Got to my tractor at 7AM, right on the dot, needed an empty for my first run but there’s only one in the lot. It’s on a mismatched chassis, plus it has a hole, so that’s a no go. Make my way to my other empty location near me, and it’s a success, I’m out of there by 8:00 and ready to roll.
First bad choice was where to fuel, there was a pilot slightly out of the way, and there was one on the way, but near some construction, I chose the construction one. It took me 25 minutes to get a pump, and another 10 before the clerk confirmed that that pump wasn’t working, even though it had worked for the guy before me. It’s 9:00, I’m getting antsy and decide to fuck it and fuel after my drop and hook.
Second bad choice was thinking that the construction site route would work, since Friday it had changed; and was now down to one lane on an Illinois route. It took me 30 minutes to go 4 miles. Whatever, the pickup went smooth and I was out of there in 20, it’s now approximately 10:00.
I have to fuel, I have no choice; and now there’s an accident by the pilot I was just at; so I’m going to the other pilot that was part of my original choice. I’m about 2 miles from it when I found out that the accident by the first pilot had shut down the one part of the highway; and now all of that traffic was being funneled towards me. It takes me 35 minutes to go 2 miles. It’s now 1045.
Get to the pilot and it’s packed, and in his attempt to switch lanes, a hotshot is currently blocking 2 empty fuel islands, because of the way he’s positioned in relation to another truck, he can’t move. It’s 11:25, I’m about to fuel, I went 8 miles in an hour and a half. I’m going to take 6 hours to run a 60 mile load. Kill me.
