Running In Slow Motion

Up at 04:00 and did pre-trip inspection in the parking lot of the shopping center. Then we drove to a nearby truck stop so I could get some coffee and use the bathroom.

We drove our empty trailer to a paper manufacturer in Pennington, AL. I missed a turn and had to back track. When we arrived, a sign stated that all shipping and deliveries were to go to Gate 9. At the gate a guard told us that since we were a drop and hook (dropping one trailer and picking up another), that we needed to go to the drop yard down the road. There we could drop our trailer and pick up our new one. The drop yard was gravel and really dusty (glad we did not previously wash our truck). It was a little bit of a struggle for me to back our empty trailer due to how tight the space was. But with the help of my trainer I was able to get the trailer in. I moved the tandems to the back. Then we drove around the yard looking for our new trailer. We located it and hooked up to it. This load was 40,000 lbs of large rolls of paper. I did an In-Trip inspection on the trailer and found that it was missing a mud flap on the passenger side. We called Knight, which then arranged for us to have it fixed at a Love’s in Eutaw, AL an hour away.

At Love’s, we fueled up. Then we waited in the parking lot until we were notified that it was our turn at the shop. I took this downtime as an opportunity to eat a salad and take a nap. I had not been napping for long when the phone rang. Time to take the truck to the shop. While the truck was getting worked on, I went back inside Love’s to brush my teeth and wash my face.

When the truck was finished we continued on our way. My trainer likes the Petro Truck Stop in Dodge City, AL, about two hours away. So we headed there for the night. Traffic was heavy going through Birmingham and I missed an exit. I blame the GPS because it told too late for me to switch lanes to take an exit.

We finally made it to Dodge City. It is a really nice truck stop! The parking area for the trucks is huge. Inside there are a lot of food options: Popeye’s, Burger King, Baskin Robins, Dunkin’, and Papa Johns. There was also a comfy lounge with sofas and chairs and a big TV. There was an exercise room and showers. Showers cost $17. You can also use TA credits to get a shower, but I didn’t have any credits. So no shower for me. While I was there I signed up for a TA account so that I can start accruing credits. I ended up eating dinner at Popeye’s.

Some high school girls approached me and asked if I could run in slow motion for them. It was for a scavenger hunt they were doing for their church’s youth group. I remember doing those! I told them I felt like I was already moving in slow motion because I was so tired. But I complied with their request. We all ran in slow motion in front of one of their phones.

It also rained and created a rainbow. It continued to storm through the night. It is actually storming right now as I write this. My first storm while in the bunk.