Its been ages since my last diary, largely due to taking a somewhat boring job that while getting me home just about every weekend, isn’t the slightest bit interesting. Anyhow, during my third and final week off over the Christmas and New Year period, I received an email from work asking if I wanted to do a long trip. They had either a Florida or a Manitoba. At this time of year there is no contest, Florida it was.
Day 1. Sunday January 11th. Woodstock, New Brunswick Canada to Hamilton, New Jersey USA. 652 miles / 1049km
I started the day from Murray’s truck stop which is by the side of the TCH (Trans Canada Highway) just outside Woodstock in New Brunswick and very close to where I live. After having three very nice weeks off work, and an outside temperature of -14’c I had little enthusiasm for heading out. The thought of the warm weather in Florida being the only consolation.
Ready for the go.
From Woodstock its only a short 15 minute drive to the US border at Houlton, Maine. As always the load is pre-cleared so all you have to do is turn up with your ACE manifest which is basically a cover sheet with a barcode on some other numbers on that they scan at the window and present your passport with a valid I94 visa. These I94’s last for 3 months at a time and cost $6 each.
No queue today so straight up to the window. This is generally a pretty quiet crossing.
Interstate 95 through Maine is just over 300 miles and takes 5 hours. As always, groceries were needed so a stop at Walmart in Newport was on the cards. This is a regular haunt for Canadian trucks heading south and its normal to see 6 or 7 Canadian trucks parked in the car park at any one time. Unlike in the UK where they’d put barriers up to prevent this sort of thing, here its encouraged, especially in Maine where they like to cash in on the Canadian truck business. If the nearby truck stop is full they also allow you to park in there over night. Occasionally you do come across a UK minded store that prevents truck access but the huge majority are very truck friendly.
Walmart in Newport, Maine.
The rest of the day was spent heading down the eastern seaboard through my least favourite part of the US and unfortunately my most regularly travelled part. It has a similar population density as the UK with the horrendous traffic that entails but a driving standard far below that of the UK. American driving has to be seen to be believed.
After the constant struggle for hundreds of miles with middle lane hogs doing 50mph, morons veering off slip roads doing 30mph, and general idiotic driving from most, I managed to pass through Massachusetts and Connecticut and enter the New York City area. Thankfully as it was a Sunday and evening by now, the traffic while fairly dense, was moving well and the Cross Bronx Expressway that crosses the Bronx towards the George Washington bridge over the Hudson. What often takes 2 hours to cover 5 miles was completed in about 10 minutes and I was soon across the river and heading south down the New Jersey Turnpike. I had meant to stop at the Molly Pitcher rest area near Cranbury but I’d made such good time that I had the driving time to go further so carried on to the next services and called it a night.
Parked for the night on the New Jersey Turnpike.
Day 2. Monday January 12th. Hamilton, New Jersey to Santee, South Carolina. 657 miles / 1057km
I started the day in darkness at about 6:30 in pretty miserable weather, a theme that was to continue for much of the trip south. I was soon heading south down the turnpike and crossed the Delaware Memorial Bridge out of New Jersey and in to Delaware. Wanting to avoid Baltimore during the morning rush hour I decided to go a slightly longer route that goes down the Delaware peninsular and in to Maryland before crossing the Chesapeake River on the impressive Chesapeake Bay bridge just east of Washington DC. While heading down this road I came to the first of many DOT scales, which was a worry for me, because as is often the case with fridge work, I was overweight when I left the yard by about 1200lbs / 545kg. I have an APU (Auxiliary power unit) which is basically a generator to provide mains power inside the cab, to keep the batteries charged, provide heat and A/C and to keep the engine from freezing in very cold weather. Because I have an APU I’m allowed to go over my 80,000lbs weight by 460lbs and I was hoping I’d burned enough diesel out of my 1100 litre tanks to bring my weight down to an acceptable level. Naturally the scale was open, some states always are and this one is open more often than not. After pulling on the plate the light went red and stayed red for what seemed like an eternity. Thankfully after about 30 seconds, that seemed like 30 minutes the light turned green and off I went, with a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. My main worry for the trip was the Virginia scales, who are open pretty much 24/7 365 days a year and notorious. In fact my first ever fine in North America was at the northbound scale in Dumfries, Virginia back in 2009 due to being overweight.
A couple of shots on the Chesapeake Bay bridge in pretty dismal weather.
Once across the Chesapeake Bay bridge its about 30 minutes to the Washington DC ring road, where I’d head south for Virginia. The traffic wasn’t as bad as expected, Washington is usually the mother of all hell holes for traffic delays, but I made decent progress and soon crossed the Potomac river in to Virginia.
