Still In North Carolina

So I get up this morning around 6AM, grabbed a shower inside the Pilot truck stop, looked at the McDonald's menu but then decided I really didn't want McD's again. Back to the truck, but before I hit the road I grabbed the GPS'r and went hunting for a Geocache. It wasn't far. Just around the front in the McD's parking lot.

By 7:30 AM, I'm driving south on I-85 headed to Charlotte, NC.

I arrive at Con-Way Freight at 9:45, dropped my empty trailer, and checked in to see if I can get loaded and out today. NOPE, gotta wait until tomorrow morning. That means I won't get home in time for a Christmas Eve gathering with family at my mother's house. That's not what I wanted to hear.

While I was sitting here depressed in my truck, another CFI driver pulls up and parks along side me. We got to talking and he lives in South Florida. His load was leaving this evening at 9PM. We figured that since my load was going to Tampa (closer to his Ft Myers) and his to Jacksonville (on my way to Orlando), it would be better to switch loads. I could get home in the morning of Christmas Eve and he would be able to get home that night.

But the dispatchers didn't see it that way because it would add an additional 40 miles to the routes. We didn't see it, but that's what their computer calculations showed it to be. After continuing discussions with the other driver, we decided to just accept what we had. Which was OK, because neither one of us was too thrilled about driving the 9PM until morning shift anyway. He was actually better prepared for it having known ahead of time and had purposefully not gotten much sleep last night so he could sleep this afternoon.

Anyway, so I left there around 1 PM, still not having eaten yet. I drove about 2 miles down the road to another Pilot. There was a BBQ place next door and thought I'd try it out. It was OK, nothing special to even mention the name.

I was also hoping to be able to do laundry since I was to be sitting here all day. But this particular Pilot didn't have a laundry room so that was out. There were 2 Geocaches just down the street so I went and found both of them.

After leaving there, I came back over to near the Con-Way Freight. Right off the exit was another small Shell truck stop. I checked inside and there was a laundry room, but both washers were in use. So I decided to wait. They also had a Geocache in the parking lot and I grabbed it too.

While waiting, I managed to talk to an old friend whom I hadn't seen in probably close to 20 years who also lives here in Charlotte. We agreed to meet and have dinner. And as it was getting closer to the time, the other driver finally finished his laundry and therefore I didn't have time to start mine before having to leave.

My friend Jim came by around 7PM with his wife and daughter, picked me up and we all went out to eat. I had a really good time catching up and meeting his family. That's one of the great things about being a truck driver traveling around is having these kinds of opportunities.

So after a disappointing start, the day ended well. Hopefully tomorrow will start out great and I get loaded up and going early.

Thanks for dropping by. That's a truckers day. See ya tomorrow.

From Texas to Tennessee in Two Days

Yeah I know I forgot to post yesterday. Last night I was just too tired I guess.

I started out in Brownsville, TX Wednesday morning when I woke up about 4:00 AM local time. Couldn't get back to sleep, so I decided to get out and see if the loaded trailer I was waiting for was on the yard yet. Yep, it was there. So I walked over to the guard shack to get my paperwork. Well the lights were on, the TV was on, the door was open, but no guard inside. Hmmm.

I walk back over to my truck and pulled it around to hook it to the trailer. Turn on the laptop and get my Street & Trips ready. Start a new page for today's logbooks. Then walk back over to the guard shack. Now it's just a few minutes after 5 AM and I see someone get out of the nearby car and walk to the shack. Turns out it was the guard. He must have been taking a nap. I'm glad he decided to wake up now. I get my paperwork for the load and hit the road driving north on US77.

My original plan was to take US77 all the way north until I-10 east, then I-10 to Houston and US59 north there. That would put me at mile marker 674 on I-10 near Shulenburg. Then going east from there, I'll pass through Columbus at mile marker 698 where I can stop at Jerry Mikeska's BBQ for lunch. That was about 305 miles away from Brownsville.

