02/19/2010 part II

Here is part two of my journey down the stupid road.

They were able to find someone else to complete the delivery. I'll need to wait here and complete a 10 hour break. Which will get me back on the straight and narrow. I will get a service failure write up which will detail my stupidity. And unless I get attacked by another case of the dumb ass in the relative near future it shouldn't represent a problem over the long haul. Just when you think your done with rookie mistakes.

Enough kicking my own butt and on with the show.

I did get another work assignment this afternoon. Picking up in Laurinburg over the weekend and delivery in Fenton, MI. This will be my first glass delivery to the state of Michigan. I did delivery a steel coil in Sawyer once. I'm taking it up on a step deck so who knows what the back haul will be. We will just have to wait till Tuesday for that drama to unfold.

On another positive note. There is a sit down restaurant at this truck stop and I'm going to give it a whirl. Let you know later how that turns out.

Have a good day

Bookerz out

02/18/-19/2010 part 1

Thursday 02/18/2010

Well I dashed down to Mount Holly Springs, Pa and got there by 6:30am. If I had been thinking I would have waited a couple of hours and got there later and more sleep. There was no way I was going to to hear or know anything till 9am est. Sure enough 9:15 beep work assignment. Picking up 3pm and delivering at noon Friday. Well Iback into a bay a little before 3 and finally pull out at 6:30pm. And off to sleep I went.

Now here comes the stupid part

Friday 02/19/2010

I got just under 400 miles to the customer. 8Hrs driving time. I got to stop for fuel. .25 hrs. And for good measure I'll throw an hour in just in case I get sleepy and have to pull over for a short nap. So without consideration as to when the previous day ended I set my alarm clock. And away I went this morning. Well I did stop for fuel, but I didn't get sleepy. So I get a call right after I turn on HWY220 in Roanoke, VA. “YOUR BREAK LAST NIGHT WASN'T LONG ENOUGH. I have to shut you down.” But, But, But all to no avail the boss was right. Now speaking to myself “You dumbass you got yourself hoisted on your petard. Anyway I went to the nearest truck stop out on I-81 and they are trying to find someone not quite so stupid to relay the load. They may try but I don't think they'll be able to beat up on me more than I already have.

I have to continue this once I see how it plays out.

Have a good day

Bookerz out

02/17/2010

Sometimes it pays more to get up early than others. Take today for example. I got up at 3am main goal was to beat the traffic in Toronto and perhaps grab a nap when I got to the consignee while I was waiting to get unloaded. I did beat the traffic it was thickening up but there wasn't any traffic snarls. And when I got there at 7am the unloaders came out and asked if I was ready to unload. I explained my appointment wasn't until 10am but that I would be glad to get unloaded. He said the 7am delivery was late and that he would take me now. SWEET!! So now I'm three hours ahead of schedule. Let see if the dispatchers can continue this roll of good luck.

Ahh it was not meant to be. The three plus hours I saved on the front end was wasted on the back end. Such is life. My initial deadhead move was to Laurinburg, but that has since changed. I am now dead heading to MT. Holly Springs, PA and grab a load that delivers some where in Canada sometime Friday. That is the extent of my knowledge. I truly dislike loading at this facility, but it is one of our customers. They are still ironing out the details so we will just have to wait and see how this plays out.

It started snowing shortly after I began driving out of Canada and now that I am 240 miles away from my start location it is still snowing. I've got to start pretty early in the morning so here is hoping the roads are in good shape once I begin rolling. We'll just have to wait and see.

My wife stocked me up on a few items before I left the house and tonight I finish the refrigerated items. Last night the stuffed shells and deep fried pork chops were consumed with great enjoyment. Imagine the sleep with a stuffed belly caused by stuffed shells. Life is good! Tonights dinner will consist of Ruth's chicken salad (a personal favorite) and Tostitos with dip as a side. As a follow blogger says “Good times, Good times”.

Have a good day

Bookerz out

02/16/2010

Today was fairly mundane. Up by 3am, out to the plant, cinch down the load and away we go.

I was heading up the road by four am to today's target of Kanona, NY.

When I say mundane I mean mundane. No traffic in Washingtion to speak off, Harrisburg, PA was a breeze, even Washington, PA where the traffic usually isn't an issue, but the stoplights every 100 yards can be, was easy today. It did start snowing during the last 20-30 miles into Kanona, NY, but as I blog you it has stopped. Like I said mundane, hopefully the 230 miles I have left to Concord, ON will take heed and follow today's example.

