Getting Closer to Home and Vacation Time!

Woke up this morning sitting in our drop yard in Atlanta, GA around 7:00 AM. I had a great nights sleep. The temperature was in the mid-60's so I slept with the truck off most of the time. Although I did wake up twice; at 1:30 AM and at 4:30 AM with messages being sent to me over the Qualcomm about my load for today. I hate when they do that! But I was able to fall right back to sleep.

After phoning home this morning, I bobtailed down the road to Hardee's. They have THE best sausage, egg, and cheese biscuits anywhere! Then back to the drop yard.

The other driver arrived with my load about 10:15 AM, just AFTER it started to downpour! It's always fun getting out into the rain to hook up to a trailer. :( By 10:45 though I am on the road heading southbound! I jump on the I-675 to I-75 and don't stop until Florida.

Finally around 4:30 PM I stopped at a Pilot Travel Center in Ocala, FL. I wasn't really in the mood for a burger and that Pilot had an Arby's. I was thinking an Arby's chicken sandwich sounded pretty good. But then their sweet tea isn't as good as McDonald's. As it turns out, this exit had a McDonald's right next door also! I parked the truck and was headed over to McD's. The plan was to get the sweet tea first, then go over to the Arby's for the chicken sandwich. Once I was in McDonald's though I just settled for the McD's chicken club. Oh well...

Now back on the road and continuing south on I-75 into Tampa. Just as I entered the city I exit the highway and in just a half mile or so I'm at the Con-Way Freight terminal making my delivery. I checked in, dropped the trailer and hooked up to an empty. Now I wait.

I had asked several times today to see if I could get a pre-assigned load so that I would know where I'm going next. If my next load picked up tomorrow anywhere near the direction of Orlando, I would have gone tonight and slept at home! But not knowing in which direction I'm heading to next I have to stay here in Tampa.

What I don't want to do is go home now to start my vacation. Not until next week anyway. So I'm hoping for the next few days they'll have me running around FL-GA for some short runs. At least I'll get some miles and maybe end with a decent pay check. We shall see right?

Anyway, that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.

From Paducah, KY to Atlanta, GA

Another day has come and I'm closer to home. Albeit too early, but closer none the less.

I started out the day in Paducah, KY at a truck stop along I-24 right on the Kentucky-Illinois border. I awoke around 6:00 AM and by 6:30 I was on the road. I finally stopped at a Love's Travel Center in Plainview, TN around 9:15 to have breakfast at a McDonald's. You guessed it, a #2 sausage, egg, & cheese McMuffin with an orange juice and sweet tea! The breakfast of champions... right? OK, maybe not but it's good!

Following I-24 eastbound to Chattanooga where I turn south onto I-75. In Georgia I stop at the Pilot Travel Center in Carbondale for fuel at 1:00 PM. A quick stop and go and I'm on my way again. After taking the I-285 loop around Atlanta to the west, I jump onto I-20 to GA70. I arrived at M & W Distributors at 3:00 to deliver the 43,000 lbs of carrot cake and brownie mix I've been hauling. As it turns out, my appointment wasn't until 7PM so it's just a matter of sitting and waiting.

So at 6:30 they finally get me unloaded. I circled the I-285 loop to the southeast corner. There is the Con-Way drop yard where I will be relaying with another driver in the morning. So here is where I'll stay tonight.

That was my day today. Thanks for stopping by.

From Georgia to North Carolina

Since I didn't really do a whole lot yesterday, today felt more like a Monday than a Tuesday. Woke up this morning around 7:00 AM at the Petro truck stop in Atlanta. I went inside to the restaurant there for breakfast. Skipping the buffet, I ordered 3 eggs over easy, bacon, hash browns, and wheat toast along with sweet tea AND and orange juice. I gotta have something healthy every now and then.

After breakfast I drove on down the road just 5 miles away to the Keystone Automotive warehouse where they unloaded 80 cartons of bumpers that where in the trailer. By 10:45 AM I'm heading down to McRae, GA 160 miles away to pickup my next load. I take the I-285 Atlanta bypass loop south to I-75 south to Macon, then I-16 east.

