Life Day 21363: Poderously Plodding Towards Palmyra, PA
YEA!!! At log last, a decent load. The Planner just offered, and I accepted, a load which picks up in Abuquerque, NM and delivers in Palmyra, PA (0 miles empty and 1820 miles loaded). I was beginnng to wonder if I was ever going to get out of this rut.
Just to bring the journal up to date, on the 5th, I drove from the Flying J to the Shipper at 0930. I was 'live' loaded and departed at 1115. Todays route took me over some unfamiliar territory. UT-9 east to UT-59 east to AZ-359 east to US-89A south to US-89 south to I-40. I don't travel these roads very often, as a matter of fact, only a couple of times before. The scenery is typical high-desert, with some forrested areas on US-89A. It's a pleasant drive. I arrived in Flagstaff, AZ at 1600. After a long break, I drove to Jamestown, NM. Jamestown is about 20 miles east of Gallup. It used to be Navajo owned and operated, but about 3 years ago, it was bought out by the Pilot chain of truckstops. Natually, things went downhill from there. It is still a fairly good place to stop, mainly because they converted the restaurant to Grandma Max's (part of the old Bosselman's chain before Pilot bought into them). Bosselman's did out sell to Pilot, but contracted with them to furnish their fuel and to re-model their existing locations. As a general rule, Pilot offers only 'fast food' fare and when they buy out an existing truckstop (or small chain of truckstops) they immediatey tear out any existing restaurants, no matter how popular or how good, and re-model to accomodate a 'fast food' franchise (or 2). I was glad to see that in this instance they deviated from their norm. Maybe, they are finlly "getting a clue". I digress. After trying unsuccessfully to get a WiFi connection I left there, and drove the 26 miles to Prewitt. There is absolutely nothing at Prewitt except for a Power Plant and the Paper Mill where I was to deliver. I stopped at the junction of CR-19 and the frontage road. I called the Customer and asked if I could deliver early. They said that they were pretty much holding to the scheduled appointment times, so I settled in there for the wait. My scheduled appointment time is not until 1145 AM tomorrow.
On the 6th, I drove to the Consignee at 1130, only to find a line with about 10 trucks ahead of me. So much for "scheduled appointent times". To make a long story short, I did not get out of there until after 1700. Oh well, at least I made a few $$$$ in 'detention time' pay. Still with no PrePlan, I conferred with my DM and we decided that the best option for me was to drive to Albquerque. I did so, arriving at 1845. I immdiately fueled, then dropped my 14' high empty trailer and picked up an empty 13' 6" high trailer. I finally realized that part the reason for my lack of 'decent' loads was that I have had a 14' albatross connected to my 5th wheel since I picked up that load in Madera, CA. There are only about 15 states in which 14' trailers are legal. Anyway, after doing that, I drove to the Flying J and settled in for the night.
Just to bring the journal up to date, on the 5th, I drove from the Flying J to the Shipper at 0930. I was 'live' loaded and departed at 1115. Todays route took me over some unfamiliar territory. UT-9 east to UT-59 east to AZ-359 east to US-89A south to US-89 south to I-40. I don't travel these roads very often, as a matter of fact, only a couple of times before. The scenery is typical high-desert, with some forrested areas on US-89A. It's a pleasant drive. I arrived in Flagstaff, AZ at 1600. After a long break, I drove to Jamestown, NM. Jamestown is about 20 miles east of Gallup. It used to be Navajo owned and operated, but about 3 years ago, it was bought out by the Pilot chain of truckstops. Natually, things went downhill from there. It is still a fairly good place to stop, mainly because they converted the restaurant to Grandma Max's (part of the old Bosselman's chain before Pilot bought into them). Bosselman's did out sell to Pilot, but contracted with them to furnish their fuel and to re-model their existing locations. As a general rule, Pilot offers only 'fast food' fare and when they buy out an existing truckstop (or small chain of truckstops) they immediatey tear out any existing restaurants, no matter how popular or how good, and re-model to accomodate a 'fast food' franchise (or 2). I was glad to see that in this instance they deviated from their norm. Maybe, they are finlly "getting a clue". I digress. After trying unsuccessfully to get a WiFi connection I left there, and drove the 26 miles to Prewitt. There is absolutely nothing at Prewitt except for a Power Plant and the Paper Mill where I was to deliver. I stopped at the junction of CR-19 and the frontage road. I called the Customer and asked if I could deliver early. They said that they were pretty much holding to the scheduled appointment times, so I settled in there for the wait. My scheduled appointment time is not until 1145 AM tomorrow.
On the 6th, I drove to the Consignee at 1130, only to find a line with about 10 trucks ahead of me. So much for "scheduled appointent times". To make a long story short, I did not get out of there until after 1700. Oh well, at least I made a few $$$$ in 'detention time' pay. Still with no PrePlan, I conferred with my DM and we decided that the best option for me was to drive to Albquerque. I did so, arriving at 1845. I immdiately fueled, then dropped my 14' high empty trailer and picked up an empty 13' 6" high trailer. I finally realized that part the reason for my lack of 'decent' loads was that I have had a 14' albatross connected to my 5th wheel since I picked up that load in Madera, CA. There are only about 15 states in which 14' trailers are legal. Anyway, after doing that, I drove to the Flying J and settled in for the night.
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