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

So..... I tend to stop/stay at a lot of Pilot/Flying J's during my travels. Each time I refuel, I use my Pilot Rewards Card earning points. In turn, I'm able to cash in these points for purchases of all sorts of things. One of them was a years worth of WiFi at all of their locations. I hooked up one of my firesticks to my TV allowing me to be able to get all of the channels that I receive when I'm at home. So far it's been working flawlessly.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
So..... I tend to stop/stay at a lot of Pilot/Flying J's during my travels. Each time I refuel, I use my Pilot Rewards Card earning points. In turn, I'm able to cash in these points for purchases of all sorts of things. One of them was a years worth of WiFi at all of their locations. I hooked up one of my firesticks to my TV allowing me to be able to get all of the channels that I receive when I'm at home. So far it's been working flawlessly.
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I stop at them also whenever I can. They're all pretty much the same so I know what to expect.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
At a paper plant today. Very old buildings at this location. It must have quite the history. The smell of the pine and hardwood chips is overpowering. Fortunately it's a smell that I like. Now..... the smell of the product I'm hauling, that's a different story.
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I assume some sort of binding agent?
 
From New Jersey to the Cincinnati area today. 570 miles today with 1 hr 21 minutes left on my driving clock. Could have easily made 600+ miles loaded.

I went out this past Tuesday to North Carolina. Delivered in NC Wednesday. Went to South Carolina Thursday morning to load. Delivered that load near Gettysburg, PA yesterday morning. Picked up a new load this morning in New Jersey that will be delivered in Cincinnati tomorrow morning. Then..... Will, that's the big question. Nobody sent me any messages for what to do after that. If I don't get any orders by the time I'm done offloading tomorrow morning, I guess I'm sitting idle in Cincinnati. Good thing is, I'll get paid for doing nothing but waiting.

I am scheduled to be home by Wednesday evening. That's the only thing I know for sure.
 
Been using the Pilot Truck Stop showers and laundry.

Some of you may be familiar with the Pilot/Flying J Rewards Card. I probably mentioned it before but whatever.... For each 50 gallons I purchase I get a free shower. I purchase fuel on the average of every 1.5 days or so. In other words, I never run out of free showers. Yesterday morning I purchased 103+ gallons. This afternoon I purchased 128+ gallons. I'll probably be good until Monday or Tuesday depending on where I get sent. Anyhow, that's 4 showers warmed just in the past 2 days. There's also what they call Shower Power. If you purchase more than 1000 gallons in a month you get 1 free shower a day. I easily purchase that each month. I should start clean for the foreseeable future.

I only wish they would accept my points for laundry. It's still only $5 to wash/dry a load. That's not too bad.
 
My current view.....

5c3beb897ad7c1a536247793468e3ca4.jpg


Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
That's alot of rocker switches. What do they all do? What's the gauge that you're ignoring with the ipad?

And is that a fog light switch i see on the steering wheel, or a mute button?

I'm used to the panel of gauges and no comforts...most of my limited time around big trucks has involved 379's and similar.
 
Magnethead said:
That's alot of rocker switches. What do they all do? What's the gauge that you're ignoring with the ipad?

And is that a fog light switch i see on the steering wheel, or a mute button?

I'm used to the panel of gauges and no comforts...most of my limited time around big trucks has involved 379's and similar.
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Engine Fan
PDL Lock - kinda like 4x4 of the rear drive axels
DIFF Lock - Both rear axels locked
OFF ROAD - Not sure, never used it.
HILL AST - Prevents movement on inclines
SUSP DUMP - Releases the air from the rear air bags when hooking/unhooking a loaded trailer
PARKED REGEN - Starts Regen cycle when stationary
INHIBIT REGEN - Prevents Regen cycle while moving
SLEEPER LIGHTS
FLOOR LIGHTS
SLEEPER LIGHTS DIMMER
SLEEPER FAN CONTROL FOR SIR/HEAT
PTO FOR ONBOARD AIR COMPRESSOR
PTO FOR ONBOARD PRODUCT PUMP
LANE DEPARTURE WARNING ON/OFF

The iPad appears to be blocking the oil temp gauge but it doesn't from the drivers seat. I have the iPad there with a Bluetooth connection to the trucks head unit. It allows me to stream music or watch TV while I'm waiting on being loaded or offloaded.

