NOVEMBER
November 30, 2004 on 7:49 pm | In On The Road | No Comments11/1/4 (Monday): The Planners gave me a load from Green River, WY to Buckeye, AZ (162 miles empty and 809 miles loaded). I departed Salt Lake City at 10:00 AM. The route to Green River was I-215 north to I-80 east. I arrived at 12:15 PM. This was just a ‘drop & hook’ load so I left Green River at 1:00 PM. I drove back to Salt Lake City using the reverse order of the above routing. I arrived in Salt Lake at 3:15 PM. I had lunch and left at 4:30 PM. the route out of Salt Lake was I-215 south to I-15 south. I drove to Mesquite, NV where I stopped for a break and to check my mail. I left Mesquite, NV at 10:00 PM and finished my driving day in North Las Vegas, NV (still on I-15 south). I arrived at 11:00 PM. I logged 10.75 hours & drove 684 miles.
11/2/4 (Tuesday): I left North Las Vegas at 2:00 PM. The route to Buckeye was I-15 south to US-95 south to CA-62 east to AZ-72 east to Vicksburg road to I-10 east. I arrived In Buckeye at 7:30 PM. On the way to the consignee, I encountered something wierd. There was a construction detour on the route to the customer. As I made the turn onto the second leg of the detour I saw some warning flares in the road ahead. The road was too narrow to turn around, so I went ahead. As I approached I could see a trailer blocking the intersection with no tractor attached. There was no way around it so there I sat. A few minutes later a Buckeye city police officer arrived on the scene. There was still no tractor there. He asked me if I knew what was going on. I said that I had only been there for a couple of minutes and had no idea what was happening. He called for a wrecker to come and move the trailer. I began directing traffic (what little there was). The trailer had no company name on it so we assumed that it belonged to an independant owner-operator. He ran the license plates while we were awaiting the arrival of the wrecker. About 15 minutes later here comes this Mexican (OOPS: Hispanic American) in a bobtail tractor followed by a small tow-truck like the ones used to tow cars (woefully inadequate for this task at hand). He and the officer began conversing in Spanish so I was lost. In another 5 minutes the wrecker that the officer had called arrived in scene. Then the conversation really got intense. The jist of it is as follows: As the driver was making the turn, his trailer somehow became disconnected from his tractor (if it ever was properly connected). He had just unloaded at Walmart who require you to disconnect from your trailer before unloading. He says that he had made sure that it was connected before he left. Anyway, after it became disconnected, he had left to go get his cousin (the afore mentioned tow-truck driver) to help him move the trailer. They were arguing over who was going to pay the big wrecker. Of course, the policeman won. After the big wrecker had moved the trailer and I could proceed, the officer had him in his car (undoubtedly writing him a hefty ticket for leaving the scene of an accident and probably a few other things). I went to the consignee and unloaded the load. When I went back by there, the drivers’ tractor was still there, but the trailer and the officer were gone. Draw your own conclusions. :>} I drove to our Terminal in Phoenix and went to bed. I logged 6.5 hours for the day and drove 337 miles.
11/3/4 (Wednesday): I only have 4.5 hours available to work today, but I acquire 12 hours at midnight, so here’s the plan. I have a load that picks up here in Phoenix and delivers in Henderson, NV tomorrow AM at 7:00. Go now and pick up the load and drive to Kingman, AZ. Take my 10 hour break there and sometime after midnight, leave there and drive on in to Henderson so as to be there at 7:00 AM. I did so. I arrived in Kingman at 2:00 PM. The route was I-10 west to Loop 303 north to US-60 west to US-93 north to I-40 west. Nothing unusual happened.
