Sunday, December 13, 2009

El Paso, then loads 4-6

Had to do some laundry. Had scoped out the laundry room at the J. 4 washers wnd 4 dryers, and 3 of the dryers were out of service. However, when I went in to wash, no one was in there.
I was laidover at that truckstop for some 50 hours before finally getting another load. Load #3 was picking up in El Paso going back to Laredo.
I get to go through no man's land again. US 90 and TX277 are some long roads with very little to no services on them. I wasn't as worried about it this time. However, I did stop at an Autozone and put some deer warning devices on the truck. I know them things work.
Both times I have gone through this area have been at night. Can't see anything through there. I would to go through there in the daytime.
One thing I did see, almost in the middle of the road is one of those roadside memorials. (You have seen them. Someone gets killed at a certain location, and the family puts up a cross or something to mark the spot where their loved one died.)
This time was a lit solar powered cross, and I could see that there were flowers and other decor around it. This spot is miles from any towns both ways. That is one dedicated family. If I go out there again, I will try to take a picture.
This delivery was on a road that I delivered on before. There was me, and about 5-6 other drivers checking in. I told the guy that took my paperwork that I was in a sprinter. He saw I had one skid. I got to go first. I love this!!!!!
Got unloaded and went to the flying J. Was only there for about 10 hours before I got another delivery. Dispatcher called and said I had 10 minutes to pickup the load. It had to go straight through to a location in Arlington.
I made a mistake and went to wrong location. Took me about 20 minutes to get there. The clerk I dealt with wasn't upset about me showing up late as long as I got it delivered by 1 am cst.
Well, being the professional I am, I got it there by 12:12 am cst. Had talked with Gene earlier, and he told me to come there to sleep when I was done. It was around 2 am when I got there. That was Load #5.
Load #6 came pretty early Friday morning. Pick up in Ft. Worth and deliver to Laredo. Was told it wouldn't be ready until 11pm cst, but it was critical to get it delivered by 10 am cst the next morning.
I went to the pickup site around 8:30pm to see if I would get lucky. I was told that it was being offloaded from a trailer and they could load me up in about 25 minutes.Sweet!!!
I had to stop a couple of times to rest. I also tested the fuel usage of this truck. Had two fuel stops and both I waited until the guage flashed with one bar.
On the second fuel stop, I had been watching the guage really close. I was trying to make it to the Flying J. I am tring to earn points. However, I came up to a Love's, and the J was another 25 miles. Didn't think I could make it.
Well, got this load delivered by 0930 cst.
So, I go back to the Flying J in Laredo. This is the third time I have laidover here. As I type this on Sunday, at 1920 cst (7:20 PM) I have been here since about 1:30pm cst Saturday. Just talked with dispatcher, won't have anything until at least 8 am est Monday morning.
I found a Cici's pizza-had supper there last night. Then I ate at a Sirloin Stockade tonight. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as good as Murray's. I think I want a Big Sky Sirloin for Christmas!!

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