It's almost that time again, I hope

I've been out on the road for the past month now, traveling hither and yon, back and forth, and truth be told, I'm getting very tired and my thoughts are drifting toward the magic moment when I can finally head home.  You'd be amazed how big of a deal it is to sleep in a nice big, soft bed, in a room that seems at least ten times bigger than the living quarters I've been in for the past month with no deadlines or other pressures interrupting my sleep.

After this past week, heading home has been very big on my mind.  I'm quite due for a de-stressing period, which I can never fully achieve in the limited downtime I have between runs.  A few days would be good, forever would be ideal but not practical, and at this point I'll take what I can.

I finally got my load out of Alabama yesterday, 30 hours after I had arrived to pick it up.  I did some figuring and if I run the hell out of it I can be there on time tomorrow; in fact I should be there obnoxiously early based on my calculations.  One good thing to happen, I suppose.

I plan on reminding my driver manager about my home request within the next few days.  If the timing of my review is any indicator, my time should be close to up on Friday, Saturday at the absolute latest.  I'll try not to get too anticipatory about my actual return date, but I am hoping I'll get an indicator as to an approximate return date so I can get my stuff packed and be ready to hit the trail homeward.

This past month has been full of ups and downs, and while not quite at the level of an ancient Greek epic, it has felt positively Herculean at times.

I shudder to think what my next trip is going to be like.  Or for that matter, what the next 35 days after my home time has in store.  No matter; I will be dealing with that when it happens.

(Personal aside to Sirius Radio: I do like your eighties channel, but honestly, when I'm overtired and many miles from home, Dan Fogelburg is not a good thing for me to hear right now, kthxbai.)

In closing ... soon.

A whole week of Friday the 13th

I finally got some internet back, and since my load won't be ready until later tonight, I'm taking advantage of that to get some bills paid and get this caught up.  I think the last time I was able to write, I was in Connecticut. I am now in southeastern Alabama, waiting for my load to northwestern Missouri.  Oh, what a fun time I had in between.  Here, let me tell you all about it.

So, I made my way to Massachusetts for my delivery.  I was good and early, and had a little bit of a tough time backing in, but all in all that stop went fine.  I finished there, and picked up a load bound for northern New Jersey.  I got that, camped back in Connecticut for the night, and set off on my adventure early that morning.

Now, one thing I've discovered in my travels is that there are very few truck stops in New England.  Actually, there's very few all along the east coast for that matter, and if you don't get into one before thee sun sets, you are either hard-pressed to find parking, or there's simply no room at all.  All of the truck stops, and rest areas along the highway, are full to the rafters.  Bear this in mind, it'll be important later in the story.

Okay, we're in Jersey.  I need to back into this very tight loading area.  And so I did ... for about an hour.  A FREAKIN' HOUR.  And I still couldn't get in straight.  I was happy that I was able to get in to the dock door in such a way that they could finally get me unloaded.  Never mind the fact that I had another load booked against me before I had even gotten close to delivering this one.  SO, when I got close to being ready to unload, I opened the trailer doors and took out the load locks, setting them along the side of the building where they wouldn't get damaged.  Guess what got damaged.  And guess who has to buy two new load locks.  Preferably before I leave here to get my current load.

Off to my next pickup, a little further south from where I was, going to Virginia.  Western Virginia.  My hours of service clock is getting pretty low at this point, so the only option I had was to run the load straight in to the receiver and take my break there.  I was fortunate that I was able to take long enough of a break, because by the time they got me unloaded it was around midnight local time.  Forget trying to find a parking spot; I tried.  I parked on the side of the road near the truck stop to get some supplies (soups, snack foods, and drinks), in an area that was in no way marked as "No Parking."  I'm figuring out my next trip when I see a flashlight on my windshield.  Oh hey, it's a member of the local law enforcement, here to tell me that there's no parking on the road and I had better be moving before the deputy further down got to me to write me a ticket.  So, with no other option, I rolled through the night into North Carolina.

I arrived at the shipper with plenty of time to spare, dropped my trailer, and played the Where The Hell Can I Park game.  It seemed no two security personnel could give me the same answer and, as a result, I ended up moving twice before I found a spot I could stay undisturbed until my load was ready.  My load came ready later that night, I got approval to roll (this time), and off I went to Alabama.  According to the information I was given at dispatch, I wasn't due at the receiver until 6 am today.  NO problem, I thought, I can camp close, and roll in about an hour before the time I need to be there.  So, that's what I did, staying at this little hole-in-the-wall truck stop because there's nothing else available in that area.

Which brings us to today.  I rolled in as (I thought I was) scheduled, only to be told I was late.  They had the appointment time booked at 3 am.  Someone lied to me, and I don't know who, but it still rankled me all the same.  I got a door assignment, and surprise, there's already a trailer in there, with other truck taking all of the other available doors as soon as they came in.  This is not the way I wanted to start my day.  I finally got backed in to a door, got unloaded, and came down for my next load.  I have about two hours left on my clock for today, so when the load's ready I will have to go in, camp until midnight when I get some more hours back, and then run all night long again, at least until the limit of my hours.