Traffic better than usual, though it was pretty heavy going northbound.
Virginia state line.
I was soon at the dreaded Dumfries scales, which of course I didn’t get a bypass for and had to cross the plate. I was feeling much better after my green light in Maryland but you never know in Virginia just how ■■■■ they’re going to be. Sure enough the light stayed red, and red, and red and finally green. The worry was over and I could head on without concern.
The rest of the day was spent heading south down the I95, through the rest of Virginia, North Carolina and in to South Carolina. I stopped for diesel and shower in Latta, South Carolina and then ran the rest of my hours out. I was 15 minutes short of where I wanted to be, and while that’s no big deal on a paper log book, I didn’t need to be there so there was no need to push it. I stopped for the night in a big rest area on the interstate at Santee, South Carolina and readied myself for an early start the next morning on the final push to my delivery in Florida.
Day 3. Tuesday January 13th. Santee, South Carolina to Immokalee, Florida. 561 miles / 902km.
I started the day at 5am, which was just enough time to make it to Jacksonville at the very northern end of Florida for my 10am booking time. I had being due to unload at 2pm but got the appointment brought forward. Again, the weather was very wet and dreary and still quite cold at only +2’c that morning. The rest of South Carolina passed by in darkness and day was just breaking when I entered Georgia and passed the JCB plant just outside Savannah.
Somewhere in Georgia. Still horrible weather.
Upon entering Florida trucks usually have to enter an agricultural inspection station and if you’re carrying anything agricultural related they photocopy your paperwork and sometimes examine the load. My load of potatoes was of no interest to them so a quick scan of the bill of lading and I was hammering out back on to the interstate only to have to enter the bloody Florida scale 3 miles further. This time I got a bypass arrow so could proceed down the filter lane past the scale without having to stop. I’d obviously got my weight down enough and Florida is very liberal with its implementation of the law when it comes to such things.
Florida agricultural check point.
Its not that far from the state line to Jacksonville so I was soon heading around the I295 ring road which took me near to where I needed to be. I found my delivery without issue as I’d researched it on google earth and street view before hand, something I always try to do as it makes life so much easier, especially in towns and cities where a wrong turn in a truck the size of these can end in disaster.
Approaching Jacksonville, Florida.
Off the interstate and heading into Jacksonville.
Here’s where I needed to be, where the trailers are on the right hand side.
Full load of potatoes.
Getting tipped.
The load was tipped within the hour so I pulled off and parked over at the side of the yard to clean the trailer out. For the past five years I’ve had a petrol powered leaf blower that I carry in my side locker for just this job. In a dry van its a bit too dry and dusty but in a fridge its damp enough so you don’t get covered in dust and makes short work of the job, especially with ribbed floors.
Easy peasy.
I was hoping for a reload out of Northern Florida or somewhere further north so that I could make it back home within my 70 hours in 7/8 days (7 days in Canada, 8 in the US) but unfortunately my reload was way down in the south of Florida in the Everglades in town called Immokalee. Oh well, never mind. It was about 5 and a half hours drive so I headed on, hoping to get it on that day. I got my dispatch to call ahead to see what time they closed and if I could park there overnight. Even if I got loaded, I’d have little driving time left and parking in southern Florida is about as non-existent as the UK. I got a message back some time later saying that they loaded until 9pm and that I could park there. A real result, I hate getting to places blind not knowing what you’re letting yourself in for it parking is dicey and you have to drive around in the dark trying to find somewhere, as parking in an unsafe area in a place like Florida could end very badly. Lets put it this way, all the service areas on the interstate have armed guards patrolling at night…
Passing Daytona Beach.
Orlando.
Heading down Highway 27 in central Florida. A little bit of sun at last.
And then rain again!
Back to some sun. At +27’c it was quite a contrast of the -14’c when I left home and the -24’c that was to come later.
I made it down to Immokalee in good time and wandered in to the shipping office to book in. Unfortunately my load of peppers wasn’t ready, but who cares, drivers are paid by the mile so no one is bothered except the driver. There was a truck already there from McConnell’s, a company also from Woodstock, NB and he’d been there in excess of 5 hours and they still hadn’t started on him so things didn’t look good. I parked on the road outside and waited.
Waiting to load peppers in Immokalee, Florida.