As I was driving though, I was considering my fuel level. I was down to 1/4 tanks which would probably get me to lunch, but going that route my next fuel stop wouldn't be until Houston over 400 miles away. I didn't think it would stretch that far.

I stopped at a Dairy Queen that had some truck parking around back after about an hour to look at the map and reconsider my options. My company does have an approved fuel stop at the T/A in Ganado, which meant turning off US77 in Victoria onto US59 going away from Jerry Mikeska's. Hmmm? But wait... Then I could take State Road 71 north in El Campo and go right into Columbus at mile marker 696! That'll take me about 30 miles out of route, but that's within range on a 1156 mile run right?

OK, so now that's the new plan and I'm again on my way. OH, and I grabbed another Geocache that was hidden at the Dairy Queen while I was there also! Couldn't skip that either!

Now back to driving. After turning onto US59, I stopped at another rest area in Inez around 10:00 to look for another Geocache. There were two at the stop and I only needed one to reach 1200 Geocache finds! I looked for the first one about 15 minutes without success and proceeded to the other. I found it fairly quickly. WOHOO!! #1200 cache finds in 47 states the Canadian Yukon! The only states I'm missing are NH, VT, and HI. One of these days...

A short drive up to Ganado and a quick stop for fuel at the T/A. Still pondering the detour for BBQ and seeing some billboards along US59 advertising BBQ ahead, I decided not to take the detour and go out of route. I would just take the chance and hope that one of those BBQ places ahead had truck parking.

Well, I was getting worried. I passed several and no truck parking was available. Lot's of cars outside them so they must have been good. Finally in Wharton, TX I came across a small fuel stop with only about 3 parking spaces for trucks along the back side. Right next door was Hinze's Bar-B-Que. It was busy and IT WAS GOOD! Smoked beef brisket and sausage, baked beans, green beans, and carrot salad! That made my day!

OK, now that I've found my 1200th Geocache, finally got to eat some Texas BBQ on this visit, I can finally focus on driving!

I continue north on US59, take the I-610 loop around Houston, and continue north again on US59. Non-stop for the next 6 hours and I make it all the way to a rest area in New Colony, TX when my 11 hour clock expired at 6:15 PM. That's about 30 miles shy of Arkansas, 632 miles northeast of Brownsville and I STILL wasn't able to make it out of Texas.

That was yesterday. Today I woke up at 5:30 AM and by 6:15 I'm rolling. No breakfast, just a Little Debbie Nutty Buddy bar. Continuing on US59 to Texarkana and get onto I-30 east, in Little Rock picking up I-40 eastbound. At 10:15 a quick bathroom break at a rest area along I-40 in Arkansas. In Nashville, I picked up I-24 south just a few miles to La Vergne, TN. Here I pulled into a T/A for the night.

My delivery isn't until 10:00 AM tomorrow just 2 miles down the road. And I can't deliver early.

So that was my last two days. I hope you've enjoyed another day in the life of a trucker. See you again tomorrow.

Going As Far South As Texas Can Go!

I didn't get very far today. Just a mere 150 miles. Yuk!

Finished unloading at the first Tractor Supply store in Alice, Texas about 8:15. Then headed down to Kingsville, TX 30 miles away to the second and last stop. They finished unloading around 10:00 AM.

Now comes the sitting and waiting part that we get to deal with all the time. I stayed in the Tractor Supply parking lot at first. There was a Geocache just a 1/4 mile away so I walked over and found it.

After that I started looking up nearby truck stops in my directory. The directory gives you detailed info on the locations along the Interstates concerning what amenities are included at each location. But on other US Highways and local roads, it doesn't. So I went to the first one about 1 1/2 miles away and the only thing it had going for it was a McDonald's. OK, grabbed a sweet tea while I was there!

But the main thing I wanted was a shower! Continuing my research, I found a Love's Travel Stop about 3 miles to the north on US77. Now I know they have showers! So off I went. Now I felt much better.

Continuing yesterdays saga, now it's day 4 in Texas and STILL NO BBQ to eat! A ham and cheese sandwich in the truck again today.

