MAUMEE, OH to LEVITTOWN, NJ: 621 miles + HAZMAT (559 loaded + 62 deadhead + $100)
Sunday May 24th, this shipper is a 24/7 facility but the office closes at 11:00pm on Fridays so any shipment that is to be picked up on the weekends can be picked up at any time. This assignment had a strict delivery date of Tuesday at 9:00am therefore I could pick it up on Sunday evening and drive casually for three days or pick it up on Monday and have to force longer drive hours. I choose the casual pace. I started my day at 3:30pm with the pre-trip inspection of the truck and left our yard at 4:00pm where I had been since late Friday night. I drove an hour to the shipper arriving at 5:30pm and left at 7:30pm. Then I drove three hours to the Petro truck stop in Girard, OH. There’s an Indian food truck there open till 3:00am but it was closed for some reason. I scaled the truck and the total weight of the truck came to 75,400lbs out of the maximum 80,000 allowed by DOT Regulations.
Monday May 25th, I started my day at 3:30pm after a hearty brunch then did the pre-trip inspection of the truck and drove five and half hours to the Allentown, PA, Travel Plaza where I arrived at 9:00pm.
Tuesday May 26th, I started my day at 7:30am with the pre-trip inspection of the truck and drove a little oven an hour to the consignee where I arrived punctually at 9:00am.
BOOK REVIEW: American Traitor by Brad Taylor (2021), THRILLER – RATING (****)
A former Delta Force commander gives his take on the China-Taiwan tensions and how the US could get sucked into the conflict should it arise.
Pike Logan and Jennifer Cahill are back in action but this time as innocent tourists on a two week vacation to Australia. They are visiting a former colleague, Clifford “Dunkin” Delmonty, a tech nerd that is helping develop the AI technology used in the latest F-35 fighter jet. While waiting for Dunkin at his apartment they are confronted by an Asian hit-squad that is after Dunkin. As they are are trying to protect their friend they realize they’ve stumbled into an issue of National Security. They must work fast to uncover the plan before a war between China and Taiwan unfolds dragging the US into it.
There are other characters that give plenty of subplots to the story. Paul, a Taiwanese Intelligence Officer working undercover. Pike’s Task Force team. China’s intelligence service people and a top Chinese bureaucrat masterminding an ingenious plan set using the AI managed Taiwan defense systems against them.
Entertaining with many action scenes.
