September 25

I got up at 0215, paid for my shower and left the truck stop at 0315 to drive to the receiver. I arrived at 0330 and was unloaded and left at about 0530 to drive to the next shipper. I arrived at 0545, dropped my current trailer and hooked up to the new one, I received the bills and left for the hump at about 0630. I arrived at the hump at about 1430, turned in the paper work for my current load, took all of my personal items out of the truck, turned in the truck keys and other items and left for home at about 0415. I will now start working for another company driving tankers and being home everyday, plus making more money. I attend a five day orientation starting Monday morning in Mulberry, Fl.

September 24

I left Troutville at about 0630 and drove to a truck stop on I-285 in Atlanta which is about 10 miles from my stop for tomorrow. I received my load to get me to Okahumpka. I am supposed to pick up a load about 5 miles from where I take my current load and take it to the hump. This pickup will be a drop and hook.

September 23

I slept in this morning till about 0730. I decided to call the shipper to see if I could come over early to pick up the load, they told me yes. I left the truck stop at about 0900 and arrived at the shipper at about 1400. They loaded me and I left for Austell at about 1530. I drove to Troutville, Va and shut down for the night.

September 22

I’m still sitting, still no load. I contacted the recruiter to see if she received my application and she said she did and she would let me know something this afternoon or tomorrow. A couple of hours later I received a call from the recruiter wanting to know when I could come to orientation. I told her it all depended on when I could get home. She asked me if I thought I could be at orientation, Monday 9/28 I told her I would try. Orientation for this company is in Mulberry, FL. which is near Lakeland. I called my DM and told her I was resigning to accept a position in Jacksonville and that I needed to get home as soon as possible. My DM understood and began looking for a load to get me home. I received my load information late today. I am supposed to pick up a load in Chambersburg, Pa.tomorrow at 2300 and deliver it to Austell, Ga Friday morning at 0400. So I spent another night in the same truck stop

September 21

I left the truck stop at 0345 and arrived at the receiver at 0415. They gave me my dock assignment and told me that shift change was at 0500, so it will be after that before they will start unloading me. Yesterday, I received my Pre-plan for my next load. I am supposed to pick up a load in Greensburg, Pa and take it to St. Paul, MN. When the actual load information cam in it did not show when I am supposed to deliver the load or a pickup number for picking up the load at the shipper. I sent a message to my DM at about 0600 requesting this information. I left the receiver at about 0615 and drove to Greensburg, PA. arriving at about 1000. It took me awhile to find out where I was supposed to go, because I had not received an answer from my DM. I called my DM and after about an hour she sent me a name of someone to ask for. I went into the shipping office, they told me where to go to pick up my load. I drove across the street and backed into a dock. My DM still had not sent me a delivery date and time, so I asked her again. About a half hour later she sent me a message, saying that I was to drive to a truck stop about 15 miles from here and swap this load out with a truck that has a team. This load is due to be in St. Paul by 1000 tomorrow morning. They finished loading and I looked at the paperwork and saw this load weighed only 6000 lbs. It barely fills the front part of the trailer. I think the company will be losing money on this load. I left the receiver at 1200 and arrived at the truck stop at 1230. I found out the team that is supposed to meet me, will not be here until 1730. They arrived at 1830 and we swapped trailers, one problem though, they have a load, I don’t. So here I sit AGAIN waiting for a load assignment.

September 20

I left Harrisonburg at about 0800 and drove to Lamar, Pa. This is only about 30 miles from my destination. I shut down for the night and went to bed early. I have to be at the receiver at 0500.

September 19

I left the truck stop at about 0545 and drove to Harrisonburg, Va. arriving at about 1330 where I shut down for the night. I only have about a four or five hour drive tomorrow to get to the receiver. I spent the night in a nearby hotel. This hotel has a business center, I was able to print out the application, fill it out and fax it to the recruiter.

September 18

I finally received my next load at 1200. I left the truck stop and drove 5 miles to my pickup in Greer, SC. I am supposed to take this load to Mcelhattan, Pa by 0500 Monday morning. I left the shipper and drove back to the truck stop in Duncan and shut down for the night.

While I was sitting at the truck stop, I was browsing job ads on my Iphone I saw an ad for a local driving position in Jacksonville. I called the recruiter and she told me it is for a local job driving tankers. I have a tank endorsement on my licenses. I asked her if they were hiring drivers out of Jacksonville, she said yes. She asked me how much experience I have and I told her about six months. She e-mailed me a copy of the application and asked for me to send it to her she would see if they could hire me

September 17

I left the truck stop at about 0800, arrived at the receiver at about 1030, they finished unloading me at about 1330. I drove to a truck stop in Duncan, SC.and parked to wait for my next load. I spent the night at the truck stop.

