OTR - Solo Driver in fleet D3 - March 2015

Wednesday 11th March 2015

After a couple of days relaxing at the hotel in Laredo, I finally got the call that a truck was available in the yard.  So without delay I set off on the hotel shuttle bus to go and pick it up.  I arrived at the yard and was presented with the keys to truck number 52523, it needed a couple of bits put right but on the whole was okay for 402000 miles. 

After getting it all set I returned to the hotel and waited for my first load, the wait wasn't long and my first trip was from Laredo, TX to Darien in Wisconsin (1371 miles).  My pick up was due at 7pm but I didn't leave until 10pm and set off northbound.  

 

 A small chapel in the truck stop at Big Cabin, Oklahoma

 Chief Standing Brave watches over the truck stop at Big Cabin, OK

The fishing lake next to the truck stop

The rest stop area in Niangua, MO was made out to imitate Route 66

Saturday 14th March 2015

After a couple of 10 hour break stops, I reached the drop in Darien, WI around noon.  By 4pm my load of 20 tons of Broccoli was gone.  I then had a sleep before setting off for my next pick up in Ottumwa, Iowa. 

Sunday 15th March 2015

I reached the meat plant at Ottumwa around 5am and was out and loaded by 6am, I headed east towards my first drop in Union, NJ.  I had my 10 hour break at La Salle, IL and then carried on to Hubbard, OH, arriving Monday morning, where I had a slight problem.  My left headlight went out and after taking a look found the connector had burned out.  Luckily there was an International dealer nearby and after purchasing the part and fitting it, I was roadworthy once more.

Monday 16th March 2015

My wife, Bonnie's birthday.  After a good sleep I set off around 10pm for my first of 2 drops in New Jersey.  The first was completed on Tuesday by 9.30am and the second in Secaucus was done by 1130am but by this time I was out of duty hours so had to stay in the warehouse car park until around 3am on Wednesday morning, before setting off for Massachusetts.

Wednesday 18th March 2015

I arrived at the first Massachusetts drop in Chicopee at 8am and was promptly unloaded so headed to Avon for the 4th and final drop.  I had a bit of a wait here and finally departed around 2pm.  I was very short of hours by now and had to spend 40 hours in a truck stop in Sturbridge MA.  It was very cold here and snow on the ground, it got down as far as 17F at night.  

 I spent 2 nights here and finally left for my next load on Friday around 9am.

Friday 20th March 2015

My next load was from Peabody MA to Pryor OK around 1500 miles.  I arrived at the warehouse at 11am only to be told the load had been double booked, luckily the other truck was still there and so we swapped trailers and he was given another load from New Hampshire.  I departed around midday and got as far as the TA at Milesburg PA. It snowed quite heavily through Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Saturday 21st March 2015

I drove all day (587 miles) and ended up spending the night in the Pilot at Terra Haute, IN.  This was a good stop as there was a Walmart nearby and several restaurants, so I stocked up for the next part of the journey.

Sunday 22nd March 2015

I was now running about 36 hours ahead of schedule and hoping I could drop my load early at Pryor, so I once again drove all day to Joplin, MO and spent the night at the Pilot there, hoping the company would unload me early Monday.

Monday 23rd March 2015

I arrived at the Pryor drop around 7am and by 9.30am was back on the road, this time to pick up meat in Dodge City, KS.  On the way I stopped for lunch at Billings, OK and found this little Ooopps.

 I picked up my loaded trailer and headed to the nearby Love's truck stop for the night, before settling down for the night I went to explore Dodge City and Boot Hill, (although the walk was further than it looked on the map).  Here are a few photos.

 Downtown Dodge City

 Sure he stopped here??

 Dodgy nightclub in Dodge

 The old Santa Fe offices are now a theater

 Wyatt Earp himself in town

A tribute to the Texas Longhorn which helped create "Cowtown"

 Boot Hill shops

Boot Hill Chapel

A Santa Fe steam loco sits at Boot Hill

After a sleep I "Got the heck outta" Dodge and headed towards Laredo with my load of beef and arrived around 10am on Thursday 26th March via a night stop in Ranger, TX.  Now a short rest before the next load.

Thursday 26th March 2015

My next trip was only a short one picking up 21 tons of Candy Corn and delivering it to Grand Prairie near Dallas.  I left around 11pm and was at the destination and unloaded by 10am on Friday, then I had a short hop to pick up a loaded trailer from the Dallas (did I mention I hate Dallas driving??) and take it to a Target DC in Denton (all of 50 miles).  After this was unloaded around 3pm I headed to the Loves truck stop just north of Denton, where I expected to get a shower, but NO showers.  I stayed here till 2am.

Saturday 28th March 2015

I decided to drive up to my next pick up in Dodge City (again!!), via some very Western Movie kind of landscape in Oklahoma and Kansas, and wait at the Loves there for my 34 hour hour reset, as I didn't have to pick up my load till Sunday evening.

Downtown Englewood

A nice welcome to Minneola

Sunset to the rear

A giant tumbleweed in the truck stop

Sunday 29th March 2015

I had another walk up to the main part of Dodge City on Sunday afternoon and had a great meal at Applebee's with a Sirloin covered in shrimp and Parmesan, with a salad just to be healthy and by the time I had walked back to the truck and had a rest it was time to go get my trailer of beef.  

A "movie star in El Paso" this train starred in Under Siege 2 - Dark Territory alongside Steven Segal

 

I finally left Dodge around 10:30pm and set off for El Paso.

Monday 30th March 2015

I drove through the night and ended up staying for my 10 hour break in Santa Rosa, NM which is about 4500ft above sea level in the desert.  I left around 3:30pm and arrived at the truck stop in El Paso around 9pm, luckily they had IdleAir, which is a AC unit that fits in to your cab window, and best of all the company pays for it.  The unit also has electric outlets.

Tuesday 31st March 2015

I arrived at my drop at around 7:30am and was told that I may have a bit of a wait, but luckily I was unloaded fairly quickly and by 11:30am was on my way back to the truck stop to wait for my next job.  I didn't have much of a wait as the phone rang around 1pm and I was asked if I was ready to go "now".  I was given a pick up at a Pecan factory about 20 miles away in Fabens, TX and promptly left, as the pick up was supposed to be at 11am.  On arrival at the plant I was told as I was late I would have to wait until last to be loaded, and this turned out to be around 4pm, so I didn't get very far that night on my way to Fort Wayne IN.  I stopped at Van Horn, TX for the night.