Time management is critical to this job. It's crazy how many folks who are out here don't really even understand the rules and regulations that we are governed by. My dispatcher has asked me several times if I would teach a class to the other drivers on our fleet so that they could learn to work their clock the way I do. I'm flattered, but to be honest with you it's third grade math stuff. The hardest part about it all is the discipline it takes to make yourself sleep when you need to, so that you can drive when you have to. I've done this run up into Connecticut so many times that I have it down - my dispatcher says I have it "dialed in." I'm not exactly sure what that means, but he sure is happy about it! It basically takes 24 hours of driving time to get there from Delhi. I drove all night last night (8 hours) to get myself to Rising Fawn, GA where I am now taking a ten hour break before I start driving again.
We are allowed to drive 11 hours per day, but it has to be done within a 14 hour window. Once that 14 hour window has passed you can still work, or be on duty doing things like tarping a load or getting your truck unloaded, etc., but you can no longer drive. I will often times make this jaunt up into the Northeast by running two straight days at ten hours a day of driving, and then finish the trip with four hours of driving. That allows me time to get unloaded (usually a couple of hours) and then get myself back down to Cressona, PA where I will pick up my back haul load. Of course all this is determined by what time of the day you can get away from Delhi, because that will determine what time you arrive in the Northeast. You also have to calculate crossing the time lines in the various parts of the country. Your time of driving is always calculated off of the time zone of your home terminal location for the record keeping, but you have got to make sure you get to your destination based on their time zone.
On this particular run I couldn't leave when I wanted to because I was forced by the rules to take a 34 hour break before I could start driving again. That meant I could not leave until somewhere around nine o'clock at night. If I ran the load like I usually do that would put me there at the wrong time of the day to get unloaded. So, I had to come up with a different way to do it. This time I am running up there by driving eight hours per day for three days with ten hour breaks in between each driving period. That puts me there Tuesday night with just enough time to get my ten hour break in so that I can start working again first thing Wednesday morning. That way I can make all three of my deliveries in Connecticut and hopefully still have enough time to get myself up to Amesbury, Massachusetts for a ten hour break before my Thursday morning delivery there. By doing it that way, I will have enough driving time to get myself back to Cressona, PA for my back haul. We have to think about this stuff sometimes three or four days in advance so that it will all work out efficiently.
That fourteen hour window is not the only restrictive barrier we face. We also have a rule that states we can't drive if we exceed 70 hours of on duty hours during an eight day period. That is what I was up against - I had already worked seventy hours in about six days, so I could not continue driving even though they had a load ready for me to take off with on Saturday. I had to wait out the 34 hour break, which resets that seventy hour clock to zero. In days past, when truck drivers kept a paper log book, they lied all the time about their hours, and it was a constant struggle for the D.O.T. officers to try and decipher the logs and figure out ways to prove the truck driver was cheating the rules. Now everything is kept up with electronically - if that truck is rolling it is being recorded on your "electronic logs." Not that I would want to, but it is no longer a viable option to do "creative writing" of your log records.
Monday, October 12, 2015
Saturday, October 10, 2015
Looking For Some Nice Fall Foliage
I'm back in Delhi, Louisiana tonight getting ready for my next run. I've actually already got it hooked to my truck. I'm heading up to Connecticut. I will have three different stops in Connecticut, and then one final stop up in the far Northeast corner of Massachusetts, in the small town of Amesbury.
I have already worked seventy hours in six days, and the official powers that regulate us truck drivers insist that I am too tired now to work anymore, it's ridiculous, but you don't have much choice but to obey Caesar. So, I am taking a 34 hour break which is the regulators remedy for an over worked truck driver. We used to have to include two time periods between 1 am and 5 am in that thirty four hour break, which really made it restrictive. Fortunately congress challenged the Transportation Department over this and suspended that portion of the new rules until they can present some good solid scientific evidence that would support their assertion that those two time periods will enhance ones rest and recovery from working.
