Canton, NC

After a long day, I've called it a night a little earlier than planned. I'm tired, I was hungry, and I have enough extra time on this run where I can afford to take an extra half-day off. I only have about 250 miles left to go and this load can be delivered any time tomorrow so I really have no reason to hurry. As such, I'll be going to bed now, taking a shower in the morning, and probably relaxing for a little while before I hit the road again. As always, I have no idea where I'll be going next, but I should have enough time to get reasonably far up the road after I drop this trailer.

Nitro, WV

It's been a long and unproductive day. I've been running late for a while and extra delays today didn't help matters. I'll be about 7 hours late on this delivery, largely because I was a full day behind with the last one. The trip planner even apologized for the mess; hopefully my next run will work out better. Hopefully.

Hebron, KY

I have to take my break at the customer since receiving doesn't open until 5AM. Once I get unloaded, I have to immediately pick up another load. No rest for the weary, but at least I'm getting a lot of miles.

West Memphis, AR

Yesterday was an exceptionally long day; I used up my entire 14 hours and worked all of it except for an hour-long lunch break. I started in Pauls Valley, OK, fueled in Oklahoma City, picked up a load in Jenks, and ended up in West Memphis, AR. Picking up that load, as usual, had its share of problems: the trailer had no license plate and its tandems wouldn't stay in place, making it impossible to slide them. If not for those problems, I would have left Jenks around 4:30; instead, it was nearly 6:30 when I got back out on the road.

But, I made it (barely), so I'll be going inside and enjoying the company-offered Thanksgiving dinner, getting a shower, and getting on the road again. I was originally planning on spending tonight in Atlanta, at the OC there, but I think that I'll continue down the Interstate and stop closer to Macon, GA instead. That will free up two extra hours for tomorrow, when I'll probably be going home; I'll want the extra time so I'm not cutting it so close again.

Etiquette

Having been out here driving for a while and seeing all sorts of stupid moves by four wheelers, I figured I'd make a short post offering a few rules of the road.

1. Give us room. However much space a car needs, a truck needs at least three times as much room. You can probably stop a car in about two or three seconds at interstate speed, but I need at least five seconds under ideal conditions to safely make the same maneuver. I've noticed that some drivers seem to like cutting in front of the rig as closely as possible, creating a dangerous situation for both the truck and car. Tailgating is even more dangerous. I don't have a rearview mirror or anything of the sort, so I have no idea what's directly behind me. If you're right on my back bumper, you can't see anything but the truck in front of you, and you'll have just enough time to see the brake lights come on before you hit the back of the trailer if I have to stop suddenly. While cars are always supposed to maintain a two second following distance, I'd suggest increasing that when you're behind a truck so everybody has enough time to react. As a truck, I try to keep it least seven seconds in front of me.
   
2. Use your turn signals. I shouldn't have to say this, since it's the law no matter where you go, but anytime you're going to turn or change lanes you need to use your signal. I've lost count of the number of times I've had a car swerve in front of me without using its signal or that's made a turn without signaling after making a sudden stop in the highway. As an added bonus, if I see your signals are on, I'll try to make room for you do what you need to do by slowing down or changing lanes as appropriate. If I have no idea what you're going to do, I can't make it any easier for you to do it.
   
3. If I have my signal on, get out of the way. I know that sounds rude, but there really isn't a polite way of putting it. If I turn my signal on, it's for a reason. It might be that the lane is ending ahead, that there is a car stopped on the side of the road, that I'm trying to pass another vehicle, that I need to make a turn somewhere, or any of various other reasons. In a truck, I can see much further down the road than you can in your car, so I may be reacting to something you can't even see yet. I don't want to hold up traffic, so I'll get back in the right lane as soon as I can after making my lane change. So please don't make it difficult for me to do so.
   
4. Don't flash your highbeams at me. While I appreciate the intention, flashing your highbeams causes a painfully bright reflection in the mirrors. Also, there may be some reason I'm not moving back over to my lane, for any of the reasons I described above. Even so, if you still want to signal, try flashing your low beams instead. Or, at night, briefly flip your headlights off and back on.
   
5. Turn off your highbeams. Practically every state requires, by law, that you turn off your highbeams if you're within 500 feet of another vehicle. Even if you're on the other side of the divided highway (like an interstate), an oncoming vehicle with its highbeams on makes it very difficult to see. Likewise, if you're coming up behind me, turn your highbeams off as you approach so I don't have that blinding reflection in my mirror.
   
