STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

OCTOBER

October 31, 2004 on 7:07 pm | In On The Road | No Comments

10/1/4(Friday):
Departed Davenport, IA at 4:30 AM. The route was I-80 east to I-55 north to Bolingbrook, IL. Arrived at the consignee at 7:30 AM and delivered the load. I then went to a truckstop to wait for a pre-plan. Approximately an hour later, I recieved a plan that, at the time, made no sense to me at all. I was to basically drop my empty trailer at the Rail Road Yard in Harvey, IL. They did not send a back-up plan or let me know what they had in mind. I called my new DM (Hollie) and asked her if she knew what they were doing. I told her that there was No Way that I was going to give up my empty trailer on Friday morning, in the greater Chicago area, without a back-up plan (preferrably with some good miles). About 20 minutes later, my Qual Com went off like a “burgler alarm”. I got 8 messages “back to back”. I began reading the messages. The 1st message dispatched me on the Harvey, IL Rail load (30 miles empty and 1 mile loaded). The route was I-55 south to I-80 east to Harvey, IL. The 2nd message was from my DM with an explanation of the reason for dropping my empty. (Swift has a contract to provide 15 empty trailers per day to the yard before Noon every day and they were still 5 trailers short. If they fail to provide the trailers, the Rail yard bills Swift $250.oo per trailer). The 3rd message was $25.00 “Extra Pay” for doing the local trailer drop. The 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th messages were all pre-plans for a variety of different loads. The 8th message was from the Planners saying to accept the plan I liked best. I selected a load that picked up at our Terminal in Mantino, IL and delivered in Sumner, WA. This load did not deliver in Sumner until the 7th, so I called my DM and made arrangements to T-Call it in Billings, MT on Sunday (the 3rd). I get 1200 miles on the load, and there is still over 800 miles left on it for the next driver. With a clearer perspective on the “Big Picture”, I arrived at the Rail Yard in Harvey, IL at about 1:30 PM. I dropped my empty trailer, then got lost trying to find the exit. That place is like a Rat Maze. After about 1/2 hour, I escaped form the maze and proceeded to Mantino, IL. I arrived at our Terminal at 3:00 PM. I fueled and picked up the Sumner, WA load (41 miles empty from Harvey and 1249 miles loaded to the “T-Call” location in Billings, MT). The route was I-57 north to I-80 west to Atkinson, IL where I had to stop for the night because of the 14-hour Rule. I arrived there at 6:30 PM.
10/2/4 (Saturday):
Departed Atkinson, IL at 7:00 AM. The route was I-80 west to I-380 west to US-318 north to US-18 west to I-35 north to I-90 west. The day was un-eventful and I stopped for the night in Murdo, SD at 8:15 PM.
10/3/4 (Sunday):
Murdo’s only “claim to fame” is a Car Museum. I took a tour through there this morning. The place is full of a plethera of memorabilia along with the numerous antique cars (to include a Tucker, the last of 17 “General Lee’s originally made for “the Dukes of Hazard”, and Elvis’ motorcycle). I left Murdo at 11:30 AM. The route for today was I-90 west to US-212 west to I-90 west to Billings, MT. Other than touring the Museum this AM, there was no excitement. I arrived in Billings at 11:45 PM, dropped the load at the “drop yard”, and went to bed.
10/4/4 (Monday):
The Planners for this region gave me a load from Billings, MT to Green Bay, WI (0 miles empty and 1094 miles loaded). The route was I-90 east to I-94 east. Departed Billings at Noon. Nothing out of the ordinary happened and I stopped for the night at Fargo, ND. The scenery through eastern Montana and western South Dakota is awesome.
10/5/4 (Tuesday):
I left Fargo at 9:45 AM. The route for today was I-94 east to US-12 east to WI-124 north to WI-29 east to US-41 south. I arrived in Green Bay at 7:30 PM. I spent the night in the consignee’s parking lot (very convienient).
10/6/4 (Wednesday):
Delivered the load from Billings on time at 9:30 AM. The Planners gave me a load from Green Bay, WI to Jackson, MO (0 miles empty and 552 miles loaded). The route was US-41 north to WI-152 east to US-43 north. After picking up the load the route was US-43 south to I-39 south to I-55 south. While I was hooking up to my trailer, I noticed a gaggle of geese flying over and landing in a pond neat the shipper. Of course, just as soon as I got my camera out, they had all landed and were just sitting there by the pond. I waited about 1/2 an hour for some of them to take flight, but to no avail. They were determined to deny me any National Geographic type “Kodak moments”. I had to settle for a few shots of sittting and standing geese taken through a chain-link security fence. I departed Green Bay at 10:00 AM and arrived in Jackson, MO at 10:00 PM and dropped the load (just squeezed it in under the 14-hour rule). I was out of hours, so I went to bed at a little local truckstop about 3 miles from the consignee.
10/7/4 (Thursday):
