Hello all! It has been a little while since I posted anything and that is mainly because I went home for a week and left the wonderful world of trucking behind. I took a total of 7 days off and enjoyed every last one of them. I got to visit with my daughter who was home from college and my step-daughter and her husband. I got to meet my daughters boyfriend and we all spent the day at a high school marching band competition. ( My daughter was drum major in the marching band while in high school so that has been a big part of our lives ) I enjoyed being in the family atmosphere and look forward to my next time off at Christmas time.
This is the time of year when freight really slows down. Most of the product for the holiday season has already been shipped to it's destination and manufacturers are reducing inventory for the end of the year so the result is less freight for the same amount of trucks. I have definately felt this slowdown myself in the last several loads that I have had. I have made some adjustments to the way I run to accomodate these changes and keep myself from sitting so much. Real simple solution! SLOW DOWN! Instead of pushing the load as hard as I can, I have found that if I run less miles per day on the load, I will end up not having to sit for so long at the end. It is obvious that I am not going to be able to get off of the loads early so I have to make due with what I am given. This has also reduced the amount of stress I feel just because I am not freaking out over not gettting put on another load.
I had another one of those wonderful trailers yesterday that another driver dropped with numerous problems. When I picked the trailer up, it had a flat tire and the refrigeration unit would not start because it had a dead battery and then when I got to the receiver and opened the doors I found the air chute which is supposed to be attached to the ceiling of the trailer to direct air to the back of the trailer was torn down from the ceiling in several locations and needed to be replaced. This is definately becoming more and more of a problem and it would be nice if the company would do something to the drivers that leave these trailers it this kind of shape. It makes for lost time for the driver that doesn't leave trailers like that....like me!
My load I am picking up is going to Illinois and I have been monitoring the weather up there. It shouldn't be too bad but there is the possibility of running into something cold, wet, and slippery. To top it off, I get to drive up there on the busyest travel weekend of the year and they are predicting that this will be heavier that previous years. I only have to go through one major city once I am out of Dallas so HOPEFULLY it won't be too bad. Keep me in your prayers throughout the holiday weekend and I will update once I get to my destination.
Happy Trails
Mike
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