11/4/4 (Thursday): Departed Kingman at 12:45 AM. The route to Henderson was I-49 west to US-93 north to AZ-68 west to NV-163 west to US-95 north. I arrived in Henderson at 3:15 AM. I went to bed for a nap until my delivery time @ 7:00 AM. (I really should have slept a little yesterday evening before I left Kingman instead of playing with this computer, but I didn’t. Oh well, there’s plenty of time to nap later if I want). Arose at 7:00 AM and delivered the load. I left Henderson at 9:00 AM and drove to North Las Vegas. Now for some ‘home time’.
11/7/4 (Sunday): Time to go to work again. The Planners gave me a load from Las Vegas, NV to Irwindale, CA (12 miles empty and 251 loaded). I would prefer a load with more miles to start my week, but this was all they had. I left Vegas at noon. I arrived in Irwindale at 6:30 PM. Nothing untoward or unusual happened. I logged 6.25 hours and drove 258 miles.
11/8/4 (Monday): After making my delivery, the Planners offered me a load that originated in Baldwin Park, CA with an additional pick-up in Rancho Cucamonga, CA and then went to Fort Smith, AR (3 miles empty and 1494 miles loaded). Only after I accepted the load, did I find out that it was set up for T-Call in Albuquerque, NM so the Trans Con(transcontinential) drivers could take it the rest of the way. I was looking forward to taking it all the way, but the “powers to be” said NO. After making the 2 pick-ups and getting fuel in our Fontana, CA facility, I departed at 4:00 PM. I drove to Kingman, AZ where I took a late dinner break. I would have stopped here for the night, but there was a good possibility of SNOW and I wanted to get up the hill before it caught up with me. I departed Kingman at 10:00 PM and drove to Flagstaff, AZ. I arrived there at 1215 AM and stopped for the night. As it turned out, the SNOW never got there. I drove a total of 439 miles and logged 10.25 hours.
11/9/4 (Tuesday): I departed Flagstaff at 1030 AM. I arrived in Albuquerque, NM at 3:30 PM where I T-Called the Fort Smith load. The Planners gave me a load that picked up in Albuquerque and T-Called at our Edwardsville, KS Terminal (Kansas City) ASAP (0 miles empty and 776 miles loaded). After picking up the load and fueling, I departed Albuquerque at 5:00 PM. I arrived in Amarillo, TX at 9:15 PM. I stopped here for the night. I logged 10 hours and drove 535 miles. It was an uneventful day.
11/10/4 (Wednesday): I departed Amarillo at 11:30 AM. The route was I-40E. I arrived in Oklahoma City,OK at 3:30 PM. I fueled and grabbed a sandwich-to-go and left at 4:00 PM. The route was I-35N onto Kansas to I-435N to Edwardsville. I arrived in Edwardsville at 9:15 PM and T-Called the load. The Planners offered me a load from Lawrence, KS to Greensboro, NC (28 miles empty and 1023 miles loaded). I left Edwardsville at 9:45 PM and arrived in Lawrence at 10:15 PM. The route was I-435N to I-70W. After hooking up to the load and doing the paperwork, I left Lawrence at 11:00 PM. I drove to Oak Grove, MO. The route was I-70E. I arrived at midnight and went to bed. I logged 11.5 hours and drove 664 miles.
11/11/4 (Thursday): I left Oak Grove at 10:00 AM. The route was I-70E. I stopped in Foristell, MO for lunch. I arrived at 1:00 PM and left at 2:00 PM. The route was I-70E to I-64E. I drove to Simpsonville, KY. I arrived at 8:15 PM. I ate dinner and departed at 9:00 PM. The route was I-64E. I arrived Morehead, KY at 10:45 PM and stopped for the night. I logged 11 hours and drove 614 miles. The day was uneventful.
