We finally got our trailer/load about 8:30pm Wed nite and headed out to Battle Creek, MI. Getting back on basically an opposing 12hr shift schedule is kinda hard. I drove till about 1am, then Kim took it till about 4 when she gave out. We parked and got a couple of hrs sleep, then hit the road a little more fresh. We decided to try a noon to midnite type schedule since we were already kinda set up on that. Kim drove till noon, then I took back over till (shhhh) well,,,I got us to Battle Creek about 1am. We did have some breaks in there so I wasn't really over my 11hrs,,thats my story and I am sticking to it!
The delivery went very easy. There were 2 of us that arrived at the same time. The first guys got a dock to back up to, we were told to just back it up against the building, lots of room, no slots to put it in,,,,NICE for a tired pup! This load was only about 4600lbs of rubbr hoses and air conditioner parts. Just about like hauling an empty trailer all the way. We were given another trailer to hook up to with a load going right back to Eagle Pass Tx, to the same broker we just left. We had to get the paperwork out of the trailer and close it up. Man, the trailer is packed with skids, looks like a heavvy load.
We go to pull out and I notice the air bag pressure gauge is showing a VERY light load. This gives an indication of how much pressure the air bags over the drive wheels are getting. With a little experience, you can tell when you are over weight there and need to move the rear tandems to adjust. Kinda neat little gauge. Anyway, this is not showing much more than an empty trailer shows. We check the bill of lading and it says 52 skids of EMPTY boxes headed back to Mex. Damm,,,another really light load. Our fuel mileage for this pay period should look pretty good between the super light loads and the computer keeping our speed reduced to 65mph max.
It's about 11am now, Kim has been driving since we left and I tried to get some sleep, It is still kinda hard to sleep while moving. One ear is always open for any problems. The husband/protector in me has a hard time letting go. I sleep about 2hrs at a time then up for awhile to help/visit/eat, etc. We hve some extra time built into this load, so we are planning on parking for a little while at the Lancaster, Tx (Dallas area) terminal, getting showers, and maybe a couple hrs sleep before heading on to Eagle Pass.
Good news! I called to check status on our larger team truck yesterday and was told there had been one there last month for us, but Ops didn't know and get us to Joplin for it. We have one waiting now, and I made sure Ops knows it. LOL. They have us hilighted to get back to Joplin now for our new truck. Will be nice to have some extra room. The seats in the T-600 we are in now are pretty close together making it a little bit of a nusance when one moves back and forth. On the flip side, we won't be able to hold hands as easily when driving!:)
Till next time, keep it safe out there!
Cheers