MONROE, NC to CHICAGO, IL: 830 miles (800 loaded + 30 deadhead).
Monday July 20th, I arrived at the shipper at 3:00pm. My previous assignment ended in Charlotte, NC, earlier in the day. I left the shipper at 4:30pm and was starving as my day started at 10:00am and I hadn’t eaten anything since the day before. I had a decision to make, if I stopped for dinner I would be adding time to when I shut it down for the night. The latter in the evening the harder it is to find parking, same with proximity to large cities. The closer, the harder to find parking. My GPS app indicated a Mexican restaurant across the street from a small Sheetz truck stop in Statesville, NC. I had been to the truck stop before but not the restaurant. To my surprise the food was very authentic. It amazes me how many Mexican restaurants are scattered across the country and how I’ve found some very authentic ones in the least likely of places. I decided to shut down for the night at 6:00pm.
Tuesday July 21st, I started my day at 9:00am with a pre-trip inspection of the truck. I drove ten-and-half hours with a short break for fuel and a free shower using the fuel voucher at a Pilot to accommodate the DOT Regulation of taking a 30 consecutive minutes break before driving eight hours. I also scaled the load which came out at 71,700lbs under the 80,000lbs maximum DOT Regulations allowed. The drive goes by Charleston, WV, where the State Capital Building is clear from the road with its beautiful golden dome. I shut it down for the night at 9:00pm.
Wednesday July 22nd, I started my day at 7:00am after complying with the minimum ten-hour break DOT Regulation at the end of a trucker’s day. I drove two-and-half hours arriving at the consignee at 10:00am. I passed wind farms along the way and saw a car off the side of the road next to police officer investigating the scene. During the unload it was brought to my attention that the cargo had collapsed due to improper weight support but they would take care of it and charge the shipper directly for the cost of rearranging the merchandize.
BOOK REVIEW: It Should Have Been You by Andrea Mara (2025), THRILLER – RATING (****)
Love the premise of this story. How many times have you posted a compromising text to the wrong chat or sent it to the wrong person? This time around it has deadly consequences.
Susan O’Donell is married with a four-months baby and two sisters whose she’s very close too. On a night out for the opening of a new pub in town she sees one of her neighbors in a compromising situation with a woman that’s not his wife. She informs her sisters via a private group chat with them but instead posted it to the town’s main chat room which includes the man’s wife. All Hell breaks loose and the post goes viral. Susan starts getting death threats and the next day a woman is found dead in her home. This worries Susan a great deal, as the dead woman has the same address as Susan just a different part of town and both have a similar physique. Was this a case of wrongful identity or a macabre coincidence? The police investigate that angle too which seems to involved many people that their alibis seem to be comingled.
Very entertaining with non-stop action broken down in mini-chapters.
