Sunday, April 19, 2009
Plainfield, Indiana
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!!!!
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!!!!
# posted by Jill @ 9:41 AM 
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