6. Don't get mad if I'm driving slowly. I get paid by the mile, so I have no incentive to drive any slower than absolutely necessary. But if I'm driving in a work zone, trying to find a customer, or I'm just not sure where I am, I need to slow down. Like wise, if I'm going uphill, I can't maintain my speed nearly as well as a car, especially if I have a heavy load. For example, I might be able to go up a hill at 60 miles an hour with an empty trailer and only 30 miles an hour with a full load. Swerving in front of me and slamming your brakes isn't going to make me go any faster; I'll have to slow down, which just might annoy the driver behind me, if not cause an accident.
   
7. Read the road signs. If there is a sign that says the right lane ends or is closed, don't wait until the very end to slide over; move into an open lane as soon as you can. This will help traffic continue to move smoothly instead of forcing it to stop when you get to the end and have to force your way into traffic. Likewise, if you see a sign for your exit, get into the right lane as soon as you can so you don't have to swerve over at the last moment
   
8. Don't be a jerk. Just because some truck drivers act unprofessional doesn't mean you should take out your frustration on all of us. The numbskulls are generally few and far between and they're the ones that are probably going to cause an accident and have their career come to an abrupt end. The rest of us try to drive responsibly as we can, so please return the favor. This job is hard enough without worrying about bad drivers.

Pauls Valley, OK

Monday, 1:15 p.m.: After a good night sleep, a hot shower, and a quick breakfast, I get the road around 11:45 a.m. I actually got a message asking me to call any confirm I can deliver this on time, since I have to drive about 580 miles deliver it and generally trips of over 550 miles a day are discouraged. I'll be able to deliver it without a problem, but I'll have no driving time left, forcing me to stop for the night at the nearest truckstop to where I'm delivering.

Monday, 2:45 p.m.: I made a short stop for lunch in Rolla, Missouri. I'm still about 4:45 away from Tulsa, where I plan on stopping for dinner. After that, it's three more hours to where I'm delivering. So far, everything has gone fine. I just hope that continues.

Monday, 3:55 p.m.: I'm 35 miles from Springfield, Missouri. Things are still pretty much on schedule and I should have no problem making this delivery by midnight. Traffic has been fairly light so far, but I hope I'm not in any city when rush-hour hits, and traffic always get snarled around five.

Monday, 9:40 p.m.: things are still going according to plan. I'll probably deliver this around 11:30 then drive to a truckstop for the night. I'm hoping to shut down by midnight so I can start at 10 o'clock in the morning but that will depend in large part on how hard it is to drop the trailer.

Tuesday, 12:10 a.m.: I dropped my load, but I have to pick up a trailer before I can leave. I'm cutting it kind of close on my 14 today, but I'll still be able to get out of here before my time is up. I have no idea where I'm going tomorrow, but I'm sure I'll find out first thing in the morning.

Tuesday, 1:15 a.m.: amazingly, despite there being three truckstops at this exit, none of them had parking. I invented a parking space at the end of the row and I'm hoping I don't get in trouble for it. At least I'm not blocking traffic or anything of that sort. I sent in a message telling them I'll be available at 11:15 a.m. so I have plenty of time to sleep and get breakfast before I have to hit the road again.

Evansville, IN

Friday, 2:50 p.m.: I'm now a Wal-Mart distribution center in London, Kentucky, waiting for them to unload my trailer. I still haven't gotten a new work assignment yet, so I'm hoping one comes in before they finish unloading. Since I am rather low on hours (I can only work 10 hours today), so they may just ask me to shut down early today. That is, they may give me a load that has an appointment for tomorrow morning, or at the very least can't be picked up until tomorrow morning even though it's not a live load. In any case, while I wait here, I'm going to catch a quick nap; I didn't sleep very well last night for some reason.

Friday, 4:45 p.m.: I got done at the Wal-Mart well ahead of schedule, so I just drove down about 10 miles to a truckstop. I got lucky with parking; there was a pull through space right near the fuel island available. At this point, I'm not sure if I even care whether or not I get another work assignment today. If I don't get one, I'll just have an extra four hours tomorrow, pretty much guaranteeing I can't run out. Obviously, getting work assignment means I make money, which is never a bad thing.