11/12/4 (Friday): Departed Morehead at 10:15 AM. The route was I-64E. Had to make a stop in Nitro, WV for some fuel. I put on 50 gallons. Arrived at 11:45 and departed at 12:45. Drove to Wytheville, VA. This was my planned fuel stop, so I filled up. Fuel was 30 cents cheaper here. I arrived at 3:15 PM and departed at 4:15 PM. the route was I-77S to I-74S to US-412E to I-40E. Arrived in Greensboro, NC at 6:00PM. Delivered this load and got a load from Salisbury, NC to Mabelvale, AR (55miles empty and 771 miles loaded). Departed for Salisbury at 7:00PM and arrived there at 8:00PM. The route was I-40W to I-85S. Picked up the new load and departed Salisbury at 8:45PM. Drove to Candler, NC and stopped for the night. The route was I-85N to US-70W to I-40W. The day was busy, but uneventful. I logged 10.25 hours and drove 550 miles.
11/13/4 (Saturday): Played on the internet this AM for a while, so I didn’t get started until late. Departed Candler at 2:30PM. The route was I-40W. Made brief stops in Knoxville and Nashville and arrived in Memphis, TN at 11:15PM where I stopped for the night. The day was uneventful andI logged 7.5 hours and drove 456 miles. I could have gone on to Mabelvale and delivered the load, but I didn’t feel like working until the middle of the night and trying to sleep all day.
11/14/4 (Sunday): Departed Memphis at 9:30AM. The route was I-40W to I-30W. Arrtived in Mabelvale, AR at 11:45AM. Delivered the load. There was no freight available today, so I left “thriving” Mabelvale at 12:15PM and drove to North Little Rock, AR where I stopped for the day. The route was I-30E to I-40E. I arrived at 12:30PM. I logged 3 hours for the day and drove 158 miles. I was out of hours anyway. Tomorrow I only have 6.5 hours available so we’ll see what happens.
11/15/4 (Monday): The Planners found a load for me that will accommodate my lack of hours for today. It picks up anytime today in Brinkley, AR and delivers in Advance, NC at 11:00AM Wednesday (77 miles empty and 692 miles loaded). Departed North Little Rock at 11:30AM and drove to Little Rock to get an empty trailer. Arrived at Noon and departed at 1:00PM. Drove to Brinkley to load. The route was I-40E. I arrived in Brinkley at 2:00PM and spotted my trailer immediately. After loading and doing the ubiquitous paperwork, I departed at 3:30PM. I drove to our Memphis facility for fuel. I arrived at 4:30PM. After fueling and turning in my ‘pay envelopes’, I left at 5:30PM. The route out of Memhis was I-40E. I drove to Fairview, TN where I stopped for the night. I arrived at 8:30PM. I drove 305 miles and logged 6.25 hours. The day was average.
11/16/4 (Tuesday): Driving Hours are no longer a problem for a few days. I pick-up 10+ every day for the next 4 days. I departed Fairview at 9:45AM. The route was still I-40E I stopped in Knoxville, TN. I arrived at 1:00PM. After lunch, I departed at 2:00PM. I arrived in Advance (Winston-Salem), NC at 6:00PM. I spent the night in the customer’s parking lot. Another uneventful day. (HO HUM). I drove 435 miles and logged 7.5 hours.
