Sunday, 3:45 p.m.: after taking a slightly longer break than usual, I'm back on the road. I'm slightly afraid to get on I77 though, since the Carolina Panthers game just ended. I'm quite sure that five minutes from now, I'll be remarking on either how good or bad the traffic is.
Sunday, 3:50 p.m.: amazingly, traffic is completely open right now. There seems to be more traffic on I77 southbound than North, and I need to go north to get where I'm going.
Sunday, 4:55 p.m.: traffic is still flowing smoothly as I continue north through the Carolinas. I'm also making great time so far, which will ensure I get plenty of sleep tonight.
Sunday, 5:50 p.m.: somehow: I'm now simultaneously on I77 North and I81 South. While I still haven't figured out how to be in two places at once, apparently I can figure out how to drive in two directions at once.
Sunday, 6:20 p.m.: taking a rest break, it feels like my legs are starting to fall asleep. I have 187 miles to go, so I'm still in great shape on time.
Sunday, 7:10 p.m.: I'm on I77 North in West Virginia now and going through these mountains is a pain in the tail. Even though this load is only 18,000 pounds, it's impossible to maintain my speed going uphill and the road is so winding that I can't afford to gain any extra speed going downhill. There have already been two occasions in which I was worried I was going to roll the truck; there was that sharp a turn on the interstate. I'll be quite happy to get out of here and back on the flat roads again.
Sunday, 7:50 p.m.: just when I thought West Virginia couldn't get any harder to drive through, it started to rain just as I got to a warning sign for sharp curves ahead. So now the roads are slick, I have limited visibility, and it's difficult driving even under good conditions. Despite a speed limit of 55, I'm not doing anything above 50 mph through here; under these conditions, it's not safe to go any faster. I suppose I should just be thankful that this isn't snow. It's 52° here, so there's little risk of anything freezing.
Sunday, 8:45 p.m.: it looks like I'm finally through the mountains. I have just over 60 miles left for tonight; it looks like I'll have to leave almost as soon as my break is up to get to the customer on time.
Sunday, 9:30 p.m.: I just crossed into Kentucky, and with a state change came in change in the weather: fog. Visibility is still pretty good, but I can tell that by the end of the night it would be very difficult to drive. It doesn't help matters that I'm not feeling very well either. I've been having a hard time breathing for the last several miles.
Sunday, 9:55 p.m.: I arrived at the truckstop, parked, and I'm now ready to sleep. I'll probably go to get something to eat first, just as a late-night snack, but I think I'll spend my full 10 hour break sleeping.
Monday, 1:55 p.m.: are after a whopping four half hours, I'm finally rightly. Yes, 4 1/2 hours. I arrived not an hour early, but it took over an hour for them to check me in; it was 11:15 a.m. by the time I got checked in for my 11 o'clock appointment. On the bright side, I was told that since this was a warehouse load, I was not responsible for unloading it. However, with as long as it so, I think I could've and unloaded myself faster. I have to hurry to make this next pick up appointment; I only have about half an hour to spare. I'll worry about completing a trip plan and the rest of the paperwork after I get there.
Monday, 3 p.m.: apparently nobody in the city of Lexington, Kentucky has ever heard of the concept of leading following distance. I've had it least 12 cars cut in front of me in the last 2 miles, none of which were leaving more than half a second between my nose in their tail. I am doing the 55 mph speed limit, so it's not like I'm holding up traffic in the time it took for me to dictate this paragraph, three more cut in front of me, one right after the other. No, excuse me, make that five. This is exactly why I support mandatory drivers education.
Monday, 3:45 p.m.: I arrived at the customer, only to find out I was at the wrong location of that customer. So now I have to drive 5 miles to get to where I was supposed to go. This, in turn, means I missed the appointment. It won't I guess me, since it wasn't my fault that I was told to go to the wrong place to begin with, but hopefully I can still pick this load up today.
Monday, 5 p.m.: despite being late, I was still able to get loaded. I'm actually waiting to be loaded right now, but they should be working on it soon. I'm just hoping I can get far enough up the road tonight to make this delivery on time; it's about 625 miles, so I have to make some ground tonight.
Monday, 5:15 p.m.: it appears I seriously underestimated how much time I have left. I can drive as late as 10 o'clock tonight. The place I'm supposed to fuel at is about three and a half hours away; if I get out of here within the next hour or so, I should be able to make it there tonight. If not, I'll have to figure something else out. I'm fairly hopeful it will all work out though; after all, something has to go right today.
Monday, 6 p.m.: just like that, I'm loaded and on the way. My current load is of empty plastic bottles, which makes for an amusingly light trailer. Despite the trailer being loaded with 24 pallets of the bottles, the trailer weighs just over 4000 pounds. So, for all practical purposes, I have an empty trailer. Also, since I'm getting on my way fairly early, I should have no problem making it to that truckstop tonight. That will leave me just an eight hour drive for tomorrow.
Monday, 6:45 p.m.: Apparently I overlooked something in my atlas, because I'd took the route suggested, only to find a very frightening sign: low clearance 13'6". Keep in mind, my trailer is exactly 13'6" high. As soon as I saw the sign, I activated my hazard flashers, slowed to a crawl, and crossed my fingers. Apparently somebody was looking out for me, as I made it under the bridge. Generally, as the trailer gets loaded, the weight pushes it lower to the ground; apparently 4,000 pounds was good enough to get me under a 13'6" bridge. I just hope that when I stop for the night later I don't find the roof of my trailer missing or chunks of bridge perched atop it.
