Sit sit sit drive drive drive....lol

Well, once we got under way from the seatbelt thing, we got us some freight and got going. Only to stop and wait. Again. Let me explain. Once the seatbelt thing was sorted out in our truck, my Mentor and I almost immediately got a load (albeit a short one) that went from Chambersburg, PA to Wilkes-barre, PA. I think the total paid mileage for the load was 143 miles. It was a mixed merchandise load for a major retailer. We bobtailed down (bobtail means "with no trailer") to Chambersburg and hook onto our trailer. My mentor then turns it over to me and off we go! It's a pretty easy run up I-81 and until we got to exit 107, it goes pretty smoothly. Then the rain started. Before too many more miles went by, the dash board warning came on to tell me that there were "freezing conditions". A couple more miles and the rain turned to snow. Fuckin marvelous. Now I was not feeling too good about this. When it's slippery, you have to be VERY gentle on the airbrakes and cannot use the "jake" brake (engine brake) as it could cause a skid or a jackknife. When using the air brakes, you have to be careful that the tractor wheels don't lock up or the trailer wheels don't lock up. In slippery conditions, it's actually easier to stop a heavy load because you can get on the brakes a bit harder. Anyway, back to the story. So we're cruising up I-81 at about 50 mph and getting blown around a bit by the wind when we come to our exit. Our exit is at the bottom of a hill and is a 15mph exit ramp as it curves under the highway. I did just manage to get it down the hill safely although I did see the trailer wheels start to slide at one point, but I let off the air and managed to recover it. We dropped that load and headed over to Wal-Mart for the night.

The next day, we headed up to Mountain Top, PA to a major sports drink bottler to pick up a load of this particular alligator related drink. This load was HEAVY. VERY HEAVY. When we went to the scales to weigh it, (to make sure we're in the legal limit) we weighed 79,640 pounds. (Legal limit is 80,000 lbs) Fun huh? We ended up taking this load about 480 miles south on I-81 to Wyethville, VA where this drink company has a distribution facility. Now is when the wait comes in. We dropped this load at 9AM and were back to the truckstop by 10:30. We did some laundry, got a bite to eat, and waited. And waited. And waited.....

Finally we gave up and went to bed.

The next day, we found out that we were assigned a load from Johnson City, TN to North East Texas. Trouble was, it wouldn't be ready until the next morning at 9 am. So we ended up just putzing around the Flying J truckstop all day. I managed to catch "Smokey and the Bandit" in the drivers lounge while we waited. I seem to remember someone asking me and the 4 or 5 other drivers why we watch trucking movies in our off time, which is a very good question!

The next AM, we drove down to Johnson city and picked up our new trailer. I drove the length of Tennessee (About 340 miles) to the terminal in Memphis, then my Mentor drove the rest of the way from Memphis to Texas while I tried to sleep. We expected to be able to drop the trailer at the customer a day early (which is why we were hauling ass to get there) and get another load to get us home for the holidays. When we awoke in Texas, we called the home improvement warehouse's warehouse and asked about the early drop. Nope. Not a chance. Fuck. Guess we're sitting in Texas for 24 hours before we can get rid of this damn thing. So we did at a little Loves truck stop. That evening, my mentor drove to the drop-off and then he drove to our next pickup in Ft. Smith, AR. while I slept.

Early the next morning, we picked up a load of Johnny Walker liquor bound for New Jersey. My Mentor hit the bunk and I drove across AR to Memphis to get fuel again, and then part way across TN. We stopped for the night and both slept soundly until the next day, when I drove the rest of TN and all of Virginia, stopping in Martinsburg, WV for fuel. My mentor drove from there to exit 77 in PA where Karen picked me up for the holidays. My mentor finished the run to NJ and is now headed home to Ohio.

Sounds like fun huh? I'll be leaving the day after Christmas to do it some more, and I'll keep you updated about that.

Until then, Happy Holidays!
Russ