ROUTE: Lyndhurst, NJ to Plano, IL: 872 miles (828 loaded + 44 deadhead)
Friday May 15th, I made delivery for the previous assignment and the deadhead drive that should have taken 45 minutes took an hour-and-half. There’s always traffic in New Jersey! I’ve been at this shipper before and though it’s a live load they are fairly quick. The biggest issue is the last couple of miles getting there. It’s a bunch of complicated turns and missing one can be troublesome as the streets are narrow and not ideal for trucks. I was close enough to New York City for an impromptu dinner with one of my daughters but she was competing on the Coney Island Half Marathon on Saturday and she needed to rest. A mixed blessing because getting there was complicated and expensive. An UBER was $80 each way, renting a car was $130 for the day and I don’t know the New Jersey public transportation well but I know it would take me at least two hours using it. The other problem was finding truck parking on a Friday night fortunately the shipper allowed overnight stays there. This load was scheduled to deliver on Monday so I had time to figure out where I wanted to spend my weekend. I decided to park there, walk to nearby Italian restaurant, Casa Giuseppe, and enjoy a good meal. I had spaghetti Bolognese, my go-to meal. It was delicious.
Saturday May 16th, I was in no hurry. I let my body clock determine what time to wake up and walked over to Mr. Geez for a hearty breakfast of Western omelette and a side of crispy bacon. I started my day at 2:00pm after the pre-trip inspection of the truck. I drove seven hours to the Petro in Girard, OH. I had popcorn for dinner while watching a movie.
Sunday May 17th, again I let my body clock determine the amount of sleep I needed. I started my day with a hearty breakfast of steak and eggs at the truck stop’s in-house diner. At 3:00pm I did the pre-trip inspection of the truck, then I fueled and afterwards scaled the load as it was heavy and best to do with full tanks of fuel. The total weight was 75,420lbs and the maximum allowed by DOT Regulations is 80,000lbs. I drove six hours and parked at a Travel Plaza in Ohio but I arrived at 10:00pm so all the franchise food outlets were closed except Dunkin Donuts so I had breakfast for dinner, a bacon egg and cheese sandwich, a chocolate donut and a coffee.
Monday May 18th, I started my day at 8:30am, a little over the minimum ten-hour DOT Regulations mandatory break. I had a bowl of cereal in the truck with a Red Bull and did the pre-trip inspection of the truck. I drove an hour-an-half to the consignee where I arrived at 10:30am, with a quick stop at a truck stop across the street to use the bathroom. It was my first time at this consignee and not all of them have public restrooms for the truckers.
BOOK REVIEW: The Night Shift by Alex Finlay (2022), THRILLER – RATING (*****)
A suspenseful thriller with many twists-and-turns and subplots that kept me glued to the pages. Logical and methodical police work.
Two almost identical mass murders occur in Linden, NJ, with fifteen years separation. The first incident occurring on New Year’s Eve 1,999 at a Blockbuster Video store. In both cases a knife wielding perpetrator kills three teenage employees as their night shift is ending. In both cases the perpetrator leaves a survivor that has been attack from behind so cannot make a proper identification.
Chris Ford is one of the protagonist. He’s the younger brother of the suspected killer of the first incident who fled and hasn’t been seen since. Chris is now a lawyer and works as a Public Defender in Linden, NJ. Ella Monroe is the sole survivor of the first massacre and the other main character. There’s a slew of secondary characters that gives the story depth. Special FBI Agent Sarah Keller, who is eight months pregnant with twins, is brought in to assist local police when the second incident occurs. Jesse is the sole survivor of the second massacre that occurred at a small ice cream store. Other minor characters are the six victims of both incidents, the local police force, Chris’s brother and his parents. As well as Ella’s overpowering and wealthy mother.
Overall entertaining with a solid ending.
