Out to LA LA land

After only two or three hours in Laredo I was given my choice of trips and I took one to Rialto, CA which is on the eastern side of Los Angeles. The trailer was already loaded and waiting in the yard so after finding it, hooking up, doing my inspection and fueling I was out the gate and on the road again.

The fastest way from Laredo to El Paso is to take a series of state highways that run near the border with Mexico. I've run it before several times and it is really the only way I do like to leave Laredo any more. I got a few hundred miles down the road before calling it a night in Sanderson, TX. Try finding it sometime if you are bored.

Clouds over San Antonio

For those of you who like seeing interesting formations of clouds.

View all Clouds over San Antonio Pics

Bird with colored wings

View All Bird With Colored Wings Pics

I saw one of these guys before when I picked up at a dump about a month ago... this time I was eating lunch in a truck stop and glanced up, and there another one was. Got much better pictures this time.

Sweet, sweet Laredo

Not.

The alarm woke me up at 4 AM this morning and I zipped through San Antonio without problem. Got the trailer inspected at our Laredo yard and drove across town to Uniroyal Drive (aka Uniroyal-pain-in-the-ass Drive) to deliver. An hour and a rather tight back later, I was done with that.

On the board and am #10 which is very short for Laredo. I wasn't going to board until tomorrow but Turtle called and said if I get a load up through San Antonio he's buying dinner. The dirty bum got a load from El Paso to Ft Lauderdale, FL for the weekend. I'm tired, dirty and hungry but the promise of a free meal from Bob is more than enough to get me moving!

Benton, AR to New Braunfels, TX

Slept in until 5 AM this morning then tried to extricate myself from a ridiculously packed Pilot truck stop parking lot. There was only one entrance and exit (combined) so when someone stopped, or tried to back in to a spot, everything ground to a halt. Some people wonder why I avoid all Pilots except when I have to fuel at one.

The trip down I-30 to Dallas was uneventful until I tried going south on I-635 and that offramp was closed. Drove all the way to downtown and caught I-35E going south without too much hassle. It is amazing what six months of driving does to your perceptions in problem areas like narrow lanes in construction zones.

Fueled at our Lancaster terminal like a good boy. The parking lot was ripped up in a half dozen places for some reason or other which made navigating it a bit difficult. This light load is giving me over 8 MPG for a change which should help my flagging MPG average.

Finished the day in New Braunfels, TX, just north of San Antonio. Will be up around 4 AM tomorrow hopefully to finish the run down to Laredo, then "finish" it again by making the local delivery.

Sign of the times...

In Michigan: (I kid you not)

"Need a new car? Have bad credit?
PoopyCredit.com"

Also (for my mom), I passed Scott Hamilton road on the south side of Little Rock, AR yesterday.

680 miles to Benton, Arkansas

I got up early this morning so I could beat the traffic in Indianapolis. Then I spent an interminable amount of time plodding through Illinois at 55 MPH.

I saw several of those birds with the very bright wing markings when I stopped to fuel and I may have a pic or two. Too tired to upload them tonight though.

Tomorrow will be another long day to get me somewhere south of Dallas and north of San Antonio. New Braunfels perhaps. Load delivers no later than 9:40 AM on Friday.

Back to... you guessed it...

LAREDO! My least favorite destination in the whole wide world of trucking! This Friday, like two of the past three Fridays, I will be arriving in Laredo to deliver yet another load. This time it is plastic HVAC parts for automobiles going to be installed into cars in Mexico. The load itself is very light: despite filling my trailer from nose to tail, the total weight only comes to 5,200 lbs.

I got the dispatch late this morning. First, to run from Grand Rapids, MI to Brighton, MI, then pick up and take the load to Laredo. The total miles are good (115 deadhead, almost 1,600 for the main part of the trip) it means I have to, yet again, make the run down I-35. Not to mention back up with a northbound load, I assume. Better than sitting, I suppose.

Tonight's rest stop is in the middle part of Indiana near where I lived for a time. The weather is hot and humid, with thunderstorms and lightning in the distance to the west.

Blaze was stretched out most of the day between the two front seats, relishing the warm temps and heat coming up from the engine. I move her food dish back behind to give her more area to stretch out and she likes to lay there all day.

Going my own way...