I’m running into some difficulty with my “hours of service”. I have 11 hours available for today, but I have “0″ hours available for tommorrow (the 70 hours in 8 days rule). Therefore, i’m limited in what I can do for the next couple of days. The Planners gave me a load from Marion, IL to Indianapolis, IN (68 miles empty and 240 miles loaded). The route was I-55 south to US-61 south to MO-74 east to IL-146 east to I-57 north to Marion. I left Jackson at 12:30 PM and arrived in Marion at 2:00 PM. I hooked up to my load and left Marion at 2:45 PM. The route was I-57 north to I-70 east. I arrived in Indianapolis at 8:30 PM. I immediately dropped my trailer. The Planners gave me a load from Brownsburg, IL to Las Vegas NV, but I had to turn it down because I didn’t have enough hours to deliver it legally on time. I would have been about 2 hours short. BUMMER. With only 4 hours left to drive today and no hours available tomorrow i’m now extremely limited in what I can do. I told the night shift DM at my home Terminal to set my PTA (projected time available for duty) for tomorrow AM. I’ll work something out in the AM.
10/8/4 (Friday):
There are 2 options for me today. Option 1 is to try to find a load that fits with my available hours (4 hours today, 9 hours tomorrow, 11 hours on Sunday and then 8 hours on Monday). Option 2 is to take the day off (at 6:30 tomorrow AM, I will have accumulated 34 consecutive hours off and can then restart my 8 day cycle with a “fresh” 70 hours available). I called my DM and told her that I was leaning towards Option 2. She agreed and said that she would message the planner for this area and let him know what’s up with me. I now have a Pre-plan that will work for me. It picks up here in Indianapolis tomorrow AM and delivers in Pueblo, CO anytime before 8:00 PM on Monday. Nothing to do now but wait (I can feel the hours accumulating).
10/9/4 (Saturday):
I now have 70 hours available for the next 8 days. I picked up the load from Indianapolis, IN to Pueblo, CO (0 miles empty and 1078 miles loaded) The route for today was I-70 west. I stopped for the night in Grain Valley, MO. I can fuel here in the AM for about 15 cents per gallon less than at our Terminal in Edwardsville, KS just 40 miles away. Nothing untoward or unusual happened.
10/10/4 (Sunday):
The route for today will be I-70 west to US-40 west to Oakley, KS. From there, I took US-40 west to US-287 South to CO-96 west to US-50 west into Pueblo. I had never taken this route before. US-40 and CO-96 were both narrow two lane roads with little or no paved shoulder, but they were OK for daytime running. Too bad I was running them mostly at night. I wouldn’t want to run either of them in inclement weather day or night. Anyway, I delivered the load upon arrival in Pueblo at about 11:15 PM. Otherwise, the day was uneventful.
10/11/4 (Monday):
It’s now noon, and still no load. I’ve been available for duty since 9:30 this AM. My DM says that freight is slow here and that they are doing their best to get me out of here. I hope that they give me something with some miles in it because if they try to have me run all night after waiting all day for a load, they will be dis-appointed. At 6:00PM, they FINALLY gave me a load from Pueblo, CO to Woodland, CA (0 miles empty and 1186 miles loaded) The route for today was I-25 north to I-80 west. The load delivers any time before the 14th at 8:00 AM, so I do have some time on this load. Consequently, I made this a short day. I drove to Laramie, WY and go to bed. That’s only about 250 miles, but I got a late start.
10/12/4 (Tuesday):
Departed Laramie, WY at 11:00 AM. The route for today was I-80 west. I drove to Battle Mountain, NV (675 miles) and went to bed about 11:30 PM. It was a long day, 11 hours, but i’m within “striking distance” of Woodland. I’m about 6.5 hours away, so i’ll get rid of this load tomorrow. The day was uneventful.
10/13/4 (Wednesday):
Departed Battle Mountain, NV at 10:30 AM. The route for today was I-80 west to I-5 north. I stopped for fuel at our terminal in Sparks, NV (Reno) for fuel and food. Fuel there was 5 cents cheaper than in California so I “topped off”. Usually, fuel is more expensive here, but not this time. I left Sparks at 4:00 PM. I arrived in Woodland at 7:15 PM and delivered the load. The Planners gave me a load that picks up in Brisbane, Ca tomorrow before 11:00 AM and Delivers in Las Vegas on the 15th before 11:00 AM. Since there is no place to safely park in the Brisbane area, I drove to Sacremento, CA and went to bed.
10/14/4 (Thursday):
I love it when a plan comes together. Timing is the Key. I left Sacremento. Ca at 10:00 AM and arrived in Brisbane, CA just after Noon. I encountered none of the Bay Area “rush-hour” traffic. (Why is it called rush-hour if no one is moving). The route was I-80 west to US-101 south. I picked up the load (91 miles empty and 567 miles loaded) and departed Brisbane at 12:45 PM. The route for the rest of the day was US-101 south to CA-92 east to I-880 north to Ca-238 east to I-580 east to I-5 south to CA-58 east to I-15 north. I stopped for a rest break in Bakersfield, CA (where I mis-spent my youth). I arrived there at 6:15 PM. There I had dinner at my favorite Chinese restaurant Bill Lee’s Bamboo Chopsticks. After dinner, I left Bakersfield and drove to Baker, CA where I stopped for the night. I arrived there at 10:30 PM.
10/15/4 (Friday):
