A Week In The Life Of ... ErrolV Driving GP Dedicated

Lots of Black Bears in them there woods, going through Ocala National Forest, I live just North of Ocala, and we go hunting out there, not for bears:)

I've been driving for Swift for about 1 year now. A couple months ago I got hooked into the Georgia Pacific dedicated group. My area is Georgia Pacific business basically from Oklahoma - Texas east to the Carolinas and Florida. I want to put down a Trucking Truth Diary of a typical week of my GP dedicated route and see where it goes.

Monday. 453 miles, 9 hr driving, 11 hr total on duty. One pick-up.

St Petersburg, FL (start) - Palakta, FL (Pick up) - Ashburn, GA (stop)

I started this week in St Petersburg, FL. I had made a delivery to a Walmart DC close by and Saturday I started my 34 hour break.

Monday I had a delivery in Palatka, FL, about 180 miles from St Pete, with a 1000-1200 window. I figured an average speed of 50 MPH so 180/50= 3.6. Add a half an hour for pre trip, so the show started at 7 a.m.   The GPS brought me through Ocala, and then through Ocala National Forest. The forest was a beautiful ride on 2-lane highway, mostly trees of course. I got to the GP plant just after 10 a.m. I had never been here before so at one point I went down the wrong road in the plant, found a turn around, and went on to drop the empty trailer. My loaded trailer was on the other side of the plant so another few minutes at 10 mph.   I pre tripped the trailer and noticed the trailer ABS light was on. I double checked the connection, my air tank is full, and the light was still on. I called Swift On Road office and they said I should go back to the Ocala terminal for the repair. But that was 1 hour / 50 miles in the wrong direction! (I was supposed to head north for Atlanta.)

Drove the 50 miles back to Ocala terminal. (The ABS light was out like it's supposed to be!) Talked to the trailer repair tech, who checked out the light and found nothing wrong! A loss of 2 hours!   So nothing left to do but head north on I-75 and see how far I can get with my remaining 5 hours drive time. On the way up I kept my eye on how much time to my destination in Austell GA (north west of Atlanta.).

I stopped at a truckstop 170 miles short of my goal. I figured 170/55=3 (55 this time because it's almost all interstate). Add 1 hour because I have to go through Atlanta morning traffic = 4 hours drive time. Appointment time is 0900, so I start at 0500. Getting up at 0415 to start my pre trip. This appointment is for a live unload, so I should be maybe just a little bit early but certainly not too late.

Steve says,

719 miles from Crossett (SE Arkansas) to Franklin, OH

Safe Travels, Errol!

I posted this Monday, talking about last Friday. But thanks.

@BassPlaya, Didn't see any wildlife while I was on the forest, but I really enjoyed the drive.

Thanks Errol V for posting as you do. Very much appreciated. Any chance a guy can talk with ya about Swift?

Thanks Errol V for posting as you do. Very much appreciated. Any chance a guy can talk with ya about Swift?

Sure. If it's general stuff, post on general discussions. If it's something more private just send a PM.

To PM: touch on a name to get to the profile page. Slide to the bottom where it asks if you want to send a private message. Ta-dah!

I hope it's not inappropriate for me to resurrect a thread this old but I just wanted to thank Errol for taking the time post this informative "week in the life" information. As someone on the outside of the trucking industry trying to gain a better understanding of the profession and all that it entails, this was a clear and well written outline of what to expect ref: times, miles, trips, etc. I wish there were a couple of these available for OTR drivers to give a better understanding of the specifics of that area of trucking.

Thanks Errol.