Comments By Mike B.

Day 40

Last night I was able to shut down pretty early, run to the truckstop to fuel and get a shower in. Also bought another coffee pot. Got an early start and was in W. Springfield by 6:00 Untarped while waiting for another truck to get unloaded. Was able to get out of there pretty quick and headed to Rockland. had a 45 minute delay on 90w but other than that it was a good ride. Get to the receiver, get unloaded and get my next plan. Up to Newington, NH again headed to Williston, VT. Already know it's going to be a live load as my last 3 times there were.

Yup live load but this time there are only a few trucks in front of me. While waiting I did some planning and this was going to be a 23:00 delivery appt. I figured if I was loaded soon enough I could get there and park and they could unload me at 23:00. I call dispatch and filled them in and at that time I learned that it was for Thursday night at 23:00 and not Weds night. So let me get this straight. You want me to sit in Williston, VT for 29 hours before I can get unloaded? Yeaaaaa that's not happening. I had asked dispatch for either Friday or Monday off whichever was easier and they said Friday. I now understand why. I would have been home Friday morning at 4:00 after working all night..

So I get to Williston at 18:00 go in and find someone who has some knowledge of receiving and they tell me just park up front, get unstrapped, and have the tarps ready for a 22:00 unload. Long story short the guy comes out to unload me and says did you know this was/is a Thursday night appt. ? Umm no, really?

Get unloaded by 12:00 and head over to our Williston terminal to shut down. Absolute ghost town at the terminal but a huge parking area. I sent an empty call at midnight and never got anything back. hmmm I get up the next morning and send another empty call this time I get a message back saying "cannot empty, unit 41015 not dispatched" Well at this point I had a rock that had hit my windshield on the way to Williston it left a 1/2 dollar sized chip/crack and the truck was overdue for a PM. So I head back to the Concord terminal. The shop said maybe Monday by the earliest to get everything done.. ehh

Day 39

Get up early so I can Run to Dunkin Donuts up the road before my clock starts. Go back and get hooked up to my load and pre-trip. 91s was good but as soon as I hit 95s it was a mess. A very slow ride to Stamford, CT. It was pretty tight getting to the receiver, narrow turns and roads. Pull in and one of the guys helps me untarp and fold them. Really saved some time. Get unloaded and have to blindside back to get turned around. One of the guys helps me with this and off to Avenel, NJ I go.

Ended up with a live load again. About 3 hours later I get loaded. This load is going to W. Springfield, MA and then over to Rockland, MA. Best place to shut down again will be Meriden, CT.

Day 38

Finally fall asleep last night and get woken up to a bear trying to get to the bird feeder outside the window. Dogs freaking out. Ehhhh. Slept 30 minutes past my alarm. Monday, Monday..

Head out of the terminal on my way to the 1st stop in Worcester, MA Traffic was fairly light and an easy stop to get to. Get unloaded and head to Shrewsbury, Ma A quick ride down the road. Another fairly quick unload.

Get my next load assignment. Newington, NH to Stamford, CT. Being a Monday and the fact that I had 2 live loads there last week I was assuming this was going to be as well and it was. Better organized traffic this time. The live load line was about 10 trucks deep, 5 of those were TMC, so I settled in, had some lunch and surfed the web. 3 hours to get loaded and only about 30 minutes to strap and fix the bungee situation. Better than I thought it was going to be.

With 4 hours left on my clock I headed out to my 2nd home for the night. The Meriden, CT terminal. Pulled in with about 30 minutes left. 495s was a mess most of the way. 290, 90, 84 and 91 were pretty good. Was hoping to get an early start but after post-tripping I shut down at 20:20. So I'll deal with some rush hour traffic down 95 in the morning.

My road master 12v coffee pot finally died after 9 weeks. It's been blowing fuses and me being cheap i've been limping it along. Well for $27 it has saved me an estimated $150 just in buying coffee at a truck stop. Not to mention the down time it takes to stop and grab one and I really dislike store coffee. I prefer a darker roast like Peet's or Starbucks.