Steering wheel has the phone buttons on the right as well as the volume for the head unit. The bottom right allows me to flash my headlights for lane changes and the like. The left side has cruise control buttons and a button to flash my parking lights to thank a driver for giving me the 'all clear' when passing. I'm governed at 65mph so I don't get to use that button as much as I'd like. :(
 
Lesson learned today.....

Delivery time on my travel order was for 6am this morning. I left at 415am to get there with a half hour or so to spare. Arrived on time and pulled up to the gate. Got out and went over to the shipping/receiving phone to have someone open the gate to get into the plant only to find nobody responding. Tried calling the main number for the plant only to hear a message saying they're closed until tomorrow at 8am. Called dispatch only to find out that the shipper sent this load out two days early. It's not actually supposed to be delivered until Tuesday at 6am.

A little background on this load. This particular load was preloaded for me on Friday. Meaning someone else went to the plant to get it loaded and then dropped it off at the terminal I was going to be at. I got to the terminal Friday around noon but the loaded trailer wasn't there. I stick around for a to hours or so but it never showed up. Talked to the dispatcher and was told that it was going to be delayed until later that evening. Not a big deal to me as I get paid for dispatch delay under those circumstances. I decided to go to a truck stop Friday afternoon to get some sleep before heading out early in the am. I did just that. I drive back to the terminal and hooked up to the preloaded trailer and hauled it 500+ miles from Jersey to Cincinnati.

Now the lesson part..... Check the Bill of Laden delivery date and make sure it matches the Travel Order issued by my company. The dates didn't match. The Bill of Laden was correct and my Travel Order is not. Lesson learned. This won't happen again to me.

Three levels of delivery on this load, shipper, preloading driver and myself. None of us saw it.

So here I sit. They had me drop off the preloaded trailer at one of our terminals in Cincinnati and I'm waiting on a new dispatch. Don't know if/when that will happen today. Again, makes no difference to me as I'll get paid by the miles if I'm moving or dispatch delay until they give me something to do. All I know is I'm going to be watching myself some football today. :D
 
You do just fine. I can usually decipher what your intent is despite the errors. Really like reading your adventures. Really like the explanation of appliances . switches, etc., in your "home away from home."Where did you pickup in NJ? Roads there suck. They take in a lot of money for roads and bridges but seem to spend little of it.
 
This just in.....

No dispatch till 6am, at the earliest, tomorrow!

Meaning.....

It is indeed NFL Sunday!

Since I last posted, I bobtailed to a nearby Pilot Truck Stop. I've got a strong 5G signal on my firestick. The NFL package is coming in perfectly. Scanning locals in right now as a backup.

Bonus.....

I'm looking across the parking lot at a Waffle House. Time for breakfast! Hot Damn! Well, hot breakfast anyway.
 
Whizzer said:
You do just fine. I can usually decipher what your intent is despite the errors. Really like reading your adventures. Really like the explanation of appliances . switches, etc., in your "home away from home."Where did you pickup in NJ? Roads there suck. They take in a lot of money for roads and bridges but seem to spend little of it.
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The general location is where i95 meets i476. I don't want to give specific locations on anything. Probably lots of rules against that. ;)
 
It's a 3 position rotary shifter on the end of the stalk? I thought it was the stick between the AM/FM radio and your calendar. Or is that the parking brake?

That would take me some getting used to. Granted it's not like you're constantly having to maneuver.

that's neat that they have flash-to-pass and flash-to-clear on the steering wheel. I wish 4 wheelers had that. It does seem like I'm the only one on the road that actually uses them though....
 
Magnethead said:
that's neat that they have flash-to-pass and flash-to-clear on the steering wheel. I wish 4 wheelers had that. It does seem like I'm the only one on the road that actually uses them though....
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I've used them for many years.Some semi drivers seem to really appreciate the courtesy. I think that it helps with my clearance when they reciprocate.
 
