After starting a new job about two months ago, right after my last Diary that documented a trip to California I thought my days of interesting travels were at an end. The new job is usually home at weekends and up and down the eastern seaboard of the US to New Jersey and Pennsylvania, places that are, and involve driving through areas every bit as congested as the UK, with the traffic volume to match and driving standards that make the average UK car driver look positively good.
Anyhow, after a few weeks of work I didn’t really like one bit, they asked me if I wanted to go to Texas the following week, with a few stops along the way. Yes, I said.
The company I work at are a green housing company and we often transport our own plants to garden centres, in between, in fact most of the time we actually just carry general freight. This trip however was delivering our own product grown in our greenhouses.
A map of this trip.
Day 1, Sunday 15th September, 2013 Northampton, New Brunswick (Canada) - Willington, Connecticut (USA).
The day got off to a later start than I’d have wished. My trailer was being loaded throughout the day by the warehouse boys, otherwise I’d have left much earlier, to park earlier and get my first drops off earlier but it wasn’t to be. In the end the load wasn’t ready until 4pm. Today was the annual open day where the public can come and tour the whole complex, buy plants and flowers at knock down prices and the kids can get rides on a horse and cart or a tractor etc. Upon my arrival at work it was somewhat difficult to park my car and get my truck out, what with all the visitors making the whole yard chocka but after a few minutes I had my paperwork in hand, customs paperwork and headed round to hook up to my trailer.
I was soon heading the short distance back up the river to the town of Woodstock and beyond to the US border in to the state of Maine.
After crossing the border came the boring 300 mile, 5 hour drive through Maine, with a brief stop for groceries at the Walmart in Newport just south of Bangor. This Walmart is the main stopping point for all Canadian trucks heading south in to the US from the Maritime Provinces for provisions, with food prices in the US being substantially cheaper than those in Canada.
After five P’ing (Planning Prevents ■■■■ Poor Performance) my first delivery location, which was to be Monroe, Connecticut, on google maps, satellite view and street view it didn’t look like a suitable place to park overnight so I decided to only head as far as the rest area on I84 at Willington, Connecticut, just east of Hartford for the night. I pulled in at 11:45pm and called it a night.
Day 2. Monday 16th September, 2013. Willington, Connecticut - Suffolk, Virginia.
After having my legally required 10 hour break, I hit the road the next morning at 10am after logging a 15 minute pre-trip, it takes no such time but keeps the DOT happy to see it, in fact I usually show 30 minutes but this trip is going to be tight as I had not had a reset from the week before so will be working my hours day to day. In the US you can do 70 hours in 8 days on a constant rolling time frame, you never actually have to have a day off unless you come to your 70 hour limit, before gaining time back. Basically if you do 9 hours of driving/on duty on Monday, you’ll gain that time back again the following Monday night at the strike of midnight. In Canada its 70 hours in 7 days, so what you do on Monday, you’ll gain back the following Sunday night. If you only ever average 8.45 per day you never have to stop in the US, but in the real world of deadlines and long distances, you always do more than that per day, so end up coming against your 70 hour limit well before you gain time back. So to cut a long story short, instead of logging 30 minutes per day for my inspection, I’m logging 15 minutes because that will give me over an hours extra driving time during the course of the week and that could make all the difference later on.
This was parked in the rest area as I pulled out, a rare cabover.
I hit Hartford just after morning rush hour so not too much trouble getting through that potential bottle neck as I headed for my first delivery.
Hartford, Connecticut.
At Waterbury, CT it was time to exit the interstate and head cross country. Connecticut is a state that I basically hate with a passion due to the congestion and standard of car driving but it was quite a pleasant drive to my first delivery to my surprise.
Heading through a small town in Connecticut.
Out in to the country. A big difference to the urban nightmare that sprawls down nearly the entire length of all interstate in Connecticut.
I soon found the small garden centre thanks to google street view and because of that, knew which way to approach it from as I had to back in off the main road, so a blind side reverse off quite a narrow road, with a 53ft trailer wasn’t on my wish list. I was soon backed in, and again to my surprise, passing motorists who had to wait for me to back in were very polite and returned my wave, something that would never happen in the urban quagmires of the state. I only had two racks of plants for here so within minutes of my arrival I was on my way again, heading towards New York City and beyond.
Backed in off the road. Plenty of room to have parked overnight but surrounded by houses, who probably wouldn’t appreciate the not so discreet roaring of my reefer!