It was beginning to look like I’d be waiting until tomorrow and I was by this time out of spread over time, which is 14 hours in the US but was assured that they’d load me that night. I wasn’t bothered, I’d been up since before 5am and by now it was almost 9pm so I was going nowhere anyway. They were supposed to close at 9pm but they insisted on loading the trucks waiting before they went home so at 9:45pm they beckoned me in to the yard, not something you could do with a digital tacho! Anyway, I was loaded within 20 minutes, paperwork in hand and back out on the road and parked for the night. I soon had the APU running and blasting out cold air in to the sleeper to recover from losing half my body weight in sweat in the very hot and humid weather outside and went to sleep. Even though I loaded “off card” I still took another 8 or 9 hours off to sleep, no need to take the ■■■■ if its not necessary.
Day 4. Wednesday January 14th. Immokalee, Florida to Jackson, Georgia. 566 miles / 910km.
After a decent nights sleep, I woke up to daylight, for the first time this trip. The workers at the shipper were all arriving at work and probably wondering why they’d worked late the night before only to see me still there the next morning. I did offer to load the next morning but they were having none if it.
My load of peppers were bound for Vittoria, Ontario and going to a trucking company called Scotlynn who we get a lot of work from out of Florida and Texas. The load itself was bound for the huge Lowlaws RDC in Cambridge, Ontario but we refuse to go in there now as its not unusual to be in there for 24 hours or more, which is ludicrous in any situation, but on a long haul job paid by the mile its unacceptable. The company backed me up over a year ago after I spent 30 hours in there when I refused to ever go back and the next time one of our trucks spent a similar time in there, about a week later, our company refused to take loads in there and have stuck by that ever since.
I opted to head north up the western side of Florida up I75 and follow that road all the way north to Detroit and cross in to Canada at Windsor, Ontario. It was about 50 miles longer than going up the east coast etc but better roads, less traffic and much less mountainous ans 50 miles over a 2 and a half day trip is nothing. My company agreed and set up my customs paperwork for Windsor and I was on my way.
Ready to hit the road after loading the previous night.
It never ceases to amaze me just how big Florida is and how long it takes to get from the South all the way to the top and out of the state, or vice versa.
Heading up past Tampa.
Eventually after 334 miles / 537 km I passed out of Florida and in to Georgia. At the very first exit I came off to have an hours break in the Flying J truck stop in Lake Park.
Welcome to Georgia.
View out the window at the Flying J in Lake Park, Georgia.
After spending more time than I should have in the truck stop I pushed on north, trying to work out where I could get that night. My big problem was the huge metropolis of Atlanta. I wanted to get beyond Atlanta but I’d be hitting the ring road at 6:30pm local time and it would no doubt have being a nightmare and the next parking north of the city was right on the very edge of what I could legally do that day if I had a clear run. Past experience has told me what a crap hole Atlanta is and that I would not have a clear run, and what would end up happening was I’d run over my time, get to the truck stop an hour or so later than I should have and it be full, then spend the next couple of hours trying every truck stop and rest area in vain and going 4 hours over my time. In light of that, I reluctantly pulled in to the Flying J truck stop in Jackson, about 35 miles south of Atlanta. It has a big parking area that I’ve parked in before but the parking in much of it, like so many truck stops is so close together that it can be impossible to leave in the morning as you can’t pull far enough ahead without touching the trucks in front of you, to clear your trailer wheels and turn without hitting the trucks next to you. Thankfully I was early enough to have my pick of the parking spots so found myself a spot opposite a through way, meaning in the morning I could drive out in a straight line and bugger off.
Parked for the night in Jackson, Georgia. Still plenty of parking left. It was chaos when I started the next morning.
Day 5. Thursday 15th January. Jackson, Georgia to Beaverdam, Ohio. 653 miles / 1050km.
A 5am start (4am local time) saw the truck stop in the predicted chaos, but I was able to pull straight out due to picking the right spot the night before. On the way out I noticed the fuel islands were almost empty so decided to fill up, which would be enough to get me the 1500km or so to where I wanted to get fuel in Canada. Even that far south in Georgia it was quite chilly at -2’c so I was glad of my winter coat.
Parking early the night before paid off and I zoomed past Atlanta before the rush hour could really start. It was still busy enough, those sorts of places always are but it was nothing compared to what it could have been. Once round Atlanta I headed north for Chattanooga where I crossed in to Tennessee, still in darkness. Without delays there I pushed on north to Knoxville and Kentucky.
Tennessee, north of Knoxville.
Welcome to Kentucky.
Limited to 65mph I’m often something of a slow coach in the US. Many trucks do 75+mph.