After that, I looked up Geocaches again and there's a rather large cache just a half block away from the Love's store. COOL! So I walked over and grabbed that one too!

Finally at 3PM, they tell me to drive down to Brownsville, TX which is right at the very southern tip along the Mexican border. So I drive on down US77 and grabbed 2 more Geocaches at a rest area along the way.

I arrive at the drop yard in Brownsville around 5:15 PM but the load hasn't made it across the border yet. It's a nice long load going to Tennessee. I map out my trip in the laptop making a few adjustments to the suggested course. Instead of taking US77 to US59 into Houston, I take US77 all the way to I-10 first, then into Houston. That's so I can finally have BBQ brisket before leaving! So, be sure to check back in tomorrow to see if I was successful.

Until then, see you on the highways.

My Third Day in Texas and Still No BBQ!

Well I'm still here in Texas. Woke up at the Flying J in Waco this morning. It was still wet and cloudy. A few lite sprinkles here and there with the temps around 60. My pickup time at the Tractor Supply DC was at noon, but you never know when they may actually have you ready.

They were just 2 miles down the road, so I went over there about 7:30 AM to check in. Nope, not ready. But I did drop my trailer there none the less. There were a few geocaches within a half mile, but the gloomy overcast weather dis-swayed me from finding them. So I bobtailed down to the Pilot Travel Center just another 2 miles down I-35.

There I waited for a while contemplating McDonald's breakfast next door, but decided on the Little Debbie Nutty Butty bars I had in the truck. The gloomy weather really can have an adverse affect on you sometimes!

Finally around 10:00, I went and topped off my fuel tanks before heading back over to Tractor Supply. But still they did not have my load ready. I talked to a few other drivers who were coming and going. One was surprised about my load considering his was ready but wasn't due until 6PM. Sure rub it in!

But it didn't bother me so much because I couldn't deliver until 7AM tomorrow and it was only 300 miles away. No problem! Well they finally got me done right at 12:00 O'clock. I hooked up and I was on my way.

Instead of taking I-35 south to San Antonio, then I-37 over to Corpus Christi, I decided to take a slower but more direct route. It was about 20 miles shorter down US77, but time wise longer due to the small towns along the way. But it was a new route and I had plenty of time to spare.

Another reason to take this new route was to find some geocaches. I pretty much already got those on I-35 having been that way many times. I managed to find 4 today at each of the old picnic areas in which I was able to get the big truck into.

I was also hoping to find a BBQ place to eat at today. My third day in Texas and I still had not yet had any BBQ beef brisket and sausage! THAT'S JUST NOT RIGHT! Where I passed the BBQ restaurants that had truck parking available, it was still breakfast time. During lunch or dinner there were none to be found. Plenty of BBQ places, but nowhere could I park 70' of truck and trailer!

Finally, hunger won me over and I pulled into a Mexican restaurant around 5:30 in Refugio, TX. I should have just made a sandwich instead and saved a few dollars. I ordered the beef enchiladas which were OK, but nothing to brag about.

After eating, I continued south on US77 to Corpus Christi, then west on Hwy 141 to Alice, TX. That's where I sit tonight, behind the Tractor Supply store there for my 7AM deliver. They'll get half the load and then I'll drive down about 40 miles to Kingsville where they'll get the other half. But that's tomorrow and I'm getting ahead of myself.

That's my day today. Thanks for dropping in and keeping me company. Use the comment link below to say hi every once in a while. Till next time...

A Change of Plans

Well I woke up this morning in Bowling Green, MO around 5:00 AM. Walked over to the Hardee's for a sausage egg and cheese biscuit (the best there is) and an orange juice. After that I headed on down the road to St Louis, MO to make my first of what I thought were going to be 5 deliveries.