I'm hoping to see some nice Fall colors in the trees when I get up there into the Northeast corner of the country. If I do I will be sure and take a few pictures so that I can share them with all three of you who bother to read this little vignette of a truck drivers wanderings and thoughts.
I have already worked seventy hours in six days, and the official powers that regulate us truck drivers insist that I am too tired now to work anymore, it's ridiculous, but you don't have much choice but to obey Caesar. So, I am taking a 34 hour break which is the regulators remedy for an over worked truck driver. We used to have to include two time periods between 1 am and 5 am in that thirty four hour break, which really made it restrictive. Fortunately congress challenged the Transportation Department over this and suspended that portion of the new rules until they can present some good solid scientific evidence that would support their assertion that those two time periods will enhance ones rest and recovery from working.
I'm hoping to see some nice Fall colors in the trees when I get up there into the Northeast corner of the country. If I do I will be sure and take a few pictures so that I can share them with all three of you who bother to read this little vignette of a truck drivers wanderings and thoughts.
Friday, October 9, 2015
Some Days This Job Stinks!
"Living on the road my friend,
was gonna keep you free and clean.
Now you wear your skin like iron,
and your breath is hard as kerosene."
-Willie Nelson
Those lyrics, if I even have them correct, come from a distant memory I have of a song called "Pancho and Lefty" about two bandits living on the road.
Life on the road is not easy. Many truck drivers that I come across do not take the best care of themselves, and I am learning that it is very easy to gain weight out here if you do not take determined steps to avoid that problem. Some of them don't even bathe regularly. It's frustrating being relegated to public facilities all the time, but you still have to do what you can to keep from being a "stinker!"
Not too long ago I was sitting in a drivers lounge at a truck stop - I wasn't really interested in watching the T.V., but sometimes you just need to get out of and away from that truck for a little while. It was bad weather that day, so I went inside and just sat down a while in there. Pretty soon a very bad odor was almost choking me. I mean it reminded me of trips I have taken to the public garbage dump in my home town. It was pungent, strong, and offensive to my olfactory senses. Turns out it was the truck driver who had sat down on the chair behind me. I had to get up and leave the room. Later in the day I returned and he showed up again a few minutes after I had settled in, with the same disastrous results. I know it is hard to get a shower every day when you are out here doing this job, but anybody can manage to get two or three showers a week if they want to. We get the showers for free because the truck stops issue us credits for the showers based on the fuel purchases we make. So, there is no actual cost to the driver. I have often times given showers to the homeless folks I see begging for money or food at the truck stops. They always appreciate it, and I'm happy to share my credits with them. They need a shower more than they need another bottle of beer, and at least this way I know what they are doing with my meager generosity.
Another foul odor is the public restrooms at the truck stops, I have no idea about the ladies room, but 98% of the men's rooms smell atrociously. My friend Daniel B. says it is because truck drivers have such a poor diet. He told me once that if he has extra shower credits he will sometimes use a shower credit just to go in there to that private room, which gets a good cleaning after each individual use, just so he can relieve himself in there without having to endure the stench of the restroom. I've never gone that far to avoid the foul smell, but it is bad enough at times to make me think about it.
Even the parking lots of most truck stops stink like stale urine... I'll leave that to your own imagination, but trust me it is bad in the heat of the summer.
Just the other day I was working on putting my tarps onto a load of aluminum from Delhi and I kept smelling a bad smell like old stale sweaty body odor, almost locker room like. I was scolding myself inwardly for becoming like so many of the truck drivers that I despise, but after I got through with the job and sat down in my truck with the A/C going I noticed right away that I didn't smell the odor anymore. After a brief investigation it turned out that the leather gloves I was wearing were the culprits. I guess they have soaked up enough sweat in them that they are starting to stink. I discarded them and started out with a new pair, I guess it was time.
You don't even want to hear about what it is like to try to sleep in your truck on a hot summer night when one of those "cattle trucks" parks next to you at the truck stop... that is a stench that is really invasive.