Anyone who knows me knows I march to the beat of my own drummer. Here is photographic evidence:

View all Zigging While Everyone Else is Zagging pics

Grand Rapids, MI

I decided to show up at the consignee this afternoon and see if they would take the load early... just getting to them was a huge issue as the roads in the area were ripped up with construction, so several detours were in order. Eventually I made it through and they were happy to unload me immediately. Twenty minutes later and I'm done.

There is one truck stop of note in this town; my GPS lead me to the wrong Mobil station to start with but eventually I consulted some online help and found the "real" one. There was quite a lot of truck parking and even late afternoon it was all filled, so I circled the lot with a half dozen other drivers. Eventually, someone pulled out and I was able to quickly claim the spot and start backing in. It was tight, but a friendly driver pulled his truck back a ways so I could turn tight enough to make the back and I was in. All in all, it was kind of like the grown-up version of musical chairs.

You know you might be a redneck if...

Many, perhaps most, of us keep a spare in the trunk for that unfortunate sudden loss of tire intactness. Some models have a special carrier behind the liftgate with the tire at the very rear of the car.

For some, however, this just isn't enough. Case in point:

View all Mister, What is that on your Car?!? pics

A true guard cat is always on the alert...

Massacre along the highway

Today I saw an extraordinary number of dead critters alongside (and in the middle of) the road. Racoons, a skunk, several deer, several cats, at least three dogs, several small birds, a chicken (to answer the obvious: doesn't matter why it was crossing the road any more) and a small pig. I saw a young deer spring from the forest a few hundred feet in front of me, bound across the road, leap across the jersey barriers... and meet the bumper of a big rig headed the other direction. Verdict: big rig 1, deer 0.

Today I drove from the middle part of New York to our terminal on the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan. I have about 180 miles yet to go, and over 30 hours to do it in. I may just make it in time. Hopefully I can reach someone there tomorrow and get them to take the load early.

"NO TRUCKERS WERE HARMED DURING THE PRODUCTION OF THIS BLOG"

Vermont

I was dispatched from Albany, NY to the little burg of Florence, VT to pick up a load. Not just any load, mind you, but 44,000 lbs of something which constituted a load. Someone had also thoughtfully left the landing gear of the trailer cranked up so high that only through a dint of hard effort was I able to lower the front end low enough for my fifth wheel to grab on to it. In many cases, trucking is perfectly doable by men and women but this issue today was a bit much for the fairer sex. Or most of them, anyway.

The plant was operating but the shipping and receiving was closed when I got there. Another driver gave me directions to the back of the plant where we drop trailers then I spent the better part of an hour wandering around in my tractor bobtail trying to find the "main office". Finally I went all the way back out front, then in a different entrance and viola, there it is. Closed, of course.

Eventually got all of that sorted out, ran back to the back of the yard to get my particular trailer where I found the problem with the landing gear. After another 30 minutes wrestling with it and inspecting the trailer I was finally able to leave.

I didn't weigh the load, even though the Bill said it was 44,000 lbs. I was running west back to New York and I saw that all the coops (weigh stations) were closed. I shut down west of Albany just off of the I-90 toll road and weighed... my trailer tandems were about 1,600 pounds heavy. Tomorrow I will take care of that, fuel up and run to our terminal in Taylor, MI -- the only one I have yet to visit.

Oh, the load isn't supposed to deliver until Tuesday morning which is a day late by my taste. Hopefully I can call them Monday morning and get in early. It is going to Grand Rapids, MI.

The saddest excuse for a truck stop yet

Since Conway kicked me out, I needed to find someplace nearby to wait while dispatch fires up the gerbils on the treadmill to produce another trip. My truck stop directory pointed me towards the Riverview Truck Travel Plaza about five miles away. Lots of parking, it said.

I get here and this has to be the saddest "truck stop" I have ever seen. Words alone would be an injustice, so I will risk life and limb and get pics later, if I dare.

UPDATE: Apparently, the sadness was too much for my camera which doesn't want to operate now for some reason. I didn't have time to look it over carefully before I had to leave. Boo hoo.

Bathroom stalling for time

I forgot to mention, last night I went back inside after I parked my tractor outside the fence to use their mens room. I got a noncommittal shrug from the Conway guy when I went back inside and marched myself over to the facilities. One of the two urinals had a vertical grab bar, the kind you see in handicapped stalls. Apparently, the Conway folks have to hold it so long by the time they get back they are doing something approximating the older guy (Redd Foxx) clutching his chest on Sanford and Son, from way back in the day.

