It's only 10:30 in the morning and it's been a rather interesting day so far. I got started a little later than I'd planned on, which made me nearly ten minutes late getting here... but this place is rather significantly behind schedule and there are two people in front of me; even if I'd been on time I would still be waiting to get loaded. It took a bit of luck - and a map from Google - to find this place at all; one of the roads to get here was completely unmarked and I very nearly missed it. Another driver did miss the turn and I heard the lady in the shipping office getting increasingly irritated until she simply transferred him to someone else and slammed the phone down. I then found out that I had to wait and got told to back up into the main parking lot. Somehow, backing up caught the attention of a passing state trooper, who stopped me to ask a few questions. Specifically, he thought it was odd that I'd been backing up, then got out of the truck to look around, then got back in as they were pulling into the lot. This is actually standard procedure for us; they probably said "get out and look" a hundred times during training. Once they established I wasn't trying to pull anything they let me go, but only after warning me not to take off. Once I pointed out that if I take off, I don't get paid, they laughed and walked off.
In any case, I'm still waiting for my turn in the dock. And ... bang, there it is.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Davenport, FL
The last couple of days have been rather busy, to say the least; I've pulled about 1150 miles. During that time, I've gone through construction, heavy downpours, and seen all manner of stupid driving. I'd have posted sooner, but seeing as my last load - currently being unloaded - was extremely expensive stuff, I'd rather not have taken any chances. I've yet to get a new assignment, though, which is somewhat worrying; they seem to be nearly done unloading me even as I type this. Granted, dispatch seemed to think that it would take five hours to unload it when it's not even half a truck load, but I couldn't necessarily prove them wrong so I just had to go with that estimate, absurd as it was.
Anyway, on to another bad driving award. Pop quiz! You're trying to get to a service plaza (oasis, whatever) on the turnpike. Somehow, you miss the on ramp. What do you do?
Anyway, on to another bad driving award. Pop quiz! You're trying to get to a service plaza (oasis, whatever) on the turnpike. Somehow, you miss the on ramp. What do you do?
- Drive to the next plaza and just wait 45 minutes.
- Stop immediately after, back up on the shoulder, then drive into the plaza's entrance ramp.
- Drive by, stop in the plaza's exit ramp (the acceleration lane), then back up in that lane of travel?
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Yawn
Another reasonably good day, but I'm too tired to make a full post about it. I'll make a full(er) update tomorrow.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Indianapolis, IN - Things go right occasionally
Today was one of those rare days where everything actually went according to plan. I woke up when my alarm went off, found an empty trailer, picked up the load without incident, found out that the load was already perfectly balanced, never ran in to any problems with traffic, and arrived here at the operating center just early enough that I'll be able to complete a 34-hour restart before I have to deliver this load. I really hope I have more days like this.
Also, I have one crappy driving award to give out to an idiot at a traffic light. Apparently he didn't realize the "stop here on red" sign and line actually applied to him. The line was perhaps 50 feet from the intersection; he pulled past it all the way to the pedestrian crosswalk. I stopped far enough back to give him room to back up behind the line, as well as to ensure I didn't trip the sensor; I wanted to see how Tweedledumb would handle it. Sure enough, since nobody was on the sensor, the light never turned green. The ramp in front of us got a green light; we didn't. The guy even pulled forward, ready to take off, but instead the cross-traffic got the green. Even then he didn't realize his mistake and kept inching forward until traffic on the street actually had to swerve around him. As soon as it was clear, he took off, ignoring the red light. I wish I'd been recording the incident; it would make for a wonderful YouTube video.
In any case, I'm taking a 34 hour break now; I have a live unload at 8 Monday morning. Obviously I have no idea where I'm going after that but I certainly hope for some decent miles.
