fact, stop at exit 49. After wasting thirty minutes proving that the guidebook didn't know what it was talking about - yeah, books talk - I decided to head over to the Petro, a place I was certain existed. So, here I am. It's just as close, really. The downside is it's not free parking, which isn't actually much of a downside for me since the company is paying for it, but I try to save 'em a few bucks when possible.

I'm supposed to pick-up in Atlanta after my delivery tomorrow, and then....I'm not real sure. My dispatcher was rather non-committal regarding the weekend, so we'll see how things shape up tomorrow.

Huntsville, AL - 5/20/09

Despite the receiver's attempt this morning and the shipper's attempt this afternoon to ruin my schedule, I have made it to my desired destination for the evening within my desired time frame. So there.

I made my way down I-75 this morning and hit a bit of traffic, but after I got on the bypass, it was pretty smooth all the way down I-85 to the receiver. I checked-in an hour early for my 10am appointment and bumped the dock as instructed, curious to see if they'd start unloading early. I can tell you, no, they did not. The sign in the office said they have a two-hour time frame to unload the trailer, beginning at your appointment time, not your time of arrival. Perfectly logical; I'm okay with that. However, when the big-hand and the little-hand were both on "12" and the unloading process had yet to commence, I decided it was time to make an inquiry. By the time I got back outside to the truck, my dock light had changed from green to red, meaning they were unloading. Once they actually started working, I was empty and out of there in about an hour.

I made my way back through Atlanta and up I-75 to Dalton, arriving at one of our regular shippers with an hour to spare. I'm a pretty familiar sight to the lady at the front desk, so I'm generally spared the spiel of what to do and where to go; I give her the required numbers and she says, "see you in a little bit," i.e., to get my paperwork after being loaded. It's a nice arrangement. The problem with this place generally arises after I leave and go a few miles down the road to scale at the Pilot. And today was one of those days. For a reason I have yet to discern, the forklift guys usually place one last bale of scrap paper at the very end of the trailer, inevitably putting my tandems overweight, as was the case today.

I don't think I've ever driven with my tandems slid all the way back, mostly because it's not very conducive to making turns, but also because there are laws in some states limiting the distance between the trailer king-pin and the tandems. Fortunately, Georgia and Alabama are not among those states. And we'll just pretend that I didn't drive through Tennessee.

So, realizing at 5pm that I'm overweight would generally present more of an issue; however, I was able to balance the weight by sliding the tandems back. And on I went. I'm set to deliver in Cherokee in the morning, and then pick-up a load heading back to Atlanta.

Ringgold, GA - 5/19/09

Well, it turns out making it to Cartersville was a fairy-tale wish - a fact I would have known last night had I done my 70-hr recap. Unfortunately, my desire for sleep precluded me from doing so. After updating my logbook recap this morning, I realized I only had seven
hours available today. Thus, the fine town of Ringgold is home for the evening.

It was a rather easy day today, save for some annoying rush-hour traffic in Chattanooga. I'm hoping to leave early enough in the morning to avoid the morning jam-up on I-75 into Atlanta. For that, I need to get to sleep.

Mt. Vernon, IL - 5/18/09

I just finished eating dinner and apparently my server doesn't speak English. I ordered a quesadilla and received a chicken fajita wrap. Later, after finishing my glass of water (which I DID order), I looked at the bill, only to discover the server attempted to charge me $1.99 for tea. She kind of looked European. Maybe I should have tried ordering in Dutch.

I managed to sleep until 8am this morning. It was wonderful. I didn't want to show up six hours early for my 3pm appointment, so I drove to a nearby truckstop to kill some time. Yeah, would've been nice if I'd realized last night the truckstop was close. Anyway, after taking the scenic route to the shipper, I arrived a mere three hours early, hoping they would start loading me ahead of schedule. They didn't. Instead, they gave me plenty of time to read and nap. It was wonderful.

I should be able to make it to Georgia tomorrow evening. My delivery isn't until Wednesday morning, so I'm thinking I'll be in good shape if I make it to Cartersville tomorrow. Any farther than that would be icing on the cake.

