Chardon, Ohio: Walmart

It isn't a truckstop, but it is the closest thing around to one there is. Once again I am waiting for a load. The one I picked up yesterday was delivered at nine o'clock this morning, since then I have wnadered the Walmart aimlessly, sort of like mall walking with window shopping thrown in. I also picked up some Subway from the restaurant in the Walmart. Basic economics, get a footlong, cut it in half, and have two heathy meals for five bucks.

I spent last night at the TA in Youngstown, of course hooked to an Idle-Aire system. One thing I did last night that I don't usually do, is turn it off before going to sleep. I did that because of the strong exhaust smell coming in. So I turned on the bunk heater, it runs off of the diseal, and slept fairly well. The main reason I switched was to avoid ending up like a couple that ended up with carbon monoxide poisoning because of someone idling near them. The Idle-Aire is supposed to be sealed against exhaust, but apparently the seal doesn't hold that well. I have already sent an email about the incident to Idle-Aire, it will be interesting to see what kind of response I get back.

Now I know

I know for certain that I will be sitting here until tomorrow. The good news is that I have a load tomorrow, that delivers to Akron on Thursday, so it is more okay news. Once again I will be doging tolls, but I am not going to be following the route that they give me, I will stick mostly to the interstates. I have no desire to drive that stretch of 322 again, and will likely save some time avoiding the small towns I had to wander through. Looking at the routing on Google, it doesn't look like it will take much more time than actually using the toll route. It also avoids the worst of 322.

So another night here in the truck stop then wait and see what they come up with for me tomorrow, hopefully split this and onto something else, but I doubt it.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: TA

It has now been over twenty-four hours since I delivered my load in York, and I have no idea at this point when I will be moving again. I moved myself here yesterday afternoon after getting lunch at a diner off of I-83, aptly named the I-83 diner. I waited there for about four hours before double checking with dispatch about moving to a truck stop. That late in the day any load they found would have been loading today anyway. So I plugged myself into the Idle-Aire system for heat and electricity and spent a decent night after a long hot shower.

Today I slept in a bit and then went for breakfast. I did unhook from the Idle-Aire long while away to save some money and then hooked back in to get the fifty cent per hour discount that they offer for starting it between nine and noon. That will take me to around seven tonight, and if I am still here I will have to call and get more money put on the card or just wait until midnight when the card recharges. Fortunately none of this is my expense, but obviously I am not making any money either at this point.

Guess I will just be online, watch some tv or movies and continue to wait. Hopefully I will be moving soon, but who knows really.

York, Pennsylvania

The drive on Sunday was not to bad, except for the first twenty miles of US 322, that was hair raising. If you picture a country road, then make it weave back and forth like a drunken sailor, then add hills and mountains, you have the first forty miles on US 322 for me. I especially liked the fact that you couldn't see more than a few hundred feet in front of you, in the dark, on snowy roads. I already informed my dispatcher that I may start splitting these loads in our West Middlesex yard. All this extra driving to avoid the Pennsylvania Turnpike is getting ridiculous, and it isn't like I am getting paid for those miles either. I get paid as if I took the turnpike.

I spent last night at a fuel stop that had four parking places, all of which were taken by the time I got there. I managed to grad one of the last unmarked sections of pavement to spend the night at this place called Rutters.

Now I am being unloaded at a place that recycles plastics. Fortunately I had clean cardboard in my load, scrap plastic would have been a mess. I have no idea where I will be going next, because the load planner doesn't either.

Today's Load

They have a load for me coming out of Hesston, Kansas. Unfortunately it is a Hazardous Materials load, but it sounds like it won't be to bad. They are empty containers that just have residue in them, not loaded containers, so the risk is much less, whatever it is.

I will be picking it up as soon as I get there then head for Chicago, probably for tomorrow morning delivery. Fortunately there are a lot of truck stops in the Chicago area.

