Work, Work, Eat
After thoroughly enjoying time off, I hit the road once again on Wednesday morning after a bit of a rough start. I arrived at my truck, threw all my crap in the cab and started a pre-trip (yep I still do them). My boyfriend walked along with me like he always does, getting in those last few minutes of quality time before I hit the road for a few weeks. Things were looking great down the drivers side and across the back of the trailer. I started up the passenger side and thought things were peachy keen.
Then I thumped my number nine drive tire (right rear inner) to find it flat as a flitter. No air whatsoever was remaining in the tire. CRAP! I was supposed to be picking up a load by 15:00 in a town about an hour away, and it was already 11:00 at this point. I said my g'byes to my sweetie and sent him on his way while I climbed in the truck and dialed our emergency maintenance department to request service.
I was surprised that I didn't have to hold for more than 3 minutes to reach a live person. Which was awesome. They located a tire service in the area and had me hold while they made contact with them. After a couple minutes, the emergency maint. person was back on the line telling me it would be within the hour that the roadside service crew would arrive. I thanked them and hung up and started to work on my trip plan for the load while I waited.
Within a couple more minutes I received a text message on my phone with a phone number only. I dialed it thinking maybe someone just sent me a numeric page in lieu of an actual message. When I dialed the number I found myself talking to a representative of the roadside service company that was to be coming to my rescue.
They verified my location and told me someone would be there shortly. It wasn't more than 20 minutes before they pulled onto the lot. The guy started right away and I sat in my truck just chillin' while he did the dirty work. When he was done he came to my door and knocked and I got out to sign the papers and find out what the problem was. Turned out that I'd run over a hefty nail and sitting for nearly 5 days allowed the air to seep out at a pretty steady pace.
He informed me that he just patched it and that was that. Good enough for me! Once he was gone I was on my way to being gone as well.
I arrived at the shipper about 10 minutes late, but they weren't too upset about it. It was a recycling center and I was picking up a pre-loaded trailer anyway. In order to obtain my pre-loaded trailer, however, I would have to drop my empty on the side of the road, back up under and pull out the full one and park it some where else along the road and then go back and put the empty in the dock.
Sounds simple. I've done this at least a dozen times at other facilities. No biggie. And this particular instance should've been just as simple. But apparently karma had different plans for me that day.
After I dropped my empty and got nestled under the load I got out to hook up the air hoses and the electric wiring then made my way back to dolly up the landing gear. Once I made sure everything was as it should be before taking off, I hopped back into the truck, fired 'er up and let the air pressure build up while I worked up my log book.
Once the air dryer sneezed, I released the parking brake and did a tug test and then released the trailer brake and attempted to pull forward. Yeah... that didn't happen. I figured that the brakes on the trailer were just frozen in place so I tried a few tricks to try to get them unstuck from inside the cab, with no luck. I set the parking brake and got out to go have a look see at the situation.
The rear axle looked fine, as I'd left the trailer brakes released I could see the gap between the brakes and the drums. The front axle, however, was a different story. After hammering and prying and doing all my little weakling arms could do to try to get them loose I gave up and called for maintenance once again.
It took them less than 20 minutes to answer and contact another roadside service company to come to my rescue for the second time that day. The roadside folks were there in about an hour and a half and the two men that arrived were able to get the brakes unstuck. I was finally rolling and finished my drop and swap work, received and signed paperwork and was finally on my way!
I had intended to head west a little more to the Flying J in Kentucky to scale the load and make sure everything was legal before heading south and east. But in distracted mode, I missed the get-on for west bound and just decided to head east. I knew that I would pass the TA in Hurricane, WV where there was a CAT scale that I could use. I forgot, however, that there was a scale house before getting to that point. Thankfully for me it was closed. Had it not been, I'd have been majorly busted and probably fined out the wazoo.
I got to the TA, scaled and pulled off and parked and went in to pay for my ticket. When the gal handed me the ticket I immediately saw the gross weight, which was on the plus side of 80,000 lbs. I was 40 lbs over gross. I had half tank of fuel and knew I'd burn off the excess weight in no time. But I was also over on my tandems by about 4K lbs. I slid my tandems and reweighed, went in to get the ticket and found that I was still over on my tandems by 1,100 lbs. In frustration and fear that I wouldn't be able to get my weights legal, I slid the tandems a few more holes and just said "screw it" and hit the road.