Elwood, IL - 5/17/09

A joke: "What's green and has two wheels?" (answer at end of post)

Days such as this leave my head spinning. I started off in Russell, IL, dropped/hooked at the yard in WI, delivered in Green Bay, picked-up in De Pere (suburban Green Bay), and finished the day back in Illinois with a delivery here.

Chicago is still a pain, chiefly because the roads are under construction. As if speeding cars, rude drivers, and an abundance of traffic weren't sufficient, they decided to take away travel lanes, throw up some jersey barriers, and kick in a few lane-shifts. Well, here, I shot some video; take a look for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yco1deXOzN8.

After I delivered tonight, I wasn't really sure where I was going to park for the night. I only had 45 minutes of drive-time left and it appeared I was pretty much out in the sticks. Before leaving, I decided to ask the guard and another driver if they knew anywhere nearby to park. "Yeah. You can park in the parking lot right around the corner of the building." That's close enough for me. My pick-up tomorrow is about an hour away but isn't scheduled until 3pm. I don't much feel like sitting around here all morning, so we'll see what happens.

Answer: "Grass. I lied about the wheels."

Lamers

Seriously, that's the best name they could come up with for a bus company? How about "Hey look at me! I'm with stupid, but I'm all alone" instead? I kind of feel sorry for the passengers.

Russell, IL - 5/16/09

Eight and a half hours might be my new record. That's how long it took to get from Osceola, AR to Chicago. And I didn't have time to stop. But by golly, I made my delivery with fifteen minutes to spare.

I dropped my loaded trailer and then proceeded to go on a wild goose chase for the empty trailer I was to pick-up. "If there's an empty, it'll be over in that drop yard," said the guard. Well, it wasn't. "If it's here, then it must be on the other side of the building." Well, it wasn't. Finally, it was discovered the trailer was about 200 feet from where I dropped my loaded trailer to begin with. Nice.

The plan now is to take this empty trailer to the yard. I don't really know why; I'm getting paid, so I just drive where they tell me. From there, I'm supposed to pick-up a load to Green Bay. But right now, I'm more interested in getting some sleep.

Osceola, AR - 5/15/09

Jesus loves me. Well, according to the piece of paper that some little boy held to the window as his van passed me yesterday. You know you're in the South when...

After stopping in North Little Rock, AR last night, I got up this morning and made it to Martin, TN for my delivery before dead-headed a whopping 170+ miles to Pontotoc, MS to pick-up my next load. Ahh, furniture. My fave. This is a "heavy" load at around 9k lbs. Most furniture loads I've had in the past were 5k lbs or less. Doesn't matter either way, really. Feels like I'm pulling an empty trailer.

I have to get another early start in the morning. I'm supposed to be in the Chicago area by 3pm. Hopefully traffic will be light.

Lewisville, TX - 5/13/09

Oh yeah, everything was going just peachy when I last left you. Friday morning even started off okay. I left west Georgia upon the expiration of my 10-hr break and arrived in Norcross half an hour early for my 5am appointment. Pretty good, eh?

Well, I knew the load would take at least a few hours to unload. Heck, maybe even four, or five at the most. I ate breakfast and caught up on the morning's news before deciding I might as well sleep. Afterall, sleep always seems like a good option at 5am. So I slept for a couple hours, waking when they started to unload me and the truck began to bounce around.

Being that it took two hours simply to begin the unloading process, getting out of there in three hours was obviously not going to happen. And I was right - it took nine hours. I was 15 miles (yeah, I checked) from home at 5am and all I had to do was unload, pick-up a load 8 miles away, and then go home, but you know, Murphy hates me. And to prove it (as if further evidence was needed), I hit Friday's early rush hour traffic when I finally did get on the way home. Son of a...

For the sake of historical reference, here's what I've been up to the past couple days: I was off Saturday and Sunday and left Monday evening to go to Cherokee. After delivering in Cherokee Monday night, I picked up my next load Tuesday afternoon and began heading back to Georgia. I was halfway to Birmingham when I got a message to swap loads with another driver and go back to Cherokee. So I delivered in Cherokee...again. And picked-up in Cherokee...again. I'm now sitting outside the receiver in Lewisville, TX and am set to deliver at 6am. Hooray.