Topeka, Kansas

Topeka is where I am spending the night tonight, but how I got here is a bit of a tale. Last week I delivered the load to Strasburg, Virginia in the early morning, and then waited, and waited, then waited some more. It was finally eleven in the morning before they decided that there were no loads that could keep me going that day. Since it was a Friday, and the load that brought me there was a paid round trip, I was allowed to drive back home. I did make it home that day, but only with a half hour to spare, which means one accident or slow up along the way and I would have been sleeping on the road that night.

They tried to get me to do some short runs over the weekend, but after being ready to keep running, then ending up heading home I had already changed my mindset to things that needed doing at home. It worked out well enough.

Monday the load that they found me loaded in Perrysburg, just north or where I live. Unfortunately between the delays there and finding two holes in the roof, it took almost five hours to get the load. By that time, I decided to leave the truck the the yard long enough to go home for dinner, then headed on my way. That night I made it to Eaton, Ohio, and spent the night at the TA there attached to an Idle Aire.

Tuesday I covered quite a few miles and made it to Oak Grove, Missouri. I spent the night at the Petro, where I had a so-so dinner of chicken parmesan with the salad bar. The buffet looked good form a distance, but up close over half of it was deep fat fried, considering almost half of it was the salad portion, that was a lot of fried food.

That night around 1:30 AM there was a knock at my door, I really need to stop getting up for these knocks. Peaking out the window I found a lizard, a lot lizard, hoping to earn some money from me. I just shook my head and waved her off, not only do I need every penny, I will also never touch a lizard. She didn't look to thrilled to be out there anyway.

I had three deliveries today, starting in Belton, Missouri, the second in Olathe, Kansas, and the last here in Topeka, Kansas. By the time I was done I had spent $250.00 in lumper fees, and was finally done at 3:45PM. A lumper is a person that unloads trailers for money, most grocery warehouses have them and make it so that it is almost impossible to get unloaded with out them. Fortunately these fees are paid for by the broker or the shipper, but they are still a pain. Not to mention that one raid from Immigration would shut any one of these services down. I really doubt that any of the people besides the guy in charge is in the country legally.

Once again there was no new load for me tonight, and for some reason there are no truck stops around Topeka. So it was off to find a hotel, and I wasn't interested in looking hard, or driving far. Which brought me to a Holiday Inn with a nice large lot to park the truck in. The price for the room started out at over $80 a night, but through some negotiations on my part, the price dropped to $59 plus tax. It also came with a complementary drink and a free hot breakfast, so I definitely came out ahead. Though the only drink I had was iced tea, the food was excellent and I can't wait to try breakfast.

Check out time is noon tomorrow, so there is plenty of time for them to find me a load, and even more time for me to head to a decent truck stop if I need to.

Tonight I will just enjoy the cable in the room and relax in this really comfortable bed. The first movie tonight is The Golden Compass, and it is actually pretty good.

Clear Brook, VA

I am at the Flying J in Clear Brook, VA, tonight. The drive down was extremely nice, very few cars and even fewer trucks were on the road until I got to Maryland. That was were it got busy again. Now it is just a matter of waiting to deliver this load tomorrow morning. This truck stop is less than thirty miles away from there, so a quick drive to get rid of this, then back home again. Unless they find a broker load to somewhere, then I will be working over the weekend. I am a little mixed as to actually doing that though. I just feel like being lazy, and while I really need the boost in miles, just don't want to do anything other than head for home tomorrow.

There is one tunnel along I-70 in Pennsylvania, the Allegheny Tunnel, going through it was like traveling through to another world. On the side I went in on the sun was up and bright, and when I came out the other side, it was behind the mountains, leaving everything in shadows. I didn't see the sun again after going through that tunnel.

The food at the buffet here was really a mixed bag, some was really good, and some was just horrible. The goulash, at least I think that is what it was, was pretty good. So were some steak patties, but the soup was simply awful. It tasted like over boiled, just nasty. The cooked greens were even worse, and thinking about it one may become the other, but that is something I just do not want to think about.