I'll Post Anyway

OK, I will post from time to time for my own satisfaction.

I am in Randolpf MA now. I arrived at 1100 tonight for a 0800 appointment in the morning. I don't like driving at night but in this case, I already know where the customer is and it beats getting up at 0200 or 0300 and taking on the Boston rush hour traffic.

Along the way here I saw this disturbing accident on I80 in the PN mountains.

That's a large trailer on the back of the truck. It had just passed me about 20 minutes before. I pray that no one was hurt.

Blog is Shut Down for Now.

No one is reading it.

This Stinks

I finally got out of the Boston area.

I got a load picking up in Ayre MA going to Woodstock IL. It has taken me all of the available hours for two days to get as far as Indiana on the TurnPike. I will have 11.75 more hours tomorrow but I will have to leave here by 0200 to get to my appointment at 0730. If Chicago is as usual I will just make it but if Chicago is worse than normal I might be late.

Obviously I won't make it home tomorrow. I have to count on getting a load going through Georgia soon after getting empty in Woodstock and then I will still be fighting with my log book for hours. I hope I won't have to go to Wisconsin to get a load but that is what is most likely. Getting home on Friday is in question now.

This happens in this business. I can't complain much because it doesn't happen too often at Millis and a lot of drivers have stories of being days or weeks late getting home every time.

My Log Book is Shot

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8/4 through 8/17 - something over 6000 miles

I'm in Randolph MA right now, out of hours and dead tired. It can be hard to find freight out of this area but in my case it matters not.

The 'hours of service' rules allow 70 hours in 7 days to work. You can be on duty for up to 14 hours per day and then you have to take a 10 hour break before starting your next 14. Within that 14 hours you may only drive for 11 hours. No one wants to work 14 hours per day and in my case, I am paid per mile so I don't want to work any hours that are not driving and making good time. That is the challenge. The other catch is that the 14 hours are consecutive so once you start working, the 14 hour clock begins, so if you drive for 1 hour and get held up by a customer for 8 hours then you only have 5 hours left to drive.

Two weeks ago I had too much time between appointment and lost a lot of time. This week I have been driving right up to 10 to 11 hours per day plus the 'on duty' not driving' time so I used up my 70 hours in less than 7 days.

So now I sit and wait for another day to go by and give me back some hours.

I can't wait till Thursday when I go home for a while.

I've been in internet no-mans land. After unloading in Salisbury NC I got a load from Eden NC going back to Trenten OH. Then I got a load from Middletown OH, just a few miles from Trenton, back to Charlotte NC and then again from Eden NC to Rochester NY. I have been up gainst the clock and every time I stopped I was in the Appalation Mountains with no signal so I could'nt post any updates.

Lots of miles on the books, I am now in Erie PN after picking up a load in Niagra Falls NY. I have to get this load back to Eden NC and pick up another load and have it in Randolph MA on Monday before 1100. It's hard running but better than sitting around like I did last weekend.

I should be home on Thursday night for a few days.

I may stop posting on this blog because I don't think anyone is reading it. If you are, then please post a comment or let me know some how.

I got into Plano fairly early and dropped. The customer didn't have an empty. While I sat and ate some tuna I received a load to pick up in Streater IL and deliver to our drop yard in Trenton OH. I ran hard to get to Trenton hopeing to get a load for Sunday and to get out of that area which is often crowded with Millis trucks but no freight.

No such luck. I dropped in Trenton around 1930 and there were about 20 trucks waiting for a load. I sat all day Sunday and it was around 1200 Monday when I got a load. This one was from Trenton to Salisbury NC. I'm I NC now about 30 miles from my 0900 appointment for tomorrow.

A little over 600 miles today. I will finish the last 200 or so in the morning. No pre plan either. I have to see what the weekend dispatch can get me.

Now, back to 'Prison Break'.

I went to my 0600 appointment in Ft Worth and got unloaded by 0700. I then had to go park on the road side and wait for my next load. It came around 0930. The load is a run of about 950 miles or so counting loaded and empty miles. I drove to Greenville TX, stopping for fuel on the way, and arrived before noon for a 1900 appointment. They put me in a dock and I was loaded early, around 1600.

That messed up my day in terms of hours to drive. I don't like to drive in the evening hours. It is to hard to find a place to park when it's time to. I drove as far as Texarkana Arkansas and will sleep here and get up early and drive; around 0430 or so. I like morning driving. I have the road to myself for the most part and I get to watch the sun come up.

I still won't make it all the way to my destination of Plano IL but the load is due any time Saturday anyway. I wish I could have started earlier though, so I could deliver on Friday before my dispatcher is gone for the week end. Maybe he will be able to pre-plan something good and long for the week end forme anyway.

I am hooked again on watching 'Prison Break'. I am in the middle of season 3 now.

It's 118 degrees Out There!

Parked at the Flying J in Dallas. It's 118 degrees. I deliver about 30 miles from here at 0600 in the morning. The customer says you can't arrive more than 10 minutes early but you can't be late either. It's the first time I've been there so, I will go early. If they won't give me permission then they will just have to forgive me.

Home Time is Over

I'm days behind.

My last post was in Oswego I think. I got empty there and went back to Weedsport to wait for a load. I finally got one. It was for the next day, picking up in Fulton NY and delivering to the yard in Richfield WI. I needed to hustle because I was due home on Thursday night.

I drove all the way to one of the last travel plazas in Ohio and spent the night there. On Thursday I pushed on through Indiana and across the Chicago Skyway and then through Chicago into Wisconsin. After I dropped in Richfield I had another load right away to get me home. It picked up in West Allis WI going to Tampa FL but I was dropping it in Cartersville GA. So, back through Chicago I went again and settled for the night after I got some way into Indiana on I65 south. Thursday I drove it through and spent Friday through Monday at home.

This morning I sent my 'ready for dispatch' message ad around 1100 I got a load picking up in East Point GA going to Ft Worth TX. It delivers at 0600 on Thursday so I don't have to rush. I'm shut down now in Mississippi about 60 miles east of Jackson.

It is interesting that, while many states are closing rest areas to cut costs, Mississippi is expanding theirs. They also have 24/7 armed security. I really do appreciate that.