11/17/4 (Wednesday): I delivered this load this AM at 9:00AM (Mountain Time, 11:00AM Eastern). After the delivery, the Planners found a load from Winston-Salem to Fort Worth, TX with an additional pick-up in Cherryville, NC (17 miles empty and 1117 miles loaded). I departed Advance at 10:15AM and arrived in Winston-Salem at 10:45AM, however due to some bad information, it was 11:30 AM before I found the shipper. My dispatch said Hanes Hosiery was the shipper. It was actually Sarah Lee (which is evidently the Parent Company of Hanes Hosiery). After passing the place up once, I finally got turned around (just before the road narrowed to a 2-lane country by-way). I went back and drove into the Sarah Lee complex(because it was the biggest) just to ask directions. The guard said that I was at the right place and told me how to get to the shipping office. I followed his directions back around the employee parking lot to where he had told me to go. I found the docks, but saw no sign that said shipping, or recieving for that matter. There were no trucks and I saw no sign of any activity. I parked out of the way and walked around the entire building trying every door that could possibly lead inside, but to no avail. I went back to my truck, and was about to call my Driver Manager and let her know that I was in some sort of “Driver Limbo” where nothing is real, when I saw an ‘actual person’ coming out of the second locked door that I had tried in my previous “hike” around the Complex. I went to that door (it had been propped open so that the person could get back inside) and entered. I asked the first person I saw where the Shipping office was. They pointed in the general direction of a group of offices in the center of the building. I went there and again saw no signs for Shipping. I went back to the dock area and went in to the first office I saw. The door had no sign on it. I asked the lady in the office where the Shipping office was and she said that she was it. I checked in and backed into the door. I then had to go back inside and count my load, except they couldn’t find it. I said that I would be in my truck and if they found it , they could come out and get me if they wanted it counted. By this time it was almost Noon (2:00PM Eastern). I decided to call the customer in Cherryville and let them know what was going on. He said that they closed at 4:00PM. I said “see you in the AM, what time do you open? There’s no way I’ll be able to get there before you close, they can’t even find my load”. He said that they would be there at 6:00AM. Anyway, I digress. They finally came out about 3:30PM (Eastern) and said that they had found my load and that I cound go back in and count it. After I had verified the count ( they had put it in 3 different locations throughout the warehouse and I had to search each row looking for my pick-up number) they finally started loading me at 4:30PM (again eastern). At 6:00PM, I FINALLY departed, pissed & frustrated. I followed the directions to Cherryville. The route was US-52S to I-85S to US-321N to NC-279W to NC-18S. After I entered Cherryville, my directions (from Swift, but verified by the man from shipping that I had takled to earlier) said to go to the 1st stoplight and turn left. I did that and, almost immediately, the road narrowed and went into a residential area. The road wound around, and I was barely able to make some of the turns. I came to a 4-way stop sign. I stopped there and decided to ask one of the approaching vehicles for directions. As I approached the car, I saw that the man was talking on a radio and was working with a laptop on his passenger seat. He told me that he had called a local policeman to help me. He said that was a State undercover Vice Cop and was enroute to a DRUG BUST. He and the 2 other cars behind him went on their way. Within a minute, a Local Officer came and helped me out. I followed the Officers directions through town and found the Customer without further incident. I finally arrived at 6:00PM (Mountain). After I was settled in, I began ruminating about the day’s events. I came to the following conclusions: 1) Swift’s CSR’s should make sure that the proper customer name is in the Dispatch. 2) Sarah Lee/Hanes Hosiery needs to invest some of their massive Corporate monetary assets in some signs. 3) Finally, I could have got my head blown off in a crossfire between the State Vice Squad and some “doper, junkie losers” all because some Swift “desk Weenie”, who probably has never been in any vehicle larger than a Nissan Pathfinder, doesn’t know right from left. I drove a Whopping 135 miles and logged 4 whole hours!!
11/18/4 (Thursday): I departed Cherryville at 5:00AM (Mountain) after being loaded. The route was NC-18S to US-74E to I-85S. I stopped at our Facility in Greer, SC for fuel & breakfast. I arrived at 6:30AM and left at 8:45AM. The route was I-85S to I-285W/S to
I-20W. I arrived in Burmingham, AL at 1:45PM. Stopped there for a ‘doggie break’. I left at 2:00PM. I arrived in Bolton, MS at 6:00PM where I stopped for the night. I logged 11 hours and drove 638 miles. the day was not nearly as eventful as yesterday.
11/19/4 (Friday): I departed Bolton at 7:00AM. The route was I-20W. Stopped in Greenwood, LA. I arrived at 10:15AM and left at 11:00AM. Drove to Fort Worth, TX. I arrived there at 1:45PM. I delivered this load and the Planners gave me a load from Ft. Worth to Hayward, CA (0 miles empty and 1674 miles loaded). I picked up the Hayward load and left Ft. Worth at 3:15PM. The route was I-20W. I drove to Big Spring, TX where I stopped for gthe night. I logged 11 hours and drove 680 miles. A good day. Everything went well including getting a plan as soon as I was empty without any time lost waiting.
