Life Day 21626: Hovering in Harborcreek, PA
September 27, 2006 on 6:29 pm | In On The Road | Comments OffOn Saturday, the 23rd, I left Ellensberg at 1000. I drove to Spokane, WA where I took a short break. At 1430, I left Spokane and drove to Rocker (Helena), MT. I took a longer break here. I noticed some snow on the tops of the mountains as I was driving. It’s getting to be THAT time of year again. YUK!! At 2000, I left Rocker and drove to Columbus, MT where I stopped for the night, my 11 hours expended. I drove 665 miles.
On Sunday, I left Columbus at 1000 and drove to Bllings, where I fueled, then drove to Beach, ND, right at the Montana/North Dakota border. I took a short break here, then drove to Fargo, ND where I stopped for the night.
On Monday, I left Fargo at 0900 and drove to a nice Rest Area at mm-187 in Minnesota. I noticed a nicer one at mm-60, but unfortunately, I noticed it after I had already passed the exit. It was situated on one of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes (only 9,999 to go). After a short break at the Rest Area, I drove to Black River Falls, WI. I had dinner here. Wisconsin was the first non Neo-Facist Nanny State i’ve been in since I left my brother’s house in California. Over 1700 miles from Seattle to the Wisconsin border SUFFERING without being able to smoke after my meal, and while i’m waiting for it. I then drove to our terminal in Gary, IN where I stopped for the night. I used all of my 11 hours driving 669 miles. My EZ Pass worked great at all the Toll Booths going through Greater Chicago. Many now are what they call “open road” tolling, where you don’t even have to slow down as you go through.
On Tuesday, the 26th, I left Gary at 0800. I drove to Stoney Ridge, OH where I stopped for lunch. At 1330, I left and drove to Harborcreek, PA. I’m hovering here while I refresh my 70-hours. I could have gone on to Buffalo, but NY is yet another Neo-Facist Nanny State. It’s even worse because they also have a no-idling law. At least here in PA, both me and my truck can smoke. I’ll get up in the “wee” hours and drive into Buffalo in the AM, then get as close as I can to the final drop in Folcroft.
Life Day 21621: Seattle Silliness
September 22, 2006 on 11:26 pm | In On The Road | Comments OffOn Wednesday, the 20th, rejuvenated after my all too brief visit, I recieved and accepted a load which picked up in Brisbane, CA and delivered in Seattle, WA. I didn’t have to hassle with finding an empty trailer because this load was pre-loaded at the Shipper. I left Palo Alto about 1030 and drove the 20 odd miles to Brisbane, hooked to the trailer, and then drove to Corning, CA where I took a nice long break. At 2000, I left and drove to a nice Rest Area just north of Yreka about 10 miles south of the Oregon border where I called it a day. I drove about 350 miles. It doesn’t seem like Oregon is that far from the Bay Area, but it is when you take I-5.
On Thursday, I left the Rest Area at 1000 and drove to Halsey, OR where I had lunch and walk the MMM. I then drove on in to Seattle, parking on the street outside the Consignee’s facility.
Now here’s where the “silliness” comes in. On Friday, at the appointed time of 0700, the customer opened the gates. I was the last in a line of Swift trucks. It took ‘forever’ to get into the docks because each truck had to be positioned in his assigned dock prior to the next entering the facility because there was no room to maneuver. By the time it was my turn, I noticed that the trucks who had just spotted their trailers were ‘bob-tailing’ out. I was under the impression that this would be a ‘live unload’. I was mistaken. After I had positioned my trailer (I had the easiest dock to access because it was on the end of the row of docks) in the assgned dock, I was told to drop it and leave. A Cartage Company was going to move the trailers later. That’s all fine and dandy, except that the Cartage Company hadn’t arrived yet, and 3 or 4 of the first trailers were already empty and taking up space in the docks. I asked if I could have one of them, but was told NO! As I left the facility in utter frustration and confusion, one truck from the Cartage Company was just arriving. As I departed, I saw the “second wave” of Swift trucks waiting for their 0900 appointments. It made absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. Just plain SILLY!!! I drove 25 miles to our terminal in Sumner, WA, south of Seattle, to find an empty. I found a nice new one that someone was trying to save for him/herself. It was marked with a Blue tag on the electrical connector box, which this terminal uses to denote an empty trailer (Red is a trailer in need of repair, and Green is a loaded trailer). It is a good system and should be adopted Company-wide in my opinion. Anyway, someone had put a cargo seal on the doors in hopes of coming back for it later. I called my DM to ask its status because all the rest of the empties I had seen so far were ‘garbage’. She said it was available, so I backed underneath it. I then broke the seal and opened the doors to be sure it was empty before doing the final hook-up. The driver made 3 mistakes. First, they put a Swift seal on it instead of a ’spare’ seal from one of our customers. Second, they didn’t put their Security padlock on it. Third, they didn’t remove the Blue tag. Had they have done these things, they would have had a chance of retaining their prized trailer. I would have passed it by for sure. ROOKIES!! With this prized trailer now attached to MY truck, both physically and by my DM, I settled in to await a PrePlan. About 1000, I recieved a Plan which picked up in Everett, WA (north of Seattle) and delivered at 2100 in Klamath Falls, OR (about 400 miles away). I called my DM and asked if this was the best they could on a Friday, and if it was, where was the back-up Plan? I didn’t want to be empty in Klamath Falls on a Saturday morning with no load. A while later, I recieved a “back-up” Plan from Klamath Falls to St George, UT. Not much, but a start. I then took a second look at the first Plan and realized that I couldn’t legally make the 2100 “live” unload due to the 14-hour rule (my day started at 0700; I could probably get by with a drop/hook delivery, but not the ‘live unload’), so I turned down both Plans and settled in to wait some more. About noon, I accepted a fabulous load. It picked up in Kent, WA and delivered in Folcroft (Philadelphia), PA with 2 extra drops in Buffalo, NY. It is about 2900 miles. I arrived in Kent at 1500. I checked in with the Shipping Clerk and was immediately assigned a door. It took over 3 hours to be loaded. I left Kent at 1930 and drove th Ellensberg, WA where I stopped for the night because of the 14-hour rule. Its good to have a nice long trip with plenty of time to deliver for a change.