I arrived in St Louis at 7:30 and after checking in, I backed into the dock for them to unload. Of course while I waited I checked online for a Geocache in the area and sure enough there was one just 0.12 miles away. So I programmed the GPS receiver and went for a walk. Well, by the time I went around this warehouse and around that one, up this street and down that street, back around this fence and over to there, grab the cache and back again, it was about a mile! But that's OK. I don't mind the walk. I just didn't expect it to be that long!

Anyway, after unloading I'm back on the road by 10:00 heading west down I-70 towards Columbia, MO. Since I didn't get my sweet tea this morning because that Hardee's doesn't serve sweet tea, I was kinda thirsty for one. A few miles down the road in New Florence, MO I see a small truck stop with a McDonald's. So I decided to stop there for a sweet tea and since it was lunch time, go ahead and eat a burger.

But as I approached the exit I saw a new BBQ place that had just opened about 200 yards down from the truck stop. Well that sounds much better than a Big Mac, so BBQ it was. Called J & J's BBQ at I-70 exit 175. I got the sliced beef brisket platter with potato salad and green bean casserole. It was very good! I'll have to mark that place down in my book to remember. And they're clearing out some space out back for trucks to park too.

So back on I-70 westbound, I go past Columbia, MO where I'm delivering in the morning to Boonville to fuel up at the Pilot. Then about a mile from the HyVee grocery store for my delivery stop, I get a call from dispatch. They wanted to know if I'd be willing to switch loads with another driver who isn't able to complete his delivery on time. So I said sure and turned around back to a nearby truck stop along I-70 to make the trailer swap.

The other driver shows up around 4:30 PM and now I'm headed back to St Louis. Arriving at 6:45 PM, I check in and back the trailer to a dock. Grabbing the camera, I walk back down to the end of the street to take a photo of the street sign. I was on Fee Fee Rd which is the nickname I gave my younger sister Sophia during high school. So I had to send it to her.

Anyway, as it turns out I had to leave my trailer there so that they have a trailer for the next time we deliver. They were a new account and did not have an empty. By this time too, my clocks have expired and I'm parked out back behind their building.

Talked to my wonderful wife on the phone for a while and now it's bed time. See ya tomorrow and see ya on the road.

You Can Drive Forever and Never Leave Texas

Well I got the knock on my truck door about 2:30AM this morning. The warehouse where I was sleeping told me to back up to the dock and they'll get me unloaded. It didn't take long. I got up, got dressed, backed in, they unloaded, I parked back where I was, I sent in an empty message, and went back to bed. All that in about 30 minutes.

I woke up again on my own around 7:00AM. Got up again and drove a block down the street to a Jack-in-the-Box which had a few truck parking spots. Begrudgingly, I decided to eat breakfast there too. A sausage, egg, and cheese croissant which had almost ZERO flavor. But their sweet tea wasn't bad.

After I finished eating, another Con-Way driver pulled in too. He was unloading back at the warehouse when I left. We chatted for a bit and then I returned to my truck to wait for my next load assignment.

Finally about 11:00 AM they sent me my next load information. Yippee! I thought I was going to end up with another low mileage week, but they gave me a nice long run to finish out the week not too bad. After writing the info down in my book, I program my mapping software in my laptop. A few minutes later and heading east on I-10 towards Baytown, TX to pick up a load at the WalMart DC.

I couldn't leave Texas without BBQ, so I stopped at my favorite Jerry Mikeska's BBQ at exit #698 in Columbus, TX. One of these days I'll remember to take my camera inside for some pics to post here. It's got a really cool interior decor!

Anyway, back on the road. I get to Baytown around 5:00PM, hook up to the preloaded trailer and head back north. A quick stop for fuel at the Pilot there in Baytown, then west on I-10 back towards Houston. Once I reach the outer loop around Houston (the Sam Houston Parkway), I take it northbound. Looping around, I hop onto US59 north all the way to Nacogdoches, TX where I pickup US259 north. I continue on until I spotted a small truck stop in Henderson, TX about 10:30 PM. That's where I'm at now and that's where I'll be spending the night.

Cause I'm tired! Good night and see ya tomorrow.