Also, I have one crappy driving award to give out to an idiot at a traffic light. Apparently he didn't realize the "stop here on red" sign and line actually applied to him. The line was perhaps 50 feet from the intersection; he pulled past it all the way to the pedestrian crosswalk. I stopped far enough back to give him room to back up behind the line, as well as to ensure I didn't trip the sensor; I wanted to see how Tweedledumb would handle it. Sure enough, since nobody was on the sensor, the light never turned green. The ramp in front of us got a green light; we didn't. The guy even pulled forward, ready to take off, but instead the cross-traffic got the green. Even then he didn't realize his mistake and kept inching forward until traffic on the street actually had to swerve around him. As soon as it was clear, he took off, ignoring the red light. I wish I'd been recording the incident; it would make for a wonderful YouTube video.
In any case, I'm taking a 34 hour break now; I have a live unload at 8 Monday morning. Obviously I have no idea where I'm going after that but I certainly hope for some decent miles.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Bedford, PA
I never thought I'd be stopping at a Wal-Mart for the night, but apparently the distribution center here also doubles as an operating center. I was originally going to just pick up an empty trailer from here and hope I made it to another truck stop before time ran out for the night, but instead I'm parked here and will comfortably be able to make Indianapolis tomorrow afternoon. I'll be getting there a little later than I might like, but at least I'll be there without having to get cute with my logbook.
The last few days have been pretty much hell. Support shift has continued to screw with my work assignments, given me conflicting information, and generally just made my day very unpleasant. Yesterday, I was given an assignment based on outdated information, though even if that information held up I don't see how I'd ever have been able to make the load on time. Instead, I would have been nine hours late. I was told last night that it was an open delivery appointment, even though my work assignment said at 9 AM; any time that day would have been acceptable. I planned based on that information and updated operations. Then, while driving today, I got taken off that load. So I stopped again, updated them with correct information before they could screw up once more. This time, they finally gave me an assignment I could legally make. Sure, it doesn't deliver until Tuesday morning, up near Chicago, but that just means I'll be able to take a day off and possibly even get paid for it.
So, despite the cosmic pain in the butt the last few days have been, I think that things are going to improve markedly over the next week or so.
The last few days have been pretty much hell. Support shift has continued to screw with my work assignments, given me conflicting information, and generally just made my day very unpleasant. Yesterday, I was given an assignment based on outdated information, though even if that information held up I don't see how I'd ever have been able to make the load on time. Instead, I would have been nine hours late. I was told last night that it was an open delivery appointment, even though my work assignment said at 9 AM; any time that day would have been acceptable. I planned based on that information and updated operations. Then, while driving today, I got taken off that load. So I stopped again, updated them with correct information before they could screw up once more. This time, they finally gave me an assignment I could legally make. Sure, it doesn't deliver until Tuesday morning, up near Chicago, but that just means I'll be able to take a day off and possibly even get paid for it.
So, despite the cosmic pain in the butt the last few days have been, I think that things are going to improve markedly over the next week or so.
Friday, July 18, 2008
White Pine, TN - (No) Support Shift
That guy who said he would confirm everything and that I'd have something by morning? Bull. No message this morning. Operations had no clue what I was talking about. I'm still on the load even though my first pick up was for an hour ago. They'd better not blame me for this.
White Pine, TN - Late Night Parking
Today was a much longer day than I expected. It started off well enough, though I left Carlisle a couple hours later than I intended. That ended up screwing a few things up further down the line, not that I realized how bad it was going to get at the time. Only when I stopped for lunch in the late afternoon did I realize that I might be in time trouble. I got a work assignment just as I was leaving the truck stop, which made me pull into the next area to check it. It was about 600 miles, straight across I-40; I would have been quite content with that. Of course, I'm writing that in the past tense because, shortly after first shift left for the weekend, support shift took me off the load to assign me something else. That "something else" was based on the assumption I'd left Carlisle early in the morning, not shortly before noon.
Problems never come alone, though. As I approached the Tennessee state line, I felt the truck's handling become increasingly unstable. It felt like it was coming from the back right, so I pulled into a rest area to check it out. Sure enough, one of my trailer tires was just about ready to go; it was badly bulged out. So I called maintenance, updated operations with a message saying I'd be at least two hours late to pick up my newly-assigned load, and sat around to wait. It was only about an hour before someone arrived to replace the bad tire; normally it's two or three hours on a weekend. That still pushed me even further behind schedule, though.
