A Day in the Life
Wednesday, 23. May 2007, 04:00:00
Here, by request, is my life in a single day.
07:00 First I poke my head out the bunk curtain trying to remember where I am this morning. Turns out I made it back to Florida and I am at the shipper waiting on my load.
Next is to try and locate a toilet.
Next on the list: I must finish my daily log from yesterday and start a new log for today. I do this every morning. It tells the government where I am each and every hour of the day. I must log all my activities including but not limited to meals, fuel stops, rest and repairs. I am restricted by my logs as to how long I can drive each day.
After my log, I send a message to my dispatcher through the Qualcomm Satellite System. This is an old tradition dating back to the days of the first dispatched trucks. This "check call" has been traditionally done every morning by phone. With the new technologies, I just fill in a form on the Qualcomm and it tells my boss where I am, my logged hours from yesterday and how many hours I can work today.
08:00 I go into the shipping office to get my shipping papers. Georgia Pacific does not allow cameras on the property so I do not have pictures of the people here. The paperwork tells me where I am going and when to be there. I find my trailer with my load in it and I hook up to it. After a safety inspection of the truck and trailer, I update my log. I plan my route and fuel stops.
09:00 This load is very heavy. It is giant rolls of brown paper going to a company that makes paper bags for pet food. I take my trailer around to the far side of the mill and drive up on the scale. I must be sure that the weight does not exceed the maximum allowed for the three states I will be driving thru. Each of these states have at least one scale that I will cross and if I am over weight, the fines can be very high. I find my total weight is 79,200 pounds. I am allowed up to 80,000 pounds so I am legal and rolling. (again, I'm in the mill so I can not take pictures)
10:00 I leave the shipper and the clock is running. What work I do must be completed within 14 hours of my start time. I have already used an hour or more to connect my trailer, inspect and scale it. I can drive 11 hours but because of other rules (70 hour rule), I can only work 10 hours today (I have 9 left).
10:45 It is not a daily thing but it does happen. Just 30 miles into my trip and a tire has blown out on the trailer and it damaged the mud flap and bracket. I change my route to take me to Baldwin, Fl where I will have repairs made at the T/A truck stop. That’s only 70 miles out of my way.
11:45 I arrive at the T/A truck stop. It is a very busy truck stop just west of Jacksonville, Fl. It looks like I have an hour or two to wait. I grab a bite to eat from the store and head back to the truck. The shop will call me when it is my turn. I check my e-mail and update my log book and wait.
12:45 and wait
13:45 I am in the shop. I hope it will not take long. The time in the shop is also noted in my log book. Breakdowns and time at the customer can eat up your work time. That is time needed to drive and I have only driven 65 miles so far. That's not good. I still need to get fuel at Midway, Florida. That will be another half hour on my log I must plan for and I still need my shower and a sit-down meal.
14:30 I get warnings over the radio about bad weather in the area. Smoke rolls in from the nearby forest fires that are still burning. A lot lizard ask if I want a date (it's a shame but not uncommon to see hookers in a truck stop. I offer them a Bible tract and they go on their way.)
14:55 Repairs are complete. I send a message to my dispatcher that I am rolling again, update my log book (I have 7.5 hours left) and pull up onto interstate 10 headed west. I set the cruise control on 65 (that's as fast as these trucks will go), I tune the XM radio to 121, Fox News and I go. Next stop will be the agriculture inspection station and weigh station near Lee Florida.
15:00 - 18:30 This is the most boring part of my job but the part I do the most of. For an hour, I listened to the news, then I listened to Dave Ramsey for an hour. I changed to the 70s music channel for a while where I guessed the band or singer performing the song 18 out of 25 times. A new record for me.
In the midst of all that, I stopped at the agricultural inspection station. Since I do not have agriculture in my trailer, there is no inspection but I must stop and tell them what I am hauling just the same.
Oh yea, did I mention I was driving too. btw: I now have about 750,000 safe miles in the last eight years according to my company.
My fuel looked good so I just kept on trucking to Marianna, Florida where I stopped for fuel, my evening meal and a shower (I get a free shower if I buy more than 50 gallons of fuel). Do we need pictures from the shower?
I need to be back on the highway by 19:30. That is when the Atlanta Braves play the New York Mets. Atlanta won again last night.
19:30 Back on the road. I have the radio tuned to the Braves.
22:00 I am calling it a day. I’ve been in a driving rain for the last 130 miles. I stopped at a rest area near Crestview, Florida where the wind, rain and thunder will rock and sing me to sleep. I finished 354 miles today, did not use all the time I had available so I’ll be able to do the remaining 420 miles tomorrow with time to spare.
23:45 I updated my log book, played a few tunes on my Yamaha keyboard, thanked God for another safe day and went to bed. I pray I will remember where I parked in the morning.
07:00 First I poke my head out the bunk curtain trying to remember where I am this morning. Turns out I made it back to Florida and I am at the shipper waiting on my load.
Next is to try and locate a toilet.
