Hey Folks… hope you’re all staying warm.  I think it’s time to change the blog format again, especially since I’m starting to nod off just typing the thing.  Things are really this repetitious, so  I’m going to shorten it up a little more beginning with the next post…

Friday, 01/26:

• Drove to Haw River, NC to make delivery
• Went on snipe hunt for empty trailer
• 452 Miles

Winter’s here!  You can tell when the wind speed (~20mph) is greater than the temperature (11).  Surprisingly I stayed warm in the bunk last night without the truck running, but I had to let it run for a while before it was warm enough to get up and dress for the day.  Sure am glad I decided to fuel up last night…

Got jerked around a little this evening; the shipper for my next load was short of trailers so they sent me to drop off the one I had, then bobtail to Reidsville to find another.  Problem was that the access on the second place was 8am to 5pm and it was already after five before I was ready to leave for there.  I tried to call the contact number and got no answer, so my next call was to support shift to let them know I wouldn’t be able to get that one.  To my surprise they wanted me to drive over there anyway.

Naturally I had a hard time finding the place, and an even harder time getting support shift to look up an actual street address for the business; they figured the SNI directions would be enough.  Problem was that the directions led me directly to a row of houses without a business in sight.  Once I talked them into giving me an address I found it, and sure enough it was locked up for the night.  By then I was out of hours and went to a Wal-Mart nearby to spend the night.

Thursday, 01/25:

• Attended “Business Update” meeting at the Seville OC
• Made delivery in Carlisle
• Overnighted at the Carlisle OC
• 316 Miles

When I looked out this morning I saw that a few inches of snow had fallen overnight, and it was still snowing.  Once I caught up on paperwork and was ready to head out I walked into the OC to check on my relay.  Found out that it wouldn’t be here until ~10am, so I decided to attend one of the Business Update meetings they’ve been prompting all drivers to attend.

I also had a chat with my STL this morning.  When I mentioned my concern over short loads he told me to let him know whenever I got two 300 mile or less loads in a row.  Even though he doesn’t have any control over what we’re loaded with, he did say he could call the dispatch group and let them know he had a driver that needed to be bumped up a bit.  Hopefully this will help.

Around noon I hit the road.  It was snowing in Seville and continued on and off all day.  This was my first taste of real winter weather driving and I can tell it’ll get old fast.  At first it wasn’t bad at all; the snow just blew over the roof, visibility was good, the road wasn’t slick, and traffic was moving at almost normal speed.  A few miles later the story changed drastically.  It was snowing harder than I had ever seen and visibility was down to ~50 yards.  This really worried me cause there were some folks (trucks and cars both) driving very slow, and the “Super Truckers” and some 4 wheelers were blasting down the road like it was a sunny day.  I just stayed in the right lane and drove as fast as I dare, hoping to find a happy medium between the two.

As I said the roads weren’t slick, but whatever the DOT put on the road to keep it that way was now all over my truck, especially the windows and mirrors.  It was tricky figuring out just how much defrost heat to keep on the windshield to melt the ice without cooking the road goo into a cement mess.  Several times during the trip I had to pull into a rest area to clean the windows by hand and knock the ice off the wipers.  What a mess…

I did make it to Carlisle to drop the loaded trailer, then bobtailed to the OC for the evening.  I was pretty tired but decided to fuel up the truck and clean the windows and mirrors as good as I could now, cause I knew I wouldn’t want to do it in the cold tomorrow morning.  Oh, and my next load came in; take a relay from the OC to Haw River, NC, a whopping 318 miler.

Wednesday, 01/24:

• Made delivery in Pottsville, PA
• Next load: picked up empty and drove it to Middletown, PA
• Dropped the empty and picked up a load to Wintersville, OH
• Delivered load in Wintersville
• Next load: Bobtailed to the Seville, OC to pick up a relay
• 504 Miles

It was a busy day; dropped my load in Pottsville and picked up an empty.  Dropped it in Middletown and picked up a load headed to Wintersville, OH, only 255 miles away.  As I was delivering the load in Wintersville this afternoon my next load came in; pick up a relay at the Seville OC headed to Mechanicsburg, PA, 318 miles away.  I was barely able to make the OC before running out of hours for the day.

