The end off the week that was !!!!!!!!!!!!

Not sure what i was supposed to be feeling after leaving work the end of something or the begininng of what maybe, definately a little relieved that i was now close to heading back home and civilisation.It did give me some quality time to spend it with a good many people and maybe one to many Buds.Ive been extremely lucky to have met some wonderful people most from the expat circuit,so when offered a good meal and refreshments i thought it would be rather rude not to oblige.The highlight of the week after been down at UPEI to watch my mates daughter competing in the long jump in which i had coached her (1st ever competion and she came 2nd and put through to the Finals in the provincials this Saturday GOOOOODDD LUCK HUN knock them dead) was trip to Brackley Drive in something ive always fancied doing when you see it on the movies its one of those iconic american things and definately worth a visit.The reality i was actually not returning to Canada hit me on the morning i was off although sad to say goodbye to friends extremely happy to be ending this chapter of my life. Canada thanks but NO thanks.

I Shed A Little Tear

So here i was in my last week of Trucking in America,heading to Georgia empty for a load of meat going back to Toronto.I thought the weather could at least smiled on me and given me one last lovely send off well it had other ideas, rain then torrential rain then more rain all the way down.I arrived at my loading destination Newnan Georgia late Sunday afternoon and dropped my trailer in the customers yard ready for loading Monday morning and of i shuffted down to the pilot truck stop about 5 mile way. Loading completed by midday i was on my way back north taking the same route i had used to come down here all the way up the i 75 until i reached Detriot where i had to make a little detour for meat inspection and where i was to spend the next 7 1/2 hrs.eventually given the green light i headed for The Ambassador bridge linking Detroit with Windsor Canada and my final exit out of The USA .Slightly emotional now i handed my i94 back in then a big red stamp on my paperwork, must go for meat inspection in Canada ARGGGG.A quick phone call and im heading to the Agricultural of Canada place in Windsor for inspection.At least this only took 2 hours not like the previous 7 1/2 hrs we had in Detroit.I headed up the 401 but decide to call it a night in London On as by this time it was gone 11pm.I arrive at my delivery dinnertime Wednesday only to see a queue of trucks who had previously been in the inspection with me they ran straight through expecting to get tipped straight away no such luck here.I eventually dropped my trailer i wasnt sitting there until at least 11pm that evening to unload and despatch was told this enough is enough now.All i wanted was one more load to get me accompany me back east and that came eventually in the shape of a load of produce going to St Johns Newfoundland, so back to PEI for me it was arrivng back on the island late friday evening and ending my employment with Bulk Carriers.I had plenty of thinking time on the route back i look back at the last 18 months and what i have gone through the highs and lows etc,i love the long haul trucking, i love the trucks i absolutely detest the unpaid waiting times if these were infrequent it wouldn't be so bad but it wasn't i go to work to earn money just because my wheels arn't turning ie im waiting to load/unload or waiting for a load offer why do i have to suffer and not earn a dime.So thats it i have a week to sort stuff out have a few Buds with some mates and then Blighty hear i come and whatever the future has to offer.

The Last Party in The USA

I wasn't really expecting much from my final month just the normal New Jersey triangle a few times or perhaps spending all month trying to get loaded at Del monte's in Gloucester,so when i got down to Florida that came as a sweet suprise.I suppose after that then my last trip would definately consist of the mundane (although i do enjoy the south bit its the other parts of the trip that nausiate me),well upto now its not been that way at all, so here goes,i was asked to come in for 8am there is a trailer which has a part load for Amhurst Nova scotia on it,after tipping that i would be reloading at the same store with 42 tyres going back to Brampton (GTA)then my qualcom goes bilistic, message after message it basically reads that after that i have another 6 collections (all tyres) all the way up the New Brunswick coast then into Quebec and along the eastern coast of that province as well somewhere i hadn't been to before.Its definately nice when all things run smoothly i was expecting to be messed around somewhat but no everything went well my last pick up was from Paspebiac qc a very quaint village (this is about 80mile east of Campbelltown)with the sun out and temps hitting a good 9 degrees this was a very pleasent and enjoyable journey.These collections had took me the best part of 2 days to do so i was ready to put some miles in before night fall as i had over 900 mile to do before saturday morning.I parked up in a place called Val -Brilliant (what a name that is)by the river and yep its still got a lot of ice on it winter just seems to be recluctant to give up this year.Late friday afternoon while im trundling down the 401 i get a message explaining about my next trip, then bang im hit with you will be running down to Georgia after ive dropped my trailer off.This isnt the norm at all for us, we never run back into The states from Ontario except to pick Potatoes up from Michigan so well im a little stunned but rather happy. I made it down to Brampton for 7.30am quick drop of my trailer and i shoot to Missisauga to pick up another then im off heading for Detroit, ive crossed here a few times and i always seem to get a full search and xray here,3/4 hr later im doing the jig down the i75 heading south and enjoying my final few days.