At Peace in Palo Alto
September 19, 2006 on 9:45 pm | In Family | Comments OffI arrived in Palo Alto about 1600 on the 17th. They had a nice Beef Stew ready when I arrived. Later in the evening, Lou and I went shopping for all the stuff I needed to cook during my visit. For Monday breakfast I got the makings for my Sausage Gravy and Biscuits, and for Monday evening we decided on Porcupine Meatballs with Sour Cream Green Beans. For Tuesday breakfast it was Omlettes and Fried Potatoes and for dinner Tuesday night we decided on Pork Riblettes and Smoked Sausage cooked in Saurkraut with Red Potatoes. I also got the makings for a Tart Apple Pie. Brother Donald is a excellent pie crust maker, so that duty fell to him. He made some delicious Cinnamon Sugar Rolled Tarts as well. All of the meals were designed to be cooked in the Slow-cooker to allow as much free time as possible. I, of course, had to make some of my world-class Deviled Eggs. Fortunately, as it turned out, I did not choose to make one of my favorite dishes; fresh Spinach cooked with Lemon. E Coli would not have been fun to deal with.
The MMM always enjoy their visits here. There is a nice backyard in which they can frolic and chase the indigenous fauna.
They also like the fact that “aunt” Lou always has nice big bones, fresh from the butcher shop, on which they can chew. Their ’spare’ time is divided between following “daddy” around the kitchen soliciting ‘crumbs’ or going from lap to lap soliciting ‘tummy rubs’. It’s a Dogs life.
The remainder of my time was spent ‘geeking’ on the computer. Brother Donald helped me transfer all of the programs from my old laptop to my new one. By “helped”, I mean that he did all the work because I was totally ‘clueless’. I also tapped into his mp3 collection.
Life Day 21615: Routed to Rialto
September 16, 2006 on 11:38 pm | In On The Road | Comments OffFinding an empty trailer on Wednesday, the 13th, proved to be literally as easy as driving across the street. Swift has a “drop yard” directly across the street from the truckstop where I chose to stay to replenish my 70-hours. Pretty handy. After locating an empty, I departed for the Shipper in Jefferson City, MO some 160 miles away. I arrived at 1300 after stopping in Warrenton, MO for fuel. This was a heavy load, and my tanks were at 3/8 full. I wanted have full tanks when I arrived at the shipper. This way, if i’m overweight, they have to cut product to get me legal. If I arrive with “low” fuel tanks, and the load is barely legal, I have to hassle with fueling every 2 or 3 hundred miles so as to always be “legal”. As it turned out, they over-estimated the 45000+ lbs considerably. I was well within legal limits even with full tanks when I weighed the load. At 1400, after the drop/hook, I drove to Joplin, MO. I took a nice long break here for dinner and a good MMM walk. At 1930, I left and drove to Oklahoma City, OK where I decided to stop for the night. I covered about 570 miles.
On Thursday I left OKC at 0930 and drove to Amarillo, TX. I had ‘breakfast’ here because Oklahoma recently joined the ranks of Neo-Facist Nanny States by banning smoking in restaurants. At 1515, I drove to our terminal in Albuquerque, NM. I stopped here for fuel and to walk the MMM. At 2045, I drove to Gallup, NM where I stopped for the night. I expended all of my alloted 11 driving hours driving 675 miles.
