"So, how's that load to California coming?"

I occasionally rattle my dispatcher's cage asking when I can get another load out to California. One thing I really, really miss about CFI were the mix of short and long loads. Longer loads put me more in control of the timing, my schedule, when I can take breaks and the like whereas shorter loads put the dispatcher and planner more in charge of my day.

Lo and behold, the satellite unit beeped and I got a trip from nearby Lincoln, Nebraska to Mira Loma, California (a suburb of Los Angeles). I was told to grab an empty van -- always a sign of a heavy load in my future -- but it turns out the only empties we had were for other parts of the Hill Bros organization and couldn't go on the trip. Thus, the orders came for me to just bobtail there and grab the pre-loaded trailer. No problemo.

Turns out this is a load of corn products coming from an Archer Daniels Midlandson facility and going to Nabisco. Almost all raw material loads that I've seen have been designed to use up all available weight the trailer can take, and this was no exception. Fortunately, van trailers are lighter than reefers so my overall weight wasn't too bad. The trailer is a very old one, however, with spring suspension instead of air bags. This makes the ride up front a lot bouncier and takes just a smidge of pleasure out of this nice long run. But oh well.

I boogied down the road and eventually came to rest in Dodge City, Kansas. The wind was pretty fierce today and my fuel economy suffered.

I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that I missed one of the most incredible sunsets EVER. There was a thick layer of clouds stretching from horizon to horizon with a small band of blue sky to the extreme west. When the sun set behind the horizon, the last rays were bouncing up against the underside of the cloud layer and since red is the longest color wavelength (in visible light) it looked like the sky was afire. Plus, there were lots of cloud wisps and pockets of rain coming down that almost looked like flames dancing up to reach the clouds. I took the first exit I could but before I was parked and able to grab my camera the show was over.

Sucks to be me sometimes.