Temple, GA - 5/7/09

As planned, I got rolling good and early this morning, arriving in Cherokee almost seven hours later. Yesterday, I called the receiver and was told by the guard that I wouldn't be unloaded early. Apparently, sometime between then and today he changed his mind, as I checked in five hours early and he didn't say anything. Well, alright then. That's a good start. I went through the gate before he changed his mind and around to the docks to give the warehouse folks my paperwork and to see when my next load would be ready. Surprisingly, more good news: I could drop my trailer in a dock and my load should be ready any minute. Wow, if this works out, I may not have to drive all night.

Sure enough, my load was ready in about fifteen minutes and I was out of there. I couldn't have planned it any better. I'll have to head out of here by 3:30am, but 3:30-5am is better than 10pm-5am.

Mt. Vernon, IL - 5/6/09

The fun is almost over. My day of sitting seems to have gone by faster than I anticipated. Much of the morning I spent glued to my iPhone to get my daily fix of Internet. I finally took a shower and went out for lunch at Chili's across the street. After lunch, I figured I'd peruse the local China Bazaar, err, I mean Wal-Mart.

When I got back to the truck, I decided I should start thinking about my schedule since I had been assigned a pre-plan to Georgia for Friday. It didn't take long before I realized my 4pm Thursday delivery in Alabama combined with a 5am Friday delivery in Georgia meant I would soon have to adopt a nocturnal nature. Crap. Driving through the wee hours of the morning is not conducive to my, uh, what do you call it? Oh yeah, sleep.

As such, I will be attempting to get to sleep extra early this evening with the intention of getting up early in the morning to begin my transition to nocturnalism. Crap.

Mt. Vernon, IL - 5/5/09

And so begins my first 34-hr reset on the road. I technically have two hours available with which to drive, but there isn't anywhere within two hours that I desire to be. So, I shall sit here tonight and all day Wednesday and head to Alabama Thursday, at which time I will have all 70 hours available again.

I left Wisconsin this morning and took my time getting down here; after seeing a state trooper pull over the truck in front if me, I was in no hurry. I stopped for lunch and to repair a light on my latest trailer. This is the third trailer I picked up this week that had a bad light - further evidence there are some lazy drivers that would rather let the next driver fix the problem than tend to it themselves. Scoundrels.

The highlight of my day tomorrow might be browsing the Wal-Mart across the street. Or actually having the opportunity to start reading my book. We shall see.

Edgerton, WI - 5/4/09

I drove some today. It's been known to happen. I made my drop in Neenah, WI and had to wait an hour or so for them to finish loading my next load, which is going to Cherokee.

I've been logging 10+ hour days this past week, so I'm getting low on my 70-hour clock. I'm planning on doing 8-9 hours tomorrow and then I'll have to shut down.

I ate lunch at a diner in Fond Du Lac, WI. As you might imagine, there were a few locals there (certainly the employees). This paragraph was going to stereotype Wisconsonian and, for good measure, Canadian colloquialisms. Instead, I'll just say I enjoy listening to different dialects, eh. Don'cha know?

Bloomington, IL - 5/3/09

I made my way to Cherokee yesterday. It was a pretty easy drive without much traffic, even with some kind of big event going on in Kentucky. Something about horses, I don't know.

I was able to get loaded last night, so I took my 10-hr break at the shipper and got rolling this morning. I've set myself up for a relatively short day tomorrow (300 miles) so I'm hoping to have some down time and be able to relax a little by tomorrow afternoon. Of course, that all depends on how early I get up and on the road in the morning. Considering I'm planning on taking a shower and replacing a light on the trailer, it may not be as early as hoped.

Jeffersonville, OH - 5/1/09

I got jerked around so much today I got whip-lash. It went a little something like this: I got taken off Load A, assigned Load B, taken off Load B, assigned Load A, taken off Load A, and ultimately re-assigned Load B. If you think that sounds like a pain in the *%#, you're right.

This morning, the load planner took me off Load A and gave me Load B because I couldn't get to the shipper in time. Fine. I'd be lying if I said I didn't see that one coming. I knew I couldn't get there before 2pm. So, while I'm unloading this afternoon, I look up the directions and make plans to go to Shipper B. Only, 10 minutes into the trip, my dispatcher calls to tell me she got me Load A back and I need to hustle because I don't have much time (Load A gets me home, so she was trying to help me out). So, I scramble to figure out how to get there and start heading that way. This is the part where Ohio's 55mph speed limit does me no good. I got there 45 minutes after they stopped loading trucks. I checked in, but to no avail - the dock workers were clocking out and I wasn't going to get loaded. Well, that was a fun little side trip. It'll be interesting to see if those miles show up on my pay check.

