Atlanta,GA

I have to say that getting back into the swing of things running team is harder than you would think. After sleeping in a non-moving truck or in an actual bed for the past month, I am having a hard time getting used to sleeping with the truck moving again. I have been exhausted the past few days from going to bed too late and not getting enough sleep. I think part of that is also that I have missed J so I want to spend time talking to him when I should be sleeping. I better get out of that habit real quick!

Last time you heard from me we were in Weatherford,TX. We ended up and got a load that afternoon heading to Florida with three drops. Our daughter Jessica drove out to Weatherford to have lunch with us which was a really nice treat. After that, J took a nap until it was time to pick up the load. See, another solo driver had picked it up in Plainview,TX and was on his way to drop the load at the drop lot we use in Saginaw,TX. Once we got word that the load was there, J got up and we headed out.

The first part of the trip was uneventful. He drove and got us to Natchitoches,LA. From there I took over and got us to the first rest area on I-10 inside the Florida state line. From there J took over and got us to within about 100 miles of the first receiver.

The first drop was in Port Everglades, which is the actual sea port there in Ft Lauderdale. The gates didn't open until 0500 local so we had to kill a little time before we could take off. J was exhausted and went to bed and I went ahead and did our trip paperwork and got all of that scanned so that we could get paid. Then I headed out and made it there about 45 minutes early.

As I was driving in, I realized that this was a Port and I was figuring that I was going to have to use my TWIC card to gain entry. Then I had to remember where it was. LOL Since we have had them, maybe about six months, we have yet to have to use them. I knew it was either in my wallet or up in the pocket above the passenger seat. As it turns out, they didn't even ask for it. They just wanted my drivers license and made me a temporary Port ID. I was kind of bummed since we spent money on the TWIC card and I didn't even get to use it. On the bright side, I didn't have to dig it out either!

Since I made it to the first receiver, I got lucky and got a good dock. It isn't an extremely small place, but it certainly isn't big. So I got a really good door with room to maneuver when I was backing in. If I had been ten minutes later, I would have gotten a dock that would have been harder to back into and closer to the fence. The only problem I did have was that I showed I had an 0700 appt and they showed I had a 1000 hrs appt. Not good. Luckily I was only unloading five pallets, so they worked me in, which was really nice. Especially since my second appointment was at noon.

While I was sitting there waiting to get unloaded, I pulled up Google Earth to have a look at my second drop and see what it looked like. From the looks of it, I knew it was going to be TIGHT. And I knew it was going to be one of the hardest backs yet. But I was up for the challenge! So as soon as I got unloaded, I headed over there with a positive attitude, ready to tackle this backing job.

I made it over there with no problem. As I was making the turn which put me on the last street I needed before my last turn, I realized we were going to have a problem. This was an even tinier street than it looked on Google. I had to take up two of the three lanes to start the turn and the WHOLE street I was turning onto. Not to mention having to have to wait for numerous idiot four-wheelers so that I could make the turn. Note to you four-wheel drivers out there. If you see a truck stopped with a blinker on trying to make a turn and you are behind him, PLEASE stop so that we can make the turn and get out of everyone elses way. And if you are on the street that we are turning on and are coming down the street towards us, STOP and give us room to finish making the turn. Don't keep coming and stop right in front of us where we can't make the turn. Did you not see the truck coming right at you? And then don't have the nerve to give us a dirty look or the finger when YOU have to back up so we can finish making the turn. Believe me, we are NOT going to be the ones backing up. Also, those thick white lines at intersections, which are your stopping points, they are there for a reason. Most of the time, if you stop right before that line, that WILL give a truck enough room to make the turn. If you stop past that line, you will be having to back up for us to make the turn. Those lines are actually there for a reason and they have a purpose. That is why they are called the stop line, not the "cross this point and stop five feet in front of it line." Ok, tiny rant over, on with the blog. LOL