A New Road For Me To Travel On

Hello again. Today was an early day. I was up and going at 5AM and headed east on I-20 out of Shreveport, LA to Simsboro, LA about 72 miles away. There I picked up a load of empty glass jars that looked to be about 10-12 oz size. Because they were empty, I was expecting a lite load. However once I received my paperwork and saw the 44,000 lbs, it hit me that they were glass! And glass is heavy!

Anyway, they finished loading me around 8AM so I head back down I-20, only now I'm going westbound. I stopped at the first truck stop, a Love's 20 miles down for the CAT Scales. I was 30,000 on the drives and 33,000 on the tandems; with the tandems about half-way back. Then again back at the Petro in Shreveport where I stopped for breakfast.

Before leaving there I checked on line at Geocaching.com, and sure enough there was a cache hidden there about 400' from where I parked the truck. So of course I had to find it and sign the log before I left.

After that, I continued west on I-20 and crossed over into Texas. I decided to take a new route down to San Antonio today since I don't have to deliver until tomorrow. It's a more direct route, but could be slower since I'm heavy and will be passing through some small towns with 35mph speed limits. So instead of taking I-20 west to I-35 south, I decided to turn south in Longview, TX on US259 a little ways until I pickup US79 southbound. Although US79 goes more southwest than south.

I've never traveled down US79 before, so this was all new to me. It's good to see something new every once in a while. It was a pretty nice drive, not too bad through the small towns. (not too many stop lights) I saw a few restaurants that looked like they may have been good to eat at, but I wasn't hungry at the time. I continued US79 all the way to I-35, just north of Austin. Also, just in time for rush hour in Austin!

By now I'm hungry but wouldn't you know it that I can't spot any BBQ with truck parking available! So finally, just before I arrive in San Antonio, I pull into a Pilot Travel Center with a McDonald's. It may not be BBQ, but at least I get my sweet tea!

After eating I finally arrive at the receiver, Bay Valley Foods, around 7:15 PM. They have parking available here, so here is where I'm sleeping tonight. They said the third shift may be able to unload me tonight, so we'll see. If not I'll just have to wait until morning.

That's "A Truckers' Day" for me anyways. Thanks for dropping by. I'll see ya tomorrow.

From Alabama to Texas

Another long day today. Like I said in yesterdays post, I didn't do much of anything. Sitting around in the truck all day except twice when it came time to eat. That also means I don't burn much energy, so I don't need much sleep. I awoke this morning around 3:00 AM, fully rested and not able to fall back to sleep. I hate when that happens.

Anyway, the crew from the Michael's store arrived about 5:00 AM and began to unload their half of the trailer. The Michael's loads half to be unloaded by hand for the most part. They only put 2 wrapped pallets at the tail end just to hold the rest of it in place. The rest of the 6000+ boxes are just stacked inside the trailer. They usually have a crew of 5-6 store employees who unload by hand. I normally help out too because it just makes things go faster and I can move on to the next stop.

After they started unloading here though, I went back to the truck to catch up my log book from yesterday and get my GPS software ready for the next stop. Then as soon as they're done, I can take off. However, they closed the little side door and I couldn't get inside to help out. Oh well. So I just continued in the truck and waited.

They finished up about 7:00 AM and I was off to Mandeville, LA which was 134 miles away to another Michael's store for the rest of the load. After a quick fuel stop and a run to McDonald's for breakfast, I arrived at the 2nd Michael's store at 10:00 AM. This one was tight backing into their loading dock. I just don't get some of these architects who design these buildings sometimes. What were they thinking?

Anyway, their crew wasn't due in until 10:30 so I had to wait a while yet. That's OK because I looked up online and there was a geocache in this shopping center parking lot. So I went and found it before they arrived. This time I was able to help also and that lasted until about 12:30 when we finally finished. Signed the paperwork, swept out the trailer, and off to pickup the next load.