I was taken off that load for obvious reasons and reassigned Load B, which does not get me home. The good part is I have a load. I got the feeling there was no Plan C. If I couldn't get Load B loaded, I might have been stuck in Ohio all weekend. That's a good way to make a cranky truck driver. But no crankiness here - I'm going to bed and I don't have to set the alarm. That's wonderful.

Richwood, KY - 4/30/09

I stopped in Knoxville today and had a short but nice visit with Mom and Dad. Waited far too long for mechanic to replace four lights on the truck.

Another long day tomorrow. I'm going to bed

Lebanon, TN - 4/29/09

My optimistic outlook for the rest of the week lasted slightly less than eight hours today. That's how long it took for the pre-planned loads that would have put me in Atlanta on Friday morning (and possibly home for the weekend) to get cancelled. Instead, I'll be in Ohio. Hooray.

I left Atlanta this morning, made my drop and hook in Cherokee, and have finished the day here in Lebanon, a couple miles from my delivery in the morning.

I noticed on my last paycheck that I received my first (incredibly modest) pay raise, which means I've hit the six-month mark. Actually, I probably got the raise a few weeks ago, but I wasn't really paying attention.

Lawrenceville, GA - 4/27/09

This Atlanta local-driving crap isn't all it's cracked up to be. I left home around 9am and got back home around 5:30pm. A pretty normal workday by most standards, and a great workday by trucking standards. Only, during that time, I made one delivery, one pick-up, and drove a total of 80 miles. Which means there was plenty of waiting in between. Had the receiver and shipper been on their game, I could have been home by at least 5:15pm. Hey, it's not trucking if you can't find something to complain about.

My dispatcher was kind enough to arrange another day of home-time for me, so here I am. I was welcomed home this evening by one of my cats hovering over a tail-less salamander as it slowly made its way across the carpet. After muttering something along the lines of "@#$%", I dropped my bags and tended to the situation. We've had spiders and roaches before, but amphibians are new. Never a dull moment.

Lawrenceville, GA

Wow. Who knew things could actually work out? After I stopped in Franklin Friday night, I called the shipper to see if the load out of Cherokee would be ready a day early. "No, it's not ready and it's not scheduled to load until Sunday." Ah, well. It was worth a shot. On the off chance that is was, I knew I could get from Franklin to Cherokee to home in one day.

So I got rolling Saturday morning and got good news upon arriving at Cherokee - the load was, in fact, ready. Apparently they had loaded it after I called and it was done at 5am. Perfect. A quick drop-and-hook later and I was ready to head to Georgia. I got in late, but that's better than nothing.

While driving through Alabama yesterday, I noticed there was a race at Talladega. I was passed by a couple of cars with writing on the back windshield. And I laughed out loud when I saw the first one. In big white letters: "Go Kyle Bush #18". Now, I don't consider myself a huge fan of NASCAR and I don't watch the races. If I hadn't seen that car, I couldn't have told you that Kyle was #18. But for crying out loud, even I know that his last name is spelled "Busch". NASCAR fans, you just don't do yourself any favors.

Franklin, KY - 4/24/09

After getting up this morning, I headed over to the shipper, which happened to be in a small, crowded industrial section of downtown Chicago. Translation: Tight quarters. I checked-in and was told to go to the end of the street, turn around, and park on the left side of the narrow two-lane behind the other two trucks.

So, to get to the end of the street, I had to squeeze past the trucks on my right and the guard rail on my left. Obviously, this required taking the only available lane of traffic. Of course at the same exact moment I pull into that lane, some hot-shot in a car comes flying up the road in the opposite direction and decides I should back up so he could get through. Look, people. That's just not how it works. I don't know why; I don't make the rules, I just follow them. After a standoff that lasted long enough for vehicles to pile up behind both of us, some pissed-off big dude with a mustache and thinly braided pony-tail (read: scary looking) approached the car and convinced the driver that he should get out of the way.

