Last Post Before Vacation

A poor day! Literally! I was planning on working through this weekend and taking my vacation Monday through Monday. However, I woke up here in Tampa this morning. Waited and waited, finally getting a load assigned to me around 10:00 AM. I drove 43 miles to Auburndale, FL picked up a load of bleach and left there at 1PM. I then drove it 11 miles to the Publix DC in Lakeland. They would not accept it early and my appointment time was for 4PM.

I drove 2 blocks over to an old truck stop. The truck stop itself is closed now, but the parking is still available. I really wanted to get a shower and do laundry but that will have to wait still longer. There was a small restaurant that recently opened there so at least I got something to eat!

Finally around 3:30 I drive back over to Publix. It's now 5:30 and they're STILL unloading the trailer!

After several conversations today with my dispatcher, they don't want to send me very far away from home since I want to get home Monday. Hence the short trips. Thinking about the 54 miles today (earned $20, which I ate half of that for lunch), and tomorrows load probably being Lakeland to Gainesville with a late night delivery ($40-$45) I decided that just going home would be better! So I'll be taking off for 10 days instead of 7. As soon as they ever get me unloaded that is...

Anyway, thanks for stopping by and following along. If you've browsed and never left a comment, please click the comments button below and at least say hi. I'd love to know who's following along. See you back on the 29th. That's when I'll be returning.

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.

A Midnight Drive, Sleep, Then Drive Again

These kinda days just wear me out. I don't think I got much of a nap last evening. Maybe a light dozing off and on. I had my alarm set for 10:30 PM and I think I just started going into a deep sleep around 10:15! Figures :(

So I get up and go check in with Sears again and they have my trailer ready. I hook up and go around 11:30 PM. Fortunately from Romeoville, IL to my delivery in Bloomington, IL is about 106 miles! I get to the other Sears warehouse at 1:30 AM. I think it was around 3AM when he finished unloading me, so I pull over to the end of the building out of the way, crawl into bed and crash. I had my next load assignment already, but I didn't have to pick it up until 2PM.

I think I awoke again about 7AM. Drove a couple of miles to a Pilot Travel Center and got a shower. Boy that was much needed and felt good! Then across the street to the T/A for some breakfast. Three eggs over easy, bacon, hash browns, wheat toast, orange juice, and sweet tea.

At 9:45, I'm back in my truck and headed down the highway to St. Elmo, IL. I arrived there at 12:30 PM and by 2:00 I'm loaded and rolling again. My first stop is just a few miles down the road in Effingham. That's the nearest truck stop with a CAT Scale. I have 43,000 of carrot cake and brownie mix and need to make sure I have the trailer balanced out correctly.

Continuing south, I make a stop in Ina, IL to have dinner at a McDonald's. Finally, I come to a stop at 6:15 PM in Paducah, KY. I'm tired. And from here to my delivery in Atlanta is only 398 miles. That should give me plenty of time to get a good nights rest tonight and make my 4PM delivery time. That should also get my body clock back on track again!

That's it for now. See ya tomorrow.

A Walk in the Wetlands

Hello again. Not much happening today. If you remember from yesterday, I had a hard time finding the Caterpiller plant. As it turned out, this morning when I woke up, I drove over there to make my delivery. They sent me back over to the warehouse in which I spent the night to unload. OK, not a problem.

After unloading, I waited for my next load assignment which came after about an hour. A Sears load picking up at midnight 136 miles away with a 4AM delivery. Great that means a night time drive with little sleep. Fortunately it's a short run!

So about 10:00 AM I leave Lafayette, IN and head over to Romeoville, IL, which is just south west of Chicago. I arrived at the Sears DC at 1:45 PM and drop my empty trailer. They have parking available there so that is where I'll hang out.

Now comes the hard part. I had a great nights sleep last night. But I have to drive after midnight tonight. That means that somehow I have to figure out how to take a nap this evening! Also, the nearest truck stop with a shower is nearly 20 miles away so I can't just hop on my bike and sweat off some energy.

I look up some Geocaches and discover that there is a federal wetlands preserve running along the back of the warehouses here. And that there is a paved trail with 2 geocaches along it. OK, so I go off and find those fairly quick. Now what?

Around 4PM, I bobtail down the street to Popeye's for some chicken. They say poultry makes you drowsy also.

After dinner I decide to go back to the wetlands trail with my camera and walk almost the entire length which is probably about 2 miles round trip. I've posted some of the photos below. It was a pleasant walk. Lot's of different kinds of birds and wildflowers. Took my 300mm lens this time. Wished I had something better to capture the big white egrets (i think?) across the water. The last photo is a tiny little turtle trying to cross the walkway. I almost stepped on the little guy. I put a quarter down next to him for size reference.