Since I have plenty of time to make my appointment, I did stop at one rest area along I-16 to grab a Geocache. Then I turn south onto US319 in Dublin to get to McRae. I arrive there at 2:15 PM and by 3:00 PM I'm loaded and headed back north towards Pennsylvania. A quick stop again in Dublin for fuel and McDonald's.

Then it's non-stop east on I-16 to US1 north to I-20 east to I-77 north. Passing through South Carolina, I come to a stop in Troutman, North Carolina at the Hess Travel Center. That's a 535 mile day for today which leaves me 545 miles for tomorrow to my destination.

But now... I'm tired! See ya tomorrow.

Hanging Around North Georgia

Welcome to all who visit me here. Woke up this morning still in Norcross, Georgia at the same warehouse I stayed at a few weeks ago. It was nice and quiet here. I returned the rental car back to Enterprise Rent-A-Car at 7:30 AM.

My delivery appointment time was at Noon, so there was still plenty of time to get it there. Gainesville, GA was only 40 miles north on I-85 to I-985. I still got there early at around 10:00 AM. I waited and waited and they FINALLY got me unloaded at 3:00 PM, 5 HOURS LATER!! I should get detention pay from Noon to 3PM though. So not a complete waste of time. There was a geocache about a 1/2 mile away, but there was also a light rain off and on throughout the day so I didn't go after it.

After they unloaded me, I drove south on US129 back over to I-85 in Jeffersonville. About 14 miles away, that was the nearest truck stop. I waited there for my next load assignment. Around 4PM, I went next and ate a Whopper at Burger King. When I got back to the truck, they had me a load assigned. 55 miles back to Atlanta to the CFI drop yard. The pickup time wasn't until tomorrow morning and it delivers on the other side of Atlanta at 10:00 AM. So not far at all to go.

There was a break in the lite showers and there was a geocache just a mile away and being that I had plenty of time I walked down to look for it. The total walk round trip was 2 miles.

Once back to the truck, I drove down to the drop yard. My loaded trailer was already there. Earlier today a trucker friend of mine called me who was also in Atlanta on the west side at a truck stop. We took the CDL truck driving class together. Anyway he had read yesterdays post and saw that I was in the area too. So after I hooked up to my trailer I drover around the I-285 bypass loop over to the Petro truck stop where he was. We met up in the restaurant and chatted over dessert. In the 2 1/2 years since the driving school, this has been only the 2nd time our paths have crossed.

That was it for today. Tomorrow we'll empty this load in the morning and then pick up another headed for Pennsylvania. Until then, I'll see ya on the road.

A GREAT Surprise Weekend!

Hello everyone. Sorry I missed a post for yesterday. I started out Saturday morning in Murfreesboro, TN and drove non-stop to Norcross, GA, just outside of Atlanta. My delivery wasn't due until Monday and instead of sitting here over the weekend again, I rented a car from Enterprise and drove down to Orlando to surprise my wife. Boy was she happy to see me.

I arrived at home around 7:00 PM that evening. After church on Sunday morning we went out to lunch with some friends. Back home to change and then by 3:30 PM its back to Georgia. I arrived back in Norcross, GA around 9:30 PM.

A really great weekend off that totally surprised my wife. See you back here tomorrow.

Where'd You Learn to Load a Trailer?

Hello all! Woke up this morning around 7:30 and walked down to Hardee's for breakfast again. I'm still sitting at the Pilot truck stop in Atlanta on the southeast side of the loop.

My appointment time to pick up my load this morning was at 11:00, but sometimes they're ready early. So I drive over at 9:00 AM and the trailer is loaded and they were getting my paperwork together. It was a Con-Way Freight load consisting of misc smaller loads all put together on one trailer headed to Shreveport, LA to the Con-Way Freight location there. Con-Way Freight handles what's called LTL (lessthan-truck-load). You may have seen the smaller Con-Way trailers running single or doubles. I drive for Con-Way Truckload which handles full 53' trailer orders.

Anyway, so I get my paperwork and review the items. There's like a dozen different orders on here with the total weight of 41,000 lbs. I look at the last order loaded; 7 pallets with a combined weight of 20,000 lbs. I knew right then that this wasn't going to be legal!

