I've actually had the day off today because I got my load of steel slinky coils within about 75 miles of their destination yesterday and they aren't due until Monday so I got to take a break today. So I have the extra time to make another blog post today. This brings up something that I'm not going to go into a lengthy discussion about with you because it is boring and very confusing, but that is the subject of legal driving hours for truck drivers. When you take a 34 hour break, which is what I'm doing now, it resets your hours giving you another set of 70 legal working hours. In short it's easier to get your job done in an efficient manner when you get that fresh set of hours started because your not so limited on how much you can drive each day. Legally you can drive 11 hours as long as you get it done within a 14 hour period. Okay, I've got to stop myself here or I am going to get into a lengthy discussion even though I said I wouldn't. Suffice it to say that when you get a bunch of government regulators together and ask them to come up with a feasible plan to regulate trucker's hours so that they can be safe and well rested, you could probably get an easier to understand plan if you just hired ten drunk monkeys to do the same job.
Oh, that paragraph raises yet another question, "what in the world are steel slinky coils?" Well, if I could ever figure out how to get a photo from my phone on to this blog I'd show you, but that will have to be another day. Slinky coils are several thousand feet of continual steel rod rolled up into a coil that is about 6' long and 4' tall. I've got 9 of them on my trailer (about 45,000 lbs. of them). They are going to Salt Lake City Utah. I'm in Evanston, Wyoming tonight and when the sun comes up in the morning I'll be slipping these things across the state line and delivering them in Salt Lake.
I had an enjoyable Sunday today just taking it easy and resting. I ate a couple of good meals at local restaurants while I was taking this break. I get a little tired of living on Slim Jims and pop tarts! I'm joking, I actually eat pretty good on the road, I've got a crock pot in my truck and I'm learning to be creative with that thing. I made some pretty good Jambalaya this past week, and it smells so good while your cruising down the highway and your supper is gently simmering away in that little pot.
Here in Evanston I can see some snow capped mountains to the south and west of me (part of the Rockies). I traveled through some beautiful areas of Colorado and Wyoming yesterday, while running some complicated calculations in my head trying to figure how much weight I would burn off as I burned up my fuel before I got to the weigh station in Cheyenne Wyoming. Did you know a truck driver has to do a lot of math work? Yes, after I got loaded in Pueblo Colorado I was about 600 pounds over the legal limit on my drive axles, but according to my calculations I would burn off enough fuel by the time I got to the weigh station to be legal. It worked, and I simply filled my tanks after I got past the weigh station. Diesel is eight pounds a gallon, I'm getting about 6 miles to the gallon and about 75% of my fuel weight goes to my drive axles with the other 25% going to the steer axle. Well, it's really not all that complicated, but it does make life interesting with all the stuff you have to figure out as you're out here getting the job done.
If it seems like this post has no common thread running through it to hold it all together you are absolutely right. I'm just rambling because I have the time to ramble. Did you know that many truck stops hold church services on Sundays? That's right, and some of them even have a special room set aside for prayer and meditation. There are even some of the larger ones that have a chaplain on staff during the day. Some of them have a make-shift chapel in an empty 18 wheeler trailer with air conditioning, pews, and a pulpit. There are people that conduct these services much like the people who volunteer to do services at jails and prisons.
Being from East Texas I often see deer on the side of the road, but yesterday I saw a small herd of antelope prancing around in a wide open field. They almost looked like they were choreographed because they seemed to be in rhythm with each other and were keeping a steady beat as they moved across the open prairie. That reminds me, I saw a black bear in Wisconsin a few days ago. Sadly the bear was dead on the side of the road from being struck by a vehicle. I also saw a beautiful buck deer in Iowa. He was proudly standing by the road with his head held high showing off his beautiful velvet covered head gear. He struck such a pose that you'd think he was a vain creature enjoying the fact that people were admiringly gawking at him as they drove by.
Well, I think I've squandered enough of your time on this ridiculously incoherent post. Goodbye for now!
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