Freaking Out A Little

Glad you made it!!

As a result, I missed my second pickup appointment in Elizabeth. Dispatch knew I was going to miss it but failed to tell me that shipping and receiving closed at 4 pm. So instead of trying to find parking I wasted nearly an hour finding the shipper and getting all my stuff together to go inside.

I have gotten in the habit of calling the shipper or receiver and asking what their hours are. I also ask if they have truck parking so I know if I can get there early and just take my break there, which can save good time on my clock, especially my 14. If you're picking up a preloaded trailer, go ahead and ask if it's ready early; and if you're dropping a loaded, ask if they have empties. Anything you can ask to help you plan better can help you save time, money, and frustration.

New Jersey can disappear off the face of the planet for all I care right now.

A-FRICKIN-MEN!!

Good luck tomorrow!

When I get my load information it tells me if they have overnight parking. This place is down near where they have all the big shipping containers stacked up. So there is nowhere to park. I'm already going to have to 90 into the dock off the road. And it is a 2 stop live load. I already have my 5 skids from the first place.

As it stands, I am completely blocked in. 2 trucks in front of me and one parked behind me. This is not gonna be pretty. I might be Anchorman's next news post. "Female truck driver goes postal in a New Jersey Turnpike service plaza."

Geez what did I get myself into?!?

When I get my load information it tells me if they have overnight parking.

That's pretty swell, I kinda wish Swift did that, but knowing me I'd probably call anyway :p

As it stands, I am completely blocked in. 2 trucks in front of me and one parked behind me. This is not gonna be pretty. I might be Anchorman's next news post. "Female truck driver goes postal in a New Jersey Turnpike service plaza."

Geez what did I get myself into?!?

That sucks! Sounds like you'll be knocking in a few doors tonight lol. What time do you have to leave?

Dispatch wants me to check in at 8 but they still don't have a new loading appointment for me. I'm not far away so I need to leave between 7 and 7:30. I'm really hoping it clears out by then.

CM, get some rest. There's a good chance those trucks will be gone by the time you need to leave anyway. Please don't do anything to call in the National Guard until after I'm headed west.

Rob's right, you should hopefully be all right by then.

I'm watching Bizarre Foods trying to relax.

Today is just one of those days that makes me wonder why I ever decided to do this...

And I need to get on the road headed to Oklahoma so I can get this load delivered by midnight Thursday. It will mean 3200 miles for the week!

Truck parking is crazy. There's a Pilot 20 miles south of me that was so busy last time I was there in the middle of the day, had a long wait to get an open pump, then wait to get out. Here I am at a shell station mini mart truckstop with huge parking area. At 6:30pm I was literally the only truck in the whole place. Now it's 830pm and there's about 5 trucks here now. Crazy how different the parking situation is so close apart.

If you never been out west in a truck, I think you will really enjoy it. Especially after your experience there.

Good luck and look forward to hearing about your experiences as you travel through new states you never been to.

I went west in training. I'm really missing those giant truck stops right about now!

I'm still stuck in here but I may be able to squeeze through this hole in front of me. If not I guess hubby will have to get the guy in front of me to move. It's a lot better than last night though.

Dispatch moved my delivery appointment to Friday. I'm gonna push it to still try and make by Thursday so I can get some good miles on this weeks check.

I left that shell truckstop at 0500 this morning and wasn't even half full, maybe 1/3 at best. Then 15 miles down the road I passed a rest area where trucks were overflowing parked everywhere. Guess if it's not a big name truckstop people don't know about it. Good luck with getting out of there, don't worry about asking someone to move its part of the deal when parking in a make a spot situation.