I'm a Truck Driver

I think I am going to start writing on my blog again.

Howdy all! I have been telling all of you a lot about my travels lately, but I thought maybe you might be getting a little tired of that. So, in this episode of “The Travels of Jill Adkins” I will tell you a little bit about some things a truck driver has to do in regards to the truck.

First, here are a couple pictures of my qualcomm. It is a device used to communicate with my fleet manager. A fleet manager is a person who assigns loads to the drivers. We also ask for time off from the fleet manager. This person is not a drivers boss. This person is a team mate of the driver and it is a really good idea that the two get along. I have had 4 fleet managers in my 8 months of driving. The one I have now is in training. I might get to communicate with her this week.
This is the qualcomm. When a message comes in I am alerted with a bird chirping sound. It is a loud sound and startles me every time it goes off. There is a voice mechanism with this so that when a message comes in while I am driving I can listen to the message instead of having to pull off to the side of the road and read the message. The voice is computer generated and it does not always pronounce the words correctly. But, it does a pretty good job.
Here is a message telling me to update my fleet manager of my fuel level. If we are getting low on fuel we can get directions to nearby fueling locations. I always put my fueling locations into my trip plan so I don't need to ask for directions.

Something else I have talked about a bit is sliding tandems. On the truck we have steer tires (front) and drive tires (back). The tires on the trailer are called tandems.


Each state has rules on how many pounds an axle is allowed to have on it. The drive axles and tandem axles are allowed to have 34,000 lbs of weight on them. When the trailer is loaded there is no guarantee that the load will weigh exactly right for each axle. So, after we leave a customer we go find a truck stop that has scales. We are able to weigh each axle to determine how much weight is on each. If the drive axles or tandem axles have more than 34,000 lbs on them then we have to adjust the weight. We do that by sliding the tandems.

Under the trailer, above the tires, are rails with holes in them.













There is a metal pin that goes into these holes to lock the tandems into place. We have to use a handle to release the pins so that the tandems can slide. Sometimes it is a real pain trying to get the pin loose. A couple times I have had to ask other drivers to help me get the pin loose. Most drivers have to do that on occasion.

When the pin is loose, the driver gets back into the truck, releases the brakes to the truck, leaves the brakes engaged on the trailer, puts the truck into first gear or reverse, and slowly moves forward or backward. The trailer tires do not roll, but the trailer will slide on the rails. When we believe the tandems are in the correct position we set all the brakes, take the truck out of gear, get out of the truck and go back and put the pin release handle down. Then we go back to the truck, release the truck brake, put the truck into gear, and move the truck until the pin goes back into a hole. That locks the tandems in so the trailer cannot slide anymore. If we need to put more weight on the tandems we slide the trailer backwards. If we need more weight on the drive axles we slide the trailer forward. If we go to a weigh station and a set of axles are overweight we can get a severe fine. I have heard as much as $100 a pound. That can get real spendy. After we get the tandems into place, we will go reweigh the rig to make sure the weight is good. We get a form from the truck stop certifying that the weight is accurate. At times the scales will be off and say the weight is good. Then we get to a weigh station and are told there is too much weight on an axle. We produce the form for the weigh station officials and we don't get fined for the problem.

Now, you may notice that many times we do not turn our trucks off. We will sit and let the truck idle all night or all day. That is because we either need air conditioning or heat while we are sleeping. There has been a lot of complaints about this because of the noise, smell and pollution put out while the trucks idle. But, we drivers have to be comfortable so we get the rest we need to be safe drivers. One thing a couple truck stop franchises are doing are installing “Idleaire.” This is a way to have air conditioning or heat in the truck while stopped for the night or day.

As you can see, there are rails put up with these yellow hoses that can be installed into the passenger window. The trucks have to pull into a parking place nose first. This means they have to back out to leave and so we all have to watch so we don't run into each other. It is very difficult to see in back of us.

The hose is installed into the passenger side window. There is a controller attached to this hose and we can slide a credit card through a slide in the controller and can turn on air conditioning or heat. That way we do not have to run the truck to stay comfortable during our rest time. We are also able to plug in a TV and watch cable television, use internet service, plug in a telephone. It is a very nice service. Except it can be expensive, like $3.00 an hour. Also, the controller weighs about 35 lbs and can be difficult to install. I ask the attendant to help me. When it is not too hot I try to leave my windows open and not use this service. But, in the summer the service is very nice to have.

