Big Toy Chrome Competition!

I stopped for a quick lunch break and to my surprise, there was a truck competition going on at that truck stop and let me tell you.........they shined!

Milking my 14.......

We are sitting in San Antonio, FL, enjoying a long break and walk in the country side.  This load is due only 11 hours away, tomorrow at 4:30 PM.  So we will only drive five hours today and taking long breaks to stretch at that 14 hour window and do neary the same tomorrow until we reach our drop.

On a side note, cross your fingers, I might be getting an offer for a local driving position back home!

Good morning from Jacksonville, FL

And.......here we sit! 

This is becoming a real problem as each paycheck is becoming smaller and smaller.  My paycheck today was just a tad bit more than my average paycheck with Werner....which means I am driving VERY little as I am getting paid nearly DOUBLE!

I dropped my load on time yesterday but the receiver did not have an empty for me which suited me fine as I had an old friend waiting at the nearest truck stop to spend time with me.  He saved me a bobtail spot and off we went for fresh seafood and to get caught up.

I was up at 5:30 AM as I was shown to be available at 6 AM.  At 7 AM I told dispatch that the receiver only had a few empties so I was instructed to go get one.  And you ALL know what I did.......I was only five miles away but since I was instructed to work....I logged on DRIVE! 

When I got there, there was only 2 trailers left, one of which had a broken door.  I loaded up the good trailer, left the receiver, parked on a nice quiet stretch of road and notified dispatch of the trailer that needed repaired.  Guess what.......my dispatcher told me to load up the damaged trailer and get it fixed!  Oh hell no!
I told him I was already loaded with an assigned trailer and off the lot!

It is now 11:30 and we just got a load......let me look!

Dead head: 230 miles
Loaded:  664 miles

Going to Bradenton, FL to Robert, LA......yeehaw!

Let's go!

Someone needs to shoot that shipper!

Dang nab it!  I arrived at 2 PM yesterday for that late load and let me tell you, it was late!  I wasn't loaded until midnight!  First and foremost, I arrived at 2 PM, I was docked at 7 PM, I was denied the load at 8 PM because it wouldn't fit in the reefer two pallets high (hit the dang roof).   I parked across the street for the night, was called by dispatch at 9 PM on why I wasn't loaded (my first wake up call), was waken by a knock on the door by the shipper at 10 PM (wanted my dispatcher's phone number), and was called by dispatch at 11 PM to return to shipper for a half load!  I backed to the dock and was again sleep deprived  at midnight as I was loaded. 

I parked for the night at 12:30 AM and was up at 5:45 AM to hit the road.........hey, at least it wasn't an all nighter!

I am currently parked just south of Nashville, very tired with only 4 hours of sound sleep and ready to sleep for ten.  We will leave at 6 AM and drop at 6 PM in Florida. 

See you all in the morning............

Oh....I might have a chance for a local job, but won't discuss more until I know for sure.

It is going to be a late night!

We will be leaving shortly for our pick up at 2:30.  We have 1000 miles to cover in two days in order to reach Florida.  Due to the late start (my (clock will start at 1 PM as we are an hour away from the receiver), we have to drive at least 10 hours...so depending on how quickly I am loaded and my breaks, we might park as early as 1 AM but have to stop at 3AM.

Wake up time will be between 11 and 1 PM tomorrow which means we will be dropping this trailer between 10 PM and midnight if I run it hard and you all know I will do as I got to get back to my early schedule.  I will not last long in this profession if they push me to work later and later......been driving this way for over a year and it has been my only saving grace........nights would be the death of me and this career.

Load up!

Good morming from a much warmer Hampshire...

Since my steak dinner was burnt last night and I didn't have to pay for it, we are having a hot breakfast of eggs, hashbrowns, and a dabble of sausage gravy.  I will be calling the client in 1 hour to see when I can pick up my load so until then, pictures!

Sunrise yesterday morning.......

Dumping sweet potatoes.....

These chickens don't need no stinking hen house

Care to play Chicken Russian Roulette and run under them?

Good afternoon from Hampshire, IL

We dropped our trailer at the processing plant for future fries/chips and picked up a very dirty empty trailer.  They do lift the trailers in the air to dump the load and I will have to share that picture another time as this Internet connection bites.  We arrived at 8 AM and was assigned a load at 9:30 AM to Florida!

Good news, I have never delivered there as a solo driver.  Bad news, the dang nab it driving hours!  We are to pick up our next load at 2:30 PM tomorrow, just an hour from where I am sitting.  Then we will drive 1000 miles to Jacksonville, FL, with the load due at 7 AM on the 25th.  It stated in the notes that to drop/hook before 7 AM.  Now if I can get the shipper to let me pick up a few hours early, I can be parked at midnight tomorrow.  If I can drop early, I can do so between 9 & 10 PM on the 24th.  I will try my best to make sure I get back to my day hours and not drive all nighters!

I will let you know in the morning what our schedule is after I talk to the clients.

Since we stopped early, we walked early, I cleaned the truck, I washed laundry and have a fresh bed to sleep in.  Hopefully I will be able to "skype" with dear ones this evening but we will see how our web connection is later today.  For now, I will hit the restaurant for a hot dinner that I did not prepare!