Week of April 24

Off to Garner NC very early Sunday departure.
This run is quite particular in that the company has a fixed path that drivers have to use, otherwise sanctions are possible.

So down the I-87, I-287, US-202, NJ-31, I-95, DE-896, US-301/50, I-95, US-64, I-440, US-70
Map that if you can. Use the mileage in your plots, find the appropriate exits to use. Report back for analysis. Winners will be announced May 2, depending on the outcome of the current elections.

And for Paul, who seems to crave content of any kind or wants a refund:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, in in ut, ligula praesent urna ut, vehicula ac scelerisque imperdiet, platea placerat donec viverra blandit aliquam rhoncus. Ultricies ultrices suspendisse vitae reprehenderit illo tempor, faucibus suscipit vel suspendisse amet, proin odio quisque, ut tristique vel augue wisi praesent erat, volutpat dapibus. Eleifend arcu in, erat vivamus ut earum, adipiscing sapien sed vitae nulla ac. Molestie integer, et tellus sollicitudin nibh vestibulum sit lacus, risus parturient commodo eget erat, sit tincidunt id ea lacinia faucibus, duis class. Nulla ut, id eget vitae mollis lobortis tortor eu, aenean nibh rutrum lacus luctus suspendisse, eget dolor proin sed id. Purus porta molestie ipsum vulputate sed dolor, elit pellentesque, vestibulum arcu neque lacus gravida tincidunt, nullam pellentesque mi phasellus, maecenas iaculis donec ut quam sodales pede. Duis proin duis, mauris eros, pede class blandit quam. In donec, ipsum lorem adipiscing. Mattis donec vel ut massa eleifend, conubia cursus tempus quis sed porta. Quam ridiculus quam sed scelerisque orci. Eros arcu, fermentum luctus ridiculus ac, suscipit urna turpis posuere tristique. :-p

Ah! This'll rot your socks. week of April 18th

Last week, down in Garner, North Carolina, the temperature was 30º C. The trees are fully leafed. The grass is new and green. Meanwhile back home it's +1, ice pellets with gusty winds and wet snow.

Quote from someone

We're all in shit, it's just the depth that's important.

Milk Run March 28th

Riviere du Loup, Rimouski, Matane, Amqui, Maria, Campbellton, Bathurst, Miramichi, Moncton, Charlottetown, Amherst, Truro, Hammonds Plains, Bridgewater, Yarmouth, Berwick and Kentville.

All this in three days. Round trip: ~3900 kms.

Sorry, no time for no pictures. Not even time to bring the co-pilot on this trip.

"You drive!"

Wisconsin, March 23rd

Destination: Green Bay for a drop and Eau Claire for a drop and hook. D/H is to drop an empty trailer and switch for a already loaded one.

Big rush! Testing a new GPS unit. Garbage! Algorithms all wrong. Streets & Trips from Microsoft does a more intelligent job. No time for pictures nor playing with GPS.
Besides there's nothing really interesting to write about, probably because I've done this run before.

Whats' in Wisconsin? Cheese. Great sausage.

April 24th; Eau Claire. Damn! Hook trailers' brakes are full of ice. Frozen. Can't move. Pound on brake drums for a while to limited success. Got 3 of 4 axles free but the last one won't give. Besides, have dug a bit of a rut under my drive wheels and can't get out. Call for a pull-out to the cost of 200$. That takes 2 minutes. I'm in the wrong business here!

Next stop Marshfield, WI, for a live load. Load's not ready when I arrive. More delays. Typical day. You have to be patient. Three hours of waiting, off we go. Home, James.

So Monday, my dispatcher gives me the orders to enter the US, destination, Everett, Washington. 171 kms. Once there, she says, "There's nothing at this time. Please standby." Gee, I wish I'd have known that in advance, 'cause there are no truck stops in Everett. Back 8 miles to Marysville. Spent the rest of the day at the truck stop. Have lunch, walk the dog, do a bit of window shopping.

Next day, new marching orders. Ripon, CA. Nice mountain peak in the distance. Too bad I can't stop and take a picture. It's either Mt. Rainer or Mt. St. Helen's or Mt. Hood, probably the latter. Speeds for commercial vehicles in California is 55 mph. Meanwhile the rest of the traffic can roll at 65. Can't compete with that. Try changing lanes against these speeds. Apparently, it's been like that for 20 odd years. Ohio figured that out last years, changing all the Interstate speeds from 55 to 65 to match car traffic. Seems that it reduced the accident rate by more than 20 percent. but I digress.

Off to Fowler Ca to pick up (finally) oranges for Loblaws. Just one problem... pick up isn't until next day at 21h30. So again, sit and wait.

At 21h30, oops, appointment mix up, load isn't ready. come back tomorrow. Typical.
Next day, I finally get loaded by 14h00. It's Friday, a whole week wasted. That's the transportation business.
So I finally get going... here's the hill east of Bakersfield.

Notice the orange trees in the foreground? They all have a buzz gut.

Gee, that hill isn't so small after all.

Just another highway

 

 

More blacktop