By the time I dropped the load, it was obvious that I'd be at least four hours late to get the trailer loaded, possibly five. I updated them with that and sent in a second message asking them to confirm what my new pick up appointments would be. I got a reply... asking me what time I went on break, even though I was still driving to find a truck stop. I seriously am starting to wonder if support shift even bothers looking at the driver information before sending out half-assed responses like that. At least I found parking; normally stopping at 11PM on a weeknight guarantees that truck stops are going to be jammed full. I called operations when I parked and got told that the trip planners will try to find someone else in the area or, failing that, get the appointments rescheduled. They know when I can leave here (no earlier than 9:15 local time) and are planning around that. Hopefully they won't assign me a different load that requires me to work too late tomorrow; I don't want to have to get lucky and find improbable parking again.
Problems never come alone, though. As I approached the Tennessee state line, I felt the truck's handling become increasingly unstable. It felt like it was coming from the back right, so I pulled into a rest area to check it out. Sure enough, one of my trailer tires was just about ready to go; it was badly bulged out. So I called maintenance, updated operations with a message saying I'd be at least two hours late to pick up my newly-assigned load, and sat around to wait. It was only about an hour before someone arrived to replace the bad tire; normally it's two or three hours on a weekend. That still pushed me even further behind schedule, though.
By the time I dropped the load, it was obvious that I'd be at least four hours late to get the trailer loaded, possibly five. I updated them with that and sent in a second message asking them to confirm what my new pick up appointments would be. I got a reply... asking me what time I went on break, even though I was still driving to find a truck stop. I seriously am starting to wonder if support shift even bothers looking at the driver information before sending out half-assed responses like that. At least I found parking; normally stopping at 11PM on a weeknight guarantees that truck stops are going to be jammed full. I called operations when I parked and got told that the trip planners will try to find someone else in the area or, failing that, get the appointments rescheduled. They know when I can leave here (no earlier than 9:15 local time) and are planning around that. Hopefully they won't assign me a different load that requires me to work too late tomorrow; I don't want to have to get lucky and find improbable parking again.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Carlisle, PA
Yesterday was a nice, short day. I woke up early, headed into New Jersey on I-95... and hit bumper to bumper traffic that had me going nine miles an hour. As in I was held up for an hour and the traffic jam was nine miles long. Ugh. At least once I got to the I-295 split, it cleared up considerably and I was able to go full speed. I picked up an empty, headed over to Philadelphia, and picked up my load. Due to the traffic, I got there right at noon for my appointment; I don't like cutting it that close, but at least I wasn't late and got out of there within an hour. Amusingly, the load is only five pallets and weighs 1,550 pounds; it's the third lightest load I've had.
I could have gone further than Carlisle yesterday. I also could have gone anywhere today. But I wanted to get a shower, some decent food, and relax a little while I can afford to do so. I'll update operations before bed by putting in that I'll deliver it tomorrow afternoon and probably go right on break again, pushing myself out 'til Friday morning. They haven't complained about me doing that (yet), probably because they know that I generally am not physically or psychologically up to working more hours than I show. Lately it's been mostly psychological; I've just really not felt the desire to work more than I have to. Even so, I'll gradually try to get myself back in the habit of being up at 3 or 4 AM, being ready to work a full 14 hours, then getting to bed shortly after I go on break. I'll be able to take a day off if I run out of hours to work, after all.
