It was great to have a day at home with the family.

Now I'm back at it. Monday morning I got a load of glass from East Point GA to drop in Trenton OH. Good, 530 or so miles. It was a nice day and I got there before dark.

This morning is a day for me to do one of those 'somebody's gotta do it' trips that all companies and drivers have from time to time. From Trenton I get to a big 38 mile trip to deliver in Cincinnati to this place.

I backed in here at 1030 and now I wait a while to unload.

Bonus Home Time

IT was worth the wait. I picked up a load Saturday morning in the same place that I delivered to, headed to Palmetto GA, just a few miles from my house. I hustled and delivered this morning and now I'm at home for the day. I will send a ready message Monday  morning. Now, what time is the Falcons game and where's that steak?

HUAW (Hurry up and wait)

At 0730 this morning I had 312 miles behind me. When I arrived at the customer he was standing outside pointing at the door he wanted me in. I guess they really did need it at 0730. I dropped the loaded wagon in the dock and hooked an mt that was on the lot and sent my ready message. The reply was 'no load yet, your second on the list'.

I am at the Flying J now waiting. This 'J' has about an 8 acre lot so I got out and walked for about 35 minutes. It's about 65 degrees with a light breeze. It's funny to see the reaction of most drivers when you get out and just walk. They think your lost or looking for something. Many drivers are so out of shape they can hardly get from the truck to the store to get their receipt. If there wasn't Mountain Dew, hot dogs and doughnuts in there they probably wouldn't bother. These are the same guys that get into arguments on the cb and challenge each other to meet at the fuel island to settle it like men. I've never seen them actually meet though. I'm sure if they did, the one that studied sumo as their martial art would win.

I thought I had taken some great pictures of the sun coming up but the flash was on so all I got was a reflection of all my stuff on the dash board.

Stinks to be Me

I got a load. Pick up in Adams WI and deliver to Carlisle PA. It was a 150 mile deadhead and I got to Adams and loaded just at night fall. The trip is  876 loaded miles and the dispatch says I had to deliver between 0730 and 1200 on Friday. That is reasonable.

When I left Adams the fog was bad so I was moving really slowly. I got to the weigh station just past Madison and decided to shut down there. My 14 hrs was about up.

This morning I had the pleasure of driving in the rain and of course my favorite, Chicago. When I got to the turnpike in Indiana things were looking up. The rain had stopped and I had plenty of time to drive, rest and drive again Friday, arriving mid morning and my load is only just over 7000 lbs so the hills will be easy.

Then, around 1300 I get the bomb. The dispatch message was wrong. The load needs to be there by 0730. So that means I have exactly enough time to get there including a 10 hour break. I am in Youngstown OH now at the Pilot. I have to get up and fuel and be rolling by 0230. Stinks to be me.

Well, it's not snowing.

Wisconsin

I keep getting behind here because I'm trying to learn some new stuff.

I stopped and got a truck wash and the went straight to my customer. They let me in the gate so I had a safe place to park for the night. I connected the tuner to my laptop and found the station carrying the Falcons game and watched a good game, though it wasn't in HD.

Right as the game was ending the guard called me and told me they would unload me. Great, since it was 2330 and my appointment was for 0900 the next morning.

After being unloaded I slept and then went to the near by Pilot truck stop. I sent my ready message and then went in a got a shower. When I got back to the truck I had a load.

It was glass picking up at the Corning place in Warner Robins GA and delivering in Cincinnati OH to Sam Adams, but I was to drop in the Millis Trenton yard. The last time I picked up there it was a live load and I waited 7 hours but this time it was a drop and hook.

I got to Trenton yesterday and after dropping I was told that I was number 7 on the list. That gave me time to go shopping for groc. Mid afternoon I got assigned a load of beer going to the Beer Capital distributor near Milwaukee WI. Now I'm back to driving all night again but in this case at least it got me through Indy and Chicago in the lightest possible traffic.

I arrived at the customer at around 0200 this morning and slept until they started receiving at 0730. I'm in the door now and I can feel them back there driving the fork in and out so it won't be long.

A little over 500 miles and I'm resting at the Loves truck stop in Wytheville VA. I'll be in Georgia in time to watch the Falcons tomorrow.

Got sent 225 miles dead head up to Baldwinsville NY for a load going 1016 miles to Macon GA. It's due Monday. I picked it up and got backdown I81 as far as Binghamton NY. Just finished getting a shower and eating a flatbread sandwich.

Early Snow

It's 32 degrees and snowing in Paxino PA, but the roads are clear.

I'll be MT here soon and I hope to get a good long run to get through the weekend. Ft. Worth would be good.

Time to Go

Rested after four days I'm red ta go.

Got a load, picked up in Albany GA, going to Paxinos PA. Drove to South Carolina where I'm going to spend the night. I have 700 miles to go and it delivers on Friday at 0800. I hope I keep up this time and don't get into that 'all night, 700 mile' rhythm again.

Verizon in Stingy

I haven't updated because I found out that I went over my 5 Gig limit on Verizon. It happened because my new laptop had to download all of the Microsoft updates, ESET virus software, TV tuner software, iTunes and other stuff I use. Verizons access manager reports what is supposed to be the amount of bandwidth that you have used when you connect. They are deceptive though because the report you get is two or three days old. I think this is deliberate because they know that people will assume it is current and then go over the limit and they can charge you a ridiculous amount for the overage. I called them to complain and they told me that the report can't be done in real time. They also told me that they can't set it up to just cut off at the limit. I installed and managed the access switches and VPN servers at a very large airline so I know that is a lie too. If they believe that then they should fire the engineer that told them that and hire me.

Any way, after I got to Trenton OH I got loaded and went to Green Bay again. I got stuck there for the Sunday but that let me get some hours back and watch some NFL. I also walked a lot and got some good pictures of the bay. I also met some guys who had some remote control cars that were rock climbers. They had a course set up on the jetties and were competing with each other.

Then it got crazy busy again. I got sent to Neenah WI and got a load, dropped it in Richfield WI, went to Hartford WI and got a load going to Saratoga Springs NY. I delivered that Wednesday morning.

I had requested home time starting tomorrow. I didn't think I would make it but the sent me deadhead to Baldwinsville NY for a load going to Macon GA delivering 0700 tomorrow. I spent last night in Scranton PA and drove 700 mi today ending up just shy of Georgia on I85 in SC.

What a killer day. This load puts my gross at 79,460 lbs with my tanks half full. I had to fuel twice to get this far and I might have to again before I get down to Macon.

Frost on the Pumpkin

I woke up in Ohio Friday morning to see frost for the first time this fall. It was about 0300.

When I got to Woodstock IL my hours were used up. They unloaded me quickly so I moved to a truck stop and got some much needed rest.

This morning I sent a ready message and told dispatch how many hours I got back today and he found a way to use them all up to. I'm picking up in Plano IL and delivering in Tipp City OH. Then I will dead head to out Trenton OH shop and turn this wagon in for service.