Friday, 4:50 p.m.: I have work. Worse, I have to drive up back to Ohio, which I always hate doing. However, this pickup has to be made by 5 p.m. the morrow, so I don't have to leave tonight. Therefore, I'm calling it a night right now and I'll drive up there in the morning. If the computer's correct, it shouldn't be more than 175 miles, which means it'll be just over a three-hour drive.

Saturday, 12:05 p.m.: I'm now on my way to Cincinnati to pick up this load. I got started a little later than I intended, but it really doesn't matter, given how much time I have spare on this run. As such, I'll be stopping tonight in Indianapolis and taking a very long break to meet with friends there, spend tomorrow night in Edwardsville, Illinois, and deliver this around 8 p.m. on Monday. That leaves me about 16 hours to run on Tuesday, so I'm not going to be at any imminent risk of running out of hours. If I decide to leave Indianapolis for Edwardsville earlier than I'm currently planning on (I'll be staying nearly a full day at each), I could make delivery significantly earlier. There's only one advantage to getting there early: I can get on a new run that much earlier. But, given how my hours are running right now, I might not even have the hours to take it anywhere. I have the budget my time effectively.

Saturday, 3:35 p.m.: once again, a load that was supposed be drop and hook has turned into a live load. When I went in to pick up the paperwork for this load, they said the trailer hasn't even got in the door yet, much less been loaded. So now I have no idea how long I'm going to be stuck sitting here, but it looks unlikely I'll that be out of here in less than an hour. This is particularly infuriating as I was told on my work assignment to get here anytime between one and five o'clock (Eastern time) today. Is it really that hard for people to do what they say they're going to do?

Saturday, 3:50 p.m.: I just double checked on it, it turns out they're running just about four hours behind today. They are only now starting on the one o'clock appointments, even though it's nearly 5 o'clock now. Mine should be ready in 30 to 45 minutes, so I'll double check with the gate guard in half an hour. If it's anything more than half an hour, I'll earn $15 in detention pay, as I'll have been here over two hours.

Saturday, 7:40 p.m.: so, after about five minutes less than eternity, I'm on my way with this load. Frustratingly, I had to backtrack almost 20 miles to find the nearest scale, since the customer wouldn't let me axle out my load on their scale. "We don't do axle weights," the guard said, completely un-sympathetically. I now have just barely enough time left on my 14 hours to make Indianapolis tonight; it's a good thing I wasn't planning on going any further.

Saturday, 11:30 p.m.: I'm finally parked in Indianapolis, after spending a full hour looping around a lot trying to find once parking space I could actually pull into. It turns out they have exactly 1 person on staff here so nobody could tell the people who parked inappropriately to move so people could actually use the parking spaces as they were intended. As such, I'm literally parked in the last space in the very back of the facility, probably a quarter mile walk from the front office. Again, I have to ask why people can't do what they're supposed to, since that would make my day so much easier.

Sunday, 7:15 p.m.: After a longer stay in Indianapolis than I intended, I'm back on the road again. Even though I'm four hours behind my original plan, I'm still on schedule, as I didn't intend to leave Evansville before 10 o'clock in the morning. I'm tempted to just tell them I'll be available first thing Tuesday morning, since I'll be practically out of hours by the time I deliver this load tomorrow night anyway.

Sunday, 8:20 p.m.: It's been raining off and on since I left Indianapolis. When I got to a weigh station, I could barely see the directional arrow indicating which lane I needed to take. Thankfully, I got it right. Why'd I get pulled in? Well, I have 33,700 pounds on my trailer tandems, so that's awfully close to the legal limit. And, of course, the DOT is never going to pass up an opportunity to write a ticket, so my weight is close enough to warrant an extra look.

Indy OC

Way too tired to even attempt cleaning this post up, so apologies if it's incoherent in places.

Wednesday, 9:30 a.m.: this morning has been kind of frustrating so far. I lost my cell phone between a set of shelves and the bed in a crack too narrow for me to reach in, so I can't use my phone for the foreseeable future. Everything else is fine, but not having my phone is quite irritating. Since I wasted about 15 minutes trying to get the thing back, I now have just enough time left to get to the customer; I really hope I haven't shot myself in the foot (again).

