Been a little busy over last two weeks. I got home and had nothing but doctor appointments. I had to travel to Houston on Tuesday to have a CAT Scan of my ear. I had one last year and discovered the ear canal on my right ear had started closing up again. The doctor wanted another this year to compare the pictures.
Had a visit to my family doctor on Wednesday, hadn't seen him since last year and he figured I better show up before he rewrote my prescriptions again. Then back to Houston on Thursday to see the ENT. He was pleased in the fact that the pictures were the same as last year, so it wasn't any worse. Still don't hear very good out of it though. Nothing much to be done, going through that surgery again would not be much fun.
I spent rest of the day Thursday and most of Friday trying to install Windows 7 on the home computer to upgrade it from Vista. It upgraded fine and did some installs on new drivers. Had 31 updates from Windows that downloaded. Then shut it down and went to bed Thursday night. Got up Friday morning and computer wouldn't boot up at all. Just sat there and beeped at me. Got on line chat with HP tech and after a bit he told me the Windows 7 needed minimum of 1 GB RAM to boot properly. So off to town to get a 2 GB RAM to stick in the computer. Plugged it in and still didn't work. I had to go back to work so like the sucker I am, let Pat call Geek Squad to come out and get it started. They said on the phone would be $130 to come out and get it going. He came out on the following Wednesday and since I had pulled out the 2 GB RAM with the intention of taking it back, he stuck it in the computer, started it up and then informed Pat that since he had installed hardware it would be another $20 charge on top of the $130. So tax and all he got $160 left and the computer froze up. Every time Pat turned it on it froze up again. Got Pat to call Microsoft and they ran through a custom install, lost the programs but got it started up. Complained to Best Buy and Pat got a $20 gift card since no one informed us they were going to charge extra for the 2 second installation of the RAM chip until after he installed it. Then I spent a couple of hours on the phone with Pat last night talking her through reinstalling anti virus and a driver for the printer and now, finally, the computer is up and running with Windows 7 on it. For all I spent upgrading it, I could have added $100 and bought a new tower that had Windows 7 already on it.
I left out on Saturday going back to work. Got a load out of Tyler going to Knoxville, TN and got to stop by and visit Mom at Charlie's. Got fed.
Delivered on Monday and they surprised me by sending me all the way to Kennesaw, GA to pick up a load to deliver Tuesday night to a grocery warehouse in Brookhaven, MS. I made it to Meridian that Monday evening with the load. I got up early and drove on over to Brookhaven. I did not deliver until 11pm Tuesday night so I had to set all day. Another one of those time where I lay down in the afternoon and try to nap before a late night delivery. Never works and didn't work that day either. It took them saps until 5:30 am to get me unloaded.
They sent me over to Monticello, MS about 20 miles away to pick up a load at Georgia Pacific going to Springfield, MO. I drove up to Harrison, AR in the northwestern corner before shutting down for the night. I was up 38 hours before finally getting some sleep. Don't like doing that, but since I can't take naps in the daytime, it happens every time I get a late night delivery.
I delivered the load in Springfield the next morning and was sent up to Meta, MO to pick up a load of dog food going to Tractor Supply warehouse in Waco, TX. Meta, MO is just south of Jefferson City, MO and there is no easy way to get there in a truck. Forty miles of very narrow curvy Missouri roads.
I delivered the load in Waco Friday afternoon and then got a real good load. I was sent over to Ennis, TX to pick up a load of vinyl siding going to Utah with 4 drops. The first on in St. George, UT. This is at the very southern tip of Utah and I had to drive over to Flagstaff, AZ and north on US-89 up to Page, AZ where I crossed over Lake Powell. Beautiful area that I had never seen before. Not much green, but a lot of red and grey rock. This is the heart of the Navajo Nation. There are roadside stands every 10 miles or so where they sell their wares.
Taking a lot of pictures, which I do more of when I see new things. Will post these in a few days.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Something to Ponder
THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER
This one is a little different… Two Different Versions... Two Different Morals!
OLD VERSION
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.
MORAL OF THE OLD STORY:
Be responsible for yourself!