Well, I always look forward to my time at home with my good smelling wife, in our tidy little house. Some days I look forward to it more than others, and maybe this post will give you a little understanding of why I feel that way.
was gonna keep you free and clean.
Now you wear your skin like iron,
and your breath is hard as kerosene."
-Willie Nelson
Those lyrics, if I even have them correct, come from a distant memory I have of a song called "Pancho and Lefty" about two bandits living on the road.
Life on the road is not easy. Many truck drivers that I come across do not take the best care of themselves, and I am learning that it is very easy to gain weight out here if you do not take determined steps to avoid that problem. Some of them don't even bathe regularly. It's frustrating being relegated to public facilities all the time, but you still have to do what you can to keep from being a "stinker!"
Not too long ago I was sitting in a drivers lounge at a truck stop - I wasn't really interested in watching the T.V., but sometimes you just need to get out of and away from that truck for a little while. It was bad weather that day, so I went inside and just sat down a while in there. Pretty soon a very bad odor was almost choking me. I mean it reminded me of trips I have taken to the public garbage dump in my home town. It was pungent, strong, and offensive to my olfactory senses. Turns out it was the truck driver who had sat down on the chair behind me. I had to get up and leave the room. Later in the day I returned and he showed up again a few minutes after I had settled in, with the same disastrous results. I know it is hard to get a shower every day when you are out here doing this job, but anybody can manage to get two or three showers a week if they want to. We get the showers for free because the truck stops issue us credits for the showers based on the fuel purchases we make. So, there is no actual cost to the driver. I have often times given showers to the homeless folks I see begging for money or food at the truck stops. They always appreciate it, and I'm happy to share my credits with them. They need a shower more than they need another bottle of beer, and at least this way I know what they are doing with my meager generosity.
Another foul odor is the public restrooms at the truck stops, I have no idea about the ladies room, but 98% of the men's rooms smell atrociously. My friend Daniel B. says it is because truck drivers have such a poor diet. He told me once that if he has extra shower credits he will sometimes use a shower credit just to go in there to that private room, which gets a good cleaning after each individual use, just so he can relieve himself in there without having to endure the stench of the restroom. I've never gone that far to avoid the foul smell, but it is bad enough at times to make me think about it.
Even the parking lots of most truck stops stink like stale urine... I'll leave that to your own imagination, but trust me it is bad in the heat of the summer.
Just the other day I was working on putting my tarps onto a load of aluminum from Delhi and I kept smelling a bad smell like old stale sweaty body odor, almost locker room like. I was scolding myself inwardly for becoming like so many of the truck drivers that I despise, but after I got through with the job and sat down in my truck with the A/C going I noticed right away that I didn't smell the odor anymore. After a brief investigation it turned out that the leather gloves I was wearing were the culprits. I guess they have soaked up enough sweat in them that they are starting to stink. I discarded them and started out with a new pair, I guess it was time.
You don't even want to hear about what it is like to try to sleep in your truck on a hot summer night when one of those "cattle trucks" parks next to you at the truck stop... that is a stench that is really invasive.
Well, I always look forward to my time at home with my good smelling wife, in our tidy little house. Some days I look forward to it more than others, and maybe this post will give you a little understanding of why I feel that way.
Thursday, October 8, 2015
Gringos, Grackles, Gators, and Geckos
It's pretty amazing how much "stuff" you see when living on the road. I've heard it said it is is like living three lifetimes.
I'm sleeping tonight in Shepherdsville, Kentucky. I'm on my way to Indianapolis. Lately I've had a lot more variety in my loads - I just finished working my way from Florida over to South Texas. and then I was sent right back to Florida. Then I cam from there to Delhi, Louisiana, and from there up to Indianapolis. Then I will dead-head back and find out what is next.