With Custer's Last Stand over with, I assumed my position in line. A couple hours later, I was loaded and ready to go. Save for some construction in Indiana, traffic wasn't too bad. I'm set to deliver in Cherokee tomorrow and then I get to play the wait-and-see game to find out when my load out of Cherokee will be ready. Fun times.

Hampshire, IL - 4/23/09

Today = 718 miles and 13 hours on duty (that's a long day, in case you were wondering).

Before my 10-hr break was over this afternoon, I was assigned yet another relay load. Instead of delivering to South Carolina, I'd be swapping loads with a driver in Richmond, KY and taking it to the Chicago area (here) to hand-off to another driver in order to make the scheduled delivery in Minnesota Friday morning. Whew.

Well, my part is done now and I'm supposed - key word - to pick up a load going back south tomorrow, but with the way things have gone so far this week, one can only guess what might actually happen.

Seymour, IN

When I was a kid, I used to pass by truckers on the road and they were always enigmatic to me; the drivers and their trucks were like zombies on the road - road zombies. I never saw them getting loaded or delivering, only driving at all hours of the day and night. Today, I was a road zombie.

I finally got my truck back from the shop this afternoon - 24 hours after they took it. As I was hooking up to my trailer and getting ready to leave the yard, I got beeped. "You still here?" Yes. "Hold up for a minute." As I found out, what I was holding up for were instructions to swap loads with another driver near the WI-IL state line. So much for having my trip planned out.

By the time we swapped loads, it was well past dinner time and the sun was beginning to set. I'd been sitting at the yard for 24 hours, so driving all night was fine by me. And so my zombie status began. Indianapolis was my goal, but I figured I'd end up stopping before then. Along the way, I kept checking my GPS for the distance to my next checkpoint. Oh, it's only an hour. I'll just keep going. I did that a few times, and voilà: I'm in Seymour, which is south of Indianapolis. Basically, I had to come at least this far if I wanted to have a chance at making my delivery a day early. I'm not even certain they'll take it a day early, but there's no sense in wasting time if I don't have to.

Amherst, WI

Son of a...I just checked my blog and realized the only content of my Oak Grove, KY post is a picture; the entire text that was supposed to have been included in the post apparently got lost in Internet World. Piece o'junk. I didn't have much to say that night and I almost went to bed without posting, but I remember willing myself to make an effort and was actually pleased with what I had come up with. Now it was for naught. That brings a parallel to mind.

All last week, in an effort to get home sooner than later, I stayed ahead of the game: When I wanted to stop for the night, I kept driving; when I wanted to sleep past my minimum 10-hr break, I woke up and drove anyway; when I could have stopped for a sit-down dinner, I ate in the truck. And what did I get? A load picking-up 150+ miles away from home on the morning I was supposed to be home. Again, hard work all for naught. Lesson: Work hard and you earn more work. Bad lesson. Oh no, I'm not still bitter. Though, I did make it home by lunch-time that day, so it wasn't a complete loss.

Anyway, I'm finally in Amherst getting the truck serviced. Hopefully I'll be out of here tomorrow morning.

Oak Grove, KY

Lawrenceville, GA

Turns out I didn't really need to be concerned about having the hours to get home after my delivery last night. Despite having requested over a week ago to be home by today, I was given another load that picked up this morning 156 miles from home. My delivery last night was about 45 miles from home. Not sure where the logic was in that decision. What. Ever. Dude.

As mentioned, my delivery last "night" was scheduled for 3:30am. Fortunately, they let all the trucks in to start unloading at midnight. Four hours later, I was unloaded and ready to make my next pick-up. Not wanting to start my 14-hr clock earlier than necessary, I hung out 'til around 5am before making the drive south. I arrived just as the recycling center was opening and was loaded a couple hours later. I guess the good part was all the Atlanta rush-hour traffic had cleared out by the time I went back through.

So I did a little math and realized I haven't had a full day off at home in 19 days. Unfortunately, I think that's a record for me. I'll enjoy a couple days at home before heading back out.

Cullman, AL

The sun was actually up before I was this morning, and I managed to get rolling just as my 10-hr break was up. My delivery went off without a hitch and I was on to my next load.