11/20/4 (Saturday): Left Big Spring at 1:30PM. Got a late start because I played too long on the internet. The route was I-20W to I-10W. Arrived at our El Paso Facility at 6:45PM. Just time for fuel & a quick bite. Left El Paso at 7:45PM. Arrived in Tucson, AZ at 12:15AM. A quick ‘doggie walk’ then back on the road at 12:30AM. Drove to Eloy, AZ where I stopped for the night. I logged 10 hours and drove 602 miles. The day was uneventful.
11/21/4 (Sunday): I left Eloy at 11:30AM. I stopped in Phoenix for fuel & a snack. I arrived at 12:15PM and left at 12:30PM. The route was I-10W. Drove to Fontana, CA where I stopped for a ‘doggie walk’. I arrived at 6:15PM and left at 6:30PM. The route was I-10W to
I-5N. Drove to Coalinga, Ca where I stopped for the night. I arrived at 11:15PM. I logged 12.25 hours and drove 649 miles.
11/22/4 (Monday): I left Coalinga at 9:15AM. The route was I-5N to I-580W to I-880S. I arrived in Hayward, CA at 12:30PM. DElivered the load, dropped my trailer at another customer in Hayward then departed for Palo Alto, CA to begin my Thanksgiving break at my brothers’ house. I left Hayward at 1:30PM and arrived in Palo Alto at 2:00PM. The route was I-880N to CA-92W to CA-101S. As soon as I left the 101, the doggies became excited. How did they know?
11/27/4 (Saturday): I had a wonderful 5 days off over the Thanksgiving holiday with my brother and his family. I immediately took over the kitchen. Tuesday was my sister-in-laws’ birthday, so I made her Baked Potato Soup w/ bacon, sharp cheddar cheese and sour cream. I also made some Cornbread from scratch. My nieces’ birthday was on the 10th, so on Wednesday, I made her Porcupine Meatballs ( ground beef w/ rice simmered in a tangy tomato sauce with onion and bell pepper). I also made her Spinach slightly steamed with lemon juice. On Thanksgiving, I made Biscuits and Sausage Gravy for breakfast. We weren’t scheduled to eat until about 5:00 or 6:00PM, so I was pretty busy all day because I didn’t have to do anything the night before so of course I didn’t. Dinner was the usual fare. A Turkey (marinated in brine overnight), Creamed Peas, Mashed Potatoes, Giblet Gravy, Fruit Salad, Green Salad, Deviled Eggs and a Condiment Tray. I also baked 2 Tart Apple Pies. There were 8 for dinner.
I had planned on leaving yesterday, but there was some confusion. I had made myself available for Noon. When I had no load by 2:00pm, I called my driver manager and asked what was up. I told her that I was ready to roll. She said that she would start to work on it. I still had no load at 5:00pm so I called the night shift. They informed me that my PTA had been reset to Monday. I explained that I had been ready to go since Noon and had told my DM that. They said that she was the one who had changed my PTA. Anyway, since it was so late in the day, I had them reset my PTA to this AM. I then called our Lathrop facility directly. They gave me a pre-plan that would be pre-loaded and ready for pick-up in Oakland anytime today, and would deliver in Fontana, CA as soon as I arrived (20 miles empty and 419 miles loaded). The doggies and I reluctantly departed Palo Alto at 2:15PM and arrived in Oakland at 3:00PM. The route was CA-101N to Ca-92E to I-880 N. Departed Oakland at 4:15PM. Drove to Lathrop, CA for fuel. The route was I-880S to CA-238E to I-580E to I-205E to I-5N. Arrived in Lathrop at 5:15PM, got fuel and left at 6:00PM. The route was I-5S. Drove to Wheeler Ridge, CA where I spent the night. I arrived there at 10:45PM. I logged 7.25 hours for the day and drove 329 miles. The day was uneventful, except for the delicious Bacon and Eggs and Fried Potatoes that I made for breakfast before I left Palo Alto. :>} It’s hard to be humble when you can cook.
