Flip Flops

Dude, I just paid twenty bones for two pair-o-flip-flops at a truck stop. They're both pretty fabulous. Check them out FLIP & FLOP. They're sparkly and awesome and make me smile. So there.

Of course that's really about as exciting as my week has gotten. It's been pretty blah overall. The start of it I guess was kind of interesting. I came off of home time and had been bobtailed home for the weekend and knew that was going to create some havoc when it came time to get back to work. Living in West Virginia it's tough to get an empty trailer as there aren't a lot of locations where our empties just sit. 9 out of 10 loads coming out of WV are live loaded.

My work assignment had me picking up an empty trailer at a Freightliner shop over near the Kentucky border. Typically this means a company comrade had been towed into the shop after breaking down and the trailer he'd been hauling was removed from his rig and parked so the tractor could be worked on. Generally when this happens with an empty trailer, the person having the work done, once they're all fixed up, will hook back up to the trailer and continue on his/her merry way.

So I was super skeptical, but had to go check anyway as per my work assignment. So I drove the hour to get to the shop only to find that my suspicious ways were spot on. No big orange trailers in sight. I expected that to happen so I wasn't too disappointed. I just found a place to park out of the way and sent in the proper messages to indicate that there were no trailers to be had and waited for the next step in the empty trailer search process to come through my magical electronic box.

It wasn't long before a new message was received instructing me to drive 150 miles north to pick up an empty, that was by all assumptions, at someone's personal residence. The address said it was a "driver park location" in the notes area of the screen.

I did a quick Google satellite search on my iPhone and saw that it was indeed a residential area and sent in a cautionary message asking if this was legit. I was assured trailers are swapped there all the time and that the trailer was there, ready and waiting.

So off I went. I knew the area I was heading into fairly well, but was still harboring skepticism as I got closer to my destination. But was surprised to find that not only was the trailer there, but it was easily accessible and in ready-to-roll condition. After giving it a going over I hooked up and was headed out. I had about another 40 miles to get to my pick up location and time was a' wasting.

I arrived at the place about 10 minutes late for my pick up appointment. But that didn't really matter as there were 3 other trucks ahead of me and no one seemed to be in any hurry to get things accomplished.

Upon my arrival at this place I had to submit to a security check of my truck and trailer, then watch a 5 minute safety video, then relenquish my digital devices (and had I had them lighters and matches) to a lock box where they would be safely kept until I was ready to leave the property.

I can't tell you how many times in the THREE (yes 3) hours I was there that I felt panic because I didn't have my phone. But that's another issue.

I also was required to wear PPE (personal protective equipment) at all times outside of the truck while on the property. This included long pants, long sleeve shirt, hard hat and safety glasses. Did I mention it was also like 85 degrees outside that day?

Oh and did I also mention that once in-line to get loaded I was forced to sit in a "driver waiting area" with all of the hot ass PPE on inside a poorly ventilated building where it was probably about 95 degrees?

Yeah. That was fun. NOT.

By the time I was able to leave the property I was soaked from head to toe in sweat. I didn't even bother closing my blinds in the parking lot outside the main gate as I peeled off my soaked long-everything clothing and changed into pajama pants and a tank top for the remainder of my trip.

I left and made it to our Carlisle PA terminal for the night. Slept great. Delivered the following morning in Camp Hill, PA. After that assignment I was sent to pick up another short haul load near the border of PA and MD on I-81.

That was a nice little load, full of easy peasy stuff. The place I picked up from was all no-fuss. I arrived, dropped my empty and then went to a little mailbox, sifted through the paperwork inside, finding the papers for my assignment and signed the top copy, placed it back in the box and then went to find my trailer. Once found, I hooked up and rolled out... without ever having had to talk to a single person on site. That's a rarity... and a treasure.

I then turned around and headed back east towards Allentown where I delivered the load and then headed south on the turnpike where I shut down for the night. At the travel plaza on the pike I stayed at I decided to indulge in some treats. I had some Hershey's mint chocolate chip ice cream, some Roy Rogers fried chicken and an Auntie Anne's soft pretzel, not in that exact order of course (snicker snicker). I went to sleep with a slight tummy ache.

My next work assignment picked up just outside of Philly the following morning and was a heavy hitter headed to Tennessee. The pick up went well I'd say. I only made one geographical error in my trip down there and that was when I turned right at the light instead of left. Luckily the gentleman at the facility across the street from where I was supposed to be was kind enough to let me turn around in his apparently super high security lot.

Across the street, the facility I went to was a small outfit that shredded paper for recycling. The docks were a little tricky to get into, only one dock was functional and of course that one was the hardest to hit of the two on the building. But my mad trucker skillz helped me do the slight serpentine backing maneuver and I bumped the dock with shockingly relative ease. Here's the view before I backed in and here's the view from my spot at the dock. Nice little place really.

Once I was loaded up and rolling things continued to go pretty well. I landed in Virginia for the night, after two traffic jams. One was construction traffic and the other was the result of everyone doing what I did, you know rubber necking and taking pictures of this accident. I assure you, the trucker and his adorable doggy were both just fine.

This morning I found a little motivation after three snoozes to get up and get moving. I was to deliver today in Louden, TN west of Knoxville. I stopped a couple of times for food, bathroom and shower breaks, sat in traffic for another construction zone and still managed to get there earlier than anticipated.

As I was delivering a new work assignment came through which had me picking up at the same place making life much easier than it could have been. I'm now hanging out at a truck stop for my DOT break. I'll head down into Georgia tomorrow and deliver this trailer full and hopefully get something with some really good miles behind it. :)

Hope everyone has a good, safe weekend. I know a lot of folks will be celebrating Cinco de Mayo tomorrow night and I just hope that if you have a shot or twelve of tequila with your fajita's and fried ice cream, that you do so responsibly and have a designated driver. But don't forget to post pics of you and your amigo's in your sombrero's for me to point and laugh at!