Departed Baker, CA at 9:30 AM. The route for toady was I-15 north to Las Vegas, NV. I arrived at 11:30 AM and delivered the load. I will be taking time off until Monday. Nothing eventful happened on this leg of the trip.
10/19/4 (Tuesday):
Weekend’s over time to go to work again. Got a load from Henderson, NV to Salt Lake City, UT (12 miles empty and 424 miles loaded). The route was I-215 north to US-95 south to Henderson, then US-95 north to I-15 north to Salt Lake City. I departed Henderson at 11:00 AM. It began to rain just as I entered Utah. It rained all the way to Salt Lake. Gurgle, Gurgle, Gurgle!!! I arrived at 9:00 PM.
10/20/4 (Wednesday):
Delivered the load from Henderson. Got a load from Copperton, UT to Douglas, AZ (20 miles empty, 878 miles loaded). The route for today was UT-154 south to UT-48 west to Copperton, then UT-48 east to UT-154 south to I-15 south to Mesquite, NV. I arrived in Copperton at 10:00 AM and departed at Noon. I arrived in Mesquite at 6:15 PM. I checked my mail and found that I had a package so I decided to stop here for the night. The mail drop that I use closes at 6:00 PM. It rained all day again… This is getting old fast.
10/21/4 (Thursday):
STILL RAINING. It’s getting ridiculous. The doggies are terminally wet so it’s getting really close in the cab. I picked up my package at last. I departed Mesquite at 10:00 AM. The route for today was I-15 south to US-95 south to NV-163 east to NV–68 east to I-40 east to US-93 south to US-60 south to Loop 303 south to I-10 east to AZ-80 south to Douglas, AZ. I stopped in Phoenix at our terminal to fuel. As I was fueling, the rain FINALLY stopped and a perfect “double rainbow” appeared. Alas, by the time I was finished fueling, the sun was setting and the rainbows had vanished. Drat, another Kodak moment thwarted. I departed Phoenix and continued to Douglas. I arrived at 10:00 PM and went to bed in a Wally World parking lot about a block from the consignee.
10/22/4 (Friday):
Delivered the load from Copperton. Got a load from Tucson, AZ to Willard, OH (122 miles empty, 1884 miles loaded). The route was AZ-80 north to I-10 west to Tucson. Dropped my empty trailer and picked up my load. I departed Tucson at noon. The route for the rest of the day was I-10 east to Las Cruses, NM. I stopped for a break there. I then took NM-70 east to US-54 north to I-40 east. I stopped in Tucumcari, NM for the night. I drove 653 miles today.
10/23/4 (Saturday): Departed Tucumcari at 10:00 AM. The route was I-10 east to Oklahoma City, OK. There , I stopped for a break and some fuel. I found diesel there for $1.99 per gallon at a Love’s truckstop. That price was 5 cents cheaper than our Oklahoma City Terminal. Needless to say I bought fuel there. Also, needless to say, there was quite a waiting line. It took 45 minutes just to get to the pumps, but it was still worth the wait. I haven’t seen fuel under $2.00 per gallon in 2 months. Anyway I left OKC at 6:00 PM. The route was I-40 east to I-44 east. I stopped in Joplin, MO for a break. At 9:30 PM I left Joplin to finish my driving day. I stopped for the night in Waynesville, MO. I drove 700 miles today.
10/24/4 (Sunday): I departed Waynesville at 10:00 AM. The route was I-44 east to I-70 east. I stopped in East Saint Louis, IL for 2 purposes. The first was because I wanted to take a break. The second was because Illinois is one of those “Commie-Pinko-Fag NannyStates” that has a 55 MPH Speed Limit for trucks. Therefore, it is easier to Log if I stop at the 1st opportunity after I cross the State border. No “how many miles at 65 mph, how many miles at 50 mph” crap. I have it all close at hand when I make my Log entries for each stop. Anyway, I digress. I departed East St.Louis at 12:15 PM. I took I-70 east to Brazil, IN where I stopped for the same reasons as outlined above. Indiana is just a “Socialist-Pinko-Fag NannyState” because they magnanimously allow trucks to travel at 60 MPH. WAHOO!! I departed Brazil at 4:30 PM. The route was I-70 east to I-75 north to North Baltimore, OH where I stopped for the night. I arrived at 9:45 PM. (I didn’t bother to stop at the Indiana/Ohio border. Ohio is another 55 MPH state). Due to the lower speed limits in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, I ran out of hours for the day before I could arrive in Willard, OH (my ultimate destination). I drove 589 miles today.
10/25/4 (Monday): Today, i’m in much the same predicament that I was in a couple of weeks ago in Indianapolis. I have 8.25 hours available to work for the next 2 days. Nothing much I can do. After I deliver my load this AM, I’ll only have about 6 hours available for the next 2 days. I left North Baltimore at 8:00 AM and drove to Willard, OH 62 miles away. It took 1.5 hours because it is all 2-lane roads through small towns (there was a detour also). I arrived at 9:30 and immediately got unloaded. While I was being unloaded, I called my DM and told her of my situation. I decided to just go back to North Baltimore and take the next 34 hours off and re-establish my 70 hour work week. I left Willard at 10:00 AM and drove back to North Baltimore. I arrived there at 11:30 AM. The clock is ticking. I’ll be ready to roll again at 5:30 AM Wednesday the 27th. I could roll as early 9:30 Tuesday night, but i’m getting too old to drive all night (assuming they had any freight available that late). I drove 186 miles today.