Wednesday, 1:18 p.m.: I'm driving to Rockport, Illinois. The load I have next takes me by both the Gary and Indianapolis operating centers; I have stop for fuel in Gary and I'll stop for the night in Indy. Course, I say I stop for fuel there based on the as I have enough fuel to get there right now. I have about 17 gallons left and it's 125 miles. I suppose that it's a good thing that I filled my tanks to almost overflowing last time I stopped; that may well be the difference between making it there and not.

Wednesday, 2:28 p.m.: arrived at my next pickup. To put it bluntly, I'm alarmingly low on fuel; I probably have as few as 10 gallons left. I'll be stopping to fill up in Gary, Indiana operating center if I can make it there, but I have ask for directions first. So hopefully they'll arrive before I have to leave here.

Wednesday, 3:05 p.m.: what should have been a simple drop an empty and pick up the load has now turned into a lie load. This means that, instead of being out on the road now, I have to drive just up the street to get the load, drive back here, get my paperwork, and only then can I leave. Further, the trip planners didn't give me to pick up number to begin with, so it took five minutes on hold just for them to give me what I needed to pick up their freight. On the bright side, I'll least be getting paid for the hold up, as it looks extremely unlikely I'll be out of here within two hours.

Wednesday, 4:40 p.m.: finally, after what seems like an eternity, I have my load. It's just under 90 miles from here to Gary, somewhere to be crossing my fingers and hoping that I have at least 15 gallons left.

Wednesday, 4:55 p.m.: I'm still waiting in line here and I just realized I'll be hitting Chicago right at rush hour. That's both going to delay my driving and kill my fuel economy. I can't really afford any further delays, since I'll already be getting to Indianapolis with just 30 minutes left out of my 14 hours for the day.

Wednesday, 11 p.m.: everything has gone kind of fast tonight, so I haven't even had a chance grab the mic to dictate something. I had to put over 155 gallons in the truck to fill it up, so I was lucky to even make it to the operating center. I also weighed the truck and found it was just barely legal, but barely legal is still legal, so I've nothing to worry about. I got into Indianapolis just as my 14 hours ran out, so I'm definitely due for the break. Unfortunately, I'm much further from where I'm delivering I thought, so I'll have to get up pretty early. Specifically, this place is on Eastern time and it's a 3:30 p.m. appointment. It's also a nearly five-hour drive from here, so I will have to leave almost immediately after my break expires. I am getting absolutely sick of these tight deliveries; I'd like to be able to catch on sleep for a change.

Iowa 80 truckstop

Tuesday, 4:30 p.m.: I was supposed to stop for fuel in Des Moines, Iowa, but I couldn't find a truckstop I was supposed to fuel at. I mean, I was supposed to take exit 126 to the pilot, but there were no signs indicating which direction to turn to find said pilot area rather than make a turn and risk being wrong, I stopped right back on the interstate. It's pretty much impossible to read fuel map all driving, I have enough fuel to get were ongoing tonight and can find somewhere tomorrow morning.

Tuesday, 4:55 p.m.: since traffic thinned out, I'd filled with the map for a little bit. It turns out there are no fuel stops whatsoever between where I am now where I'm delivering. While, technically, I do have enough fuel to get there, I'd be running on empty on my way out. Hopefully the place and stopping tonight is an emergency backup stop; if so, I'll put in 50 gallons to ensure I don't run out.

Wednesday, 8:50 a.m.: On my way out of the Iowa 80 now. I'm cutting it a little close on my delivery, but I will still make it. :)

Davis City, IA

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. :)

Indiana

Today was a waiting game; I spent 6 hours waiting at docks. I almost ran out of my 14. I'll sleep in tonight.

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Still driving around

I had a nice, long post dictated but my computer crashed when I started it this morning, so I'll just type a quick summary here. I'm in Charlotte, heading up to Kentucky for a live unload at 11AM tomorrow. Unfortunately, this is a full hand unload, which means I get to unload the entire truck (18,000 pounds of toilet paper) myself. They figure that a driver can do it in three hours, so I'll probably take about four, since I tend to work rather slow and I'm in rather poor physical condition. Hopefully the warehouse won't be too cold.

Also, I've finally saved the e-mail address for this journal to my phone, so even on nights that I can't get online I'll send a text message post here just so everyone knows where I am and that I'm doing well. :)

Green Bay, WI

3 p.m.: I'm just getting ready to head out of Indianapolis, but I need to stop for fuel on the way out. Thankfully, it's only seven hours to where I deliver, though I'm still worried about going through Chicago. I'm fairly sure I'll miss rush-hour, but I don't think I'll miss it by much.

