PackRat's 2020 Daily Driving Diary

Looking forward to reading these.

7 January 2020.

Last night, I finally got to drive the 7 miles to the delivery in North Canton, OH at 2004. Arrived, parked, called to dock, then unloaded by 2150. Paperwork took another hour! Left there (no overnight parking) with no preplan. Great! So drove PC DH MT 30 miles to a rest area northwest of Akron to park.

"No loads tonight....check back in the morning...." Days like these.....!

Wake up this morning at 0745 to the chime of the peoplenet with two messages. Always excites me, yet fills me with trepidation on where the next trip may lead me to. Have a load to pick up a preloaded trailer of auto glass 118 miles away in Meadville, PA at 1100. Better get moving NOW! Only issue was the address was for another town name, because this is the NE, and lots of hamlets butt up against each other. Finally got it straight thanks to Google Maps. No low bridges or weight restrictions this time.

Easy drop and hook with zero problems. Only issue was getting in the gate because dispatch didn't provide all the pickup numbers. Why on earth would the driver need those??? C'mon Man! (Diver Driver).

Head back southward, heading towards the consignee in Elkin, NC for 463 paid miles, with a 1/8 delivery at 1000 EST. Piece of cake! Nearly all Interstate 79 and 77 for this trip. Called it a day once I got to Beckley, West VA to park early at the service plaza around 1630.

Worked out well today. HOS was 7.7 hours driving and .7 hours On Duty. 8.4 hours coming back in 9 days on my recap hours. I try to not do 34 hour resets if possible, unless I'm home.

Might be some black ice tomorrow morning since there is snow on the ground here, and water on the pavement before I parked. Temps of 30 tonight.

Till tomorrow.....

That continues making it all real, thank you!

I've been to Quebec a number of times and have been told that most locals can speak English but that disappears in the presence of an American..... which is what I can honestly relate, not sayin' anything otherwise about those Quebecers... :-)

You mentioned training with The Legion. Is that the Legion of Honour, the French society?

Surprise, surprise. Same thing happens in France.

Oh, yes! Happens in most every country I've been to. Lots of the locals play dumb.

That's interesting about the early delivery being a service failure...

Brett almost got fired for this same thing at a company he drove for years ago! It's been going on for awhile.

Actually I believe he WAS fired... and then rehired! Did I get that right?

I think it ended up being more of a misunderstanding on the matter.

Owner of company ordered termination for anyone who shows up early at that receiver due to street parking issues. He was not informed that he could not arrive any earlier then 15-30 mins. He pleaded his case up the chain of command and was forgiven

Small world Pack, my mother and extended family live in Meadville. Are you Pennsylvania based?

7 January 2020.

Last night, I finally got to drive the 7 miles to the delivery in North Canton, OH at 2004. Arrived, parked, called to dock, then unloaded by 2150. Paperwork took another hour! Left there (no overnight parking) with no preplan. Great! So drove PC DH MT 30 miles to a rest area northwest of Akron to park.

"No loads tonight....check back in the morning...." Days like these.....!

Wake up this morning at 0745 to the chime of the peoplenet with two messages. Always excites me, yet fills me with trepidation on where the next trip may lead me to. Have a load to pick up a preloaded trailer of auto glass 118 miles away in Meadville, PA at 1100. Better get moving NOW! Only issue was the address was for another town name, because this is the NE, and lots of hamlets butt up against each other. Finally got it straight thanks to Google Maps. No low bridges or weight restrictions this time.

Easy drop and hook with zero problems. Only issue was getting in the gate because dispatch didn't provide all the pickup numbers. Why on earth would the driver need those??? C'mon Man! (Diver Driver).

Head back southward, heading towards the consignee in Elkin, NC for 463 paid miles, with a 1/8 delivery at 1000 EST. Piece of cake! Nearly all Interstate 79 and 77 for this trip. Called it a day once I got to Beckley, West VA to park early at the service plaza around 1630.

Worked out well today. HOS was 7.7 hours driving and .7 hours On Duty. 8.4 hours coming back in 9 days on my recap hours. I try to not do 34 hour resets if possible, unless I'm home.

Might be some black ice tomorrow morning since there is snow on the ground here, and water on the pavement before I parked. Temps of 30 tonight.

Till tomorrow.....

PA based? Heavens no! I tried that with Knight and that really didn't work out. Wrong side of the Mason-Dixon Line for me.

I don't really have a "home terminal" here at CFI. I guess I could claim the terminal where I attended orientation, which is Taylor, Michigan.

8 January 2020

Got up this morning and drove from Beckley, W Va to the 1000 delivery in Elkin, NC. No icy problems along the way going over Flat Top or Fancy Gap (7 miles descent of 6% grade). Lots of big wind gusts though, moving me around at 76,000 lbs. Survived and pulled in at the final at 0937.

In the gate, docked, and unloaded by 1030! Hope I go back there again. Paperwork sent in, then wait for the next dispatch. No parking there, so I drive to the closest truck-friendly WalMart less than a mile away. Clock is running.....Anybody there???Waited there for right at two hours for the dispatch which was another live load, 87 miles south in Belmont, NC. Appointment time showed 0800....? Guess I'll fire up the time machine. Again.

Arrived at the place for a full load of plastic pellets made from recycled scraps. TINY lot, so took more than two pull ups to get in the dock, but I didn't roll through the grass and mud as others have before me, as I observed lots of tire tracks for those less savvy at backing. Loaded up in about an hour with 27 boxes for 42,525 lbs on their scales.

Once I left there, I'm already dreading what lack of parking I'm going to see after dark on I-40 in NC or TN. That is, once I finally am actually on I-40. First, I need to drive on hilly US Hwy 47 for 85 miles. About 37 stoplights, 35 to 65 mph speed limit changes, and 431 times going through the gears later, I'm cruising on I-40 after sunset. Finally did score a primo parking spot at the third rest area I tried, about 10 miles from the border with TN. Up and rolling hopefully by 0530 tomorrow on my way to the live unload delivery in Evansville, IN. Must be there before 1300, so easily doable with only 407 miles to go. Added bonus is that I gain an hour going to the Central Time Zone, which will be handy tomorrow when I need to stop for fuel in TN.

Today was one of those days that seemed longer than normal, probably because of all the long, slow mountain roads. I used up 6.9 hours of Driving for 348 miles, and 0.6 hours for On Duty time, for a total of 7.5 hours that I'll see coming back on recaps next week.

Not much excitement today, which is what we want.

*TRIVIA* I realized today that Fancy Gap in VA and Cabbage Hill in OR are the same distance and downgrade....6% for 7 miles. Cabbage you get a cool t shirt; Fancy Gap you get nothing! Why???

More journey tomorrow...