September 16

I slept in this morning, I then had Lisa take me to the truck at about 0900. I left at about 0930 and drove to Bowman, SC, arriving at 1400. I shut down for the night here, I only have about a 2 hour drive to the receiver and my appointment is at noon tomorrow. I’ll get a good nights’ sleep and leave at about 0800.

September 15

I arrived back at the hump at 1030 to wait until it was time to leave to go to Umatilla. My DM called me at about 1130 and told me the shipper called and said they will load me if I got there early. I left right away and drove the 25 miles to Umatilla. This was basically a drop and hook, I dropped my current empty trailer and backed up to a trailer that was in the process of being loaded. I was in and out of the shipper in an hour and a half. I drove to the rest area by my house, shut down and went home for the night.

September 14

I arrived at the hump and went to the truck to see if I had a load waiting for me, no such luck. I waited around the hump for most of the day until a load came in at about 1630. I am supposed to pick up a load in Umatilla, FL. Tuesday afternoon at 1500 and take it to Greenville, SC by Thursday at noon. This is a long time frame for a short distance, I’m not going to make much money on this load. I decided I would go home for the night instead of staying in a hotel in Leesburg.

September 11

I left the rest area at 0500 and arrived at the store in Bradenton at about 0900. I talked to Kenny on the way down and he was able to meet me at the store and we had a nice chat while the store employees unloaded the trailer. I left the store at about 1100 and drove to the distribution center for my next load, arriving at about 1230. I was told my appointment time was at 1430 and to come back then. I drove to a truck stop, bought some fuel and drove back to the distribution center, arriving at 1345. They let me in this time. I went to check in at shipping, they gave me a dock assignment, so I backed up to the dock and waited to be loaded. They finished loading me at 1600, I left for the hump. I arrived at the hump at 1700, dropped my trailer as another truck will be taking it to it’s final destination in Northhampton, MA. and shut down for the weekend. I then left for home. I am due back Monday morning at 1000.

September 10

I left the truck stop at 0600 and drove to the rest area by my house, arriving at about noon. I parked there and shut down for the night. I received my next load information on the way down. I am supposed to pick up a load in Auburndale, Fl and take it to the hump so that I can begin my hometime.

September 9

Left the truck stop at 0700 and drove to Toano which was about an hour away. Of course I got stuck in the Norfolk Navy base rush hour traffic and it took me an hour and a half to get to Toano. I pulled up to the security shack and was told that this was going to be a drop and hook, yea, although my next trailer was already loaded it was still missing a couple of items. I drove around to the back and dropped my current trailer and then located my new trailer and hooked up to it and waited. They called me at 1130 to pull around to a dock door so they could load up the rest of the items. I got under way at 1230. So much for a quick drop and hook. I drove to the same truck stop I stayed at on Monday in Dillan, SC and shut down for the night

September 8

Left Dillan at 0900 and arrived in Norfolk at 1330, my appointment time wasn’t until 1600, so I had to wait in a parking lot until they called me at 1600 and told me what dock to back into. While there, I received my pre-plan for my next load. I am supposed to pick up the load in Toano, VA tomorrow morning and take it to Brandenton, Fl by Friday morning. They finished unloading me and I left at 1830 and went to a truck stop about 15 minutes away in Virginia Beach and shut down for the night. It had been raining most of the day and when I arrived at the truck stop, the parking lot was nothing but mud and 20ft wide potholes. I found a parking place in between the potholes and shut down. Here are a couple of pictures.

September 7

Left the rest area at 0900 and drove to Dillan, SC and stopped for the night at about 1500. I am getting close to going over my 70hrs in 8 day law, so I have to watch how much I work each day to keep from going over 70 hours. I could only work 7.5 hours today. I stopped for the night after working 6.5. I have 9.5 available for tomorrow. I’ll have to keep a close eye on these hours until I get my home time. I asked to be back at the hump by 9/9, but I don’t think that will happen, since tomorrow is the 8th and I will be in Norfolk.

September 6

I left Lake Park, Ga. at 0630 and drove to Winter Haven. I arrived at 1000 with an hour to spare. They unloaded me and I was on my way at 1100. My next pickup was five miles away in Auburndale, FL. I arrived in 15 minutes and this pickup was a drop and hook. I dropped my current trailer and hooked up to a preloaded trailer and was on my way by 1215. This load is going to Norfolk and has to be delivered by 1600 Tuesday 9/08. I drove to the rest area by my house and had Lisa pick me and I spent the night at home

September 5

I left Memphis, IN at 0830 and drove all the way to Lake Park, Ga. and stopped for the night at 1930. I used up all 11hrs that I can drive in one day and drove 677 miles.