The weather has gotten interesting.  It was snowing lightly most of the day.  The temp started out right at freezing and slowly dropped as the day progressed, and by the time I was coming through Pittsburgh during evening rush hour it was “beginning to look a lot like Christmas”.  I would normally plan my route and time to miss rush hour in major cities, and had it all worked out for this trip when I had an unexpected 3 hour wait for my load in Middletown.

As you may have noticed I’m still getting a lot of short loads, which is not normal from what I gather from other drivers I talk to.  I had hoped my milage would pick up once I got off the 90 day board, but so far there has been no change.  Tomorrow I think I need to call my STL to see what gives.

Tuesday, 01/23:

• Drove from the Charlotte, OC to the Carlisle, PA OC
• 452 Miles

It was a full day of driving although sort of short.  I could have delivered the load today but the prospects of finding a decent place to spend the night near Pottsville were dim.  Besides, the expected arrival date was for tomorrow so I called it a day when I got as far as the Carlisle OC.

Monday, 01/22:

• Picked up relay load at the Charlotte, OC
• Delivered in Sumter, SC
• Next load: Pulled empty trailer to Augusta, GA
• Dropped empty, picked up load for Pottsville, PA
• Drove to the Charlotte, OC
• 438 Miles

Back from a great long weekend at home and as usual picked up a relay load, this time to Sumter, SC.  Sat for a quick live unload there and then pulled the empty to Augusta, GA to swap for a load headed to Pottsville, PA.  As luck (and routing) would have it my day ended as I passed the Charlotte, OC on my way north, so I treated myself to one more night at home.

Hi everyone!  The following comment was left on the blog in the last few days and I thought I’d respond here:

“Dear Poppy Bill,” (no, not really…sorry, couldn’t help myself)

Dave wrote: “I got my cdl in april of 2005 but never went to work driving.  I had a hard time with the class because I never drove a manual transmission- stickshift – before I got behind the wheel of the truck and haven’t driven one since.  I had a hard time shifting gears and stalling the truck everytime i went out with the instructor.  Some how i made it through the test and got the license and now i’m looking into trucking again. How hard is it to get used to shifting the gears and how long does it take.  It seems that some companies only give a couple weeks before you’re on your own.  Is this enough time or am I over reacting and lacking in confidence? any advice?“

Thanks for your questions Dave.  I learned to drive at age 14 on a straight drive car and have been using the skill on and off my whole life.  Yet as I relayed in the posts about training I had a little trouble getting used to shifting a big truck.  One thing our instructors told us early on was that those without manual transmission experience actually had an advantage, as they could learn the truck without having to un-learn old habits from smaller vehicles.  So I don’t think you’re hindered by your lack of experience with straight drives in conventional vehicles.

You didn’t mention where or from whom you got training back in ‘05, but at least as far as Schneider’s school is concerned it does go quickly. The initial class is only two weeks long followed immediately by “CDL Week”, where students are broken up by state and led through passing their CDL exams.  After that you’re out with a TE for a week or two, then put out on your own.  Before you know it you’re out in the world on your own in that huge truck.

Now I’m not an instructor and don’t have much experience driving a truck, but I suspect you were making one of the same mistakes I did (and still do at times) by making the process more complicated than it really is.  There is a specific speed and RPM range for each gear, and when both are within their respective ranges, the transmission will shift easily.  The hard part is staying calm and watching your gauges for those ranges.  We were taught to upshift by accellerating to 1300 RPM, clutching out of gear, letting the RPM drop to 1000, then clutching into the next gear.  That’s for the low range side of the transmission; once in the upper range the RPM figures rise to 1600 and 1300.