Magnethead said:
It's a 3 position rotary shifter on the end of the stalk? I thought it was the stick between the AM/FM radio and your calendar. Or is that the parking brake?

That would take me some getting used to. Granted it's not like you're constantly having to maneuver.

that's neat that they have flash-to-pass and flash-to-clear on the steering wheel. I wish 4 wheelers had that. It does seem like I'm the only one on the road that actually uses them though....
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Yes, an automatic.

The 'stick' is the Trolley Valve or Johnson Bar. It operates the trailer brakes. It's only used for testing the air brakes at about 5mph. I never use it other than to test the brakes in a parking lot during my pre-trip inspection. When pulled, it fully applies only the trailer brakes.

I don't think the parking brakes were in any of those pics.
 
Johali said:
I've used them for many years.Some semi drivers seem to really appreciate the courtesy. I think that it helps with my clearance when they reciprocate.
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Yeah, there are some 4 wheelers that do. Not many. To be honest though, I rely more on what I can see more than anything else. I can't tell you how many times that when I leave a safe space between me and the vehicle I'm passing I have someone dive into that spot and pass me on the right. Not a safe maneuver at all. People simply don't realize how dumb that move is. People are extremely impatient and careless.
 
I don't remember if I already asked you this but do you have an APU on your truck? There is one on my truck even though when I'm at the track or in between races I stay in a hotel. I just spent 3 weeks in a hotel in Indy. Actually I have been using my APU all day today. I arrived at the Petro Travel Plaza in Carlisle Pa earlier today and I have been watching the Indy race on my tv in the truck. Right now I'm watching the Patriots and Steelers game.:) I'm only about 60 or 70 miles from the track but I can't park at the track until Tues so I'm just going to stay here until then. I will drop the hauler off at the track on Tues and then Enterprise will bring me a car and then it's off to my favorite buffet on my buffet tour.:Dhttps://www.shady-maple.com/
 
Nitro Dude said:
I don't remember if I already asked you this but do you have an APU on your truck? There is one on my truck even though when I'm at the track or in between races I stay in a hotel. I just spent 3 weeks in a hotel in Indy. Actually I have been using my APU all day today. I arrived at the Petro Travel Plaza in Carlisle Pa earlier today and I have been watching the Indy race on my tv in the truck. Right now I'm watching the Patriots and Steelers game.:) I'm only about 60 or 70 miles from the track but I can't park at the track until Tues so I'm just going to stay here until then. I will drop the hauler off at the track on Tues and then Enterprise will bring me a car and then it's off to my favorite buffet on my buffet tour.:Dhttps://www.shady-maple.com/
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I have an inverter for my power. My truck is running most all the time. I too am watching the Steeler/Pat's game at a Pilot Truck Stop North of Cincinnati.

It is funny though. I did have plans on starting in Carlisle just this past Friday night. I was going to leave Jersey late I'm the afternoon Friday and drive to Carlisle but the driver didn't show up with my preload until late. I opted to head out here early in the am on Saturday for this mornings delivery.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
I have an inverter for my power. My truck is running most all the time. I too am watching the Steeler/Pat's game at a Pilot Truck Stop North of Cincinnati.

It is funny though. I did have plans on starting in Carlisle just this past Friday night. I was going to leave Jersey late I'm the afternoon Friday and drive to Carlisle but the driver didn't show up with my preload until late. I opted to head out here early in the am on Saturday for this mornings delivery.
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I left Indy around noon yesterday and drove to the TA in Wheeling W Virginia where I stayed last night. I left there around 5.00 this morning and stopped at the Blue Beacon down the street and got the hauler washed before I parked. To bad you are not here we could have had dinner and talked racing and trucking. Then I could have loaded you up with a supply of Cattleman's Cut Jerky for the road.:D
 
Nitro Dude said:
I left Indy around noon yesterday and drove to the TA in Wheeling W Virginia where I stayed last night. I left there around 5.00 this morning and stopped at the Blue Beacon down the street and got the hauler washed before I parked. To bad you are not here we could have had dinner and talked racing and trucking. Then I could have loaded you up with a supply of some Cattleman's Cut Jerky for the road.:D
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Someday our paths could cross.

