CHICAGO, IL to Canton, MI to Hartford, CT: 1,050 miles (1,010 loaded + 40 deadhead)
Wednesday September 16th, I was picking up a load in the Chicago area and needed to get to the New York City area where I had requested home leave for the weekend. I was attending a book event for Lucy Foley on Monday. The company I drive for, AD Transport, is based outside of Detroit. The only way to get me home was getting a load going to Michigan and from there getting another load headed eastbound.
The first shipper’s docks were a nightmare to get in. It was a small facility and their docs were inside a building with a very narrow street to navigate from. The maneuvers took me forty-five minutes and several times I felt like giving up but eventually I managed. I had arrived at 11:00am EST and left at 2:00pm. It was at least a six-hour drive to the consignee and the delivery appointment was set for 4:30am the next day. Since I had to take a DOT Regulation ten-hour break there was no way I could make the delivery on time. I was instructed to bring the load to our terminal and a local driver would make the delivery. I arrived at our yard at 9:00pm and fueled the truck.
Thursday September 17th, I was to pickup the next load nearby in Newport to take to Hartford that delivered by 5:30pm the next day. That consignee is an hour away from where I park the truck when I take home leave, Pilot Milford, CT. While at our home base I needed to stock up on groceries and pickup my prescriptions at the pharmacy. I left our yard at 2:00pm and drove half-an-hour to the next shipper. I left there at 4:00pm and drove eight hours to a truck stop in Pennsylvania. Traffic was brutal at one point and I was in bumper-to-bumper for an hour. I shut it down for the night at midnight.
Friday September 18th, I started my day at 10:30am with the pre-trip inspection of the truck after the minimum ten-hour DOT Regulation break. I drove six-and-a-half hours to the consignee, again slowed down for an hour due to slow moving traffic is several spots. I arrived at 5:30pm and decided to shut it down for the night there to avoid sitting in traffic again.
Saturday September 19th, I started my day at 8:30am with the pre-trip inspection of the truck and drove an hour to the Pilot in Milford, CT. I picked up a rental car and later that day drove to a friends house for a steak BBQ dinner. On Sunday I watched the JETS game at a sports bar and on Monday I went to the book event. I saw my kids during the weekend too.
BOOK REVIEW: Use of Force by Brad Thor (2017), THRILLER – RATING (****)
A heart pounding thriller with non-stop action a very real threat plot.
A high-value terrorist washes up on the Italian shore after a grueling storm. The CIA is worried about its significance but needs to keep their distance. They activate an off-the-books operative, Scott Harvath, to investigate. Scott and his team chase down the leads leaving a trail of blood and destruction on their wake. They uncover a massive terrorist plot to unstable Europe and the US. It becomes a race against the clock to foil it before it happens.
Very entertaining.
