The new adventure took to the highway last week.

Sorry I wasn't around last week. I was other places around the mid-west.

Left out of Lexington, South Carolina hauling big reels of fiber optic cable late Monday evening for my first experience on the road. Trainer's truck is a 2017 International, so it's a decent ride. Right out of the chute I get the Smokies along I-40, it was fun. Made it to the first drop in Cincinnati by Tuesday evening and actually had to back into a dock. Parking lot area in front of that dock was tiny with no outlet on the far end and my trainer had me pull a tight u-turn as the set up for the back. I'd never imagined a maneuver like that, but it worked.

By 8:30 AM we're on the road to NW Wisconsin. Had to call it a night at a rest area due to snow starting to stick and we were about to be off the big roads. Dropped the rest of that load the next morning in Milltown, WI, then it was over to St Paul for a load of lumber. Now I understand why people consent to train. Tarping is a huge task. Even bigger when there's only one of you.

Hauled that lumber to Peoria and learned the art of the late night, commando park job in the process. Dumped the lumber load and deadheaded to Danville, IL for a load of train parts. Not the wheels and axles, but the suspension system for them. Brought 'em back down to the yard in Newberry by Saturday morning and dispatch promptly gave us that load to deliver to North Augusta tomorrow morning.

We'll see where the adventure goes as soon as we're empty. Last week was fun. The things I had some trepidation about turned out to be the things I enjoyed most. That was navigating little towns with tight spaces and big highways with massive congestion. I can only hope for another week as interesting as last week.

 

Left out Monday on a coast to coast run hauling fiber optic cable from Lexington, SC to Corona, CA. Dropped that load on Thursday about mid-day and arranged to come back Friday morning for empty reels to haul back.

Had to wait around for the last reel and consequently didn’t get out of Shakey Town until the afternoon. Still, it’s a load headed home, so it was worth the wait.

I had some trepidation about navigating LA or like areas before I had gained adequate experience, but when it fell in my lap, I was actually pretty comfortable with it.

On I-40 through Arkansas presently.