A Shortened Trip - Truck In Shop Again

I guess it was just meant to be. Trying to avoid stopping at the home office in Joplin, MO, but ended up there anyway.

Started out this morning in Rockford, IL at A&B Freight. They never did come and wake me up when the load was ready around midnight. That was fine with me because I couldn't start driving until 3:30 AM anyway when my break was over. I did wake up at 2AM, so I went inside to check on it. They just finished loading the trailer, so I got my paperwork, hooked up, and get ready to go.

Oh by the way. The temperature was a frigid -4 degrees. Don't know what the wind chill was. Where's global warming? The whole global warming thing is a scam and just another tool for the government to control it's citizens. But that's an issue for another blog.

Anyway, got underway at 3:30 and headed south on I-39. Drove all the way down to Bloomington, IL where I stopped at a T/A for breakfast. All you can eat french toast! Yum!

Now I had been contemplating stopping by our home office in Joplin, MO to get the truck washed. It was really filthy and almost white due to the snow and road salts. But I didn't want to take a chance of going through the inspection lane and having them find something wrong. That would put the truck in the shop and I'd probably have to give up the load losing the remaining 180 miles.

Well continuing on down the road, I had a rock fly up from another truck and put a chip in the windshield. A little later I noticed another crack about 4-5 inches coming down from the top of the right side of the windshield. That will definitely put me in the shop and lose the load. Hmmm. Do I stop or keep going.

Well now I'm in Missouri heading west in I-44. I was leaning towards skipping the stop in Joplin and continue on. About 100 miles from Joplin and now the truck starts making the same engine noise that happened a few days before Christmas. Now I have to stop. Arghh!

So I call my dispatcher and tell her the situation. The load was considered Hot Freight and HAD to be delivered in Oklahoma the next morning. She basically tells me to inform the local dispatcher upon arrival. So I did and sure enough he had taken me off the load. The inspection lane did find some issues with the trailer as well, but they were able to get the trailer into the shop quicker and re-assigned to another truck.

As for me, I get to hang out here in Joplin, MO and wait for the shop to fix my truck. Hopefully it won't take long.

See ya tomorrow.

Snow Snow Snow!! - Today's Drive 450 Miles

Snow Snow Snow!! Woke up this morning in Broadview Heights, OH just south of Cleveland about 6 am. The snowfall ended shortly after I went to bed last night. That's what I assume anyway because there was only a thin layer on the truck this morning.

Quickly got up, dressed, and ready to go all to find that I was blocked in by other trucks. Hmmm. So I checked and answered some email and checked out my Facebook updates. After about 20 minutes, one of the trucks not directly in front but next to it pulled away. Fortunately there was just enough room for me to maneuver through and drive out.

About 30 minutes after heading out, the snow started falling and falling and falling! For most of the day it was snow. The roads weren't to bad though. They had them plowed and salted pretty good. It wasn't until about the last 75-100 miles before it cleared up.

At 10 AM, I stopped in Fremont, IN for fuel at the Pilot Travel Center. Food there consisted of Wendy's and I wasn't too interested in breakfast there. As I was about to pull out of the parking lot, everything started looking familiar. I had been here before. Right across the street was the Red Arrow restaurant. I've had lunch there before and it was pretty good.

So I backed up, parked the truck, and walked across the street. I ordered the Big Breakfast; 2 eggs, 2 bacon, 2 sausage, hash browns, biscuits and gravy, and wheat toast. They didn't have sweet tea, so I ordered an orange juice. A VERY GOOD BREAKFAST! I got to mark this down in my book to come back again!

Off again westbound on I-80 for two hours and stopping at a service plaza in Portage, IN for a break and grab a Geocache.

At 2:30 PM, I arrived in Bedford Park, IL, just outside Chicago, where I checked in with the receiver. My appointment time wasn't until tomorrow morning, but they were able to unload me today. YEA!

About 4PM, I had my next load assignment, mapped it out, and ready to go. North on I-294 to I-290 to I-90 westbound. Just before my destination at Rockford, IL, there was another service plaza where I stopped for dinner. I passed by the McDonald's, almost had the Panda Express, then finally decided to go with a Greek salad from the Gyro Cafe. It was pretty good. I also grabbed another Geocache there too.

