More mud, less room

And less fun, of course.

I left first thing this morning from St Joseph, Missouri and headed due east along a state highway. I was a bit unsettled by running 140-some miles along a secondary route but I'm happy to report it was very well maintained and sparsely traveled. Something I will keep in my memory bank for a future trip.


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I arrived in the small town of Macon, Missouri and eventually found my way to the Con-Agra plant there. It was tricky finding the entry point (go all the way past, hang a left to the rear, come in down an unmarked narrow side street) but the folks there were cheerful enough. Because it was so narrow I was blocking the exit but there wasn't much traffic at that early hour, and I was given the paperwork and the bad news.

The good news was that the trailer was ready to go and the paperwork too. The bad news was that I would have to move up a half block or so and execute the tightest u-turn I have yet made as a truck driver. It was so tight I almost hit the wall in front of me as I turned while simultaneously almost hit the obstacles behind my trailer with its swing. All while almost jackknifing it so I nearly hit the side of the trailer with the sleeper of my tractor.

The worse news was that this was the warm up for the main event. I was directed to the drop yard a few blocks away to get my new trailer. It was not only similarly tight but also muddy and I had to move a trailer just to have a shot at getting my new one out of the mess in one piece. Inch forward, turn sharp, pop the brakes, get out and look. Rinse and repeat, but remember you are rinsing with mud all over the place.

The drive from there to Rochelle, Illinois was a cakewalk. I wasn't able to get my load scaled for over 150 miles (and over 100 miles across the border of Illinois) because there wasn't a single scale to be found along the way. Fortunately, there aren't any weigh stations coming in that way until a few miles past the stop where you can finally scale out. I had eyeballed it back in Missouri and it turned out to be legal, but better safe than sorry. Some states charge $1 per pound overweight and you can easily have a few thousand here or there.

I dropped the trailer off at the consignee and got an empty with a HELLA COOL (trucker term) new feature: an automatic trailer pin system! With the press of a button it automatically retracts the pins so you can slide your tandems then when you release your brakes it sets the pins! One of these days they are going to put a button for that in a truck (perhaps wirelessly linked to the trailer) and you will be able to handle the entire affair without getting out at all.

Pre-plan Update: This load and my next load were both pre-plans, so Hill Bros is a perfect six-for-six to start out. Tomorrow I grab my first Petsmart load headed for Colorado. Two drops and a very early start on Sunday when I deliver. Just like I like it.