The typical heavy traffic heading through the Bronx area of New York City, 4 miles can easily take an hour or more and often does.
On to the George Washington bridge across the Hudson river, out of New York state and in to New Jersey.
A view from the George Washington bridge, down the Hudson river towards Manhattan.
After crossing in to New Jersey I headed south down the New Jersey Turnpike, a very expensive road but with a toll tag it doesn’t matter. At the southern end of the turnpike I pulled in to the Flying J truckstop in Carney’s Point for diesel and a free shower. Soon afterwards I crossed the Delaware river, in to the state of Delaware and on to Maryland. I opted for the shortest route to Suffolk, Virginia that would involve heading south through the Delaware/Maryland peninsular and across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnels to Norfolk, Virginia, the home of the US Navy Atlantic fleet. The naval base here is the reason for the engineering marvel that is the bridge/tunnels. Two sets of tunnels have being sunk from artificial islands underneath the two shipping channels so that in times of war, a bridge over the channels could not be destroyed, causing the channels to be blocked to shipping, thus disabling the Atlantic fleet in port.
After crossing to Norfolk it was a quick run around the ring road and out to Suffolk, as in England, Norfolk and Suffolk are appropriately next to each other. Again, thanks to google earth, I knew exactly where to go and arrived at the greenhousing company at 9:30pm and parked in their yard for the night.
Approaching the Delaware bridge from New Jersey to Delaware.
Crossing in to Maryland.
Crossing in to Virginia, and the scale is open, there’s a surprise. Virginia scales tend to be open 24/7.
Unfortunately I arrived at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnels after dark.
But not to worry, here are some shots from a few years ago…
Day 3. 17th September 2013. Suffolk, Virginia - Lanett, Alabama.
The day started suddenly with a knock on the door from one of the guys at the receiver, who directed me where to go and with unloading soon completed I was soon ready to hit the road and head for my third drop in Rock Hill, South Carolina. A pretty non-descript boring day with very little to report. I made it to Rock Hill, google street view alerted me that the delivery point may be congested with parked cars which would mean backing in off a 4 lane main road if this was the case, so again I came in the slightly longer way so it would be on my good side. Thankfully upon arrival the car park was largely empty so in I drove forwards, only for several cars to follow me in and attempt to park right in the middle where I needed to be. Americans being the most inobservant people in the world. They were soon moved on to a more sensible parking place and unloading again proceeded at a fast pace.
I was soon heading out of town cross country towards I85 that would take me out of South Carolina and on to Georgia and the dreaded city of Atlanta. As expected the Atlanta ring road was chaos and ate in to my time. Due to this I ended up exceeding my driving time but on a paper log book its not an issue, and 30 minutes here or there isn’t the end of the world in the grand scheme of things. I finally arrived on the Alabama state line, parked in the welcome centre and called it a night.
Georgia welcome centre.
Parked in the Georgia welcome centre for a break. There must have been parking for over 100 trucks, all free of course with 24 hour toilets. Something the UK government should take note of if road safety is actually a concern.
Atlanta ring road. Trucks are banned from entering Atlanta unless delivering/loading.
Heading off the Atlanta ring road in the direction of Alabama.
Day 4. September 18th 2013. Lanett, Alabama - Beaumont, Texas.
Today was to be a full day of driving, with some unique scenery. The day started in darkness as I pressed on through Alabama and down towards the Gulf of Mexico. At Mobile, Alabama I picked up Interstate 10 for the long slog across the Gulf coast. After a quick stop in Gulfport, Mississippi for fuel, a free shower and internet access I pushed on in to Louisiana to cross the Mississippi river and the famous Bayou swamps beyond.
Welcome to the state of Mississippi.
A view from the drivers seat at the Flying J truckstop in Gulfport, Mississippi.
What it says on the tin.
This was in the Louisiana welcome centre.
More free plentiful truck parking on the Louisiana state line.
Approaching the bridge over the Mississippi river at Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Mississippi river, with a paddle boat seen alongside.
Good solid American bridge, probably actually ready to drop in to the river at any moment in reality.
Louisiana Bayou.
More Bayou…home to hundreds of alligators.
Here is an example of the uniquely American habit of crashing ones vehicle on a totally straight stretch of interstate with no other vehicles involved. Everything Clarkson says about the US is true.
and finally to Texas!