Now I'm at the shipper. The load will be ready about 12:00-1:00 AM, so they will probably be waking me up in the middle of the night. But all I'm going to do is hook up to it, get my paperwork, then go back to bed. It's 12 degrees here right now and supposed to be down to ZERO before morning. YIKES!

Tomorrow I'll be headed down to Oklahoma. Snow is in the forecast again. That's the way it goes. Thanks for stopping by. See ya down the road.

A Cold Sunny Morning Followed By Snow

Welcome back everyone and thanks for stopping by. I woke up at 3am this morning and just couldn't get back to sleep. I think eating those 5 or 6 chocolate covered cherries about an hour before bed had me waking up early.

The outside temp gauge on the truck said it was 18 degrees. But it was nice and warm on the inside. The heater was on low, but I was buried underneath a sheet, a comforter, AND a sleeping bag!

At 4 am I decided to try reading, but that didn't help. I just wasn't tired anymore after only 4 1/2 hours of sleep.

Finally at 5am, I gave up and got out of bed. I caught my logbook up from the weekend and started today's log. Then I bundled up and went outside to sweep the trailer out. I'm not sure how good I did, holding a small flashlight in one hand while using the push broom too. But it passed when I got to the shipper.

Then around 6am, I headed over to the north side of town to QVC to pick up my load. After dropping my empty trailer, I checked in with the shipping office to get my paperwork. There was another driver there walking up into the office as well. He had been sleeping there overnight and told me his alternator belt broke during the night. Therefore his truck died and he hadn't any heat. I sure he was feeling a bit cold!

Anyway, hooked up to my loaded trailer and drove back over to the truck stop. Parked the truck and then hopped into the rental car. Drove it downtown to IHOP for some breakfast while waiting for Enterprise to open at 8am. By 8:15, Enterprise had given me a ride back to the truck and I'm set to go.

From Suffolk, I drove west on US460 to I-95 north towards Washington DC. I take the western beltway around DC to I-270 west into Maryland. Then I-70 westbound into Pennsylvania. I had a gotten a few snow flurries off and on in Maryland, but by Pennsylvania it was steady but lite.

I merged onto I-76 west going around Pittsburgh and into Ohio where I jumped onto I-80 westbound. By now the snow was getting heavier. I-80 through Ohio is their toll road and they actually have truckers lounges in their service plazas with showers, laundry, and TV. I think the only ones in the country with them and that's where I wanted to park for the night.

Well with the snow coming down, I was focused on the driving and missed the first service plaza. The second one though, I was watching out for. It was located on the turnpike just south of Cleveland in Broadview Heights. The snow was still coming down and it was getting dark. Two reasons why I didn't want to be driving anymore.

So after parking the truck, I grabbed my stuff and went in for a shower. It was nice to finally get one. That small truck stop back in Suffolk was so little, it didn't have any showers. Good thing it's cold out and I wasn't sweating much!

Anyway, so that's where I'm at now. I'll see how much snow comes down overnight and maybe I'll get some pictures in the morning for ya.

See ya down the road.

Geocaching in Suffolk, VA Day #2

Well I'm still here in Suffolk, VA. When I woke up this morning it was 21 degrees out and that doesn't include the wind chill. I believe that put it down into single digits!

But I did venture out eventually. Around 8am, I went next door for breakfast at the Red Robin Restaurant. Afterwards, I grabbed the GPS'r, camera, and hopped into the rental.

Today I managed to find 22 Geocaches and drove 47 miles around town. That's about all there was to my day. Here's some photos for you to enjoy.

Tomorrow, I finally pick up my load at QVC and head towards Chicago where I will probably run into some snow. Not looking forward to that!

Until then, see ya down the highway...

For my son Adam who loves trains.
This is the old train depot.

Some interesting trees at the cemetery.

Geocaching In Suffolk, VA Day #1

Brrrr!! It's cold out there!! Hello everyone. Didn't do much work today. I woke up this morning in Pleasant Hill, NC about 6AM and was assigned a load around 8AM. After mapping out my route, I hit the road.

Just across the Virginia state line to US58 eastbound all the way into Suffolk, VA. I parked the truck at the Hess truck stop along US13 on the south side of town.

