All Night Long!

I started this work period at 10:30 last night, or as a trucker would say, at 2230.  Everything is done in military time on this job.  That saves confusion on whether your appointments are in the morning or in the evening - almost every rookie makes that mistake during his first three months out here.  I drove all night and made my way over into the parking lot of the Petro truck stop in Scranton, Pennsylvania at approximately 9:30 this morning.  I was really getting sleepy when I got here, so I went right to bed once I had set my brakes.

I want you to notice how I have made my arrival times to each of these first two destinations in this trip plan take place progressively earlier each day as I advance toward my final destination.  There is good solid reasoning behind that.  Yesterday I arrived at Greeneville, Tennessee at about thirty minutes after noon.  Today I arrived at Scranton, Pennsylvania at about 9:30 this morning.  At this point in this trip our next leg of the journey will involve getting unloaded at our first stop.  I will need to be operating during the day time, or normal business hours now, so that I can get unloaded.  I've got to flip-flop my schedule now so that I can be on the day shift.

I've still got about four hours of driving time to get to my customer in Queensbury, New York.  So, instead of leaving at night like I've done on the last two legs of this trip, I will leave around four in the morning which should put me on the customer's property close to 0800, or eight a.m. Furthermore, if you remember, I am trying to also get myself over to Southington, Connecticut after unloading at my first stop.  I can park on the property at Yarde Metals and spend the night there which sets me up perfectly for the four a.m. delivery appointment I have with them.  By progressively advancing my arrival times it allows me to get a really good rest in here tonight before I start the next part of this trip which will involve getting material unloaded at each of my stops.

I drove roughly six hundred miles last night, and I could have put in another 50 miles or so and stayed at a Flying J just north of here, but I am kind of partial to this truck stop when in the area.  Some are nicer than others. This Petro kind of reminds me of White's Petro in Virginia on I-81 at exit 205. White's has been there for years, and the only way I know how to describe it is that it is almost "Mall" like.  It has all kinds of little shops in it, a movie theater, and several different restaurant choices.  Ha, it even has a "dog wash" where if you happen to travel the interstates with your favorite canine companion you can get them a bath while you are there!

Take a look at some of the nice features available to a truck driver at this particular Petro - these are shots of the one here in Scranton...

They've got their signature restaurant, The Iron Skillet...

And there is a Metro Deli...  I'll take a Reuben on Marbled Rye please...

There is an arcade, which of course doesn't really interest me, but check out those massage chairs, now some days those might come in handy, and if you are really hard up with back pain, there is even a chiropractor's office in here that does D.O.T. physicals if you need to take care of that while you are here...

Of course there is the convenience store...

Some very nice clean laundry facilities...

And of course the drivers lounge where you can relax and watch some Television if you are so inclined, or you can pass through the door in the background of this photo and you will be inside the movie theater where full length feature films are shown.

There is also a Smith & Soloman truck driving school located in the building on the second floor.  They practice maneuvers out in the parking lot, so be careful where you park  ;-)

It really is a pretty nice place, and it is always clean.  Plus you are in the mountains here, so if you enjoy walking around in the parking lot like I do for some exercise, you can also enjoy the views of the countryside around you...

I'll take a nice lengthy break here and be rearing to go early tomorrow morning.  It is probably going to snow tonight, or at least have some freezing rain.  Here it is December, and I have yet to see my first snow this year.  They've been getting hammered pretty good out in the West, but here in the Northeast, Old Man Winter has drug his feet on making his grand entrance.  We'll just have to see what the next few days brings.

I really should add something in here to this discussion about my planning for this trip.  Part of the reason for going ahead and getting over there to Yarde Metals the night before is that I can actually get my goods delivered there without ever really starting my electronic logs.  On this dedicated account I often times have a really good idea where my next back haul load will come from to take me back down to Louisiana for my next load.  Nine times out of ten when I am up in this area they will send me to Cressona, Pennsylvania to pick up a load out of the SAPA plant there to take me back down south.  By being at Yarde Metals in advance, so that I don't burn up my hours on my clock that morning, I can get the other stops unloaded in Connecticut and probably have enough time to get myself down to Cressona all on the same day.  That makes me available to pick up a load in Cressona on Thursday, instead of limiting the planners to find me a load for Friday.  That only increases my odds have having a nicer load available to me.  There is actually a lot more to being a successful truck driver than just being able to hold that steering wheel and keep it between the ditches!