Abilene Motor Express....A New Place To Call Home

Got up this morning at Americold in Belividere. If you've never been there, it's about an hour west of Chicago.

Got a deadhead assignment last night as I was getting unloaded (with only 20 minutes left on my drive clock) which required me to haul my empty reefer to Boar's Head in Groveport. The shortest route to do so according to Walter (my GPS) involved a drive through Chicago itself.

I woke up at 5:45am. I would be hitting the road at 6:00am. That would put me on the Chicago Loop by 7:00am. And then it was another hour around the loop and through to Gary, IN.

Driving through rush-hour Chicago traffic is not my idea of a good time. So I sat down and plotted out an alternate route that would take me down I-39 instead. The route would add an additional 30 minutes, but I'd rather spend 30 minutes rolling down an uncongested freeway than spend 30 minutes crawling along at 2mph in the Chicago rush hour. So, feeling pretty good about my cleverness, I rolled on down the road.

Three hours later, I stopped for breakfast. And that's when two things occurred to me:

1) Chicago is Central Time. My clock is Eastern Time. So when I woke up at 5:45am, it was actually 4:45am local time.
2) Today is Saturday. There is no rush hour traffic today.

So I could've gone straight through Chicago and been in Gary, IN by 7:00am local time and not had any problem with Chicago traffic.

"What a drag it is to get old." --The Rolling Stones

 

Already got a new load assignment.

Pick up a load from Boar's Head Groveport Monday morning and take it to the Atlanta suburbs for a Tuesday morning delivery.

You will note that it is currently Saturday.

Load assignment came with a note: "Don't forget to put in for layover."

"Oh, don't you worry."

 

Yeah the weekends are a drag up there,I'll be there tomorrow lol.

 

donatos.com delivers a tasty pizza.

 

747 miles today, of course I ran to 0 today pulling into Loves in Kingman AZ, lol! Get an uber early start up 93/95 at 2am to Reno to hopefully not get stuck behind a slow swift or prime truck when it gets to two lane....Not due to volvo til 7am Monday but haul ### and wait Id rather do than run into issue and be late. Getting up at stupid o clock is normal for me anyway since I can't sleep past 4am anyway. Must have been the Marines did that to me, lol!

 

Yeppers. I flew home from there and was home for 9 days. Don’t know what all the shop did to it, but I know she got an earful because she had an attitude after that. Couldn’t wait to get off her truck.

 

Well, it doesn’t happen all that often so when it does, I am thankful... ran two 70s back to back with a 34 before recap rolled around... thank you!!!

Taking that second 34 in WM tonight and tomorrow... decided to “treat” myself to the Super 8 next to the Petro for two nights off the Truck.

As an FYI, we get a rate at this Super 8 since we started Orientation Sessions in WM. So if you ever do want off the truck for a night, ask for our Rate.

Also, laundry is only $1.50 each...
Tomorrow is laundry day for my truck.

 

Dropped in Reno then got a pet food run to Redlands but 395 was prohibiting trucks in the morning due to high winds so had to go down us 95 to us 6 to us 395....that was a long slow detour on account of getting stuck behind a slow pickup with a camper trailer almost all the way down 95 to 6, stuck doing 50mph behind him because of all the oncoming traffic and heavy load plus I never try to pass ppl on two lane roads anyway because I can't accelerate like a car can. I ran my 14 out in Barstow....I know it is 200 miles longer to go through Vegas but the speed limit is faster whole way til ca and even then I can still pass ppl if need to on 4 lanes....sometimes the shortest route is not always the best and fastest route. Sometimes I miss being an owner operator since I can go the route I want to go without asking office ppl first.....supposed to pickup at Redlands too and go back to McCarran but will only have 7 hours left on my 70 and I gain nothing til Thursday. Guess Ill run as far as I can and take a 34, will see what office says tomorrow. 24/7 drop so maybe finish out a 34 here in Barstow then go to Redlands Wed and turn around and go back north, that makes more sense to me unless they need this load bad. Ive done this run before but never low on hours though like this needing a reset in between. Pain being a company driver at times but less head aches though not paying for everything....

 

Taking a break at a j in Al,have a 0500 appt at bh in Pensacola,Fl.