Swift - Starting the New Year training with Swift 1/7/13 - A long read...

I found 6th a couple of days ago. Works well. Not sure how I wasn't finding it before but I think it had to do with me not bringing the stick all the way over. Who knows. It definitely feels right now without that gap between 5th and 7th.

Currently at the Laredo terminal picking up a t-call going up to the Maryland/Delaware state border. Nice run. Doing some laundry and then i may drive a little tonight as I still have time.

This terminal seems broke. Scanners to scan out paperwork are down, all of them. One soda machine warns "only warm soda". Another machine is completely broken. Nearly the whole bank of washers and dryers are down on the left hand side in the laundry room. I lost money in the dryers and was told to call the vending machine company phone number. 2 of the washers have no sign stating they are broken and are completely flooded. Laundry floor is soaking - don't let any of your laundry accidentally touch or you will be starting over.

Ya know, it may just be me, but when those things geared towards us drivers are completely broken and remain broken I get the distinct impression that they don't care about us drivers, like here in Laredo. Granted drivers play their part too but when you have empty and broken vending machines, flooded floors, etc and everything is answered by staff with a shrug of indifference you gotta wonder whether this terminal cares. When I brought it up to one of the staff he basically told me that it could be worse if/when they remove all the driver services.

 

I never did go to Neely, MO. I don't remember what happened but the load was pulled from me. I basically went south from Tulsa thru East Texas to drop in Baytown, picked up another load in Port Arthur that I dropped a couple of hours ago here on the border in Laredo. Now I have the tcall pickup going to Maryland.

 

Yeah I don't remember Laredo.being that bad when I was there between my 1st and 2nd trainers. That was the terminal whereby I made the decision to jump ship on my first trainer and they assigned me to the 2nd. I was only there that time for a night and the next morning. It was a mess. I did get a chance to call the business that services the washers, dryers and vending machines. I let him know that they were in bad shape. He said he would mail me off my $2.00 check reimbursement. I laughed a little.

I'm currently at a Walmart in Maryland right down the street from Newark Delaware. Dropped my load a little early. Pretty smooth run.

I'm still pretty amazed and curious about Louisiana. I'm not sure exactly what it is but every time I run east across I-10 by the lakes and bayous I just want to.stop.the truck and go explore with my camera. There's something about that area that intrigues me like no other place. Not sure if its the bayous and those little houses I can catch a glimpse of, propped up above an inevitable high water line, or maybe its just the way the water runs over the trees or if its the people and their Louisiana ways. There's something I just don't understand about the place aand I feel it every time I cross through. Not sure what the weather is like down there in October but I think I may put a day aside in October when I head down to Mexico to get lost on my bike back there, park and wander around talking and shooting some photos. Its the only place I really feel the need to stop and visit in the U.S. on the way down. Maybe I'll take a couple of days home time down there in the future as well.

I did see something that disturbed me to the core on the way up here from Laredo. It shook me up. I barely slept that night. I was in Alabama, it was dark or getting pretty dark and my headlights caught what looked like a beagle, maybe a puppy sitting on the shoulder of the interstate. It was alive and sitting up bit sitting kind of awkward. She was about half way between the grass and the shoulder line and I passed her going quick, about 64 mph. It was something about the way she was sitting, not trying to cross the interstate and not trying to run away. Just sitting awkward. I got the impression that she had been hit and was just waiting scared. For a second, as I first saw her, I hit my brakes and moved to the left slightly. And then I kept going. My instinct, actually honestly every fiber of my consciousness told me to slam on the brakes, pull over and go grab her. I thought that by the time i actually got the truck to slow to a stop I would be maybe a quarter mile down the road. Not only is that dangerous for everyone but I could be fired. Or she could get spooked and run into traffic. I thought about all of this as I continued to drive. Now I'm a mile.down the road, maybe two, and I'm debating taking thw next exit and turning around. Now its 3 miles and I'm still unsure and I'm completely tore up over this. I can't get that image of her just sitting there awkward and alone on the side of the road with traffic flying by. I became pissed as the miles continued and I passed the next exit. I began to hate everyone. I felt a deep rage building up inside of me. I know I don't have super eye sight so I know I'm not the only one that saw this poor dog on the side of the road but in a semi I am the least able to stop. Where are the cars that could stop? If I was on my bike I would have stopped. I would pick this dog up and use my Mexico vacation fund to get this dog in a vet and no one is stopping. I don't get it. This was days ago and I still can't shake the image. I just can't let it go. Its crazy. I try to tell myself that someone after me stopped and picked this dog up. I called the state police, connected via 911, and the dispatcher didn't sound like she cared that much. I hope a trooper got out there.

The rest of the trip left me with too much time to reflect on it. That time alone in thought can be a burden sometimes.

Looking forward to some time off soon. I need it. Last official time off was a couple of days back on 5/1 and 5/2. I slept in the truck back then. Last time I slept out if the truck was 4/7.

 

Sorry to hear but I can relate. I have had some pretty low mile weeks as well. I understand. With the experience he now though he should be able to find another job driving pretty quickly.

I've never used my vacation. I wonder if they deposited mine into my account too? I gotta check...

Good luck to your hubby on the new job!

 

Today...

Sitting here at the larger of the two Pilots in Georgetown, KY.

