Tobyhanna, PA

Well, today was one of those days where it seemed like absolutely nothing got done. I slept terribly last night, so when I woke up around 9AM, I put in a message to push my availability back to 8PM, only to get a work assignment with a 4:30PM delivery. I believe I wrote about this already. In any case, I hurried to get up here, even foregoing lunch, and arrived nearly half an hour early. I tried to find a truck stop with some food along the way, but there weren't ANY along the last 80 miles of my trip, and before that point I wasn't sure just how much time I actually had to spare.

So, upon arriving, I was told it would take just two hours, not the four that my work assignment originally had down. This wasn't a surprise; the work assignments frequently overestimate the unloading time. So, knowing I had at least two hours, I decided to catch a two-hour nap to make up for the fact I couldn't get more sleep before I started driving. I went back in after that two hours, but found out that they were only halfway down and had just gone on break. At this point, I probably should have figured it would be another two hours, but I nearly believed the guy when he said it'd be only another hour. Of course, it took two more (nearly two-and-a-half) and I was finished at the originally planned time of 8:30PM.

There's only one problem left: I still haven't received I new work assignment! Since there's really not much I can do without a work assignment and Wal-Mart doesn't allow drivers to park for the night inside their facilities, I'm parked just out front in a designated parking area. At least, I certainly hope it is, since they told me that inside when I asked about parking! I'll be taking my ten-hour break here, then leaving immediately after that, at about 7AM local time. I just hope that the snow and weather clear up by then, since it's absolutely nasty out here right now.

Carlisle, PA

Well, dispatch seems to be having one of those days where they just don't give a damn what the drivers want. I had originally put down available at 9AM this morning, but when I slept like crap last night, I changed that to 8PM so I could sleep all day and actually drive safely instead of driving tired. But an hour and a half later, I got a work assignment for a relay from the OC here that is for a 4:30PM live unload at a facility 143 miles away. In other words, I have to start working by 1PM, at the latest, even after I sent in a message saying that I couldn't until 8 o'clock.

Needless to say (but, of course, I'm saying it anyway), I'm furious right now, since even a simple request for some sleep seems to be something too difficult for them to handle. As soon as I post this, I'll have to go fuel the truck, get the paperwork for this load, find the trailer, and hit the highway. I might be able to catch a nap while they're unloading the rig, but I don't know just how helpful that's going to be. Even more aggravating is that this unload won't be finished until 8:30PM, at which point every truck stop in the goddamned state will be full, ensuring that I don't have anywhere to park the truck.

If this happens again any time soon, I'll just be asking them why they even bother asking when we're available, since this is NOT the first time they've completely disregarded the information I've given to them to force me into taking a load that I couldn't possibly accept under the information I've given them.

Blog on Hold - Technical Difficulties

Due to my phone deciding it doesn't want to work properly any more, I'll be without Internet access for the foreseeable future. I plan on going by a Sprint store to replace my phone (or at least its battery) at the next operating center I come to that has such a store nearby, but there's no way of knowing when that will be; it could be tomorrow or it could be a rather long time. If I do somehow get the chance to update, I will, but it's very unlikely I'll be able to do so until my phone is fixed.

Pendleton, KY

Well, I'm apparently not at 100% yet as I'd hoped, but more like 70%. I'm already pretty tired just after being awake for nine hours, but hopefully one more good night of sleep, some food, and a hot shower will help clear up what's still bothering me. Hopefully. Tomorrow's going to be a long day, no matter how I look at it, since I need to drive about 550 miles to make this delivery, then drive back about 15 minutes to the Carlisle, PA operating center so my truck can go into the shop. I just hope that I remember everything that I need to tell them to look at!