I ended up just going back home for the night, though. I was frustrated and discouraged and actually a little afraid to go much further, just in case karma had another trick up its' sleeve. So, my sweetie picked me up at the truck stop, we went home and had dinner and watched a movie and relaxed.
Thursday morning I was up before the sun and my sleepy headed sweetheart took me back to my truck and sent me on my way. The weather was a little hateful that morning as a nice little wintry squall was passing through the area, but once I got south of the WV state line it cleared up and became a beautiful day. I worried most of the morning that I'd get pulled into a scale house and get in trouble for not having my weights legal. The first scale I passed was closed, the second surprised me and gave me a green light and the third gave me the red light and rolled me across the scales but let me go on. I was so relieved and kept thanking karma for not making me suffer any more.
My final destination was Dublin, Georgia to a paper mill I've been to before. The facility is one where they receive loose waste paper much like I was hauling and dump it out of the trailer. In order to do this, you must back you truck onto a platform and then you get out and it's secured to the platform. The platform then raises to a 45 degree angle and shakes the loose waste paper out of the trailer.
I've never seen this in person, only had it described to me by horrified drivers after the fact. Thankfully persons are not allowed to remain in their trucks, but if you've got anything not bolted or fastened down, it's likely to be in much disarray once this process has been completed.
I talked to one driver that lost their new TV/DVD combo which shattered when it fell from it's perch and another that was picking small items like pens and change and paperclips out of cracks and crevices for weeks to follow.
I digress.
The first time I delivered to the plant I was terrified that I'd be another victim of the shake and bake platform. I had stopped en route and tried to determine what would fall prey to the shaking and find a place to store/secure it for the ride. Only, when I arrived they said that it would just be a drop and hook. I was relieved to know I wouldn't have to be cleaning up the inside of my truck for weeks. But I was also a little bummed that I wouldn't get to see my big rig being shaken, not stirred.
My work assignment this time told me to be prepared for the shaking process, so I did a little to prepare. Honestly I kinda just figured it'd be a drop and hook again. And that assumption was correct. I was directed to drop my load and pick up an empty. Once I did those two things I headed to the nearest truck stop for the night.
The next morning I woke up at 6 a.m. wondering if I would receive a new work assignment soon. I sent in a message and rolled back over and drifted back off into sleep. It wasn't until nearly eight that my Qualcomm beeped with a response that yes, I'd be getting a load soon. It wasn't two minutes before the rest of the beeps ensued and my assignment rolled in.
I was to head to McIntyre, GA about 35 miles away to pick up a load of "misc. materials" from a BASF plant that would deliver in Allentown, PA.... ON TUESDAY! After verifying that the load would be on me until that time and seeing if I could pick up the load earlier than scheduled, I hit the road bound for McIntyre.
My brilliant self decided that I didn't want to take all of the "back roads" that were provided by the street level directions. Instead I'd just take the interstate and then follow the driver provided directions. The difference between these two styles of directions are gaping. The street level directions take you from point A to point B in the most direct and legal route possible. That means that your truck is tracked to its current location and then directions are given from that coordinate to the destination.
The driver directions are more vague and generally give you the most direct route from the closest major interstate or highway. I didn't really pay much attention to the exit number on the driver directions from the interstate in relation to the exit number I was parked at. And only when I finally hit the road did I realize that I should've just followed the street level directions.
I ended up going nearly a half an hour out of the way. I don't like going out of route, especially when it was my own stupidity that caused it. It wasn't like I got lost or turned around the wrong way, I was just being stubborn and in a hurry.
Once I realized that I was going to be going way out of the way if I followed my driver directions I pulled off the highway to take a look at the atlas to see if there was a short cut back towards the route given in the street level directions. I did find that two more exits up the road I could cut across a state highway back to a US route and finally end up somewhere along the street level directions' route. So, taking the scenic and extended route, I was finally back on track.