And it really is that simple.  If you upshift at those settings it is smooth and easy.  At any other RPM it simply won’t shift, period.  Downshifting is different only in the fact that you have to bump the RPM up with the accellerator rather than just waiting for it to fall on it’s own as in upshifting, but the same rules apply.  The trick for me was to learn to stay calm, watch my RPM, and shift by the numbers.  Naturally once you have some practice and start getting the feel for your truck (yeah, there’s subtle differences between ‘identical’ trucks) you’ll start hearing and feeling your shift points, and won’t be quite so focused on the gauges.

As for my advice?  If you’ve done your research and feel you’d like the OTR driving lifestyle, then I’d suggest moving forward with your plans and not worry about learning the transmission.  There’s no way anyone can tell you how long it will take you to overcome the challenges that face every new driver, but a good training staff will give you the time and instruction you need as long as you provide the effort.  Just remember to do what they say and don’t make it more complicated than it really is.  They’re not going to put you on the road in their truck until they feel you’re ready.

If you want to avoid learning to shift you might consider going with one of the companies who use automatic transmission trucks.  I’m not sure exactly who they are, but there are several, and a little Internet research should point you in the right direction.  Best of luck to you Dave.
 

Thursday, 01/18:

• Made delivery in Garysburg, NC
• Next load: Picked up empty trailer in Garysburg
• Drove to Winston-Salem, NC for live load
• Dropped load for relay at the Charlotte, OC
• 379 Miles

Last night I treated myself to a night of IdleAire service, including a loaner TV, and had supper at the restaurant.  After eating I relaxed in the cab with the warm air blowing and zoned out in front of the telly.  The relaxation led to a good nights sleep, and by morning the craziness of yesterday was but a memory.

The weather was quite interesting this morning; snow.  And temps cold enough for the stuff to stick in places.  Knowing how crazy traffic can get when it’s snowing I got an early start, but surprisingly I had no problem at all negotiating the roads and other traffic.  I was quite pleased to see that the vast majority of the trucks on the road (and there were plenty) were satisfied with driving quite conservatively.  There were a few ‘Super Truckers’ out there blasting past everyone, but for the most part we were all acting like professionals.  Naturally there were a number of 4-wheelers banged up against median walls or in the ditch, so we did have a few traffic delays to deal with, but all in all it was a tense but uneventful morning drive.

I made my delivery at the Lowe’s DC in Garysburg, picked up an empty trailer, then headed for a live load in Winston-Salem.  By the time I left Garysburg the precipitation had turned to a steady mist of rain and the temperature had risen to just above freezing, so the drive was wet but otherwise not terribly challenging.

Since my TAH would start as soon as I got back to Charlotte I was anxious for today to move along.  My live load appointment wasn’t until 3pm but I arrived a little after 2 hoping they might get me right in.  Unfortunately I wasn’t assigned a door until around 4, but the load went very quickly and 30 min. later I was ready to head home. 

It was still raining and starting to get dark by then, not to mention that evening rush hour traffic was building, and of all things my left turn signals went out.  It was a little unnerving driving the 80 or so miles to Charlotte without being able to indicate lane changes to the left, but luck was with me and the few times I had to move left there was a long clear path behind me.

Once safely at the OC I dropped the trailer, unloaded my stuff, and turned the truck in to maintenance for it’s scheduled PM and a short list of items needing attention, including the turn signals.  Finally I was headed for the house for a long weekend…
 

Wednesday, 01/17:

• Made delivery in Atlanta
• Next load: Picked up empty trailer in Atlanta
• Stopped for live load in Elberton, GA
• Drove as far as Burlington, NC
• Spent the night at a TA on I-85
• 447 Miles

Got an early start this morning to make the 4am delivery appointment, then grabbed an empty at that location and headed up I-85 toward my next load.  It took ~2 hours for a live load in Elberton, GA and then I continued on my way.  I drove until I got a ‘call me’ message from my STL.  The first safe place to stop was a TA in Burlington, and that’s where I ended up for the night.

