I need a hat, a chain for my wallet & a can of snuff.

Done for the day.....

Looks like I'm taking a local load from Charlotte to High Point tomorrow returning to Charlotte. Thursday's load will be taking me back to Central Pennsylvania allowing me to return home Friday.
 
Sounds good and like you'll be able to enjoy a weekend home, sleeping in your own bed and eating home cooked meals. That was the worse part for me was missing the home cooked meals and my own bed.
 
Whizzer said:
Sounds good and like you'll be able to enjoy a weekend home, sleeping in your own bed and eating home cooked meals. That was the worse part for me was missing the home cooked meals and my own bed.
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I bring a lot of leftovers with me. ;)
 
Delivered an empty tanker at one of our railroad yards. They'll fill it for some other lucky driver.

I then picked up a preloaded hazmat load to the Winston Salem area. Taking my time getting there as I passed on an extra hour to take it slow.

After I offload it'll be back to Charlotte to get a load that delivers in PA on Friday. I hope it's preloaded and I can leave extra early but I have my doubts.

Went close by Rockingham Speedway yesterday and past Charlotte Motor Speedway today.

Question..... Is there an auto dealership in Charlotte that doesn't operate under the Hendrick Badge? Whew, that guy has his hand in everything.
 
Good thing I planned ahead!

So, knowing that I was going to have to drive from Charlotte to South Carolina to get loaded before heading back North into Pennsylvania, I decided to reserve a spot at a Pilot Truck Stop they was along my route. About an hour before reaching my exit, both my GPS and phone alerted me if I'm accident ahead. 9 miles beyond my exit I81 was shut down northbound. By the time I was reaching my exit I came up on stopped traffic. It was stop and go for those last 2 miles before getting into the truck stop where my reserved spot was waiting. I left an hour to spare this morning and used 49 minutes of it. I quickly did my post trip inspection and went off duty for the day. It's going to allow for me to leave early in the am for my destination.

Right now the truck stop is gridlock. Lots of drivers running out of time on their clocks with nowhere to go. It could have been me but it wasn't..... this time. I don't know where everyone's going to go. Hopefully they are not in my way in another 9 hours when I pull out of here. Time to hit the DQ in the truck stop and then an early night to bed. I'll unload in the am hours and get back home early to celebrate my 27th anniversary with my better half. Today is actually the day but tomorrow will do.
 
I should feel like I'm going on vacation because I'm leaving southern Ca tomorrow heading to Brainard MN, Indy, Reading PA, and then St Louis...but there is a week off between each race.:D
 
Nitro Dude said:
I should feel like I'm going on vacation because I'm leaving southern Ca tomorrow heading to Brainard MN, Indy, Reading PA, and then St Louis...but there is a week off between each race.:D
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You left the hauler among all those zoologists? Brave. Haha
 
Congratulations on 27 years of marriage. A milestone considering many unions do not get past ten or less years. Hope you and your Bride see no fewer than 57 more years together.
 
It was a local day yesterday hauling a load out to the Cleveland area. While local, it was a long one with 5 hours alone in loading/unloading.

Today's trip is to Kentucky. I'll be loading at 8am and then heading to my reserved parking spot about 8 hours away. Looks like today's travels are going to be through scattered storms. At least I'll get my windshield clean.
 
So..... I got to my destination last evening. The product that I hauled was at 250 degrees during transport but they need it to be 300 degrees to offload. They do this by pumping steam through a series of tubing that surrounds the tank under the skin you see when they're traveling down the road. It apparently takes about 6 hours to bring the temperature up those 50 degrees. The plan is to offload at 8am. So, at 2am this morning they came out and woke me up to let me know they were starting the steam process. At 2:10am they told me there was a problem. The steam was leaking. It was not going to get to the temperature that they wanted. Eventually it was decided to try to perform the offload anyhow which fortunately worked. Crisis averted. I thought I may have to haul this stuff back home. That wouldn't have been good. Bottom line..... This tank wasn't tested properly. It will have to be tore down, fixed and re-skinned.
 
So..... Now I'm east of Columbus Ohio heading home. Again, the mandatory, 30 minute break. A break that is pushing me ever so closer to not being able to start on time tomorrow after a mandatory 10 rest. Will probably have to break posted speed limits just to stay on time. Not a good thing but I am running empty.
 
Made it back in time yesterday with about 10 minutes to spare. It allowed me to get to my load point, where I'm at now, right on time. Another Hazmat load today that is going to the Cleveland area. The exact same run I made three days ago. Familiarity is good. It makes it look like I know what I'm doing. :D
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Preload Day. All local. 3 to be exact. It'll take all day. A lot of sitting around. It'll be a nap day. I've got a ton of time in this week and I'm tired.
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Time for a weekend break. :D

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Am empty to Baltimore in the morning. Loaded there, then heading north to upstate New York for a delivery in Tuesday. Already reserved a spot to park in New Jersey tomorrow night. Afterwards I'll be dispatched out of Springfield Massachusetts for the remainder of my week.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Am empty to Baltimore in the morning. Loaded there, then heading north to upstate New York for a delivery in Tuesday. Already reserved a spot to park in New Jersey tomorrow night. Afterwards I'll be dispatched out of Springfield Massachusetts for the remainder of my week.
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It's becoming apparent that reserving a parking spot is a necessity
 
You are definitely getting to see a lot of the east coast. How far west does your company operate? I'm staying at the track in Brainerd MN to watch some of the other teams test on Mon and then I will head to Indy Mon night for a week off before the US Nationals. I figured there is no hurry since I don't check in to my hotel and pick up my rental car until Wed. I'm going to race slot cars in Indy on Thur night then go to a sprint car race in Kokomo In on Fri night and then go to the Iron Man motocross race in Crawfordsville In on Sat. It's going to be a pretty busy week off.:) Keep the sunny side up dpk.
 