I have a membership with Idleaire, but have not used it yet. I do not like idling my truck and do not do it unless it is absolutely necessary. I have a fan in my truck that helps, but, when I get down into Texas or Southern California where the temps get up into the 100's it is not possible for the fan to keep me cool. There are several states that only allow a driver to idle the truck for 5 minutes an hour. That is definitely not long enough to keep the truck cool. These rules make it so the drivers cannot get quality rest and so can lead to unsafe drivers. Not good to fall asleep in a vehicle that weighs 80,000 lbs. There are exceptions to these rules, though. If a driver has a pet onboard then they are allowed to idle the truck all night and all day. I don't know if that is the reason some drivers get a pet, but it would not surprise me. I want my Millie dog for company. And boy she is going to be great company.

Well, that is all I have for now. Be safe and be happy!!!

Friends, family, country men, lend me your ears!!! Who said that? Was that Caesars who said that? I need to look that up on the internet.

How are all of you doing out there? It is May 4, about 6:15am, and I am sitting waiting for a load. I am number 24 on the board. I have asked to go home and should be there sometime this week. I am going to go get my Millie dog. I have about 4 days time off built up. I will use 2 days to get the puppy and then go back out on the road.

I have been down in the southeast this week. I made my delivery to Forest Park, GA last Monday morning. Was an easy delivery. I was required to unhook from the trailer and park on the opposite side from the dock. It is a safety issue with this company. Anyway, I spent my time talking to other drivers while my trailer was being unloaded. I enjoyed doing that. After my trailer was unloaded I had to wait about half the day before getting another load. I was fortunate because the company I was picking up from was just down the road. I was picking up merchandise from a KMART distribution center and was to deliver the load to a Sears distribution center in Jacksonville, FL. It was a very pretty drive down to Florida. I was able to drive to within about 60 miles of Jacksonville before I had to stop for the night. I was out of hours and I knew I would not be able to find any room at a truck stop. So, I stopped at a rest area. It was so peaceful and quiet there. I slept very well. I was up about 3:00am the next morning and headed to Jacksonville. This was a drop and hook delivery, so it did not take me long to get rid of my load. I went to a nearby truck stop and waited for my next load.

Well, you can tell that there is a lot of waiting around in regards to truck driving. I either wait to make a delivery or wait to get a load. In the Marine Corps we talked a lot about "hurry up and wait." I did not have to wait very long for my next load. I was sent down to Ocala, FL to wait on a relay load. There was a driver wanting to go home for some time off, but he was under a load and needed someone else to take it. So, I went down to Ocala and waited at a Pilot Truck Stop for the driver to arrive. He got there about 7:00pm. We traded trailers and he headed for home. I decided to wait until the next day to leave and was able to get a good nights sleep.

Next stop, LaVergne, TN. I had serious thoughts about asking for some time off from there after delivering my load. But, I really did not want to get home in April. So, I waited. I drove 600 miles to LaVergne and delivered my load Thursday morning. Once again I was on the waiting list and waiting until late Thursday afternoon to be sent up to Nashville to pick up another relay. This time several drivers were coming in from Des Plains, IL and they were going to relay their loads to several drivers waiting in Nashville. We Nashville drivers were going to take these loads down to a relay yard in Atlanta, and then yet another group of drivers were going to take the loads on down to Orlando, FL. Why so many drivers were used on these loads is not clear to me. All I can figure is that Conway was trying to get everyone a few miles. I only had about 1000 miles for the week at that time and I did not figure I was going to get many more than that the rest of the week. It looked like the pay check was going to be skimpy this time.

Well, I got my load down to Atlanta on Friday morning around 4:00am. I dropped my load at the yard, found an empty trailer to hook up to, and then went to bed. I really slept. I was tired.