I hook up to the trailer and take it around the building to their scales. (all C-W Freight terminals have scales on sight) The weight on the drive axles = 26,400 lbs. The weight on the tandem (trailer) axles = 35,800 lbs!! That's 1400 lbs overweight and about a $160 fine! And the axles are already slid all the way to the back! So I had to haul the trailer back around to the dock where they had to either re-load the trailer putting the heavier pallets in the middle or remove some off the tail end. They elected to just remove one of those 7 pallets off the back. DARN! That's what I'd figure they'd do because it's easier and quicker. But it also means that I have to drive with the tandems ALL the way to the rear. Which means EXTRA-WIDE turns! Oh well.

But first, I drive a couple miles in the opposite direction back to that Pilot to get a more accurate CAT scale weight. The Con-Way scales don't get calibrated as often and are not always correct. Plus going to the Pilot's CAT scales will give me a printed copy in case I get stuck at a weigh station.

So, now I'm off around the I-285 loop over to I-20 westbound. My first stop was in Flowood, MS for fuel. Back on I-20 westbound, I arrived in Shreveport, LA at 9:30 PM. I dropped the trailer at the Con-Way Freight there and hooked up to an empty. It's a mess inside and needs to be swept out, but I'm too hungry to do it tonight. A mile back to the I-20 exit where there was a Petro truck stop. Petro's restaurant is called the Iron Skillet because the use small iron skillets instead of plates. I order up a bacon cheese burger, fries, and a sweet tea.

Now it's time for bed. We're headed to San Antonio tomorrow, so I hope you can return to join me. Till then, see ya on the road...

Another Boring Day Spent Going Nowhere

Well I awoke this morning around 6:30 AM in the parking lot of the consignee in Norcross, GA. It wasn't until just after 7:00 that I noticed some activity inside the warehouse, so I went inside to check in. There seemed to be only 2 people there and they were towards the back of the warehouse. I looked for and found the restrooms and then just hung around by the front and waited for one of them to come up. After about 15 minutes, someone came up and said they don't actually start until 8:00, but that I can go ahead and back into the dock. I did and by about 8:30 I was unloaded and sent in my empty message.

Figuring it might be a while before I received my next load assignment, I drove down to the southeast Atlanta loop of I-285 to the Pilot truck stop. There I finally got a shower and then walked a block down the street to have breakfast at Hardee's. A sausage-egg-cheese biscuit, a biscuit & gravy, and a large sweet tea.

It was about another hour after that before I received my next load assignment. I pick up from the shipper a couple miles down the road here in Atlanta and I'm taking it to Shreveport, LA. The bad thing is that I don't pick up the load until Tuesday morning. So another day of sitting around. If I would have known ahead of time that this was going to be my load assignment, I would have went for a bike ride BEFORE taking a shower! Therefore, I just stayed in the truck all day.

Oh well... another boring day going nowhere. And of course going nowhere means not getting paid either.

See ya tomorrow.

From Biloxi to Atlanta

Woke up this morning around 7:00 AM. Had a really good nights sleep. Since I stayed overnight at the Flying J, I decided to go in and have their breakfast buffet. Hey that rhymed! Anyway, that lasted me all the way until dinner tonight.

Drove for a little more than an hour to Satsuma, AL where I stopped for fuel. Then it was non-stop for 5 hours all the way to Atlanta. I can't deliver until Monday morning because the consignee is closed, so I tried to find a truck stop there in Atlanta to park at. Wishful thinking actually! It was almost 4PM by the time I arrived and there wasn't any parking available.

So I continued on over to Norcross, just northeast a few miles up I-85 from Atlanta. That's where I'm delivering to on Monday. I've never been to this place before and was glad to see that their parking lot is open and I can stay here over the weekend. Looks like there's a few restaurants around here as well. The only down side is that I don't have a shower. I'll have to see how it goes. If I decide to go for a bike ride in the morning, I just might have to check into the hotel down the road. Then I could at least get a shower and watch the race on TV tomorrow afternoon also. You'll have to come back and read Sunday's post to find out.

For dinner I started walking down the street, but it looked a little farther than I wanted to walk. Probably a half mile one way and it was getting late, about 7:30 PM. So I decided to drop the trailer and just bobtail down to a restaurant. It turned out to be a good decision, because by the time I finished it had gotten dark. And it rained for a little bit! Although that would have taken care of my shower problem!

Anyway, that's it for today. Till next time...