Owensboro, KY

I'd apologize for the lack of updates, but the truth is, there really hasn't been much to update about. I took several days off shortly after my last post, got sick during my time off, and have been sitting here in Owensboro (per operations' order) while I recover. I'm getting steadily better - drinking a few hot cups of tea has helped immensely - so I should be hitting the road again either tomorrow or Tuesday. Probably tomorrow, since I'm getting rather tired of sitting here with nothing to do. :)

West Memphis, AR

Back at my home operating center now after another 600+ mile day. I can't say that I'm complaining about the mileage, though, since that's where I really make money. I started out in Gary, IN this morning and found about half an inch of snow on the truck. I was too tired to even find the trailer I needed last night, but I found it in about two minutes of looking this morning. I've no idea how I kept missing it last night, aside from the fact I was rather exceptionally tired. It was a relay and I had no idea what to expect, and thus was rather unpleasantly surprised to see 43,800 pounds on the bill of lading. So instead of being able to start heading south immediately, I had to make a brief detour to a Pilot one exit east on I-80. At least it was legal the first time; I didn't want to have to deal with the trailer tandems in the cold!

Once I hit the road, things went remarkably well. I still loathe Illinois' 55 mile-per-hour truck speed limit, but I was able to maintain 55 through the entire state, aside from a few clusters of traffic scattered every 20 miles or so. I'd like to take this opportunity to point out that I-57 is a very, very boring stretch of highway. Once I picked up I-24, things were at least slightly less boring on the road, though it was getting dark, so I couldn't see much of anything. Even once I got off the Interstate, traffic was flowing smoothly, though I did have one close call; I saw a corner coming up and started to brake early for it, which caused my truck to start skidding for a moment. I'm just glad I caught on before getting into the curve!

The unload was estimated at 3.5 hours on my work assignment. In reality, I got there at around 9:00 and left around 10:45, which was a rather nice and much-needed time savings. Basically, this left me two hours with which to work. Since I have an open pick up window (that is, I can pick it up anytime after it was ready at noon Tuesday), I figured that I'd just pick it up tomorrow and head out from the operating center here. So, using the entire remaining time I had, I just made it to the entrance here. In the process of making it over here, I realized just how much that extra-heavy load was helping keep me on the pavement; I started fishtailing just trying to pull onto the Interstate! It was definitely a rather hair-raising 100 miles, since I couldn't really afford to slow down. But, in the end, I made it here safely and that's what counts.

As for my plans coming up, my DOT break will allow me to start working again at 11:15 and start driving at 11:45. I plan on getting out of here soon as possible, since I want to pick this load up and go home! If all goes well, I will be able to make it to a truck stop near where I live tomorrow night, allowing me to actually go home and sleep there one night early. It's actually going to be a shorter day tomorrow than I had today; I only need to drive around 460 miles to make it home. I'm hoping to get there by 10PM, though I'm certainly not going to complain if I somehow manage to make it earlier. Then I'll be taking a nice, long weekend off, doing my taxes, and hitting the road again on the 20th. It'll be nice to go home since I haven't been there since Christmas.

Gary, IN

Well, as I'm too tired to keep going, I've had to call it a night here in Gary, IN. I was originally planning on continuing as far as I could before my 14 hours ran out, but as I couldn't find the trailer I'm supposed to be picking up, I figured that was a pretty good sign that I need to get off the road.

Speaking of things off the road, the conditions on the highway tonight were rather good, but you wouldn't know from the way people were driving. I could safely have done about 55 the whole way, but everyone else was doing more like 40. So I passed plenty of folks. :)

In any case, I'm on my 10, which will be up around 9:45AM. I'll have to figure out a trip plan before I go to bed, then enjoy the eight hours I have to sleep. Hopefully things will go smoothly tomorrow; I really want to make Memphis before my hours run out!

Indianapolis, IN

Phew, what a long day! Getting this load was nothing but trouble, but once I hit the road, everything went well. After catching yet another nap, I went back inside to find out that the product they were short for my load wasn't even scheduled for another production run until first shift! So, figuring I had several hours to sleep, I just went to bed for the night, this time without even setting the alarm. Of course, two hours later (at very roughly 6AM; I couldn't even see the clock clearly), I get a bang on the door from the shipping clerk, since the load was finally ready, fourteen hours behind schedule. At least I'm going to collect $75 in detention pay for this, I figured.