I arrived at BASF and waited for a dock to open up. I was then docked and being loaded myself. Once full, I hit the road to make a little headway on my trip north. I ended up stopping for the night in N. Augusta, SC. It was a truck stop I'd passed by before, seeing that it seemed shady and not a place for a young lady to be spending the night. It wasn't too bad, but I'd have preferred a different truck stop or even a rest area.
Friday morning I woke up and continued my journey north and endured a very uneventful drive that lead me to Greenville, VA. I always get routed to stop there for fuel, as was the case that day, and have always seen the sign for "Edelweiss German Restaurant" that is across the highway from the Pilot station.
I've heard a few drivers rave about it and have always wished I had time to stop. Generally when I pass through the area it's in a hurry. I figured that since my load wasn't going to deliver until Tuesday, I could stop and spend the night and enjoy a meal.
I started walking over to the restaurant around 15:30 and wondered if it was going to even be open yet. Some places are only open for dinner and I was hoping I didn't walk over for nothing. I arrived to find several cars in the parking lot and figured I was good to go.
I entered the establishment to find an empty dining room and no staff in the immediate visual area. I was ogling items on the walls and the fine array of beer bottles on a double decker shelf when a lovely young lass in a German frock emerged from the kitchen eager to provide some service. She seated me and fetched me some water and allowed me plenty of time to peruse the lunch and beer menus.
I ended up trying the mini-sampler which consisted of small helpings of wiener schnitzel, rahmschnitzel, and goulasch along with spatzel (noodles) Bavarian cabbage, red cabbage and green beans. I also opted for a draught wheat beer that I can't spell or pronounce. The meal was fantastic, the beer was amazing and robust and then there was desert.
I selected German style cheesecake, which is way more fabulous than NY-style or any other style of cheesecake I've ever had. I savored each bite I took until there was nothing but empty plate. I highly recommend taking a stop at the I-81 exit 213 Pilot and walking across the way to visit Edelweiss for yourselves. It's awesome!
....after sleeping soundly with a full belly, I woke up and headed a little more north to our terminal here in Carlisle, PA. I will be begging for a relay in the morning when my dispatcher and manager are in the office so I don't have to sit here for another day. I hope they will oblige.
Then I thumped my number nine drive tire (right rear inner) to find it flat as a flitter. No air whatsoever was remaining in the tire. CRAP! I was supposed to be picking up a load by 15:00 in a town about an hour away, and it was already 11:00 at this point. I said my g'byes to my sweetie and sent him on his way while I climbed in the truck and dialed our emergency maintenance department to request service.
I was surprised that I didn't have to hold for more than 3 minutes to reach a live person. Which was awesome. They located a tire service in the area and had me hold while they made contact with them. After a couple minutes, the emergency maint. person was back on the line telling me it would be within the hour that the roadside service crew would arrive. I thanked them and hung up and started to work on my trip plan for the load while I waited.
Within a couple more minutes I received a text message on my phone with a phone number only. I dialed it thinking maybe someone just sent me a numeric page in lieu of an actual message. When I dialed the number I found myself talking to a representative of the roadside service company that was to be coming to my rescue.
They verified my location and told me someone would be there shortly. It wasn't more than 20 minutes before they pulled onto the lot. The guy started right away and I sat in my truck just chillin' while he did the dirty work. When he was done he came to my door and knocked and I got out to sign the papers and find out what the problem was. Turned out that I'd run over a hefty nail and sitting for nearly 5 days allowed the air to seep out at a pretty steady pace.
He informed me that he just patched it and that was that. Good enough for me! Once he was gone I was on my way to being gone as well.
I arrived at the shipper about 10 minutes late, but they weren't too upset about it. It was a recycling center and I was picking up a pre-loaded trailer anyway. In order to obtain my pre-loaded trailer, however, I would have to drop my empty on the side of the road, back up under and pull out the full one and park it some where else along the road and then go back and put the empty in the dock.
Sounds simple. I've done this at least a dozen times at other facilities. No biggie. And this particular instance should've been just as simple. But apparently karma had different plans for me that day.
After I dropped my empty and got nestled under the load I got out to hook up the air hoses and the electric wiring then made my way back to dolly up the landing gear. Once I made sure everything was as it should be before taking off, I hopped back into the truck, fired 'er up and let the air pressure build up while I worked up my log book.