I woke up around 9:00 Friday morning and waited for a load. I was afraid I was not going to get anything until Monday. But, I was blessed because I got a load. I was sent up to Cartersville, GA to pick up 44,000 lbs of Budweiser beer. Destination, Waco, TX. I drove from Cartersville to Rayville, LA. It was a gorgeous day to drive. I really enjoyed the trip. It rained hard that night. The sound of the rain on the roof was so soothing and I slept very well. I was up and moving at 6:30 Sunday morning. There were tornado warnings all over the place. I was going to go through Shreveport, LA and they were under a tornado warning that morning. The rain came down very hard, but there was no wind. That was nice. I just took my time and did fine. Near Tyler, TX I got onto secondary roads so I would bypass Dallas and arrived in Waco at about 2:00pm Sunday. I enjoyed just sitting and playing on my computer the rest of the day and this morning I delivered my load. It is now 6:40am and I am number 24 on the board. I have put in my request for time off and hopefully will be home sometime this week.

I am really looking forward to picking up Millie. My mother-in-law was at one time thinking she wanted to keep Millie. But, she has changed her mind. I am glad because I don't have to feel guilty about taking Millie out on the road with me.

Well, that is about all I have for now. Will talk to you later.

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.

Howdy all! I have been remiss about my blog this week. But, I have a good excuse. I have been driving. LOL!!! I got a load out of Joplin on April 15, going to Temperance, Michigan. I had a trailer full of Michelin tires. I left Joplin at about 4am on the 16th and traveled 625 miles to Eaton, Ohio. Temperance was too far for me to drive in a shift, but I wanted to get as far as I could. Eaton is only 180 miles from Temperance and I did not have to deliver the load until 8am on the 17th. The drive from Joplin was beautiful. The sun was out and it was warm. Not too many miles out of Joplin I had to stop. I was sleepy, and so I stopped at a little town called Devil's Elbow, Missouri. There was a big truck stop there. I got a big cup of coffee and a couple donuts (BAD). LOL!!! After eating the donuts and drinking the coffee I laid down for about 20 minutes and took a nap. I set my alarm to go off after 45 minutes, but I did not need that long. Soon I was off again, wide awake and ready to drive. I drove close to 400 miles and found a rest area near Effingham, Illinois to stop and take a break. I had a sandwich and a simulated mountain dew for lunch. You know what a simulated mountain dew is, don't you? A generic brand is how I should have put it. Have you ever tried the diet mountain dew? Robert, my brother-in-law, loves the stuff. I don't get it. It tastes awful. I drink the real stuff. The sugar stuff.

When I have to get up real early in the morning I almost always have a problem getting to sleep. Normally I like to stop and mess around on the computer for awhile so I can unwind. I couldn't do that this time. It was almost 4pm and I needed to get up about 12:30 in the morning to make sure I got to Temperance on time. Because I was forced to go to sleep early, I had trouble going to sleep. Probably did not really get to sleep until 6pm. The alarm went off and I felt like I did not get any sleep at all. Oh well. I headed into the truck stop to get cleaned up a bit, brush my teeth, comb my hair, wash my face. Things like that. I got a cup of coffee and went back to the truck. Got my log book ready to go, warmed up the truck, and took off. It was a nice drive up to Temperance. Temperance is just north of the Ohio/Michigan border, on the east side of Michigan. I arrived at the Michelin Tire warehouse at about 5am and I was allowed to drop my trailer at a dock, unhook, pick up another trailer and go to a nearby truck stop. Arrived at the truck stop thinking I was going to get a nap. Well, I had a few things to do first. Had to update my log book, and turn in the tripak. You ask, what is a tripak? At many of the truck stops you will find these yellow boxes. They are like mailboxes. The drivers are given envelopes with the company address on them. We put our bills of lading, log book pages, reimbursement forms, and fuel receipts into this envelope. We put our truck # on the envelope, seal the envelope and drop it into this yellow box. Then the envelope is transported to the trucking companies. I dropped my tripak into the box and went back to my truck. When I got back to the truck a message was waiting for me, assigning me to another load. No nap. Oh well.