But despite spending half an hour looking for the trailer, I couldn't find it in the lot that it was supposed to be in. On a hunch, I looked in another lot and found it rather quickly. I also found that it had a flat tire, which kept me from going anywhere! Yet another delay, though this time it was with a call to emergency maintenance, who in turn called a tire bank, who in turn called me to say it would be about an hour and a half. So I went back to sleep again, for lack of anything else to do and for a rather desperate need to sleep. I woke up to the sound of a new tire being put on, quite a bit more than an hour and a half later. Ultimately, I didn't even leave the shipper until 9AM, a full seventeen hours behind schedule. At least this run had enough extra time where I could afford the delay!

Once I hit the road, things went rather smoothly. Somehow I managed to squeeze in almost 650 miles today before my eleven hours ran out, which has me all the way up here in Indy again. The low tonight is going to be around zero with a wind chill of -20°F, so I'm just leaving the truck idle while I go to bed. I'll catch a shower and (possibly) do laundry in the morning; right now I'm too tired to even see clearly!

Beech Island, SC

Wow, I... truly am at a loss for words here. I went in to check on my load after about a two hour nap and find that it's still only 86% loaded. Why? Because they're short on one product for the order. So, to recap: I'm at the manufacturer and they're short on their own product. So I have to wait here for them to actually make 131 cases of whatever it is they're short of. I think that I'm going to just go back to sleep for another two hours since, at the rate this is going, it'll be about that long.

At least I'm going to rack up a rather hefty amount of detention pay for this; since this load was supposed to be ready at 4:30PM and I was already here at that time, I can claim any delay past that moment for detention pay. I've already chalked up $45 for it being more than six hours; if it reaches nine hours (1:30AM Eastern), I'll get $60 for doing absolutely nothing. And my 11 and 14 hour days don't start until I actually begin to work, so I'll still be able to put in the 600+ miles I plan on driving today, barring any major traffic problems. Here's hoping!

Beech Island, SC

This is turning into quite the annoying waiting game! I've been here since 3AM, woke up at 11AM, and my load was supposed to be ready at 4:30PM. However, it's now 8 o'clock local time and the trailer is only 70% loaded! I'm probably just going to take a nap while I wait for them to finish loading this thing, since I have to be able to stay awake all night; I won't be able to park until at least 6AM since all the truck stops will be full.

Beech Island, SC

Ugh,. Being out on the road for six weeks is really, really starting to wear on me; I'm looking forward to being home a week from now. I left Indianapolis much later than I wanted (almost 3AM instead of 12:30), in part because it took me an hour and a half to find my wallet. It's amazing how hard it can be to find things even in a space small as the sleeper berth of a truck. Then, since I'd had trouble getting to sleep, I ended up having to stop and take a break instead of driving all the way through. Thankfully, since I'd made up a bit of time on the road, I could take a DOT break and still make delivery on time

... or so I thought. As I was getting ready to leave, another driver told me that I-75 southbound was closed. Apparently there was a major accident and both lanes were blocked. For some incredibly stupid reason, even though I saw that US 25W was a viable alternate route (only 5 extra miles), when I saw a sign that said one lane was open on I-75, I stayed on. And, as such, lost a full hour in traffic. As it later turned out, I was just under an hour late, and I'd probably have saved that hour had I gone on the back road. At least, for once, I had a legitimate reason for being behind schedule, but I should have been able to make that delivery yesterday!

Aside from that traffic jam, there's really not much else out of the ordinary going on. I'm here at this distribution center for the third time (The first customer I've been to thrice), and my load won't be ready for at least another nine hours. As such, I'm going to post this, get a quick bowl of cereal, and sleep for as long as my body will allow me to.

Indianapolis, IN

Well, last night was rather a bust. Due to the rather nasty weather, I decided to take a short nap to wait it out. That was at 6:30PM and I thought I'd set my alarm for 7:30, but even though I checked the thing four times I apparently never flipped the 'alarm' switch to on. As such, I woke up shortly after 2AM with a load that was supposed to be delivered by midnight. Oops!