I pulled into the shipper, a recycling facility, and was told to back into the dock and slide my tandems all the way back, which is pretty standard. If they aren't slid all the way back, the forklift guy bounces around a lot when he drives in and out of the trailer. Yeah, cry me a river. Anyway, I lined up straight with the dock, moved my tandems to the rear, and proceeded to back down the ramp. And that's when I heard...CRUNCH and the truck stopped. Hmm, this doesn't seem good. Knowing I wasn't even remotely close to hitting anything, I hopped out to investigate. I didn't have to go far. The dock was a downward sloping ramp, and with my trailer wheels slid all the way back, by the time they got to the bottom of the ramp, the landing gear on the trailer had bottomed out at the top of the ramp. Voilà: one stuck tractor-trailer.

Okay, I know to be cautious driving across raised railroad crossings, where such mishaps are prone to occur, but a freaking dock that's made for trucks? Who designs this junk anyway? No need to answer that last one. I'm assuming the guys had seen this before, because it didn't take long before the head hauncho brought out a forklift, raised the trailer from the rear, and voilà: one unstuck tractor-trailer. This time, I slid the wheels all the way forward and left them there; forklift guy can bounce around in the trailer for all I care. I was loaded in short order and made may way north, stopping here in Cullman just as my 70-hr clock decided I shouldn't drive anymore (the law says I can't log more than 70 hours on-duty/driving during the preceding 8 days - I've logged 69.5). At midnight, the hours from 8 days ago will "fall off" and I'll be able to work those hours tomorrow.

After I deliver in Cherokee tomorrow, I'll be picking-up a load going to the Atlanta area. The downside is it delivers at 3:30am. Yikes. Haven't had one of those in a while. In order to have the hours to drive home after I deliver, I need to get my 10-hr break in beforehand, meaning I have to be shut-down tomorrow by 5:30pm. The point is, I have to get up really early tomorrow morning so I can get everything done by 5:30pm. Off to bed, I said.

Dallas, TX

At this point in my life, I'm grateful that I chose truck driving over piracy despite the potential for a substantial income. It's just as well; the required attire isn't very becoming. There's no such thing as a jaunty eye-patch.

I'm quite proud of myself for my self-motivation these past couple of days. Despite not having to get up early and drive all day, I did anyway. The end result was I arrived in Dallas this afternoon, leaving me a nice chunk of time with which to relax. Good times.

I'm set to deliver about 20 miles from here in the morning and then I can pick-up my next load and head back east. Home-time is on the horizon.

Duncan, SC

Took this picture this afternoon. At first glance, it appeared there were mountains on the horizon, but no, that's definitely a big pile of thick, black clouds. Eh, it was pretty impressive in person. Not sure if the pic does it justice.

So, I stopped for fuel this morning and took a much-needed shower. Not long after I got rolling again, the Qualcomm beeped with a message reminding me that "it's Good Friday and not everybody works all day, so keep moving!" This, after I've busted my hump this week. I guess she thought I was playing hop-scotch in the parking lot and wanted to make sure I got to the receiver before the they closed. Whatevs. I deliver the freight, they pay me, and I ignore stupid messages like that one.

Speaking of delivering freight: After I got backed into the dock this afternoon, I'm informed that there's a $60, cash only, fee (a "lumper fee" as it's called) to unload the trailer. So, I made a run to a nearby truckstop to get the dough. Where's my "I carry no cash" t-shirt when I need it? Cash only. Psshh.

I'm headed to Texas again. Not a bad ride, really; I can set the cruise on 64mph and let it roll most of the way. And I've already got a load coming out of TX, so that's a plus.

I checked the news a few times today - something about four pirates vs the US Navy just seems pathetic. Actually, something about any pirates vs the US Navy is pathetic. I know it's a more complex situation than my superficial label implies, and I certainly don't condone their actions, but the Wall Street Bull has nothing on those four guys.

"We don't need no water...."

Farm house/building on fire. Fortunately, it appeared emergency
personnel had already arrived.

The unfortunate reality

An abundance of razor-wire.

The interesting history

I think old prison buildings are cool.

FAIL

The arrow was obscured by the guard-rail. I had to get out of the
truck and run across the road to see it.

My long lost sibling

Bracey, VA

The only good thing about driving 10.5 hours today is that my 70-hr
clock is getting low. I only have 7 hours available for tomorrow.
After the past few days, I could use a short day.