I could have gone further than Carlisle yesterday. I also could have gone anywhere today. But I wanted to get a shower, some decent food, and relax a little while I can afford to do so. I'll update operations before bed by putting in that I'll deliver it tomorrow afternoon and probably go right on break again, pushing myself out 'til Friday morning. They haven't complained about me doing that (yet), probably because they know that I generally am not physically or psychologically up to working more hours than I show. Lately it's been mostly psychological; I've just really not felt the desire to work more than I have to. Even so, I'll gradually try to get myself back in the habit of being up at 3 or 4 AM, being ready to work a full 14 hours, then getting to bed shortly after I go on break. I'll be able to take a day off if I run out of hours to work, after all.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Elkton, MD
About five hundred miles today; I could use a few more days like this to help my wallet out. Aside from people driving like crazies around Washington DC, there really wasn't a whole lot that happened out of the ordinary. It would be nice if people would actually use their turn signals once in a while, but that's the worst thing I have to complain about. Seriously, though, your blinkers are not decorative. Use them. Really.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Charlotte, NC
First day back on the road and I'm already putting in twelve hour days. If I could keep it up, I'd be set, but instead it feels like I'm burning myself out very quickly. I'm far too tired to write more at the moment, but I'll probably make a longer post after I get some much-needed sleep.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Troutville, VA
Yep, I'm still here. Why? Because operations has screwed things up so badly. I called in the morning and, apparently, they have only two loads in the entire state of Virginia today, neither of which could get me home. Worse, I found out that the load I've been assigned wasn't a typo when it said my pickup window started at 2349; the load won't be ready until late tonight. At least they confirmed that I could pick it up early tomorrow morning and it'll be okay. However, they originally said that dropping it in Charlotte isn't going to help; we don't have any freight there either! There's another driver with a load going to Mobile; if he agrees to swap freight, I can drop the load down there, take the truck back to my usual park location, then finally drive home. Even if that happens, though, it won't be until Sunday since there's likely no way I can drive all the way from Charlotte to Mobile to where I park on Saturday.
On the bright side, because of how badly this has gotten screwed up, operations is giving me two days worth of layover pay. So for sitting on my rear, I'm getting $160. While I'd rather be home than getting paid for wasting my time at a truck stop, I can't complain too much about getting two days worth of layover for a delay of roughly 36 hours. I'll type up additional posts if anything else happens, but I really hope that this is the end of it and that I'll finally be on my way home.
On the bright side, because of how badly this has gotten screwed up, operations is giving me two days worth of layover pay. So for sitting on my rear, I'm getting $160. While I'd rather be home than getting paid for wasting my time at a truck stop, I can't complain too much about getting two days worth of layover for a delay of roughly 36 hours. I'll type up additional posts if anything else happens, but I really hope that this is the end of it and that I'll finally be on my way home.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Troutville, VA
Well, this was entirely unproductive. Nine hours after I started my day and I'm back here in Troutville, parked at the same stop I was at last night with the same empty trailer. What happened? After several hours of waiting (and waiting, and waiting, and..) I finally got a work assignment for a live load tomorrow that picks up about fifty miles east of here. I can pick it up any time, so I'm probably going to sleep in a little to try and get my sleep pattern back on track. Of course, by "sleeping in" I still mean that I'm going to get out of here around 6 or 7 AM, but that's quite a bit later than the time my required break will be up: 3 AM.
Once I pick up the load, my goal is to just get down to Charlotte, NC and see if I can relay the load there. Why? Because, even though it's picked up tomorrow, it only delivers in Augusta, GA on the 7th. There's no way I'm going to hold it over the weekend. As it is, though, there's no way at all I'll make it down to Evergreen tomorrow unless they have me picking up a preloaded trailer that's on the way; even then, I seriously doubt I can make it that far in the eleven hours I can drive. So, at best, I'll be getting home on the morning of Saturday, the 5th, and even that assumes that they don't screw up anything else.
Before I head to bed, I'm going to send operations a message explaining all that to them. I'm also going to call once I get to Charlotte and ask them for detention pay since I waited six hours at the "shipper" for that misplaced load. I got there at 9:15 and finally left at 3:15; that's exactly six hours and worth $45 if they're going to pay me for it. I'd really like it if they just gave me layover pay, which I'm eligible for if I have a 24-hour delay; that's $80 and, given how long it took them to give me a load that actually is there to be picked up, I think I can make a case for it. Either of those that will offset the cost of getting IdleAire in the truck tonight, which will allow me to finally get a good night's sleep, something I've been sorely lacking since I lost air conditioning a few days ago.
In any case, I'm going to enjoy a nice, steak dinner here before heading out to the truck to post this and the couple other posts I've typed up.
