Enjoying North America while earning a living...: August 1, 1990, 2010

About this blog's layout...BLOG UPDATED ONCE PER DAY...

I follow my journal daily by writing under the daily title, "FIRST 5 YEARS:" The first five years will strictly follow my 5 year journal. If I find the day I am writing about to be boring, I will either write about thoughts I remember(placed under the title of "SECOND 5 YEARS"), write a trucker tale(placed under "A Trucker's Tale"), give a helpful trucker hint, ask a "student driver" question or do something.....When a location appears after the day of the week after "FIRST 5 YEARS:", it is where I am at the start of that day((IE: FIRST 5 YEARS: (Sunday-Kansas City, Missouri))..... I would encourage those that find themselves enjoying North America to follow me day by day.....REMEMBER: THIS IS A BLOG ABOUT WHAT LIFE IS LIKE FOR A TRUCKER THAT DOES NOT HAVE A DAILY ROUTINE ROUTE(called a "dedicated" route). THERE WILL BE MANY TIMES WHEN THE ROUTING, SCENERY AND DAY'S ACTIVITIES WILL BE SIMILAR(boring???) TO PREVIOUS DAYS; THAT'S TRUCKING! THERE WILL BE DAYS WHEN THE ROUTING, SCENERY AND DAY'S ACTIVITIES WILL BE TOTALLY NEW; THAT'S TRUCKING. Frustrations? I mention the frustrations I had as a driver. I loved my job while earning a living and realized that all jobs have frustrations; truck driving is, and was, no different..... Many pictures on this blog can be left-clicked and made larger.....Questions?...Please E-mail PT at fabalt2000@centurylink.net

August 1, 2010

August 1, 1990, 2010

FIRST 5 YEARS:(Wednesday-Cleveland, Ohio)
Woke up at 7 AM EST and so did Rich(no handle--other driver from my company). We went in and had breakfast and just chatted with the other drivers for awhile.

Rich and I fueled(128 gallon) as he said the loads were not heavy(around 25,000 to 30,000 lbs for a full load) for this engine plant. I did my vehicle inspection BUT did not get my logbook caught up. I would do that at my planned stop in Lake station, Indiana

Rich and I went to the plant(close to intersection of I-480 and I-77) and checked in at 9:30 AM EST. We were told to wait as our appointments were not until later and this place goes by them. Rich got backed up about 10:30 AM EST and I at 11:15 AM EST. As I finished getting docked, Rich was done being loaded and, since he was going a different way than me, he left.

I was being loaded when lunch time hit. The union shop literally dropped everything. I had only two more pallets of engines to go in my trailer when lunch came. What they were loading was only about 20 feet from the trailer. I had to wait through their hour lunch to get the pallets loaded. This was frustrating as I was watching the trailer being loaded and could see the load paperwork sitting on the desk for me to sign. Anyway, got out of there finally at 1:15 PM EST.

Headed west on I-480 until I was able to get on I-80(toll road) westbound. Stayed on I-80 westbound until I went into Indiana and caught it's westbound I-80 toll road. The toll road ended a little before the planned stop at the "Just a Truckstop" in Lake Station, Indiana. Drove into the "Just a Truckstop" at 6:30 PM EST after one short break in the last couple hours. Had the buffet(not the barfet). And decided to take me a little nap until about 1 AM EST...