Next on the list: I must finish my daily log from yesterday and start a new log for today. I do this every morning. It tells the government where I am each and every hour of the day. I must log all my activities including but not limited to meals, fuel stops, rest and repairs. I am restricted by my logs as to how long I can drive each day.
After my log, I send a message to my dispatcher through the Qualcomm Satellite System. This is an old tradition dating back to the days of the first dispatched trucks. This "check call" has been traditionally done every morning by phone. With the new technologies, I just fill in a form on the Qualcomm and it tells my boss where I am, my logged hours from yesterday and how many hours I can work today.
08:00 I go into the shipping office to get my shipping papers. Georgia Pacific does not allow cameras on the property so I do not have pictures of the people here. The paperwork tells me where I am going and when to be there. I find my trailer with my load in it and I hook up to it. After a safety inspection of the truck and trailer, I update my log. I plan my route and fuel stops.
09:00 This load is very heavy. It is giant rolls of brown paper going to a company that makes paper bags for pet food. I take my trailer around to the far side of the mill and drive up on the scale. I must be sure that the weight does not exceed the maximum allowed for the three states I will be driving thru. Each of these states have at least one scale that I will cross and if I am over weight, the fines can be very high. I find my total weight is 79,200 pounds. I am allowed up to 80,000 pounds so I am legal and rolling. (again, I'm in the mill so I can not take pictures)
10:00 I leave the shipper and the clock is running. What work I do must be completed within 14 hours of my start time. I have already used an hour or more to connect my trailer, inspect and scale it. I can drive 11 hours but because of other rules (70 hour rule), I can only work 10 hours today (I have 9 left).
10:45 It is not a daily thing but it does happen. Just 30 miles into my trip and a tire has blown out on the trailer and it damaged the mud flap and bracket. I change my route to take me to Baldwin, Fl where I will have repairs made at the T/A truck stop. That’s only 70 miles out of my way.11:45 I arrive at the T/A truck stop. It is a very busy truck stop just west of Jacksonville, Fl. It looks like I have an hour or two to wait. I grab a bite to eat from the store and head back to the truck. The shop will call me when it is my turn. I check my e-mail and update my log book and wait.
12:45 and wait 13:45 I am in the shop. I hope it will not take long. The time in the shop is also noted in my log book. Breakdowns and time at the customer can eat up your work time. That is time needed to drive and I have only driven 65 miles so far. That's not good. I still need to get fuel at Midway, Florida. That will be another half hour on my log I must plan for and I still need my shower and a sit-down meal.
14:30 I get warnings over the radio about bad weather in the area. Smoke rolls in from the nearby forest fires that are still burning. A lot lizard ask if I want a date (it's a shame but not uncommon to see hookers in a truck stop. I offer them a Bible tract and they go on their way.)
14:55 Repairs are complete. I send a message to my dispatcher that I am rolling again, update my log book (I have 7.5 hours left) and pull up onto interstate 10 headed west. I set the cruise control on 65 (that's as fast as these trucks will go), I tune the XM radio to 121, Fox News and I go. Next stop will be the agriculture inspection station and weigh station near Lee Florida.
15:00 - 18:30 This is the most boring part of my job but the part I do the most of. For an hour, I listened to the news, then I listened to Dave Ramsey for an hour. I changed to the 70s music channel for a while where I guessed the band or singer performing the song 18 out of 25 times. A new record for me.
In the midst of all that, I stopped at the agricultural inspection station. Since I do not have agriculture in my trailer, there is no inspection but I must stop and tell them what I am hauling just the same.
Oh yea, did I mention I was driving too. btw: I now have about 750,000 safe miles in the last eight years according to my company.
My fuel looked good so I just kept on trucking to Marianna, Florida where I stopped for fuel, my evening meal and a shower (I get a free shower if I buy more than 50 gallons of fuel). Do we need pictures from the shower?
I need to be back on the highway by 19:30. That is when the Atlanta Braves play the New York Mets. Atlanta won again last night.
19:30 Back on the road. I have the radio tuned to the Braves.
22:00 I am calling it a day. I’ve been in a driving rain for the last 130 miles. I stopped at a rest area near Crestview, Florida where the wind, rain and thunder will rock and sing me to sleep. I finished 354 miles today, did not use all the time I had available so I’ll be able to do the remaining 420 miles tomorrow with time to spare.23:45 I updated my log book, played a few tunes on my Yamaha keyboard, thanked God for another safe day and went to bed. I pray I will remember where I parked in the morning.
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By English*Twinkle, # 23. May 2007, 12:41:58
By BIGDADGIB, # 23. May 2007, 12:52:59
By Dudley, # 23. May 2007, 17:14:18
I just wrote you a nice long comment but it wouldn't publish and it got eaten by the 'Commenteater'
I don't know if this will go through so will send an e-mail.
By anonymous user, # 24. May 2007, 02:13:49
By English*Twinkle, # 24. May 2007, 06:15:36
By cakkleberrylane, # 25. May 2007, 23:43:01
I may have bored my readers to tears with this post.
Thanks to all who did comment.
By BIGDADGIB, # 26. May 2007, 02:40:32
By wickedlizard, # 29. May 2007, 20:34:21