At least once I hit the road things went reasonably well. All the big storms have already passed through here and it was just above freezing, so there were no real problems along the way. I arrived about as quickly as I thought I would, dropped the load, but then found out the place has a policy of not letting us take out our empty trailers! It took the box planners almost half an hour to find another place with an empty box, and in turn I had to go nearly 75 miles out of the way to get it, since the only direct route between where I was and where I needed to go wasn't a truck route.

The detour aside, though, even picking the empty up, taking it to the next customer, dropping it for them, and picking up the load all went well. I then was down to about six hours left to drive, so I figured I'd just drive about four of that, safely shutting down before it was too late in the afternoon to find a good parking space. So, as such, I'm back here at the Indianapolis OC after driving about 400 miles, most of that up and down I-65. From here, it's about 550 miles to where I'm delivering, which is day of driving, but I should be able to get it there with an hour or two left on my logbook. It won't be late until the 8th, so I better not screw this one up.

Atlanta, GA

After a couple of extremely long days, I decided to just take a restart while I'm here in Atlanta. Part of it has to do with the fact I've been sleeping badly for the last three nights in a row and still fighting off what I can only assume is a particularly stubborn cold. Besides, I want to watch the Super Bowl, and the Atlanta OC has a nice big-screen TV, so why not? The last couple of days have been pretty stressful and busy; I had to use my entire 14 hours up two days in a row and came down to the last few minutes last night. I'm still pretty much out of it, so I really don't feel like trying to write a longer post now, but if anyone is in or near Atlanta and is willing to pick me up and go somewhere to watch the game, I'd love that.

Miami, FL

I'm getting unloaded right now, so I'll just type as much as I can while I'm sitting here. I was slightly late getting here due to construction and traffic, but it doesn't seem to have mattered. What does matter, however, are the implications on my next load. The place I'm picking up from closes for the weekend at 4:30PM Eastern today and there's just about no chance that I can make it there in time right now. Even if I were to be freed immediately to go, I'd have to contend with traffic in the city and lower speed limits, rendering it virtually impossible. Worse, there's nowhere for me to park my truck for the weekend if I do miss this pick up, nor is there another load for me to take, apparently. If I do make it or they just stay open later, I'll at least be able to get it delivered on time; I have until 9PM Eastern tomorrow night to make it up to Atlanta.

In any case, I just have to look at my directions for now and cross my fingers. This is going to be a really close one.

Sarasota, FL

After a couple of days of high-stress work, getting down here to Florida is a refreshing change. I'll just run down the last couple of days here.

Tuesday: After getting my previous load rescheduled for a 9AM delivery today (as opposed to 6AM Sunday), I actually earned layover pay for the delay. So, for doing absolutely nothing on Monday, I earned $80. Needless to say, this put me in an exceptionally good mood for having to hit the road at 5AM. I got there at about 8:50AM and it took me just over ten minutes to back into the dock, so I was essentially right on time. Unfortunately, the unload took longer than I expected and I was about two hours late to pick up the next load. At least they were nice about it, as they understood that the delay wasn't really my fault. It still took them the expected three hours to load it, meaning I had just enough time to make it down to Nashville, TN that night. It's a good thing that I stopped, too, as the weather got really nasty about an hour after I went on break.

Wednesday: An even earlier morning today; I had to be up at 4AM. I wanted to make Ocala originally, but hesitated to plan on driving 630 miles in my 11 hour driving time. So, instead, I decided to aim for a truck stop about 600 miles away; still more than they'd suggest I plan on, but I knew I could do it. I made just one stop all day, and that to grab a bite to eat to help wake me up. I was also rather lucky with traffic, as the only delays I hit were near Atlanta and that simply due to the volume of traffic trying to take the I-285 exit. I actually could have pushed on to the Pilot at exit 341, but instead stopped at a Petro at exit 368 for one reason and one reason only: steak. And it was well worth the stop, too; their food never disappoints. I went to bed even earlier - about 6:30PM - but struggled to get to sleep until at least 8 o'clock.