I arrived in Baton Rouge, LA about 1:45 PM to pick up my next load going to Baytown, TX. They got me loaded pretty quick. They loaded 26 giant bags of Polypropylene weighing in at a total of 41,000 lbs! For you and me that's 26 giants bags of tiny plastic balls that look like BB's. I haul them off to Baytown where they get melted down and formed into something useful.

The problem I ran into today was scaling the load. In other words, going to a truck stop the have the truck/trailer combo weighed. On loads that heavy, I need to make sure that the weight of the drive tires (the eight wheels at the back of the tractor) and the weight of the tandems (the eight wheels at the back of the trailer) do not exceed 34,000 lbs per set. It can be a hefty fine if they do! I should know I've had to pay it TWICE!

Anyway, normally this isn't a problem. But the first truck stop I come to has a line at the scales. I'm 4th in line before everyone begins to realize that the guy who's sitting on the scale's is broken down. So that wasted about 15 minutes to get back on the interstate. At the next exit for truck stops, there were 2 located there. Neither had scales! But they did have a restaurant and by now I'm starving again.

So I ate at the Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete, LA which is so named because they have a rather large cage off to the side of the fuel island with a real live tiger in it. Almost like a mini zoo, but just the one animal and it wasn't a petting zoo. At least I wasn't going to try and pet the tiger!

Speaking of eating, I had their special of the day; BBQ pork ribs and smoked sausage, BBQ beans, green beans, mashed potatoes and some really good corn bread all washed down with some good ole southern sweet tea. It was sooo good! And they also had some home made pies. Even though I was stuffed from the dinner, I got a slice of coconut cream and the chocolate cream pies to go. I'll probably eat them tomorrow. Can't wait!

So now I'm back driving down the highway several miles and come upon another exit with 3 truck stops. One even had a scale, but it was broken. More wasted time. Continuing on down the highway and I finally found a truck stop with a scale just 1 mile before the weigh station! Whew that was close. As it turned out, the trailer balanced out OK and I would've been alright. But you never know for sure and like I said I've been burnt twice before costing almost $200 EACH TIME!

Now I'm parked at a rest area in Texas near the town of Hamshire. I could have driven the remaining 40 miles or so to Baytown, but my 14 hour clock has expired. For those none truckers who don't know what the 11-14-70 hour clocks are, leave a question in the comments below and I'll explain them.

Anyway, the loads not due until 9:00 tomorrow so I have time in the morning to deliver. The downside for today, with all the time wasted looking for a scale I didn't get time to stop for a shower. I was hoping to stay the night at a truck stop further down the interstate at my exit, but I ran out of time.

The life of a truck driver. See ya tomorrow. Good night.

Welcome to Florida!

It feels so good to be back it Florida! Not so much the heat and humidity, but the fact that I'm just that much closer to being home!

Anyway, I had an early wake up this morning. My load was to be ready by 5:00 AM, so I set my alarm for 4:00. I got up and going, checked in, signed the paperwork, hook up to the trailer, and was driving down the road by 5:00. Now 368 miles later, driving straight through without stopping, I arrived in Marianna, FL at 11:00 AM.

After relaying the load with another driver who will be finishing the run, I walk across the street from the truck stop and had lunch at Sonny's BBQ. It's good to have a choice of a decent restaurant once in a while.

While in route driving down here, I received my preplanned load information that will get me the rest of the way home. My next load WAS to be at midnight tonight down in Panama City and bringing it back here to Marianna. But I knew that trying to find a parking spot at a truck stop around midnight is nearly impossible! So I decided to drive down there after lunch instead. This particular shipper is first come first serve, so I can load at any time. So I was able to load and get back in time to grab a parking space.

This load will also be relayed with another driver. The delivery location is Indiana which is the wrong direction for me trying to get to Orlando! Now, I'm waiting to find out when the other driver will be getting here. Probably just after I fall asleep, he'll show up.

The load I'm waiting for is coming here Friday afternoon via another driver. I'll be taking it the rest of the way to Orlando.

So that was it for today. See you down the highways.