On Friday, I left Gallup at 1030 and drove to Kingman, AZ. I decided to take my “time-off” at my brothers house in Palo Alto, CA rather than Las Vegas. I haven’t been there for a while, and a nice rest will do me good. I called him to be sure he would be there and not out galavanting in his RV. He said they would be there. I then called my DM to make the arrangments with the Planners. I also called the Consignee to inquire about the policy of “no pets”. They said that as long as I kept them in the truck while on their property, pets were OK. This saved the hassle of T-Calling this load and finding something else. I left Kingman at 1730 and drove to Hesparia, CA. Hesparia is at the foot of Cajon Pass about 35 miles from Rialto. I gave the MMM a good stroll then drove to the Consignee arriving at 2315. This was supposed to be a drop/hook delivery, but, par for the course in this area, they had no empties onto which to hook, so I did a “drop” delivery, then drove to our terminal in Fontana. I checked with the Planner and accepted a load which picked up tomorrow (the 16th) anytime and delivered on the 17th in Lathrop, CA anytime after 1300. This load was ideal because the Consignee is next door to our Terminal there. Also, my brother was having a “garage sale” and I would be arriving after it was over so there would be no ‘hassle’ about where to park my truck while the ’sale’ was going on. After securing this load, I went to bed. I drove 613 miles using all of my 11-hours.
I spent most of the morning of the 16th trying to find an empty trailer. After searching (on foot) both our Fontana and Mira Loma terminals, I finally secured an empty trailer by serendipity. A driver dropping his empty to pick up a loaded trailer in our Fontana terminal happened to back into the spot next to me, and I ’snagged’ it before anyone else. Finally, at 1300, I drove to the Shipper in Rialto and did the drop/hook pick-up. At 1345, I departed and drove to Harris Ranch (Coalinga). I, of course, had to have the Chicken Fried Steak, but this time, I opted to have it as breakfast. It was yummy as usual. I then drove to our terminal in Lathrop, after first trying unsuccessfully to drop the load early at the Consignee. I was told that 1300 was the earliest that I could make the delivery. Oh well, it was worth a try. I drove 379 miles.
Life Day 21611: Missouri Malingering
September 12, 2006 on 7:50 pm | In On The Road | Comments OffOfficically, i’m in East Saint Louis, Illinois, but it’s so close to St. Louis, Missouri that i’m overlooking that minor technicality so that the alliteration in this title works. (Writer’s prerogative).
After arriving about 0930 yesterday, I went in and had breakfast at the Subway franchise in the truckstop. This convinced me that I needed to find an alternative source of sustenance for dinner. Along with the above mentioned Subway, there is also a Taco Bell on premises, and a Burger King across the street. None of these “fast-food” places appealed to me. In fact, Taco Bell, in my humble opinion, qualifies as neither fast, nor Mexican, nor food. After geeking all day, I went into the truckstop and asked one of the cashiers if there was anywhere reasonably close where I could get a “hot” meal in a “sit down” restaurant. I was told that there was a Denny’s, and a Bob Evans about 6 miles east in Collinsville, IL. Not much help. I’d rather starve than eat at either one. After further consideration, I decided to give it a try anyway, and i’m glad I did. I found a “treasure trove” of eaterys. I guess that Denny’s is “fine cuisine” to the minimum-wage morons at the Pilot. In addition to the two mentioned above, there was an Applebees, a Zapatas (real mexican), a Ponderosa, a Ruby Tuesday, and a couple of others. I opted for Bar B Q at a nice regional chain called Bandanas. It was good. I had a 3-item combination platter of Ribs, Smoked Sausage and Beef. I had their Baked Beans and something new to me, Fried Corn-on-the-Cob as my sides. Both were excellent. The meal also came with 2 good sized slices of Garlic Bread. I was impressed. After dinner, I returned to the truckstop and geeked some more.
Today, I got up about 0630. After my morning ‘toilette’, I geeked until about noon. I went to the Subway and had a Roast Beef sub for lunch (I skipped breakfast). Then back to the truck for more geeking. About 1800, I decided to head back to Collinsville for dinner. I noticed a Steak House called Porters last night and decided to try it. It was in the vane of Ruth Chris Steak House. Top drawer all the way. The food was a bit ‘pricy’, but excellent. I had the 12oz Ribeye with Au Gratin Potatoes and Grilled Asparagus. YUM,YUM!! It came with a Garden Salad and a demi-loaf of Onion Bread. The loaf of bread was round, so I got to have four ends of a loaf (my favorite part) rather than the usual two. YEAH!! After this sumptuous feast, I drove back to the truckstop for a little more ‘geeking’ until bed time. Earlier in the day, I accepted a PrePlan whick picks up tomorrow in Jefferson City, MO and delivers in Rialto, CA. It is the same consignee that doesn’t allow pets as the load I gave up in Salt Lake City last week, but this time, I have time to arrange to trade it for another local delivery in the same area (LA) or T-Call it in Albuquerque. I’ll locate an empty trailer and go pick it up tomorrow morning.
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