Indian River

I just stopped for my 30 min break outside of Albuquerque and pulled the BOL out of my desk to see. It was Grade A Condensed Skim. I unloaded up front. In all the times I’ve been there (estimated at 7 or 8 times total) I’ve never unloaded in the back where the larger building is with more doors. I’m sure your weekends closed is correct and I just happened to luck out for some reason. It was a ghost town up there in the front. I did see a few raw milk trucks coming and going in the back. You and those Bensalem drivers run that area more than I do, so I trust your info on it. The guy who woke me up did act a little surprised when I rolled the window down. It was a “What are you doing, are you scheduled for tomorrow?” type thing. When I said yes he kinda shrugged and said go ahead and back it in. I thanked him for taking it early. It could have been a supervisor or something who happened to be there doing other business and saw me sitting outside.

I will say, that’s how I roll at this company for the most part. Once I load, I head to the destination ASAP regardless of what the appointment time is. It’s benefited me more often than not on being able to turn and burn, sometimes allowing me to sneak another load onto the paycheck.

 

That’s very wise. I don’t mind delivering up there and getting bounced out of the region afterward, but like you, I don’t think I’d want to live in the NE.

 

I’ll check it out. Thanks for the compliment on the pics. Landscape photography has became a hobby of mine over the years of working here. If you ever see an IRT truck pulled over at the scenic views with a tripod set up, it’s probably me. I have a picture of each state welcome sign, too. I’ve touched every one in the lower 48 except for Maine and New Hampshire since I started with IRT. Wintertime in the Pacific NW makes for the best pictures.

 

Same on the having a fresh clock afterward. After installing the sink in my sleeper, I’ve shied away from parking at truck stops if I can avoid it. If I’ve already showered, have food in the truck, etc. I’d rather do my break on customer property too. Less riff raff, cleaner bathrooms, and I don’t have to worry about someone backing in next to me and crushing my front end while I’m asleep.

There’s a handful of places I go to where they either don’t allow it or don’t have the room. Most do. Running primarily NE and Canada you probably won’t have to worry about it, but if they get short handed and stick you on a Baltimore to Montebello, CA, don’t plan on parking in Montebello. The consignee is on the end of a narrow, dead end street that usually has cars parked along the curb. There’s a gated entrance across from it that leads to a big open lot where you can turn around and get lined up to back in, but the gate gets locked at like 4:30pm. They unload us at a van dock by wheeling a pump cart outside (place on the west side of St Louis does it that way too). Sometimes it loads at the port in Baltimore (no TWIC or escort needed) Sometimes it loads at a place inside the city but has the same name. Both are kinda funky to find the first time.

What’s it like running Canada in the Winter? Do you have to chain up or are their laws different than down here? Do they have a lot of weigh stations and random inspections like the U.S.? I bet the scenery is nice. The closest I’ve been is the drop yard in Champlain. I usually have to chain 4-5 times a year, but I only do it if I have enough hours left to justify it. Donner, 4th of July Pass and Lookout Pass are always the places I encounter it. I keep one chain isolated and in a separate hand held toolbox that I use for when I’m empty shuttling around in unbladed parking lots, dropping a dirty, hooking onto a clean, etc.

 

Are they picky about idling up there? I spun out going up Cow Canyon on Highway 97 in Oregon a few years ago. I was loaded, headed to Spokane. It’s a 6 or 7 percent grade for about 5 miles. I was in my older mid roof that I had before the tall roof condo (108 series). It had an automatic and I forgot to lock it in. I made it about halfway up when it tried to downshift/upshift and lost my momentum. I had a panic moment myself that day. As I got out to put some chains on, I kept worrying that the whole rig would start free sliding backwards and either run over me or go bye bye over the edge. I was so scared, I actually put my phone and wallet in my pockets in case I was left standing on the road without a truck. Lol. I managed to put a chain on each side of the tractor by very slowly rolling backwards on top of them. That was enough to finish the climb and make it to the rest area at the top. From that day forward, I’ve remembered to use the manual mode climbing grades in the Winter. Stick shift is the one thing I miss about that tall condo truck, although they looked goofy pulling a short tank.