Once the air dryer sneezed, I released the parking brake and did a tug test and then released the trailer brake and attempted to pull forward. Yeah... that didn't happen. I figured that the brakes on the trailer were just frozen in place so I tried a few tricks to try to get them unstuck from inside the cab, with no luck. I set the parking brake and got out to go have a look see at the situation.
The rear axle looked fine, as I'd left the trailer brakes released I could see the gap between the brakes and the drums. The front axle, however, was a different story. After hammering and prying and doing all my little weakling arms could do to try to get them loose I gave up and called for maintenance once again.
It took them less than 20 minutes to answer and contact another roadside service company to come to my rescue for the second time that day. The roadside folks were there in about an hour and a half and the two men that arrived were able to get the brakes unstuck. I was finally rolling and finished my drop and swap work, received and signed paperwork and was finally on my way!
I had intended to head west a little more to the Flying J in Kentucky to scale the load and make sure everything was legal before heading south and east. But in distracted mode, I missed the get-on for west bound and just decided to head east. I knew that I would pass the TA in Hurricane, WV where there was a CAT scale that I could use. I forgot, however, that there was a scale house before getting to that point. Thankfully for me it was closed. Had it not been, I'd have been majorly busted and probably fined out the wazoo.
I got to the TA, scaled and pulled off and parked and went in to pay for my ticket. When the gal handed me the ticket I immediately saw the gross weight, which was on the plus side of 80,000 lbs. I was 40 lbs over gross. I had half tank of fuel and knew I'd burn off the excess weight in no time. But I was also over on my tandems by about 4K lbs. I slid my tandems and reweighed, went in to get the ticket and found that I was still over on my tandems by 1,100 lbs. In frustration and fear that I wouldn't be able to get my weights legal, I slid the tandems a few more holes and just said "screw it" and hit the road.
I ended up just going back home for the night, though. I was frustrated and discouraged and actually a little afraid to go much further, just in case karma had another trick up its' sleeve. So, my sweetie picked me up at the truck stop, we went home and had dinner and watched a movie and relaxed.
Thursday morning I was up before the sun and my sleepy headed sweetheart took me back to my truck and sent me on my way. The weather was a little hateful that morning as a nice little wintry squall was passing through the area, but once I got south of the WV state line it cleared up and became a beautiful day. I worried most of the morning that I'd get pulled into a scale house and get in trouble for not having my weights legal. The first scale I passed was closed, the second surprised me and gave me a green light and the third gave me the red light and rolled me across the scales but let me go on. I was so relieved and kept thanking karma for not making me suffer any more.
My final destination was Dublin, Georgia to a paper mill I've been to before. The facility is one where they receive loose waste paper much like I was hauling and dump it out of the trailer. In order to do this, you must back you truck onto a platform and then you get out and it's secured to the platform. The platform then raises to a 45 degree angle and shakes the loose waste paper out of the trailer.
I've never seen this in person, only had it described to me by horrified drivers after the fact. Thankfully persons are not allowed to remain in their trucks, but if you've got anything not bolted or fastened down, it's likely to be in much disarray once this process has been completed.
I talked to one driver that lost their new TV/DVD combo which shattered when it fell from it's perch and another that was picking small items like pens and change and paperclips out of cracks and crevices for weeks to follow.
I digress.
The first time I delivered to the plant I was terrified that I'd be another victim of the shake and bake platform. I had stopped en route and tried to determine what would fall prey to the shaking and find a place to store/secure it for the ride. Only, when I arrived they said that it would just be a drop and hook. I was relieved to know I wouldn't have to be cleaning up the inside of my truck for weeks. But I was also a little bummed that I wouldn't get to see my big rig being shaken, not stirred.
My work assignment this time told me to be prepared for the shaking process, so I did a little to prepare. Honestly I kinda just figured it'd be a drop and hook again. And that assumption was correct. I was directed to drop my load and pick up an empty. Once I did those two things I headed to the nearest truck stop for the night.
The next morning I woke up at 6 a.m. wondering if I would receive a new work assignment soon. I sent in a message and rolled back over and drifted back off into sleep. It wasn't until nearly eight that my Qualcomm beeped with a response that yes, I'd be getting a load soon. It wasn't two minutes before the rest of the beeps ensued and my assignment rolled in.
