I like driving a truck… I wish I did it for a living!  Sorry to start a post on a negative thought, but lately it seems I spend more time sitting than driving.  I’m currently parked at a truck stop on I-64 near Lexington, VA.  This is where I spent the night, and I’ll have to sit here until ~8pm before I drive to Mechanicsville for an 11pm live unload appointment.

 In fact out of my last 9 loads, 8 have had a live load or unload.  On top of that almost every load has had an appointment on one end or the other (or both) that forced me to sit when I should be driving, often for half a day or more.   It may just be a string of bad luck, and I certainly hope it is, but it doesn’t come anywhere near the “90% drop and hook” that the recruiter and class instructors bragged about.

For those not familiar with the business, the frustrating part of sitting is that you’re not being paid.  Our salary is based on cents-per-mile, so as the tired old saying goes “If the wheels ain’t turnin’, you ain’t earnin’”.  We do receive a small amount of compensation if we’re delayed at a shipper, but that doesn’t apply to the unneeded time between appointments.  As a result my last few paychecks have been miserably small.

• Date(s): 3/28 to 3/29
• From/To: Baltimore, MD to Norwich, CT
• Mileage: 315
• Cargo:  Copper Cathodes

This was another live load with a live unload at the other end and included an extra bonus; a scenic drive through the middle of New York City.  I survived that, and otherwise it was an uneventful trip.

• Date(s): 3/29 to 3/31
• From/To: Bridgeport, CT to Joliet, IL
• Mileage: 922
• Cargo:  OTC Drugs

I don’t particularly like running the northeast and midwest areas, especially around big cities.  Joliet is south of Chicago but close enough for their traffic to suffer.  Courtesy is nonexistant, even among many truckers.  But at least I was able to head west from CT and avoid another trip through NYC.

The shipper’s dock was in a very small and busy alley behind a building shared by a number of businesses.  When I arrived there were three other trucks waiting to be loaded, so I checked in with the shipper and waited.  All of the other trucks were day cabs pulling short trailers (what you’d normally see making local deliveries in the city), and they had to maneuver a bit to get to the dock.  Getting my OTR truck and 53′ trailer in there was a bit of a trick, but I was able to work it in after a few restarts.

When my turn came the shipper had to act as traffic control to get me in because the two trucks that had arrived after me kept trying to jump in while I was trying to get backed up to the dock.  One driver seemed ready to fight, but while he and the shipper were ‘discussing’ the issue I managed to back around him and get set up for loading.

At least I had the best smelling rig there; that Oregano from a couple of loads back was hanging tough.  I would finally be able to drop this trailer in Joliet.

There was a little spare time built into the schedule on this one (as in most lately) and I took advantage of it by stopping at our Seville OC (near Akron, OH) to take care of a little maintenance.  The trailer needed a tire, and my tractor had an air leak that needed attention.  Both were taken care of in a timely manner and I was once again on my way.