Mmm think i'm going the wrong way

Break out the polish and sun hat

Load from Hell

As i said in last Blog the truck was booked into the shop on Monday 14th...... Sorry for a certain person I'll rephrase that sentence... The lorry was booked into the garage.. (ok Mr P). It was strange it coincided with Valentines Day. So if your ready for the next trip, sit back, buckle up and lets roll....... Well not quit. I noticed when I washed my truck on Sunday that the mud guard behind the passenger front wheel was loose. Never mind they could fix that Monday when she goe's in I thought. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Apparently its a design fault on Freightliner and it took them till Friday to get the panel and put it on. Now if the wheels ent turning, I'm not earning so I'd written off that week. But Clarke are a good company to work for and all I can say is they looked after me, it was'nt a total loss. I picked my girl up Friday dinner time, so first stop was Dispatch to get a load and start earning again. The first part of the trip was to bobtail to the Mitchelin plant in Granton, Nova Scotia, then hook up to a Midland Transport trl then live load there. This trip was going to take me to Greenville South Carolina, a meer 1645 miles away. I was'nt expected to be there till Tuesday morning, but even without rushing I could be there by Monday morning. A nice and easy trip, or so I thought. Once loaded I headed for a truckstop in Salisbury New Bruswick to fax my paperwork to the Customs Broker and Clarke. Earlier i was thinking of pushing on a bit further but I was in no big rush so decided to stay at Salisbury the night. This turned out to be a wise decision because at 3am I got a call from Mitchelin to say they'd loaded the wrong goods on the trl and could I go to Midland yard in Dieppe and swop trls inn the morning. The paperwork I had would match the load on that trl. Well luckily Dieppe was only 15mins away so it did'nt take long Saturday morning to get to Midland, swap trls and start on my way. I made it as far as Sturbridge Massachusetts that night. The roads had been clear, no fresh snow fall in the past couple of days. Now Sunday as I travelled through Pennsylvania the snow got less and less on the side of the Interstate the further South I got. By the time I reached Virginia there was no snow at all. In fact there was some strange green stuff growing on the side of the roads and in the fields. It took me a while for me to realise it was grass. Wow it's months since Ive seen that. Virginia is a beautiful State and the drive down the 81 was a treat. Mountains in the distance, rolling fields with cattle gazing, old and new ranch's, oh I can't really put the words together to really do it justice. All that was missing were the cowboys on horse back herding the cattle. Now my truck was'nt that dirty from the journey down but the rigs that were on the road were spotless. You needed shades from alll the sparkling chrome, it was really giving me a inferiority complex. There was only one remedy, find a truck wash. Now I got as far as Troutville VA that and as I pulled into a parking spot there was the answer to my prayers. A 24hr truck wash. Sorted. So up early the next morning, into the wash then onto Greenville, only 4 hours away. Now on the way down there I could'nt believe the weather forecast, they were saying the temps were going to be in the mid 70's. Brilliant, clean truck and i'd got plenty of polish, result. Now when I reached the plant at Greenville I booked in and was given a door to back onto. Out came the polish. Now I'd done the cab and was just starting on the wheels when the guy comes out with the bad news. The paperwork was correct to what they required but the goods on the trl were not for them. The load from hell had risen again. The good news was it was meant to be at the Mitchelin plant in Spartunburg 36 miles away. So I informed dispatch and headed of. Apparently there were 3 more loads coming down with wrong paperwork and it was'nt the first time it and happened, the same thing occurred the previous week. Would'nt like to be the person who dropped that one. Never mind I soon was unloaded at Spartenburg and dispatch sent me my reload details. Head for Faison North Carolina and pick up a load of sweet potatos going back to Midland yard in Dieppe. It was'nt due to be loaded till 8 the next morning so another stress free drive. Now while they loaded me the next morning it gave me cahance to start polishing the diesel tanks. Roll on spring I say. That night i only got as far as Elkton Maryland.The trip up to there was hampered with all the scales being open. The q's can be long and slow at these places, still green light on everyone. I was under my gross weight but if you have'nt got your axles in the right place it could spell big trouble. The following day I decided to earn some brownie points with Sharen, so stopped at Kennebunk, Maine and got her some Popeyes. Now Popeyes is like KFC but much, much better and you can only get it Stateside. Now the real challenge for this trip was on. Could I make it back to Halifax without eating it myself. I parked at Baileyville, Maine that night only 5 mins away from the border. The following day was a breeze, left the trl at Dieppe then picked one our mt's up and took it back to Halifax. Now really I should have gone back out either Saturday afternoon or Sunday, but beings as Sharen works full time Monday to Friday I decided to bin it till Monday. It'll be the first full weekend we've spent together since Christmas. Dispatch were happy, so here's to an enjoyable weekend. You all take it steady and look after yourselves. I'll catch you soon