Now, it's time for a nap. Tomorrow I'll let you know if it worked. See ya then.

A Day Off in West Memphis Then to Indiana

Saturday I spent the day at our terminal in West Memphis, AR. Didn't do much. The highlight of the day was going to lunch at Margarita's Mexican restaurant. The beef burrito special! A beef burrito covered in red sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and sour cream. Then I followed that up with their excellent dessert of fried cheese cake and vanilla ice cream. MmmMmm Good!

The rest of the time I spent looking up geocaches for my vacation next week. I didn't get my load assignment until after lunch and it was just a short 500 mile run up to Indiana due Monday. So I waited there at the terminal and reset my work clocks.

Sunday morning I bobtailed over to McDonald's for breakfast getting my usual sausage egg and cheese McMuffin, orange juice, and sweet tea. Then back to the terminal to pick up my loaded trailer. I have a load of Caterpiller parts going to Lafayette, Indiana. By 9:00 AM, I'm headed north on I-55 then north on I-57.

At 2:15 PM, I was getting kinda hungry so I pulled over at a truck stop in Effingham, IL. A good choice because right across the street was a Friday's restaurant! So much better than truck stop food. Lunch took just over an hour because they ended up giving my ribs to another customer. But I did receive a coupon for a free dessert and an additional $5 off my meal. I can deal with that. Plus it was a good thing I wasn't in a hurry!

Now heading east on I-74, I stop for fuel at a Pilot in Covington, IN. Continued east on I-74 to US231 north.

I arrived in Lafayette, IN around 7:00 PM. My instructions had me going to two different locations about a mile apart as if I was making two different deliveries. And to make matters worse, the directions for my first stop went to two different areas. So I went for the first location but couldn't find the Caterpiller plant. Then I proceeded to find my 2nd stop which was fairly easy. It was a Caterpiller warehouse which was closed. BUT they had parking!

After sitting there a few minutes, I decided to drop my trailer there and bobtail around to try and find the other location. It makes it much easier to get around when you're not sure where you're going when you don't have a 53' trailer following along behind you! So using Google Earth and my GPS, I eventually found the main plant. Cool! Now I know where I'm going in the morning.

Now I'm sitting at the quiet warehouse and the weather is cool so I can get some sleep with the truck turned off. That's it for now. See ya next time.

From Baton Rouge to West Memphis

Welcome to my little blog about a day in the life of a truck driver. Today I awoke at the Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete, LA around 6:00 AM. Heading out about 6:30, I arrived in Baton Rouge at my next pickup location at 7:00. After checking in, I was told that they get started about 8:00 which was my appointment time.

Sitting in my truck until around 8:20 though and still nobody coming out to get me, I decided to see what I can find out. I walk back to the office and there's nobody around. After about 5 minutes I decided to go back and wait in the truck again. About 8:45 I decided to give it another try. Finally I found somebody who looks like they may know what's going on. Well I was wrong. I asked him what time do they start loading here. He said 8:00. So I look at my watch and then back at him. He then proceeds to tell me that the person in charge of shipping goes over to the main office at 8:00 to get paperwork and usually gets back around 8:30. I look at my watch again, 8:45. He says What time is it?" as he turns to look at his clock on the wall. I said 8:45. Then he again proceeds to say, "well he's usually back by now. It may be closer to 9:00." By the time everything was done, loaded, and paperwork signed it was 10:40!

Finally I'm on my way! South on I-110 to I-10 to east on I-12. I quick stop at the Pilot in Denham Springs at exit 10 to weigh out. The 45,000 pounds of plastic beads balanced out perfect and I'm on my way again.

Continuing east on I-12 to I-55 northbound, I make a quick stop in Mississippi at a McDonald's. Just a quarter pounder and a sweet tea.

Next it's non-stop to West Memphis, Arkansas. This load is actually going up into Ontario Canada, but I don't go to Canada so I'm dropping it off at one of our terminals. From there someone else will take it all the way up into Canada.

After checking in with Dispatch, I bobtailed on over to my favorite Mexican restaurant. Margarita's here in West Memphis has got to be THE BEST Mexican restaurant in the country! I love coming here. Tonight I choose the Enchiladas Supremos. It contains one each of beef, chicken, bean, and cheese enchiladas topped with a sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, and cheese. It was too good and filling that I passed up on my usual Fried Cheesecake dessert.

Anyway, back to our terminal and that's where I now sit. Probably won't get a load out of here until tomorrow. Until then, see you on the highways...