4 p.m.: my current ETA for Chicago is about 6:30 p.m.. So far, traffic's been pretty heavy, even down here. I shudder to think of what'll be like in a big city. The weather isn't helping me very much either; high winds are making it very difficult to drive. Like yesterday, the sun is also just over my left mirror, making it hard to see. It looks like I have my next work assignment, too. Seeing as I just got two equipment disposition messages, I'll almost certainly be picking up an empty trailer from the drop yard and taking it to the Green Bay operating center. Of course, I still don't know what I'm doing after that; I'll probably just pick a relay up after I do that training tomorrow.

5:45 p.m.: I'm about 10 miles from Interstate 90. Earlier, I was debating whether or not to stop somewhere to get dinner, but ultimately I decided against it. The biggest advantage to stopping would have been to allow Chicago rush-hour to clear up, since I'm sure traffic will still be a nightmare when I get there. Judging from the traffic on I-65 South now, it looks like getting into this city won't be a problem; it's getting out of the city again that I need to worry about.

6:30 p.m.: I avoided some of the mess in Chicago by going around I-89/I-94, as opposed taking I-90 straight through. As a bit of comfort, this time I'm not the only truck on the interstate; last time I was in Chicago I couldn't the another semi truck anywhere. If it stays this smooth once I get out of the city, I'll actually be well ahead of schedule.

6:36 p.m.: As expected, on my way out of town, traffic is a bitch. However, this has given me the opportunity to look at Chicago's gorgeous skyline. It really is quite the amazing view. If my hands weren't full with trying to drive, I'd be trying to take pictures.

7:30 p.m.: I just realized on my GPS is taking such an unusual route. I had set it to avoid toll roads while I was back in Florida, since Schneider won't pay for the Florida Turnpike, but I forgot to reenable toll roads before I came up here. As a result, instead of ending up on I-94, I'm currently going up US 41. It's really nothing more than a minor inconvenience, but it still annoys that I forgot to do something so simple.

7:45 p.m.: I'm in Wisconsin now, and only a little over an hour from where I'm delivering. It seems I've done nothing but make time so far today, but I'm afraid that now that I've said something, my luck's going to run out. Just as I started to cross the state line, it started to rain. It's currently 44°, so there's no risk of freezing yet, but I have to strongly emphasize yet. Although the low temperature tonight in Green Bay is supposed to be 33°, they're still calling for snow flurries; I hope they're wrong.

9:13 p.m.: I made it and I didn't get lost for once. I have to go around to an auxiliary lot, though at least they gave me a map and good directions. As expected, my new work assignment is to just pick an empty up from the distribution center and take it to the operating center.

9:29 p.m.: I can't believe I just did what I did. After taking a good long look at what the trailer does when I back it up, I realized at the thing is really not just angles, it's more of an arc. Looking at it as an arc, I seem to have a much, much easier time visualizing where it's going to go, and where I need to be to get to go where it needs to go. Backing my trailer in that here, I put it right next to another trailer in one try, so close that I couldn't even fit between the trailers. The only thing that I had to fix was that spacing, and that was easy to do. Seems like I've finally gotten something figured out, and the training tomorrow should finish solving my problems.

11:05 p.m.: I'm now just about convinced that "support shift" doesn't actually support anybody, but instead exists solely to make driving miserable anytime first shift isn't on duty. I received a message telling me to pick up an empty trailer, so I picked up an empty. I sent in my message telling them which empty I had and got a message back telling me to pick up a different trailer. Please note that I didn't get a message telling me what a specific trailer to pick up at any point until after I already picked up the trailer I have now. Somehow, the trailer I have is unavailable, even though the customer confirmed to me that they weren't using it and I would be free to take it as an empty. I've sent another message telling them this, and I'm stuck sitting here until they figure out what they want me to do. So far, it's been 15 minutes and they haven't replied.

11:20 p.m.: finally, I received a reply, though certainly a less than polite one. The message basically said I should've waited to see if it was going to get assigned to me or not. If I had to get a specific trailer, they should've sent me a message telling which trailer I needed to pick up in the first place. In any event, they finally decided I can leave with the trailer I picked up an hour ago, so now I'm going to head to Green Bay. I would like to get there before 1:30 a.m., but because support shift doesn't have a clue, apparently that was too much to ask.