I'll be sitting here until almost 1800 tomorrow because that's when I pick up a load taking me near Richmond for my scheduled time off on Saturday. I got unloaded earlier today on my last load taking me from York, PA down near Bowling Green, KY. Load was originally scheduled for 2000 today and I would be arriving in the area, at the end of my HOS, last night. I asked the office to find out if I could get unloaded early since I would be more than a full day early. They said they would get back to me but the CSA never did answer them. So I did what I should have done to begin with and called the consignee myself. I got a delivery appointment for 1100 am this morning. Much earlier than the 2000 I was scheduled.

Last time I wrote I was last down in Maryland on the border with Delaware. I got a load picking up just north of Philly in Bensalem but I only had enough time on my 70 to go to the pickup and shut down. Traffic wasn't too bad for rush hour through Philly.


Bensalem pizza and an "eating disorder"...

I only had a few hours on my 70 so I had just enough time to get to the shipper and then shut down for my 10. I was told that I could pick up until 1730 and that the crew there might let me pick up until 1800 or so if needed. Well, once again, some miscommunication almost caused some serious problems. When I got there the warehouse crew was not happy. I got there about 1715 to "pick up" my trailer. Apparently it was not a pickup but a live load so the guys that wanted to go home now had to load my trailer. They were gracious about it but I couldn't blame them for being annoyed. I felt like that guy that shows up at the restaurant 5 minutes before closing. Thankfully they couldn't "accidentally" drop my food on the floor back in the kitchen as thanks for my late arrival. The guys there have been asking for months, they said, to get some Swift empties there so they can preload the trailers. None have showed up yet. They loaded my trailer up quickly and I parked in time to order some of the best pizza I've had in a long time.

The pizza was from Sarappo's Pizza in Bensalem, PA.

"Hi. My name is DocWatson and I am a pizza addict. My addiction started early when I grew up down the Jersey Shore. On lunch breaks working on the boardwalk in Seaside Heights I found myself passing by Midway steaks and the Kohrs ice cream place to eat Marucca's Famous Tomato Pies. I would eat it everyday. Sometimes I would eat it on my days off. Sometimes I would sneak it past the badge checkers onto the beach and eat it under the boardwalk. I was not proud. Later, I found myself working at Carlo's Pizza down the shore delivering delicious pies and later making subs and eventually throwing pies. I am ashamed that I kept my full Irish heritage secret while I posed as an Italian making pies sometimes throwing out phrases to customers in Italian that I had picked up from Carlo, the owner. I am not proud of this or my addiction."

I think that's the 1st step to recovery.

I woke up early the next morning to go deliver my load. I had no access to a bathroom and the closest truckstop enroute was over an hour away. I was paying the price for eating the whole large pie and the 8" meatball parm sub that night. Usually when I order a pie, as I always try to do when I get stuck in the NJ/NY metro area, it will last me about 3 days. Reheated pie is almost as good as when it is first delivered. This time it was so delicious I couldn't stop eating it. I was like my parent's dog - it will eat and continue eating if you keeping filling the bowl, until it pukes. That was me. The pie was paper thin, crust was crispy and it passed the 'drip oil on my shirt permanently staining it' test. The sauce was almost a little sweet and it was thin - not too heavy. Cheese wasn't too heavy either, as I like it. It was fantastic to the point of making me overeat to sickness. That's a good pie.


Driving in Pennsylvania and a new route....I-68

I delivered out to Chambersburg, PA and then picked up this last load in York. As much as I hate driving in the Northeast it has it's positive moments. Something I noticed about driving in Pennsylvania (and other parts of the east coast) is how the road through the small towns on the state highways was not designed with big trucks in mind. I passed through a lot of small, old towns feeling cramped in a semi and I also felt kind of intrusive with my big rig dwarfing everything around. The houses were constructed of old stone and brick, probably at least 150 years old. The barns outside the towns were different as well. They definitely had the Amish leanings in design. I noticed that some of them had a lower, ground level section for the cows to feed. Different design for barns than I have seen in other parts of the country. As I made my way to Chambersville I was on a small farmroad that had steep ascents and descents and as I crested the top I could not see what was over the hill. They had to be at least 8 or 9% grades. The speed limit was 50 mph and as I hit the top to go over my stomach dropped like I was on a roller coaster and my ### kind of came up out of the seat. I was kind of laughing as I drove while, at the same time, fearing what I could not see over the apex of the hill. It was a great drive.

After I picked up in York I was routed through more small towns until I finally crossed the state line on I-81 South into Maryland near Hagerstown. I lost cellphone reception completely. I got down I-68 heading west, a new highway to me, and I had just enough time to shut down at a small truckstop called Hancock in a town of the same name.

I-68 is a beautiful drive. Actually going through Pennsylvania and through this sliver of western Maryland was fantastic. It was constant hills and I noticed it even more with a near 44,000 lb net load weight. I passed through Cumberland, Maryland on a little isthmus of land sandwiched between Pennsylvania from West Virginia, separating the states by barely 10 miles of land. I made a mental note that I would return to explore this city sometime later if given the chance.

The hills continued through the northeast to southwest length of West Virginia - hitting all the major cities of Morgantown, Charleston and Huntington. My mpg dropped considerably this trip down to just below 6.0 mph. I've been getting over 8.0 on other trips with lighter loads.