Once I pick up the load, my goal is to just get down to Charlotte, NC and see if I can relay the load there. Why? Because, even though it's picked up tomorrow, it only delivers in Augusta, GA on the 7th. There's no way I'm going to hold it over the weekend. As it is, though, there's no way at all I'll make it down to Evergreen tomorrow unless they have me picking up a preloaded trailer that's on the way; even then, I seriously doubt I can make it that far in the eleven hours I can drive. So, at best, I'll be getting home on the morning of Saturday, the 5th, and even that assumes that they don't screw up anything else.
Before I head to bed, I'm going to send operations a message explaining all that to them. I'm also going to call once I get to Charlotte and ask them for detention pay since I waited six hours at the "shipper" for that misplaced load. I got there at 9:15 and finally left at 3:15; that's exactly six hours and worth $45 if they're going to pay me for it. I'd really like it if they just gave me layover pay, which I'm eligible for if I have a 24-hour delay; that's $80 and, given how long it took them to give me a load that actually is there to be picked up, I think I can make a case for it. Either of those that will offset the cost of getting IdleAire in the truck tonight, which will allow me to finally get a good night's sleep, something I've been sorely lacking since I lost air conditioning a few days ago.
In any case, I'm going to enjoy a nice, steak dinner here before heading out to the truck to post this and the couple other posts I've typed up.
Covington, VA
Thursday, 12:35PM - I didn't think it was possible for dispatch to screw up this badly, but they've done it. I got here to pick up a load and gave them my information.. only to get told that the load left here on June 23. Yes, that's 10 days ago. I asked them to double check; they confirmed that yeah, that load and trailer number matched perfectly for a load that was long gone. Wonderful. I called dispatch to find out what was going on and got given a second pick up number that differed by only one digit (it had a 9 instead of a 2), but that number was for the same trailer. It had a second number because they had to load stuff from two different mills. So I called back a second time and they just said they were going to pull me off the load and find something else. That was two and a half hours ago.
I'm running out of hours for today and it's looking increasingly difficult to make it home on the 4th; at the rate things are going, I might be lucky to even make it down to Charlotte. If I do make it down there, that leaves me about 450 miles from home, which is a longer drive than I'd like but something I can certainly do within one day. Of course, this depends entirely on whether or not they give me a load going that way; if they give me a load that takes me west toward, say, Knoxville, I'll have to come up with a completely different plan. If I don't get a load assignment in the next few minutes, I'll probably call in again and ask what the delay is. They probably just don't have any freight heading out of this area, but I'd like to find that out for sure and, ideally, get told that I can drive back the 47 miles to the nearest truck stop. I could really use a shower after sitting in this truck in broad sunlight for three hours.
... also, completely unrelated, they just had another rain delay at Wimbledon and NBC started playing "Here Comes the Rain Again" by the Eurythmics. I had to laugh.
I'm running out of hours for today and it's looking increasingly difficult to make it home on the 4th; at the rate things are going, I might be lucky to even make it down to Charlotte. If I do make it down there, that leaves me about 450 miles from home, which is a longer drive than I'd like but something I can certainly do within one day. Of course, this depends entirely on whether or not they give me a load going that way; if they give me a load that takes me west toward, say, Knoxville, I'll have to come up with a completely different plan. If I don't get a load assignment in the next few minutes, I'll probably call in again and ask what the delay is. They probably just don't have any freight heading out of this area, but I'd like to find that out for sure and, ideally, get told that I can drive back the 47 miles to the nearest truck stop. I could really use a shower after sitting in this truck in broad sunlight for three hours.
... also, completely unrelated, they just had another rain delay at Wimbledon and NBC started playing "Here Comes the Rain Again" by the Eurythmics. I had to laugh.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Troutville, VA
Wednesday, 6:20PM; Salem, VA - Just for the record, I love the name of this city. :)
Anyway, joking aside, since I couldn't get the appointment moved up, I arrived down here around 5:30PM eastern, still half an hour before my appointment. I still have no idea how I made up so much time; I took a rather lengthy lunch break. I'll let regulatory figure it out if I ended up cheating somewhere without realizing it. They're unloading the truck right now and, soon as they're done, I'm going to head directly to a truck stop to take my DOT break. Soon as that's up, I'll pick up one last load and take it to a drop yard before going home. I should be getting there around noon on Friday, give or take a couple hours. I've already packed nearly everything; all I have to do is grab a couple of final items (such as my TV and video games), hop in the car, and head home.