MODERN VERSION
The ant works hard in the withering heat and the rain all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant
is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while he is cold and starving.
CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled
with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green...'
ACORN stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, “We shall overcome.” Then Rev. Jeremiah Wright has the group kneel down to pray for the grasshopper's sake.
President Obama condemns the ant and blames President Bush, President Reagan, Christopher Columbus, and the Pope for the grasshopper's plight.
Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant
has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.
Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government Green Czar
and given to the grasshopper.
The story ends as we see the grasshopper and his free-loading friends finishing up the last bits of the ant’s food while the government house he is in, which, as you recall, just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around them because the grasshopper doesn't maintain it.
The ant has disappeared in the snow, never to be seen again. The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident, and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the ramshackle, once prosperous and peaceful, neighborhood.
The entire Nation collapses bringing the rest of the free world with it.
MORAL OF THE STORY:
Be careful how you vote in 2010.
This one is a little different… Two Different Versions... Two Different Morals!
OLD VERSION
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.
MORAL OF THE OLD STORY:
Be responsible for yourself!
MODERN VERSION
The ant works hard in the withering heat and the rain all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant
is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while he is cold and starving.
CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled
with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green...'
ACORN stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, “We shall overcome.” Then Rev. Jeremiah Wright has the group kneel down to pray for the grasshopper's sake.
President Obama condemns the ant and blames President Bush, President Reagan, Christopher Columbus, and the Pope for the grasshopper's plight.
Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant
has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.
Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government Green Czar
and given to the grasshopper.
The story ends as we see the grasshopper and his free-loading friends finishing up the last bits of the ant’s food while the government house he is in, which, as you recall, just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around them because the grasshopper doesn't maintain it.
The ant has disappeared in the snow, never to be seen again. The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident, and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the ramshackle, once prosperous and peaceful, neighborhood.
The entire Nation collapses bringing the rest of the free world with it.
MORAL OF THE STORY:
Be careful how you vote in 2010.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
This Week
Been busy. After Metairie, LA I picked up a load of imported coffee going to Cincinnati, OH. From Cincinnati picked up a load of plastic bottles going to Harrisonville, MO just south of Kansas City, MO.
Then got stuck, they had loads that would get me home for home time, but I didn't have the hours to get them delivered by the appointment time. Ended up getting a load (after being offered 3 different loads I couldn't deliver) that picked up after midnight Friday night going to Houston. Doesn't deliver until Monday so a lot of time wasted. Wouldn't have been so picky but have a CAT Scan on my ear that follows one I had last year for a comparison. Had to get in by Monday in order to drive back to Houston to get it done on Tuesday morning. Ended up losing money this week by not moving much over 4 days.
Ever now and then I get low on fuel on these trips. Everything is done by computer when you get your load assignment. When you report in that you are empty you also let them know how much fuel you have. Their Fuel Solution computer system assigns you fuel stops along the way on your next load. The computer is a little ignorant when it comes to head winds, or heavy loads and mountains though. Sometimes I have to call my home terminal and request an extra fuel stop. It is imperative that you stay on top of your fuel mileage and know how much you are burning. I have become pretty accurate with it over the years.
I have a digital reading on the dash that gives your miles per gallon read out, which is an estimate that is rarely right on the money but at least within 5 gallons or so usually. The fuel gauge is all but useless. It does OK until it hits a 1/4 of a tank. Then the orange warning light comes on and the gauge drops like a rock down to the "E" within a hundred miles. This gets a little disconcerting to say the least. The digital readout saying you have used approximately 140 gallons and the gauge says much more. I have two 100 gallon tanks on the truck. You can only get 95 gallons maximum in each tank, then as a rule you can only pick up all but about 10 gallons out of each tank. So that is 170 gallons of usable fuel. I have run down to 160 gallons once. Didn't like the feeling much since the gauge had been sitting on "E" for almost 200 miles. Normally I never let myself use more than 150 gallons without getting fuel somewhere. I think I did that one just to check and see if I could have a heart attack. Didn't work.