I stopped at the Pilot truck stop in Corbin, Kentucky for a break and a bite to eat. I don’t eat out that often but felt lazy. They had a McDonalds so I thought I’d go there, but the queue was huge so I settled for a subway instead. On some trips there’s plenty of interesting stuff to stop and see and on some its all go and relentless, this is one of those trips.
Later on I came towards the end of Kentucky and the Ohio river where you cross in to the state of Ohio at the city of Cincinnati. As you approach the city you come over the crest of a hill and head down towards the river and I never tire of the view. Its the quintessential view of an American city the the tall buildings etc. The photos don’t do it justice. It looks even better at night in some respects.
Even at 65mph I overtake quite a few slower trucks.
The afore mentioned view, descending down towards Cincinnati.
And another.
Heavy but quick moving traffic in Cincinnati.
Crossing in to Ohio at Cincinnati.
After Cincinnati I decided to head to the big Flying J truck stop in Beaverdam, Ohio which would see me about 15 minutes short of my 11 hour drive. Ohio is a pretty easy state to drive though with little to see, especially on the western end that I’m in.
Somewhere in Ohio.
Romanian driver by the looks of it. See, its not just Stillers!
Frozen river at Dayton, Ohio. It will be much colder later in Canada though.
The flat nondescript farming land that makes up much of Ohio.
One for the dinosaurs who reminisce about the Eaton Road Ranger 13 speed crash box. Yes we still have them here, even on brand new trucks.
Flying J truck stop in Beaverdam, Ohio. My parking place for the night.
A mobile truckers chapel, a common sight in America and Canada.
I was more interested in the old Ford tractor unit.
Parked for the night.
What are the odds. Two identical model and coloured trucks parked opposite each other. Mirror image. I only realised after I’d taken the photo.
Day 6. Friday 16th January. Beaverdam, Ohio USA to Napanee, Ontario Canada. 536 miles / 862km.
An early start was in order to get up to the border at Detroit / Windsor before the traffic started so I hit the interstate at 3:30am (2:30am local time) and crossed in to Michigan and reached the border well before day light. There were only two trucks in front of me at the border and after a heated two minute argument with the bone idle customs official at the window who wouldn’t stamp my customs invoice, only my ACI manifest, I was on my way in to Canada with both pieces stamped. By rights they don’t have to stop the invoice but some customers like Lowlaws, the final destination for my load won’t unload you without a stamped invoice showing with the PARS number showing etc so to avoid issues later I demanded he stamp it and he finally did after much protesting. I mean, its so hard to stamp two pieces of paper rather than one, and they used to stamp the invoice anyway and still do if your company don’t use ACI manifest cover sheets so its not like I’m asking for anything out of the ordinary. They just can’t be bothered.
45 minutes in to Ontario I pulled in to the Pilot at Tilbury to fuel up. As soon as I arrived on the pumps, an Indian (Asian) driver on the truck next to me ran round and asked if I had any tools as he’d locked himself out of his cab and he was freezing (it was about -15’c). Yes certainly, We soon broke in to his wonderfully engineered north American truck and he was on his way with profuse thanks and hand shakes and without a scratch or damage to his door!
The run across Highway 401 through Ontario towards London was uneventful and I was soon on the rural single carriage roads that would take me to my delivery. I passed through several towns, that like most in Canada proudly display their British heritage with the Canadian flag, the old Canadian flag featuring a Union Jack in the top corner and a full Union jack on display. Its common to see this at war memorials, cemeteries and so forth. Much of Ontario, and New Brunswick for that matter were settled by United Empire Loyalists after the US war of independence and they’ve maintained a very strong British identity ever since, though that has decreased a lot since the 60s and the adoption of the Maple Leaf flag.
Southern Ontario.
The flag on the right is very similar to the old Canadian flag but is the provincial flag of Ontario. Upon the adoption of the Maple Leaf in the 60s, the provinces of Ontario and Manitoba based their flags on the old Union Jack red ensign flag in protest at the erosion of their British identity. Can’t fault them, though I wonder how many people feel that way now in modern “multi cultural” Canada?
Arriving at Scotlynn in Vittoria, Ontario.
My load was getting cross docked on to this trailer so one of their drivers could waste a day of his life in Loblaws.
Goodbye peppers. That pallet was worrying me all the way back but my extendable load bar wasn’t quite long enough to go vertically next to it. Oh well, it didn’t fall over so I can’t have driven all that badly.
And in to the Scotlynn trailer they go.
A view from outside. Scotlynn trucks have always being a favourite of mine, they’re a very smart looking fleet.
A few of their units parked up.
