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.