Next destination, Kalamazoo, Michigan. This was a brand new customer for Conway Truckload, so I was personally called by the company letting me know to treat these people really well. I always do that anyway. It is a lot easier to be nice to folks that to be a crab. I got to Kalamazoo and the only person I ever talked to was the security guard. He had my bills of lading, told me where to drop my trailer, where to pick up the loaded trailer and then inspected my load before I left. I had to use a couple of my cargo straps for this load. Will have to get them replaced the next time I get to a terminal. I was originally going to take this trailer to Levittown, PA. That is just east of Philadelphia. But, prior to arriving in Kalamazoo I was informed there would be two stops. The first stop would be in Plainfield, Indiana. That is just outside Indianapolis. I was to take the load to the Conway Freight Yard in Plainfield, drop the trailer, and wait for my next load. I arrived here Friday afternoon. I was pooped when I got here. From Eaton to Temperance to Kalamazoo to Plainfield ended up being about 600 miles. I went in a circle, basically. I was out of hours and tired. I dropped the trailer, found a spot to park my truck, and went to bed. Got up Saturday morning at about 7:00 and sent a qualcomm in saying I was ready to go on the board. It is Sunday morning and I am still sitting here at the Conway yard. I do have a load assignment, though. I will be picking up freight less that a mile from here. I don't get to pick it up until 1300 tomorrow, and I get to take it to Laredo, TX. That is almost 1300 miles. I am very happy about that. I have to be in Laredo by 9:30am on Wednesday. Lord willing this will be a great week.

The weather the last few days has been gorgeous. Sunny and warm. Last night rain came through. It sounded so nice on the roof of the truck. I had to get up and close my windows. The bugs are not too bad yet. None came into my truck last night. I enjoy keeping the windows open if I can. Soon I won't be able to do that.

Well, that is about all I have for today. Everyone be safe out there and have a wonderful week.

God Bless You all!!!!

It has been a few days since I last talked to all of you. I have been all over the place since then. I made it to Sturgis, MI on Sunday morning and sat at a Walmart all day. It is difficult to sleep during the day, but I managed to get a little sleep. I did not have to make my delivery until 12:30 in the morning, but arrived at the customer at 11:00pm Sunday. No problem. They unloaded the trailer quickly and I was on my way back to the Walmart to finish my nap. Was up at about 5:00 and got on the board for my next load. I then went back to bed. I got up at around 7:30 and got the computer out to check email and play a little. I found out that I was number 23 on the Taylor board. Taylor is one of our terminals located up close to Detroit. Anyway, I thought I would be sitting for days. No such thing. About an hour later I received a message on my Qualcomm assigning me a new load. Next destination; Niles, MI, only 50 miles away. So, I headed over there to pick up several rolls of wire weighing 38,000 lbs. I got over there, got the wire loaded and was on my way to Flora, IL, about 310 miles south. At least I was not going to Canada. I was happy about that. It rained most of the day, but it was only a light drizzle and did not cause any problems. I had to be down to Flora by 7:00pm. Arrived there at 5:00pm, got unloaded immediately, and was ready to go. While I was driving to Flora I received a Qualcomm giving me another load immediately after the Flora load was delivered. I got a load from Salem, IL to Oklahoma City. That was going to be 570 miles. So, this morning I picked up the load in Salem and headed out. My route was going to take me through Joplin. I was not real happy about that because we are required to stop at the terminal to get our trucks and trailers inspected. And Joplin almost always finds something wrong. So I was worried that they would find a problem and I would have to give up my load. Guess what? They found an oil leak on the truck and there was a problem with the trailer. I had no idea how long it would take to fix the truck, and I my load had to be delivered to Oklahoma City by 3:00am tomorrow. I felt it would not be fair to another driver if I waited to give up the load and then someone would have to jump through hoops to get the load delivered. So, I gave up the load. Oh well. I prayed that the Lord would not allow my truck to have a problem. But, you know what? It is better that the problem was found here in Joplin and not by my truck breaking down on the interstate. The Lord knows best. So, here I sit in Joplin, waiting for my truck to be fixed. Won't happen tonight. I will get out of here eventually.

