My new, final resting place

I talked to the plant manager this morning - he had to approve the redistribution, which he did after seeing the scale ticket; the "40,800" sure got his attention! - and he told me they almost never get a 53' trailer to load. They loaded my 53' like they would a 48'; I explained that putting 2-2,700 lb pallets that far back (almost 50' from the kingpin) would guarantee an overweight situation, as the 40,800 demonstrated. He said he would have an inservice day with the hi-lo operators so they didn't repeat this. Man's got to know his limitations...

After moving the two offending pallets over the drives, I got a legal scale of 11,340, 32,340, and 34,900, with a gross weight of 78,580...almost legal, in fact, for a trailer with tandems and not these spread axles!

And it "only" took 3 hours to retarp the two ends. I hate that part.

 

And I watched the right wheel assembly on a U-Haul van being pulled by a POV depart the vehicle, bounce over my bumper without touching my truck, and travel down the road a while; the POV, of course was now pulling a very long string of sparks from what I must assume was the axle grinding itself to sharp nothingness on the interstate pavement.

Explaining to our Safety and Accident Reporting departments how I managed to damage my truck hitting a tire is not an experience I wanted to have. I've already dealt with them when I hit that huge metal thing, blew my left steer, and jammed a 4" hole in the left fuel tank a few weeks ago.

I'm rethinking this whole 'bucket list item' wisdom...

 

A random thought as I prepare to sleep in the cool Virginia rain.

I am in a private truck stop, not one of the corporate owned facilities. It's 8:00 pm local time and there are still 50 or more vacant truck parking spaces that I can see; there might be more. By this time at those others, everything is full and trucks have begun blocking egress routes, fuel lanes, and just about any place they will fit.

I think I should support local truck stops more, even though I have to buy my fuel at PFJ. It will be good for them and my blood pressure!

 

I had the best night's sleep last night that I've in a very long time. I was at our Nashville yard picking up a t-call that was late and ran out of hours. So, I backed up under the trailer I was taking out this morning and went to bed. The back rows are reserved for empty and preloaded trailers and there was nobody else there. No trucks idling. No reefers lighting off. No people talking. No loud engine brakes (because, you know, those truck stop hills can be 6% grade...not) and it was cold.

I'm back in a Flying J lot tonight. I fear my sleep won't be as restful.

 

598 miles today. I cannot seem to break 600...

 

I did get a nice surprise yesterday at the yard. Each driver who comes into the yard for any reason must have a log check and agate pass to leave. The woman who checked my logs found no errors, no omissions, all pre- and post-trip inspection properly recorded, no log violations and no CSA points. Apparently, that is unusual enough that the Safety Director has created a small prize bag. Wow. I won 2 containers of dry laundry detergent and two containers of fabric softener. And a $5 bill.

She said she might give out two or three a week. Really?!?

 

What a day.

I'm short on patience and desire to write, so let me just say it involved longitudinal holes in my trailer making me ineligible to pickup a lucrative load, a preplan that involved a guy who died a week ago, the Blue Angels practicing at an air show, and a visit to the county fleet vehicle maintenance yard where I was supposed to swap trailers.

Only the contact person had no idea what I was talking about and the night crew, though helpful, didn't know where the day crew came up with the plan.

So, another night at the Fling J and I'll have to call the day crew to have them call to reschedule because the night crew guy doesn't know how.

Oh. And I'd forgotten how, um, "pleasant" New Yorkers can be. "Stand in line for your food order, like everybody else."

Tell me again why I'm doing this...?