Now for the call.  Actually he first sent me another message asking if I had been in an accident in Gastonia???  When I called in he said that someone had called the office claiming that I had run into them and left the scene. The caller was transferred to our claims department, but apparently hung up without leaving any information.  So as per Schneider’s policy we had to get a safety person on the line and I had to answer questions as to where I was, etc. for an incident file.  Of course the file will be disgarded if they don’t get a follow-up call from this mystery ‘accident victim’.

I guess there wasn’t enough crap to deal with in this job already, so now we throw in a bogus accident just to keep things exciting.  As you can probably tell I’m pretty bummed out at this latest BS…

Tuesday, 01/16:

• Delivered load in Newnan, GA
• Next load: Picked up an empty in Newnan
• Dropped the empty in Lanett, AL and picked up a load to drop at the Atlanta OC
• Dropped the relay at the Atlanta OC
• Next load: Pick up a relay at the OC and deliver it in Atlanta at 4am tomorrow
• Spent the night at the OC
• 242 Miles

Only had to drive a couple of hours this morning to get to the K-Mart DC in Newnan.  My next load was a pickup in Lanett, AL (just across the state line) that is to be delivered to Ajax, Ontario, Canada.  Unfortunately I had to drop it at the Atlanta OC for relay, proably because I have TAH scheduled for the following weekend and don’t have time to make the trip.  I may have had to drop it anyway so a team could get the run; they are given the longer trips.

My next load called for me to pick up a relay at the OC and deliver it in Atlanta tomorrow morning at 4am.  I found the trailer, coupled and did my checks, and parked for the night.
 

Monday, 01/15:

• Delivered load in Plymouth, FL
• Next load: Droped empty in Orange Springs, FL
• Picked up load bound for Newnan, GA
• Overnighted at a Pilot truck stop on I-75 in Byron, GA
• 385 Miles

The delivery location in Plymouth was easy to find, but figuring out which was the right gate to pull in wasn’t.  My first mistake was arriving before the sun came up (the place had no lights at all).  The second was to drive ‘around the block’ (~8 miles) instead of parking on the side of the road and walking to find the dock.

But I eventually did find it and backed into a very tight dock with no problem. By 11am they had me unloaded and I headed for Orange Springs to pick up my next load.  The drive north was quite peaceful; it was through a national park in central Florida, with partly cloudy skies and warm weather to compliment the scenery.

When I had dropped my empty and hooked up to the loaded trailer I noticed that the tandem was in the first hole (nearest the front).  Normally I wouldn’t pull the trailer configured that way, but I had also noted that the load (bottled water) didn’t fill the trailer and was all stacked in the front half.  With this odd combination of load and wheel configuration, and with the BOL stating 41,000 pounds, I decided to leave the tandem where it was and  headed straight to the closest scale to check my weights.

And it was a good thing I did; my gross was OK, but the drive axles were carrying ~200# too much weight.  Normally to shift weight from the drive axles to the trailer wheels you’d slide the tandem forward, but in this case it was already in the first hole.  The only thing that could be done now was to shift the weight from the drive axles to the steer axle by sliding the 5th wheel.

Sliding the 5th wheel is easy when you’re hooked to an empty trailer.  With a load it’s quite the opposite because you first have to lift much of the weight off the platform by cranking the landing gear down.  And remember that warm Florida weather I mentioned earlier?  The more I cranked the hotter it got…but I eventually got it moved and made the rig legal.

The other issue I had was fuel; the legal weight I had just achieved was with less than 1/4 tank of diesel.  It wasn’t enough to get to the delivery location, but I did calculate that it would get me as far as Valdosta, GA where our next authorized fueling location was.  Once there I added ~50 gallons, which was about all I could add without putting the weight back over the limit.  But it would be enough to get me there and have enough left over to get to the next fueling stop.