September 4

I left at 0900 and arrived at the receiver at 1000, they had me unloaded and I was on my way by 1100. There was on problem, though, I had not received my next load. I decided to drive back to the truck stop that I spent last night in and wait for my load assignment to come in. As I was driving back to the truck stop, I received a call from my DM. She told me she is giving me a high priority load of blueberries that I will pick up in Paw Paw, MI., the opposite direction from which I was heading, and deliver to Winter Haven, Fl by Sunday morning. It was noon when my DM called. When I reached the truck stop I planned my trip and headed for Paw Paw. I arrived at 1430, waited while they loaded the blueberries and left for Winter Haven at 1630. It is about a 1200 mile trip from Paw Paw to Winter Haven by 1100 Sunday Morning. I was going to have to push it if I was going to make it on time. I drove until 2230 that night and stopped for my 10 hour break in Memphis, IN.

September 3

I left the truck stop at 0545 and drove all day for a total of about 540 miles and stopped for the night in Grand Ledge, MI, which is about 50 miles from the receiver.

September 2

Called the shipper to see if I could come over early to pick up my load and was told to come on over. I arrived at the shipper at about 0900 and I was loaded and ready to go by 1015. This sure beats hanging around the truck stop until late afternoon. I left the shipper and began the long trek to Michigan. I stopped in Bloomsburg, PA for the night.

September 1

Left for Andover at 0700 and arrived at the receiver at 1015. While driving to Andover I received my pre-plan. I am supposed to pick up a load in Westfield, MA, it’s about 100 miles west of Andover, at 1700 Wednesday afternoon and take it to Ada, MI by 1130 Friday Morning. I left Andover at 1315 and drove to Springfield, MA, which is about 10 miles from my pick up tomorrow, and shut down for the night.

August 31

Arrived at the shipper in Lynchburg at 0745 and back into a dock. Finally left at 1300 to start my drive to Andover. My plan was to drive into CT and stop for the night, I knew it was going to be close on my 14 hour clock. I found a place to park in a service plaza on the CT parkway near Stamford at 2045, this left me 15 mins to spare on my 14 hour clock. It so happens that Stamford, CT. is not far from where Neal lives. I had talked to him last night and told him I might be close. So I called him and he came to pick me up at the service plaza. We went into Stamford, had a nice dinner and caught up on things. After dinner, he took me back to my truck and he left for home.

August 30

Left for the shipper at about 0800 and arrived at 0830. I went to check in and found out the trailer I was supposed to hook up to had already been picked up by another driver. I notified my DM and was given a couple more pickup numbers to give to the shipper. They told me those trailers had been picked up also. After some research by the DM, it appears they scheduled four drivers to pick up three loads. The last load was picked up at 1700 yesterday afternoon. Nobody notified me, so I made the drive here for nothing. After sitting at the shipper for two hours, my DM sent me a new load assignment. I am supposed to pick up a load in Lynchburg, Va tomorrow morning and take it Andover, MA. By Tuesday Morning. I drove back to Harrisonburg, VA and shut down for the night.

August 29

I left the truck stop in Emporia at about 1400 and arrived at the receiver at about 1600. They gave me a dock to back into and began unloading my trailer. They finished unloading me at about 1830 and I left to pickup my next load. I found out that I could pick up my next load and anytime, so I decided to drive as close to the shipper as I could and shut down for the night. I’d then pick up the load first thing tomorrow morning and drive to the receiver in Anderson, In. I shut down about 30 miles from the shipper at about 2200.

August 28

Left the rest area at 0630 and drove to Emporia, Va and stopped for the night at about 1600. I have about a two hour drive to the receiver, which I will do early afternoon. I received my pre-plan for my next load as I was driving. I am supposed to pick up a load at 1000 tomorrow 8/29 in Winchester, Va, which is about 90 miles north of where my current load drops off tomorrow 8/29 at 1730. I am to take the next load to Anderson, In by 1500 Sunday 8/30. I think this will be a tight time frame to meet due to the fact I won’t be free of my current load until around 1900 tomorrow night. I then have to drive 90 miles to pick up the next load and then almost 500 miles to deliver it by 1500 Sunday. This will be fun.

August 27

Arrived back at the hump at 0700, did my pretrip inspection and took off for Auburndale at about 0800. I arrived at Auburndale at 0915, backed into a dock, went to check in and then went back to the truck to wait to be loaded. At 1200, I went to the shipping office to find out what time I was going to be loaded since my appt. time was 1100. They told me I would be the first one loaded after the dockworkers came back from lunch. I finally pulled out at 1415. I drove to the rest area by my house and parked for the night at 1800. I spent the night at home.

August 26

Arrived back at the hump to start work and to see if there was a load waiting for me, there wasn’t. I stayed at the hump all day waiting for a load until one came in at about 1600. I am supposed to pick up a load tomorrow morning at 1100 in Auburndale, Fl. and take it to Gordonsville, Va. by Saturday afternoon at 1730. I found an empty trailer, hooked up to it and parked the truck for the night. I went to a motel to sleep instead of sleeping in the truck. Here is a picture of my truck.