ROUTE: Morrisville, PA to Burton, MI: 675 miles (667 loaded + 8 deadhead)
Friday April 10th, I started my day at 11:00am after completing the pre-trip inspection. I drove three hours to complete the previous assignment. This shipper was nearby so the drive to get there was short from the consignee. Even though both facilities were drop-and-hook assignments there’s a lot of wasted time involved. At the shipper my trailer was partially blocked by another trailer so I had to wait while it was moved. I left there at 5:00pm and drove three-and-half hours to a Russian restaurant that I love in Loganton, PA, and that has truck parking. It was 8:30pm so I shut it down for the night and had a nice dinner of a hearty beef soup, a Greek salad and homemade bread. The load was only due on Tuesday but I could deliver it on Monday so I was in no hurry.
Saturday April 11th, I started my day at 11:30am. I had enough fuel to make it back to the terminal. I had filled the tanks on Thursday at our terminal and with a capacity of 230 gallons I could manage a roundtrip of roughly the distance between Detroit and Philly which is around 1,300 miles. It was a seven hour drive to our terminal and I made several stops along the way so I arrived 10:30pm, topped of the tanks with 165 gallons of diesel and shut it down for the night.
Sunday April 12th, was a day off by the nature of this itinerary and glad to spend it at the terminal instead of some truck stop in the middle of nowhere. I went grocery shopping at Walmart where there’s a Mexican restaurant in walking distance so I had a nice breakfast of Huevos a la Mexicana. Afterwards did laundry at the terminal.
Monday April 13th, I received my next assignment but the load was not going to be ready until early evening. The consignee for this assignment was near the shipper so there was no point in starting my day until later in the afternoon. I started the day with a shower then walked over to a Panera that is about half a mile from the terminal and had the Mediterranean salad with chicken. I headed out to make the delivery at 4:30pm and drove for an hour-and-half arriving at 6:00pm. This is a 24/7 facility and it is a drop-and-hook assignment.
BOOK REVIEW: Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney (2025), THRILLER – RATING (****1/2)
There are many sublime messages about marriage and perspectives on life. Even the book’s title is a loose reference to the yin-and-yang philosophy. It’s hard to know where the story is headed but you need to trust the author and stick with it.
Grady Green’s latest book hits the American Best Seller List and he’s waiting for his wife Abby to get home from work to celebrate. She’s driving on a windy road and just a mile away from their house outside of London she encounters a woman lying in the middle of the road. She’s on the phone with him and he urges her not to stop. She gets out of the car to see if the woman needs assistance and that’s the last time she’s seen. Has she been abducted or is she dead? She’s a reporter and has countless enemies. Her husband is distraught. He can no longer write and his life slowly falls apart.
A year later financially and emotionally broke Grady’s agent, Kitty, who happens to be his wife’s Godmother suggests that he occupy a cabin in a secluded Scottish island that one of her late authors bequeathed her. There he can find the solitude he needs to get back to writing. Things are not what they appear to be on this island and Grady seems to be losing his mind.
The unexpected ending puts all the loose ends together and is another classic Alice Feeney novel with wild twists-and-turns.