For the record. The Texan way of driving is every bit as appalling as the rest of the US. Friendly, no, Erratic, yes.
I parked in the large Petro truckstop in Beaumont, Texas. I had time to get further but truck parking nearer Houston would have been harder and I had no desire to find the truckstops full, run out of time and have nowhere to go, so I stopped a bit early to avoid the agro.
Day 5. 19th September 2013. Beaumont, Texas to Henrietta, Texas.
I pulled out of the truckstop at 6:45, 4:45 local time and attempted to get through Houston before the worst of the traffic, I almost succeeded but still caught some quite horrendous congestion. Never the less, I arrived close to my delivery in Cypress, TX at 6:45 local time. The greenhouse didn’t open until 8am so thanks to google I had found a nearby industrial area to sit and wait. The greenhouse being in a residential area and having gates right on the road, so early arrival wasn’t an option. In the industrial estate the roads were all ram jammed with drop trailers and parked cars, but I found a large factory with its own dedicated staging area for trucks waiting to go in, so I sneakily tucked in, between trucks there for a genuine reason and waited for opening time at my nearby garden centre, before heading over. I only had one pallet for them so unloading took minutes and I soon found myself heading north west through Texas to my final delivery in the infamous town of Waco. Where google earth yet again alerted me to the fact that I actually had to unload around the back, on a totally different road to that on the address. With this information I was soon parked outside their rear gate getting tipped out on the road and then empty. The reefer was turned off for a well deserved break after 5 days of running on constant.
Heading up through some small town in Texas on my way to Waco.
Arriving in Waco.
Tipping my last few racks of plants in Waco.
Only a few more to go.
Tipping out on the road in Waco.
Now empty, I could start to head to my reload over in Amarillo. It was a load of fresh beef heading back to Canada scheduled to load the next day, but meat loads in North America often take 24-36 hours to actually get loaded from your time of arrival at the factory so I was expecting the worst. By now I’m running out of hours on my 70 hour cycle and only have 8 hours of combined driving and on duty time for today so wont make Amarillo, I just get as far as I can in the time I have, which brought me to a large rest area in the middle of nowhere in a rattle snake infested area of scrub land in Texas close to Oklahoma.
A Texan spaghetti junction in Fort Worth.
Stopped for some shopping to replenish my food supplies, somewhere in Texas, can’t remember where!
Day 6. September 20th 2013. Henritetta, Texas to Amarillo, Texas.
Today I had regained 6:15 of hours back to use, which was enough to reach Amarillo and my almost certain long wait. I arrived at the meat plant to the usual nonsense. Slide the axles to the rear bumpers, get the trailer washed out, drop the trailer and bugger off to wait. Knowing I’d be there a long while I headed a futher 8 miles or so in towards Amarillo to the Flying J truckstop and called that home until my trailer was ready. No way I was going to park in the bobtail parking lot at the factory with no proper facilities. They told me it could take up to 3 days to load but that hopefully it’d be sooner. Can you imagine hearing something so stupid in the UK, where drivers are paid by the day or hour, rather than the mile? Either way I spent the rest of the day pratting about on the internet in the truckstop, frequent calls to the meat plant only letting me know that they’re “still working on it”.
A view from hotel Kenworth in the Flying J truckstop, Amarillo, TX.
Day 7. September 21st 2013. Amarillo, Texas to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Next morning my first call of the day ended with the delightful news that my trailer was ready, after only 19 and a half hours! I popped back to the factory, pratted about sliding the axles back forwards, something they dont often want to do with the weight of a load, scaled the load, faxed all the paperwork to the customs broker and started heading to Oklahoma City to stay with friends for the rest of the weekend. I could have made it back to Canada using the hours I’d gain back day to day, but there was no rush with the load so I decided to take a 36 hour reset in Oklahoma City to visit friends, at the end of which I’d have a full set of 70 hours again, enabling me to do full days every day. After 4 hours driving from Amarillo I pulled in to the truckstop in OKC, yet again another Flying J, fueled up, got my free shower and then headed away to stay with my friends for the rest of the weekend.
Cooking a stir fry at Amarillo. Although food in US truckstops is much cheaper than in Canada, you’d still have no wages left if you ate out all the time.
Arriving back at the meat plant to collect my loaded trailer.
Day 8. 22nd September 2013. Off-duty in Oklahoma City.
