My May Journal

I'll end up around 3100 for this week. I just hate getting stuck in the North East. Just kinda sucks sometimes for miles. On the bright side, the weather was cooperative enough that I did not have to idle too much.

 

Yep. I'll call it in on Tuesday if I have a delivery on a wednesday morning if I need the money. Also, if you have an iPhone, there is an app called "trippak mobile". You take pictures of your paperwork with your phone and submit it that way.

 

Week #8
July 13th - July 19th

Well, this week was supposed to have me on a load from Morristown, NJ to Portland, OR. 2980 miles. Things stated to look like they were on the up for miles. Especially compared to last week. Well, after I got unloaded in Bethlehem, PA, I set out for Morristown, NJ. The great thing about Morristown, is that, it is drop and hook. Its fairly easy to get in and out of too. Well, I get there Tuesday night and check in. Drop my trailer and go to the shipping office. Nobody is there. Another driver for a different company was there and he said its their usual break time and they wouldn't be back for 30 min. usually this wouldn't bother me but I was running low on drive time and I wanted to reach a certain truck stop in Pennsylvania for the night. Well, a dock worker strolled by and said he would radio someone for us. When that gentleman showed up, he told us that the last person there sent all the paperwork to the main office for after hours pickup. So we go to the main office and I get my paperwork, hookup, pre-trip the trailer and take a glance at my load pressure gauge and everything seems okay. Well, I barely make the truck stop I wanted to stop at with 2 min left on my drive time. Plenty of parking at 9pm local too. The next morning I get up and get going at 0600. I am making good time through PA and Ohio and when I reach the Indiana state line, I get a qualcomm message - "Stop immediately and call Denver Terminal." Now, a ton of different scenarios start racing through my mind. I call in and was told that the customer wanted the load shipped to New Concord, OH instead of Portland, OR and can I make a 2200 delivery time tonight? Well, I had 4 hours left to drive and 375 miles to go back to southern Ohio. I told them I could be there in the morning around 1000. So much for my cherry coast to coast run. The only positive is New Concord is drop/hook for us. So I set my PTA and get to Beaverdam, OH and stay the night at the Pilot. The next morning I get going and about a hour outside my consignee, I get a pre-plan. Pick up loaded trailer at 1700 and delivers Sunday morning in Loveland, CO. Well, perhaps this week won't be a waste. I get to the consignee and check in, was told to drop trailer in dock 13. I then told the lady that I have a pick up at 1700, give her my pick up number and she tells me its already loaded out back. Heck yeah!

So I drop my trailer and go hook to my new one and get rolling. I get to Effingham, IL for the night and stop at the Flying J. The next morning I get going and make it into Booneville, MO, one of my favorite places to stop. IdleAire and a Wendy's! Can it get better than that? I grab lunch and head off to Salina, KS. On the way to Salina, I get a pre-plan to grab a loaded trailer out of Denver and take it to Boise for a Tuesday morning delivery. I don't think I have had this many pre-plans in a row before I was unloaded in a long time. Lets not jinx it now! The next morning I make my way out of Kansas, oh I hate Kansas. I end up in Johnstown, CO at Johnson's Corner and meet up with the folks for dinner. Since I live about 15 miles north in Fort Collins, they can come down when I stop here and meet up. The next morning I make it to my consignee and deliver my load. After the delivery, I head back to Denver to pick up my trailer headed to Boise.

I get into Denver in the morning, grab my trailer and get going. I stop off at the Pilot in Denver for a scale and Fuel. Oh, and the Pilot has a Wendy's. Gotta grab lunch then too! That night I make it to Little America, WY and stay the night. I absolutely love staying overnight in Wyoming during the summer time. It gets nice and cool with the windows open and fans going. The next morning comes and I grab breakfast. The Devil's Tower (biscuits and gravy) and coffee at Little America are really really good in my opinion. Anyway, I end the night in Boise at the TA with the last parking spot taken by me. Its tough to find a place at the TA in Boise as it is, but they are re-paving a section of the lot so its even smaller. A good tip: stay at the Flying J or even outside of town at the Boise Stage Stop. I make my delivery at 0645 this morning and headed to the Flying J for a spot to park while I waited for my next load.

A couple hours later I get a load, re-power out of Payette and deliver to Burley, ID. This week just got a little bit better. I can sneak another small load in right before the end of the week. Gotta love how things work out sometime. As I make my way to Payette, I get another pre-plan. Picking up the same day of delivery, same place as my delivery and going to Plover, WI. So tonight I sit in Eden, ID at the Eden Oasis Truck Stop. It is great to have a good week after all that north east running.

Miles This Week:
Miles Driven: 3505
Miles Paid: 3352
Miles Difference: 153 or 4.3%

Miles Total:
Miles Driven: 16764
Miles Paid: 16150
Miles Difference: 614 or 3.7%