With all that done I put in another couple hours behind the wheel and called it a night…

Hi everyone.  I’m sitting at a dock for a live unload in Plymouth, FL (just outside Orlando).  Hope you’re all well… 

Sunday, 01/14:

• Delivered load in Ft. Pierce
• Next load: Bobtailed to Deerfield Beach, FL to pick up loaded trailer headed for Plymouth, FL
• Drove to Plymouth, spent the night at a small truck stop in Zellwood, FL
• 406 Miles

I must admit I’m enjoying this Florida weather.  The temp’s in the low 70s, a few clouds drifting around (and an occassional sprinkle of rain), and just enough breeze to be pleasant.

Once I picked up my next load in Deerfield Beach and headed north I started trying to plan a stopping place for the night.  It’s surprising how few trucks there are on the road, and even fewer truck stops along the Interstate.  I finally found a tiny truck parking area and ‘truck stop’ convenience store about 3 miles from my delivery point.
 

Saturday, 01/13:

• Next load: Drove to LaGrange, GA
• Dropped empty, picked up a load headed to Fort Pierce, FL
• Drove as far as Kenansville, FL
• Spent the night at a service plaza on the Florida Turnpike
• 513 Miles

Fairly uneventful day; picked up a loaded trailer at a Wal-Mart DC in LaGrange, taking it to a Wal-Mart DC in Fort Pierce.  I did pass a Wal-Mart retail store on the way that had easy access and parking for the rig, so I stopped in to restock on Gatorade, nabs, and other ‘essentials’.
 

Friday, 01/12:

• Made delivery in McDonough, GA
• Next Assignment: Bobtail to the Atlanta, OC
• Picked up a relay load to be delivered in Atlanta
• Made delivery
• Overnited at the Atlanta OC
• 329 Miles

The drive to McDonough (~10 miles south of Atlanta) was uneventful.  I was supposed to pick up an empty trailer there after dropping my load but they didn’t have any.  I also saw that my next load had a 5pm live load appointment for today, with an expected duration of 3 hours.  The problem here is that my 14 hour clock expired at 7:15 pm.

I called the Load Advance team to see if we could bump up that appointment and was told that the receiver worked on a first come / first served basis and didn’t enforce appointments.  They also told me to just bobtail to the OC so I wouldn’t have to spend time finding an empty trailer.  Problem solved, or so I thought.

After picking up the relay load at the OC I made the 15 min. trip to the receiver, where the gate guard informed me that not only do they enforce their appointment times, but do not allow drivers on the lot until 15 minutes before the appointment.  So I’d have to leave and come back at 4:45; problem not solved.

I had hoped it would be a few days before I had to call my new STL with an issue to resolve, but here was an issue and he would have to solve it.  After a couple of conversations with him and his STR (service team rep.) it was decided that I could legally drive AFTER my 14 hours was up because (a) the receiver wouldn’t allow me to take my 10 hour DOT break on their premises, and (b) I was driving directly to the closest Safe Haven (in this case the OC).  Problem solved again.

After seeing the way he handled this issue I’m encouraged about my new STL.  It’s only been a day, but his manner and attitude was right where I would hope it would be on this one.  Hopefully that will continue…

Hey y’all (been up north a lot, wanted to stay in practice).  Sittin’ at a TA just outside Nashville, TN and had a little spare time, so here’s a few day’s worth.  Hope you’re all well…

Thursday, 01/11: 

• Got an earlier start
• Drove as far as Nashville, TN
• Stopped at a TA for the night
• 577 Miles

Didn’t sleep a bit better last night; the snow suit is back in storage for use in an emergency.  I don’t know how other drivers who have trucks without auxiliary heaters keep warm, but I’d love to know.  My suspision is that they idle their trucks, in spite of the fact that my STL hints that I’m the only one having a problem.  Until I come up with a better idea, or get another truck, this sucker is going to run at night when the temp. is in the teens like last night.

One advantage of not sleeping too well was that I got up earlier and had an easy trip back around Chicago this morning.  I was at the Inidanapolis OC by 9:30, so I stopped for a quick shower/rest break.  In spite of stopping I still managed to get in almost 600 miles today.