That's it! That was my work day. Done by 11AM. I don't pick up my load until Monday morning.

So, I called Enterprise Rent-A-Car and they came and picked me up. I rented a Chevy HHR for the weekend to go sight seeing and Geocaching. Hey if I gotta sit here all weekend I might as well enjoy it!

Too bad it's so cold out. The high for the day was 32 degrees, but with a strong wind it felt more like 20!

By the time I looked up all the Geocaches in town and programmed the GPS'r, it was 2:30 pm. I did the outskirts first, seeing the rural areas. I drove 49 miles and found 13 caches. Took lots of pictures too! Then it got dark and I came back to the truck.

Tomorrow I plan to cache more in town and visit the historical sites. For now, here's the photos. Enjoy!

Grabbing a cache on the guardrail on my left.
That's rental waiting to go winding around the curves!



Remnants of an old mill that used to be there.





Another guardrail cache on the bridge.

From Central Florida to North Carolina - 662 Miles

Having these past 6 days off made it really tough to get out of bed this morning. Especially since I had the alarm set for 5am! But I had a full days drive and I wanted to beat the other 3 Con-Way drivers whom I knew had the same load as I. One of which had an hour head start on me. The other two loaded after me. But I didn't go far last night.

Anyway, by the time I rolled out of bed and got ready to go, it was about 6:15 AM. I left the Pilot truck stop in Wildwood, FL and jumped onto I-75 northbound. Turned off into Ocala and over to US301 northbound all the way to I-10. Then I-10 east to Jacksonville, I-295 north loop to I-95 northbound.

At 9:15 AM, I stopped at the Flying J Travel Center in Brunswick, GA for their breakfast buffet. Took my time and relaxed a bit too, talking with a couple of others drivers too. At 10:15, it was back on the highway.

Through South Carolina and then stopping in Dunn, NC at 3:45 for fuel at the Pilot Travel Center.

I arrived at the Lowe's DC in Garysburg, NC at 5:45 pm. Turns out that I was the 1st of the Con-Way drivers to make it here. Not sure what happened to the others. Maybe they'll arrive here at the truck stop which I'm parked at tonight and I'll see them in the morning.

Anyway, a quick drop of the loaded trailer and hooking to an empty. Then I drive 4 miles north on I-95 to the Pilot truck stop here in Pheasant Hill, NC, just a couple miles south of the Virginia state line. Dinner at the Subway and that about does it for me.

Thanks for stopping by. See ya tomorrow.

Not So Happy New Year!!

Well it's New Years Eve and I had to go back to work today. By late morning, I still had not been given a load assignment yet. So I called in and asked about the possibility of having another free day and making plans to celebrate the new year with friends. They said it was pretty slow and it may be tomorrow or even Saturday before I got a load assigned. Wohoo! That was good news to me. So my wife and I talked about spending New Years Eve with some friends and we looked forward to that.

However, that was short lived. A few hours later I had a load assigned picking up at 6pm this afternoon headed to NC. But there was still a chance.

I left home about 2:30 and went just 18 miles down the road to Groveland to pick up the load. I was there at 3pm. I waited and waited and waited. At 6pm, I finally was assigned a dock door. But they still didn't even start loading the trailer until 9:30 pm. It was 10:30 pm before I got out of there.

Now what to do. I had already said my goodnights to my wife on the phone. If I decided to go back there, I'd probably be waking her up to come and get me. Then we'd have to wake up early in order for her to take me back to the truck. All this should would do for me just for another night at home. She's so wonderful.

But on the other hand, going back that way sends me eastward first and a long way to a truck stop. This is a load of bottled water and is heavy. If I just head west, there's a truck stop not far up the Florida Turnpike and I-75. There I can have it weighed tonight in case I need to go back and had the load re-worked to balance out. Also, by going in this direction first it's 20 miles shorter to Garysburg, NC.

So I opted for the shorter route. Get to the truck stop tonight, get weighed just in case I have to go back, and park for the night.

I get to the truck stop and the CAT Scale receipt says I'm OK. Now to bed after I write this blog post. So that it for my not so happy new year.

Good night and see ya next year!