I am tired, I am not feeling all that great from not being able to eat all that well for the past three or four days,  I am super frustrated, I haven't had a shower since at least Monday, and all I really want to do is go home.  And, because this is how my brain works when I'm super-tired and completely frazzled, I wonder if my "home" is now really nothing more than a place to sleep for five days or so before I have to drag my stupid self back into this truck and start the madness all over again.

I should try to shower, and then try to get more of a nap so I can be ready to run all night again.  Which I completely hate but have no choice, much like everything else lately.


So, until next time, farewell from Alabama, until the next time I'm able to write again.

Old (Near) Home Week(end)

Wow ... that was a fun trip.  I picked up a load in Arkansas, bound for Massachusetts.  After breaking down in Tennessee, I finally made it to Connecticut, where I was able to find a wifi signal and get some stuff updated, like this blog.  I know you all missed me.  Go ahead, admit it.

I'm about an hour and a half from anything resembling where I used to live, but it's still weird to be here.  I was born in this state, I lived here for most of my life, I've driven from one end to the other, and yet, being here today, I feel like a tourist.  I still recognize various things, and I can pretty much tell where I am by what exits I pass on I-95.  It's still pretty cool to pass the WWE headquarters in Stamford (between exits 9 and 10, you can see it from the highway), and it'll be interesting to pass through New Haven and Hartford on my way north.

But, I still feel like I really don't belong here.

In a way, I really have no life here anymore.  My life is in Dallas, as is my home and all that I hold dear.  I still have family here, but we were never all that close.  For all that I may want to come back for a vacation and spend some time here just looking around, I couldn't fathom living here again.  Never mind the whole "winter" thing, it just doesn't feel like a place I would want to spend the rest of my life.  About seven years ago, it looked like I might do just that, until events sent me out to the Frozen Tundra, and then down to the south.

Still, it's just for tonight, and tomorrow I'll be on my way back to Massachusetts.  Then, I'll get another load to who-knows-where, and the cycle will continue.  I'm going to see about a shower, and I need to get sleep because tomorrow I start early, if for no other reason than to beat the traffic I remember all too well around Hartford and New Haven.

Some things never change.  Unfortunately.

Pleasant (hopefully) dreams

It's hard enough for me to get sleep when I'm under a load, mainly because I'm always afraid I'll not hear the alarm and oversleep, missing my appointment time and causing a service failure, which would be a bad thing to have on my record.  Not that I sleep well in the first place, as it's tough to get comfortable, but I'm hoping the pillow I bought ('cuz it was on sale) will help.

So, what I didn't need early this morning was the vivid nightmare I had about work.  Only it wasn't about the work I'm doing now, oh no.  This dream concerned the job I left.  It dealt with the aggravation and frustration I felt, and it really got to me.

Mainly because most of the frustrations are almost the exact same ones I'm going through on this job.

It seems strange to me how my current woes are manifesting themselves in what I left behind, and are projecting that instead of keeping things in the here and now.  Granted, I'm no psychiatrist, but if I were, I'd prescribe myself a lovely regimen of antidepressants and bill myself an obscene fee.

Most of my concerns are the same concerns most people have about their jobs, so it's nothing new or different, and I don't know why I am choosing to obsess over this in my dreams.  Maybe it's the anxiety of always having to meet new challenges every time I get dispatched -- different shippers and receivers, traveling over unfamiliar roads far from any comfort of home, the pressure of making an effort to be on time -- that could be sparking this.

All I know is, I'm doing okay out here as far as I'm concerned because no one's called to complain about how I'm doing things.  It's the old "no news is good news" thing, and it seems to be working well for me.  In a couple of weeks or so I'll be able to go home and de-stress for a bit, before starting all over again.

But, for now, I will attempt to get some decent sleep tonight.  I deliver early in the morning, and I have no idea what plans they have for me back at the home terminal.

Pleasant dreams.

Back on the road

I was correct in that I received a load assignment.  It came through yesterday afternoon, for pickup this morning and delivery on Friday.  It's not a long trip, but it keeps me moving and will add a few bucks to the bank account.

It's been a very long, tiring day, mainly because of having to deal with not just the traffic, but the many layers of contacts at the place I work for.  The more I have to interact with the office, the less enchanted with the company I become.  Notice that I said "the company" and not "the job," because while the job can be frustrating at times, I still like what I do, to a point.

