Tuesday, November 30th Yesterday I managed to drive to the town in Canada where I'd be picking up the load bound for Texas. After figuring out the hours I had left in my 70-week, I discovered that for tomorrow, I only had 6.75 hours. Rats! That means that I'd use up most of that time and then pull over and rest (try to get some sleep) for 10 hours. Then I'd start driving 3rd shift in order to make the appointment on time. So I'll be driving just after midnight tonight. I don't mind driving at night. What I do mind is that it really screws up your body rhythm (circadian rhythm) that helps your body get into patterns of alertness and restfulness (sleep). So when I'm home this weekend, out of the 3-days home, one will be spent reverting to back to 1st shift driving habits. So, I'll really only be home for 2-days for the family instead of a full 3-days. That's the part I really don't care for. When you're home, you should be home rather than in a zombie state for a day trying to reorient yourself to a "regular" family schedule. I'm beginning to see a lot of things on how trucking "really" works--both legal and illegal. For example, if you want driving hours, you should be ready to drive at any time during the day (provided of course you are logging everything correctly as you drive). This puts pressure on us family guys who want the miles but who also want to stick to a schedule more akin to 1st shift. To be sure we can insist on having only a 1st shift driving schedule; but I'm very certain we would not get as many miles as another driver who will drive no matter what the hours (as long as it's legal).
After sleeping for 2-hours last evening, I awoke around 11:30 PM. I decided I had better be good and tired tomorrow afternoon so that I could get a decent sleep for the the long day of driving the following day. So, I turned on the TV and watched rather lame shows (whatever was on that came half-way clear) since the electrical impulses from a TV set stimulate your brain somehow to help you stay awake. It worked for me. I stayed awake until the alarm clock went off in the morning.
I got gloriously lost (thanks to the fine directions on my QCOM unit) but still managed to arrive at the shipper's location on time. I only managed to drive on one street that wasn't supposed to have any trucks driven on it (oops!). Oh well, I didn't run into any low overhanging bridges! After being loaded at the shipper (kudos to the guy in shipping who really helped me make sure I had everything straight for customs), off I went to get through customs at the Detroit/Windsor Ambassador Bridge location. With the new system the US and Canada are implementing (bar coded pre-approved loads), I went right through without a problem. Before, I could have waited up to two hours in order to the business broker to verify that this load was legit.
After fueling at a truck stop, eating a light lunch (or should I say supper), and taking a much-needed shower, I jotted these things down and will now shortly try to sleep. Who knows, it may be easier than I think!
miles driven = 252
2:25:04 PM
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