Not really much interesting happening, except that I finally got the hell out of the northeast for a bit. I bought a new camera at a Meijer in Lima, OH and have been trying it out. Too bad there's not a lot worth photographing out in this area of the country.
On August 22nd last year (click here for a refresher), I mentioned a rather painful run through Ohio on two-lane highways. The other day, I got to re-experience that in daylight, without the fog and deer. Man, that made it a lot easier, and even more so because I was empty and didn't have to keep downshifting to make those hills.
Even better, I have some photos of OH-93:
Not nearly as fearsome as I remembered it, but the 55mph speed limit still seemed awfully optimistic. The frequent 25mph curves kept me down to about 45 max. Very pretty country, though.
Monday and Tuesday were good days.
On Monday, I made my delivery in Milton, PA and just as I was getting back onto I80 to head back to the Petro, a TriState straight truck passed me that looked suspiciously like some photos I've seen on Pumpkindriver.com. I made a phone call, and sure enough, it was Wolfeman, who I'd been hoping to meet for a while now. Had a good breakfast and good conversation with him.
Tuesday was even better. I got a load assignment that delivers in Fredericksburg, VA this morning. Greg, a friend of mine from high school lives in Ruther Glen, about 20 miles south. Haven't seen him since around New Year's 1995. Even better, he invited ANOTHER friend of ours (Scott) so I got to chill with TWO relics of my high school days for an evening of pasta, beer, attempts at trombone playing, and other old fuddy-duddy debauchery. Lots of reminiscing, and Scott brought along some artifacts from Frankfurt American High School that he swiped when the school closed in 1995.
The shame of it all was that I left my camera in the truck. We had almost half of the 1993-1994 Frankfurt American High School advanced band trombone section reunited (missing Jason, Alaine, Raymond, Doug, and Joe) and I couldn't even get a picture. Oh well. A good time was still had by all.
And who says truck drivers don't get good benefits?
Something about Pennsylvania this week. I can't stay out of here. In fact, this weekend, I can't GET out of here.
Just a couple of pictures of splattered bugs set against the backdrop of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
So after delivering the HazMat goop in Winchester, VA, I pull some dead chickens overnight to Vineland, NJ. Thinking I was clever and positioning myself better to get to my next load, I drove out to Carney's Point and awaited my next dispatch. "Get Thine Ass Back To Vineland," sez the Qualcomm.
It's a load of produce bound for Bedford, PA and Washington Court House, OH. Made those deliveries and got ANOTHER produce load from Springfield, OH to Pottsville, PA and delivered it this morning. That load paid $2.48/mile. Great!
The problem is that this IS Pennsylvania, and it IS Saturday. Nobody ships on the weekends in the northeast, and even more so since Prime is in negotiations with shippers working on getting better rates.
Got my next load assignment, and it appears that I wont' be leaving the state for a while yet. Joy!
Yesterday was a fun day. I delivered the last of my tomatoes in Taunton, Massachusetts and get caught up on a little sleep. "BZZZZZ!" goes the noisy Qualcomm, several times over as my next assignment comes in.
Pick up a load in Nashua, New Hampshire. Ok. Pick up the rest of the load in Wilmington, Massachusetts, a whopping 26 miles away. Ok. Deliver it to Winchester, Virginia. Ok. It's HazMat. Uh, ok. I guess that's why it paid $1.48/mile to the truck even though it originated in an area notorious for crappy freight rates.
I accomplish the pickups with little fanfare (though the locals there sure do swear a lot. not because they're mad at me, but because it's punctuation to them) and zip off to the great unknown.
After I get onto the Mass Pike, I start feeling insanely hungry. No problem, I've got a fuel stop in Sturbridge, I'll just eat there. At that moment, I see the Westborough Service Plaza ahead and they have a d'Angelo's, and a Philly cheese steak is sounding mighty good.
