Friday, December 3rd This past week I've been driving 3rd shift, roughly 12:00 midnight to mid-afternoon. My internal clock has finally adjusted and it's not so bad driving at night. You get a lot of time to think, pray, listen/talk to other truckers. I'm amazed at how much traffic is out and about on the interstate system--more than I thought. The great thing about driving at night is that if you go through a big metropolitan area, there ain't no rush hour to deal with. The main downside is that you can only see as far as your lights which at times isn't that far. Oh well, I've adjusted and that's a good thing.
My wife informed me today that I'm getting other trucking companies calling me up and wanting to interview me. Interesting--I wonder how they got my number? Perhaps they take all the license plates where we drivers park our vehicles when we're away driving. At any rate, I may have to investigate them further if I don't get more miles-per-week. For the month of November, I averaged 1,550 miles-per-week. That's total miles not paid miles (which is anywhere between 100-200 miles less). That is simply not enough miles at the wage I'm earning with the previous experience I've had in the trucking industry. I figure I'd like to be driving a minimum of 2,700 miles-a-week. I will be closing monitoring December's averages.
Since I wasn't home for Thanksgiving, my wife lovingly informed me that I'd better be home for Christmas or else! (just kidding honey--it was a mutual decision). Therefore, I'll be spending a 3rd week away from my family. I've also decided to do a 34-hour restart over the weekend so I won't have to worry about how many hours I have left in the day. In other words, once you've used up a major chunk of the 70-hours-per-7-days rule, you end up with 4-hours one day, 11-hours the next day, 5-hours the next day, etc. It is impossible to get a consistent good mileage day based on those kinds of hours. (A good driving day is when you drive the maximum allowable which is 11-hours per day. For example, if you traveled on the Interstate at 65 MPH the whole day, you would drive 715 miles. However, the DOT [Department of Transportation] mandates that drivers stop every so often to check the vehicle to make sure everything is operating smoothly. Therefore, a good driving day is one with between 600-675 miles.)
So with a fresh 70-hours to work with on Monday and over the next five days (I'll be home by Friday evening), I expect to see at least 2,500 miles driven for the week (averages out to 500-miles-per-day. I'm counting on at least 2,700 miles for the week. Stay tuned....
I caught a bit of Roger Hedgecock's show (talk show host) as he was filling in for Rush Limbaugh today. He interviewed a 15-year-old high school student who has amassed 1,000,000 signatures that says in effect we support our troops. Is that cool or what?! She met the President recently and he was impressed with that accomplishment. Why did she start a Troop Appreciation Campaign? Because she felt that our troops weren't getting the support that they still needed; that America's focus was shifting to other things over the past year. She's right you know. Good for her! Now, where can I sign my name to show support for our troops!
miles driven = 531
7:06:55 PM
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