Now, have you ever heard of a qualcomm? Some of you may have. It is a communications devise that all trucks at Conway have. It is like a little keyboard with a screen. We communicate with our fleet managers and others at headquarters, letting us know about load assignments, and letting the drivers communicate when their loads have been delivered and when we are ready for another load. It is a neat little deal. When we are driving we often will get a message on the qualcomm. It makes a little chirping sound and then a voice comes on telling us we have a message. Instead of having to stop the truck to find out what the message is, we can push a button and a voice will read the message to us. It is a computer voice, and sometimes pronounces words funny, but it does a pretty good job letting us know what is going on. I will have to take a picture of it and put it on one of my posts.

Well, that is all I have for today. You all be safe out there and God Bless you!!!

Howdy all! I am back in West Memphis. Arrived here this morning at about 12:30. This is how it all went down. I got up yesterday morning at about 6:00. Got dressed and headed into the terminal to see how many people were on the board. I had not put myself on the board yet. I figured if I got on the board the afternoon before I would end up getting a load that I had to take out in the middle of the night. I wanted to get a good nights sleep, so decided to wait. The terminal has a great breakfast line, so I went to breakfast, and then went and got on the board. I was number 6 on the board and figured I had time to go to Walmart. I caught the shuttle to Walmart to get stuff for my frig and when I got back my number was called. I was given a couple choices on where to take a load. One was going to Ohio. Another was going to be picked up in Neosho, MO and then taken to West Memphis, AR. As I said in my last post, I decided to take the Neosho to West Memphis load. If I had taken the Ohio load I would not have arrived there until late Friday or early Saturday and then I would sit in a truck stop until Monday waiting for a new load. If I have to wait it is better to be at one of our terminals. I can get a shower, use my truck to bobtail to a restaurant. If I am at a truck stop my truck is hooked up to a trailer and I am not allowed to unhook from that trailer. So, I think coming here was a good choice.

Well, I got loaded earlier yesterday than what was scheduled and was on my way to West Memphis at 5:30 instead of 7:30. That was good. There were a lot of menacing clouds lurking around. I was hoping I would be able to beat them and not get caught in any bad weather. No such luck. I was running south on I-540 and around Springdale, AR the rain began to fall. Not too long and it was pouring down rain and often hail was hitting the truck. The wind was wicked all the way. Well, it poured rain all the way to Little Rock, over 200 miles away from Neosho. We trucks kept on moving, slowing down quite a bit, but continuing to roll. A lot of the 4 wheelers would get behind us and follow us through the bad weather. Truckers are appreciated by the 4 wheelers when there is bad weather. They can see the truck lights pretty well and not worry too much about the truck driving off the road. It definitely was a wild ride, though. Not too far west of Little Rock there was a lightening storm going on. There was so much lightening flashing in one area that we were certain there must be a tornado in the area. Fortunately it did not touch down as we went by. I am sure glad about that.

Well, I pulled into West Memphis at about 12:30 this morning. It was not raining here. My load was a relay, which means I was bringing it to West Memphis to hand off to another driver. You know, my trailer had 7000 lbs of crock pots going to a Sam's down in Georgia. I don't know why they would not let me finish the delivery, but I guess it is OK. I try to do what I am told. Anyway, I put down that I was out of hours so they wouldn't give me a load in the middle of the night. I dropped my trailer, turned my paperwork into dispatch, and then went to bed. Got up this morning at about 8:30. I couldn't start driving until 10:30, so I went to breakfast at the Waffle House. After breakfast I came back to the terminal and asked to be put on the board. They had a load for me right then and there. I was given several choices. I could have gone to Jersey City, NJ; Columbus, OH; Sturgis, MI, Morristown, TN. I decided to take the Sturgis, MI load. I really do not like going to New Jersey, especially Jersey City. It is a mess. I have been to Columbus. Have not been to Sturgis. Morristown was too close. So, I am going to Sturgis. Don't have to be there until 1:30 Monday morning. It is only 632 miles from here. I can do that in one day. So, I plan on heading out of here tomorrow, stopping somewhere in between tomorrow night, and then going on into Sturgis on Sunday. Where I go after that I have no idea. We shall see.

It is cloudy here today, but dry. It is warm enough to wear shorts. I like that.

Well, sports fans, I will see you on the flip side. Take care. Have a wonderful Easter. Jesus is Lord!!!