The visit to my friends amongst other things included looking at his extensive gun collection and firing said guns later on at the firing range.
Myself with a Romanian made AK-47.
Firing the AK later on.
and a US M4.
Day 9. 23rd September 2013. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Terre Haute, Indiana.
The day started at the stroke of 5am. Recent changes to the load in the US now regulate that among other things, a reset much include two periods of 1am to 5am. Though as my log book is on Atlantic time, 5am to me, was 3am local time so I was able to crack off before most for the drive up through Oklahoma, past Tulsa and in to Missouri. The highlight of the day was crossing the Mississippi river in St. Louis and seeing the famous arch. I’d seen it before but its always an impressive sight. The day ended just inside Indiana at the welcome centre rest area, that again probably had parking for well over 100 trucks.
St. Louis.
and again.
Heading out of St. Louis and across Illinois.
Effingham, Illinois and its VERY large cross.
Day 10. September 24th 2013. Terre Haute, Indiana (USA) to Ayr, Ontario (Canada).
Another good day today saw me pass through the last remaining parts of the US on this trip, up to the border in Detroit, Michigan and across Ontario. My delivery was in Cambridge so I called it a day in Ayr, about 10 miles from my destination. Nothing much else to say about today.
Heading through Indiana.
A typical axle configuration for the state of Michigan.
Detroit, almost at the border.
A view of Detroit from the bridge to Canada.
Goodbye America!
Hello Canada!
Completely flat drive across the fertile landscape of southern Ontario.
Day 11. September 25th 2013. Ayr, Ontario to Ste-Helene, Quebec.
A quick 15 minute drive this morning saw me arrive at the gates to the Loblaws RDC in Cambridge, Ontario. This is a place I frequented on an almost weekly basis in my first job in Canada and often spent many an hour or day, unpaid waiting to be tipped and reloaded. To my delight I managed to get tipped in just over an hour, thankfully as rush hour was drawing largely to a close and started heading to my reload west of Toronto in a town called Belleville for a load of cheese destined for Truro, Nova Scotia.
The drive through Toronto wasn’t too bad, with only a few hold ups and I made good time to Belleville. Upon arrival I saw a truck from my old company already on a bay and realised at once that anywhere where that crap company would be, would involve a very long wait. In the end loading took 5 hours and the Donnelly Farms truck was still there when I left, there’s a shock. This was now the homeward leg so it was time to get moving for a serious case of ‘Eastbound and down’. Due to my protracted loading earlier in the day I only made it as far as Ste Helene, Quebec within my Canadian 16 hour window and parked for the night in a McDonalds car park that has truck parking for about 25 trucks.
Typical Toronto traffic, thankfully it didn’t last for long this time.
On a bay getting loaded in Belleville, Ontario.
Not much room between trucks! Trailers were so close that the doors on my trailer were touching the doors on the truck next to me.
Day 12. September 26th 2013. Ste Helene, Quebec to Northampton, New Brunswick.
The day started after only 8 hours off. Totally legal in Canada but something I generally never manage as I like sleeping too much. I’m not bothered about long days, but short nights are usually beyond my abilities. However I had a home to get to and a girl who recently became my wife to get back to. After the rather boring drive up Autoroute 20 through Quebec as far as Riviere du Loup, the road splits for New Brunswick and the largely English speaking Maritime provinces. This road is still largely a two way highway but its in the process of being dualed, with quite a lot of the new road already open. Upon crossing in to New Brunswick its little over two hours to Woodstock and back to the farm in nearby Northampton and the end of a rather enjoyable 12 day trip.
The split at Riviere du Loup. Keep right for New Brunswick.
In Quebec, heading towards New Brunswick.
Part of the new road construction.
Home sweet home.
But the scale is open, and another of my former Donnelly colleagues ahead of me.
and more trucks waiting behind.
The Trans Canada Highway in New Brunswick, following the Saint John river.
Almost within sight of home.
Arriving back at the farm.
Fueling the truck and reefer.
and at long last, parked up and ready to head home in my jeep. The trusty old thing has lasted me almost 5 years now but achieving only 16mpg its only used to get to and from work these days. I only keep it because its so good in the winter.
So ends the trip. Not quite the epic that the last one was to California. I hope you’ve enjoyed it none the less. I certainly enjoyed the trip and as always enjoy taking the photos and its very rewarding to know that others like them too.
