Saturday, 9 p.m.: Well, today is a long day. since I had some extra time during my break due to the works of my delivery schedule. I took some time and set up a voice recognition program; as a result, there might be some quirks in the latest entries written. That's my excuse anyway. I don't plan on stopping this truck before five o'clock this morning when I hit St. Louis, Missouri. I must have to stop for fuel just up the road in Joplin, MO. I'll probably catch dinner at that point, but it's still going to be a long night ahead.
In any case, even though I've still got quite a bit of time left to drive tonight. I saw already had enough trouble for one day. For one thing, in Oklahoma, I've had to go through two tollbooths. Both times I paid the toll and both times I set off the alarm is if I hadn't. I got receipts showing dates and times of ever get any gifts in the mail from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol to show them that yes, I was being legitimate. Also when I had to make my delivery, I put the trailer back in within two or three tries, which was quite a task on its own. But when I pulled up to the next trailer that I needed, it was a pain in the rear to actually get going. For one thing it was jammed tightly between two other trailers. For another, the landing gear was stuck. Now, I don't mean stuck as in slightly stubborn and a stronger person to do it. I mean stuck as in you couldn't hit this thing back into the trailer with a hammer. Apparently this is such an old trailer that the gear is quite weak and anytime any weight rests on the trailer it just kind of wobbles over and ends up bent in such a way that you can't raise it. Well I got a bit of help from a yard jockey; he lifted up the trailer so I could adjust the landing gear and couple to it. But once I coupled I still couldn't get it up the rest of the way. Well with between me, the jockey, and another driver who offered his services, we finally got it up far enough for me to get out of there. This unfortunately cost me at least an hour, but I've got 14 hours a day I can work what's one hour out of that I wasn't planning on working all 14 anyway.
At least this pickup was easier than my first the first place I had to go. The trailer was so tightly packed that I couldn't get the trailer in there. Believe me, I tried. I spent an hour and a half working back and forth, but there just wasn't enough room for me to get the trailer I was dropping to go where it was supposed to . I then moved over to pick up the trailer I was taking ... only to find that out it wasn't sealed like I've been told it would be. In fact, the doors weren't even closed. Actually, they couldn't close the doors because it was so tightly packed full of freight that it was literally falling out the back. Needless to say, I pointed this out rather quickly and with a chuckle a couple people came over and tried to reorganize this. In the end it still took all three of us just to shut the doors; we still had one box - I believe it was a box of toasters - that we just couldn't get in there. Even so, it was delivery to Wal-Mart distribution center I seriously doubt the Wal-Mart's going to throw a temper tantrum over a single box worth the five dollar toasters.
Still, I really shouldn't be complaining about all this. Between the this delivery and the one I already had, I can chalk up 2600 miles, which works out to roughly $800 I'll be making this week. Not a bad payday, considering that I'm used to making that much money in a month. I'm not due to go home until Thursday, so I still have at least two or three more days with which I can rack up more miles and more pay. I'm hoping that after I get home, I can take care everything quickly such that I won't have to go back again. After all, I'm making so much money at here in the road. Why do I want to sit around and hold dealing with my parents and the assorted drama that Pensacola is becoming infamous for?
I will continue dictating this after I get Joplin and I fuel the truck. They said I only need about 50 gallons to get to the Indianapolis operating center, where I'll be filling up at. After nearly running out of fuel trying to get to an OC before, I'm not going to push my luck. Of all things, though I'm craving McDonald's french fries right now. I really hope there's an McDonald's near that Pilot I'm am supposed to be feeling out that.
Saturday, 11 p.m.: Well, I got McDonald's thankfully. And I have enough fuel to get to the Indianapolis operating center. So now it's just a matter of deciding where I want to shut down for the night. I still have over six hours I can drive. Since I don't have to shut down for about 6 a.m.. I should be able to get to St. Louis. I just don't know if there are any truckstops there. I suppose I will cross that bridge when I come to it. Right now, I'm not too worried since I have so much time I can shut down for a much anywhere I feel like. The best thing about driving this late at night is that there's nothing but open road. I've only got a few cars on the otherwise empty road in front of me, even though I'm just north of Joplin, MO. I don't have to worry about rush hour; I don't have to worry about congestion of people getting places in a hurry; I just have to drive.
Sunday, 2 a.m.: The later into the night it gets, the less likely it looks I'm going to hit St. Louis tonight. I just saw a billboard for love's 30 miles up the road at exit 189. I think I'm going to stop there. Besides, the way this is going right now, I might just stop for a day went in Indianapolis at the operating center there and make the rest of my trip straight out of Indianapolis. I'll have to check the map when I stop for the night. A distant flash of lightning just reminded me of one more reason not to St. Louis: When I was at McDonald's, they had a TV tuned to the Weather Channel and there's some pretty nasty weather up ahead.
Sunday, 11 a.m.: After getting some sleep and looking at the map, I think I'm going to stop at Indianapolis for the day. It's only about 300 miles to Indianapolis, so it's going to be a relatively short day today. However, I need to do laundry and I'd like to get a little extra sleep; I've been running off of six or seven hours sleep every night since I started driving. Hopefully, when I get to Indianapolis the traffic won't be too bad; I hate driving in cities during rush hour.
Sunday, 12:45 p.m.: Thankfully, I can leave now. I'm getting quite tired of sitting here and I can't get back to sleep. All I need to do is a pretrip inspection and get on the road. I'm still worried traffic in Indianapolis is going to be a nightmare, though.
Sunday, 4 p.m.: I made it through St. Louis without a problem. I forgot that it's Sunday today, so traffic wasn't an issue at all.. I just passed a sign that says Indianapolis is 203 miles away, so it looks like a getting there around 7:30 tonight. Since it's Sunday, about half the drivers will be home for the weekend, so parking shouldn't be an issue when I get to the operating center. I just wish Illinois didn't have a 55 mph speed limit for trucks.
Sunday, 6 p.m.: I'm finally in Indiana, and only 76 miles from Indianapolis. The truck speed limit here is 60, I'm doing 63, and I'm still getting passed by every other truck driver on the highway. Oh well. I'm optimistic that I'll be able to get to the operating center by 8PM; hopefully there'll still be something to eat when I get there.
Sunday, 7:30 p.m.: I'm coming down the home stretch your Indianapolis. I just saw our other scary sign though: trash cleanup when I-65 all lanes closed. Thankfully, I'm not going that way. I just hope it doesn't back up on I-465.
Sunday, 9:41 p.m.: I'm here, doing laundry, and relaxing in the operating center. I don't have much to do tonight except to kill time until I'm tired enough to sleep. Unfortunately, I just missed being able to get dinner; the grill closed at 8 and I walked in at about 8:01. :(
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