While I was down in San Benito, Texas recently I had to spend the day there because I had driven all through the night to get there on time, which left me having to take a ten hour break there before I could drive anymore. I took a nice walk in town and found a place to eat lunch. I walked in and out of a few little stores down there and was, in general, just killing some time. I also slept some, but as the evening approached and it was getting close to the time I could leave I got out of my truck to take another walk before I started driving, There was an eery Hitchcock like feel to the evening due to hundreds or maybe thousands of Grackles making their discomfiting noises in the tops of the trees. These birds can make some weird noises and when there is a multitude of them all growling, squawking, whistling, and screeching (which are the best ways I know to describe their vocal antics) it is reminiscent of that first scary viewing I had as a child of that classic Hitchcock film, "The Birds."
I'm not sure why there is such an abundance of these feathered fiends in the southern parts of Texas, but I was warily looking at them in the tops of the trees while walking around uneasily expecting at any moment an ornithological bombardment of unusually uncharacteristic proportions.
I had just left Florida, where I saw my old acquaintance the friendly gator at PGT industries in Nokomis, and here I was in South Texas surrounded in a surreal horror film like setting that was almost inescapable, even within the confines of my truck the noise was disturbingly intrusive.
Also while in Florida I was taking a walk in a particularly shady area where I saw hundreds of little Geckos running about in great bursts of speed like little flashes of lightning darting all over the place - it was an amazing sight, but I couldn't get a picture - they were just moving too fast!
I guess by now you are wondering why I put the word "Gringos" in the title of this little post - I put it there to represent the one thing I did not see while in San Benito. I probably saw at least two or three hundred people while I was spending the day there, and except for one fellow in the KFC, where I had my lunch, I was the only Gringo I noticed. I thought I had slipped across the border for a few moments, but I was confused, it was all the other folks who had slipped across the border! I was in Texas, but it sure didn't feel like Texas!
One more crazy thing I saw this week - I was over in South Carolina as I was going back from Texas to Florida and due to the record flooding over there this week I had to take some back roads to get myself down into Savannah, Georgia where I had a stop to make. I was cruising along on some little state highway when I noticed an older, but very large and stately home off in the distance to my right, almost like an old plantation style home. I was looking at it admiringly when in the pastures on the property I start seeing camels! Yes, I saw some camels just meandering around the pastures of this old property. That is just weird, no Gringos in a south Texas town, and camels in a South Carolina pasture. I just don't know what the world is coming to. Perhaps if we get a new president in the upcoming election year he can figure out how to send the illegals back across the border, and the camels back across the oceans.
One last thing - I spotted this sign over the doors of a restaurant just south of Jackson, Mississippi.
Sunday, October 4, 2015
One Misty, Moisty, Morning When...
I'm patiently sitting and waiting in Tallapoosa, GA at the Newborn Truck Stop. I've been here two nights and I planned on leaving this morning, but I am still waiting... waiting on “Joaquin”... the tropical storm which has caused such massive flash flooding in South Carolina. You see, I've got a load of aluminum extrusions, the bulk of it goes to Nokomis, Florida, but I need to stop in Duncan, SC and Savannah, GA to drop off a few pieces to some customers in those towns. It is a “Misty, Moisty, Morning here in Tallapoosa, and it has been that way ever since I got here. The air is so thick with moisture that you can't even take the short walk from your truck to go inside the building of the truck stop without looking like you just walked through a rain shower. The air is that thick with moisture.
