Sunday, April 26, 2009
GREAT WEEK!!!
Howdy all!!! I am tardy, once again, in updating my blog. It has been a busy week, so decided to do one entry for the week.
My week began last Monday afternoon when I picked up a load in Plainfield, IN, destined to be delivered in Laredo, TX. I did not have to deliver the load until Wednesday morning, so I had a couple decisions to make. I could drive 600 plus miles a day and get down to Laredo by Tuesday night. Or, I could take it a little easier, driving about 450 miles a day, stopping at our terminals in West Memphis, AR and Lancaster, TX for my 10 hour breaks. I could also get a shower for free if I stopped at the terminals, so that is the choice I made. Only problem with that choice is I was going to be driving at night and trying to sleep during the day. I have problems with that most of the time. I just can't seem to get myself to go to sleep during the day. It is a struggle.
Well, I arrived in West Memphis late Monday night. I got up the next morning and was on my way to Lancaster around 8:30. I have my car parked in West Memphis and I needed to get a case of water and some other things at Walmart. So took care of that before leaving. It is nice having my car there. It was a very nice drive down to Lancaster. I arrived there fairly early Tuesday afternoon. I was going to have to leave around midnight, so went straight to bed, trying to get some sleep before having to drive again. Of course, I had problems getting to sleep and ended up only getting around 5 hours of sleep. I left Lancaster at around midnight and headed for Laredo. It was nice going so early because it meant getting through Austin and San Antonio before the traffic got started. I got past San Antonio and started getting sleepy. Generally I can chew gum and that wakes me up. But, it did not work this time, so I stopped at a rest area and took a nap. Slept about 45 minutes and woke up all refreshed and ready to go. I arrived in Laredo about 10:30 in the morning. When we get to our terminal in Laredo we are required to go through inspection for the trailers. So, I did that. Most of the time I have to wait until the next day to deliver my load, but this time I was allowed to take my load to the customer as soon as the inspection was finished. It was an easy delivery. I just had to drop the trailer and then head back to the terminal. When I got back to the terminal I decided it was time for lunch, but the lunch wagon was not there. But, low and behold, the terminal was having a special day, having a barbecue for the drivers and so lunch was waiting for me. It was really good.
While I was enjoying my lunch one of the dispatchers came running into the drivers lounge saying there was a fire and asking all the drivers to go get into their trucks to help move trailers. So, we ran out of the building, got into our trucks, and raced to where the trailers were in peril. The fire was at another companies terminal, but right in back of our yard. We moved a bunch of trailers and then headed back to the drivers lounge to finish our lunch. Once again, the dispatcher came running in saying the fire had spread and more trailers needed to be moved. And, once again we ran out to our trucks, and raced out to move some more trailers. Once that was done we went back and finally were able to finish our lunches. That was pretty exciting, to say the least.
It was not long after that it was my turn to pick a load to take out of there. I had the choice of delivering to Houston or to Russellville, KY. I chose the Kentucky load. More miles, don't you know. My 10 hour break was not going to be over until 10:30 that night. I went and found the trailer I was to pull, hooked up and did my pretrip inspection, and then got ready for bed. It was really hot down in Laredo. It was in the 100's during the day. So, I had to run my truck to stay cool. Once again, I had difficulty going to sleep. But, eventually I did get to sleep. I was up again and on my way at about 10:30 that night. My first stop was going to be in Prescott, AR, about 650 miles away. My load had to be delivered by 8:30 in the morning on Friday. Once again it was going to be night driving to get the load there on time. I drove all night and arrived in Prescott around 8:30 Thursday morning. Got something to eat, and then got ready for bed. By now, after all the night driving, I was pretty tired, so sleeping was not nearly as difficult. I slept pretty well. I got up and was on the road about 6:45 that evening. My plan was to drive to West Memphis, get fuel and then get a shower before continuing onto Russellville. That is what I did. I arrived in West Memphis around 10:30 Thursday night, fueled up the truck, washed the windows, got a shower, and then left West Memphis around midnight. My travels were going to take me through Dover, Tennessee. That is where I live. As I made that part of the trip I started thinking more and more about Rich and how much I missed him. I was going to go through there in the middle of the night, so would not stop. I drove right through Dover and continued on toward Russellville. I got close to Russellville at about 4:00am. The directions Conway gave me on how to get to the customer were really bad. I had to drive on these really skinny roads and I needed to turn around. I had to drive quite a few miles to find a place to turn around. I finally found a place to park and there were some farmers working on their tractors across the street. I went over and asked them how to get to the customer. They said I was way off. I got good directions from them and found the customer with plenty of time to spare. I sent a message to Conway that their directions were VERY wrong and gave good directions for this customer for future deliveries. I had a trailer full of aluminum blocks that my customer would process into different products. The aluminum came from Mexico. Why are we not getting the stuff out of the US? Oh well.