Is someone playing with me ???

Again problems with my fuel cards,i get up in the morning and went to fuel up,this is not what i need in the morning as im not the most socialable person, the machine wouldn't accept my card now is this just a coinsidence or have the company either got problems or there playing with me.Again after the guy in the fuel office made a few calls i was ready to fill,not happy at this time a rather blunt message was sent to despatch am i going to suffer these problems for the next 2 weeks again i was informed there not sure what was going on Hummmm.So i made it up to Shelbourne for my delivery and after a pretty quick unload i was told just to hang around where i was they are working on a reload for me,unlike the Uk this is pretty normal they dont normally have anything set in stone until your tipped so it can take a while.Well a couple of hours later im told there was a loaded trailer for me in Woodbridge Ontario this is about 35 miles form where i am i was even given a number this normally indicates that the load is ready to roll,unfortuantely im told otherwise the load was on the customers tralier in a different yard so i will have to wait until they go and get it and tranship it onto one of ours,this only took about 6 hours its turned out to be a great day Not.Anyone who has driven through the Toronto area will know how bad the traffic gets especially on a friday teatime definately not good,so after a long slow crawl i make it up to Napanee for the night.I ended up running back to Moncton with another one of our driver and this is where i find out a little secret,i have only got this drivers word but he seems adament this is true, i was told by him that he is paid more per mile than any other driver,now thinking im not hearing this properly i get him to explain this statement and he tells me that because he "LOOKS" after the company they pay him more, now the guy started just a couple of months before me so as you can imagine this kinda pisses me off,basically i and everyone else who arn't prepared to lets say run creatively get penallised,this is something that i would not normally put onto here but i think this so wrong i was pretty livid .Not something i want to hear really oh well only 2 more weeks to go.Back on the island sunday after noon and its back to the chores of washing, Budweiser, opps did i say that lol, and a little r &r ready for my last trip as an North American truck driver.

Take Me Home LA LA LA West Virginia

As much as i would like to have carried on shopping i had to crack on and get down to Howley on the Hill (North West of Orlando).To accompany me back to Canada were 20 skids of potatoes for Shelbourne, Ontario (about 80 mile north of Toronto).After a little discussion about what weight i could carry i was loaded and on my way,now my route was going to be the same way i came down from Charlotte then i would just carry on north up the 1 79 into West Virginia, i have eventually managed to cover all the eastern side of America as West Virginia has been eluding me,i have heard how pretty it is and been dying to see it for myself now how does that song go Take me home country road or is it On the Blue Ridge mountains,anyway i was greeted with bloody rain yuk yuk and more yuk.Until i decided to call it a night in Beckly the skys opened,but travelling through The Appalachian mountains made up for the misery while crawling up the hills you do get plenty of time to look across the valleys and beyond.I wanted to be up early next morning so i could crack on, my body and brain thought otherwise i snoozed my alarm then drifted of back for a while at 7.30 i eventually crawled out of my pit, (sleeping at the moment has become a big problem i seem to be forever waking in the night some of these truck stops are so noisy with engines idling all the time and i seem to be the one where the person with the noisest truck heads for,I even put the reefer on sometimes just to counteract the noise, this is where i preferred my old truck as i could idle that unlike this one where it cuts out after 3 mins).A quickish pretrip and im all ready for the off humm not looking to good on the old fuel though now if you can remember a good few months ago i broke the cardinal sin of truck driving and ran out of fuel for the first time ever !!!!!, well im not going to make that mistake again first truckstop im in, 189 miles later and a detour that is (around Pittsburgh) and a bum squeaking for the last 70 off them (this was the first one i got to).I go through the motions of inserting card etc only to be told there is a problem with my fuel card so after a few phone calls to despatch etc and then imperial oils help desk im told this flying j doesn't accept this card, i have used it in every other one across the contenent and haven't had a problem but this one aint playing ARGGGG.So after a little sorting out im instructed to pay by another card we carry (we only use this card for Canada)so disaster averted im ready to roll. Again i carry on north up the 1 79 until i get to Errie then hop onto the 1 90 giving me a lovely view of the lake for a good 60 miles before i head into Buffalo then across the bridge at Niagara back into Canada.Sometimes enough is enough and this is how i felt about half an hour after crossing the border so i dived into a truckstop at Grimsby for a little tea and some very welcome shut eye,the last 93 miles will have to wait till tomorrow.