Just last week I was in Florida, at Tampa Bay. I picked up some aluminum logs at the Port of Manatee on the bay. I ran those over to a SAPA plant in Gainesville, GA and then made my way back to Delhi, LA where I grabbed a load that went to San Benito, and Corpus Christi, TX. Now I'm sort of backtracking that same route. When I emptied at Corpus I went home for a couple of nights and then when I went back to Delhi they had this load for me going right back to Florida. I'm starting to get a little more variety in my loads, and it is a welcome break from the monotony of constantly just running back and forth to Connecticut. I really do enjoy that Connecticut run, and it is nice that we have such a good customer up that way who is constantly needing us to bring them more product. That customer is extremely picky about the quality of what we produce, and they have proven to be very particular about the drivers who deliver to them also. The people in management at both SAPA and Knight Transportation have both spoken to me and said that the manager up there has requested me to be the driver on several different occasions. I think he just likes the fact that I will communicate with him my progress, and keep him updated on my ETA. It is kind of nice having someone contact my company and tell them how great a job I'm doing, and the folks at SAPA even told me that I had saved their contract with those guys because of the fact that I was always managing to get there on time no matter what the weather was throwing my way. One of them even said that I had set a new standard for that particular run.
We have a lot of new drivers on our fleet now. Truck drivers are always thinking they see some greener grass somewhere and jumping from one job to the other. Did you know that the industry reports an almost 100% turn-over rate in it's employment figures. Most of that comes from job-hopping after more pay and or better benefits. My driver manager keeps telling me that I am the best driver he has, and he treats me really well because of that. I think he has been getting some of the new drivers that are starting to get the hang of things around here to take that run up into Connecticut just to see how they handle it while the weather isn't so bad. I know he would like to have some others that he can count on to do that when it is needed. Our plant usually puts out three or four full truck loads a week that go to that customer alone.
I can't remember if I've shared this before, but there were a couple of drivers who were complaining to our dispatcher (this is the same person I refer to as my Driver Manager) that they weren't getting enough miles, and they had heard some rumors that I was getting over three thousand miles a week. They wanted to know why there was such a disparity between what I was doing and what they were doing. So my dispatcher agreed to let them try and make some more money. When they found that they would have to go to Connecticut they didn't want any part of it! Truck drivers are a funny group of people, some of them get so jealous if they think you are doing well at it, but then when they find out what you do to get to that level of performance they lose all interest in the game. I'm sure when that snow gets up around two and three feet deep I'll be the “go to guy” again for those trips up to the Northeast.
Just last week I was in Florida, at Tampa Bay. I picked up some aluminum logs at the Port of Manatee on the bay. I ran those over to a SAPA plant in Gainesville, GA and then made my way back to Delhi, LA where I grabbed a load that went to San Benito, and Corpus Christi, TX. Now I'm sort of backtracking that same route. When I emptied at Corpus I went home for a couple of nights and then when I went back to Delhi they had this load for me going right back to Florida. I'm starting to get a little more variety in my loads, and it is a welcome break from the monotony of constantly just running back and forth to Connecticut. I really do enjoy that Connecticut run, and it is nice that we have such a good customer up that way who is constantly needing us to bring them more product. That customer is extremely picky about the quality of what we produce, and they have proven to be very particular about the drivers who deliver to them also. The people in management at both SAPA and Knight Transportation have both spoken to me and said that the manager up there has requested me to be the driver on several different occasions. I think he just likes the fact that I will communicate with him my progress, and keep him updated on my ETA. It is kind of nice having someone contact my company and tell them how great a job I'm doing, and the folks at SAPA even told me that I had saved their contract with those guys because of the fact that I was always managing to get there on time no matter what the weather was throwing my way. One of them even said that I had set a new standard for that particular run.
We have a lot of new drivers on our fleet now. Truck drivers are always thinking they see some greener grass somewhere and jumping from one job to the other. Did you know that the industry reports an almost 100% turn-over rate in it's employment figures. Most of that comes from job-hopping after more pay and or better benefits. My driver manager keeps telling me that I am the best driver he has, and he treats me really well because of that. I think he has been getting some of the new drivers that are starting to get the hang of things around here to take that run up into Connecticut just to see how they handle it while the weather isn't so bad. I know he would like to have some others that he can count on to do that when it is needed. Our plant usually puts out three or four full truck loads a week that go to that customer alone.
