On the Road

After a schedule change before Thanksgiving, I now deliver my loads at 11:30 AM in Spring Hill, I find myself traveling around Ohio as my loads have been cancelled by GM. Part of this is due to their problems, and the rest is that they also get engines out of Mexico. So I get to do random things until they have another load for me to go south with. I still have a load scheduled for this weekend, so this week will not be a total loss.

Monday I started out doing a relay out in Indiana and then some local truck movements, not much but better than nothing. Tuesday I headed north making three stops to pick up a load heading to GM's Wilmington Assembly Plant in Delaware. Having not been there before, I was looking forward to seeing Delaware, but this was not to be as I realized that I would end up being late with it. So it was relayed in Hermitage, PA at the Falcon Terminal there.

From Hermitage I went to Warren, OH, to pick up a load of tannin from a government stockpile, and haul it down to Point Pleasant, WV. There they repackage it in large pallet sized bags to ship it over seas. Arriving in Point Pleasant I rapidly discovered how bad my directions were. Following them lead me to a dead end and a beauty shop where I asked for some better directions. While attempting to turn around by making several left turns, I was at a one way street, I found myself stuck again, in a place trucks really should not be. Managing to get myself turned around yet again I see a local police officer and flag him down for some better local information. It was then that I found that I had just gotten myself turned around the wrong way for the easiest way to get out of where I was. Fortunately he was amiable to me backing up to make a right hand turn at the street he felt I should go down. After the second time trying the turn I was able to get myself out of there and back on the road I know knew I should be on.

The easiest description of this town is narrow streets with either a telephone pole or a street sign on every corner. To make it even easier to find things all the street signs are made of painted iron, that does not reflect an iota of light at night.

Back to finding my way to this place, after many false dodges to make a left as I tried to read signs, I finally got exasperated and turned at the next street, put on my hazards for the third time that night and while talking to dispatch started walking around reading signs. To my surprise I was on 22nd street, the one I was looking for all that time. With dispatch reading me street names as I drove back in to this subdivision I soon found myself at the gate to where I was going. Unfortunately I also found myself unable to leave without going through that gate. So I got to spend the night parked there.

Even more unfortunately at around 11:30 that night the local dealer swung by to check if I was good. He did this by honking his horn outside the truck until I showed my head, and then he asked if I was good, I was like I am stuck here, can't leave till morning, then he asked if I wanted to buy some dope, I said nope, I am good, rolled up my window and decided I wasn't answering any more horns till morning.

When morning rolled around I found that I was the second truck to be unloaded, the first had spent the night locked in this place. It then took a while to get my next load, apparently due to the fact that I was hauling what we call a bullet proof trailer. This is a steel reinforced trailer that is a lot heavier than regular ones. Eventually I had a load, initially to be picked up prior to two, but then changed to 7AM on Friday morning. It is likely to be another heavy one, but it will at least get me back towards home.

Tonight I am spending the night in a Knights Inn in Parkersburg, WV. Hopefully it will not be the sheet of ice I am expecting in the morning, but I am not to optimistic. At least I am close to Hannibal where I pick up my next load, so hopefully the driving will not be to bad.