A Pocket Full Of Sunshine

No ones happier than me when the suns out maybe thats why Canada is falling on the wayside in the popularity votes, this winter has been brutal although PEI didnt see snow until after Christmas since then its been none stop,other provinces were covered in the damn whitestuff in November so we had to contend with it whilst passing through.Venturing down here has put one big smile on my face and made me realised how much i do enjoy doing this(shame Lady Pens Not here to share this pleasure).One big downfall with me as i have previously said is the Premium Outlets and i hate passing on a bargain so i thought as im passing one in St Augustine im definately due a little me time(although i have only been driving 1 1/2 hours lol).Well bargain of the day was 2 pairs of removable fur lined Crocs for Lady Pen, 30 bucks for two pairs,when she came over she bought a pair in Montreal for $28 and really liked them so she asked if i was passing through again to get her another pair unfortuantely there was no more, so guess whos in the good books.I seem to have a problem with buying Tommy Hilfiger T shirts, well at these prices im not passing on a couple of these either,what also makes these even cheaper is the incredibly rate the Canadian Dollar is against The US Dollar at the moment so happy days.

Florida

My trip to The Rock ended and i decided to take a couple of days off,extremely lethal when i find my mate is also off at the same time.The Big Ede Scotsman and his wife came over to Canada in the Autumn time and we have struck up a very good friendship unfortunately this normally ends up with alot of Budweiser and a very late night thus leading to a enourmous hangover oh well i do have 2 days to recover.I did make it to the gym and after a dissappointing 4 1/2 miles on the treadmill decided to sweat everything out in the sauna.
The call came from work will i load friday morning for South Carolina NICE i thought,as you all know i love it down there and its been a good few months since i was there last so i was skipping the light fangdango for the last of my days off.This changed a little when i came into work at dinnertime,the load was now for Charlotte North Carolina which i was still pleased about,so pretrip sorted and i head off to Albany Pei which is about 10 mins from the Confederation Bridge to be greeted with our island shunter who explained to me that this farm is probably the slowest place ever to load,he wasn't wrong we both were there about 6 hours.We eventually get loaded and we say our goodbyes i head off to Woodstock for the night ready for me to enter into the States the next morning.A pleasureable drive all the way down to New Jersey and hardly any traffic to contend with except on the Cross Bronx where some inconsiderate Truck had decided to breakdown in the middle lane.Sunday Morning im driving around Washington DC past Andrews Air Force base ive done this route loads of times but never noticed when you come over the drawbridge where the National Harbour is over in the the distance you can see The Washington Monument (The Needle)and The Whitehouse shame i haven't made it over there to look around another one to add on to the to do list(Unfortunately the picture doesnt do this justice looking from the window but you can stil make it out if enlarged).I make it down to Charlotte Sunday teatime ready for my 7am appointment Monday and after a rather slow unload,i get my message head to Florida we will send your load offer later.I haven't been this far down with Bulk although i have been on holiday there so it was a very big welcome surprise.With the sunshining now and the temps in the late 20's me complete with Ray Bans on and a smile from ear to ear set off south,now this is where i get rather sad, produce is starting to be picked down in the lower states, this is the time when we started to Venture south alot more i spent alot of time in Virginia and the Carolinas last summer making this job so much more enjoyable and now i coming to the last few weeks of my time over here i know im going to miss this part of the world dreadfully.I decided to call it a night in Brunswick Georgia ready for tomorrow and a date with The Sunshine State.