I can't remember if I've shared this before, but there were a couple of drivers who were complaining to our dispatcher (this is the same person I refer to as my Driver Manager) that they weren't getting enough miles, and they had heard some rumors that I was getting over three thousand miles a week. They wanted to know why there was such a disparity between what I was doing and what they were doing. So my dispatcher agreed to let them try and make some more money. When they found that they would have to go to Connecticut they didn't want any part of it! Truck drivers are a funny group of people, some of them get so jealous if they think you are doing well at it, but then when they find out what you do to get to that level of performance they lose all interest in the game. I'm sure when that snow gets up around two and three feet deep I'll be the “go to guy” again for those trips up to the Northeast.
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Whatcha Having BooBoo?
Okay, so one of the strange things about this lifestyle of being an over the road truck driver is eating in these little diners all across the country. The waitresses all call you "hon," or "sweetie," or some such nonsense... I mean they don't even know you at all, and as best I can tell they are just trying to figure out the best angle to get you to leave a decent tip on the table for them. Am I being too cynical? Now I'm older than most of them, and usually their silly pet names for me only serve to make me feel like I'm some old guy who belongs in a nursing home - that's just me. I know another truck driver who really likes for them to call him those silly little names, he says he thinks they really mean it when they say it, and it makes him feel good. He is older than me, and he has had three failed marriages, maybe he needs such superficial attentions. I can do without them myself, I'm just in for a meal, not any sort of companionship.
Recently I was in a little restaurant in Savannah, Georgia and the title that I gave to this post was the way my waitress greeted me. She then proceeded to call me "BooBoo" for the rest of my very uncomfortable meal. I guess I should just get over it, but it bothers me when people call me these silly names. I'm kind of trying to lose a little weight right now, and am on a makeshift diet of my own creation. Because of that I am eating out a little less. I won't have to put up with as many waitresses that way, so maybe I won't mind it as much when they try to act like I'm their best friend. Truck driving is a crazy way to live, and many of the drivers do seem to be real lonely. I am careful about sitting at the lunch counter because you can bet another driver is going to saddle up next to you and start trying to bend your ear! I guess I am somewhat of a loner, I really just want to go inside the restaurant to relax, be away from the truck for a while and enjoy my solitude and my meal.
It's kind of funny because I really do enjoy hosting friends at my house for a meal at times. I'm not anti-social by any means, but a meal for me is an intimate setting. There is nothing more enjoyable than sitting around a delicious home cooked meal with close friends or family and enjoying each other's company while at the same time enjoying each other's food - it is one of life's simple pleasures. I guess I abhor pretense, and when you come up to a total stranger and start calling them "BooBoo," as if you are very fond of them, then it grates against my sensibilities.
Sorry I haven't bee posting anything lately,,, I got a comment from Sarah recently saying I needed to post something because my "faithful readers" were missing me. Ha Ha! Those words "faithful readers" tickled me - I didn't know if anybody was reading my drivel, and I certainly wouldn't consider anyone a "faithful reader" of this completely unknown diary. I've really been busy moving around, and I've been helping out a little on Trucking Truth. Extra time is something I don't get a lot of, and lately I've just been trying to make sure I am well rested before I start my next driving shift. I will try to get back into the habit of posting something here... for my "faithful readers" of course... all three of them!
I just left out of a port on Tampa Bay Florida with some aluminum logs that went to Gainesville, Georgia. I am now in Delhi, Louisiana picking up a load of extrusions that are going to South Texas. My first stop will be in the border town of San Benito, and the second stop is in the coastal town of Corpus Christi. After that I am going through Nacogdoches for a brief visit at home. Last time I was home I had a nice lengthy stay, and I ordered some new glasses from my eye doctor. This trip I will pick up my new glasses, and maybe I will be able to see what I'm doing now!