10/27/4 (Wednesday): I begin the day with a fresh 70-hour clock. The Planners gave me a load with 2 different pick-up points. The first is in Cleveland, OH (or in CB vernacular “the mistake by the Lake). The second is in Mogadore, OH (Akron). It delivers in Pueblo, CO anytime before the 30th at midnight. I left lovely North Baltimore, OH at 5:30 AM. The route to Cleveland was I-75 south to US-224 east to OH-4 north to I-80 east to I-90 east. I arrived in Cleveland at 7:30 AM. I followed the directions to the 1st shipper. It was a huge Industrial Complex. The name of the company was supposed to be Westinghouse Electric. The company name that I arrived at was Vista Foam Products. I asked where Westinghouse Electric was. They had never heard of them. They said that there were a couple of small companies in the complex that manufactured electrical parts and that maybe I should try them. I did, with no results. Perplexed and frustrated, I called my DM and told her what was going on. She said that she would call the Customer Service Representative (CSR) for the account and get me a contact phone number. An hour later I recieved the phone number over my QualComm. As soon as they computer operated phone system said “Vista Foam Products”, in needed no further directions. It was the 1st place I had stopped at upon arrival. The ?>*%#” CSR had put the wrong company name in the dispatch. Armed with the correct company name and pick-up number, I was loaded within minutes. They only had 3 pallets for me. However, because of all the wasted time there, I knew that I was going to be an hour late for my second pick-up. I called them and explained what happened (I should have made the ignorant CSR do it, but I didn’t have the time). They said “no problem, we’re running late too”. I left “the mistake by the Lake at 10:00 AM. The route to Mogadore was I-90 west to I-77 south to I-76 east. I arrived there at 11:00 AM. I checked in with Shipping and immediately got a dock door. I backed in to the dock, disconnected my trailer per their instructions ( it’s a conjested area), and parked in the designated waiting area. I was told to monitor channel 5 on my CB and would be informed when my load was ready. 7.5 hours later (about 15 minutes before my 14 hours would expire) I went to shipping. They said that my load had just finished loading. I told them that I was out of hours for the day and would have to spend the night in their lot somewhere. They didn’t have a problem with that and told me where to park for the night. As I was hooking to my trailer, I remembered that there was a Lunar Eclipse that would soon be starting. I found a good parking spot and watched the ’show’. I took some fairly good photographs of it (ref: Lunar Eclipse on this BLOG). I only drove 186 miles today, but the eclipse photos compensate for the frustration a little. Had my load been ready earlier, I may not have got the photos.
10/28/4 (Thursday): I departed Mogadore at 5:30 AM. The route was I-76 west to I-71 south to I-70 west. I stopped in Richmond, IN for a break. I departed Richmond at 12:30 PM. The route was still I-70 west. I stopped again in East St Louis, IL for another break. I departed there at 6:30 PM. I drove th Foristell, MO (still on I-70 west). There, I stopped for the night. I drove 579 miles today. Nothing noteworthy happened.
10/29/4 (Friday): I left Foristell at 8:00 AM. The route was I-70 west. I stopped in Oak Grove, MO for a break before navigating through Kansas City. I left Oak Grove at 1:30 PM and drove to Salina, KS where I sropped for another break. I left Salina at 6:00 PM and drove to Eads, CO where I stopped for the night. The route was I-70 west to US-40 west to US-287 south. I arrived at 10:00 PM. Another boring day. Everything is flat, flat, flat. I drove 677 miles.
10/30/4 (Saturday): I left thriving Eads, CO at 10:00 AM. The route was CO-96 west to US-50 west to Pueblo. I arrived at 11:45 AM. I dropped this load upon arrival. The Planners gave me a load from Pueblo, CO to Centerville, UT (0 miles empty and 579 miles loaded). I departed Pueblo at 6:30 PM and drove to Commerce City, CO (Denver). The route was US-50 west to I-25 north to the ubiquitous I-70 east. I had dinner there and left at 9:15 PM. The route was I-270 north to I-25 north to CO-14 west to US-287 north to I-80 west to Laramie, WY. There I stopped for the night (that pesky 14 hour rule strikes again). I drove 370 miles today.
10/31/4 Sunday): I left Laramie at noon. The Route was I-80 west. There were rumors of heavy snow fall around Ft. Bridger and points west. I stopped in Rock Springs for a break and to psyche myself up for the impending blizzard. I left Rock Springs at 4:30 PM. The route was I-80 west to I-84 west to I-15 south. I arrived in Centerville, UT at 7:30 PM. No snow or even rain. Lucky me!! I delivered the load at 8:30 PM then drove on to Salt Lake City (I-15 south again to I-215 south). There I stopped for the night. I drove 408 miles.
Comments: This month I had 13 trips (10249 miles loaded and 457 miles empty) for a total of 10706 miles. That’s about average, but about 1300 miles short of what I like to run. Considering that I had 9 days off this month, it’s not bad. All in all, a good month.