I was to head to McIntyre, GA about 35 miles away to pick up a load of "misc. materials" from a BASF plant that would deliver in Allentown, PA.... ON TUESDAY! After verifying that the load would be on me until that time and seeing if I could pick up the load earlier than scheduled, I hit the road bound for McIntyre.
My brilliant self decided that I didn't want to take all of the "back roads" that were provided by the street level directions. Instead I'd just take the interstate and then follow the driver provided directions. The difference between these two styles of directions are gaping. The street level directions take you from point A to point B in the most direct and legal route possible. That means that your truck is tracked to its current location and then directions are given from that coordinate to the destination.
The driver directions are more vague and generally give you the most direct route from the closest major interstate or highway. I didn't really pay much attention to the exit number on the driver directions from the interstate in relation to the exit number I was parked at. And only when I finally hit the road did I realize that I should've just followed the street level directions.
I ended up going nearly a half an hour out of the way. I don't like going out of route, especially when it was my own stupidity that caused it. It wasn't like I got lost or turned around the wrong way, I was just being stubborn and in a hurry.
Once I realized that I was going to be going way out of the way if I followed my driver directions I pulled off the highway to take a look at the atlas to see if there was a short cut back towards the route given in the street level directions. I did find that two more exits up the road I could cut across a state highway back to a US route and finally end up somewhere along the street level directions' route. So, taking the scenic and extended route, I was finally back on track.
I arrived at BASF and waited for a dock to open up. I was then docked and being loaded myself. Once full, I hit the road to make a little headway on my trip north. I ended up stopping for the night in N. Augusta, SC. It was a truck stop I'd passed by before, seeing that it seemed shady and not a place for a young lady to be spending the night. It wasn't too bad, but I'd have preferred a different truck stop or even a rest area.
Friday morning I woke up and continued my journey north and endured a very uneventful drive that lead me to Greenville, VA. I always get routed to stop there for fuel, as was the case that day, and have always seen the sign for "Edelweiss German Restaurant" that is across the highway from the Pilot station.
I've heard a few drivers rave about it and have always wished I had time to stop. Generally when I pass through the area it's in a hurry. I figured that since my load wasn't going to deliver until Tuesday, I could stop and spend the night and enjoy a meal.
I started walking over to the restaurant around 15:30 and wondered if it was going to even be open yet. Some places are only open for dinner and I was hoping I didn't walk over for nothing. I arrived to find several cars in the parking lot and figured I was good to go.
I entered the establishment to find an empty dining room and no staff in the immediate visual area. I was ogling items on the walls and the fine array of beer bottles on a double decker shelf when a lovely young lass in a German frock emerged from the kitchen eager to provide some service. She seated me and fetched me some water and allowed me plenty of time to peruse the lunch and beer menus.
I ended up trying the mini-sampler which consisted of small helpings of wiener schnitzel, rahmschnitzel, and goulasch along with spatzel (noodles) Bavarian cabbage, red cabbage and green beans. I also opted for a draught wheat beer that I can't spell or pronounce. The meal was fantastic, the beer was amazing and robust and then there was desert.
I selected German style cheesecake, which is way more fabulous than NY-style or any other style of cheesecake I've ever had. I savored each bite I took until there was nothing but empty plate. I highly recommend taking a stop at the I-81 exit 213 Pilot and walking across the way to visit Edelweiss for yourselves. It's awesome!
....after sleeping soundly with a full belly, I woke up and headed a little more north to our terminal here in Carlisle, PA. I will be begging for a relay in the morning when my dispatcher and manager are in the office so I don't have to sit here for another day. I hope they will oblige.
Comments
I'm happy to see you are safe and sound. That German food sure does look good. I bet you were stuffed if you ate all that.
Wags & wiggles,
Bijou
A good post, as ever!
I can appreciate how much you enjoyed the German cuisine. I am still living/working in Germany for now (bit will be moving over to NA Sep 09) and have the pleasure of this type of food at any time.
Good to see it won't be the last of it once I've moved!
Regards,
M.
on the other hand, the food looks great! glad you enjoyed.
be safe!