Earning a Living in the Busy Northeast

  We have a habit of pushing our legal time limits to the edge. Last night, we wrapped up the day with only TWO minutes remaining on the unstoppable 14-hour clock. Our 11-hour driving allowance was down to single-digit minutes also. It was our plan to conserve as much time as possible to accomplish a goal we were contemplating for our next load. Our 70-hour clock would be stretched as tight as possible also. As you can see, my occupation requires me to be mindful of a variety of count-down clocks. 

   I selected a load from Leominster Massachusetts, which is the birthplace of Johnny Appleseed. We were at that customer's loading dock last month. One of their employees looks eerily similar to Stephanie's late father. The workers quickly filled our trailer with food-grade plastics storage containers. I was glad to get out of there as quickly as we did so we could get through New York City before the worst of afternoon traffic began. 

   Stephanie called our advisor team at Schneider 30 minutes before we arrived at our delivery destination in Burlington New Jersey. This particular customer has the peculiar policy of requiring drivers to have an empty trailer assigned to them, plus a reference number - for those of us who are lucky enough to be able to drop off our loaded trailer & take an empty one. We had the timing down perfectly with our arrival. I'm so lucky that Stephanie does my phone calling while I'm driving, as the folks at Schneider are required to hang up on a driver who is calling while driving, as dictated by long-standing safety policies. 

   Our next, and current load, has us picking up a relay trailer from the Schneider OC in Carlisle Pennsylvania. Our trip plan evolved from what it originally was today: we will remain here for 34 hours to reset our 70-hour clock. The trailer that was supposed to be here isn't here yet. It looks like the driver parked his rig 80 miles away for the night. That's not a problem. He can take his time. 

   It's late in the evening. I'm going to publish this chapter now, without proofreading or adding pictures.