I was going to sneak my camera in to get a pic this morning but they woke me early to get my trailer out of the yard so they could close up for the weekend. Must be nice.

Arrived Albany, NY

90 minutes ahead of schedule. A rather surly Conway rep told me where I could shove my trailer, and I did. Right into door #22. Then they directed me to park outside their property ("no one will bother you outside the fence") and to bugger off.

Buggering off for the night... out.

ETA updated

My satellite buzzer went off just after 4 AM this morning, apparently when the truck I am relaying with left Conway's yard in Wisconsin. The new arrival time for the truck is 3 PM EDT which is 90 minutes later than I was told yesterday. Now I get to drive 90 minutes later to deliver, assuming they get here on time.

Blaze is, as you can see, terribly upset with this latest turn of events and has threatened to strike. Strike what, I'm not sure though.

View all Vicious Attack Cat pics

Is Ohio going to the Dark side?

I report, you decide:

What is wrong with this picture?

This truck passed me a few days ago and something jumped out at me, so I took out my camera and snapped a shot. Can you see what is wrong with this picture?

(You will most likely need to click the image to see the larger version to determine what is wrong)

Edgarton, OH for dropoff

Got up this morning, a bit later than usual, and headed out the last 180 miles to my delivery in Edgarton, OH. This was at a rundown Fleetwood RV manufacturing facility with an interesting outdoors dock -- that's right, no overhead cover at all. Must be interesting when the snow is coming down. Turns out the load was in two parts and the second part had to be taken about two miles away to a different warehouse for storage.

View all Edgarton, OH pics

After unloading I parked and waited... and waited... I even sent a satellite message to my fleet manager to make sure I was on the board. I was so far out in the sticks I barely had cell phone coverage, and no internet.

Finally, I got a 105 mile deadhead to a service plaza along the I-80/I-90 Ohio turnpike for a Conway relay load to Albany, NY. I will leave around 2 PM ET and arrive around midnight, if all goes well. Of course, it will be a Friday afternoon and evening travel time so who knows.

Saw a flight of three birds take off from the side of the road about a football field in front of me. Two of the three birds dodged a SUV, while the third decided it had had enough of this cruel world and did a dive bomb into its grill. Pieces of bird littered the road as I went past moments later.

Rain, lots of rain

I left West Memphis at 7:30 AM this morning, as soon as possible after my 10 hour break. It was raining when I left and it didn't let up all day, just varied in intensity. On the plus side, it helped wipe off the tons of bug splats I had from last night.

I'm parked at a TA just west of Indianapolis with 180 miles to run in the morning to Ohio. Oh, did I mention, 55 MPH in Illinois... just doesn't cut it.

Interesting signs seen recently

Toad Suck Park (Arkansas)

Hollaring Woman Creek (Texas)

Black Ankle Road (North Carolina)

Also, I saw "Ann Road" near Montgomery, AL a couple weeks ago. Ann is my mom's name and I don't recall ever seeing her name on a sign before (or mine, for that matter).

Onward to... another terminal?!?

Yes, its true. This afternoon I got dispatched deadhead from Joplin to our terminal in West Memphis, AR. After a six hour drive I arrive to find exactly one load waiting; so much for choice at terminals. Tomorrow I depart for someplace in Ohio. Needs to be there by 11 AM the following day, which is doable for the 630 or so miles the load entails.

The drive to West Memphis had a couple interesting qualities. First, there was a six-car smashup just inside Arkansas on I-540 which I rolled up on minutes after it happened. All four wheelers this time. Second, there was a time tonight when I was making a gentle left turn when I glanced out my driver side mirror to see a string of about a dozen trucks following me, almost evenly spaced. It looked like a galaxy of lights in a way.

Dropped then be-bopped

Dropped the load early (given my revised ETA) in Iola, KS then got deadheaded to Joplin for work... work on my truck as it turns out. There was a recall for my model's fan shroud and the Kenworth guys took it into a bay and had their way with it for several hours. I also got my AC topped off (they have a cool little R2D2 looking thing that handles that -- I thought they would insert some freon and kick me out the door).

Got on the board this morning as #21 here, but local dispatch says it is s-s-slow here, so don't hold my breath to get out today. Hopefully once I clear the terminal I'll get some better runs than what I've been doing lately.

Although, I do have to say... between that run to Iola and the subsequent deadhead I am, again, at 5,500 miles for this last pay period. It is eerie how often my miles fall between 5,500 and 5,599.