Then got stuck, they had loads that would get me home for home time, but I didn't have the hours to get them delivered by the appointment time. Ended up getting a load (after being offered 3 different loads I couldn't deliver) that picked up after midnight Friday night going to Houston. Doesn't deliver until Monday so a lot of time wasted. Wouldn't have been so picky but have a CAT Scan on my ear that follows one I had last year for a comparison. Had to get in by Monday in order to drive back to Houston to get it done on Tuesday morning. Ended up losing money this week by not moving much over 4 days.
Ever now and then I get low on fuel on these trips. Everything is done by computer when you get your load assignment. When you report in that you are empty you also let them know how much fuel you have. Their Fuel Solution computer system assigns you fuel stops along the way on your next load. The computer is a little ignorant when it comes to head winds, or heavy loads and mountains though. Sometimes I have to call my home terminal and request an extra fuel stop. It is imperative that you stay on top of your fuel mileage and know how much you are burning. I have become pretty accurate with it over the years.
I have a digital reading on the dash that gives your miles per gallon read out, which is an estimate that is rarely right on the money but at least within 5 gallons or so usually. The fuel gauge is all but useless. It does OK until it hits a 1/4 of a tank. Then the orange warning light comes on and the gauge drops like a rock down to the "E" within a hundred miles. This gets a little disconcerting to say the least. The digital readout saying you have used approximately 140 gallons and the gauge says much more. I have two 100 gallon tanks on the truck. You can only get 95 gallons maximum in each tank, then as a rule you can only pick up all but about 10 gallons out of each tank. So that is 170 gallons of usable fuel. I have run down to 160 gallons once. Didn't like the feeling much since the gauge had been sitting on "E" for almost 200 miles. Normally I never let myself use more than 150 gallons without getting fuel somewhere. I think I did that one just to check and see if I could have a heart attack. Didn't work.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Weekly report
About all I get to now adays...
Delivered over in Alsip, IL, then loaded just north of there at Northlake, IL going to Menomonie, WI for the next day. They sent me from there over to Green Bay, WI to pick up a load from Georgia Pacific going to a grocery warehouse in Monroe, MI on south side of Detroit. It delivered at 1 am Thursday morning. Love those.
There was a truck stop 3 blocks from the warehouse so I was able to get in there in the morning and park and try to sleep before delivery. Got lucky and got 4 or 5 hours before getting up. It took them 3 hours to get me unloaded, wasn't busy they were just slow. From there I drove down to Lima, OH to pick up a load from Procter and Gamble going to Procter and Gamble in Pineville, LA. This load was supposed to be ready at 8 am when I got there, but they had problems and it was 1pm before I finally got the load. That was fun since I had been up since midnight. I got down to Louisville, KY though and went straight to bed. Got up early as soon as my 10 hour break was up and drove hard down to Brookhaven, MS. I needed to get as far as fast as I could because it had to be delivered before 4am on Saturday morning. The 5 hour delay getting the load messed me up on being able to take my time.
Getting up at midnight Friday night, I made it into Pineville with about 30 minutes to spare. They loaded me out of the same plant going to Cleburne, TX on the south side of Ft Worth and it had to be delivered same day. So had to hot foot it over there. Wasn't hard drive since I did get a good night's rest before hand for a change. Once I dropped the load at Walmart, I drove a mile away and picked up a load of insulation from Johns Manville going to Metairie, LA for Monday morning. Stopping at the terminal south of Dallas and waiting to get my truck serviced this afternoon. Hopefully....
If they get me in tonight then I will drive on down to Metairie tomorrow and park until Monday morning.
Delivered over in Alsip, IL, then loaded just north of there at Northlake, IL going to Menomonie, WI for the next day. They sent me from there over to Green Bay, WI to pick up a load from Georgia Pacific going to a grocery warehouse in Monroe, MI on south side of Detroit. It delivered at 1 am Thursday morning. Love those.
