Hi Gang… We had a wonderful time this weekend visiting our kids in the Raleigh area.  Now I’m back to it, sitting at a dock in Baltimore waiting on a live unload.  Hope you’re all doing well… 

• Date(s): 3/20 to 3/21
• From/To: York, PA to Dublin, GA
• Mileage: 720
• Cargo:  Recycled Paper

I’ve run this same load before, and as always it was nice to get a run back to the south.  The only event of note was the citation issued by the Virginia State Trooper at a weigh station in VA.  They had an officer standing behind the scales checking tires as you pulled on, and I had a couple on the trailer that were in bad shape.

When I pretripped the rig that morning I noticed one trailer tire that was well worn, but it looked to me that it would be OK for a few more miles.  On the other side of the trailer the tires looked new.  What I didn’t do was pull the trailer forward a few feet to check the side of the tires that was on the ground.  Had I done so I would have seen the two huge flat spots worn past the steel belts and into the cord.  It was obvious that someone had drug the trailer with that hub locked and had ruined two tires.  I don’t see how a driver could do this much damage without knowing it.

But while the tires were bad enough to warrant a citation (and fine), the nice officer sent me on my way without worrying about when/if I would have them fixed.  I suppose that shows exactly where their priority lies.  I contacted SEM before leaving the weigh station and arranged to have the tires replaced at the first available stop on my route.  They looked bad enough to me to be dangerous, and had I seen the damage when I picked up the trailer I wouldn’t have pulled it at all until they were replaced.

I was happily surprised when my STL forwarded the citations to Green Bay to be paid, and since there was no moving violation or license points involved there was nothing more said about it.  She even volunteered that she wouldn’t have thought to check the bottom of an otherwise ‘good’ tire either.

• Date(s): 3/21 to 3/22
• From/To: Garden City, GA to Charlotte, NC
• Mileage: 345
• Cargo:  Lawn & Garden Merchandise

Garden City is a suburb of Savannah, and is where a major shipping port is located.  I’ve only been to sea ports a couple of times, and between the extreme security and sheer volume of cargo being moved about each turned out to be a frantic exercise in dealing with utter chaos.  This trip was no different, but at least I was expecting the worst and that made the ordeal a little less stressful.

Once I had the load I headed up I-95 a few miles before finding a place to spend the night.  The next morning I had a pleasant drive to Charlotte, dropped the loaded trailer for relay, and headed off for a much anticipated four days at home.

• Date(s): 3/27 to 3/28
• From/To: Charlotte, NC to Baltimore, MD
• Mileage: 410
• Cargo:  Oregano

Coming off my TAH I was as cranky as usual, and another load heading up the I-95 corridor didn’t help much.  The TA truck stop right at my exit in Baltimore where I spent the night was a real rat hole of a place as well.  Anyway I survived the night, then sat for a live unload the next morning before heading out on my next load.