Monday, May 4, 2009
Waco, TX
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.
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.
# posted by Jill @ 6:12 AM 
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