Not much to report today. I've decided I'm not a big fan of driving
in the Carolinas, which is unfortunate because I was in North Carolina
most of today and will be in South Carolina tomorrow. The hills, the
traffic, the (lack of) scenery.....blah. Not sure where I'll be going
after SC. Hopefully somewhere flat.

Huntsville, AL

I just couldn't do it. Last night I couldn't bring myself to relive
the hell that was yesterday by blogging about it. But I found out
today my troubles were worth an extra $230, so that helped to take the
edge off.

I arrived at the consignee, which turned out to be a state prison,
yesterday morning and was greeted by a helpful guard that pointed me
in the direction of the dock. After another guard came out to inspect
my truck and unlock the gate, I was allowed to back in. The receiving
manager came out and immediately rejected the load because it wasn't
on pallets and they couldn't get it off the trailer. Sweet. A short
while later, I was instructed to go to warehouse in Norcross to get
the load palletized. Okay. The forklift guy at Norcross worked
pretty quick and I was soon on my way back to Buford. They're pretty
serious about security there. The guard had to inspect my truck
before I entered and again before I could leave. Anyway, after I
opened the trailer doors and backed in, I walked the the back of the
trailer and found the manager staring at the load and shaking her
head. Forklift guy in Norcross stacked two rolls on each pallet and
the receiver had no way to get the top rolls off.

Before I could get instructions from my dispatcher, I was pretty much
kicked out of the prison; that old guard was rushing me out of there
like he was late for a date. I was only fifteen minutes from the yard
where I park the truck during hometime, so I went back over there to
wait. And wait. Two hours later, I was told to go deliver the load to
the Norcross warehouse and they'd deliver it themselves tomorrow. At
this point, it's clear there has been a serious lack of communication
among all interested parties, but hey, I just go where I'm told.

Back at Norcross, I'm finally empty and go inside to get my paperwork
signed, only they wont sign it because they're not keeping the
freight. Oh no, they're palletizing the load on individual pallets
like they were supposed to the first time and putting it back on the
trailer. By now, it's after five and the prison stopped receiving at
three. And according to my dispatcher, I was suppose to leave
Norcross empty. Repeat to self: "I just drive the truck, I just drive
the truck..." By the way, I haven't been more than thirty miles from
home all day. Unable to deliver the load, I went home for the night.

This morning I called my dispatcher and was told to go back
to....Buford. They finally accepted the load and I was on my way.

I picked-up my next load in Doraville, made a drop/hook in Cherokee,
and have called it a day here in Huntsville. I'm headed toward
Virginia and have a pretty tight schedule, so I'm off to bed.

Almost done

After I got up this morning, I figured I might as well get the AC/Heat fan looked at; the fan hasn't been working for a week or two, and with the warming temperatures of spring (well, they're supposed to be warmer), I didn't want to be without air conditioning for too long.

With that out of the way, I was ready to hit the road for a nice Sunday drive back to Georgia. Everybody else on the road, however, apparently had no interest in a nice Sunday drive. They seemingly hit the road for a nice "cut in front of that big truck and hit the brakes" drive. And that's why I wish all four-wheelers (cars) had CB's. Yelling and cussing to myself just doesn't seem as satisfying. Some minivan decided to drive into a guard rail, so the police and a highway response truck blocked the right lane. Seeing the impediment ahead, I slowed in the center lane to allow cars to move over. Well, I flatter myself, really; the cars were coming into my lane whether I was there or not. After all, everybody knows the world will flat-out cease to exist if a driver has to actually slow down or *gasp* stop in his lane to avoid a collision. Only, once the guy cut in front of me, he hit the brakes to make sure he got a good look at the crash and almost caused another one in the process. Ah, well. FYI, the air horn still works. Fortunately, the brakes do too.

I-65 through Louisville. Worst. Road. Ever. Still.

While I'm home for the night, I'm scheduled to deliver this load in the morning, just a few miles away. My next load picks-up in Atlanta and should give me some home-time.

Seymour, IN

One of the best things about today was, unlike yesterday, I didn't have to drive 55 mph for 360+ miles. Yeah, I'm talking to you, Illinois.