Day 37

Head out around 7:30 I believe it was. Hoping to miss most of the NYC rush hour. It wasn't bad at all. Just get on the GW and dispatch called. They are switching my loads to try and get me home tonight. Dropping my current load in the Elizabeth, NJ terminal, getting an emissions test done and going to Avenel, NJ to do a drop and hook (hopefully) and headed home. Sweet! 2 hours later the emissions is done and I'm on my way. I see 2 trailers loaded. I write them down and head inside. Mine was going to be a live load after the yard dog came back from lunch. So I ask about the other 2 trailers. 1 going to Worcester, Ma and 1 to Rochester, NY. Mine was going to Chelsea, MA. Hmm I call dispatch and ask to be switched to the Worcester, MA load since it's loaded and ready to go. 10 minutes later I'm switched. Fix it and head for home. After a 7 hour non-stop trip I pull into the terminal with 1 hour left on my clock. With the live load I would have probably been about 50 miles short of making it.

Now as mad as I was about the whole Baltimore thing, Dispatch went out of their way to accommodate me and my plans. I definitely appreciated it and don't take it lightly. I'm still wondering though. Funny thing is I had 2 calls during yesterdays 5 hour wait time, Both were offers.

I was home for the weekend, enjoyed my time and heading out tomorrow to MA for a 2 stop delivery.

Day 36

Started latter than usual today due to it being the day after the 4th. Headed to Roxbury, MA and the traffic was light. Get off and proceed down Mass Ave. I just realized the GPS is sending me around the street I need to go down. It's Boston so I'm thinking there has to be a reason. After going through some tight turns, heavy traffic and people everywhere 2 times. Yes I missed my turn into the receiver. LOL

Get unloaded pretty quick and noticed a message on my tablet. It was a pre-plan picking up in Newington, NH going to Baltimore for a Friday delivery. But I already had a pre-plan picking up in Newington going to Limerick, PA. Which would just get me home Friday night. I call dispatch to try and figure out wth is going on. Well they switched my loads for whatever reason and the pre-plan behind that was Baltimore to Danville, PA to home. Well that would put me home Saturday afternoon. I had already made plans for Saturday and I might have been a little ****ed off at this point to say the least. I know, I know things happen and things change all the time out here. I'm starting to learn not to make plans and am now wondering if maybe I jumped the gun going on the road. Maybe a local gig for now and then back out here in a couple of years... Hmmmmm

I get to Newinton and it's a mess. Trucks all over the place, no loads available, security gaurd trying to play traffic patrol is freaking out. It was a little comical. As I assumed it was a live load due to being a day after the holiday. Most of the loads that day here were going to be live. Long story short and 5 hours later I'm loaded, strapped and ready to go. Errrr. I'm only going to be able to make it to our Meriden, CT terminal before i'm out of hours which will cost me 5 hours of my clock tomorrow. leaving me 6 hours of driving left.

Thanks for the update, Mike. I love hearing about your daily adventures.

Thank you Han Solo Cup

Day 35

Start the day off at 80* and humid. Arrived at the receiver in Valley Cottage, NY at 7:07. Made really good time down 95s. Park off to the side of the road and go check in. They said it will be a little while because they like to get their trucks loaded and sent out first, which is typical for most of these smaller receivers. Their was 1 driver in front of me with a load of shingles. I do the ole' Fold the tarps on top of the load trick. (I actually think it is easier to fold them this way.) I'm already drenched from the extreme humidity but have a goal to get home at a decent time. My AC in the truck has been cranking and it was ice cold.

I've learned that sometimes you may do all that you can but others tend to have different plans. I finally get into the tight unloading area 2 hours later. As the forklift driver is casually eating a donutt and drinking coffee he takes my paperwork and heads inside. 15 minutes later he appears and slowly begins to unload. An hour later I am unloaded. Yea of course today is the day I get a slow receiver.. LOL

I get headed out of there and head down 87s to 95s. #### GW Bridge. They're working on the exit 7s7n which brings you up and around to the entrance of the GW. I've been through there a few times and it is usually a cluster. Today was no different minus it moved a little quicker. I still wonder to this day why they have trucks coming up the on ramp do an extreme merge to the left side across traffic. This is what I believe creates the jam. I really need to study the NYC,NJ interstate system to find better routes.