Monday, 6:55 p.m.: is it just me, or does "fallen rock zone" sound more like a sonic the hedgehog level than a highway road warning sign? I've seen about 10 of those signs in the state so far, no, make that 11, and I'm really starting to wonder.
Monday, 7:55 p.m.: I just crossed into Indiana. Just as I crossed the state line, two things happened: it started to rain and my truck started bouncing all over the place due to the poorly maintained highway. At least, unlike other states, there isn't a forest of orange barrels. I'm now just under 100 miles from where I want to stop for the night, so I should be able to make it there before my 14 hours runs out (it would expire at 10 p.m.).
Monday, 8:25 p.m.: about the time I got to mile marker 93, it started pouring. Up until now, it's been intermittent drizzle, but the floodgates just opened. Though it has tapered off slightly, it's still a fairly steady rain. At least it wasn't raining whilewent through West Virginia's mountains yesterday.
Monday, 8:50 p.m.: I just found Santa Claus. Apparently he's off of Interstate 64, Indiana exit 63. No, seriously, the exit sign said Santa Claus. So much for the old notion that he lives at the North Pole, huh?
Monday, 9:30 p.m.: I found my exit, and in the process, found three pilot truckstops. One is bound to have parking.
Monday, 10 p.m.: just because they have parking doesn't mean I can get into any of it. Nearly half an hour of frustrating attempts later, I'm finally in a space, simply because somebody left one of the pull through spaces open.
Tuesday, 12:15 p.m.: After getting a full night's rest, a hot lunch, and fuel, I'm back on I64. Today should be a rather easy day, since I plan on driving about 390 miles and don't have to make a delivery until morning. Granted, waking up in time to drive an hour to make a 7:30 a.m. appointment is not my idea of fun, but since it should take them three hours to unload, I can get a nap if I need it. I just hope my next delivery isn't another set of appointments, since having to drive on somebody else's schedule greatly reduces the number of miles I get to run.
Tuesday, 4:20 p.m.: I've already gone through St. Louis and really don't have any other major cities to go through tonight. The next large city is Kansas City, which falls just before where I'm delivering; I'll be stopping about 20 miles outside of there tonight. I can't imagine I'll have to worry about traffic in the morning, since I'll be getting started around 6 a.m., well before morning rush hour.
Tuesday, 7:15 p.m.: I stopped for the night in Oak Grove, Missouri. I'm at a petro right now, simply because Petro has the easiest part in the world. I'm going get a good meal while I'm here and go to bed early, since they have to be up at 5:30 a.m. to make this delivery. I'm just hoping my next run doesn't require me to get up so early.
Wednesday, 8:30 a.m.: I'm a there is a reason I didn't want to get up this morning. I was so tired when I woke up that I missed the interstate on-ramp and had to go almost 30 miles out of the way to get to this place. Then, when I got here, both receiving docks were full. I had to pull off to the side, and it took some fancy maneuvering to get even close to the dock. While I was trying to back in, the entire staff at the facility came out to simply stare at me. I'm going to try and take a quick nap while I'm here, but knowing my luck, as soon as I fall asleep they'll be done and I'll to have to leave.
Wednesday, 8:55 a.m.: I guess sleep isn't an option; I just got beeped at by the satellite, with a message asking me why was late.
Wednesday, 9:20 a.m.: they were done well ahead of schedule, so now I get to wait for a new work assignment. And, speak of the devil, one just showed up.
Wednesday, 11:35 a.m.: once again, I'm stuck with appointments for my delivery. At least this delivery as it a reasonable hour; it has to be there at noon tomorrow. It 452 miles, this run isn't exactly a long haul, but at least it's a full day's work. Unfortunately, I finished getting into the dock just as this distributor took a lunch break, so I'll be here for at least another hour.
Tuesday, 1:15 p.m.: this will undoubtedly be the lightest load of my trucking career. I have 26 pallets of random crap weighing a grand total of 1,014 pounds. I'm still not entirely convinced they left a number off that way, but it certainly feels as if I'm driving an empty trailer. Also, since I got a customer a full hour ahead of schedule, I'll be able to get to the world's largest truckstop tonight. Also, I have about four hours to spare on this run, saw have a little after time to enjoy the facilities.
Tuesday, 2:30 p.m.: I just tried to stop at a rest area to check a message on my satellite, but apparently there were exactly I parking spaces. All five were full. Hopefully the I'll welcome center will have better parking.
Tuesday, 2:55 p.m.: I'm approaching the Iowa state line on I35, but driving is proving increasingly difficult due to highway and. Up here, there's nothing to keep the wind down, and with this exceptionally light load I have very little holding me down to the road. There is also a steadily increasing cloud cover ahead. I hope that doesn't mean snow.
Tuesday, 3:10 p.m.: Holy shit, Iowa rest areas have free wi-fi. I'll post what I have now, while I have the chance. :)
One thing i found out in my marathon driving without sleep through no fault of my own last month, is that Georgia rest areas have free wifi as well.
ReplyDeleteWell, i've enjoyed my three days off. In 12 hours it's back to the salt mines so to speak.
Did you ever do anything with the storage place. Regardless I guess we can take care of that the next time you are in town. I'll have u-0haul truck in hand because yeah, i'm gonna take my stuff and store it under my own roof since i found out I do have the room.