12 hours later, truck has a new starter. And I have negative DOT hours left - sleepytime!
The IN load has been passed on to someone else, and I have a short run within NE scheduled for the morning. Let's see if I can actually manage to deliver this one! What a weird week...
People say change is the only constant - that seems more true in this job than anything I've ever done before. My Zen is getting a lot of practice, and more importantly, actually improving!
I am a leaf on the wind
Currently on a run from Fruita CO to Hammond IN. Had to wait a few hours yesterday morning for chain restrictions in the Rockies (GO!) before fueling and sleeping in Big Springs NE. Scheduling was tight, so rolled as soon as my 10 hour break ended (GO!). But after my first break, truck said NO GO!
I'm now waiting for a starter replacement. At this rate, I *might* get a quarter of my usual mileage this week, but I'm not holding my breath. Laundry's done though!
I am not headed to Atlanta. The run was a live load, and the computer couldn't find an empty trailer nearby for me.
Theoretically I will be picking up a preloaded trailer later today and heading to Hammond IN instead. We'll see.
Meanwhile I have discovered Fruita is a nice small town. Always useful to find a used bookstore a mere 1/2 mile stroll from your truckstop! Plus the grocery store had pre-made spinach stuffed portabellas! Yum...
Here we have a perfect example of weather prediction problems.
I though I could beat the snows headed for the Rockies. I was wrong - 3 separate areas required chains before I could roll early Saturday. I can deadlift the chains (barely), but not wrestle them at arms length around the tires. So chaining is simply not an option for me. Which I'm fine with since I'm dubious about driving in weather crappy enough to require chains in the first place!
So Saturday I got stopped in Fruita CO. And couldn't find a reliable weather forecast. Dispatch would only tell me it was snowing on the I-70 cameras. No weather channel at the truck stop. I have yet to find a weather app useful for road travel. Cashier at truck stop said forecast was snowstorms thru Wednesday. This load is due in SD Tuesday. So I choose a strategic retreat and messaged to have load re-powered (driven by someone else).
Chain restrictions were lifted last evening, and it's a beautiful sunny day out today. (Shaking head)
So my next load will be to Atlanta instead. Following right behind a storm scheduled to dump 6-8" snow on Kansas tonight. Yippee.
I love my job, I love driving/living in a truck, but I swear I'm going to spend next winter sailing in the Caribbean instead!!
I actually ended up going beyond LV all the way to LA with that last load I posted. Bopped around LA on a couple short runs than back to LV for a day off.
No, I did not go to any of the casinos, but I did do some exploring via the decent bus system. Serious dearth of bookstores in North Las Vegas!!
Happy to be rolling again (in another hour or so), less happy to be rolling back into winterland. Ah well, it's a price for freedom of the road, eh?
Final destination is Kitchner ON, but I haven't jumped through the company hoops yet to run Canada. Something about arctic air masses are a disincentive...
Somehow I don't think 270 miles is going to escape much weather. But miles are scarce this time of year - if I want to keep moving, I can't be too picky!
The AR load was pushed back to Sunday, and then I didn't have an empty so reassigned to another driver. Instead, I'm headed to MO this morning. No load after this one yet...
I fell behind. Shocker.
2/1: Ft. Collins CO to Oklahoma City OK
2/3: Oklahoma City OK to Laredo TX
