STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

Life Day 22511: Lollygaging in Laredo

February 28, 2009 on 8:30 pm | In On The Road |

I am lollygaging here in Laredo for a purpose. I’m doing a 34-hour re-start. This outing has been pretty good so far. Whenever I have to do a re-start because I ran out of hours, it’s been a good week.
Now, I will chronicle my recent activities leading up to this momentous occasion.

Tuesday, the 24th: I left the Gearjammer at 0830 and drove the 5 odd miles to the shipper. They were ready for me when I arrived and I was loaded expeditiously. By 0945 I was back on the road. I drove to La Grande,  OR where I walked the MMM and had a late breakfast. At 1445 I left La Grande and drove to Twin Falls, ID. I took a quick break for the MMM, then finished my day by driving to Snowville, UT.

Wednesday, the 25th: I left Snowville and drove to our terminal in Salt Lake City, UT. I fueled, then had a 90-day D.O.T. Inspection done on my truck. It is basically a glorified Pre-trip inspection, but it is required by the D.O.T. every quarter. I went next to the Sapp Brother’s truck stop for breakfast, then departed SLC about 1215. I drove to one of my favorite Rest Areas on US-191 at mm-110, about 15 miles south of Moab, UT. I gave the MMM a nice walk then we had a quick snack. At 1715, I drove to Jamestown, NM where I ran out of hours (14-hour rule).

Thursday, the 26th: I left Jamestown at 0930 and drove to our terminal in Albuquerque for fuel and a quick MMM break. At 1145, I drove to El Paso, TX. I took another quick break for the MMM. At 1700, I drove to Sanderson, TX where I ran out of hours for the day (11-hour rule).

Friday, the 27th: I left Sanderson at 0800 and drove to Del Rio, TX. I took a break for lunch here at Luby’s Cafeteria, one of my favorites. At 1100, I drove to our terminal in Laredo. With any load going into Mexico, as this one was, we have to have a trailer inspection done before we drive to whatever forwarding company to which we are scheduled to deliver. After the inspection, which went quickly as there was no line, I drove the 8 miles to the Consignee and dropped my trailer. I then went to a nearby HEB supermarket for a few consumables. After that, it was back to the terminal. I decided to do a 34-hour re-start. By the time I was finished at the Consignee, I only had 1½ hours remaining for the day, and only picked up another 5 hours at midnight. Not worth the effort trying for another load under these circumstances. I arrived back at the terminal at about 1700 which means that technically I can be available at 0300 on Sunday morning. I set my PTA for a more rational 0700 on Sunday. Hopefully, they will be able to find a load for me.

Saturday, the 28th: Today was geek day. I spent the vast majority of it on the computer. I took a break at about 1500 for a shower and a trip to town for dinner. I opted for the local Luby’s again. I take every opportunity to eat at Luby’s, because the ones that have truck access (even bobtail) are extremely limited. I even passed up a Golden Corral to get there. After dinner, I returned to the terminal, where I began geeking again.

Sunday, March 1st: I have been remiss in not mentioning the weather. That is because there has been none (inclement, that is). Since leaving Yakima I have encountered nothing but above average temperatures for the season. As a matter of fact, when I arrived here in Laredo on Friday afternoon, the temperature was in the high 90’s (almost too hot). Friday night about midnight, there were some strong winds that rocked the truck most of the night. It was still a bit more than breezy when I woke up Saturday morning, and it had cooled down considerably, although not to a level that made it uncomfortable. It was in the low 70’s most of the day, and the winds became a gentle breeze. Nice. Today is looking like a repeat of yesterday. To paraphrase an old idiom: It’s a tough life, but someone has to to live it.
As of noon, I still do not have a PrePlan. I’m not really surprised since this is Sunday, and all of the brokers here in Laredo work pretty much Monday through Friday. Still, I was hoping that they would find me something so that I could get rolling today. With freight as bad as it is in general, Swift has pretty much stopped the “trailer relocation” type of loads where they send you from a ‘light freight’ area to one where freight is more plentiful. There are no regions where freight is plentiful. So, I guess that I will be geeking again for most of the day. This terminal is really, really, really boring.
SUNDAY ADDENDUM: I did finally receive a PrePlan going to Houston, TX about 1500. It wasn’t much, but at least I’ll roll a little bit today. I found my trailer in the yard, then left the terminal about 1600. I drove to a Rest Area a little south of San Antonio and took a short break. I then drove to Katy, TX where I stopped for the night. Katy is about 35 miles west of Houston, and is the closest “safe haven” for trucks. I didn’t want to chance driving to the Consignee only to find that there was no parking for trucks nearby.