There was a truck stop 3 blocks from the warehouse so I was able to get in there in the morning and park and try to sleep before delivery. Got lucky and got 4 or 5 hours before getting up. It took them 3 hours to get me unloaded, wasn't busy they were just slow. From there I drove down to Lima, OH to pick up a load from Procter and Gamble going to Procter and Gamble in Pineville, LA. This load was supposed to be ready at 8 am when I got there, but they had problems and it was 1pm before I finally got the load. That was fun since I had been up since midnight. I got down to Louisville, KY though and went straight to bed. Got up early as soon as my 10 hour break was up and drove hard down to Brookhaven, MS. I needed to get as far as fast as I could because it had to be delivered before 4am on Saturday morning. The 5 hour delay getting the load messed me up on being able to take my time.
Getting up at midnight Friday night, I made it into Pineville with about 30 minutes to spare. They loaded me out of the same plant going to Cleburne, TX on the south side of Ft Worth and it had to be delivered same day. So had to hot foot it over there. Wasn't hard drive since I did get a good night's rest before hand for a change. Once I dropped the load at Walmart, I drove a mile away and picked up a load of insulation from Johns Manville going to Metairie, LA for Monday morning. Stopping at the terminal south of Dallas and waiting to get my truck serviced this afternoon. Hopefully....
If they get me in tonight then I will drive on down to Metairie tomorrow and park until Monday morning.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Up the Pipe
I delivered to General Mills and then got another load out of the General Mills warehouse 15 miles east of there going up to Indian Trails, NC to a grocery warehouse there. I delivered it at 6 pm the next afternoon. Liked this grocery warehouse, they had me in and unloaded in 30 minutes. No lumper to mess with, just did their job. Wow, an anomaly.
Once unloaded they gave me a load sitting on their drop lot in Greensboro, NC 110 miles away that needed to deliver to York, PA asap. I still had to take a break before delivering it, so I only got up into southern Virginia before I went ahead and took a break. I was only picking up 5 hours to work with at midnight and only had 4 hours left for that day, so I couldn't work more than 9 hours total over 2 days anyway.
Friday morning I got up and drove back road up to Richmond, VA and jumped on I-95 going up to north of Baltimore. I call it the "pipe", running up 95 through Richmond, DC and Baltimore all in about 3 or 4 hours. Depends on severity of traffic. Going into DC there was a 30 mile backup going south, glad I was going north. It was only noon on Friday, where all them people were going was beyond me. Got around DC and headed up the 30 miles to Baltimore and there was an accident on the south side and another 4 mile backup, glad I was going north.
Made it up to York about 2:30 pm and dropped the load and was finally given one out of the Church & Dwight facility that I had just dropped in going to the Chicago area. My directions said it was not supposed to be ready until 9 am on Saturday which means I had to leave and there was no place for me to park for 30 miles. On a hunch I stopped by shipping office and found out they had just finished loading the load and it was ready to go. She had just brought in the paperwork for it, or dead tree. There were over 50 pages in the bill of lading. There were that many different products on the truck and it had 7 different P.O.'s.
I got out of there with it and it allowed me to get about a 140 miles up the road. I shut down for a day so I could restart my hours, and will get up Sunday morning and drive the 540 miles over to Gary, IN, and have a fresh start for the delivery on Monday morning.
Once unloaded they gave me a load sitting on their drop lot in Greensboro, NC 110 miles away that needed to deliver to York, PA asap. I still had to take a break before delivering it, so I only got up into southern Virginia before I went ahead and took a break. I was only picking up 5 hours to work with at midnight and only had 4 hours left for that day, so I couldn't work more than 9 hours total over 2 days anyway.
Friday morning I got up and drove back road up to Richmond, VA and jumped on I-95 going up to north of Baltimore. I call it the "pipe", running up 95 through Richmond, DC and Baltimore all in about 3 or 4 hours. Depends on severity of traffic. Going into DC there was a 30 mile backup going south, glad I was going north. It was only noon on Friday, where all them people were going was beyond me. Got around DC and headed up the 30 miles to Baltimore and there was an accident on the south side and another 4 mile backup, glad I was going north.