What I can do without, however, is the anger and frustration I get just trying to fulfill my duties as was explained to me before I even hit the road.  Here's some examples:

• Before I roll on a trip, I have to place a call to my driver manager and do a verbal trip plan, and once it's agreed upon, send it back in so there's a record of it in the system.  Sounds great in theory, right?  Well, try getting through on our phone lines.  I sat on hold for four solid hours waiting to do the verbal before I gave up, wrote up the route I planned to take (which I vetted with the road atlas, as per policy), and sent it in.  
• Our computer system sends a recommended route once you acknowledge your load assignment, showing fueling locations to use and the like.  This run had no fuel stops, until we went through the trip plan, after which it changed the route we agreed upon and added a fuel stop twenty miles off-route.  Basically, I have to bypass my destination to fuel and head back again.  And then they tell you not to gain too many out-of-route miles.

I guess it's no wonder that I'm actively looking for a local driving job.  Besides the fact that the life of a road warrior gets lonely and I'd like to be able to sink into my own bed more than once every five weeks or so, dealing with this crap on a daily basis is wearing me down.  And I'm far from the only one.  I spoke to a driver just last week, who was only halfway through the first part of the "solo grad driver" program, and he said that as soon as he dropped the load he had, he was requesting a route back to the terminal because he was quitting.

You know it's bad when you're out getting your trailer's annual inspection and the shop manager of the place you're visiting says that he wonders how anyone can conduct business with our comany given it's next to impossible to get through on the phone.  And all I can do is nod, and add, "This is what I deal with on a daily basis."

I know this turned into an anti-work rant, but it needed to be said to someone else, besides being screamed at full volume in the cab of the truck.  Tomorrow I'll go to the stupid fuel stop, camp there for the rest of the day, and deliver my load in the morning on Friday.  After which, who knows where the roads will lead.  I will try to keep you posted.

Another post, because you can only twiddle thumbs for so long

I'm still on layover, waiting for my hours to reset so I can get moving once again. I have no idea which region I will end up in, I'm just hoping it will be one with no actively falling winter precipitation.

In a way, I think I lucked out not being able to take the last load, mainly because the entire way was snowy once you got up around Kentucky and into Ohio and north. And, to be truly honest, I can do without having to go to Maine at this time of year.  Try me in late May or something, but for the next few months I'll take a pass.

Yes, I do appreciate the irony of moving south to escape the harshest clutches of winter, only to get a job that is sending me right back into the worst of it.  I've been lucky so far, but I know my luck won't hold out forever. I foresee a lot of weather shutdowns and repowers in my future because I have absolutely no desire to drive in snow.  Granted, I won't be a total wuss about it, but it is nice to know I have the option to not go if I don't feel comfortable doing so.

I keep searching the local classifieds for a local driving job that I can do, and have submitted applications while I've had the free time.  Maybe something will come of it, maybe not, but at least I'm trying.

On the positive side: I'm somewhere warm, it's been lovely the past couple of days, and the rest has done me a world of good, along with allowing me to clean my "apartment" and get other things caught up.  I probably should have brought more videos, but I wasn't anticipating this much downtime.

Tomorrow, I should have my next assignment, and will be back on the road.  Tonight, I'll make the most of the relaxing I have left and figure out what the hell I'm gonna do for dinner.  Wendy's is getting pretty old and I'm not in the mood for soup.

Until I write again, be well and take care.

Time for a quick break

Here I am at a truck stop in lovely Houston, Texas.  And, more than likely, here I will be for at least another day or so.  This little break is necessary to reset my hours of service, and quite welcome after the past couple of weeks.  I did some checking and it won't affect where I need to be to move ahead to the next phase of my job.

I got into town yesterday, with plenty of time to get a decent break in before I had to deliver my load.  My appointment time was at Stupid O'Clock, which meant I had to be up and rolling by at least half-past You Gotta Be Freakin' Kidding Me.  I was plenty early to get through the check-in, and six hours after I arrived, I was on my way back to the truck stop.

Now, every day I send in a check call which lists my hours worked and my hours available.  I also have to send on how many hours I have left for the day when I am empty at a receiver.  By the time I finished and got parked, I had a grand total of five hours left for the day, after which I had to shut down until tomorrow to gain some time back.

Two hours later, I got a load assignment.  I had to be about five hundred miles away in Arkansas to pick up and be at the shipper by tomorrow morning.  The load delivered on Saturday in Maine.  While this was nice from a mileage standpoint, with the hours I had available to me it would have been impossible to do.  I called in and talked to the safety department, as I have to do to discuss a trip plan.  When the safety guy looked at my hours, he agreed there was no way this was gonna happen, and told operations that I need a 34-hour shutdown.  The nice thing about the shutdown is that it resets my clock back to 70 full hours, and gives me a nice rest.  The bad thing is I'm stuck at a truck stop in Houston, low on money (won't get paid until at least Wednesday, I sincerely hope) and with nothing to really do.  I might drag out the DVDs just to kill some time, maybe get some decent sleep as best as I can.

There's wireless access at the truck stop, and I can pop in and do internetty things.  I'll see what I can finagle for food (still have ramen soups and stuffing mix I can whip up) and fight the boredom as best as I can.

Until next time.