Wednesday, 8:10PM - With a few minor hiccups, I've managed to find parking at a truck stop about fifteen miles back toward where I'm going. I'm parked next to the scale in a no parking zone, but someone who works here actually told me to park there. So I'm on break now. I'll be leaving from here in the morning as soon as my 10 hour break is up, picking up this load, coming back down here to scale it out, then stopping in Charlotte for fuel, lunch, and possibly my break; I haven't decided yet whether or not to stop there or push on toward Atlanta. I'll be pushing my luck a little in trying to make Atlanta, but it'll leave me just 250 miles to go tomorrow if I can make it. At worst, I can just find another truck stop on the way and park there. Here's hoping that isn't necessary.
Anyway, joking aside, since I couldn't get the appointment moved up, I arrived down here around 5:30PM eastern, still half an hour before my appointment. I still have no idea how I made up so much time; I took a rather lengthy lunch break. I'll let regulatory figure it out if I ended up cheating somewhere without realizing it. They're unloading the truck right now and, soon as they're done, I'm going to head directly to a truck stop to take my DOT break. Soon as that's up, I'll pick up one last load and take it to a drop yard before going home. I should be getting there around noon on Friday, give or take a couple hours. I've already packed nearly everything; all I have to do is grab a couple of final items (such as my TV and video games), hop in the car, and head home.
Wednesday, 8:10PM - With a few minor hiccups, I've managed to find parking at a truck stop about fifteen miles back toward where I'm going. I'm parked next to the scale in a no parking zone, but someone who works here actually told me to park there. So I'm on break now. I'll be leaving from here in the morning as soon as my 10 hour break is up, picking up this load, coming back down here to scale it out, then stopping in Charlotte for fuel, lunch, and possibly my break; I haven't decided yet whether or not to stop there or push on toward Atlanta. I'll be pushing my luck a little in trying to make Atlanta, but it'll leave me just 250 miles to go tomorrow if I can make it. At worst, I can just find another truck stop on the way and park there. Here's hoping that isn't necessary.
Carlisle, PA
No luck on getting that delivery rescheduled. At least operations apologized for not getting back to me about it after I reminded them that I was still waiting for an answer. So I'll be getting there at 6, trying to get out of there in the three hours I've been told to expect, and hoping that there's still parking at a truck stop.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Carlisle, PA
Another day, another five hundred miles. I've actually worked my full seventy hours in the last eight days; tomorrow, I only have the 7.75 hours I'm picking up at midnight. I have a delivery appointment scheduled for 6PM, though, which presents a fascinating dilemma. I have three options: leave here the moment my break is up and risk being turned away and missing the appointment later, take the current appointment and risk not finding parking at a truck stop, or call operations first thing in the morning and try to get them to move it up. I'm going with number three, since that still saves me about four hours.
Even better, though, is that I already have the load that's going to get me home. After I get unloaded, I have about 50 miles to drive to pick it up, though I probably will take my break on the way there. I just swap trailers at that point, scale the load to double-check the weight, then drive toward Charlotte or Atlanta for another break. I'll be able to get home either early in the morning on July 4 if I get unloaded early or around noon if I don't. Either way, I'm actually getting back on the day I requested, which is a very pleasant surprise. :)
Even better, though, is that I already have the load that's going to get me home. After I get unloaded, I have about 50 miles to drive to pick it up, though I probably will take my break on the way there. I just swap trailers at that point, scale the load to double-check the weight, then drive toward Charlotte or Atlanta for another break. I'll be able to get home either early in the morning on July 4 if I get unloaded early or around noon if I don't. Either way, I'm actually getting back on the day I requested, which is a very pleasant surprise. :)
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