Bets for tomorrow after unloading.

70% Laurinburg

10% Mt Holly << ewwwwwwww!!

10% Carleton, MI

10% Ottawa, IL <<-- Least likely, but most hoped for. I feel the need for a Sausage burger

Have a nice day

Bookerz out

With the freeway looking like a parking lot. Damn this traffic jam. Damn

The title for today's post is a line from a James Taylor song from the 70s. And for Friday night it aptly describe I-85 north of Atlanta, GA. Apparently there was a major accident around the 126-127 mile marker. This shut down traffic for hours. This allowed the precipitation that was falling north of the accident time to actually freeze to the roadway. Georgia was not prepared for the combination of events and considering their normal weather patterns this is not much of a surprise. The state troopers initially wanted us to just get off the interstate. And go where was the natural question. Again, initially the answer was head south. Atlanta was starting to have it's own problems and really wasn't a good option. Taking secondary roads around wasn't a good option because the roads out there if anything were worse off than the interstate. Naturally the area around the accident isn't designed to accommodate that much stalled traffic. So nature took it's course and I-85 became a parking lot for the night. I slept fitfully in the drivers seat wanting to make sure I didn't miss when the traffic would start moving again. I and thousands of other truck drivers basically got a ten hour break in while sitting in the middle of the freeway. At 7 or 8 o'clock the next morning the traffic cautiously began to move.

Anyway I made it home around noon and that is where I'll be until Monday morning. I scheduled for noon at a construction site in Charlotte, NC. I will probably deadhead to Laurinburg from there, but I have a flatbed trailer so anything is truly possible.

Have a nice weekend
Bookerz out

02/12/2010

02/11 – 02/12/2010

Blogging in the northbound granny lane. Yep stuck behind some pile up on I-85 north of Atlanta. So while at any moment we might be able to move 10 to 100 feet I am not blogging while in motion, but technically while I am driving.

02/11/2010

Got there the place was further down the street than originally thought. They had to load one of their trucks first. Once they accomplished that they started on my load. They took forever, or so it seemed, finally at noon they finished my 8am delivery. I send in my empty call. About an hour later I give them a call. Head to the nearest truck stop. Now I am in North Miami, Fl and truck stops are a bit rare in this neck of the woods. So I opted for the nearest rest area which was 90 miles north. I figured at the very least I'll be headed in the right direction. Once I get to the rest area I wait around for an hour. Fire off a qualcomm message and 15-20 minutes later I get a deadhead move to Palmetto, FL. Where I was would have been the best place to be cause I could have gotten on I-75 and followed it straight up. But here I got on US70 and scooted straight across the state. Got to the rest area at SunCity, FL and called it a day.

02/12/2010

Scheduled to pick up the load at noon. Still needed to break down the glass racks and I wanted to make it over there by 10am. Just to see if I could get loaded earlier. They were happy to see me so good deal. Took off and made it through the Florida rain and thirty miles into Georgia it turned into snow at some points quite heavy snow. Once I got to Macon the snow almost tapered off to nothing. I saw a warning sign about the back up on I-85 northbound but figured it would clear up before I got there or shortly thereafter WRONG on both counts.

So here I sit catching up on my blog in the middle of the interstate.

Have a nice weekend
Bookerz out

02/10/2010

Considering where there photo was taken he had been traveling quite a bit.

Today's journey through northern Florida for parts south went quite well. I had decided to take US27 through central Florida partly to avoid the turnpike toll and partly because I grew up in Sebring which is along this route. The stop lights have multiplied exponentially, but it was still an interesting ride. Once you get past Lake Placid the road opens up due in most part to the lack of snow bird destinations and a high degree of agricultural industry. I only made it to South Bay, Fl and called it a day. I did a Google map of the location and it shows perhaps 1 parking spot. I decided it was a bit chancy to show up and if that 1 spot was taken finding another might be a challenge. Especially with a Publix supermarket DC so close by. It also gave me an excuse to be lazy.

Now the question remains take off early enough to avoid traffic or time it to arrive on time hmmm.

We will just have to wait and see.

Have a nice day

Bookerz out