Hammered down to Avenel and only 1 of our trailers was loaded.. (please be mine, Please) i'm saying to myself. I go inside and it's not but they are just strapping mine and it was ready in 10 minutes. Do a quick fix of the tarping job and head for home. Hit another jam on the GW heading North about a 30 minute delay but once I hit the CT line it was smooth sailing until the 495n RT 3 interchange. Stop and go. I had 11 minutes to spare on my clock. I'm watching my clock and GPS eta the whole time. Lost 12 minutes in that area. I'm now down a minute. I make up 2 minutes through Nashua then the toll booth merges I end up breaking even. I'll leave some stuff out here but lets just say I safely made it to my terminal with 0 time left.

Made it home in time to change and play in my old teams softball game. 1st hit of the year for me and I was about 5 feet short of putting it over. Now I can retire. LOL

Heading out Thursday to Boston (ehhh) for a delivery Enjoy you 4th everyone!!

Mike

I drive right by your concord terminal daily, do you drive for North Eastern Motor Freight?

Chris

Hey Chris. I drive for Eastern Freight Ways which is the sister company of NEMF. Owned by the Shevell group. Mike Shevell I believe his name is. We use their services and park at their terminals.

Day 34

So my sons car is still broke down. Something to do with the Electronic Throttle Control. They replaced it but can't seem to get it right. I don't know it's at the garage that he had bought it at. Probably time for a dealership to look into it. Anyways, He is still dropping me off and picking me up every week which is requiring a little more planning on my part.

Got to the terminal at 7:00 this morning like I was told. Loaded up the truck and called dispatch to figure out where I was going. "We're still working on that we'll call you back in 10 minutes" Yeaaaaa, I've learned what that means. Start pre-tripping and noticed that one of the hoses to the coolant reservoir was leaking. Assumed it was the clamp so Took it over to the shop and had them tighten it. Luckily that's what it was. Finish up Pre-tripping, fuel up and park off to the side of the terminal. After about an hour passed I called dispatch again. After being put on hold I get a plan. Going to the Scarborough terminal to pick up a loaded trailer and delivering it 8 miles down the road. Hmmmm Someone missed a delivery for some reason.

Get to the terminal, hook to the load and make sure everything is good to go. Drive the 8 miles up the road and get unloaded. Get an E-mail of where I'm headed next instead of the usual pre-plan. Down to Newington, NH. Well come to find out I was still locked into the return that I did on Friday and was unable to be dispatched the correct way. (Helpful information if I had had it sooner. LOL)

Get to Newington which is generally a drop and hook. 30 minutes tops. Nope, not this time. Live load it is. that 30 minutes just turned into 3 hours. Luckily it didn't affect me to much time wise. Planned on shutting down in Meriden, CT anyways since i'm headed to Valley Cottage, NY (just on the other side of the Tappan Z) in the morning to deliver. Parking between Meriden and there usually consists of on the side of the interstate and it was 18:00 when I got here so I assumed everything was going to be full.

Tomorrow will be a race against my clock I believe. 2 hours to Valley Cottage, should be there by 7:30 Get unloaded, drive to Avenel, NJ, Drop and hook, Then 6+ hours back to the Concord terminal so I can be Home for the 4th. I'm already having nightmares of traffic coming up 95...

Mike B, I love reading your posts. You are short, right to the details and so interesting that I read every word. I am so familiar with the areas you run it brings back memories. Keep up the good work and learning process and you will be one of the better drivers out there today.

Thank you Harry H. I'm glad you are enjoying reading my posts. You used to run up here? I'm aspiring to be a good, safe on time driver. It can be tough at times.