Made it up to York about 2:30 pm and dropped the load and was finally given one out of the Church & Dwight facility that I had just dropped in going to the Chicago area. My directions said it was not supposed to be ready until 9 am on Saturday which means I had to leave and there was no place for me to park for 30 miles. On a hunch I stopped by shipping office and found out they had just finished loading the load and it was ready to go. She had just brought in the paperwork for it, or dead tree. There were over 50 pages in the bill of lading. There were that many different products on the truck and it had 7 different P.O.'s.
I got out of there with it and it allowed me to get about a 140 miles up the road. I shut down for a day so I could restart my hours, and will get up Sunday morning and drive the 540 miles over to Gary, IN, and have a fresh start for the delivery on Monday morning.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Hoosier State
I spent the night at the Indianapolis terminal last night because I had an annual review that had to be filled out, along with watching a safety film. Took me a little extra time, but I only had 160 miles to go for my delivery and my load information said I could deliver up to 1 pm.
I got about half way up to Nappanee, IN and I stopped to call the customer to get directions since this was a new one. Should have called the day before, turns out that they stop receiving at noon instead of 1 pm. So I had to push it harder and I got there with about 15 minutes to spare.
Leaving Atlanta it was in the 90's and just hot. When I got up to northern Indiana it was rainy and 68 degrees. Kinda nice. Going north to south helps the spirits sometimes on the heat and humidity. Of course it works in reverse in the winter time.
After unloading my load of insulation at the mobile home manufacturer, I ran 40 miles east to Kendallville, IN to pick up a pre loaded trailer going to Covington, GA. Yep back to Atlanta. Can't get them loads like that in the winter time. The trailer only had 5 pallets of packaging on it going to General Mills. Cereal boxes I believe. I will deliver this one at 3 am Thursday morning.
I got about half way up to Nappanee, IN and I stopped to call the customer to get directions since this was a new one. Should have called the day before, turns out that they stop receiving at noon instead of 1 pm. So I had to push it harder and I got there with about 15 minutes to spare.
Leaving Atlanta it was in the 90's and just hot. When I got up to northern Indiana it was rainy and 68 degrees. Kinda nice. Going north to south helps the spirits sometimes on the heat and humidity. Of course it works in reverse in the winter time.
After unloading my load of insulation at the mobile home manufacturer, I ran 40 miles east to Kendallville, IN to pick up a pre loaded trailer going to Covington, GA. Yep back to Atlanta. Can't get them loads like that in the winter time. The trailer only had 5 pallets of packaging on it going to General Mills. Cereal boxes I believe. I will deliver this one at 3 am Thursday morning.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Back to Abi-Normal
Made it home on the 28th of June for 4 days. Supposedly...early the morning after I got home Pat fell and suffered serious sprain of her left ankle. Thought it might be broke. Took her to the doctor as soon as she was in and she sent us over for x-rays. I ended up taking 2 extra days off and didn't get back to work until July 6th. I had to wait until Pat was at least able to hobble around and take care of her self.
I picked up a load from Longview going to Hutchinson, KS for next day delivery. I unloaded early next morning and waited until 4 pm that afternoon before they gave me a load that picked up Friday morning in McPherson, KS going to Addison, AL. They said I could drop the load on the Kansas City yard since it did not deliver until the following Monday. I was supposed to be able to pick up the load anytime after midnight, so I tried to take a nap, didn't work, but went on over to pick up the load arriving about 12:30am. Wasn't ready. He told me they were loading it though and would call me when it was finished. Two hours later they called me in and gave me the paperwork and....whoa...load was going to Indiana. Wrong address and wrong bill of lading number. He double checked and told me that the load I was waiting on had a glitch in the bar codes, one product had two different codes and couldn't load the trailer until morning when the IT department came in and fixed it.
Well, thanks a lot. Could have told me that 2 hours before. Come to find out they had another load on the yard preloaded going to the same place. Dispatch canceled the original load and redispatched me on the other load. I drove over to Kansas City and dropped the load at 7 am. They then gave me a load that was loading in Kansas City going to Fairburn, GA outside Atlanta. It didn't unload until Monday either but I gained 200 miles.