I normally don't know where I'm going until the afternoon before I need to go. Heck, that being said, I don't even know where the heck I'm going tomorrow. Still waiting on my dispatch. I may be still sitting right here.
 
Two complete days sitting idle in Cincinnati. Bored as all heck but getting paid. So there's that.

Heading out to Eastern PA tomorrow morning. I'll be staying in the Poconos tomorrow night. Then, it's back to Western PA and some local loads on Thursday. Friday will be the beginning of a welcomed vacation.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Two complete days sitting idle in Cincinnati. Bored as all heck but getting paid. So there's that.

Heading out to Eastern PA tomorrow morning. I'll be staying in the Poconos tomorrow night. Then, it's back to Western PA and some local loads on Thursday. Friday will be the beginning of a welcomed vacation.
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I'm still sitting here in Carlisle Pa. I will head to the track in the morning. A few other race haulers are staying here tonight also so we are all going to go have some dinner at 7.00.
 
Nitro Dude said:
There are a few of us that travel together from time to time. You said you are coming to eastern Pa tomorrow... Are you coming through Carlisle tomorrow?
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Not this time. I'm heading across i80 over to the Pocono area for a delivery tomorrow.

I don't load here until 8am. If construction doesn't imped my progress, I should be able to make it in about 10 hours. Lots of loaded hills to climb.
 
DPK are you coming through Indy anytime between Fri and Mon?
 
Nitro Dude said:
DPK are you coming through Indy anytime between Fri and Mon?
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Just got word a few minutes ago that I'll be heading to Wisconsin to deliver on Wednesday. That will probably put me in the Chicago area Monday evening on my way through. A little too far North of Indy but not by much.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Just got word a few minutes ago that I'll be heading to Wisconsin to deliver on Wednesday. That will probably put me in the Chicago area Monday evening on my way through. A little too far North of Indy but not by much.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
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If I'm in a driving mood tomorrow I may drive the hauler in to Indy and get the oil changed and get it washed. It is a about 30 miles round trip so I was hoping you would be in the area and you could double team it with me.:) But, if I'm in a lazy mood Saturday then I will just wait and get it all done in Effingham IL on the way to St Louis Monday Night.:D
 
This week starts with a delivery in Minnesota. Loaded yesterday morning and still got in 500 miles. About another 550 miles to go.

Decided to get an early start this morning leaving from my overnight spot in Indiana at 230. Wanted to get through Chicago before rush hour. 40 miles into today's trip I'm stopped. A truck flipped over into the ditch. Sounds like it's pretty bad. Haven't moved in a half hour or so. Westbound locked down. Hopefully everyone is okay that was involved.

Sitting here in off duty status. Even so, my 14 hour clock is ticking away. I should have a few hours to spare but I can hear on the radio that many of these drivers are not so lucky. Me, I've got 497 more miles to get to tonight's destination. That may change depending on how long I'm stopped here @ mile marker 103, I-80 Indiana.
 
So, word is that there is a helicopter landed on the interstate waiting to take this driver to the hospital. The tractor trailer is rolled over and in a ditch. They are trying to get this person cut out of the wreckage. His load is spilled all over the road blocking both lanes. All of this is just around the bend in front of me. Maybe a quarter to a half mile. The eastbound lanes were shut down for a little while as well but that was probably only for the helicopter to land as they are now moving again.

I can see another helicopter flying overhead. Not sure if it's just a news crew or another medical helicopter.

One thing that I notice on the radio is an overwhelming lack of compassion by a number of drivers/motorists. Sure, it sucks to be delayed but someone or maybe more than one could be fighting for their lives around that bend. Some of the comments are plain ridiculous.

Now hearing that they just got the guy out of his truck. It's been over an hour that he's been trapped.
 
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