My Local

No I not that far South. This is Mexico in NY State

Wednesday morning came round so quickly. First job was to pick an mt TRL up and pick a load of fruit juice up from Kentville NS and take it to Rougemont QC. When I left Kentville it started snowing. It was one of the worse storms I'd driven through, visibility was very poor and the snow lay so thick it was difficult to know where the edge of the highway was (thank god for rumble strips). At one stage I thought I was going to loose traction going up a hill, but fortunately just made it to the top. Moncton was'nt to far away, so that was where I was going to stop for the night. A message came from Clarkes telling all trucks to "find a safe place to park and wait for storm to pass". It was so good to see the lights of the truck stop and to get off the road. The next morning was a lot better going and made it to Rougemont for 430 that afternoon. Once unloaded I was told to take the trl to our terminal in St Laurent then the following morning do 2 trips down to the docks to pick up mt trls and back to St Laurent. Only local work but every mile counts. In the afternoon I headed to St Hyacinthe to pick up a load bound for New Glasgow NS. I stayed that night a truck stop in Riviere du Loup with plans of starting at 6 the next morning and reaching my destination by 3. Nope that did'nt happen, when I did my pre trip I found I'd got a flat on the trl. It took them 2 hours to come out to me so it spoilt my early start. I eventually got to New Glasgow at 630 that night, dropped the trl in the trl park and started to bobtail home, as at that time dispatch had nothing for me. Half way back to Halifax a message came through asking if i wanted to head to Moncton and do some shunting work there Sunday. This would be hourly paid as there would be no miles in it at all. Well it's all work so agreed, but said I'd still head home for the night, oh boy what a mistake. The next morning it was raining in Halifax and there was a lot of flooding, but then when I got the other side of Truro it was snowing again. Not ideal bobtailing weather. The original plan was for me to pick 5 trls up from the Rail Terminal, but with the weather being so bad the train had'nt arrived in with 3 of them. They reckoned it maybe in by 4, so I took the 2 trls that were there to our trl park. The 2 nd part of the shunting work was to drop 3 trls on bays at a distribution centre. Job was a breeze. The train never came in that day in the end, so 8 hours work and an afternoon Skyping. Next morning saw me heading for St George NB to pick up a load of paper bound for Hazleton PA. Nice easy run. I was unloading in Hazleton by 330 Tuesday afternoon. Dispatch sent the reload details through, pick up a load from Mountain Top PA the next morning bound for Terrebonne QC and Moncton NB. Nice one, Mountain Top was only 19 miles away. Wednesday afternoon I was back in Canada. Made the first delivery 8am Thursday morning in Terrebonne QC and then headed off for Moncton. Again a nice steady run. Thursday night in Salisbury Truck Stop then 15 mins down the road the next morning to my 2 nd delivery in Moncton. Dispatch then sent me instructions to take my mt to Parrsboro NB, leave it there then bobtail back to Halifax. Great a Friday night at home. The Saturday I did a local job(520mile round trip) to Nth Sydney. Simple job leave loaded trl at docks then bring an mt back. Sharen came with me because the drive through Cape Bretton is a really beautiful one. Luckily enough it was a beautiful day. I'd booked the truck in on the Monday morning for some still outstanding jobs on it, so had already decided to take the Sunday off. Well I hope to back on the road Tuesday, heading for who knows where. So until next time, stay safe