I was out of hours after making this delivery and had to sit for the rest of the day. Once again I had to sleep during the day, but now it is getting easier because I was really tired. When my break was over I was notified to go to Franklin, KY to pick up a load at 4:30 Saturday morning. I was going to make a delivery to Forest Park, Georgia on Monday morning. I drove to Franklin and found a truck stop to park for the night. I was up at about 2:30am and drove over to the customer. It wasn't until 6:30 in the morning that my trailer was loaded. I was pulling a trailer with 42,000 lbs of paper. I stopped off at the truck stop to weigh my load. Fortunately, the weight was good on all axles and so I did not have to slide my tandems to adjust the weight. It was a very nice drive going down to Georgia. Once again I got sleepy along the way. Because there was no hurry getting to my destination I was able to stop at a rest area and take a nap. I am now parked at a TA truck stop in Cartersville, Georgia. A couple of my trucker buddies told me it is not safe to park in Atlanta and that it would be best if I found a place to park for the weekend. Cartersville has a couple nice truck stops, with lots of parking, so that is where I am parked. I will be leaving around 3:00am tomorrow and head down to my customer.
It is pretty warm here. It was in the 90's yesterday and I had to run my truck to stay cool. Today the wind is blowing and I am getting good air flow through the truck. I also have a fan to help me stay cool. So far the truck is staying cool enough so I don't have to run it. I hope it stays that way the rest of the day. I do not like to idle the truck if I don't have to.
Well, it was definitely a good week for me, miles wise. I got a little over 2800 miles for the week. That is really good considering the economy. It looks like things are beginning to pick up a bit. That makes for a good pay check for the week.
My week began last Monday afternoon when I picked up a load in Plainfield, IN, destined to be delivered in Laredo, TX. I did not have to deliver the load until Wednesday morning, so I had a couple decisions to make. I could drive 600 plus miles a day and get down to Laredo by Tuesday night. Or, I could take it a little easier, driving about 450 miles a day, stopping at our terminals in West Memphis, AR and Lancaster, TX for my 10 hour breaks. I could also get a shower for free if I stopped at the terminals, so that is the choice I made. Only problem with that choice is I was going to be driving at night and trying to sleep during the day. I have problems with that most of the time. I just can't seem to get myself to go to sleep during the day. It is a struggle.
Well, I arrived in West Memphis late Monday night. I got up the next morning and was on my way to Lancaster around 8:30. I have my car parked in West Memphis and I needed to get a case of water and some other things at Walmart. So took care of that before leaving. It is nice having my car there. It was a very nice drive down to Lancaster. I arrived there fairly early Tuesday afternoon. I was going to have to leave around midnight, so went straight to bed, trying to get some sleep before having to drive again. Of course, I had problems getting to sleep and ended up only getting around 5 hours of sleep. I left Lancaster at around midnight and headed for Laredo. It was nice going so early because it meant getting through Austin and San Antonio before the traffic got started. I got past San Antonio and started getting sleepy. Generally I can chew gum and that wakes me up. But, it did not work this time, so I stopped at a rest area and took a nap. Slept about 45 minutes and woke up all refreshed and ready to go. I arrived in Laredo about 10:30 in the morning. When we get to our terminal in Laredo we are required to go through inspection for the trailers. So, I did that. Most of the time I have to wait until the next day to deliver my load, but this time I was allowed to take my load to the customer as soon as the inspection was finished. It was an easy delivery. I just had to drop the trailer and then head back to the terminal. When I got back to the terminal I decided it was time for lunch, but the lunch wagon was not there. But, low and behold, the terminal was having a special day, having a barbecue for the drivers and so lunch was waiting for me. It was really good.
