Decatur,AL

Here I am slacking once again. This solo stuff will wear you out I am telling you! I am on my second load since I posted last, so I will get you caught up.

As I was sitting at the Chex Truck Stop in Henderson last Saturday night, watching Milo & Otis on DVD, I finally get a load. After calling to make sure I could pick it up any time, I head to bed. My 34 was up at 0300, so I was up and on my way.

This load picked up in Southport,NC which was almost 200 miles away. It was a loaded trailer but the info said they didn't open until 0700, so I didn't have to bust ass down there. I did however have to find a fuel stop. I was supposed to get fuel at the Chex, but for whatever reason, there was a sign on the door stating that they were closed until 0500. Not sure if that is a normal thing or not, but I had to find another place to get fuel.

I found a Pilot a few miles south on I-95 where I crossed over it and got my fuel and continued on my way. Now I have been fairly lucky this time out being solo. About 3/4 of the loads I have gotten or have delivered have all been to places that I have been before. That makes it really nice when I don't have J and his extra set of eyes and ears here to help me. This place in Southport was one of the places I had been before, so it was easy to find again. Although, I am still wondering why, on a two lane road down to the shipper, they decided there was a need for a traffic circle. It looks pretty, but no where near large enough for trucks. I left some nice tire marks on the center of it, which is mainly concrete. Along with numerous other tire marks from other trucks!

After I picked up this load, I had to decide which way I was going to go to make my delivery in Chicago. I could have taken I-40 back west and hit I-77 north and then cut across Ohio. But last week I drove I-77 and it was a killer on my fuel mileage. My other option was to cut across the top of South Carolina and hit I-20, then from there I could take I-26 to I-40 to I-75 to I-74 to I-65. That is the route I chose to go. It was only about 50 miles further, but I could make much better time on it. Since I got up at 0300 and drove the 200 miles to Southport, I got another 350 in and then stopped for the night just south of the NC border on I-26.

The next day I drove another 550 or so and that put me within about 140 miles of Chicago. I got up early and headed out about 0230. I wanted to make sure I beat as much of the traffic as I could since I was delivering into Chicago, and not a suburb. I was going to have to watch for low clearances and my turns and figured the least amount of traffic to watch for, the better. I managed to make it to the receiver around 0630. One quick bathroom stop on the way and then some traffic, but certainly not bad. I was VERY happy to finally pull up to the place and set the brakes. Definitely could have used J that morning. Since the place wasn't open yet, I took Smokey for a walk and we saw some ducks and baby ducks. So darn cute!

Finally they show up and start getting me unloaded. I was done by around 0930 and had sent my depart macro. I asked which way I should go out and got good directions from them. Seems if I would have headed out to the right I would have gotten stuck at the corner. Not enough room for the trailer to make the turn they said. So I headed out the way I came. Sure enough, I drove past the other end of the block as I was leaving, and they weren't kidding. No way I would have made that turn.

With no new load info, I decided the best course of action would be to head to one of the service plazas on I-294. I headed to the O'Hare one since it was the closest. I guess around 1140 I received my next load. I was pickin gup at Cargill in Beardstown,IL which was 240 miles away and delivering to Birmingham,AL. YES!! This is my load back to J territory! The only problem was that I didn't know if I could make it to the shipper before my 14 ran out at 1630 hours. I headed that direction, but I knew it was going to be close. I HAD to stop for fuel, no getting around that, but I managed to do that in just 15 minutes. Back on the road, I pulled into their gate at 1640. A few minutes over, but that was the best I could do.

I was able to check in, and of course my load wasn't ready. My work assignment said that I could pick it up any time before 0200 on Wednesday morning. This was Thursday afternoon when I arrived. They had me give them my name and truck number and said they would come get me when my load was ready. I knew I couldn't legally drive until 0230 so I figured I was going to get some good sleep. I made a few calls and by about 1800 I was sound asleep.

I actually got come decent sleep. Their knock on my door at 0140 is what woke me up. That gave me about 7.5 hours of sleep so I was ready to roll. After finding the trailer, scaling and getting my paperwork, I was headed towards my baby!

I am stopped for the night here in Decatur,AL. I only have 77 miles to go from here to the receiver which is Associated Grocers in Birmingham. From there I am guessing I will just deadhead to Atlanta,GA and drop the trailer in a drop lot we use. From there I will head north and spend a few days with J and see what I can do to help him!