At Last

Saturday
09/06/08

Here we are again, attempting to type in the truck as we head for our destination. We departed Aurora Col. with me at the wheel, destination Toledo, Ohio. This was at 12pm eastern time. I drove until I could not keep my eyes open. That was about 6am.
I crawled into the washing machine and attempted to get some sleep. I say into the washing machine instead of on top as before because you are tossed around a hell of a lot more when the truck is moving. Don’t even try to sleep on your back. If you do, your stomach and all its contents are tossed left and right with every bump the truck hits.
We made a stop again at the largest truck stop in the world in Iowa. There we got fuel, ate, and took a shower. I went back to the washing machine and tried to count a few more sheep. We are going a little south of Chicago now and have about 2 more hours before reaching Toledo.
We just passed another conflict involving an 18 wheeler and a suv. This one was not as serious as the first. What makes SUVs think they can tangle with an 18 wheeler and come out the victor? It just won’t work!
I’m not sure when I’ll get to post this blog but you know I’ll try to as soon as possible.
Before I sign off, I just wanted to tell all of you out there that have made the effort to sign in and leave a comment, thanks! The overwhelming response has been positive and has encouraged me to try to improve the blog. Thanks again!

Sunday
09/07/08

We have unloaded at Toledo Ohio and have made it to Newark NJ. The thing I don’t understand is we had to bust our tails to get these loads to the destinations on or before the time they were supposed to be there. We accomplished this but when we reached the unload spots; we had to wait about 3 hours at each one before they unloaded us. It seems that it is ok for them to delay us but we had better have the load there on time. I’m a little thick but am starting to see how the game is played.
For all of my non-trucking friends out there I want to tell you something that I should have mentioned before. When driving a big rig, you can be going a lot faster than you realize in no time at all. You don’t have the feel of speed that a car does. Most of the trucks are equipped with cruise control (I’ll bet you did not know that). It really helps to keep you from going to fast. Another little known tid bit is that most trucks are equipped with an engine brake called a Jake break. This device uses the compression of the engine to help slow down the truck. The truck can slow down without you ever seeing break lights. So use caution out there on the highway when you are following a little to close to a big rig. You could be fighting a battle that only the big rig can win.