May Trucking, My Newbie Adventure begins

good luck spidey, let me know how things are going in a week or two.

This is finishing my first week solo. And yes, most of the gremlins seem to have left my truck for now.

Drove through 10 hours of rain early this morning from ohio into pennsylvania. some of the most torrential downpours i've ever seen. there were times when it was #### near impossible to see the road at all!

Plus, i had never been through pa on i-80 before, only i-90. where;d all these mountains come from? LOL. alot of win ding through hills in the dark with heavy rain.

once i got parked at a loves near my destination, i turned on the tv to find out nuch of the area i just drove through had downed power lines, uprooted trees, and flooding. i knew it was a bad storm, but wow!

plus, these interstates out here in the east are very narrow, especially the bridges. not to mention almost getting run off the road by a tanker who decided he needed both lanes to pass me.! gotta love it.

Well, after taking my ten off at loves, i'm now sitting here at americold waiting to get unloaded. my delivery time was 9:30pm, got here at 8pm, and am still waiting for a door assignment. it's now 10:15 pm. that's what sucks about the 14 hour rule, my time to drive is getting eaten up waiting here. oh well, don't even have a new dispatch yet anyway, at this point, i probably won't get one until tomorrow. So when i'm done here tonight, i guess i'll head back to the loves 26 miles away so i can at least get a shower in. or i `can just sit here afterward. got some sandwich fixins in the fridge, and drinks as well. (soda of course, no beer on a truck)

If nothing else, it's nice to not see any rain. I'm sure the area i was driving through last night woulde have been beautiful in the daytime, with no torrential rain and wind. but alas, maybe i'll see it on the next trip, or on the way back west.

good luck spidey with your trainer, i hope you get a good one. mine was awesome. very patient, and calm, which always helps. pay attention to learning all the quallcomm stuff you need to do each day, your dm will appreciate it if she doesn't have to remind you what to do all the time.

will post again soon.

and by the way, clutch is my name i used on the radio. have been in the radio business for 25 plus years. but technology is killing radio, thus, here i am starting a new careeer. happy driving all.

the adventure continues.......

 

Well it's been a few days sinci i updated. been busy. after my drop in pa, was sent to elkton, maryland to pick up a load headed for rochelle, illinois.

spent the last couple of days heading back west to rochelle, they gave me 3 and a half days to do it in. parked overnight at a ta in pa in a town called breezewood. nicest ta i've seen, though had to cruze the lot for 30 minutes to grab a spot to park.

that really seems to be the big issue. not the driving, the finding a freaking place to park for the night!

the next night, planned on staying at my fuel stop in south bend, indiana, but ni spots available. waited about thirty minutes to see if anyone would leave, no luck. still had over an hour on my clock, so i headed further toward chicago to lake station and found a spot at the flying j.

then it was a short final day to rochelle. took my ten off so i could start with enough to do my unload, then head straight to sheboygan falls swisconsin for my next pick up at 9am the next day. got here in just enough time to get my ten off, then start with a fresh clock to go get loaded, then make it to my unload city of franklin, indiana tomorrow, my delivery appt is at 2:30 am tuesday morning, which means i'll have to go straight to the receiver before my 14 runs out tomorrow night, go off duty, and get unloaded at 2:30 am. then after i'm unloaded, wait until my 10 off has completed before i can even leave the receiver's yard.

that's thhe part about electronic logs that sucks. i can't move the truck without being put on duty and driving just to get to the nearest truck stop. oh well. got my fridge stocked and should help me save money as well.

so far in my first almost two weeks i figure i've will have driven about 4300 miles, getting paid for closer to 4000. of course my truck issues at first slowed things down.

will post again soon. and by the way, where does pa get off having mountains. i thought we only had them in the west, LOL!



happy driving. the adventure continues....

clutch