Another plus: all the snow was gone! Lest I forget I was up north, however, I had plenty of drivers cut me off. Thanks for the warm Chicago-welcome. Bunch of jack-arses. One of them did get pulled over immediately after speeding by me, though. Sweet vindication. Thanks, Po-Po.

After making my delivery this morning, I checked in with the weekend dispatcher to find out exactly what I was supposed to do next. Apparently, the preplans were assigned correctly, leaving no time for a side-trip to the yard for service. I've got a feeling I know who dropped the ball on that one, and her name starts with "Dispatcher." Hey, works for me - less sitting and more driving makes my bank account happy. So down to Georgia we go. In all, I managed to cover 625 miles today, which sets me up for a relatively light day of driving for the trip south tomorrow.

Russell, IL

Okay, it's not Wisconsin, but I can see Russia from my hous.....I mean, I can see the state border from here. Almost.

Anyway. Despite having two preplans, I'm not real sure what the deal is after I deliver tomorrow. I asked my dispatcher and her answer was "not sure yet." And then she went home. The first preplan delivers in Georgia on Monday, supposedly. It's a two day trip and the truck still needs service. Not quite sure how this is going to all work out. Guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it, which should be in about twelve hours.

Matthews, MO

What a long day. I checked-out of the motel this morning and got all of my stuff back in the truck just before the rain started to come down. The shipper was only a few miles away, and once I got there, they took their sweet time getting me loaded. In case you haven't noticed, shippers and receivers (with the occasional exception) pretty much don't care about a driver's time. At all. Fine. I crawled in the bed and went back to sleep.

The rest of the day was just a bunch of mind-numbing miles. I was greeted at the Missouri state line with black skies and a torrential rain. It only lasted about twenty minutes and a few miles later, I called it quits for the day here in Matthews. Tomorrow, Wisconsin.

Marshall, TX

This is the kind of downtime I could grow accustomed to. In the absence of a suitable local truckstop, I opted to spend the evening in the comfort of a motel. It's the little things in life...

I got rolling as soon as my 10-hr break was up this morning and made my appointment with 30 minutes to spare. Though, by the time I actually signed in, 30 minutes had elapsed. My delivery, as I found out, was at the Red River Army Depot. As I also found out, so were about twenty other deliveries. And we somehow managed to all arrive at the same time. Fantastic. Because, you know, a bunch of truck drivers and government bureaucracy mix so well. After standing in line for twenty minutes, I finally got to the counter of the first office I was to visit. After being subjected to the rigorous security investigation - "Are you an American citizen?" - and signing some papers, I was allowed to proceed to office #2 to pick-up my badge. All trucks have to be inspected before entering the facility and, of course, by the time I got out of the offices, several trucks had already queued up in the inspection line. At this point, I really shouldn't be surprised.

After getting unloaded, I rolled south on US-59 into Marshall. I'm set to pick-up my next load in the morning and head to Wisconsin. Hopefully the snow has melted by now.

Lonoke, AR - 3/31/09

Yesterday's mantra seems to be on track to become the theme of the week. At my dispatcher's insistence, I started my 14-hr clock and went over to Cherokee this morning to wait my turn for an empty trailer. Along with 578854429 other Wolding drivers. Wolding had plenty of drivers bringing loads into Cherokee, but when it came to getting us out of Cherokee, their exit strategy was about as well thought out as Bernard Madoff's. I'm not sure what the deal was with our customer, but they were hanging on to our trailers like they were worth their weight in gold.

While enjoying a nap, I got beeped. Figures. Do I want a load going to Texarkana and then Wisconsin? Um, yes. 1000+ miles sounded much better than 160 miles. Turned out, another driver picked-up the load this morning, but needed to be home soon, so he dropped it off in Cherokee and took my place in line for an empty. Lucky me.

Had I not started my 14-hr clock this morning, I could have gone all the way to Texarkana; instead, I've stopped here for the night after two failed attempts to find parking. Stopped to get fuel - full. Pulled into a rest area - full. After cruising down the road a few more miles, I happened upon a small truckstop with a few spots left. Works for me.

Oh, and that whole waiting thing? Plenty more of that in the cards, just in case you were thinking everything was starting to work out for this here trucker. I deliver this load on the 1st but can't pick-up my next load until the 2nd. Ah well.