STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

Life Day 21745: Dawdling in Denver

January 24, 2007 on 12:23 pm | In On The Road |

Before I bring you up to date on my latest galavantings, i’d like to announce that I am “jumping on the band wagon”. I don’t want to be the only person in America not to announce my intention to run for the Democratic nomination for President. I am setting up an Exploratory Committee to conduct a Feasability Study to determine if I should establish an Exploratory Committee to conduct a Feasability Study to determine if I should establish an Exploratory Committee to determine my chances of winning the nomination. I guess it would help if I actually were a Democrat, but then none of those who have announced so far are actually Democrats either.
Anyway, on with the show.

Thursday, Jan 18th:
I finally got a decent load!!! About 1400, I recieved and accepted a PrePlan which picked up in Long Beach, CA and delivered in Topeka, KS, the first load over 1000 miles i’ve had in over a month. I picked up the load and was on the way by 1645. I drove to Barstow, CA and took a short break. It took quite a while to get there because of the traffic, but I got there. About 1945, I left and drove to Kingman, AZ where I stopped for the night.

Friday:
I left Kingman a little before noon. I drove to Winslow, AZ and took a break. I stopped at the new Wally World and stocked up my fridge. At 1600, I drove to Milan, NM. I stopped here for fuel. The “low fuel” light was flashing, and, being a new truck, I didn’t know if I had enough fuel to make it to our terminal in Albuquerque. As I was fueling, it started to snow. At 1930, I drove to Tucumcari, NM where I stopped for the night.

Saturday:
Today was a “snow day”. I left at 1000 and drove to Guymon, OK. The roads were horrible through Texas and Oklahoma. They evidently are unaware of the “newfangled” products available to clear their roads (snow plows and salt). I left Guymon about 1430 and drove to Newton, KS where I decided i’d had enough for the day.

Sunday:
Before I left Newton at 1000 and drove to the consignee in Topeka, I took these pics of the MMM on their morning “rounds”.

The snow had stopped and the roads were clear. While I was en route, I recieved and accepted a PrePlan which picked up in Joplin, MO and delivered in Los Lunas, NM. I did the drop/hook delivery, then started out to our terminal in Edwardsville, KS for fuel. Somewhere along the way, one of the air lines on the trailer split (perhaps due to the cold) and I lost the trailer brakes. Not really a problem as long as I didn’t have to make an emergency stop. After I was finished fueling, I reported to the shop to get the trailer repaired. I was pleased to get in promptly. My total time in E’ville was about 2 hours. I left at 1830 and drove to the shipper in Joplin. I was a little late because of the delay, but I was loaded promptly. I then drove to the nearby Pilot truckstop and went to bed.

Monday:
I left Joplin at 0830 and drove to our terminal in Oklahoma City, OK. Again, I needed some repairs on the trailer. On my PreTrip inspection, I noticed that a couple of lights were not working. Turns out that it was a bad ground. Aluminum to Aluminum is a good ground, until it becomes corroded. Anyway, I left OKC at 1300 and drove to Amarillo, TX. I had dinner here, then drove to a Rest Area on I-40 (mm-252) in New Mexico where I ran out of hours. This is the first full (11 hour) driving day i’ve had in a long time.

Tuesday:
I left the Rest Area at 0715 and drove to our terminal in Albuquerque for fuel. Again, the “low fuel” light was illuminated, but I decided to “test” it this time. I was actually farther away (over 90 miles) than the last time when I “chickened out”. I made it. After fueling and walking the MMM, I left Albuquerque at 0930 and drove to the consignee in Los Lunas. I did the drop/hook delivery. It took a while to find a Swift empty trailer that wasn’t full or partially full of pallets. I then drove to the nearby Wally World. I again stocked up my fridge and settled in to wait for a load. About 1300, I was told to “deadhead” to our terninal in Denver. I left at 1330 and drove directly there. I stopped briefly at a Rest Area in southern Colorado to give the MMM a break. I arrived at about 2100.

Today, Wednesday, Jan 24th:
I recieved and accepted a PrePlan which picks up later today in Brighton, CO and delivers in Hamilton, MT. I’m just dawdling until my pick up time.