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

mitrucker · Jun 25, 2017

JohnBoy said: ↑

I need some advice from one of my fellow truck drivers. Friday was my third week since leaving the house. It was also my threshold for how much pain and suffering I can endure. My question is twofold, one, how do you handle staying out that long, and two, at what point do you snap?
Click to expand...

Right around day 24 was my snapping point. These days, if I'm out more than two nights it's a rarity.

RebelChick · Jun 25, 2017

JohnBoy said: ↑

I need some advice from one of my fellow truck drivers. Friday was my third week since leaving the house. It was also my threshold for how much pain and suffering I can endure. My question is twofold, one, how do you handle staying out that long, and two, at what point do you snap?
Click to expand...

Normally, after 14 days, I'm a real B. Heck, the day I'm headed home, I get cranky (people need to get outta the dang way!)!!! I think now it's going to be difficult to go back OTR since I've been home every night since I came back to work and will be home for quite some time. I don't get how folks stay out that long either.

ExtremeUnction · Jun 25, 2017

JohnBoy said: ↑

I need some advice from one of my fellow truck drivers. Friday was my third week since leaving the house. It was also my threshold for how much pain and suffering I can endure. My question is twofold, one, how do you handle staying out that long, and two, at what point do you snap?
Click to expand...

I handle it by not actually giving a $#!+.

As advice goes, however, I dunno how useful that is. "Be less like you and more like me" rarely gets anybody anywhere, I find.

Normal course of events, I'm out at least 18 days. Never less than that. Often more. Only reason I take scheduled hometime is to spend a weekend with my kids.

I've been on my current run for 28 days, with 13 more to go. Then I take a week off to take my kids to Space Camp in Mississippi. (This run is kinda cheating, though, since I've had two separate instances of unscheduled hometime. First time came when I put the truck in the shop to fix my A/C. Second time came when I took a 34 last weekend here in town.)

Like Redtwin, my needs are few and easily met. I got the Internet, which is sufficient to keep me entertained most nights. Netflix and Crunchyroll whenever I have wi-fi, Kindle app when I don't. One day I may pony up for a gaming laptop and then I'll really be in high cotton.

Hell, I'm here at the yard right now, and I could go home and sleep in my own bed. But sleeping in the truck is easier, and all my groceries are here anyways. Plus, our showers have better water pressure than my shower at home.

runningman0661 · Jun 25, 2017

JohnBoy said: ↑

I need some advice from one of my fellow truck drivers. Friday was my third week since leaving the house. It was also my threshold for how much pain and suffering I can endure. My question is twofold, one, how do you handle staying out that long, and two, at what point do you snap?
Click to expand...

About four weeks is all I can take anymore.

JohnBoy · Jun 25, 2017

Thanks all. My limit usually reaches the end about the first morning I wake up off home time.

I have a question for a little debate that has a direct correlation about my mood. The week I retire, hopefully with the 4 million safe miles I have, if I was to knock some dickwad off the road for doing something totally F'd up, am I still able to say I had 4 million safe miles, and just chalk up pea brain down in the ditch as a going away present to myself? Let the fun begin.

mitrucker · Jun 25, 2017

JohnBoy said: ↑

Thanks all. My limit usually reaches the end about the first morning I wake up off home time.

I have a question for a little debate that has a direct correlation about my mood. The week I retire, hopefully with the 4 million safe miles I have, if I was to knock some dickwad off the road for doing something totally F'd up, am I still able to say I had 4 million safe miles, and just chalk up pea brain down in the ditch as a going away present to myself? Let the fun begin.
Click to expand...

Absolutely!!!!!

bigred81 · Jun 25, 2017

ExtremeUnction said: ↑

Welp, my trip to the northeast has gone about like I figured.

My 10-hour reset ended at 4:18am yesterday, at which point I started my day. I had already done my pretrip, but I had to flag it on the QC for five minutes so it would show up on the graph. Rolled out of the yard at 4:23am.

After a conversation with 460/580, rolled up 301 instead of 95. Added 45 minutes to the drive time, but Google Maps indicated that going the other way would've added 2 hours and change.

460/580 told me that once I hit Baltimore, the traffic would be okay up until New York, and that turned out to be an accurate prediction.

BUT THEN:

There was a stalled military convoy vehicle on the GW Bridge. So that slowed traffic to even more of a crawl than usual. Took me about 30 minutes to reach the toll booths and another 20 to actually make it through them into clear traffic.

Long story short, the load I had to have delivered by noon wasn't going to get there until 2:30pm at the earliest. I spent most of the morning trying and failing to get a real human being at the receiver on the phone. Eventually I got someone at the shipper on the phone, and he called the receiver. And it turned out that the receiver stopped receiving at 2:00pm. So could I instead have the load at the receiver in the morning at 7:00am?

So I enjoyed a nice, leisurely evening at the TA in Waterbury, bumped the dock at 7:00am this morning on schedule, and am now here in Springfield, MA, getting loaded with recycled tires to drop at the Wytheville yard. And currently plotting my escape trajectory from this cramped yard and these tight little industrial streets. My GPS wants me to make a right turn up the street, but I don't think that's a good idea given how small the intersection is.
Click to expand...

Just wait until they close the bridge because someone is threatening to jump! I sat for three hours in a thunderstorm empty, trailer rocking while a few guys kept up a steady stream of expletives questioning parentage and future prospects of the distressed person.

radioshark · Jun 25, 2017

JohnBoy said: ↑

Thanks all. My limit usually reaches the end about the first morning I wake up off home time.

I have a question for a little debate that has a direct correlation about my mood. The week I retire, hopefully with the 4 million safe miles I have, if I was to knock some dickwad off the road for doing something totally F'd up, am I still able to say I had 4 million safe miles, and just chalk up pea brain down in the ditch as a going away present to myself? Let the fun begin.
Click to expand...

4 million safe miles
1 not so safe mile

ExtremeUnction · Jun 25, 2017

JohnBoy said: ↑

Thanks all. My limit usually reaches the end about the first morning I wake up off home time.

I have a question for a little debate that has a direct correlation about my mood. The week I retire, hopefully with the 4 million safe miles I have, if I was to knock some dickwad off the road for doing something totally F'd up, am I still able to say I had 4 million safe miles, and just chalk up pea brain down in the ditch as a going away present to myself? Let the fun begin.
Click to expand...

Just make sure that you run him off the road on mile 4,000,001. Then you can still legitimately say you had 4 million safe miles.

JohnBoy · Jun 25, 2017

Its unanimous, I might even video tape it.

Log in or Sign up

Forums

Find Trucking Jobs

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

mitrucker Road Train Member

Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

Wait, employers can't reach you!

RebelChick Road Train Member

ExtremeUnction Road Train Member

runningman0661 Road Train Member

JohnBoy Road Train Member

mitrucker Road Train Member

bigred81 Medium Load Member

radioshark Road Train Member

ExtremeUnction Road Train Member

JohnBoy Road Train Member

Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

Wait, employers can't reach you!

Log in or Sign up

Useful Searches

Find Trucking Jobs

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

mitrucker Road Train Member

Wait, employers can't reach you!

RebelChick Road Train Member

ExtremeUnction Road Train Member

runningman0661 Road Train Member

JohnBoy Road Train Member

mitrucker Road Train Member

bigred81 Medium Load Member

radioshark Road Train Member

ExtremeUnction Road Train Member

JohnBoy Road Train Member

Wait, employers can't reach you!