During the afternoon I got a QC message asking me to call in.  Turns out that I’ve ‘graduated’ (as they put it) from the 90 day board and have been assigned to a permanent STL.  We had a chance to chat for a few minutes and agreed that we’d meet face to face when I came in for TAH next week.

Wednesday, 01/10:

• Left the Indy OC early
• Delivered load in Neenah, WI
• Next assignment: Bobtailed to Oshkosh, WI to pick up an empty trailer
• Dropped empty back in Neenah
• Picked up load bound for McDonough, GA
• Drove as far as Oak Creek, WI before stopping for the night
• 517 Miles

I didn’t sleep very well last night due to the cold.  In an effort to keep from idling the truck I slept in a snow suit I used to use when motorcycle riding in the cold.  I was somewhat warm, but the thing certainly wasn’t made to sleep in.

Anyway I left the OC early so I might get around Chicago before their morning rush hour started, but I guess the local folks there have a different idea of early.  At 6:30 (CST) the traffic on I-294 (comically referred to as ‘the bypass’) was bumper to bumper and traveling from 0 to 60 and back again repeatedly.  Naturally I was never in the correct lane for the exit(s) I needed so it was a constant lane-changing struggle as well.

I did manage to deliver the load, but the empty I was supposed to pick up wasn’t there. In fact there were no empties on their lot.  So instead of driving straight to my next pick up which was literally 2 blocks away, I had to wait for the dispatcher to find another empty, and it was ~15 miles away in Oshkosh.

So I went there and found the empty, got connected, and headed back to Neenah.  When I got there for the live load I was scheduled for (and the reason I had to hunt for an empty) I found that they already had me loaded and ready on one of their empties.  If you’ve been reading for any length of time you may have come to the same conclusion as I have; organization and planning are not Schneider’s strong points.
 

Tuesday, 01/09:

• Drove from Mount Airy, NC to Indianapolis, IN
• 474 Miles

This morning I got a semi-early start; I was ready early but a good breakfast at the truck stop restaurant sounded too good to turn down (and it was!).  Right after I got into Virginia and finished climbing Fancy Gap it began to snow.  It continued snowing until I had driven through VA and WV and gotten into OH.  Fortunately it never got cold enough to start sticking on the road surface.

The rest of the day was just driving and mostly uneventful.
 

Monday, 01/08:

• Picked up a relay load at the Charlotte OC
• Drove to Salisbury for a live unload
• Next assignment: Took the empty trailer to Greensboro to drop
• Picked up a load bound for Neenah, WI
• Drove as far as Mount Airy, NC
• 214 Miles

Got in early anticipating a new load waiting for me but the Qualcomm was silent.  I piddled around with the truck until almost 9 before I ran out of patience and went in to see my STL.  When he checked there was a load there for me that had just gone out about the time I came inside.  So off I went; not very interesting so the description above about tells it all.
 

Friday, 01/05:

• Back at the OC ~6 am
• Talked to my STL, took off to run personal errands
• Attended Remidial Slow Maneuvering training

I was actually released in the system for TAH yesterday, but nobody told me so I went back in early to check for that last minute load.  After talking to my STL we decided that I could do the slow maneuvering training that I’d have to do because of the incident I had on New Year’s day.  After that was done I was off ’till Monday.

Well, the holidays are over and it’s back to the regular grind.  I hope you’re all well and happy. 

Thursday, 01/04:

• Next assignment: Picked up an empty trailer in Atlanta
• Drove to College Park, GA (Atlanta) for a live load
• Left for Charlotte ~2:30
• Arrived at the Charlotte OC, dropped trailer for relay
• Went home for the evening
• 285 Miles

My live load appt. was for noon, but I went in a little early (~10:30) and they gave me a door right away.  But it didn’t do much good as it was still after 2pm before they finished loading and I got on my way.

And I was all prepared to stop-and-go for an hour or two in Atlanta traffic, but for the first time I can remember I was able to drive I-285 and I-85 from SW Atlanta to the SC state line without encountering a single slow down.  I can hear you experienced Atlanta drivers now; “aw, come on Poppy Bill. That’s a bit much to believe”.  Agreed it sounds far fetched, but it happened.  That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.