Nitro Dude said:
You are definitely getting to see a lot of the east coast. How far west does your company operate? I'm staying at the track in Brainerd MN to watch some of the other teams test on Mon and then I will head to Indy Mon night for a week off before the US Nationals. I figured there is no hurry since I don't check in to my hotel and pick up my rental car until Wed. I'm going to race slot cars in Indy on Thur night then go to a sprint car race in Kokomo In on Fri night and then go to the Iron Man motocross race in Crawfordsville In on Sat. It's going to be a pretty busy week off.:) Keep the sunny side up dpk.
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Busy and fun. :D
 
Nitro Dude said:
You are definitely getting to see a lot of the east coast. How far west does your company operate? I'm staying at the track in Brainerd MN to watch some of the other teams test on Mon and then I will head to Indy Mon night for a week off before the US Nationals. I figured there is no hurry since I don't check in to my hotel and pick up my rental car until Wed. I'm going to race slot cars in Indy on Thur night then go to a sprint car race in Kokomo In on Fri night and then go to the Iron Man motocross race in Crawfordsville In on Sat. It's going to be a pretty busy week off.:) Keep the sunny side up dpk.
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We have terminals in California and Washington State. I'm looking forward to heading to Washington some day.
 
Finished offloading and I've now dropped off my empty tanker at my terminal in Springfield, MA. I don't pay until tomorrow at 330 in Boston. Then, it's of to my home terminal in Western PA. I've got until Thursday to get there. It's going to be a long day tomorrow watching the clock.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Finished offloading and I've now dropped off my empty tanker at my terminal in Springfield, MA. I don't pay until tomorrow at 330 in Boston. Then, it's of to my home terminal in Western PA. I've got until Thursday to get there. It's going to be a long day tomorrow watching the clock.
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Speaking of watching the clock...that's what I'm doing right now. I'm watching my ELD clock tic toc tic toc waiting for another45 minutes before I can leave Bloomington IL and finish my last 150 miles to the Indy track where I can park this hauler on the circle track and get my rental car and check into my hotel for a week off.:cheers:
 
It's about to get real interesting.....

I arrived at my Boston pickup location. I've got to wait for them to finish loading another truck before I can load. Only one bay. The interesting part is that since there is so little room here on site, I have to back up about a quarter mile to my load point. For me, the distance will be a challenge as I've never done that before. To add to the situation, I have to cross three sets of active railroad crossings. :eek:
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
It's about to get real interesting.....

I arrived at my Boston pickup location. I've got to wait for them to finish loading another truck before I can load. Only one bay. The interesting part is that since there is so little room here on site, I have to back up about a quarter mile to my load point. For me, the distance will be a challenge as I've never done that before. To add to the situation, I have to cross three sets of active railroad crossings. :eek:
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Aint life just fulla surprises? :D
 
That's a long way to back up. I bet not many rookie drivers get that first, second, or fifth shot. Surprised they wouldn't send you with a 35ft trailer instead of a 48/53. Or that the unit wouldn't have a yard truck to move the trailer into place. Or both.
 
Magnethead said:
That's a long way to back up. I bet not many rookie drivers get that first, second, or fifth shot. Surprised they wouldn't send you with a 35ft trailer instead of a 48/53. Or that the unit wouldn't have a yard truck to move the trailer into place. Or both.
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To be honest, I don't even really know how long the tanker trailer is. I think they are more like 42', maybe a little longer. I don't think they make them bigger because there's no need. The overall weight would be exceeded. My loads normally run about 42,000-44,000 lbs. I think I've only had one load where the tank was almost completely full. It's capacity is 7,000 gallons.

The backing really wasn't that bad. I was able to focus on a particular object/location and drive my rear drivers side corner into that position. It was far easier than placing the tanker between two parked semi's in a truck stop parking lot. Certainly less intimidating.

The backing is getting easier but unlike most semi drivers, most of the tanker driving is forward into position rather than bumping docks everywhere. Those guys/gals get a lot of practice.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
To be honest, I don't even really know how long the tanker trailer is. I think they are more like 42', maybe a little longer. I don't think they make them bigger because there's no need. The overall weight would be exceeded. My loads normally run about 42,000-44,000 lbs. I think I've only had one load where the tank was almost completely full. It's capacity is 7,000 gallons.

The backing really wasn't that bad. I was able to focus on a particular object/location and drive my rear drivers side corner into that position. It was far easier than placing the tanker between two parked semi's in a truck stop parking lot. Certainly less intimidating.

The backing is getting easier but unlike most semi drivers, most of the tanker driving is forward into position rather than bumping docks everywhere. Those guys/gals get a lot of practice.
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do you/did you find your time driving your RV help learning to back up the big rig?
 
This week in a nutshell.....

Monday's load went from Western PA to the Springfield, MA area. Just over 1000 miles out and back. It was Petroleum Jelly at over 160 degrees. Basically oil.

Wednesday was an off day. Not that I wanted to be off. They didn't have anything for me.

Thursday/today is a White Mineral Oil load to the Peru, IL area. Just under 1100 miles out and back. I've got 546 miles ahead of me today after they get this truck unloaded. I'm just a driver for this load. Not sure how this ride home will go it being a holiday weekend. The worst part will be heading just south of Chicago on I80 heading east.
 
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