After finally making that turn, I get down a few blocks to make my turn where the receiver is. This is an even smaller street and it is what used to be a residential street but now has businesses on it. The property is on my left and has a chain link fence around it with two concrete poles at the driveway and has three docks. But the only one that you can get a semi into is the dock on the south side closest to the fence because you need all that room to get backed in. Also the street is only big enough for a semi to go down it, and not room for anyone to pass. Then, you have cars parked parallel on both sides of the street. Shit! Time to wake J up! J gets up and jumps out while I put my headset on and he calls me. He has to tell me exactly when to stop, when to pull up and which way to turn the steering wheel, because it is so tight, I can't see everything. I finally got backed in, because J is great at being able to look and see which direction I need to go and how far, and he is able to tell me to where I understand. I will say though that everyone had stopped what they were doing and had come out to make sure I didn't hit their vehicles. HAHA Or it could have been the fact that the catering truck was out waiting on me to get parked so he could pull into the business across the street. See, it was break time and I think everyone was waiting on the "roach coach" as we like to call them so they could get something to eat. Hell, even we got something once I turned the truck off. They always have awesome food.

Feeling pretty good about managing to get backed into that dock, and with a full belly, we tried to decide what to do about our last drop. It was only about 1100 hrs local while we were sitting there, but our last drop wasn't scheduled until 1800 hours, THE NEXT DAY. Dispatch had called and they said they couldn't reschedule. We decided to try our luck and just go show up and see if they would unload us a day early. When we got there, I told them that we were a day early, but that we just hated for their product to sit on our truck a whole day since we were already right there. I turned on the charm, believe me. :) Wouldn't you know it, even though it took about 5 hours total to get us worked in and unloaded, but it worked. They must have liked my smile! LOL!!!!

We were excited to get unloaded and figured we would have to wait until the next morning for a load. Nope. Got one right away to head over to Bradenton,FL to pick up a heavy ass juice load for a cheap ass rate. Neither of us was really happy about it, but it beat sitting. The only problem is that we had a dirty trailer that we needed washed out. We decided to head towards Bradenton and find one on the way. We made a quick stop at the Seminole Truck Stop on US 27 about 4 miles south of I-75. Yet another place with kick ass burgers. OMG they were delicious. Definitely worth driving the 4 miles off the interstate for. Note to any driver that reads this: They charge $10 for overnight parking. But they won't charge you if you are just stopping to eat. Also, the little restaurant is all outdoors with covered seating and the bar is an actual Tiki Hut. Very cool. But the mesquitos will eat you alive, no joke!

After eating, I headed to bed and J hauled butt over to pick up the load and find a trailer wash along the way. Only problem was that there isn't a single freaking trailer washout in the whole souther part of Florida that we could find. And the closest one up in Tampa, 40 miles north of where we needed to be, closed at 2300 and didn't open until 0700. So that wouldn't work. We ended up switching trailers with another Prime driver that was up in Tampa at a hotel getting a restart on his hours. Funny thing is, after the face, we realize that is is U2Exit who posts over on Primedrivers.net. Small world. I sent him a message apologizing for the cluster and thanking him so much for letting us have his trailer. We had a meat load that we had emptied and we HAVE to have a washout after those loads to make sure there is no blood in the trailer. Health regulations and all. So he was a life saver for us but it screwed him on his end. So I told him to tell his FM that our FM owes him, BIG TIME!

After finally getting the trailer switched out, the load picked up and scaled, J was able to wake me up and it was my turn to take over. I headed out this morning and ended my day in Atlanta,GA around 1545 hours. Our appt is at 0200 in the morning (our time) and we aren't going to make it on time. But I figure it isn't our fault that Florida doesn't have any dang trailer washes and that our Sales department over-booked Florida with too many loads and not enough drivers in the area to handle them. We will get there as soon as we safely and legally can. We have bumped our speed up to 65, which is still 5 mph slower than the speed limit, but we still won't make it. J has the mountains of Tennessee and Kentucky to get through and that will slow him down. We will just do what we can do.