A NEW PERSPECTIVE

October 25, 2004 on 12:58 am | In Humor | No Comments

Recently, I was listening to Talk Radio and heard some Government “bean-counter” throwing around numbers as though they were meaningless. A Million Dollars here, a Billion Dollars there, a Trillion Dollars some other place. What the HECK do they all mean??? Here are some illustrations that may help you gain some perspective:

1) If you laid Dollar Bills end to end: 1 bill (any denomination) is 6 1/8 inches long

1 Million would equal 96.7 miles.

1 Billion would equal 96,669.8 miles (or 3.9 times around the Earth).

1 Trillion would equal 96,668,141.1 miles (or 3882 times around the Earth).

2) If you want a time perspective:

1 Million seconds equals 11.82 days.

1 Billion seconds equals 32 years, 4 months, 16 days, 19 hours, and 12 minutes.

1 Trillion seconds equals 32,384years, 5 months, 19 days, 4 hours, and 48 minutes.

3) Speed of Sound (761 miles per hour @ sea-level):

1 Million miles would take 54days, 18 hours.

1 Billion miles would take 150.01 years.

1 Trillion miles would take 150,006 years, 10 months, 28 days, and 12 hours.

4) Speed of Light (186,000 miles per second):

1 Million miles would take 5.38 seconds.

1 Billion miles would take 1 hour, 29 minutes, and 24 seconds.

1 Trillion miles would take 62 days, 5 hours, 31 minutes, and 12 seconds.

5) Weight perspective: (1 bill (any denomination) weighs 1 gram: (454 grams to the pound)

1 Million 1 Dollar bills would weigh: 1 ton and 200 pounds

1 Billion 1 Dollars bills would weigh: 1101 tons and 640 pounds

1 Trillion 1 Dollar Bills would weigh: 1,101,321 tons and 1180 pounds

DOES THIS PUT THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE