A Long But Short Day. HUH?

What kind of a title is that right? Well after you read today's post you'll understand.

I woke up between 5:30-6:00 this morning. Not sure exactly. The consignee started unloading at 7:30 when the first shift came in. They had me done in about an hour so I just hung out there in their parking area. The nearest truck stop was about 15 miles away and closer to the center of Cleveland.

Finally about 9:45 they assigned me the next load and by 10:15 I was on the way. It was a Con-Way Freight load picking up in Lordstown, OH about an hour away. My appointment time wasn't until 4PM, but I was hoping to eat along the way.

I almost stopped at McDonald's, but decided that's not what I wanted. As it turned out there wasn't much for options either. After getting to Con-Way, I decided on just having a Cup-O-Soup.

Around 2PM, I thought I'd just inquire and see and to my surprise the load was ready! So I hooked up to the loaded trailer and rolled east on I-80. Across Pennsylvania to the Pilot Travel Center in Hazelton. There I relayed with another driver who was finishing the run to Massachusetts.

So the long day was that I was up a little early and the waiting around made it seem longer. The short day was only the 333 miles of driving.

Dinner tonight was the Subway here at the truck stop. Tomorrow I pick up a load in Allentown and haul it all the way to Kansas City.

Thanks for stopping by. See ya tomorrow.

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.

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...