Once tipped I received the ominous message that Ontario was dead and they couldn’t find any freight. Bugger I thought, I’ll be stuck in Toronto all weekend. Oh no no no, they told me to come all the way back to New Brunswick empty! That’s a distance of 882 miles / 1420kms!! Who am I to argue, I’ll be a few hundred dollars better off and home a few days earlier. I’ve never come back empty from Ontario, its unheard of so I can only imagine they have pressing work for me next week that I’m needed to be back for to cover.
If the rules were enforced and bad drivers punished, there’d be no cars on the road in Toronto and most of North America, so what a load of tosh.
Approaching Toronto. CN Tower in the background.
Going straight through the middle of Toronto.
I wouldn’t be able to make it home non stop on my hours this week as you can do a rolling count of 70 hours in 7 days in Canada and I’d come to 70 at about Quebec City, 5 hours short of home. But on Saturday night, I’ll gain back the hours I used the previous Sunday, the first day of the trip, a bit like the 90hr thing in Europe where at the stroke of midnight on Sunday night you gain back the hours from the week before last etc, except here its day by day, meaning you can keep on going, to a limited extent. In the US its 70 hours in 8 days which in my case would mean I wouldn’t gain time back until Sunday night, but I’m in Canada so its easier. In the US I’d have had a 36 hour reset, which would reset the clock and give me a fresh set of 70 hours again, I could also do that in Canada but I’ll get home several hours earlier on Sunday but rolling on my hours, and I’m having Monday off anyway so I’ll get a reset in and come Tuesday will have a full set of 70 to play with. Any way, enough of all that. I decided to only go as far as Napanee this time, which would give me 6 hours for Saturday to run out my 70 and get nearer home.
Day 7. Saturday January 17th. Napanee, Ontario to Levis, Quebec. 361 miles / 580km.
Not much to do today and realistically I’d like to have just gone straight home despite going 5 hours over my 70hrs but didn’t want to take the risk. The one time I did it would be the time I’d get wheeled in to a scale for a log book check and be put out of service. Still, its annoying to be a mere 5 hours from home when you’ve covered the sort of distance I have and have to stop after only 6 hours work.
I had a lay in as there was no pressure to start early with such a short day. At 10:30 I convinced myself to hit the road and headed eastwards towards Montreal and the French speaking province of Quebec.
A view from the window of hotel Kenworth before hitting the road.
The 401 through Ontario is often quiet on a Saturday, especally in the winter. It may look mild outside but it was almost -20’c.
Entering Quebec. New France.
Speed limiters set to 105km/h or 65mph are required in Ontario and Quebec, which is why my truck has one, despite New Brunswick having no such requirement, no does anywhere else in North America but all trucks that enter those two Canadian provinces must have them fitted. I got stopped in Ontario a few months ago and the DOT plugged in to my truck to check as well.
Crossing the scale just east of Montreal in Quebec. I still have 2 hours left at this point so nothing to worry about. Being empty I just get a green light any way.
An Irish friend of mine who works at my previous company, Quality Transportation, heading west to Indiana.
Getting colder.
Day 8. Sunday 18th January. Levis, Quebec to Northampton, New Brunswick. 301 miles / 484km.
I just want to get home now, I’m ■■■■■■ off that I had to stop so close so I’m up at 2:30am to leave at 3:00 and off I go. Apart from stopping at Cabano, Quebec to clean my head lights as due to the stuff they spread on the road that gunks everything up, it was like driving with my lights off, it was an uneventful drive back to the yard. The New Brunswick scale was bloody well closed anyway, as it was reported to me it was the day before so I could have “off carded” it home but I didn’t want to take the risk, and I shouldn’t be promoting such naughtiness on here any way. I can talk about it though, because I didn’t do it.
Pulled off on to a slip road hard shoulder to clean my lights, pretty chilly out there.
Same as above.
Daylight and I’m almost back to Woodstock.
Filling up back at the yard. Job almost done.
Same again.
Job done. Gear in car and ready for home.
A decent trip, not the most exciting I’ve had but better than what I’ve mostly being doing for the past year and a half. I’m off to Zionsville, Pennsylvania next week so back to short 1-2 day runs each way but it gets me home on the weekend and that’s a rare thing here in Canada.
I hope you enjoyed it, I know its not up to the same standard as some of my past ones but such a time has passed since then that I’ve got rusty!
Sorry if some of the pictures are cut off on the right hand side. They were not taken that way, but they appear that way on here for some reason.
Thanks for reading.
The End.
do a monthly blog 