When I showed up to pick up the load it was delayed because Nestle Purina could not decide what they wanted on the truck. I had to wait 2 hours for them to figure it out. That only left me 45 minutes to find a parking place before I ran out of hours.
It was only 12 noon when I shut down, but since I didn't get any sleep the previous night I was ready for bed this time. I woke up at midnight and ate some breakfast and headed out for Atlanta. I stopped in Murfreesboro, TN for the night, and was thinking of staying until early Monday morning before heading on down to Atlanta, but I had an air leak on the tractor and I left out next morning so I could try and get it fixed along the way.
I figured it was the small air bag that the back of the cab rode on, same thing I had the year before. It could be fixed at a TA truck stop and the only one was in Cartersville, GA. When I got on the south side of Chattanooga I sent a message to break down department and they surprised me by sending me to a truck shop in Chattanooga to get it fixed. I turned around and went the 5 miles back to town and down to the shop and sat and waited until the mechanic showed up. Took him 1 1/2 hours to show up. Took him 5 minutes to tell me he didn't have the part to fix it. Break down then sent me down to the TA truck stop...surprise. I sat outside their shop for 1 hour for an open bay. When he pulled me in it took him 5 minutes to jack up the cab, bleed the air bag, pull it off, slip on the new one, air it up....done. Total down time 4 1/2 hours from time I first called in.
Drove on down to Fairburn where I delivered this morning. Got a load now of insulation going up to Nappanee, IN for tomorrow.
I picked up a load from Longview going to Hutchinson, KS for next day delivery. I unloaded early next morning and waited until 4 pm that afternoon before they gave me a load that picked up Friday morning in McPherson, KS going to Addison, AL. They said I could drop the load on the Kansas City yard since it did not deliver until the following Monday. I was supposed to be able to pick up the load anytime after midnight, so I tried to take a nap, didn't work, but went on over to pick up the load arriving about 12:30am. Wasn't ready. He told me they were loading it though and would call me when it was finished. Two hours later they called me in and gave me the paperwork and....whoa...load was going to Indiana. Wrong address and wrong bill of lading number. He double checked and told me that the load I was waiting on had a glitch in the bar codes, one product had two different codes and couldn't load the trailer until morning when the IT department came in and fixed it.
Well, thanks a lot. Could have told me that 2 hours before. Come to find out they had another load on the yard preloaded going to the same place. Dispatch canceled the original load and redispatched me on the other load. I drove over to Kansas City and dropped the load at 7 am. They then gave me a load that was loading in Kansas City going to Fairburn, GA outside Atlanta. It didn't unload until Monday either but I gained 200 miles.
When I showed up to pick up the load it was delayed because Nestle Purina could not decide what they wanted on the truck. I had to wait 2 hours for them to figure it out. That only left me 45 minutes to find a parking place before I ran out of hours.
It was only 12 noon when I shut down, but since I didn't get any sleep the previous night I was ready for bed this time. I woke up at midnight and ate some breakfast and headed out for Atlanta. I stopped in Murfreesboro, TN for the night, and was thinking of staying until early Monday morning before heading on down to Atlanta, but I had an air leak on the tractor and I left out next morning so I could try and get it fixed along the way.
I figured it was the small air bag that the back of the cab rode on, same thing I had the year before. It could be fixed at a TA truck stop and the only one was in Cartersville, GA. When I got on the south side of Chattanooga I sent a message to break down department and they surprised me by sending me to a truck shop in Chattanooga to get it fixed. I turned around and went the 5 miles back to town and down to the shop and sat and waited until the mechanic showed up. Took him 1 1/2 hours to show up. Took him 5 minutes to tell me he didn't have the part to fix it. Break down then sent me down to the TA truck stop...surprise. I sat outside their shop for 1 hour for an open bay. When he pulled me in it took him 5 minutes to jack up the cab, bleed the air bag, pull it off, slip on the new one, air it up....done. Total down time 4 1/2 hours from time I first called in.
Drove on down to Fairburn where I delivered this morning. Got a load now of insulation going up to Nappanee, IN for tomorrow.
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