For the 2nd week in a row I had to make an additional pickup in Gadsden, AL Monday. There's nothing wrong with the customer except for it being a little tight to back into the docks, actually the guys in the shipping dept are very nice. The problem comes into play once I get into southern Mississippi and Louisiana--I absolutely detest driving in that area. There aren't enough parking areas much less decent, SAFE places to hold up in for my 10 hour break. I'm finding myself in the position where I have to shut down much earlier than what I want or driving later into the night, praying that all the truck traffic isn't on the I-10 corridor.
Last week, I ran later into the night and lucked out with a parking space that was in a not so great area. This week, I shut down earlier in another not very pleasant place then had to get up at 0400. Blech..........Hate chasing the logbook.
Other grumpiness:
One very irritating truck driver approaching the MS scales on I-59 decided to slow down to below the speed limit when approaching the PrePass transponder reader thingamajig which caused the 3 other trucks (including me) behind him/her to get the red light because we were then packed up. I think they want the vehicles to be at least 100 feet apart and most of us have no problem complying with that, there just occasionally is one idjit that messes up the flow of traffic. The scalemaster then decides that he is going to play traffic control officer and holds each of the 3 of us on the scale. First truck gets on the scale, sits there forever. My turn, get on the scale and I'm held there until the truck in front of me is merging onto the freeway. The 3rd truck gets on the scale and he is sat there until I'm at the end of the ramp. All because of one KLLM driver that freaked out when they saw the Scales Open sign. Oh, and he got a green light on the prepass--major grumbling still...........
My parking spot Monday night ended up being a little to close to the freeway for me and Elsie to sleep well. Plus there was somebody walking around my truck around 0130, Elsie woke me up with her growling and I could hear them milling around then. Nobody knocked on the door and I didn't hear anything being tampered with though. Just a little too close for Elsie's liking.
I stopped at the Denham Springs, LA Pilot Tuesday morning thinking I could find a decent place to run. It was ok, a few panhandlers but you're not going to find any truck stop in that area without any. I ended up being stuck on Bass Pro Drive behind the fuel stop for the workout though, boring as hell........I thought maybe I could grab a side street over to a neighborhood but what little traffic there was seemed to be determined to run me over. Nobody moved over even though there was a huge turning lane with no oncoming traffic so I wasn't going to chance it on a skinnier road with no shoulder. Back and forth twice on that street was all I could handle. Had 5 miles on the schedule, did 3.25. Lack of sleep, the overbearing humidity and rude motorists on a boring strip of road did me in. Plus I was kind of worried that I might get the cops called on me because I was starting to yell at the people who would drift their cars toward me instead of away. Wouldn't recommend this route unless it was earlier than 6 a.m.
The driver's side headlight is messing up again. It's a major pita to have to pop the hood and jiggle the plug for the bulb every single time I stop and start to take off again. Doesn't look like it or my air conditioning on the truck and a.p.u. are going to be repaired this weekend either due to the shop being backlogged. My trailer should be done by the time I leave out on Sunday though. For the non-truckdriver readers the picture on an earlier post about "What's wrong?" is referring to the red and blue glad hand connectors being reversed of what they should be. Must have been a color blind or dyslexic mechanic that replaced them.
Yesterday's run was another boring one--5.25 miles round and round Mall del Norte in Laredo. Tonight I'm going to fight my way to the health club for 6 miles on the dreadmill.
4 comments:
As a notation on the idjit!! The scale I cross in Roanoke, VA will redlight Trucks for going too slow. The scale is at the top of the hill, and I guess they figure if you cannot pass the 2 transponders in a reasonable amount of time, you must be too heavy. It is usually when trying to maintain the 100 ft spacing that we fall below the time limit, thus receiving a red. Funny thing is that the guy tailgating me will get a green..HMmmmm....
Don't you just love heading into an area where you know you will have trouble finding a place to shut down? Always increases the stress levels.
Gawd! I could write a bloody book in response to this blog post!
Gabby - just ask Terry next time you have her on the phone or see her in person about my errrrrr adventures with the "Task Force" and ummmmm "accountancy"!
Terry, Isn't it funny how the prepass is supposed to be more or less the same in every state yet each scalemaster/state has their own quirks?! This particular idjit had us down to 40 mph with no way to pass him yet he gets the green light, grrrrrrrrrrr.
As a side note, is Kentucky still trying to push their own system?
Hedon, absolutely not! ;-)!!!!!!
It's especially stressful in a state where you have to be extra careful about your logbook. James and I both seem to have the worst luck with the scales in LA and MS.
Indy, Please, please write the book! One of these days I'll decide on what kind of phone to get so I'll be able to call people again. Right now, I'm having to text and limiting my calls to just James. He knows that the extended silences is my phone acting buggy.
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