Recently I was in a little restaurant in Savannah, Georgia and the title that I gave to this post was the way my waitress greeted me. She then proceeded to call me "BooBoo" for the rest of my very uncomfortable meal. I guess I should just get over it, but it bothers me when people call me these silly names. I'm kind of trying to lose a little weight right now, and am on a makeshift diet of my own creation. Because of that I am eating out a little less. I won't have to put up with as many waitresses that way, so maybe I won't mind it as much when they try to act like I'm their best friend. Truck driving is a crazy way to live, and many of the drivers do seem to be real lonely. I am careful about sitting at the lunch counter because you can bet another driver is going to saddle up next to you and start trying to bend your ear! I guess I am somewhat of a loner, I really just want to go inside the restaurant to relax, be away from the truck for a while and enjoy my solitude and my meal.
It's kind of funny because I really do enjoy hosting friends at my house for a meal at times. I'm not anti-social by any means, but a meal for me is an intimate setting. There is nothing more enjoyable than sitting around a delicious home cooked meal with close friends or family and enjoying each other's company while at the same time enjoying each other's food - it is one of life's simple pleasures. I guess I abhor pretense, and when you come up to a total stranger and start calling them "BooBoo," as if you are very fond of them, then it grates against my sensibilities.
Sorry I haven't bee posting anything lately,,, I got a comment from Sarah recently saying I needed to post something because my "faithful readers" were missing me. Ha Ha! Those words "faithful readers" tickled me - I didn't know if anybody was reading my drivel, and I certainly wouldn't consider anyone a "faithful reader" of this completely unknown diary. I've really been busy moving around, and I've been helping out a little on Trucking Truth. Extra time is something I don't get a lot of, and lately I've just been trying to make sure I am well rested before I start my next driving shift. I will try to get back into the habit of posting something here... for my "faithful readers" of course... all three of them!
I just left out of a port on Tampa Bay Florida with some aluminum logs that went to Gainesville, Georgia. I am now in Delhi, Louisiana picking up a load of extrusions that are going to South Texas. My first stop will be in the border town of San Benito, and the second stop is in the coastal town of Corpus Christi. After that I am going through Nacogdoches for a brief visit at home. Last time I was home I had a nice lengthy stay, and I ordered some new glasses from my eye doctor. This trip I will pick up my new glasses, and maybe I will be able to see what I'm doing now!
Friday, August 14, 2015
An Unexpected Interruption to Our Plans
I have landed myself in a really great position here at this current trucking company. I am considered to be the top producer in this specialized fleet, and because of that I often get to pick and choose which loads I want to take. When Abigail and I heard they had a load leaving out on Friday for Connecticut she was all excitement, so we agreed to take that one. It was supposed to load on Friday. It didn't. Then on Saturday we fully expected to get rolling on our way up to Connecticut. Mid morning we got a call informing us that the load was being cancelled! That's trucking for ya! The only thing you can count on sometimes is that you can't count on anything! We were disappointed because I have got to get her back home by Friday of this week, and now it is going to be tough to do that with me not knowing where I will be going until Monday. Most of the time I have long runs and that is going to make it next to impossible to work the logistics out of getting her back home on time. So... we made the difficult decision to cut our time together short.
My dispatcher said he would share with me on Monday the list of loads that we had and I could write my own ticket to where I wanted to go - You've got to love this account I'm on! But, Abigail and I discussed it and decided we would go ahead and get her home now so that we don't run the risk of being late. I'm sitting in Delhi, Louisiana waiting on my next load, and that puts me about four hours from my home. We called my wife and she came and picked up Abigail so that she could get home. We still had this weekend together though while I was doing a reset. So, what do you do when you are taking a 34 hour break in a small town? Well... you can take your daughter to the local nail salon to get a pedicure...
Oh yeah, there was one other experience we enjoyed together. When I got back down to Delhi my dispatcher wanted me to do him a favor and run a damaged trailer over to Monroe, Louisiana to a repair facility for him. As I studied my available hours it looked like we would have enough time to stop by for one last special treat for Abigail by dining at Willie's Duck Diner in Monroe.
We made a lot of memories while we were together on this trip, it was short, but sweet! I love you Abigail!
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