Comments By Chris L

So this just happened to me I was on my way to my next pick up in Buchanan NY. The route I take is Route 9 south and it basically takes you directly into Buchanan. The route takes you across the Hudson River once you get across Route 9 takes a sharp right hand turn. (Intersection with a dedicated right turn lane with a permanent green arrow). The road becomes a two lane. Anyway since my trailer is a triple axel heavy haul I'll swing out wide into the second lane clear the corner and get back into the right lane. Today there was incoming traffic so I stopped and waited for the lane to clear before I turned as soon as it was clear I made the turn cleared the corner and got back into the right lane. Well some 4 wheeler displayed his / her displeasure with a horn salute because I stopped and waited for traffic. Needless to say I let them know that they were Number One in my book!

Donna M wrote:

Did u take the 7 hours and 6 minutes in the sleeper? Must be in the sleeper, not off duty, no pc, no yard movement.

I put put myself into "Sleeper" when I initially shut down. I managed to get 7 hours and 6 minutes before I got the call to back down to unload. When I left the Pilot I had 10 hours and 10 minutes of Drive time and 12 hours and 45 minutes HOS. When I shut down at the Rest stop on I79 I put myself in "Sleeper" again for the three hours When the three hours passed my HOS adjusted to 3 hours and 30 minutes. From where I was I need approximately 4 1/2 hours to make it to the receiver in Syracuse. Since I was already in "Sleeper" I didn't change my status I shut down at 01:30 A.M and I completed the full 10 hour re-set by 11:30 A.M..

Just walked into the door about 10 minutes ago. It was a long day. As I posted earlier I was shut down at a rest stop on I79 42 miles south of Erie Pennsylvania. My plan at that time was to shut down for 3 hours and satisfy my "Split Sleeper" requirements. Since I was delayed unloading at the Mill in Fairmount WV I was able to get 7 hours and 6 minutes in before I got the call to head to the Mill and unload. Well I completed the 3 hour break and I only gained 43 minutes back on my HOS Clock (When I stopped I had 2 hours and 47 minutes of HOS after the 3 hour shut down my HOS Clock showed 3 hours and 30 minutes not enough time to get to Syracuse so I had to do a full 10 hour reset. So I could not move until 11:30 A.M. I would not make it to the receivers by 2:00 P.M. So the delivery was rescheduled for Monday one of the local guys will take it over. Even though I miss that appointment I was able to get my Middletown load preloaded so I will be able to spend a little more time with my Sweetie on Sunday. Hopefully she will feel better right now she is battling a stomach bug.

So about 2:00 P.M. Yesterday I get a call from my FM and he told me that the crain at mill will not be operational until sometime after 7:00 P.M. So my FM and the FM of the OTR Flatbed division were debating weather I would take the coil load up to yard in Alquippa and swap out for an empty flat bed and head down to Captina WV and pick up my load of dry wall. At that time the decision had not been made yet so I stood by. No more than 10 minutes after I had talked with my FM I got a call from the security guard at the mill and he told me that the craim was repaired and that I should head down to get unloaded.. So I called my FM back and told him that the crain was operational and I was heading down to get unloaded. I was back on the road by 4:30 P.M. heading to pick up my next load. I arrived at the plant a little past 7:00 PM. Dropped my empty trailer and headed over to the shipping office to get my BOL and find my Pre-Loaded trailer. Found the trailer hooked up and secured the tarp and got back on the road by 9:00 P.M. I'm currently sitting at a rest stop on I79 42 miles from I90 I did the split sleeper option so I'm sitting here for three hours then I'll continue on and get back to Syracuse and make my scheduled delivery time and then close out the week. Next week it will be back to my regular run.

Still in a holding pattern. Checked in with my FM he wants me to stay put and deliver the coil today. So here I sit I actually called down to the mill and talked to the security guard at the gate the crain is still down so he took my phone number and will call me when the crain comes back up. One positive note I was able to finally get my external CB antenna mounted and calibrated. The internal CB antenna on the Freightliner's leave allot to be desired.

I just went in for a Whiz Quiz in late January. I asked the tester if they wanted a list of my Meds they (The clinic) Where I tested told me that I would only have to provide my med list if I tested positive. Having a prescription for a medication that could pop a positive test is not an absolute coverall. Example is if your prescription is not current i.e. you had a Oxy prescription from three years ago and you test positive for Oxy it could cause a problem. When I was in the service I was the UA NCOIC for my company and every other month I had to test up to 250 2nd Lieutenant's coming in for the Engineer Officer basic course I heard all the barracks lawyer bs about drug testing and prescription reporting. When in doubt keep all of your documentation and if you have any pills left find a place in your area that will take un-used or expired medication like a local hospital / Clinic or drug store. My home country has the Sheriff's office holds a medication turn in twice a year.

Turtle wrote:

I delivered to that Fairmont Novellis many times myself. Thankfully the crane was always operational. Rob D recently had similar delay as you. FWIW, that little mom and pop diner/restaurant down the road has some good eats, if covid hasn't shut them down.

The K&T Truck stop? I went by there this morning it was open at least the fuel pumps and parking I don't know if the restaurant is but it was busy at 07:00 A.M. If I ever get to come down this way again I'll make it a point to stop and check it out.

I called my FM and offered a solution. We have two yards within a 100 miles from where I'm now. I suggested that they re-route me to one of the yards drop this coil trailer off pick up an empty flat and I would go down to Captina WV and pick up my load and get on the road back to Syracuse I would be able to make it to the receiver tonight and still unload in the morning. The receiver allows over night parking. Hopefully the FM will take my suggestion into consideration. Got to admit I'm digging being back on the road and seeing different scenery than my regular dedicated run.

So I'm currently sitting at the Pilot truck stop just south of Morgantown West Virginia. My company let me loose out on the road this week. I tried to deliver to the Novelis Re-Roll Mill in Fairmont got to the mill a little after 07:00 A.M. and found out that the crain is down and maybe it will be operational by 3:00 P.M. so now I'm in a holding pattern. I still have to pick up a load of sheet rock at the Certaineed plant in Captina WV. Lucky my reload has an open pick up window so if I can get loaded sometime tonight I'll drive through the night and make my morning delivery in Syracuse and be done for the week.

Since this was considered a local pickup I was only 30 miles away from the maintenance shop. So it was a quick run back and swap out the tarp if I had been on the road it would have been more of a challenge. I've been spoiled by having a Roltight lol... This load was also a split drop so another driver would be taking it to it's final destination since I didn't get any complaints I guess the tarp job I did passed.