ROUTE: McElhattan, PA to Brownstown, MI: 573 miles (397 loaded + 176 deadhead)
After delivering in Auburn, NY this assignment was picking up in McElhattan, PA which is a three hour drive. The pickup was scheduled for 16:00 and I arrived at 15:30, so had to wait until they finished loading the trailer. This shipper is always a drop-and-hook.
My day started at 07:30 so the DOT 14-hour clock ends as 21:30. I was departing the shipper at 17:30 and one of my favorite truck stops, Petro Girard, OH, was a three hour drive so I could make it if there wasn’t any major traffic holdups due to the weather or road-work. I arrived at the truck stop at 20:30, scaled the load and then settled down to a nice Indian food dinner. The Drive-Axle was slightly over the DOT legal limit at 34,140 but figure that would be OK. I was getting low on fuel but would have enough to make it to the terminal and refuel there.
Saturday 01/17 I started my day at 10:00 as the consignee has strict appointment times and mine was at 14:00 and I was three hours away. I needed to get some ice for my water thermos and the fuel lanes were full so I decided to park parallel just past them and quickly go into the store. I went back to the truck and was starting my maneuver of a U-turn to get to the exit and I stopped abruptly as I realized that a car had parked on my blind side and fortunately I picked it up on my convex mirror in time to avoid swallowing it hole! I was pissed! What idiot parks on the blind side of a 74 foot truck? Finally the driver came out and was a young kid. When I challenged his decision he replied that it would have been my fault if I hit his vehicle. On the highway as I thought back on it I believe he did it on purpose hoping I would hit his vehicle and he could miss a good portion of his workday. That or he was a complete fool.
I managed to arrive to the consignee right on time and the unload took over two hours. Afterwards I drove to our terminal and filled up the tanks with 174 gallons of diesel. Then shut it down until Monday.
BOOK REVIEW: Local Woman Missing (2021), FICTION – RATING (**)
There are major flaws in the narrative that blow up what was a dull story. Two women disappear in a relatively peaceful community within weeks of each other and there’s no connection made by the police or check of cell phone records of the second victim. This is the heart of the story as the title suggests and yet the POVs don’t include any part of the police investigation.
One of the main characters, Meredith, the second woman that disappears is poorly defined by the author. She’s presented as a loving wife, good mother, responsible work wise and smart. As the story develops we discover that she’s easily manipulated and has low moral scruples. That seems contradictory and not credible, even for a work of fiction that needs to maintain rationality.
I didn’t like the start of the book when a young girl relates her condition as a captive against her will. As the story progresses it increases the perception of the police’s incompetence. The last quarter of the book is absurd as it tries to clarify the narrative of the events. There are multiple POVs and the one from the son, Leo, is completely irrelevant. The ending is geared as a happy Hollywood one but is simply laughable.