12:04 a.m.: I'm about an hour and a half from Green Bay, assuming the 65 mph speed limit holds up. Though I only drove 335 miles yesterday, I'm not too unhappy about it, considering I've driven over 600 the last two days. Once I get to Green Bay, I'll drop this trailer, then park my tractor in the bobtail parking. Hopefully there will be people idling there trucks since I'd like to get a full night of sleep.

1:30 a.m.: I made a Green Bay. Unfortunately, as before, I had no idea where I'm supposed to go here. There are no signs anywhere on property indicating where empty trailers are supposed to go.

2:30 a.m.: I've dropped the empty, parked the tractor, and am finally ready to get a full night's sleep. The truck next to mine is sitting idle, but I'm really too tired for that to bother me right now. Hopefully I don't have to be up early for the training; I haven't gotten any messages telling me when I need to get up.

Indianapolis, IN - Hour by Hour

11:52 a.m.: I'm on my way north on I-75, heading toward Chattanooga, Tennessee. Just over the state line, I'll pick up I24, one of several interstates I need to take today. I'm still nearly 9 hours from Indianapolis, but I should get there in pretty good time.

3:04 p.m.: stopping for lunch. Thankfully, since it's Sunday, all the truckstops will be relatively slow.

3:51 p.m.: back on the road again. Right now, the sun's at a very awkward angle; it's too low to block using the sun visor, but still high enough to shine over the trees and right in my eyes. The sun is almost directly to my left, making it very difficult to use my mirrors effectively.

40 3 p.m.: It's really rather uneventful drive so far. The only thing of interest is the police force. I don't think I've driven 20 miles all day without seeing at least one officer with somebody pulled over. I really wish I had more, interesting things to say, but I just don't right now.

7:24 p.m.: I'm 5 miles into Indiana now. Since the loop around Indianapolis is exit 106, I've just over 100 miles to go. Once on the loop, I only have about 10 more miles, since the exit I need isn't very far.

8:41 p.m.: I'm only 35 miles from Indianapolis, but now I'm stuck in construction. One of the lanes is closed, but none of these idiots in four wheelers seem to want to actually move into the lane that's open. Since there have been multiple signs over the last several miles, I really don't have any sympathy for them. Even more obnoxious is that people are still whipping around to try and pass, despite the traffic jam.

9:13 p.m.: Finally, I'm out of that mess. This leaves me about 27 miles from the operating center. I'm fairly sure I still have enough time to get there, but today was already close, and losing half an hour to construction zones never helps. Then again, I'm not sure if my logbook's correct anyway, simply 'cause I'm not 100% sure how to reflect the daylight savings change.

9:45 p.m.: I'm here. Now I just get to close out the logbook and sleep. :)

Atlanta again

After several days of running around in Florida, I'm back up here in Atlanta. After making a drop in Ft. Pierce, I assumed that I couldn't go anywhere but north... wrong! I had to go clear down to Miami to pick up the load I have now. This wouldn't be a problem, except that I've been to Miami before and I knew that it was near impossible to avoid getting lost in a car, much less a truck. Sure enough, after I picked up an empty trailer down there, I took a state highway that came to an abrupt end behind a shopping center, leaving me nowhere to get turned around. Eventually I had to back up into one of its driveways and turn around that way.

On the way out, I was running out of hours and felt incredibly tired, eventually forcing me to stop at a rest area. It's a small miracle that it had parking available at 5AM when I stopped, but at least I was able to get some sleep. Driving from there to here was uneventful, though I did get to log 681 miles yesterday, which I'm sure is going to make the DOT just a little curious (practically all Interstate driving, so it was legit).

Today, I'm going to get to Indianapolis and its operating center, then proceed to make my delivery and spend Monday night in Green Bay. Tuesday, I'll finally get a bit of extra training on backing, which I hope will solve the problems I've been having, or at least give me a good push in the right direction. I definitely still need the help.

I'm very, very worried about the weather though. I just checked the weather and there's a decent chance of snow in Wisconsin on Monday night. That's the last thing I need to deal with when I'm trying to (re-)learn how to back the truck up. Of course, that doesn't make it very easy to deliver freight, either.