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.

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...