Since I was going to arrive early I was a good Pumpkin Driver and stopped at the first rest area to send in an updated MAC 18.  But by the time I had arrived in Charlotte I had received no new loads, so I assumed they wanted me to just go home for the evening.  I had planned to anyway, of course, but it helped my conscience to know I wasn’t wasting any time I could be driving.  There could always be a little surprise waiting tomorrow morning though, so I’ll plan to be in early.  Besides, I have TAH scheduled for this weekend, and I doubt they’d send me much in the way of a load.

Wednesday, 01/03:

• Made delivery in Forest Park, GA (Atlanta)
• Stopped at the Atlanta OC for the night
• 551 Miles

Pretty uneventful day, although I did something I haven’t done before.  After getting my paperwork caught up I went inside the OC and settled in the lounge to watch TV for an hour or so.  The show wasn’t particularly interesting but sitting in a nice soft chair in the dark with no engine noise was quite relaxing.  When I started nodding off I got up to shower and hit the sack.

Tuesday, 01/02:

• Picked up load in Kearny, NJ
• Stopped at the Carlisle, PA OC for lunch and fuel
• Stopped at a truck stop in Harrisonburg, PA for the night
• 379 Miles

As is usually the case, the shipper in Kearny was hard to find.  Not only that, but it seems in NJ (at least the parts where I’ve been) if you miss a turn you may have to travel 10 miles to get turned around.  Obviously with the rig I’m driving it happens occassionally elsewhere, but here it has happened every time.

Not much else to the day; got loaded early so got on the road earlier than expected.  Stopped for fuel and lunch at the Carlisle, PA OC, then finished the day in Harrisonburg, PA.

Happy New Year from the Garden State.  Right now the garden is being watered heavily, but at least it’s fairly warm.   

 Monday, 01/01:

• Drove to North Brunswick, NJ to drop empty and pick up load
• Load not ready; taken off the load
• Next assignment: Take empty to Kearny, NJ for a live load bound for Forest Park, GA (Assignment has a 1pm appointment for tomorrow)
• Found a Wal-Mart to park behind for the night
• 187 Miles

Since it was New Year’s Day I treated myself by not setting the alarm last night.  After sleeping until after 7 I finally got rolling toward New Jersey ~10.  The weather was fairly rotten this morning with rain and fog covering the area.  Oh, and remember the Safe Track thing I attended earlier?  It didn’t seem to help…

As I rolled off of I-80 onto Hwy. 206 in Flanders, NJ the fog was particularly heavy.  I’d traveled less than a mile when I came up on several police cars with their lights on blocking the road.  There had been a couple of serious accidents ahead and they had closed the highway.  All traffic was directed to turn right from the two lane highway onto a little two lane road, and the officers had placed their cars and a line of orange cones to indicate the path.  As I was negotiating the turn I saw that the right tires of my trailer tandem were going to ride up onto the curb, however I was already as close to the police cars and cones as I could get so I proceded slowly.  I was watching the mirror to make sure the trailer didn’t actually hit anything, and when it had rolled back off the curb I continued on.

I crept up the road with all the other traffic (past a ‘no outlet’ sign) wondering how in the world I was going to get turned around and back on my way when one of the police cars pulled me over.  I steered my rig to the curb, set the brakes, and turned on my 4-ways.  Instead of parking behind me as you might expect the officer stopped his car next to my trailer, blocking one of the two remaining lanes.  I thought that was kind of odd and for moment thought he was just going to fuss at me for going up on the curb.  Imagine my surprise when he got out of his car and hollared “you know you knocked over a pole back there?”.

Well, I have to admit that for one of the few times in my life I was speechless.  I knew I hadn’t hit a pole, ’cause I was creeping around that turn and staring out my mirror.  After a little more conversation with the officer I found out he meant I had hit a street sign.  I guess I must have because I couldn’t imagine him going to the trouble to pull me over if I hadn’t done something, but I would have sworn there wasn’t anything in the way.