I pull off and park (who is the dumb shit that designed the truck parking here?? do they have any clue as to what size a truck actually is?) , run inside, and get my grub. While going back to my truck, I notice another Prime truck parked out front that looked like I should know it somehow. So I sneak up on it and grab the number (69035) and note that it is REALLY familiar and I have a hunch as to who it belongs to.
I go back to my truck, fire up the ol' laptop and aircard and confirm my suspicions. It belongs to TNet and DrJoe, newly annointed Prime drivers from the Pumpkin world. I forget my food, run over to their truck lest they drive away and squandor this historic moment, and start banging on their door. Hmmm... the only answer is this dog inside barking and generally trying (failing) to be threatening. I decide to wait it out.
Sure enough, a guy comes out of the plaza with the "What the hell are you doing around my truck" demeanor and I stop him dead in his tracks asking if he is Joe. I introduce myself and it's just a party from there on.
Very, very nice people. And it was fun to be a stalker, if only for a little while.
Oh, and I delivered the nasty HazMat this morning, too.
Why yes, folks, that is really a picture of the George Washington Bridge going into New York City, taken by me today. Amazingly enough, NYC was easy to get through. You see a little backup in the picture because the Port Authority Fire Department was doing something that required the right hand lane to be blocked off. What it was, I have no idea. It looked like they were just standing around talking to me.
The good news is that I didn't actually deliver in New York City. In fact, I never deliver there. And I never will. Not my cup of tea. But I had to endure the drive through to get to Massachusetts for the last two stops of this load.
There was actually going to be a point to this post, but I'm too tired to remember it and can't be bothered to care. So here's a picture of a Wyoming sunrise that I took a couple of months ago:
It's another day and another time for me to rip the trucking world a new asshole. Well, I guess that's what I'm doing. I don't think I am, but that's how everyone is going to take it, so who the hell am I to argue?
"Respect" is a word that is increasingly bandied about by truckers. Mostly when they bitch about not getting any of it. I guess everyone's a Rodney Dangerfield these days. It's really getting irritating because nobody seems to understand what it actually means, or why they should or shouldn't be getting it.
My question to you, my select group of truckers who don't get no respect, is this: what are you doing to earn respect? Do you think you deserve respect just because you're a trucker or even just because you're alive? La-de-fucking-da, guys. I'm a trucker too, and I'm also alive. But I don't whine about not getting respect. I don't demand that everyone kisses my ass simply because I haul consumer commodities.
I get respect because I give respect. I don't go screaming at the poor clerks in the shipping or receiving office because the loaders/unloaders aren't working according to my schedule. I take the time to understand that the world is larger than my and my piddling little needs. I don't regard customers as enemies. I do my damnedest not to inconvenience or endanger people. I bathe regularly. I don't get mouthy on the CB.
You want respect? Then tell me this: what are you doing to help make the lives of the people you interact with today a little easier?
On Tuesday, I had a great opportunity. I passed through Charlotte, NC on my way to Pennsylvania and had a lot of time on the load. That meant that I could stop and see an old friend from college that I hadn't seen in 13 years. Holy crap, that is a long damned time.
Got to hang out for a couple of hours and shoot the breeze, catch up on events passed. Tommy, if you ever read this, it was good seein' ya! Hope we can do it again sometime.
Now to dig up some other friends I haven't seen lately.
Oh, Jessica, if you read this, don't get offended because I came through North Carolina and didn't see you, sis. I just saw you a couple of months ago. Get over yourself. (My family is such a loving bunch)
Seems like every time I leave the house, I get saddled with some crap that another driver couldn't be bothered to get fixed. I was dispatched to pick up some dead cows today, which is a nice and easy drop and hook at the dead cow factory.
I inspect the loaded trailer. Hey, not one, but TWO flat tires. Whee! And the only shop in the area is 20 miles in the wrong direction. Seriously, one of the tires didn't even have the bead seated. What the hell is wrong with people?