11/28/4 (Sunday): I left Wheeler Ridge at 9:00AM. The route was I-5S to I-210E to
I-15S. I arrived in Fontana, CA at 11:30AM. Immediately after delivering the load, I got a pre-plan for a load that picked up in Gardena, CA and delivered in Gilbert, AZ. I departed Fontana at 12:15PM and drove to Gardena to pick-up. I arrived at 1:15PM. The route was I-15S to CA-60W to I-605S to I-105W to I-110S. After loading, I left at 2:00PM. I drove to Ehrenberg, AZ. The route was I-110N to I-105E to I-605N to CA-60E to I-10E. I arrived at 6:45PM. After a snack & ‘doggie walk’ I left at 7:30PM and drove to Phoenix, AZ where I stopped for the night. I arrived there at 9:45PM. I drove 551 miles and logged 11.25 hours. Enough for today.
11/29/4 (Monday): I left Phoenix at 10:15AM and drove to Gilbert, AZ to deliver. The route was I-10E to US-60 E. I arrived at 11:00AM. The Planners already had me planned on a load that picked up in Tolleson, AZ destined for Las Vegas, NV (31 miles empty and 306 miles loaded). I departed Gilbert at 12:30PM. The route was US-60W to I-10W. I arrived in Tolleson at 1:00PM. A quick ‘drop & hook’ and a ‘doggie walk’ and I was on my way again at 2:00PM. The route was I-10W to Loop-303 to US-60W to US-93N to 68W to NV-163W to US-95N. (In Henderson, NV, US-95 combines with US-93 to become I-515.) I arrived in Las Vegas at 7:00PM. I got lucky because while enroute, the Planners gave me a “backhaul” of cargo & pallet returns going from that store right back to the Shipper. All I had to do was another ‘drop & hook’ at the store instead of waiting until 10:00PM to do a ‘live unload’. I departed Las Vegas at 8:30PM. The route was the reverse of the route above. I stopped in Kingman, AZ for the night. I arrived at 10:30PM. I logged 9 hours and drove 483 miles. The day was uneventful except for the bit of serendipity in getting the backhaul.
11/30/4 (Tuesday): I left Kingman at 10:00AM. I arrived in Tolleson at 1:00PM. I delivered my load then drove to our Phoenix terminal for fuel. The Planners gave me a load that was pre-loaded in the Terminal and delivered in City of Industry, CA in the AM tomorrow (12 miles empty and 347 miles loaded). I left Phoenix at 2:45PM. The route was I-10W to CA-60W. I arrived in City of Industry at 9:30PM after a 15 minute stop In Ehrenberg, AZ for a ‘doggie walk’ and to mark the change of speed limit between Arizona and California. The day was uneventful. I logged 10.25 hours and drove 525 miles.
Comments: I had 15 trips this month. I drove a total of 501 miles empty and 9958 miles loaded for a total of 10459 miles. I had 6 days off this month so that gave me 24 driving days. That’s an average of 440 miles per day. Not too bad. I had a lot of short trips and of course that 1 hellish day on the 17th. All in all, slightly below average month. I need to work with my DM more to try to get longer, therefore more lucrative trips.
THANKSGIVING PICTURES
November 28, 2004 on 12:58 am | In Family | No Comments/Thanksgiving%202004%204891_l.JPG)
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Wolfie and Walter, Wolfie and Walter
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Wolfie and Walter with Ernie, Wolfie and Walter with Ernie
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Walter, Walter
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Walter, Wolfie
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Wolfie, Wolfie
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Walter, Walter
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Walter,Wolfie, and Ernie
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