Thursday: Even earlier? Well, yes; I had to be on the road by 3AM (4AM Eastern), so I set the alarm for 2. I only hit the snooze button twice, much to my surprise, before actually getting up and taking care of a few things before I had to start driving. I planned on leaving so early to ensure that I'd have no problems making it here on time, since I wasn't sure how early traffic near Tampa would start getting backed up. It was slightly congested, but traffic still flowed smoothly as I sailed on through. As such, I was one full hour early for my appointment, though they already had a door open and let me in. Good thing, too, as it took me half an hour just to get into this blasted place since there was NO room to maneuver the trailer around. It was basically a matter of getting it set up perfectly or having to try again. Right now, I'm just sitting here waiting for them to finish unloading the trailer. I don't have another work assignment yet, but it's unlikely this will be a short run, since I'm already pretty darn far south on the peninsula. I just hope that I have another one before they finish this so I know where I'm going after I leave here. Having to sit and wait at a truck stop is not a good thing.

Edwardsville, IL

After having to sleep at a customer last night, I woke up and immediately picked up the load. Thanks to a bit of good luck (for a change), I was able to drive all the way down to deliver it in one go, without having to take a break, which allowed me to deliver it on time despite all the potential problems with the load. I still got lost trying to find the place, which resulted in even more frustration; why can't the directions I get from the company be more useful?

That gripe aside, I still got off the load and put my truck in the shop for a minor repair. Specifically, they're looking at the utility lights that are supposed to operate when the truck is either parked or in reverse; they're not working when the truck's in reverse, which makes backing even more difficult because I can't see a blasted thing. I told them that I need the truck by 8PM, though really, if it's done by even 10 o'clock I'll be fine. My next load is exactly 300 miles and gets live-unloaded tomorrow at 6AM, so I'll just drive through the night to deliver it, then hope they have something good waiting for me.

Detroit, MI

Today was one of those days where almost anything that could have gone badly did. I really wish I didn't have to wake up at all. Basically, I found out that I had a really, really tight schedule for this next load. I also overslept a bit, making my drop even tighter. I had no problems on the highway, but once I tried to find my exit, things quickly fell apart. I somehow missed the street I was supposed to turn on immediately after getting off the Interstate. I then found it, but couldn't find the side street I needed to turn on, which resulted in screaming, hair pulling, crying, and extreme frustration. After about twenty minutes, I found what looked like the right place... only it was the wrong entrance to the place, forcing me to go back out on the street and try again.

Upon arriving at the correct entrance, I was just told to drop the trailer anywhere. That wouldn't be so bad, except that there were only two empty spaces in the entire facility, both of which were in rather awkward positions. It took me thirty minutes just to get the trailer dropped, as well as even more frustration. If I weren't already so worked up, I might have had a slightly easier time of it, but it's kinda hard to back a trailer in when you're unable to even see straight.

By the time I got out of there, it was about 11:30PM. I then had to bobtail over to a place about 15 miles away to pick up an empty trailer. The directions I had were lousy, though; they directed me to an industrial park without telling me which entrance to use or where within the park I needed to go to find someone who could tell me where I was supposed to go. I ultimately drove by it, forcing me to turn around AGAIN, though this time it was easier as I didn't have a 53' trailer to worry about.

I then found the empty trailer and it was in good condition. The problem? The lot that I was in was completely unlit and my backup lights don't work unless the parking brake is set, rendering them completely useless for backing. Also, when I tried to leave, because it was completely dark, I nearly drove straight into a concrete barrier; I stopped dead just six inches short of hitting it at about 10mph. A little careful, creative backing got me out of there, but not without making me even more shaken up.