Anyhow he asked for the usual documents and went to his car, and I sat in the truck expecting my first traffic ticket in many years.  When he returned and handed my my paperwork back I saw that he had just scribbled the info on a scratch pad.  He asked for a phone number “in case he needed me for anything else” and sent me on my way.  When I asked how I could get back to the highway he told me that there was a place to turn around a few blocks up the road and drove off.  There was such a mess of traffic by this time, and I was so bothered by the fact that I had had my first ‘incident’, that I didn’t even think to go look at the sign I allegedly ran over, nor did I notice the police dept. the nice officer represented.

And that was just the beginning of my New Year.  I managed to find a side street that led me to another road and eventually back to the highway, and made my way back to the Interstate.  The map program helped me find an alternate route to the shipper and I arrived there about 1/2 hour later.

When I checked in at the security desk I was told that my load was not ready, and they didn’t know when it would be.  Perhaps I should check with them tomorrow.  I called in to tell them about the load problem and also report the incident in Flanders.  I was told that they’d pull me off of that load and have another one out to me via the Qualcomm in a little while, and then I was transferred to the safety dept.  I made my report and the safety person also thought it was odd that the officer didn’t give me so much as a business card.  She said she would start a file and we’d just have to wait to see if anything came of it.

Shortly after hanging up the phone my next load came in; take my empty to Kearny, NJ (@30 miles north) for a live load headed for Forest Park, GA.  Oh, and by the way, the live load appointment was for 3pm on 01/02/07.  I had to wonder why they didn’t want me waiting until morning for the load I was originally assigned, but had no problem with giving me a 3pm appointment for the next day.  Go figure…

After doing a quick trip plan I looked in my truck stop guide to find a place to spend the night.  There were two listed as being at Exit 15E off the New Jersey Turnpike, which was right on my way.  I drove to the exit and found that it led to another Interstate-like highway where there was no sign of a truck stop, much less two.  As I was trying to get turned around I stumbled across a Wal-Mart Supercenter.  I pulled in to the loading dock area at the back of the store and went in to see if I could park there overnight.  The store manager was quite nice and had no problem with it as long as I was parked in the back.

So here I sit…updating the blog from Wal-Mart in Kearny, NJ.  That was my first day of 2007…I hope yours was a little less stressful.
 

Sunday, 12/31:

• Drove all day
• Made delivery in Hazleton, PA
• Next assignment: Picked up empty in Hazleton
• Overnighted at a little truck stop in Hazleton
• 550 Miles

I got going ~7 this morning and drove all day to make the delivery in PA.  Fortunately there was a little Mom & Pop truck stop right at the Interstate exit where I spent New Year’s Eve (slept through the whole thing).

Saturday, 12/30:

• Made delivery in Jonesville, SC
• Next assignment: Bobtailed to Clinton, SC to pick up an empty
• Drove to Beech Island, SC to drop empty & get load headed for Hazleton, PA
• Drove to the Charlotte, OC and overnighted at home
• 403 Miles

Since the Hazleton, PA load took me right by the Charlotte, OC I took the opportunity to spend New Year’s Eve Eve at home w/ Terrie.

Friday, 12/29:

• Drove most of the day
• Overnighted in Waynesville, NC
• 551 Miles

Thursday, 12/28:

• Had “Safe Track” session
• New Assignment: Bobtailed to Ashton, IL
• Picked up load bound for Jonesville, SC
• Spent the night at a truck stop in Oakwood, IL
• 311 Miles

Since there was no load available for me my STL took the opportunity to schedule me for Safe Track at the Gary OC this morning.  Safe Track is just a miniature version of SQT (Skills Qualification Test) that all new drivers are given after they’ve been out a couple of months.  The idea is to prevent us from becoming comfortable with driving and letting our guard down; seems a lot of little incidents happen to drivers about this time.

Once I finished that my new load came in and I was on my way again.