TIPPY TRUCK SIGN!

DE to Florence, SC: a note on truckstops

The next day I was able to clock a nice amount of miles deciding to stop in Florence, SC. Stopped at a Petro truckstop, which are the cleanest and safes of the stops. They all feature a restaurant called Iron Skillet which has pretty good food unlike the crap at TA's. TA (Travel Centers of America) used to be the monopoly of truckstops when the mom & pop operations started to dissapear. TA took for granted that the drivers would be there to spend their money, and the places started to get dirty and sleazy (with exceptions of course). Petro is a class operation with good security, the lot lizard count is low to none because one cannot even go to the truck parking area without a CDL, the general public can only patronize the front of the place and the restaurant before they see a sign that reads "professional drivers only past this point." pilot stops are the most common but they are just fuel, showers and fast food (either Arby's or Subway or McDonalds). Pilot are where my company trucks are authorized to fuel, which is good because it seems like they are popping up at every exit if every interstate.

The New Year's run: 2 weeks in the deep South

On December 27th, after a fantastic Christmas at home I went to the yard in S. Kearney. I was prepared to go North because that is my luck and after Canada week how could it get any worse anyway right? Well, what a nice sup rise to see on Qualcomm that I was to get a relay trailer right in the yard and bring it to Lake City, FL! A nice mileage load (980) and no live load or searching for pick up location. After running around NJ for about 6 hrs gathering some loads from Newark and other close locations to the the yard, I was ready to get under the FL load. As I pulled in with a trailer from the vicinity the driver who I was relaying from was unhooking my trailer--perfect timing. Loads are relayed for many reasons, usually to get a driver home. This load was coming from IL and he lived in NYC so he was dropping it here and I would continue to FL with it. It was a Wal-Mart load which always means the trailer is dropped loaded, never live unloads to Wal-Mart D.C.'s (distribution center). As I only had about 3 hrs left on my day, I figured I would stop in DE or MD if I could make it. As I suspected, the NJ Turnpike was a mess at this time of day. As my hours ran out I was literally across the DE Memorial bridge on the NJ side. I stopped at a Pilot which I was thrilled to see had a welcome looking bar across the street called the Turnpike Tavern--a truckers bar. I went in ordered some food and listened to all the drivers tell war stories about impassable snowstorms, dealings with asshole 4-wheelers (cars-the bane of truckers' existence, good only for cutting off a truck then hitting the brakes, text messaging while driving, doing makeup and every other stupid act that causes fatalities, the majority of which the truck driver walks away from and the 4 wheeler occupants die). The driver next to me was a 43 year veteran of the road and we exchanged stories about the lousiest truck stops (the TA in Montgomery, AL), lot lizards (truck stop whores), fuel prices etc.

Nuclear Power Plants: The Hidden Facilities

I love nuclear power plants. I tend to see them all the time because they are generally hidden from view from the general public, but, of course, truckers see the underside of cities and country being in industrial zones etc. My favorite one is just outside of Owensboro, KY, a place I go a lot because it is such a busy port off the Ohio river, which separates KY and IN. On the IN side there is a downright scary and mysterious looking nuclear plant. The highway goes closer to it than any other plant I have passed. You are actually directly under the cooling towers. The plant is run by Michigan Power. As you can see by the small map below, most of these plants are in the NE and Mid-West.

The Random Factor

The places where I go are as random as it gets. They are based solely on where I am when the load comes, not where I'm going. In other words, If I'm in Newark, NJ, the next load will be the one closest to me, it doesn't matter where it is going as long as it doesn't interfere with my TAH, (time at home). The only weird thing about last time was that I was in St. Louis and I got a load to Norfolk, VA--a good load of 908 miles. Got to Norfolk and the load back was to St Louis! What next? Got to St. Louis and the next load was to Norfolk! Totally random. Different shippers and consignees both times. My week was nice in that I clocked almost 4,000 miles in 2 loads. Also, one interstate (I64) goes door to door literally--begins and ends in both cities. St. Louis is one of the many 2 state cities in the US--IL and MO (the IL is officially East St.Louis). The arch, which I have seen night and day always chokes me up. Norfolk is near Jamestown, VA; the first settlement of white people in USA (it was not Plymouth, MA). Norfolk and Chesapeake are extremely busy naval ports and freight ports. VA beach is an upscale community, where, ironically, the only truck stop in the area is located--Big Bob's Truck stop; an old, privately owned truck stop, the likes of which are disappearing quickly to Pilot, TA and Petro--big truck stop chains. The "mom & pop" stops are always interesting. Big Bob's was a crater laden field that held about 150 trucks and was right on the main drag in VA Beach, a landmark I'm sure the residents would rather do away with.

New Run

Sorry about the huge delay in updates. I have Windows Vista and it is very hard to get onto WIFI's at truck stops because of security firewalls. Anyway, after a few 2 week runs that were, for the most part, uneventful, I had a randomly interesting 2 weeks this past run.