Driving to the next place - where I dropped the trailer and am waiting to pick up my load - was also an adventure. I couldn't go back out the way I came in; I needed to make a left turn to get to the Interstate and it was a right turn only back onto the road. There was a U-turn lane, though, which allowed me to get back toward the Interstate. Once on the highway, things were fine until I got to the exit I needed and found it was closed. The ONLY exit they had closed was the one I needed. I took the next ramp, then saw that other cars were turning around and going back to the "closed" exit by using the eastbound exit, since only the westbound ramp was closed. I took the same approach.

Thankfully, I found this place without incident, as I actually had useful directions this time (something like: turn here, then at the first light, then it's the first building on the left). I then was told to drop my trailer in a dock and to come back to find out about my load. I was able to drop it without any significant problems, though I did run over a 2-by-4 they were using as a wheel chock, which scared me for a moment. When I came back up, though, I found out that I needed a trailer number to get the load. I then called support shift to find out that this load isn't ready yet, despite being told it was pre-loaded and available to pick it up by 11:30AM. Frustratingly, I can't even start working until 12:15PM, since my break won't be up until then, which puts me 45 minutes behind schedule on a run that has NO spare time to begin with.

It's 557 miles from here to where I'm delivering. I have to be there by 9AM Central time Saturday. I won't be able to leave here until, at best, 11:45AM central time, and that's assuming that I wake up, get the paperwork, complete my pre-trip inspection, and be on the road within 30 minutes. Even under that "best" case scenario, I have 21 hours to make a 12-hour drive (at 50mph, rounding up, which is how the company supposedly calculates things) and take a 10 hour break. Now, last time I checked, 12+10=22, and I only have 21 to work with. This means that I can't afford any stops whatsoever, have to take the bare minimum break, and still have to make up at least one hour on the highway. Granted, this is a fairly pessimistic estimate, but considering how things have gone the last couple of days, I'm wondering if it's all too accurate.

In any event, before any of this can happen, I need to get at least eight hours of sleep. Despite sleeping in until 3PM today, I'm already exhausted and just want to pass out in the sleeper. Hopefully nine hours of rest will be enough for me to feel reasonably well in the morning.

Eden, NY

It's been a very long, very stressful few days. I've had to drive almost non-stop outside of my breaks, which in turn has left me really feeling out of sorts. It doesn't help that the weather has been the worst I've had to deal with so far; last night the visibility was down to maybe 500 feet, the roads were icy, and my driver's side defroster went out which allowed the windshield to ice over as well. Thankfully, conditions were better today, but I still struggled to maintain a speed of above 55mph, so I ended up 15 minutes late on a rather critical delivery time. I don't plan on telling them I can even work a full day tomorrow; soon as I finish writing this, I'll send in a message saying I only want to work six hours (or less) tomorrow and try to recover from the rather bad couple of days.

Grand Rapids, MI

Up here in the frozen north and, well, freezing. Last night the low was a mere 4 degrees, which in turn meant I had to leave the tractor on all night, not that I minded leaving the heater running at full-blast. I had to get taken off my previous work assignment since I couldn't make the pick up on time (I needed to take my break first), but in turn got a much better assignment, so I can't complain too much. The only problem with it is that I have to get going as soon as possible and I really, really cannot afford to lose any time due to inclement weather. As it is, if I don't have a trailer to pick up in the next half hour or so, I'm at a very high risk of being late for the deliver since it's a 480 mile drive and I'll have a mere 10 hours available to actually drive if I get out of here at midnight it's much later than that, there's just about no chance at all of me making this, which is bound to piss off customer service since I had to convince them that I could do this. Granted, a delay at the shipper is not my fault, but that isn't going to make service any happier about it. I just have to hope the weather cooperates.

Bucksville, AL

I'd have updated this thing sooner, but the last few days have been exceptionally busy. It's honestly a rather refreshing change from the slow pace things have been on lately. I had to work 13 hours on Tuesday to get everything done, though now that I'm here, I'll be taking about 24 hours off before I have to deliver this load at 6AM tomorrow. I'm too tired to come up with a more lengthy/detailed update, though, so I'll just go to bed now...