This has been the longest 3 days I've ever spent on the road... And to top it off, I traveled a total of around 750 miles in that time.
Monday:
4am - left the terminal
8am - arrived for delivery
2pm - finished unloading
6pm - ended the day
Total miles: 374
Tuesday:
7am - left for pickup
8am - arrived for pickup
9am - finished loading
1pm - stopped for fuel
1:05pm - in the garage at t/a to have hole fixed in fuel tank
4pm - finally out of the garage - Repair bill: $180.00 + approximately 50 gallons of fuel that the T/A let run out on their floor
4:15pm - hit a bump on the interstate - cb radio started smoking
6pm - installed replacement radio (at least I went from a Uniden 68 to a Galaxy 949) - Cost: $95.00
7:30pm - ended the day
Total miles: 338
Wednesday:
7am - Dropped trailer so I could locate the consignee
7:30am - Hooked back up to the trailer
7:35am - Trailer is laying in the highway behind me 100 feet from where I pulled out of
11:15am - Trailer has now been picked up by a wrecker, cribbed up, air lines replaced, 5th wheel repaired and I am now re-hooked to the trailer - Repair & recovery bill: $1,201.00
11:17am - Arrived for delivery
2:15pm - Finished unloading
4:30pm - Back at the terminal
Total miles: 106
Ya, today was the worst one - especially when the 5th wheel gave out. The worst part, I *DID* check it, both with 2 hard tugs and I looked at it. It was attached. Luckily I was only going 5-10mph when it dropped off. I was loaded with 46,000lbs of bagged fertilizer. Any faster and the legs would've given out completely.
It's really fun :sarcasm: when something like this happens when you're in an area with no cell signal at all. I was trying to direct traffic around the truck and needed to notify the shop so they could call for help. Couldn't get back into the truck to do it...
It was almost 45 minutes before a state cop was driving by and saw it. Luckily though he didn't notify the DOT. I was 100% legal, but just didn't want to deal with them (and neither did the state cop). He fined me for "Unsecured Load", which isn't a moving violation, so no points on my license.
I called the magistrate court about the ticket. He fined me $10 plus $160 court costs.
The dumbest thing that happened today was after the truck was reassembled. We (tow truck driver and I) went to a payphone to finalize the bill & EFS check. When I called in and gave the amount, the dispatcher gave me the authorization number. Then the ignorant SOB asked me if I wanted a load for tonight or tomorrow morning. I casually said that I'd call in Sunday night or Monday morning.
Oh ya - gotta love this job...