While I was enjoying my lunch one of the dispatchers came running into the drivers lounge saying there was a fire and asking all the drivers to go get into their trucks to help move trailers. So, we ran out of the building, got into our trucks, and raced to where the trailers were in peril. The fire was at another companies terminal, but right in back of our yard. We moved a bunch of trailers and then headed back to the drivers lounge to finish our lunch. Once again, the dispatcher came running in saying the fire had spread and more trailers needed to be moved. And, once again we ran out to our trucks, and raced out to move some more trailers. Once that was done we went back and finally were able to finish our lunches. That was pretty exciting, to say the least.
It was not long after that it was my turn to pick a load to take out of there. I had the choice of delivering to Houston or to Russellville, KY. I chose the Kentucky load. More miles, don't you know. My 10 hour break was not going to be over until 10:30 that night. I went and found the trailer I was to pull, hooked up and did my pretrip inspection, and then got ready for bed. It was really hot down in Laredo. It was in the 100's during the day. So, I had to run my truck to stay cool. Once again, I had difficulty going to sleep. But, eventually I did get to sleep. I was up again and on my way at about 10:30 that night. My first stop was going to be in Prescott, AR, about 650 miles away. My load had to be delivered by 8:30 in the morning on Friday. Once again it was going to be night driving to get the load there on time. I drove all night and arrived in Prescott around 8:30 Thursday morning. Got something to eat, and then got ready for bed. By now, after all the night driving, I was pretty tired, so sleeping was not nearly as difficult. I slept pretty well. I got up and was on the road about 6:45 that evening. My plan was to drive to West Memphis, get fuel and then get a shower before continuing onto Russellville. That is what I did. I arrived in West Memphis around 10:30 Thursday night, fueled up the truck, washed the windows, got a shower, and then left West Memphis around midnight. My travels were going to take me through Dover, Tennessee. That is where I live. As I made that part of the trip I started thinking more and more about Rich and how much I missed him. I was going to go through there in the middle of the night, so would not stop. I drove right through Dover and continued on toward Russellville. I got close to Russellville at about 4:00am. The directions Conway gave me on how to get to the customer were really bad. I had to drive on these really skinny roads and I needed to turn around. I had to drive quite a few miles to find a place to turn around. I finally found a place to park and there were some farmers working on their tractors across the street. I went over and asked them how to get to the customer. They said I was way off. I got good directions from them and found the customer with plenty of time to spare. I sent a message to Conway that their directions were VERY wrong and gave good directions for this customer for future deliveries. I had a trailer full of aluminum blocks that my customer would process into different products. The aluminum came from Mexico. Why are we not getting the stuff out of the US? Oh well.
I was out of hours after making this delivery and had to sit for the rest of the day. Once again I had to sleep during the day, but now it is getting easier because I was really tired. When my break was over I was notified to go to Franklin, KY to pick up a load at 4:30 Saturday morning. I was going to make a delivery to Forest Park, Georgia on Monday morning. I drove to Franklin and found a truck stop to park for the night. I was up at about 2:30am and drove over to the customer. It wasn't until 6:30 in the morning that my trailer was loaded. I was pulling a trailer with 42,000 lbs of paper. I stopped off at the truck stop to weigh my load. Fortunately, the weight was good on all axles and so I did not have to slide my tandems to adjust the weight. It was a very nice drive going down to Georgia. Once again I got sleepy along the way. Because there was no hurry getting to my destination I was able to stop at a rest area and take a nap. I am now parked at a TA truck stop in Cartersville, Georgia. A couple of my trucker buddies told me it is not safe to park in Atlanta and that it would be best if I found a place to park for the weekend. Cartersville has a couple nice truck stops, with lots of parking, so that is where I am parked. I will be leaving around 3:00am tomorrow and head down to my customer.
It is pretty warm here. It was in the 90's yesterday and I had to run my truck to stay cool. Today the wind is blowing and I am getting good air flow through the truck. I also have a fan to help me stay cool. So far the truck is staying cool enough so I don't have to run it. I hope it stays that way the rest of the day. I do not like to idle the truck if I don't have to.
Well, it was definitely a good week for me, miles wise. I got a little over 2800 miles for the week. That is really good considering the economy. It looks like things are beginning to pick up a bit. That makes for a good pay check for the week.
# posted by Jill @ 11:16 AM 
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